... on Matthias. (Acts 1:15-26) It was both a spiritual act and a practical stroke, for it put the world on notice that Jesus' ministry to humanity was still very much alive through his followers. Pentecost came almost on the heels of the big fisherman's action. Nor did he let it pass without bearing his witness to the Parthians and Medes and Elamites and numerous others gathered in Jerusalem from all parts of the Mediterranean. For rising to the occasion he bore his testimony so eloquently that three thousand ...
... spotted him. The other place is in the 21st chapter of John. After Good Friday, Peter announced to the other disciples, “I am going fishing.” That didn’t mean he was taking a vacation-merely that he was going back to his previous occupation - a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee, which was what he did before he went off on the wild-goose chase to follow the itinerant rabbi from Nazareth. But then there came a brilliant Easter morning, and an angel standing by an empty tomb, telling the disciples that ...
If I were to name the year 1989, I wonder if you would know the significance of it. I imagine most people would think back to something that happened personally to them that year, something that touched their life in a dramatic way, like a birth or death in the family. We wouldn't forget that. But in 1989, during the season of Advent, you will remember, the Communist empire crumbled, the Cold War ended, and the Berlin wall came down. I have a piece of that wall. Our children gave it to us after a trip to ...
... . Because we could not go to Him, He came to us. And because God came to us, everything is forever changed. Someone has summed it up in a little Christmas fable: Once there lived a humble fisherman and his shrewish wife. Nothing the fisherman did was good enough for his wife. Her complaining nearly drove him up the wall. One day, the fisherman caught an especially shiny, large fish. Before he could toss it in his nets, the fish spoke up, “Release me into the sea again and I will grant you a wish.” The ...
... said, "Yes I do." Later José said he would never forget the sight of Bobby Richardson's face, and the sound of his voice, asking him right in the middle of a World Series game if he knew the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that is what I call a good fisherman. III. Freeing the Spirit Notice again Jesus says, "If you follow Me I will make you become fishers of men." Now how does Jesus make us become fishers of men? Very simply by the power of the Holy Spirit. Two of the greatest verses in all of the Bible concerning ...
... why all this technology is put to use is because good fishermen want to go where fish are, but that is only half the battle. Good fisherman also know when fish bite. Every night if you watch the weather forecast, you will also see a chart giving you the best times to ... walking down the road to Damascus and immediately went from being a fish to a follower and ultimately from a follower to a fisherman. In Acts 17 he is fishing in a lake called Athens. If you have been watching any of the Olympics I am sure you ...
... by Peter, James, and John, must be our goal as well. We might not want to admit it, but often we live our daily lives with a veil over our face that marks who we are and does not allow us to properly see the world around us. The fisherman thief thought crime would pay; it was his perceived ticket to greatness. But he learned through the goodness of others the fallacy of his idea. When he removed the veil he saw clearly the proper road to the goals he saw in life. Similarly, Paul tells the Corinthians to ...
... to win the battle, and Towards was pulled over the side of our ship. He was swallowed whole, and we never saw either of them again.” “Oh dear, that must have been terrible!” said his wife. “What a huge fish that must of been!” “Yes, it was,” said the fisherman, “but you should have seen the one that GOT AWAY. . . .” O.K., it’s bad. But what a great story to prepare us to hear, once again, the old story of Jonah and the big fish. God came to a man named Jonah and told him to go to Nineveh ...
... , said their goodbyes, and set sail for a three-month voyage. Three whole years passed before the grieving woman saw a lone man walking toward her house. She recognized him as her husband. "My goodness! What has happened to my darling boys?" she cried. The ragged fisherman began to tell his story: "We were just barely one whole day out to sea when Towards hooked into a great fish. Towards fought long and hard, but the fish was more than his equal. For a whole week they wrestled upon the waves without either ...
... the old rusty green tackle box, and pulled out a second stick of dynamite, struck a match, lit the fuse, and handed the stick of dynamite to the Game Warden. The Game Warden was so confused that he took it. The fuse was burning in his hand. The fisherman, with a gleam in his eye, and a glee in his voice, said, “Are you going to fish or just sit there?” Our scripture lesson today is about some fishermen. It is the familiar story of Jesus’ call of four of his disciples – all fishermen. Mark gives the ...
John 21:1-14, John 21:15-25, Acts 10:1-8, Acts 10:9-23a, Acts 10:23b-48
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... , he said to Peter and the others on the lake as he called them to ministry.* What did that mean? Let’s look at how the fishing net was used in Peter’s industry. The net was a tool of the commercial fishing industry. Peter wasn’t just a weekend fisherman. Fishing wasn’t his hobby. It was his livelihood. He and his fellow fishermen worked on a large wooden fishing rig, something like this one**: Over the side would be attached a large net to load in the catch of the day, such as this one of a catfish ...
... I barely speak to you is because I just have my mind on other things." He said, "Well, why aren't you out there fishing?" He said, "Because I've caught enough fish for today." The man said, "Well, why don't you catch more fish than you need?" The fisherman said, "What would I do with them?" He said, "Well, you could earn more money, buy a better boat, go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets and catch even more fish, make more money, and soon you would have a whole fleet of boats like I ...
