Pray Like Jesus

"Preaching a pagan-style gospel teaches that as long as we
have enough faith in Jesus, then we don't have to be like Jesus."
...a paraphrase from Mark Driscoll,
~ Pray Like Jesus:The Gethsemane Prayer ~

Tired of hearing the pagan practice of the prosperity gospel?...the prosperity gospel is when we use Prayer, Scripture, and experience to try and align God to our will. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, on the other hand, is when God utilizes Prayer, Scripture, and experience to align us to His Will.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect,
the prosperity gospel is pagan...

...Mark Driscoll, in his sermon called, Pray Like Jesus: The Gethsemane Prayer, explains (and I paraphrase) that "so much of what we hear today is a brand of theology that will not be strong enough for us when we need it the most."

Christianity is a belief in a person (Jesus Christ)...it is not a coping mechanism or some magic trick for material wealth and prosperous gain...it is a relationship based on a theology that will be everything for us when we need it the most...Driscoll goes on to say, "being a follower of Jesus Christ may not get us around the obstacles of life, but it will get us through the obstacles of life."

At the end of the sermon, Driscoll outlines and speaks briefly on eleven questions about prayer... questions that challenge us to see if our prayer life is in line with God's plan...Below, I have included the eleven questions...but along with those questions, I highly encourage you to either watch Driscoll's sermon or listen to it on the Mars Hill App or via podcast.

01. Do you pray to get from God or to get God?
02. Do you pray to move God or for God to move you?
03. Do you pray to get around pain or through pain?
04. Do you courageously punctuate your prayers with "Your - Will - Be - Done...?"
• We do present our requests to God, but we should always end with, "Your Will Be Done..."
05. Do you pray out of Holy or unholy depression?
• Holy despair/depression = due to sin and its effects
• unholy despair/depression = not getting our way
06. Do you pray in faith knowing that God is not the author of sin, but is the author over sin?
07. Do you ask your friends to pray for you even if you know they will fail to do so?
08. Do you pray to both hear and accept God's will for your life?
09. Do you accept that God will answer your prayers with a "yes, no, or later?"
10. Do you know that knowing God's Will is far easier than walking in it? (Hebrews 5.7-8)
11. Do you know a godly wife who lived like Jesus Prayed? (1 Corinthians 11.3)
• You have to listen to his explanation to understand this question...

"God’s main purpose for you is not what you do. It's who you become."
~ John Ortberg ~

Miracles:The Battle Of Jericho

Great Sermon on Miracles: The Battle Of Jericho (Mark Batterson, NCC)

 
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Fresh Start On Faith

Awesome message by Erwin McManus about having a "Fresh Start On Faith." It's a Focused sermon about taking your Faith to new levels, especially during times of transition in your life! God wants us to rise to new levels of Faith and Trust, and when we do, He will do Amazing Things in our lives! click on the below link, and then choose the "Fresh Start" icon, subtitled, A Fresh Start On Faith.

http://mosaic.org/podcast/

Then Joshua told the people, "Make yourselves holy, because tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you."

~ Joshua 3.5-6 ~

Crucified Life

Let's TALK about HOW WE LIVE as CHRISTIANS…

REAL VOICE

THERE are SO MANY VOICES that TELL US HOW TO LIVE…whether DIRECTLY or INDIRECTLY…everything INFLUENCES our LIVES…MOVIES tell us how to LIVE. TV SHOWS…OUR FRIENDS…THE INTERNET…LISTENING TO MUSIC can INFLUENCE how WE LIVE...COCA-COLA even has a good theme for LIFE…have you seen the Polar Bear commercials: “GIVE.LIVE.LOVE”. If COCA-COLA has a theme for life and a polar bear to show them how to live, certainly Christians have a way of life...maybe not a polar bear...but a PERSON...the PERSON of JESUS CHRIST! For Christians, the WORD of GOD is to BE THE MAIN VOICE in TEACHING US HOW TO “LIVE”. WHY? BECAUSE the “LIFE” of JESUS is found in the PAGES of SCRIPTURE!

REALLY LIVED

NO ONE “LIVED” a BETTER LIFE THAN JESUS CHRIST. NO ONE LOVED more…NO ONE was MORE JOYFUL and THANKFUL…NO one PRAYED MORE! NO ONE GAVE MORE…NO ONE LIVED MORE ABUNDANTLY THAN JESUS CHRIST! HE is EVERYTHING GOD is and EVERYTHING WE ARE TO BE! DO YOU KNOW WHAT IS SO AMAZING JESUS’ LIFE? HE LIVED IN ORDER TO DIE! HE CAME to “DIE”. He CAME to be CRUCIFIED. TONIGHT, I WANT TO suggest the ANSWER to our TOPIC: “HOW DO I LIVE?” is this: LIVE A CRUCIFIED LIFE. THAT’S HOW JESUS LIVED! 1 JOHN 2:6 says this: “The one who says he belongs to Christ should live the same kind of life Christ lived. (NLV)

REALLY CRUCIFIED
WHAT KIND OF LIFE DID HE LIVE? A CRUCIFIED LIFE. HIS CRUCIFIED LIFE SAVES OUR LIVES. OUR CRUCIFIED LIFE CAN TRANSFORM our FAMILIES, our CHURCHES, our COUNTRY, our WORLD. GALATIANS 2:20 will SHOW US 3 WAYS TO LIVE A CRUCIFIED LIFE...

