How God Reveals Himself

The question he's asking is not what's gonna take you to actually believe that I am who I said I am.

I'm gonna do what I said I'm gonna do.

The issue is, Peter, when are you gonna come to believe that I'm gonna do it through you?

This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God.

For more information, visit grandparkway.org.

Amen.

Amen.

Let's pray together.

Uh Lord, thank you, Holy Spirit, that you lit the flame uh that that became the church.

And so, Lord, we bear the torch that fell flaming from the hands of faithful men and women.

And so we want to steward that uh with gusto and gravity and gladness.

And we want to be faithful.

So, Holy Spirit, illuminate the scripture today.

We're not here for an experience, we're here for understanding.

Uh, Proverbs says, though it costs you all you have, get understanding.

And so, Lord, speak to our head and speak to our heart and speak to those places in such ways that it has to find expression in our hands this week.

That people who are perishing can get a whiff of the fragrant aroma of what Jesus is really like.

Lord, it's not about religion, it's about a relationship.

And so, Lord, I pray for anybody in this room that's been fishing on the wrong side of the boat and they're just worn out that this morning they would hear about a God who reveals himself, a God that says, Ollie, alley, in free, a God that says, No, I'm not there.

I'm over here because you love to be found.

And so, Lord, uh, reveal the truth today.

Reveal yourself today, and that will be enough.

Show us yourself, God.

That's why we've come today.

We bless you, we praise you, we'll offer this prayer in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

You can have a seat.

If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to John chapter 21.

John 21 · chapter mention

Uh, if you're our guest, we're going, we've been preaching through the gospel of John uh since about September of 2017.

Um, and we're almost to the very end.

And I want to talk to you today about how God reveals Himself.

How God reveals Himself.

And let me just say this.

I know that a lot of times we preachers can say things that we think make perfect sense and they don't make any sense to you.

You're kind of like, I think that guy thought that was really clear.

It wasn't.

But let me just say this: if you have ever played hide and go seek with a child, you will understand the passage that we're gonna read this morning.

And so you said, What do you mean?

Uh, when our daughters were younger, like two uh and three, both of them fell in love with the game hide and go seek.

And I remember our oldest, my firstborn, I would come in, I was traveling back then, but I'd come in from a road trip and daddy, could you play hide and go seek?

I was like, sure.

And and but my daughter would hide in the same place every time.

And it was behind the curtains in our living room.

And so, Daddy, she'd tell Daddy, hide right here, count to 20, uh, you hide your face, count.

I'm gonna go hide.

And I would hear her over there giggling, and I would get to 1920.

Okay, right now here I come.

And just to extend the game because I could see her feet under the curtain, like right there, and the curtain's shaking, and she's giggling.

And I would go, Oh, is Madison under the formal dining table?

And she would pull the curtain back and go, No, Daddy, I'm over here and pull it back.

And I was like, I don't think this kid knows how the game goes, but then to prolong the game, I would look under the couch cushions.

Is she under the couch?

Pull the curtain back.

No, daddy, I'm right over here, and she'd pull it back.

And then one time, I mean, I just kept going.

She came out, tapped me on the shoulder, and said, No, I'm behind the curtain right over here, Daddy.

I remember thinking, remember the self, I didn't talk to my wife about maybe what she does with this kid when I'm off preaching the gospel.

And so we got, I got in bed that night, got her tucked in, uh, got in bed, and my wife was reading, had her little ring glasses on, and I was like, hey, can I talk to you about Madison?

Because I don't think that kid is like very smart.

And she said, What?

Excuse me?

Uh that's a phrase you never say to your wife, all right?

Like I also did this, speaking of firstborn and just dumb stuff I did.

I was getting a haircut.

I used to have hair before I became the pastor here.

Look what you all have done to me.

I hope you're proud of yourself.

Anyway, I was getting my hair cut, and the lady cut my hair and goes, Oh, your baby's hair is kind of wispy.

You want me to cut it?

Sure.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You feel the shame coming on me?

Mom shame?

And I knew I knew I'd screwed up when the lady took aluminum foil and picked up some of the hair and put it in it and wrapped it up and said, Take this home to your wife.

I went, Why would I want to take hair home to my wife?

And I walked in and my wife went, Oh and I said, Yeah, I kind of kind of got the kid cleaned up while I was there.

A little toofer.

They didn't even charge me for that.

Burst into tears.

Baby's first haircut.

You're welcome.

So after that, I get in bed and I said, Hey, I don't think your kid's very smart, okay?

I think that kid takes after you more than me.

No, I just said, hey, we're playing hide and go seek, and my wife just got this bemused look.

All I said was, I was playing hide and go seek, and she was like, Go ahead and tell me what you're gonna tell me because you're a moron.

