and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us take this opportunity to find our seats, silence our electronics, and let us take a moment to prepare our hearts for worship. you So, you Well, we welcome all of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to Dayspring Fellowship. We are delighted to have you with us on this beautiful morning, and we want to say a special welcome to those of you who are visiting with us. We encourage you, if you're visiting us, we would love to have a record of your visit. There is a guest register on the hall table that you could sign for that purpose. And also out there are booklets that we want to give a copy to you as a free gift and token. of appreciation for your joining us for worship. It's titled Ultimate Questions by John Blanchard. And it's a little booklet that really does cover the ultimate questions of life and gives very helpful, solid, life-transforming answers to those questions. So if you've never read through Ultimate Questions, grab one today. I encourage you to do that. And if you would, take your bulletin. You'll need a bulletin this morning. Inside is a hymn insert that we're going to sing a little bit later in the service. If you didn't grab a bulletin on your way in, just raise your hand and one of our deacons will bring one to you. And it looks like we've got a couple to come around. First thing you'll notice inside the bulletin there is that our web address is dsf.org, and if you go there, you'll find a lot of information about our church, what we believe, the history of our church, who our leaders are, and so forth. And on the back of the bulletin, is a little write-up about Day Spring as well. You'll also notice that at 9.45 this morning, we had an adult Sunday school class. We do that every week here at Day Spring, 9.45 Sunday school class. We were in 2 Samuel chapter 10. The king's grace rejected, and that message was recorded. It'll be on Sermon Audio this week. You can download and listen to that. Be blessed by it if you're providentially hindered from joining us this morning. And then notice that our sermon passage for next week will be John chapter 21, verses 15 through 19. So just a short little passage that I want to encourage you in your private devotion time, your family worship time, be meditating on that this week in preparation for our worship together next week. You'll also see that we are going to reassemble today at the sound of the piano. for a brief congregational meeting. That congregational meeting is for Dayspringers, and basically what we're going to be doing, it's informational. We're going to discuss the upcoming pastoral sabbatical, especially for those of you who weren't here after my first seven years of ministry with my first sabbatical, and you don't know what it's all about. This will be a great time to learn about the pastoral sabbatical, what will be happening, and what the purpose of it is. And there'll be a few other non-sabbatical related informational items as well. So what we encourage you to do is just greet visitors, greet one another after the service, and then at the sound of the piano, to make your way back in here to reassemble for that congregational meeting. Then across the page there you will see that we're in need of a volunteer to serve once a month in the great gospel ministry of the AV room right over here on on a Sunday in the month. There is a rotation of folks who volunteer to do that. Full training will be provided. It's a great opportunity to be a part of the Great Commission and getting the gospel out. to the nation. Seventy-two nations reached just last year through this ministry. So I encourage you to be praying about it. The Lord's calling you to that role. You'll also see, well, I should say to contact Rob Parchman. He is not here today for some reason. He is enjoying his new life and honeymoon with his bride, Leslie. So we are very delighted for him. In fact, I will congratulate him in a moment, but that second announcement is just a reminder that on the second Wednesdays of every month, we gather first in the fellowship hall for a Brownback Separate 545. 630, we make our way into this room. This year, we're hearing testimonies from all of you, and we have day springers signed up all the way through to January of 2026. for these Wednesday night testimonies. If the Lord's leading you to share your testimony, just see me and I will add you to February of 2026. And just a reminder, testimonies do not end with, and then I believed and became a Christian, the end. The testimony is really mainly about not only how God saved you, but how he is continuing to save you, to work salvation in your life, and all the miraculous things that he has done since the moment of your conversion as well. So we look forward to more of those. Last Wednesday, Rafael Estrada gave his remarkable testimony. Most of it was recorded, the very first part was cut off. It turned out to be a very providential that was cut off because he talked about something very sensitive at the beginning that he was a little bit concerned about being on the internet. So the Lord just took care of that with a little snafu in the AV room. But I encourage you, if you weren't here, if you missed that testimony, you want to download and listen to it. It's a remarkable testimony to the grace of God in the life of our brother Rafa. We look forward to hearing Isabel next month, Lord willing. Congratulatory announcements. So we have been commanded to rejoice. with those who rejoice. And today, we rejoice greatly with Rob and Leslie Parchman. As you see, some of the leftover decorations. We had a glorious day yesterday celebrating Rob and Leslie coming together in holy matrimony, making these covenant promises together in front of God and witnesses. And we just pray every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places upon their marriage, upon their family to the glory of God and the furtherance of his kingdom. Also, we rejoice with Allie and George Schwanenberg. I got to have dinner with them on Friday night. Allie used to be a Dayspringer. She's not a Dayspringer now that she is married to George. They're at another very healthy and good church, thriving as future missionaries. But we rejoice that Allie is expecting a baby in October. We are delighted that the Lord is already building that young family, and we pray for all of these about-to-be-born babies that are around us. Also, a congregational meeting I've already mentioned, so just be mindful of that after the service. I'll remind you as well. at the end. And then this month is a fifth Sunday month. So since we have five Sundays in the month of March, we will be having a fellowship meal after the main service on that last Sunday of the month, March the 30th. This is a great time just to get to know one another better, enjoy fellowship with one another, eat delicious food. I hear a rumor that one of our pastors is smoking some amazing brisket and pork belly, I think I heard, so that should tempt us all to be there. Couples and families should bring two of these, a main dish, vegetable or dessert, and singles bread, drinks, or ice, all are welcome. It'll be a great time together after that worship service. And then finally, Providence Theological Institute, New Covenant Theology's Free John Bunyan Conference, taking place again this year at Grace Church in Franklin. Tennessee, but this year it's summer. It's going to be June 22nd to the 25th. I'm very excited about it. Speakers will include Dr. Joshua Griever, our missionary to South Africa, Paul Karstens. They're flying him all the way in from South Africa to speak at this conference. He's going to stay there for the whole thing, so we'll get to catch up with him, Pastor Gary George, myself. It's going to be a great time. The theme of the conference is Israel and prophecy and God's fulfillment regarding Israel. from a New Covenant perspective. So it's gonna be very enlightening and very engaging, and I encourage you, as you're making