Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for the privilege of gathering in your name. Lord, this world is such a mess.
It really is. And it needs you. And Lord, even more so, we need you. Father, I pray you bless Pastor Chad and Darlene as they're away. May they be refreshed and encouraged and strengthened. And Father, we pray, Father, for this church that will continue to proclaim your word to be a mission-sending base, that we can build up and send out spiritual agents of local and global transformation, both locally and globally around the world, Father, that those who've never heard could hear the good news.
In Jesus' name, amen, and amen, and amen. Well, could we say hi to North Raleigh this morning? Hi, North Raleigh. It's nice to see you guys. Normally, I'm over there with you all, and we're really excited about North Raleigh. We're all excited about our Benson campus coming up. We've got some construction delays in this process, so I don't even want to tell you when we're going to open, but we're trying to open as fast as we can.
Just pray for the supply chain to have a miracle. That's what we need. Well, if you've got your Bibles this morning, I want you to open up to Mark chapter 1. We're going to be in verse 16, and before I read that verse, I want to say again hello to our guests.
I'll be out in the lobby afterwards. Normally, Pastor Chad is here and goes out to meet you, but I'd love to meet you, and at all of our campuses, usually the campus pastors would go out and do the same thing, so I'm glad to do that. I do, as you're turning to that passage, I do want to have you notice something.
I don't know if you've noticed, but our parking lot is really full, and we've reduced our services here to two services because when we had three, it was great for getting people in the sanctuary, but we were having traffic jams and people losing their salvation out there on Yonkers Road, and so you think I'm joking, and so we went to two services to create more room, and it has certainly helped between the services with the parking situation as far as Yonkers Road, but the church continues to grow, and last week, we were down to like 15 parking spots. We were about 98% full, and so here's what I need to do. I need all the men in the room to stand up for me, all the men, all the men that stand up. All right, good, excellent, because you're all going to help me. All right, here's what we're going to do. If you have children that are six and under, you may sit down.
If you bring someone who is elderly and needs a park close to the building, you may sit down. Excellent. Now, gentlemen, you are the ones that are going to help me.
You're going to help me. Amen. We can give God a praise clap for that. Because if we can't get more cars off of this parking lot, then we can't get any more people in the church, and so what I need you to do is I need you to start parking offsite and walking or riding the shuttle, and we have more parking spots available.
Can you give God praise for these men who volunteered to park offsite? This is fantastic. Thank you, gentlemen.
You guys are amazing, amazing, amazing. And ladies, you just talk them up. I mean, I'll be honest with you guys.
Ladies tell me it's sexy when she sees a guy parking his car down the road. Not really, but I want you to think that, all right? Amen. Mark 1, verse 16, if you've got your Bibles, we're going to turn there in a moment.
Pastor Chad's been teaching on the book of Mark, and Mark chapter 1, verse 16 says this, and I know I just had the men stand up, but I love to stand for the reading of the word, so would you just stand up for me one more time? I know the youth group likes that, so that's good. Are you all back from camp now? Oh, man. How was camp? Was it good? All right.
How much sleep did you get? Oh, that's what I thought. All right, Mark chapter 1, verse 16.
I'll put it up here on the screen as well. Verse 16. Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little further, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets, and immediately he called them.
They left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. Let's read verse 17 out loud together. You ready? Verse 17 out loud together. Excellent. There we go.
Ready? And Jesus said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. I don't know what version I'm reading. Don't read a different version I'm reading.
Well, that was a fun exercise, y'all. Like a Pentecostal moment, pray for an interpretation. All right, you may be seated. May the Lord add his blessing and a reading of his word. Next time I read from the NLT, I have that in here, too. Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.
Or as the one on the screen said in the New Living Translation, come follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people. Well, first I want to say to you, as fathers of Christ, as a side note, we need to be in the word of God, right? It's cute when our babies, our kids are babies, and we're feeding them, and they make a mess. It's not so cute when they're 16 and doing that, right?
They need to be able to feed themselves, right? And so we need to grow in our ability as fathers of Christ. So if you follow Jesus, one of the things you should try to do as you're able is to spend a little bit of time every day in the word.
And with all the Bible apps out there, it's so easy these days, so I encourage you to do that. Well, Mark was written by a guy named John Marcus. This is something Pastor Chad covered a few weeks ago, and I'm going to give you a little context. And it was written in the late 60s, and John Mark was a cousin of Barnabas. And in fact, in Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas had a fight over John Marcus. John Mark had bailed on them at one time, and Barnabas wanted to let him have a second chance, and Paul didn't, right?