And I said, Yeah.

She hides behind the curtain, and when you don't go get her, she's like, No, I'm over here.

And then I said, Can you explain the game to her?

And she put her hand on me and she said, It might help you to understand that her favorite part of the game is when you find her.

And the longer you go without finding her, she just goes berserk and wants you to hurry up and find her.

Now, why do I tell you that?

Because God's the same way.

His favorite part of all of this is when you find him.

This is why God reveals himself consistently over and over and over and over to people who are hard-headed.

Not that any of you in this room are hard-headed, but this guy, Peter, let me give you the context we're gonna read about.

This is the guy, Peter, who way back on the, before Jesus even goes to the cross and dies, Peter, Jesus is saying, Hey, this is gonna happen.

It's gonna get kind of difficult, and you're gonna turn and walk with me no more.

And Peter's like, Oh, I can't, you can't talk that way.

Don't say that.

These guys may all freak out, but not me, Jesus.

I'm your man.

I will be with you to the bitter end.

I'll die for you.

And Jesus is like, I'll tell you what, Peter, before the rooster crows, you'll deny me three times.

And he did.

And then they come to arrest him in the garden after that.

And Jesus is like, hey, I'm submitting myself to the sovereign will of my father who's in charge of the affairs, who sits enthroned of the affairs of the world.

Peter doesn't believe that.

They come to arrest Jesus.

Peter pulls out a knife, cuts the guy's ear off.

Jesus is like, Hello, I can handle my business.

Put the knife up.

And then he gets up there and he follows from a distance.

And he's warming his hands around the fire, and they're there that Jesus is on trial.

And that little slave girl goes, Hey, weren't you the guy hanging out with him?

No.

He um he he swears like that wasn't me.

This has all happened.

Now Jesus has died on the cross, he's risen from the dead like he said he would.

Last week we talked about Jesus who walks through the wall, appears to the disciples, and says, Hey, it's really me.

John chapter 21.

John 21 · chapter mention

Why does God reveal himself?

How does God reveal himself?

John 21, verse 1.

John 21:1

After this, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the sea of Tiberius.

And he revealed himself this way.

Simon Peter, Thomas called the twin, Nathaniel of Canaan, Galilee, the sons of Zebedee and two others of his disciples were together.

Simon Peter said to them, I am going fishing.

They said to him, We'll go with you.

They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore.

Yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

And Jesus said to them, Children, do you have any fish?

They answered him, No, no.

He said to them, Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.

So they cast it.

And now they were not able to haul it in because of the quantity of fish.

The disciple whom Jesus loved, therefore said to Peter, It is the Lord.

When Simon Peter heard that it was that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and he threw himself into the sea.

The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

When they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire in place with fish laid on it and bread.

And Jesus said to them, Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.

So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them.

And although there were so many, the net was not torn.

And Jesus said to them, Come and have breakfast.

Now none of the disciples dared ask him, Who are you?

They knew it was the Lord.

Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish.

This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

It's important that we understand how God reveals himself to them, but also to us.

Let me point out four or five ways in the text that God reveals himself.

First of all, God reveals himself in what he allows, or as I would say, in allowance.

Now, I have to be careful because I still have my our youngest daughter still at home and she gets an allowance.

I never have to know when the first of the month is because I have a 60-year-old girl come up to me with her palm and go, Dad, guess what today is?

I got nothing.

It's the first of the month.

I got nothing.

My allowance?

Oh, have you cleaned your room?

Could you take all your back allowance you haven't spent, rent a backhoe, and clean that room up?

Oh, come on, Dad, just give me my allowance.

Easy, easy, easy now.

Let's have a little gratitude.

Okay, Dad, can I have my allowance?

Say, please, Dad, may I please have my allowance?

So when my kids hear the word, my 16-year-old hears the word allowance, she thinks the other thing.

When I say allowance, I mean basically what he allows.

What he allows.

And so let's be careful to come to an understanding today that it's not God's job, our responsibility, to make you and I do what we should do or make us do the right thing or not do the things that we shouldn't do.

So when I say how God reveals himself, God reveals himself by what he allows because sometimes God is sovereign, okay?

That's a big theological word that means God's in control.

We believe that here at our church.

We believe in the sovereignty of God, absolutely.

But we also believe in the moral responsibility of humanity.

Just this past week, I met with a man, he said to me, Hey, don't you think that ultimately we're sitting in my office having coffee?

And he goes, Hey, well, I said, What do you want to talk about?

He goes, Well, I just want to ask you, don't you think that God's ultimately responsible for everything that happens?

And I was like, uh, this is an interesting question.

So are you saying that God's ultimately responsible?

Therefore, man cannot be held liable or accountable?