... I barely speak to you is because I just have my mind on other things." He said, "Well, why aren't you out there fishing?" He said, "Because I've caught enough fish for today." The man said, "Well, why don't you catch more fish than you need?" The fisherman said, "What would I do with them?" He said, "Well, you could earn more money, buy a better boat, go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets and catch even more fish, make more money, and soon you would have a whole fleet of boats like I ...
... of Jesus’ death, a deep sense of inadequacy. So, he goes back to what he knows he is good at--his former “life” as a fisherman. He tells the others he’s going fishing. They take their nets and go out that night to do the same. But they catch nothing ... up,” deciding that he cannot be an apostle for Jesus. That he doesn’t have it in him. That he is after all only a fisherman. But he finds, he can no longer go back either. He is no longer the person he used to be either. And nothing comes of his ...
... , "and buy a bigger boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you'd have a fleet of boats and be rich like me." "Then what would I do?" the fisherman asked. "You could sit down and enjoy life," said the tycoon. "What do you think I'm doing right now?" the fisherman replied as he looked contentedly at the sea. In today's text, the people of Israel play the role of the rich tycoon and God wanted them to be like the contented ...
... ? “Then,” said the businessman, “you would make millions. Then you could retire, get a nice place on the beach, daze at the sun and look into the beautiful ocean.” To which the fisherman replied, “What do you think I’m doing now?” B. Possessions are a problem. THEY WON’T GIVE YOU LIFE. “This very night your life will be demanded from you” (Verse 20). That’s sobering stuff, isn’t it? Did the stress of work kill the foolish farmer? Who knows? ...
... , but he can see it in the daytime and avoid it. Peter sees this request as being foolish for two reasons. First of all, it was the wrong time. The best time to fish was during the night and the very early morning. Second, it was the wrong place. Every fisherman knew that the best place to catch fish is along the shore and not in the deep water. If they went out in front of that crowd, Peter would be the laughing stock of the community and they would be the only boats out there. This is how the conversation ...
... throw in a line from time to time, but at that age -- our teenage years -- we were far more interested in racing our motorboats up and down the river and jumping the wake of the huge barges and tugboats. I was not much of a fisherman nor was I the son of a fisherman. But my daughters were a different story, especially when they were quite young. While vacationing on a lake in northern Michigan, I would take them out in the boat to a well-known spot to fish for bass. I would help them bait their hooks. They ...
... be a visit at the hospital or a gift to someone in need. You did it unto Jesus. Surprised? Most of us are as unaware of the importance of our good deeds as were the sheep in Jesus' parable. There is a Czechoslovakian film called ADRIFT. It is about a fisherman and his family who one day rescued a girl from drowning. The girl came to live with this family for a while. They couldn't find anything about her past. It was a mystery. In those years that the girl lived with them, she was a source of untold ...
... , Peter and Paul were almost opposites. And this is in more ways than looks — if iconography gives us any clue, Peter is tall, stout and bushy-haired and Paul is small, thin and balding. Peter was “blue collar” all the way. He was a small town fisherman with no friends in high places, and no education to speak of. Slow to comprehend at times, he was impetuous and emotional. Yet Peter was also one of those natural born leaders. In every list of the disciples we have, Peter is always named first. From ...
... is reproductive of the Word of God, because it bears fruit. This is what keeps bringing the farmer back to the field and the fisherman back to the water. There are missing persons that want to be found. Not everyone is hearing impaired. There are people who will say ... Is Producing The Harvest All a farmer can do is sow the seed. Once he does that the harvest is in God’s hand. All the fisherman can do is throw his hook in the water. After that, it is up to God as to whether or not he catches any fish. Our ...
... Then the man said, “You only catch a fish like that by going to the deepest parts of the bay.” Bill was so proud of that fish, but he had to hang it on the wall of his basement because his wife would not have it upstairs! Well, that old fisherman was right on many levels. You never catch anything worth having in the shallows. Anything worth having must be found at the deep end. In order to find the inspiration we need we can’t stay at the shallow end of life. We must go deeper. The Bible teaches us ...
... on the bank to enjoy the sandwiches he had brought for lunch. A beaver appeared, dragging a branch. It chose a spot where the stream split off into a little rivulet, then placed the branch where the water rippled over rocks like a washboard. The fisherman could see the beaver was seeking to dam that smaller stream to form a quieter pond. The beaver disappeared, returning with another branch which it put next to the first. A while later, another. But while the beaver was gone, the three branches washed away ...
... took out a stick of dynamite, lit it, and tossed it into the water. An explosion followed and dead fish came to the surface. Then the man put them in the boat. The stranger reached into his hip pocket and showed his credentials as a game warden. Calmly the fisherman again opened his tackle box, got another stick of dynamite, lit the fuse, and handed it to the game warden. Then he asked, "Are you going to fish or are you just going to sit there?" God says to us in our depression, "Are you going to sit there ...
... to you." How typical of Peter - impulsive, reckless, excitable man that he was. When Peter saw Christ walking on the water, Peter the Rock went overboard - literally. His excitement got the better of him and he cried out, "Lord, let me do it, too!" Now Jesus knew the Big Fisherman and he knew that Peter couldn’t do it. But he let him try, because Jesus also knew Peter was the type of person who has to find out the hard way - by experience and failure. Peter was a man of daring and he had to learn faith by ...