The Calling

Andrew has to go get his brother. Andrew can't just keep this to himself, so he goes to get Peter. And he brings Peter and says, look, we found the Messiah. You've got to come see. He's the one. He's the one we've been waiting for, the one we're looking for. He's here. And he brings his brother, Peter. And Jesus sees Peter. And calls him. He calls him out by name. And then by default, the calling of come and follow me is now extended to Peter as well. Come and follow me. [00:13:28] (27 seconds)  #BringOthersToChrist

The first call for each and every person. Listen, we are all born into this world of sin. We're all born into a world as a sinner. We are separated from God. And God's desire is for each and every one of us is to come to him. He wants to have a relationship with you. He wants you to be saved. He wants you to spend eternity with him. He wants all of these things, but what do we find? He doesn't force it, command it. He is, he's, he's there and available, but he doesn't force anything upon us. [00:15:10] (34 seconds)  #GodInvitesFreely

The world will offer us many things to chase after and say, you know what? You'll be happy with this. You'll be content with this. This will satisfy you. And we chase after those things. But there comes a moment when someone says, you're chasing after the wrong thing. Behold, the Lamb of God is over here. And now we've got to turn and face him and follow after him. That's the first call, a call to be Jesus' disciple. [00:18:48] (25 seconds)  #TurnToTheLamb

I don't want that to be anybody's story. That we have a head knowledge of Jesus, that we have a head understanding of who he is. We know the stories. We know the foundational things. We know the pieces, but yet our heart has not been surrendered to him. We haven't been born again. We haven't answered their first call. [00:24:28] (24 seconds)  #HeartNotJustHead

We have to respond to the first call from Jesus first, to be his disciple and to do exactly what John said to do, because John the Baptist did not just say, there's the Lamb of God. He said, behold the Lamb of God. That word, behold, literally means you must see this. You must see this. Do not miss out on this. We are told that we must behold Jesus for ourselves. [00:25:15] (29 seconds)  #BeholdTheLamb

So we have three times that Jesus has called Peter. He called Peter to be his disciple and he's called Peter to be a servant, to do something for the kingdom, to do something for Jesus. And Peter does it with the help of Jesus, obviously, because Jesus is the one who's making him do it. But here's what I want you to notice. I'm not sure if you can notice this or not, but each time that Jesus is calling Peter, Peter's fishing. Now get it, he's a fisherman, all right? I understand that's part of it, right? But each time we see these stories, he's calling Peter and Peter's fishing. But what that tells me also is, not only is Jesus calling him while Peter is fishing, but each time since he's fishing again, he's calling Peter and Peter's fishing. So when Jesus comes back again, Peter keeps going back to fishing. He left his nets one time, so you'd think he'd be done. But guess what? Jesus comes back again. Hey, he's fishing again. Look at that. Peter, follow me. Peter keeps going back to fishing. [00:35:24] (60 seconds)  #FishingWhileCalled

Peter, every time I call you, you end up going back to fishing. You keep going back to the things of this world. You keep going back to the things that you know. You keep going back. You keep going back to what is comfortable or safe for your occupation. Don't you love me more than these to once? Don't you love me more than these to once and for all? Follow me. Do you love me? Do you love me more than these? [00:42:19] (29 seconds)  #LoveMoreThanComfort

Peter, you need to separate yourself from the things of this world. Peter, you need to separate yourself from comparing yourself to others. Peter, you need to separate yourself from anything that's not of me. Separate yourself. Do you love me more than these? [00:42:59] (16 seconds)  #SeparateToFollow

He calls us all to be his disciple. And that's the first and foremost. We've got to be his disciple. We've got to be his disciple. We've got to be his disciple. We've got to make sure we do that. But once we do that, he says, look, I'm calling you more than that. I'm calling you to be my servant, to go out there, spread the nets, go out there and let people know about Jesus. Be that John the Baptist for other people. Be that Andrew for other people. I want you to do that. But for you to be effective, you must be separate from this world. You must be. Don't keep going back to your old ways. Don't keep going back to the things you used to rely on. Don't go back to what's comfortable for you. Go and be who I've called you to be. [00:46:13] (35 seconds)  #DiscipleThenServe