Well, I mean, I don't know if I would go that far, but I just think God's ultimately responsible for everything that happens because he's sovereign.

What that word is that you use, I said, yes, God is sovereign.

Let's think a little bit.

You open to think a little bit, church?

Uh God is sovereign, uh, but man is morally accountable and responsible for all the choices that he makes.

And God allows you, because you have a free will, you can exercise your free will.

Sometimes you use it for good, you exercise it for good.

Sometimes you exercise your free will for evil.

That's not God's responsibility.

You cannot say God's responsible for that.

And so I said to my friend, I said, I believe that God is sovereign, but God is not responsible.

Humanity is responsible for their behavior, for their choices.

Uh, because if God was responsible, no one would ever die.

And he's like, What do you mean no one ever die?

The Bible says the wages of sin is death.

The moral consequence, the Bible says the soul that sins will surely die.

The moral consequence for sin and sinning is death.

And so the absolute proof that God holds humanity responsible for the for their free will decisions is the fact that they die.

Because if God was ultimately responsible, on what basis could man ever would man ever have to die?

And my friend's like, well, that's good.

Let me think about that.

I'll get back to you.

I said, okay.

I'm not trying to win an argument, I'm just trying to contend for the truth.

And so one of the hardest things for us to get our head around is what God allows.

Because for the past 20 years or so in worship in the church, not this church, I love our church.

I love that our worship has theological integrity.

But in a lot of places, uh, especially for the last 20 years, in worship, we basically sung God a job description.

We've said to God, these are all the things I need you to do in me and for me this week.

Fill me, cleanse me, wash me, hear me, send me.

Basically, all the things God's already done.

And so if you're not careful, you can come to church and get a bad theology that basically says, everything is God's responsibility.

And the Bible says that's not quite the way it is.

And so one of the ways God reveals himself is in what he allows.

Now, the task for you and I is not to blame God for what he allows.

It never ceases to amaze me.

How many people exercise their free will and then they try to rationalize the sinful outcomes by saying things like this Well, if God doesn't want me to do this, then why didn't He stop me?

This is from adults, by the way.

Our kids aren't here this weekend.

Our students are all off on a retreat.

They get back today at two.

Uh so if you came visiting the church today and you have kids that are in you know middle school and high school, there's hardly anybody out there.

Uh but we have a blood drive.

You can give blood today.

Uh but but but but when I I'm not talking students, I'm talking there's adults that say to me things like, oh, here's my favorite.

I prayed that God would take this desire away, and he didn't, so I just figured it was his will.

You see, one of the way God reveals himself is in what he allows.

And so what do you say?

Where do you get that from?

Peter says to these six other men, there's seven of them total.

Peter says, I am going fishing.

Peter was a fisherman before Jesus came.

You talk about the ultimate insult.

He basically says, This was fun while it lasted, but you know, it's time to go back to my real job.

And God doesn't stop him.

And Peter's accountable for what happens.

But because God is gracious, and we'll get to that in a minute.

Here's the second way that God reveals himself through lack.

Through lack.

Look at verse 3 and 4, John 21.

It simply says this.

It says, Simon Peter said to him, I am going fishing.

They said to him, We will go with you.

They went out and got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing just as day was breaking.

Just stop right there.

That night they caught nothing just as day was breaking.

And Jesus is standing on the shore.

They fished all night.

I have friends that like to go offshore fishing.

Like I've go fishing, I grew up in East Texas.

We fish in lakes, we fish in ponds, but you can see the shore.

These people go 35 miles off the coast for two and three days.

And they invited me recently.

They said, Do you want to go deep sea fishing with us?

It won't cost you a thing.

And I said, Abs, I said, Can you guarantee me we're gonna catch fish 24-7?

They said, There's a good chance we'll go out there and catch nothing.

No, no, because I am not a happy camper.

After about an hour of casting, then pretty soon I just put on the heaviest lure in the tackle box and I try to hit birds as they fly by because I am just bored out of my gourd.

I said, What do you do when the fish aren't biting?

He goes, Oh, we take a nap.

I said, Where do you go to sleep?

On the boat.

Or we eat, where do you eat?

On the boat.

You do everything on the boat.

Do we're 35 miles offshore?

I'm not your man.

Thanks.

These people had fished all night and they had caught nothing.

Look at me.

A lot of times God is going to allow lack in your life, not because God is punishing you, hear this, but because God is inviting you to think differently about your life.

He's using lack to get your attention.

In other words, he's just saying, hey, let's think deeper about this.

Lack doesn't mean God is doing something wrong.

Lack a lot of times means we're doing something wrong.

And so this is the case in Acts in John 21 when the disciples have fished all night and they have caught nothing.

