Sermon Tone Analysis

Today’s message is about Jesus’ invitation to become fishers of men.I love to fish! Anyone who has fished with me will tell you I am not a very good fisherman, but I still love to fish.

I also love fish stories.

One of my favorite is about two fishermen who are out in their boat one Sunday morning when they heard the church bells ring in the distance.

One of the men said to the other, “You know we really ought to be in church.”

The second man replied, “Yes, but I couldn’t have gone anyway, the wife is sick in bed.”

Some people are really dedicated to fishing.

Mark 1:16.20

Mark 1:

So notice three things with me this morning –

You will remember that it stated in verse sixteen, “And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.

(17) Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

This morning we are going to concentrate on where Jesus said, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

But what does that mean?

What we see in this text by examining a bit deeper is that there is one command, one promise and a lifelong process.

So notice three things with me this morning –

First, The Command - “Follow Me”

The command in this verse “follow me” is simple, (in the Greek it is an adverb of place expressing a command) - literally it is “your place is following after me.”

Joseph Stowell (pastor of the Moody Church) identified our problem as the modern church well when he said, “We have become quite happy to call ourselves Christians with little or no thought of following.”

Following is not something that is difficult - the act of following is something I can do.

I can get behind someone else and walk in their footsteps.

I can follow Christ.

But as far as being a fisher of men on my own, I don’t know about that.

That intimidates me.

But the command comes with ….

Secondly, The Promise- “I will make you to become fishers of men”

Secondly, The Promise – “I will make you to become fishers of men”

It is important to note that when Jesus called these men, they were not at that time what Jesus wanted them to become.

He promised to “make” them (poieo) to “become” fishers of men.

Notice again with me who Christ chose.

The Gospels will reveal who these men were:

•They were common laborers

•They were poor

•They were uneducated

•They had little spiritual perception

•They were self-centered

•They were often harsh

•They were proud

•They were weak

•They were cowardly

•They were selfish

But God is not bound by who we are!

Jesus looked beyond what they were to what they would become.

The important principle at work here is that those whom Christ has called He enables and empowers to perform the task to which they have been assigned.

Jesus did not simply command His disciples to become fishers of men but he promised to make them fisherman after men’s souls.

But to fulfill the Command involves….

Third, The Process – “to become fishers of men”

So as Christians it is urgent that we carry out the command to bring people to Christ.

I think most of us understand that but the question is, “How can we influence others to Christ?”

I want to mention three ways that we influence people to come to Christ.

• We May Influence Others To Christ by Our Attitude.

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In other words, there should be such a reflection of joy and hope to our lives that others will ask about it, thus opening the door for us to share the Gospel.

In other words, there should be such a reflection of joy and hope to our lives that others will ask about it, thus opening the door for us to share the Gospel.

The common image of a fisherman in our day is of a man with a fishing rod casting a lure into the waters of a stream or a lake.

However, such was not the case when Jesus called his disciples.

They caught fish with nets and by experience they found that their best fishing took place at night.

We know that this is true by looking at , when Jesus told Peter to cast his nets on the other side of the boat he said, “Master we have toiled all night and caught nothing nevertheless at your word I will let down the net.”

How did they fish at night?

They used a very powerful and effective method, light.

Fish were attracted to light.

Jesus uses this same effective method to draw people to Himself.

John tells us that Jesus said (8:12), “I am the light of the world, He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life.”

Just as fish are attracted to the fisherman’s light, God wants people to be drawn to His light shining through His people.

The light of every believer is the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives.

Paul stated in his second letter to the Corinthians (), “For it is God who command-ed light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, (7) But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power of God may be of God and not of us.”

We are not the light we merely reflect the light of Jesus.

• We May Influence Others To Christ By Our Actions.

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says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Christianity is defined in the eyes of the world by the good works that we do.

After the last national election, syndicated columnist Cal Thomas wrote about the need for Christians to get back to the things they are known for.

He said that we needed to get back to the basics of being good neigh-bors and serving the world in order to get a hearing for the gospel.

The sad truth is that the reputation of Christians as a whole is suffering and many in the mainstream of society are turned off by what they see and hear.

We seem to be known by what we hate.

We hate abortionist and we hate homosexuals.

And to many, because of the scandals among televangelist and others, we are seen as hypocrites.

But it is when the Church reaches out in servant evangelism that it gains a hearing for the Gospel.

I have been reading a book entitled “The Externally Focused Church” (Rick Rusaw & Eric Swanson).

It has help me to see that we have to get back to being intentional in reaching out to our world.

•We May Influence Others To Christ By Our Words.

While it’s essential that we witness by our attitudes and by our actions, sooner or later it will be necessary for us to use our words.

In the Scripture that we used earlier stated, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is within you.”

When it says “be ready to give a defense” it is a verbal defense that is being spoken of.

Now this isn’t very popular in our culture today to speak out about your Christian beliefs.

It is no longer politically correct to share our faith with unbelievers.

They say, “How dare you try to shove your religion on someone else?

How dare you think you’re the one who is right?

You can’t do that!

” But I have news for you.

It’s always been that way.

In the book of Acts, the Jewish Sanhedrin commanded those first apostles to shut up and to preach no more in the name of Christ ().

They were commanded to never speak again in the name of Jesus but they replied, “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” () How can we do less??

When Jesus called them to follow Him it was a call that required complete and immediate detachment from every else.

Peter and Andrew “left their nets” (v.

20) suggesting that they left their present occupation.

James and John “left their father” (v.

22) suggesting that following Christ takes precedence over even maintaining close proximity to our family.

The require-ments for following Jesus are not the same for everyone.

For some it means leaving their present occupations to follow him.

For others it means a willing to leave family connections and being close to family.

But for everyone it is a willingness to exchange their affections, goals and priorities for his.

Listen careful to the statement I am about to make because I do not want you to misunderstand me.