21 Days Of Freedom Part 1 | Let Him Use Your Boat with Chris Schlotterbeck

He is glorious.

Behold the one who has come for us.

Welcome to Hub City Vineyard.

To get connected or to give online, you can go to connect.hcv.church or give.hcv.church.

If at any time during this message you feel called to make a change in your life, text

change me to 970-00.

Thank you and enjoy the message.

Hey, good morning everyone.

How's everybody doing?

Alright, it feels like winter now, right?

We have some white stuff on the ground.

Everyone's cold and shivering.

Thank you for coming and being a part of our Sunday gatherings.

Thank you for joining us from home.

Thank you for welcoming us into your space.

So I just want to start by saying Happy New Year.

Here we are, the first Sunday in 2024.

And if you know anything about our community of faith, that means that we're kicking off

our 21 Day Series.

So since we've moved into this building, we've taken the first 21 days of this new year and

of the new years previously and have begun to fast and pray.

Because we believe that if we take 21 days at the beginning of this year and focus on

drawing closer to God, then it's going to supernaturally overwhelm us for the rest of

the year and be amazed at all that God is going to do.

Now some of you are thinking, well, Chris, what is a fast?

This is what it is.

A fast, simply stated, is denying yourself of something.

Now previously it was just focused on food and for some of you it could be food, could

be desserts, could be Crumpies Donuts.

And I just gave some to you.

But it's your last Sunday to have a Crumpies Donut because we're starting our fast when?

Tomorrow.

So some of you want to fast to dessert.

Some of you may want to fast to beverage.

Some of you may want to fast to breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

I have no idea.

Some of you need to fast to late night snacks, right?

And instead of eating a late night snack, you just get closer to God.

But it doesn't have to end with food.

Okay?

It could be food.

It doesn't have to be food, right?

It could be your social media accounts.

Okay?

It could be a streaming service like Netflix or Amazon that you constantly, you're catching

yourself binge watching.

Okay?

It could be a website.

It could be an athletic team.

I have no idea.

Whatever it is that you feel distracts you from God, we're challenging you to give it

up for 21 days.

And in its place, when you would normally do that thing or eat that food, you would

put your devotionals into it.

And why would we do that?

Because it would draw us closer to God.

And not only are we going to be fasting, not only are we going to be pursuing Jesus, but

every morning, starting tomorrow morning at 6 a.m., we will open the doors of our cafe

and I want to encourage you.

You don't have to come every morning, but choose a morning and come and participate

and pray.

And all the 6 a.m. prayer looks like is we'll have a short devotional followed by different

prayer prompts.

We'll be praying for our community of faith, our local community, the nation.

We'll be praying for the world.

And it's simply our way again of putting God first.

Now, to go along with the fast this year as a community of faith, we are inviting you,

right, who is a part of our community of faith to focus on one area of your life where you

need to experience some freedom, where you need to experience some change, where you

need to experience a breakthrough, if you will.

And we want to focus on that area for 21 days, inviting the Holy Spirit to move in that area

of our life and change us.

And on Friday, February 2nd, we will gather here.

We'll pack this room.

We'll have a night of worship and a night of freedom where we're going to believe that

God is going to set people free from whatever it is that is holding them back, that we're

going to see supernatural encounters that night where people are moving towards Jesus

and we are on fire for God in 2024.

Now last week, if you weren't here, I shared with everyone gathered and watching online

that I felt God was calling our community of faith to go deeper with Him in 2024.

And what does it mean to go deeper?

Well we're going to base it off of how Jesus grew in His life.

Luke chapter 2 verse 52 says Jesus grew in wisdom, in stature, in favor with God, and

Luke 2:52

in favor with all the people.

So we're going to be focused on those different areas of growth throughout this entire year,

challenging you to move deeper with God.

Oh, and did I mention that 43 people got baptized last week?

I'll just throw in that little nugget.

It's just a little nugget, little nugget.

What an incredible way to start the year.

Even though it was last year, we consider it this year.

43 people coming out and saying, hey, I'm following Jesus and I want the world to know

it.

Now, just being honest here, going deeper is going to look different for all of us.

For example, going deeper for some of you is that you are here this morning and it snowed

last night.

Give yourselves a hand.

Give yourselves a hand.

Didn't you realize you have perfect attendance for 2024?

Let's keep it up.

Keep it up.

You have perfect attendance thus far.

For some of you, going deeper is attending our 6 a.m. prayer meetings.

Maybe not everyone, but setting an alarm from 5 30, throwing on a baseball hat and a sweatshirt

and showing up.

