Luke 5:1-11

It was the summer of 1986.

I had just finished my junior year in high school.

Having grown up in a home that went to church, but in which Christian worship was not a daily part of our lives.

Having gone through a confirmation process where I filled out a statement of faith without knowing any of what I really wrote.

And submitted it so that I could be brought in as a member of the church that our family went to.

Having wandered out on a youth group retreat one night and looking up at the stars and wondered if maybe there was a God.

And wondering if maybe there was something to this whole thing.

But never getting an answer until during my sophomore and junior year I met Bill and Becky and other friends who knew Jesus.

And I didn't like their Jesus very much, but I liked them.

And I saw that they had something that was to me irresistibly attractive.

And so I kept hanging out with them and I kept asking questions.

And it brought me to this summer.

The summer where my friend went off across the sea and left me with Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

And in that time as I read through this book.

I saw who Jesus was for the first time.

And C.S. Lewis walked through the argument that he puts forth in that book.

I found myself being compelled by it.

And I got to the end.

And I remember thinking, if this is true,

what am I going to do with it?

I could no longer think, I wonder if there might be something to this.

Now I knew something.

Now I knew something about who Jesus was.

I had been confronted with him.

And I knew that I needed to respond.

Friends, this morning as we continue in our series in the book of Luke,

we will find a similar encounter with the Apostle Peter and some of his friends.

As they encountered Jesus and saw him, perhaps for the first time, with real eyes.

So we're looking at the Gospel of Luke.

If you want to turn there, I think it's page 860 in your pew Bible.

Is that right?

Yes?

Good.

As we turn there, let me just remind us of where we are.

We're doing a series this winter on who is this Jesus.

Looking at Luke chapter 4 through chapter 8.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

If you remember, we started a couple weeks ago hearing about Jesus as he walked into the synagogue

and he sat down and he read the words from Isaiah.

Isaiah, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the day of the Lord's favor.

And then having read this, he sat down and he said,

Today it is fulfilled.

What he was basically saying is,

Now that I am here.

And then as we've seen, after that he went out and he did ministry.

And he did it with a kind of authority.

Authority over spiritual forces of darkness.

Authority over physical sickness that would cause to destroy.

Destroy.

And in all of these things it arouses in our hearts the question,

Who is this one?

And that brings us to our text this morning.

Luke chapter 5.

Luke 5 · chapter mention

We're going to look at verses 1 through 11.

So please read along with me.

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God,

he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake.

But the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.

Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land.

And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,

Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.

And Simon answered,

Master, we toiled all night and took nothing.

But at your word, I will let down the nets.

And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish.

And their nets were breaking.

They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.

And they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink.

But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees,

saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken.

And so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.

And Jesus said to Simon,

Do not be afraid.

From now on, you will be catching men.

And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Let's pray together.

Lord, we thank you for your word.

And we thank you that in it you reveal yourself to us.

Lord, that it is not simply an instruction book for us on how to live.

But it is a book about you.

That we might see you clearly and know you rightly.

And respond in love and worship and obedience.

God, what a precious gift it is that you have given us your word.

So that we might know what kind of a God you truly are.

And Lord, as we look at this word this morning, I pray for receptive hearts.

Lord, for eyes that are ready to see you anew, afresh.

Or maybe for the first time.

Lord, I pray that you might use me.

Lord, that my words would be useful in lifting up Jesus in our midst.

That we might see him and respond.

And we pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, friends.

As we look at this story, one of the fun things about doing the Gospels is that they're stories.

And by that I don't mean they're fictional.

By that I mean they're narrative.

Which means that the way that God is telling truth is telling it through an account of what happened.

And so, what we're going to do is we're going to look at this.

And instead of giving you an outline of here are the three theses that Luke wants you to understand.

What I want you to see is there are three movements in this drama.

There are three actions that happen.

Or three places.

Three sections of this passage that capture us and grip us and teach us a bit about what is going on.

We're going to see first, we're going to see Jesus unveiled.

And secondly, we're going to see Peter undone.

And third, we are going to see Jesus calling for us to follow.

So, let's look at those three movements and see what they have for us this morning.

First of all, Jesus unveiled in the glory of the catch.

This is in verses 1 through 7.

And as you look at this, I want you to sit by the Sea of Galilee.

This Gennesaret is just a section of shoreline along the Sea of Galilee.

Luke uses a different word to tell you.

It's the same familiar place of Galilee.

So, Jesus is ministering up north in Israel.

He's collected a group of people.

