Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies. The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University. Dr. Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries. Dr. Evans’ sermons are also streamed and downloaded over 20,000,000 times annually.

this new year’s eve i want to challenge

all of you to read the well-known story

in mark chapter 4 verses 35 to 41.

it talks about a storm

and we are in a storm aren’t we

uh we’re in a virus that’s a storm it

keeps changing the weather keeps getting

worse in this storm and that affects

economies and

how things supply chains and uh all

manner of things some of the frustration

about schools opening and closing i mean

we’re in a well we’re in a bad storm

while the disciples were in a storm

in mark chapter four

but they were in a storm while

simultaneously being in the will of god

jesus said let us go to the other side

they were crossing the sea of galilee

and they were doing exactly what jesus

told them to do

and they still

ran in to a storm

just because you’re in the will of god

doesn’t mean

you don’t have bad negative

circumstances i’d love to tell you

follow jesus and that won’t you know you

won’t have a storm but you know they

were in a storm while in the will of god

well we’re getting ready to cross over

we’re getting red cross over to a new

year

and we’re crossing over in a new year in

a storm

and when the storm began to rage

there was not only the external storm

that was the the wind called the lilac

in scripture that was tossing the boats

causing these professional professional

fishermen to be scared to death

but then there was an emotional storm

they were it says they were afraid

and this is scary right now i know in

our humanity you know i know we blood we

believe god we trust in his word but we

can still get scared you know we can get

a little terrified

when things hit us and we hear about

tragedies and we hear about people

getting sick and loss of life and

people being laid off who didn’t get

vaccinated and the government just

trying to find the answers to this thing

i mean

it’s scary okay or it can be scary

so there was an emotional storm

but you know the worst kind of storm in

this passage there was a spiritual storm

it said they went over to jesus they

woke him up

and said do you not care

and when you’re in a storm yeah

if you would be honest sometimes it

feels like god doesn’t care because if

he cared why would he allow me to go

through this when i’m doing what he told

me to do which was get in the boat and

go to the other side

so they’re

they’re going through it

you’re going through it i’m going

through it we’re going through it

we’re in a storm

what it says jesus was asleep on a

pillow um says a cushion that’s a that’s

a pillow okay

that meant that he meant to go to sleep

whenever you sleeping on a pillow and

you didn’t tuck that thing under your

head that means you’re not sleeping by

chance you’re sleeping by purpose

he went to sleep on purpose and i know

sometimes it feels you know and i know

the feeling

that you dial in heaven and the line is

busy

it looks like feels like god is going on

a vacation and has left us to fend for

ourselves finally we look like we were

things were getting better and here we

go another variant you know

uh and it looks like god is asleep well

they they aroused him it said and said

don’t you care

don’t you see our fear our pain don’t

you see the

the the

struggle we’re facing right now and you

you say nothing in fact you’re snoring

you’re asleep we’re bailing out water

then jesus said

um

uh why are you so timid when they woke

him up from his sleep

why are you so timid

that’s almost like asking a swimmer who

gets out the water why are you so wet i

mean you know isn’t it obvious jesus

given what we’re going through we’re

trying to cross over

and we’re in trouble

we’re trying to cross over from 21 to

22. yeah and we are in trouble okay

then jesus christ

looked at nature and said

peace be still

jesus christ looked at nature looked at

the circumstances and said peace be

still

well now if he says peace be still that

must mean peace was moving because he

told peace to be still

when you are in the will of god

you’re in the safest place to be even

when you’re in the midst of a storm

if they would have really remembered

what jesus said what did he say he said

let us go to the other side he didn’t

say let us go halfway and drown

he said gentlemen we’re going to make it

but we’re going to have some trials as

we try to make it

and i’m going to sleep i suggest you get

your pillow and go to sleep with me

in other words he calls them timid

because they forgot his word because of

how big the circumstances were

i am not undermining the circumstances

family friends i’m not saying this isn’t

serious i’m not saying we shouldn’t be

cautious i’m not saying we shouldn’t be

deliberate in what we do and the

decisions we make

i am saying if you are living your life

in the will of god and if we are living

our lives in the will of god

then this is the opportunity

to see god at a whole another level

this storm we are in not only the

medical one but anyone that’s affecting

you right now

is an opportunity

to see the god of nature because nature

is going crazy right now just like that

storm was in mark 4

to see god

rule and overrule our circumstances

and meet us in the midst of it

and jesus is laying on the boat he’s

getting wet you know i mean you know

