Outreach: Fishers of Men

so again thank you for being here tonight I don't know about all of y'all but traffic was a dooy tonight house watching the time I was a little nervous about it but we made it so um so we're going to continue tonight last week we had started off with a story of something incredible that had happened in somebody's life this incredible story of Outreach we're going to start out this session with a similar story as well just to kind of set the tone we had ALS also left off talking about Elijah and the prophets of Bale and just kind of briefly mentioning and talking about going against a enemy that's great in number and how God can work through even if it's just one person that's facing a great enemy so I'm going to start off with the story this is about a man named Tom white so this was in the years of 1979 and 1980 this happened in Cuba so he was an American Christian man he had many successful drops over Cuba so he would fly over Cuba and distribute over 400,000 pieces of Christian literature into this country but on May 27th of 197 79 he was in a plane crash on a small Cuban Highway and then he was greeted by communist in this country that then took him put a hood over his head and took him in for questioning so he was actually imprisoned and questioned for many days obviously this was a very tiring a very weary situation but he figured out despite all of this despite the time that he was imprisoned and going through this awful time he decided what he was going to do so he stopped answering any of their questions and instead he prayed for the man that was there with him so this man who had done this questioning this man who was an enemy to him at this time he decided I'm not going to answer any more of your questions I'm just going to pray for for you so he prayed for the man and he said that the Holy Spirit gave him a measure of pity and compassion for this man he looked him in the eyes and prayed for Jesus to break through as in his words he said this man is the one that's in the cold and who is more in prison than I myself was as a man so again such an incredible Story So Far of this terrible situation that I hope none of us personally have ever faced a similar type of situation but I know at least speaking for myself that when far less happens in my life it's a lot harder to have this kind of Outlook so

The Story Goes On It says that for the next session of question questioning that the captain this man at this prison wore sunglasses because he didn't want Tom to see his eyes this time but he knew that God didn't need eye contact but he deals with the heart so he kept praying eventually however he did get thrown back into prison but he began to sing A Mighty Fortress Is Our God and Jesus loves me very simple songs but yet very powerful songs reminds me of course when Paul and Silas were in prison as well so it says the guard open the hatch on the cell and ask them ask him what are you doing he said I'm singing about Jesus the guard asked him why are you doing that and he said because I love him so he kept singing just kept kept going and the guard eventually came back and said well if you do love Jesus you will stop singing but Tom just loved God too much to stop so he continued and then it ends by saying after a few days they were finally convinced that he wasn't some sort of spy trying to overthrow their government and they started him back up the treatment ladder so in other words this was a man that was doing such wonderful things doing what he could to reach the people of this country and he went through this terrible situation but yet he did not let that deter him from his mission he did not let that enemy who seem so much greater than he was keep him from what he was there to do and that was to reach souls and I'm sure that that captain of that prison never lived his life the same after an encounter like that so again the person who at the time was his greatest enemy became the very one that he wanted to reach how many of us in our own situations when we have people that we have struggles with we just want to push away we want to walk away from that person we want nothing to do with them

while his own situation in this story seemed so dire yet he worried about someone else above his own situation we can put so much Focus in ourselves that we don't worry about those around us when truly a lot of the people around us in this world are worse off than we are their situation is so much worse they're in the dark they don't know the love that we know and if we just push them away and don't try to reach them that's probably what they expect but we have to do the opposite we have to love our enemy we have to bless those that persecute us I believe I read that somewhere one time so even the darkest of people are not too far for his light to shine through too but the question is in those dark places you may be the only vessel for that light to shine through so do you have that oil ready to go no matter how tough it may seem again going back to how we ended last week with Elijah going against hundreds of people it just takes one person for the fire of God for the light of God to come down and truly shine and change people's lives you see this is what it truly means to be a fisher of men so Jesus talked about that we're going to get more into that but what it means truly to be a fisher of men is to put the need of Soul Saving above anything else that we're facing in our life in order to do that though we do have to be ready to give up some things including our own needs I can imagine I've never been in prison I've never been in faced with a situation as Tom went through but I can imagine at that point all your flesh would do was kick in just survive all I've got to do is get out of here all you would worry about is yourself I don't know maybe you wouldn't but I feel like that's would be my first reaction but again sometimes we have to give up our own needs and our own feelings that we have when it comes to reaching other people