your summer vacation plans, this is right outside of Nashville, Tennessee. If you've ever wanted to visit Nashville, there's a lot to do, and I encourage you to come to this conference. I think that's it for announcements. Was there anything else that I didn't write down? It's one of those weeks where I have been extremely, extremely busy, have been lacking in sleep. So I guess that's just fair warning to you. Those of you who know me well, when I go through periods of intense, busy ministry times, two things happen. One, I get really emotional, and I tend to weep for joy and weep for sadness and just weep for nothing. Basically, I become Ben Parker. and the tears run down into my beard. So if I do that at any point in the service today, that's why. And then the other thing is that I tend to, when I don't have a whole lot of preparation time on my sermon, my sermons are longer than they usually are. Because most of my time in my sermon work is really cutting out stuff that were initial thoughts on what I was going to say. So if you have to get up during the sermon and stretch your legs, pray for those who are caring for babies. It's going to be just a little bit longer today. Anyway, I think that's it for announcements. So as we begin our worship this morning, I want you to please turn with me in your red hymnal to hymn number 57. That's 5-7 in the red hymnal, one of our favorite opening hymns. Hold your place there and please stand together for our call to worship. Our call to worship this morning very appropriately comes from the 148th Psalm. Put not your trust in princes and a son of man in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth. On that very day, his plans perish. Blessed is he whose help is in the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever, who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down. The Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the sojourners. He upholds the widow and the fatherless. But the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The Lord will reign forever. Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord. Let us sing together. Alleluia, praise Jehovah, all my soul Jehovah praise. I will sing the glorious praises of my God through all my days. Put no confidence in princes, nor for help on man depend. He shall die, to dust returning, and his purposes shall end. Happy is the man that chooses Israel's God to be his aid. He is blessed, whose hope of blessing on the Lord his God is stayed. Heaven and earth the Lord created, seas and all that they contain. He delivers from oppression, righteousness He will maintain. He daily gives the hungry, sets the mourning prisoner free. Raises those bowed down with anguish, makes the sightless eye to see. Well, Jehovah loves the righteous, and the stranger He befriends. Helps the fatherless and widow, judgment on the wicked sins. Hallelujah, praise Jehovah, O my soul, Jehovah, praise. I will sing the glorious praises of my God through all my days. Over all, God reigns forever. Through all ages, He is King. Unto Him, your God of Zion, joyful hallelujah sing. Let us pray together. Almighty God and merciful Heavenly Father, we come before you this morning to bring our praises to you and to worship you as our King who reigns forever over all. We pray, Lord God, that you would help us to remember this day that we are not our own. We are redeemed by a price, the price of of the precious blood of the Lamb, our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ. And we pray as those bought and redeemed by Jesus's shed blood that we would honor you this day in our worship and pray that you would meet with us, that you would minister to your people today. So we ask, Lord God, that through the singing of these hymns and psalms and spiritual songs, through the prayers that are offered, through the communion, through your word as it's read and proclaimed, that you would be present here to work in the lives of your people, to speak to them, to meet with us, to conform us more thoroughly to the image of your dear son. We thank you for him, and in his name we come before you for worship. We thank you, Lord, for all who are here today, and we particularly thank you for the fellowship that we have in the gospel, and pray that we would be a true family today who brings honor and glory to you, our true Father. Work through us and in us and for us, we pray. And may your name be praised. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. You may be seated for the reading of God's word. Okay. The reading this morning comes from Matthew 28, 18 through 20. And Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy spirit. teaching them to observe all that I have commanded. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. He is with us always and even now and especially now as we come to the Lord's table and commune as a corporate body with our Lord. This is the Lord's table and not Dayspring's table, and so we invite visitors to partake of the table as well, but it is an exclusive meal for the Lord's people, so it's not for everybody, and we do want to make clear who is permitted to the table. So those who are not permitted to the table are those of you who are upright, righteous, good people, and also those who are sinful people who have not repented of their sins, and cast themselves upon the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation. So this is not a table for self-righteous religious people, this is not a table for unrepentant sinners. This is a table for those, you can think of like the the insurrectionist who is being crucified. He's lived his whole life in rebellion and sin, violence, probably murder. And he doesn't have an opportunity to walk an aisle or pray a sinner's prayer or be baptized. but just believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, who at that moment is shedding the blood that covers all of this man's lifelong sin. And that's the way we come to Jesus. We are as vile a sinner as that crucified man was, and yet Jesus said to him, today you will be with me in paradise. We ask three things of you to make it very clear. We ask first and most importantly, you're trusting in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation. You're not looking to your own. works or anything that would commend you to God. You're looking to Jesus and His righteousness alone, lived in obedience to the Father as a substitute for you on your behalf, and you're looking to His death as a sacrifice in your place on your behalf for all of your sins. So you have been washed and cleansed by the blood of of the Lamb reconciled to the Father, saved by God's grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus alone, to his glory alone. No boasting on our part. And then secondly, we ask that you be a baptized believer, but we do leave the details of your Christian baptism up to your own individual conscience. And then finally, we ask that you not be under church discipline from your local congregation, where your own membership resides, so that we can respect the work of our Lord as he builds his church here in this world. Well, as we come to the Lord's Supper together, I want to have us prepare our hearts by singing another hymn together from the Red Hymnal. So if you would turn in the red to hymn number 253. 253 in the red, just a marvelous hymn written by a fellow sufferer, William Cooper, who, like many of us, often suffered with the assurance of salvation, with depression, melancholy, even mental health, and wrote this remarkable hymn for us. I do want to read for us that second stanza before we sing. He writes, the dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day, and there have I, as vile as he, washed all my sins away. Let us sing together. There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Emmanuel's veins And sinners plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains Lose all their guilty stains Lose all their guilty stains And sinners plunge beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains. A dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. And there have I, as vile as he, washed all my sins away. Washed all my sins away. Washed all my sins away. And there have I as vile as he washed all my sins away Where since, by faith, I saw the stream, More flowing wounds supply. Redeeming love has been my theme, And shall be till I die. And shall be till I die. And shall be till I die. Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die. And in a nobler, sweeter song, I'll sing your power to save. And Riz, poor lisping, stammering tongue, lies silent in the grave. Lies silent in the grave. Lies silent in the grave. And this boorless, sphinx-hammering tongue lies silent in the grave. Dear dying lamb, your precious blood shall never lose its power. Till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more. Be saved to sin no more. Be saved to sin no more. Till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more. Good morning, everyone. So there's a question that is asked that we must answer. The question is, who is able to come to this table? According to Catholicism, one of the requirements to participate in communion is that one must be in what they call a state of grace. In order to be in a state of grace, as they call it, one must have gone to confession. They determine whether someone is in a state of grace is to determine whether they have committed a mortal sin or a venal sin. A mortal sin is a grave sin, as they say, that is committed knowingly and intentionally. a venal sin, or lesser sins that don't necessarily separate us from our fellowship with God. So here's the implication of the Catholic belief of communion. Only those who have made themselves clean are able to come. Only those who have completely done the works that they could do to overcome their mortal sin. Only those who on their merit have made themselves righteous are able to come and participate in the Lord's Supper. Does that sound impossible? It's because it is. You cannot make yourself righteous. For what do the scriptures say? No one is righteous, not even one. No one seeks after God. All have turned aside from him. No one does good, not even one. That is the reason why Christ had to come and die in the first place. No one was able to seek him and no one would. He died for all sin which is mortal. All sin which was leading us to death. both great and small. All sin separates us from God. Only one man could pay for that penalty. Jesus Christ paid for that penalty on the cross because he was the only one who was truly righteous. He was the only one who could pay for the penalty of death. So therefore, who are the ones that can come and participate in the Lord's Supper. Well, you must be a sinner. You must be unrighteous. For what does Christ say to the Pharisees in Mark chapter two, verse 17, when they accused him of eating with sinners? Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. And if this is you, then come and eat. For you cannot put yourself in a state of grace. We cannot come in our own merit, but we come in faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ upon the cross. Ephesians 2, eight through nine says, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of your own doing. It is a gift of God. Faith is a gift of God that is not based upon works so that no one may boast. So therefore, if anyone here who is the vilest of sinners then come. If anyone here whose soul is thirsty, then come. If anyone here who is weak and heavy laden, then come. If anyone here is guilty, then come. If anyone here is in need of rest, then come. If anyone here who is in need of forgiveness, then come. Jesus says in John 6, verse 37, all that the Father gives to me will come to me. And whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. I speak as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The body that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let a person examine himself then. And so eat of the bread and drink of the cup for anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. Now let us take a time to examine our hearts before the Lord. Heavenly Father, forgive us. Forgive us, Lord, of our sins. Lord, forgive us. Lord, when we have profaned your name, Lord, forgive us of our unfaithfulness. But Lord, we know that when we come, you will forgive. Lord, I pray for those here who, Lord, have not given their lives to you. Lord, I pray they would cry out for a Savior, that they would cry out to you. And Father, I pray for those who have surrendered their lives to you. Father, I pray that they too would cry out for a Savior. Lord, that we would all depend upon you and your work. Lord, we have nothing to offer you except our lives. And so we give our lives to you, Father, and we thank you for the sacrifice of your Son upon the cross. In your name I pray, amen. For I received from the Lord what I also deliver to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night When he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, also, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat, and drink the bread. As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. This is the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was crushed for you. This cup is the new covenant of his blood, which was poured out for the sins of many. Good morning. Now if you will take out your insert and your bulletin please. We'll be singing Before the Throne of God Above. Before the throne of God above I have a strong and perfect plea, a great high priest whose name is love, who ever lives and bleeds for me. My name is raven on his hands Written on his heart I know that while in heaven he stands No tongue can bid me thence depart No tongue can bid me thence depart When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within. But I look and see Him there, who made an end of all my sin. Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free. For God the just is satisfied To look on Him and pardon me To look on Him and pardon me Behold Him there, the risen Lamb My perfect, spotless righteousness The great unchangeable I am The King of glory and of grace One with Himself I cannot die My soul is purchased by His blood My life is hid with Christ on high, with Christ my Savior and my God, with Christ my Savior and my God. My sin is lit with His blood, with His love. Amen. The truth of that modern hymn is so wonderful. that when Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within, we all have it, we know what we've done. Upward I look and I see Him there who made an end of all of my sin. Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free. For God, the just, He is perfectly just, isn't He? He's satisfied to look on Him and pardon me. Beautiful truth. I want to invite you to take your red hymnal and turn with me in the back of your red hymnal to page 808, 808 in the red. We are going to read responsibly Psalm 67 on page 808 of the red hymnal. And please stand together. May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us. That your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, O God. May all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy. For you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. May the peoples praise you, O God. May all the peoples Then the land will yield its harvest and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us and all the ends of the earth will fear him. Let us pray together. Our great God and Heavenly Father, we come before you to thank you for all the mercies that you have shown to us, that you offer freely to every nation of the earth. We thank you, Lord God, for being our help and our deliverer. And we pray, Father, that you would be our help today. Help us to strive side by side, to live for your glory, to further the mission that you have entrusted to us. And we lift up to you, Lord, those who are unable to be with us today and pray that you would be with them and be with all who are streaming this service. Lord, we pray