Okay, you ladies, you don't have to get ready.

Okay?

Get ready.

Quick deodorant.

Throw a hat on.

Show up.

You're good.

Just don't smell bad.

Okay?

For others of you, okay, if it's not the prayer meeting, for others of you, you're going to

start your daily Bible readings tomorrow.

Okay, I am going, I posted last week what a devotional that helped Jess and I read through

the Bible in a whole year.

I'm going to repost that on social media today.

And I'm also going to send an email out to the entire congregation.

Check your emails today if you need a plan to read through the Bible in the whole year.

You click on it.

It's not going to have any words from me.

It's just going to have a link for devotional.

Fair enough?

Click on it and start it tomorrow morning.

Just because you missed a week doesn't mean you can't catch up over the course of a year.

You can, I promise.

It's only 25 minutes.

Now, some of you think, well, Chris, why go deeper?

Because a shallow world needs a deeper church.

Can I say that again?

A shallow world where people are searching for hope and meaning and truth needs a deeper

church.

I mean, for those of you that want to get a tattoo on your neck that says go deeper,

that's between you and God, go for it.

I think it would be really cool.

I'll take a picture of it and let everyone know that you're all in.

Today we're going to be focusing on Luke chapter five, verses one through 11.

Is it okay if I just read these verses to you?

I want to do something a little crazy here at HTV.

I just simply want to read the Bible to you.

I'm going to open in prayer.

I'm going to invite the Holy Spirit to come.

I would like for you to humor me.

Close your eyes.

Open your hands and just receive these words from God.

Fair enough?

I'm going to invite the Holy Spirit to come.

Change us, God.

Change us.

May these words just speak to our hearts and may we just be open to all that you have for

us in Jesus name.

Amen.

Luke chapter five, verses one through 11.

It starts like this.

One day, it's already good.

Think about it.

Anything can happen on any given day.

One day, as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed

in on him to listen to the word of God.

He noticed two empty boats at the water's edge for the fishermen had left them and were

washing their nets.

Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the

water.

So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, now go out where it is deeper and let

down your nets to catch some fish.

Master, Simon replied, we worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing.

But if you say so, I'll let the nets down again.

And this time, their nets were so full of fish, they began to tear.

A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat and soon both boats were filled

with fish and on the verge of sinking.

When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said,

oh Lord, please leave me.

I'm such a sinful man.

For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him.

His partner, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.

Jesus replied to Simon, don't be afraid.

From now on, you'll be fishing for people.

As soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.

Now I am so intrigued with so many things that we miss in this passage because we fast

forward to the fishers of men.

When in reality, these 11 verses are packed full of truth.

But the verse that grabbed my attention the most was not Simon pushing into deeper waters

because that's where you thought it was going, but it's not.

It was verse number eight when Simon Peter reacts to the catch.

Think about it.

Simon Peter had just experienced the greatest catch of his life.

His business literally would have been changed forever and his response to the greatest catch

of his lifetime is, Jesus, leave me.

I'm a sinful man.

Think about that.

He wasn't excited.

We didn't hear a yes.

We didn't hear a go God.

We didn't see a dance.

He didn't even give praise to God.

His first reaction after God took him deeper was, get away from me.

I'm a sinful man.

So I want to share with you this morning for about a few hours.

Okay.

Now I'm just kidding.

I'm just kidding, but this is the second gathering so I could because I don't have to worry about

the parking lot.

But I'm just kidding.

I'll be on time.

I promise.

I won't hold you too long for your lunch.

I'll make sure that you get the air time for kickoff.

But I specifically want to challenge anyone that's in a relationship with Jesus and you're

gathered here this morning or watching online to simply get out of the crowd.

I am challenge you to get out of the crowd.

Look at your neighbor and say, friend, get out of the crowd.

Now some of you, right?

Some of you, Carl, didn't say anything to your neighbor, but that's okay.

I forgive you.

Okay.

Some of you are wondering what's the crowd.

Here's the reality.

It's time for Jesus followers to move past shallow Christianity and to grow into an authentic

relationship with Jesus.

I love the way Peter Scazzaro writes it in his book, Emotionally Healthy Disciple.

He writes this, success according to scripture is becoming the person God calls you to become

and doing what God calls you to do in his way and according to his timetable.

In other words, success is being like Jesus.

Scazzaro continues and an emotionally healthy disciple slows down to be with Jesus, goes

beneath the surface of their life to be deeply transformed by Jesus and offers their life

as a gift to the world for Jesus.

