Transcription

Chris
Jeff, do you know this song? I will make you fishers of men, fishers of men, fishers of men. Come on. I will make you fishers of men if you follow me. Yeah. Hey, you went to Sunday school too. I did, I did, and so that’s what we’re talking about today.

Jeff
Okay well hey, he’s Chris, and I’m Jeff, and we’re the Bible guys. We should tell my mom that we did that one. That was. That was for you, mom, as you’re listening, because my mom’s been a junior church and Sunday school teacher for like 40 years. 40 something years. Yeah yeah yeah yeah, yeah. So yeah, that’s fantastic.

Chris
And by the way, for those of you who don’t know what Sunday school is, it is just more church before church.

Jeff
That’s right. Yeah. Right. But typically focuses more on, uh, Bible stories and, and character and that kind of stuff. So. Yeah. Yeah. So, hey, uh, Chris, today we’re going to do a segment that’s kind of fun. And you usually do pretty well at these. It’s the name, the movie. Yeah.

Chris
Yeah, I saw that we were doing that just like.

Jeff
So I’m going to read three of the top actors in a movie, and you have to guess what the.

Chris
Movie is. It gets me nervous because I’m not good with names. Oh, so so if it’s like a main actor, then I could use my brain. If it’s a if it’s like a B actor, I’m not going to recognize the names.

Jeff
So I think I think you’re going to be okay on the first one. Okay. Go give it to me. Um, yeah, this will be good. Elisabeth Shue.

Chris
Yes.

Jeff
Uh, Paul Morita.

Chris
I don’t know who that.

Jeff
Is or. Pat. I’m sorry, Pat Morita. I don’t know who that is. Um, and Ralph Macchio.

Chris
Oh, so that’s either Karate Kid 1 or 2, but I’m going to guess one. Just Karate Kid. That’s right.

Jeff
That’s right, that’s right.

Chris
That was easy. Okay, I bet you everybody got that.

Jeff
So this one, this one might be tough. Okay. Kristen Kristen Stewart.

Chris
I know she is.

Jeff
Chris Hemsworth.

Chris
Oh, yeah.

Jeff
Easy Charlize Theron.

Chris
Yeah, Charlize Theron was the queen. Chris Hemsworth was the huntsman, and Kristen Stewart was, uh, Snow White. So that was Snow White and the Huntsman.

Jeff
There you go. You nailed it. Yeah. Okay. Um, Taraji P Henson. Cate Blanchett.

Chris
Oh, I know who that is.

Jeff
Brad Pitt.

Chris
Oh, yeah. There’s only one movie they were in together. Uh, the, uh, Benjamin Buttons. Uh, The curious case of Benjamin Benjamin Button. There you go. Yeah, there you go.

Jeff
Okay. Uh, Patrick Dempsey.

Chris
Oh, I love him. Josh Lucas don’t know who that is. Reese witherspoon oh, uh, sweet home Alabama. Come on.

Jeff
Man, how do you know? How do you know these? I’m telling you, I knew the one. I knew the first one that was.

Chris
Mama was, uh. And is one of the funnest movies to watch. My family. I bet you has seen it together at least 15 times.

Jeff
Wow, wow. That’s amazing.

Chris
We love it.

Jeff
Okay, here’s your last one. Yep. Freddie Highmore Chris
Don’t know who that is.

Jeff
David Kelly.

Chris
Oh, wow. Don’t know who that is Johnny Depp. So I only know Johnny Depp in this one. There’s two other guys, and they’re apparently the main stars. Or it could be anything. It could be anything. I’m going to go with the most popular, I’m going to say.

Jeff
So name one that.

Chris
Yeah, I’m going to go with the most popular one that had the most men in it. Uh, I would I’m going to say Pirates of the Caribbean.

Chris
No, no.

Jeff
Boo. But you know, you know the main actors in those movies. So what you need to do is pick one that you don’t know. The other main actors in that that he was in.

Chris
Uh. Good gravy. I know all the main actors in all the movies that he’s in. Uh, the Tourist uh uh, okay, so the Lone Ranger.

Jeff
It has so the movie has in it an element that I love. I can’t walk past it. And you aren’t a big fan of it.

Chris
You love it, and I can’t. Oh, you can’t walk past it. Uh oh. Uh, that was hilarious. Um, Charlie and the chocolate factory.

Jeff
There you go.

