There's A Catch

0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:04.120 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:06.600 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:06.640 --> 0:00:09.960 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:12.000 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.000 --> 0:00:16.520 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:19.560 I thought we'd study in Luke chapter five today. This 0:00:19.600 --> 0:00:22.279 is one of my favorite action passages. Gives us a 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:24.599 real picture of three different elements of faith that I 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:26.600 want to bring out today. And one of my friends, 0:00:26.600 --> 0:00:29.200 who is really astute, actually happens to be my barber 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:32.199 as well. What's up? Fly Tie? Fly Tie ran a 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:36.960 marathon yesterday. He said, pray for me, Pastor. I have 0:00:37.000 --> 0:00:40.280 a marathon. I have not trained. And I said, do 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:43.479 you never listen to anything I preach. You can't come on, 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:46.240 you can't skip training and then blame it on prayer 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:49.080 when you throw up on mile six. But he finished, 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:51.800 He finished, and he was telling me the other day 0:00:52.800 --> 0:00:55.360 he said, you tricked us. I thought this was a 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:58.280 giving series at the end of the year, and in 0:00:58.320 --> 0:01:01.200 a way it is because we're giving an off like 0:01:01.400 --> 0:01:04.200 was given to build Elevation Blakeney, like was given to 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:07.520 build the campus that you sit in today, and we're 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:11.320 doing that at the end of the series six weeks series, 0:01:11.360 --> 0:01:15.120 I believe six weeks, and that'll be very special and 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:19.160 very important because we use that offering to build the church, 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:23.800 but God uses the offering to build your faith. And 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:25.839 so he said, I thought it was a giving series. 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:29.080 It's really a faith series, isn't it. And I said, absolutely, 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:32.120 you got it. That's what way maker is. And now 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:35.080 faith is the way God blesses you. Grace is the means. 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:37.479 Faith is the way. Write it down. Grace is the means. 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:41.759 So we are saved by grace through faith. That's Ephesians 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:44.560 chapter two. And so the way that God blesses you, 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:47.640 the way that God delivers peace to your nervous system, 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:50.040 is through your faith. And so if we can build 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:52.720 your faith ending this year and going into the next year, 0:01:53.120 --> 0:01:55.559 you will see God do what Ephesians three twenty calls 0:01:55.600 --> 0:02:01.480 immeasurably more than you could ask her. Imagine today, my 0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:03.480 passage may be familiar to you if you have some 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:07.920 Sunday school, vacation, Bible school experience, this will probably not 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:11.680 be strange waters for you. In Luke chapter five, verses 0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:13.880 one through eleven, but I really like it, so I 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:17.000 was excited when God led me to preach it. One day, 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:20.400 as Jesus was standing by the lake of Genessaret, the 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:23.519 people were crowding around him and listening to the word 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:26.919 of God. He saw at the water's edge two boats 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:30.760 left there by the fishermen who were washing their nets. 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:34.600 Got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon. 0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:39.920 Later his name was Peter, same guy, but Jesus so 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:47.160 changed his identity that what people called him changed. And 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:48.760 do you know God can do such a deep work 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:51.000 in your life that people don't even recognize you as 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:55.400 the same person anymore. And people who used to call 0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:57.760 you a failure will have to step back and rethink 0:02:57.840 --> 0:03:00.560 how they assessed you and labeled you when God gets 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:05.280 a hold of your life. So he got into one 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:08.239 of the boats. There's two boats. He gets into the 0:03:08.240 --> 0:03:10.600 one belonging to Simon and asked him to put out 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:13.840 a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:16.200 the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, 0:03:16.240 --> 0:03:19.440 he said to Simon, put out into deep water and 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:23.799 let down the nets for a catch. And Simon answered 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:28.560 with an attitude, Master, we've worked hard all night and 0:03:28.680 --> 0:03:33.040 haven't caught anything. Your little talk was really good, But 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:38.160 we are professionals. You're a preacher. You do the preacher. 0:03:39.080 --> 0:03:41.480 We'll do the fishing. But you got to give him 0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:46.480 credit because even with a bad attitude, he obeyed. God 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:50.160 can bless obedience even if you do it with a 0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:54.520 bad attitude. I mean, you don't really have to feel 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:56.760 the mood for a workout for your muscles to receive 0:03:56.800 --> 0:03:59.480 the benefit. I mean you have to feel like coming 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:01.360 to church for God to get a word through to you. 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:03.240 How many of you didn't feel like coming to church today? 