Faith Activated | Celina Tan

You're listening to a message to go from Acts Church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

So today, I'm just going to share from this portion

of Scripture taken from Luke 5, verse 1 to 11.

Luke 5:1–11

And I think this story is no stranger to many

of us. So I'm just going to read this portion

of Scripture from New Living Translation. The translation. Yep. Okay,

the NLT translation. So, Luke 5, verse 1. One day,

Luke 5:1

as Jesus was preaching on the shore of Sea of Galilee,

great crowds pressed in on Him to listen to the

Word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the

water 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 has finished speaking, he said to Simon, Now,

go out where it is deeper and let down your

nets to catch some fish. Simon replied, Master, 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 realised 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 all struck by the number of fish they had caught,

as were the others with him. His partners 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. And as

soon as.

They landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.

Amen.

May God bless the reading of His word. Okay, so yeah.

So we all know about this story about Jesus went

into Peter's boat and He started.

You know, teaching the people.

Okay, so I want you to picture yourself as a

fisherman coming home at sunrise, your backache, you know, your

hand raw from the ropes because, you know, fishing is

no easy feat unless it's the, you know, with the

joran thingy.

Okay, that one probably easier.

But a pure fisherman, you know, you need to toss

the net, pull back to see if there are fish

or not, toss and pull back.

It's a lot of hard work.

Okay, and then your boat smells of seawater because of

all the different dirts that you bring in from the sea. Yet,

when you come back to the shore, your boat is empty.

You know, you work hard all night, your boat is empty.

Okay?

This is what happened to Peter. He did everything right.

He was at the right lake. He was using the

right nets. He was at the right hour because that

is the hour of fishing. Still, he caught nothing.

Okay?

So, when he reached the shore, there was just another

morning that Simon Peter experienced. And it was the same morning,

Jesus walked along the shore of Gennesaret, okay?

And that is what happened to him. So bring it

back to us.

So if we are honest enough, many of us will

sometimes understand the feeling of you have worked so hard,

but you don't see the fruit of it.

Very discouraging, right?

So, you know, when it comes to church, you have

served so well, you prayed, you sung, and you faithfully

attend church and homes, yet your nets feel empty.

Okay? We are busy, but we are not fruitful. Okay?

Or maybe at your work, you have worked so hard.

You have planned your meetings so hard. You have planned

your proposals so hard. You know, you work late nights,

you burn midnight oil. only to not receive any fruit

in return, okay? So imagine yourself as that, okay? So

when I was reading this portion of scripture, few things

caught my attention, okay? Before I go into what we're

going to share today, I'm just going to tell you

basically this whole passage, what caught my attention. The first

thing that caught my attention was this. The people are

hungry for.

The Word, okay? Okay?

Because it started off by saying, the multitude pressed about

Him to hear the Word of God.

Okay?

The great crowd pressed on to Jesus because they want

to listen to the Word of God. They follow Jesus.

They press in for more. They just wanted more for

the Word. They didn't go to Jesus. No, Jesus, I

want more of the bread. I want more of a show.

I want more of, you know, different kind of things. No,

they want more of the Word. And then what happened? Because,

you know, Jesus already done so many things, right? And

the crowd can't impress on him. He can always ignore

them and just walk away, right? You know, his disciple

can always like, you know, no, no, no, like bodyguard

like that. No, don't come near Jesus and he can

just walk away. But did he? He did not. He

did not ignore the crowd. He did not send them away. Instead,

he found a way to teach them.

Okay?

He showed compassion to the people. He made room for them.

And this is exactly like when we read in Mark 6,

Mark 6:34

verse 34, where Jesus was moved with compassion for the people.

Because when He looked at the people, what He sees

is that they are like a bunch of sheep without

a shepherd.

Okay?

So He was moved with compassion and He began to

teach them. And that is what I call the second point.

And then, the third point that I caught was this.

Jesus uses whatever that is available. He was walking at

the shore and then what was available? Two empty boats

and some tired fishermen washing their nets. And Jesus used them, okay? So,

the tool that God can use can be anything. God

can use anyone. Just like Moses, okay? God asked him,

what is in your hand? He only have a rod.

And with the rod, he parted the Red Sea. You know,

when the 5,000 people are hungry, what did they have there?

The little boy with the five loaves and two fish.

And just like what Peter have, he has the boat, right?

All we need to do is to make ourselves and

whatever we have available to be used by God. So

all of us have something, what? Okay, don't say that, yeah,

I got nothing, God won't use me one. No, all

of us have something. Okay, so the things that we have,

whether it's big or small, is that whether are we

willing to be used by God.

