The Calling of The Four Apostles

Introduction: Quite often we view the events of the Bible as some kind of strange impossible fairy tale…but if we stop and meditate upon the Scriptures, we begin to see God using some very common people and things to do uncommon deeds for His Glory.

As we go through this message, I want you to consider what common things could you be using for His Glory that you are ignoring since it is viewed as “common?”

Common Things, Uncommon Uses

Common Ships

There is nothing amazing about the ships that they used to fish on the Sea of Galilee. They were not that big. They were not that fancy. They were built for a purely temporal reason - fishing!

(Move boat slide here)

These men were simple common fishermen.

Maybe they were strong for the casting and pulling in of the nets all night, but they would most likely have smelt like fish!

Maybe they were dark from washing out their nets in the hot sun? Casting them into the water and pulling the back to use the rocks on the shore to help scrub the nets clean.

Maybe their hands were tough and rough and calloused from the rowing and the ropes of their nets?

Common Nets

Nothing special, probably just your regular nets that everyone either made or bought.

Common Fishermen

Common Fishermen

These men were simple common fishermen.

Maybe they were strong for the casting and pulling in of the nets all night, but they would most likely have smelt like fish!

Maybe they were dark from washing out their nets in the hot sun? Casting them into the water and pulling the back to use the rocks on the shore to help scrub the nets clean.

Maybe their hands were tough and rough and calloused from the rowing and the ropes of their nets?

Notice the common reasoning of these men:

We Did That Already, But Okay. Vs. 5

Partial Obedience - Net vs. Nets

In some modern translations, it is not clear about this, but in verse 4, Christ tells Peter to let down the nets and Peter only agreed to let down One net.

Sometimes we look at a situation like this and we make an excuse for why we only partially obey the Word of God…but notice that because of his partial obedience, Peter’s net brake! His boat was filled with fish, but he also had repairs to make at the end of it.

This teaches us a couple of things about serving God;

Complete Surrender is Best

While God may bless your partial obedience, full obedience is fully blessed.

You may work hard and become a wealthy person and at the same time you may sacrifice your health, your family, your friends and all those years that you could have been serving God!

He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.

22  He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.

  The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.

22  The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.

Common People Called For Uncommon Deeds

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