The Power In Your Yes

If you have your Bibles, you can turn with me to Luke chapter 5. Luke chapter 5. Here's where I'll be reading from today. You know, sometimes when preachers are preaching, they're preaching to themselves. And I was kind of pleading with God that I would preach something else today, but I kept coming back to this thought. man, maybe it's because I'm here and maybe I'll preach to myself a little bit today. I hope that's okay with everybody. But Luke chapter 5, verse number one, it says, "So it was as the multitude pressed about him to hear the word of God that he stood by the lake of Genezerat and saw two boats standing by the lake. But the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then he got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. And when he had stopped speaking, he said to Simon, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." But Simon answered Jesus, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, at your word, I will let down the net. And when he had done this, they caught a great multitude or a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in another boat to come and help them.

And they came and filled both the boats, so they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus's knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord, for he and all who were with him, were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken." And so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid, for now on you will catch men." So when they had bought or brought their boats back to land, they forsook all and followed him. Today I want to I want to preach on this title. The power of your yes. The power of your yes. Not your neighbor's yes. Not your father's yes or your grandparents yes. The power of your yes. the power of when you agree with God >> and decide to do it according to his will >> and his plan. Let's do this. Let's bow our heads one more time. Let's pray for the remainder of service today. Jesus, we love you. God, thank you again so much for your presence that we feel so strongly in this place. Lord Jesus, I pray God that you would anoint me to preach your word today. And I pray that you would anoint ears and hearts to receive your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. And amen. Amen. Yes.

The power of your Yes. You would be hardressed to find a threeletter word in the English dictionary that has more power and potential than the word yes. It is impossible to count all of the blessings and all of the provision and all of the potential and all of the goodness of God that is tapped into when a child of the king says yes or agrees with the Lord. Sometimes we say yes and we know full well the outcome that's going to come from our yes. If someone in this room, not today, but maybe tomorrow, invited me to Chick-fil-A for lunch, I would say yes, knowing the outcome is going to be I'm going to be blessed by the Lord's chicken and it's going to be a good day. Can I get an amen? >> Amen. >> But there are times in our lives where we say yes and we're not quite sure what the outcome is going to be. When that man falls on one knee and asks his girlfriend to marry him, she says yes, hopefully without fully knowing exactly what life will entail by saying yes. There are moments where we have to say yes and we wonder how exactly this is going to turn out. Yes is a powerful word and it releases potential and power and when it's tied in to our relationship with God and when we say yes to God it releases all kinds of things in the supernatural realm.

God himself and his character is a God of yes that Paul said to the church in Corenth in 2 Corinthians chapter 2 verse one or 2 Corinthians chapter 1 19 for the son of God Jesus Christ who was preached among you by me and Sylvanus and Timothy was not yes and no but in him was yes for all the promises of God in him are yes and in him amen to the glory of God through us Paul he reminds us that Jesus Christ, the Jesus that we preach to you today, he was not a God of yes or no, but that he is fully a God of yes. And this is important because James tells us in James chapter 1 that a double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways. I want to remind somebody and to encourage somebody today that your God is a God of promises and he is a God who loves to say yes to his children. And I want to remind somebody from the very beginning of this message that your God is for you. He's on your side. He's on your team. He wants you to experience victory in his name today. I feel strong in my spirit to encourage somebody. He is on your side and he wants to say yes. There is something powerful when we have a yes in our spirit. There is something powerful that takes place when you and I hear the voice of God.

Discern what he is saying our in our lives and we decide to agree in the affirmative by saying yes to Jesus. I feel strongly in this house today that God has certainly called each and every one of us. The question comes down to what is in your spirit? Is it a yes or is it a no? In the text that I read to you, God, he is reaching out to an apostle named Peter. And the Lord has a tremendous plan for the life of Peter. Now, you and I, we get the privilege of seeing Peter's life at any portion of his being. And so, we can skip straight to Acts chapter 2, and we can see Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost, and we can think, "This is a man of faith. This is a manu that's being used supernaturally. This is a man that's gifted. This is a man, hey, when he preaches, thousands are saved. And if I if any preacher in the room was going to be honest today and I asked you, hey, you preach a message and thousands get the Holy Ghost. You're going to be like, yeah, I want those sermon notes. >> Go and throw those on my iPad. I'll take that all day. We see the story of Peter and we understand that he was a tremendous leader in the church and he preached a phenomenal message in Acts chapter 2.