And see, unfortunately in the American church, there's too many Jesus followers that walk

through life living two different lives.

Right?

You got the church life where we show up to Sunday and we're excited for our gatherings

and we're smiling and laughing and sharing how blessed we are.

We dress the part.

We make the outside look good.

Everything looks good on the surface.

But then there's real life.

Real life when deep down inside we feel and sense God challenging us to grow and inviting

us to change, but we're frozen.

We won't choose to step out.

We want more from this life, but we compromise and we allow the crowd to influence our choices.

And please understand the crowd can be anyone that causes you to be distracted from God.

That includes friends, family members, coworkers, classmates, teammates.

That includes people who attend our community of faith.

If there's anyone that's encouraging you or influencing you to stay on the shore, to remain

comfortable, they're a part of the crowd.

You know, to play it safe, keep God at a distance.

Don't lose control because if you lose control, you might become one of them Jesus freaks.

And I shared this last week.

All of us must remember to go deeper causes us to become uncomfortable.

To go deeper causes us to become uncomfortable, which leads us to our first thought.

You see the crowds were shallow followers.

Luke chapter five, verse one, one day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee,

great crowds and remember friends, great crowds, references thousands of people pressed in

on him to listen to the word of God.

This chapter is essentially the beginning of Jesus's ministry, right?

His ministry and influence is rapidly growing as people from all around the region in towns

and in villages are learning about this miracle worker named Jesus.

And what are they doing?

They are showing up every place he went, right?

People got healed in the previous chapter, chapter four, listen to what was happening.

Luke four, verses 40 to 42.

As the sun went down that evening, people throughout the village brought sick family

members to Jesus.

No matter what their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed how many?

Can you say that again?

Okay.

Just, just want to be clear.

Healed everyone.

Many were possessed by demons and the demons came out at his command shouting, you are

the son of God.

But because they knew he was the Messiah, he rebuked them, refused to let them speak.

Early in the next morning, Jesus went out to an isolated place.

The crowds again notice searched everywhere for him.

And when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave from them.

I want you to think about these words for a second.

Everyone with the disease was healed.

Now just imagine, imagine next Sunday, all of you showing up, every seat filled and whatever

needs you had, you brought here and you were completely healed.

Imagine that.

Everyone got healed.

Not 90%, which would be praise God, not 75%, which would be hallelujah.

100% success rate when it came to healing.

If you have a hundred percent success rate when it comes to healing, people are going

to show up.

True or false?

Think about our own culture.

When a person, a guy that's a really talented quarterback can't be stopped in scoring touchdowns

or a basketball player can't miss a three pointer, what happens?

Crowds show up and it doesn't matter what the weather's like.

They show up.

They want to see it.

They want to see it.

They want to come and watch.

Well, Jesus, he didn't need an Instagram account.

He didn't need a stadium, didn't need a live TV broadcast.

He didn't even need a sound system.

He was effective in what he was called to do.

And when people heard about it, what did they do?

They showed up.

Same goes with our relationship with Jesus.

You don't need a show.

You don't need the right words.

You don't need a title.

We don't need to be perfect.

We need to be willing to be used by God.

And then people will be drawn to us because the Holy Spirit is living where?

In us.

That's how people are drawn to us.

Everywhere Jesus went, crowds would follow.

Everywhere Jesus went, crowds would be drawn to him.

He had such a magnetism about him that the crowds would push against him wanting more.

Think about it.

Jesus, here he is at the Seah Gallery.

The crowds had pushed in on him to the point that he was what?

He was running out of room.

He was up against the water.

The crowds, they came because they saw the miracles.

And that's what the crowds always want.

They want the surface level of following Jesus.

Because see, once the needs of the crowd is met, what do they do?

They leave.

They leave and go home to their normal, everyday lives.

In contrast, if you want to go deeper, then you want the man that performs the miracles.

If you're a person who wants to go deeper, you don't need inspiration from God.

You want to receive the instructions on how to live an abundant life.

And I believe that God is calling many of you from our community of faith to come out

of the crowd this year and become a disciple of Jesus.

And listen, we all have a choice.

You can stay on the shore.

You can hang out in the sand and dip your toes in it and it's going to feel good and

you'll be comfortable and you'll get a suntan.

You have a choice.

But the choice is, are you willing to go into the unknown and risk it?

Are you willing to just stay on the shore and be bored?

See the crowd again, they kept pushing in.

And remember, thousands of people, Jesus is out of space.

He knew he had to share a message, right?

Because the crowds, where were they gathered for?

