Level Up - From Comfort to Calling

Message Notes

You know, I stumbled across an old video, not of mine, but I saw online. I don't know if any of you were, anybody around here in 2003? Here as in like, you know, in Toronto, 2003. We had this huge blackout in 2003 that lasted a couple of days. And for some odd reason, it kind of popped up on my feed. And I don't know whether that was a sign that, you know, we're going to be seeing a blackout. But times were much simpler then. There was no cell phones that could have been used. People were still using landlines so that they were able to communicate with each other. But other than that, like, people were still buying stuff. You know, we had an internet failure maybe two years ago, three years ago now with Rogers going down and nobody could buy anything. Remember that? Like your debit and credit wouldn't work. You'd have to pay by cash. But even then, they couldn't use that because all of the point of sales systems required, like, you know, connection. And so, you know, seeing that in 2003 that things where people were still able to kind of get going with the blackout and then eventually we get to, I think it was five years ago, maybe six years ago, where we couldn't use our credit card because of the Internet going down to, you know, well, today, where we're heavily dependent on a lot of things.

So where am I going with this? I don't know. But the point is, I think, you know, we realize that there are some things that may be out of our control, that may be, you know, things that we need to prepare for, and more importantly, you know, things that we need to depend on, like crucial services. So that being said, you know, today I am going to be talking about a topic that we found in the book of Luke, chapter 5. And the question I want to start off with, I'd love to kind of engage with this question. What if your comfort is keeping you from where Christ is calling you? What if your comfort is keeping you from where Christ is calling you? Like what if that thing that feels comfortable, familiar, predictable, and safe is what's keeping you from taking the next step that Christ is calling you to take?

In July, late last month, we had a camp. What was the theme of the camp? Do we remember? Level up. Yes. So our theme for that camp was level up. Level up from comfort to calling. So we're going to see actually some really interesting things with Peter here. Some things that I kind of want to understand from our own standpoint. Peter seems to represent a lot of us because he went through, in this particular moment, some stages going from comfort to calling. And when we were doing our camp and we were having that theme of level up, the goal was not about leveling up in our financial status or climbing up a corporate ladder or even hitting that new PR at the gym. It was totally different. It was about being more intentional with our walk with Christ. Faithfully serving, family focused, and future fit. Those are the things that we were talking about and kind of getting towards with other folks. You know, we talked about following Jesus with the little kids, finding our identity and purpose through Christ, I think it was with the teens, honoring Christ at our work, school, or at home, family discipleship, and spiritual legacy. At the heart of all these conversations was this, to trust Christ enough to obey him, especially when obedience leads us beyond what is comfortable. And I believe that's what we saw in what Peter was going through in Luke chapter 5. Okay, so there's a couple of things there, a couple of stages that we're going to look at. And so Peter was moving from different things. So if you remember what we were reading earlier, we started off being introduced by Peter as having a boat. Him and his partners, which was James and John, they both had a pair of boats. So I have two boats there. And you know, the first step that was there was he was, can you see that? At the shore. So the very first step, he was at the shore. The next step that we saw was he was in the boat. And then after in the boat, a little from the shore. We can see how this is progressing. And then a little bit from the shore to into the deep. And then finally into his calling. So there is this progression from at the shore to eventually finding out what his calling is. And that's this progression. So this is what we're going to try to remember throughout this lesson is comfort, cooperation, commitment, courage, and calling. So this is the progression that I'd like you to focus on as we kind of talk about this over the next 20 minutes or so. It is comfort, cooperation, commitment, courage, and calling. But underneath all these five movements is one simple truth. We need to trust Christ enough to obey his word. And that's the challenge here. The challenge is to trust him, you know, enough for us to obey his word.

Okay. So earlier this year in March, I was lucky enough to go out and travel. And one of the travel places that I went to was the Dominican Republic. And so we decided to have a field excursion in the Dominican Republic that involves, you know, half an hour of climbing up like a mountainside or a cliffside just so that we can go down a bunch of waterfalls either by sliding down them or jumping off like a cliff into the water. So earlier this year, I said to myself, like one of my New Year's resolutions was, okay, Neil, you know, you're going to get into uncomfortable situation.

