Comfort vs. Calling

Warm up

Pre-Service

Countdown

Welcome

Welcome to OneChurch Online, we are so glad that you are joining us

If you have been blessed by this ministry, email us at [e-mail] or leave a comment on our Facebook page and let us know. We are always excited to hear how God is moving in your life, especially during COVID

I am excited about this morning. This is something of a new chapter for OneChurch. We will not be using the lyric videos for worship anymore. This morning is the first morning where we will be having live worship. This morning, Michelle is joined by our good friend Jason Clark to lead us in worship. Be sure to stay tuned as we start incorporating more of our own church people into our regular worship routine.

If you are musically inclined and would like to be a part of this new season, let us know. We will slowly grow the team over the next number of months.

If you have a prayer request over during the songs, please don’t hesitate to reach out across our social media platforms and our email, and we would gladly pray with you.

Prepare your hearts for this morning’s worship.

Worship - 3-4 songs

Announcements

Matt Chat

Mother’s Day video

Giving

Faithlife Community

Faithlife Study Bible - Daily Reading

Sermon

Intro

We are wrapping up our “After Easter” Series this morning with the third recorded encounter of Jesus with his disciples.

All the way through we’ve been comparing Jesus’ resurrection to the victory we can all experience when we surrender our lives to Christ. We may know the victory has been won, but often challenges come our way and we don’t always know how to handle them.

My hope in this series was to show you that we don’t always have to have all the answers when we’re trying to overcome our struggles and doubts. In each of the stories we’ve looked at, Jesus came into the discouragement and doubts, and replaced them with hope, peace, and purpose.

This morning we’re going to look at another story where the disciples are still wrestling with this new reality.

If you’re just joining us, we’re at a point in this time where quite a few people have seen Jesus returned to life. The disciples on the road to Emmaus have had quite a lengthy encounter with Jesus, and Thomas has even seen the holes and knows without a doubt that Jesus is alive.

The question is now what? Jesus has died, he has come back to life, what’s next for the disciples? John 21 starting at verse 1 is where we will begin.

John 21:1–3 CSB

After this, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (called “Twin”), Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples were together. “I’m going fishing,” Simon Peter said to them. “We’re coming with you,” they told him. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

1. Go Back to Comfort

Peter decides to go fishing.

As an experienced fisherman, this would have been Peter’s comfort zone. It is an environment he is familiar with, and there is no questioning of what comes next.

Peter would not have been the only one. We know that most of the disciples of Jesus were fisherman. They would have known what to do and how to work together without much communication. It would have been something they connected over.

We all tend to ‘go fishing’

We all have that thing that is comfortable and we are familiar with.

We don’t have to figure it out; we know exactly how it works and what the result is going to be

when the pressure is on and the future is uncertain, we will frequently run back to this thing because it gives a sense of control.

Even if the thing is destructive to ourselves or our family, the familiarity and predictability of it provides a false sense of peace.

This is why people who have overcome an addiction will fall back into the addiction. It’s not that they wanted to or they are weak or they didn’t actually overcome it. It really boils down to the fact that life got out of control, and we as people tend to reach for something that is consistent.

Comfort is often the enemy of calling

The problem with finding that metaphorical security blanket is that we don’t tend to take risks and step into the calling that Jesus has for us.

There is a false sense of peace that comfort provides. Even though we feel like everything is in control, we also begin to feel a sense of emptiness or regret because deep down, we are called to so much more. Much like the disciples going fishing, we may feel in control, but life starts to feel about as empty as their fishing net.

How does Jesus step into this situation? Not quite the way we often expect him to.

John 21:4–14 CSB

When daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus. “Friends,” Jesus called to them, “you don’t have any fish, do you?” “No,” they answered. “Cast the net on the right side of the boat,” he told them, “and you’ll find some.” So they did, and they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish. The disciple, the one Jesus loved, said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tied his outer clothing around him (for he had taken it off) and plunged into the sea. Since they were not far from land (about a hundred yards away), the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus told them. So Simon Peter climbed up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish—153 of them. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. “Come and have breakfast,” Jesus told them. None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

2. Jesus Challenges the Comfort

Throw the net on the other side.

Notice what Jesus doesn’t do. He doesn’t lay a guilt trip on the guys. He doesn’t embarrass them. He doesn’t even challenge them. He shows up and asks them how the fishing is going.

Though Jesus doesn’t mean it as a slight, the disciples could have easily taken it as one. Throw the net on the other side of the boat. Who does this guy think he is? They haven’t recognized him yet.

But they have been at it all night, the nets are still empty, and so they probably make the decision, what have we got to lose.

The nets fill up.

As soon as the nets are full, the disciples know exactly who it is they are talking to. Peter even abandons the rest of the boys and jumps into the water out of excitement to see Jesus.

Jesus comes into their comfort, and blesses it beyond what they can bear. Jesus reminds them that even when they aren’t faithful, he still is.

Jesus reminds us who he is

So often when we are off the path that we know we’re supposed to be on, we begin to add guilt to the emptiness we are already feeling. At times, prayer may become infrequent because we think God is going to respond with disappointment, and we hate the idea of disappointing God.

Yet Jesus comes into our emptiness, our guilt, and when we are ready to surrender to his leading, Jesus proves himself faithful and loving, wanting nothing more then to experience the abundant life that he has set aside for us.

Jesus is not like us. We so often impose how we would respond and how we would react to ourselves, and that’s why we feel separated or beat up by God. The truth is we beat ourselves up. Jesus loves us so much he steps into our situation, and brings restoration.

Peter is so excited, he runs over to the net and pulls it in himself.

John 21:15–19 CSB

When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.” “Feed my lambs,” he told him. A second time he asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.” “Shepherd my sheep,” he told him. He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” “Feed my sheep,” Jesus said. “Truly I tell you, when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.” He said this to indicate by what kind of death Peter would glorify God. After saying this, he told him, “Follow me.”

3. Jesus Brings Clarity

Jesus renews Peter’s vision

Notice the progression of Jesus’ instructions to Peter:

Feed my lambs

Shepherd my sheep

Feed my sheep

Jesus lays it all out for Peter.

First come the lambs; you can’t feed lambs the same thing you feed sheep, and in the beginning of Peter’s ministry, he is probably only going to have lambs under his leadership. So he feeds them accordingly.

Healthy things grow, and these lambs soon become sheep, and sheep need to be led and cared for.

Sheep also need to be fed, and what do healthy sheep do? They make baby sheep. And so Peter’s call is to be the shepherd for God’s people, whatever stage they may be at

Jesus brings clarity.

We all end up where Peter and the other disciples were. We’re not sure what the next step is, and so we revert back to comfort. Or maybe we do know what the next step is, but it scares us and so we revert back to comfort.

Once we have made the decision to trust and submit to Jesus’ guiding, we will begin to see the fullness of what God has in store for us.

However, submission to God’s leading is full submission and not just partial. Often times we are wanting direction on one area of life, yet expecting God to stay out of another. Then we get frustrated because God isn’t helping the way we want or expect him to.

In our story, Peter and the disciples received clarity, not just when they submitted to the calling Jesus had given them. They got it when they submitted the one area of life they thought they had under control; fishing.

Are you willing to completely submit every area of your life to Christ today? Are you willing to submit your fears, your control, your ambitions? Would you give up your free will to Jesus if it meant a fuller, more blessed life? Would you take the risk of changing the way you’ve always done things if it meant honoring and getting blessing in the process?

Jesus doesn’t guilt you. He loves you and wants to step into your situation, but only if you’re willing to let him in. The choice is yours. Today, don’t hesitate.

Let’s Pray!