“Fishing with Jesus” - Luke 5 - Mar 9th, 2025 - Pastor Scotty Brown

We're going to be in Luke chapter 5, and I entitled the message, fishing with Jesus.

Luke 5 · chapter mention

And when you fish, you want to catch.

And I just want to tell Janelle in the nest, a good catch.

That was pretty awesome.

You know, Jesus stirs all kinds of emotion.

You know, Jesus stirs all kinds of emotion.

As I get older, and the more I think about him, I turn into this blubbering idiot.

And the worst thing about it is sometimes when I start blubber and I try to talk,

and of course, it's not legible.

But he also stirs up other things in people.

Kind of like our brothers and sisters in Syria.

I don't know if you've heard, but around 4,000 executed.

for their faith in Christ Jesus.

It's getting real, folks.

And I think it's pretty important for us to take this Jesus thing pretty serious

because it could cost you your life, right?

And yet we know that's what we sign up for when we follow Jesus.

He told us to lay it all down.

and I am, what am I doing here?

Sounds like there's a storm up here or something.

Anyway, so we're going to be in the fifth chapter of the gospel of Luke

and Jesus has been stirring people up.

We saw him stir up the people of his hometown that they weren't in awe of him

or bowing before him.

They were grabbing him by the nap in the neck and going to chuck him off a cliff.

And so Jesus can stir love in your heart, but he can also stir murder in your heart.

And that is obvious with what we're seeing in our world today.

And so wouldn't it be just like the Lord?

I was thinking to this.

I'm thinking, Lord, this is crazy.

You know, America's maybe we're hoping we're kind of getting on the right track.

Wouldn't it be just like the Lord to get everything lined out, right?

And get a lot of people right with God.

And then all said, boom, he takes us out.

What would America be like?

Oh, they could have the dude with the cane at the...

That looks like a demon.

Poor O'L Green, right?

There wasn't an abundance of grace when they dealt out.

looks there, but...

Lord help that man.

But wouldn't be just like the Lord to do that?

Just, we're out of here.

And that's so true, because it doesn't look like America plays much of a role in the

the last day's scenario, the days of the Antichrist.

And we're getting closer and closer by the day.

So we're going to read and then and then we'll pray.

I'm going to do something.

I don't usually do this, but we're going to, we're going to stand to read.

And it's just 11 verses and I'll try to read fast.

But in the scriptures, they would stand.

It was a, it was, um, it was, um,

respecting the power of God's word. And so we begin in verse one. And he says, so it was,

as the multitude pressed about him to hear the word of God, we're in Luke chapter 5,

Luke 5 · chapter mention

that he stood by the lake of Ganeseret and saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen

had gone from them and were washing their nets. And then he got into one of the boats, which was

and asked him to put out little from the land. And when he sat down, he taught the multitude from the

boat. And when he had stopped speaking, he said to Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your

nets for a catch. For some reason, this verse just makes me chuckle. But Simon answered and said to him,

Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, at your word, I will let down the net.

And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.

And so 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.

And when Simon saw it, he fell down at his knees, at Jesus' knees, saying,

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

For he and all who were with him were astonished.

at the catch of fish which 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 catch men.

And so when they had brought their boats to land,

they forsook all and followed him.

Let's pray.

Lord, thank you.

Thank you that you are willing to come and to mingle among common people,

just like us.

and Lord, that your word still is as alive, and Lord, is applicable to our lives as it was to those people in that day.

And so, Lord, may we take it to heart, Lord, the truths that we see before us in these verses.

And Lord, that it would sink deep in Jesus' name.

Amen, you may be seated. Thank you.

And so it was as the multitude pressed about him.

A multitude, a lot of folk wanting to hear the word of God.

I don't know if that's why you're here today.

I hope so.

But, and really, having the word of God on Sunday is more like a treat.

It's just a snack.

You should be digging in and self-feeding throughout the week and getting the word of God.

Praise God, we have it. Amen?

However, I am a bit spec.

What I want to say?

What word? Do it my...

Skeptical. There we go. That's what I'm looking for.

I'm a bit skeptical of the electronic stuff we have.

Right?

You should have our...

hard copy. There's something glorious about the turning of pages. Right? And the thing about it is,

once the ink is on it, it can't be manipulated. That's a redneck way of saying it. Manipulated.

Because no telling what they're going to be able to do with this stuff in the very near future, right?