Later on, Paul says, John Mark is of much good use to me. And John Mark becomes a follower and disciple of Peter, and he's in Rome with Peter, and he's heard all the stories from Peter of his firsthand account of Jesus' life. And he writes the gospel probably no later than A.D. 64, because that's when we think that Peter was martyred in Rome by Nero. And so this was written as an account to Romans. It was written to those who weren't necessarily of Jewish descent. They were Gentiles, as it says in the Bible. And this is the first of two calls that Jesus gives to these four men, Simon and Andrew, Peter and Andrew, and James and John.
This is the first of two. The second one appears in John chapter 1. And this occurs in the Sea of Galilee, so I'm going to put a map up here. The Roman world looked like this at the time of Christ, right?
So when you read in the Bible and you hear some of these words used, that's the way it looked. The next slide here shows a little trek from a little dinky town called Nazareth, right there, up to Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee or the Lake of Gennesaret. Jesus was from the town of Nazareth.
And as he began his public ministry somewhere around A.D. 27, because we date human history by the birth of Christ, somewhere around A.D. 27 to A.D. 30, he traveled from that little town of Nazareth up to Capernaum. And in fact, the next slide shows the Sea of Galilee. Again, it's about six miles wide and about 14 miles long. It's about 700 feet deep. I stood there and looked at it. If you stand on a certain point on the shore, you can see the entire shoreline from one location.
It's not a very, very big lake. And a lot of Jesus' ministry occurred around those points. In fact, that spot right there is Capernaum today. And in fact, that octagonal building that looks like a spaceship landed there, I think that had to have been built in the 60s, is octagonal shaped because the very earliest churches, particularly in the third century, were built in octagonal shape. And it's built over a very small first century octagonal building that is sitting on top of a simple home that is most likely Peter's house.
And the homes are made of basalt rocks that are black and round. And if you ever go to Israel or Passover, you get a chance to go there. The building in the foreground that looks a little more ornate is a third or fourth century temple, Jewish temple. And it's built upon the foundations of a first century Jewish temple. Probably was there around the times of Christ, and probably Jesus ministered in that temple. So what Jesus began to do in AD 27, after he was baptized by John and then tempted in the wilderness, is he began to go from town to town.
And he ends up in Capernaum and becomes his home base. And when he would go into a town, he would go into a synagogue, and he would teach. And a synagogue was often a simple structure. It was rectangular.
And it would have, instead of seats or chairs like we have, it would have stone benches surrounding on three sides. And a teacher would stand at the front, a rabbi, and they would open a scroll, and they would teach from the Old Testament, as we call it today. And that's what Jesus was doing. He was going into these synagogues, and he was teaching. And then he was performing miracles. He was preaching.
At some point, the crowds got so big, he couldn't go into the synagogues anymore. So Peter and Andrew, Simon, he was named Peter by Jesus. Peter and Andrew and James and John were aware of Jesus.
They had probably been in the synagogue and heard him teach. And as Jesus walks by them, he makes a simple proclamation, follow me, and I will help you catch people. There's a slide they've got here that shows a first-century fishing boat. And that boat is an example of, ta-da, and now.
What if I go with the other hip? Now. No, didn't work. All right. But they have these round nets that they would cast out. And in fact, many of you have used those today. Hey, there we go.
There it is, right there. So that's the type of fishing boat they use, and they would cast these nets out. In fact, many of you still use those today if you're fishermen. There's three different types of net, but there's a simple casting net.
It's a round net. And at that time, they would tie stones on the edges of it. They would throw it out, and the stones would sink down, and they would have a rope attached to the middle. They would throw on it, and it would catch fish. And if you ever go out to the ocean or a lake or a stream, sometimes you'll see people still fishing like that today. They usually fish at night, so when Jesus came walking by, this is what Peter and Andrew were doing. And there's another slide.
I won't even see if it comes up or not. And it shows them standing there casting their nets, and it's an artist's rendering. There it is. And why do they always put Jesus in white? I don't know why they do that. Why does he always look like Fabio Jesus, like blonde hair or something like that? He was a Jewish man. But anyway, this is probably what he came upon, although a lot of the fishermen, particularly their boats, fish naked.
