Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Welcome to the World Changers Church Gold Coast Podcast. Join us as we listen to today's message.
[00:00:07] Hey World Changers Gold Coast.
[00:00:11] I just want to take a moment and thank your pastors for having us in.
[00:00:17] Pastor Kyle and Pastor Tina, we have loved them a long time, have walked this out a long time together, this thing we call ministry unto the Lord where he spends most of his time ministering unto us, I believe this morning.
[00:00:39] I am really not sure how to approach this except to tell you that the few of you that I know.
[00:00:47] Hello again those of you who I do not know. My name is Jamie Brown. My parents named me James Brown.
[00:00:57] I got that name for my whole life. And the Lord called me to the ministry when I was 13.
[00:01:04] By the time that I was 18, I was selling drugs in America.
[00:01:09] Found that my path was the way that I wanted to run.
[00:01:13] And God quickly and assuredly reminded me of who I was in him. As I went on a missions trip as a drug dealer to Mexico with my soon to be wife. And while I was there, God broke my heart again for the gospel.
[00:01:32] I came home and I prayed, lord, I need to leave this life. Five days later I was in jail and out of that life.
[00:01:43] Pray specific points in your prayer.
[00:01:51] It took two or three years to pay back my debt to society, to feel like I could even open my mouth again for the Lord.
[00:02:00] I felt very insignificant and unworthy of the job set before me. But I thank God that He knows us better than we do and that he knew us before we were formed in our mother's womb and that he knows us even better than we do in the moment we think we know ourselves the best.
[00:02:22] Today, as we enter into this sermon series, which I want to go ahead and put this out there for you. This is a series. This is three weeks.
[00:02:30] If you guys want to see something significant happen, sometimes you have to be able to allow God to break your plans and you have to be able to step into His.
[00:02:41] The most amazing breakthroughs in your life will be very inconvenient to you.
[00:02:47] That's what this sermon series is about.
[00:02:51] Breakthroughs are messy.
[00:02:53] They're not confined to nice, tidy, just step by step. I've walked this thing out and God has given me a 12 step program to be better.
[00:03:04] Guys, if you've been through it with the Lord, you know good and well that your life will fall apart because you have built it with the bricks of your own salvation instead of his salvation.
[00:03:15] So today as we begin this sermon series, this before and after Pentecost, we're going to be talking about Peter primarily this week and the week after next. This is going to be a Pastor Kyle sandwich. We're going to have me preaching and then Kyle preaching next week and then the following week I will bookend it. But what we're going to do is just discuss this man, Peter, and how this amazing God formed this fisherman into something much more. So let's go to the Lord and just thank him for how good he is. Father God, we thank you today for your goodness and mercy. I thank you for each person that's here because I believe that everyone who is here today was foreordained for this moment. I believe that they're sitting here in this place because they're going to hear something and walk through something in the next couple of weeks that's going to change their life forever.
[00:04:06] That Australia will not be the same because they walk through it, Lord. They're going to understand the power and authority that they walk in because of you, Lord, your identity in them. Lord, we just thank you Lord for your goodness and your mercy that you have shown unto us. And Lord, we ask this plainly, just help us. Give us ears to hear and a heart to receive as we love you and thank you. It's in Jesus name we pray.
[00:04:30] Amen.
[00:04:32] So this is before and after Pentecost we're going to be talking about Peter and Sermon 1 is from Fishermen to fisher of men.
[00:04:38] And as we stand here today, I want to tell you that as I was moving into ministry some 30 years ago, Peter shook me.
[00:04:55] I don't know if you've gotten the opportunity, if you haven't read the Bible, read it.
[00:05:01] I find it very important for the Christian life for you to at least know what the manual says.
[00:05:07] And as you start reading it and as you start figuring out who you are, you start seeing glimpses of people who are just like you in the Word.
[00:05:17] And I find myself continuously looking at Paul and Peter and going, lord, thank you for calling hard headed people like me.
[00:05:25] Thank you for calling people who refuse to listen. But you don't give up on them. And after all that, Lord, you still allow them to play a role in your kingdom. I thank God that we have a God that's patient, long suffering and doesn't.
