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Trusting God in Difficult Times · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: My longtime friend and ministry mentor, the late Howard Hendricks,
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Speaker 1: summed up the story in this passage we will consider
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Speaker 1: today with these searching words. When we minister to others,
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Speaker 1: we must do so out of the overflow of our
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Speaker 1: devotion to Christ. Dr. Hendricks' point was plain and clear.
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Speaker 1: We cannot pour grace and truth into the lives of
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Speaker 1: God's people If our own spiritual reserves have run dry,
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Speaker 1: our priority must be to nurture a deep and abiding
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Speaker 1: relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. John, the writer of
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Speaker 1: this great gospel, takes us into one of the most tender,
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Speaker 1: moving scenes in all the New Testament as Jesus himself
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Speaker 1: proposes this very notion to Peter. asking him, do you
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Speaker 1: love me? In our time together today, we will discover
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Speaker 1: just how significant Peter's encounter with Jesus would become. Turn
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Speaker 1: with me in your Bibles as I read from the
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Speaker 1: New Living Translation, John 21, beginning at verse 1. I'll
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Speaker 1: read the first 17 verses of this 21st chapter. Please
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Speaker 1: follow along with me and listen prayerfully and carefully as
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Speaker 1: I read these important words. Now, John 21, verse 1
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Speaker 1: to verse 17. Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples
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Speaker 1: beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened.
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Speaker 1: Several of the disciples were there. Simon Peter, Thomas, nicknamed
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Speaker 1: the Twin, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee,
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Speaker 1: and two other disciples. Simon Peter said, I'm going fishing.
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Speaker 1: We'll come too, they all said. So they went out
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Speaker 1: in the boat, but they caught nothing all night. At dawn,
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Speaker 1: Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn't
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Speaker 1: see who he was. He called out, fellas, have you
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Speaker 1: caught any fish? No, they replied. Then he said, throw
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Speaker 1: out your net on the right-hand side of the boat,
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Speaker 1: and you'll get some. So they did, and they couldn't
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Speaker 1: haul in the net because there were so many fish
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Speaker 1: in it. Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter,
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Speaker 1: it's the Lord. When Simon Peter heard that it was
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Speaker 1: the Lord, he put on his tunic, for he had
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Speaker 1: stripped for work, jumped into the water, and headed to shore.
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Speaker 1: The others stayed with the boat and pulled a loaded
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Speaker 1: net to the shore, for they were only about a
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Speaker 1: hundred yards from shore. When they got there, they found
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Speaker 1: breakfast waiting for them, fish cooking over a charcoal fire,
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Speaker 1: and some bread. Bring some of the fish you've just caught,
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Speaker 1: Jesus said. So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the
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Speaker 1: net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and
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Speaker 1: yet the net hadn't torn. Now come and have some breakfast,
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Speaker 1: Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him,
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Speaker 1: Who are you? For they knew it was the Lord.
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Speaker 1: Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. This
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Speaker 1: was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples
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Speaker 1: since he had been raised from the dead. After breakfast,
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Speaker 1: Jesus asked Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you
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Speaker 1: love me more than these? Yes, Lord, Peter replied. You
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Speaker 1: know I love you. Then Feed my lambs, Jesus told him.
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Speaker 1: Jesus repeated the question, Simon, son of John, do you
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Speaker 1: love me? Yes, Lord, Peter said. You know I love you.
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Speaker 1: Then take care of my sheep, Jesus said. A third
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Speaker 1: time he asked him, Simon, son of John, Do you
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Speaker 1: love me? Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question
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Speaker 1: a third time. He said, Lord, you know everything. You
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Speaker 1: know that I love you. Jesus said, then feed my sheep.
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Speaker 2: Often when an author will write a book, he will
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Speaker 2: begin the book by dedicating it to a particular individual
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Speaker 2: or to a certain kind of reader. I'm engaged in
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Speaker 2: writing a booklet at this present time entitled, Why Do
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Speaker 2: We Suffer? Hopefully it can be used in hospitals and
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Speaker 2: in lives around the world in days to come. I'm
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Speaker 2: dedicating the booklet to those in pain. This morning I
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Speaker 2: have a message that I would like to dedicate to
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Speaker 2: a particular group represented in this congregation today and those
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Speaker 2: who may hear this message in the months ahead. It
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Speaker 2: is especially dedicated to you who work for a living.
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Speaker 2: And I do not have preachers in mind when I
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Speaker 2: say that, and I do not mean that to sound humorous.
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Speaker 2: I have a reason for dedicating it to people who
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Speaker 2: are not, quote, officially in the ministry, unquote.
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Speaker 3: You see, I believe that.
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Speaker 2: Those who work for a living wrestle with a dilemma,
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Speaker 2: and it is not easily solved. The dilemma has to
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Speaker 2: do with a wedding of your work, which we will
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Speaker 2: call your vocation, and your calling, which we will call
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Speaker 2: your ministry. You see, my work and my calling are
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Speaker 2: always wedded. When I am doing my job, I am
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Speaker 2: engaged in ministry. That's true for all in vocational Christian service,
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Speaker 2: but that's not necessarily true of all who work for
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Speaker 2: a living. John Mitchell, in his fine book, The Christian
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Speaker 2: in Business, asks the question that needs to be answered.
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Speaker 2: Will Christianity and business mix? Is God interested in the
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Speaker 2: way we do our work? Is he interested in a
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Speaker 2: lathe operator and in the quantity and quality of his output?
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Speaker 2: Is he interested in a watchman as he makes his
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Speaker 2: rounds through the warehouse in the darkness and silence of
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Speaker 2: the night? Is he interested in a stenographer in the
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Speaker 2: way she types her letters? Is he interested in a
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Speaker 2: salesman and what he says to a prospect? Is God
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Speaker 2: concerned about a businessman's business? Is God there when he
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Speaker 2: makes out his income tax return or his expense account?
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Speaker 2: Does he take an interest in the company's advertising campaign
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Speaker 2: and the claims made for the company's products?
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Speaker 3: Is he present at personal interviews?