Okay, and then next is that.

If we read the New King James Version, okay, when

Jesus got on the boat, He told Simon to put

out a little from the land, basically to just roll

slightly further away from the shore. Now, when Jesus used

what Peter made available, he took him out a little,

but still within his comfort zone.

That is what I caught.

Okay, so the boat, the shore is only a little,

not so far away from the shore. So that is

still very much a comfort zone, not yet to the

working zone, not yet to the danger zone. It's a

working zone. So at the comfort zone, Peter could still

see what's going on at the shore. Okay, now the

question is, why did Jesus ask him to go out

a little?

Okay, maybe.

I know that, you know, sometimes some of the preacher

that we have heard is that, you know, for Jesus

to preach to the crowd, he needs to go a

little and then use the sea, you know, to magnify

his voice projection so that.

Everyone can hear. I'm not going to talk about science.

I'm going to talk about spiritual understanding here.

Okay? When I read this, this is what caught my mind.

Okay?

So, he asked.

Peter to go a little bit further away, basically is

to tell him, I'm not asking you to do your job.

I want you to be with me. Okay? So that,

Peter can still hear what Jesus got to teach.

He is in the boat. He is with Jesus. Basically,

Peter has the front row seat with Jesus.

Okay?

So, Peter get to hear exactly, loud and clear, what

Jesus got to teach. So, When I read this, right,

this caught my attention. Sometimes we think, right, when we

offer our talents to God, you know, we thought that,

you know, we are just doing God a favour to

be used as a tool so that others can hear

the Word of God. So imagine, I'm being used by

God to stand here today to preach the gospel. I

can always think from this perspective. I am preaching here

so that all of you can hear the Word of God. Right?

But many times, when I prepare the Word of God,

I hear it first. I get ministered first. That is

what God wants us to do. When God uses us

as a vessel, He wants us to hear the Word

of God first, to be ministered to it first. So

Peter has the closest seat and he gets ministered first.

Okay? So that is what I caught.

And then, of course, last but not least, after hearing

the Word of Jesus, That is where the challenge comes.

So at first, it was just a comfort zone.

After hearing the word, what did Jesus say?

Peter, let's go home. Did He say that? No, right?

After He finished teaching, He told Peter, okay, now let's

launch out into the deep and let down your nets

for a catch. Peter must be thinking, what say? I

already like whole night so tired already. I already pinjam

you my boat. Then now you want to show me

go fishing? Okay, you want to bring me, ask me

to go fishing? Okay, of course not. You know, a

little from the land just now was just a preparation

for Peter.

The deep was the test for Peter.

And once we hear the word of God, that is

where God invites us to act on it. Okay, so God,

when every Sunday we come, we hear the word of God,

that is preparation. Okay, here in the house of God

is the preparation. Our test is the moment we step

out from the door. Okay, so in Luke chapter 5 here,

Luke 5 · chapter mention

it shows a very clear journey of Peter's life. First,

he encountered Jesus. Then he heard the word, he obeyed

the word, and he was sent with the word. Okay?

When we read this whole.

Portion of Scripture, right, a lot of times we are

so caught with the part where, you know, wow, the miracle,

Peter went out to the deep because he told God,

because he said to God, you know, since you asked

me to go out, nevertheless, at your word, I will,

you know, I will put.

Down the net.

And then he caught a great fish. Wow, you know,

such a miracle. We always stop there, okay? But do

you know that the miracle was not the destination? The

miracle became the catalyst for his mission. When faith is activated,

growth takes place. And when we grow in Christ, we

ought to become the witnesses for Christ.

I titled my sermon.

Today as Faith Activated. And I want everyone to activate

your faith this morning. And I want to show you

that maybe you feel that your boat is empty. Okay,

maybe you feel that, you know, wow, I've done so much,

but I don't see any miracle. You know, sometimes you

felt so empty that, you know, you start to begin

to die inside. And this morning, I just want to

encourage you to, you know, don't let it rot inside.

But open up your heart and let Jesus to come

into your boat and allow Him to cause a revival

within you. Because revival happens when Jesus gets into our boat.

And that is when our faith will be stirred. Our

faith will be activated. And then God will launch us

out to do great things.

Okay?

So faith activated. Okay?

My points, not very creative, and I titled my points

as very simple. If you cannot remember everything I say,

just remember these three points.

Hear it, do it, share it. Okay? Very simple, right?

Children can remember also. Okay? Alright, so the first one, hearing.

Hearing. hear it, okay? Faith requires hearing. Is it only hearing? No,

it requires obedience as well. So, we read this scripture,

we notice that before the miracles can happen, before the

revival within Peter can happen, it all begins with.

