← ArchiveDucks in a RowSunday, August 6, 2017DateAugust 6, 2017Speaker—TextLuke 5Passages in this sermonLuke 55:13John 1013:021 Chronicles 1219:59TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00For more information, visit www.fema.org I don't embarrass them too much, but I'm thankful for Noah and for Andrew who serve our church in this manner.0:30One of the two, I won't name which, but one of the two has done something this week that I have not done in my life. They made a hole-in-one in this office, so you can figure out who that was. But congratulations. Just know, if you know the family, you'll figure out who it is. But just know that your brother denies that it happens.0:58Okay? So just know that. We begin, again, our second part of our priority series. We call it Ducks in a Row. And I want to begin with a simple illustration of why priorities matter. Why priorities matter in our life. The reality is, two realities here. One is that I'm a boy and I love to play the rocks and dirt.1:28That never goes away. But a deeper reality is this. That each and every one of us has worries. We have deadlines and we have obligations every day that we wake up. And the struggle that we have normally is that we begin, for the moment the alarm clock goes off, is we begin to fill our lives with obligations. And just imagine that every piece of sand is something that you have to do.1:57Every day. So we fill our days with worries and difficulties. And sometimes we fill them with good things. We have to help the kids. And we have to help the old lady cross the street. And we have to have meetings. And we have to go do this and go do that. And we begin to fill our lives up with our daily grinds.2:25And here's the struggle that we have, though. If you are like me, and I would imagine that you are, if we're not careful, we get to the end of the day and our bucket is full. And we realize, you know what? The pastor preached last week, I need to put Jesus in there. And so, you know what? Let's cap the day off. And we're going to put Jesus in our life.2:52The struggle we have is if our priorities are not correct, it never fits well. And we end up trying to shove a little bit of God somewhere in our lives. And as we begin to pray, Lord, give us correct priorities. Father, help us spiritually align our ducks in the right row. God wants us to put the rock of Christ in our life.3:20Reminded of the verse that the foolish man built his house on the sands. But the wise man built his house upon the rock. And I can just imagine that Jesus didn't say the wise man didn't have sand in his life. He just said he didn't build upon the sands. And this morning, may we get to a place that we say, Lord, we have issues in our life. Lord, we all have anxieties, worries, deadlines, grinds, obligations, debts, payments, bills, retirement.3:48Lord, we all have something. But if we put the rock first, 1 Corinthians says that Israel built upon the rock, and that rock was Jesus Christ. You see, if we have our priorities correct, and we build upon the rock of Christ, then the daily issues in our life would surround that rock.4:17But Jesus is still there. We say, well, I don't see him, Pastor. Your illustration just broke down. Well, but Christ is there. All right, the cleaners are going to love me after this. May we be people who say, Lord, I have a lot to do in my life.4:45You know. You know where I'm anxious. Lord, you know where I struggle. You know the pains. But I will put the rock first. And when the sands of my life consume me, Lord, I know that you are there. Because if we run around and try to just put a little God somewhere, it never works out. It never works. So turn with me today to Luke chapter 5.5:13As we look at this, God put priorities in my relationship. Last week, we looked at our families and what that looks like. And we said, this is what a family of Christ strives to do. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. That's it. Just love God. Parents, love Christ. Show your children that they love God because you love God. And when that happens,5:43you will see what I saw this morning in my office. We had a young lady here, about 10 years old, that just bowed her head and made Jesus Lord of her life. One of the most beautiful prayers you'll ever hear. Here is her prayer. This is a, she's 10 years old, I believe. Here's her prayer. She said, God, I have died to myself. I want new life in Jesus. I trust in you. Amen. I'm like, what a powerful prayer. So there are adults that we don't get that,6:11that we have died to ourself, and Jesus is the life giver. So when our families prioritize Jesus, Jesus moves in our lives. And now we must get to a place where we say, Lord, fill me up. Not how I want to, but Lord, put Christ first in my life, and the sands that threaten me will now be surrounded by Christ, who is my rock. Luke chapter five with me.6:41A Christ-centered relationship. Just two points. And we'll see those as we read his word. Let me remind you again, as I am reminded often as we read