Sunday, February 12, 2006
January 29, 2006 Sermon Notes--Even Jesus Told Fish Stories
Note: Sermon notes taken from rough outline of pastor notes. Actual delivered sermon may have varied slightly. No video available. Sorry!
Text: Luke 5:4-10; 10:19-20; Luke 6:22-23
We have all heard some fish stories in our time. Do you know what I mean by fish story? You know, when uncle Bob caught that fish that was this big, but over time that fish grew to leviathan proportions, and the struggle for the fish became more exaggerated, to where pretty soon, instead of a sunfish that fish becomes a walleye or a pike and uncle Bob had to struggle for it! The fish gets bigger and bigger. It is done to swell our pride, and sometimes it really is unintentional, but it is all a bunch of hooey, many times.
Well, Jesus has a fish story, too. He tells of how when we have faith, and it grows over time, the more we can do in His name. And the cool thing is, it is all true!!! That is right! Look at the Scriptures, when He talks about the disciples being able to perform miracles, and what happens? They do! He feeds the five thousand, He talks about us being his messengers. Our role gets bigger and bigger. As we grow in the faith, we are called upon to do more. We are called upon to become those fishers of men! I mean, talk about a fish story! Fishers of men indeed! But look what happened! Jesus's fish story came to pass, and it grew and grew in TRUTH, not in exaggeration!
Our role, as we grow in the faith, gets bigger and bigger. We need, like the disciples, to go from being those little guppies caught to giant whales capable of catching others and growing ever bigger, until we are spiritual giants. However, we often stand in the way of that ourselves.
We often tell reverse fish stories. We say, no, I can't do that, it is too big. I know God sets it before me, but I just can't. There is no way. Our church is too small. We don't have the resources. We tell reverse fish stories, where our role gets smaller and smaller. We don't want to answer the tasks God has set out for us. We want the big blessings, but not the big jobs to get them. And it is a lie of the world that leads us to this. Read over those awesome Scriptures we cited today, and see the truth. Look beyond the words to the deep meaning, the Deep Magic, if you will. Jesus trusts us with the big jobs, He gives us the power to do them. Christ gives us the power, so He can have the victory and the glory, so that we may grow in faith and grow the kingdom!
So, the challenge becomes, will we make Jesus's fish story a reality, as he did, or will we make it an earthly one, one that seems far fetched. Jesus has great things in mind for us, each of us individually and collectively as a church, Christ has fish stories for us. He wants us to accomplish great and impossible things, but it takes faith and a willingness to go out there in trust, in faith, that Christ will help us, that He will take over. You see, it looks like we are doing all the work, but it is all going according to God's plan, and Christ empowers us to be His fishers, bringing in the day's and the kingdom's catch. So, we can either get to fishin', or just think about what we could have done, and make excuses. But, you know, God has a funny way of workin. Moses tried that whole reverse fish story when God tapped him for a big job, and God proved Moses wrong. Hopefully, if enough of us who believe pray enough and hope in Him enough, even our own reverse fish stories can be overcome, so that the Great Truthful Fish Story of Christ will lead us to greater things. He has great things in mind for us, if we can only get past the fish story of doubt the world lays on us.
Text: Luke 5:4-10; 10:19-20; Luke 6:22-23
We have all heard some fish stories in our time. Do you know what I mean by fish story? You know, when uncle Bob caught that fish that was this big, but over time that fish grew to leviathan proportions, and the struggle for the fish became more exaggerated, to where pretty soon, instead of a sunfish that fish becomes a walleye or a pike and uncle Bob had to struggle for it! The fish gets bigger and bigger. It is done to swell our pride, and sometimes it really is unintentional, but it is all a bunch of hooey, many times.
Well, Jesus has a fish story, too. He tells of how when we have faith, and it grows over time, the more we can do in His name. And the cool thing is, it is all true!!! That is right! Look at the Scriptures, when He talks about the disciples being able to perform miracles, and what happens? They do! He feeds the five thousand, He talks about us being his messengers. Our role gets bigger and bigger. As we grow in the faith, we are called upon to do more. We are called upon to become those fishers of men! I mean, talk about a fish story! Fishers of men indeed! But look what happened! Jesus's fish story came to pass, and it grew and grew in TRUTH, not in exaggeration!
Our role, as we grow in the faith, gets bigger and bigger. We need, like the disciples, to go from being those little guppies caught to giant whales capable of catching others and growing ever bigger, until we are spiritual giants. However, we often stand in the way of that ourselves.
We often tell reverse fish stories. We say, no, I can't do that, it is too big. I know God sets it before me, but I just can't. There is no way. Our church is too small. We don't have the resources. We tell reverse fish stories, where our role gets smaller and smaller. We don't want to answer the tasks God has set out for us. We want the big blessings, but not the big jobs to get them. And it is a lie of the world that leads us to this. Read over those awesome Scriptures we cited today, and see the truth. Look beyond the words to the deep meaning, the Deep Magic, if you will. Jesus trusts us with the big jobs, He gives us the power to do them. Christ gives us the power, so He can have the victory and the glory, so that we may grow in faith and grow the kingdom!
So, the challenge becomes, will we make Jesus's fish story a reality, as he did, or will we make it an earthly one, one that seems far fetched. Jesus has great things in mind for us, each of us individually and collectively as a church, Christ has fish stories for us. He wants us to accomplish great and impossible things, but it takes faith and a willingness to go out there in trust, in faith, that Christ will help us, that He will take over. You see, it looks like we are doing all the work, but it is all going according to God's plan, and Christ empowers us to be His fishers, bringing in the day's and the kingdom's catch. So, we can either get to fishin', or just think about what we could have done, and make excuses. But, you know, God has a funny way of workin. Moses tried that whole reverse fish story when God tapped him for a big job, and God proved Moses wrong. Hopefully, if enough of us who believe pray enough and hope in Him enough, even our own reverse fish stories can be overcome, so that the Great Truthful Fish Story of Christ will lead us to greater things. He has great things in mind for us, if we can only get past the fish story of doubt the world lays on us.
# posted by Mark : 3:32 PM