we're going to look at Matthew chapter 4 starting at Verse 18 it says in Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee saw two Brethren Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea for they were Fishers and he said unto them follow me and I will make you Fishers of Men and they straight way left their Nets and followed him and going on from then he saw two other Brethren saw other two Brethren James the son of Zebedee and John his brother in a ship with Zebedee their father mending their Nets and he called them and they immediately left their ship and their father and followed him so in this scripture obviously there was something about Jesus that these people felt there's something that happened it says immediately and straight way they just left it all to follow him they left their job they left their family whatever it was they did what was necessary to be Fishers of Men so what do fishermen do first of all they seek to catch fish if you didn't know and they get all of the necessary Tools in order to catch them and I'm sure that all of these men had the tools they needed for their job as fishermen but when it comes to Fishers of Men we also have some preparation to do we also have to be committed to that job as much as whatever else we may be committed to so as a fishermen not me but as them once they feel that fish nibble on their line they start reeling it in that's what they do that's their job they never say well this bite doesn't feel just right I'm going to I'm not going to reel this one in I'm not going to catch this one no they catch whatever they can just because someone may be an enemy in our life if we feel there is an opportunity to catch them we should take that opportunity even if it may not feel just right to us to have to be around that person or to talk to that person that's not what it's about but when we cast out those lines into this world we don't want to be selective of who we try to reel in we want to catch every one that we can we have to be prepared and have a desire to make those catches how willing are we to really take up that call just as they did in this scripture again straight way they left Nets immediately left the ship and their father and followed him if you ask me there was obviously a desire to heed his voice to heed his call they didn't think about it they didn't weigh the pros and cons they didn't say well let me let me go talk about it with some people I'll get back to you they just did it would you quit your your job if God told you to would you walk away from your family and everything that you know if that's what God told you to do in order to win souls in order to further your walk with God if I may be transparent that would be very difficult I don't know me personally if I would just have an answer right then maybe you would but that would be a very difficult decision but yet that is what we have to do no matter what it is it would be pretty tough no doubt but we have to listen to him in the end how many of you in here tonight you don't have to raise a hand but I'm sure all of us at some point have had to give up some things in our life in order to follow God in order to get closer to him in order to reach other people I'm sure there's things all of you can think of that you had to give up so the question is what are you willing to walk away from in order to Be an Effective fisher of men the things of Life can make that very tough on us that can be a very hard decision to make but again in that scripture there was something that they felt that made them leave just like that with no thought and that same presence that I'm sure they felt that same voice that called them is the same presence and voice that each and every one of you hear I have no doubt that everyone in this building whoever may be watching online you've heard the voice of God you've felt his presence in one way or the other and that is the same Spirit the same voice from these scriptures so what changed obviously we're the ones that have changed as a world because I don't feel that there's too many people that would so easily be able to just walk away from everything if that's truly what God asked us to do now how many of you in here have been fishing for real several of you about everybody it's been a long time for me many years well the question I ask is it a quick process when you go out there and you cast out and you sit down with your sandwich do do they just start coming in you find a good spot yeah not yeah so another question whenever you go do you always catch something Robbie have you you you always catch something I see you as a big fisherman so no

once we take up the call to be Fishers of Men we have to be patient just like with the real thing you may have eagerly walked away from things and you're ready to just pull in a big net but again you have to be patient because you may not make those quick catches you may not be pulling in Nets and Nets of souls but again it takes time you may have to cast out a few different times you may have to go to a few different spots and cast out in order to make those catches we may not be winning thousands of souls right away we may not have those acts two moments where thousands where we stand up and just thousands of souls are one to the Lord maybe we do that's that's great if so but it can be so easy to be discouraged and feel like we're not reaching people in that time of patience in that time of calmness where it doesn't seem like anything's biting where it doesn't feel like we're doing the right thing where we're not doing what we need to do in our minds and that can be such a discouraging feeling for some of us I know of people just personally my life that may not have accepted the truth that I've presented to them there's several instances I can think of where I may have had Bible studies with people or just bought them a Bible and highlighted verses to do an outline of the Plan of Salvation what this is all about and I know even today some of those people if I were to look them up I know that they are not living this life they may not have accepted anything that I brought to them and that can be discouraging when you put time into people when you feel like you finally reeled one in only for them to seemingly swim away but I still know that a seed had to have been planted in each and every one of these lives I've read that some fish can remember that they've been caught before if they've been released or whatever it may have been they can remember that they've been caught before so I'm sure that that situation for that fish might be a little different next time because of being caught the first time for these people that I may have feel I failed on to be again transparent I know without a doubt that they can't forget what they heard because when you hear the truth whether you accept it at that time or not you're not going to forget that so I trust that the next next time that they catch a line that somebody throws out that they're going to remember hey I've heard this before hey I know these scriptures somebody showed this to me before I trust they will remember and then that seed will just be watered that hopefully I myself planted either way we have to keep trying I'd said it before at one of the previous ones we may never know the outcome of seeds that we plant we may never know where people end up that we invested time into but sometimes it's not for us to know the whole picture we're not going to know the whole story that's God's job to see it through to the end sometimes we're just not going to know but we have to keep going forward and if it gets to a point where it seems it's not working one way if we don't feel that we're being effective as Soul winners in whatever way we're trying maybe we need to try it another way

