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Glad in Illinois June 1, 2009	When the storms of life threaten, don't forget who's in your boat.
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KKinKC June 10, 2009	I'm preaching from this scripture a week early. I have several things that I wonder about this scripture. Who was Jesus talking to the wind or the disciples? If the wind, couldn't have he just thought the phrase and stopped the wind? And what did he mean "Have you still no faith?" they woke him up, didn't they. They had faith in Jesus. So my title is coming up, Shock and Awe, probably because of watching the movie W and being reminded of how that war began with Shock and Awe and how that was supposed solve the war problem.
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searching in CA June 14, 2009	Here is a mess of unorganized thoughts . . . 1 - That still small voice seems to keep coming back over and over throughout scripture. I think about all the storms in our lives and worry and fears that we carry inside of us. 2 - At first the disciples are afraid of the storm and angry at Jesus for sleeping. And then when Jesus acts they become afraid of who he might be. 3 - I think that for many people in our world, silence can be very scary. It is often easier to live with the noise and ignore our own thoughts. 4 - Another thought on the "quiet", my dad never really yelled at us kids - when he was mad he spoke in a very quiet and controlled voice. That voice has always been one that has caused me to sit still and listen. early thoughts . . .
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Fr. Dave June 15, 2009	This story appears in all three synoptic Gospels. An interesting difference between Mark's version and that of Mattheew and Luke is that Mark tells us that Jesus was asleep "on a cushion". Is this just an insignificant detail in the story or is it the key which unlocks the deepest spiritual meaning of this story?
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WNC Steve June 15, 2009	Some days I wonder why I preplan sermon titles. Months ago I chose the title "Quieting the Blow-Hard". NOw I have no idea what I intended to do with it. We'll see what happens this week as we move through our VBS (Camp EDGE). Happy Father's day, all.
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rcginKs June 15, 2009	the disciples did what far too many Christians do. they came to Jesus as a last resort. yes they perhaps had faith but it was not yet the first thing on their minds. we have a musician here who is undergoing chemotheapy and was facing back surgey. on the way to the operating room in the halway of the cancer floor of the hospital he asked those wheeling him to surgery to wait a few minutes. his trio which is Him his wife and his brother in law sang something most of the people on theat floor and most us don't do they sang. I woke up this morning feeling fin I've got Jesus yes Jesus on my mind. Jesus was the last thing on the disciples mind and it is with many of us. Jesus was talking to the wind but was also teaching His disciples something they would have the power to do once they recieved the Holy Spirit
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Fr. Dave June 16, 2009	According to Arndt and Gingrich, the greek noun which is translated cushion in verse 38 of Mark 4 is the word proskepalaion which can mean either pillow or "sailor's cushion"...
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Pastor J June 16, 2009	I've been reading this passage in The Message translation. The paragraph is titled, "The Wind Ran Out of Breath," and it started me thinking about how perhaps our ministry runs out of breath because we are afraid - afraid to try to use the gifts we've been given, afraid of what people might think, afraid of failure. Perhaps when Jesus stopped the storm and calmed their fears, there was no longer need for faith, so they were stunted in their growth.
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Tammy in Texas June 16, 2009	How funny this is a passage that was used during our VBS last week, which provoked the question from a 5th grader "Was it fresh or salt water because that would make a difference on how easy it would be to float on top". I think he may have missed the point..but good question. There is a storm ragging in my 19 year old son and his friends. One of their buddies was killed in a car accident yesterday and it has rattled them to the core. No alcohol involved... but horrible non-the-less. So tonight, as it all settles in and details are learned, I will sit with my son and his friends and we will talk. For my son, any tragic death makes him flash back to when his sister died 5 years ago. It seems to be a storm that revisits all to often. So my hope is to offer to them, and my congregation, that assurance that they are not alone in the storms. That even though they seem relentless, there is peace. I know that with all certainty as I watched my daughter find peace as she faced death at 16. Nothing is more comforting to know than that she did find peace, and so can we. Okay, you got the ramblings of a fresh wound here. Thanks for letting me ramble.
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Augy June 16, 2009	Now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation! Now we are in the storm, the boat almost swamped; but Jesus is here now, and when we call him he will calm the storm. Even the wind and waves listen to him as they would to their creator. We also listen to him and are called to believe in the power of God's word in him, a power greater than all that we fear. The wind plays a dramatic role in this Sunday's readings. Is God in the wind? God speaks to Job out of the whirlwind. But in the gospel reading, Jesus, the Son of God, is oblivious to the dangerous wind that surrounds the boat he sleeps in. Waves were swamping the boat, surely getting Jesus wet; and yet he slept! Should we be afraid of the wind? Was Jesus mentoring faith behavior by sleeping and then by demanding the winds cease their fury? At the end of the story the disciples were filled with awe by the power Jesus showed by commanding the wind to stop its howling. Their awe, however, seemed to be inspired by their amazement that even nature (the wind) obeyed this man, Jesus. When the storms of life attack us, does the power of Jesus' word serve to push back life's storms?
