Some of this water was never yours.

There were men on a boat in Jonah 1 whose names nobody bothered to write down.

They weren’t prophets. Most had never heard the name of Israel’s God. They were working men hauling cargo across the Mediterranean on an ordinary run, doing their job on an ordinary afternoon.

By nightfall they were throwing their own income into the sea just to survive.

They hadn’t sinned. They hadn’t disobeyed anybody. Their only mistake was booking passage next to a man running from God. The wind that nearly split that ship in half didn’t check the passenger list. It hit the guilty prophet asleep in the hold and the innocent sailors bailing water on deck, in the exact same storm.

So before you spend one more week asking God what you did to deserve this season, ask a harder question: who’s in the boat with you?

New series starts this Sunday, July 19. WHO’S IN YOUR BOAT. Peace isn’t a place. It’s a passenger list.

Last Sunday In The Room

Last Sunday the room was full. Chairs went out toward the walls, and a good number of those chairs were filled with people we’d never seen before. First-timers found seats late, sat next to strangers, and stayed anyway.

When we got to the moment where I asked you to name who’s still in your boat, people didn’t just nod along and move on. Some stood in the lobby for twenty minutes after, working up the nerve to say a name out loud for the first time, longtime members and brand new faces in the same conversation. That kind of thing doesn’t come through on a replay.

If you weren’t in the room, you missed the moment this stopped being a sermon and became a decision for the people sitting near you, some of whom had never sat in that room before. This Sunday we’re online only, so set your reminder now, and don’t let it be your story again the next time we’re back in the room.

Watch the Replay

The Storm You’re In Might Not Be Yours

This message ends right where the new series opens. Jonah’s storm. Joseph’s blessing. Caleb’s mountain. Watch how proximity works in both directions, and why obedience never made anybody waterproof.

► Watch the sermon

The Question We Keep Getting

After service, I lost count of how many of you asked some version of the same thing: what do I do if the person in my boat is my mother? My brother? My spouse?

I’m not skipping that question. I built an entire week around it.

Week 2 of WHO’S IN YOUR BOAT goes straight at Jacob, Laban, and Esau, the family that nearly destroyed him before it ever blessed him. “Honor your father and mother” was never a command to hand somebody the keys to your peace. You can honor a person and still not obey them.

If the name you’ve been avoiding shares your last name, July 26 is not optional.

This Sunday: WHO’S IN YOUR BOAT

Last week you found out the storm might not even be yours. This week we start naming who put it there. Four weeks. Real names. No more performing peace with people who are drilling holes while you sleep.

This Sunday is online only, YouTube and Facebook. No in-person gathering this week, so set your reminder now.

Sunday, July 19 · 10:30 AM Central · YouTube & Facebook

► Watch Sunday

Go Deeper: The Promise You Keep Whispering Is the One You’ll Lose

You’ve kept a dream vague on purpose, because a private hope never has to be defended and a promise you can quietly abandon is one you eventually will. I wrote about why the mountain you won’t name out loud is the one you’ll let die quietly, and what a woman in my office and an 85-year-old named Caleb both had to learn the hard way.

► Read it on Substack

Support This Ministry

You’ve been bailing somebody else’s water for free. Partner with a ministry that’s actually rebuilding your boat.

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With love and expectation,
Pastor Clarence E. Stowers, Jr.

P.S. Caleb didn’t climb his mountain with a crowd. Sunday we name the one person you climb with, and the ones you finally put down. WHO’S IN YOUR BOAT starts July 19.