The miracles, right?

What were the miracles?

The miracles were the bait that pointed to Jesus.

Now they needed to hear a message, the good news about the kingdom.

So as they're pressing in and they're getting close and Jesus backing up, his heels are

in the water, he looks around and he realizes he needs to do something which moves us to

our next stop.

Jesus needed Simon's boat.

Jesus needed Simon's boat.

See if you really look at the text, remember things that we miss, fast forward, oh we love

fishers and men, things we miss.

You have to realize the first thing that Jesus noticed was not Simon Peter.

The first thing that Jesus noticed was his boat.

Look at Luke 5, 2 through 3.

He noticed two empty boats at the water's edge.

For the fishermen, they weren't even there, had left them and were washing their nets.

Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the

water.

So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.

See Jesus knew he needed a boat.

He had performed these miracles, getting the bait, and now he wanted to share the message

which was what?

The hook to bring the crowd into the kingdom of God.

For all you fishermen, Jesus goes about fishing all wrong.

If you're a fisherman, what do you do first?

You hook up your boat, make sure it's ready.

You have your bait and tackle, then you go to the water and begin to fish.

Not God.

Right?

God does it backwards.

God already had the biggest catch imaginable, and then he realizes, oh, I need a boat.

I got to get into a boat because they're going to drown me if I don't get in the boat.

And you say, well, Chris, why?

Because Jesus' ways aren't our ways.

His thoughts are not our thoughts.

This miracle started not with Simon Peter's need, it was with Jesus' need.

And what did Jesus need?

He needed a boat.

Peter needed a miracle, but more importantly in this story, Jesus needed his boat.

He needed a boat so that that boat would become a platform for Jesus' words to be shared to

the crowd that was gathered.

So the first question for you this morning, here we go.

Here we go, church.

2024.

Can God use your boat?

Can God use your boat?

See, I know we come to God with all of our needs, and we share with God everything that

we want and desire, but God wants to know if his need and his purpose can be accomplished

through you on this earth.

Right?

This is what started the miraculous encounter between Jesus and Simon.

He just needed his boat.

And you say, well, Chris, what's that mean for me?

Can God use your boat?

Can God use your business?

Or is your business for you and you only in your glorification?

Right?

Can God use your social media platform?

Or is your social media platform all about your duck face?

And everything that you're doing today.

Right?

Can God use your platform?

Your talents, your abilities?

And you say, well, what can he use it for?

To draw people to him.

Because that's what God does.

Can God use your boat?

Because Jesus saw the boat before he saw Simon.

Now I get it.

Some of you deep religious scholars out there, I know what you're thinking in your heads.

There's someone here that's saying, hold on, Chris, I thought our God doesn't need anything.

To which I say, you're right.

He's all powerful.

He's omnipotent.

He's all knowing.

And to that person I would say, you're right, he doesn't need it.

If Jesus would have wanted to, was that water going to stop him?

No, he could have walked out onto the water and onto the waves and shared the message.

But here's the good news.

He chose not to.

Instead, Jesus chose to use his power to ask for a boat that would extend grace to a man

that would change the world.

Man, that was good.

Can I share that one again?

That was good.

Jesus chose to use his power to ask for a boat that would extend grace to a man that would

change the world.

Man, that was good.

Jesus chose to use his power to ask for a boat that would extend grace to a man that

would change the world.

See, God's grace invites humanity to partner with him in bringing the kingdom of God into

our world.

Something we could never do on our own.

I just want to pause and say, God, thank you for asking to use my boat.

I pray that you continue to use my boat.

Why?

Second Corinthians chapter six.

As God's partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God's kindness and

then ignore it.

For God says, at just the right time I heard you on the day of salvation, I helped you.

Indeed, the right time is now.

Today is the day of salvation.

Such truth.

We are invited to partner with the creator.

I mean, it's amazing.

God operates a lot like Build-A-Bear.

Has anybody ever been to Build-A-Bear?

Put your hand up if you've been to Build-A-Bear.

I only had like six people in the first service who've been to Build-A-Bear.

Give me a break.

If you ever have a kid, you've been to Build-A-Bear.

Come on.

All right.

Let me explain this to you a little bit.

If you don't know what Build-A-Bear is, whenever we are on vacation, because it's only in vacation

destinations, it's not going to be around here.

Okay?

Whenever we're on vacation and my kids, when they were younger, saw a Build-A-Bear, daddy,

we got to get a Build-A-Bear.

I mean, it's crazy.

It's like they see the sign and they're like, let's go, let's go, let's get a Build-A-Bear.