Chris
That’s hilarious. Good job. That’s a good hand you got there. Yeah, yeah.

Chris
I mean, I didn’t get it, but.

Jeff
I’m going to give you four and a half on that one. You led me to it. You got there. Good job man. That’s hilarious. That’s amazing. Now that’s a skill. If, uh, if the ministry doesn’t work out for you, I hope you can get on a game show or something. Get some movies, movie.

Chris
Critic or game show. Any of those would work.

Jeff
I’m telling you, I knew one. I knew I knew the The Karate Kid. Yeah. The critic, that was it.

Chris
Well, the world knew Karate Kid. Yeah, yeah.

Jeff
That was the only one I.

Chris
Knew. By the way, the Huntsman movie. That wasn’t a very good movie. Okay. It wasn’t very good. Uh, and strangely enough, I wasn’t a massive fan of Benjamin Buttons. It was pretty good.

Jeff
Well, you liked Sweet Home Alabama. Oh, I love that one.

Chris
Love that one. That’s great.

Jeff
Well, that was, uh, 4.5 minutes. Our people will never get back. But thank you. If you’re still listening.

Chris
Hey, listen, I like to believe those are fun. I like to believe whether it’s true or not. I like to believe that people like to test themselves. Yeah. So while while you’re reading it, they’re at home going, oh, I know this or I don’t know this or whatever. Yeah. So yeah, hopefully you scored yourself and hopefully you are right there with me.

Jeff
So, uh, in this parallel thing that we’re doing, going through the stories of Jesus, there’s like 250 events in the life of Jesus. Uh, and they often parallel where multiple books will tell the same story. So in this one, three of the four gospels will tell the same story.

Chris
Yeah. And gospel means good news. And all four Gospels are written, uh, in the life of Jesus. Right? They’re all about the life of Jesus. That’s right. Which is why when we give Bible advice for new beginners, new readers, we say, start in the book of John. Yep. That’s right. And then move forward in the New Testament, because we don’t want you starting off by reading Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, which is repetitive because of the overlap. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jeff
So, um, what you’re going to have here is overlap. As a matter of fact, Matthew and Mark write almost exactly the same thing. You’re listening to this. Here’s what it says in Matthew chapter four verse 18. It says, one day, as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, also called Peter and Andrew, throwing a net into the water, for they were for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, come, follow me, and I’ll show you how to fish for people. And they left their nets at once and followed him. A little further up the shore, he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father Zebedee, repairing their nets, and he called to them to. They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind. Okay. Mark says about the same incident one day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, come, follow me, and I’ll show you how to fish for people. And they left their nets at once, and followed him a little further up the shore. Jesus saw Zebedee’s sons, James and John in a boat repairing their nets. He called him at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men.

Chris
Yeah, that’s a little bit more detail with hired men.

Jeff
Hired men was that that’s the thing that’s different, right?

Chris
That’s really about.

Jeff
It. Yeah. And, well, it does show you it’s a pretty substantial operation, right? Right. This isn’t this isn’t just a mom and pop thing. This is a business that’s going on. Right. So it does show you the caliber of the kind of people Jesus called. Yeah, yeah. Uh, but, hey, let’s go on. Luke chapter five, same same, uh, event says one day as Jesus was preaching, preaching on the shore of Galilee. That’s new. Yeah.

Chris
That’s right.

Jeff
Great crowds pressed on him. That’s also new, uh, to listen to the Word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, now go out where it’s deeper. Let down your nets to catch some fish. Master Simon replied, we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing, but if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again. And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear. I shout for help, brought their partners in the other boat. Soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before the Lord and said, oh Lord, please leave me. I’m too much of a sinner to be around you, for he was awestruck by the number of fish they’d 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.

Chris
I like Luke’s version.

Jeff
Yeah, that’s pretty great.

Chris
Yeah. Luke’s version includes the whole miracle. Yeah. And? And it’s amazing. By the way, it’s the same event, isn’t it? Yeah, it’s the same exact event. It’s when Jesus calls, uh, Simon and Andrew and and James and John, all four of them. Which, by the way, are, you know, arguably the four most popular disciples. Right? They’re the ones that they’re the cool kids. They’re the cool kids. Right. And, uh, and yet it just kicks off with a bang and I so I love I love the fact that Luke tells us about the bang. Yeah.

