What We Have With Jesus Is Far Better
First B Jackson
2017-03-26

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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And it's it's one that deserves our our consideration using our our time, our resources, our passions, whatever God has given us. What are we willing to trade so that people can really know that that God indeed loves them? And, that video gave some incredible examples, but it really comes down to, putting our our faith in action that we follow God because we trust him. We trust where he's leading us. And as I've been preaching through Luke on on Monday nights here, something that that God has been, showing me more and more is just how trustworthy Jesus is.

Just how trustworthy Jesus is as we see him through the gospel. He doesn't let us down. He doesn't lead people astray. What Jesus does is to lead people into God's kingdom. That's what he does through love, through relationship, by earning their trust, by proving himself faithful over and over and over again to where they, those who have encountered Jesus, we, those who encounter Jesus begin to realize that what we have by following Jesus is far better than what we have without him.

Can I say that again? Because that was something that I I I felt a deep conviction of this week that what I have with Jesus is far better than what I have without him. Amen. If you agree with that statement in your own life. But the fact remains that in love, God has reached out to us, is reaching out to us, and I believe that kind of love really deserves a response from us.

And Jesus got all kinds of responses. Jesus still gets all kinds of responses. For example, just looking back in in Luke, when Jesus preached in his hometown, do you remember this? And he said, hey, listen. All the scriptures that you've read, I'm the fulfillment of those scriptures, which you won't believe me.

And the people's response that day, straight up anger. They're about to throw him off a cliff. But then he goes to Capernaum. He teaches. He casts out demons.

He heals the sick. Their response, amazement. What authority and power this man's words possess. They got it. They grabbed ahold of it.

Sometimes one more. Peter's mom-in-law. Do you remember this one right here? She's sick. She has a fever.

And at his command, her fever is gone, and she immediately gets up. And what does she do? She serves a meal for him. You know what I mean? Sometimes people were amazed.

Sometimes they're angry. Sometimes they're thankful and grateful, and they immediately serve him. Sometimes they're scared. Sometimes they're opposed. But I'm I'm asking us this church this morning, not only to pay attention to other people's responses to Jesus, but to pay attention to ours.

How do we respond when God is reaching out to us through his son Jesus? What do we do? You know? And I can't think of a better response than what we're looking at, here today in in Luke five one through 11 when Jesus does a miracle at the Sea Of Galilee, and the response from Peter is simply this, trust. It's simply trust.

I could not get away from it. Whatever Jesus told Peter to do, he just did it. You know, the small things and the big things. He wasn't indifferent. He didn't argue.

He acted in faith. He trusted what Jesus had to say, and I'm really convinced that he did it because Jesus earned his trust. He earned his relationship. He built a relationship, and he proved him trustworthy to Peter over and over and over again. And that is why Peter could leave everything and and follow Jesus.

So I'm gonna read it. It'll be on the screen. And as it's being read, just would you take it in? Take note of how Peter trusted Jesus in these verses, but ask yourself too as reading them. God, do I have a trusting faith like this?

Would I have done that if Jesus had asked me? So here it is. Luke five one through 11. It'll be on the screen. Blake will track with me as I as I read it here.

One day, as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea Of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God, lots of people. He noticed two empty boats at the water's edge for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. And so he sat in the boat, and he taught the crowds from there. When he finished speaking, he said to Simon, now go out where it's deeper and let your nets down to catch some more fish.

Master, Simon replied, we worked hard all last night. We did not catch a thing. Catch this here. But if you say so, I'll let the nets down again. And this time, their nets were so full of fish that they began to tear.

A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. So you got this picture in your mind, these two boats. These guys are probably just going wild. When Simon Peter realized what happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and he said, oh Lord, please leave me. I am such a sinful man.

For he was awestruck by the number of fish they'd caught as were others with him. His partner, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. Jesus replied to Simon, don't be afraid. From now on, you'll be fishing for people. And as soon as they landed, they left everything, and they followed Jesus.

Can we pray on what was just read? God, I am asking that you would meet us here today just as you met those people, then in that day. That as you built a relationship with Peter and he trusted you, simply obeying you, one act after another, that that would be our story as well. We build a deeper trust, a deeper faith, a richer life. In Jesus' name.

Amen. No three point sermon today, one theme, and it's trust. That's it. If you walk away with anything, walk away with that right there. And the reason trust became it just became paramount as I read this, and I couldn't get away from from this.

And and the reason I say that is people don't leave everything they have and follow Jesus if they first don't trust him. Right? Does that make sense? People don't trade, like in the video, comfort and routine so that others can know Jesus if they don't first trust him. We're not going to be fishers of people and ask others to follow Christ if we don't first trust him ourselves.

