I wanted to just say happy birthday Kirk it's his birthday today so I wanted to give a testimony just thanking the Lord for our congregation and just our folks and how they behave What really struck me this morning is as Adrie finished singing and she was stepping down, Ronell just jumped right up there to help his wife. That was good, wasn't it? That's right. Christian men should be gentlemen. And they should care for their wife, okay? If you're standing there singing and she's not holding a hymnal, you're sharing a hymnal, you hold the hymnal. See, that's kind of petty. I know. Well, that's true. There could be some eyesight logistics at play in that process. That could be true. I think it was, I don't know, Bridget, I think you were telling me this story about some pastor encouraging the men of the church to be gentlemen and to open the door for their wives and how she should not go through the door if he doesn't open it. So the pastor's wife got home and he went in the house After a while, I was like, hey, sweetheart, where are you? Is the coffee ready? Let's have some snacks. She was still in the car. Because he didn't open the door for her. There's a real practical application to that. That has really nothing to do with the message, just... Amen. Mark chapter one. We are in a as I had mentioned the journeys of Jesus and this is it's just kind of places where Jesus went and things that happened there and maybe some real practical kinds of things that we can glean and I know it says recruiting or recruitment or something like that recruiting that's what it says in the bulletin and you could call this the journey to the sea a recruiting journey. Jesus is coming back after his time of temptation. We looked at that last Sunday. And now he's come back, he's in Galilee, and he's walking by the sea, it said, verse 16. Now, as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. And straightway they forsook their nets and followed him. And when he had gone a little farther thance, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his father, who also were in the ship, mending their nets. And straightway he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants and went after him. Father, I pray and ask you to help us now tonight stop to just briefly consider one of the events in the life of our Savior. And, Father, we certainly don't want to be reading into the record, You gave this record for a purpose. We're supposed to learn something from this, and so I pray you'd help us. Give me clarity of thought and speech. We might be able to make some real simple, practical applications to our lives. Would you guide and direct, Father, please, in Jesus' name, amen. This particular event we read about in Matthew 4 and Luke 5. So those are the parallel passages about when he's walking by the sea and calling Peter and Andrew and James and John to be his disciples and they follow. The first thing I want you to notice is observation. Observation. Now as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw. He saw. He observed. Here's a couple of guys, and they're doing their job. They're fishermen. They're doing their job. And it's possible for them, as for many of us at times, our job is a job. It's just a job. It's not really the the thing that floats our boat or lights our fire or however you want to describe that. It's just how we pay the bills. It's what we do to support our family and pay our bills and maybe allow us to do some recreational things, et cetera. But if there was anything you could pick to do, you might pick something else. Has anybody ever been in that kind of a setting? I mean, I have been. I really don't like doing this, but... When I was in college, I drove this van for this group of people who were disabled in various capacities, etc. Some of them had mental problems and I think some criminal records and so I drove the van that picked them up to take them to their recreation center. It was one of the many jobs I did. It was just a job. I didn't have some great burning passion to work with the disabled. I'm just being honest. I just needed to make a few more dollars so I could pay my bills. And it was just a job. I'd go around and pick all these people up. I'd take them to their center. And it seemed like what I remember is, okay, so there's all these people and they have these issues in their life. Okay, okay. And so I take them to the recreation center and what are they providing for them? They're watching horror movies. I thought, I don't think this is a good use of social services funds. I think maybe they could watch Shirley Temple or something. I'm not so sure that horror movies is what we should be feeding their minds. But anyways, it was just, boy was I glad when I didn't have that job. Has anybody ever been glad you didn't have your job? That you shifted to a different job. Yeah, I worked for UPS for a short, not UPS, yeah, UPS. That was horrible. That was, I think, the worst job I've ever had in my life. It was terrible. I went from there and I worked for FedEx and that was wonderful. Like, okay, both of them are picking up a box here and putting the box over here. What was the difference? Union tension, There's a lot it really wasn't what you did it was the setting in which you did it Wow that was Okay, so why am I saying all that? Well, here's these guys that are fishermen. This is not the first time these men or specifically Simon and Andrew for sure and James we think this is not the first time they've interacted with Jesus Because in John chapter 1 When John the Baptist says, behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world, some of his disciples take note of that and they shift from listening and following John to following Jesus. And one of those is