”The Net Won’t Break” Pastor Ryan Johnson April 25, 2026

Hello and welcome to church. We're so

glad that you were able to join us here

at the McDonald Road 7th Day Adventist

Church for our worship time. I hope that

your time is blessed. I hope the music

blesses your soul. I hope the message

touches your heart. And if if it does,

we would be honored if you would share

this content with somebody else so they

can be blessed as well. We're so glad

that you can be a part of our online

church here at McDonald Road and hope

that you are blessed in your worship

together with us today. God bless and

enjoy our worship service.

Thank you so much young lady for reading

that scripture.

I am a believer that every single time a

young person reads the word of God, her

brain changes

and they come out of the word different

than they were when they went in the

word. So the Bible says, "Train up a

child." Amen.

>> Praise the Lord, everyone. I'm Pastor

Ryan Johnson. I'm a member of the 3ABN

family. Our mission

is to preach the three angels message. I

didn't say it right. Let me try it

again. Our mission is to preach the

undiluted.

Uhhuh.

Three angels message to a world that

needs to know that God is God and to a

world that needs to know that Jesus

saves.

>> Oh yes, we are called to evangelize. The

Lord has made us fishers of men, fishers

of women. And I know that you appreciate

this because this church is growing so

rapidly, isn't it? The Lord is blessing.

And sometimes when the Lord is blessing

so incredibly,

we ask the question, how in the world,

Lord, can we contain it all? But the

Lord has called us to be fishers of men

and women.

Just cast the net.

And as long as we remember the cross,

as long as we are lifting up Jesus, come

on, somebody. As long as Jesus is the

one in charge, the net

won't break.

I'd like you to sing this song with me.

Lord, prepare me

to be a sanctuary.

Pure and holy. Pure and holy.

Tried and true. Tried and true.

With thanksgiving

with thanksgiving.

I'll be a living

sanctuary. statuary.

Lord for you, Lord for you. Oh, and here

is the patience of the saints. Here are

they that keep the commandments of God

in the faith of Jesus Christ, our Lord

and our Savior in heaven. Firstly, Lord,

I ask that you would hide Ryan Johnson.

We don't need to see him. We surely

don't need to hear from him. But would

you yet again somehow someway come and

speak to us Lord? Encourage us, Lord.

Give us faith, Lord, that if we would

just cast the net, you will bring the

fish. And as long as we are lifting you

up, the net won't break. Thank you,

Father. In the mighty name of Jesus

Christ, we pray. Let everybody say,

>> "Amen." And amen. Make your way over to

the 21st chapter of John. your finger

should still be there. From when the

young lady had us reading it together,

they thought they lost him, didn't they?

They thought he was gone forever.

After fellowshipping together in the

upper room,

things seemed to go wrong.

Imagine the week that they had had with

Jesus. First, the triumphal entry. He's

coming in fulfilling prophecy into

Jerusalem toward the temple that they

thought yes he would reign from.

Jesus

was going to be king

in the way they thought.

He went in and he threw out the money

changers. He cleans the temple. Can you

imagine the influence you have to have

to go to people that have power and tell

them what the Lord said?

Do we need people to tell those in power

what the Lord said?

Jesus did this. They were like, "Surely

he's going to be king." Ha. So much so,

they were arguing among themselves,

"Who's going to be first in the kingdom?

It's going to be me." No, it's not.

Can't be you, cuz it's going to be me.

And they're arguing this back and forth.

They did not understand the mission.

They didn't understand the ministry. And

when in the garden the mob came,

Jesus says, "Whom seek ye?"

We seek Jesus of Nazareth.

I am he. He evokes his own name. I am

spoken way back in Exodus. And what

happens friends when Jesus says, "I am

he." What happens? THE MOB FALLS DOWN as

dead men. We are told in the spirit of

prophecy that an angel inserted himself

between the mob and Jesus. And when the

disciples saw this example of divine

power, I imagine they thought, "Ha,

you're going to get it." Now,

here comes Jesus.

I'm preparing a sermon that's actually

based on this part right here. after

they were feeling so great when the mob

fell down,

then the mob got back up.

You ever had that experience?

The mob

gets back up.

Well, they arrest him. They bind him.

They take him. They mock try him. They

crucify him. And their hopes are dashed.

Their dreams are shattered.