I. TO DIE
THE FIRST THING WE MUST DO TO ‘LIVE” IS “DIE”. I don’t want to confuse anyone, so let me explain. Look at the very FIRST part of GALATIANS 2:20

ILLUSTRATION
Question for you...do you like Burger King?

• Burger King is HOME of the “WHOPPER”! Who knows the INGREDIENTS to the WHOPPER? grilled quarter-pound (113.4 g) beef patty, sesame seed bun, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, and sliced onion.
• Burger King is HOME of the BURGER KING
• Burger King is HOME of the SLOGAN “HAVE IT YOUR WAY!”

EXPLANATION
You see, a lot of times, Christians can get caught up in living “BURGER KING” CHRISTIANITY instead of “BIBLICAL” CHRISTIANITY.

• “BURGER KING” CHRISTIANITY SAYS “I am KING”.
• “BIBLICAL” CHRISTIANITY SAYS, “JESUS is KING!”
• “BURGER KING” Christianity is “HAVING IT YOUR WAY”.
• “BIBLICAL” CHRISTIANITY is “HAVING IT JESUS’ WAY”.

THE WAY
JESUS’ WAY is the CROSS. The CROSS calls us to COME and DIE. When Jesus called His disciples and said, “COME, FOLLOW ME”, He was saying, “COME and DIE”…DIE to “HAVING LIFE YOUR WAY” and START “HAVING IT MY WAY”! Just like one of my favorite SONGS: “THE WONDERFUL CROSS”. LOOK at one of the LYRICS –(MEDIA SHOUT)--:

O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live

Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all

ILLUSTRATION
When a PATIENT is on the OPERATING TABLE in a SURGERY ROOM and “DIES”, the DOCTOR will ANNOUNCE the TIME of death. Let me show a MOVIE clip from the TV SERIES “LOST” to explain what I am talking about—(SHOW the CLIP)—Sometimes, we JUST WILL NOT LET A “SIN” or “OUR OWN WAY of DOING THINGS DIE”. WE KEEP TRY to keep them ALIVE the JACK did in the CLIP. WE need to “CALL IT”. We need to “CALL IT RIGHT NOW”! Right now, as you are ready this blog, what time is it? ome of us need to LET “OUR OWN WAY DIE”…we need to CALL out a SIN in our LIFE that we are letting LIVE and WE need to LET it DIE…cheating, lying, cuzzing, gossiping, lack of serving others, lack of loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, body of strength…I want to give all of us a time of silent prayer right now to announce the time of death of a SIN and SELF. LET’S PRAY. If you prayed those PRAYERS you have “CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST”. Remember, a person on a CROSS faces ONLY 1 DIRECTION…there is NO LOOKING BACK to the OLD “WAY of LIFE”. May each of you TRULY have JESUS “LIVE IN YOU” and FACE the DIRECTION of CHRIST…which brings us to our NEXT POINT→

II. CHRIST “LIVES IN ME”
LOOK AT THE SECOND PART OF GALATIANS 2:20

A. FLU “IN” YOU
Have any of you ever had the FLU? WHEN YOU HAVE THE “FLU” you have a NASTY VIRUS “LIVING IN YOU”…IT TAKES OVER YOU ENTIRE BODY…IT AFFECTS the way you THINK, FEEL, EAT, and SLEEP. You end up looking like this PUMPKIN—(MEDIA SHOUT)— you are either on the COUCH all day or hunched over in your bed. The “VIRUS” “INSIDE” YOU EFFECTS HOW YOU “LIVE” on that DAY or that WEEK!