They've heard about what he's doing.

They've heard about his teaching with authority.

And they've gathered along to do it.

I want you to notice, too, that Luke says on one occasion.

He's not saying this is an account of everything Jesus did.

And he's not even saying, oh, and this is what happened right after what happened at the end of chapter 4.

He's just saying, oh, let me tell you something else about what Jesus was doing during this time.

And he was gathered in this.

And the crowd became so big that they were pressing in on him.

And he saw the crowd growing and he thought, how do I love them?

They've come here to hear the words that I have to say to them.

And I want them to do that.

So, we love them enough to look for a solution.

And lo and behold, there it was.

Two fishing boats by the water.

The fishermen, having fished all night, were now out of their boats.

Tending to their nets at the end of a long night.

And he said to the fishermen, hey, can I use your boat?

And so, they pushed out from shore and the boat became his pulpit.

And the water became his microphone amplification as he preached to a large crowd.

But notice that for Luke, this isn't the point today.

It is the context in which Jesus was doing something else.

It's simply the setup.

Because in verse 4 then, we begin to see the story really take shape.

Peter, put out into the deep.

Put your nets down.

Now, Peter would have been pretty taken aback by this.

For a number of reasons.

One, Jesus was a carpenter, not a fisherman.

Or maybe Jesus was an itinerant religious teacher.

But he still didn't know anything about fishing.

And anyone who knows anything about fishing knows that if you've fished all night and you haven't caught anything,

you don't go out in the middle of the day to try again.

Because the fish aren't out in the middle of the day.

That's why fishermen always fish at dawn and dusk.

They go out in the right times of day.

And this was the wrong time of day.

As one commentator said,

But interestingly, with all of that resistance, Peter still responds.

He knows something of Jesus.

He's heard the teaching, maybe, as he's been mending the nets.

Maybe, likely, the account of his healing of his mother had happened, as it was reported in chapter 4.

He knew something of him.

He called him master.

It's an honorary term, like, of teacher or one who deserves honor.

He said,

This is the dumbest thing in the world, but alright, I'll try it.

Peter allowed Jesus to invade an inappropriate place in his life.

Peter may have looked at him and said,

He's a great teacher.

He maybe even, he healed my mother.

That seems like a good place for Jesus to stay in my life.

Now Jesus has insinuated himself into the place of Peter's expertise.

The place of his greatest ability.

Peter's doubtful, but he gives him a chance.

I want to stop for a minute.

I want you to think about your own life.

Jesus walks into your lab.

Why don't you try this?

I couldn't even begin to, like, give you technical terms.

Titrate this.

Spin this.

I don't even know.

I was an astry major.

You know what I mean.

Jesus walks into your homeschooling.

Maybe you should do this with your kids.

He invites you into your romantic life.

He goes along on the date.

Follows you into your bedroom.

How about this?

He walks with you down the hall in your high school.

Greeting your friends.

Sitting with you in the lunchroom.

How do you respond?

Master, we fished all night.

We didn't catch anything.

But since you ask, we'll do it.

I'll bet he wouldn't get master out of us most of the time.

More like the question.

Jesus, what do you have to do with this part of my life?

This isn't where you belong.

In those places of our greatest expertise.

When we think we're in control,

and when we think God really doesn't know what he's doing or what he's up to,

we resist him, and we don't see him as he truly is.

But Peter gave him a doubtful chance.

And look with me at verse 6 and 7.

Luke tells us in excruciating detail to make sure we don't miss what happened.

They enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.

That meant that the weight was greater than what those nets were built to catch.

And so they called their friend over in the other boat,

and they put the fish in the boat,

and these boats that were made to fish,

made to hold fish, were sinking because the catch was so great.

This is a fisherman's tale beyond belief.

It was this big!

But it really was.

It wasn't a fiction.

And joy turns into panic.

But it's a gleeful panic.

What are we going to do?

And notice this too.

When Jesus invades Peter's area of expertise,

he doesn't do it flippantly.

It's not just a random display of power for the fun of it.

He actually graciously provides for Peter the thing that he most needed and didn't have on his own.

He blessed Peter and the other fishermen with the catch that they could not catch on their own.

So Jesus' display of power was not simply asserting himself to say,

I'm better than you, or I'm bigger than you, or I'm greater than you,

although all of those things, as we will see, are true.

But he's saying, don't you see how much I love you?

That I will use all of my greatness for your good.

And so, with Peter, we must look at this Jesus again with new eyes.

Who is this man?

Suddenly the compartments come down.