We thought you would deliver Israel. We

thought this was it. And as Jesus was

there on the cross, pinned, as one

preacher says, like a bug, those who

beheld him thought that he was at his

weakest, they didn't know that he was at

his strongest.

I like how one person put it. I said it

just recently. Jesus was there with his

hands and feet bound and he defeated the

devil who had both hands free.

But he died and they were heartbroken.

They thought they lost him.

And then women, evangelists, that's what

they were because they were told, "Go

and tell the brethren what you've seen,

were in the garden on Sunday morning."

Ah. And they saw and learned that the

Savior had risen. and they went and told

the brethren. And now they're having to

learn to exist in this new universe

where Jesus has come back. I think about

what we're going to do in the earth made

new after Jesus has come back. We will

have to learn how to live for eternity.

What a beautiful lesson to learn.

But Jesus is back and he's appearing.

And you know this famous appearing he

has when the doors are closed and Jesus

shows up. Don't you know that no closed

door oh let me preach for a minute can

keep Jesus out. If you are struggling

right now if you feel that the devil has

got CHARGE OF YOUR LIFE don't you know

Jesus can get in any hour.

>> The doors were closed. Jesus appears.

He says, "Peace."

Thomas gets his opportunity.

But he doesn't take it

to give Jesus a physical example

to see with his hands that the Lord is

real.

What a wonderful,

wonderful realization.

Jesus is real.

Jesus is risen.

Jesus has come back.

for you.

And then John 21, put my old man glasses

on here.

After these things, Jesus showed himself

again to the disciples at the Sea of

Tiberius. And on this wise showed he

himself, that means this is how it went

down. Verse three, Simon Peter said unto

them, I'm going fishing.

And they said unto him, we also go with

thee. That's some men folk going

fishing. Anybody know about that? Praise

the Lord. They went forth and entered

into a ship immediately. That word

immediately is not in the Greek. And

that night they caught nothing. Now this

word here, nothing in the Greek is udis.

And look at this. It means no man, no

woman or thing

have mercy. Have we ever done

evangelistic crusades and we didn't get

the results that we thought we were

going to? H Have you toiled all night

and received nothing? You think? Well,

let's go on. Verse 5. Then let's go to

verse four. But when the morning was now

come, Jesus stood on the shore. Told

you, as long as Jesus is standing there,

you're going to be all right. But the

disciples knew not that it was Jesus.

Verse 5. Then Jesus said unto them,

"Children, do you have any meat?" And

they answered him, "No." And then Jesus

says, "Cast the net on the right side of

the ship." Now, when he was saying that,

he meant directionally, but I like to

put that emphasis on it. Cast the net on

the right side of the ship. Are you with

me? And ye shall find. They cast

therefore and now they were not able to

draw it for the multitude of fishes. Are

you following the analogy here? For the

multitude of fishes they could not draw

it in. And then verse 10, Jesus said

unto them, bring of the fish which ye

have now caught. This is a familiar

scene.

You know, this has happened before in

the Bible. In fact, this cascade of

events is one of the ways that Peter

said, "That's the Lord right there."

I'd like to look at the first time this

took place in scripture. So, keep your

finger there in John 21. We're going to

make our way back, but I want to turn

back to see if we can get here. Now,

Luke, let's go to Luke chapter 5.

Luke 5 · chapter mention

Jesus is beginning

his ministry. See if this is it.

That's Luke chapter 3. Ah, here we are.

Luke 3 · chapter mention

And the disciples are learning who Jesus

is.

Look what it says in Luke 5:1. It says,

Luke 5:1

"And it came to pass that as the people

pressed upon him to hear the word of

God." What do we learn from that little

statement right there? People want to

hear the word of God. There's a hungry

world out there. And Jesus says, "I am

the bread of life." People are pressed

to hear the word of God. He stood by the

lake of Janessaret. Verse two, and saw

two ships standing by the lake, but the

fishermen were gone out of them, and

they were washing their nets. Now, I

don't know if you're aware of this or

not. the net. That was the tool of the

fisherman. And also, of course, you had

to have a boat. Fishing lines, the way

we have them today, didn't exist back

then. And you couldn't just go down to

Home Depot and Lowe's and get stuff. You

had to make it. There were net makers,

and you had to care for your tools. And

so, what the fishermen would do is after

they had been fishing, they would wash

the net. But that's not all they would

do. they would repair the net. So, it's

interesting to think that these big

burly men, and you've heard the phrase

cursing like a sailor, they had that in

them before Jesus came along. They've

got big, gnarly hands. They've got

muscles, not muscles from the gym,

muscles from hard work. Remember those

days? And they have nimble fingers,

though.