we're going to go to John chapter 21 starting at verse one it says after the these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of tiberias and on the wise showed he himself they were together Simon Peter Thomas Camus and Nathaniel of canaa and Galilee and the sons of Zebedee and two other of his disciples Simon Peter saith unto them I go a fishing they say unto him we also go with thee they went forth and entered into a ship immediately and that night they caught nothing but when the morning was now come Jesus stood on the shore but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus and Jesus saith unto them children have ye any meat they answered him no and he said unto them cast the net on the right side of the ship and ye shall find they cast therefore and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes so looking at this scripture Jesus called them from the shore asking a question that I'm sure had to be irritating I'm sure that these men were very unhappy about their time out on the boat that time so he asked them in other words are you catching anything have you any meat he already knew the answer but he asked them are you catching anything is it working and I'm sure reluctantly they had to admit their failure of no we caught nothing it's not working then comes the even more possibly irritating command for someone that's in the situation they were in well you need to try something else you need to change your method because it ain't working cast your nets on the other side and I don't know but I would think that maybe they might have been against this in a way maybe they were said well we've never done it that way before no respectable fishermen would cast their net that way well we've tried that before and it didn't work if only it were that easy etc etc I can just imagine the humans side of them that may have come out at this time out of their frustration maybe even hey you're a carpenter we're the fisherman let us handle this we know what we're doing but again Jesus in insisted that they changed their method and their expectations in this instance there was an interview with a man who had been trapped on an oil rig during a fire the interviewer had asked him how did you have the courage to jump from a platform that's 15 stories high into water that's engulfed in flames The Man simply said if I was going if I wanted to fry I would have stayed up there but he was desperate so he had to do something I'm sure he would not have normally done so these fishermen in these scriptures because they were desperate for a catch I'm sure after their terrible time out they were probably reluctantly took Jesus's advice and then the outcome as we read was beyond what anyone's imagination could have been two Miracles happened that day firstly they caught more fish than ever before secondly their Nets did not even break as they pulled in this bounty this record-breaking Bounty of fish so all that to say do not get discouraged if you don't feel like you're winning many Souls if you don't feel like you're being effective at outre at outreaching to those around you keep trying you may just have to adjust how you're trying to win those Souls you may be one to say well my circle of friends I've tried I can't reach them so my co-workers I've tried they won't accept it so I guess I'm no good at this I guess this isn't my thing to win souls I'll leave that to the pastor I'll leave that to Guest Services I'll leave that to someone else well if that's the case well then maybe we need to find another Circle to try and reach maybe we need to go outside of the people that we're normally around and go somewhere else to cast our Nets find that other side that we wouldn't normally go to to try to win people or to try to minister to people cast out there and undoubtedly the same thing will happen all it takes is just listening to him even when it may not make sense well Lord if I go there they're going to run me out they're not going to listen to what I have to say that's crazy do you know who these people are but again a miracle can happen when you just listen to what he tells you to do the disciples did what he said and they caught countless fish that day remember we are not out here on a boat all by ourselves trying to do this he's out here with us he's guiding us sometimes you may feel that you get that one that's so big you don't know how to bring them in like I can't do this on my own I don't have the knowledge of the Bible like some others do I don't know the scriptures to tell this person I don't have the responses to the things they come at me with I can't do this on my own but you're not on your own you're not on your own when the storm comes a raging when life gets tough and you feel like that Line's just about to break just remember he's right there in that boat to come calm that storm to come help you to come be there don't forget that he's there every step of the way with you on this journey we just again have to be listening to him and it's true it may take a long time to reach certain people in our life that initial Bible study or that initial hey I'm praying for you text that may not hook them right away that may not have them come through the doors of the church the very next Sunday maybe even the next time or the next time they may not show up but the right time will come and it will change their life forever when it's in God's time time