Jeff
So there’s the throwing the net in the water. Peter and Andrew were throwing the net in the water. Yeah. Is what it says later on, uh, James and John are with their dad repairing nets. Right. That’s that’s what Matthew says. Um, in, in, uh, Mark. Mark says that Andrew and, uh, Peter were throwing a net in the water, um, and that they were repairing the thing. In the last one in Luke, um or James and John are repairing their nets. And then in Luke it says that, uh, James or Peter and uh, um, or that Jesus was, was overrun by a crowd and Peter had just finished fishing. So but they’re separated. And I think this is interesting because the other two passages say that Jesus, a little further up the shore, sees these other two and calls them to in the last one in Luke, Peter and Andrew take Jesus out in the boat and then have to call the other boat, which was not with them out. So it’s an incidental detail, but it’s consistent, right? And that’s one of the things I love about this is if we had eyewitnesses in a trial about whether or not Jesus actually called Peter, Andrew, James and John, um. Matthew and Mark tell basically the exact same story. And then Luke comes in, tells a different story, but it’s perfectly consistent with the other two stories. It just adds more detail. Right. And that’s exactly what you would expect if there wasn’t collusion. But rather three people knew the exact same story, experienced the same story. So it’s pretty cool.

Chris
Yeah. And by the way, I’ve preached a whole message out of, uh, the Matthew and the Mark version, which have hardly any detail, and I preach the whole message based on that one fact that when they were going to this, you know, great fishing business, that, uh, James and John were taking the time to mend their nets. Yeah, right. So I did a whole message on mending their nets. Excuse me. So think about this. If if, uh, if Jesus compares ministry to fishing for people, right? Yeah. So, in other words, he’s he’s telling fishermen, listen, think about what you do for a living. You cast your nets in the water and you pull up fish. And the quantity and the quality of fish are exactly what I’m going to ask you to do. Only in ministry, for people and for the most importantly, for the kingdom. Right? Yeah. And so but in fishing involves a lot of different things, right? It involves bait. It involves, uh, you know, the casting, where to cast, uh, how to cast. Strategically casting it involves mending your nets as well. So here’s what mending the nets is, in my opinion. And that is if you were a fisherman and you were to continue to catch, catch, catch more and more and more, more and more and more and more, and you didn’t take time to mend your nets. What’s going to happen is all the fish, the holes are going to get bigger in your nets, and all the fish are going to swim out of them, and you’re going to lose them all. Yeah. And so Ministry, you and I have a lot of years in ministry experience. And we know this.

Jeff
What, 400, 400 years together. Yeah.

Chris
Combined 200 each.

Jeff
Yeah.

Chris
Uh, but but but but but here’s what we already know. We’re in the exact same spot, uh, as this verse right here, right now, currently in the history of Heritage Church. Because we have done, uh, our job together as a team. Not just me and you, but our team. Our team has done a good job in bringing people in. And so we have grown, uh, we’re in a growth season, and we we have grown substantially in our numbers. Yeah, yeah, but the thing that has not grown is when people have a tendency to come in and they’re new, they don’t necessarily give financially. Oh right. Right right, right.

Jeff
And so our attendance is way up. Baptisms way up. Yes. Participation in the entry level discipleship stuff is way up. Yes. And giving is not way up.

Chris
It’s not way up now. It’s not it’s not we’re not hurting. No. But but in terms of where it should be. Right.

Jeff
Well we’re 40% in attendance this year. Right. And we’re 4% in giving.

Chris
Right. In terms of growth. Yeah. Yeah yeah. So so here’s what this means. It’s time for us to mend our nets. Sure. And before we before we, uh, you know, we have to slow down on the growth, at least in terms of focus. Not not slow down in terms of like, you know, trying to grow, but in terms of like, uh, we can’t necessarily, uh, focus on, on growth before we figure out, hey, we got to fund the growth, right, right, right, right. And by the way, funding.

Jeff
Boats are full. We need to get some more boats. Right. Nets are full. We need to get some more nets.

Chris
There you go. That’s exactly it. That’s exactly it. Right. And so and so.

Jeff
Because they had to call the second boat over.

Chris
Yeah and the practical. And that’s the reason why I love the way God designed the church. I love it because when we give financially it is an individual act of faith. Right. Yeah. So it has to do with nothing more than my income, uh, my, and my family’s income. And then we together have to live in faith and we give individually. But at the same time, when you put all the people of the church together, then all of a sudden, God as an organization has an agenda for the church to go forward. Yeah, right. And so God uses all of our individual faith moments together as a corporate faith moment.