it’s his it’s a bad weather situation

but he’s still in charge he’s in charge

of covet

he is in charge

and so since he is in charge we better

get his undivided attention

and i’ve shared with you before this is

what covert is all about it’s not just

about a virus

it’s about god getting our undivided

attention on every level

doctors haven’t been able to fix it

government officials haven’t been able

to fix it

uh

you know the center for disease control

hasn’t been able to fix it

that’s because god is talking and he is

screaming he’s saying folks you better

give me your undivided attention okay

the passage concludes with this phrase

it says

they were very much afraid

when they said what manner of man is

this

that even the winds and the waves obey

him ooh

now they were afraid of the storm but

they were

super afraid

of who jesus was

you know

sometimes we’re

we’re afraid of the wrong thing we

should be

fearing god more than fearing

circumstances but the circumstances feel

so near us

and we’re affected physically or

circumstantially by it that is it’s easy

to stop fearing god and start fearing

stuff

well i’m gonna ask you to join me and

i’m gonna join you and we’re gonna fear

god together yes we’re gonna be wise

with circumstances

but we’re gonna believe

that if we fear god who controls nature

which means he controls viruses

that he can speak the word

and he can change the trajectory of the

situation

you know our problem

we’re either not in god’s will

or

we’re not approaching our storms the

right way

let’s get in god’s will which means we

hear his word and obey his word he said

let us go to the other side so guess

what we’re going to cross over 21 we’re

gonna cross into 22 and we’re gonna do

it in the storm but guess what we’re

gonna get i’m gonna get my pillow i’m

gonna get my i’m gonna get my cushion

you get your cushion

and you lay back and you talk to god as

you get ready to cross over and you say

god

i know it’s uncertainty but you’re my

covering you’re my protector you know

i’m gonna wear my mask when i’m supposed

to but i’m my my eyes are gonna be on

you i’m gonna trust you

during this storm i’m gonna trust you

during this financial crisis i’m gonna

trust you

during this uh relationship whatever

that storm is i’m gonna trust you

and i’m going to take a deep breath

and i’m going to rest

in your truth

this is why you need to listen to the

word of god hear the word of god we go

and respond to the word of god

and not be so timid yes we have to be

human

to a point but not to a fault

because god is in the equation

so we had to trust god now as we cross

over in this storm

we’re to believe that god has a will he

has a plan

and if he let it rain if he let it if he

let the virus

mutate

then he’s up to something bigger than

what we see right now

and he’s up to something

and he’s up to something worldwide

if if there’s any reason to believe

god’s word is now because the bible says

in the end times

the enemy is going to have a worldwide

plan

well god’s letting us know he can

control a worldwide plan

so we better talk to a worldwide god

so i want you to

get close to god this new year’s eve

talk to family and friends pray together

pray for one another as you cross over

pray for the storms that one you are and

another

a fellow saint happens to be going

through a fellow family member talk to

each other encourage one another

i know the boat looks like it’s filling

up doesn’t it looks like you’re gonna

drown

ah you’re not gonna drown

not if you’re in the will of god

you’re gonna take it to the other side

whatever that means in your life or

whatever it means for us crossing over

the calendar

uh we’re going to make it through this

storm

either christ is going to come back and

take us up out of here

or he’s going to show us his will taking

us through here

as we cross this wilderness into the

place of blessing either way

we’ve gotten through the storm

love you

and i’m gonna believe god with you

to take you to victory and whatever that

means as you cross over a little boy was

on the plane

with his uh um grandmother

and they hit some turbulence they hit

storm in the sky

and it was vicious the plane was going

up and down and jumping all over the

place and it was just crazy

and the woman was all scared and crying

and squealing out and holding on to the

seat

and the little boy was just playing with

his little toy

and he was full of laughter and gayty

and the

grandmother got a little bit muffed she

got a little bit

irritated exacerbated frustrated

boy how can you play at a time like this

how can you play when things are so bad

he looked over to his grandmother and

said grandma i think you forgot

your son my daddy

he’s the pilot

see when you know who’s

in the cockpit when you know who’s

running the plane when you know who’s

flying this thing in the storm

you can be calm even when the bumps

are giving you

discomfort

god is in charge he’s in the cockpit

yeah put on your seatbelt be responsible

but smile

let the joy of the lord be your strength

give him praise while you pray for the

ending of the virus and the storms that

you face

but remember he’s in charge

may god give you a blessed

2022

as you

serve him

and as we serve him together

love you god bless you father

cover your people

wake us up to your purpose

and bring attention to the world that it

cannot leave you out

and have order

we give you the glory

for a new year as we cross over together

in jesus name amen