God's word, how privileged we are to have the Bible. How privileged that is. And let me just remind you, I'm not a doom and gloom person, but there might be a day where we don't have this privilege. This is not only God's word.7:12If that was it, it is enough. It is sufficient. But this is God's word to us. We can read his character. We can see his nature. Verse one, Luke five. As the crowd was pressing in on Jesus. Why were they pressing in? To hear God's word. He was standing by Lake Gennesaret, which is the Sea of Galilee. And he saw two boats by the edge of the lake. The fishermen had left them7:42and were washing their nets. So Jesus got into one of the boats which belonged to Simon and asked him to put out a little from the land. Then he sat down and was teaching the crowds from the boat. Luke five, verse four. When Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch. Now, let me pause there quickly. What was Jesus's profession?8:11He was not a fisherman. Now, you're gonna say he's God. He does everything. Okay, I get it. He made the fish. He can catch the fish. But he was a professional carpenter. I believe Simon knew that. So Simon says, verse five. Pastor, he replied, we've worked hard all night and caught nothing. We are frustrated. There's no fish right now. But if you say so,8:40I will let down the nets. What a glorious statement of faith for a fisherman to have and a carpenter. When they did this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets began to tear. So they signaled their partners in the boat to come over and help them. And they came and they filled both boats so full that they began to sink. Simon Peter saw this.9:10He fell at Jesus' knees and said, go away from me because I am sinful, Lord. For all those with him were amazed at the catch of fish they had taken. And so were James and John, Zebedee's sons, who were Simon's partners. Don't be afraid, Jesus said to Simon. From now on, you will be catching people. Then they brought the boats to land, left everything. And followed him.9:40Let's pray. Father, may we be people that prioritize Christ in our life. Lord, we confess to you today that we have many worries and fears. Lord, there are sands, thousands of thoughts, thousands of pieces of sand in our life that compete for our attention in this moment. So Lord, we ask that you remove them as only you can. that we would be hearers10:09of the voice of Christ and that we would follow you and that the sands of our life would not push the gospel out but that we would build our lives upon the rock of Jesus. And no matter what we fill with our life, may you be first. Lord, empty us that you may fill us with what you desire. We pray this in Jesus' name.10:39Amen and amen. So what does it look like to prioritize a life with Christ? You say, well, Pastor, okay, I get it. The rock should be first. How does that happen? Well, very simply, first, God wants us to be hearers. And so I task you, as God's word has tasked me all week, just two thoughts. We should be hearers of the Lord and we should be followers. Hearers of God and followers. Verse 1. As the crowd was pressing in on Jesus,11:09to what? To hear God's word. The word hear in the Greek is the word akuain. It's the same word we get for acoustic, meaning that we are to listen and be continuals of hearers of God. I really believe there is nothing more sad in the world than to have someone who calls himself a Christ follower that is deaf to the voice of God. There's nothing more sad. Think about the story of Samuel's life.11:40Samuel's sleeping and he hears a voice that says Samuel and he runs to the prophet Eli and says, Did you call me? The prophet says, Go back to bed. And again, he hears another voice and he jumps up and he runs to the prophet and the prophet says, Go back to bed. And the third time it happens, and he says, Okay, if it happens a third time, this is what you do. You say, What is it, Lord? And he cries out12:10and the voice calls him and he says, What is it, Lord? And he hears the voice of God. He hears the indictment. Here's why they didn't understand at that time. They said the voice of the Lord had not been heard in a long, long time. There is nothing more sad than to not hear the voice of God. And so I ask you, if you are a Christ follower, when's the last time you truly heard the voice of God in your life? We say, Well, of course, I come to church every week. That is not the question.12:39When's the last time you heard the voice of the Lord? Like, you personally heard it. You say, Well, that's not possible. I beg to differ. And even more, Jesus begs to differ. You say, Well, how does that happen? Well, first, what should we listen for? Jesus in John 10, verse 27, very shortly and simply says this to us. He says, My sheep13:09My sheep hear my voice. My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. In John 10, 27. So the sheep of Jesus, who is the great shepherd, the sheep do what? Hear. And so if Jesus says the sheep can hear and we are the sheep, then we should