So I'm really glad the artist was not real to life. But this is the moment that we're talking about. Jesus walks by some fishermen. They're aware of him as a rabbi, and he says to them, follow me, and I'll make you fishers of men. And they immediately left their nets and followed him. There was something about Jesus that drew them. There was something different about him that called to them. You see, followers of Jesus are fishers of men. All who have accepted the invitation to follow Jesus have the privilege of learning the family business.
All who have accepted the call to follow Jesus have accepted the call to be a fisher of men because to be a follower of Jesus is to focus on, pardon me, others first. And the early church really latched on to this fish analogy. It was one of the earliest symbols of Christian art because the letters of the Greek word ikthus, or ikthis, which is the word for fish, were taken as an acronym for Isios Christos Teo, Isios Soter, which meant Jesus Christ of God, the son, savior.
I think there's a slide of this, yay, right there. This was the letters and what they meant. And it literally was their symbol. And in fact, they had a circular symbol they used. And in fact, if you ever go to Ephesus, I've not been to Ephesus in modern day Turkey, the symbol is carved in rock everywhere.
And if you have that slide with the circle thingy, keep going, one more slide. Yeah, right there, excellent. Each letter of ikthus was in that circle that's kinda cut up like a pie. You see it there?
The I, the X, I know I'm not saying the right letters, the O, the Y, and the E, right? There was a early Christian symbol of Jesus Christ, son of God, savior, ikthus, fish. They identified with this moment that Jesus called James and John and Peter and Andrew to be fishers of men. It was a part of their identity as followers of Christ.
That not only were their sins forgiven, not only was he the leader of their life, but there was a purpose and a job for them that they were called to do what Jesus did to catch people. But before we can catch people, we need to understand what it means to be a genuine follower of Christ. You see, if you were to ask somebody, or say, hey, I would really like to learn how to play professional basketball, you would not come and ask me. I'm not good at basketball.
Don't have the height, don't have the coordination, right? When we want to become a follower of Christ and we're called to be fishers of men, the first question becomes, are we ourselves a genuine follower of Christ? So what does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?
What does it mean to act like Jesus? A simple acronym, ACT, A-C-T, and the first letter of that is if we're going to be a follower of Jesus as A, we have to accept the gift of God's grace, God's riches at Christ's expense. Ephesians 2 eight says, for by grace you have been saved through what? Faith, and this is not your own doing.
It is the gift of God, not a result of work so that no one may boast, for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, that's the fishing part, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. To be a follower of Christ, to act like a follower of Christ, the first letter, A, is to accept God's gift of grace for our lives. The C in ACT is confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Romans 10 nine says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, for with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? Accept the gift of God's grace, confess Him as your Lord and Savior. He is the leader and the forgiver of your life. I think it's easy to accept the gift of God's grace, but I don't know about you, for me, the bigger challenge is to submit to His leadership for my life. And you say, pastor, what does that mean?
Well, it really means that Christ is first in everything in your life. What do I do with my money? Well, what would Jesus have me do?
I'm dating, what kind of relationship should I get into? Well, what kind of relationship would Jesus want you to get into? I want a career. I have a gifting in certain areas, which God often uses people in their giftings. But a Christ follower would say, Jesus, where do you want me to work? What do you want me to do with my time? Where do you want me to spend my life? Being a follower of Christ is a complete death to self.
It means confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior, accepting the gift of God's grace. The T in ACT is turn from your ways, your old ways, and follow Him. I don't know about you, but I live my old ways.
I didn't like the results. It may have been fun for a season, but it's like getting in debt. Easy to get in, hard to get out of, right? Because sin always takes you further than you want to go, costs you more than you want to pay, and keeps you longer than you want to stay, right? Turn from your ways and follow Him, Luke 9, 23. And He said to all, if anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily. It's a Roman tool for killing people, so He meant dine yourself and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. What does it mean to be a follower of Christ?
Act like it. Accept the gift of God's grace, confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and turn from your ways and follow Him. All who are followers of Christ are fishers of men. But if we want people to experience Christ through us, we need to be following Christ ourselves, right?
Nobody likes a hypocrite, right, at all. Why is God trying to catch people? Aren't they a little messy? Aren't they unpredictable and unreliable and unfaithful and frustrating?
Pastor Chad often says, if you don't believe in original sin, you'd never had children. You parents know what I mean. They're evil. You know what I'm saying?