Let's, for this year, focus on accepting and looking forward to those uncomfortable times. Making sure that if it's feeling uncomfortable, if you're kind of scared by it, go ahead and within reason, do it. And I was kind of hesitant about doing this thing because, A, I'm not a good swimmer. And B, I'm somewhat afraid of heights.

So I'm like, okay, well, how bad could it be? I'm just going to be maybe like five feet down. I'll be able to jump in. Okay, no problem. they're going to give us, you know, life vests. So I'll have to put a lot of trust, A, into the life vests, and a lot of trust in B, that the people around me will realize that I'm drowning and kind of pick me up. So okay, no problem. You know, and we put on the vest, we put on the helmet, and we start walking our way up the hillside or the mountainside. And we get to the very first obstacle, which is an easy one. You know, you kind of climb down the stairs and you get into the water. The water is kind of cold, kind of murky. You can't see the bottom and you're like, okay, it's not too bad. And then the second obstacle is you got to slide down the waterfall. So there's a little bit like a slide that kind of comes down from the top of the water to the bottom and that's not too bad. You come in, you dunk your head a little bit and then you kind of make your way to the next piece. I'm like, okay, this I can handle, no problem. You know, I could touch the ground. I could kind of like paddle my way around. I'm still not feeling the uncomfortableness here. A little bit kind of uneasy, but nothing bad. And then there's a lineup of people that we have to line up behind, and we're like, oh, okay, what's going on? And in that lineup, you get to choose two ways of going down this 25, I think it's 25 meters. I don't know if it's 25 meters, like jump from the feet. Okay, not meters. To me, it was meters, all right? My Son said this. Okay, 25 feet where you're jumping down into the water. And so you had a choice. You had three choices. One is you go down on the slide, and it slides down to 25, and then it kind of like dunks you in the water. Two, there's a ladder on the side there that in case you just can't take it, you go down the ladder. Or three, you jump.

And so, you know, obviously, the kids are like, well, we're going to jump. Of course we're going to jump. Why don't you jump? I'm like, okay, fine. I'll jump.

So we line up there, and I'm standing at the platform. I can't see the bottom of the water. People are jumping. I'm like, well, they make it. They made it. All right, let's try it.

So I did it. I jumped into the water. It felt like 25 meters, but it was 25 feet. We get down. I wait. Eventually, I rise. It does work the life best, and then I get to the end there. And I felt like, okay, that was good. I overcame that uncomfortability. I felt the courage enough to do it. And so, you know, in order for you to experience anything that is greater than what you're used to, you need to get out of your comfort zone. And so when we look at what was happening here with Peter, maybe it's not as exciting as jumping down a 25-foot platform, but his life went from comfort to calling. And it starts off here in Luke chapter 5, verse 2. And he saw two boats by the lake, he being Jesus. But the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.