hear. And if we should hear, it's possible. Like, we can say, God, I want to hear you.13:38Lord, I know I'm a sheep. I'm okay with that. Lord, lead me to the green pastures and let me hear your voice. When's the last time you heard? God wants you to be a hearer of him, a hearer of the voice. Look at verse 1. These crowds, they were, they didn't work, they weren't passively, aggressively listening. These crowds were doing what in verse 1? The crowd was pressing Jesus14:07pressing Jesus almost to the point where he was having to swim away. And he was near the shore and they were pressing to hear the voice of the Lord. Listen, we cannot hear God without seeking Jesus. It doesn't happen that way. So if you have someone in your life that says, well, I heard from God and they don't mention Jesus, we should say, look, hold on now. Jesus said, he said that he is the way.14:36He is the truth. He is life. Jesus says, no man comes to the Father but through me. And so I don't want you to think, well, I want to hear from God. No, we want to hear God but it happens through Jesus. The crowds were pressing against who? They were pressing against Jesus. We should listen to Jesus. So are you a good hearer this morning? Are you a hearer of Christ?15:05of Christ? How glorious it is to know that we can hear from God. That's a glorious thought that God even lets me hear. It was so beautiful as we were in the office this morning. I was talking to a little girl about baptism and she just stops and says, I want to know Jesus. I want to hear from Jesus. She starts tearing up. God's spirit was moving. I start tearing up. Dad's crying. Mom's crying. Why? Because it's overwhelming15:35that we can even hear from God. We don't want to miss that or gloss over that. Are you listening and pressing against Jesus? You can hear from Him. He said, Pastor, is it that easy? Yes. So how do we hear from Jesus? I'm glad you asked. Verse 1, the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear what? To hear God's Word. So we should be16:05people of the Word. It's amazing that they were awaiting the prophetic power of the Word of God. I love what one commentary said. His last name is Bovan. Very big words, but listen to this. Very powerful. He said, when the Word resounds, it not only offers a verbal hope for life, but it affects even now the life that is in us because each one16:35experience in it the grace of God's vindication, the weight of responsibility, and the freedom from the deadly effect of guilt and limitation. That's the power of God's Word, that it gives us hope. It frees us from the limitations of our sin and the guilt. So you say, well, Pastor, I haven't heard from God. I'm going to ask you, have you opened His Word?17:04His Word? Right? Because the people were pressing to hear from God and hear from His Word. Now, they had Jesus, but we have His Word. You say, Pastor, I believe in Jesus, I just don't read the Bible. Well, how do you know about Jesus? It's from His Word. Now, I don't want to leave us here by thinking, well, if I just read the Bible, then that's all. The pastor said, if I just read the Bible, it's almost like17:33a person who wanted to go sailing. And the problem is he knew nothing about sailing. This is me. I know nothing about sailing. So he went to the store and he purchased a beautiful, expensive sailboat. And in doing that, he bought the most expensive sailboat tutorial that he could buy. And he said, you know what? This is not enough. I need to find a seasoned sailor. And so he had this man mentor him for months and months.18:02And so he had this beautiful sailboat crafted. And months and months of training, he knew how to hoist the sails. He knew when he was in trouble what he should do. And that moment came where he picked the day that he was going to sail for the first time. And so he brings a sailboat to this beautiful lake and he puts a sailboat there. He's been training. He's read the book. He's read the manual. And he gets out into the middle of the sea and nothing. And in that moment,18:34he realized that only God can bring the wind. He had the knowledge. He had the mentorship. But he didn't have the wind. And it's the same with us. You might be saying, well, I've read, I tried to read God's word. It just doesn't make sense. But did you have the Holy Spirit? Because God's word will not make sense without the word of God and the spirit19:04of God aligned. And so when we press in against Jesus, we say, God, I want to hear you. God, I want to know you through your word. And God, I need your spirit working within me. It's a glorious moment when we can hear from God. Do you know Jesus? Have you pressed in? When's the last time you heard from him? Yeah, it's always amazing how God works.19:34Part of my readings for this week as I've just been praying and devoting time to the Lord has been First Chronicles, which is not always the easiest. So I'm reading about all these numbers of people. Thousands of people go and join David. I'm like, God, why would you even? Lord, I know