They look cute, but there's a devil in there. I'm just telling you right now. You got to spank it out of them.
I'm sorry. Discipline. Discipline.
Don't get me started. So why is God trying to catch people? Because people matter to God. So much that He sacrificed His own son to reach and save them.
People are not going to catch themselves. The state of man is such that all people are lost, right? Romans 5, 6 says, for while we were still weak at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.
That's us. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person, one would dare even to die. But God shows His love for us in that while we, that's all of us, we're still sinners, Christ died for us. Since therefore we have now been justified by His blood, that means we are now right with God because of the sacrifice that Christ has made for us.
Otherwise, we are not justified. We are guilty before God. And the punishment for sin is death. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His son, much more now that we are reconciled shall we be saved by His life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. He paid the price.
Why? Because people matter to God. What is the other reason God is trying to catch people? Because people are lost. They don't find God.
He finds them. Jesus' analogy in Luke 15 of what the kingdom of God is like is like a woman loses a coin and finds it, a part of her inheritance. A shepherd loses his sheep and goes and tries to find it.
A son that wanders away and comes home. And in each case, there is much rejoicing. But in each case, at least with the sheep and the coin especially, they didn't find themselves.
Lost people can't find themselves when they don't know where they are. Don't get mad at what's happening in our culture when it comes to how people are behaving. Many of them don't know any better. And it makes me sick to my stomach too and really frustrates me.
I have teenagers. It makes me really frustrated what's happening in our culture. But they're not really the challenge. There's an enemy out there that is trying to ruin lives. They're lost and they don't know where they are and they are in trouble. Isaiah 53, 6 says, All we like sheep have gone astray.
We have turned everyone, no exceptions, to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him, on Jesus, the iniquity of us all. He paid the price. Luke 15, 3, so he told them this parable.
I mentioned this a moment ago. What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he is lost, one of them does not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing.
And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost. Just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. Why is God trying to catch people? Because people matter to him and because people are lost and because people are headed the wrong way, hell, and need to know the right way, heaven.
Matthew 25, verse 46, And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Second Peter 3, 9, Why is God so patient with the world and how dark it can be? Because there are those he knows are going to respond. He is patient because he doesn't want anyone to perish and go into hell. He doesn't want anyone to perish and be away from him. This is why God is trying to catch people through you and I. Daniel, chapter 12, verse 1, At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince, who was in charge of your people, and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered to everyone whose name shall be found written in the book, and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Why is God trying to catch people? Because they matter to him, because they're lost and they're headed the wrong way. Now, there are three facts about Jesus' invitation to follow him.
The first one is this. His invitation is for anyone. What about the transgender person who works at the coffee shop and serves him that coffee? Yes. What about somebody who has murdered somebody? Yes. What about somebody who has had an abortion? Yes.
What about somebody who has done some awful thing? It's for everyone. Now, does God want us to stay the same?
No. He calls us to turn and repent from our sinful ways. So it's not a grace that just takes us like we are and keeps us that way. It's a grace that comes in and says, there's more in you than you know, and I have more for you, and if you'll die to yourself, there's a new way of living, and you'll find the satisfaction you've been trying to find by living for yourself.
Right? His invitation is for everyone for Romans 10, verse 13, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. His invitation still stands today.
Mark 1 17 still stands today. Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. Follow me, and I will give you a meaning and a purpose for your life that money cannot buy, that sex cannot find, that success will not give you, that all the possessions in the world will never satisfy. Jesus is the answer. He's the answer. His invitation's for everyone. His invitation still stands. His invitation demands a response. If a high official, and I know I'm gonna risk myself because people like, you know, politics, and people aren't big fans of certain people, but if the president of the United States called you and said, I'd like to do lunch with you, I know it's... Just bear with me, okay? Let's just say it's a president you like, all right?
Just deal with it. But out of respect for the office alone, right, you would respond. Listen, there are two people that I always answer a phone call to in this order, my wife and, well, three, my kids and then Pastor Chad, right, those three, because I don't wanna have my wife leave me because I love my wife and I married way up, and then two, I love my kids, and then three, I'd like to keep my job.
So that's three of them, right? Pastor Chad calls me, I'm gonna answer. When Jesus calls, his call demands a response. Matthew 7, 13, Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many, for the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few, and those who find it are those who have responded to his invitation and heard the call.