B. CHRIST “IN” YOU
When “CHRIST LIVES IN US”…HE AFFECTS EVERYTHING in a POSITIVE WAY…HOW WE THINK, TALK, ACT, PRAY, READ, PLAY, LOVE, LAUGH, ENCOURAGE, ETC! SIN NO LONGER CONTROLS OUR “WAYS”…JESUS DOES! LOOK AT GALATIANS 5:24(NIV)

The SIGNS THAT YOU HAVE THE FLU are:
• Body aches, especially joints and throat
• Coughing and sneezing
• Extreme coldness and fever
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Irritated watering eyes

The SIGNS that “CHRIST LIVES IN YOU” are:
• YOU MAKE SIGNIFICANT TIME TO PRAY
• YOU MAKE SIGNIFICANT TIME TO MEDITATE on the WORD of GOD
• YOU REALIZE your LIFE is NOT about YOU…IT’S ABOUT GOD and OTHER PEOPLE
• YOU FIND WAYS to HELP others WITHOUT them having to ASK YOU
• YOU COMPLAIN LESS and PRAISE GOD MORE
• YOU TRUST GOD even if life does not go the way you expected it to
• THAT’S JUST A SHORT LIST

III. LIVE “IN” CHRIST
CHRIST LIVES “IN” US…WE ALSO “LIVE IN CHRIST”…LOOK at the LAST part of GALATIANS 2:20

A. ALL ABOUT THE CROSS
WE LIVE BY FAITH “IN” THE ONE WHO LOVED US AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR US! IN OTHER WORDS, our life IS ALL ABOUT THE CROSS of CHRIST! LOOK AT GALATIANS 6:14-18.

B. ALL ABOUT GOD and OTHERS (LOVING and GIVING)
WHEN WE “LIVE IN CHRIST” WE DO FOR GOD and OTHERS what HE DID for us on the CROSS: HE LOVED US AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR US! In those 2 WORDS, that’s how WE ARE TO LIVE THIS CHRISTIAN LIFE…(1) LOVING and (GIVING)! COCA-COLA HAD IT RIGHT THE WHOLE TIME: GIVE.LIVE.LOVE!

CONCLUSION

A. PAUL
PAUL SAYS IN GALATIANS 5:6b,14 “THE ONLY THING THAT COUNTS IS FAITH EXPRESSING ITSELF IN LOVE…LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF”…


I LOVE C.S. LEWIS’ QUOTE IN MERE CHRISTIANITY:

“Do not waste your time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.”

B. PRACTICAL
Here is how you can LOVE someone. It's not a "magical formula" but it is designed to make us "intentional" about loving someone...remember, if you aim for nothing, you will hit nothing! Here is--> it's called the "7 times 3 times" rule (7x3x).

Love someone 7 times.

Tell them the Gospel of Jesus 3 times.

There is no telling how the Spirit of the Holy Christ will work on someone with the 7 times 3 times rule...remember, every time we love someone and witness to them about Jesus, we are the 2nd witness. The Holy Spirit is the 1st Witness in their lives...whispering to them about the Lord and Savior...then you come in and "incarnate--(flesh out)" what the Spirit has been telling them.

How do you love someone 7 times?
1. Invite them to lunch and pay for it
2. Invite them to church
3. Take them to a movie
4. Text them an encouraging text message or write them an encouraging letter
5. Tell them something you like about them
6. Pray for them
7. Play video games if you are a guy; go shopping with them if you a girl!
* Think of some more ways you can love them!

How do I tell them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ 3 times?
When you are loving them in one of the 7 ways, ask them if they worry about stuff. First, find a point of connection. While you are pigging out on Chick file, ask them if they worry about stuff. Tell them you do and then tell them how Jesus helps you overcome your worries. Let that be a bridge to begin talking about Christ. Another way is this: ask them what they get most excited about...tell them how Jesus loves when we live life abundantly and how we can use our talents for His glory...find out if they have received Christ as their Lord and Savior...tell them what it means to live with Jesus as Lord and with Jesus as Savior...it's a "Come, Follow Me" relationship. Pray with them...God save you and the people you love 7x3x!

If You Only Knew: Going Deeper Devo!

^{IF YOU ONLY KNEW…}

¹⁰ Jesus replied, “If you only knew…¹¹ “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very DEEP. Where would you get this living water?

(John 4:10-11; NLT)

Once upon a time there was a woman who did not know Jesus. One day, she went to a well to get some water. When she came to the well, there was a man sitting there, tired from a long day’s journey. The man said to her, “Will you give me a drink of water?” She went on and on about why she could not give him a drink of water. The man said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

This is the story about the Samaritan woman at the well told in John 4:1-42. You were right…the man by the well was Jesus! Good job, Bible genius! You knew more than the woman did…of course, you’ve read her story…if you did not know that the man was Jesus, “get with the program bubba and GO read yo’ bible”! Anyway…

…The woman had no idea that Jesus was sitting right there in front of her. Could it be possible that Jesus is right here before us and we don’t even know it? His words to the woman might be His words to you and me: “If you only knew…”

“If you only knew Jesus…” Is it possible, as a Christian, you don’t really know Jesus Christ…really know Him? You go to church…you do the right things…you stay out of trouble, but you don’t really know Jesus…you may think your “well” of problems is TOO DEEP for Him to help you with?