And so a world is changing fast.

and to have the word of God in a book and pages that we can turn, I think, is a very good thing.

And that it should be a consistent diet of ours as believers in Jesus.

So it says the multitude pressed about him.

They're like digging in.

That word means to kind of lean into or to grab a hold of.

And people were wanting to hear the word of God.

They want to hear it.

They want to hear God's word.

Now, that's not everybody.

That's something that you have to want.

And it's funny, just reading through Exodus this morning when they came to the mountain.

You remember, they wanted, no, Moses, we don't want to hear God.

You go, you go and talk to him.

Because he's scaly.

God is scaly.

God is scowee.

They were.

we're afraid.

And yet the Lord over and over again,

especially Jesus, when he comes in his earthly ministry,

and he tells us, come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden,

right, whether it's an unwanted pregnancy, or it's a death of a loved one,

or you're just, just weary of doing life by yourself.

And Jesus says, come.

I'll help you.

He wants to help you.

but sometimes we don't want his help.

We want to go it alone.

And it's refreshing to see that people are hungry for the word of God and they want to know.

What does God want of me?

What does God want of me?

He wants us to come to him.

He wants us to walk by faith.

And to do life according to.

to his will and not according to our own. And so that they're pressing in to hear the word of God.

They're hungry for it. The increasing crowds began to show the increasing popularity of Jesus.

You know, in another place, the word tells us that he was a friend of publicans and sinners.

The crowd was so big that Jesus had to get into the boat and to teach. To teach,

the multitudes and people that know the whole science of sound and how it travels that off the water,

it actually works quite well. And so obviously Jesus is the ultimate sound man.

And we seem, you know, in different, ultimate sound man. And we seem, you know, in different places. We seem,

on the Mount of Olives. We see him in the temple delivering messages. Here he's at the Lake Ganeserite.

That's just another word for the Sea of Galilee or the Sea of Tiberius. It's also called.

And he was in this region we know there. Nazareth was one of the towns around there.

And wasn't too well received there. Now, we don't know what Jesus taught from the boat.

We don't know what he taught. But we do know. It was the word.

right? And I think as a pastor, the desire that I have the most is that the word of God would go forth.

That if anything on Sundays, people would just be provoked to get into the word.

Because that was the most terrible message I've ever heard in my life.

I better read it to make sure it was halfway right.

See, that's why you should have your Bibles open in your lap right now.

Not just for yourself, but to be it.

to make sure I'm okay, that I'm not teaching a lie.

So many people, especially in this area, they just, oh, just, just tell me what I'm supposed to do.

No, you read it for yourself.

Then you're not as apt to be deceived.

If you just listen to what somebody tells you, do you really know what you believe?

And when you talk to people who are like that, no, they don't.

They don't have a clue.

Well, I've been told.

No, you have the Lord speak directly to you by digging in to the word.

And we know that Jesus only spoke what the Father told him to speak, right?

John 1249, for I have not spoken on my own authority, Jesus says,

but the Father who sent me gave me a command what I should say and what I should speak.

You can take the Word.

words and read to the bank, folks. It's the word of God. And I don't know about you, but I've read some

words written and read that are quite disturbing. And they would be really disturbing if Jesus

wasn't who he said he was. So because they sound just a little bit crazy if in fact he wasn't

who he said he was. But if he's who he said he was, right, we should hang on every

single word that he speaks. Now, no doubt, Peter is listening to this sermon, and he's listening to the

Word of God. Do you listen to the Word of God? It's important for us to listen, right? Because it,

it, I mean, really, does it affect the way you live your life when you hear the Word of God? Or is it just kind of

an enro,

Otrasale, is my Mexican friend says.

In one ear and out the other.

And for a lot of people, that's the way it is.

They don't apply the word of God to their lives

because it should, in fact, affect the way we live our lives.

And it's about to affect these four fishermen that we read about in these 11 verses

here in the fifth chapter.

of the gospel of Luke. And so he finishes speaking, Jesus does. So we don't know really what he spoke,

other than we know he spoke the word of God. He finishes speaking. And I love verse four.

Pete, I'm done preaching. Let's go fishing. Let's go fishing. Let's go fishing. Who's down with

fishing? Anybody down with fishing? Yeah. Let's go fishing. And so he says, and when he stopped

speaking. He said to Simon launch out into the deep and let down your net for a catch.

Hot dog, we're going to catch a fish. I remember the first time I took my boy fishing.