It demands a response. So the question then becomes for us, if we're followers of Christ and fishers of men, are we going to follow Jesus, or if we're not following Jesus, are we gonna stay on the path to destruction? In Matthew 9, verse 35, Jesus said he went through all the cities and villages, that was mostly in Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, Mary mentioned that a moment ago, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful. I don't care how lost America is. I don't care how close to the gospel a country like Iran is. Jesus gets in everywhere.
It doesn't matter to me what our supreme court says, what the president says, what our local government says. Jesus is still the way, the truth, and the life. The harvest is still plentiful, and people are still lost, and they still need to be reached. You and I are who God uses. God uses you and I right where we are because God has placed you where you are if you're following him for his time and for his purposes. Maybe God has you in that job for such a time as this. Maybe God has you in that neighborhood for such a time as this. Maybe God will put you in a store somewhere or a restaurant for such a moment as this. I know what it's like to be in a place at times, not here, I love working across the assembly, where you feel like God, this can't be your will where I am. My career, my path isn't lining up. There's a great devotional by a guy named Hal White, and it's based off 1 Corinthians 10, 31.
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God, all of it. I've shared this story, and I'll make it brief because you've probably heard it before, but I had a job I hated for many years while I was driving as an evangelist. I had to work a side job, and there was various reasons. They weren't good that I hated the job.
But you know, more people came to faith in my personal life through that job than any season of my life ever. And I remember one day my boss saying, you're gonna go with me, come get in the car with me. And I had a rule.
I didn't travel anywhere with females alone, but I broke the rule because it was my boss. And we're in the car, and I said to her, where are we going? She said, we're going to the hospital. I said, okay.
She said, my father-in-law is dying. I said, okay. I said, why am I going? Because he didn't know Jesus and you do, and you're gonna have to talk to him about him.
So I can take no credit. I literally was paid and forced by my boss to witness. Like, there's no like, I had a leading from the Lord, and God spoke to me, and I appeared in the hospital room.
No, I mean, literally, I was forced to do it. Slides the curtain open at the emergency room. Dad, this is Chris.
Closes the curtain, me and this guy. And he's dying. So I gave him a gospel and prayed a prayer with him, and he cried, and I cried, and then I came out, and I said, well, according to what I know, he's put his faith in Christ like the thief on the cross. When he dies, he'll be in heaven. He died eight hours later. And I hated that job, and I wanted to leave that job, but you know what?
God doesn't really care about my opinions because he loves me enough to care more about what's best for me. So we have a very skeptical world, a very lost world that we're living in. What is in a career, Hal White wrote? So just use the word career as an acronym, all right?
The C in career for character. Through Christ-like character, you have the opportunity to impact others. Galatians 5, 22, right? The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such things there is no law, and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Your character has the opportunity at work to impact others.
The A, attitude. Work is not a result of the curse, fall or no fall. Our work was a part of God's plan. Philippians 2 talks about Christ being God becoming a servant, right?
Though he was the form of God, did not account of God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, particularly in the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. Your attitude in your work will either exemplify and be an example of Christ, or it will exemplify something else. People can tell when you're a follower of Christ. The R, the first R in career relationships, the greatest witness you will have at work is dependent on how you treat your coworkers. Look, if you're really lazy at your job and you're mean to people, just tell them you're a Satanist.
They'll rebel against Satan and follow God. Just use reverse psychology. The greatest witness you will have at work is dependent on how you treat your coworkers. Don't be a jerk and then put your Bible on your desk, please. Just treat people with kindness. The first E in career excellence, one of the best ways you can bring God glory to your work is to do it with excellence. Be the best at what you've been assigned to do. 1 Corinthians 10, 31, right where you read it, whatever you eat or drink, whatever you do, do it to the glory of God.
The second E, experience. God can and will use all the experiences in your life to bring Him glory. What about all the garbage? God is a specialist at turning the garbage in your life into gold.
And you say, what do you mean? God will bring you out of something, mistakes you've made or something that was done to you, He'll bring you through a healing season, and then when somebody else is going through it, God will take that and use you to encourage them and strengthen them. God can use all your junk for His glory.
Every experience, Romans 8, 28, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose. The final R in career, rest. When you unplug from work, it's a sign that you trust the Lord to take care of business in His timing. Keep Christ first, don't make work first in your life.
Right? Wherever you are, I don't care if you're a homemaker, I don't care whatever you may be doing, you may retire. Wherever you are, you have a place to fish.