Now, let me bring this into our contemporary modern life.

As parents, it's our privilege to provide for our kids, and we should do that, okay?

We should absolutely do that.

I'm talking to my 22-year-old who's finishing her senior year at Baylor, and she said, Now dad, when I graduate, I know I got a job, but are you and mom still gonna kind of help me like some?

And I said, Well, in what ways do you want mom and dad to help you?

And she said, Well, graduate school.

And I'm like, that's not helping, that's a second mortgage, okay?

Uh and so I'm like, hey, babe, we're we're good for that.

We'll talk about that.

That's not a problem.

Uh and so as your kids get older, there's a difference in when it comes to lack, because and I say your kids, I mean adult, I mean they're like uh 21 and over, 30, 35, 40.

If you've got adult children, let me speak to you just for a second because one of the hardest things to do is to watch them experience lack, and you have one of two responses.

Number one, you want to shame them or you want to rescue them.

We want to shame them, see, see, God's punishing you because you're living with your boyfriend.

We raised you better, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Now, now, am I saying that's okay?

Not at all.

I'm saying that you cannot shame people into the right thing.

Or we rescue them.

As mom and dad, we come in and we say, hey, it's no big deal, we'll scratch a check, we'll take care of that.

But Jesus kind of introduces the third word.

And this is the word I want you to think about today.

It's invitation.

It's not shame, it's not rescue, it's invitation.

What do you mean?

He invites them to a meal.

It's necessary that we learn to ask this question.

Is God trying to use lack in the life of my child to get their attention?

And if you're if you have wayward children, you should ask yourself, what am I inviting them to?

What is my constant and consistent invitation to them?

Because lack is the thing that God will use to turn your kid's heart back to Him.

Uh you say, What do you mean?

Remember the story of the prodigal son?

The prodigal son basically says to his dad, give me my share of the estate.

Hey, dad, I know I got it, we got a trust fund because we've done really good, okay?

So can I just crack open that trust fund and get what I got coming?

Because I don't want to live in your stupid rules.

You believe a book that was written a long time ago.

This is the 21st century.

Sexuality is different.

Just get out of my way and give me some fundage.

And the father does.

And the Bible says that the sun goes off and he squanders it on wild living.

And this Jewish boy, it gets so hard he has to get a job feeding pigs.

Listen for the lack in here.

This is Luke 15, starting verse 17.

But when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger?

I will arise and I will go to my father and I will say to him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and before you.

You see, I perish here with hunger.

How many of my father's servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger?

Once again, lack is one of these things that God uses to turn our heart back towards him.

And so, mom and dad, when God is using lack to turn your kid's heart back to him, the hardest but most necessary thing for us to do is to be like the father and the prodigal son and stay on the porch.

Because you want to get off the porch and go look in every hog farm in the country and go, hey, have you seen my son?

He's 27, he's got an addiction problem, he looks like this.

Here's my cell phone number.

Please call me, stay on the porch because God will use lack to turn your son's heart back to him.

It's the hard part.

You say, Well, why I just can't do that.

Well, if you go rescue them every time, they'll never need God because they have you.

And the question in their mind, it may not come out this this straight or this raw, but the question in their mind is really this why worship God, mom and dad, when I can manipulate you and get all my needs met.

And so that's why we stay on the porch like the Father.

See, God uses like in the story of the disciples, it's very simple.

Here's another way God reveals himself with questions.

With questions.

Look at this.

Look how secure Jesus is in himself.

Verse 5, Jesus said to them, Children, do you have any fish?

They answered, No.

Now, by the way, God doesn't God never asks questions to solicit information because he knows everything.

You understand that, right?

So when God is asking a question, he's inviting you to join him in understanding what he understands.

And so when Jesus says to them, Hey children, do you have any fish?

He's not being sarcastic, he's not being gamey, he's not being funny.

It's important that we understand the way God uses questions because he's really inviting them to think differently about what they call reality.

There's a guy named Gabe Lyons, and he and David Kidman wrote a great book called Good Faith.

Good faith.

And there's a chapter in the book on asking right questions, and they give four basic questions that when we talk to people, we should work these four questions into the dialogue.

And let me just listen for you briefly.

Number one, what is wrong?

What is wrong?

Secondly, what is confused?

Thirdly, what is right, and fourthly, what is missing.

Because if we're not careful, Christians become known and notorious for what is wrong.

I think we have to be clear about what is wrong.

Like when you look at the world, what is wrong?

You get all kinds of when I have conversations with people, I put that question in the water in different ways.

People talk about how the world's crazy, and hey, hey, preacher, is the world gonna end?

Sometimes it is.

Sure is.

I mean, I just seem like Donald Trump's just driving this thing in the ground.

