Flow - Day 1: Called

We are going to have such an awesome week this week! I know things are a little bit different then they have been in the past, but let me tell you a little secret. We, you and me, we’re gonna get through it. Not only are we gonna get through it, but we’re gonna have a good time. Because that’s literally what camp is all about.

I want you to know that none of us is here by accident. Every one of us is here because this is the exact place where God wants us to be. But we should get to know one another a little bit, My name is Tim. I’m the Pastor of the Micronesian Community at First UMC in Dunedin, right above Clearwater. I see some of my favorite people out here, Hi guys!

But I wanna know about you guys. Where are you all from shout out your town! Ok that was wild but who is from North Florida? Who is from central florida? How about south Florida. Alright cool.

And who is going into 6th (9th) grade next year… 7th (10th)… 8th (11th)… (12th)… (who just graduated?).

Awesome awesome. Well I need you all to do me a big favor this week, be kind to one another ok? One of the beautiful things about camp is that whatever is going on in our lives back at home, we can find a safe place to be ourselves here. So if you are weird be weird. If you don’t think you’re weird, you’re probably still weird. So be who you are. And let one another be who they are. Because we’ve all got enough going on, enough people back at home telling us that we aren’t good enough, or that we should try to be someone other than ourselves. But I’m just gonna say that this place right here, it’s Holy. It’s Holy because people like you and me come in here and we treat each other differently than we get treated out in the world. We treat each other like the people that God says that we are. And do you know what God says about us?

God says that we are wonderfully made. That we are loved. That we are good. That we are worthy. That we belong to him. And that’s super comforting. And that is the way that I’m going to treat all of you. And that’s the way that you are all going to treat me. And that’s the way you are all going to treat each other, because that’s who we are!

Alright. So what’s the theme for this week?

Thats right, Flow. And this week in small groups we are going to really focus in on one story from the Bible, and in worship we are going to explore some of the main ideas in a little bit of a deeper way. So you probably have heard this story earlier today, but um I’m gonna read it again, because, like, I feel like reading it is that cool?

Ok, so what’s been going on is that Jesus’s cousin, John the Baptist, has been executed by King Herod. Jesus hears this and he is sad, because that’s his buddy since before they were even born. So he’s like I’ve got to get out of here for a minute and just be by myself and grieve. But Jesus is already famous right, and some people know where he’s going. So they come to where he’s landing his boat, and they’ve got people who are sick and in need of healing, and they are hungry, and there’s like 5000 of these people and Jesus does what Jesus does. He heals the people and he feeds them all and takes care of everyone else. Then, he’s like I’m tired, i need to think, friends you go on ahead and I’ll catch up later. So that’s kind of where we are at. Remember, the disciples (Jesus’s friends) have just witnessed Jesus do amazing things. He has manipulated the natural world, healing people and turning a few loaves and fish into a meal that could feed thousands of people.

The New Revised Standard Version Jesus Walks on the Water

22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. 25 And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

28 Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Pretty wild right? A lot of times this story is told as kind of a lesson in not losing faith. Which is ok, but there’s a lot more to this than just a simple “don’t lose faith.” What we are going to find out this week is that this story has all of the elements of our entire Christian journey. So what we are going to do is walk through each of these elements with our friend Peter, and getter a more full understanding of what it means for us to get out of the boat and follow Jesus.

So we’ve got to go back. Kind of towards the beginning of the Jesus story. But let’s talk about some really important words first?

Can anyone tell me what a disciple is?

It really means that you are a student of someone. That you follow them. Did you know that, even if you don’t follow Jesus yet, you are probably a disciple of someone? Who are your favorite people to follow, either on youtube or instagram or tik-tok or whatever?

Why do you follow them? Because they are funny? Talented? Have a lot of followers?

It makes sense right? All of us follow somebody, or multiple somebodies really. And how do we get to following them? We choose to follow them right?

One of the beautiful things that we are going to find about Jesus is that, while we choose to follow Jesus, Jesus has already chosen us. He’s like I want you to follow me, and what we do is we decide whether or not we want to go along with him. It’s a beautiful thing to be chosen, to be wanted.

VIDEO INTRO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbPu4wBR30E (middle school)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4fOJ8uoGyU (High School)

Discuss video...

Peter’s journey starts a lot like many of ours, kind of unsure. Check this out from Luke’s Gospel. Now Jesus has already been making a name for himself, going around and preaching and kind of causing a stir in town. He’s like quasi famous. But nowhere near as famous as he’s going to be soon. So this is what it says.