Andrew, we're told that specifically, and then it says, Andrew first went and found his brother and brought him to Jesus. But at this point, they've gone back to work. And I think they've gone back to work because John the Baptist has been hauled off to jail. You have to kind of compare all the accounts in the four Gospels and try to create a timeline and it's, you know, there's some leeway in all of that. But they went back to what they knew. And so that tells me something. Here's guys doing their job, but they want something more than just their job. If they were fully satisfied with just being fishermen, why would they be following John the Baptist? Why wouldn't they be the disciples of John the Baptist, which would take them away from the thing that gave them their identity and their fulfillment? Say, Pastor, you're kind of reading a lot into that. Well, I guess maybe because at times I've been engaged in jobs because I just I had to do them. I didn't want to do them, but it was necessary. And so here's some guys in there. They're doing their work. When Jesus observes them, they're working. But I think they want something more. There's got to be something more to life than just working a job, making money, and dying. I mean, there better be more to life than that because that's kind of a downer, actually. Even if you make all the money in the world, you're still going to die and you're going to leave it all, right? You don't get to take any of it with you. So you better have something else in your life that's kind of driving you, fulfilling you. Nothing wrong with a job. We got to pay our bills, okay, et cetera. But there's more to life than just working your job every day and getting paid. There's something more and I think these men wanted something more now I think it's significant as Jesus walks along he If do you think those are the only four fishermen? Well, I don't think so but he he kind of Picks those guys out, doesn't he those guys? And I can't say for sure, because we're not told, we're just given sort of a description of what happens. But I do think it's interesting that throughout the scriptures, the Lord tends to call men who are already working. He doesn't call people into his service, or at least there's not a record of calling people into his service, who are sitting on the sidelines, twiddling their thumbs, being lazy. Almost always when we read about someone being called into the Lord's service, they're already busy doing, maybe they're just doing the job, but they're busy. They're busy. And we could, you know, look at several of those. In Exodus chapter 3 and verse 1, Moses is watching the sheep on the back side of the desert. And that's when he gets the burning bush incident in his life. And God calls him. But he's already occupied watching sheep. watching sheep. In 2 Samuel 16 and verse 11 David is busy watching the sheep for his father while his older brothers get paraded in front of the prophet potential kings. But Jesse doesn't even think enough of David to bring him in from the field to observe potentially his older brother getting crowned. He's not even invited to the inauguration. He's overlooked. And yet, that's the one that God picks. He's the one faithful doing what he's supposed to be doing. In Amos chapter, excuse me, 1 Kings, I'm trying to go in chronological order here. In 1 Kings 19, 19, Elijah lays his mantle on the shoulders of Elisha while Elisha's busy plowing with 12 yoke of oxen. He's busy just doing his job. God calls a man who's already occupied and doing things. Amos 7, 14, Amos says, I'm not a prophet or the son of the prophet. I'm a gatherer of sycamore fruit. I'm a working man. But God said, that's the kind of man I want. I want a man who will do his job. And he picks him. Isaiah chapter 6 and verse 6, lest we think that only those who are involved in physical labor, okay, there's other kinds of labor besides just the labor of our hands, there's the labor of our minds, if you will. In Isaiah 6 and verse 6, that's when he's called. What is, who is Isaiah? He's a priest, and he's busy doing his job. He's before the altar burning incense, and that's when he sees the vision. In the year the king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up, and his train did fill the temple. Remember the story? Yeah, and he sees a vision of God, and he's like, I'm toast. Because I'm a man of unclean lips and I am disqualified. And the angel comes, takes the tongs, takes a coal, off the altar, and touches Isaiah's lips. What that tells me is Isaiah is in the midst of doing his duty as a priest. And that's my point. God sees people who are functioning faithful in what may be mundane or considered little or unimportant, but they're faithful in the least, as Jesus says. And to the Lord, that means he can trust you with bigger things, perhaps more important things, maybe more spiritual things, or however you want to describe that. The Lord is not calling Those who are worthy, he's calling those who are willing. Because if we're honest, none of us are worthy to serve the righteous and holy King of kings and Lord of lords. Who's worthy of that? Paul in Corinthians talks about that. You know, he talks about, You know who's sufficient to do that? We're not we're a bunch of crackpots But the Lord's looking for those who are willing and in his enablement he makes up what we lack I and he sanctifies whatever skills and abilities we may have, or he may supernaturally enable us with other skills and abilities. That's what the spiritual gifts are. They're the Lord supernaturally enabling you to accomplish what he wants you to do. They're not your natural abilities, or they wouldn't be spiritual gifts. When I was a teenager, Oh, man. Talking in front of people, that was