# Sunday Setup – Matthew 8:23-27

Sermon transcript from Cross Church Surprise.
Series: Sunday Setup
Date: April 9, 2026
Watch: https://crosschurchcares.com/surprise/episodes/sunday-setup-matthew-823-27

## Summary

What happens when the storms of life hit? Are we quick to fear, or do we trust in the One who calms the waves? Join us as we explore the miracle of Jesus in Matthew 8:23-27 and discover how His presence transforms our fears into faith. Let's dive in together!

## Transcript

Hey Cross Street family and welcome to 
 the Sunday setup. 
 This is our time each week where we 
 digitally gather together in order to 
 pray through our piece of scripture that 
 we'll be studying this week. And this 
 Sunday we start a brand new series 
 called Miracles of Jesus. And in this 
 we're going to look at nine of the 
 miracles of Jesus that are seen 
 throughout the Gospels, the Synoptic 
 Gospels in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And 
 we are going to be examining these 
 through the book of Matthew and there 
 will be some crossover but it's going to 
 see as we dive into these miracles 
 really who Jesus is and what it pushes 
 us to do in response to that. As we 
 start this we'll our first miracle we're 
 going to look at is found in Matthew 
 chapter 8. We're going to be starting in 
 verse 23. Matthew chapter 8 verse 23 
 through 27. 
 And this is what it says. It says as he 
 got into the boat, he being Jesus, his 
 disciples followed him. 
 Suddenly a violent storm arose on the 
 sea so that the boat was being swamped 
 by the waves but Jesus kept sleeping. 
 So the disciples came and they woke him 
 up saying, "Lord, save us. We are going 
 to die." 
 He said to them, "Why are you afraid, 
 you of little faith?" 
 Then he got up, he rebuked the winds and 
 the sea, and there was a great calm. 
 The men were amazed and asked, "What 
 kind of man is this? 
 Even the winds and the sea obey him." 
 As we dive into this passage this 
 weekend, want to prepare our hearts. And 
 I have two prayer prompts that I want us 
 to think through and pray through and 
 just spend some time meditating on. 
 First is that we see in verse 27, after 
 all this happens, they ask this 
 question. And this question is asked 
 throughout the gospels of who is this 
 man? And I want us to take a second as 
 we prepare ourselves, we prepare 
 ourselves to this passage, we'll see 
 what Jesus can do. But let's just have a 
 time of worship where just this prayer 
 prompt, Jesus, you are. 
 And just name some of the things that 
 Jesus is, that he is holy, he is 
 powerful, that he is God, that Jesus, 
 you are. What are some of the attributes 
 of Jesus that we can pray through, that 
 we can praise him in because of who he 
 is? Pray those to our God. 
 >> Jesus, you are Lord. 
 You are powerful. You are sovereign. 
 God, you are loving. Jesus, you are 
 everything we could ever need. 
 And as we study this series, Lord, we 
 are going to see the power you have, the 
 authority you have 
 that changes how we should live our 
 lives, that changes how we should 
 respond to you. 
 But we don't stop at just seeing who 
 Jesus is. We also see what we should do 
 as a result. In verse 26, he says, "Why 
 are you afraid? 
 You of little faith." They were afraid 
 of the situation even though they were 
 with Jesus. 
 And even as we go through life, we get 
 afraid of certain things that happen 
 even though Jesus is with us. 
 And I think in our second prayer prompt, 
 as we think of this, 
 just think of the fears that we have. 
 And and kind of having this prayer 
 prompt here is 
 Jesus, 
 help me in my fear of blank. 
 Jesus, help me in my fear of blank. And 
 reminding ourselves that as maybe we're 
 afraid of 
 the current economy, maybe we're afraid 
 of whether our kids will continue to go 
 down and be involved in the church or 
 they'll walk away from the faith, maybe 
 we're afraid of whether we'll lose our 
 job or whatever that looks like in your 
 life, Jesus, help me in the fear that we 
 have not to be afraid that even though 
 we have that fear, knowing that Jesus is 
 with us and we should not have it. Just 
 name those fears and praying that Jesus 
 can help to us with our fear of blank. 
 >> God help me with my fear of failure. 
 A fear of just not living up to what I 
 think I can accomplish on my own, but 
 knowing Jesus that you should quell 
 those. That Lord, I don't have to take 
 on the weight of the world, but instead 
 can give it over to you. 
 And Lord, we are all full of fears. We 
 all have things in our lives that we are 
 worried that are going to get us off 
 track, that are going to derail our 
 path, that are going to hurt us 
 ultimately. But you remind us that we 
 should not have fear, but we should have 
 a faith to trust you knowing you are 
 with us alongside whatever comes our 
 way. God, we just thank you as we dive 
 into this new series looking at the 
 miracles you perform that we can fall 
 more in love with you, and we can see 
 how we are to respond to that love and 
 what it calls us to do. God, we thank 
 you for this time. We thank you for our 
 church family, and we lift all this up 
 in Jesus name. Amen. 
 Thank you guys for joining us today. 
 We'll see you this Sunday.