we're going to look at John 5 starting at verses 1-9 so very familiar story I love to go back to the story because I think it's just such an amazing miracle that takes place starting at verse one it says and this there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem now there is at Jerusalem by the Sheep Market a pool which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda having five portions CH es in these lay a great multitude of impotent folk of blind halt withered waiting for the moving of the water for an angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatever disease he had verse 5 goes on to say that certain man was there which had an infirmity 38 years when Jesus saw him lie and knew that he had been now a long time in that case he said unto him wilt thou be made whole the impotent man answered him sir I have no man when the water is troubled to put me into the pool but while I'm coming another steth down before me but Jesus saith unto him rise take up thy bed and walk immediately the man was made whole took up his bed and walked and on the same day was the Sabbath

people in life so often think they know what it's going to take to fix their problems they think they have the answer of what's going to mend their need so many people have a everybody I would even say everybody in this life we all have a god-shaped hole in our life that can't be filled by anything else but yet people will try to fill this with anything and everything that they can and it may stay for a little while but it's eventually going to fall out of place because that's not what's meant to be there this may seem very Elementary but you all know the toddler toys if you try to put the circle in the Square or the square in the circle it's not going to fit you might can make it go in there with some Force but it's not meant to be there so again people some people have been battling with whatever it may be for so long just as this man laid at this pool it says he had this infirmity for 38 years that's longer than I've been alive that's a long time I couldn't imagine having something that long and he had in his mind if I can just get in this water when it's stirred I know that it'll fix this problem I know this is what I need so many times as well maybe us and the ones around us we all say if only I could have this if only this would happen then I would be happy then I would be better if only someone would dip me in this water then I know that my life will change getting that job will heal my situation getting that raise whatever it may be we think that that's going to fix our situation and that's how people in the world that don't have the hope that we have they have these things that they're trying to reach that they think will fix their situation but so often you hear that people in the world when they get the things they think they need It's never enough then there's something else and then something else that's something we have to keep in mind as we're trying to reach people of this world they may be so weary and tired of trying to find that thing that they think will heal their situation when in reality Jesus is what it's going to take Jesus is what can heal every infirmity every situation obviously that man laid there for many years but once Jesus came through that's when things took a turn that's when his life and his situation was turned around there may be people you know of that have a history of terrible things they've done maybe it's you we all know our own list of terrible things we all have a list terrible things we've done but we have to see them for the new creature that they're going to become I'm sure that that man at that pool was just known as another one of those oh he's been here forever he's no good he just lays there all the time for years but you see Jesus he sees people for what he's going to make out of them not what they may currently be facing

in Acts chapter 9 talks about a man Saul so starting out to kind of set up his story in case you didn't know Saul did terrible terrible things to the Christian people I'm sure worse things than any of us in here have ever done hopefully and he had desired there was letters to Damascus to the synagogues that if any men or women were to be found they would be brought bound into Jerusalem so he was just continuing his terrible mission of persecuting the followers of Jesus of persecuting those that loved God but in Acts n it talks about as he took that Journey he came near to Damascus and suddenly a light shine round about him from heaven and he would Heard a Voice coming from heaven and it was Jesus that spoke to him obviously he was in shock obviously the word says that he was trembling Lord what will thou have me do now now this is a man that persecutes Christians but yet here he is now having a personal encounter and talking to Jesus the one whose followers he kills and persecutes the Lord had told him to go into the City and then it'll be told what he has to do it tells us that at this point he lost his sight so then he went into the City and starting at verse 10 it says there was a certain disciple of Damascus named ananas and to him said the Lord in a vision ananas and he said behold I'm here Lord the Lord said unto him arise and go into the street which is called straight and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus for behold he prayeth and hath seen in a vision a man named ananas coming in and putting his hand on him that he might receive his sight and then ananas in verse 13 do what I feel many of us would probably do is he kind of questioned what God was telling him to do then ananas answered Lord I have heard by many of this man how how much evil he hath done to the Saints at Jerusalem and here he hath Authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name so obviously he had heard of the things that saw done he knew what he was capable of he knew how evil of a man he was for now but the Lord said unto him go thy way for he is a a chosen vessel unto me to Bear my name before the Gentiles and Kings and the children of Israel for I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake so it goes on to say in verse 17 that ananas went his way and entered into the house so obviously he listened to what God told him to do as scary as I'm sure it was putting his hands on him said brother Saul the Lord even Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way as thou CEST hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost and lastly in verse 18 it says immediately there fell from his eyes that it had been scales and he received sight forth with and arose and was baptized something so amazing that I find In this passage again ananas knew who Saul was he knew the things he had done he knew I'm sure what Saul was on his way to do but yet even though he seemed sort of questioning at first when God told him this is the one I need you to go to to this is the one that I need you to speak into when ananas went into that house notice he called him brother Saul he saw him for what he was going to be he saw him as one of his own at that point not as an outcast not as an enemy at this point but because he listened to God's call because he had that desire within him he saw Saul for who he was now going to be he was already a chosen vessel for God even while he had done these terrible things what if ananas had not have listened to God we all know that Saul who became Paul went on to do wonderful things for God he wrote half the New Testament the same man that once persecuted the followers of Jesus is now being used by God to write his word to reach so many people and it's because this man an didn't see Saul for the awful person he may have been he didn't see him for the things that he had done look what he went on to do after that there was a seed that day that was planted into Saul's life and as you all see it sprouted into something so big so wonderful and it all started because somebody decided to listen somebody decided that his soul is greater than the Terrible Things he's done his soul is more important to win than for to me to possibly protect myself by staying away from this dangerous man we have to show love and compassion to this world maybe some of you know murderers maybe some of you know the worst of the worst what if you're the one that God spoke to and said go to this person for they're a chosen vessel I'm sure most of us would not see that person being a vessel for God in whatever state they're currently in but when we follow God's command we take part in that change we take part in that blessing and