Now, this woman at the well did not know Jesus. She was not a Christian…“yet”; she soon would be…but she was “taught” that the Messiah would come and would explain everything to them (v 25). She was “taught” about Jesus; however, when she came “face-to-face” with Him, she did not recognize Him. I wonder how many of us are “taught” about Jesus, but don’t know Him when we see Him. How can we know Him when we see Him? By letting Him “see” us…to see “deep” inside of us.

Jesus saw “deeply” into this woman…He knew all about her. She realized that once she had an HONEST conversation with Him. When was the last time you had an HONEST conversation with Christ? When was the last time you told Him about all the things going on in the DEEP “well” of your life?

He knows about them already…but He wants to talk to you about them because people who have a relationship have conversations…people in REAL relationships have REAL conversations…HONEST conversations…TALK to Jesus today…be REAL with Him…be HONEST with Him and hear Him say to you, ““I who speak to you am He.” (v26).

She found out that her “well” of problems were NOT TOO DEEP for Him. Why? Because He knew the truth about every aspect of her life. He knew her DEEPEST secrets and her DEEPEST hopes.

Christ wants to have an HONEST conversation with you. He knows the DEEP truth about every aspect of your life too. We will come to find this out when we enter into an HONEST conversation with Christ.

When the woman had a HONEST conversation with her Savior, He helped her to “see and recognize Him” as JESUS, the Messiah! He said to her,.” May you know Jesus so deeply that from now on, you have daily converstations

She was HONEST with Him about her life. He said this to her, “ When He told her to go and get her husband; she said, “I have no husband.” Could it be that your view of Jesus is “shallow”? Christ’s view of you runs “deep”…He knows all about you. He knew all about this woman at the well. He knew that she did not have a husband…He knew that she had five husbands and the man that she was dating at the time was not her husband.

Jesus knows all about us…our thoughts…our dreams…our pains and struggles…our victories. He knows that sometimes we forget that He is GOD ALMIGHTY and that we, like the woman, think our “wells” our TOO DEEP for Him. What does He know about you? Are you joyful that He knows you? Do you want Him to kow One way to recognize if you don’t really know Jesus is this: your problem that you are going through right now seems BIGGER than He is. You don’t think He can do anything about. You’re like the woman at the well who though it was TOO DEEP for Jesus to draw any water…any comfort…any help from. Listen, nothing is TOO DEEP for Jesus. Plus, like an old time preacher named Oswald Chambers says, “Jesus doesn’t bring anything UP from the wells of human nature—He brings them DOWN from above.”

Jesus brings things DOWN from above because He is ALMIGHTY GOD! He is ALMIGHTY GOD and He is the one speaking to you this weekend.The moment we forget that Christ is ALMIGHTY, we SINK into “SHALLOW” Christianity. Today, remember that God’s Son is ALMIGHTY. There may be a limit to what we can do,

"Leaving The Shallow: Taught Or Caught"

Summer Retreat ‘08

Sermon #1: “Leaving the Shallow: taught or caught”

Luke 5:1-11

19 Saturday 2008

INTRODUCTION

A. LOVIN’ THE WEEKEND!

IT’S AWESOME TO BE HERE WITH YOU GUYS TONIGHT! I KNOW EVERYONE IS LOOKING FORWARD to this ENTIRE weekend…MY WIFE IS HERE! I’M PUMPED BEYOND BELIEF! We’ve got 2 SESSIONS of White Water Rafting tomorrow, Optional Activities the next day; capture the flag football, 6 Flags; but I’ve got to tell you…for me, the MOST EXCITING PART of the weekend is RIGHT NOW! This is the part where I FEEL MOST ALIVE…PREACHING the WORD of GOD! Let me say this about that: when I preach the Word of God to YOU, God first preaches to ME…I NEED JESUS CHRIST…I NEED the WORD of GOD…I NEED the BREATH of the HOLY SPIRIT just as much as YOU GUYS do…so I don’t stand up here as one who knows it all…I stand up here SHARING the INCREDIBLE LOVE of GOD the FATHER WITH YOU THROUGH THE PREACHED WORD of JESUS…CAN I GET AN “AMEN”!

B. LOVIN’ JESUS CHRIST!

I LOVE JESUS CHRIST. I LOVE HIM! There are so many things to LOVE about CHRIST. One of the things I love about Him MOST is this: He “LOVED” to PREACH the WORD of GOD. In fact, in Luke 4:43, He said “I MUST PREACH”…He goes on to say that PREACHING was “WHY” He was SENT to earth! I pray that some of you WILL be CALLED by GOD to PREACH!