It seems like a contrast, doesn't it?

They are nimling, repairing the nets.

They are washing the nets. When Jesus

speaks, and look what happens here,

verse four. And now when he had left

speaking, he said unto Simon, we all

know Simon, do we not? Launch out into

the deep,

and let down your nets for a drought.

Verse 5. And Simon answering unto him

said, "Master, we have worked all night.

We already did a crusade, Lord.

We already had Mark Finley come in. It

was great,

but it didn't work out the way we

thought it would." Praise the Lord for

Mark Finley. Love that brother. And keep

him in prayer.

Launch into the jeep. Jesus says, "You

know what? I don't know if you've

discovered this or not, but sometimes

when I go off fishing, I like to stay in

the shallows. You know what I mean?

Where I'm accustomed to people in the

area where I feel comfortable. Huh?

Let's go ahead and cast our net right

here. H And Jesus says, "Launch into the

deep." You got to go where the people

are. THIS IS A HUNGRY WORLD AND they

need to know that Jesus saves.

Launch into the deep, he says. And Peter

says, "Well, we've toiled all night and

have taken nothing." And that's that

word again, no man, no woman, nothing.

And with that word, we can see the

evangelism analogy here.

Nevertheless, this the part right here.

At thy word I will let down the net. You

know Peter had a lot of problems.

BUT YOU GOT to give him this. When Jesus

said go, Peter would go. And when Jesus

was walking on the water, when he said

come, Peter came. The brother had faith.

So he says, even though I cannot with my

human eyes see the result that you are

promising, I will go at thy word. Jesus

said, "If I be lift up from the earth, I

will draw all men and women unto me." Go

into the deep, church.

Into the deep. Well, what happens here?

They go into the deep. Verse six. And

when they had this done, they enclosed a

great multitude of fishes. Oh man, so

many fishes. So many people and it says

their net

broke.

Anybody there with me in scripture? Do

you see that?

Brought in so many fish

that the net broke.

Jesus did exactly what he promised he

would do.

But the church wasn't ready.

Let me say it again.

Jesus said, "If you launch in the deep,

I will bring." But the church wasn't

ready. Sometimes we do our crusades, we

do our evangelism, and you know what?

The fish come in and then the net

breaks.

Various things that can break a net.

We're going to have a look at it in the

time I have remaining. And we want to

blame the fish. Well, that one got away.

Sometimes I'm in worship, you know, and

I can hear us Adventists talking and

we're like, you know, these people,

they're hard-headed. They don't want to

believe that the seventh day is the

Sabbath. They were in there studying and

they got away. And sometimes that is the

case. But sometimes the net broke.

Are we still friends?

Sometimes it's not the people. Never is

it the Lord. Sometimes it's us. Remember

who it was repairing the nets. Remember

who it was washing the nets.

The fish came in and they were not

ready. This is a very powerful thing

that Peter learns. You know a net.

Yes, it's a basketball net. That's what

I could find. All right.

Don't be mad and please don't shoot a

basketball up here.

The net works in a number of ways.

Actually, there's two ways that that

that I want to point out. First of all,

the strength of the net. The net has to

be strong enough to hold the fish. What

kind of fish do they have out there?

Tilapia, by the way, was actually known

as St. Peter's fish because it was very,

very a whole lot of tilapia out there.

And then they had other kinds of fish.

Big fish, small fish, green fish, all

kinds of fish. Jesus has another whole

lesson on not sorting fish. That is not

our job. Our job is to cast the net. And

the net's got to be strong enough to

hold the fish. But there's another

aspect of net science. Maybe you've

noticed it's got these little holes in

it.

And the holes allow the water to go

through and the fish to stay in. This is

how it's supposed to work. You throw the

net out there, you know, and you do I'm

not a fisherman, so don't don't laugh at

me. You do that thing that fishermen do

that. I feel like it should be like this

right here. This lady is just shaking

her head. He's so sad. And then you draw

in the net and the fish stay in the net.

