Luke 5:1-11
NLT [1] "One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of
Galilee, great crowds pressed in on Him to listen to the word of God. [2] He
noticed two empty boats at the water's edge, for the fishermen had left them
and were washing their nets. [3] Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked
Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So He sat in the boat and
taught the crowds from there. [4] When He had finished speaking, He said to
Simon, "Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch
some fish." [5] "Master," Simon replied, "we worked hard
all last night and didn't catch a thing. But if You say so, I'll let the nets
down again." [6] And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to
tear! [7] A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon
both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. [8] When Simon
Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said,
"Oh, Lord, please leave me-I'm such a sinful man." [9] For he was
awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him.
[10] His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. Jesus
replied to Simon, "Don't be afraid! From now on you'll be fishing for
people!" [11] And as soon as they landed, they left everything and
followed Jesus."
1.
The
challenge of caring for the seemingly insignificant.
1.
Usually
when I hear a message of evangelism, my first reaction is a sinking feeling in
the pit of my stomach.
1.
Oh
no, I haven’t
won my family, my school, my coworkers, my city; I haven’t evangelized every person I have
met.
1.
In
fact, it’s
been awhile since even one of my friends has gotten saved.
2.
About
that time an overwhelming feeling of condemnation and discouragement tries to
settle in my heart, which is the Devils goal.
1.
So I try to justify myself: After all, with the billions
of people in the world, what can I do anyway?
1.
It’s not like I’m Billy Graham, who saw over 1.6
million recorded decisions at his rallies, let alone the hundreds of thousands
of other people who heard him preach the gospel.
1.
If
we start thinking this way, we will be defeated before we start.
2.
If
hell keeps us captivated by the thought and overwhelming work load of
ministering to the world, then Jesus' sacrifice can never be fully realized.
1.
Millions
of people need Jesus Christ.
1.
If
we don’t start with a little, we will never accomplish a lot.
1.
If
we will give complete and absolute laser focus to the Gospel message of Jesus
Christ, He will do the rest.
2.
The
Gospel is Good News because it means freedom from slavery to sin, freedom from
selfishness and an eternity with God.
1.
Significance
and selfishness are incompatible.
2.
There
is no individual who is insignificant to God.
2.
Significance
through insignificance.
1.
The
way Jesus operates is different than how culture operates.
2.
To
Jesus, the way up is down—the road to greatness is paved in and through
servanthood.
1.
Great
leaders are willing to leave the ninety-nine to go after one individual.
1.
Sound
crazy?
2.
This
is the way God works.
1.
Small
acts of kindness are big to the person receiving them.
1.
It's
our Love for God in action.
2.
It
may happen that a mere smile, a short visit, the raking of some leaves, the
preparing and giving of a meal could make someone’s day.
3.
How
about writing a letter for a blind man, fixing a broken door, reading a book
for someone, or visiting an inmate?
1.
Something
small, insignificant to you but life changing to it's recipient.
1.
My
wife TK is living proof that a smile, a friendly hello, and a ride to church
can really encourage someone’s life.
1.
Van
and Bus Ministry.
1.
Even
with our kids along, she said my children will never disable me to
minister.
2.
Tiffany,
Thomas, Tyler and Timberely.
3.
TK
had this mantra, still does, that I am the first person they see before church
and the last person they will encounter after church, I will do and give them
my very best, always.
1.
Just
think of how many lives have been affected because one individual stepped out,
mended the broken net and said, "I will choose to make a difference in the
life of this person."
3.
Launch
out a little.
1.
I
doubt Jesus would have led Peter to his miraculous catch if he had resisted the
first command to launch out a little: “few in number, effort or
time.”
1.
God
asking us to put out a little bit of effort and time to touch a few people’s lives.
1.
I
still remember the day one of my coworkers Brian came to church with me.
1.
To
be honest, I wasn’t
trying to win him to Christ; I was just working diligently with him to achieve
a team bonus at work.
2.
We
were working so hard when I realized that I needed to go. He asked, “So where
you headed off to in a hurry?”
1.
I
immediately replied, “Oh, you know, church.” I had talked to him about church
before but nothing ever really stuck—or so it seemed.
2.
He
responded right back, “Can I come?” I stopped and said, “Yeah, sure, absolutely!” I was
floored.
3.
I
didn’t
realize that just making a concerted effort with him had really made that much
of a difference.
1.
That
night, a Wednesday night Brian responded to the altar call and gave his life to
Jesus.
2.
I
am afraid we have things backward too many times.
1.
In
the Christian world I mean, doing big events to reach people is vogue and makes
headlines.
1.
But
before you hold an event to see your entire campus saved, why not begin with
loving one friend?
2.
Before
you try to feed all the homeless people in your city, why not start by feeding
one?
3.
Before
you move to Africa to build an orphanage, take the neighbor kids, whose parents
just got a divorce, to the local pizza place.
1.
If
you don’t
launch out a little and touch the life of those around and about you, will you
really be ready for the big event?
3.
Jesus,
help us to see the value of what seems insignificant.