[00:05:41] Can I just be honest with you guys? I am so glad that we worship a savior that's nothing like the Christians that we have to hang out with every single day.
[00:05:52] Christians just have such a garbage attitude and living inside this world and I'm gonna give it to you the same way that I give it to my churches, if that's okay.
[00:06:02] I'm just gonna speak freely, and if I offend anybody, please see me outside and wrestle me and we'll see who's right, and we'll.
[00:06:09] Unless you're big and you're gonna, I don't know, wrestle Patty, but.
[00:06:16] Or Timmy. Where's Timmy at?
[00:06:19] All right, Timmy. He's got my heavyweight.
[00:06:21] So we're going to be starting out in Luke 5.
[00:06:26] Luke 5, and verse 1.
[00:06:29] I just want to set this scene for us as we walk this journey out together.
[00:06:35] I'm reading out of the new King James Version for no particular reason. It's just one I own.
[00:06:40] So it was as a multitude pressed about him to hear the word of God that he stood by the lake sinnerat and saw two boats standing by the lake. But the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then he got into one of the boats, which is Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When he had stopped speaking, he said to Simon, launch out to the deep and let you down your nets for a catch. But Simon answered and said to him, master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing.
[00:07:17] All right, I just want to repeat that, okay, Verse five. But Simon answered to him and said to him, master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing.
[00:07:29] All right, this is where everything changes in your life. Okay?
[00:07:33] A truth was spoken.
[00:07:37] Nevertheless, at your word, I will let down the net.
[00:07:43] And when they had done this, they called a great number of fish and their net was breaking. So they singled to their partners on the other side of their boats. And they came and helped them. As they came and filled their boats, so they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus knees, saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
[00:08:08] For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken. And so also were James and John, the sons of Jebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, do not be afraid. From now on, you will catch men.
[00:08:26] So when they had brought their boats to the land, they forsook all that followed him. Now, I want to just set this scene for you because, guys, if there's something that Christians do on a regular basis is we really hype up the people who we are, think, that we think are great in Scripture. But I want to go ahead and put this into Your mind as we start this sermon series is that Peter is at work and he's just a regular dude.
[00:08:54] It is not St Peter.
[00:08:56] It is not Apostolon Peter. It is not Simon the Great. It is not the foreordained Simon of all greatness and great hood, or however you want to present it.
[00:09:06] This is a guy who has worked all night long.
[00:09:10] And let's tell the story of this. Any of you ever worked? Well, Australia doesn't do this a lot, I don't think, but in the States, we do this. Anybody ever worked third shift or late shift? Not a single one of you? Yeah, maybe some of you. All right, so any of you ever worked a shift?
[00:09:28] I've had a job.
[00:09:31] So I want to present this moment to you. Okay. I just want to present how God is sometimes in your life. And I want to especially give this to those of you who have ever had a boss. That right at time to get off of work is when they always approach you about doing something else.
[00:09:51] You ever lived that life? Some of you are like, no, I've always had great bosses.
[00:09:55] I have never had a great boss.
[00:09:57] Every single. And I was. I supervised a chemical plant for 14 years. And I will guarantee you this, every single time that the shift was about to change was when my boss would go, jamie, and had three hours to talk to me. But right there, right as I'm about to clock out, he would catch me and go, come here for a moment. I'd be, ah, I don't know if you've ever had that feeling that, I've got plans.
[00:10:27] I've got plans for you, says the Lord. That's the way I feel when I'm walking out the door every single time when I'm about to hit the clock. I'm gonna go home, I'm gonna get some sleep, I'm gonna get some rest. I'm gonna spend time with my wife. I don't know what it is, but I am not gonna spend time with Jamie. Yeah, okay.
[00:10:43] Well, just imagine this, Peter, John.
[00:10:47] They're all out all night long fishing.
[00:10:51] And here comes this teacher.
[00:10:54] Not a teacher of fishing, mind you, this rabbi.