Jeff
Yeah, he invites us to something bigger than ourselves.

Chris
Right. And so we, we actually, uh, are, uh, are called to things together as a church corporately. So, so it’s like, so when I say when I say that, oh, we have to, uh, fund, fund the event. It sounds like a business comment, but yet it is God’s strategy. Right.

Jeff
Well, the very first followers Jesus had he he brought in fishermen and then used their business analogy. I’m going to teach you how to catch people, right?

Chris
That’s exactly right.

Jeff
Right, right. So it’s not wrong. So the the kingdom of God is not a business. Right? But there are certain principles that are necessary to help any kind of movement move forward. And, you know, it’s you got to fund it. You got to build it. Yeah.

Chris
So anyway, all that to say, part of the mending the nets season that we have to be in is to challenge all of our listeners. If you go to Heritage Church or all of our people on a Sunday morning, right, or on a on a Bible study or in the one on one next step classes, just to say, consider giving back to what God has blessed you with. Uh, that you would take steps toward giving. Giving back to what you know. We give a tithe and and taking steps toward that. And I believe it’s God will bless us individually, but. He also blesses us corporately so that we can find a way to get more votes. Yes.

Jeff
And I think that this is, you know, Jesus is so strategic. So Jesus already had at this point pretty big crowds coming. Oh yeah.

Chris
It said they pressed against him. Right.

Jeff
So big crowds. And at this point Jesus realized, you know what? There’s a limit to what I can do by myself. I’m going to need some help. Right. And he’d already had encounters with Peter and Andrew. He’d already had encounters with James and John. He’d already had encounters with Philip and Nathaniel. We know those are the ones that he. He’d already met. Right. Mhm. So he goes to four guys he knew. Mhm. And he goes okay hey guys I’m going to need your help from you guys. And just as Peter threw down one net and filled the filled the boat and had to go get a second boat, Jesus is like okay, I need help. I’m going to need help too. Uh, because this is going to be a bigger harvest than I can manage just on my own as a human. And, uh, if you look at and we just totally passed over this yesterday, but Jesus message was, repent of your sins, turn to God. The kingdom of heaven is near. Those are the three big elements to his message. And then he turns to Philip, turns to Peter and and Andrew, James and John and says, I’m going to teach you guys to do the same thing, right? Right. Which which is what? What are we supposed to be telling people if he’s going to make us fishers of men, what are we supposed to be doing? What are we supposed to be doing? We’re supposed to be telling people, repent of your sins. Turn to God. The kingdom of heaven is near, right? That’s it. It’s just that simple. Jesus ministry was not terribly complex. God’s kingdom and moving God’s kingdom is not terribly complex. Repent of your sins. That means stop going in the direction you’re going.

Jeff
Turn towards God, right? Turn to God is the next piece. And then be part of God’s kingdom. This movement that we’re a part of here, his kingdom is near. And those three things I think are worth giving your life to. Yeah, but he realized he couldn’t do it by himself and he needed some help. So he starts recruiting.

Chris
You know, there’s another there’s another sermon in here as well. And it’s found in Luke. Uh, if you think about it, uh, most scholars believe that Peter was in the boat with Jesus when that big miracle happened, right? Right, right. But it happened because Peter was willing to do the very first thing that God asked him to do. Now, the first request didn’t require any faith. The first request was actually a very practical thing, which is he said, uh, uh, he noticed two empty boats in the water edge for the fishermen had left them. And stepping into the boat, Jesus asked Peter, Simon Peter, its owner, to push it out into the water. So Assumingly Simon Peter was in the boat, obviously, because he was out in the water when this miracle happened. So think think about this. So it was probably Simon and Andrew, and, uh, Simon Peter pushes the boat out as the boat’s owner. He’s probably taking care of the logistics of the boat. Right. He’s rowing it, you know, he’s he’s found a place to maybe put his oar down to anchor it, whatever it is. Right. And Simon Peter is there doing this because Simon had obeyed Jesus in the little things. I mean, almost seemingly inconsequential things. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Peter was now in the position to receive great things. Yes. Because now he’s already in the boat. Now he’s with Jesus in the convenience.

Jeff
He’d already been out all night, right?

Chris
He’d already been out all night.