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Speaker 2: At conferences, directors' meetings, labor union negotiations, trade conventions, business luncheons,
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Speaker 2: and black tie banquets. When a businessman succeeds or fails,
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Speaker 2: is God interested? To say no to these questions is
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Speaker 2: to relegate God to a place of.
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Speaker 3: No importance.
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Speaker 2: In the very area of a person's life where he
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Speaker 2: spends most of his waking hours. On the other hand,
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Speaker 2: he who answers yes to these questions, whether he be
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Speaker 2: a Supreme Court justice or a garbage collector, transforms his
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Speaker 2: career into a thing of dignity, high purpose.
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Speaker 3: Satisfaction, and excitement.
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Speaker 2: Businessmen and businesswomen, career men and women, This morning I
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Speaker 2: address you with this message in a very special way
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Speaker 2: because the thrust of the message is to ask you
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Speaker 2: to come to terms with your calling. I am of
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Speaker 2: the absolute conviction that when Jesus Christ is in proper
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Speaker 2: place and priority, you will be an outstanding business person.
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Speaker 2: or professional, or whatever would be your calling. Let's begin
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Speaker 2: by looking at Mark chapter 1 and then turning to
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Speaker 2: John chapter 21. From the Gospel of Mark, which is
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Speaker 2: the second book of the New Testament, turn to chapter 1.
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Speaker 2: Put your finger on verse 16. The verse talks about
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Speaker 2: Jesus after he had been baptized and in the wilderness,
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Speaker 2: he began his ministry and he's getting together his band
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Speaker 2: of disciples. As he was going along by the Sea
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Speaker 2: of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon,
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Speaker 2: casting a net in the sea.
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Speaker 3: Now mark this.
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Speaker 2: For they were fishermen. That was their vocation. What sales
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Speaker 2: is to you, salesman? What a product is to you,
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Speaker 2: factory worker? What a series of letters is to you, secretary?
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Speaker 2: Fish happened to be to Simon and his brother, Andrew.
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Speaker 2: They were in the fishing business, apparently self-employed. They made
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Speaker 2: their living by the sea in the product of fish.
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Speaker 2: Verse 17, Jesus introduces their calling.
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Speaker 3: Jesus said to them, follow me and I will make
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Speaker 3: you become fishers of men. It's a new dimension. That's
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Speaker 3: their calling.
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Speaker 2: The fishing for fish was the way they made a living.
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Speaker 2: The fishing for men was their treasure stored up in heaven.
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Speaker 2: It was the eternal dimension of life in which they
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Speaker 2: needed training. Some believe they were saved here. Some believe
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Speaker 2: their salvation didn't occur until later. We do not know
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Speaker 2: exactly when each disciple was born again, but We know this,
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Speaker 2: that when Jesus talked about their fishing for men, he
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Speaker 2: had in mind giving part of their time to their ministry.
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Speaker 2: Now they did not go to seminary, but verse 18
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Speaker 2: tells us they left their nets and followed him. So
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Speaker 2: for a three-year period, they were under intense training being
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Speaker 2: discipled at the feet of the Savior, learning how to
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Speaker 2: fish for men. Now, wait, he wasn't attacking the fishing trade.
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Speaker 2: He was helping them know how to make the fishing
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Speaker 2: trade have an eternal dimension. Whether or not they returned
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Speaker 2: to fishing seemed to be of little importance to Jesus.
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Speaker 2: What was important was that they learned How to fish
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Speaker 2: for men. Now let's look at another example. Verse 19.
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Speaker 2: Going on a little farther, he saw James, the son
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Speaker 2: of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who were also in
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Speaker 2: the boat mending the nets. Now here's another company, Zebedee
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Speaker 2: and Sons. They're in the fishing business. They're not self-employed.
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Speaker 2: They work for their father. And they are in some
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Speaker 2: corporate firm with hired servants who work as employees in
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Speaker 2: this company. Verse 20, immediately he called them.
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Speaker 3: Now notice that.
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Speaker 2: They had their vocation, which was the way they made
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Speaker 2: money to live on.
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Speaker 3: And he introduced a calling, a ministry.
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Speaker 2: And it says they left their father in the boat
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Speaker 2: with the hired servants and went away to follow him.
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Speaker 2: In Luke's gospel, he tells us that Jesus visited the
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Speaker 2: office of the tax gatherer owned and operated by Levi,
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Speaker 2: which is another name for Matthew.
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Speaker 3: And he told Matthew, follow me, teach you how to
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Speaker 3: catch men.
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Speaker 2: And it says he left his office and he followed Jesus. Now,
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Speaker 2: some people believe that that's God's will for their lives,
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Speaker 2: and it is. It happened in my life. I was
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Speaker 2: moving in the direction of a particular vocation, and God
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Speaker 2: stopped me, sent me back to school in another direction,
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Speaker 2: and sent me into the ministry. It happens to Jerry Lucas,
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Speaker 2: a professional basketball player, who has now a ministry in
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Speaker 2: helping people learn how to memorize God's Word.
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Speaker 3: Happened to Howard Butt, a professional grocer.
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Speaker 2: Who has pretty well left the business, as it were,
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Speaker 2: and engaged himself as a lay preacher in central Texas.
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Speaker 2: In fact, around the world. But it's not that way
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Speaker 2: with everybody. God is not calling every man and every
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Speaker 2: woman in this place officially into the ministry. And unfortunately,
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Speaker 2: some people think that is the only place they can
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Speaker 2: really serve Christ.
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Speaker 3: That's not true. Now, these men served Jesus Christ and
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Speaker 3: learned how to fish for individuals.
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Speaker 2: Now, listen carefully. They did that for three years. Then suddenly,
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Speaker 2: in a matter of a brief period of hours, Jesus
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Speaker 2: was arrested. put on trial, rushed to judgment, put on
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Speaker 2: a cross, died, was put in a borrowed grave through
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Speaker 2: the pity of a friend, a stone was rolled in.
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Speaker 3: Front of it, and all their hopes were gone. Almost
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Speaker 3: like that. In back-to-back, bang, bang, bang fashion, all hope
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Speaker 3: left them.
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Speaker 2: In fact, I am convinced they were more disillusioned than
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Speaker 2: we've ever thought them to be. I think some of
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Speaker 2: them must have thought we have believed in a phantom.