[00:10:59] And I want you to acknowledge the fact that these men, if they were under rabbinical training, would not be fishing. They had already been passed up from the time of rabbinical training. There was no more follow me, being said to these men. These men had aged. Out fishing was what they are going to be doing the rest of their life.
[00:11:20] Their families did it well. They were not gonna be powerful men teaching The Torah, they were done. It was passed, it was over.
[00:11:28] And here comes a rabbi.
[00:11:30] And this rabbi is a little different. And as he shows up, a bunch of people show up with him. And as they're cleaning up and trying to get ready and they're trying to clock out and go home, this rabbi says, I'm gonna. Hey, push me out a little ways. No, no, no, that's my boat.
[00:11:46] Why did he.
[00:11:47] Why is Jesus. Oh, man, who is this man who has pushest out my boat as I'm washing up my nets and suddenly he's teaching? And I want, I want to just, I want to wreck you for a minute. If you'll just allow God to do this in your life.
[00:12:05] As Peter was listening, he knew there was something different about him.
[00:12:11] In the middle of Peter's process, Jesus stepped in.
[00:12:18] In the middle of his every day. Again, I have not made any money again. I am pushing my nets back in again. I am mending and tending and I have nothing to show for it. Again and again and again, day after day, doing the same thing, expecting something different.
[00:12:37] And then Jesus comes along.
[00:12:41] Guys, if you'll just let him.
[00:12:44] If you're in here today and this isn't the sermon, so don't think it's over, but if you'll just let him. If you're in here today and you've never let him because you've always thought that you were smarter than that or you thought the people who believed in him were dumb. If you would just let him get in your way for a minute.
[00:13:03] If you'll just let him mess up your plans and let you realize how foolish you've been and how great he's always been and just allow Jesus to be who he's supposed to be in your life.
[00:13:22] I love this. Ready?
[00:13:25] Jesus speaks and then he gets out of the boat and he goes, oh yeah, fishermen, people.
[00:13:34] I know you've been all the way out there where the fish are all night long, but just push out a little bit, just a little bit and throw your nets down.
[00:13:48] I want you to hear Peter's words.
[00:13:50] We have been doing that all night.
[00:13:54] I have been searching for peace my whole life. I have read all the self help books my whole life.
[00:14:00] I have gone all to the conferences, I've gone all to the prophetic conferences.
[00:14:05] I've gone everywhere. I've watched all the television shows, I've watched all the YouTube videos. I've already done it all.
[00:14:13] Just push out a little bit and drop your nets. You mean my clean nets?
[00:14:20] The ones that I just cleaned up the ones that I just folded up and was about to put back in the boat when you pushed the boat off.
[00:14:28] But nevertheless, if you want to see a difference in who Jesus is in your life, you gotta get past who you think you are.
[00:14:40] You are not the expert he is. Hey, Christian, listen to me. You're doing pretty good. I'm sure. I'm sure of it. But you're not the Christian.
[00:14:50] And as you are a messy Christian, you have to realize we do serve the Messiah, Christ.
[00:14:59] Nevertheless, I want you guys, if you're taking notes, to write that down in your. In your notes. Nevertheless, when you wake up in the morning and you're tired and God commissions you, nevertheless, when that phone call comes in and it's a name that you don't want to talk to because you know it's going to hook you in for like an hour, nevertheless, when that person invites you to coffee and they've already offended you 10 times, nevertheless, he knows this sermon. Praise God.
[00:15:35] I appreciate the fact that you guys put the notes in the slides, and I'm sorry, I'm not going to get there.
[00:15:42] I want to just point out something to you that I point out to my ministers in training just how beautiful this moment is. Okay?
[00:15:52] Jesus pushes the boat out. And when you push a boat out on water, you may. And especially if you ever. Guys, if you ever get to go to Capernaum and you go actually see the Sea of Galilee, you'll realize that the banks run pretty steep, and then they flatten out and the water meets the sand.
[00:16:11] What happens if you get into a boat? You are suddenly higher than everybody else, and there's a natural amphitheater.