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:05.960 All right, you're gonna get the biggest blessing of everybody, 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:09.600 because that's called the sacrifice of praise. Is when you 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:14.320 don't consult your feelings, because the foundation of your decisions 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:16.760 is your faith. Would y'all calm down and let me 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:23.720 read my scratch out, Master. We've worked hard all night 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:28.080 and haven't caught anything, But because you say so, I 0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:30.159 will let down the nets. When they had done so, 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:33.600 they caught such a large number a fish that their 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:36.520 nets began to break. That's probably enough for us to 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:39.840 work from for now. Verse two says he saw at 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:43.920 the water's edge two boats. Verse six says when they 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:46.719 had done so, they caught such a large number of 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:49.880 fish that their nets begin to break. So look at 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:51.839 your neighbor and give them my subject for it today, 0:04:51.880 --> 0:05:00.919 say neighbor, Say, favorite neighbor, we are on the edge 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:05.800 of a blessing. Now look at him, look at him, 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:09.000 real serious now, and tell them my titles. Say, but 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:18.520 there's a catch. There's a catch, because central premise, the 0:05:18.680 --> 0:05:23.960 edge of my next blessing will often be the place 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:30.120 of my greatest frustration. And certainly the scene in Luke 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:35.920 chapter five seems to be that Peter has decided to 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:39.560 try it again tomorrow, And just at that moment when 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:41.960 he has all the nets cleaned and ready to be 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:45.120 stored away, just at the moment where he has the 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:50.400 boat's positioned to be dry docked, here comes this radical 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:56.119 rabbi with the big crowd standing room only. Everywhere Jesus 0:05:56.240 --> 0:05:58.960 Christ went to preach, people who don't like big churches 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:04.039 wouldn't like Heaven, just a side note. Everywhere he shows up, 0:06:04.080 --> 0:06:07.080 the crowd comes, and the first element I want to 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:09.720 mention in this sermon, I want to talk about conditional miracles. 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:12.840 Three of these points I like you to write them down. 0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:14.279 That way you can preach them back to your wife 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:16.320 when she's acting crazy this week. You get it. You 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:25.400 are your husband, are your mother in law. By conditional miracles, 0:06:25.480 --> 0:06:27.920 I mean that there are certain conditions in which God 0:06:27.960 --> 0:06:32.080 is most likely to perform miracles. There are certain conditions 0:06:32.080 --> 0:06:34.440 in which you are most likely to see the power 0:06:34.440 --> 0:06:35.800 of God. Now, God can do what he wants to, 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:37.480 But it seems to be a pattern in scripture that 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:40.520 over and over again God reserves his greatest glory for 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:44.360 our lowest points. Seems to be over and over again 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:49.359 that it is after we have fished all night caught nothing, 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:54.480 that He now, after all this frustration, will give us 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:58.000 the blessing that we could not achieve in our own strength. 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:00.320 I think is so well know who blessed us when 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:03.200 he does. That's the best thing that I can figure. 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:08.839 I was at this location a few weeks ago, actually 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:11.960 was there at the Sea of Galilee. The NIV calls 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:14.240 it the Lake of Ganessaret. It's more accurate to call 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:16.760 it a lake. When you call it the Sea of Galilee, 0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:20.320 it sounds major, but it isn't necessarily a major body 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:24.280 of water. It's the largest in Israel for fresh water. 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:29.000 But it's also the lowest, it's the lowest, it's the lowest. 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:33.320 This place would become the base of Jesus earthly ministry. 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:36.960 Eighteen of thirty three miracles that the Son of God 0:07:37.000 --> 0:07:41.680 performed on the earth. What happened around the Sea of Galilee. 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:45.840 This is the region where he revealed his glory. And 0:07:45.840 --> 0:07:52.120 so is there any significance I believe there is to 0:07:52.200 --> 0:07:56.640 the fact that Jesus Christ picked the lowest point. This 0:07:56.720 --> 0:07:59.840 is the lowest lake, freshwater lake in all of the earth. 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:04.440 Did he choose the lowest lake to do his ministry 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:08.960 because it was the closest? Or does it say something 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:15.400 about a God who often chooses our lowest moments and 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:19.840 our weakest places to do his greatest work. Now that's 0:08:19.920 --> 0:08:24.000 not for everybody. Some people are doing just fine without God. 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:27.160 And you got money, and you got women, and you 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:29.920 got stuff, and you got a full schedule and you 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:32.680 don't have time for this God thing. But just in 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:35.760 case there is anybody in here who has been in 0:08:35.800 --> 0:08:40.160 a little bit of a low place, the conditions touch 0:08:40.240 --> 0:08:51.000 somebody say the conditions are right for a miracle? Is 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:55.559 conditions for a miracle? Because Not only is Peter frustrated 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:58.480 having fished all night and caught nothing, but the people 0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:01.280 are frustrated because they can't get in to hear Jesus. 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:05.480 And the Bible uses a phrase you see it over 0:09:05.520 --> 0:09:07.560 and over again in reference to Jesus. You even see 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:09.360 it a little later in Luke five. We don't have 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:11.720 time to tell you about one time Jesus preaching in 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:13.679 the house and the bouncers wouldn't let this poor man in, 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:17.840 but his friends wouldn't take no for an answer, so 0:09:17.880 --> 0:09:20.160 they go to ripping off the roof. Do not try 0:09:20.200 --> 0:09:24.079 this in overflow. I promise you We've got armed guards 0:09:24.080 --> 0:09:26.880 that will do something about it if you try. But 0:09:26.960 --> 0:09:29.440 they rip that roof off and got that man down. 