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Speaker 3: It's gone. And in the backwash, in the wake of
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Speaker 3: that kind of letdown.
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Speaker 2: They went back to fishing. Makes sense, doesn't it? They
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Speaker 2: went back to what was familiar. That's why John 21
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Speaker 2: begins like it does. They went right back to the
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Speaker 2: thing that was most familiar. Nothing wrong with it necessarily,
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Speaker 2: but it was dangerous because they went back to this vocation,
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Speaker 2: not having Christ supremely fixed in their minds. Little historical
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Speaker 2: reflection in the first verse. After these things, what things?
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Speaker 2: All the things I have mentioned. After they're being called,
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Speaker 2: after their training, after the arrest, trial, burial, resurrection of Jesus,
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Speaker 2: even after he had given them the Holy Spirit, according
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Speaker 2: to chapter 20, after he had appeared to them twice,
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Speaker 2: I get the feeling as I read over this and
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Speaker 2: enter into the experience of chapter 21 that there is
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Speaker 2: a great letdown, an anticlimax, After the whole scene. That's
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Speaker 2: why we read in verse 2. Of their personal decision.
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Speaker 3: They were together.
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Speaker 2: Simon and Thomas and Nathaniel. The sons of Zebedee. One
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Speaker 2: of whom was the writer John himself. There are fishermen friends.
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Speaker 3: Two other disciples. Simon said to them. I'm going fishing.
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Speaker 3: Ever felt like that? Well sure you have. So have I.
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Speaker 2: I hope that doesn't shock anybody. There are some Sundays
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Speaker 2: that I just would rather be fishing. Sorry about that,
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Speaker 2: but that's the truth. There are some Sundays you'd rather
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Speaker 2: be fishing. There are some Sundays you are fishing.
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Speaker 3: Matter of fact.
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Speaker 2: That's the difference between you and me. You can do it,
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Speaker 2: and I can't. Sometimes you'd like to hang a sign
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Speaker 2: on the door that says, gone fishing. Part of the
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Speaker 2: reason is you're sort of let down. And there's kind
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Speaker 2: of a therapy in it. Maybe you've been burned. Ever
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Speaker 2: been burned as a Christian? Ever have a friend let
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Speaker 2: you down?
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Speaker 3: Well, sure you have. You want to get away. You
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Speaker 3: don't have it in focus, and so you say, I
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Speaker 3: want to get my head together.
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Speaker 2: That's the thing these days. Everything's getting your head together.
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Speaker 2: So you want to get your head together. You want
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Speaker 2: to go off somewhere. And the Lord really isn't supreme necessarily.
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Speaker 2: You're just kind of in a period of limbo.
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Speaker 3: And you're just.
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Speaker 2: Going to fish. That's the way some of your jobs are.
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Speaker 2: You've just gone fishing. That's the whole thrust of this passage.
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Speaker 2: In fact, Peter had a group of guys that said
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Speaker 2: that's a good idea. Because it says in the next verse,
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Speaker 2: it says in verse 3.
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Speaker 3: We will also come with you. So what do they do? Well,
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Speaker 3: They swept off the dust off the old boat and
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Speaker 3: they shook out the sails and they got the nets
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Speaker 3: together and mended them a little and they put out
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Speaker 3: to sea. Back in those days when they used to fish,
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Speaker 3: you know, they just gave themselves to this old trade
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Speaker 3: once again. You can just see them as the wind
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Speaker 3: catches the sail and they're off on their way. Night falls.
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Speaker 2: It says in verse 3, they went out and got
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Speaker 2: in the boat and that night They caught nothing. I
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Speaker 2: also identify with that. That's the kind of fishing I do.
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Speaker 2: Not the kind I like to do, but that's what
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Speaker 2: usually happens. They didn't catch a thing. Now, when day
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Speaker 2: was now breaking, notice Jesus with his disciples now.
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Speaker 3: They caught nothing. There's been futility. There's been frustration. By
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Speaker 3: the way, that's always true when you're just fishing.
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Speaker 2: And you don't have men on your heart. Women on
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Speaker 2: your heart, gals.
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Speaker 3: It's always true when you're just making a living. It's crummy.
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Speaker 3: It's futile. It's frustrating. There's no dimension.
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Speaker 2: It's just watching the wind catch the sails to go nowhere.
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Speaker 3: You can't even catch a fish. You can't even find
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Speaker 3: satisfaction in the mountains or by the sea.
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Speaker 2: There's a futility in it. And so verse 4 comes.
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Speaker 2: When the day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach.
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Speaker 2: The disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
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Speaker 3: And Jesus said to them, By the way, they're about
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Speaker 3: a hundred yards away.
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Speaker 2: From him, verse 8 tells us. And so think of
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Speaker 2: the length of a football field between the shore and
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Speaker 2: the little boat. And Jesus said to them, You don't
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Speaker 2: have any fish, do you? Now, when you have fished
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Speaker 2: all night long and you haven't caught any fish, and
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Speaker 2: somebody asks you that, your answer is, no! And that's
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Speaker 2: exactly what they said in verse 5. They answered him, no.
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Speaker 3: What's more, he called them children.
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Speaker 2: The Greek word is paideion. We get the word pediatrics
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Speaker 2: from this particular word, and it's the word for little boys.
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Speaker 3: Right, that's exactly the way they thought. No wonder they said, no.
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Speaker 3: Who's this guy over here saying? You didn't catch any fish,
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Speaker 3: did you, boys? They said, no.
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Speaker 2: And then verse six tells us he told them what
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Speaker 2: to do. This is just beautiful. Cast the net on
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Speaker 2: the right side of the boat and you will find
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Speaker 2: a catch. By the way, when you're a teacher and
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Speaker 2: you're not walking with Christ, teaching is a drag. When
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Speaker 2: you're a secretary and you're not walking with Jesus Christ,
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Speaker 2: your work is an irksome burden.
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Speaker 3: You hate to get up. You hate to go. You
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Speaker 3: hate to face a boss. When Christ isn't in the
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Speaker 3: center of your life, you can be a counselor and
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Speaker 3: the heavens are brass and you have no insight. You're
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Speaker 3: just meeting with patients.