[00:16:19] The voice comes. You can just speak in a normal voice, and it comes right back to you. You hear the lapping of the water, and anybody who's having a conversation down there, you can hear them. It's a beautiful setup. Almost like the Creator created that so he could be there talking about the Creator as he was creating Bless the Lord.
[00:16:37] Wouldn't it be awesome to get to create the spot that you get to do your ministry?
[00:16:40] Hey, world changers, Gold coast, go build a building.
[00:16:44] Amen.
[00:16:48] So as he gets put out into the boat, and I want to reflect on some scripture with you real quick because you're going to probably think I'm a little crazy, but I just want to talk to you about how great God is.
[00:16:59] So they were out fishing all night, and the fishing then was not a fishing rod. And doing that, it was trolling with A net, dropping a net, circling it up, pulling a bag. They still do this all over the world. They still do it on the Sea of Galilee.
[00:17:20] So when they said, push out a little way and let down your nets, they knew good and well it was not the proper way of doing it. It was not the proper place of doing it. But what they didn't factor in was that those rules did not apparently mean anything to Christ, because this is what Christ knew.
[00:17:41] Now, here's where I go a little fringe. And if y' all are gonna stop listening to me, this is where you're gonna stop, and you're gonna be like, pfft, whatever.
[00:17:47] I believe that all of creation desires to see Jesus.
[00:17:54] It says even the rocks would cry out.
[00:17:58] So as Jesus was pushed just a little bit from the bank, can you imagine the fish?
[00:18:12] That's him.
[00:18:22] Can you imagine just the multitudes of fish that just want to see the Creator?
[00:18:28] How hard it is to get Christians to meet in a building? But, man, it just. Oh, I'm just saying.
[00:18:36] My question is to you. I was just thinking this morning, I was like, you know, how different would it be?
[00:18:42] Because I know that some of you already got planned. You probably already have the proverbial roast in the crock pot. And if y' all even have those over here, I don't even know.
[00:18:50] Probably already got something on the barbie.
[00:18:53] I don't know.
[00:18:57] But if Jesus was teaching today, would you want to go home early?
[00:19:02] No. I mean, if you really knew. Now I really want to gut check for all of you, because Christians and those of you who aren't Christians, even the same question.
[00:19:10] If you're in here today, if you knew as you walked in, suddenly Christ was here, and he was just teaching. He was not even teaching. What if he was just speaking? What if Christ was just giving you the rundown of what heaven was like yesterday? How many of you would be like, mm, we need to dismiss.
[00:19:29] Our time frames aren't right. Pastor, can we get somebody up to wrap him up?
[00:19:36] Can Yeshua, let's do this.
[00:19:40] We need to go get fish tacos. We gotta do this.
[00:19:43] Come on, Jesus, wrap it up. We can do this again next week.
[00:19:52] I'm guessing. And just to put this out there for you, I'm guessing that's exactly how Peter felt when he said to push the boat out.
[00:19:59] I'm sure that he used all the verbiage, right? He called him Lord Master.
[00:20:04] Those were all verbiages towards rabbis and rabbitical teaching. He had it right.
[00:20:10] But in the process, there is A big change that happens. And this is what I tell you.
[00:20:16] When he came back in verse eight, when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus knees, saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
[00:20:29] He went from knowing about Jesus to knowing who Jesus was.
[00:20:36] I believe his first revelations of knowing something was special about this man happened as he pulled up the nets and realized that the man who knew nothing about fishing just landed more fish than he landed in months.
[00:20:49] I don't know how many of you think you know a little bit something about this earth and a little bit about people.
[00:20:55] But I'm telling you that the moment that you allow Christ to take over your life and walk away with it, all that stuff becomes really irrelevant. Because all of a sudden the way the truth and the life just starts rewriting everything.
[00:21:07] Guys, I think I'll be done by two.
[00:21:24] The call that drew him in. Point 1. If you want to throw that up.
[00:21:28] Guys, if you want to take a picture of that, I'm probably not going to preach most of it, but it's a good sermon. It really is the call that drew him in. Jesus meets us in our ordinary, but calls us into the deeper parts of life.