The New Revised Standard Version Jesus Calls the First Disciples

5 Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2 he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all who were with him were amazed 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. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” 11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

Jesus has clearly made up his mind about wanting Peter to be one of his disciples. But Peter is unsure. He wants to see something, to experience something before he makes any big decision. Jesus of course shows him something incredible, and he is blown away.

Some things we need to understand is that for Peter and the others to follow Jesus they had to give up a lot. They had to give up their financial security, their place in the world. They were fishermen, if you don’t fish, you don’t make any money. If you don’t make any money you don’t eat. You don’t eat… well you know, you won’t last very long. Today we can kind of change our minds about things pretty easily and make major life decisions knowing that we always have some sort of help to fall back on. But for Peter, this just wasn’t the case. If this didn’t work out, he was in big trouble. So yeah, he wanted to see a sign.

But once Jesus showed him that sign, he knew something had to give. So look at his response:

Go away for I am a sinful man. Peter’s first reaction, is to tell Jesus that he’s not good enough. That he’s sinful. He’s messed up. He a fisherman, and who knows what else. He’s not someone who is respected, he’s someone who is tolerated. Fisherman back then were needed, because they supplied food, but they were kind of looked down upon. They spent their lives touching dead things and smelling kind of funny. They often took their boats out on the Sabbath day which was really frowned upon. Peter is like, you don’t want me man. I’m spoiled goods. I’m broken.

And this is the main thing that I want us to understand tonight. Because if we can’t get past this idea, the idea that we aren’t good enough, then we aren’t going to be able to go on with the rest of the journey.

Peter’s mind about himself was made up. He was a stinky sinful fisherman. How many times have we found ourselves here, with Peter. Maybe we look at all the things wrong with us. We are too small, too big, too dumb, too nerdy. We’ve made too many mistakes, we hear from people at school that we suck, or even at home that we are a failure.

Maybe who we are is people who have been told that we are wrong and unworthy because of our race, or our sexual preference, or because our gender doesn’t conform to what our birth certificate says.

Maybe we’ve been hiding for so long, hoping that no one sees us for who we really are, and hoping that God doesn’t see us for who we really are, because someone has convinced us that we are junk.

If that’s you this week, know that you’re not alone. I’ve been there, your counselors have been there, Peter has been there. But you’re not junk. You are worthy. You are loved. And you are called just like Peter.

But look at Jesus’s response. Does he say “oh man I had no idea Pete. Sorry for the mistake, I’ve gotta go my dad is calling.” No he says, “do not be afraid.”

As in, I’m not here to judge you on what you’ve done or who you are, I’m here to give you a task and to show you how to do it. You are going to fish for people.

Which is a kind of weird thing, but what Jesus means is that they are going on a mission. A mission to seek out and find other people to follow them and continue to grow Jesus’s following by bringing people in and teaching them all that Jesus has to tell them. I think that’s a beautiful thing because Peter just went from disqualifying himself, to being ultimately qualified by Jesus to participate in his mission to the world.

And he does the same for us. We don’t know what we’re doing when Jesus calls us. We’re just out here trying to make it through middle school, through high school, whatever. Just trying not to make giant fools out of ourselves. And Jesus wants to use us? Sounds crazy right? But what if that’s what this week really shows us? I might not have you convinced in this moment right now, but I think that over the course of this week we are going to get there. Because I’m just going to keep telling you.

I’m going to keep telling you that God has chosen you. That he’s called you. That he’s said that you’re good enough because He’s good enough. That he’s got a mission for you, and that it starts right here, right now and continues on into your life back at home, in your schools, in your families, and in your churches.

God wants to use you to show others that God loves them. But we’ve got to embrace that reality right here and right now for ourselves. So I don’t know what your mess is, what your weird is, or whatever else is hurting you on the inside. I don’t know what it is that causes you to tell yourself that you aren’t good enough or that God doesn’t want you. But I can tell you that it’s a liar.

Psalm 139 says

The New Revised Standard Version The Inescapable God

13 For it was you who formed my inward parts;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Friends, Jesus calls us, because Jesus knows us, Jesus formed us. Jesus made us just the way that we are. Jesus knew Peter, and Jesus knows you, all of you.

So your challenge this week is to realize this for yourself, and also to encourage and realize this for those around you. Because God has called each of us, God has qualified all of us. That means every single person on this camp this week is a person whom God loves deeply. That means that every single person on this camp is a person whom you should love and respect deeply as well. So when things get frustrating, when you are tired and hot and just want to go to the pool, or when you are really frustrated with one another, remember to think before you speak. Remember that everyone here is fearfully and wonderfully made by God. That everyone here belongs here, and that God has a mission for us all together. We are called and we are loved. Let’s pray.