In Luke 5, no one knew Peter that way. No one knew him as the great bishop or the great preacher or the great apostle. He was introduced to us in Luke 4 and 5 as just a fisherman. The Bible says that it was a fisherman, just an average Joe, that Jesus came and he proposed a question and he requested of Peter something that was so simplistic and it was just, "Hey, Peter, can I use your boat?" Now, often times, I think we get overwhelmed by the call of God in our life, but often times what God is really trying us trying to get us to do is just do the next right thing. to simply say yes to the small seemingly insignificant things in life. Jesus, he sees Peter and he says, "Hey, Peter, can I use your boat?" The reason why Jesus wanted to use the boat was because there was a great multitude that wanted that Jesus wanted to speak to preach to that had gathered by the hillside. And so Jesus asked, "Hey, can I get your boat? Can I borrow your boat? and could you push it out just a little bit so that I can speak to the audience in front of you? Again, a very simple invitation, a very simple request, but request after request after request gets Peter to where Peter eventually gets in his life. Again, understand Peter did not become the great preacher on the day of Pentecost overnight.

It was a small consistent step walk with Christ and allowed him to have the power and the authority to stand up before the multitude. On that day, Jesus said, "Peter, can I use your boat? Can I launch out a little bit so I can speak to this audience? Can I push you out further later on so that you can preach or that you can catch a great amount of fish? Can I will you let down your nets? Will you do some things that seemingly are simplistic in nature? Will you do these things for me? And time after time after time, Peter says, "Yes. Yes, God. I don't understand it. I don't I don't I don't fully comprehend what you're wanting to do right now in my life, but Jesus, I'll say yes." The question that I have for us at the very beginning of this message today is if Jesus asks for even the simplistic things in your life, the seemingly easy things, the things that aren't going to cost you a whole lot, are you willing to say yes? I promise you that if you will learn a behavior and a desire to be obedient to the things of God, that your yeses will begin to compound one on top of another. >> And there will be a day where you'll be much further down the road, spiritually speaking, than you could have ever fathommed for yourself.

And it's not because of your abilities. It was all because of your willingness to be obedient. Amen. >> Jesus had a plan for the life of Peter. But I've got good news for us in the room today. God also has a plan for your life. >> He also has a desire and a will for your life. And I need you to hear this right now. He's not coming up with a plan as we speak. Amen. >> He He's not watching the nightly news and paying attention to the world around us and thinking, "Oh, well, now that the world's done this, I need to pivot so and so to do to do this now for the kingdom of God." He There is no new news to the Lord. >> He does not reestablish his plan for your life based on the circumstances that are going on around us. The prophet Isaiah said it this way in Isaiah 46:9. Remember the former things of old. For I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are done that are not yet done. Saying, "My counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure." The Lord, he knows the beginning to the end. He knows the end to the beginning. >> There is nothing There is nothing There is nothing that you will ever go through.

There is nothing that you will ever experience. There is not a day that you will have to walk in that he has not already been there. >> He knows exactly where you're at. He knows exactly where you're going. He knows exactly what's about to take place in your life. I think often times we get overly concerned about our tomorrows, thinking that we have to have everything ironed out. We have to have everything figured out. And the truth of it is that he already knows. >> He's already been there. He has seen each and every minor detail of your tomorrow. Oh, I wish I could get a hold of somebody right now. He is not concerned that tomorrow you're not going to make it. HE KNOWS YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE IT TOMORROW. HE KNOWS WHAT YOU'RE CAPABLE of for the kingdom of God. He knows where you're at. And he has a plan for your life. He has a plan for you. You know something that astonishes me about Jesus is that and in our relationship with him is that we can do nothing without him. >> Amen. >> We're not capable of doing anything without him. >> Yet for whatever reason he chooses to do nothing without us. >> He loves to partner with his children. >> He Let me just let me just shock some of you today. When he asked Peter, "Hey, Peter, can I borrow your boat?" You know what he didn't need?

