NOTES:
1] Jesus gets his quiet time - at last! 2] 'Explanations' for the walking on water incident include, e.g. low tide, a sand bank, bad light, or are we dealing with a different kind of truth here? 3] If Jesus can't walk on water, Peter can't either. 4] Whatever else, we're being shown God's creative word exerting authority over chaos ( represented by water) as 'in the beginning....'

WARMING UP:  Why are 'walking on water' jokes so common & popular?

TREASURES OLD & NEW: Identify God at work in anything this week?

EXPLORING GOSPEL:

22-23    How much do we value time spent apart with God? Or is it so rare as not to be relevant? Could we set more quality time apart to spend with God as well as with family, friends, etc., if we really want to?

24-27    Do we ever feel we're 'out in a boat, being pounded by rough seas & winds, in danger of going under', that sort of thing? How do we face, react to life-spoiling or threatening situations? Do we ever wish / pray Jesus would walk on water & come to our rescue in some sense, or doesn't this story have any practical value for us today? Do we feel at all confident that Jesus can deal with the chaos-es that threaten us today & create something new & good out of them & us? Do we expect Jesus to walk into today's dangerous situations as a 'ghost' (spirit of some sort) or in some other form? Or, is it unrealistic to expect him to appear on the scene in any form today? What if he's already in them, but we're not 'tuned in' enough to recognize him? Is there any sense in which we might still be 'afraid' of Jesus?

28-33    Do we give enough credit to Peter for actually stepping out of the boat? To other people who step out of 'boats' in life? Is there some kind of 'boat' we need to step out of to 'come to Jesus'? Do we ever / often cry out "Lord, save me!"? What's the difference, if any, between 'being saved' in the religious sense, and being saved in other ways? Is there any sense in which we are conscious of Jesus' hand stretched out to save us from the storms of life? How do we measure whether we have enough faith, little faith, great faith, etc.? Or, isn't it up to us to do the measuring? Are we as conscious of God's presence after a threat has receded? Did our particular storm's dying down have anything to do with God anyway?

34-36    Does 'touching the fringe of his cloak' speak to us of faith, superstition, opportunism, or what? How well do we accept people as people wherever they are along their faith journey, even if we're poles apart? Are we as inclusive towards others as God is? If we're unable to let others touch even 'the fringe of our cloak' might that put them off Jesus himself?