The hunger for the Word of God, okay?

The people pressed into Jesus, you know, for more of

the Word of God. Let me ask you, when was

the last time you press into Jesus and say that, Lord,

I want to hear from you. Not just, you know,

scrolling past the Bible verses in your, what do you

call that, in your tablet. Not like just simply flip

through your Bible and, oh, I saw what I highlighted

three years.

Ago and then I read that. No, it's not that. Okay,

but truly sitting down and listen. Listen.

You know, when the people press into Jesus, right? They

crowd around Jesus, right? They didn't ask Jesus, you know,

for healing. He didn't ask Jesus for, you know, bread.

You know, they didn't ask Jesus for a show. What

they want is the deeper hunger that is within them,

which is for the Word of God. And the people

are so hungry that Jesus stopped and shared.

Okay?

He didn't tell the people like, you know, you come

back another time, you know, this is a beach, you know,

how am I going to share? You know, the wave

is going to be so loud. Maybe you find me

a stadium, okay? And then you send a proper invitation,

you email to jesus at jesus.com, then my PA will

look through and then I will come and share. I

think my calendar will be free, I think two days later.

Did Jesus do that? No, He didn't. Okay, He spoke

in ordinary places.

Sometimes we thought, I want to hear from God. Maybe

this Sunday, I go to church, only God will speak

to me. No, God doesn't do that. Or maybe you

say that, even I come to Plaza OSK, also I

cannot hear God. Maybe I should go for that revival

conference that got 8,000 people.

Maybe I go there, I will hear God. No.

Do you know that God can also speak to you

even in your bathroom? Not only in church, not only

in stadium. You know, God speaks in ordinary places.

And it's shown.

He borrowed Peter's boat, which is his place of work,

his place of routine, his place of failure.

You know, for a fisherman to come back from.

The sea not catching a single ikan bilis, that is failure.

But that is the exact place God used. God used

his place.

Of work routine and failure and he turned it into

a pulpit to preach.

Is it only to the congregation? No, to Peter as well.

So before the boat can become a place of miracle,

it has to become a place of teaching. And Peter

had to sit and listen before he can ask to act.

You know, in this abandonment, he got to hear what

Jesus is going to teach. God still speaks in our

boat today. So what is your boat? Maybe to a

full-time mum, your boat is the kitchen or maybe the

laundry area. Maybe to some of us who have to

stuck in a traffic jam for three hours every day

to go to office, that could be your boat.

Maybe some of.

You, you know, have been working hard in your office

and you still don't see any, you.

Know, accomplishment. That is your boat.

Or maybe those of you who are studying, your classroom

could be your boat. Right? Our ordinary life is where

Jesus wants to teach us. Let me ask you, Jesus

wants to use our boat today. But are you too

busy to attend to Jesus' request? Are you trying very

hard to fill up your own boat, you know, with

your own strength? Are you willing to put aside your

busy schedule just to stop and hear what God's going

to say? Are you willing to build an altar before

the Lord at your boat, you know, so that God

can show up and show off? So Romans 10, 17

tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing the

word of God. So Peter heard the word. Peter had

to hear the word before he acted. And this tells

us that faith begins when we encounter God and what

He has to say. We cannot activate a faith that

we never receive. Faith is not self-generated.

Remember that? It is God-generated through His word.

And faith begins with hearing God's word. And faith is

not believing that everything will work out. It is trusting

because God God has spoken.

Okay?

So Hebrews 11 verse 6 says, But without faith, it

Hebrews 11:6

is impossible to please Him. For he who comes to

God must believe that He is and that He is

a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. So in

these two scriptures, it tells us that hearing the word

of God teaches us two things. Number one, who God is.

And then, he responds to those who seek him. So

when this whole story.

Right, we realize that.

Before Peter encountered Jesus, he technically only know that, you know,

Jesus does miracles, he teach and so on and so forth.

But after hearing Jesus' teaching, he trusted his word. He

trusted it so much that he called Jesus Master. You know,

it's just like the children here that has not been

taught by me, they will call me Auntie Nana. But

after I teach them already, what will they call me?

Teacher Nana.

Okay, so it's the same thing. Before Peter know who

Jesus was, he probably would just say that, oh, he

is a man, you know, that does miracle. But after

he heard from him, he hear his teaching, okay, he

started calling him master. Okay, revival starts when people begin

to hear God's again, God's word again. Not just merely

hearing sermon or attending church or knowing scripture, but hearing

God with a heart that is ready to trust and respond. So,

are we ready to respond after hearing the word of God?