[00:21:42] If you're in here today and you feel like you've got to be somebody extraordinary to do some extraordinary things in Christ, you have been lied to, you have been misled.
[00:21:50] God uses the ordinary to cause the extraordinary to happen in the world.
[00:21:54] The only difference is you got to take the people who are stuck in the natural and allow them to start functioning in the supernatural because that's where God is.
[00:22:04] God did not call James Kenneth Brown the second because he was gonna have an epic beard one day.
[00:22:12] He called me when I was yet to goatee.
[00:22:18] Get you guys in a minute.
[00:22:20] Before I ever whispered my first prophecy, before I ever gave my first sermon, before I ever prayed a beautiful prayer, Christ was pulling out my heart.
[00:22:35] Admission time.
[00:22:37] I battle horrible anxiety.
[00:22:40] I fought with God over this for years.
[00:22:43] Standing in front of you people destroys me.
[00:22:48] But breaking my flesh every time that I get up here and speak to you is exactly what has to happen in order for God to be glorified the way he needs to be.
[00:22:56] Why do I admit that to you? Because I need for you to know that your excuses are excuses. Once you're born again, you're no longer that person.
[00:23:06] Peter, you're gonna preach at Pentecost. What's Pentecost? I don't know, but I ain't preaching. I'm a fisherman.
[00:23:12] There's a process.
[00:23:13] But at the same time, you have to understand there is something very unsettling about the way that we will come up with so many excuses to not do what God has called us to do.
[00:23:23] The familiar setting that's in Luke 5:1 through 3, you have to understand this whole entire journey over the next couple of weeks is going to be on the Sea of Galilee.
[00:23:33] These special moments between Peter and Jesus are huge. The next one we're going to be talking about is an amazing story. But if you'll just give him time.
[00:23:45] What I'm saying is this church. Listen. And when I refer to as churches, if you're in here and you're the bride of Christ, you're the church. Church.
[00:23:54] You don't have to go somewhere extraordinary. You don't have to go to a high place.
[00:23:59] We have a God that doesn't require you to go on a pilgrimage.
[00:24:03] He came to us.
[00:24:06] Your life is changing not because of what you do, but because of what he's already done.
[00:24:11] It's because of who he is.
[00:24:15] We have the familiar setting of the Sea of Galilee.
[00:24:18] We have this faith stretching command.
[00:24:22] Throw that net out where it doesn't make sense.
[00:24:25] Guys, I'm going to be honest with you. I was here nearly 10 years ago and I walked around the city of Gold Coast. I asked God to give me a vision. I believe I got one. I walked around and I kept hearing God say, go back to Greenville, South Carolina.
[00:24:42] So I looked at Kyle and I said, I love you.
[00:24:45] I'm going back to Greenville. And in that time frame, this is what I was believing. I was believing that the little town that I grew up in was enough for God to do something amazing in.
[00:24:58] You know, still to this day, if you're not careful, you'll throw shade on the place God has you where. That's exactly where he wants you to build and grow those roots. I want you to know today that there is a branch of my ministry that hangs over the Gold Coast.
[00:25:18] But it's because my roots are deep. In Berea, South Carolina, my roots are deep. So deep that my ministry now expands across the world.
[00:25:30] This is not something that I'm telling you. Oh, look at him. He's got this fabulous ministry. No, I just got through telling you. I'm not the one who thought that I would done it.
[00:25:40] I personally don't feel like there are so many better than me.
[00:25:46] But my God, My God, who supplies for all of my needs according to his riches and glory, settles my nerves and allows me to speak to people about his good glory, his grace.
[00:26:01] Now, the full net catch is something that we can acknowledge, but a lot of us are continuously trying to run after that first moment where we did something that was great and we liked it. And that's the sickness of Christians. You ready? The sickness of Christians is the same sickness that we see in times past. You know, something great happens. Let's build a temple. Let's build an altar. Let's build. Let's. Hey, we had somebody get filled with the Holy Spirit in this corner. And now everybody, we. You're gonna do a line through this corner.