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Speaker 2: You can't even practice medicine with delight, though you are
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Speaker 2: a servant of the public. Because Christ isn't down there
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Speaker 2: drilling and riveting those dimensions.
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Speaker 3: In your life. It's empty. You can't catch a thing.
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Speaker 2: Then he comes along in a beautiful fashion and he says,
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Speaker 2: men or boys, put your net on the other side
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Speaker 2: of the boat. You'll catch something. They were so desperate,
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Speaker 2: verse 6. This stranger on the shore told them what
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Speaker 2: to do. They just dragged in the net and they
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Speaker 2: put it on the other side. And it says in
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Speaker 2: that verse, they were not able to haul it in
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Speaker 2: because of the great number of fish. Wow, that must
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Speaker 2: have been great. If you were fished and caught a
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Speaker 2: great number of fish, oh, you haven't lived if you
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Speaker 2: haven't done that. I remember as a little fella, we
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Speaker 2: went out in a boat early one morning right after
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Speaker 2: the break of dawn, just bright enough to see the
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Speaker 2: water with my granddad and my mom and dad. I
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Speaker 2: was along and I had a little cane pole and we.
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Speaker 3: Got to an area where we began to fish and
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Speaker 3: we caught 67 Gulf trout. Now that's the truth.
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Speaker 2: There were 67 of those things and we caught so
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Speaker 2: many of them in about 11 to 15 minute period
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Speaker 2: we just dumped them in the bottom of the boat.
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Speaker 2: They were wading around in those fish in the bottom
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Speaker 2: of the boat. Boy, I thought the rapture had come.
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Speaker 2: It was fantastic. Not really, I didn't know about the rapture.
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Speaker 2: I thought heaven had come.
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Speaker 3: So, boy, it was great.
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Speaker 2: And I can't imagine catching 153 fish, verse 11, and
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Speaker 2: all of them large. That's probably 1,000 pounds.
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Speaker 3: Of fish in that net.
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Speaker 2: Just in a moment of time, Jesus' presence and his
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Speaker 2: words added a dimension that was just almost more than
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Speaker 2: they could handle. They couldn't even get the net on
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Speaker 2: the boat. And so John said to Peter, verse 7,
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Speaker 2: Hey Peter, that's the Lord over there on the shore.
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Speaker 3: Can't you see that?
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Speaker 2: That's not a normal individual that can do that. Now,
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Speaker 2: you read some commentators, and they've got all the big answers.
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Speaker 2: Jesus saw a school of fish, and I wonder, how
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Speaker 2: can you 100 yards away really know there's a school?
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Speaker 3: And furthermore, who told him? Who told the commentator that
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Speaker 3: Jesus saw a school of fish?
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Speaker 2: It doesn't say that he saw a school of fish.
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Speaker 2: It says that he said, cast the net over there.
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Speaker 2: Some guys would do anything to take the joy out
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Speaker 2: of the scriptures, wouldn't they? Got it all rationalized out.
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Speaker 3: Jesus made the fish.
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Speaker 2: So he told them to put their net over there
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Speaker 2: where he would put the fish.
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Speaker 3: And they got them.
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Speaker 2: They got so many they couldn't get it on the boat.
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Speaker 2: And so when John said to Peter, it's the Lord.
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Speaker 2: Look at Peter, verse 7. You get a kick out
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Speaker 2: of this.
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Speaker 3: When Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put
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Speaker 3: his outer garment on for he was stripped for work.
26:52
Speaker 3: That means he had.
26:53
Speaker 2: On a t-shirt and something underneath, probably something like Bermudas
26:58
Speaker 2: or whatever. And he put on this outer garment and
27:02
Speaker 2: it says he threw himself into the sea.
27:06
Speaker 3: That's just like Peter.
27:08
Speaker 2: Just went on in the sea, man. Now, Peter didn't
27:11
Speaker 2: go the other way. Swimming away was swimming toward the Lord.
27:14
Speaker 2: And you've got to appreciate that. Jesus created an incredible
27:18
Speaker 2: atmosphere of acceptance. Who had just denied the Lord a
27:21
Speaker 2: few days earlier?
27:23
Speaker 3: Peter. That's the man who said, I don't know him. Oh, yes,
27:28
Speaker 3: you're one. I don't know him. Oh, you were one
27:32
Speaker 3: of them. You speak like a Galilean. And he swore.
27:35
Speaker 2: I don't know him.
27:38
Speaker 3: That's the guy. And when Jesus comes to the shore
27:42
Speaker 3: a few days later, Peter's swimming toward him.
27:48
Speaker 2: Boy, Christ really had loyalty built into those men, didn't he?
27:53
Speaker 2: They were his men. And wherever he came, they wanted
27:57
Speaker 2: to be. Peter started swimming toward the shore, and they
28:04
Speaker 2: brought that boat up to the shore, and Jesus had
28:07
Speaker 2: a beautiful arrangement all set up.
28:09
Speaker 3: Look at it.
28:11
Speaker 2: Verse 9, when they got out upon the land, they
28:14
Speaker 2: saw a charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it.
28:23
Speaker 2: It doesn't say that Jesus had been fishing. It says
28:25
Speaker 2: that he had a fire made and he had fish
28:29
Speaker 2: already set up on this fire.
28:32
Speaker 3: How'd they get the fish on the fire? I don't know. Somehow,
28:40
Speaker 3: He got those fish out of the sea and on
28:42
Speaker 3: that fire. It's a neat trick. But it's no trick
28:48
Speaker 3: if you're God. You just call a few by name
28:51
Speaker 3: and get on that fire. There they are. All righty
28:56
Speaker 3: on the fire. All clean. Right there.
29:01
Speaker 2: Oh, what that would have been like to have been
29:03
Speaker 2: by that fire, by that sea, that day. There's something
29:08
Speaker 2: extremely exciting about a little potluck breakfast down on the shore,
29:17
Speaker 2: isn't there? When's the last time you did that? Well,
29:22
Speaker 2: that's been too long. We need to get away, just
29:27
Speaker 2: get a little time by the sea. The sea has a.
29:30
Speaker 3: Language on its own, doesn't it?