I'm just like, can I just buy you stuffed animal?

Because that's what it is.

Stuffed animal.

No, no, we got to do Build-A-Bear.

To me, it's a waste of time.

But for the kids, we'll do it.

Okay?

Because kids love to Build-A-Bear.

And what Build-A-Bear is, is Build-A-Bear is not in the business of selling you stuffed

animals.

They're in the business of partnership.

Because when you walk into Build-A-Bear, it's an hour long.

It's an hour.

It's not walk in, pick out a bear and go, no, it's an hour.

Because Build-A-Bear works the way God works.

Build-A-Bear gives you an opportunity to collaborate with them.

You walk into the store and you have all of these animal skins on the walls.

Just all of them.

And believe me, when you go into Build-A-Bear, if you've been there, you know you have the

cheap section, the middle section, and then you get over here with the rhinos and the

giraffes.

I mean, that's expensive.

You know, I always bring my kids when they come in and we're like, no, no, no clearance.

Unfortunately, my kids all got bears.

I'm just kidding.

We had some dogs in there, I think, and I don't know what else.

I think we had a, one of them was white.

I wonder what that one was.

It doesn't matter.

I don't remember.

But you pick out your skin, okay?

And then after you pick out your skin, you get all excited because then you move to the

heart and they give you this little red heart.

Okay?

And the kids got to hold it like this and they got to jump up and down and they got

to blow on it and they got to spin around four times.

And then you put it inside because it comes to life.

Right?

And then you stuff it.

You stuff it with stuffing and they make sure everything's full and then they sew it.

And then you go to the clothes section and the sports section and, and, and suddenly

your bill to bear is $125.

And it's like, Oh my gosh.

You know what I'm talking about, don't you?

Yeah.

So you're walking out of the store and your kids are all excited.

I made my bear.

I made my dog and they named it.

And it sings to you now because it's got a song in there.

Right?

And they're pushing the hand button and it just keeps playing the song.

And you're like, Oh my gosh, what did I do?

And they think they made the bear when in reality they didn't make anything.

If they didn't have the skin and the stuffing and the heart, there would be no bear.

Right?

And that's how God collaborates with us.

He partners with us giving the talents, the wisdoms, the words to share with others to

be used by God.

And I am so thankful that God chooses to partner with me because otherwise my life would be

meaningless.

I lived a meaningless life for 22 years, but God chose to partner with me even though he

doesn't have to.

You know what that is?

That's God's grace.

That's God's grace being extended to us.

And God is inviting us, HCV, to stop consuming and start being used by him.

I mean, look at the way Jesus, this is amazing.

You guys ready for this?

Look at the way Jesus asked Simon to use the boat.

He's a straight up gangster.

Right?

This is what it says.

Look, Jesus, right?

He sees two boats.

He steps into the boat.

He's in it.

Then looks at Simon and says, hey, can I use your boat?

You ever think about that?

Only God will step into something, make his presence known, and then say, hey, you mind

if I use that?

See, God makes his presence known to us every single day.

God makes his presence known to us every time we gather together.

And he's asking, can I use you?

Will you allow me to be used by me?

And think about it.

If we refuse and we say no, just know that we're going to feel and watch God walk away

from that boat.

God steps into our boats, and many of us, if you look back over your lifetime, you know

of encounters where God stepped into your boat.

You know it.

Words he spoke, dreams he gave, callings that are still there.

And he is reminding us that he's asking you, can I use them?

Can I have it for my kingdom?

And the response that Simon gives will shape the rest of his life.

If Simon has the audacity to say, no, I'm tired.

I'm tired of trying.

Think about it.

He fished all night and caught nothing.

God, I'm tired of what happened to me last year and what happened to my family.

I'm just disappointed.

I thought it was going to be my year and it all fell apart.

I'm just not open anymore to the opportunity that you want to bring life.

And you say, well, how do you?

Think about it.

Simon was doing what?

He was washing his nets.

And some of you are washing your nets.

This morning, if you're a fisherman and you're washing your nets, it means you're done.

It means you've given up.

You wash your nets, right?

Some of you are washing your nets and you're stepping into this new year with no excitement,

no expectation, not believing God's going to use you because of the pain that you experienced

last week.

And I believe that God is inviting you to experience new life because that's the lie

of the enemy.

The lie of the enemy is you can't change.

There's no hope for you.

And unfortunately, this is living with a quiet quit mentality.

And you say, I never heard of that.

What is the quiet quit?