[00:26:34] Do you guys know that God is creator God? He is still Yahweh. He has not stepped down from being creator. If you are expecting for a revival to hit Gold coast that is going to look anything like it's ever been before, guess what? Probably not gonna happen. And if it does, probably something manufactured.
[00:26:54] Because God does not need your imagination to flip the world on his head. Because if it would have been done the way it would always been done, he would have grabbed a bunch of priests and set them out among Galileans and said, here you go. Flip the world on his head. But instead, he came down in flesh, grabbed a bunch of people who were unqualified. Everybody say unqualified.
[00:27:17] And made them qualified. Everybody say qualified.
[00:27:20] Did anybody say qualified?
[00:27:22] You said qualified. Okay. I thought I heard that.
[00:27:26] My wife was like koalified dad jokes in church. Bless the Lord.
[00:27:34] The way that Peter approached this in this moment is a way that I beg you to start living your life.
[00:27:45] Something happened that he knew was greater than him because he allowed something happen that was greater than him. If you're not careful Christians, hear me on this. And those of you who are not Christians in the room, you need to hear me on this, too. Because if you're not careful, you'll let your intelligence damn you to hell, Christians. You'll let your loud mouth damn those who need heaven to hell.
[00:28:09] Hear me on this.
[00:28:12] Peter was willing in a moment to do something that didn't make sense.
[00:28:17] And because he did, he met God.
[00:28:25] And when he came back to the shore, he didn't go and clean up the nets again.
[00:28:32] He didn't go sell the fish.
[00:28:36] He said, I'm with you, Jesus. Jesus said, follow me and I'll make you fisher of men. And Peter said, that's what I am.
[00:28:46] Let's go quickly to Matthew 14 and 22.
[00:28:54] This is sometime later. There's a little bit more of a relationship now. You'll see that now they're being called his disciples, you'll see a progression. They'll be fishermen to disciples to apostles. Through the next few weeks.
[00:29:12] Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he sent the multitude away.
[00:29:20] And when he had sent the multitude away, he went up onto the mountain by himself to pray. Now, when evening came, he was alone there, but the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.
[00:29:37] For in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it's a ghost. And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, be of good cheer, it is I. Do not be afraid. And Peter answered him and said, lord, if it's you, command me to come to you on the water.
[00:30:01] So he had said, come.
[00:30:03] And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid and beginning to sink. He cried out, saying, lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, caught him and said to him, o ye of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
[00:30:27] Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped him, saying, truly, you are the Son of God.
[00:30:34] All right, everybody who's been in church more than a year has heard this story.
[00:30:40] If you've watched the Chosen, you know this story.
[00:30:44] Well, here's the thing. I want to bring a new spin to it.
[00:30:49] I want to put real people in the boat, not what we've made these people out to be.
[00:30:55] I want to put you in the boat. And I know that some of y' all are like, no, you're not supposed to do that because the common church tells us now we're not supposed to put ourselves in the stories. Forget them. Let's do this for a minute.
[00:31:05] If you've got an imagination, that's where God's going to use you to prophesy anyway. So let's get into our glorified imagination.
[00:31:15] Alright, here we go. Ready?
[00:31:17] The disciples have been sent out into a storm by Jesus.
[00:31:22] What? Yes.
[00:31:25] Jesus went to go be alone because he was done with everybody for the day.
[00:31:31] What do you mean he was done? I don't know if you guys get the glory of being around people all day long, but I have social anxiety. My wife. Between services, I'll go to my office and hide in my office for about 10, 15 minutes. Decompress she will go and make sure everybody leaves. Go ahead and go, y', all, and we'll see y' all later.
[00:31:51] Jesus was by himself. We're not talking about Jesus. Everybody in here already knows everything about Jesus. Even if you're not saved, you already know everything. I can't teach you anything about Jesus.
[00:31:58] You're gonna have to meet him for him to do stuff like that.
[00:32:01] Let's talk about the disciples. You ready? You have a boat full of disciples who say, bye, Jesus. We'll see you later.
[00:32:11] And Jesus is like, enjoy the storm.
[00:32:16] I'll be up on the hill watching the storm roll in. If you've never been there, it's a beautiful spot. The most beautiful place in the world. The sea at Capernaum.