He really didn't need Peter's boat. He could have raised his voice. He could have spoke from the heavens to the people. He could have just spoke a boat into being right there. That' been kind of cool. Talk about your 3D printers right there. Just God speaks the word. But for whatever reason, he chooses to partner with us. The psalmist says in Psalm 8:4, "Why is man that thou are mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him?" Have you ever pondered for just a moment and considered how awesome, how incredible the responsibility is that we partner with the creator of the world that he has chosen despite our failures and despite our limitations and despite our weaknesses, he has chosen us to partner with him to advance his kingdom. What is man? Who am who am I? Who is Wesley Stevens that you would be mindful of me that you would want to partner with me? And let me just be very clear. Let me be very clear. He's not partnering with me because I've got it all figured out >> or because my righteousness is better than some people's righteousness. The Bible says our righteousness is like filthy rags compared to him. >> He partners with me despite who I am. >> Despite the things that I cannot do. I wish I wish I could every single time preach the best message you've ever heard.

I wish every time I could do all the things that I see other people, but God's not he's called me to BE ME. AND DESPITE the limitations of who I am, he still wants to use me. He still desires >> to partner with me >> today in this room. He wants to partner with you. The Bible says that he knew you before you were in your mother's womb. You're not an accident. You're not here by happen stance. God knew exactly what he was doing when he placed you here in Murphreey'sboro. When he placed you here at Centerpoint and where wherever you've been and wherever you came from, I want you to know you have found exactly where God wants you to be in this season of life here at this church. >> And wherever you're at right now, I want you to know that God has a distinct plan for your life. He has designed you for such a time as this. Brother Wes, you don't know where I've been. You don't know what You don't know what my last name means. You don't know what my family's been up to. You don't understand that the mistakes I've made. I want you to hear this today. God has not looked at those things and said, "You are disqualified from doing something great for his kingdom." >> He knows exactly what family he puts you in. He knows exactly the friends that he surrounds you with.

He knows exactly the neighborhood you grew up in. He knows the gifts that you have. He knows the skills and THE PASSIONS AND THE DREAMS. HE'S PUTTING ALL THOSE THINGS INSIDE OF YOU so that YOU COULD FULFILL THAT WHICH HE'S called you >> to do. You're not an accident. I >> care a lot less today of how you got here and even why you're here. And I I'm more excited about the fact that God has chosen you to be here. >> He knows where you're at. And right now, right now is the perfect opportunity for you to begin to say yes to Jesus. >> He's going to send you a request. Peter, can I can I use your boat? Peter, can I send you another request? Will you push me out a little bit into the water? Peter, I'm going to give you another request. Can you can you go yourself out into the deep? Can you let your nets down for a great catch? He's going to give you a request today. HE'S GOING TO PUT SOMETHING ON YOUR LIFE TODAY. THE question is will you say yes? >> Is there a yes in your spirit? >> Today I'm not talking about having a shallow yes. And today I'm not talking about having a seasonal yes. This isn't a yes because everything right now in my life feels good. Everything in my life right I've got my ducks in an order.