So when Jesus arrives, Peter isn't preparing to go fishing or to go out on the water. In fact, Peter is finishing his day. And we find out that in verse 5, you know, he was out all night fishing. And this Peter, I mean, this is his livelihood. This is what he does. He gets out on the boat and he fishes every night. And I'm pretty sure every night he catches something. It's a net. It's foolproof. You put the net out. You kind of put it in. And the fish are going to be there. And you pull the net out and there will be fish. But that night, how much did he catch? Zero, right? And I think a lot of us can relate to this type of message, this type of scenario. You work a full shift. You're exhausted. You know, you put in all the work that you have. You probably had a couple of fires at work that you have to take care of, and it was a constant mess. And, you know, at the end of the day, you come home and you feel defeated. You're like, you know what, the day is done. I just want to sit on my couch and watch Friends for the next half hour. Does anybody still watch Friends here? No. But, you know, my work day is over. And that's what probably Peter was thinking, because him and his crew are cleaning their nets. After a night of fishing, regardless if you catch fish or not, you got to clean those nets so that they don't rot, so that, you know, they stay still firm, and that when you, you know, you also inspect to see if there's any tears. And Peter has every reason to think, I'm done. But then that's where Jesus meets him. And so I think if we take a look at that, sometimes Jesus meets us when we're tired, unprepared, and ready to call it a day. Sometimes he calls us after a disappointment, after we already tried, and after we have mentally checked out and decided, I've done enough. And this is where comfort becomes more than a place of rest. It can become the place where we begin to resist what Christ is asking of us. You know, I'm just tired. I don't want to do this. Now, to be clear, comfort itself is not a sin. It's, you know, we're expected to rest. But the challenge here is that there is nothing wrong with rest and there is nothing wrong with what is familiar, but comfort becomes dangerous when it becomes more important than obedience. I mean, I look at my kids all the time, right? Like we tell them to clean up after themselves, let's say. They're playing their computers, they're doing their thing, and okay, you guys have some stuff to do upstairs. Ah, yeah, we'll get to it, you know, and it gets to the point where if they don't get to it, we elevate ourselves, temperance flares, and then they eventually, okay, we'll do it. But I think that's when it becomes dangerous. Comfort becomes dangerous when it becomes more important than obedience. And maybe that is where some of us are today. Maybe we've served before and we're tired, faced disappointment, or tried to help and felt unappreciated. Or maybe we have simply grown comfortable attending church without engaging any deeper. I mean, it's kind of nice. You come in, you know, you worship a couple of good songs. We have fellowship at the end of service. And you're like, this is nice. I like this. But the question is, what if Jesus is calling us? What if the comfort we have settled into is the very thing keeping us from where Christ is calling us? Like, what if we're standing on that platform, and we're looking down into that murky water, and we don't know if, like, are we, is this, is this safe? I don't know.

So the next part that we learn is that, you know, this is how Jesus calls Peter, and this is kind of an interesting thing, and I don't know if you're ever able to look in your life and say, like, yeah, that was similar to this. And in verse 3 it says, Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. So, to put some context, we understand that Jesus was walking through the Sea of Galilee's shore. The crowds were coming at him. He was gaining popularity because he was healing people at an alarming rate. He was preaching. And so people really wanted to follow him wherever he went. And so he found the boat. He asked Peter, can I use your boat for preaching out to the people and to the water? And again, we realize Peter said yes.

So they're in the boat, and now he goes, okay, can you just put us a little bit out into the water? I don't want to be too far out that they can't hear me, but I don't want to be too close that they can kind of still get close to me through the water. And that's his starting point. He doesn't first command Peter to leave everything, to just drop everything that you're doing and put me out there into the deep. He begins with something simple. It's like, hey, can I use your boat? and Jesus takes what Peter already has in effect and asks, can I use this? And of course, Peter says yes. He could have said no. He's like, sorry, man, I'm really tired. Like, dude, I had a long day. I spent all night fishing. I caught nothing.

Now I got to pay my crew. I got to go home with nothing. He could have said, well, maybe ask James and John. Like, they're probably busy or they're probably free. Give them a go. But he didn't, right? He didn't turn them down. I love this because when we think about serving God,

Sometimes we often focus first on what we lack. And I hear this sometimes when people are asking others to join the ministry. There's always a pocketbook full of things that they lack. I'm not a good speaker, or I don't know enough Scripture to teach, or I'm not a natural leader. I don't have the right personality of this. I love it when you ask them and instead they kind of read it. You know who's really good at this? Maybe you should talk to them instead of kind of taking on their role. I don't have the right training for this. But Jesus did not ask Peter to offer what he lacked. He asked Peter to make available what was already in his hands, what was already in his position.

Maybe we need to start that too. Instead of asking, Lord, what great thing can I do for you? We can ask, Lord, what have you already placed in my hands that I could offer back to you? My time, my ability, my experience, my home, my resources, my voice, as we see here people singing, my hands, my personality, my testimony, my spiritual gifts.

