Login / Signup

Free Access

Faith In the Storm

Illustration
Stories
Luke stared at the stack of papers sitting in front of him. The last thing he wanted to do was close the Good Shepherd Ministry. He dreaded having to put out the press release saying that they were out of money and were no longer able to minister to the street people in the city. He knew that as soon as word got out all the people they had helped and the people in need would come looking for answers. He didn’t know what he was going to say to them. Truthfully, he didn’t know what to say.

“Hey neighbour,” Fran put a cup of coffee in front of him.

“Hey,” Luke looked up. “What’s this?”

“A dark blend from the place down the street.” Fran sat down across from him. “You looked like you could use it.”

“You heard then?”

“I guessed. I was over in my office dealing with a client when the Board of Directors filed out of here. From the looks on their faces I gather it didn’t go well. What happened?”

“They’re shutting us down.”

“I’m sorry,” Fran said.  “I know how much this ministry means to you.”

Luke sipped his coffee. “I thought I could make a difference.”

“I’m not around all the time but I thought you did make a make a difference.”

“I failed.” Luke shook his head. “I failed.”

Fran tilted her head. “How did you fail?”

“The ministry that was my dream, what I always wanted to do is now done. In the words of the Board of Directors it is ‘no longer viable’.”

“Again, I’m sorry.” Fran sipped her own coffee. “That must have been hard news to get.”

Luke nodded slowly. “I knew making this ministry work was going to be hard, but I thought I could make it work.”

Fran didn’t say anything.

Luke took a deep breath. “I guess I got over my head.”

“Anytime I popped over you seemed to be in crisis mode.”

“I was trying the best I could. I thought they would give me a little more time.”

“Why didn’t they?”

Luke picked up the financial report and handed it to her. “This is why.”

Fran looked over the numbers and whistled. “Yeah, I guess I can understand. If you were a client looking for advice, I would tell you to shut things down.”

“I know we needed money but I thought maybe a grant would tide us over.” Luke took the paper back. “We were turned down.”

“They saw your books?”

Luke nodded. “They said they couldn’t justify sinking money into this effort.”

“From a financial point of view, I can see that.”

“But this is a ministry. We were helping people who really have no where else to turn.” Luke paused and slumped back in his chair. “I guess it’s really over.”

“Yeah, I guess it is.”

“Fran,” Luke whispered. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“Just because this outreach isn’t going to continue doesn’t mean that there aren’t still people in need. Find another ministry to pursue.”

Luke shook his head. “I think I’m finished.”

Fran put down her coffee. “Why?”

Luke threw up his hands. “I’m a failure. I did what I was sure Jesus wanted and I ruined everything. I don’t have enough faith I guess.”

“Enough faith?” Fran frowned. “I wish I had half your faith. I mean you started Good Shepherd Ministry from nothing and ran a whole year reaching out into the streets with the good news. That takes a lot of faith.”

“But I failed. All of this was for nothing.”

Fran looked at her friend for a moment. “Do you remember the Bible story of Peter trying to walk on water?”

“Sure. Peter saw Jesus walking on the water, tried to do it himself and failed. He didn’t have enough faith.”

“When didn’t he have enough faith?”

Luke paused for a second to think. “When he saw the storm and his feet, he felt overwhelmed and he sank. That’s when he cried out to Jesus to save him.”

Fran nodded. “Which is when Jesus asks Peter why he doubted.”

“Yeah, that’s the story.”

“So let me ask you again. Did Peter not have enough faith when he failed to walk on water or did Peter not have enough faith when he cried out in fear as he was sinking? Was Jesus talking about his doubt at failing to do something he’d never done before or his doubt that Jesus would save him?”

Luke opened his mouth and closed it. He thought for a few minutes as Fran sipped her coffee.

“So in other words I should trust in Jesus to save me even when I am sinking because of my own failure.”

“Exactly. If you believe Jesus can save you why do you look to your failure instead of what he can do for you?” Fran looked at her watch. “Still want that drive home?”

Luke nodded and his friend went back to her office. He looked at the pile of papers again and took a deep breath. He started to pray. “Lord Jesus, the storms are raging around me...”
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Proper 10 | OT 15 | Pentecost 5
30 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
30 – Children's Sermons / Resources
29 – Worship Resources
34 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 11 | OT 16 | Pentecost 6
29 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
27 – Children's Sermons / Resources
20 – Worship Resources
29 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 12 | OT 17 | Pentecost 7
34 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
32 – Children's Sermons / Resources
26 – Worship Resources
31 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

New & Featured This Week

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: This is a role play activity.