It's running through Peter's head.

Who is he?

What has he just done?

He's the creator who knows the fish.

Whether he commanded them to jump into the nets,

or whether he just knew where they were at the wrong time of day,

he's the one who rules over creation.

He's the almighty provider who's able, at the snap of his finger,

with what humanly seems like an irrational request,

provide the thing that we most need.

He is the sovereign over all.

He is the Holy One of God.

Who is he?

This must be God.

Not just a teacher.

Not just a helpful man

who might tell me something useful about my spiritual life.

But someone who is greater than all.

This must be God.

The analogy is,

if Jesus can rule in the area of my greatest expertise,

then doesn't he have a claim to rule over all?

If Jesus can do this in the place where I'm the professional,

then doesn't Jesus make me accountable to him in everything that I do?

And if that request is so surprising,

and the response so unbelievable,

then the second thing that happens in this story

is additionally so surprising.

Because,

as we see moving on to verses 8 through 10,

we see our second movement.

Because we see Peter,

Simon Peter,

responding,

and his response

is surprising.

What we see is him undone.

Look with me again at verse 8.

When Simon Peter saw it,

he fell down at Jesus' knees,

saying,

Depart from me,

for I am a sinful man,

O Lord.

With echoes of the Isaiah passage

that we read further,

when Isaiah encountered the glory of God,

and fell down before him,

and says,

Woe is me.

Peter falls down before Jesus.

And he says three things.

First thing he says is,

Depart from me.

This is not a Mike Myers,

I am not worthy.

There is no tongue in cheek.

It is not even just awe and wonder.

You are bigger than me.

But what it is,

is in this common pattern

that we see over and over in the scriptures,

when people encounter God himself,

when people encounter messengers

of the God most high,

they fall down on their faces,

and their beginning start is,

O Lord,

I can't handle this.

It's too much.

Depart from me,

for I am afraid

that I might die in your presence.

Depart from me,

for I am fearful

that I am not worthy

to be before you.

I cannot stand

in your presence.

It would be like the present

who,

hearing a surprising knock at the door,

finds the king

standing at the doorstep saying,

May I come in and eat?

No, I'm not worthy.

My table is not clean.

My food is not good enough.

I have nothing to offer

what you really deserve.

You must be mistaken, Lord.

It must be another house

you're looking for.

I think that's what Peter is saying

when he says,

Depart from me, Lord.

He's expressing this fear.

Then the second thing,

For I am a sinful man.

Jesus hasn't said anything

about sin.

We haven't heard anything

about righteousness,

about the law,

about doing right and wrong.

None of that has happened.

How did Peter get here?

This doesn't make any sense,

does it?

Spurgeon helpfully

says this about it.

I do not doubt

that in the sermon

which Christ delivered,

there was such a clear declaration

of the holiness of God

that Peter felt himself

unveiled,

discovered,

his heart laid bare.

And now came

the finishing stroke.

The one who had done this

could also rule

the fishes of the sea.

He must, therefore,

be God.

And if it was to God

that all the defects

and evils of Peter's heart

had been revealed

and thoroughly known,

and almost fearing,

with a kind of

inarticulate cry of alarm

because the criminal

was in the presence

of the judge,

the polluted

in the presence

of the immaculate,

Peter says,

depart from me

for I am a sinful man,

O Lord.

When we find ourselves

in the presence of God,

we find ourselves

in the presence

of all of him.

And in his perfect power,

in his perfect creatorness

that rules over all things,

he is also the perfect

moral one.

And in his greatness,

we see our smallness.

In his perfection,

we see our sinfulness.

In his power,

we see our weakness.

And Peter confesses it.

For I am a sinful man.

I cannot stand

before your holiness.

I think it's possible

that part of what Peter

recognized

in that moment

was,

I didn't really think,

Jesus,

that you knew anything

about fishing.

And so I had you over here

in this nice little compartment

in my life.

And you've now blown that up.

And I've recognized

how sinful that is.

Because if you are God

over all,

then you are God

over me.

And I am a sinful man

for not seeing your glory

and responding rightly.

Depart from me,

for I am a sinful man,

O Lord.

This is the final recognition.

He called him earlier,

Master.

You're one who deserves honor.

But now he says,

you are Lord.

And fascinatingly,

if you have the time,

go back and read Luke 1-3

and see the almost 30 times

when the writer Luke

uses the word Lord.

