If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat: A 6-Session Journey on Learning to Trust God

by John Ortberg

Other authorsStephen and Amanda Sorenson (Contributor)

Hardcover, 2003

Status

Available

Call number

248.4

Publication

Zondervan (2003), Edition: Pck

Description

Winner of the 2002 Christianity Today Book Award! You're One Step Away from the Adventure of Your Life. Deep within you lies the same faith and longing that sent Peter walking across the wind-swept Sea of Galilee toward Jesus. In what ways is the Lord telling you, as he did Peter, "Come?" John Ortberg invites you to consider the incredible potential that awaits you outside your comfort zone. Out on the risky waters of faith, Jesus is waiting to meet you in ways that will change you forever, deepening your character and your trust in God. The experience is terrifying. It's thrilling beyond belief. It's everything you'd expect of someone worthy to be called Lord. The choice is yours to know him as only a water-walker can, aligning yourself with God's purpose for your life in the process. There's just one requirement: If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member DannyMorris

One of my top 5 books that every follower of Jesus should read. Ortberg brilliantly compels the reader to pursue life with more faith.

9 more

LibraryThing member n_yay

Really encourages you to take steps of faith, in a way that is actually encouraging.

LibraryThing member ShortyBond

Ortberg has a wonderful grasp on living the true Christian life. Easy to read and yet very compelling and informative. Makes you truly think!!

LibraryThing member kjsmith_2008

This book challenged me in every chapter as to whether I'm inthe boat, thinking of getting out of the boat or am on the water. I'm sure like most I'm safe and sound in the boat ...but praying that this next year i'll beging to experience some walking on water times.

LibraryThing member SABC

John Ortbert invites you to consider the incredible potential that awaits you outside your comfort zone.

LibraryThing member DuffDaddy

"Sloth as a spiritual sin is not the same thing as physical laziness. It can co-exist with much busyness. It is the failure to do what needs to be done when it needs doing - like the kamikaze pilot who flew seventeen missions. At its core, sloth consists of 'loss of meaning, purpose, and hope,

coupled with indifference to the welfare of others.'"

Imposter phenomenon - the sense that people often have of spending too much time and effort trying to conceal their inadequacy from others.

Our calling is not so much choosing as it is listening.

Honor your "raw material" - persue what you are called or gifted to do.

If the assignment I sense God is giving me is something that I can handle, I know it is probably not from God. The kind of assignments God gives in the bible are always God-sized.

Is there any challenge in your life right now that is large enough that you have no hope of doing it apart from God's help? If not, consider the possibility that you are seriously underchallanged.

We are not called just to work for God. We are called to work with God.

Work has become our new religion, where we worship and give our time.

Be strong and corageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. - Moses

Do you believe that what you pray in the Creed is true?...Then you believe more and better than I. - Martin Luther

How much faith do I need? Not a feeling of certainty. Just enough faith to take a step.

If you are willing to act as if a bridge will be there, the bridge will be there.

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LibraryThing member mrkurtz

John Ortberb, author of 'The Life You've Always Wanted', gets down to the nitty gritty in this great book with one magnificient action that you are required to make to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. You only have to do what he asks you to do. Knowing what he is asking of you is a little harder but

with practice and the proper frame of mind it too can be simple. Go to Christ and pray to him. You can pray by just getting in the right frame of mind- you don't even need to use fancy three dollar words- actually yoou can pray to Christ by bowing your head and listen for God's voice to tell you to go and do as he did and he will come again and fulfill his prophecy. Its like this, Peter and his friends got into a little boat one afternoon to cross the Sea of Galilee. Jesus wanted to be alone, so went walking along the shore. Peter liked boats, he had been a fisherman because Christ called him to be a disciple and to catch fish you need to get in the boat and go out to sea. Well a large storm came up and the waves washing over the boat rose higher and higher. The disciples were having trouble keeping the boat upright and then a shadow started moving toward them. The shadow appeared to be human and the human was walking on the water. The disciples thaught he was a ghost. Matthew is telling this story and he says that sometimes your eyes can't tell who the person is, though you know him very well. We are like that, sometimes we can't tell what Jesus wants us to do when he is standing bside us and yelling in our ear. Only one disciple, Peter, detrmined that this was Jesus and he asked, "if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." Ortberg says that Peter reconized it was the Lord, so if he wanted he could just get in the water with Jesus and walk to him. But the moral is more than just risk-taking, it is also about obedience. The story is about extreme discipleship. Jesus tells Peter to get out of the boat and walk to him. Peter gets out of the boat slowly holding on with a firm grip but then he lets go and he too is walking on water, but them he sees the storm and feels the with on his face. Losing his confidence that he can walk on water, Peter begins to sink. You know the rest of the story. The question is can you get up the courage to get out of the boat and go where Jesus asks you to go and can you convince other people that they to can get out of the boat. You can be a disciple to others.

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LibraryThing member oel_3

Let us go down to the river
There's a man walking on the water
Come along with me
All I wanna see
is the Man walking on the water

To see the Sea walker
The blindman Healer
The leprous cleansing Man
of Galilee
He's the soul saver
The One who set me free
Take my hand and follow me

I betcha you'll love to sing

this song again and again
after reading this book. Fun and wonderful read!

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LibraryThing member SueinCyprus

The author takes us on a path to trusting in God, looking in detail at the Biblical anecdote about Peter walking to Jesus on the water. It's inspirational, encouraging, and helpful. The author uses the passage metaphorically for Christian believers today, in the sense of leaving our comfortable

safety zones and walking with God into potentially difficult circumstances.

It's well-written with interesting anecdotes and clear Scriptural references. Re-reading it nearly ten years after the first time, I found it challenging and thought-provoking, yet accessible to anyone. Definitely recommended.

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LibraryThing member SABC

In this book, Ortberg ask you to consider the incredible that awaits you outside your comfort zone. Jesus is waiting to meet you in ways that will change you forever. It is terrifying & thrilling to know him as only a water-walker can.

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