Into the Deep: When Jesus Walks Into Your Life

Foreign.

How's everybody doing this morning?

Amen. Can we give the worship team a hand and just directing us this morning? It is always good to be in the presence of God because this is the presence where you know, you. You get to sense and discern perfection, and that is through his holiness and his righteousness. And just to give God praise should be something that we look forward to.

Amen. And not only that, we also get to hear His Word. And that's something that we get to participate in this morning. But as we do, I would like for us to continue in this series that we've been in, in the book of Luke. And we had an incredible message preached last week.

And if you missed last week, I really encourage you to go online and watch last week's message. As Kevin walked us through just the power of God, the power of Jesus, and how he. How he is just showing up in the different needs of those he served. He was drawn to their needs to fill their needs. He also filled some of their wants as he continued to do his ministry.

And what we do find In Luke chapter 5, verse 1 is this continuance. And we're just going to read through until a certain part. But I wanted to get up to date because as we know, last week we understand that Jesus was doing a lot of miracles. We see that Jesus was just kind of walking along, and then you see him casting out demons, healing the sick. You see this power that comes with.

With someone so unique and someone so amazing. Amen. And today we're going to get to something unique. And I want us to walk through this progressively because I believe it is progressive how this calling to his disciples comes about, because this is what we're going to see. The disciples come and follow after Jesus.

But I want to walk through this together. And in verse chapter one, it says on one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Jesheneret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them where they 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 boats. And when he had finished speaking, he had said to Simon, put out into the deep and let down your nets for a cache.

And Simon answered, master, we have toiled all night and took nothing, but at your word, I will let down the nets.

Isn't that a unique scripture? Isn't that very Unique how this progression seems to be happening. It is very unique because you see something happen, kind of like what Kevin was saying. You see this crowd that is looking at Jesus and hearing the words that he's teaching and seeing the profound miracles that he's doing through the casting out of demons, as I said earlier, and the healing of the sick. You hear this amazing teaching that's coming from him that is so unique to the people that are listening and they just want to hear more.

And so you see this growth of a crowd coming and pushing to hear what Jesus has to say. And as he is wanting to share, he calls and he walks into some boat, a boat area where there's these fishermen. And it's not the first time that we see this fisherman's family. We hear about Simon. It's not the first time we hear about Simon Peter.

Because even as Kevin was talking last week, in chapter four, verse 38, it says Jesus left the synagogues and went to Simon's house. So Simon's mother in law was very sick. She had a high fever and they asked Jesus to do something to help her. He stood very close to her and ordered the sickness to go away. The sickness left her and she got up and began serving him.

It is very unique that this walk into a situation where Simon Peter and the rest of his partners were doing some fishing. And the unique thing that happened is he caught nothing. And I don't know if you're like me, but there are times where we are in a position in our lives where we are in a place of frustration because we want something to happen a certain way, we want things to go a certain way because we want life to be good and comfortable, right? We just like it to go our way sometimes. But I can say this, that if Peter and his partners, who we understand to be the rest, some of the other disciples, if we know them to go out and then cast their nets and then catch nothing, that has to be a frustrating thing.

The other day I was trying to play basketball with my son and I tried to make some baskets and I didn't make any. And that's a very frustrating thing, especially when your son is hooping you up at the age of 12, which should not happen. It's frustrating. There are some frustrating moments that we walk into where it can be a little bit embarrassing. But understand that this is what they do, this is their profession, this is how they make income, but yet they got nothing.

But the unique thing that Kevin said that still draws out to my mind is that Jesus Has a way of showing up, doesn't he? He has a way of showing up into the lives of those who truly need some help and some hope, right? He has a way of walking in to certain situations that we're walking through. And at the end of the day, I don't know if you have observed this, but even as we walk through what happened to Simon Peter's mother in law, we understand that at a process, Jesus walks into the life of Simon Peter and the disciples. And I don't know if you're like me, but there is a certain time in my life where I can say I did not know who Jesus was at the level that I do right now.

But can I share with you that there was a moment, there was a time when I could say, Jesus walked into my life. Jesus walked into my life and began to do certain things in me. I was sharing with Kevin, Pastor Kevin, and Mark, one of our elders here at Legacy Church, that, you know, a long time ago, before I even came to know Jesus, there was a moment and there was a time where I was sitting down watching TV very late at night, maybe when I was 13 or 12 or something like that. And I never forget it. There were these gospel CDs that they were always trying to sell for about 30 minutes.