And in all of those contexts,

it is the Lord God Almighty,

the Lord who rules over,

the Lord of Israel,

the Lord of the promises

of the Old Testament,

the Lord who brings life

to a virgin womb,

the Lord who appears

and opens barren Elizabeth,

the Lord who has shown favor

to those who don't deserve favor.

It is this sovereign good Lord.

And Peter now uses this term

on his lips,

no longer master,

but Lord.

Peter has experienced both his awesome power

and greatness

and his gracious goodness.

And in this,

he is undone.

He's forgotten about the fish.

He fell down in the boat

at Jesus' knees.

Suddenly,

as he sees what Jesus has done,

Jesus now fills

the whole screen of his life.

Everything that he's concerned about

now fades.

Only Jesus is there.

Friends,

I wonder if Jesus has undone you

this morning.

I wonder if you've seen him

as he really is.

If he's opened your eyes

to see him as the creator

to whom you're accountable,

as the holy one

whose moral perfection

exposes our sin

and the ugliness

of our hearts.

His gracious love for us

that shows us

how ungrateful and selfish

we really are.

His sovereign goodness

that shows us

how often we grasp

for control,

for power

in our own lives.

Have you seen him

as he really is?

Has he undone you?

When he undoes you,

there's no more pretense.

There's no more excuses.

There's no more expertise

to fall back on

in parts of our lives.

We are laid bare before him

when he undoes us.

We realize we have no basis

to claim

rightness before him.

We have no merit

that we might be commended

to him.

We have no goodness

to cling to

and no self

to exalt

before him.

we see him

and we are undone

because he is

greater

because he is God.

Maybe you've been a Christian

for a long time.

Maybe you grew up

reading these stories

and thinking,

oh yeah,

I know that one.

That's all about,

we'll get to the end

about following Jesus

and I know the song,

I have decided

to follow Jesus.

You know,

we,

you know,

or the,

I'm sure there are other songs

about the fishermen

and stuff,

but I didn't grow up

in that as much

so I don't know the songs.

But maybe you've grown up

in that kind of a background

and you know those stories

from heart

and you're sort of like,

yeah, yeah, yeah,

we've done this a lot.

I know that.

But I wonder if Jesus

has become too familiar

to you.

I wonder if the Jesus

of this story

has been lost to you

under the guise of

a nice,

pleasant Jesus

who wants good for you

in your life

and yeah,

he died on the cross

for your sins

and that's good

and you know,

he can sort of take care

of that part of your life

and let you go

on your merry way.

I wonder if this morning

you would see him afresh,

if you would see him

with new eyes

and see him in his glory

as he says,

I am Lord of all.

I am the giver of life.

I am the one who calls you.

Maybe some of you

are like me

and you've grown up in church

and you've known about Jesus

but you've never really

encountered him

and you've never really

seen him this way ever.

Or maybe you're here

because

through

God's gracious work

in your life

you're wondering

whether there might be

something to this Christianity.

Maybe like me

you have a friend

who

believes this stuff

and you're like

what is that all about?

I gotta figure that out.

Maybe you're here

this morning wondering

who is this Jesus?

Jesus.

Jesus.

Jesus.

Whatever it is.

Whatever your situation is.

I pray this morning

that as you see him

that you would be undone.

I pray this morning

that you would

encounter him.

Friends,

when I encountered him

it was

not because

God intervened

in some

he didn't suddenly

make me win

the lacrosse championship

or make me

the star of the school play

or give me a straight egg

average or whatever.

He didn't come in

and invade my areas

of expertise.

But through

the words of my friends

and through the words

of C.S. Lewis

and through my own time

actually reading

parts of the Bible

I encountered him

and saw who he was

and God opened my eyes

to see him

for the first time.

So friends,

wherever you are

this morning

I pray

I pray that you

would see him

and if you're sitting there

and you know

I haven't been undone

by Jesus

I don't even know

this Jesus

friends,

this is where we look.

This is where

you will find him.

Keep reading.

Keep looking.

Come talk to me.

Talk to your friend

who brought you.

Talk to your friend

who you've known

for 30 years

as you've gone to church

together

and marvel again

at who Jesus is.

Be undone by him.

So Jesus unveils himself

in his glory.

Peter and his friends

and we are undone

as we see him

as he really is.

And then Jesus

responds to us again

as he does to Peter

and he gives this call.

Look with me again.

Verse 10.

Second half.

And Jesus said to Simon

don't be afraid.

That is

I haven't come

to destroy you.

I'm not going

to simply wipe you out

though your sin is real

and though your unworthiness

is right.

No

I've come

to do something else.

You see

it's never been

about the fish.