Oh to God, that's for all Donald Trump's fault.

But it's not, nor it can be, okay?

It can't be.

But if we assign blame to one person, what we're really saying, we're not given our political position.

What we're really saying is I'm not taking personal responsibility.

So ask the question, what is wrong?

Also, what is confused?

What is confused?

Thirdly, what is right?

As Christians, we should be able to bless and hold up things that are right, even if they're not Christian.

Hear me carefully.

As Christians, we should be able to bless and hold up what is right, even if they're not Christian.

Like if you go somewhere and you see beautiful art, you shouldn't ask, is this artist a Christian?

You should be able to say, Oh, that's beautiful art.

I love what you did with that.

Man, I just want to compliment you.

You have a great eye.

The last question he encourages us to ask is, What is missing?

What is missing?

If you want to have an interesting conversation before you go to bed tonight, mom and dad, apply those four questions to your family.

Somebody's putting in their phone right now.

Ding ding.

Just apply those four questions to your family.

Jesus asked this question when he says, Children, do you have any fish?

They answered him, No.

Which brings us to the fourth way God reveals himself is through demonstration.

Through demonstration.

Look at verses six to eight.

He said to them, Cast a net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.

So they cast it.

Now they were not able to haul it in because of the quantity of fish.

That disciple, whom Jesus loved, therefore said to Peter, It is the Lord.

When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and he threw himself in the sea.

The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a thousand yards off.

Now, when I say demonstration, here's what I mean.

The problem for most of us that we think God just wants to demonstrate your insufficiency.

When in reality, what God loves to do is to demonstrate his sufficiency, okay?

There's a big difference in those two.

God does not come to you to say, let me just rub your face in the fact that you are so wrong.

You're missing it altogether.

Oh my gosh, I can't believe you can't see this.

What God loves to do is when he asks the question, hey children, do you have any fish?

They're like, no.

And then he says, I tell you what, throw the nets on the right side of the boat.

Now there's seven men in the boat, so we're not talking about the Titanic here, okay?

So the boat's probably about as wide as maybe 10 to 12 feet max, okay, if that.

And so it's not about, oh, they were on a whole nother side of the sea.

No, it's about 10 to 12 feet.

So it's not about logistics, it's about obedience.

It's about God says, let me demonstrate something to you.

Let me remind you that what you've been calling reality is insufficient.

So they throw the nets on the right side of the boat, and all of a sudden they've caught more fish.

I mean, they there's so many fish they can hardly get it in.

And don't miss this, don't miss this.

When the text says the disciple whom Jesus loved, that's John, the writer of this gospel.

John, they're pulling in the net and he looks at Peter and says, It's the Lord.

Hey, does life ever been so good for you that you look at your wife and you go, Man, this is God.

This isn't me and my job.

This is this is this is God.

I mean, we work hard, we had a great business plan, and and but I just want you to know, as we're coming to the end of the year here, honey, this is gonna be a banner year, all right?

So we're gonna be overflowing, pressed down, shaken, I mean, shaking together, overflowing.

So get ready for a huge economic blessing.

And that's great, and it can be one of the most destructive things that happens to anybody.

Why?

Because you don't train your eye to see God in abundance.

The only time you see God is in lack, and so you're blaming God instead of blessing God when the abundance comes.

This thing is so that's the first thing I want you to see.

They're pulling it in.

John says to Peter, it is the Lord.

Peter it says he's stripped to work, so he's bracing this guy's undergarments on.

Peter just still brashed, still himself, he throws his coat on, and the Bible says he just throws himself into the water and he just trudged into the sheep.

And Jesus is on the beach, kind of going, Well, I can tell you who that is.

That's Peter, the impetuous one, always just gonna be first in line for everything.

Ask yourself this question: how many times can you fail Jesus and still be that excited to see him?

That's don't miss that about Peter, because everyone wants to say, Oh, Peter, come on, man.

He leaves everybody else to do the work.

When John says, That's the Lord, Peter's like, shut up.

Who are you?

Why?

You know, when when when at dawn it's kind of hazy, it's kind of hard to see.

Peter's just like, oh my gosh, he just starts putting his clothes on, just jumps in the water, and he's just trudging there.

And Jesus is like, well, here he comes.

There you go.

One of the ways God loves to reveal himself is by demonstrating his sufficiency.

He doesn't bask or boast about your insufficiency, he demonstrates his sufficiency.

Now, by the way, this is free.

I'm not a real numbers guy, but because I study this, I give it to you.

I used to take tests in college and I'd turn over on the back and I would write things I knew about this that you didn't ask me, and just list stuff out.

My daughter called me about three weeks ago and she goes, Dad, I did there's parts about it on the test I didn't know, so I did what you did.