James 1.22 says, do not merely listen to the word,

and so deceive yourself. Do what it says. This is

from NIV version.

Okay?

But some translation will say this. Don't just be a hearer,

but be a doer of the word.

A doer, okay?

A doer is an action, okay? So does a doer

just stand and do nothing?

No.

A doer moves, okay? So you have heard God. What's next?

You need to move, okay? If you want to experience

the supernatural at your boat today, you have to move.

And that is what we need to do next.

Do it, okay? Faith requires action.

So after hearing the word, we read just now, Jesus

told Simon to go into the deep, which is the challenge,

and to let down the nets for a catch. Now,

to an experienced fisherman, okay, any fisherman here, you may

correct me if I am wrong. Okay, so apparently, to

a fisherman, this make no sense. Okay, on a daytime,

to go into the deep water and to put down

the net, For a catch.

Okay? Because why? Fishermen usually they catch at night. Okay?

In shallow water. Not in broad daylight in the deep. Okay?

So, when I read this, right, I was also a

bit curious. Why Peter has to go at night for fishing? Right?

Usually people fish in daytime. Then only you can see

how big your fish is. Why fishermen go and catch

fish at night? So this is what I found on google.com. Okay,

so there are a few reasons why fishermen catch fish

at night. Number one is the temperature shift. So during

the day, the sun heats the surface of the water.

driving the fish to go deeper to stay cool. But

at night, the surface temperature drops and then the fish

will move into the shallow water to feed and putting

them right where fishermen cast their line. Because, you know, fishermen,

they don't use the fishing rod. That one can go

deep water, but the net cannot go too deep. So

it has to be caught in the... You know, when

the fish is higher up, that's easier for them to catch.

So that is one, temperature shift. Second one is the

line invisibility, which I think this one is quite common sense. Okay.

In the daytime, fish can see the net. Of course,

they run away from the net. At night, they are blind.

They cannot see. I don't know, okay?

If Ming Jo here, she probably will tell me, no,

fish are not blind, okay?

So at night, in the sea, it's dark, okay? They

can't see.

So thick and heavy fishing line and hardware that could

easily spook a caution fish in broad daylight become virtually

invisible at night, making fish much likely to strike the bait.

So that's why fishermen catch fish at night.

So, for Jesus to tell Simon to go out in

broad daylight, someone in the deep, using the net to

catch fish, Simon Peter must be thinking, Siao ah, you know,

at this hour, where.

Can catch fish? Okay? So Jesus was not asking Simon

Peter to try harder. Okay? At what he had been

doing all night.

He was just asking him, trust my word and go

against your own experience.

That is what Jesus is asking Peter to do.

So this was an act of faith on Peter's part.

Okay. So why is it an act of faith? Because why?

Faith often asks us to do what logic resists.

Okay.

Like for example, someone, you know, offend you, cause you

in deep trouble. And then what did the Bible tells you?

Forgive the person. Then it was like, Forgive this person

caused me, you know, millions, lost in millions.

You want me to forgive? Impossible. Okay?

Logic resists to ask you to give to someone whom, wow,

just bought a new car, a new house, and God,

you want me to give to this person?

Are you sure?

Okay? Logic resists to ask you to speak against, you know,

a corruption example.

Okay?

And that makes, cause you to go into deeper trouble

if you speak up.

Okay?

Faith also go against logic in which ask you to

resign your work and go into full-time missions. And then

you are saying that, Lord, my bank is zero. I

got a whole list of bills to pay. And then

you want me to go to missions and then don't

take salary. And then, how am I going to pay?

You know? This is what all faith asks us to do, okay?

Where logic resists.

And we cannot comprehend the reason behind, yet we are

told to follow. And that is exactly what Hebrews 11 says.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence

of things not seen. So faith begins when we encounter

what God has said, even when we cannot see what

God is going to do. So that is what faith

is all about. So when that happens, Peter did not

know what would happen. But because he has heard the word,

he acted.

Okay?

And how we know that he, he don't know what

happened and then he acted is when he said this

to Jesus. Master, we worked hard all last night and

didn't catch a thing.

Okay? Didn't catch a thing. Not even a ikan bilis.

Okay?

Anchovies. Okay?

But, If you say so, some translations say nevertheless. But

I like this one taken from NLT. If you say so,

I'll let the nets down again. It goes against all

his experience. It goes against all his understanding. He goes

against everything. And he says, Jesus, if you say so,

I will do it. So this is the turning point

of the story. A lot of times when we look

at this statement that Peter told Jesus, right, we only

saw the word, if you say so, nevertheless. But do

you see the statement before he said, if you say so,

we have worked hard all last night and didn't catch

a thing. Peter was honest with Jesus about his exhaustion.