Well, across the nation, there is a pandemic that has resulted from the pandemic and it's

called the quiet quit.

And the quiet quit is where people are showing up for their jobs and they're doing the absolute

bare minimum.

Their hearts are not engaged.

They don't care about their job.

They've lost their passion for life.

Let me give you a prime example of that.

Just Friday night, we were out running some errands, returning some gifts.

At 6.45, we walked in to a store that closed at seven.

Now the last time I checked, if you walked into a store at 6.45 that closes at seven,

how long do you have to shop?

15 minutes.

Just making sure, 15, 20 minutes.

So we walk in, Jess walks in first, of course.

I'm just trailing because I still had a little bit of a limp, you know.

Wasn't sexy, but it's okay.

So we walk in the store, well, Jess walked in first.

And the girl behind the counter, 6.45, looks over and says, we're closed.

We don't say that to Jess.

She looked at her watch and was like, it's 6.45.

What time do you close?

She goes, seven.

Oh, so you're not closed then.

She goes, well, we're, yeah, we're closed.

She goes, is your manager here?

I'll check with him because I would love to write a review about your job performance.

We walked out of there with a $30 pair of shoes.

I wonder why.

We saved $125.

The quiet quit.

And I believe God is simply asking our community of faith and those of you who are struggling,

can I get you to hope again?

Can I get you to hope again?

Someone needs some hope.

I know you want to walk away.

I know you want to pretend everything's just fine, but can I have your boat?

See Simon says yes.

And thank God he said yes because on that same body of water, Peter, who has the same

change will walk on it.

And if Simon wouldn't have said yes, he would have missed out on the greatest internship

in human history.

That was the beginning of his calling.

Simon says, you can use my boat.

And isn't it amazing that what would become a relationship that will change hundreds of

thousands of lives actually starts really shallow.

God invites us to simply say, yes.

One decision can change the very direction of your life.

And friends, God is inviting you to experience more of him this year because after Jesus

shares with the crowd, where's the crowd go?

Home.

He invites Simon to experience more, which leads us to our next thought.

See Jesus invites Simon to let go of his pride.

When he had finished speaking verses four through seven, he said to Simon, now go out

where it is deeper and let down your nets to catch some fish.

Master Simon replied, we worked hard all last thing, didn't catch a thing.

But if you say so, I'll let the nets down again.

And this time, their nets were so full of fish, they began to tear.

A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat and soon both boats were filled

with fish.

And the virgins say, I mean, mentally picture two boats sinking because of fish.

Now think about this.

Jesus tells Simon to do something that made absolutely no sense.

Because quite often when we go deeper with God, when we get deeper or closer to God,

it makes no sense what he asked us to do.

And Jesus is asking Simon to do something that goes against every normal practice of

fishing during that time.

So during that point in history, all fishermen knew that the fish came out at night and they

swam in the shallow water.

And that's where they got caught.

And that's how they fished.

What Jesus is asking Simon to do goes against everything that Simon would have learned.

No one fishes in the deep water.

Yet Simon says, we worked hard.

Oh, that used to be a game.

Sorry, Simon.

Yet Simon said, Simon says touch your nose.

Thank you, Matt.

Simon says we worked hard all night.

I am exhausted.

But if you say so, I'll let the nets down.

If you say so.

Now the King James version, which I don't read very often, translate if you say so as

nevertheless.

Never the less.

And if you want to move into deep water with God, if you want to move closer to Jesus,

start praying nevertheless prayers.

Because nevertheless prayers are the most powerful, the most dangerous and the most

authentic way to pray.

Nevertheless says, I don't see it.

I don't understand it.

I don't like it.

I don't know what's going to happen.

Because you say so, I will do it.

Nevertheless prayers.

You want to hear my big nevertheless prayer?

My big nevertheless prayer this year, okay, is for that piece of land right over there.

There's a piece of land.

Yeah, it's a good clap.

I like that.

That piece of land right there is about three acres.

And I believe that we're supposed to have it.

So after Sunday's baptism and almost every seat was full, both gatherings and the parking

lot was crazy and I got yelled at for going too long.

Forgive me God.

I started praying for that piece of land and I said, God, nevertheless, you want us to

have that piece of land.

So will you join me in praying that prayer?

Okay, good.

Because I believe we're going to get it this year.

Because God simply wants obedience from his church.

And hear me out.

You don't have to feel it to obey.

You don't have to understand it to obey.

You have to be willing to say nevertheless.