Buster, he was about five, and we get to the fishing spot, and I cast a little pole out,

and I set it down in front of him. I said, you sit here and you watch his pole. He sat there for about

three seconds, and he goes, I ain't never going to catch a fish.

That was hilarious.

And holy cow did we catch fish that day.

We caught a bucket load of perch.

But fishing, it's just, it's just cool, isn't it?

Fishing is just cool.

How that works.

And so Jesus is down with fishing.

That's just, let's go fishing.

Peter seriously thinks about arguing with Jesus here.

Right?

And in verse 5, but Simon answered and said to him, master, we've toiled all night and caught nothing.

Nevertheless, at your word. This was Peter's saving grace right now because we see Peter.

He usually has hoof and mouth disease, right? Just dusty foot right in his mouth, you know.

And he gets called things that most people didn't get called in the Bible. He even gets called

Satan. We remember when Jesus tells him, looks at Peter and says, get behind me, Satan.

but, you know, he thinks about it, but then he checks himself, bless his heart.

But he said, nevertheless, right?

It's your word.

We've toiled on eye.

This particular, it's interesting, this word for master here is a unique Greek word

that means commander or leader.

Peter had seen enough of Jesus to recognize him.

maybe not for who he really totally was, but he knew this dude had some clout.

Right?

And maybe it heard about John the Baptist and maybe Jesus was a step up on John the Baptist.

And so, you know, but he's still, you know, he's thinking, you know, all the things he could have said,

I worked online, and I'm tired.

I know a lot more about fishing than a carpenter does.

Right?

The best fishing is at night, not during the day.

All these crowds and loud noises have scattered the fish away.

We already washed our nets, and we're going to have to do it again.

Jesus may know religion, but he doesn't know fishing.

That's where he's wrong.

Right?

That's where he's wrong.

At your word, I will let down the net.

Peter was willing to obey the word of God.

And I think you and I need to be willing to obey the word of God.

Because it's not always easy to obey the word of God.

I was just reading this morning in Exodus 20, the 10 commandments.

Right?

And I'm thinking, oh, you start checking them off.

Oh, broke that one.

Oh, broke that one.

Well, you only need to break one.

Because the Bible says if you break one, you're guilty of all.

We're all guilty.

I was talking to an old friend this week.

And he said, I've been seriously considering

making a t-shirt that says the unconvicted felon.

That's a shirt that everyone in this room could wear.

Right?

When it comes to thought word in action,

thought word in action.

Every one of us would be guilty.

Right?

And so

Peter here is

willing to listen to the word.

Obviously, at your word, there was light.

At your word, there was the sun and the moon and the stars and the plants were created.

At your word, life came to this earth.

At your word, creation is held together and sustained.

At your word, empire's rise and fall.

History unfolds.

His great plan.

God's word.

That's why we should hear it.

Right?

Now, we always, we always quote or invoke this verse out of Hebrews, chapter 4, verse 12, right?

Hebrews 4:12

You guys have heard it.

I don't know how many times I've quoted it from this pulpit.

Some of you haven't memorized.

Some of you have it on your refrigerator.

Some of you have it on your refrigerator.

Some might have it on the bathroom mirror.

I don't know, but we all know this verse.

Where it says, right?

For the word of God is living and powerful.

You guys know that verse, right?

But what's interesting is the context.

I always forget the context.

And a lot of times we post those little verses on our refrigerators,

and we forget the context in the context of what the writer of Hebrews is talking about.

He's talking about the children of Israel not obeying the word of God.

And the trouble that it got them into.

When you don't hear God's word.

And then do it.

That's what Jesus said was so powerful, right?

You guys remember this story when his mom and his brothers come?

They think Jesus is kind of losing it.

And they're waiting outside and he's teaching the multitude.

And the people say, hey, Jesus, your mom, your mom and your brothers are here.

And he says, who is my mother and my brothers?

But those who hear the word of God and do it.

Right?

There's a difference in just hearing and doing.

So I'm just going to read it to you.

It's Hebrews 11 through 13.

Chapter 4, verses 11 through 13.

And this is how it reads.

Let us therefore be diligent, you and I, to enter that rest,

lest anyone fall according to the example of disobedience.

That was the people in the wilderness who died.

Everyone 20 years.

and older that came out of Egypt, their bones were scattered in the wilderness.

They didn't go into the promised land.

They wouldn't hear the word of God.

They were disobedient.

