Run It Back: Wk4 - Mending Nets

Devotional

Day 1: Mending Nets: Repairing Damage from Past Casts

Fishing nets fray from constant use—holes form where catch once thrived. Jesus found disciples mending torn nets after a day’s work, not quitting. Our lives bear similar wear: disappointments, betrayals, and unresolved pain from pursuing God’s call. Mending isn’t surrender but preparation. Like fishermen repairing tools for tomorrow’s catch, we let Christ restore us to fish again. Healing isn’t passive—it’s active readiness for what’s next. [01:10:07]

“Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” (Matthew 4:21-22, ESV)

Reflection: What “holes” in your spiritual life—old hurts, unresolved conflicts, or lingering doubts—need Christ’s repair to make you ready for His next assignment?

Day 2: Arranging Nets: Ordering Chaos for Tomorrow’s Harvest

Nets tossed haphazardly into boats become tangled, useless. The disciples didn’t just fix tears—they folded mended nets neatly for quick use. Life’s chaos—relational moves, ministry shifts, or burnout—can leave us feeling like a knotted heap. God doesn’t discard tangled seasons. He rearranges our mess into purposeful order. Surrendered clutter becomes strategic placement. Tomorrow’s catch demands today’s intentional preparation. [01:13:45]

“By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.” (Hebrews 11:21, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you feel spiritually “tangled”? What one step could bring order to that area, positioning you for God’s next call?

Day 3: Altars and Staffs: Marking Moments of Divine Encounter

Ancient shepherds carved notches into staffs to remember God’s faithfulness. Israel stacked stones where miracles happened. Our stories of provision, healing, and breakthrough aren’t nostalgia—they’re fuel for future faith. When we stop recounting God’s past works, we risk facing new battles unarmed. Testimonies become weapons. Every scar, victory, and altar shouts: “He did it before—He’ll do it again.” [01:20:00]

“In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them…‘The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea.’” (Joshua 4:6-7, ESV)

Reflection: What “stone of remembrance” could you share this week with someone doubting God’s present power?

Day 4: Selfie Faith vs. Fisherman Focus

A selfie captures only your face; fishing nets exist for the catch. Churches fixated on comfort, style, or personal preferences forget their nets were made for souls. Jesus didn’t call disciples from recliners but from working boats. Our gifts—preaching, serving, giving—aren’t for our applause. They’re tools to haul in the drowning. When the net’s purpose shifts to decoration, the mission drowns. [01:33:54]

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20, ESV)

Reflection: Is your spiritual energy spent more on curating your comfort or casting nets for the lost?

Day 5: Hearing the Score Change: Anticipating Joy’s Soundtrack

Horror movie scores warn of danger; triumphant music heralds victory. Life’s disappointments can mute our expectancy, making every scene feel ominous. But resurrection people lean forward—ears tuned for the shift from minor chords to major keys. Jesus endured the cross hearing heaven’s orchestra tuning up for resurrection morning. Your current scene isn’t the finale. Listen for the music changing. [01:46:49]

“For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2, ESV)

Reflection: What “joy set before you” could help you endure a present struggle? How would living expectantly change your daily rhythm?

Sermon Summary

Matthew 4 sets the frame. Jesus is affirmed as the mature Son, ready for the family business, then led straight into a bad season in the wilderness. A good day is followed by a hard stretch, and out of that place Jesus starts recruiting. The text puts Simon and Andrew casting their nets and then shows James and John mending theirs. At first glance, casting looks like hustle while mending looks like quitting. But the word mending carries two live meanings: repairing and arranging. The nets have done real work and taken real damage, so the fishermen repair them. Then they fold and place those nets so the next day’s catch can be maximized. Mending is not giving up. Mending is preparation.

That image becomes a call. The people of God have worked and been worn. Offense, leadership failures, disunity, disappointment have torn threads. There is also the wadded-up pile at the bottom of the boat, where too many moves and too much busyness have left lives tangled. The nets need repair. The nets need arranging. The church here hears Jesus call them in the mending, not around it. Preparation positions a people to seize the opportunity in the lifetime of the opportunity.