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:31.640 Because the Bible says there was such a crowd to 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:34.920 hear Jesus that they couldn't get in. And so then 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:37.600 you have excuse makers who would turn around and go home. 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:41.680 And then you have way makers who decide, I'll do 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:45.120 what I have to do and leave what I have 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:51.120 to lead in order to experience a touch from God. 0:09:52.440 --> 0:09:55.880 So it's crowded and Peter is fishing, So we got 0:09:55.880 --> 0:09:59.800 a we got a full crowd and empty nets, and 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:07.360 in this condition God performs miracle. They were listening to 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:11.680 verse one, the Word of God. What were they doing. 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:16.280 They were listening to the Word of God. Not like 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:18.840 you're listening to the Word of God today. What you 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:23.600 are doing today is listening to someone attempt to preach 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:27.720 the word of God. That's not the case here, because 0:10:27.720 --> 0:10:30.640 you got to understand John chapter one. In the beginning 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:35.120 was the Word, and the Word was with God, and 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:38.320 the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:41.600 Through him, all things were made. Without him, nothing has 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:43.880 been made that has been made. In the beginning was 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:46.400 the Word, and the Word was with God, and the 0:10:46.440 --> 0:10:49.640 Word was God. Who is this Word, This Word that 0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:52.080 was made flesh and dwelled among us, so that we 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:55.000 could behold his glory, the glory as of the only 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:57.600 begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. They 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:00.400 were not listening to a man preach about the Word 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:03.520 of God. They were listening to the Word of God. 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:07.600 Preach the Word of God and encounter with the Word 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:18.200 rapped in flesh. They were listening to the Word of God. 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:23.560 Heaven had a committee meeting, needed to find a way 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:28.200 to get the Word into the earth. How shall we 0:11:28.200 --> 0:11:33.040 do it? How shall we get the word into the earth. 0:11:34.559 --> 0:11:39.320 Perhaps we could find a Palestinian teenager, a virgin womb. 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:43.880 Perhaps he could be born into a crowded stall. Perhaps 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:46.040 he could be born into a place that no one 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:48.200 would have imagined, nor would they have sought him there. 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:54.280 God likes unlikely conditions to perform great miracles. I'm just 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:57.520 pointing out a pattern. I'm just pointing out a pattern 0:11:57.559 --> 0:12:00.600 that it is often at the place of your greatest 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:05.200 frustration that God will reveal his greatest glory. I've seen 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:09.760 this so many ways, so many ways in my ministry. 0:12:09.800 --> 0:12:12.560 Even in creativity. Sometimes it's when you're just about to 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:14.720 give up on an idea. How many creative people do 0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:17.280 we have, just when you're about to throw it away, 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:20.080 that you'll see what it was meant to be all along? 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:23.200 And we write songs for our church all the time, 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:25.840 and some of them are better than others. Some of 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:28.320 them you never hear, and you ought to thank God 0:12:28.320 --> 0:12:31.920 that you never hear them. We don't want to inflict 0:12:31.920 --> 0:12:33.439 that kind of pain on you. Some of them are 0:12:33.440 --> 0:12:37.920 just private songs. But sometimes you work and work on 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:41.560 a song. I remember back in twenty fourteen, and I 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:46.160 sent this screenshot to Holly on Thursday because I wanted 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:51.200 her to see something, just a contrast of how something 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:53.760 starts and how something finishes. And I sent her a 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:56.280 voice memo because I walk around mumbling all the time, 0:12:56.320 --> 0:13:03.360 little voice memos, little melodies. I have been known to 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:05.199 slip away from the table at a restaurant, go in 0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:08.240 the bathroom stall and sing a song idea into And 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:10.679 so if we ever share a restroom spacemen and you 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:13.920 hear some weirdo, that might be me, That might be me. 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:18.400 And I sent her a memo of this this old 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:21.120 song that I tried to write, weird little idea called 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:25.480 my Life be an Altar. And it was a really 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:28.559 really bad idea that it was a very complicated thought 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:30.760 that I had for the song. So I gave it 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:32.480 to Wade and I was like, do something with this. 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:35.640 This is twenty fourteen, and he went over to try 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:37.920 to write something with it. We were on a songwriting retreat. 