Reborn for Greatness - Session 1 - Called to more

What is greatness?

If I told you that someone was born for greatness, what would that mean?

Who are some examples of people that you know that were born for greatness? Why?

We are all chasing greatness

Whether we know it or not, we are all chasing some sort of greatness...

We want to impact others, make a name for ourselves, do something great.

We want more likes on Instagram.

We want to become culture influencers, trend setters, icons.

We want others to look up to us and revere our names and follow us closely.

We want others to hang on our every word

We want to build our own little kingdoms where we are the ruler and things go the way we want them to.

I have chased greatness for much of my life

In Middle school, I wanted to play professional baseball

In HS I wanted to be in a band that played arenas and went platinum.

In college, I wanted to be a world renowned scientist doing groundbreaking research on coral reefs around the world.

When I got saved and then got into ministry, I wanted to plant a church that would grow to thousands of people.

I wanted to write books that would make it to best seller status

Whether we know it or not, we are all chasing some sort of greatness...

We want to impact others, make a name for ourselves, do something great.

We want more likes on Instagram.

We want to become culture influencers, trend setters, icons.

We want others to look up to us and revere our names and follow us closely.

We want others to hang on our every word

Much of my pursuit of greatness has been rooted in pride

For me, I wanted to play ball so that people would know my name and wear my number

I wanted to play music so that people would get my songs stuck in their heads and come to see my show

I wanted to be a world renowned scientist because I wanted to be known for discovering new species.

I wanted to be a pastor of a megachurch so that I could be recognized in the Christian world as someone who had his crap together and was worth listening to.

Very little of my desires were rooted in the exaltation of Christ, but rather in the exaltation of myself.

I wasn’t as concerned with making Jesus’ name known as I was about making my own name known.

Why do we want greatness?

If I were to ask you why we desire to be great, what would you say?

Genesis 1:26–28 ESV

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Genesis 1:26-

Genesis 1:31 ESV

31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 1:26–31 ESV

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis

We want greatness because that is how the Lord created us!

He created us and then stepped back and said, this is very good - this is great!

We were created in the image of God, meaning that we were meant to be little reflections of God’s glory to the world around us.

Everything about us was supposed to be lifting up the greatness of God and pointing back to Him!

we were hard wired to pursue greatness, but not our own greatness…

We were hard wired to pursue, experience, love, and know the greatness of God.

Ok, so what happened?

How did it shift from being about the Lord to being about us?

Why has so much of my own life about me seeking my own greatness rather than the Lord’s?

Genesis 3:6–7 ESV

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

Genesis 3:

They rejected the Lord’s commands

They listened to His enemy (satan)

They embraced the very thing that would bring them death.

And they covered up the perfect image that the Lord had made.

Since then, humanity has been plagued with the desire to build our own kingdoms and raise up altars to honor ourselves.

So now, their story is our story

Rejection of the Lord, following the enemy, embracing death, and the idolizing of self.

So what do we do with this?

Should we completely reject any idea of pursuing greatness?

Is it wrong for us to pursue greatness?

If it isn’t wrong, then how do we do it in a way that doesn’t cause us to sin?

Reborn for Greatness

I want to pose a thought…

Adam and Eve were born for greatness, but sinned and broke that greatness.

They could choose to not sin

We were all born into sin, and broken, but If you are a Christ-follower, then you have been re-born for greatness.

Jesus reversed this for us!

Jesus has rescued you from the penalty of sin and is progressively rescuing you from the power of sin.

He has given you the Holy Spirit to live in your heart and to be a guarantee of your inheritance in heaven.

Not only this, but He has given you everything you need to live a life of godliness (2 Peter 1:3)

So what is this life Reborn for Greatness supposed to look like?

This weekend, we will be circling around this idea of being reborn for greatness

To do this, we will spend time talking about the Apostle Peter

He had some amazing moments that were recorded for us throughout scripture…

Remember, Peter was the dude who walked on water a few steps with Jesus.

He saw the Transfiguration of Jesus, when he went up the mountain with Him.

He witnessed Jesus’ miracles first-hand including raising multiple people from the dead.

Jesus changed his name from Simon to Peter (which means rock).

But it wasn’t all these amazing moments for him…

He had a bit of a temper and even cut a dude’s ear off when they were trying to arrest Jesus.

He had a raging case of foot in mouth disease - many times talking before his brain caught up.

I love Peter, because I can identify with him - especially those broken bits of his life.

He was flawed in some pretty significant ways, but his faith was vibrant and strong.

We will talk about it, but there was this crazy transformation in his heart from this headstrong fisherman to a Spirit-filled apostle who went on to lead thousands of people to Jesus and write part of the New Testament.

PRAY!

Let’s dive right into .

As we read, pay attention to the words…

if something sticks out to you, write it down or underline it in your Bible.

After we read it, we will walk through several points from this passage.