scary. Very scary. And I did preach one sermon at a youth rally once. The youth pastor asked me to give the devotional. Came out of Proverbs 6. The title was, Dumb as a Bug. It's a real spiritual title. Dumb as a Bug. And my text was, go to the aunt thou sluggard and consider her ways and be wise. But I didn't stand in front of people to share anything from the Bible for years after that. And I told you about that, that was in Italy. Man, that was scary. And I thought I had a barn burner of a sermon, lasted about two minutes, it was done. And Ann in the back said, is that it? Yeah, that's it. I sat down and said, I'm not doing that again. I'm done with that. And here I am. And the point is, the Lord's looking for those that he can trust. And one of the ways that he gauges that is what are you doing with your time and your obligations and your responsibilities, whatever those are, what are you doing with those right now? Before we start looking for something grander or larger or more glorious or whatever, am I faithful with what's in front of me? What does the Lord see in me? Secondly, so it says, now as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. Now it sounds like they're fishing but they're not actually fishing because fishermen on the Sea of Galilee went fishing at night. This isn't a bunch of guys standing on the side of the bank with fishing poles. Now the Bible talks about anglers and fishing with a hook in other settings but Peter, Simon and Andrew, James and John are commercial fishermen. And they don't fish with a hook, they fish with nets. And they do that at night. And so in the morning, remember the story when Jesus tells Peter to cast out into the deep? And what does Peter say? Master, we have fished all night and taken nothing. This is the end of the shift and we wanna go home. But at the end of the shift is when then they would clean their nets. Any seaweed or maybe undesirable fish or crabs or whatever get stuck in the net and they gotta clean all that junk out, maybe stitch a tear here or there. They gotta prepare them for the next night's fishing. That's what's happening here, okay? Jesus said unto them verse 17 come ye after me number two invitation Invitation he invites them now it is a strenuous invite Okay, it's it has force to it Do you remember when we kind of studied Matthew chapter 11 28 come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden and when Jesus is coming unto me There's some grammatical force there what he's saying is come come to me come to me and That's the same exact grammatical structure here Jesus sees them and yes, it's an invitation, but it's like a command The thing is with the commando you have to obey it. You have to respond to it But he's inviting You know the Lord's has an ever-present cry and That cry is come to me It's so easy in our life if we wanna know about some political thing, you know, well let's just go listen to, I was gonna say Rush Limbaugh, but you can't do that anymore. He's passed on. But you know, you can go turn on some pundit on the radio and listen to Dan Bongino or Sean Hannity or Glenn Beck or whoever. And that's not a guarantee you're gonna get the right answers. Do you understand that? Just because they're a radio pundit and they've got a show, doesn't mean they actually have the correct answers. So we need to recognize that. Just because we want answers financially, You know, there's all kinds of people, financial consultants and others who are experts in their field. We're not denying any of that. We have medical issues, we have relational issues, we have legal issues, whatever. What we really need is to go to the Lord. That's not a negation of others and their skills and abilities and their knowledge, but primarily we should go to the Lord. That's where we ought to go to. Genesis 3 in verse 9 the Lord calls Adam Adam where art thou? In essence he's saying come to me. Why are you hiding in the bushes? I? think He knew why they were hiding in the bushes, but they had to admit yes we heard you but It's almost like they didn't want to say it We're naked and we're hiding in the bushes." I was like, really? Who told you that? How'd you find that out? That didn't seem to be a problem yesterday. Why is that a problem today? Well, it's that woman you gave me. Right? Isn't that what Adam said? That's what he said. He's passing the buck. It's her fault. And she's like, oh no, that's not right. It's the serpent's fault. And when it gets to the serpent, he didn't have nobody he can blame. So he's just a crispy critter. Isaiah 1.18. The Lord cries, come to me. Right? Oh, your sins are scarlet, they'll be white as snow. But the Lord's crying for folks to come to him. Matthew 11, 28, we mentioned that already. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. As I said, the Lord calls not the worthy, but the willing. And if I can say this, he's calling you. So Pastor, I'm already saved, I've already trusted the Lord as my Savior. That's great. I think you could make a case that Peter and Andrew and James and John were already saved at this point. They'd already met with Jesus. But they're not following Him. Jesus isn't asking them to get saved. He's asking them, come to me. Come after me. Come follow me. Give your life to me. Be my disciple. That's what he's asking. Lastly, expectation. And these are expectations both that he has and that we have. Jesus says, come ye after me, and this is what he's going to do. I will make you to become fishers of men. I have an expectation that the Lord's going to make me a fisher of men. He's going to have to do that in me. Because, to be quite frank, I'm not that social bubbly person that talks to anybody and everybody and shares the gospel with everybody I bump into. That's just