And in that time of 30 minutes, I would sit down and I would listen to these gospel songs and just enjoy them. And I can express at that very moment that. That I could say is the time where Jesus started walking into my life. There are people that he had placed in my life like a sixth grade math teacher named Ms. Bitzer.

And she came into my life and trying to teach me math. I had some struggles in sixth grade math. And then she said, it was the funniest thing. She walked in and began. I started to discern that the Lord was walking towards me at that time.

And I said, Patrick, she asked me, do you think you can do this math problem? I said, nope, I don't think I can do this one. And she said, do you want to know, Patrick? I think you can. I said, I don't think I can.

But she said, do you want to know what that is? Because Ms. Bitzer was an unashamed woman of God and loved to preach the gospel to her students and didn't care. She got in trouble at school to do it right. So she told me this.

She said, you want to know what you're dealing with, Patrick? That is the devil. I was like, what?

I said, what are you talking about, woman? She said, that is the devil. He is only saying things that you can't do. But I'm trying to share with you what Jesus has put in your life to be able to do. And I was like, okay, that's unique.

But I will say that that wasn't the moment that I allowed Jesus to be Lord and Savior of my life, but it was this process that I could see him walking into my life. And I think I'm not the only one in this room that has a story that's similar. But we can all attest to this. Jesus walks into our lives. If there's a first thought I want us to think about, Jesus walks into our lives.

Now, you may be looking at me right now and you're saying, I remember the time when I came to know who Jesus was. I remember the process of how I came to know who Jesus is. But maybe some of us are walking right now. Maybe you're still somewhat a little far away and you're trying to say, you know what? I never really got into the thought process that Jesus is walking into my life.

But maybe today is that day. You see, maybe today is the day where Jesus is walking into your life to say that he is here. He. He is your hope, he can be your guide, he can be your help. Maybe today is the day.

But I just want to make sure we all understand this. Jesus, at some point has walked into our lives. Can we get an amen on that one? At some level, he had come in and shared with you at some level of who he was. Whether you decided or not, you have some kind of reference to know Jesus walked into your life.

Now, as we look at this, it's very interesting because in verse four, we kind of go down this progression and we see that Jesus is asking. He asked Peter to utilize his boat. But as he asked him to utilize his boat, there are things that are happening. And it's unique how Jesus just says, I need to use your boat to preach the gospel. And I could only imagine that this message had to be an amazing word.

From what we see in verse one through three, there had to be an amazing conversation happening with the crowd that was pressing upon Jesus. But in verse four, I want us to kind of read through this. And it says, when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. That is very interesting for a catch. It's kind of like a very sure thing.

The way that Jesus said it is very sure. He's basically saying, get ready to catch Some fish. And then we come to this. In verse five, it says, simon answered, master, we have toiled all night long and took nothing, but at your word, I will let down the nets. At your very word, I will.

I think there's some power in that that Peter expresses. Now, I don't know the motive of what Peter was going off of, but I'm assured that there is. They've known some things about Jesus. I'm thinking that he has an understanding and a perspective of who Jesus could be, but maybe hasn't allowed. Maybe it hasn't been revealed to Peter at this point of who he's really working with at this moment, who's really sharing with him to cast that net down.

Because at the end of the day, this is his profession. He's like, hey, Jesus, we did this all night. We did this all night and caught nothing. And I don't know if his motive was like, I don't want to make you look bad in front of the crowd, Jesus now. So I'm making sure you understand that.

Or if he's like, I'm the fisherman, you're the carpenter. But you know what? I'm just gonna go ahead and do what you say anyway. All right, we'll just give it a try. I really do not know the motive of Peter's heart, but I do know this, that Peter went ahead and did it.

And I think there are moments in our lives where Jesus was or the scriptures that we read can empower us or press on us to make an action or do something or make a push towards something that reflects the kingdom of God. And at times, can I say this? We can become like Peter in the first part of this text and say, you know what, Jesus? I've already tried this. And when I tried this, it didn't work.

And because maybe of the fear and maybe because of the disappointment of what happened in previous time, maybe we're not willing to take the step to move forward in what Jesus might be asking us to do. Has anybody ever been there? Has anybody ever been in a place where you have been pressed or you kind of felt the Lord pushing you a direction of something you have done before? Maybe you're at a workspace and maybe there's somebody that you just needed to talk to, but yet you talked to that person before and they kind of rejected the message that you shared, but yet you still feel this pressing to go talk to them again. And you're like, lord, I've already talked to them.

I don't know if I can do that again.

Or maybe it's a situation where God is calling you to look like him and embody him and forgive someone. Maybe you've tried to go that direction and it just doesn't seem to help. You're like, God, I've tried this. I don't like how it feels forgiving this person.