it's your word. I'm going to be reverent here, but God, why? Why do you want me to read this? A thousand people here, a thousand people there. And in the midst of that, in First Chronicles 12, 32, it says the men of, oh, and I forget who they are now.20:03I think it was Asher. Someone look it up and correct me later. But this men joined David and said they knew the times and knew what to do. What a profound thought. I said, Lord, that's what I want to be. It was in these numbers of people. I'm like, Lord, why would you even want me to read this? And God said, how foolish are you? This is my word. I said, Lord, I'm sorry. Lord, your spirit20:33was working in me and your word is powerful. And Lord, thank you that you could speak to me. Lord, thank you that you chastise me because even, Lord, when you chastise me, at least I get to hear your voice. Lord, I get to feel your punishment. But Lord, I'm thankful that I can even hear. May we be continual hearers. And if you do not hear God, if you don't recognize his voice, you've been in church all your life, have you ever seen the frozen chosen? Right? They just look miserable. You know why they're miserable? Because they think they know God, but they don't know his voice.21:03his voice. Be a hearer of God today. Maybe you need to take time and to say, Lord, let me hear from you. Let me hear from your words. Lord, let me hear your spirit. Let me press into Jesus. I need an urgency. And this is why it's important. It's important because we should now then follow Christ. So first, we should listen to his voice. And the second priority is this. I must continually21:33follow. So we press in. We hear God. We hear his word. And now we do something. James says, do not just listen, but do. Because when we don't do, we don't listen. You say, well, pastor, how does that, what does that look like? Look at verse 2. We're going to kind of push through the rest of the passage. Jesus saw two boats on the edge of the lake. The fishermen had left them and they were washing their nets. Now, we don't know if this is the same net that started to tear later.22:02And he got into one of the boats which belonged to Simon and he asked him to put out a little from the land. Then he sat down and started teaching the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch. And Simon replied what? Simon said, master, master. Now, this is an important word. Luke does something very intentional here in his gospel.22:32This word master is never used for a non-disciple. This is always a word that a disciple or a near disciple uses for Jesus. A non-disciple says teacher. A disciple says master. Why would the word master be important? Because master is now showing a posture of humility. So what does it look like to follow God? What does it look like23:02to prioritize him in our life? First, we must adopt the right attitude. The right attitude. It's hard not to call someone master and put yourself beneath them. And Peter says, you are a master. How long had Peter known Jesus, by the way, at this point? A second? Right? We're going to come back to that. So do you have the right attitude in your life? You can't follow God23:31and be a continual follower if you've elevated yourself to the place you should not be. And I love when I was talking with this young girl. She's not too young, but she is younger than me today. I just reminded her, I said, look, you have died to yourself. And that was a good reminder to me that I have died to myself because when I think I'm something, God reminds me that I have died. Dead men don't talk back. Have you adopted the right attitude?24:01And maybe you say, well, of course I have. I can't believe you say that. I have the right attitude. Maybe you don't. And if you have been in church longer than a week, the tendency we have is to be puffed up and proud of our righteousness. If we begin to say, Lord, I know I called you master, but you're really a teacher and Jesus says, if you don't have me in your life where you need to be, your life will never be where it should be. Are you a continual24:31follower of the right attitude? Lord, give us the right attitude. Also, to be a continual follower, God is constantly testing our obedience. God is constantly testing your obedience and your faith. You say, well, how do you know that? How do you know that? Look at verse 2. Jesus saw two boats on the edge of the lake. The fishermen had left them and were washing their nets and so he got into one of the boats. Now, can you imagine25:00what Peter's thinking? Why is that carpenter in my boat? He's about to salvage the wood to build his home. What is Jesus doing to Simon in that moment? He's testing his obedience, isn't he? He's testing his obedience. and it continues. Now, is Simon a follower at this point? I don't know. Probably not. He's testing his obedience. He gets into one of the boats in verse 3 and he asks him25:29to put out a little from the land. So not only am I going to take your boat, but hey, why don't you put it out in the sea? Second