It says, so, lest we fall according to the same example of disobedience,

for the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword,

piercing even to the division of soul and spirit in joints and marrow,

and is a discern of the thoughts in the intends of the heart.

And there is no creature hidden from his sight.

But all things are naked and open to the eyes of him,

to whom we must give an account.

That brings even a greater weight to this passage of scripture.

To me, it's like, wow.

The thoughts in the intents of my heart, God knows them.

And when I read his word, he exposes them to me.

me. He reveals them to me. He reveals whether my heart is right and my intent is in the right

place. That's why obeying the word, hearing the word, doing what it says is so powerful.

It's funny this week. I watched a TV program where Samuel was there chastising Saul.

You guys remember the story, right? There in first Samuel chapter,

15 in verses 21 through 23, you remember the, the Israelites were fighting the Amalekites and the

instruction to the king was to wipe them all out, kill everything, kill the animals, kill, kill the

king, kill everybody. And you remember Samuel, they didn't do it. And the Lord rips him,

or excuse me, through Samuel, he rips him. It says, but the people took up the people, took up the

plunder, the sheep in the oxen, which they were to do away with, and the best of the things which

should have been utterly destroyed to sacrifice to the Lord God in Gilcal. This is in 1st Samuel

chapter 15, verses 21 through 23. And so they thought, hey, there's some good booty here. We'll just

sacrifice it to the Lord. So Samuel said, has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and

sacrifice as in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Folks, listen, God does not care about stuff.

All your stuff that you got, that you have to take care of that consumes two-thirds of your life is firewood.

Right, it's just going to burn.

All this stuff we got.

It's ridiculous.

And it is amazing how.

how quick stuff can accumulate.

You know?

You move from one house to another and you're thinking,

golly, I ain't seen this stuff in 15 years.

Oh, we got her stuff to weigh in some hole, though.

I just might need that.

But Samuel's, Samuel's point here is that you should obey.

Behold, he says, to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed.

than the fath of rams.

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.

And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

he also has rejected you from being king.

And you guys know the ploy from then on.

The dude loses his absolute mind.

He goes crazy.

Why? He wouldn't hear the word of God.

And I've told you.

I've told you from this pulpit.

I get out of the word from a,

a few days and psychosis actually sets in. I start becoming a loony tune. I know some of you think I'm

loony anyway. But void of the word of God, it is dangerous. Right? Listen, Jesus desires to be

involved in our job, in our work. He's interested in what Peter's doing. Dude,

you're a fisherman. Right? The thing about it is, is Jesus, is Jesus,

is better at your job than you are.

Jesus is a better engineer than you are.

No offense engineers.

Just say it.

Electrician, Jesus is a better electrician than you.

Right?

Jesus is a better fisherman than you.

He's better at it.

You should listen to him.

I got this as a horseman.

Right?

I remember working with this cult one time,

and I was beside myself.

And it was like the Lord,

just wish you did.

Why, you just pray, ask me, I can help you.

And then it hit me.

I thought, oh, my gosh.

The one who created this animal that I'm struggling with

knows him better than I do.

And so I started to incorporate prayer into starting colds.

I'm just like, no, I said colds, not colds.

Palmer one time shared that starting colts and somebody said, Justin started a cult.

He was totally misunderstood. I was starting a cult, like a, he-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-holt.

Got to clarify these things.

I was talking about a team of horses over at Rick's church the other day, and Rick goes, hey, they don't know what a team is.

You've got to tell them what a team is.

Oh, it's a horse.

You know, they eat on one end and they...

I mean...

Yeah.

Some of the things we take for granted in this life, you know,

it's just, it's quite comical.

But I thought, Jesus is a much greater horseman than me.

And so, he is the one, right?

Who can come, even in terms.

to our jobs and make us be the most effective at our job and mainly as a witness.

Right? As a witness. Being a witness where you work. So many men, especially men,

women are better at this than men are. But men, they are like one way at church on Sunday.

And then they go to work. And it's like they cast off all restraint. They talk like everybody else,

tell filthy jokes, talk about their wives. I'm just like,

are you the same guy I saw Sunday?

What's up with that?

That's called hypocrisy in the greatest degree.

And it's a stench to the Lord.

To act one way simply because you're around people who love God.

And then when you're around the heathens, you act just like them.

People can't even tell the difference.

The Lord wants to be involved in what we do.

He wants us to be a witness.

I remember I worked on a dirt crew for 10 years in a machine, an excavator.