And because we are content in the place that we're at, or maybe because of fear, we just don't do. But I want us to reflect also on the moments that we did do, the moments where Jesus did call upon us, maybe to witness or maybe to forgive, or maybe to express his word in a multitude of people. Maybe he has called us to do distinct things where you see God then offering out of the thing that maybe you tried before, but then you try it again. But because he's with you, things begin to take place. Has that ever happened to somebody in this place?

Am I the only one? Does that happen to anybody else? Because that's the nature of what's happening. In this text, Peter is talking to Jesus and understands, hey, we've been doing this all night long. We have been working all night long.

And guess what? We've caught nothing. But at your word, I will let down the nets. And then in verse six, it says, 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 boat to come and help them.

And they came and filled the boats, both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, I want us to look at this very deep. He fell down at Jesus knees, saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

It is a very unique thing when Jesus walks into our life. But then it's a very unique thing when Jesus is revealed in our life. It is a very unique thing because what we're seeing is this progression of Jesus walking in, but now revealing who he is to Peter. Because Peter had been there all night. He knew what was kind of around the waters.

He couldn't catch anything. And then by the very word of following after what Jesus was calling him to do, then they had this abundance of fish come out of the water to the point where their boats were almost sinking and to the point where even Peter had to reflect. This person who was speaking to me right, right now is not a normal person. This is a special and unique person. This is somebody who deserves my respect.

This is somebody who deserves my life. This is somebody who deserves everything from me. This is someone that I can trust. This is someone who's empowered me for a moment that I tried all night long, but by his very word did it. Just one moment, just by the obedience.

And I think for us at times, it's very easy in the world that we live in to walk away from an obedient conversation with God. It's very easy. It is very easy to follow our own plan and understand that, hey, you know what? At the end of the day, with what we're walking through, I feel like, I've got this. I got this.

I can do this on my own. I don't need to call upon Jesus. But sometimes we get into our own selves and make a mess of our own things because we're just taking care of it ourselves. And instead of inviting Jesus into the conversation. But can I just remind us this morning that there is something unique that is happening here?

There is something very profound that is happening here. By Peter's obedience, it revealed who Christ is to him. But I think for all of us who are walking in Christ, there are these moments. There are these times where we have temptations not to follow through with what Scripture teaches us. There are moments and times where we want to abide by our own flesh and do our own thing and just kind of work out things our own way.

And then the situation turns out a little differently. I know that's the nature of the city and realm we live in. We are a very busy people. We're a very wealthy type of people as well, according to the rest of the world. And it's very easy to get stuck in doing things ourselves.

And then sometimes when we feel this challenge, it's very easy to ignore is. But if we can follow in the footsteps of this future disciple coming out that we know to be Peter, his obedience did something. And I think in every action that we walk in through, I think we all have testimonies of what God has done through the obedience of our lives. Can I get an amen on that one? See, at the end of the day, I remember there was a young man by the name of Pastor Kevin.

Pastor Kevin told me to grow a beard. You laugh at this beard, but I've been working really hard.

I've been working really hard. He said, patrick, I think you should try to grow a beard, because I think you need to look as cool as me and as cool as Pastor Justin.

That's what I hate. That's the conversation we have behind the scenes.

But at the end of the day, I can say that I've tried it before and it didn't work out well. As a matter of fact, I said, you know what? I will try it. I will give it a try. And I went to the barber, and the barber laughed at me.

He said, you've tried this before.

You really have. And, you know, he said, now, after, like, a few months of trying to grow this beard that some of you make fun of, it's okay, I forgive you. But one thing they said, it's funny. He said, you know, this beard is actually coming in for me. I can say this.

I was scared, really, really scared of making looking like a fool with a patchy beard. You know what I mean? But I think in life, in life, I could take a funny story and say that there's a lot of fear in a lot of us that sometimes takes place and takes root when Liv talks about following the very words of Jesus, Jesus and the commands of Jesus and what he's calling us into and how he's calling us to abide in him. What he's calling us through when we're walking through difficulty, walking through pain and walking through trauma and walking through a lot of different things, there are times where this fear gets in the way of our obedience. And sometimes when it gets in the way of our obedience, we don't get to see God utilize the power the way that, you know, maybe she could.

I think of what would have happened if Peter hadn't sometimes. What would have happened had he not cast that net because of his experience last night. What would have happened? But it's the mere fact that he did. And can I share with us Legacy Church?

