sea of galilee field trip

Did I mention yet that I love the Galilee? Today we had our Sea of Galilee field trip and I swear we saw everything! And to make it all that much better, it was raining all day long and I felt like I was back home in Oregon ☺
We started the day by going to the Mount of Beatitudes. This is where the greatest sermon ever given, the Sermon on the Mount, was delivered by our Lord Jesus Christ. At the top of the hill is a beautiful Italian church. It was built as a domed octagon to symbolize the eight beatitudes. The grounds were absolutely gorgeous. It was a beautiful place to read and ponder the Savior’s incredible message to all of us.
The next place we went was the Basilica of the Fish and Loaves. This church honored the miracle of Jesus multiplying the fish and loaves to feed 5,000 men. The power of God is limitless. He extends His power to us in ways which may seem insignificant, but it shows to us that he truly cares about every aspect of our lives. He cares if we’re hungry, He cares if we’re sick, He cares about us in ways we don’t even care about ourselves.
Our next destination was another church in Tabgha called St. Peter’s Primacy commemorating Christ’s appearance to the Apostles, in which Jesus shared a meal with them and commanded Peter to “feed my sheep.” We were able to sing a few hymns in the church and then stand on the shores of the Sea. As I stood there I thought of the Savior asking me the same question He asked Peter, “lovest thou me more than these?” I know that I love Him, but I need to do a lot better at showing it by serving and loving my fellow men.
Capernaum was our next stop. This was an ancient town on the northwest shore of the Sea. It was the home of Peter, Andrew, and possibly Matthew. Jesus moved there at the beginning of His ministry and referred to it as “his own city.” Many of Jesus’ miracles were performed in or around Capernaum. The two major sites we saw were the remains of an ancient synagogue, and the remains of what is thought to be Peter’s house. The synagogue may be the one that Jesus taught His bread of life sermon in. There was a lot of good stuff going on in Capernaum.
Our last adventure of the day was a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee! We started the ride off right listening and dancing to Christian gospel music, praising the Lord. We had soul and we were showing it to Jesus! Half way across the lake we stopped and had a devotional. Brother Harper taught us about the Savior calming the sea, which was very fitting since the rain stopped for us right before we got on the boat. We talked about how there are times in all of our lives where we will ask the Lord “carest thou not that we perish?” and the truth is that He does. He wants to save us, but sometimes we have to suffer first. Jesus’ reply to the apostles is, “where is your faith?” This was good for me to learn about because things will always turn better for us if we have faith. Peace will return and we will be saved if we will believe Christ. We then sang Master the Tempest is Raging, which spoke more to me there than it ever has before. The line “no storm can swallow the ship where lies the Master of ocean and earth and skies” came alive to me. I realized then that as long as we are with Jesus, following Him, the adversary will have no power over us because he has no power over the Savior. I love the things that I’m learning here in Galilee! I wish I could remember every second of my time here.
(I'll put more pictures up later. The internet isn't good enough here to put them up while I'm here. Stay tuned!)