C. LOVIN’ THE PREACHED WORD!

That’s where we FIND JESUS in our SCRIPTURE for tonight…PREACHING the WORD of GOD. And listen, He was TURNING it on…the MAN was “ON FIRE” with the HOLY GHOST! You would have thought it was a HANNA MONTANA CONCERT! HM FANS?? People were CROWDING all around HIM to hear the LIFE GIVING words coming out of His mouth! That’s what I HOPE and PRAY will happen at THIS TIME each NIGHT this WEEKEND! I pray we will CROWD around JESUS to hear His Word! Let me tell you a little about each NIGHT…

• I am going to TALK tonight. (Generally)

• SALLIE is going to talk tomorrow night. (Specifically)

• STEVE will talk Monday night. (Specifically)

THEME & SCRIPTURE INTRODUCTION

Our THEME for this WEEKEND is “DEEPER”. JESUS calls us to go “DEEPER” with Him. He called SIMON to go “DEEPER” with Him in the PASSAGE we will look at. It’s the PASSAGE that our theme is BASED ON! I am going to read LUKE 5:1-11 right now (v4 “key” verse). As I do, I would like to have 15 VOLUNTEERS. I want YOU 15 to ACT out the SCRIPTURE as I read…you don’t have to do anything extravagant…it does not have to be funny, although it can be…it does not have to be perfect…I NEED someone to be (1) JESUS; (2) 5 of ya’ll to be the CROWD; (3) 2 of ya’ll to be the BOATS; (4) 1 person to be SIMON; (5) 1 person to be John; (6) 1 person to be James; (7) 5 of ya’ll to be FISH!---as I read, listen for your PART and SIMPLY ACT IT OUT… --(READ LUKE 5:1-11)—

I. “LEAVING THE SHALLOW”

A. TWO TYPES

TOPIC TONIGHT IS THIS: “LEAVING THE SHALLOW” I WANT to talk about 2 TYPES of CHRISTIANS: (1) “SHALLOW” CHRISTIANS and (2) “DEEP” CHRISTIANS. If you are here tonight and you are NOT a CHRISTIAN…meaning, you have NOT received JESUS CHRIST as your Lord and Savior, this message is for you too…Christ is CALLING YOU TONIGHT/WEEKEND into a RELATIONSHIP with Him You may “START” in the “SHALLOW” but the GOAL is to end up in the “DEEP”! So, “SHALLOW” CHRISTIANS and “DEEP” CHRISTIANS….

 ILLUSTRATION #1- learning to swim

HOW MANY of you grew up learning to SWIM in the “SHALLOW”??? YEA! The “SHALLOW” is where we would wear those FLOATIES…it made us look like we had HUGE BICEPS at 3 years old!!! The “SHALLOW” is where we were “TAUGHT” to SWIM. (EVERYONE say the word “TAUGHT”…turn to YOUR NEIGHBOR and say “TAUGHT)”. WE’RE gonna have FUN tonight! (That is a “KEY” word for us TONIGHT) We were “TAUGHT” how to KICK and PADDLE and HOLD our BREATH under water! JUST RECENTLY, my TWIN BROTHER, BRAD, and I “TAUGHT” our 5 YEAR OLD NEPHEW to TAKE off his FLOATIES and swim in the “SHALLOW”! He loved it! He was GRABBING the NOODLES and HITTING everyone OVER the HEAD with them! NOW, If you REMEMBER, the “SHALLOW” is where JESUS “TAUGHT” the CROWD—(READ 5:3)-

B. “TAUGHT” N’ DA’ SHALLOW… “CAUGHT”?

The “SHALLOW” was a GOOD PLACE for the crowd to be “TAUGHT”…it was SAFE…it was SECURE. We are “TAUGHT” in “safe” places. The CHURCH is a “SAFE” place… …maybe at FUSION, or POWER SURGE, or the SUMMIT…in “BIG CHURCH” on Sunday mornings…EVEN A PLACE LIKE THIS…maybe we are “TAUGHT” by our FAMILIES at HOME (“SAFE” PLACE…hopefully) that JESUS is LORD and SAVIOR…HERE’S the DEAL…It’s GOOD for our MINDS to be “TAUGHT” all of these things about GOD…but if our HEARTS are NOT “CAUGHT” by GOD; NONE of it will make a BIT of DIFFERENCE in our SOULS. YOU SEE, our MINDS are “TAUGHT”…but our HEARTS are “CAUGHT”. GOING “DEEP” with Jesus is NOT about becoming “MORE INTELLECTUAL”…IT’S ABOUT BECOMING “MORE INTIMATE”!