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.200 He came back into the room five hours later. I said, 0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:41.680 you got something, You got something that you just on 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:44.160 the way. This good idea, right, He said, yeah, Well, 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:47.960 you know, we we fished all night and we caught nothing, 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:51.400 basically is what he said. He said, we tried, we 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:53.360 just can't find anything going on. I said, yeah, it's 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:54.880 kind of dumb idea. He said, no, it's not dumb. 0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:56.320 We just can't you know, I just don't think it. 0:13:56.320 --> 0:13:58.360 I don't know. I just know. And this little thing 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:00.720 had been sitting around Alex for six I should come 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:02.400 over to School of Worship and play it for him. 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:03.880 I'm not going to play it for the whole church. 0:14:04.120 --> 0:14:06.800 It's way too humiliating. But it sat around for six months. 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:09.520 And and Wade said he couldn't make anything out of it, 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:12.719 and and Chris said that he didn't ever really get 0:14:12.760 --> 0:14:15.320 it either. And they all said it real politely, but 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:17.440 they were basically saying the same thing. And I said, well, 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:20.880 we should probably just throw it away, unless, hang on, 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:27.120 what if it wasn't my life be an altar? Well, 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:29.160 it was just like it was just like six ' 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:32.480 eight time, and it was like not that moody vibe 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:33.800 that I had down there, but just like what I 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:41.120 it was just oh, come to the altar, we'll do 0:14:42.160 --> 0:14:46.320 you know, like, oh, oh, come to the altar. Am 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:49.560 I exaggerating the story. Chris, the father's arms are oh 0:14:49.640 --> 0:14:52.520 ben wide what if it was just that? And Chris goes, oh, 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:55.280 if you're going to do that, I got this thing 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:57.680 that I've been mumbling into my phone that I thought 0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:00.880 was stupid too, and he plays it and it's oh, 0:15:01.040 --> 0:15:06.320 you hurting and broken with me? I said, Chris, did 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:08.680 you just say are you hurting in Brooken with it? 0:15:08.800 --> 0:15:10.280 He said, no, all you're hurting in Brooklyn with And 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:12.920 I said, no, it's our You're hurting and brooken within. 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:15.160 It's a question. It's going to open the whole song. 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:17.720 It's going to be an invitation. And four hours later 0:15:17.880 --> 0:15:20.440 we had the song, and three and a half years later, 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:23.640 this week it was the number one song on all 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:31.640 Christian streaming songs. But I was telling you that because 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:34.840 you got some things in your life that you're just 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:37.680 about to throw away. I mean I was just about 0:15:37.720 --> 0:15:41.560 to quit. Just when I thought it was nothing. God said, 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:44.400 give me that back, just when I was putting up 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:47.440 the boats on the shore, just when you were walking 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:50.120 away from the marriage, just when you were about to 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:54.320 quit praying for your kid. God says it's not over. 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:58.120 High five three people and say not yet, not yet. 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:03.800 The temple thought he had him on Saturday. But there's 0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:08.480 a catch. It's a setup. Sunday's coming. It's not over. 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:21.000 Don't your neighbors say there's a catch because it's conditional. 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:29.080 What's a conditional upon your obedience, your perseverance, your willingness 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:31.480 to do something you don't understand to watch this? This 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:37.440 is This is funny, possibly illegal. What Jesus does next? 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:43.760 I think so, because Jesus, who is the Word of God, 0:16:44.520 --> 0:16:49.560 who spoke the world into existence Colossians one sixteen, needs 0:16:49.600 --> 0:16:54.160 a way to get out into the world that he 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:58.800 made the message that he is. He needs a way. 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:02.440 This is crazy because the Maker in the beginning was 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:03.920 a word, and the word was with God. In the 0:17:03.920 --> 0:17:05.680 Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:07.639 Through him all things were made that were made, And 0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:09.679 without him nothing has been made that has been made. 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:14.800 That one. The Maker needs a way to get the word. 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:20.040 The Word needs a way. The Maker needs a way 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:23.879 to get the word into the world that he's so 0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:29.880 loved that he came wrapped in flesh. He needs a way. 0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:34.439 And it says that he saw two boats at the shore, 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:38.480 and one of them was belonging to Simon. WA's what 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:44.679 he does Verse three he got into one of the boats. Okay, 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:52.760 you're looking like that's normal. No conversation, no lease agreement. 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:56.439 You don't think that. If you don't think, if you 0:17:56.680 --> 0:17:59.280 don't think this is weird, try it when you leave 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:02.760 church today. No, I'm serious. If you don't think this 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:06.080 is weird, just find the nicest car that you like 0:18:06.520 --> 0:18:10.240 in the parking lot. Just the nicest one. Don't do 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:13.239 a Camray. There's nothing wrong with Camri's. But if you're 0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:16.040 gonna steal a car, pick the nicest one in the 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:20.760 parking lot and just do what Jesus did. Just get 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:27.840 in it. And when they come up to the window 0:18:28.320 --> 0:18:30.280 and ask you, what are you doing in my car? 