I turned over the back of the road.

Things I knew that you didn't ask me, and my professor gave me credit for it, so I made an A.

So put that in your back pocket, kids.

You never know when you might need that, all right?

And and so the Bible says that they that, you know, there was 153 large fish.

Now, why does it give you the number?

Now there's two schools of thought.

Number one, they say there's seven men, and men are competitive, so they counted all the fish to say, hey, we're going to, what's seven divided by 153?

Make sure everyone gets a fair amount.

Here's the other school of thought.

They believed that at that time there were 153 known species of fish in the world.

And what Jesus was doing was kind of winking at us, saying, hey, you were fishermen.

Now you're going to be fishers of men, and the gospel is for everybody, so don't exclude anybody.

See, demonstration is a many splendor thing.

Here's the last way God reveals himself through provision.

Through provision.

Look at verse 9.

When he got out in the land, they saw the charcoal fire in place with fish laid out on it and bread.

And Jesus said to them, Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.

So Simon Peter went abroad went aboard and hauled the net ashore full of large fish, 153 of them.

And although there were so many, the net was not torn.

Jesus said to them, Come and have breakfast.

Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, Who are you?

They knew it was the Lord.

Hey, have you ever had a dog chew up something they weren't supposed to chew up in your house?

You walk in and it's just everywhere.

He's not waiting for you at the door, like, I am your my you're my master, and I love you.

No, you walk in and he's in the he's under the couch.

You're like, hey, hey, Rudy, come out.

We used to have two miniature schnauzers.

They'd get my mic, my wife's purse, it'd chew up those little foil packets of gum, and it would be all over our house.

And my kids would go, Dad, don't whip them, don't whip them.

And I'm taking my flip-flop off as my kids are talking.

And them dogs would be scattered and I couldn't get them.

They'd get under the formal dining table.

My wife would open the back door and let them out.

And I'm like, the backyard's fenced in.

I got them now.

I just want you to know your girls are watching.

I tell you what, them girls chew up gum all over the house, they're gonna get a spanking too.

You chew up gum all over the house, you're gonna get a spanking too.

I don't need no lecture.

Those dogs would run.

I mean, they were horror stricken.

Why?

Because they knew what they'd done wrong.

This is why the disciples don't look at Jesus.

They don't ask him.

They're not making eye contact.

They're like, eh, eh.

Now, why do I tell you that?

Let me just read here.

He says, Come and have breakfast.

Now, none of the disciples asked him, Who are you?

They knew it was the Lord.

Jesus came and took the bread and the fish and gave it to them.

So it gave the bread and so with the fish.

This is now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised.

When I say provision, listen to me.

Okay?

Most of you think provision is 153 large fish in the net.

I'm here to tell you that provision is the breakfast on the beach with Jesus.

You say, Well, I don't get what do you mean?

What he provides for them is just this reminder.

Again, he's revealed himself twice already.

He's told them all along, the Son of Man's gonna go to Jerusalem and suffer at the hands of sinful men.

I'm gonna be crucified, buried, I'm gonna rise again on the third day.

And they're like, Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Awesome, awesome, awesome.

Now, by the way, can I be the secretary of treasury?

Because I want my name on all the money, okay?

And can I be your defense secretary?

And can I be this?

And they all want positions in the cabinet.

And Jesus says, it's not like that.

I'm not gonna govern like that.

I'm gonna be a servant king who's gonna come in and I'm gonna sacrifice myself for my people.

And they're like, we don't want a part of that.

And how does God respond?

He reveals himself to them.

He reveals himself to them, he catches them back at their old way of life.

They were fishermen before.

You should ask yourself today, how has the reality of God changed the way you do your vocation?

I do not listen carefully, okay?

I do not think that if you're a Christian, that means that you should quit what you're doing.

Don't be a banker anymore, and you should go into ministry.

No, we've got enough uncalled people in ministry already.

What you should do is ask yourself, how do I do banking to the glory of God?

That's what you should do.

You should ask yourself, how does the reality of Jesus Christ change or affect and inform my vocation?

You do not have to come and work in the church to be used by God.

Matter of fact, my life was transformed by a man that was a very successful businessman who would look at me when I was 16, 17, and 18 and say, Jesus Christ is the best business partner a man ever had.

And I would look at him like, I think you're kind of crazy, but you're also like a clown on fire.

I can't not look at you.

Because he just lived a different life.

Said differently, his relationship with Christ changed his vocation.

He owned 17 rent properties on the side, rent houses.

And in December, he would let people have rent for free and say, Merry Christmas.

And I'm 16, poor, and I'm like, man, what are you doing?

You're throwing money away.

He'd get tears in his eyes and he'd go, Oh man, Jesus has been so good to me.