I am praying that we are a church that will do what Jesus is calling us to do. Amen. Whether it is through difficulty, whether it's through pain, I am going to live out the experience, and I'm going to live out what God is calling me into. And I think that should be our hearts as well. Because in the second thought, obedience to Christ will continue to reveal his nature to us.

Our obedience to Christ will continue to reveal his nature to us. Kind of like Peter here, he had this revelation, oh, my goodness. By his very own word, I cast these nets to the side, and then there's this abundance of fish. It got Peter's attention to the point where he humbly got on his knees, identified who he was. A man that is full of sin, he that is not righteous enough to be in the same boat or in the same atmosphere as him, but he got on his knees, don't look at me.

I'm a sinful. Man. Because what he's recognizing at that point is he's in front of somebody very divine. He's in front of somebody who is very different. But can I share with us today that even though Jesus in the physical is not walking with us, I can say in a spiritual sense, he was.

He walks with us every single day. And if we can just abide in him, if we can just be obedient in him, he will reflect his nature in many different ways in our lives. Which means we are going to have to put away fear at times. It means that we are going to have to put away ourselves and our pride at times. It means that we are going to have to put away the things that call upon us to be that sinful person.

But call upon the name of the Lord who can be our help. Amen. Man, you guys are as quiet as a church in here.

At the end of the day, we have to understand that there is someone divine working in your life every single day in our lives, every single day, who's willing and able to operate in different ways. I can't say exactly how he will do it, but I can share this, that if we commit ourselves to obey His Word, he will do a work in our lives revealing Himself of who he is, his divine nature in our very own lives, the way that he does it. I cannot share with you the specifics, but I can share with you that he will do it. Amen. And in that, I think it's a very unique thing that happens in verse nine on, because he says, 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 of 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 the land, when they had brought their boats to the land, they left everything and followed him.

They left everything and followed him.

Is that something that I can. There's actually a question I want to ask. How many followers of Christ do we have in the room this morning? Amen. You can make some noise, too.

Are you a follower of Christ?

So what I'm going to ask is, are you really?

Because when we take a deep dive into what it means to follow after Christ, we're talking about people who are willing to give up everything to abide and live in Christ. We're talking about a few men that understood and could see. And Jesus revealed in an aspect of himself who he was to Them to the point where they were willing to give up everything and follow after him. And sometimes I was talking to Kevin, I was talking to Justin, and we had this conversation about this understanding and perspective of what it means to follow him. Basically, like to be an apprentice or maybe an understudy or maybe somebody who shadows you, somebody who's being called to do the.

Those kind of things. Right? These guys who were fishermen are now about to shadow and be Jesus understudy. We understand this in the beginning of the text. There is a crowd that's pressing upon Jesus, wanting to see Jesus, wanting to hear Jesus.

And I can say for some of us, we. It's cool to be a part of the experience. It's cool to be a part of the crowd sometimes it's cool to go through that. But at times we need to remember if there's a much deeper context to follow Jesus. Because it's one thing to be part of the crowd.

It's another to be an understudy of who Jesus is. It is another thing to follow him and embody what he lives and walks like. It's another thing to just make sure that every word that comes out of your mouth and exemplifies who Jesus is. I have studied how he speaks, I have studied how he walks. I have studied him to the point that I am now embodying him.

I am his disciple. I am his understudy. We have to understand that's something that we are called to as disciples of Christ. Amen.

I know that a lot of us have a testimony where we've walked away from things just to think, follow who Jesus is. A lot of us have had to walk away from friendships because the friendships that you had were taking you away from the conversation that you're trying to have with Jesus. So you had to leave it behind so you can look more and more like Jesus. I know some of us have had. Had to walk through that.

I know some of us have had to have. Have had strange relationships with family because of what we do believe, who we trust in. And so we walk more and more towards Jesus. Some of us are walking at work in a light that looks like Jesus. And maybe someone in the workplace is not resembling who Christ is.

And you have to set a standard of who you're going to put yourselves around, how you're going to speak, or how you're going to be around other people.

Some of us are walking this right now, but some of us may not be.

Some of us are not making this choice every single day.

Some of us are choosing to do our own thing.

Some of us are choosing to live our life outside of the realm of scripture.

And can I share with those of us who are choosing that, that there is a life? Whether you're watching online or maybe if you're here this morning, there is a life in Christ that you can find that gives you peace and purpose.

And the purpose that I speak of is not a purpose that you'll find of this world or in this world, but it's a thing that you'll find in Christ. I'm not saying that you won't go through difficulty. I'm not saying that you won't go through pain, because we all will walk through that. But you will have a Savior who's already defeated those things that is able to walk alongside with you.

