God With Us: Week 3 - In the Storm with Craig Groeschel

God with Us in the Storms

Scripture References

Primary text

• Acts 27
• Matthew 1:23

Other references

• 2 Timothy 4:16-17
• Psalm 46:1-3
• John 16:33

Overview

Storms are part of every life—you're either coming out of one, in the middle of one, or headed toward the next. Using Paul’s shipwreck in Acts 27, Pastor Craig showed that a violent storm never cancels God’s nearness. The key conviction: never let the presence of a storm cause you to doubt the presence of God. Real peace is not the absence of trouble but the presence of Emmanuel—“God with us.”

Main Points

Storms are unavoidable

• Life delivers repeated hardships; Jesus Himself promised trouble (John 16:33).
• Big cultural storms (hurricanes) prompt the question, “Where is God?” but smaller personal storms hurt just as deeply—divorce, depression, financial strain, betrayal.

• Illustration: meteorologists once named killer storms after their wives and girlfriends—an absurd picture of how storms get attached to a name. Many of us quietly name our own storms: divorce, depression, bankruptcy.

Never allow the storm to erase God’s presence

“Never allow the presence of a storm to cause you to doubt the presence of God.”

• People often blame God or assume He left; both responses ignore His faithful character.
• Storms can be self-inflicted (overspending, procrastination, dating the person everyone warned you about) or completely unfair, but God’s nearness is constant either way.

Paul’s storm: Acts 27

• Days of darkness; crew “gave up all hope of being saved.”
• Paul reminds them they ignored his earlier warning—yet still offers hope.
• An angel stood beside Paul: proof that God was on the boat even when the sky was black.
• Paul’s message: “Keep up your courage… not one of you will be lost.”

God stands beside His people

• 2 Timothy 4:16-17—“Everyone deserted me, but the Lord stood at my side.”
• Psalm 46—God is “always ready to help.”
• When you grasp who’s next to you, posture changes from panic to confidence—like Pastor Craig walking safely through school halls when the rumored tough kid (“Hurricane Hank”) was beside him.

Peace is a Person, not a circumstance

“Real peace is not found in the absence of a storm; peace is found in the presence of Jesus.”

• Disciples panicked even with Jesus asleep in their boat. The storm calmed when they realized who was on board.
• You cannot control when storms start, how fierce they get, or how long they last—but you can choose where to place your faith.

Faith that anchors

“I have faith in God that it will happen just as He told me.”

• Faith is in the One who commands wind and waves, not in the ship, job, economy, or relationship.
• If you’re not dead, God’s not done—He still has people for you to love and purposes for you to fulfill.
• God redeems storms: what you learn today becomes the wisdom you offer someone tomorrow.

Key Truths

• God’s nearness is a greater reality than any storm’s intensity.
• Peace is presence—Emmanuel, not ease.
• You can’t always prevent a storm, but you can decide to trust God in it.
• Storms expose the weakness of human security and the strength of divine promise.
• What threatens to sink you today may train you to rescue others tomorrow.

Response

• Recognize the storm but refuse to catastrophize—speak faith.
• Anchor your heart in Scripture that declares God’s nearness.
• Invite Jesus into your “boat” through prayer and worship.
• Reach out to someone else in a storm; become evidence of God-with-us for them.
• Re-name your storm: from despair to opportunity to trust.

Closing

Storms may shake the ship, but they cannot sink the promises of God. Because Emmanuel is literally “God with us,” courage outlasts chaos and peace overrides panic.

“Never allow the presence of a storm to cause you to doubt the presence of God.”

Prayer

Father, for every raised hand and hurting heart, surround them with Your presence. Let Your Spirit comfort, Your Word steady, and Your purpose prevail. Turn every crushing need into deeper dependence on You, and guard minds and hearts with the peace of Christ.