But don't you know that the size of the

holes dictate the sort of fish you can

catch. If you got big holes in your net,

you can only catch big fish. If you got

little holes in your net, you can catch

smaller fish. And I just have to ask the

question. You said we were friends. When

we're casting our nets, are we screening

for certain kind of folk?

Help

us, Jesus.

Help us be fishers of men and women.

That's strong stuff, ain't it?

Jesus says

in verse 10,

"Fear not,

from henceforth

you shall catch men."

Jesus knew the church wasn't ready.

Jesus knew they had a lot to learn. I

love that when I'm walking down my

life's journey and I bump my head and I

stumble, Jesus doesn't laugh at me. I

like to think he wasn't even laughing at

me when I pulled that basketball net out

just now. For an example,

Jesus says, "I'm going to show you."

Hey, church.

You shall. Do you hear the prophecy in

there? You will. Didn't say you might.

Didn't even say you could. Jesus has

faith in us. Why can't we have a little

faith in him? You shall

catch men.

Launch into the deep. But Lord, our

church is growing so rapidly.

How are we going to hold them all in?

Jesus says, "Launch into the deep.

You will catch. But Lord, we potluck. We

only have so many plates

and I got to get my plate.

Jesus said, "You will catch

men." Now, I want to show some examples

so that we can see that the church

wasn't ready. Now, I'd like you to turn

with me to the Gospel of Matthew. We're

going to Matthew 14 and we're going to

begin in verse 15. Listen to this.

Actually, let's begin in verse 14.

Here's the church. Now, listen. And

Jesus went forth and saw a great

multitude. See all those fish?

Look at all the fish.

And was moved with compassion toward

them. See how Jesus feels about the

fish?

just the way he felt about you when

someone cast their net by his grace and

brought you into the truth.

And Jesus healed their sick. Verse 15.

And when it was evening,

his disciples came to him, saying, "This

is a desert place and the time is now

passed.

Send the multitudes

away.

You seeing that? Send them away.

They did not know that Jesus provides.

They looked at their nets and they said,

"Nope, this net is not strong enough.

Send them away." Nope. This church is

not big enough.

Send them away.

Jesus is not big enough.

Send the multitudes away. You see the

mentality?

That's why their nets broke. They

weren't ready. What about us?

Are we ready?

Do we feel that the world is bigger than

God?

Have we forgotten how he provided for

us?

how he lifted us up. Do we not remember

that if he lifted us up and provided for

us and gave us what we have, he'll do it

again? Cast the net.

>> Don't send folk home

because we have a limited idea of who

God is.

Let's look at another example, shall we?

This one is interesting.

Now, I'd like you to turn with me to

Matthew chapter 15.

Matthew 15 · chapter mention

And I'm going to start reading in verse

21.

Look what the Bible says.

Then went Jesus fence. I love that word.

We need to bring that back.

Honey, my boss over there. I'm going

fence. Sounds good, doesn't it? Then

went Jesus thence and departed into the

coast of Ty and Sidon. Verse 22.

And behold, a woman of Canaan came out

of the same coasts

and cried unto him, saying, Lord,

have mercy on me. That lady is exactly

where we need to be.

Lord, have mercy on me. And then she

makes a messianic statement. Oh Lord,

thou son of David.

She knew who Jesus is.

My daughter

is grievously vexed with the devil.

And he answered her not a word. Now,

let's just stop right there because you

know when we do our prayer sessions

at 3ABN, the most common prayer request

that we get is pray for my child.

Pray for my son.

Pray for my daughter. I remember the

days when it was my mama coming to

Jesus. Can I testify right quick? Lord,

my son is vexed with the devil. Just let

me tell the truth. Remember my son. And

I just want you to know, listen to me,

friends and family. I have also equally

heard people writing in. How you hear

people writing red people writing in to

3ABN also saying praise the Lord my son

has come home thank you Jesus my

daughter got rebaptized don't let

anybody keep you from praying to Jesus

over your children do not BE DISCOURAGED

FOR YOUR CHILDREN FOR EVEN IN THE

DARKEST HOUR GOD is working

>> my daughter

vexed

and Jesus is testing her faith.

Actually, he is teaching his disciples a

lesson.

And as many of us do, they failed

because she was from Canaan. She ain't

look like them.

She was from Canaan. She was not a Jew

in the Jewish culture. And we're

experiencing this some now among

ourselves. We're an extremely sectarian

group. You all know this word. It was

like salvation is for us, not y'all.

