What We Have With Jesus Is Far Better

In one paragraph

Pastor Carl preached from Luke 5:1-11, the account of Jesus calling Peter at the Sea of Galilee. The single theme he came back to again and again was trust, the kind that grows through relationship and draws a person closer to Jesus one act of obedience at a time. People respond to Jesus in all kinds of ways. Looking back through Luke, Pastor Carl pointed to the crowd in Jesus' hometown that was...

Read together

1. Luke 5:1-11 primary text read aloud; Peter's call and the miraculous catch of fish
2. Luke 18 (parable of the Pharisee and tax collector) read aloud to illustrate trusting in God's righteousness rather than one's own
3. Revelation 3:20 quoted to show God stands at the door and knocks, inviting relationship rather than forcing it
4. Colossians 2 (walk in him, rooted and built up) read as a closing benediction about walking in Christ as you received him

Talk about it

1. Pastor Carl said that what we have with Jesus is far better than what we have without him. Do you agree with that in your own life right now, and what has helped you get to that place, or what is making it hard?
2. Peter's trust in Jesus was built up through a series of small acts over time, not all at once. Can you think of a moment, big or small, where trusting Jesus with something drew you closer to him?
3. Pastor Carl pointed out that Peter let Jesus use his boat before anything miraculous had even happened. What is something ordinary in your life, your time, your skills, your space, that Jesus might be asking to use right now?
4. When Peter saw the miracle, his response was not celebration but humility: 'Lord, please leave me, I am such a sinful man.' The parable from Luke 18 makes the same point about trusting in God's righteousness rather than our own. What does that kind of humility look like practically in how we approach God day to day?
5. Pastor Carl said we cannot be fishers of people and invite others to follow Christ if we do not first trust him ourselves. Where do you feel your own trust in Jesus needs to grow before you would feel ready to do that?