29:33
Speaker 2: It's almost as though the fingers of God are rolling
29:35
Speaker 2: in those great, great waves. And some mysterious tide between
29:41
Speaker 2: the moon and the tide. And in the swamping awesomeness
29:47
Speaker 2: of that walk on the beach, somehow you come back
29:51
Speaker 2: together with God. Somehow there's a place where the child
29:57
Speaker 2: of God's heart is just, Washed.
30:02
Speaker 3: Made fresh. We spend too long in the sidewalk jungles.
30:09
Speaker 3: Of our habitat.
30:11
Speaker 2: Thank God he's preserved some places for us.
30:15
Speaker 3: To be by him. And so it was there that
30:19
Speaker 3: Jesus had a breakfast. All set up.
30:22
Speaker 2: And he invited them in verse 12.
30:25
Speaker 3: Come and have breakfast. So they did.
30:31
Speaker 2: Now, none of them asked, who are you, knowing that
30:33
Speaker 2: it was the Lord? Obviously, they were sitting with the
30:36
Speaker 2: risen Christ. And I just picture them, smoke curling up,
30:42
Speaker 2: a quiet morning, a little lake lapping up on the shore,
30:49
Speaker 2: the smell of fish in the air, fresh bread from
30:54
Speaker 2: the Savior's hand. Boy, that's neat, isn't it? Can't you
31:00
Speaker 2: just feel it? I wonder what they talked about that morning.
31:06
Speaker 2: There are some places where I would just love to
31:08
Speaker 2: have the text open up, but it doesn't. So your
31:13
Speaker 2: imagination is just as good as mine. That's those times
31:18
Speaker 2: that God provides for you, such as a Sunday morning
31:22
Speaker 2: time like this. When you've been fishing and you haven't
31:27
Speaker 2: caught a thing. Your work has become kind of a drag.
31:33
Speaker 2: Your marriage has sort of lost its zip. You've had
31:37
Speaker 2: some problems or two or three with your kiddos. Or
31:41
Speaker 2: maybe you're single and your romance has fallen. You cannot
31:48
Speaker 2: seem to put it together. And the Lord says, look,
31:51
Speaker 2: let's have breakfast.
31:53
Speaker 3: Let me show you a meal I've got for you.
31:56
Speaker 3: So he lays it out.
31:59
Speaker 2: And in an incredible fashion, he just sort of penetrates
32:03
Speaker 2: where you are. And you just lean over on your
32:07
Speaker 2: elbow and think, the Lord is here. I'm sitting at
32:14
Speaker 2: his feet.
32:16
Speaker 3: I feel like that.
32:18
Speaker 2: I feel like the Lord is present and he's saying, look,
32:25
Speaker 2: you need to come to terms with your calling. So
32:29
Speaker 2: he does it in the person of Peter, verses 15
32:33
Speaker 2: to 17. I plead with you now to put yourself
32:40
Speaker 2: in the garments of Peter for a moment because they fit.
32:49
Speaker 2: I come and you come from a pilgrimage that has
32:54
Speaker 2: some scars.
32:56
Speaker 3: You failed. I have too.
33:00
Speaker 2: And we come broken and bruised with a bad track record, frankly.
33:06
Speaker 2: We don't have a whole lot that we can offer
33:08
Speaker 2: this group, but we're here.
33:11
Speaker 3: We've come for breakfast.
33:14
Speaker 2: And the Lord is laying out before us some insights
33:19
Speaker 2: from this meal. And then for some strange reason, he
33:23
Speaker 2: points that finger at your face and at mine. And
33:29
Speaker 2: he calls us by our real name. And he doesn't
33:33
Speaker 2: call us by the name we're going to be. He
33:36
Speaker 2: calls us by a name that describes our lives.
33:40
Speaker 3: Simon.
33:42
Speaker 2: Jesus could have called him Peter, verse 15, but he
33:46
Speaker 2: called him Simon, son of John, as though aimless, wandering, shifting, vacillating.
33:56
Speaker 3: Doesn't call him rock. He calls him Simon, you that's
34:01
Speaker 3: been drifting, vacillating, shifting. That fits some of you here today.
34:11
Speaker 2: You come with that sense of guilt, not having put
34:18
Speaker 2: it together, not having inculcated that vocation and that calling.
34:24
Speaker 2: You've just been cranking out a job. And he says
34:28
Speaker 2: to you, hey, lazy, inconsistent, lustful, thief.
34:41
Speaker 3: Whatever fits.
34:43
Speaker 2: Whatever has characterized your life at your office, in your practice, irritable, impatient, worrier,
34:56
Speaker 2: he calls you by name And in Simon's skin, he says,
35:04
Speaker 2: do you love me more than these? We don't know
35:12
Speaker 2: what the these refers to. Could refer to his peers.
35:17
Speaker 2: You love me more than these around you. It could
35:20
Speaker 2: refer to the things with which he was familiar. Fishing things.
35:26
Speaker 2: You love me more than your job. People seem to
35:30
Speaker 2: run into two extremes, those that worship their job and
35:33
Speaker 2: those that hate their jobs.
35:37
Speaker 3: So he says to job worshipers, do you love me
35:39
Speaker 3: more than this? The word he uses for love, as
35:42
Speaker 3: John records it, is the word agapao. We get the
35:46
Speaker 3: word agape from it, obviously. It's the word for highest love.
35:51
Speaker 2: They spoke Aramaic, but John conveyed in the Greek text
35:56
Speaker 2: the inflection of Jesus' voice. And of Simon's answer in return,
36:00
Speaker 2: three times, the only time in all the Bible that
36:03
Speaker 2: Jesus ever asked anyone the same question three times.
36:07
Speaker 3: The only time. Remember, he denied him three times. Sort
36:11
Speaker 3: of brought him back into fellowship.
36:16
Speaker 2: Simon, do you love me more than these? You have
36:18
Speaker 2: the highest form of love. Let's talk about priorities, Simon.
36:23
Speaker 2: Where do I fit?
36:25
Speaker 3: In the top five priorities of your life, where is
36:27
Speaker 3: the Lord? Look at Simon's answer.
36:30
Speaker 2: Lord, yes.