Out of that, three mending moves land. First, heritage gets celebrated. Israel stacked small stone altars where God met them, so kids could point and hear the story. Shepherds etched testimonies on their staffs, line by line, until at the end Jacob leaned on the top and worshiped, resting on what God had done. A church that keeps its stories alive does not get stuck in nostalgia. It furnishes faith for the next catch.

Second, the assignment gets embraced. The Great Commission is not about how a service makes someone feel. A selfie church loses its focus. Gifts are never for the gifted. A singer’s voice, a leader’s call, a congregation’s grace exist for those not yet in the room. This house names its why plainly: help people come to Christ, connect with believers, cultivate their faith, and commission them for their more.

Third, the future gets anticipated. Hope deferred sickens the heart, so expectancy must be stirred. Let the music play. In the movie, the score shifts before the scene shifts. In Scripture, Joseph holds a dream through betrayal and prison until fulfillment. Jesus endures the cross for the joy set before him, seeing people down the road and choosing pain for the promise. When the focus lands on the promise, the crosses become stepping stones. The word lands simple and strong: pick up the nets, repair them, fold and place them, because there is another catch.

Key Takeaways

1. Mending is preparation, not quitting. [01:15:04] Mending repairs what work has torn and arranges what life has tangled. That is not retreat; that is readiness. The hands that stitch holes today are the hands that haul tomorrow. The church that tends its nets will not miss its moment. [75:04]
2. Celebrate heritage to fuel faith. [01:25:39] Altars of memory and etched staffs keep living testimony within reach. Remembered mercies become present courage, and old stories become current strategies. A people who honor what God has done are primed to trust what God will do next. [85:39]
3. The assignment points outward, not inward. [01:33:54] The Great Commission refuses a selfie faith. Gifts are built for other people’s breakthroughs, not the performer’s applause. When a church centers those not yet here, its worship gains weight and its work finds aim. [93:54]
4. Expectancy becomes the cradle of miracles. [01:43:24] Hope needs sound. Let the score swell again. Anticipation does not deny hardship; it refuses to let hardship name the future. Expectancy opens space for God’s surprises to land. [103:24]
5. Fix eyes on the joy beyond the cross. [01:50:31] Jesus endured because he saw the promise and chose pain as the path, not the point. That same sight reframes suffering as a hallway, not a home. When the promise sets the focus, endurance finds its strength. [110:31]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[54:06] - Run It Back and the more of God
[55:48] - Believing for the greatest days ahead
[60:44] - Positioned for revival if prepared
[62:33] - Matthew 4 backdrop and context
[63:47] - A good day followed by a bad season
[68:02] - James and John found mending
[75:20] - Mending prepares the next catch
[78:17] - Celebrate heritage and remember
[85:39] - Jacob leaning on his staff
[90:12] - Embrace the Great Commission
[93:33] - From church to selfie culture
[101:50] - Anticipate a preferred future
[109:50] - Joy set before Jesus
[112:54] - Prepare your nets for another catch

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Matthew 4:18-22 (ESV)
18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Observation Questions

What two activities were the disciples doing when Jesus called them (casting vs. mending nets), and how does the sermon contrast these actions? [01:15:04]
According to the sermon, what two meanings does “mending” carry in the context of preparing for future work? [01:10:07]
What Old Testament examples (altars and staffs) were given to illustrate the importance of celebrating heritage? [01:18:40]
How does the sermon define the church’s assignment using Matthew 28:19-20, and what warning does it give about a “selfie church”? [01:33:54]

Interpretation Questions

Why might Jesus have called both those actively casting nets and those mending nets? What does this reveal about preparation in seasons of work and rest?
The sermon connects mending nets to repairing damage (e.g., offense, disunity) and arranging priorities. How might unresolved “tears” or “tangles” hinder a community’s readiness for God’s opportunities? [01:12:20]
How does celebrating past faithfulness (like Jacob’s staff or Israel’s altars) guard against nostalgia while fueling future faith? [01:25:39]
The sermon argues that spiritual gifts exist “for those not yet in the room.” How does this redefine success in ministry compared to cultural metrics? [01:37:34]