[00:32:25] Now, as they are out holding onto the boat, probably just, you know, they're disciples, right? They're disciples of Christ. They're buddies. They're co laborers in Christ. Y' all know that every time something gets hard, y' all are just so supportive with each other.
[00:32:42] You know, things get hard, nobody goes, it's your fault, John. No, Peter, it's your fault. And Peter and John always go back and forth like that. But the other disciples in the back of the boat wondering, whose fault is this?
[00:32:56] I told you we should have left 30 minutes earlier. Y' all saw the countdown. We were supposed to start when it got down, down to zero. Y' all waited 10 minutes past that. We wouldn't be in this mess if you wouldn't have ministered to that last person.
[00:33:10] Well, you know, Peter, he had to just prophesy over everybody. If we would have just left, we'd have beat this storm.
[00:33:16] The whole time, they're wading water out of this little boat and they're screaming at each other, and all of a sudden they see a ghost. I want to rewrite this for you, too, because some of y', all, when y' all hear Peter saying stuff, y' all are like, oh, Peter, he's so godly. No, no, no. Let me rewrite this for you a little bit, because I read it a little different.
[00:33:34] Now, Peter, if you watch his personality through scripture, sticks his foot in his mouth a lot.
[00:33:39] I don't think he thought it was Jesus.
[00:33:42] I think he thought it was a spirit. And he was trying the spirit.
[00:33:46] Now some of y' all are like, no, that's not what it is. Not written the way you say it is either.
[00:33:52] They said they thought it was a ghost.
[00:33:54] And Peter said, if it's you, Jesus, then call me out there. To be with you.
[00:34:04] And it was Jesus.
[00:34:07] I don't think it was what he thought it was.
[00:34:10] And he was like, well, if he's walking on the water, if it's you, Jesus. And then John goes, you said it.
[00:34:22] Everybody else in the boat, Peter, stupid.
[00:34:27] Simon the Great.
[00:34:31] Good job, Simon. And here it is. And I want you to understand something. Boats don't have equal footing with water.
[00:34:40] The lip of the boat is not equal with the water. If it was, they would already be under the water. On average, it's about a foot to a foot and a half drop in the shallowest.
[00:34:53] So that means that Peter didn't just step out onto the water to walk out to Jesus. First off, he's in the place probably where he's in his head going, stupid. Why do you always have to say stuff like that?
[00:35:04] And the wind's going, and he's going.
[00:35:07] And it's not one of these.
[00:35:12] It's one of these.
[00:35:27] See, the truth is that Peter, plain old loudmouth Peter, in a moment, allowed his mouth to get before his feet, but he still said, oh, it is you, Jesus. Then nevertheless, same water, same Jesus, same Peter. New scenario leveled up.
[00:35:51] Peter stepped out there, and the moment where he stepped out, he started to sink. Now, a lot of the pictures show Peter looking from under the water, and Jesus strikes. I don't believe that's that. Not at all.
[00:36:05] I believe the top of his foot got wet and Jesus reached out and grabbed him.
[00:36:09] Jesus will never allow you to sink in a moment of thriving.
[00:36:16] He was making a moment out of this for Peter because he knew who Peter was gonna be. He does not take you through a hard moment. Listen to me, Christians. This is important. He is not taking you through a hard moment so he can see you get beat up in that moment so you can tell other people about the story so that you can bring them through a hard moment. No, he's about to level you up. And here this season and in due time, Will. And I love the scripture that was in the huddle this morning, and you guys missed out on it. So I want to give it to you, okay?
[00:36:44] The word of God says this.
[00:36:48] Oh, so good.
[00:36:51] If you will stick with it.
[00:36:56] Those things that you have planted, you will reap due season, but not if you quit right before harvest.
[00:37:08] Every church preaches, oh, it's almost harvest time. Do you realize some of y' all don't realize agriculture? I come from South Carolina. Agriculture is a big thing. Harvest time is the hardest time.