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walter b. bowden June 16, 2009	i would be delighted to share my sermons. i spent several hours preparing sermons. i love to preach them and write them even teach others some of things i have learn from my instructors and from what i experience from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. i am a Methodist preacher ordained in the A. M. E. Church have gradurated from BEULAH HEIGHTS BIBLE COLLEGE with a BA degree in Biblical Education.
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Fr. Dave June 16, 2009	Jesus was in the stern (in greek-prumna)...the back of the ship...the place where the steering apparatus is located (tiller; rudder; wheel)...also known as the pilot's place...the domain of the ship's captain. And Jesus was asleep not just on "a" pillow, but Saint Mark tell's us he was asleep on "THE pillow"...could it have been the cushion reserved for the captain of the ship??
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J inO June 16, 2009	"Let us go to the other side" The boat start sinking and they get scared and the journey stops. Last week I was in a parish where the membership is dwindling and the older folks are scared and it seems as thoug they feel as though the ship is sinking. They've stopped doing ministry and they're struggling to pay their pastor...Tere's a special meeting about the budget...I could almost hear them cry, "We're sinking!" It seems as though they're lost in the middle of the journey-- they haven't made it to the other side. I wonder how many congregregations are in the same shape.
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Brian in MN June 17, 2009	It may be as a last resort, as noted above, but they DO ask for help instead of just telling themselves it will be ok or that they can handle it alone.
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Brian in MN June 17, 2009	Getting to the other side seems not all that important by the end of the pericope. In most of the calamities we experience there may not even be another side. The resolution is the calm in the midst of the journey.
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JinO June 17, 2009	Brian in MN, You bring up some points to ponder... Do the followers ask for help? The way I read this pericope is that they accuse Jesus. He responds by calming the storm and then he teaches. It seems to me that the destination takes less precedence than the journey but the destination is still important. (The story continues, they reach the shore and their welcoming party is the Geresene demoniac.) From my eyes, I don't want limit the pericope to calm in the midst of the storm. I'd rather present this one as calm in the midst of the storm so that the journey can continue. Please adjust my two cents according in respect to inflation in the theological world :)
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Brian in MN June 17, 2009	I think I read "... do you not care that we are perishing?" as a statement that Jesus (alone?) can do something about the situation. With a number of the folks I've tried to help in the past few years the call for help takes the form of an accusation (against: the government, a spouse, the VA shrinks, stupid drivers, etc.)
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KSpresbey June 17, 2009	Jesus calms the storm not the disciples. The Lord works on the things in life that creates our worries and fears. It is then up to us to respond to what has been done in world on our behalf.
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Pastor Joye in MD June 18, 2009	Soards et al in "Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary" comment that in Israel's thought, the sea represented the forces of evil in the world. So this story is more than bringing us calm in the storms of our lives. It's about Jesus' power over evil. I wonder how much our people today believe in evil as a force or power? One of our UM questions for commissioning is for the candidates to describe their understanding of evil in the world. I think we tend to personify evil -- Hitler, Idi Amin, Kim Jon Il, Robt Mugabe, etc. Perhaps that's easier than thinking there is a real spiritual force called evil -- and the miracle in this reading is that Jesus' has power not just over the forces of nature -- impressive enough -- but also over the force of evil. I'm just trying to figure out how to make this preach!
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Pastor Joye in MD June 18, 2009	Soards et al in "Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary" comment that in Israel's thought, the sea represented the forces of evil in the world. So this story is more than bringing us calm in the storms of our lives. It's about Jesus' power over evil. I wonder how much our people today believe in evil as a force or power? One of our UM questions for commissioning is for the candidates to describe their understanding of evil in the world. I think we tend to personify evil -- Hitler, Idi Amin, Kim Jon Il, Robt Mugabe, etc. Perhaps that's easier than thinking there is a real spiritual force called evil -- and the miracle in this reading is that Jesus' has power not just over the forces of nature -- impressive enough -- but also over the force of evil. I'm just trying to figure out how to make this preach!

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Frank Schaefer for DesperatePreacher.com, 2005