Fellowship United Methodist Church

Another amazing day as we visited various sites around the Sea of Galilee It is beginning to sink in a little more that I am walking where my Savior walked.

We started the day with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. The water was as flat as glass, but as we read the scripture from Mark 4 I couldn’t help but think of the times that a storm has raged in my soul and could almost hear Jesus say, “Peace. Be still.” It was a sobering thought to think of Jesus walking on that very water and saying to Peter, “Come.” I have to admit that I considered diving in; not because I just like to do things like that but because I wanted to just literally immerse myself in the experience. When the cruise was over we docked at a museum that has the remains of the same kind of boat that Jesus would have used from the first century. Was it the one Jesus used? I don’t know.

Above the museum are cliffs with caves that honeycomb throughout the mountain. Our guide told us how in the first century as Christians were persecuted by the Romans, the people would hide in those caves and the Romans would lower themselves on ropes and use gaff hooks to pull the Christians from their hiding places and plunge to their death on the rocks below. Those that could get away ran to the shore and would get in boats trying to escape and the Romans would chase them down and sink their boats. Could the boat in the museum have been one of those?

Then we went to the hillside where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount and Tagtha where he feed 5,000 people with a few loaves of bread and some small fish. Just below that stop is a cave where Jesus would go to be alone and get away from the crowds. I was a bit disappointed how people have treated the place. Just down the hill from that spot, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee is the rock where Jesus appeared the third time to the disciples after his resurrection and had breakfast with them. I could almost see Peter, in a boat fishing and hearing Jesus say to cast down his nets and then how Peter got so excited that he jumped out of the boat and swam to shore to be with his Savior.

Then we visited the place where Jesus fed 4,000 people with loaves and fish. I couldn’t help but think how God always provides for me, everything that I need.

We ended the day with a visit to the river Jordan where all 28 of us reaffirmed our baptisms.