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:33.880 Say I noticed your elevation sticker. I figured you're a Christian. 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:38.240 I need to use it. Can I have your keys? 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:41.840 Because it's essentially what Jesus does. He sits down in 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:45.840 the boat, the one belonging to Simon Peter. Okay, why 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:48.800 did Jesus pick Peter? You ever thought about that? I have, 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:51.439 because I can think of a lot of reasons why 0:18:51.480 --> 0:18:53.960 he wouldn't pick Peter. A lot of reasons why he 0:18:53.960 --> 0:18:57.200 wouldn't pick Peter. Peter was impulsive, Peter was a know 0:18:57.320 --> 0:19:04.880 it all. Peter was violent. You don't cut off people's 0:19:04.920 --> 0:19:07.439 ears if you had a normal upbringing. That's not something 0:19:07.480 --> 0:19:17.240 that Peter had. A filthy mouth. Peter, Peter, Peter. I 0:19:17.240 --> 0:19:19.680 heard one preacher. He said, because Peter was bold, that's 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:24.240 why Jesus liked him. He was bold. I don't think so, 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:37.199 because remember the the Bible was written pre uber and 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:40.720 Jesus had a lot to accomplish in three years. The 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:43.720 word had to get out touch. Somebody said, we got 0:19:43.720 --> 0:19:46.119 to get the word out. How are we going to 0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:53.760 get it out? No Facebook, no YouTube, no Instagram. You 0:19:53.840 --> 0:19:57.040 know why? I have come to believe that the reason 0:19:57.240 --> 0:20:08.440 Jesus picked Peter is because he got boat. How how else? Okay, 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:10.280 let me preach point number two. I want to talk 0:20:10.320 --> 0:20:17.080 about creative collaboration because now here is the creator partnering 0:20:17.440 --> 0:20:22.159 with his creation. Here is the Word of God, who 0:20:22.640 --> 0:20:26.159 has the ability to walk on water. Don't forget that 0:20:27.560 --> 0:20:29.639 if Jesus had wanted to just get away from the 0:20:29.680 --> 0:20:32.919 crowd and preach and create a little distance. We know 0:20:33.000 --> 0:20:36.280 from Matthew chapter fourteen that if a storm comes up 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:38.879 and the boat is not available and Jesus needs to 0:20:38.920 --> 0:20:43.080 get somewhere he will just suspend the laws of buoyancy 0:20:43.320 --> 0:20:46.840 that he himself created. In the beginning was the word, 0:20:47.040 --> 0:20:49.720 and the word was with God. If Jesus can't find 0:20:49.760 --> 0:20:52.199 a boat to ride on, he'll speak a word and 0:20:52.320 --> 0:20:54.520 walk on the word that he is to the place 0:20:54.560 --> 0:21:01.520 that he But yeah, and I want to do it 0:21:01.560 --> 0:21:03.000 like that. And I would have done it like that, 0:21:03.359 --> 0:21:05.680 because this is early in this ministry. And if you 0:21:05.800 --> 0:21:09.800 moonwalk back on the water and then preach to the crowd, 0:21:09.800 --> 0:21:13.119 they'll pay more attention. Don't you think he said? No, 0:21:13.280 --> 0:21:16.400 I want to boat. I want to boat. I want 0:21:16.720 --> 0:21:22.000 his boat, I want her boat. I want to use 0:21:22.520 --> 0:21:29.480 their life. I want to Yeah, I want to use 0:21:29.520 --> 0:21:37.600 their weakness. Yeah. I want to build a church. I 0:21:37.640 --> 0:21:41.119 want to call people together from all different nations around 0:21:41.160 --> 0:21:42.680 the world, will be a part of the e fam. 0:21:42.720 --> 0:21:45.280 I want to I want to call people from different backgrounds. 0:21:45.320 --> 0:21:50.000 I want to call people of different kinds, different types. 0:21:51.600 --> 0:21:53.240 I want I want I want some people who own 0:21:53.240 --> 0:21:56.040 their own businesses. I want some people who are unemployed. 0:21:57.600 --> 0:21:59.760 I want some people who suffered great abuse in their childhood. 0:21:59.760 --> 0:22:04.359 I want to bring them together. I want to I 0:22:04.400 --> 0:22:09.240 want to use your boat it's the hardest thing for 0:22:09.320 --> 0:22:11.840 us to understand sometimes. Why would the one who can 0:22:11.880 --> 0:22:17.000 walk on water have any use for our boat? And 0:22:17.040 --> 0:22:19.679 I think the devil uses it to give us excuses 0:22:20.760 --> 0:22:25.119 why we don't offer God what we have. Because my 0:22:25.200 --> 0:22:31.960 boat's not as big as his. My boat, my boat, 0:22:32.040 --> 0:22:36.560 My boat's thirty my boat, my boat. I fished all night, 0:22:36.560 --> 0:22:39.359 I caught nothing. What would you want with me, Jesus? 0:22:40.680 --> 0:22:45.919 So I went from thinking Jesus needed Peter's boat to 0:22:46.000 --> 0:22:50.399 realizing that Jesus didn't need Peter's boat. Peter needed jesus 0:22:50.400 --> 0:22:58.119 blessing on his boat, because that same thing happened to 0:22:58.160 --> 0:23:01.960 me in the area of giving. When we give the offering. 0:23:03.200 --> 0:23:05.440 I thought that giving was the way that we supported 0:23:05.440 --> 0:23:07.199 the church, to keep the lights on, to keep the 0:23:07.240 --> 0:23:11.920 salaries paid Forgive me for being so naive. I thought 0:23:11.920 --> 0:23:14.040 God needed my boat. I thought he needed my gift. 0:23:16.400 --> 0:23:18.280 A little bit of life rolled by, and I realized 0:23:18.320 --> 0:23:23.679 that God was God before I ever showed up. And 0:23:24.000 --> 0:23:26.080 I'll put this out to you. There were two boats 0:23:26.119 --> 0:23:28.960 on the shore, so I believe if Peter had said no, 0:23:29.080 --> 0:23:34.439 Jesus would have gotten the other one. Means he doesn't 0:23:34.440 --> 0:23:43.320 have to use us. He chooses to use us. So 0:23:43.359 --> 0:23:44.720 we get up here this time of year, and I 0:23:44.760 --> 0:23:47.359 got to say, I'm pretty impressed because usually in a church, 0:23:47.400 --> 0:23:50.280 when you go to a series where you challenge people 0:23:50.280 --> 0:23:53.119 to give, like, we're challenging every person in the church, 0:23:53.359 --> 0:23:57.399 young and old, to give a gift to God at 0:23:57.440 --> 0:24:00.320 this year in to begin to tie the you're not 0:24:00.359 --> 0:24:03.160 doing that, to begin to give the first ten percent 0:24:03.200 --> 0:24:05.280 of your increase to God, to set it up online 0:24:05.320 --> 0:24:07.080 so that you're not praying about something that God has 0:24:07.080 --> 0:24:11.639 already clearly commanded, and then to give above and beyond that. 0:24:11.680 --> 0:24:14.439 When we challenge you to do that, we are not 0:24:14.480 --> 0:24:22.720 speaking the language of obligation. We're speaking the language of opportunity. 0:24:23.600 --> 0:24:28.359 You know the difference. You know the difference. It's in 0:24:28.600 --> 0:24:30.359 verse three. It says that he got into the boat 0:24:30.520 --> 0:24:33.560 belonging to Simon, and I love the phrase. It says, 0:24:34.160 --> 0:24:39.959 and he asked him, you want to do this? I mean, 0:24:40.000 --> 0:24:43.720 you don't have to. I can totally do this without you. 0:24:45.640 --> 0:24:50.919 But I like your boat, bro your I like your boldness. 