So sometimes leveling up starts with a simple prayer. Jesus, use what I already have. I'm not asking you for anything more. And that works perfectly for a church like ours, where it's a smaller church where everybody really has something to offer. And finding out what you can give for the use of the church is a starting point to ministry and service. and so when you hear us like the deacons and the pastors asking you to join a ministry we're not just kind of putting people in like random places we're asking a deeper question what has Christ entrusted to you and how can you use it for his glory and the strengthening of this church like that's the ultimate goal here we we want to grow the church as a body of Christ and we want to have people come together and utilize those gifts. And so Peter was here and he was using his boat and he didn't know that that boat was what's going to get him from comfortable to calling. He didn't know that where this would lead and in fact he just, sure, you could use my boat. Sure, I'll be there with you. And so when it goes from comfortable to cooperation, the next step is commitment. understanding what you have to offer is not easy there will be some uncomfortable decisions that you have to make some sacrifices to be made and now that we've established what Peter has to offer how does Jesus get him the step next step which is commitment let's look at verse three in verse three it says getting into one of the boats which was Simon's he asked him to pull out a little from the land. Jesus asks Peter to put out a little from the land. And that small phrase matters. He's not asking Peter to go ahead and go all in 100%. It's like just a little bit off the land.

And often that's how Christ works within us. It starts off with that step. We may wait for God to give us a great assignment while overlooking the simple act of obedience right in front of us. And maybe your next step, you're off the shore. It's not like standing here in front of everyone doing public speaking. Maybe it's something as simple as introducing yourself to somebody new. We got a couple of guests

Today. I'm sure would like feel welcome if you kind of, you know, talk with them and help them understand what life here looks like. Joining a ministry team, which I'll continue to harp on, but I mean that's one way. Helping once, whether it's through the cleaning ministry, whether it's, you know, helping out here. Praying out loud. Opening your Bible with someone. Sharing your testimony. Talking to someone about Christ. Maybe it's as simple as saying, I'm free. Yeah, I can help. That's as simple as it is. And there's nothing wrong with beginning a little from the shore. That's where we all start. And that's how we encourage it. We just want you a little bit to put in. Peter had committed to sitting in that boat while Jesus preaches to the crowd. And that little out must have been huge. because if you think about it, now Peter is sitting on that boat. Jesus is preaching to the folks on the land, and I know Jesus is also preaching to Peter who's on the boat. But the difference here is Peter is a fisherman. Maybe the words are just going to kind of go in one ear and out the other. He's too busy focusing about, wow, man, I had a rough night. I can't believe I caught nothing. He's probably looking around too to see if there's still any fish in the water as Jesus is speaking.

But I know that there's an impact there.

Something was working within Peter's heart. it is possible to cooperate with Jesus and still stay in control. But is that what's expected of us? We can say, Jesus, you can use my boat, but please don't take me too far. Jesus, I will serve as long as it is convenient. Jesus, I will obey as long as I understand what you are doing. I will follow as long as I can remain comfortable. And I know you're not saying things like that, but if you look at your responses maybe, it could be lining up to this. Eventually, Jesus asks more from us. He surely did ask more from Peter. The danger is deciding that a little from the shore is far enough. If you've already given your little bit, you're like, this is good. I'm comfortable. I think, you know, I'm doing some work here for the Lord. I'm in a good spot.

This is fine. But that's the dangerous part. The danger is deciding that a little from the shore is far enough. That puts us now into the deep. Courage. Again, flashbacks of me jumping 25 meters, possibly to my death, in an area I don't know, in a country I'm not from. I had to take that courage, and I did, and I'm still here today.

So committing any resource to Jesus is the first step in being intentional with your spiritual growth. God will call us through that commitment to do greater things. We need to be courageous when that happens.

So do you guys remember so far the first three? The first one is comfort. The second one is cooperation. The third one is commitment. Oh, I love it.

So the fourth one is courage. Okay. Okay. I'm fine.

So in verse 4 it says, And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. Okay.

