Something Happens in the Deep

. How many of you have ever been to the beach?

. How many have ever been snorkeling, or deep sea diving, shark cage etc???

. see for people who have been to the beach, but not snorkeling or out into the deeper water, would tell you that the beach is amazing and its beautiful and they just wish they could go back and spend more time there.

. But those who have been out into the deeper waters and experienced the reality of the deeper waters would tell you that it is a whole different world out there, a whole new level of beautiful, something unlike anything you could ever dream to see from the shallow waters.

. because something happens in the deep!

Luke 5:1–11 NKJV

So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.

. One thing we need to understand about this first, is that Simon and the others were professional fishermen, they new what they were doing and they had been out all night in the deep waters trying to catch fish ( night time was the best time to fish the deep waters )

. So why would Simon and these men listen and do what is told of them by Jesus ( this is before they were disciples/followers )

. The scripture that we read, tells us that Jesus sat in the boat and taught the multitudes, so these men had just finished hearing the son of God speak and teach about things that would have been far beyond there natural understanding.

. After hearing Jesus speak these men knew that there was something about this man, something that they could trust, something that was different compared to anyone else they had heard speak before, maybe then even had an inc-ling inside that this was the Messiah?

.Now after Jesus had finished teaching to puts out a call to Peter ( Launch out in the deep and cast your nets ) and we read what the result was, an astonishing catch far greater than anything they could of expected. Something happened in the deep.

. Though these men had spent the night on the water trying to catch fish, something happened in the deep when the call came from Jesus to go out and cast the nets.

. And when they responded to the call/ the word of Jesus, what they stepped into was a supernatural experience unlike anything they had seen before.

. You see i don't think that God calls us into something that he has not first spoken to us about first, and while we are not told directly in these verse what Jesus spoke about.

I believe that what he spoke about lead to Simon being willing to respond to the call to go out into the deep, even though in the natural it was not what they would of done.

. When you go out into the deeper waters of what God has for you, when you respond to the call/ word that God has spoken to you, that is when you will experience a whole new thing that truly is not of this world, that's when the things of the kingdom come alive in your life.

.its like we said at the start, those who only see the beach are amazed at how beautiful it is, just as those who know God know how beautiful he is, but those who go out into the deeper waters experience something that is impossible to experience from the shore line.

3 THINGS THAT STOP US GOING INTO THE DEEPER WATER

Fear: The thing about deeper waters is that, you can not possible know what you will see or experience until you go out there and see it for yourself, and sometimes the thought of not knowing is enough to stop people from going at all.

. and the reality as well is that there are many more dangers out in the deeper water then there is on the shoreline ( we have to get to a place where we go beyond just dipping our toes into the things of God and fully immerse ourselves)

Isaiah 43:1–2 NKJV

But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.

2) Comfort: Sometimes its the fact that we are actually to comfortable where we are that, we don't want to disrupt our happy little lives to go and do something that seems like it would just disrupt the peace that we have

Matthew 16:24–25 NKJV

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

. Jesus speaks directly to his disciples and those who would follow him to not allow the comfort of your lives to hinder you for achieving all that he has for there lives in fact we must be willing to give up our comfort and follow him.

. Simon and the others would of been tired and worn out having been out all night, and it would of been more comfortable to not row out into the deep again, but they responded to the call and look what happened

(TALK ABOUT UGANDA HERE!!)

3) Laziness:

James 1:22 NKJV

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

. Sometimes it is straight up laziness that stops us from answering the call to go deeper, to lazy to read the bible to lazy to pray to God, to lazy to get out of bed and go to church each week, to lazy to get out to a life group.

. I would say my personal opinion laziness is one of the biggest killers of faith.

.laziness is not just being comfortable, lazy is knowing that i should, knowing that i need to, but making the decision to not do it anyway, and to sit around and waste the call.

.laziness is hearing the call/ hearing the spoken word and choosing to do nothing about it.

. Lets not be a church and not be a group of people who allow fear, comfort, or laziness to rob us of the supernatural experience that God has in store for our lives.

.Lets go out into the deeper waters, and learn to live in a place where the supernatural becomes our normal.

.its not impossible, it just requires a response to the call, and the trust that God will do more with our lives then we ever could.