0:24:51.560 --> 0:24:58.560 I like your brokenness. Can I borrow your boat? Can 0:24:58.640 --> 0:25:04.240 God borrow your boat? The gifts that He gave you? 0:25:04.280 --> 0:25:08.000 Can he use them for his glory. Or did you 0:25:08.040 --> 0:25:15.679 get so confused about who made the trees that you 0:25:15.760 --> 0:25:19.080 lost sight of the fact that everything that God gave 0:25:19.119 --> 0:25:21.840 you is on loan. You can't take it with you. 0:25:23.920 --> 0:25:27.240 Giving releases me to remember that it was his boat 0:25:27.240 --> 0:25:31.399 to begin with. In the beginning was the Word, and 0:25:31.480 --> 0:25:33.520 the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 0:25:34.480 --> 0:25:37.360 He was with God in the beginning. Through him all 0:25:37.440 --> 0:25:42.160 things were made. Peter had a boat, but the boat 0:25:42.160 --> 0:25:46.000 had to be made of something. Peter had a boat, 0:25:47.040 --> 0:25:50.280 but the boat had to come from somewhere. And now 0:25:50.359 --> 0:25:53.480 the one who spoke the cedars, and who spoke the 0:25:53.520 --> 0:25:58.280 cypress into existence, the one who spoke the ocean and 0:25:58.320 --> 0:26:01.159 the chemical balance of the old that would create and 0:26:01.200 --> 0:26:03.880 sustain the life of the fish, the one who put 0:26:03.920 --> 0:26:06.680 the gills on the fish that Peter was looking for 0:26:06.960 --> 0:26:10.240 at the bottom of the ocean unsuccessfully, said, can I 0:26:10.280 --> 0:26:13.480 get on your boat? Because it's a cool thing when 0:26:13.520 --> 0:26:18.240 God becomes your partner. He knows the best spots to fish. 0:26:18.320 --> 0:26:21.840 It's a great thing to have the Son of God 0:26:21.880 --> 0:26:25.800 on your boat. It's a great thing when you don't 0:26:25.800 --> 0:26:29.199 have to fish alone. It's a great thing when you 0:26:29.320 --> 0:26:32.520 say God, all I have is yours. It's a freedom 0:26:32.560 --> 0:26:36.120 to it. I can't explain it if you've never experienced it, 0:26:36.280 --> 0:26:38.280 but it's a freedom to it. When you come to 0:26:38.359 --> 0:26:40.919 the end of yourself and your boats are pulled up 0:26:40.960 --> 0:26:43.720 on the shore, and Jesus says, now that you've done 0:26:43.760 --> 0:26:48.600 all you can do, will you give me a push? 0:26:48.640 --> 0:26:51.640 And all Peter had to do watch this, no tenure plan. 0:26:52.480 --> 0:26:57.240 All he had to do was obey and give Jesus 0:26:58.000 --> 0:27:01.080 a push. Now, when he pushed that boat out into 0:27:01.200 --> 0:27:04.879 the water, he thought he was loaning Jesus the boat 0:27:04.920 --> 0:27:08.080 for an hour. He did not know, because God will 0:27:08.080 --> 0:27:10.000 trick you into stuff touch somebody said, there's a catch. 0:27:10.040 --> 0:27:13.159 There's always a catch. He did not know that he 0:27:13.200 --> 0:27:18.000 would spend the next three years taking this crazy miracle working. 0:27:19.480 --> 0:27:22.199 He didn't know that the death ears would be opened 0:27:22.200 --> 0:27:24.919 after they got off this boat. He didn't know that 0:27:25.080 --> 0:27:28.399 blind eyes would see because Jesus got a ride on 0:27:28.520 --> 0:27:32.760 his boat. You never know what God will do until 0:27:32.760 --> 0:27:36.160 you let him on your boat. You don't know. You 0:27:36.240 --> 0:27:44.120 can't know. And that's what faith is, is pushing out 0:27:44.160 --> 0:27:47.119 into the deep when you don't know the result. Wow, 0:27:49.119 --> 0:27:51.800 and it's letting down the nets for a catch. Touch 0:27:51.840 --> 0:27:54.359 somebody say, there's a catch, there's a catch, there's a 0:27:54.400 --> 0:27:56.399 catch all Jesus said, I know you can't see it, 0:27:56.560 --> 0:27:59.119 but I can see it because I stocked these waters 0:27:59.160 --> 0:28:02.160 you're fishing in. There is a catch. See. I think 0:28:02.560 --> 0:28:05.080 Tom Lahman was telling me this. He said, fishing is 0:28:05.160 --> 0:28:07.760 like the Holy Spirit. You can't see the fish, but 0:28:07.840 --> 0:28:10.400 they're there. And the more you learn about it, the 0:28:10.400 --> 0:28:12.800 more you will know how to fish in the right places. 0:28:13.000 --> 0:28:15.560 The more you follow him, the more you hear him, 0:28:15.800 --> 0:28:17.920 the more you get acquainted with his voice. And say, 0:28:18.080 --> 0:28:20.080 I don't see it, I don't feel it. But God, 0:28:20.080 --> 0:28:22.359 if you speak it, I'll do it. Not because I 0:28:22.400 --> 0:28:24.800 feel it, not because I see it, not because I 0:28:24.880 --> 0:28:27.320 understand it, and not because it makes sense. But if 0:28:27.359 --> 0:28:30.200 you say so, I will. If you say do it, 0:28:30.400 --> 0:28:34.439 I'll do it. I want the obedience of God to 0:28:34.520 --> 0:28:45.560 be the guarantee of my inheritance. And this brings me 0:28:45.640 --> 0:28:48.960 to my final point. Can't believe it's over already, ken you. 0:28:49.880 --> 0:28:51.240 I don't think I'll be able to preach it this 0:28:51.280 --> 0:28:53.960 way again. This is a special moment. God is doing 0:28:54.000 --> 0:28:56.080 something in this moment. I want to talk to you 0:28:56.120 --> 0:29:03.880 about connected blessings. The biggest problem that Peter and his 0:29:04.000 --> 0:29:11.520 boys had before Jesus occupied their boat was no fish. 0:29:12.040 --> 0:29:17.479 One word from Jesus, and their biggest problem was breaking nets. 0:29:21.120 --> 0:29:23.480 That's the way I really see the church that God 0:29:23.520 --> 0:29:26.640 is building here, and he's building it, but we get 0:29:26.680 --> 0:29:29.880 to let him use our boat. You see the volunteers 0:29:29.880 --> 0:29:34.440 out there, that's people who brought their boat to church. Oh, 0:29:34.560 --> 0:29:38.520 in every church there's there's two different groups. There's the crowd, 0:29:39.600 --> 0:29:43.240 and they get the message. They come, they get the message. 0:29:43.920 --> 0:29:46.320 If they feel like coming, they come if they don't facebook. 0:29:48.680 --> 0:29:57.360 But then within every crowd there's a crew. And when 0:29:57.400 --> 0:29:59.200 Jesus spoke to Peter, he said, I see you out 0:29:59.240 --> 0:30:03.720 there in the crowd. Would you be interested in stepping 0:30:03.800 --> 0:30:08.800 out of the crowd and be a part of the crew. 0:30:08.840 --> 0:30:14.600 Can I use your boat now? The crowd is not bad. 0:30:15.280 --> 0:30:19.680 It's a great place to start. The crowd gets the message. 0:30:19.920 --> 0:30:24.320 The crowd gets the message, but the crew gets the miracle. 0:30:25.320 --> 0:30:29.880 When they had done so, they took in such a 0:30:30.240 --> 0:30:35.120 large number of fish that the next thing they had 0:30:35.160 --> 0:30:37.920 to do was call their partners. I believe this is 0:30:38.000 --> 0:30:42.480 verse seven. So they signaled their partners in the other boat. 0:30:42.600 --> 0:30:45.080 See here's what God will do. He will bless you 0:30:45.400 --> 0:30:50.200 so much that other people will get blessed just because 0:30:50.280 --> 0:30:53.080 they were next to you. Touch somebody and say, you 0:30:53.120 --> 0:30:55.920 want to be glad you're sitting next to me today 0:30:56.360 --> 0:30:59.880 because I am so blessed with the presence of God, 0:31:00.360 --> 0:31:04.120 everything next to me is gonna get blessed too. Good measure, 0:31:04.440 --> 0:31:06.920 press down, shake it together, come on, play me for 0:31:07.000 --> 0:31:10.000 seven years? You want to shower and run it over. 0:31:13.120 --> 0:31:15.280 That's why I come to church. I want to be 0:31:15.360 --> 0:31:17.960 connected to the head so I could get the blessing 0:31:18.000 --> 0:31:29.520 of the oil and lumps down through the pier. I 0:31:29.560 --> 0:31:32.960 sat the boys down. I sat the boys down. Tell 0:31:33.040 --> 0:31:36.400 somebody say there's a catch. Okay, don't say I didn't 0:31:36.400 --> 0:31:40.120 warn you there is a catch to this message. I 0:31:40.160 --> 0:31:44.480 sat my boys down yesterday to write my check for 0:31:44.520 --> 0:31:48.400 this offering. I always hate these series until I write 0:31:48.400 --> 0:31:53.480 my offering, because it's a process of going through inventorying 0:31:53.520 --> 0:31:55.280 my nets and my boats and seeing how much of 0:31:55.320 --> 0:31:59.400 it I