Luke 5:1–11 ESV

1 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 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. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

What stuck out to you, or caught your attention, and why?

Points to make:

Success in a particular area isn’t always a sign that God wants you to stay there

After Peter had been fishing all night, and the dude is ready to get home and get some sleep.

He had already cleaned his nets and placed them back on the boat

Plus, he knew that this was not the right time to catch fish - because he had been doing it with his dad pretty much his whole life.

If he was going to catch something, especially fishing in deep water, it would have been at night.

It will be counterintuitive - especially if you have already tried what He is telling you to do and you came up empty.

When He moves, don’t expect your worldly means to be able to contain His power.

The boats were sinking under the weri

Sometimes, He waits until you have exhausted every human ability and resource that you have - so that when success comes, it can only be attributed to Him.

2. The path to greatness requires us to acknowledge our own sinfulness (v. 8)

The idea that God needs you is a fallacy.

3. Jesus was inviting Peter into a life of greatness (v. 10b)

4. Following is hard… (v. 11)

True greatness isn’t found in your work but rather in helping others to know Jesus. (v. 10b)

Will you be willing to drop whatever the Lord asks you to drop? (v. 11)

Jesus gave Peter the most successful moment of his whole fishing career and then called him out of it…

3. Following is hard… (v. 11)

Will you be willing to drop whatever the Lord asks you to drop? (v. 11)

Jesus gave Peter the most successful moment of his whole fishing career and then called him out of it…

Success in a particular area isn’t necessarily a sign that God wants you to stay there

But it is an invitation to go somewhere that the Lord is going.

A Life reborn for greatness...

1. Lets Jesus use your life as His platform - v. 3-6

The way this story plays out is incredible…

Jesus gets into a boat while Peter and his dudes are washing their nets and asks him to put out into the water a ways.

So Peter has to leave what he is doing, get back on his boat, and paddle Jesus out so that He could share the Word of God with those on the shore.

Remember,

Get this picture in your head.

Peter has just failed pretty epically at fishing - a fact that he would probably not want going around.

And now, here he is, empty handed, tired, and now sitting on a boat in front of a crowd of people who have to be noticing that he came up short.

But even so, Peter has allowed Jesus to use His life (and his profession), as uninspiring as it might be, to do what?

Bring the Word of God to others.

He didn’t check the boat first to find the one who had caught the most fish the night before and get on that boat…

He didn’t check the boat first to find the one who had caught the most fish the night before and get on that boat…

In fact, perhaps He intentionally sought out Peter’s boat, because He knew that there was nothing that Peter had to bring to the table.

The crowds wouldn’t be looking at Peter thinking, “Man, Jesus LOVES to be around those super successful people who have a lot of stuff.”

No, in fact, they would probably be thinking that Jesus is crazy to align himself with someone who has been a fisherman his whole life and cannot even catch a single fish.

Jesus didn’t care about how successful Peter was - and He doesn’t care about how successful you are…

and He doesn’t care about how successful you are…

He boards your boat, and simply asks, “will you paddle me out a bit so that people can see and hear me better?”

Those moments don’t always come when you are at the top of your game…

In fact, a lot of the time, Jesus wants you to paddle Him out a little ways when things are far from perfect.

when you have looked like a fool in front of everyone

when you’ve failed in the same area AGAIN

when you feel the biggest burden of shame

Look what happened next…

v. 4 - He told Peter to cast the net into the deep water.

Remember, Jesus was a carpenter… not a fisherman.

Remember also that Peter had been fishing all night, and the dude is ready to get home and get some sleep.

He had already cleaned his nets and placed them back on the boat

Now was not the right time to catch fish - which is why Peter was ready to punch the clock and get home.

Plus, he knew that this was not the right time to catch fish - because he had been doing it with his dad pretty much his whole life.

If he was going to catch something, especially fishing in deep water, it would have been at night.

He didn’t argue - he just stated that they had been working all night to try and catch fish, and they had come up empty handed.

In a beautiful display of obedience (even when he didn’t understand) he says to Jesus:

But, at your word I will let down the nets.

He does it, and the nets become so full of fish that they begin to break…

Sometimes, He waits until you have exhausted every human ability and resource that you have - so that when success comes, it can only be attributed to Him.

Why did Jesus do this?

Sometimes, He waits until you have exhausted every human ability and resource that you have - so that when success comes, it can only be attributed to Him.

Those looking on would have seen a great God do something for Peter that he could not do for himself.

They would have seen God bless Peter and make his hands fruitful.

A reborn life of greatness lets Jesus use your life as His platform even when it’s not a pretty picture.

A reborn life of greatness lets Jesus use your life as His platform and make everyone around you see how amazing He is by how He brings order to your mess and success where you’ve failed.

A Life reborn for greatness...

After Peter had been fishing all night, and the dude is ready to get home and get some sleep.