Because in Luke chapter 22, verses 41 and 42 we read, he walked away about a stone's

Luke 22:41

throw and knelt down and prayed, father, if you are willing, does anyone want to guess

what if you are willing is translated as in the King James version?

Thank you, King Jameser.

Nevertheless, exact same word.

Jesus said, I want your will to be done, not mine.

Jesus was willing to sacrifice his life so that we can live in abundance.

And if he invites us to go deeper and get closer to him, it shouldn't be too hard for

us to say, nevertheless, you're worth it, Jesus, because you were willing to sacrifice

it all.

And hear me out.

One of the biggest challenges for me when it comes to parenting, okay, is that stage

for all you parents, you'll know what I'm talking about.

It's that stage in your parenting journey when your kids always ask, well, why?

Could you please go shovel the front walkway?

Why?

It's going to melt anyway.

Do you know what I'm talking about, parents?

Okay, just making sure.

When it comes to God, he doesn't need to explain to us why he asked us to do something.

We are called to be what?

Obedient.

We're called to step out in faith.

We're called to get off the shore and out of the sand and into the deeper water because

going deeper goes against all practical applications and understandings.

Think about it.

Simon worked all night and caught nothing.

Never in his life has he seen fishermen go out into the deep water during the day and

oh yeah, Jesus was a carpenter.

The nets start breaking.

The boats begin to sink.

I mean, think about this.

Either Jesus knew where the fish were or he spoke to his creation and told them to come.

Think about that.

So Simon and his partners realized this has to be God because notice Peter's response,

which leads us to our final thought.

Simon realizes God looks at the heart.

When Simon and Peter realized what had happened, what did he do?

He fell on his knees before Jesus said, oh Lord, please leave me.

I'm such a sinful man.

In other words, if Jesus can see into the depths of the sea, guess what?

He can see into the depths of me.

He knows what goes on in our hearts.

And God, there are things in me that are so ugly and so repulsive that you've got to go

away.

And I am so glad that God doesn't obey us.

We're supposed to obey him, right?

God refuses to listen to Simon and invites him to what?

Follow.

So whatever it is in your life that you think you're disqualified from following God or

being used by God, your anger, your divorce, your children, your job, I don't care what

it is.

That's a lie.

That's your calling, in my opinion, because if you're aware of your brokenness and your

need for God, then Jesus will use you to fish and bring in more people because you can relate

to others through your brokenness.

And he says to Simon and his crew, from now on, you'll be fishing for people.

And as soon as they landed, they left everything.

Notice, remember the biggest catch Simon had ever experienced.

What did he do?

He walked away from it.

Meaning some of you are scared of things inside of you that you think disqualifies you.

And in reality, that is what qualifies you to bring in the harvest.

Sharing the good news is just a hungry person telling another hungry person where they found

the meat.

That's all it is.

Where they found the meaning of life.

First Samuel 16, but the Lord said to Samuel, don't judge by his appearance or height, for

I've rejected him.

The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them people judge by outward appearance.

The Lord looks at the heart.

Jesus knew Simon's calling on his life and he gave him the opportunity to choose and

to say yes.

Which leads us to our action steps.

Will you come out of the crowd?

Four simple things that we can do to come out of the crowd.

The first is this, recognize your need for God.

When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell on his knees before Jesus and said,

Oh Lord, please leave me.

I'm such a sinful man.

When we come into the presence of God, that is when we see our sin and brokenness.

But listen, God allows for us to see our brokenness.

Not so we what?

Run away, but that we come to him.

I want to encourage you if God convicts you, don't run away, run towards him.

I mean, there's so many people that won't walk into this building on a Sunday morning

because they're afraid that if they get in the presence of God, a holy God, and there's

things revealed to their life that they need to change, they don't want to change.

People will not attend gatherings because they don't want to change when in reality

God invites us to change every single day.

Look at Matthew 5.3, God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him.

The kingdom of heaven deserves and that has nothing to do with your financial means.

That is poor in spirit.

Okay, that is poor in ability.

And when we recognize our need from him, what's ours?

The kingdom of heaven.

We need to daily invite God to empower us, which leads us to our next step.

Hey, shocker, read the Bible.

I'd be willing to say that this is in my action steps.

What do you think, Frank, every single Sunday?

Because it's important, friends.

We need to read the Bible.

James 1, don't listen to God's word, do what it says.

Otherwise, you're only fooling yourselves.

If you listen to the word and don't obey, it's like glance at your face in the mirror.

You see yourself walk away and forget what you look like.

But if you look carefully into the perfect law, it sets you free.

And if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for

doing it.

The Bible is not some manual that you pick up when you need it.