Whoa! And I would just think, you are a strange little man.

And I would think this also, I am so glad I work here.

I never saw anybody that was so successful and so happy in God as that man.

It was just like, whoa.

It was this gnawing reality in me.

What does that man know that I don't know?

Provision.

He knew where it all came from.

I said earlier, provision is not the fish in the net, it's the breakfast here on the beach because these are people that have once again forsaken his call and command and gone back to what they used to do.

And what does he do?

He provides for them breakfast.

And by the way, do not miss this.

He serves them bread and fish.

That ought to sound strangely familiar to some of you.

Here's the deal: the issue.

The issue, Peter is, he doesn't read him a list of his failures.

The question he's asking is not what's it gonna take for you to actually believe that I am who I said I am, I'm gonna do what I said I'm gonna do.

That's not the issue.

The issue is not the identity of Jesus.

The issue is Peter, when are you going to believe?

Not that I am who I said I am, and I'm gonna do what I said I'm gonna do.

When are you gonna come to believe that I'm gonna do it through you?

The issue is not the identity of Jesus, the issue is the responsibility of Peter.

Peter's content just to be a fisherman.

And Jesus comes to him, reveals himself to Peter and these six other men, and says, Hey, it's no longer okay for you just to be a fisherman.

I've called and created you to be a fisher of men.

Which is why, and then when in the next section, he sits down and they have a meal, and Jesus says to Peter, Do you love me?

Oh Lord, you know I love you.

Then feed my sheep.

Peter, do you love me?

Oh Lord, I love you.

Oh man, I love you.

Feed my sheep.

Peter, do you love me?

No, Lord, this is the third time.

What are you getting at?

He said, Do you love me?

Oh, I love you.

Tend my lambs.

Why?

Jesus is saying, Ain't no sheep out here on the water, my man.

This is not what I called and created you to do.

So let's be done with all this.

Look at me.

I'm done in one minute.

Some of you are fishing on the wrong side of the boat.

Some of you fish on the wrong side of the boat when it comes to your sexuality.

Some of you fish on the wrong side of the boat when it comes to your money.

Some of you fish on the wrong side of the boat when it comes to the way you think about God.

How do you know?

Because your life is about lack.

And so you're so, you have so many unmet needs.

When anything feels good in this area, you're like, oh, that must be the truth.

No.

No.

Lack is very confusing.

Can you believe in a God that just comes along and doesn't condemn you, but he asks you questions?

He's not a God of condemnation, he's a God of invitation.

He says, Children, do you have any fish?

No.

No, dude.

We've been out here all night long.

I'll tell you what, just cast the nets on the right side of the boat.

Okay.

And all of a sudden, God demonstrates something.

Ask yourself this question today.

What is God inviting you to?

In John 21, he invites these men to breakfast.

What is he inviting you to?

Let's pray together.

If you're a guest, we like to teach the Bible, then we like to give you some soul space to think about it.

So just take a moment.

And just ask yourself, hey, what really stood out to me?

Some questions for reflection will come up on the screen.

You don't have to try to write them down.

You can just discreetly take your phone out and take a picture.

But we believe that God uses his word.

He reveals himself to Peter and these other fishermen.

He reveals himself to us.

Not because he wants to condemn us, he wants to invite us into the life that only he can provide.

Let me voice a prayer and then we'll think a little bit.

Father, thanks for your word.

Thanks that it's the truth.

It's thought-provoking.

It doesn't just stir our emotions, it stimulates our intellect.

It provokes us to godly thinking, which leads to godly living.

Now, Lord, just brood over our head and heart in such a way that what we think and what we feel has to find expression in our hands.

This is what we were created for.

To be the medium through which the message of God finds expression.

And so, Lord, I pray for anyone that's fishing on the wrong side of the boat and their life is just characterized by lack.

It's just they've caught nothing.

But they would just hear the voice of God saying, Maybe there's a different way.

Lord, brood over us while we think about these things.

Father, we're mindful today that you're not a God of condemnation, but you're a God of invitation.

That some of us are hard-headed and hard-hearted, and we need you to reveal yourself to us over and over and over again.

And you're glad to do that.

On every page of the Bible, it's replete with revelation.

It's the God of the universe saying, I'm real, I'm here.

I'm not just a religious tradition your grandma talked about.

I'm not just something your parents uh made you do when you were a kid.

This is reality.

Stop fishing on the wrong side of the boat and blaming God for having nothing.

Because there's a whole nother way to live.

God, because you're rich in mercy, would you reveal that to us today, to anyone who's yet to come to that place?

Reveal it to them.

This is our prayer.

We pray it in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

If you're a guest, let me say thanks for being part of our service.

Uh, we don't try to program and make you do things.