And I was serious about it.

I was serious about following Jesus, right?

I always had Jesus on the radio.

I packed my Bible with me.

It was all duct taped together.

And I had me a prayer list.

And I would sit on my little inside my windshield on my excavator.

and I would try to go through that prayer list, you know, throughout the week.

And the guys kind of got privy to it, the guys I worked with, right?

I obviously got called Jesus freak or, you know, Billy Graham, or I think I shared,

praise God, I never got called oral Roberts.

Rick got called that once, but.

But, you know, the religious guy.

And so they'd come up and talk to me and, you know, I'd have to stop my machine.

They'd stop me, and I'd see him glance over at the prayer list to see if they're

was on it. Right.

It's just, it was just being a witness, right?

Just being a witness.

Just living what you believe.

Because that old saying is so true.

If you believe it, then please live it.

But listen, if you don't live it, you don't believe it.

Right?

You're just a stuff sure.

You're putting on a show.

Save yourself from heart.

some heartache, right? And just go headlong into the world and forget about coming to church.

Right? Don't be too faced. Love Jesus or not. Right? It's kind of that simple.

Jesus said, follow me or not. If you're for me, you're for me. If you're not for me, you're against me.

Oh, no, no, no, that's pretty harsh. No, if you're not for me, you're against me

of Maranatha. I think I might even shared that last, last week. But Lord wants to be involved.

He wants all of you. He doesn't just want some of you. He wants all of you. He wants all of you.

As men and women, as husbands and wives and children and employees, he wants all of you.

And so hearing what he says and doing what he says is powerful. And it's also fruitful. And it's also fruitful.

Check out verse 6.

There, it says, where it says, and when they had done this,

had done what?

Had done what Jesus said, right?

And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish,

and their net was breaking.

And so they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help,

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

That's pretty fruitful.

Just do what God tells you to do.

Now, we don't have any record of the fishermen here going, hey, Jesus, you want to become a 50% partner?

Or 49%?

However that works.

No, I think I'd do 100%.

Right?

Because obviously, you know how to fish.

Pretty fruitful.

Peter, it's interesting.

Peter was relieved.

in obedience to Jesus, but the fish, on the other hand, were zealously obedient, right?

It is as though as soon as Peter's net hit the water, every fish in the Sea of Galilee

obeyed the command of Jesus, their maker, to jump into the net.

I know that does cause you to chuckle, but it's the truth.

It is the truth.

He's the God of the universe.

Right?

He tells the ocean where to stop.

He speaks from the hosts of heaven.

The Bible says they declare the glory of God.

Isn't it amazing?

The creation is so much more obedient than the pearl of creation,

mankind.

It's amazing.

It's amazing that we can see this and forget it.

We forget how great our God is.

So,

so Peter here has a good response.

It says, and when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at his knee, at Jesus' knees, saying,

depart from me, for I am a sinful man, oh, Lord.

When you're in the presence of Jesus, obviously you are faced with your own shortcomings.

Or you should be.

And here, Peter is taken back.

Everyone is in amazement, obviously, at what happened.

But Peter, he falls on his knees.

Now, there's a couple takes on this.

It's interesting.

One commentator I read, he said this.

He said, it was not merely a wicked desire on Peter.

is part to want Jesus to live, or leave, excuse me, but it was stupid.

It was foolish because of the reason he gave, Lord, depart from me because I am a sinful

man. If Peter had any sense at all, if he had a single brain in his head, he would have said,

Lord, don't go, come here because I am a sinful man.

What Peter needed more than anything in the world was a savior. And that's true.

But I think throughout scripture, we see people when they're in the presence of God.

They hit their face. They're going, oh, man, woe is me. I am undone. Right? We've seen it with

Balam, you know, after the donkey mashed his foot. Right? And he cussed the donkey and he hits the donkey.

And she says, why are you hitting me? I'm not a good donkey, you know.

I think the miracle of that story is not that the donkey spoke to Baylam, but the bailin actually spoke back to the donkey.

But when he sees the angel with the flaming sword, right?

What does he do?

Man, he's on his face.

He knew he's a dead man because of his failure.

We see Aaron and Moses fall on their face when the glory of the Lord feels the temple.

We see Isaiah undone, right?

When he sees the Lord high and lifted up, a man, he sees himself as a man of unclean lips.

We see Ezekiel on his face when he sees his visions.

Daniel was like a dead man.

