Signs of the Savior 2

Intro

We are going to continue

We are going to looking to be looking at the life of Jesus

And just any part of his life

we are going to look at the various miracles that we see him do during his time of his life

He did alot during his life time

In the gospels we get to see 35 distinct recorded mircles

However these are on the miracles that the authors chose to write about

In the book of John 20:30-31 he says that there are many more miracles than what are recorded about him

But being said we see that we get is only a portion of all the miraculous things that jesus did

Who can name some of the miracles that Jesus did?

There are tons.

I promise this is not going to be a 35 part sermon series

However we are going to look at 6 specific Miracles that Jesus did

And I think that with each of these

They are not just cool things that we got to see Jesus do

But what I like about many of Jesus miracles is that he teaches us lessons

And shows us important things about who he is

Miracle that we are talking about: The Miraculous catch of fish

How many of you guys have heard of that miracle before?

Let read the story and then we will talk about it

Luke 5:1–11 “One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.” “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.” For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.”

Now that I read the story how many of you guys have heard it

Reading this story I feel like this story has a theme of empowerment

We see jesus do an amazing miracle in this text

but the other main part of this text is Jesus calling his disciples

Peter (Simon), Andrew, James, and John,

And so what is Jesus trying to show us through his empowerment

1. Jesus can empower past our doubts

Luke 5:3–5 “Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.” “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.””

How many of you have ever been zip lining before

I have only ever been one time

And I am not going to lie I was super terrified

I thought that the harness wasn’t going to have the power to be able to hold me

Even though I had that fear, and even though I doubted it the whole way up there.

regardless of my doubts and thoughts it had the power to get me across

It wasn’t like me being scared made it not work

When it comes to being empowered by Jesus we fall into this thinking all the time

Just like Peter in this story

Ya know Jesus I already tried that before

Or Jesus I don’t know that never seems to work

We start to get into false idea that God operates on the same terms that we do, but of course he doesn’t

obviously we should strive to believe the Lord and not doubt him

but hear this

Even in your imperfection Jesus can do the Miraculous

I think one of the great things that Peter showed us in this scripture

was the power of giving Jesus your yes even though your hesitant

Peter was unsure, but he still said yes

However, something I will say, and I say this to challenge you bit

At this point Peter had never met Jesus before

Some of us in this room have been Christians a long time

We have known the Christian faith

“And we call ourself Christ followers”

However we pump the brakes when it comes to following Jesus

And so what does mean for us?

There are times that we are going to have doubts. don’t stop giving Jesus your yes

Because there are some amazing things that can happen when we do give him our yes

2. Jesus empowers us by providing for us with abundance

Luke 5:6–7 “And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.”

When Delaney and I had just started dating

Her mom asked me what my favorite snacks were

The first time I ever went over to their house she had bought all of them

Like she didn’t just buy one or two things

She literally bought ALLLL of it

I share that because I had more than I ever needed right

Really I didn’ t need any of it right

But it was such an overabundance

And this is exactly what Jesus does in our story

He helps Simon, James, Andrew, and John

He solves the problem that they are faced with

But it does with such an overabundance

Jesus could have easily just given them a days with of fish that they had been trying to catch

He could have even asked them for the number they wanted and snapped his fingers

But he gave them so much more than they needed

So it makes you ask the question of why?

Why did Jesus choose to help them in this way

Well I think there are two reasons

*STILL UNDER THE SAME POINT*

The first I think is pretty simple

1. Jesus wanted to show that he has the power of God

very plain and simple

But here is Jesus is calling his first disciples, and what better way to do that other than to show them a miracle

Not just any miracle, but one that helps them with exact need that they have

Jesus has a personal touch with how he chooses to bless them in the story

2. Jesus wanted to show his soon-to-be discples what his mission was all about

We are going to get to the last bit of scripture in a second

but does anyone remember what Jesus tells Peter?

“That he would not longer fish for fish, but fish for what?”

“People!” or some translations say a “fisher of men”

So on one hand it shows that Jesus is going to have them go to people about Him

But even more than that if Jesus is comparing fish to people in this context

We have to look at the miracle that he just did

He brought thousands upon thousands of fish onto their boat

The bible says so much that it began to sink

So I believe that in many ways

This miracle of the foreshadowing that is to come with the ministry of his disciples

You are going to help thousands upon thousands of people gather because of Jesus

You are going to bring people to him

and it is going to be in an abundance

Why does this matter for us?

It matters because this was not just for Jesus close people however many thousands of years ago

This is still the same mission today. Jesus wants to bring all people to him

You and I are apart of that

You and I get to play a role in that mission

Jesus always wants more people to know him

We need to be more urgent about this

I think that is something that we hear all the time

“We need to tell more people about Jesus”

But seriously though

The Bible tells us that after Peter, James, John, and Andrew encountered Jesus they dropped everything an followed him

No turning back, no I don’t know about this

Do you see that there is a sense of urgency

a says of “I need to follow this guy”

3. Jesus empowers us by replacing our failures with our callings

Luke 5:8–11 “When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.” For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.”

Many of you know my dad is a pastor

My dad has a friend in ministry who’s been a pastor for many years

Prior to being saved and prior to being in ministry he had killed someone.

And he had spent many many years in jail before coming to christ

and sure enough now one of the most successful ministries that he does is prison ministry

So in other words the very thing that was a sin in his life was replaced into what is now his calling

Jesus took that sin away and gave him a purpose and a direction to take it

This is exactly what happens to Peter

He falls down before Jesus

“Jesus I am not worthy I am sinful, I am broken

But what does Jesus tell him?

You are not going to fish for fish anymore, but fish for people

Jesus takes Peter and he empowers him with a calling

I love what happens here because if you notice Jesus response

He doesn’t tell him “your sins or forgiven”

He doesn’t say “oh everything is okay”

But rather he gives him a call to action

Not to make up for wrongs that he has done

Or payment

But he is offering something greater out of life…….. a calling

Obedience to God’s calling changes your life

knowing exactly what God is calling you to do is not always an easy thing to figure out

And even more so at the age that many of you are at

However I will challenge in saying that it something that you should be asking about

I think alot of times when we think about being called by God

Our brains either go

“Oh super specific task”

or “that happens when I grow up”

I want to just encourage and push you that God wants to use you NOW

just as much as he does when you get to your 20’s

It may not look the same, in fact it probs won’t

But God still has something for you

Come to God with obedience. it changes everything

God how have you equipped me?

How do you want to use me?

With the talents and giftings that you have given me. how do you want to use me?