Note: You will need to select six children to play roles in this activity. If you have a smaller group, you might ask some older youth or even adults to play the parts of the two attackers and the man being attacked. I will give suggestions for how they can play their roles, but feel free to help your children make the story as fun and memorable as you can. I have used boys and girls in the various roles, but you can change those however you want to change them.

* * *

The Immediate Word

Dean Feldmeyer
Katy Stenta
Thomas Willadsen
Christopher Keating
George Reed
Mary Austin
Nazish Naseem
For July 13, 2025:
  • Samaritans Among Us by Dean Feldmeyer based on Acts 2:1-21. Samaritans were despised and dismissed by the original audience who first heard Jesus tell this parable. Who are the Samaritans in our lives and how does this parable apply today?
  • Second Thoughts: The Helpers by Katy Stenta based on Amos 7:7-17.

StoryShare

Frank Ramirez
I say, “You are gods,
    children of the Most High, all of you;
nevertheless, you shall die like mortals
    and fall like any prince….”
(vv. 6-7)

There have been any number of brother-sister acts that achieved a measure of fame. Take the Carpenters, famed for their singing, musicianship, and songwriting skills. Also worthy of mention are John and Joan Cusack who have acted together in over sixteen films.

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Wayne Brouwer
An ancient legend tells of a remote mountain village where people used to send their senior citizens out into the woods to die. The villagers had an eye to the future; they felt that those beyond a certain age would only slow down progress or use up valuable resources to no economically profitable end. Those who reached a certain age weren’t “put out to pasture” or “put out of their misery”; they were simply put out of other people’s way.
Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Amos 7:7-17 and Psalm 82
The tallest building in the world is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It is more than 2,700 feet high—over half a mile tall. It has 160 floors and is twice as tall as the Empire State Building in New York City. It is home to the world’s fastest elevator which reaches speeds of forty miles an hour. The Burj Khalifa also hosts the world’s highest outdoor observation deck (on the 124th floor) and the world’s highest swimming pool (on the 76th floor).

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Mabel hummed a familiar hymn tune as she made her way to church. She always enjoyed her Sunday morning walk. It was one of the few times she felt safe to walk alone through the inner city, for she knew nobody would be up at 7.45 in the morning. Today was a particularly beautiful morning, with blue sky, warm sunshine, and the song of a few intrepid blackbirds who still inhabited the city.

SermonStudio

James Evans
Often, a distinction is made between the pastoral or priestly work of the church and the prophetic work. Pastoral care has to do with the care of souls, the offering of comfort in times of loss. The priestly character of pastoral work seeks to mediate the presence of God to those who are hurting.

Schuyler Rhodes
Trusting is never easy. Even in the best of relationships, people step into trust slowly. There is wariness -- questioning -- worry. What happens if trust is betrayed? What if this doesn't work? Sometimes it's like a dance. We step in and out of trust, moving to the rhythms of fear. For many, the routine is achingly familiar. Indeed, it's not easy to trust.
John Jamison
It was back in the days when the railroad was the most common mode of transportation. There were automobiles, and some airplanes, but the steam locomotive was the way most folks traveled and the way that most of the goods were distributed around the country. After dinner, people sat in the drawing room and listened to the radio programs, fading in and out from some faraway location, over the magical broadcasting signal.
Robert Leslie Holmes
Not many tourists to Washington, D.C., look for the Federal Bureau of Standards offices. It's the Capitol and the White House, the Supreme Court Building or the Smithsonian most of us want to see when we go there. Yet, at the Bureau of Standards offices something very important is stored, something that impacts your life and mine every single day. Have you ever bought the materials for a new project? When you did, most likely you purchased so many inches or feet or yards. Or, you stopped to buy gasoline for your car and purchased it at a certain price per gallon.
David O. Bales
I have the two best jobs in the world. I teach social studies at Leon Griffith Junior High School (a fairly small junior high) and I am Sunday School Superintendent at Calvary Presbyterian Church (an enormous church school). Each job is my vocation. I tell people that at school they'll find my room where the halls cross. At church they can look but probably won't find me. I'll be in someone's classroom. At each job I practice what I most deeply believe: it's how you see the world that determines how you respond to it. I'll give you an example, actually, two examples.
Erskine White
O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed,
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
(Stuart K. Hine)

Special Occasion

Wildcard SSL