test. He sat down and was teaching the crowds. Don't miss that word, teaching. He's teaching the crowds, but Simon calls him master. The crowds call him teacher. Simon calls him master. Verse 4, when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon what? Put out into deep water the third test25:58of obedience. Simon, are you paying attention? Put down your nets and Simon said, Master, we worked hard all night long and we have caught nothing. But, but, if you say so, I will let down your nets. Over and over and over again, God is testing Simon's faithfulness and the Lord is testing ours. Faith in Jesus26:28is not a one-time event and God leaves us alone. He's like, well, I'm glad that's over. God's continually testing our obedience. Part of the test was this, are you going to wake up and worship me this morning with others? You've passed the test. Here's another test. Are you going to engage? Look, there's a distraction sitting beside you. Are you going to ignore the distraction and listen to me? Here's your benefit. You don't have as many distractions.26:57I see more of you than you see of me. Continual distractions. Some of you have been fighting kids this morning to worship. I believe that could be God saying, look, are you going to pay attention? Are you going to follow? Some of you that test is this, are you going to sing songs of faith? You can't even sing. Or are you going to sing so your neighbor can hear you worship? And maybe when they hear you sing, I love to tell the story. They hear the story27:26and they come to faith in Jesus. God is continually testing our faithfulness. Are you passing the test? And I believe those aren't major monumental times of faith. Often they're pieces of sand. Look, here's a piece of sand. Are you going to be faithful over and over and over again? Lord, let us continually follow. Give us right attitude. Lord, test us. Here's the glorious truth of the gospel. God also gives us the power to pass27:56the test. God's not testing you with the hopes that you fail. God's testing you that you can see you're empowered by his spirit so you'll pass. I love that because I don't have anything in me that could pass any test God gives me. Are you passing the test? We also see this in verse 5, to be a follower of Jesus. You don't have to have everything figured out.28:25figured out. You don't have to have everything figured out. Let me say it with the first person. I don't have to have everything figured out. Look at verse 5. Simon says what? Master, the word of the disciple, right? God, you are my master, I am not. How long did Simon know Jesus? Let's give him the benefit of the doubt. Five minutes? Now how quick28:54do we struggle? We say, God, I can't serve you. God, I don't know much about you. And he says, but just call me master. Just follow me. Josh, get your act together. I didn't ask you to write books and pontificate. I just ask you to know me and trust me and follow me and call me master. Look, to be a follower of Jesus, you do not have to have everything figured out. You have to have one thing figured out. What is that one thing?29:25Master. You are master. I think something else we see here is to be a follower. Not only do we have to not have it figured out, but we have to trust him. We have to trust him. That word master means that Jesus knows best. He is the boss. And it's a scary thing to put your trust in someone, isn't it? To really say to Jesus, God, you know better than me of my life.29:54I trust in you. God is calling you to trust him. Are you a follower? Right attitude. Trusting in him. Something else that we see about following Christ is this. We must see and recognize our inadequacy. We must recognize our inadequacy. Verse 8. When Simon Peter saw this, saw this, that they were about to die and the whole fish thing,30:24thing, which is awesome, he fell to Jesus' knees and he said, what? He said, go away from me. Now let me just say this in scripture. Over and over again, when someone encounters Jesus for the first time, their response is not, awesome. Let me tweet this. Right? Selfie time, Jesus. The right response again in scripture is this. God, I am not worthy. Get away from me. It's an overwhelming30:55sense of inadequacy. And here's the beauty of Peter's declaration. And this is how it impacts us. Peter, by admitting his inability and his sin, was really saying he was perfect to serve God. Peter's inadequacy was a prerequisite to serve him. And maybe you're here and you say, God, I can't serve you. I'm not worthy. And God says, that's his very thing that you need31:24to serve him. Because when we serve in our strength, oh, how conceited we become. Continually, continually listen to Jesus. Continually follow him. And lastly, I want to leave you with this. prioritizing God is not easy. Is not easy. Look at verse 11. Then they brought31:54the boats to land and they left what? They left all. The Christian standard Bible says that they left everything. Let's be honest. How many of us today if God said, everything right