Jeff
It was inconvenienced. But he followed him in, in in this.

Chris
Hey, Lord, whatever you say. And it’s very, very small, but I’m going to obey you. And I think the lesson in there is when we decide to obey God in the little things in our lives, God knows that we are postured to do great things because he knows. If you know, doesn’t he say, if you’re faithful in the little things? Yeah, yeah, I’m going to give you more. Yeah. And so I think that that’s a really great lesson for all of us.

Jeff
And then he invited Jesus, invited them to use the skill they had. He didn’t invite Peter to get up and go heal people. He didn’t invite Peter to go preach, right. He just invited Peter. Hey, uh, let’s go out. I need you to row the boat a little bit for me. That’s it. And I think a lot of times people, Christians feel like, well, there’s nothing I can do. What you do is what God needs you to do for the kingdom, right? Right. As long as it’s moral and legal and ethical. Right? Right. Right, right. So if you’re an IT person, God wants you to learn how to do it for his kingdom. If you’re a teacher, God wants you to teach for the kingdom. If you’re a a builder, God wants you to build for the kingdom. If you’re a cleaner, God wants you to clean for the kingdom. Uh, it not only necessarily, but also and this is a big part of that.

Chris
That’s a key phrase, by the way. Not only but also. Yeah. Yeah that’s key.

Jeff
And and and use what you do and the skill sets you have. It’s not a mistake. God’s been taking your entire life up to this point because he has a purpose for you and his kingdom doing what you do and what you do well and fulfilling his purposes. Uh, the other one that I think is, is really great is do you see? He says, oh, Lord, please leave me. I’m too much of a sinner to be around you. Mhm. Right. And that’s when Jesus said, I’m going to make you fishers of men. It’s consistent with the with the Jesus mission. Repent of your sin. He did right turn to God. He did.

Chris
Mm.hmm.

Jeff
The kingdom of heaven is near, and he spends the next three and a half years discovering the kingdom of heaven.

Chris
So, so, Peter in that moment, and Andrew and James and John. Yeah. Uh, but but specifically mentions Peter recognizing just who God is. Yeah. Right. Now imagine this. Imagine like your trade is fisherman, right? Yeah. And you know, fish. At least you think you do. Right. And so and the Galilee.

Jeff
You’re not the creator of fish.

Jeff
Right. That’s kind of surprising. But but you know, you know fish pretty well. Yeah.

Chris
Yeah. You’re not the creator of fish. That’s really good.

Jeff
They didn’t even know. They didn’t know Jesus was the creator.

Chris
Right, right right right, right. Which was really funny. We’d been fishing all night. That’s a funny thought, but anyway.

Chris
But but listen, that’s all you’ve done your whole life, right? And as you mentioned, it’s a substantial business. They have partners. Yeah, right. They have hired men. This is a big deal. And so they’re out there. And so Peter has been out all night, hasn’t caught anything, which means, uh, all of his expertise. It’s beyond his expertise. It’s beyond his knowledge. It’s beyond his experience. And the behavior of fish is out of his control. Right. So when you drop the net over, and then all of a sudden, it’s so full that the net, you know, begins to break. Think about this. He’d been out all night. Why? Because you fish at night, you fish in the cool of the morning, right? Or what you don’t do is you don’t fish at noon, right?

Jeff
Right in the middle of the day.

Chris
In the middle of the day. You just don’t do it right because fish aren’t going to do that. And so if you’re a guy who knows fish like I know fish, and all of a sudden all the fish are under mind control and they just swim into the net and you pull it up. As a fisherman, you’re thinking, there is no doubt in my mind that this man has controlled these fish, right, right, right. And so he said, that’s why he says, I get away from me because I don’t know how you did that, but it is very clear that it’s in the same thing where he says, even the wind and the waves obey him. Right, right, right. Because in this, in this case, the fish obeyed him. Yep. Yeah. That’s crazy, I love it.

Jeff
It’s such a great story. It’s so simple, though. I mean, we could have just blown past those passages, right? But it’s really cool to be able to read these together, clustered from book to book to book all of them together like this. And then Luke kind of gives details that the others don’t. And that’s the neat thing, is because you’ll find different writers giving different details. Yeah, but all still very powerful stories. So I love it. Just love it.

Chris
Yeah. Well that’s a great place to end I think. And we will see you next time on The Bible Guys.