I just want to share that with you, who's able to give you newness of life. That there's a person that you may have been for a collection of years, and maybe you've understood or talked about Jesus a certain way, but maybe today's a day where you need to recognize that I need to make a choice.

I need to make a choice today. That choice is to follow you, to follow Jesus.

Perhaps some of us are in Christ, but as we follow Christ, we go to church, there are certain aspects of our lives that are not following Christ.

Maybe some of us need to take a deep dive and figure out what is happening in our hearts and in our minds and our souls and do an inventory and do a checkup and ask ourselves, am I giving up what I need to give up to please the Lord, to follow after him, to be an understanding?

Because at the end of the day, we all need to make this choice every day. And this is my third and final thought is this, that we must make a daily choice to follow after Jesus.

It's one thing to know of him, it's another thing to pray a prayer. But it is another to follow after him daily to make that consistent choice daily. I have decided to be an understudy of Christ. Whether I'm at work, with my family or anywhere, I am going to be your apprentice. I am going to be your disciple.

And for some of us who struggle maybe with the thought of what is my purpose in life? Can I share with you? This is a good purpose to have to embody and live and look like who Jesus has called you to look like.

But we have to make this choice daily. Imagery and what Jesus teaches and what we know in Scriptures, there's this old self there's this carnal self that can live without him, an old self that we have to put to death. There's this old life that some of us have lived that we have to throw in the trash. And we have to throw it in the trash every morning, every day, throughout the day. There are things in our hearts and our minds that could come up and it could be a part of that old self.

And we have to choose to throw that away and follow after him in everything. The way that we raise our children, the way that we talk to others, the way that we converse, or the way that we exemplify in life. I want to make sure that it looks like Jesus, and I think that's the challenge for us this morning, is to remember, yes, he's walked into our lives. We do have these moments of obedience where he can continually reveal himself. But we do have to make this choice to continue follow after.

That means turning away from a thing that maybe you struggled with, turning away from friendships that are bringing you down. It may mean many different things to different people, but choose to follow Him.

There's something profound and amazing. When we do, can we all say Amen to that? And maybe you're in this room right now, and maybe you want to make that choice. We're going to sing one more song in a few moments. And as we do sing that song.

I know that Pastor Justin is here, I'm here, Pastor Kevin is around. So if you see us up in the front and you want to have a conversation with us, I want you to come up and have that conversation. Whether you are struggling and following in certain aspects of your life, you're invited, and we would love to pray for you this morning.

But I really, really want to make sure that you understand that there is hope in this life that you can find in Christ. There is a foundation in this life that you can find in Christ. There is a power source that you can find in this life with Christ. There is this newness of life that you can find in the life with Christ, if we choose to follow it. Amen.

Can we pray? Heavenly Father, right now, I do thank you. I thank you for your very word. I thank you, Lord, that through the scriptures, we're always reminded of your power, your love, but also this calling that we all have to understand, that we're ambassadors. Not here, just here in this society that we live on in Earth.

But we really belong to your society. There is a society beyond this one that you call us to.

I ask, Father, for every single person that's in here. For those who are walking in you, following after you, abiding in you, may you continually give them strength to walk, walk this walk, a walk that pleases and honors you. May you continue to give them the endurance to power through all the tough things in life, helping them to continually have these conversations that they're having.

But there are some of us right now, Lord, that might be struggling, maybe because of scenarios of life have really beat us up to the point where we're making decisions on our own and not involving you. And we're choosing at this moment, in certain aspects of our life, not to follow your word. We're not going to you, we're not praying or asking. We're just relying on something else. I would ask, Father, for those who are in that camp, Lord, that you would remind them that you would reveal yourself and your nature to them, reminding them that you're complet continually with us all who are walking in that atmosphere.

And for those who don't know you, I ask, Lord, by your grace, by your compassion, not only that they would sense or feel your presence right now, but that you would reveal yourself to. Every single one may not know you, whether they're watching online or here.

Holy Spirit, we ask, Father, that you would speak to those hearts, any heart that is hardened at this moment, Lord, would you begin to soften it so they may hear from you?

Draw us close to you, Lord, for we have decided to follow after you. For those who decide to follow after you, strengthen. For those who need to reveal.

We are so thankful that we can always turn to you in many different scenarios of life.

But at this very moment, would you begin to minister to all of us who are walking through the different aspects, even of what we see in this text? Some of us are walking through fear of taking the next step. Some of us are not taking any steps at all. Help us, Holy Spirit, remind us of your power and your nature, of your love.

In the mighty name of Jesus, the name which is above every name, we all say amen.