now we would truly have to weigh the cost? God, you know I really like my life. God, you know32:24you know you know that you put me in that neighborhood. I've been working so hard. They left everything. Following Jesus means that we will give up a lot. but it's worth it. It's worth it. Are you a hearer of God? Through Jesus, press in on him. Are you a follower of Christ? Pastor, what does that look like practically? I have a graphic32:54a graphic that very simply helps me. How can we follow you very simply and powerfully in Bethel? If it's hard to see we'll put it on Facebook later for you. But I think there's four ways that we can practically continually follow God. One is that we should be worshipers. Worship regularly through hearing God's word, through worship here and reading separately. So worship here and worship at home.33:24at home. Are you a continual worshiper? You say, well, I can't come here every Sunday. That's not what I even mentioned. Are you continually worshipping, hearing God, hearing his word preached and sharing it to others? God, may we hear you. Secondly, are you in a small group? A place where you can find community? If you are not, we have a worship guide out there that gives you lots of life groups that you can join33:54can join today. We had it in a few, but someone took it. So it'll be there again next Sunday. But we want to give you that guide and find a place to serve. So find a place to worship, find a life group, a small group, community, find a DNA group, and then also find a place where you're serving. And we want to give you a way to serve today. So I'm inadequate, excellent. We're going to encourage our teachers because they need it. I'm married to one, so I understand34:24understand what they go through. But we're going to just pray over our teachers and we're going to write them a note. So in the lobby before you leave, find a piece of cardstock, it's a big white piece of paper, and just write a word of encouragement. Serve them, pray for them. Because I tell you this, there are hundreds and hundreds of kids that go through those classrooms every day that need Jesus. And our teachers need to know that we are serving them missionally and praying for them that they can pass Jesus34:53to their friends and family and students. You say, why does that matter? Because it matters this way. My wife and I have had this conversation years ago. I said, Casey, if you come home and you are fired because you talk about Jesus from any school district, and we have a school district that is honoring Christ and that is beautiful. For our leaders, thank you. Thank you. But if it ever comes the day where she is fired, I say, we will celebrate and35:22celebrate and we will eat beans and rice and we will celebrate because it is worth it. It is worth it. Worship regularly, get into a small group and serve, serve, serve. Are you a hearer of God? Are you a servant? Are you a follower of Christ? I want to leave you with this story this morning. It's a story of a Muslim convert to Jesus. This is his prayer. Every day.35:52Every day. He said, Oh God, I am Mustafa the tailor. He said, And I work at the shop of Muhammad. The whole day long I sit and I pull the needle and the thread through the cloth. He said, Oh God, you are the needle and I am the thread. I am attached to you and I follow you. When the thread tries to slip away from the needle, it becomes tangled and must be cut. So it can be36:22can be put back in the right place. He said, Oh God, help me to follow you wherever you lead. For I am really only Mustafa the tailor and I work in the shop of Muhammad on the great square. What a powerful prayer of a follower of Christ. Lord, I'm just a tailor and I am the thread and you are the needle. Lord, lead me for I am only Mustafa the tailor. You have36:53You have never found new life and healing from your sins that is found in Jesus Christ. I want you to know that he offers you that today. You say, I've never followed Jesus before. Peter hadn't either. What a great example of seeing Christ and the eyes of your heart being open and saying, God, I need you. So what does that look like? It begins in a prayer of faith. You can pray something like this. There is no magic prayer. But it is this, Father,37:23Father, I have sinned. I have not lived up to your standard. And Lord, today I want to die to myself and find new life in Jesus. Lord, I am only Mustafa the tailor and I want to follow you and I will leave everything because you are worth it. Amen. And we want to give you a chance to put your faith in Jesus and make that public. Maybe you need to come to the altar and just spend some time in prayer and say, Lord, I need to listen. It has been a long time since I have heard your voice.37:53your voice. Lord, it is a lonely place to be and I want to hear you today. Lord, send your spirit afresh in me and let me follow. Lord, let me pass the test. Let's pray. Father, Father, Thank you.38:10Thank you.Next in Ducks in a Row →Sunday, August 13, 2017More sermons on Luke →