I know exactly my ducks in a row. I've got all the things figured out. So because of this, because I I'm in a good place right now in life, then I am able to say yes. He He's not looking today for a shallow seasonal yes. He's looking for somebody who will make up in their mind, no matter what comes, no matter what happens, no matter what I have to go through, my answer is going to be yes. My answer is GOING TO BE YES. I WILL DO whatever you've asked me to do. I will go through WHATEVER KIND OF HELL I HAVE TO GO THROUGH TO SAY YES TO WHAT YOU'VE PUT IN MY LIFE to do. In first Kings chapter 19, we find Elisha and he says yes to the call of God on his life. It was Elijah who knew his days were coming to an end and he felt led by God to go find his replacement. And in finding his replacement, he goes back to his hometown and he finds Elisha. And Elisha is obviously a man of means because the Bible says that he in the middle of the famine is working the field with oxen. The fact that he has oxen and the fact that he has land in the season of famine means that he was well off and Elijah he throws the mantle at Elisha and Elisha he becomes so overwhelmed by the call that's been placed on his life.

He doesn't sit there and ponder. He doesn't sit there and consider the pros and cons of following the will of God in his life. The Bible says he pursued wholeheartedly after Elijah >> only to tell Elijah, "Hey, Elijah, I've got to go back home just to tell my mom and dad goodbye because I may never see them again because I don't have to count the cost. I know following you, following the will of God for my life is greater than anything I can do here in my comfort zone." >> AND SO ELISHA, HE GOES BACK HOME. He tells mom and dad, "I I've got to leave. I've got to follow the prophet. I got to follow the will of God in my life." But not only does he do that, he the Bible says that he burns the field. He burns the auction. HE BASICALLY SAYS, "I'M NOT GOING TO COME BACK HERE. This field, this work, this comfort zone that I had THAT I ESTABLISHED, I'M NOT COMING BACK HERE BECAUSE I'VE GOT TO FOLLOW THE WILL OF GOD FOR my life today." HEY, THAT'S WHAT GOD IS looking for somebody. THAT KIND OF ATTITUDE, THAT KIND OF MINDSET THAT SAYS, "I DON'T HAVE TO MAKE A PROS AND CONS LIST. IF GOD SPOKE IT, IF GOD SPOKE THE WORD OVER MY LIFE, MY ANSWER IS GOING TO be yes. It's going to be yes." >> Elijah, HE THREW THE MANTLE ON ELISHA.

HE DID NOT HAVE to even consider. He said, "I've got to pursue the things of God." >> Elisha had a mind made up over anything else. I'm pursuing the Lord. Not a shallow yes, not a not a seasonal yes, not a selfish yes. It was a full wholehearted yes. God, you can do with the rest of my life as you please. Today, God is looking for a young man, a young woman, a saint of God to say yes. And let me just be again very clear, he's not looking and evaluating you based off your skill set for what you can do for the kingdom of God. You know, mankind, we can evaluate. We can look at somebody and we can say, "Oh, yeah, that person, yeah, they can do this, they can do that." In professional sports, there's a thing called a scout. A scout will look at you and we'll figure out the metrics and say, "Well, yeah, this person can do this for the team. This person has the ability to do these things." God doesn't look at us the same way. >> He's not making a list, a B list, a C list. You don't believe me? Paul said this in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 26. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. What's the Lord doing here? He's not looking at your attributes.

He's not looking at your skill sets. He's not looking at you like other people see you. He says, "Hey, I'm not looking for the mighty. I'm not looking for the noble. I'm not looking for the ones that have it all figured out." Verse 27 it says, "But God has chosen the foolish things >> of the world to put to shame that which is wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame things which are mighty." Paul Paul's telling the church in Corinth, he's like, "Hey, I'm not here to insult you, but I need you to get it that God didn't call you because you are, you know, Einstein. you're a future NASA astronaut. We need you for the kingdom of he can use an astronaut. But he said, "Hey, look at look around you right now. The ones that are called, the ones that are doing something for the kingdom, they were nobodies >> before I got a hold of them." >> HEY, PETER WAS JUST A FISHERMAN. He was just a common average guy until I got a hold of him. >> And now he's preaching the day of Pentecost. He says, "I can I can take the things that are foolish, the things that don't seem wise, the things that don't seem like they would work. I can fix those things and I can make those people into who I desire for them to be >> today." He's not looking to see if your act is altogether.