He was honest enough with his doubt and he didn't

fight back. He can by all means fight with Jesus one. No, Jesus,

let me tell you, it's the time of the season

where the fish will not come one. You see, at night,

so cold, the fish also don't want to come to

the surface. You know, I spent the whole night trying

to find the fish, you know, I cannot catch. You know,

I already tried two, three nights already, still cannot catch fish.

You sure or not, if I go to the deep,

I can catch? He can by all means say that.

Wish all of us say that, right? You know, every

time when Jesus asks us to do something, we always

use our logic, our experience, our.

expertise to fight and argue. But Peter did not. He obeyed.

Okay?

So faith isn't the absence of questions. We can still

tell God, you know, Lord, I've tried all this. You know,

I'm tired. But okay lah, if you say so, I

will do it. So faith is obedience in spite of them.

So what we see here is that Peter is not

just a hearer.

He was a doer.

So Peter could have enjoyed the whole teaching from his

book and gone home to sleep, which many of us

do exactly the same every Sunday, right? But he did not.

He continued on, okay? He continued on to obey what

Jesus had to say, okay? And, you know, that is

what exactly we learn here. how he responded to Jesus

is how James wants us to respond as well. In

James chapter 1, verse 23 to 24, it says, for

James 1:23–24

if you listen to the word and don't obey, it

is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You

see yourself, your face is dirty, but you walk away

without washing it. Okay? And then you've forgotten that your

face is actually dirty. So isn't that self-deception? So if

Peter were to tell Jesus that, Jesus, I'm tired. I

will do what you tell me to do tomorrow. Maybe

tomorrow I will go into the deep when I'm well

rested tonight. And then tomorrow morning only I'll go into

the deep. He can by all means tell Jesus that,

but he didn't, okay? He immediately acted on it. So

revival is not measured only by how loudly we say amen,

you know, to every word that we hear or to

every prayer that was mentioned, but revival is measured by

how quickly we obey. So James 2, verse 17 also

James 2:17

reminds us that faith itself, if it's not accompanied by action,

it is dead. And Hebrews 11, okay? You know, Hebrews 11,

we all know. Hebrews 11 is the whole story of the.

Heroes of faith, right?

Every time we want to find where are all the

heroes of faith, we always turn to Hebrew 11, okay?

And they are the heroes of faith in action. They

are not being called the heroes of faith for nothing.

They acted on their faith. So by faith, Abel offered.

It's an action. By faith, Noah built.

It's an action.

By faith, Abraham went. It's an action.

By faith, Moses chose. Okay, it's an action. By faith,

Israel walked. If there is no action, there is no

living faith. What would be your fifth action work today?

What is God asking you to do that requires action?

That you have been telling God, wait lah God, not yet.

Wait lah, or maybe, you know, God, ask the person

beside me. You know, you want me to go and

plant another church plant? No, send Timothy. You want me

to plant, you know, you want me to plant another home? No,

send Elaine.

Okay.

Or maybe, yeah, you know, or you want me to,

you know, go and reach out to this bunch of

children in the children's house on a Saturday morning.

Aiyo, I'm tired, very sleepy. Okay, John got three kids already.

Send John.

Right? Right?

Is it faith about other people's action work.

Or your own action work? Okay?

Remember that faith is demonstrated through obedience. Your obedience is

not to obey by sending other people. It's your own obedience.

And obedience is never wasted one. You obey God and

do know that your obedience will never go in waste.

When we obey, we see miracles. Whatever we read in

the Bible, right? It's not just story.

It's real. It happened.

It happened yesterday, today, and it will happen again and again.

So Peter's obedience led him to a great catch. Do

you want to experience the abundance in your life today?

If you want, you need to stop to listen to God.

And when you hear from God, you need to obey

what you have heard. So sometimes God will ask you

to do the extraordinary. Don't think that you have heard

it wrongly. So you just need to pray and ask

God to show. And when God speaks or impresses upon

your heart, and when you check it through against the

Word of God, it will be there.

And it will never, you know, go against the Word

of God.

Amen? So.

You have heard the word. You have obeyed. Okay? You

will receive the miracle. Okay?

So maybe some of you who have heard it, who

have done it, you have seen the miracle. You have

reaped the benefit. You have, you know, reaped the miracles.

And you stop there. Right? So what I wanted to

share this morning is that, you know, every testimony that

you have received, don't stop there. Don't keep it to yourself.

you need to share it.