not my personality. Now that doesn't mean I don't do that. I share gospel tracts, talk to lots of people about the Lord. And I'm just gonna be real honest, okay? Part of that's because I'm concerned about them, but part of that's because I know that's my job. What would you think of the pastor who says, I'm not talking to anybody about the Lord? They don't pay me enough for that. What would you think about that preacher? Like, you can go down the road and work at a different church. Now there's other people who, man, they are, That is their personality. Great. But Jesus said, he's gonna do something in me. Something that I would not naturally do. And he's gonna help me and he's gonna enable me and give me directions, and maybe lead me in a way that I don't expect, because He wants me to engage people with the Gospel. He wants me to do that. And so I have to trust Him that that's what He's going to do. Him changing me into a fisher of men follows me answering the call to follow. It's after, in order for this to happen, what is verse 18, in a straight way they forsook their nets. Andrew and Peter laid their nets aside. I had to lay I have to lay my nets aside and Then follow and God will do something in me But it's gonna take a decision on my part And that's gonna take a decision on your part That doesn't mean the Lord wants all of us to be preachers or evangelists or you know, whatever. I understand that okay, but he does want us all to be disciples and And maybe that job that is not so enjoyable, but there's people there that you interact with, that you may be the only one they ever see, they ever talk to you. And that's why you're there. You're there specifically. You're an ambassador, as it says in Corinthians chapter 5, we are his ambassadors. Where is representatives in that place? And so we ought to be finding a way. Lord help me so I have a testimony in front of these people that I work with or that I manage or whatever the case may be in the next cubicle next to me. I need to have a testimony so that I can speak for you when the time is right. I have an expectation that he'll do that. That's what he said. I want him to do that. But I have to answer that invitation. Secondly, he has an expectation of us. And the expectation that he has is that we would follow. that we would let go of whatever it is that's hindering us or distracting us. Say, you know what? If God's calling me, then I need to set this aside. This ought not to be the priority. He needs to be the priority. Now again, that doesn't mean you're gonna quit your job and go to Bible college. Let me illustrate it this way. When I was in college, I worked for FedEx, and while there, had started Anchor Club at the church with Pastor Dion, and so I was kind of real involved in the children's ministry. And several times, an opportunity came for me to maybe get a promotion from Handler. That's the bottom of the barrel. That's the guy who takes the box from here and sticks it over there. But there was an opportunity to become a ramp agent. That's the guy who kind of manages the plane coming in. He's kind of like the shift foreman, you might say. Or to be one of the front clerk people. Better job, better hours, better pay, all of that, which would have been good because I didn't really want to drive that, I won't use what I call it, that van anymore, okay? I didn't want to do that job anymore. But I would have to go to some training site for FedEx for two weeks. And I just didn't feel like I could leave the... I wasn't the pastor, I was just the guy running a children's program. But I just felt like God wanted me to give my time to that. And so I let go of the opportunities. You say, well that was silly. Maybe it was, I don't know. But at the time, that's how I felt, God was directing me. So, you know, I'm not saying that you have to give up on your job and go to college or become a missionary But what I'm saying is he has an expectation that when he does give you direction That you'll answer him It's kind of simple, isn't it? He went by the Sea of Galilee and he saw They were working. He said, come. And they said, yes. You know what that does? Number one, it helps you because you've taken a step of obedience. It makes the next step easier. Because now you're used to obeying. And it builds a pattern in your life. Secondly, you become an influence for others. Where do I get that from? Well, look at verse 19. And when he had gone a little farther thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were also in the ship mending their nets. Now who's with Jesus at this point? Peter and? Andrew cuz they just straightway they forsook their nets and followed him he goes down They're tagging along and they get to James and John and Jesus says come come to me come after me follow me and they're like Yeah, look at that there's Andrew and there's Peter yeah, let's join in there was an influence Maybe I'm reading into that But isn't it easier to do something that you know you ought to do when you can do it in connection with others that you know and you encourage each other? Will we answer and allow Him to do that in our lives? Will you come to Jesus? Not just get saved, but be like, you know what? I know I'm supposed to tell people about the Lord. I know I'm supposed to live a certain way. I know I'm supposed to be a disciple. Yes, I will. I will. That's a question we've got to answer, each of us, in our lives. Father, would you help us please tonight Thank you for our Savior who loved us so much. The many blessings that we have. And we would agree, certainly, you are worthy to receive our obedience and our immediate obedience. But at times we struggle, and so we ask you might help us with that. Would you work tonight in this invitation, please?