He's not looking to see if you've got the right pedigree. He's not looking to see if you've got the right intellect. He He's looking to see are you available for the kingdom of God. Amen. >> Are you available today? Are you willing to pay the cost today, no matter how high the cost might be? The Bible says it's not by might and it's not by power, but it's by his spirit. Today, your yes needs to be attached not to your ability, but to your availability to be used by the power and the spirit of God. He's looking for somebody today that's not too busy for him. >> That's not too focused on other things outside of the kingdom of God. Jesus today is looking for somebody in this room to just answer the call. Who will say, "I'll do whatever, Lord, you have called me to do. I will say yes to whatever you've placed on my heart to do. Each and every person in this room today, you're called of God. We say this a lot in this church. We say everybody has a ministry. Everybody has a ministry. You know, we say that not because it sounds good behind a pullpit. We say it because it's true. >> Yes, >> you have a ministry. You have a responsibility in the kingdom of God. You and your life means more than just punching in and out of the time card Monday through Friday 9 to5 and just barely surviving life.

There is a higher call of God on your life than just to warm a church seat. Your call is more significant than just barely get by in this life. God has designed you and created you and purposed you for something great in his kingdom. >> You have purpose. You have kingdom responsibility. And there is power in the room today when you wake up to that reality that you have been called with an earthly assignment that your only responsibility isn't just to make it to heaven, but it's to do something now for the kingdom of God. Amen. >> Do you realize that your responsibility is more than just make it to heaven and hear well done thou good and faithful servant? >> We all want to hear that. But if that was our only responsibility when you received the Holy Ghost and when you were buried in his name in baptism and when you repented of your sins, you'd be zapped into heaven just like that. That'd be kind of crazy, wouldn't it? Somebody come around the altar, they just got baptized, they get the Holy Ghost, boop, there they go. I've made this joke before, but when I was youth pastor, I prayed, God, you do that to some of them. Right now is a prime opportunity. Not y'all. I was never y'all's youth pastor. Just take them right now, Lord. They're prime. They're ready. Just take them right now.

But God doesn't work that way. We have earthly responsibilities. >> We have earthly callings. God has placed something on our life more than just making it to heaven one day. And that's going to be a great day. I'm not belittling that day, but you have a responsibility, a call in your life to not just take yourself there, >> but to take other people with you. Hey, I still believe this. I still believe that a church that is not evangelizing is fossilizing. Let me just say this way. I believe that an individual who's not actively reaching into his or her community and trying to get people out of the miry clay and on the rock to stay the people that are NOT WILLING TO SACRIFICE ALL TO REACH A SINGLE SOUL. >> We have to be worried. >> Hey, we can't listen. We can't get so heavenly minded that we forget our earthly assignment. >> We have to remember what God has called us to do right now. >> people that answer with a yes are the people who make a difference in the kingdom of God. They're the people that you and I remember. We don't really remember often times the ones that say no. We remember Jonah. He said no, but then eventually he said yes, didn't he? In the Old Testament, in the book of Numbers, we see that Moses calls out 12 spies to go into the promised land.

If I were to ask you today, can you name me one of those spies? You would not name me one of the 10 that said no. You would say, I remember Caleb. I remember Joshua. But we couldn't name another guy that went. >> Why? Because history tells us that the people that say yes >> for the kingdom of God, >> we remember the people that said yes. And again, I hope you understand today we don't just say yes so we can make the history pages. >> But the Lord is looking for people who will not be cowards. >> And I hope that's okay for me to use that word. >> Who will not play it chicken and safe their entire life and do nothing for the kingdom. >> He is looking today for people who will have the courage to say yes. Yes. Yes. I don't know where the yes is going to take me, but my answer is yes. Imagine the Israelites disappointment when those 12 spies came back and the Bible says that they got great clusters of grapes. I don't know what's happened to me. I'm 38 now and I I've just discovered my love for grapes. My wife, I think, is worn out because like she'll bring grape and I'll eat the whole bucket. Like it's like it's gone. Grapes are awesome. the these 12 spies, they bring back clusters of grapes. And the people are like, "My goodness, the promise is out there.