Oh, I'm going through a marriage crisis.

I need to read the Bible.

Oh, my father died.

I need to return to church and read the Bible.

No, it's a daily choice to read the Bible so that we get exposed to the heart of God.

Right?

The Bible is a reflection of the person of God in his presence.

It teaches us what God looks like through Jesus.

And we need to encourage one another to cultivate an actual relationship through reading it.

I am going to email you this afternoon and post on social media a read through the Bible

in one year plan.

I want to challenge you.

Start it tomorrow and apply it to your life.

And when you do, you'll be looking in the mirror as a reflection so that you can change

and become all God wants you to become.

So we, right?

Recognize our need.

Read the Bible.

And we learn to listen for God's voice in a bay.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, now go out where it is deeper and let

down your nets to catch some fish.

Master, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

He worked hard all night.

He began to question him.

But then he says, but if you say so, nevertheless, the natural outcome of reading the Bible,

the reason I put reading the Bible first is that we learn to be tuned in to God's voice.

Right?

And the Holy Spirit declares truth to us.

Look at John 16 13.

And the spirit of truth comes and lives inside of us.

He will guide you into all truth.

He will not speak on his own, but will tell you what he has heard.

He will tell you about the future.

And it's not about repeating Bible verses that you read.

It's about learning truth.

When we learn the truth of what is written in the Bible, then we're more adaptable to

be able to hear God's voice speaking to us.

Hey, Chris, don't go there.

Hey, Chris, don't make that decision.

Don't spend that money.

Don't buy that because we know the truth.

Does that make sense?

We are then open to hearing God's voice to tell us to go and fish for people, to share

the good news, right?

To experience change, to walk in this abundance.

We discern God's voice and to follow him into obedience.

I mean, what area of your life is God calling you to change?

We all have an area and I'm going to challenge you to pick one thing, focus on it for 21

days.

Join us in fasting.

Join us at morning prayer.

Join a growth group.

They launched next week, right?

Commit to your community of faith, right?

I'm doing start with why today.

Meet me at the welcome hub.

We'll fill the prayer room.

I'll tell you all about our church, how it got started, where we're going.

You'll see me cry.

I cry every month that I do start with why.

I said, Chris, why do you cry?

Because I told the story of God using our boat and it's humbling, which leads us to

our final step.

You really, it's groundbreaking.

Just do the stuff, right?

Just do the stuff.

His partner, James and John, sons of Zezezi, we're all amazed.

Jesus replied to Simon, he looks at all of you and says, don't be afraid.

It's my grace.

From now on, you'll be fishing for people.

As soon as they landed, left everything and followed Jesus.

I mean, you heard the announcements.

We're doing the night to shine coming up in February.

We need your help, right?

It's going to be a huge event.

We have the reach called weather similar coming up in February.

We're going to serve the homeless, right?

Next week, just let's don't team up.

We want you to serve in our community.

We need you to be a part.

We need you to do the stuff.

Why?

Because God needs you.

Mark 16, 15 and 17 through 18.

And then he told them, go into all the world and preach the good news to everyone.

These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe.

They will cast out demons in my name and they will speak in new languages.

They will be able to place their hands on the sick and they will be healed.

Live your everyday life with a willingness to be used by God.

And hear me out.

This is my heart.

Here at HCV, we are not simply implementing the best church strategies.

In fact, there's many churches in the vineyard that look at me and look at our community

faith, and they say, how has God grown in your church?

Because they follow all the strategies, right?

We're not into the best church strategies.

We're trying to accomplish what isn't humanly possible.

And that's following God and allowing him to miraculously use us to change lives.

And when we follow God and allow him to miraculously use us to change lives, it's depending on

his power in us to be released through us into others so that we see the miraculous

happen.

Friends, we pray for the sick.

We confront justice.

We seek to hear the voice of God.

We seek to hear the voice of God for others.

It involves a partnership, a partnership of God running after us and inviting us into

more.

Now the amazing thing is this, and this is how I'm going to close.

This same miraculous encounter that Simon, sorry, Simon, he wasn't Peter yet, that Simon

had with Jesus, he actually got to experience twice because see, we all know that Peter

denied Jesus how many times?

Three times.

And in order to bring him back onto the team, back into partnership, because remember, Peter

returned to fishing.

He returned to what he did best.

This shows up the resurrected Jesus on the shore and tells Peter and his friends to do

the same thing.

And this time though, Peter doesn't say, get away from me.

You know what Peter does?

He leaps into the water and sprints towards Jesus.