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Do you like boats? Well, today’s story is about the most incredible boat trip ever. There’s never been another like it.

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Our story begins on the shores of the Lake of Galilee.

Jesus had been out and about going from place to place telling people about God’s great love. After He’d finished talking to the people He got into a boat with His disciples and said to them “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” They boarded the boat and took their seats.

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Some of Jesus’ disciples Peter, James and John were fishermen, so they knew all about boats and they also knew Lake Galilee very well too. Peter. James and John had fished in the lake many times.

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Soon the boat was well away from shore, heading out across the lake. It was a perfect day for a boat trip; lovely blue sky; gentle breeze and the water was nice and calm

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The shore line soon disappeared, they hadn’t too many miles to row to get to the other side, and with the experienced fishermen on board, they would be there in no time.

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Jesus was tired after spending many days travelling around talking to the people. It wasn’t long before he found a nice quiet spot at the back of the boat and settled down to sleep. The voyage was going really well.

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Or was it? Some dark clouds suddenly appeared in the sky but, Peter, James and John knew that the weather often changed quickly on the lake, so at first they were not too concerned but maybe it was time to row a little faster.

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Very quickly, really strong winds started to blow across the lake and the sea became quite rough. It was not easy to row with such large waves and the disciples were starting to become concerned.

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All was not well, the winds got stronger and stronger as the waves got higher and higher! They were now in the middle of a fierce storm. The disciples struggled to keep the boat under control, things were not looking good.

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The boat was tossed this way and that, the disciples began to be afraid and worried, this was an unusually bad storm. What were they going to do?

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The waves threw the boat around about as if it was a toy boat, the disciples were in big trouble now and they had completely forgotten about Jesus, who was still fast asleep at the back of the boat .

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Their lovely quiet boat trip had turned into a disaster, what could they do?

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As the storm raged, all the time Jesus slept on. The waves were so big, water started to come into the boat!

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As the water weighed the boat down and it sank deeper into the lake, the disciples knew that they were in big trouble! They were terrified they would drown. Suddenly, they remembered Jesus was with them.

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‘‘Jesus, Jesus, wake up, wake up, don’t you care we’re going to drown,” the disciples shouted.

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Jesus stood up in the boat, and He could see how afraid the disciples were.

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Jesus spoke to the wind and waves, telling them to be still. The storm immediately stopped, the disciples couldn’t believe their eyes – they were amazed. Jesus turned to the disciples and said, “Where is your faith?” The disciples said to one another, “Who is this, even the winds and the waves obey Him!”

Sometimes life can get a bit stormy. Not with howling winds and crashing waves but things around us sometimes seem to go wrong. Maybe we have troubles with friends or at school. It could be that we feel lonely. Perhaps a friend or relative is sick. Jesus knows and cares about you. He was with the disciples in the boat on the rough sea when they even thought they would drown. The disciples learned a very important lesson that day when they finally remembered that Jesus was with them, let us remember that Jesus is with us too and we can always ask Him for His help.