36:33
Speaker 3: You know that I love you. Ah, different word here.
36:36
Speaker 2: This is phileo. This is a word that means to
36:39
Speaker 2: be fond of someone.
36:41
Speaker 3: To have a friendship.
36:44
Speaker 2: This word is what you feel as a single young
36:47
Speaker 2: man when you're around an attractive and winsome gal. And
36:51
Speaker 2: you say, I'm fond of her. I'd like to know
36:54
Speaker 2: her better. I'm attracted to her. Nothing wrong with the word.
36:58
Speaker 2: It's a word, however, of human affection, which isn't the
37:01
Speaker 2: highest kind of love. It's a word that requires something
37:06
Speaker 2: in return or it dies.
37:09
Speaker 3: Not agapao.
37:11
Speaker 2: Agapao doesn't need any kind of return. God so loved
37:15
Speaker 2: the world that he gave his only begotten son. That's
37:18
Speaker 2: the word agapao.
37:20
Speaker 3: Whether or not you respond, he loved you. He loves
37:24
Speaker 3: you now.
37:26
Speaker 2: He loved Peter just as much when Peter denied him
37:29
Speaker 2: as he loved Peter when he called him. There's no
37:32
Speaker 2: fickleness in God's love. That's what he asked him. Do
37:35
Speaker 2: you have that kind of love? And Simon said, yes, Lord,
37:39
Speaker 2: I'm fond of you. Maybe not with that flippant attitude
37:43
Speaker 2: because I think he was searching his heart, but he
37:46
Speaker 2: had to admit honestly. See, Peter's the guy that always
37:50
Speaker 2: overstepped himself. He's the guy who said a few hours before,
37:53
Speaker 2: if everybody else denies you, I won't. Peter learned a lesson.
37:57
Speaker 2: Wasn't going to do that anymore. So he said, Lord,
38:00
Speaker 2: in all honesty, I'm fond of you. So what does
38:03
Speaker 2: Jesus say? Tend my lambs. Isn't that gracious? If Jesus
38:11
Speaker 2: had been a mere man, he would have said, up,
38:13
Speaker 2: just like I thought. You're out of the group.
38:16
Speaker 3: Take off, defector. You haven't shaped up. Get out. But
38:24
Speaker 3: Jesus said, Simon.
38:27
Speaker 3: Tend my lands. Wonder what Simon thought. What was he saying?
38:33
Speaker 2: He was saying, Simon, you got a vocation, but don't
38:37
Speaker 2: leave me out of your work. I've got some lambs
38:40
Speaker 2: that need to be taken care of. Get at both
38:42
Speaker 2: of them. I want to use you.
38:46
Speaker 3: Come to terms with your calling, Simon. And so he
38:50
Speaker 3: said the second time, Simon, son of John, do you
38:55
Speaker 3: love me? Now what's left out this time? Huh?
39:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, more than these. That's not in the second question.
39:06
Speaker 2: It's just, let's take off the peer pressure. Let me
39:09
Speaker 2: remove you from the threat of what other people might think.
39:13
Speaker 2: And let me just ask you, do you have the
39:15
Speaker 2: highest form of love for me? Tonight I want to
39:17
Speaker 2: talk further about this problem of peer pressure. It is
39:21
Speaker 2: an assaulting problem. It is, in the words of one writer, tyrannical.
39:28
Speaker 2: How to operate in a world of peer pressure tested
39:33
Speaker 2: by the majority. How do you stand alone? And so
39:38
Speaker 2: he took it off of Peter here and he said,
39:40
Speaker 2: just let's say it's just you and me, Simon.
39:43
Speaker 3: Do you love me? You have that highest form of
39:45
Speaker 3: love for me? Now look at the answer.
39:48
Speaker 2: Yes, Lord.
39:50
Speaker 3: It's a positive response.
39:51
Speaker 2: He said, you know that I am fond of you.
39:54
Speaker 2: Exactly the same answer on Peter's lips. And Jesus' response
40:00
Speaker 2: was predictable. Shepherd my sheep.
40:06
Speaker 3: I'll go with that.
40:08
Speaker 2: If that's the depth, I can still use you, Simon.
40:11
Speaker 2: And now the third time. Now listen very carefully. I
40:15
Speaker 2: don't want you to miss this.
40:17
Speaker 3: Seventeen. He said to him the third time, Simon, son
40:21
Speaker 3: of John, are you just fond of me?
40:25
Speaker 2: He uses Peter's word. Are you fond of me?
40:31
Speaker 3: That's it?
40:33
Speaker 2: Simon said, Lord, you know all things. That's the best
40:40
Speaker 2: I can say.
40:42
Speaker 3: I'm fond of you.
40:45
Speaker 2: Before I go further, There's an actual case that occurred
40:51
Speaker 2: some time ago in Colorado Springs. In a particular Bible
40:57
Speaker 2: class held on the Air Force Academy campus, they met
41:04
Speaker 2: regularly once a week.
41:05
Speaker 3: This group did.
41:07
Speaker 2: There was a Bible teacher who was working with the navigators,
41:10
Speaker 2: but the turning point of the group was a cadet
41:14
Speaker 2: who was the top man in the student body. Sharp
41:19
Speaker 2: as a tack. He was sort of the catalyst. He
41:23
Speaker 2: was the reason the group kept meeting. He provided the
41:25
Speaker 2: place of meeting. He fixed the coffee or saw that
41:28
Speaker 2: it was fixed. He had it all going so that
41:32
Speaker 2: all that the Bible.
41:33
Speaker 3: Teacher had to do would come onto the campus and
41:35
Speaker 3: sit down.
41:35
Speaker 2: They were all together ready to go. One morning, one
41:41
Speaker 2: ominous day of infamy.
41:45
Speaker 3: For this cadet.
41:47
Speaker 2: The Bible teacher looked at this young man and said
41:49
Speaker 2: to him, I think we'll start a little differently. Tell
41:53
Speaker 2: us about your time with the Lord.
41:57
Speaker 3: And the young man held his head down and blinked
42:00
Speaker 3: and his face flushed.
42:03
Speaker 2: And he said, sir, I don't have any time with
42:07
Speaker 2: the Lord. He said, I'm a phony.
