After miraculously feeding over 5,000 people in Matthew 14, Jesus dismisses the crowds and goes up the mountain to pray. The disciples, now on a boat, had been pushed away from the shore because the wind was against them. Early the next morning, Jesus started walking towards the disciples on the water, but the disciples were terrified because they thought Jesus was a ghost. It is at this point in the story that something transformational happened in the life of Peter. When Jesus said, “Come,” Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water towards Jesus. To my knowledge, up to this point, Peter had never walked on water or had seen anyone walk on water. However, because of his encounters with Jesus, he knew that when the opportunity arose, he would need to leave the comfort of the boat to follow Jesus.

I think a lot of us feel this way at times. We find comfort in the safety of what we already know. At times, we can easily provide excuses as to why we cannot commit to getting out of the boat. “There’s too much going on in my life right now,” or “I’ve never done this before and I wouldn’t know when to start.” But there’s an overlooked element in the story of Peter: in Matthew 14, Jesus picks him up and reminds him not to doubt himself.

This past weekend we celebrated Easter as a church family. Throughout the weekend, we reflected on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the sermon, I focused on the stone being rolled away and the tomb being empty. The stone can represent a lot of things. It can be fears, insecurities, or doubts that hold us back. But friends, the stone has been rolled away. The things that we believe hold us back have been taken care of. We must no longer be people that live in the tomb, but those that live in the resurrection.