still think is mine, and asking God, do 0:31:59.400 --> 0:32:01.880 you want to use any that you gave me? Now? 0:32:01.920 --> 0:32:05.040 When people do it, they do different amounts. Some people 0:32:05.880 --> 0:32:08.479 their amount may look big to somebody, but it might 0:32:08.520 --> 0:32:10.640 be a million dollars. People have done that, but for 0:32:10.720 --> 0:32:14.720 them it was something they could do alongside somebody who 0:32:14.760 --> 0:32:18.560 could do fifty dollars. Then you get to see everybody 0:32:18.600 --> 0:32:22.320 do something together. The rich men's gift, the widow's might 0:32:22.400 --> 0:32:26.400 now blended in these walls. So we get to do 0:32:26.480 --> 0:32:29.480 something bigger together when we partner together, when we connect together, 0:32:29.680 --> 0:32:31.560 we can do something that none of us could do alone, 0:32:32.680 --> 0:32:35.720 because we got to get the word out. And the 0:32:35.760 --> 0:32:38.640 crowd just takes the word in, but the crew gets 0:32:38.640 --> 0:32:43.240 the word out. And every blessing that God has given 0:32:43.280 --> 0:32:46.560 me in my life has been connected to my obedience 0:32:47.960 --> 0:32:52.160 to His word. And every blessing that God has given 0:32:52.200 --> 0:32:54.560 me in my life, I can I can prove to 0:32:54.600 --> 0:32:57.760 you if I had time from the first campaign that 0:32:57.800 --> 0:33:00.440 we did in the church in two thousands and make 0:33:00.480 --> 0:33:04.479 some noise, if you are really really elevation old school 0:33:04.560 --> 0:33:07.400 and you were here for the dominate campaign when I 0:33:07.480 --> 0:33:11.560 stood up and I said, we're taking an offering, but 0:33:11.600 --> 0:33:13.160 we're not going to do it today. In fact, we're 0:33:13.160 --> 0:33:15.600 not taking an offering today at all. We're giving the 0:33:15.600 --> 0:33:18.480 offering away. And I told everybody to look under their chairs. 0:33:18.480 --> 0:33:21.200 True story. Look under your chairs and there is money 0:33:21.280 --> 0:33:24.040 under your chairs. Reach under your chairs. Half the people 0:33:24.080 --> 0:33:26.360 didn't move because they thought I was pulling something on them. 0:33:26.440 --> 0:33:30.360 But there was really money under every chair at the church. 0:33:30.360 --> 0:33:32.040 Don't go feeling right now. I don't do that anymore. 0:33:32.040 --> 0:33:34.120 The church is too big. That was a one time thing, 0:33:35.080 --> 0:33:36.959 but it was something. The lawyer spoke to us and 0:33:37.000 --> 0:33:39.560 I had them pull out the money, different amounts, somewhere 0:33:39.560 --> 0:33:42.040 a dollar, most were dollar, there were some five dollars, 0:33:42.200 --> 0:33:45.720 ten dollars, one hundred dollars, even one thousand dollars in 0:33:46.240 --> 0:33:50.680 one thousand dollars. But I said, that money is yours. 0:33:50.720 --> 0:33:52.360 We're not taking an offering. We're giving away the offering 0:33:52.400 --> 0:33:53.920 this week, the amount that would normally be the offering. 0:33:53.920 --> 0:33:55.560 It's under your chairs. We divided it up. It's under 0:33:55.600 --> 0:34:00.360 you chairs. But there's a catch. There's a catch. Don't 0:34:00.360 --> 0:34:05.080 spend it, use it to bless somebody. Put it online. 0:34:05.080 --> 0:34:06.560 What you did. We'll see what God can do through 0:34:06.640 --> 0:34:10.879 us and everybody. I think everybody did it. I prayed 0:34:10.920 --> 0:34:13.040 that everybody who spent the money will get diarrhea. So 0:34:20.320 --> 0:34:24.040 but here's the point, I said, it's a blessing under 0:34:24.080 --> 0:34:26.120 your seat. You're sitting on a blessing. But there's a catch. 0:34:26.560 --> 0:34:27.920 You don't get to sit on it. You don't get 0:34:27.920 --> 0:34:30.799 to spend it, use it. And the next week they 0:34:30.800 --> 0:34:34.839 came back and we had we had high attendance next week, 0:34:37.760 --> 0:34:41.000 and I said, hey, did you all enjoy that last week? 0:34:41.000 --> 0:34:44.120 We're going to do it again. And everybody looked at 0:34:44.160 --> 0:34:46.440 me like you're kidding, right, And I said, yeah, We're 0:34:46.440 --> 0:34:48.800 going to do it again. I said, but this time 0:34:49.400 --> 0:34:51.719 we call it the blessed Back project. God has blessed you, 0:34:52.239 --> 0:34:56.560 He gave you your boat to be a blessing. I said, so, 0:34:56.560 --> 0:34:58.399 so here's the deal. We're going to do it again, 0:34:58.719 --> 0:35:01.000 but this week the money is not under your chair, 0:35:01.000 --> 0:35:09.560 it's in your bank account. There's a catch. There's a catch. 0:35:09.600 --> 0:35:13.440 It's a mentality. What happens next in the passage proves 0:35:13.440 --> 0:35:16.719 that the greatest blessing that God gave Peter was never 0:35:16.760 --> 0:35:21.000 the fish in his boat, because when they saw what 0:35:21.200 --> 0:35:23.960 Jesus was able to do only after they had obeyed. 0:35:25.080 --> 0:35:28.240 Can I say that again? They only got the blessing 0:35:28.760 --> 0:35:32.600 after they obeyed the way we would have liked for 0:35:32.760 --> 0:35:35.560 Jesus to do it if we had been loaning him. 0:35:35.600 --> 0:35:39.239 Our boat is to fill the boat with fish, and 0:35:39.280 --> 0:35:42.560 then you can use it to preach. Right, God, you 0:35:42.640 --> 0:35:45.640 bless me, and then I'll bless others. But the scripture 0:35:45.640 --> 0:35:49.560 says something very interesting. Give and it will be given 0:35:49.600 --> 0:35:55.120 to you. Whatever it is, encouragement, finances, time, give and 0:35:55.160 --> 0:35:58.200 it will be given to you. So it is only 0:35:58.280 --> 0:36:01.160 after study the construct me out. See if I'm right. 0:36:01.360 --> 0:36:06.520 It is only after, not before, only after obedience that 0:36:06.600 --> 0:36:15.040 evidence is manifest only after. Yes, I'll do it only after. Okay, 0:36:16.120 --> 0:36:18.640 God has you right now on the edge of a blessing. 0:36:18.680 --> 0:36:23.680 But there's a catch. There's a catch. The blessing will 0:36:23.760 --> 0:36:28.320 follow obedience. It will not proceed it. It wouldn't take faith. 0:36:28.840 --> 0:36:32.120 God's greatest goal for your life is not fish, it's faith. 0:36:32.719 --> 0:36:35.840 So God wants to know, do you have the faith 0:36:36.200 --> 0:36:39.759 to fish in the midst of your frustration? Do you 0:36:39.880 --> 0:36:42.759 have the faith to push the word of God out 0:36:43.120 --> 0:36:46.640 and to trust Me to fill your boat? And when 0:36:46.680 --> 0:36:49.919 he does, Simon, let down the nets. The boats are full. 0:36:50.160 --> 0:36:54.279 Hey get over here, Hey, come on over, boys, come 0:36:54.320 --> 0:36:57.279 on over, Come on over, James, come on over, help 0:36:57.360 --> 0:36:59.800 me out. And the boats come over and it's amazing. 0:37:00.040 --> 0:37:03.240 And the boats look at over seven got so full 0:37:03.840 --> 0:37:07.920 that they began to sing. Both boats got full, Peter's 0:37:07.960 --> 0:37:12.440 boat and his boys, everything connected to Jesus got blessed. 0:37:15.680 --> 0:37:18.960 I want my life connected to the one who is 0:37:19.000 --> 0:37:24.480 the creator. I want to stay connected to my source 0:37:25.560 --> 0:37:35.480 and not dependent on my stuff. And when Simon Peter 0:37:35.719 --> 0:37:41.120 saw this verse A, he said, boys, get the scales ready, 0:37:41.640 --> 0:37:48.920 we're about to be millionaires. When Simon Peter saw this, 0:37:51.160 --> 0:37:56.160 that wasn't the real scripture. He fell at Jesus needs 0:37:56.160 --> 0:38:05.720 and say, I don't deserve this. That's a good posture. 