The reality is setting in. This is where we're heading." But the 12 disciples are like, "No, not really." Or the 12 spies, they're like, "No, not going to happen." The 10 of them say, "There's giants there and we can't overcome them." They said, "No." There was a no in their in their spirit. Can you imagine the disappointment? It'd be like Thanksgiving. We're getting close to Thanksgiving. I preached a message one time called Wear Your Stretchy Pants. I believe in Thanksgiving. It'd be like, it'd be like mama cooking Thanksgiving. And you get over there and she's like, "Hey guys, bad news. Thanksgiving's canceled. You see the spread? It's right there." It's like, "What do you mean I can't have that sweet potato casserole?" Like, I'm about to have that. I'm about to partake right now. I'm not trying to get on rabbit trail too much, but you remember when you're a kid, it felt like you get to your grandparents house and like it takes nine hours for them to actually serve the food. It's like the first eight hours all you have to do is stare at it. Like, all right, now you can eat it. But these people, they say, "Hey, it's out there, but we can't get it." 10 of them said, "No." But we remember the two that said, "What?" Yes. Yeah. Yeah. There are giants there. Yeah. There there's going to be a battle there.

Yeah. Yeah. It feels a little overwhelming, but my answer is yes. My decision is yes. GIVE ME THE MOUNTAIN. GIVE ME THE BATTLE. GIVE ME THE PROMISED LAND. GIVE ME WHAT GOD HAS SAID is mine. The Bible is chalk full of people who said yes. Noah says yes. Abraham says yes. Moses said yes. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They all said yes. Mary says yes. PETER, PAUL, THE APOSTLES, THEY all said yes. despite the odds being against them. >> Even Jesus said yes. So what makes us think today that we can go without saying yes? What makes us think that we can just coast through this thing and never have to give God a full yes? I'm thankful today that in this church there is there's a legacy here of people who have said yes. Bishop and Sister Carlo a priest. I honor you today. There was a stage in your life where you moved a young family to Mury'sboro without knowing fully what it was going to look like. But you said yes. And because of your yes, we got a church on last casses. And we've grown to where we are today on the shoulders of you saying yes. >> Honor Pastor and Sister Chassity Allen today because you've said yes. You've said yes time and time and time again. And because of your yes, this is a revival church, not just for the city of Murphy'sboro, but for the region and the country.

I believe that with all my heart >> because you said yes. Two great families who have said yes. But that's not where it ends at this church. There's a man by the name of Clayton Neil who said yes. And because he said yes, there's a church today in Woodbury. >> There's a man by the name of Scott Armstrong. He said yes. And because he said yes, there's a church today in Mount Juliet. There's a man by the name of Rand Smitty. He said yes. And because he said yes, there's today a church in Watertown. But people have said yes to more than just church planting. We've had the Rimmers who have said yes. And because they said yes, they've seen hundreds of people receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. >> >> We see people like Stephan and Deborah Summers who've said yes. And now there is a vibrant church in the country of CYPRUS BECAUSE PEOPLE FROM THIS CHURCH HAVE SAID YES TO THE CALL OF GOD ON THEIR LIFE. But you know what? I am a former youth pastor. You know what I really love? I love it when the students say >> yes. Let me tell you what I get hyped about. I get hyped when the students say yes. when they say yes, I'll go plant a church in my school because we have students time and this is not just over the last year or two years.

