Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION

Funny Story about being a follower

Transition to text:

13 times in the gospels Jesus said to his disciples “Follow Me”

He called them out from their way of life into a new relationship with him.

and each of these men that Jesus called to follow him left what they were doing and followed after Jesus.

Jesus says the same thing to each of us as his disciples today- he simply says if you are my disciple “ Follow ME”

“leave your old way of doing things and follow after me”

This morning as we look at our text in the final chapter of the gospel ofJohn, Jesus gives us a clear picture of what a disciple’s life will look like when they fully commit to following Jesus.”

And the question we will each need to ask ourselves in light of this passage of scripture is “Am I truly willing to Follow Jesus with my Life.”

Am I willing to follow Jesus with my Actions and not just my words.

The first mark of a follower of Jesus is that

Our confidence will not be in our own strength but in the Sovereignty of Christ

in Matthew chapter 4 we see that The first 4 men Jesus called to follow him where all fisherman

When it comes to fishermen there is a big difference when it comes to a guy who likes to go sit on a dock with a bobber and enjoy the sunset to a man who makes his living by fishing.

These men were professional fishermen, The one thing they wold have been really good at was catching fish.

in verse 19

Matthew 4:19 (ESV)

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

and then in verse 20 it tells us

Matthew 4:20 (ESV)

Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

These fishermen’s names were Peter, Andrew, James and John.

When Jesus told these men to follow Him they left what they Knew and were good at, to follow after Jesus.

They left there source of income and source of comfort to follow Jesus.

And for 3 years these fishermen along with 8 other ment walked and learned from Jesus.

they went where Jesus went, they served the people Jesus served, they saw first hand the miracles he performed, and they sat at that the feet of Jesus and learned all the he taught them.

They followed Jesus all they way up to the point of his death, But when Jesus was arrested and put on trial these men fled and went back to what they knew best.

I encourage you to follow along in your Bible as I read our text today in John 21:2-3

John 21:2–3 (ESV)

Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together.

Simon Peter said to them, “I am 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.

These men were not hobby fishermen, They were professionals.

They knew how to catch fish. it was the most natural thing for them to do.

It was going back to what they were confident in doing

Peter simply said to the other fisherman- I dont understand what is going on with Jesus “Im going back to what I know how to do- I’m going fishing.

So these men jump in a boat and go out to one of their fishing spots, a spot they were confident they could catch fish.

But what happened that night?

These professional fisherman they cant even catch a single fish

The one thing that they are the best at doing they cant even seem to do.

Can you imagine the frustration these men must have been going through on that boat?

Illustration: I love fishing and Im pretty good at it.

growing up my dad would take me and my 2 brothers up to the boundary waters to canoe and fish for a week during the summers.

Our entire purpose of going on that trip was to catch a lot of fish, and because we always caught a lot of fish a big part of our meal plan for the week was eating a lot of fish.

We were all great fisherman so we always had plenty to eat.

But one particular week a cold front came in the day we arrived, and we couldn’t seem to get any fish to bite.

We tried every last lure in our tackle boxes but nothing seemed to ever work out.

and after a couple of days we were getting very frustrated, not only were we casting and not catching which was the point of our trip, but were were not eating any fish which made us frustrated with one another.

These professional fishermen went out in the boat because they were confident in their own ability to catch fish, but even after working all night long in their own strength, their nets still came up empty.

and if they were anything like me when i dont catch fish all night they were tired and a little cranky.

But something is about to change.

look with me again at our text in John 21: 4-12

John 21:4–12 (ESV)

Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that 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 is 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 a hundred yards off.

When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, 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 there 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.

As the sun starts to rise and the darkness of night begins to fade away- they hear a voice from the shore 300 yards away call out with a jabbing Question “ You dont have any fish do you?”

They yelled back “ NO” and then the voice responded “ cast your nets on the other side of the boat and you will find some fish!”

These men decided to take the advice from the voice on the shore, Probably because everything else they had done didn't seem to work up to this point.

So they throw the nets on the other side of the boat and as they begin to pull it back in the weight of the net is heavier than one man can handle, and they pull in 153 fish- so many fish that John in that moment realizes that the voice they heard from the shore could only be Jesus.

Because this miraculous catch could only have come from Him.

What a picture Jesus was teaching this men and us today.

We cant do what God has called us to do on our own.

Regardless of our own strength, abilities, and experience We are unable to follow Jesus apart from his sovereign work in our lives.

Remember what Jesus said In John 15:5

John 15:5 (ESV)

I am the vine; you are the branches.

Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Any effort to follow after Jesus in our own strength will be as effective as the disciples fishing.

If we try to serve Christ in our own strength we will fail like a fisherman fishing in a spot without any fish.

Author Josh Wredberg said it this way

“You can become an expert in selfish living on your own.

If you make instant gratification your ultimate goal, you can succeed in your own strength.

No one can stop you from earning a gold medal in self-promotion.

On the other hand, if you want to give up your personal comfort for someone else’s eternal good, your effort is not enough.

If you want to be a godly wife and a contented mother, you will fail in your own strength.

If you desire victory over that area of sin that constantly plagues you, your best intentions will fall short.

All the good you do will be empty and short-lived apart from the effective power of Jesus Christ working in and through you.”

The point is this, our Confidence to follow Christ we dont need to rely on our own strength, because Jesus will provide exactly what we need exactly when we need it.

When we follow Christ-

The second thing we can see about a follower of Jesus from this text is that

Our comfort will not be in our own goodness but in the Grace of Christ

In verse vs 15-17 we read about an interaction between Peter and Jesus

John 21:15–17 (ESV)

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”