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📝 = Fill in the Blank
Last week we shared in a message called, "Help Is On The Way” where we learned that help is on the way for the weary. Help is on the way for the lost. Help is on the way for those who’ve been crying theirselves to sleep at night. Then we learned where that help is going to come from—It’s going to come through you.
God wants to use your hands. God wants to use your feet. God wants to use your voice. God wants to use your mind. God wants to use your resources that He has given you. Help is on the way, but that help is going to come through you. I want to continue along that same train of thought with this week’s sermon title…
Sermon Title: YES, YOU!
Because the moment that I began talking about Help Is On The Way Through You, IMMEDIATELY, you begin to think to yourself, man you got the wrong guy, man you got the wrong gal, you can’t be talking to me God, but God is saying to you today, YES YOU! Do you think that you’re the first one to tell God, nah I’m good? How do you think the disciples first felt when God called them? We knew Peter was a problem from the start because when God first called Him, Peter said nah man I’m good. In fact Peter first told Jesus to, "GO AWAY!”
“Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.””
Luke 5:5
“When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.”
Luke 5:6-7
“When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “GO AWAY from me, Lord…"
Luke 5:8
As Jesus was initiating the call of Peter, Peter’s first response to Jesus was, GO AWAY. Just to think, Peter almost missed out on all of this…
With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all. Acts 4:33
“Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.”
Acts 5:14-15
“Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, AND ALL OF THEM WERE HEALED.”
Acts 5:16
As Jesus looked into Peter’s eyes after catching that miraculous catch, I believe that’s what Jesus saw. Jesus saw Himself working through Peter. All of this was racing through Jesus’s mind, meanwhile Peter’s on the floor crying in front of his peers, in front of the other boat, and in front of everyone else who’s looking on, "GO AWAY FROM ME!”
I’m not worthy to be used by you. I’m not worthy to be in your presence. I’m not worthy for you to be in my boat. I don’t know what you have planned for me Jesus, but just GO AWAY!
We know this is true, because Luke 5:8 in it’s entirety says,
“When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I AM A SINFUL MAN!””
Luke 5:8
Do you think that the one who knew where the fish were, doesn’t know where you are?
For Peter it was go away from me Lord, I AM A SINFUL MAN, but what’s your excuse? Go away from me Lord, I’m uneducated. Go away from me Lord, I’m not good with words or public speaking. Go away from me Lord, everyone knows my past. Go away from me Lord, I’ve missed my time, I’m too old now. Go away from me Lord, I’m too young, and I want to have my fun first. Just, just, go away from me Lord, you’ve got the wrong guy. You’ve got the wrong gal. I’m sinful. I’m unqualified.
📝 Jesus doesn’t show up for you to inform Him of WHO YOU AREN’T. Jesus shows up to inform you of WHO YOU ARE.
““Before I formed you in the womb I KNEW YOU, before you were born I set you apart…””
Jeremiah 1:5
For you created my INMOST BEING; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13
I know what I’ve placed in you. I know what’s hiding inside you, in the shadows. Peter, what if I told you, that one day, I’m going to use your shadow to heal my people. Yet you say to me, get away from me Lord, I’m a sinful man. Peter you aren’t telling me anything new.
📝 The CALLER knows the CALLED.
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”
Romans 8:29
“And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”
Romans 8:30
📝 When God CALLS you, He CALLS ALL OF YOU.
📝 God is going to use ALL OF IT.
And we know that IN ALL THINGS GOD WORKS for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
God called all of you, not just some parts of you.
And here’s why…
📝 The CALLER is greater than the CALL.
Often times we’re so overwhelmed with the call, that we lose sight of the one who called us in the first place. I say to you today, don’t lose sight of the caller in the call.
God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful. 1 Thessalonians 5:24
But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3
Stop telling God what you can’t do. Stop telling God who you aren’t. He knows you, and He who has called you is faithful. You’re just right. Yes, you.
“When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,”
Luke 5:8-9
“and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.””
Luke 5:10
“So they pulled their boats up on shore, LEFT EVERYTHING and followed him.”
Luke 5:11
Whoa, whoa bruh? What about all those fish that y’all just caught? Are y’all just going to walk away from all of that? They left everything. That could only mean one thing.
📝 What God is CALLING YOU TO, is greater than what God is CALLING YOU FROM.
““Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.”
Mark 10:29-30
I believe with all of my heart that God is calling you to Ephesians 3:20,
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works IN US,”
Ephesians 3:20
This power that’s at work in you wants to do A WORK THROUGH YOU. Yes you! Listen again to what Peter said in Luke 5:5,
“Simon answered, “Master, WE’VE WORKED hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.””
Luke 5:5
Emphasis on WE’VE WORKED. I believe God is saying to you today,
📝 "You’ve WORKED, but now watch Me WORK!”-God
God wants to work through you. Yes, you! Acts 2:43 says,
Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place THROUGH THE APOSTLES. Acts 2:43
I told you earlier that God wants to use your hands. God wants to use your feet. God wants to use your voice. God wants to use your mind. Acts 5:12 says,
AT THE HANDS OF THE APOSTLES many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico. Acts 5:12
Aha! I got you AB. These men were Apostles! That’s why they were doing what they were doing! They weren’t you’re typical type of guys. They were like special or something, almost like they were superheroes. They weren’t you’re regular Joe Bloe. Well, the only thing about that is, Acts 4:13 says,
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were UNSCHOOLED, ORDINARY MEN, they were astonished and they took note that these men HAD BEEN WITH JESUS. Acts 4:13
God wants to use you. Yes you. You’re just right. God specializes in using the unschooled. God specializes in using ordinary men, ordinary women. He loves to recruit the least. He has a heart for the inexperienced. He’s drawn to the broken. He’s known for using the rejected. You don’t have to come knowing this, you don’t have to come knowing that. You just have to be willing to be with Jesus.
ARE YOU AVAILABLE FOR JESUS TO USE YOUR BOAT?
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