I mean, that makes sense. Right? It's just kind of a foundational truth, and trust is built on relationship. You know? And what I love about this passage is how Jesus earns Peter's trust through relationship, through each act.

He tells Peter to do something. Peter does it. Again, and he does it, and this trust is built, and it's built and built. He doesn't demand it. He doesn't force Peter to do this.

He wins him over by meeting Peter where he's at. In the chapter before, he healed his mom-in-law. And now he comes to Peter's work, and he's performing a miracle. And all these series of events begin to change his heart, one act after another, to where Peter can then say, okay. I'm all in.

I'm all in. I'll I'll go wherever you go. I used to read this, and I would think to myself, wait. They left everything, and they followed Jesus just like that? You know what I mean?

It just seemed so abrupt to me. Like, it wasn't abrupt. It was over time. It was over relationship that they could follow Jesus and commit their lives to him and to go where he went. And the same is true for us as we build relationship with Jesus over time.

We see that he's trustworthy. We see that he's loving. We see that he's faithful. We see that he's powerful. And these things add more trust and more trust.

Do you see what I mean? I mean, that's how relationships are formed. You work at it. You work at it. You witness the effects of it.

And again, we realize that what we have with him is far better than what we have without him. But it begins with trust built on relationship. So all I wanna do, go back to the scripture we read, take note of how Peter trusted Jesus. And as we do, would you do this? Put yourself in his shoes.

Be there. Be Peter for for a minute if you would. And if Jesus asked you to do these things, what would you say? K. Beginning with verse three.

Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, his owner, to push it out into the water so that he could teach from there. K? That might not seem real significant, but imagine you're Peter. K? It's your boat.

It's your livelihood. Peter could have said, no, thanks. I got work to do. Maybe ask somebody else. But he doesn't.

He allows Jesus to use his boat, and then he listens to Jesus teach from his bow. Even if it's a small amount of trust, it's trust. You know? And so let's not overlook those small acts of obedience that people take for Jesus. Let's not overlook those small acts of obedience that we take.

The fact that you're even here today shows that you you had to trust. It took trust on your part even to get you know, for some people, just stepping into this place is is hard, and they don't want to, or they had a bad experience, just coming in here today to hear from Jesus is a step of trust on your part. But what came next here for Peter required even more chess. Check out verse four and five here. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, now go out where it's deeper and let your nets down and catch some fish.

Master, Simon replied, we worked hard all last night. We didn't catch a thing. But if you say so, I'll let the nets down again. I learned a little something about fishing then, and that is that most fishing was done at night because the fish could not see the nets fall around the fish. Now we have the transparent nets and stuff to prevent that, but they didn't have that.

Fishing was primarily done in the evening, not during the day. So again, put yourself in Peter's shoes. Right? By this time, there's a crowd. Lots of people are there.

And if it didn't work, Peter could run the risk of just looking like a fool for going out and fishing during the daytime. They didn't catch anything last night. He's tired. But in trust, here we go again. In trust, Peter says, if you say so.

If you say so, I'll let the nets down again. But can you see in this process just how each act of trust drew Peter closer and closer to to Jesus? Jesus asks, he obeys, draws him closer. Jesus asks, he obeys, and draws him closer. You know what I mean?

He proves himself trustworthy. Verse eight, that was an act of trust too. When Simon Peter realized what happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus, and he said, oh, Lord, please leave me. I'm a sinful man. So not only is that a humble response to Jesus, but it also showed Peter's trust in Jesus' righteousness.

Right? Not his own. Right? We sang the song, who am I? Who am I?

You know, like, who are we? That's what that's what essentially Peter was saying to to Jesus. Who who am I that you would do this? I know it's it's not me. I'm a sinful person, but you're not.

Jesus told a story about a person who humbly trusted in God's righteousness rather than his own from, Luke 18. I wanna share that with you because I think this nails it right here. And so it's on the screen. Blake, would you track with me, as as I read it? But here's what Jesus said.

He said, he told a story to someone who had great confidence in their own righteousness, and he scorned everyone else. He said, two men went to the temple to pray. And one was a pharisee, and the other one was a despised tax collector. The pharisee stood by himself, and he prayed this prayer. Oh, I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else.

Jesus had a sense of humor, obviously. For I don't cheat, I don't sin, I don't commit adultery. I'm certainly not like that tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income. Oh.

But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow saying, God, be merciful to me for I'm a sinner. I tell you, this sinner, not the pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled. Those who humble themselves will be exalted.

You get the point. Right? Peter wasn't trusting in anything that he had done like the Pharisee in the story. Instead, he humbles himself like that tax collector did in the story, and he says, Jesus, I'm trusting in in your righteousness and not and not my own. And that's huge.