As you leave today, our media team made these little stickers that's got the little ichthus fish on it, it's a magnet. And if you're so willing, I'd like you to take one of these and for the next 30 days, I'd like you to pray a simple prayer as you get up. Say, Lord, if there's somebody within my circle of influence, if there's somebody today that is looking for you, would you bring them my way? Because if you are a follower of Christ, you are a fisher of men. You don't have to be a guy in a bullhorn in the street corner.
You can just be you. Yes, our culture is really messy, and we should stand up for what's right. But the primary work of the church is not social justice, although we need to help those who are hurting and poor and in need 100%. Primary is the gospel. That's it.
So where is your fishing spot? Is it your neighbor? Is it a relative? Is it a skeptical coworker? Is it an atheist? Is it a friend?
Is it a business that you frequent? You can be used by God to catch people, to bring them the hope and the good news of Jesus. Sometimes they won't receive it.
That's okay. You've planted that seed, and the Holy Spirit knows how to water it. Many of us who didn't know the Lord and came to know the Lord, it was often not one conversation that brought us, sometimes it was six or seven or eight or nine or 10 or 100. But maybe you can be one step forward for somebody. Recently, I was at a business, and the guy designed the entire business at a restaurant to be able to share his faith with people.
It's a fascinating story. And he said to me, he said, you know, I've learned to ask a question of people when I have a chance. And I said, what's the question? He said, I tell him, I believe in the power of prayer because I believe in Jesus. And he said, I asked him this, if God could give you one miracle today for something that's happened in your past, present, or future that would change your life, one miracle, what would it be? I bought a cheap stove for North Raleigh because we needed a second stove.
So thank you for your giving because you bought a cheap stove. Guy delivers it, and I thought, you know, I thought I'd try that question out. So I got to talking to him a little bit. His name was Angel. And I asked him that question. He got real quiet. He said, 30 years ago, my six months old son died in his sleep. I said, I've never forgotten.
And I think about him every day. I said, Angel, can I pray with you? You see, people are hungry. They just don't know what good food is. They're hungry. They're hungry. The question is not if you're hungry, if they're hungry, pardon me. The question is, am I hungry?
Are you hungry? Because Jesus is too good to keep to ourselves. And God has you right where you are for a time and a season. And He can do marvelous things for your life. And you may be in a field that's rocky.
You may just be someone who plows up the ground. You may not get to see the harvest, but God still has a purpose for you. Wherever you are called to fish, pick up your fish and pole and be a light for those that don't know Christ. Because otherwise, eternity is in the balance. Would you pray with me?
And would you please stand? Jesus, there's no place like home. Our heart is to be with you and we are not home yet. And to be absent from the body, Lord, is to be present with you. But while we are here, Lord, may you destined us for your purposes, great or small, noticed or unnoticed. And Father, as we leave this gathering today, whether we're watching online, we're at North Wall here at Yonkers, or wherever we may be, Lord, would we take seriously your call to be a fisher of men?
And if we've never accepted you or confessed you or turned from our wicked ways, Lord, I pray today that we would make that decision and become a follower of Christ to know the joy of your purposes. And Lord, I pray for everybody in this room, would you lift your hands? Lord, I pray that you would give them divine appointments this week. Divine appointments at work, divine appointments at home, divine appointments with their neighbors, their father in the grocery stores, wherever they may go, the gas station, I don't care. Father, would you give them divine appointments?
Would you lead them to people who are hungry and looking? And through acts of kindness and doing their work with excellence and saying, how can I pray for you? And sharing our story and our faith.
Father, there is always room for one more. And Father, I pray, just like that shepherd looking for his lost sheep, would you send us to find your lost sheep, Lord? That we could be a part of your work and truly be fishers of men.
In Jesus' name, would you sing with the worship team as we close? Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are. Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are. You are here.
You turn your lives around. I worship you. I worship you. You are here.
You bend in every heart. I worship you. I worship you. Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are. Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are.
That is who you are. Father, as we go from this place today, send us as your emissaries with your good news. And we thank you, Father, that your hand of protection and your hand of blessing is upon our lives. And Father, I thank you that each one of us are precious to you like a child. And Father, may we know your love, and may we transmit it, and may we be a fisher of men this week as we go about our days. In Jesus' name, everybody say amen. You're dismissed. Thank you guys for being here today. Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, lie in the darkness, my God, and that is who you are.