So now Jesus is done with this preaching. the people are starting to disperse and now he turns over to Peter and says

Well since we're here tell you what why don't we go do a little bit of fishing

Let's go out there and cast out into the deep and Peter could have just easily said look I did that already like I spent all night doing that and I found nothing and in fact he says you know he says master we toiled all night and took nothing right so to understand the weight of that command we continue to remember about Peter. This man is a fisherman. This is what he does. If you ask him anything about the Sea of Galilee and fishing, he's your guy. He would tell you where the best places to fish. And I don't know if you've ever spoken to any fishermen out there. The fishermen out there would never tell you their secret spot because they know guaranteed fish. Five o'clock in the morning, they'll be there, you know, and they'll be like casting their, nobody else around because they know that that spot is their spot. They have a specific lure. They have a specific like, you know, time of day that they go and they will always catch fish, big fish, small fish, whatever. And so Peter is the same. Like he will know his craft. And he's on a boat with this guy who's a teacher. I get it. He's done great work and he's a really smart guy. But does he know anything about fishing?

Peter is not inexperienced. He knows these waters, his equipment, and his trade. Yet Jesus tells him to go out. And so his response in verse 5 is honest. Master, we toiled all night and took nothing. but at your word I will let down the nets. He's not pretending that the command makes any sense. He's not saying, well, you know what, okay, yeah, I get it. I think maybe you're right. The conditions of the weather and it's possibly, it makes sense. Yeah. He doesn't try to understand actually. He just says, but at your word I will let down the nets. He simply says, but at your word.

So in other words, Peter is saying, I am exhausted. I am disappointed. I spent the whole night, but I also have your word, and your word is enough.

Now that is what Christian courage looks like. It is not confidence in ourselves. It is trust in Christ that leads us to obey Him, and they're not the same thing, right? Confidence in ourselves and confidence in Christ, they're mutually exclusive. They can't be the same thing. The world tells you believe in yourself, but the Gospel teaches us what? Trust in Christ. Peter's confidence was not in himself. It was beginning to rest in the one who had spoken, and that's where many of us wrestle. Being able to remove control in your life and giving it to

Somebody who made you feel doesn't have an idea of what you're going through and understanding, That's huge. We are willing to obey Jesus when His command matches our experience or our comfort levels or our area of expertise or our schedule, when the outcome seems predictable and when the risk seems manageable. But faith says, at your word. At your word. I want to have a little exercise here, a responsive exercise, where you repeat, but at your word. Can you repeat, but at your word? Okay. I'm going to be saying a statement. And then at the end of it, you will repeat with? But that's your word. A statement like this, Lord, I don't know how this will turn out. Lord, I've tried this before. Lord, I don't feel qualified.

Lord, this is out of my comfort zone. Lord, I would rather stay close to shore.

See, so we can do it. But I want to be careful here because we're not a prosperity Gospel church here. We don't talk about like, you know, if you were to go and launch out to the deep by paying this much or by sacrificing this, I will guarantee you that the Lord will overflow you with blessings and then you will be like even more. But you have to first, like, you know, no, this is not where we're at. Go into the deep and God will make you successful is not the lesson here. It's not take a risk and God will make you rich or dream bigger and God will give you everything you want. That's not the point. The point is that Jesus Christ is worthy of our obedience regardless of the outcome. Right?

So at times obedience will produce visible fruit. You do something and then your fruit will be there. At other times it may lead us through suffering. Like, Lord, I'm doing this for you. I'm still going through the suffering. But it can be costly. Or even the work that you do now won't be seen in your lifetime, maybe in the next generation. Still, when Christ speaks, when the Lord speaks, he is worthy of our obedience. Trust Christ enough to obey his word.

So I think we need to remember too is that Peter wasn't alone. Who was there on the shore waiting for him? You guys remember their names? James and John. Jesus was on the boat with them.

So James and John were waiting on the shore. Okay. And in verse 6, right after Jesus says to the guy who caught nothing all night, he's like, put your net here. And at your word, I did it. He put it there. And what happens? And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. Were breaking. In the middle of the day where you don't normally fish, where there are probably no other fishermen out on the sea because they're done for the day or for the night. And here is a boat with Peter and Jesus. and they're struggling to put in their catch into the boat. And so what does Peter do? They signal their partners in the other boat to come and help them. Probably at a whistle. I mean, fishermen can whistle so loud that you could probably hear them across the other side.