So that is why I put.

Under the share it there, from miracle to missions. So

the miracles that we receive, right, it's not for us

to keep. Okay, so reading from Luke chapter 5, 6

Luke 5 · chapter mention

to 7, it says this, And this time their nets

were so full of fish, they began to tear.

That is the miracle. A great catch.

So what did Peter do? Did he say that, eh,

this one ah, I susah payah ah, catch so hard.

So all these fish, I don't care. I just want

everything to myself. Did he say that? No.

He shout for help.

Yeah.

He shout for.

Help and brought their partners in the other boat. Soon,

both boats were filled with fish and on the verge

of sinking. Peter can by all means say that, yeah,

I obey Jesus, Ma. I go into, you know, go

into the deep sea and I catch all this, you know.

It's all going to be mine.

Even if I have to let loose the rest that

I couldn't get into my boat, I'm just going to

keep it to my boat.

He didn't.

He called out to his partner. He tells his partners.

They share the miracle together. Okay? It is the same lake,

same net, same fisherman. The only difference was what? His

obedience to Jesus and hence he saw this miracle. So

when faith is activated, growth takes place. And his growth

was in the form of the abundance that he got.

When one boat cannot hold, he called for the other

one and it got everything that God wants to give

it to them. So the catch was bigger than Peter

could handle alone. So what happened here was that after

the miraculous catch, Peter's first response was not to celebrate.

Okay, the scripture didn't say that, you know.

After the great catch, Peter started to say that, whoa,

what a great fishing strategy. Tomorrow, I want to have

another great catch. Maybe I should ask Jesus again. Hey, Jesus,

what was the strategy that you used yesterday that caused

me to have such an abundance? Lord, okay, tomorrow, I

want to go for another catch. You know, maybe you

must tell me the strategy. Did Peter do that?

No.

Luke 5, verse 8, it continues on with this, where Peter,

Luke 5:8

Simon realised. Okay?

He realised he saw the miracle. What he did?

He fell to his knees before Jesus and said, Oh Lord,

please leave me. I'm such a sinful man.

He repented.

So he moved from earlier on, hearing the teaching, he

called him Master. Now he experienced the supernatural, he called

him Lord. His encounter bring him to a place of,

number one, repentance because he fell down on his knee

and said that, Lord, leave me. I'm a sinful man.

And then he humbled himself. He didn't say that, oh,

I found a fishing guru. I'm just going to keep him.

No.

He called him Lord.

You know, he made him to come into such humility

and humble himself. Okay?

So true revival doesn't just make us excited. It makes

us humble.

It reveals the holiness of Jesus and our need for Him.

So when we go to a revival service or revival

conference or whatsoever, we experience the revival.

Don't just let that get us excited.

Let the revival that we experience get us humble, get

us down on our knees and say that Jesus forgive

us of our trespasses and then we forgive those who

trespass against us.

Because why?

The revival that we experience is just revealed to us

how much we need Him. So what God start in

us may eventually become bigger than us. The miracle that

Peter encountered did not remain personal. It didn't remain just

with Peter. It created an overflow to the people that

is around him. And the miracle that Peter experienced gave

birth to a revival within him. And real growth always

draws others in. So remember that, you know, revival is

not a solo event. You go to a revival service,

you receive the revival, it's not for you to keep.

is supposed to create and overflow. So when Peter went

down on his knee, so did Jesus say, yeah, you

should repent?

Did Jesus say that?

No. You know, our God, our Jesus is very compassionate.

So Jesus did not leave Peter in his guilt. He

lifted him and gave him a mission.

Right? Because that is what we read next. He gave

him a mission. Okay? So the missions that Jesus gave

him is this.

You know, don't be afraid. From now on, you will

be fishers of men. You will be fishing for people.

So revival that stays inside the four walls of the

church is incomplete.

We pray for revival. We want revival.

When revival comes and we keep it within the four walls,

that is incomplete. it has not achieved the goal that

God has planned for that revival. So the ultimate goal

of revival is evangelism, which is to reach out to people,

to bring the message of hope, the message of love,

out from these four walls of church. So that is

why we pray for revival, so that the fire that

is within us, that we carry, will not just burn

within us, the house of God, but it will burn outside.

So that it can.

Continue to spark fire everywhere we go. We will continue

to plant seed, the Word of God, into people who

need to hear the Word of God. Remember how we started.

People are hungry for the Word of God. You may

not know it, but people are hungry to hear the

Word of God. But we are not sharing it. So today,

I just wanted to let everyone know is that, you know,

every testimony that you have, every miracle that God has

given to you, that is the catalyst of your mission.