This is this is now a decade in the process where we have had students say yes I will plant I will go I will start a P7 club in my in my school and now we have six active P7 clubs in our in our county because of students saying yes. They have seen, hear this, they have seen over 200 people on a weekly basis roll in TO THEIR P7 CLUB BECAUSE they said yes. What am I trying to get? I'm trying to get this. I'm trying to say this is that there is a ripple effect when you say yes. >> There is a ripple effect when you agree with what God has placed in your life. HEAR THIS PREACHER TODAY. YOU'RE NOT TOO FAR gone to say yes today. You've not waited too long that you cannot say yes. No matter where you're at in life today, you can have a yes in your spirit. The Bible says in Isaiah 1 19, it says, "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land." The prophet say, "Hey, listen. If you're willing, if you'll listen to God, you can do great things for his kingdom." You know what I love about this, Brother Freeman, is he doesn't say, "If you're perfect and you got it all figured out, then you'll eat the good of the land." He just says, "Hey, if you're willing and obedient, >> let me say this.

It doesn't matter so much what you did yesterday, as much as what you say today. >> Yesterday you could have messed it all up, but today you can come to an altar and you can say yes. >> And if you say yes, you can start eating the good of the land. Today can be your day. Today can be your day of salvation. You can say yes today. Peter, he had caught nothing. He had caught nothing. Yet Jesus tells him, "Hey, go out there, push your boat a little deeper, cast your nets, and there'll be a great catch." He could have said, "Hey, there's no way. I've already failed at this." But he pursued it anyways. He pushed anyways. Somebody needs to be reminded today, just because you have failed once does not mean it's over for you. Just because you've tried it once for the kingdom of God and it didn't work out the way you wanted to does not mean you don't get up and try again. >> Just because you taught that one Bible study and that person stopped coming to church doesn't mean you don't ever teach another BIBLE STUDY. GET BACK UP AND TRY AGAIN. >> PETER, he learned in Luke chapter 5 that failure is not final. And this helped him because there was going to be a day in John chapter 21 after the resurrection when Jesus had told Peter, "You're going to fail me.

You're going to deny me three times." And what did Peter do? He denied him three times. The rooster crows, he gets hurt in his heart. He has sorrow in his heart because he knows he's failed. And what does Jesus do when Jesus interacts with him there that day over breakfast? He says, "Peter, I know you messed up. I know you did what you said you would never do. You said you would go to prison and even to death with me. You said you would never betray me, never deny me, and you did that. But here I am. We're here having breakfast. And I've got a question for you, Peter. Is there still a yes in your spirit? Is there still a yes there, Peter? Do you do you love me? Do you still have a yes in there? Yeah. Yeah, you messed up, Peter. Yes, you tried it and it didn't work out the way you wanted it to. But Peter, is there still a yes? >> Because here's the truth. As long as you have a yes still in your spirit, God can still use you. >> Oh, you don't understand, Pastor Wes. I stepped out in faith. I made a fool of myself. Everybody was laughing at me. My question to you today is, do you still have a yes? >> Do you still have a yes? Do you still have a want to do something for the kingdom of God?

Something that outlives you, something that the kingdom of God can be built on. >> Three denials, three questions, three fresh chances to say yes. Today in this place, each and every one of you have an opportunity to say yes >> to say yes right now. For some of you in this room, and I'm coming to the close, the musicians can come. For some of you in this room today, it may be your first yes. It may be the first time that you've ever slowed down really in your life and processed where you're at and thought to yourself, "Do I really need to experience Jesus?" And I pray that today would be a day of a first yes for you. Yes, I need to experience Jesus for myself. Yes, I need to get to an altar. Yes, I need to repent. Yes, I need to get right with God. Today can be your first yes. And we will rejoice with you. The Bible says all heaven will rejoice over one sinner who gets right with God. >> We'll celebrate with you. But maybe you're here today and you've tried and you've tried and you've tried and you've got it wrong. You got it. You messed up. You didn't do it exactly the way it should have been done. You failed. Today can be your day where you get back up on your feet and you say yes again. >> Proverbs says, "A righteous man falls seven times, but he gets back up again and he says yes.