that you would especially be blessing Rob and Leslie Parchman as they begin their a life of covenant marriage before you together. Lord, bless their whole family, bless Hope and Perfecto, and just bless them with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Lord, we pray that you would bless Allie and protect her baby that's in her womb, that you would keep the baby healthy, bring the baby to full term this fall. Lord, we pray that you would save that child at an early age for your glory. We pray, Lord, that you would do the same for our sister, Candace. Lord, protect that baby and save that baby at an early age. We pray, Lord God, that you would be glorified in your church throughout the entire world. We pray that you would add to your church daily as many as are being saved. We pray for all of those who are persecuted for the name of Jesus, for righteousness' sake, both here in this land and abroad, and we ask that that you would make us grateful for the freedom that we have here in America to exalt the name of Jesus and worship him freely and openly without harassment. We pray for all of our leaders, Lord, for President Trump, for Governor Abbott, for Mayor Watson, and pray that you would guide them each in wisdom. We lift up to you Pastor Samuel Klintock this morning. Pray that you would fill him with your Holy Spirit as he preaches Christ to our brethren at Park Hills Baptist Church here in Austin this morning, that you would just bless that local church with growth and every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. We pray that all Israel might be saved. And we pray, Heavenly Father, that the sacrificial labors of mission and witness would go forth throughout the world. Help us, Lord, in our own labors to reach people right here in the greater Austin area, that you would work your sovereign will to ensure that the whole earth would be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In Jesus' name and for his sake, we pray. Amen. Well, you may be seated, and our children may go out to Children's Church at this time. And as they go, please turn with me in your copy of God's inspired, inerrant holy word to the last chapter of John's Gospel. John chapter 21. It's been such a joy to be with you all of these, I guess it's been, we could say, years now in the Gospel of John together. And as I said last week, the best way to think about this final chapter, chapter 21, is really that it forms a kind of epilogue to the main action of the book, just tying up some very important loose ends, just like an epilogue of a novel would do. We're gonna spend a few weeks, at least here, Lord willing, in the epilogue, beginning this morning with the first 14 verses. So look with me, if you would, at chapter 21. You'll be helped to follow along. I will begin reading for us in verse one. After this, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. That's the Sea of Galilee. And he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas called the twin, Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, I'm going fishing. They said to him, we will go with you. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore. Yet the disciples didn't know it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, children, do you have any fish? They answered him, no. He said to them, cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find some. So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved, therefore, said to Peter, it's the Lord. When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about 100 yards off. When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place with fish laid out on it, sorry, and bread. Jesus said to them, bring some of the fish that you have just caught. So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore full of large fish, 153 of them. And although they were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, come and have breakfast. Now, none of the disciples dared ask him, who are you? They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. Hold on one second as I fix this pulpit. Man, I love this old pulpit, but it's a little finicky. Thank you. Well, I don't know about you, but as I read that story, there's a kind of mysterious vibe to it. You know, just think about the setting. You have sand, you have the sea, you have the gray light of the early morning hours. Nobody else is around, so it's just very hushed and quiet. All you can hear is the lapping of the waves on the shore of the sea. You have this charcoal fire, the seashore. It's just a very kind of calm, hushed, mysterious thing that's going on here. And then you've got the fish, you've got the miracle, right? This miracle catch of the fish that the disciples, ultimately Peter, has to drag ashore. And then this very interesting mention that there were precisely 153 of the fish. The whole scene, to me anyways, with all of the little symbolisms and all the little head nods to this and head nods to that, quietness of it, it just gives this strangely calm and mysterious feel to the whole passage. But I also think what's going on here is that Jesus, in a kind of mysterious, enigmatic, symbolic way that would have made a whole lot more sense to the disciples than it makes to us at first glance, that what he's doing here is he is giving to them the commission to go to the nations with the gospel. And he's promising that he's going to be there with them, strengthening them, sustaining them for the task until the end of the age. And so really what you've got here is a symbolic equivalent, like worked out in actions, worked out in symbols. You've got this symbolic equivalent of what Jesus says at the end of Matthew's gospel that Sandy just read for us earlier in the service. Go and make disciples of all nations, and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. That very straightforward statement is the exact same thing being said here, but in mysterious, enigmatic symbols. So the main idea of our passage, if you're taking notes you can write this one down, here's our main idea. You, as a Christian, have a commission from Jesus to do evangelism. You, as a Christian, if you call yourself a believer, If you call yourself a Christian today, you have a commission, a singular command and mission from your king to do evangelism. And Jesus, he is with you every step of the way. So you have a commission and a command of Jesus to do evangelism, but praise God, you're not alone in that. Jesus, he is with you in that every step of the way. That's the main idea. Now instead of trying like we normally do to sort of break the story into acts or movements or sections and put our attention on one part of it and then another part of it at a time, instead of doing that, I just wanna notice two themes here that weave together to make the meaning of this story. And those two themes are really the two halves of the main idea. So here they are, two points to the sermon. We're going to be looking at each of these themes throughout the entire 14 verses each. So point number one, Jesus commissions his disciples, by which I mean take the gospel to the nations, to the world. Jesus commissions his disciples. That's point number one. And then point number two, Jesus cares for his disciples. So Jesus commissions his disciples. and he cares for his disciples. That's what the two points are. Well, let's jump into it with point number one. This is where Jesus commissions his disciples in the Gospel of John. So let's start just by acknowledging the gigantic elephant in the room. If you look back through our passage this morning, this story is full of fish, and sand and breakfast and fire, but you aren't going to see one single word about evangelism or the Christian mission or the nations. There's not even a command from Jesus that they should go anywhere. There's no commissioning. There's no nothing. So why do I keep saying that this passage is about evangelism? Well, that's an excellent question, and I am going to tell you why in just a few minutes. Before