He had already cleaned his nets and placed them back on the boat

2. Requires acknowledging sinfulness v. 8

Plus, he knew that this was not the right time to catch fish - because he had been doing it with his dad pretty much his whole life.

If he was going to catch something, especially fishing in deep water, it would have been at night.

It will be counterintuitive - especially if you have already tried what He is telling you to do and you came up empty.

Imagine this picture…

Sometimes, He waits until you have exhausted every human ability and resource that you have - so that when success comes, it can only be attributed to Him.

It requires acknowledging our sinfulness v. 8

Peter is running on adrenaline now, signaling to his partners to get over there to help haul in the fish.

They have caught so many fish that the boats are riding low and taking on water

What he has just seen and been a part of was a miracle - no other way to describe it - and his response is awesome.

v. 8 - “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

Peter’s response is not an uncommon response.

Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the Lord when he appeared in the tent of meeting

When the Lord appeared to Abram at 99 years old, he fell on his face before God.

Isaiah proclaimed “Woe is me, for I am ruined” when he had the vision of the Lord in the temple.

Story of when I came to know Jesus - “You should smear me across the floor of my room...”

When we come face to face with the Lord, there is something that happens in our hearts that is deeper than words can describe.

We see every short coming, every failure, and every flaw highlighted by the perfection and holiness of God.

And the response is to fall on our knees in fear - asking the Lord to leave, because we know that we could never measure up.

We default back to our first mother and father - who tried to hide themselves from God and tried to cover themselves with fig leaves.

What happens when we acknowledge our sinfulness?

It empties us of pride and self-sufficiency.

It places us in a position of dependency and need.

It throws us onto the mercy of God - praying that somehow He might have a solution to our sin problem, because we sure have not figured it out..

It acknowledges that there is a Law - that the Lord has put forth standards that we are supposed to uphold, and we have failed to meet those standards. We have broken His law.

Because of this, there is real guilt and real condemnation.

But how beautiful Jesus’ words must have been to Peter when He said “Do not be afraid!”

What Peter did was exactly what Jesus was wanting him to do - to realize that there was nothing he could bring to this relationship.

When we come to Jesus as though we have something to bring to the table, we will see Jesus as less than He is and ourselves as more than we are.

He will be our buddy but not our Lord.

He will be our pal but not our Savior.

He will be our equal and not our King.

He will be a nice accessory but not our all satisfying treasure.

A life reborn for greatness acknowledges sinfulness so that we can step down from the throne of our lives and let Jesus take His rightful place.

A Life reborn for greatness...

3. Lets Jesus change your plans - v. 10b

How audacious is it that Jesus rearranges Peter’s life?? and He doesn’t even ask for permission.

The only thing that Peter has ever known was fishing with his dad.

He grew up fishing, and he was well down the path of taking over the family business.

And Jesus steps in and says to him, from now on, you’re catching men.. you are going after people.

Not to haul them into a boat to die, like fish, but to bring them into life

The word there means to “capture to life.”

Story of quitting the aquarium and going into ministry...

I am not sure what your plans are, but my question for you is this:

If Jesus showed up tomorrow and said, “you are not doing that, you’re doing this,” what would your response be?

Would it be anger - because He is taking away what you have been working towards?

Would it be sorrow - because you really wanted your life to be about that?

Would it be confusion - because you thought that He had said do that over there?

Would it be obedience - even if you didn’t quite understand?

So much of a life is about letting the Lord use your life HOWEVER He wants to.

This will be a daily battle of surrendering your will to HIM.

A life reborn for greatness will let Jesus change your plans - setting you on a course of His choosing, not your own.

A Life reborn for greatness...

4. is usually costly - v. 11

The response of Peter and the guys with him is unreal…

v. 11 - “When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.”

Jesus gave Peter the most successful moment of his whole fishing career and then called him out of it…

This could have been a huge jumpstart to Peter’s career

With the money he earned catching all of those fish, he could have bought several more boats, hired some crews, and established a significant company.

But the Lord’s plans for Peter called him to lay down the fishing nets and to follow Jesus.

Success in a particular area isn’t necessarily a sign that God wants you to stay there

Perhaps the question is - will you like Peter, be willing to leave whatever it is that He calls you to leave whenever He calls you to leave it?

Do not think that this will be easy…

Following someone else is not easy.

It costs us our own directions and plans.

To follow, we must renounce our own directions and plans.

To Follow, we must be ok with our destination being not necessarily of our own choosing.

To follow, we must look to the leadership of someone else who.

Success in a particular area isn’t necessarily a sign that God wants you to stay there

When Peter left fishing to follow Jesus, he stepped into the same invitation that the Lord extends to us today.

It’s an invitation to go where He is going and to do what He is doing.

It’s an invitation to join in on this incredible story that the Lord is authoring right now, as we speak.

It is an invitation into a life, reborn for greatness!

Close in Prayer

Communion