So he calls them over and they hurry over, right? It's not even a matter of like, well, what's Peter doing over there? Check it out. He's catching some fish. No big deal. It's like, oh, he's going to sink. They need us.

So they get on their boat and they're like paddling as fast as they can to get over there. And so they get over there. And although it just seems like a minor thing, it's like, yeah, he needed help. That detail is an important one. Jesus spoke directly to Peter, and Peter responded personally. Yet, Peter was not meant to do the work by himself. He needed his partners. And that gives us a beautiful picture of what ministry means here in our church. Christ calls each of us personally, but he places us in the church body. In 1 Corinthians 12, 27, it says,

Now you are the body of Christ and the individual members of it. The church was not designed for a few people to carry every responsibility. The pastor can't do everything. Ministry leaders can't do everything. And then some of the faithful volunteers that we see over and over sacrificing everything, they can't do everything. We need one another.

So God has placed gifts in this congregation that will remain underused if some of us stay on the shore.

Some may be waiting, actually, for what God has equipped you to bring.

So I know sitting here, it's like I don't have anything to bring, but we don't know. You take that step forward.

In his wisdom, he builds his church through his people serving one another. The calling may be personal, but ministry is shared. All right, so I think we're progressing quite well. You're probably wondering, I think you guys all know how many points I have. We're on the final point. Point number five, which is what? What do you guys think it is? it's calling, right? From comfort to calling.

So we're at the end. Okay, we're seeing it. From comfort to calling. Two verses here. And now this is the heart of the story. It may seem, though, that the fish are the climax, but they are not. The fish are not the point. We see that Peter says, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Peter is beginning to understand something about who is in his boat with him. And this is bigger than fishing. Like I said, this guy knows his craft. He's been fishing for a very long time. More so often, even the people, James and John, has been fishing for a very long time. And I'm sure that never in their life had they ever had a scenario where they had to pull in two boats to carry the net full of fish in there and that their fish was, I mean, there was so much fish that their boat was about to sink, that their nets were about to break. I'm pretty sure that's never happened in their life.

So that being said, Peter's like, whoa, this is huge.

Peter is beginning to understand something about who is in the boat with him and that this is bigger than fishing. And so then Jesus tells them in verse 10, Do not be afraid. From now on, you will be catching men. And this is the calling. Peter thought the deep was about catching fish, which is all he knew. He thought this teacher is going to come here and talk about putting nets into the deep. I do that. He doesn't. But Jesus was preparing him for something else. See, he knew, Jesus knew that Peter is not book smarts. I can talk to him until I'm blue in the face, and he may not understand what I'm saying unless I show him. And that's what he did. He showed him. At first, the boat represents his livelihood. But then Jesus uses the boat as a way to reach Peter's heart.

Peter thought that Jesus was just going to change his morning, but in fact, Jesus was about to change his life. And in verse 11, it says, and when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. Like, can you imagine? This could have been a huge payday for him. For anyone else, it's like, finally it came in. I can, like, sort the fish, sell it, and then move out of my house and move to a bigger one or get more boats in, expand my business. Instead, what did he do? And when they brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him because they realized after they went from comfort to cooperation, to commitment, to courage, that he realized that his calling is no longer about catching fish, but about catching men, right? Jesus is worth more than both. And that is the ultimate calling. The ultimate calling of this message today, it's not, well, Brother Neil wants me to join a ministry. No, the ultimate call is we follow Jesus.

True ministry flows from our following of Jesus. We do not serve to earn salvation. We do not serve to gain more of God's love. and being active in church does not make us right with him. But we learn in Ephesians 2, what? For by grace you have been saved through faith. And then Paul says later, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. Serving does not save us. Christ saves us for a life of service. Okay?