 ILLUSTRATION #2- Measuring Tape

I have TOLD you guys at FUSION and I think I even mentioned it at Junior High Breakthru last year…the DIFFERENCE of someone being SAVED and NOT SAVED is 16 inches…that’s the AVERAGE length FROM the HEAD to the HEART. I want to say that that is the SAME DISTANCE from the “SHALLOW” END to the “DEEP” END of CHRISTIANITY! “Shallow” Christians are “TAUGHT” ABOUT Jesus. “DEEP” Christians are “CAUGHT” BY Jesus…(Everyone say “CAUGHT”…turn to your neighbor and say “CAUGHT”) “CAUGHT” UP into His life…SWEPT up in His Love…WRAPPED” UP in His Prayers…HIS LIFE is YOUR LIFE…in other words: “DEEP” CHRISTIANS NOT ONLY “*LEARN* about JESUS” on Sundays and Wednesdays…they “*LIVE* like JESUS” 7 days a week! Here are SOME VERY “PRACTICAL” DIFFERENCES between being “TAUGHT” and “CAUGHT”

C. TAUGHT/CAUGHT PRACTICAL

1. We are “taught” to forgive, but if we are not “caught” by the HEART of Jesus, we “DROWN/SINK” in a DEEP SEA of BITTERNESS (that is shallow).

2. We are “taught” to pray, but if we are not “caught up and wrapped up” in the BURDEN CHRIST has for the WORLD/LOST/HURTING, we don’t make praying our LIFE. (that’s shallow)

3. We are “taught” that reading the Bible is a good thing, but if we are not “caught” by the Word become Flesh, it sits on the shelf.

4. We are “taught” to honor our parents, but if we are not “caught”, we don’t listen to them. The LIST GOES ON….

5. We are “taught” to say no to drinking, but if we are not “caught” up in Jesus, we are “caught up” in peer pressure…we drink to look cool…

6. If we are NOT “CAUGHT” up in JESUS, we can get “CAUGHT UP” in computer porn…

7. If we are NOT “CAUGHT UP” in our SAVIOR, we can get “CAUGHT UP” in SIN… making fun of people…gossiping…lying…cheating…we don’t serve our church or our community…

8. We don’t love those who hate us…we don’t make friends with those who have no friends…we don’t care about our teachers…we would rather goof off than help a neighbor

D. TANGLED UP: Caught up in something

HERE’S THE DEAL: We are all “CAUGHT UP” in something. Sometimes we live like we are in a NET and we get “ALL TANGLED UP”! What are you “TANGLED UP…“CAUGHT UP” in tonight…WHITNEY and I are, in a good way, are “CAUGHT UP” in our DAUGHTER, KATE GRAY! I know Junior High and Highschool years you can get ALL “CAUGHT UP” in a CERTAIN BOY or a CERTAIN GIRL…We can get “CAUGHT UP” in FACEBOOK (if you have one)…it’s AN OBSESSION! What are YOU “CAUGHT UP” in??? You know what it is because you can’t stop doing it…you can’t stop thinking about it…ARE YOU “CAUGHT UP” in Jesus?? Hopefully some of us can say, “I can’t STOP thinking about Jesus”…if you can say that you know you are “CAUGHT” by Him…maybe some of us CAN’T say that…Maybe the only time we think of Him is on Sunday morning when we are “TAUGHT” about Him. What are you “CAUGHT UP” in?

• IS it a MATERIAL POSSESSION (me and the iPhone)…

• A quest for POPULARITY…

• JEALOUSY?

• Maybe EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES have you ALL “TANGLED UP”…your “TO-DO” IS LIST IS FULL but YOUR SOUL is EMPTY…

• Maybe MAKING THE TEAM is EVERYTHING to you…MAYBE NOT MAKING the TEAM seems like the “END” of the WORLD…

• Maybe you have “EMOTIONAL” WOUNDS that RUN down “DEEP” within your SOUL…you have been “DEEPLY HURT”…you have “DEEP REGRETS”…ANXIETIES and WORRIES that go “DOWN” to the CORE of YOUR SOUL…

 ILLUSTRATION #3- Journey down

ANYBODY seen “JOURNEY to the CENTER of the EARTH (3 D)”? Remember the scene where they are falling to the very CORE of the earth and they are falling and falling and falling and falling…and the dude says, “We’re still falling!” Some of you may feel like that…you keep falling…maybe you are falling more and more into confusion…into DOUBTS about who GOD is…DOUBTING that GOD EXISTS, or LOVES and CARES about you…falling into FEAR…into INSECURITIES...into FAMILY PROBLEMS…into THOUGHTS that you will NEVER BE GOOD ENOUGH, PRETTY ENOUGH, SMART ENOUGH…YOU WANT “SO BAD” to GO “DEEPER” with JESUS, but you just CAN’T get out of the HOLE you’re FALLING in. Here’s the DEAL YOU and I are ONLY “ONE SMALL” act of OBEDIENCE away from EXPERIENCING A “REAL”; “DEEP”; “INTIMATE” RELATIONSHIP with JESUS CHRIST…THE GOD who DOES EXIST…the GOD does CARE and LOVE for YOU “DEEPLY”!