that though, let's just go through some of the details in the story here that I think just bear unpacking a little bit. Some little strange things here and there that need to be noticed. So let's just make sure we've got the basic events of the story down. So by this time, by the time chapter 21 opens, It's at least several days now after the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, because the disciples of Jesus, seven of them, were now together on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias. Why are they here? Why are they here on the shore of the sea? John doesn't tell us why they're suddenly all the way back up in Galilee. I mean, back in chapter 20, they're all still in Jerusalem, right, locked in a room. And really, until this week I had of studying this passage, I had really just assumed here that the disciples, you know, it's before Pentecost, so before being indwelt and strengthened and ennobled and emboldened by the Holy Spirit. So I just assumed that they had gone up to Galilee for fear of the Jews in Jerusalem, sort of to lay low from all of the troubles. I mean, here they are way up in the boonies in Galilee, which is way up north, far, far away from the recent events and the dangers that they were facing in Jerusalem. Well, John doesn't tell us why they're all the way up here, but Matthew actually does. And it's not because they're fearful. It's because Jesus has flat out commanded them to go there. He told Mary in Matthew chapter 28, go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee and to wait for me until I appear to them there." So that's what they're doing. They've gone to Galilee, and they're way up in the boonies, up north, just waiting, waiting for Jesus to come to them. And in fact, it's right here in Galilee where Jesus, just a few days after this event, he's going to give them straight up the great commission that we're all familiar with. Go, make disciples of all nations, and behold, I'm with you always to the end of the age. And then he's going to ascend into heaven to the right hand of his Father on high, to take the throne of David from right here, from this ground in Galilee. But for now, they're alone, these seven disciples, and they're just waiting for their Lord, waiting for Jesus. And it's really unsurprising that Peter gets impatient with this whole thing, right? He says, enough waiting, I'm going fishing. Now this might be symbolic of Peter sort of drifting back into his old habits, right? Into his old life before he ever encountered Jesus, just reverting. from a disciple of Jesus back to just a Galilean fisherman again. We don't know for sure, but there are some other details to suggest that that may be part of what's going on here. I mean, Peter's seen the risen Jesus, but remember, their relationship is somewhat strained, right? It's somewhat broken still, somewhat awkward. I mean, Peter was the disciple who denied Jesus three times. And that's a big loose end that this epilogue means to tie up for us. But at any rate, what happens is they go out into the boat. You can see that in chapter 21, verse 3. They go out into the boat. But that night, they fished all night, but they caught nothing. Now, that's interesting. It's interesting, isn't it? Because if you've been here long enough with us through John's Gospel, you know that a mention of night or of day, almost always in John, it's almost always very spiritually significant. So what does it mean that they're fishing at night? What it means is they don't yet completely understand what the resurrection of Jesus means. that they're still in some spiritual darkness of what that means, right? So remember, Judas, he goes out to betray Jesus, and how does John end that story? He says, and it was night, not just outside, but in Judas's soul. And when the rooster crows at Peter's denials, what's that signaling? The crowing of the rooster, it always signals what? The break of day. So it's signifying that there's There's hope for Peter in a way that there was not any hope for Judas. Well, here's John again using this night imagery. They went out, they got into the boat, but all through the night they caught nothing. They're laboring in futility in the dark night. And it was futile because their souls were still in the night. But then look at verse 4. just as day was breaking, so just as the day spring was dawning, Jesus, whom Luke calls the day spring from on high, that's where we get the name of our fellowship, Jesus, he stood on the shore just as that first light of the day spring dawned. So something's about to change. Spiritual night is about to give way to spiritual daytime. They don't know that it's Jesus who's standing there on the shore. And then Jesus, he asks them this question, do you have any fish? That's so interesting. And that question, it's not exactly translated well in English, because it's not, do you have any fish? That's not what he actually says. He actually says it this way. It's very clear in the original. Children, you don't have any fish, do you? That's what he says. And we'll talk about the significance of that a little bit later. Well, they give them this kind of pathetic, you know, pouty, no. And then he says, OK, we'll cast on the right side of the boat, and you'll find some. And sure enough, there are fish, all right. They aren't able to haul it in because of all of the fish. And once that happens, John, this is verse seven, the disciple whom Jesus loved, and we've identified him as John himself, the author of this gospel. So John says to Peter, very characteristically, he's like a step ahead of Peter, right? He outruns Peter to the tomb. Except for a few exceptions, he's usually just one step ahead of Peter. in his understanding of what's happening. And Peter and John, they're old friends. They were partners in the fishing industry before they ever met Jesus. He says to Peter, it's the Lord. very characteristic fashion for Peter. As soon as he hears that it's the Lord, what does he do? He jumps off the boat. He just hurls himself into the sea. They're not that far from the sea. It doesn't take that long. But Peter's a man of action. He doesn't always know what he's doing when he acts, but he's always acting. So he just dives off the boat into the sea. And I love this detail. So back in this day, You wore an inner garment called a tunic. You wore an outer garment called a simla. And Peter, he had removed his outer garment in order to labor in just his tunic. This was typical for those who were laboring, those who were servants and slaves. They're just wearing a tunic and no outer garment. But in respect for Jesus, he gets up and he gets fully dressed. He puts on his outer garment and then unceremoniously just hurls himself into the sea. Such a Peter thing to do. But then notice there in verse eight what happens. So you get all excited to see what's gonna happen to Peter after he gets all dressed up and then hurls himself into the sea, but Peter doesn't show up again until later. In verse 8, the other disciples, they came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. They weren't far from the land, just about 100 yards off. When they get out of the boat onto land, they see a fire in place there with fish laid out and bread. So you don't see anything about what happens to Peter in the water, or any description of his dripping wet self sloshing up to Jesus on the land. No details of any conversation. that happened between him and between Jesus? Why not? Well, because John is not an omniscient narrator, right? He's not. this all-knowing writer of fiction, he doesn't know what went on in everybody's head or in everybody's conversation when he wasn't there. He is writing down his eyewitness testimony from his own experience, and so obviously the camera stays with him on the boat. So all you get is the story from John's eyewitness perspective. He sees Peter do this crazy thing of throwing on his cloak and diving into the water, and then you just pick up the story of when they get to