0:38:07.440 --> 0:38:11.160 I know I don't deserve it. I told the boys 0:38:11.160 --> 0:38:17.160 the other day when I sat him down, sat them down, 0:38:18.239 --> 0:38:21.040 I know. I brought it up here. Yeah, this checkbook 0:38:22.400 --> 0:38:26.920 I had to teach them what to check was No, 0:38:26.960 --> 0:38:28.600 I've done this before. I said, we're getting ready for 0:38:28.640 --> 0:38:31.920 the offering. I took them back to two thousand and seven, 0:38:32.040 --> 0:38:34.200 when the people gave toward a building that we hadn't 0:38:34.200 --> 0:38:36.040 even identified yet. We didn't even know what we were 0:38:36.080 --> 0:38:39.560 raising money for, just raising it by faith, and they 0:38:39.600 --> 0:38:43.279 did it. They did it and over and over again. 0:38:43.320 --> 0:38:45.640 You can see it now. Seventeen campuses, all the millions 0:38:45.640 --> 0:38:48.960 of dollars of outreach all around the world, the online community, 0:38:49.040 --> 0:38:50.839 getting the word out, just getting the word out, get 0:38:50.840 --> 0:38:52.200 in the word out, thousands of people, get in the 0:38:52.239 --> 0:38:53.360 word out, Get in the word out, Get in the 0:38:53.400 --> 0:38:54.520 word out, get in the word out, get in the 0:38:54.560 --> 0:38:58.680 word out. And so I explained the story behind this 0:38:58.800 --> 0:39:02.520 offering to them. This is one of those that I 0:39:02.560 --> 0:39:05.800 did not ask colleagues permission before I wrote the number, 0:39:06.719 --> 0:39:10.400 because it's significant to me, because this amount of money 0:39:10.880 --> 0:39:13.040 of something that was a dream of mine that came 0:39:13.080 --> 0:39:18.640 true this year. And I don't have one stream of income. 0:39:19.120 --> 0:39:21.520 I have different streams of income, and this is the 0:39:21.560 --> 0:39:24.680 stream of income that I've been praying for, not the income, 0:39:25.040 --> 0:39:29.000 but the influence that created the income, and I've been 0:39:29.000 --> 0:39:32.799 praying for it for many years now. In fact, without 0:39:32.840 --> 0:39:34.839 going into great detail about it, I prayed about this 0:39:34.920 --> 0:39:38.560 before I prayed about starting the church, and it happened 0:39:38.600 --> 0:39:41.920 for me at a new level this year. Without boring 0:39:41.960 --> 0:39:46.080 you on the details of that, I went and looked 0:39:46.120 --> 0:39:49.600 up the exact amount of the increase that came that 0:39:50.680 --> 0:39:54.000 from that dream that came true in my life, and 0:39:54.040 --> 0:39:56.759 I made the check to the exact amount to the 0:39:56.800 --> 0:39:59.160 penny of that. Here's why. Here's why I did it. 0:39:59.200 --> 0:40:02.760 Because I was studying about this passage, and I noticed 0:40:02.800 --> 0:40:08.799 how Peter the moment of this great miracle in verse eleven, Well, 0:40:08.800 --> 0:40:10.920 we should probably read verse ten when Jesus looked at 0:40:10.960 --> 0:40:18.799 him and said, don't be afraid. From now on you 0:40:18.840 --> 0:40:23.000 will fish for people. And then I read what Peter 0:40:23.120 --> 0:40:27.520 did next. It said that Peter pulled his boat up 0:40:28.360 --> 0:40:32.960 on the shore, and not just Peter, but they, because 0:40:32.960 --> 0:40:37.000 the people connected to you will follow your example, fathers, mothers. 0:40:38.640 --> 0:40:43.840 So they pulled their boats up on the shore, left everything, 0:40:47.960 --> 0:40:51.960 They left what they had just been blessed with for 0:40:52.000 --> 0:41:02.520 a greater blessing that was ahead. So I heard an 0:41:02.520 --> 0:41:04.840 impression in my heart. God speaks to all of us 0:41:04.880 --> 0:41:08.919 in different ways. He said, do you want the fish 0:41:09.040 --> 0:41:13.200 or the favor? Wow, do you want to keep the 0:41:13.239 --> 0:41:17.160 fish or do you want to flow in the favor 0:41:18.640 --> 0:41:20.520 that told the fish where to swim to begin with? 0:41:22.920 --> 0:41:32.000 Ain't it it's expensive too? But I imagine on the day 0:41:32.040 --> 0:41:33.759 of Pentecost, and this is what I told the boys. 0:41:33.760 --> 0:41:36.319 I said, look around at all this that God has 0:41:36.360 --> 0:41:38.440 given us. And I don't just mean the house. The 0:41:38.480 --> 0:41:44.319 house is nice. The house is nice. I don't just 0:41:44.440 --> 0:41:49.400 mean your switch. Is that what it's called. I don't 0:41:49.440 --> 0:41:54.680 just mean your clothes. I mean this, the ability to 0:41:54.680 --> 0:41:58.840 touch people's lives. I mean this just us being together. 0:41:59.160 --> 0:42:05.080 I said, everything we have is a result of God's 0:42:05.239 --> 0:42:09.680 favor following our obedience, and I don't want it to 0:42:09.760 --> 0:42:15.680 ever stop. So you can have the fish. I want 0:42:15.719 --> 0:42:20.040 the favor. You can have the fish. I want to 0:42:20.200 --> 0:42:25.080 walk in the favor of God, and surely goodness and 0:42:25.239 --> 0:42:29.480 mercy will follow me all the days of my life. 0:42:29.880 --> 0:42:36.000 If I follow Jesus favor follows me. You can have 0:42:36.200 --> 0:42:43.000 my booth, you can have my heart, you can have 0:42:43.080 --> 0:42:47.360 it all. Stand up, God is moving in this place. 0:42:48.480 --> 0:42:50.840 You never miss the fish that you leave behind to 0:42:50.880 --> 0:42:56.480 follow God in faith. You think Peter stood up on 0:42:56.520 --> 0:42:58.920 the day of Pentecost and preached and three thousand people 0:42:58.960 --> 0:43:01.680 got saved in Revival was unleashed in Jerusalem. That led 0:43:01.719 --> 0:43:04.560 to revival in Judea, that led to revival in Samaria 0:43:04.800 --> 0:43:06.800 that led to revival to the ends of the earth. 0:43:07.000 --> 0:43:09.040 You think Peter was standing up there in the pulpit 0:43:09.040 --> 0:43:14.560 on the day of Pentecost, thinking, man, I miss those fish, 0:43:14.880 --> 0:43:19.560 because long after the fish stink, the favor of God 0:43:19.600 --> 0:43:22.480 will still be long after the stuff is out of style. 0:43:25.400 --> 0:43:32.880 Only what's done for Christ will last only one life. 0:43:33.840 --> 0:43:40.400 It soon south passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. 0:43:42.719 --> 0:43:47.160 Can I get a push the word of God needed 0:43:47.200 --> 0:43:52.160 away into the earth. Can I get a push? That's 0:43:52.200 --> 0:43:55.000 what God is asking his church today, as so many 0:43:55.040 --> 0:43:59.600 times before. You want to go deeper, you want to 0:43:59.640 --> 0:44:01.360 go farther, You want to flow, You want to flow 0:44:02.200 --> 0:44:06.600 in the favor of God. Let me use your boat. 0:44:08.440 --> 0:44:11.479 If you don't want to, it's fine because there's another boat. 0:44:11.480 --> 0:44:14.879 There's always another boat. I sure would like to get 0:44:14.920 --> 0:44:19.319 in yours because I made you, and I gifted you, 0:44:19.400 --> 0:44:20.800 and I graced you, and I blessed you, and I 0:44:20.880 --> 0:44:23.120 kept you, and I put you where I put you. 0:44:25.160 --> 0:44:31.880 Can I use your boat? We pray another prayer of surrender, 0:44:33.920 --> 0:44:36.279 not my will, but yours be done. Because you say so, 0:44:38.080 --> 0:44:46.520 I'll let down. Then that's no negotiation, no justification. We 0:44:46.520 --> 0:44:50.960 don't need an explanation, We just need a word speak, 0:44:51.000 --> 0:44:57.759 Holy Spirit. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to 0:44:57.800 --> 0:45:00.680 those of you who give generously to this minute. Is 0:45:00.719 --> 0:45:03.719 because of you that this ministry is possible. You can 0:45:03.760 --> 0:45:06.640 click the link in the description to give now or 0:45:06.719 --> 0:45:11.040 visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information and 0:45:11.080 --> 0:45:14.279 if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can 0:45:14.320 --> 0:45:16.760 share it with your friends. You can click the share button, 0:45:16.800 --> 0:45:19.240 take a screenshot and share it on your social stories 0:45:19.239 --> 0:45:22.000 and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. 0:45:22.040 --> 0:45:27.640 God bless you.