you see from that small seed that ananas planted there's so many branches that then went off to so many other people that Paul then reached and ananas had a part in that blessing there's nothing that some people want more in a church than to feel that they're a part of the church just like with us with some other some other people that may come through these doors they may just feel the weight of regret they may just feel this weight coming down on them of the things they done or the life they've lived and there's nothing worse for those people than when we feed into that and we push them further away it's just who we are we tend to alienate people sometimes but yet some people who have done terrible things may be the ones who experience A great miracle and go on to have all of the these branches that Sprout out to so many other people we tend more times to hide away when God speaks to us whenever it's something we don't want to hear whenever it's a command that we don't want to follow whenever we feel the spirit prompt us hey go tell that person that Jesus loves them we're so often just push that aside like I'm not comfortable with that that doesn't look like someone that'll take that very well that doesn't look like somebody that would show up to church but yet there may be a chosen vessel and you're the one that's going to be used to unlock that potential within them and again so many people because of this one act of obedience that was followed Paul went on to reach so many people I can only imagine

in Mark chapter 5 we read about a demon-possessed man we heard about him not too long ago it kind of starts off to say that this was a man that was just bound with chains he cut himself he did just awful things but yet Jesus came into that place where he was and he felt something and it talks about how Jesus cast out those Spirits out of that man and then starting at Verse 18 it says and when he was come into the ship he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him how be it Jesus suffered him not but said unto him go home to thy friends and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee and hath had compassion on thee and he departed and began to publish in capis how great things Jesus had done for him and all men did Marvel so if you'd all like to stand as we begin to come to a close great thing that happens in this story here I'm sure as this man went to tell everyone they knew who he was before they was like wait this is that crazy man this is that demon man what's he doing out here talking about this miracle that took place there's people just like that in our lives that may have that image to their peers they may be the worst of the worst but when they have that encounter when their life is changed when they find out they are a chosen vessel there's people that's going to take notice and so many lives are going to be changed because of that as we get ready to close out if we could

let's just begin to say a word of prayer before we go into our time of worship and I do ask that specifically that we pray for each of ourselves that we listen to his voice when he tells us you're the one that's going to reach this person that seems so unreachable you're the one that's going to plant this seed that seems that this soil is unplant let's pray that tonight Lord we thank you for once again letting us be in your house Lord we just ask that you let us listen to your voice in the noise of this world let us put aside any preconceived notions we have about the people in our lives about those around us that seem so terrible that seems so unwinnable Lord we know that they are chosen vessels unto you we know that there's still a soul that they still deserve your salvation that they were still made to be saved and to be filled with your spirit and to go down in your Waters of baptism Lord we just ask that you let us listen God let us put our own problems aside let us put our own things aside so that we can put first being Fishers of Men In This World so that we reach out and when we cast out that net that it comes through so full so many Souls that it just blows our mind God because you can do the things that we can't see happening God church as we begin to go into our time of worship and song just keep the spirit that you're filling in Jesus name