the land on the boat with the haul of fish, because that was the Apostle John's actual experience. And so that's what he writes. Notice that charcoal fire there, too, in verse 9. That's really interesting. In the book of John, John's Gospel, when was the last time we saw a charcoal fire? It was back when Peter denied Jesus three times. So you just have to wonder if one of the things that happened when Peter dragged his sopping wet self up onto the shore is that he saw the charcoal fire, and he saw Jesus, and he remembered. He remembered his denial. That's what I believe we're meant to connect there. remember Peter's denial of Jesus. It's one of the most significant loose ends that this epilogue is going to aim to tie up. Well, we'll notice there's fish everywhere. Jesus says, bring some of the fish, but he's actually got some fish that he's already cooking there over the charcoal fire. But he says, bring some more of the fish that you've caught. Peter goes back to the boat that he jumped from. He's an incredibly strong guy. Apparently, I mean, he hauls the net ashore 150, very specifically, 153 fish. The net was not torn, even though there was so many. That detail is noted there. And then Jesus says, come guys and eat breakfast. There's also the detail in verse 12 about how they didn't want to ask him Wait, are you, are you the Lord? They knew it was the Lord, but they were scared or embarrassed or too stunned in some way to interact with him. Then Jesus, he takes the bread and he gives it to them. He gives them some fish and they eat breakfast together and that's it. So that's sort of the outline of the story, but why is it here? How is it functioning in the book as a whole? What is it doing? I mean, it can't just be one more resurrection appearance story that John wants to include. It can't be that, because the most climactic resurrection appearance story is the one with Thomas, right? Put your fingers in my wounds, my Lord and my God. That's the climactic resurrection appearance story. You know, tacking another one on where they don't really do a whole lot except catch a ton of fish and eat breakfast on the beach, that isn't going to convince anybody of Jesus's resurrection who's not already convinced. So it would be just a literary misfire if that's all that John was doing here with this account. It's got to be doing something else. So why is this story here? Well, obviously, it's the setup for the significant conversation between Jesus and Peter that we're going to be looking at together next week. It's setting up for this epilogue conversation where Peter gets reinstated and reconciled to Jesus. But many of you will have memory bells going off already because you recognize that this story of the fish, it's a callback to another event in Peter's life. In fact, significantly, it was the very first time that Jesus called Simon to be one of his disciples. Remember that story? And this connection, the fact that this story of the fish calls back to that very first story, is why a whole lot of Christians throughout history, and throughout the history of the interpretation of this passage here, have said, hmm, I wonder if this big catch of fish is supposed to symbolize evangelism. This is why we do that. So let me read to you that earlier story. If you want to follow along, I'm going to read Luke's version of it from Luke chapter 5, the story of when Peter, Simon Peter, was first called to be a disciple of Jesus. This is Luke chapter 5. I'm just going to read the first 11 verses. On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land, and he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. And Simon answered, Master, we toiled all night and took nothing, but at your word, I will let down the nets. And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, He fell down at Jesus's knees, saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken. And so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, do not be afraid. From now on, you will be catching men. And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. So right there at the beginning of Peter's discipleship to Jesus, he uses just the miraculous catch of a large number of fish as a symbol for evangelism. From now on, Peter, I'm going to make you a fisher of men. You're not going to be catching fish in nets anymore. You're going to be pulling men and women into the kingdom of God. And so Christians have looked at this story back in John 20, 21, and wondered if Jesus might be drawing the same symbol that he drew so explicitly at the beginning of Peter's calling. And that's exactly what I believe is going on here. There's another place, too, where Jesus uses this imagery of fish and fishing to symbolize the Christian mission of evangelism. It's in Matthew chapter 13. where Jesus says there, he's teaching in parables, and he says, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out. and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." So at least two times in the Gospels, right? Once in a kind of acted out parable and once in his own parabolic teaching, fishing for Jesus very much had a symbolic connection to the gathering in of God's elect from the nations. He saw in fishing a symbol of the gathering in of the nations. So that's just another thread that sort of ties this epilogue story in John to be more and more looking like it's all about evangelism. But there's another clue that that's what's happening too, I think, and it's in that very strange statement in verse 11 here in John 21, that there were precisely 100 and 53 fish. All right, so here we go. Why does John note that? I mean, it would have been one thing if John had said something like, and we caught 150 fish. We wouldn't really give that a second thought. We would just think, well, that's a big, big haul of fish. But it's the specificity of the number that has led Christians for centuries to try to figure out what that means. And oh my goodness, have they come up with some wild and interesting ideas for what 153 symbolizes, the Trinity, the new creation, the apostles and prophets themselves, and all this stuff. And I will spare you all of the math and the numerology that's needed and that has been used to get there to those interpretations, but what I think, is that the specificity of the number is intentionally telling us that this is not a symbolic number, like 7, or 12, or 40, or 1,000, or 144,000. Those are all highly symbolic numbers throughout the Bible, not 153. If 153 is symbolic of anything, it's just symbolic of specificity, the idea that God is the God who knows the specific, precise number of his elect. And he has counted the precise number of them and called them. He elected them before the foundation of the world. He's called them by name. He has numbered every hair upon their heads and so forth. So what does all this mean for us? Well, I don't think it's that hard. I think it's really simple. If you're a Christian, if you're a follower of Jesus, if he's your king and savior, you're a fisherman. That's your job. You're a fisherman. Ultimately, you're to be doing the work of evangelism. It's why you're here on this earth. You ever wondered, you know, it's hard, this life is hard. You ever wondered why when God saved you and granted you eternal salvation, why didn't he just bring you to be with him forever, right at that moment? Why did he leave you down here in this mess of a wrecked world? It's for only one reason. to tell other people about Jesus, right? To see salvation. If you don't tell them, who's gonna tell them? It's the church and only the church that God uses to do this work. Tell other people about Jesus. Be part of the in-gathering of the elect from all the nations of the earth. That's essential to the life of a Christian. It is essential that you be doing that regularly. So let me stop and just press that a little bit and ask you, are you doing that? Are you doing this work, the work of our mission? And in what way are you doing it? You know, there's some people that