Look what is said here.

The disciples said, "Send her away

cuz she's crying after us. She's getting

on our nerves. She's bugging us. We

trying to have church in here, huh? And

here she comes and doesn't look and

doesn't dress and doesn't act the way we

look, dress, and act. Send her away. And

now we have an example of the net's

holes being used. This is not the sort

of fish

that we're trying to draw into our

church. Help us Jesus.

church wasn't ready. Have we done it? We

have all done it to some degree. I can

remember days pastoring and somebody

homeless just come up in the church and

sit down and we looking at the deacons

like this, right? You saw that. Did you

see that?

Are you going to go handle that? Handle

that.

Give that sister some Jesus Christ.

They didn't think that the net could

contain the multitude.

The holes in their net were not designed

for a woman that looked like this.

Jesus had work to do.

Jesus has work to do.

And that is why it is significant in

John 21.

What's so special about John 21?

You know, if you look in there, you see

Jesus talking to Peter.

who had denied him three times. Has

anyone here ever denied Jesus? Yes. Yes,

we all have. Every time we sin, we do

it. And Jesus goes to Peter and he asked

him three times, "Do you love me?"

By the time Jesus got to the third time,

Peter is realizing the significance of

the thrice asked because he had thrice

denied. Yes, Lord, you know I love you.

Feed,

feed,

feed.

Jesus wasn't beating Peter up.

Jesus

was telling Peter, "I forgive you.

Now Peter,

go fishing.

Now church,

it's time to fish.

It's time.

The church was ready.

But why? Well, if you go back to the

previous chapters, there's this little

story in there. I don't know if you've

heard it. Goes a little something like

this. the son of God.

Let's put it in his words. God so loved

the world that he gave his only begotten

son

that whosoever believeth in him should

not perish but have everlasting life. He

did not send his son into the world to

condemn the world even though

condemnation is what we earned

but that the world through him might be

saved. And Jesus

had prayed in the garden. Jesus had been

arrested in the garden, gone all the way

to Caiaphas, GONE ALL THE WAY TO PILATE,

GONE ALL THE WAY TO HEROD, gone all the

way back to Pilate, and eventually on to

Calvary for you and for me. The cross,

friends, the cross.

The disciples had been through the

experience of the cross

and now the church was ready.

What does it say?

It says, "Bring ye the fish that you

have caught."

Verse 11.

Simon Peter went up

and drew the net to land

full of great fishes.

Did it say what kind of fish? It was

fish.

What kind of people? People

from where? Everywhere.

153.

It's a lot of fish.

And for all there were so many

yet was not

the net

broken.

Net didn't break.

The church did not collapse.

They'd been through the experience of

the cross

and the net didn't break.

When we go through the experience of the

cross,

our nets

will not

break. Is it time to go fishing?

>> Yes, it is. Are the fish

biting?

>> Yes, they are.

Are we going to be selective about the

fish the Lord sends our way?

>> No.

And now, church, that is bursting at the

seams with growth.

Will your net break?

>> No.

Not by virtue of the strength of your

net,

but by virtue of the captain

>> who sent us fishing.

>> Father in heaven, thank you

that you use such as us

in your work.

And Lord, as we lift you up and the

promise is fulfilled,

all men and women come in, let us be the

church that has had the experience of

the cross.

Such that Lord,

by your grace and power,

our nets will not break.

And when it is all said and done, let us

be together like this

at the welcome table on the sea of glass

and around your throne. This is what we

ask in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

Amen. Amen. You know, God has plans for

you. You just walk with your hand in his

hand and he will lead you to his

destination.

May he bless you family and as always be

encouraged. God be with you.

Thanks so much for joining us here at

the McDonald Road 7th Adventist Church

for worship. Each month we reach between

25 and 30,000 people with gospel content

online. We're looking to expand our

audiovisisual department this year and

looking to raise $30,000 in this

project. We would love for you to

partner with us on this and consider

making a donation to our audiovisisual

department as we look at expansion and

reaching more people with the gospel

across the internet this next year. You

can go to mrcsda.org

to make a donation directly to our

audiovisisual department. Thank you so

much for considering making this

donation and the privilege is ours to

partner with you in making this a bigger

and more effective ministry here at the

McDonald Road 7th Adventist Church. God

bless each one of you and thanks again

for joining us here at the McDonald Road

7th Adventist Church.