II. “GOING TO THE DEEP”

A. ‘NO’ THANKS

You will notice in VERSE 3, Simon OBEYED one “LITTLE” request of Jesus and it ended up PREPARING him to OBEY even a “LARGER” COMMAND of Christ. Take a LOOK at verses 3-5—(READ v3-5)—STOP at 5a NOW, a “SHALLOW” Christian would STOP at the “END” of this SENTENCE—

• A “SHALLOW” Christian might go on to say, “JESUS…I’ve already been in those “WATERS”…I “CAUGHT” nothing… “I’ve tried PRAYER…I’ve gotten NO answers…I’ve tried READING the BIBLE…it’s BORING…It’s too hard to understand…I’ve tried DGROUPS and BIG CHURCH…I’m not really getting much SPIRITUAL DEPTH out of it…BEEN THERE and DONE THAT Jesus…with NO LUCK…I think I’ll stay put in the “SHALLOW”…Thanks but no thanks!”

• SIMON PETER could have said all that…He could have said, “Jesus, we are NOT going FISHING anymore…ESPECIALLY NOT in the “DEEP”…it’s DAY TIME…YOU don’t FISH in the “DEEP” during “DAYTIME” JESUS…DURRHHH! I THINK I *KNOW* a little bit more about this than you do!”

ILLUSTRATION #1- knowing more than the old folks!

HOW many of you BELIEVE YOU “KNOW” MORE than your PARENTS “KNOW”? A lot of teenagers do…they feel their parents are just a little bit out of touch with reality! Especially when it comes to computers…technology…cell phones! That’s what SIMON might have felt like with JESUS…

B. ‘NOT’ MAKING SENSE…making something out of our lives

You see, JESUS was a “CARPENTER”, SIMON PETER was “THE FISHERMAN”…and here JESUS is telling SIMON “HOW and WHERE” to FISH…IN THOSE DAYS, in the Sea of Galilee (Lake of Gennesaret), you would FISH in the “DEEP” at NIGHT and in the “SHALLOW” during the DAY…Here, it is “DAY” time and JESUS is COMMANDING that SIMON FISH in the “DEEP”…EVEN AFTER he had SPENT “ALL NIGHT” in the DEEP with NO LUCK. IT MADE “NO” SENSE WHAT-SO-EVER to SIMON! … COULD it be, that when things DON’T MAKE SENSE in our lives…that JESUS is about to MAKE SOMETHING of OUR LIVES!

C. ‘NOW’ IT’S MAKING SENSE…5 words

THAT’S WHAT I LOVE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT! Earlier we said the difference between a “SHALLOW CHRISTIAN” and a “DEEP CHRISTIAN” is 16 inches (HEAD to HEART). Here we find out it is also, the distance of 5 WORDS’—(READ v 5 AGAIN)—(SAY, “BUT BECAUSE YOU SAY SO” with ME…SAY it AGAIN…SAY it AGAIN…SAY IT AGAIN! I PRAY THOSE 5 WORDS will become YOUR “RESPONSE” to JESUS every TIME He calls you to DO SOMETHING…even when YOU think YOU KNOW BETTER than He does…EVEN when THINGS DON’T MAKE SENSE!!!

D. ‘NEXT’ 5 WORDS

I LOVE the next 5 WORDS AFTER THAT –(READ v6)—ONE SMALL ACT of OBEDIENCE RESULTED ONE LARGE CATCH of FISH! The SMALLEST of things can have the BIGGEST IMPACT.

ILLUSTRATION

In 1960, an MIT weather man named Edward Lorenz discovered that sometimes the “SMALLEST” change has the “BIGGEST EFFECT”. He was trying to develop a computer program that could SIMULATE and FORECAST weather conditions. One day, like a lot of us, he was BUSY and in a HURRY! He was supposed to put in a NUMBER into His computer PROGRAM…it was a NUMBER he used in an earlier TRIAL. Instead of putting in .506127, he rounded to the nearest thousandth and put in .506. Rounding to the nearest thousandth…no big deal right? Well, he left his lab for a while. When he came back, he found a RADICAL CHANGE in the weather conditions. He estimated that the difference between the ORIGINAL NUMBER and the ROUNDED NUMBER was equal to a “PUFF” of wind created by a BUTTERFLY’S WING. He concluded that a MINOR EVENT like the FLAPPING a BUTTERFLY’S WING, FOR EXAMPLE, in New York, could cause a high wind storm in Mississippi. This is known as the “BUTTERFLY” EFFECT.

EXPLANATION

SIMON’S “BUTTERFLY EFFECT” was found in 5 words, “BUT BECAUSE YOU SAY SO”…he went from being a “SHALLOW” CHRISTIAN to being a “DEEP” CHRISTIAN…he went from CATCHING “MINNOWS” and “TILAPIA” to CATCHING “MEN”—(READ v10b)--. In the BOOK of ACTS (chapter 2), he PREACHED a SERMON AND about 3000 people were BAPTIZED and RECEIVED JESUS CHRIST as their LORD and SAVIOR! The BEGINNING of that SERMON really began with those 5 WORDS that day in LUKE 5, “But because you say so.” Those 5 words were his “BUTTERFLY EFFECT.” They ALTERED the COURSE of his life and the life of 3000 others! Think of what ONE SMALL PRAYER could do for your life or someone else’s life. Think how it could “alter” the course of your life or someone else’s!