the Bible says they have the gift of evangelism, the spiritual gift of evangelism, meaning that they have this special gift by the Spirit and a passion for telling the world about Jesus just boldly, fearlessly telling the world about Jesus, getting others to come with them, and inspiring others to go out with them and to tell others about Jesus, and God tends to bless them, to bless those who have the gift of evangelism, blessing their efforts, right, with many remarkable, radical conversions through their work. But not having that gift, right? Everyone has a spiritual gift from the Lord. Not having that one, the gift of evangelism, that's no excuse for not doing the commission of evangelism, right? The gift doesn't belong to all of us, but the commission does. It does. So if that's just been kind of on hold in your Christian life recently, or you haven't thought about it in a lot of years, my encouragement to you this morning to listen to your king. If it's not clear enough to you here in John chapter 21, that's fine. You don't have to agree with me that this passage is all about evangelism, that it's an object lesson about our mission. You do, however, have to believe Matthew 28 is about evangelism, and Acts chapter 1 is about evangelism, and many, many other passages are about evangelism and the call on all of our lives to be witnesses to Jesus. You are under orders from your heavenly King to tell people about his free offer of salvation. So my challenge to you is that sometime over the month of March, we're about halfway through the month, that you do that. Find a person that you haven't spoken to about Jesus yet and speak to them about Jesus. Tell them about the salvation he offers. It may be a perfect stranger. It could be just somebody that you're sitting next to on a plane, and you can start out by introducing yourself by saying, hey, my name is Greg, and I'm a Christian. That may get a conversation started. On the other hand, maybe you have a loved one who is lost and needs for you to explain the gospel to them in love. Make a plan. Be deliberate. Don't just wait for the perfect opportunity to present itself one of these years. This is your mission that you signed up for when you bowed the knee to King Jesus. So let each of us, let us tell people about Jesus sometime this month. That's my challenge to you. Here's the second point. Jesus, he not only commissions his disciples, he cares for his disciples and equips them, he loves them. He not only commissions his disciples, he cares for them. So if one major theme of this passage is Jesus commissioning his disciples to preach the gospel, to gather in the elect, to be fishers of men, then another theme that is not nearly as difficult to see here is parallel to Jesus's statement in Matthew, that, behold, I am with you even unto the end of the age. In other words, it's the theme of Jesus being with, caring for, and providing for his disciples as they go about this hard work. There's several times that you see this in the story, and none of them are puzzles. So first of all, I just want you to notice that, again, at the very beginning of the story, It's Jesus who comes to the disciples right at the moment of their need, right? It's Jesus who comes to his disciples just right at the very moment of their need. We've seen this all throughout. these resurrection appearances, right? He did this with Mary's grief. He did this with the disciples' fear. He did this with Thomas' unbelief. And now he comes to them right at the moment of failure and frustration and disappointment. All night long, they had fished and fished and fished and had caught nothing. which just sounds like the Jesus we get to know in the Gospels. It's just not surprising at all that he shows up for his disciples' benefit right at the moment of their need. And Christians have, all throughout history, have had that experience. Many of you here can testify. It was in the darkest moment of my life when Jesus was most present, when his comfort was the deepest, when the glory of the gospel shone the brightest, when grace was at its most wonderful. It's a specific grace of God and a proof of his specific care for us as believers, that in the deepest need, in the darkest moments of life, that's when we experience the most Jesus coming to us in our weakness, in our moment of need. Second thing I want you to see here is look at what he does in verse 5. In verse 5, how does he address them? He asks them a question, and I told you what the question really is. It's not, do you have any fish? It's very clear and unambiguous in the original. Jesus says, children, you don't have any fish, do you? And if you think about it, This is an approach that God uses over and over again in the Bible. God doesn't learn anything. He doesn't need to ask questions to get information. He knows everything. He's omniscient. But throughout the Bible, He asks questions that force us to face ourselves, that force us to look in the face of our own weaknesses, our own futility, our own failure, and our sin, and ultimately to just stare deeply into our deep need for Him. Adam, where are you? Who told you that you were naked? David, why did you despise the word of the Lord and sin in this manner? Blind man, what do you want me to do for you? Mary, why are you crying? Who is it that you seek? I mean, that's what this question is doing here with these disciples. He's making them face their weakness and their failure. He's making them face their frustration and their need. You don't have any fish, do you? And they say, no. It's kind of pathetic when they say that, no. But it's exactly where they needed to be in order to recognize him for who he is and to depend upon him. And I don't know, but maybe one of the most important things that you need to do this morning is not to try to figure out and think about what 153 means, but maybe one of the most important things that you can do this morning, especially if you've been trying to live your life recently apart from Jesus and off mission, is just honestly to ask yourself the same question that Jesus asked these guys. you haven't really caught any fish, have you? In all the years of your life, for all that you've done with your time, for all the success with your business and education and friendships and raising a good family or whatever, when it comes to the eternal things of God, when it comes to the things that really matter, when it comes to what you've been called for, to the mission, you haven't really caught any fish, have you? And soon, these short years of your life, they're going to be over. But it doesn't have to be that way. All the things in this life that you're grasping up and pulling in, that you're striving after, none of that really matters. None of it really matters if it's all going to be gone when you go to the grave. If you're going to go and be with Jesus forever, if your sins are going to be forgiven through His life lived in your place, through His death died as your substitute, if you're going to go be with Him, then guess what happens? All of those things that you're working for, all of those things, they don't have the shadow of the grave on them anymore. They take on a whole new hue of the light of the new heavens and the new earth. They took on a whole new meaning. It's not just that all of those things are just inherently worthless. I mean, read the book of Ecclesiastes. Very little in this world except for sin, that's inherently worthless. But so much of it has real worth when ordered rightly, when prioritized in light of our singular mission. But it's Jesus and the promise of eternal life that locks all that down and it gives it all significance rather than just seeing it swallowed up by the grave. And along those lines, look in verse 6 and how Jesus responds to the disciples' realization that they don't have any fish after fishing all night. He says, you don't have any fish, do you? They answer him, no. And then he said to them, well, first look at what he doesn't say. He doesn't