Application Questions

Repairing damage: What relational, emotional, or spiritual “tears” in your life need intentional mending right now? How could addressing these prepare you for future opportunities? [01:14:34]
Celebrating heritage: What “altars” (stories of God’s faithfulness) could you share with someone younger to strengthen their faith? When was the last time you intentionally did this?
Outward focus: Is there an area where your faith has become more about personal comfort than serving others? What step could you take this week to reorient toward the Great Commission? [01:36:04]
Anticipating joy: What “cross” (difficulty) are you facing that feels overwhelming? How might fixing your eyes on the “joy set before you” (Hebrews 12:2) change your perspective? [01:50:31]
Practical mending: Are there habits, relationships, or priorities in your life that feel “wadded up on the boat floor”? What small act of “arranging” could bring clarity this week? [01:13:45]
Stirring expectancy: What practices (worship, prayer, community) could help you “let the music play” again when discouragement dulls your hope? [01:43:24]

Sermon Clips

Most of us have cut off the music in our lives and we've lost the anticipation of what's coming next Through discouragement and disappointment and frustration and all of those things, we have just and it's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I know. The other shoe's gonna drop but I just don't wanna hear it. But if we're going to be prepared for what god has for us You gotta let the music play. [01:45:17] (45 seconds) #LetTheMusicPlay

Come on god. God's gift on my life is not for me, it's for you. The gift of god on your life and the gift of the church in the world is not for us. It is for those who are yet to come in these doors. My relationship with god is about me. My relationship to his church is about others. But that's the assignment of the whole church Like all believers everywhere. [01:38:35] (43 seconds) #GiftForOthers

If you sit around and ain't got nothing to do, I probably, I'm probably not, you're not the first person on the hit list for me to call and and and and recruit you into my team, right? Because I'm looking for somebody who's going to do something. I'm not looking for lazy folks. I'm looking for folks who are doing something. So, Jesus walks up and these guys are on the water and they're casting nets. They're fishing. They're getting it done. They're doing what they're what what what their family has always done. They are doing the work [01:07:00] (25 seconds) #CallToDoers

And I thought to myself, how many of us in pursuing what god has called us to do? We move from one team to another. From one church to another from one job to another right? And there there comes a point in life where we we look around and we go, we've moved so much. We've done so much. Like, we've been involved in so many different things. I feel like I'm just wadded up on the floor. [01:14:00] (39 seconds) #CommitDontWander

And sometimes the lord is just trying to get us to a place where he can arrange us, where he needs us. Come on. We need to mend the nets of our lives, to repair the damage so that we can continue to be useful, to arrange our lives so that we're in the proper place. [01:14:38] (31 seconds) #MendYourNets

But if I can't hear when the score changes and I feel like this is a prophetic word for somebody right now. I just meant immediately. If I can't hear when the score changes, then the movie just looks like it's the same. But if I can hear the music shift All of a sudden, I know something good's around the corner. [01:46:23] (37 seconds) #HearTheScore

sidelined, man. You just get punched to side upside the you know, upside your head. I just believe something good is about to happen. I just believe something good's on its way. I choose to continue to anticipate a preferred future that god has for my life. [01:48:21] (19 seconds) #SomethingGoodIsComing

See, Simon of Harvest Church. Well, we are helping people come to Christ, connect with other believers, Cultivate their faith and commission them for their more. Why do we exist? For four reasons. You know, well, we exist so that members can be happy. Why? I I really want you to be happy because I like folks to like me but that ain't why I'm here. Now, it's a benefit. [01:39:18] (30 seconds) #ChurchPurpose

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Run It Back: Wk4 - Mending Nets

Devotional

Day 1: Mending Nets: Repairing Damage from Past Casts

Day 2: Arranging Nets: Ordering Chaos for Tomorrow’s Harvest

Day 3: Altars and Staffs: Marking Moments of Divine Encounter

Day 4: Selfie Faith vs. Fisherman Focus

Day 5: Hearing the Score Change: Anticipating Joy’s Soundtrack

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Chatbot

Run It Back: Wk4 - Mending Nets

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