But you know what else that does? It bring us even closer into a relationship with God as we do that. These little acts of obedience, these little acts of trusting, they make a big difference to where Peter was willing to follow Jesus wherever he went. He wasn't forced to. He was willing to.

He was won over by Jesus. So verse ten and eleven, and then I wanna wrap it up here. Jesus replied to Simon, don't be afraid. From now on, you'll be fishing for people. And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.

Now I understand. Now I understand why he left everything and followed Jesus. It wasn't abrupt. It wasn't just like that. It was over time.

It was over relationship. It was built over trust. Again, there's one theme that I wanna point out, and it's simply this, trust. Because I'm thoroughly convinced that the best way to become fishers of people and ask other people, come on in, hear this news, the best way is to first thoroughly trust him ourselves. It is just foundational, and it's built on relationship.

And so my encouragement to us is build on that relationship with Jesus. I know we say it a lot, but build on it. God doesn't demand it. He doesn't force us into it. Look at Revelation three twenty.

I love it. Look, I stand at the door and I knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I'll come in, and we'll share a meal together as friends. That's not forceful. That's him just saying, hey, I'm here.

I can make your life richer, better, fuller, but you gotta let me in first. And as we build that relationship with Jesus, trusting him along the way, over time, what do we see? He's trustworthy. He's loving. He's faithful, He's kind, He's worth following to where we can get to that point like Peter.

We'll follow him with abandon. A lot like this. Got dads, I'm a dad, so this one hit home with me because I have kids. And my kids are bigger now, so if they did this at the pool, get a bloody nose. But before, they didn't know how to swim.

I mean, and we'd be in a deep pool and they would just fly. I mean, was terrifying. I didn't even like being in the pool, but I can relate to this because I saw it so many times with my own kids where they just fly into your arms. Why? Because they trust you.

Because they know that their father is gonna catch them. And listen, if an earthly father who gets it wrong, like me, can catch his little child, how much more willing is our heavenly father willing to catch us? You know, how much more willing? And so I wanna encourage us. This is meant to be a sermon of encouragement, like like Peter did, to keep on trusting in the little things and in the big things.

And as we hear from him, and God is he is speaking to us. He's speaking to us through his spirit, through prayer, through his word. Nature is crying out what God is saying to us, to respond in simple obedience. Okay? I'm talking to me here.

I'm talking to us. And the wonderful thing about obedience and what we see through scripture is that as we obey more trust, more faith, a deeper relationship. You see what I'm saying? It draws us closer and closer to our creator. But it's taken that step.

It's taken that step of faith and just jumping and sometimes with abandon, even when we don't know what's gonna happen. Amen to that? Amen. So that's my encouragement, but it does begin with trust that's built on relationship. And so I wanna invite the the worship team up one more, one more song here.

But, you know, as we sing these lyrics, where you go, I'll go. Where you stay, you'll stay. I will follow. Let's make that not just our song, but but our our prayer. I'd like to pray.

God, I I do thank you for reaching out to us and and showing us your love through relationship, as you did with Peter, winning your way into our lives, and that's what you do. My prayer is that you would as you reach out to us, that we would, reach out to you and build on that relationship and trust you in the details of our life, the big and the small ones, so that each active trust on our part then would draw us closer to you where we're experiencing the richness and fullness that you're offering. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen.

It's kinda weird to do both preaching and we didn't mean for it to be the Carl show. We're down a few. How about we stand up, we'll sing together.

Where you can go, I'll go. Where you stay, I'll stay. When you move, I'll move. I'll follow.

And all your ways are good and they

are sure. And all your ways are good. All your ways are sure. And I won't trust in you, though, higher than my sight, high above my line. I will trust in you, Lord.

In you, Lord. Where you go, I'll go. Where you stay, I'll stay. How moon, I'll follow. I'll follow.

How you serve, I'll follow you. I'll follow you. Light unto the world. Light onto the world. Light onto my mind.

I will live for you. You're the one I see, knowing I will find all my need in you, though. And you know where you go, I'll go. Where you stay, I stay. When you move, I'll move.

I'll follow you. Whom you love, I love. I serve, I serve. If this life I lose, I'll follow you. I'll follow you.

In you, there's life everlasting. In you, there's follow you.

Alright. I'm gonna give a little benediction here, and then Mikey's gonna take the floor for a minute. But before he does, from Colossians two, therefore, you've as you've received Christ, if you have, as you have, walk in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the

faith just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Amen. Mike. So we have got a mission trip going to Guatemala. It's gonna be May 6 through the thirteenth.

So we're gonna take a team down there. If anyone is interested, please come and see me. Again, that's May 6 through the thirteenth. We just need to know by the end of this month. So let us know.

Alright. On that note, we'll end.