The Saul of Tarsus was knocked to the ground.

The Apostle John was overwhelmed in the presence of the Lord Jesus.

And so should we be.

Overwhelmed.

Just a moment during worship, I had one of those moments.

Lord, I'm overwhelmed.

Your goodness compared to my wickedness is just like, how could you ever?

And yet he does.

And that's overwhelming.

I love what Revelation 117 says here when John was undone.

It says, and when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead.

But he laid his right hand on me, saying to me, do not be afraid.

I am the first and the last.

Lord says, hey, don't be afraid.

We see that over and over again.

Remember when we read through when the angel was showing up announcing the birds of John the Baptist and Jesus.

Hey, don't be afraid.

I'm here.

I love you. I got a plan for your life. Will you submit to me? Will you lay your life down? Will you follow me?

That's all God's looking for. But we're so stinking, hard-headed and hard-hearted and hard-hearted.

We hang on to things. No! My! Right? You want your life you can have it. Rots a rock. Ah!

There is a sense in the presence of the Lord that he is holy and I am not.

And I really think that that's Peter's.

That's Peter's thought here.

Oh my gosh.

I am truly in the presence of God.

What do I know about fishing?

So he tells him to deport.

heart. Then it says, for he and all who were with him were astonished, verse nine, at the catch of fish,

which they had taken. No doubt, though, their bills got paid. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 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 catch men. And so when they had brought their boats to the land,

Listen, they forsook all and followed him.

Forsook all and followed him.

They were actually dumbfounded,

astonished what they were seeing, right?

Here this carpenter filled both their boats

to the point of them sinking.

But listen, he was showing them that he was worthy of following.

Has he showed that to you?

Is Jesus worthy to follow for you?

Only in certain circumstances?

Or with every breath?

With every breath following our God.

I don't know if that's even doable,

but I sure would like to try.

Because he's proved to me he's worth following.

And he's worth following.

It's worth, should be worth to you and me obeying his commands and being willing to do them,

whatever he asks you to do.

So Jesus comforts them by saying, listen, there's a purpose for this.

I have a plan for you.

You're going to catch men.

I like that thought.

Catching men.

Right?

A cowboy that doesn't rope very good.

would like to try to rope a few men. I'd like to catch some of them. Right.

Bill first came in my office the other day and I said, Bill, because he asked me, he goes,

what are you going to do with your logo? I don't know. My daughter came up with this logo off of,

off of the internet, and we've kind of just adopted it. And it's got a dude on a horse.

And I don't know what we're going to do with our logo. I said, but I was, I was scribbling on a

envelope today with stick men. I could show you. He says, well, show me.

I said, well, it's a stick man.

It's a stick man on a horse.

And he's roping a dude going into the flames of hell.

And he's rescuing him out of that.

And I said, it's a little too busy.

And Bill goes, yeah, it's too busy.

But bless, he's hard.

He took a picture of it anyway.

So.

Out West Bible Church catching men.

Yeah.

I like it.

Right?

Because listen, if we could catch enough men that would love Jesus, we'd rock the world until he comes.

Amen?

We'd rock the world because they'd be being the husbands, they ought to be.

They'd be, you know, they'd be in the dads, they ought to be.

They'd be in the good workers that they ought to be.

Right?

There would be no need for the nest.

Because men wouldn't be impregnating women that they had no, no, um,

idea of marrying.

They wouldn't do that.

Unless they were going to get married.

A lot of problems would go away.

We'd have no pita because men are hunters.

Okay, that's funny.

We would be making spotted owl soup.

Okay, you got that one maybe.

Jesse Lucero and I were just talking about this

because they breached the dam there at the clam at the irrigation deal

right in Oregon, dried up 220,000 acres of farm ground.

Now, that's one thing to be stupid, but that's being stupid on purpose, right?

Right?

But Jesus has this call for us, no matter what occupation we're in, to be to be catchers of men.

I have a plan for you.

This guy's got a plan for your life.

Right where you're at.

Right?

You don't even have to change jobs for God to fulfill his plan.

I learned that, you know, because I was kind of just a dumb country kid.

Didn't know much.

I definitely wasn't going to get educated by higher education.

I did get educated.

But it was usually what not to do, not how to do.

But every place I found myself, I realized God's working, he's planning my life right where I'm at.

Well, I was working on a ranch, working at a cemetery, working on a construction crew,

being a pastor at the school, here now.

