In this eighth week of the Eternal Living series, Pastor Travis explores the story of Peter walking on water in Matthew 14, reframing it as a vivid picture of discipleship. He challenges the common question of whether someone reads their Bible regularly and replaces it with a better one: what are you and your rabbi, Jesus, currently working on together? Travis argues that a disciple is an apprentice of Jesus, one who has a vision to become like Him, surrounds themselves with a team, studies His life and teachings, and then selects one specific practice to put into action with everything they have.
Peter's bold request to walk on water demonstrates his deep understanding of discipleship: if his rabbi could do it, he as a student should be able to learn it too. Travis explains that Peter failed not because Jesus gave a bad command but because he let fear and doubt creep in. He encourages the congregation that failure is not sin but a feedback loop, and that Jesus, as a good teacher, addresses the root of failure rather than just the symptom. True transformation happens from the inside out through honest self-examination with the rabbi.
Finally, Travis reframes the gospel itself. He suggests that modern Christianity has settled for a gospel of forgiveness, but the real good news is transformation, becoming like Jesus here and now. While discipleship carries a cost, the cost of non-discipleship is far greater. Travis closes by challenging the congregation to choose the narrow road of intentional apprenticeship with Jesus rather than settling for a ticket to heaven.
Chapters
0:00 Welcome and Series Recap
4:08 What Are You and Your Rabbi Working On?
6:50 Peter Asks to Walk on Water
12:59 Defining Discipleship as Transformation
22:36 Peter Sinks and Jesus Asks Why
33:13 Discipleship Could Actually Work
38:45 The Cost of Discipleship
42:18 Choose the Narrow Road
27 Sept 2026
Eternal Living \\ Week 7 \\ September 27, 2026
This sermon, part of the "Eternal Living" series, explores Step Five of becoming a disciple of Jesus: selecting one of Jesus's teachings and earnestly trying to live it out. The pastor explains that after familiarizing yourself with Jesus's life and teaching in the Gospels (Step Four), the next move is to pick a single command—whether to stop doing something harmful like gossip or to start doing something difficult like loving an enemy—and commit to practicing it with everything you have. He acknowledges that failure is inevitable, but reframes it as a feedback loop rather than a reason for discouragement, drawing on 1 Timothy 4:10, where Paul describes striving to the point of "agony" because of hope in the living God.
Walking through Matthew 7:13-29, the pastor challenges the common childhood interpretation that the narrow gate is merely about believing the right doctrines to gain heaven. Instead, he argues the narrow gate is the road of discipleship—actively apprenticing under Jesus and putting his words into practice, which leads to abundant life now, not just later. He warns against false teachers, noting that good fruit—not charisma or eloquence—reveals a true teacher, and emphasizes that calling Jesus "Lord" means doing the will of the Father, not merely claiming the title.
The sermon closes with an invitation for a "discipleship do-over." Like Peter, who after denying Jesus received a second call of "follow me" by the shoreline, anyone can start fresh today. The pastor urges the congregation to identify the one command their rabbi Jesus is calling them to practice right now, try hard, fail forward, and keep going—because a life built on putting Jesus's words into practice will stand like a house on the rock.
Chapters
0:00 From Baptism to Discipleship
2:25 Step Five: Try a Teaching
6:36 The Narrow Gate of Discipleship
14:24 Picking a Good Teacher
20:16 Practice Over Profession
26:27 Building Your Life on the Rock
35:07 Striving and Learning from Failure
41:17 A Discipleship Do-Over
20 Sept 2026
Eternal Living \\ Week 6 \\ September 20, 2026
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