The beginning

and the end

of the story

tell us that

the fish

has just been

a sign

and a symbol

and an unveiling

of the person.

Jesus says

no I'm not going

to run from you

Peter.

Instead

I'm going to call you.

I'm going to call you

to follow me.

He doesn't say

okay now you've

understood me better

go back and do your thing

and we'll go on

and do our thing

and I'll go teach

and you go fish

and we'll be fine.

Isn't that nice?

Jesus doesn't say that.

He says

no I've come

to radically

reorient your life.

There's a place

for you to fish.

but what I want

you to do

is I want you

to begin to see

what I'm about

and to reorient

your life around me

and what my purposes

are in the world

and what my glory

is all about.

He says

no longer

will you fish

for those things

in the lake

but you will fish

for the souls

of men and women.

He'll say

come follow me

because this is

what I'm about

don't you see

this is my teaching

ministry that you've seen.

The net that I throw out

is the net

of the good news

of the kingdom of God

and the gospel

and the catch

that I get

is not

flapping little

fish

but it's the souls

of men and women

cast over the crowds.

This is the call

that Jesus gives

to them.

He says

Peter you are not undone

I am now capturing you

and calling you

in fact

into a greater thing

than what you've ever done

and as you are undone

from all these little things

that consumed your lives

and dominated your attention

now I want you

to reorient those things

around me

and the things

that I am about.

he wants to say

no longer

is fishing

the purpose

of your life.

No longer

is fishing

your security.

No longer

is fishing

your capital.

No longer

is being a fisherman

your identity.

Jesus is Lord

of all

the fish

and the fishermen

and he has come

to say

I now

as I call you

to follow me

I will be for you

your security

your capital

your identity

your purpose

in life.

Jesus is saying

I am not the moon

that simply reflects

light on you

at the night

but I am the sun

around which you

and the planets

of your life

are meant to orbit.

I am meant to be

and call you

to make me

the gravitational

center

of what you are

and who you are.

Because don't you see

how easy it is

for us

to not do that?

How easy it is

for us to say

yeah Jesus

we will give you

some of it

but not this stuff

you can't touch this.

This is mine

this is where

I am in charge

this is where

I exalt myself

this is where

I am the one

who knows

what is going on.

Jesus says

no

I am the lord

of everything

even your fishing

and now look

let's make sure

we get this right

Jesus doesn't call

all Christians

to forsake

every other vocation

to become a minister

in case you are

confused by that

that is not

what he is saying

here

right?