So the question that we need to ask ourselves, Lord, where are you calling me to follow? This is where I come up with this stuff here. The pastor has talked to us about the different ministries. Where are you calling me to follow? Maybe for you it means serving in one of the ministries here. Maybe God has equipped you with working with children. You have the patience, the wherewithal to be around bundles of energy. Maybe it's teens, understanding what it means to be in this kind of crazy world of social media and all that stuff. Maybe it's worship, being in the background with the AV team, the program team. Maybe it's the hospitality. Maybe it's prayer, missions, teaching, administration. But as you can see, we have, how many? Do you guys remember how many ministries we have? 21, right? We have 21 different ministries to go through.

But maybe it's just as simple as, maybe if it's not in this ministry, it's as simple as noticing someone sitting alone and choosing to speak with them. maybe your deep is not even within these four walls it could be sharing Christ with the co-worker that you've always been wanting to share or pray for discipling someone obeying what the Lord has been pressing into your heart I don't know what your deep is but the question is is comfort keeping you from where Christ is calling you is comfort keeping you from where Christ is calling you

So Peter began that morning tired and empty-handed He worked through the night and caught nothing. He came back to the shore disappointed. The nets were being washed and the day seemed over, but Jesus was not finished with him.

So if you remember, comfort, next. Cooperation, next. Commitment, next. Courage, and then finally, calling. You guys are on the ball. I love it. Maybe you can see yourself somewhere in Peter's journey. Maybe Peter here relates to you in any form or matter, that you're still on the shore, or maybe you're kind of just a little bit out. The good thing about this story, that it just speaks to different levels of where you are in your faith. You could be just learning about faith. You could be a seasoned person in your faith. You may not even have any faith at all. The story of how the first disciples were kind of meeting with Jesus impacts all of us. Maybe you have let Jesus into your boat and are willing to cooperate. And maybe you moved a little from the shore and taken steps of commitment, but perhaps you sense that Jesus is calling you further. And that call may be making you uncomfortable.

But Peter teaches us four words. The four words are, but at your word. And that is the heart of this message. We do not need to know every detail before we obey. We need to know the one who is calling. The same Jesus who called Peter into the deep and then one day would also be on the Cross. The same Jesus who died for our sins, was buried, but was risen again and now reigns as Lord. And if He is Lord, He has the right to direct our boat. Amen?

So the question may be, am I willing to let Him tell me where the boat goes? Am I willing to really surrender myself and allow this person who I feel may not know me as a whole or know what I'm going through or understand like the nuances of my life? Am I going to let him take control? Peter had that same question, I'm sure. But at the end of the day, but at your word. Lord, I will go. Lord, I will serve. Lord, I will obey. Lord, I will follow. Leveling up is not about becoming a more impressive Christian. It is becoming a more surrendered follower of Christ. Trust Christ enough to obey his word.

Let's pray Father God we want to take this time to just reflect on the message that we read here with Peter and Jesus we thank you for the message Lord and the lessons that we've learned that although Peter really had a tough time that he was tired that he probably didn't want to do anything else that when you approached him that when you talked to him that he still opened his heart and that he still opened whatever he had in his life and that he gave it to you on the shore. I thank you, Lord, through the lesson of Peter that we ask that you work the same level within us. Whatever is in our heart, we bring it up to you. Whether we're still stuck, Lord, at the shore to make that decision to let you have the very thing that probably means the world to us, the livelihood of ours, the schedule, the thing that provides for us, we may be just hesitant in giving that to you. But we know, Lord, that you have greater things planned for us. We know, Lord, that the courage and the commitment that we have will help us see, Lord, what you have for us, and that ultimately that we start to understand what your calling is for us. And so I pray for those who are here today, for those who heard your word, for those who may be tentative in allowing you to be in their boat or even allowing you to take control of the boat, I pray, Lord, that you guide them, that you speak to them and allow them to hear your message today. And for those here who have a heart just yearning to serve you, I pray for them as well, that you give them the ability to step forward, the boldness, Lord, knowing that with this courage to step forward, it will allow them to also see what your calling is for them. I thank you again for allowing me to speak. Your word and your message. I pray all of these things, Lord, in your name, Jesus.

Amen.