42:12
Speaker 3: I'm a fake. It's been a trip. And I'm ashamed
42:17
Speaker 3: of it. And God did real business in that young
42:22
Speaker 3: man's heart that day. But as I.
42:24
Speaker 2: Heard that true story from the lips of the one
42:26
Speaker 2: who taught that class, my stock went up in my
42:30
Speaker 2: mind on that fella. Wow, under the pressure, under the
42:34
Speaker 2: gun of all of his peers, he said, I don't
42:38
Speaker 2: have any time with God.
42:40
Speaker 3: I'm a fake.
42:43
Speaker 2: That Bible teacher put his arm around that guy and said, Hey,
42:47
Speaker 2: let's go on. As if to say with Jesus, tend
42:51
Speaker 2: my sheep. You see, Simon said to him in answer, Lord,
42:55
Speaker 2: you know all things. That word know means to know intuitively,
43:00
Speaker 2: to know your omniscient.
43:02
Speaker 3: Lord, you know everything.
43:04
Speaker 2: And the next time he says no, K-N-O-W, you know
43:09
Speaker 2: that I am fond of you.
43:10
Speaker 3: That's the word for to know by experience. You've experienced
43:14
Speaker 3: that time in recent days when I was just fond
43:18
Speaker 3: of you. You didn't have supreme place in my life.
43:22
Speaker 2: And I think Simon, because it says in this 17th verse,
43:26
Speaker 2: he was grieved having said it. The Greek word lupe
43:30
Speaker 2: means to be pained. It's the word that accompanies mourning
43:34
Speaker 2: at death. He mourned within himself when he said, ah!
43:41
Speaker 3: It's the truth, though. I'm fond of you. It's all
43:44
Speaker 3: I can say.
43:46
Speaker 2: And I'm convinced in my heart that Simon expected Jesus
43:49
Speaker 2: to say, there's the door. Jesus came back and he said,
43:56
Speaker 2: tend my sheep. You see, one of the devil's ace
44:00
Speaker 2: trumps in winning the victory over our vocation and our
44:06
Speaker 2: calling is to lead us to the assumption that we
44:09
Speaker 2: have to be perfect to be used. Because some of
44:13
Speaker 2: you have had a failure or two and some of
44:16
Speaker 2: those failures have been gross, maybe even scandalous. You're sitting
44:22
Speaker 2: there this morning thinking as a child of God, God
44:25
Speaker 2: can never use me. If anybody ever found that out,
44:31
Speaker 2: was it worse than what Peter did? Publicly denying Jesus Christ?
44:39
Speaker 2: What could be worse? And the Savior said to Peter,
44:43
Speaker 2: get at it, man.
44:45
Speaker 3: Get with it.
44:47
Speaker 2: Boy, talk about motivation for those of us who believe
44:50
Speaker 2: in discipling. Talk about picking up those that are weakening
44:56
Speaker 2: and struggling. As I wrap it all together in a
45:00
Speaker 2: kind of a package for application, I want to complete
45:03
Speaker 2: the sentence we've been using all the way through. Coming
45:07
Speaker 2: to terms with your calling is Three things. Number one
45:11
Speaker 2: is this. Starts with a realistic admission regarding your work.
45:17
Speaker 3: Before you can come to terms with your calling, inculcating
45:21
Speaker 3: the Lord Jesus in your work, you've got to come
45:23
Speaker 3: to a realistic admission regarding your work. Admit the fact
45:29
Speaker 3: you're not catching any fish. Just like verse 5. You
45:33
Speaker 3: don't have any fish, do you? No, I don't. There
45:38
Speaker 3: is strictly a human dimension.
45:40
Speaker 2: I was having supper in the Bay Area late last
45:44
Speaker 2: January with a doctor, and he was late getting there
45:48
Speaker 2: because he'd gotten snagged in the traffic, and he said
45:50
Speaker 2: on the freeway, he just turned on his radio and
45:53
Speaker 2: it inadvertently was at a station that had carried out
45:56
Speaker 2: an extensive poll in.
45:57
Speaker 3: The Bay Area for people regarding their work.
46:00
Speaker 2: They had asked I don't know how many thousands of
46:02
Speaker 2: people in that area, are you happy in your work?
46:08
Speaker 3: That was the question.
46:10
Speaker 2: And he said to his amazement, over 81% answered no.
46:18
Speaker 3: Some of them used the word despise. Some used the
46:21
Speaker 3: word hate.
46:23
Speaker 2: Now, if that's true in the Bay Area, I have
46:25
Speaker 2: a feeling that it's a conservative estimate to say 50%
46:28
Speaker 2: of you are unhappy in your work.
46:31
Speaker 3: Take an honest, admitted look at your work and face
46:37
Speaker 3: the fact you're not catching any fish.
46:38
Speaker 2: I'm not talking about doing business. I'm talking about being satisfied,
46:44
Speaker 2: being fulfilled. There's more to a fisherman than just putting
46:48
Speaker 2: fish in a boat. There's a thrill that accompanies it.
46:52
Speaker 2: You say, I've lost the thrill. All right, now we're
46:56
Speaker 2: doing business. Second, coming to terms with your calling includes
47:02
Speaker 2: an honest evaluation of your priorities.
47:06
Speaker 3: You start the day off thinking what? Ah, another day.
47:11
Speaker 2: Or does it start off by saying, wow, Lord Jesus,
47:18
Speaker 2: I'm yours today.
47:21
Speaker 3: This is your desk. This is your office. These are
47:25
Speaker 3: your hands. This is your mouth. This is your pulpit.
47:32
Speaker 2: Now help me be the very best kind of workman
47:35
Speaker 2: I can possibly be. And in the process of time,
47:39
Speaker 2: let's catch some fish. Let's catch some men. In your
47:45
Speaker 2: list of priorities as an adult Christian, where is Jesus Christ?
47:49
Speaker 3: Where is he? First? Third? Off the page?
47:56
Speaker 2: He's vitally interested. That's what Mitchell's book is all about.