God's got a plan for your life.

He's going to use you wherever you're at.

just as the Lord had a plan for those fish to swim into the net to prove his power to these men

he's got a plan for you to reach out to the world and to catch those who would come

into the net of the kingdom of heaven.

The Lord has a plan for us to go into all the world,

preaching the good news,

thus making us fishers of men.

It's a call to all of us.

It's not just the guy standing behind the pulpit.

I'm telling you, the Lord could do a whole lot better than this.

You guys are dealing with the foolish things of the world, right?

But praise God, he can even use a donkey.

That last verse, and I'll close with this.

So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed him.

They forsook it all?

What is it in your life that you would have to forsake to truly follow Jesus wholeheartedly?

It's just a great question.

It's just a great self-examination.

What is it that I need to forsake?

What is it my pursuit of building my own kingdom?

When I should be building his,

we need to be willing to forsake all

to become catchers of men.

Right?

Even if it's only one.

Hey, we'll take it.

Jesus gives certain talents

in out that we see.

And then he comes in and requires.

What?

In your sphere of influence,

What'd you do? It's what I gave you.

Do you tell people about me?

Will you bold?

Wasn't I a part of the conversation?

When the son of man comes, will they find faith on the earth?

Will we be operating in that place of faith?

That just makes a difference, you guys.

You just walk by faith.

Let the chips fall where they may.

People are going to go, wow.

That guy's strange.

But eventually, the Lord will open doors.

I remember when I first went to work on that dirt crew, man, you talk about flowery speech.

I mean, I was even shocked.

Because I hadn't talked like that for some time.

And I was in a little Christian bubble for two and a half years.

And then I stepped into this.

And I mean, there were several times in the morning.

The first couple weeks, I'd walk in the break room.

I'd hear what they were talking about.

And I'd turn right back around and walk right back out of the book.

break room. I just like, I, my ears are burning. I haven't heard talk like that. And obviously,

that caught people's a ticket. How can you leave the break room? Well, the speech is a little flowery.

Oh, really? So are you a do-gooder? What's up with you? No, I just love Jesus. So the Lord puts me in this

dump truck one day, which was scary. Because I went from an excavator going, three,

miles an hour to a dump truck going 70. People's lives were in danger.

And this dude had a little girly calendar on his, on his dashboard.

You know, bare-breasted girls. And I pulled it off and I chucked it in the dumpster.

Well, he comes back a week later. Hey, Scotty, did you drive my truck last week? I said, yeah.

He said, where's my calendar? I said, Bob, I threw it away.

What don't you like to look at women?

I said, yeah, that's my problem, dude.

That's why I threw it away.

Right?

That was weird to that guy.

You know what?

He's dead and gone.

And I don't know if that little tiny witness that I gave him

had anything to do with his leaving this world.

But it may have.

And I'm going to rest in that hope.

Bob knew that I love Jesus.

Right?

Just wherever you're at.

Chuck a line out there.

Real them in.

All right.

Real them in.

Let's all stand, shall we?

Let's pray.

Lord, thank you for showing us.

Lord, that you're in it for.

the catch. Lord, for keeps. You catch us for keeps and those who we share this gospel with,

Lord, it's, I don't know why you choose to use us, but you, for some reason, you choose to use your

people as your mouthpiece. Lord, would you fill us with your Holy Spirit? Lord, I know there's some

today, maybe that, Lord, they've just been kind of surfacy. Lord, do you want to take them deeper? I just pray

say yes to that right now.

And they'd say, oh, Lord, forgive me.

For I'm a sinful person.

Help me to be like you.

And so, Lord, I just, just thank you for this time in which we live.

Lord, the days are evil.

You've called us to redeem the time.

Lord, and a lot of us, it may just be shutting our mouth, Lord,

and just showing up, being faithful, whether it's at work or home or,

or just with family stuff, Lord, just help us to show.

show up and be the fragrance of Christ Jesus and use words if necessary.

Bless your people, Lord, this week as we walk with you.

For those who need prayer, Lord, I pray that you would give them a boldness to come up and to be

prayed for by the prayer team.

Lord, we love you.

We thank you.

And we worship you.

And we know that you first loved us.

So hopefully that would provoke a greater love in our hearts for our God.

In Jesus' name.

Amen. I want to sing a little song. You guys all know it.

Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus.

Oh, how I love Jesus.

Because he first loved me. God bless you. Have a great.

week in the Lord.