That is your ultimate goal.

The miracle of the fish was pointing towards a greater calling,

fishing for people. You know, the story is not to

tell us that Jesus is a good fisherman strategist. But

the story is to tell us that when God brings

us the abundance, when God gives us the testimony, it's

not for us to keep it within ourselves. Sometimes the

testimony may feel small in our own eyes. But I

just want to tell all of us, no testimony that

is too small that cannot be shared. Every testimony that

we have, it always bring a message to hope to

a person that we are sharing to.

So always remember that. Okay?

So when Jesus replied to Simon, do not be afraid

from now on you'll be fishing for people. What did

Peter and his friend do after that? They pulled their

boat up to the shore, they left everything and they

followed Jesus. They are being made fishers of men. They

themselves is a changed life now. Matthew 4, verse 19 says,

Matthew 4:19

Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

So what I'm going to tell you.

Is that the mission that Jesus gave to Peter is

the same mission Jesus is giving to us now. Jesus

will make us fishers of men. And all of us

are called to be fishers of men. What our job

is to do? Our job is to follow Him so

that we will know exactly what He wants us to do.

So encountering Jesus leads us to growth. Growth changes our priorities.

So Peters have the, you know, have the greatest catch

in his whole career. In his resume, he will probably

write that, you know, my greatest catch was how many fishes.

Okay?

But yeah, that could be his, you know, the most high,

the top achievement in his whole career as a fisherman.

But the moment he encountered Jesus, it became less important.

Because you saw what happened next. He left everything and

he followed Jesus. So when we want to grow in Christ,

when we want to experience the revival within us in

our life, we should not let all these worldly things

to hold us tight. And we should not also hold

it so tight that we cannot let go. Once you

encounter God, once you hear His word, you'll realise that

all these worldly possessions is only for this lifetime.

You cannot bring it to you to eternity.

But the abundance of the spiritual gift that God's going

to give to us, it's the very thing that we

will be able to bring it with us into eternity.

So.

The abundance that brings you to God, you know, the

abundance that God brings to you should not stop at yourself.

Let it flow. Let it flow.

God bless you in different areas. Some of you, God

bless you with your talent. Some of you, God bless

you with finances. Some of you, God bless you with time.

There will be people that's around you that will come

to you that will ask a piece of you. You know,

a piece of your time. A piece of your you know, money,

maybe a piece of your talent.

You know, I don't know.

I don't know what your friends are asking you today.

But what you can offer, you know, you offer. Because

that is the very thing that will bring hope to

the person. You know, sometimes the things that you use

to bless others, sometimes your friends will also be wondering, eh,

You are already so busy.

You don't even have time to even eat a proper meal.

Why is it that at one phone call to you,

you immediately come out to see me?

You know? Sometimes people cannot comprehend.

Sometimes people will wonder, you know, like, you know, you

probably don't earn much. Example, um, And then you have

a long bills to pay. You have parents to take care.

And then here your friends come to you running saying that,

you know, Kelvin, I need help. I have this, you know,

my mom admitted to hospital and I'm short of 200.

To pay the bills. Do you think you have some

to pay? Help me to pay. Loan it to me.

I'll pay you next month. And Kelvin said, yeah, sure.

And then in his mind, he started calculating.

Okay, $ 200.

That is for my phone bill. How am I going

to pay for my phone bill? But yeah, you just give.

And your friend's mother got saved because of that $ 200 example. Okay?

You know, because he needs to pay the bill probably

for a surgery or whatsoever. But because of your kindness,

your generosity, the mom is saved. And because of that,

your friend came and asked, you needed to pay your bill,

but you paid my mom's bill first. Why? It opened

doors for you to share the gospel. So sometimes we

may not have a lot. You may have an empty boat.

But that is the very empty boat that God is using.

So even as I draw to a close, maybe I

can invite the extreme team to come up.

Revival is not the end.

Okay?

Revival is not the end. It is the beginning.

Okay? Sometimes we feel that, yeah, I experienced the revival already.

I experienced the abundance already. Okay lah, my life is revived.

That's it. No. Okay?

If at all you forget, always remember Jesus' last commandment

towards us. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.

All of us have a mission. And our mission is

to reach out to as many people as possible. I

can stand here today I can tell you is because

someone reached out to me. I'm not from a Christian family.

None of my family members are believers. But because someone

spent time sharing about her testimony to me, someone spent

time reaching out to me, someone spent time telling me

that the Bible is a very nice storybook.

And because of that, I get to know who Jesus is. Okay? Yeah,

poor Lyra. Okay? Yeah.