say, well, that's OK, because fish don't really matter anyway. Your work doesn't matter. At the end of the day, getting some fish in the net, it doesn't really matter. In fact, what you need to be doing are these more important, super spiritual things. You need to stop worrying about earthly things like fish anyway. He doesn't say anything like that. He gets involved with the very earthly things that they're involved with. You see what he's doing? He does not despise their fishing. He ennobles it. He empowers it. Christian, brother and sister, it is the same thing with you. in the things in your life, your job, your education, your family, your hobbies, even your recreation and your leisure, Jesus does not despise those things. You don't have to feel guilty for doing them rather than reading your Bible 24-7. He puts us on this earth, in part, to engage and enjoy those things. And when we engage and enjoy those things as part of our following Jesus, as part of the mission, that's when they take on a whole new significance. Because we start to do them not for their own sake, but for His sake. And when He gets involved, it's exciting. I mean, many of you know the story of how I was just on vacation, I wanted to go to this music festival in Arkansas and I drove from Texas to Arkansas to go. One of my hobbies is I'm a music lover and I love this band and I wanted to go be there and it was this open seating field where you just picked a place, and I sat down and down-plopped this guy next to me, and we got to have a conversation that eventually turned to the gospel. I asked him, you know, what do you do? And he said, I play a disciple on this show called The Chosen. You know, and I say, come and see. And I say, well, I've heard about that show. I haven't watched it. And it's interesting that you're playing a disciple of Jesus on TV. I am a disciple of Jesus. And it led to evangelism. That's the kind of thing that happens all the time, just in the leisure activities of life. Seek first the kingdom of God. all these things will be added to you. Look also at verse 12. Look at what Jesus says there, verse 12. Jesus said to them, come have breakfast. Come and have breakfast. I just think that is so wonderful, that little phrase from Jesus. I mean, the most wonderful thing about it is that there's nothing wonderful about it at all. It's just so ordinary. I mean, you can just see he's Jesus, and he's squatting next to the charcoal and cooking up some fish, right? It's like a men's prayer breakfast. And he says, hey, come have breakfast. Breakfast is ready. I mean, it's awesome to see that Jesus, he cares about just the plain, normal concerns of his people. The risen Jesus isn't some phantom spirit, right? He's a bodily human being, a man, flesh and blood, who eats broiled fish. Jesus isn't, you know, guru Jesus, staring off into space, glassy-eyed, you know, people come up and talk to him, and he just says random spiritual things. That's not Jesus. Jesus cooks fish. He squats down next to a charcoal fire, and he cooks a piece of fish, and his guys get in from the boat, and they're dripping wet, they're exhausted, they've been working all night, and he says, come have breakfast. It's just so good to know, right, that Jesus cares about even the small stuff. He knows everything we need. Yes, he knows we need the big stuff. He knows we need justification and sanctification and glorification. He knows we need our sins completely washed away by his precious blood. He knows that we need our great enemy's head crushed into the ground. But he also knows, he knows we need breakfast. Brothers and sisters, never forget that, that Jesus, this very Jesus who sits and reigns from the throne of the universe, right now, he knows what you need before you even tell him. Last thing I want you to see, I want you to see this just really strange, but I think completely relatable phrase right at the end of verse 12. He says to them, come eat breakfast. None of the disciples dared ask him, who are you? Because they knew it was the Lord. Now, I think if you look at that sentence with just cold, hard, Vulcan-like, Spock-like logic, it doesn't quite make sense. I mean, if they knew who Jesus was, why is the question even in their minds in the first place? And why doesn't John put it that they didn't need to ask him? Why does he put it as they didn't dare to ask him? I think if you read it through just that cold, hard logic lens, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. But if you just read it through the lens of what life is really like, you get it immediately. You get it. They know who he is. They've seen him three times now. But this resurrection reality is so weird to them. It's so unexpected. I mean, they watched him brutally get mistreated and die. His body, his corpse come down off the cross and get buried. And they really, really just want to look him in the face and say, is that really you, Lord? but they don't because they already know the answer. So they don't dare ask the question. And apparently, you know, they're weirded out enough that nobody even comes to eat breakfast. Nobody comes to eat. They're just kind of, it seems like they're just kind of, they keep their distance. He calls them to breakfast and they keep their distance. Maybe that's when they counted up 153 fish, right? Nobody comes, but look at what happens in verse 13. It's so beautiful. Jesus said, come and eat. They didn't come. So verse 13, Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. Jesus came to them, and he stood up from the fire. Since they didn't come to him at his invitation, he came to them. It's beautiful. You know, maybe he said, all right, guys, if you're not going to come eat, then I'll bring it to you. Have some breakfast. Have some bread. Have some fish. He came to them where they were in their fear, in their confusion, in their awkwardness. Brothers and sisters, that is the kind of king that you and I serve, one who comes to us wherever we are. So where are you this morning? Are you keeping your distance? just counting your fish, wherever you are, if you will look up, just look up from whatever you're doing as you keep your distance from Jesus, you will see Him standing there. offering to you the blessings of all eternity. And for you who are Christians and know the Lord, the last thing I'm going to say for you who are Christians is, if it's just kind of a warm and wonderful thing to think about Jesus, you know, caring for you individually, offering you breakfast, if it's just wonderful to think about the Lord Jesus, the risen Savior coming to you and giving you blessings, if that just feels wonderful to you, then I want you to hear this, because I think what will happen is that you will sit there for a moment, and Jesus will come to you, and he will care for you. He will nourish you and equip you. And then he will whisper into your ear, I am right here with you, my beloved child. Now go, and let's make disciples together. Let us pray. Our Lord Jesus, we thank you that you are who you are. We thank you that you're the Lord of creation, the high king of heaven and earth who can call fish into a net. We thank you that you're the one who gave your life for us and who even now loves and cares for us, even in the tiniest little details of our lives. We thank you that that you would be with us and pray that you would help us to remember these things and help us to put them into practice as we go out from this place today, as your only witnesses in the world. We pray this in your name, the name above all names, in the name of Jesus we pray, amen. Well, please stand together, and I do want you to take a moment to greet one another, greet our visitors, use the restroom, grab more coffee if you need it, and then at the sound of the piano, Dayspringers, you're all invited to just reassemble back in this room for a brief, I promise to keep it brief, congregational meeting, and then we can be on our way to lunch. And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.