We believe that you're you're young men and women or you're adults.

And so we just tell you the truth and we leave you space so you can engage God uh uh about what that looks like in your life.

If you're our guest today, thanks for being a part of our service.

You're always welcome.

Hopefully you've had the opportunity to pull one of the guest cards in your seatback pocket in your roll and fill that out in just a minute when you're dismissed.

Would you just drop it on the wooden boxes by the door on your way out?

Uh, we'd love to have a record of your presence here today.

We're not gonna show up uninvited at your house.

We just think it's a it's a big deal to find a church that fits you and your family.

We would love to be that church, but if we're not, we bless you in your journey and hope you'll find that, okay?

That's also those wooden boxes are also where we receive our offering.

So if today's the day you worship God through obedience or generosity, that's where you would do that as well.

There's a few things I want to make you aware of in the life of our church.

So let me do that right now by way of our video announcements.

Here's a look at what's happening at Grand Parkway Baptist Church.

Preschool day in the country is this Friday.

Preschool kids and their parents are invited to the Bement's Farm for a morning of hay rides, fishing, and fun.

Register online at grandparkway.org slash events.

Lay pastors are leading men among the brothers at our church.

These are men of integrity and theological orientation who can be a resource to you should you need someone to pray with you, speak into a problem, or serve as a listening ear.

To find a full list of our lay pastors, check out our website.

In a few months, our church has the awesome opportunity to host a night to shine.

Here's a look.

When I was 15 years old, I had the privilege to meet a boy with his feet on backwards, and his entire village looked at him like he was cursed, like he was less than, because he wasn't worthy.

You know, that visit with that boy changed my life.

And after that moment, I knew my goal for the rest of my life was to fight for people that couldn't fight for themselves.

When I started a foundation, we created a mission statement with that boy in mind to bring faith, hope, and love to those needing a brighter day in their darkest hour of need.

And one of the reasons Night to Shine is so special to me is all of those boys and all of those girls that the rest of the world has forgotten.

That for so many times we haven't clapped for, we haven't cheered for, we haven't loved.

This is the night where we can bring them together to say, you matter, we love you, and we're throwing this awesome party for you because that's how special you are, and we want to show you tonight.

But it's not just tonight, that's how the God of this universe looks at you every single day.

And we want to love you for the rest of your life because that's how special you are, that's how important you are.

And guys, when people know that, when boys, girls, women, children, whoever it is, when they realize for the first time how special they are, lives change.

That's why we throw Night to Shine.

To take the next step and find your place to serve at Night to Shine, head to grandparkway.org slash events.

If you would like someone to pray with you or you have a question about anything you've heard today, some of our pastors and elders will be available at the front of the stage after our service.

And so we we would love uh and we need your help.

We're we're gonna host the parents, uh, serve them a dinner out in the warehouse while their children are in here dancing uh with their crowns on.

And so uh allergies.

Man, I knew I should have taken no uh if you want to be rescued from self-pity, just volunteer at something like this.

It'll wash all that right off of you.

Uh, some of the most beautiful uh people you'll ever see, you'll see it in an event like this.

And I strongly encourage you to go to the website and get signed up to volunteer.

We'll need people out there.

Uh, and people say, What are we gonna do?

We're gonna we're gonna serve them dinner.

We'll have massage therapists there, giving them neck and shoulder massages.

And and and don't, somebody said to me recently, Oh, it must be nice.

I'm like, don't go there.

Don't go there.

Uh uh and so we just want to bless the parents and their children on this night.

They'll get a limo ride around our campus.

When they come in, they'll all be announced on a red carpet and they'll all get a crown.

Because dang straight.

That's why.

Anyway, uh, we need your help February 7th.

If you'd love to be a part of that, just go to the website.

Also, let me make you aware of one other thing that's taking place in the live that registering for our flourishing after 50, which is an expression of our women's ministry for women 50 and older.

But just recognizing that they're at a different station in life, that a mom that has two or three kids and is 31 is like, I'm exhausted.

Uh, and so we have events, a couple events a year just for women 50 and older.

This is one of them.

It's Christmas shopping and Noshing at Brookwood.

They're selling tickets to the lobby.

It's December the 3rd from 10:30 to 1.30, and tickets are$24.

If you have any questions about any of that, those ladies at the kiosk of the lobby uh can answer all of your questions, okay?

We'd like to conclude our service with a spoken blessing.

So if you would stand to your feet and hold your hands out.

Your God is not a God of condemnation.

Your God is the God of breakfast.

When you expect one thing, you get something else.

And what you get from God is so much better, so much more helpful, and so much re so reorienting that you never want to go back to who you used to be.

Depart now and stay in who you are.

In the name of the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Bless you.

Dismiss you.