But what I wanted to say here is that all

of us is a product of someone's prayer. Perhaps you

say that, yeah, I grew up in a Christian family.

You know, I never experienced what you experienced. But do

you know that you are a product of your parents' prayer?

You may say that, yeah, I grew up in a

Christian family. You know, my parents pray for me, it's normal.

But do you know that every parent prays for their

children's salvation? A salvation, you know, saying yes to Jesus

is not something that your parents force it down your throat.

It is your personal encounter with Jesus.

So if it's not because someone prayed for you, if

it's not because someone shared the word of God with me,

I would not be standing here this morning. And this

someone was my aunt. You know, I only see her

once a year during Chinese New Year. Okay, I'm a

terrible niece. And she was the one that, you know,

encourages me to read storybook. So I read, when I

was young, a lot of storybook. I read until like,

you know, I tell my aunt, I got no more

storybook to read. Then she's like, okay, I will give

you one very bestseller storybook. I said, oh, is it?

I want.

So she gave me a Bible. So I read Genesis.

Very good.

I told her, wow, the story very good. I like

the story. I said, but why the story like, it doesn't,

there is no flow. It's like one story after another.

Then she said, oh yeah, it's a short story. Then,

after Genesis is Exodus. Still very exciting. Then, I read Leviticus.

I'm like, Ayi, what on earth is this story? It

has no storyline. Then she said, never mind, keep on reading.

After Leviticus, I read Numbers. I straight away told her,

I have no idea what this story is about. It's

just teaching me about maths. Then she's like, never mind,

never mind. You turn the storybook to the centre and

then you will see the title there, Matthew, right?

You start reading from there. The story is very nice.

I continue on.

And that's why I told you, if at all, what

story I read the most, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Okay?

So there are the four stories. But because of that,

I learned about Jesus. And because of that, you know, Bible,

English is very deep. And then my English is not

very good. So I asked my auntie, how can I

improve my English? And she said, do you have any

friends that goes to church on Saturday or Sunday? I said, oh,

I have. My best friend goes to church every Saturday.

I don't know why she's so excited about it. But

every time I ask her to go shopping with me,

she tells me she cannot. Then she said, then you

should follow her.

So I went with her.

And then I went, I couldn't understand a single thing

the preacher preached because again, my English not very good. I,

half the time, I look at my friend. What is

the uncle talking there? I don't even know that person

is called uncle.

And then she said that, you just learn. You want

to learn English, right? You learn. So I struggled. I

struggled through.

I can't even read the Bible properly.

But I struggled through.

But the good thing is, God sent an English teacher

within the church. to start to strengthen my English. And

that is where I learned more about the Word of God.

And that is where I started to give my life

to Jesus. So someone shared.

Can you see?

Number one, my aunt shared the best-selling storybook. Second, my

best friend shared about how exciting church was. And then

another leader shared her skills. to equip me with English.

You know, everyone share.

Remember I tell you, there is nothing that is too

small that you cannot use it, you know, to share.

So we can experience God's presence and still stop. But

when we receive a fresh touch, we need to reach people.

So we can attend everything, you know, from revival meetings

to worship, passionately, to pray fervently. But if revival doesn't

move us towards people, then we are missing the mark.

The miracle that you have received from God today, if

you do not share it, it's a waste. So sometimes

you may be afraid and you may not know how

to activate your faith. You may not know how to

be a witness of Christ.

Don't worry. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you. Because why?

The Holy Spirit is our helper. He is the helper

that Jesus has sent to empower us. I'm not lying

to you because in Acts 1, it says, you will

receive the power when the Holy Spirit comes on you

and you will be my witness in Jerusalem, in all

Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

So you notice the progression here?

You will receive the power from the Holy Spirit and

then you will be the witness. So the Holy Spirit

does not empower us merely so that we can have

a powerful experience. He empowers us so that we can

continue to be an effective witness. Jesus did not call

Peter to become a better fisherman. Just like Jesus didn't

call me to be a better teacher. Jesus didn't call

you to be a better doctor. Jesus didn't call you

to be a better engineer. Jesus called you to be

a witness, a fisher of men. So Peter mourned began

with an empty boat and ended up with a new calling.

So what is your empty boat this morning? And what

is God calling you to do? So revival starts when

one ordinary believer hears God, obeys God and tells someone

about God. So the same Jesus that stepped into Peter's

empty boat is stepping into yours today. So the only

question I have for you before I end is that

will you tell Jesus.

If you say so, I will let down my name.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

information on our church, please visit xchurch.org. We are also

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is going to be a good week ahead for you.

God bless.