1.
Guide us every moment so that we don’t
overlook opportunities
to minister to people.
2.
You’ve asked me to be faithful with
what is in front of me.
1.
Show
me how to demonstrate Your love to my family, friends, classmates and even my
enemies.
4.
Churches get more focused on taking care of
the aquarium than they are in mending nets.
1.
We've
not been called to just be keepers of the aquarium but to fish for people.
2.
Many
churches refuse to invite, welcome or minister to outsiders.
1.
They
make decisions based on who they are trying to keep rather than who they’re trying to reach.
1.
When
churches are small, they are overlooked.
2.
When
they grow, they are criticized.
3.
When they are large, they are resented.
1.
So
I just ignore all that and I just seek to do God's will.
1.
God's
will is that none should perish or be destroyed but that all would come to
salvation and repentance.
3.
If
we choose to never mend the nets we are essentially saying, I don't care.
1.
Jesus
never left us in a state of helplessness or hopelessness.
2.
As
a matter of fact scripture teaches us that Jesus will never leave us, desert us
or forsake us.
1.
Hell
would like nothing more than for us to stay silenced and heaven would like
nothing more than for us to mend every net.
1.
Catch
every one.
1.
Mend
the nets of patience.
2.
Mend
the nets of fear.
3.
Mend
the nets of insecurity.
4.
Mend
the nets of disengaging.
5.
Mend
the nets of forgiveness.
6.
Mend
the nets of honor, respect, and love.
7.
Mend
the nets of kindness, grace, mercy, and long suffering.
4.
When
we become so self entertained, self indulged, self involved we have shifted the
cause of Jesus into selfishness and pride.
1.
Two
thing Jesus never allowed into His life and ministry.
1.
He
was friendly, He was kind, He was caring, He was compassionate in fact He is
still all those things and so so much more.
Illustrate
Here: Boat,
net and poles...
1.
I
can have all the right tools.
2.
I
can have all the bells and whistles but if I never put them to work, what good
are they?
1.
Fishing
Methods: Hand gathering, spearfishing, angling, or trapping: low-tech or high-tech, net
fishing or pole fishing, by all means just fish.
3.
I
can all know all the right locations, honey holes, and sweet spots if I never
venture toward them, what benefit is there?
4.
I
can criticize them, ridicule them, judge them, and ignore them, yet that will
never put one of them in the boat.
1.
We
congratulate and accolade each other for our use of the equipment God has given
unto us, when the Gospel is solely about Jesus!
1.
Just
catch people.
5.
The
challenge of confidence in the face of failure.
1.
I
believe with all my heart God and heaven calls out to us to minister and serve
with confidence.
1.
The
disciples had fished all night and caught nothing, yet Jesus commanded them to
"launch out" and “go out to where it is deeper."
1.
Jesus
was testing their confidence.
2.
Too
many Christians struggle with their confidence to be witnesses.
1.
Too
many of us hesitate to launch into someone’s life to share the Good News of
Jesus Christ.
3.
Until
we are more confident in God and His Word than we are concerned for our own well-being
and reputation, we will never launch into people’s lives.
1.
The
disciples also had to choose whether they were going to respond in confidence
or be paralyzed by their past failures.
4.
You
may find yourself agreeing with everything that has been said up to this point,
but in the back of your mind a little voice says, I have tried all this before.
1.
I
know it’s the right thing to do, but reaching people just doesn’t work for me.
2.
Start
exercising the following three principles in order to overcome your doubt and
lack of confidence:
1.
Christ
is our confidence.
1
Corinthians 1:18 "The message of the cross is foolish to those who are
headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of
God."
2.
Our
confidence is not based on results.
Hebrews
11:1 NLT [1] "Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the
evidence of things we cannot see."
1.
God
knows that at times we will be tempted to lose faith if the results aren’t as we anticipate; therefore, He
encourages us:
Hebrews
10:35-36 NLT [35] "So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord.
Remember the great reward it brings you! [36] Patient endurance is what you
need now, so that you will continue to do God's will. Then you will receive all
that He has promised."
3.
Confidence
is not the denial of failure:
1.
The
confidence that comes through Christ enables you to put failure in its proper
place.
1.
If
you have failed due to your own sin, you can be set free from condemnation
through the work of the cross.
Romans 8:1-2
NLT [1] "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ
Jesus."
4.
If
you seem to have failed when you stepped out in obedience to God’s Word, you have to trust that He
is in control:
Romans 8:28
NLT [28] "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the
good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for
them."
5.
Not
all things are good but God causes all things to work toward our good.
1.
He
will use anything to propel us forward, to propel us into growth, to propel us
into His vision and we might fail but we'll fail forward as He is in us.
2.
Once
we overcome and have a confidence based on Christ, we are ready to launch out
into the deep and go to places we have never gone before.
1.
God
will accomplish what He sent me to do.
2.
You’re a rewarder of diligence and
faithfulness.
1.
God
reward my obedience to Your Word with the salvation of people.
The priority is to stay focused.
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