not everyone

is called

to literally

leave their boats

and their nets

God called

these men

in a very special

way

to play a special

role

they were his

disciples

who went with him

and through them

he then

shared

and spread

the ministry

that he was called

to

of proclaiming

the word

and bringing

the kingdom

of God

to this world

they were the

beginning of the

church

which was the

thing that he

was birthing

through his

ministry

and yes

he called

them to

leave their

nets

and their

fish

and everything

to follow

him

but practically

for us

some of you

are going to

be called

to leave

all the

security

all the

identity

all the

capital

and all

the expertise

that you

have in your

career

and to

abandon

all of those

things

to Jesus

hand

and then

to go back

and to do

the very

same thing

and I know

some of you

that's a

really hard

road to

walk

I don't

know if you

ever think

about it

but I

sit up here

sometimes

and I

think I

have the

easy life

I get to

do this

all day

every day

this is my

joy

that this

is my

vocation

some of

you have a

hard road

to walk

in what

you do

having to

live out

making

Jesus

the center

of your

life

as a

carpenter

or a

fisherman

as a

postdoc

or a

mom

as a

teacher

as an

executive

as a

student

as simply

a citizen

in this

world

whatever

you do

the call

here

is to

reorient

your life

around

Jesus

and to

live

for him

and to

follow him

in his

work

and yes

that does

mean

that in

your

workplace

you are

called

to carry

out

his

mission

which is

to love

people in

his name

and to

proclaim

the good

news

that Jesus

has come

you are

called to

do that

wherever

you are

and whatever

you do

but he

doesn't

mean

that you

have to

leave your

vocation

and your

work

but he

does mean

reorient

your life

make me

the center

see who

I am

and this

is what I

want you

to see

friends

is that

this isn't

a command

try harder

try harder

to be a

better

Christian

be more

committed

to being

more

committed

no

that's

not it

because

you see

friends

this story

helps us

see

the very

dynamics

of the

gospel

itself

Jesus

reveals

himself

in his

glory

and friends

you know

that in

the gospel

of Luke

this section

chapter 4

through 9

is a

setup

it started

with this

quotation

from Isaiah

about Jesus

has come

and the

kingdom

has come

and then

there's a

display of

it in

chapters 4

through 9

this is

what it

looks like

Jesus

is Lord

over this

Jesus

is Lord

over that

Jesus

showing

the character

of God's

kingdom

where he's

setting the

captives free

and bringing

freedom to

those who are

oppressed

and bringing

sight to the

blind

and he does

all these

things

and then in

chapter 9

in Luke

Jesus

turns and he

sets his

face towards

Jerusalem

and as he

goes to

Jerusalem

he encounters

increasing

resistance

people hate

him

for his

message

and he

has resisted

more and

more

and Luke

structures

the whole

gospel to

lead us

to the

end chapters

where we

see Jesus

in the

fullness of

his glory

in the

greatest

expression

of his

sovereign

power

and his

love

for us

as he

lays down

his life

for us

as he

offers

himself

up

in

our

place

because

we

are

sinful

men

and

ought

to

be

destroyed

by

holy

God

yet

Jesus

says

no

I

will

take

that

place

and I

will

suffer

the

destruction

that

your

sins

deserve

and I

will

hang

on that

cross

in

your

place

because

I

love

you

and

because

I

have

come

to

redeem

you

to

make

you

my

own

and

he

died

and

he

rose

again

to

show

his

power

even

over

sin

and

death

to

show

that

his

redemption

is

real

and

one

day

will

be

complete

as

he

lives

it

out

as

he

comes

one

day

to

return

to

make

it

all

right

friends

when

we

see

this

Jesus

when

this

Jesus

is

unveiled

before

our

eyes

we

are

able

both

like

Peter

to

fall

at

his

knees

and

say

woe

is

me

I

am

undone

before

you

and

yet

we

are

able

then

to

rise

at

his

gracious

call

and

say

I

will

follow

you

and

I

will

leave

everything

because

I've

seen

how

great

you

are

why

would

I

want

to

follow

anything

else

why

would

I

want

to

spend

my

life

glorifying

anything

else

other than

the thing

that you

are

because

you

are

the

best

and

the

greatest

thing

I

have

ever

encountered

so

friends

it's

not about

us

working

harder

to work

harder

or being

more

committed

to being

more

committed

but

it's

about

us

seeing

Jesus

as he

really

is

because

when

we

see

him

like

that

he

will

do

this

work

in

us

he

will

undo

us

and

convict

us

of

sin

he

will

show

us

the

areas

where

we

have

not

given

him

the

lordship

of

our

lives

he

will

bring

us

faith

when

we

don't

have

faith

he

will

do

these

things

when

we

see

him

rightly

so

friends

the

call

to

Peter

is

a

call

to

us

will

you

follow

me

with

all

that

that

means

from

this

passage

we

talked

about

it

before

some

of

you

this

may

be

a

call

for

the

first

time

that

you

need

to

respond

to

I

have

never

followed

him

I

have

never

seen

him

like

that

I

have

never

understood

what

he

did

for

me

I

never

understood

who

he

really

is

friends

today

he

calls

you

follow

me

some

of

you

have

lived

your

life

knowing

about

him

or

knowing

him

for

a

long

time

but

maybe

today

he's

put

a

finger

on

a

part

of

your

life

that

he's

invaded

with

his

lordship

and

his

call

to

follow

to

leave

everything

and

to

follow

him

maybe

you

need

to

surrender

those

areas

to

him

and

reaffirm

that

you

will

follow

him

no

turning

back

no

turning

back

we

don't

usually

do

this

in

this

church

but

I'm

actually

going

to

ask

the

worship

team

to

come

in

and

I

want

to

give

you

just

a

reflect

on

what

we've

heard

this

morning

to

think

about

this

to

pray

God

will

you

help

me

to

pray

God

will

you

will

you

show

me

yourself

will

you

make

my

eyes

see

who

you

are

maybe

you

already

hear

the

Holy

Spirit

whispering

to

you

how

you

need

to

respond

to

him

this

morning

so

the

musicians

begin

to

play

I'm

just

going

to

give

you

just

a

moment

here

to

reflect

to

pray

and

then

we'll

respond

by

singing

singing

a song

of

recognition

that

Jesus

is

worthy

to

follow

him

so

why don't

we bow

our heads

and

just take

a moment

together

to

to

forget

to

forward

oh

and

to

battle

ologist

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So stand as you will and let's sing together.