APPLICATION

Is there ONE SMALL thing YOU and I need to do tonight or this weekend to alter the course of our life with Jesus? One small ACT of OBEDIENCE that can take us from being “TAUGHT” by JESUS to being “CAUGHT” by Him? What is yours? Is it a PRAYER? Is it daily Bible reading? Is it HITTING the “X” button on the computer site you should not be looking at? Is it FORGIVING someone? Maybe it’s CONFESSING JESUS CHRIST as YOUR LORD and SAVIOR for the FIRST TIME and letting HIM “CATCH YOU”!

CONCLUSION

A. CONFESS as LORD

That’s what SIMON did…he “CONFESSED” JESUS as “LORD” when he saw the INCREDIBLE “CATCH” of FISH…everything that was “DEEP” withIN SIMON…all his feelings about himself…all his feelings about Jesus…ALL CAME to the “SURFACE” AND this is what happened—(READ v8)—

B. UNDERSTAND as LORD

Simon may not have completely understood that Jesus was LORD of the earth at this moment in time, but he knew that he was in the PRESENCE of HOLINESS…in the PRESENCE of GREATNESS…and he said, “Go away from me Lord; I am a sinful man.” This verse is NOT SO MUCH about the SINFULNESS of SIMON as it is about the HOLINESS of JESUS CHRIST! I think sometimes we UNDERESTIMATE just how “HOLY” and “AMAZING” Jesus is. SIMON REALIZED IT! All of sudden the “MURKY WATERS of LIFE” became “CLEAR”…he saw himself and Jesus in TRUE LIGHT and although he “ASKED” Jesus to “GO AWAY” from him JESUS DID NOT “GO AWAY”…*(I LOVE THAT about the SON of GOD)*! He didn’t “GO AWAY”…He INVITED SIMON into the “DEEPEST” ADVENTURE LIFE has to OFFER …that’s where I end and Sallie will begin tomorrow night.

RESPONSE

Before we close though, I want to ask the QUESTION:

1. “HAVE you been TAUGHT more about GOD than you have been “CAUGHT” by GOD? Think about where YOU WOULD SIT if you were IN THIS STORY TONIGHT…THIS RELATIONSHIP NARRATIVE---

2. Would you have “STAYED” on the SHORE or would you “GO to the DEEP” with JESUS?

3. This MAY seem a bit STRANGE to some of you…IT MAY NOT…some of you may PRAY like this at HOME by YOUR BED…SIMON PETER got on HIS KNEES before JESUS and ASKED HIM TO “GO AWAY”. I want us ALL to GET ON OUR KNEES BEFORE JESUS TONIGHT and “ASK” Him a couple of QUESTIONS…we’ll ALL to do it so NO ONE STANDS out…I WANT US TO GET ON OUR KNEES and PRAY at LEAST 2 PRAYERS: (Let’s get on our knees, close our eyes…Taylor and the Band will play background music for us…

(A) THE FIRST PRAYER: You maybe here TONIGHT and you are NOT A CHRISTIAN…but for SOME REASON, TONIGHT, you may “FEEL” like CHRIST HAS WRAPPED HIS ARMS around You “LIKE A NET” and “CAUGHT” YOU---you can’t EXPLAIN the FEELING in your STOMACH…you’ve GOT CHILLS---if you FEEL like that I want you to pray these WORDS SILENTLY AFTER ME:

“JESUS CHRIST, MASTER and LORD, I CONFESS YOU as LORD and SAVIOR of my LIFE. PLEASE FORGIVE me of my SINS. YOU HAVE GIVEN ME YOUR LIFE…NOW YOU HAVE MINE…TAKE ME DEEPER with YOU, in JESUS NAME, AMEN!”

(B) The SECOND PRAYER is for ANY of YOU who want to be “CAUGHT” by JESUS…you WANT to go “DEEPER” with HIM and STOP LIVING “SHALLOW” CHRISTIANITY…or even if YOU are a “DEEP” CHRISTIAN, you can always go “DEEPER”…this PRAYER is for YOU TOO…PLEASE PRAY this PRAYER SILENTLY AFTER ME if you wish:

“LORD CHRIST, YOU HOLD all the ANSWERS to LIFE even when I think I am the one who knows best. Please forgive me for NOT TRUSTING YOU. I’M READY. PLEASE take me “DEEPER” with you this weekend and for the rest of my life. May I be CAUGHT UP “in” YOU and may I CATCH OTHERS “for” you. In JESUS NAME, AMEN!