48:01
Speaker 2: He's vitally interested in your business. Starts with a realistic
48:06
Speaker 2: admission regarding your work. It includes an honest evaluation of
48:11
Speaker 2: your priorities. Finally, coming to terms with your calling doesn't
48:17
Speaker 2: require absolute perfection in your life. I'll tell you for sure,
48:22
Speaker 2: if God required perfection in any career, there'd be no candidates.
48:30
Speaker 2: Don't believe the lie that because you're not perfect, you're
48:33
Speaker 2: therefore useless. It's my opinion that the evangelistic center in
48:39
Speaker 2: the greater metropolitan Boston area is not found in any church.
48:45
Speaker 2: It's in a filling station on Arlington Avenue. It was
48:51
Speaker 2: owned and operated by a man named Bob who caught
48:55
Speaker 2: the vision early in his life that his vocation and
48:59
Speaker 2: his calling were to be wedded together. As time passed
49:05
Speaker 2: over a number of years of faithful service, it became known.
49:08
Speaker 3: Publicly as the place you would go if.
49:12
Speaker 2: You needed tires, if you needed service, if you really
49:16
Speaker 2: wanted your car taken care of and you want to
49:19
Speaker 2: see it done efficiently that was the place I have
49:22
Speaker 2: literally seen a half a dozen cars lined up bumper
49:25
Speaker 2: to bumper in front of two pumps in front of
49:28
Speaker 2: that little station just waiting to be served by that
49:33
Speaker 2: man he had no banners out no Jesus saves flags
49:38
Speaker 2: No signs, no ichthusis, nothing plastered all over the car
49:42
Speaker 2: or the windows. Nothing that said to bring your car
49:46
Speaker 2: to Bob and take your soul to Jesus.
49:49
Speaker 3: None of that stuff. He simply did his job. And
49:55
Speaker 3: it was remarkable the eternal business that was carried on
49:59
Speaker 3: between the driver's seat and that windshield as that guy
50:03
Speaker 3: was doing business for Jesus Christ. I don't know how
50:07
Speaker 3: many people were funneled into our church from that filling station,
50:12
Speaker 3: the evangelistic center of.
50:14
Speaker 2: That Boston area. I got word from him some time
50:18
Speaker 2: ago that he had retired.
50:20
Speaker 3: I thought, oh, fat chance. He'd never retire.
50:24
Speaker 2: He actually moved, sold his business and moved to Florida,
50:28
Speaker 2: paid cash for a home, made a trip out here
50:32
Speaker 2: to see us, a number of people, and he swung
50:34
Speaker 2: back to Florida and hated it. Sold his house, moved
50:39
Speaker 2: right back.
50:40
Speaker 3: Up the Boston area, and I got a letter from him.
50:44
Speaker 2: Dear Chuck, I hate in Florida. More than that, I
50:49
Speaker 2: hated retirement. He says, my ministry cannot retire. And so
50:54
Speaker 2: he told me about a whole new business. He's in
50:56
Speaker 2: the tire selling business, and he is making Christ known.
51:01
Speaker 3: He'll do it till he dies. Now, let me tell
51:04
Speaker 3: you something, men.
51:06
Speaker 2: Women, when Jesus Christ really fits in the center of
51:11
Speaker 2: a life, oh man, your work suddenly becomes as exciting to.
51:19
Speaker 3: You as this pulpit is to me. Most exciting experience
51:25
Speaker 3: of my life you've witnessed. And getting ready for it
51:30
Speaker 3: and all that follows it is a thrill because I
51:33
Speaker 3: personally believe My vocation and my ministry cannot be separated.
51:42
Speaker 2: You may not be able to give the kind of
51:43
Speaker 2: time to it you would like or as much time
51:46
Speaker 2: to it as I can give to mine because our
51:48
Speaker 2: vocations differ. But when priorities are right, there's an honest
51:53
Speaker 2: admission regarding your work and you don't have to be
51:57
Speaker 2: perfect to do it. It's remarkable what Christ can do.
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Speaker 2: Absolutely remarkable.
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Speaker 3: Let's bow this morning, shall we?
52:07
Speaker 2: The only acceptable reason for you not coming to terms
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Speaker 2: with your calling is that you've never had it. You've
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Speaker 2: never met Jesus Christ as your savior. He's not in
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Speaker 2: first place because he's not in your life.
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Speaker 3: That makes sense. But it doesn't make for peace.
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Speaker 2: You're a homemaker and you're struggling with your role as
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Speaker 2: a mother. You're a student in school and you've lost
52:37
Speaker 2: the zest for studies. Motivation's gone. Your sales have.
52:44
Speaker 3: Dropped, man.
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Speaker 2: Your business is falling off. There's a lack of complete fulfillment.
52:52
Speaker 2: You take a look at why.
52:53
Speaker 3: How's your time with God, Christian? Is there an Air
53:01
Speaker 3: Force cadet there? representative here today who says in his heart,
53:07
Speaker 3: I'm a phony. I can't remember the last time I
53:12
Speaker 3: had time with God.
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Speaker 4: It's not hard to understand why you're not happy in
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Speaker 4: your work. There's a direct link between my time with
53:20
Speaker 4: God and effectiveness in this pulpit. The same applies to
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Speaker 4: your work.
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Speaker 3: I have no corner on God. Now, let me say
53:32
Speaker 3: to you, if you're a loss this morning You've never
53:34
Speaker 3: come to know Christ. I plead with you right now. Hey,
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Speaker 3: don't put that off another day. You say, Lord, I'm miserable.
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Speaker 3: I'm empty. I'm lacking fulfillment. I've become greedy, selfish.
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Speaker 2: The ugly signs of my life are sticking out all over.
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Speaker 4: You're not in the center. And I want to say today, Lord,
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Speaker 4: I take you. personally as my Savior.
54:06
Speaker 3: Thank you for coming into my life. Just do that
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Speaker 3: right now. Right there where you're sitting. And Christians now,
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Speaker 3: do some study, do some personal evaluation of ways in
54:23
Speaker 3: which your work and your calling can be wedded together.
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Speaker 2: Make this time a time of a wedding ceremony, if
54:37
Speaker 2: you please, as you and your calling, your vocation and your.
54:43
Speaker 3: Calling are made one. Father, I thank you even before
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Speaker 3: all decisions are made at this time.