Yes. >> Yeah, I messed up, but here I am. I'm going to get back up. I'm going to say yes again. Today can be your day of saying yes. Stand to our feet right now. Truth is when you say yes to Jesus, it impacts and it starts to activate so much in the kingdom realm. your simple yes. It may not feel like much, but I promise you when you say yes, God, who's already at work, begins to show you exactly how he's putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. In Luke chapter 5, Peter just gives some simple yeses. And by giving some simple yeses, the God who was already working began to attach his promises to Peter's yes. Because here's the deal. Peter, he was tired. He was exhausted. The Bible said he'd been fishing all night. The last thing I can promise you, the last thing he wanted to do, brother Barnes, was go back out there one more time and cast another net. The ones that he was cleaning, the ones that he was tired of seeing probably for that day. But he went out one more time. And what Peter did not understand is that while he was being simply obedient to the Lord, the Lord was talking to some fishes. >> You say, "Can Jesus talk to fish?" Of course he can. He created them. He can speak to them. >> Peter didn't know it.

But as he's going back out there in faith, Jesus is telling a school of fish, "Hey, it's time for you to make yourself available." So Peter throws out that net. What happens? There was a great catch. My God, he's been working this whole time. I didn't see it. I didn't feel it. I didn't I didn't believe it maybe fully. >> I just threw my net out there. >> Come on. And God was already speaking some things into existence that I couldn't even see. >> Praise God. >> That I didn't even know was there. >> Oh, but there was even more than just that. Because here's the truth. It did not just impact Peter's boat that day. But James and John, just because of their connection to Peter, received a blessing that day. What am I trying to say? I'm trying to say this. Your yes has a ripple effect. >> Sure. >> Where it's not just going to bless you. >> It's going to bless those that are around you. >> Yes. Hallelujah. >> The people that God's called for you to partner with, it's going to bless them. Your obedience is going to bless them. >> Praying mama, praying daddy, your obedience is going to be a ripple effect for generations to come. You may not see it yet, but your children and your children's children are going to receive blessings because of your o willingness and obedience to what God has placed on your heart today.

If this is your first yes or this is your seventh yes or this is your thousandth yes, today the question is, there a yes in your spirit? God's working. He's always working. He never takes a day off. He never takes a moment off. He's working in this room right now. Are you willing to say yes to him? Are you willing to agree with him? Are you willing to lay some things down that are holding you back and say, "Jesus, whatever it is in my life right now that you want to do, my answer is yes." Lord, >> let's bow our heads right now. Jesus, I believe with all my heart, God, that you are speaking to some people in this room right now. God, you're reminding them in this room right now that you are El Shadai. You are God Almighty. that you are Jehovah Gyra, that you are their provider, that you are Jehovah Rafa. You're the God that heals. You're Jehovah Shalom. You're the God who is peace. And God, I believe in this room right now that there is a group of people, that are tired, that are waited down by this world. That God, you have called them right now to step out in faith to just say yes one more time. And God, I believe with all my heart that if they will say yes, if they will do their part, if they will meet you where you're at, then God, I believe that you'll meet them as well.

And that you'll begin to do a supernatural work in their life. God, I pray right now over every person in this room, God, whether this be their first time or they're a senior saint of this church, God, I pray that in their spirit, there would be a spirit of yes in the room. Right now, I'm going to open up this altar and I want everybody to come forward. And when you come forward, what you're saying, what you're declaring is, God, I'm saying yes. God, I'm saying yes. Maybe today you know exactly what you're saying yes to. Maybe you know the cost. Maybe you know what it's going to take because of your yes. That's okay. Maybe today you're coming up here and you have no clue. You have no clue what's ahead of you. But you're saying, "Hey God, whatever it is, I trust you. God, whatever it is, I want to be obedient to what you have in my life. Come on, right now. Can we begin to lift up our hands? And as they begin to sing, I would ask that right now you would just begin to agree with God. My answer is yes, God. My answer is yes, God. Whatever you want me to do, wherever you're leading me, whatever you're wanting to do in my heart and my life, my answer is yes. Come on, child of King. It's prayer time.

Let's pray.