[00:37:21] Planting. You just get on a tractor and you drop Seeds maintaining. You just go out each day and make sure some animal is not digging it up. Harvest, that's 30 days of the most intense labor you will ever have. But then afterwards, you'll have seed for the next planting, and you'll get to enjoy the harvest.
[00:37:41] But some Christians, especially Western Christians, Western Christians will never experience that season after a harvest because we break in the middle of the harvest and make somebody else do it.
[00:37:53] See, the truth is, is that world changers, Gold Coast, Are you ready?
[00:37:58] You guys are called to a harvest season.
[00:38:03] You guys are called to something that's greater than what you're used to.
[00:38:08] But if you're not careful in the middle of it, you'll break.
[00:38:12] And somebody else is going to get your seed.
[00:38:16] Everything that you planted, everywhere that you ran, every time that you got on your knees and begged God, somebody else is going to be able to receive that bless because you walked away from it right when it got hard.
[00:38:26] Somebody will offend you. They won't sing the right music for the right week. You'll get into a habit or a hangup that is bigger. In that season, a girl or a guy will come in and be more flattering than Jesus.
[00:38:41] See, Peter, he's walking these things out. But you have to understand, for Peter to go from fisherman to fisher of men, he has to realize who God is.
[00:38:50] I've got a question for you today. Do you know who he is?
[00:38:54] I mean, do you really know that you know who he is?
[00:38:58] Have you allowed him to change your life?
[00:39:01] Have you allowed him to even.
[00:39:04] Oh, man. Have you allowed him to even change one single thing about you?
[00:39:08] Or are you still requiring him to change so he fits the mold that you want God to fit?
[00:39:17] See, the reason that they had to go through the storm was because they had to see who God was. What does God do in the storm? He stands in the boat and the wind stop.
[00:39:26] Some of you are in a whirlwind of your life, and you're thinking, God, why in the world am I in it? Because you haven't invited me into your storm.
[00:39:35] You're still trying to figure out the steps to fix it yourself.
[00:39:42] The courage that developed in point to just quickly surrounding the surrounding storm. We spoke on the storm.
[00:39:49] We see that the disciples in the boat, they saw the Savior, and when they did, they fluctuated a little bit.
[00:39:58] The significant step, the step off the boat, was one that if you're not careful, you'll never take because it's a little uncomfortable.
[00:40:08] Guys, let me tell you, if it's possible Just to give you this in your heart today.
[00:40:19] There was a moment where you decided to take on Christ.
[00:40:24] There was a moment where you acknowledged the fact that you were a sinner and without him you were going to die and go to hell.
[00:40:31] And so you called on him and you begged and you said, lord, whatever you say, I'll do. Wherever you say to go, I'll go.
[00:40:38] I'll be what you want me to be, but please, Lord, be my Savior.
[00:40:43] He became your savior.
[00:40:45] And on that moment, he said, I gave my life for yours.
[00:40:49] Now you give your life for me.
[00:40:53] And here's the sickness of the Western church. You ready?
[00:40:56] We have a hard time with that part of it because we actually think what we've got is good.
[00:41:03] We actually think what we have is good.
[00:41:06] That's why you can go to the northern tribes in India, and they have no problem giving their life.
[00:41:13] You can go to the recesses of the most remote places in Central America under a black tarp, under 120 degree days. They'll sit and they'll worship for five and six hours. Why? Because they don't want to leave Jesus. They don't have anything better to get to.
[00:41:34] They don't have a car that they can go show off. They don't have a nice meal in their home. They can go. I preached in Tanzania, in a village in Tanzania. And I preached on forgiveness, and then I had to preach again, and then I had to preach again, and then I had to. Over six hours. You know what happened at the end of six hours? They went home for 45 minutes. They came back an hour later, and then they had me preach another five hours in a row.
[00:41:58] And at the end of it, they made me stay at some woman's house because she gave me a chicken.
[00:42:04] They gave me a chicken and they cooked it, and then they made me.
[00:42:07] They watched me eat all of it.
[00:42:10] They were like, you had worked very hard today.
[00:42:13] You go eat the chicken.
[00:42:17] Preachers need chicken. Eat it.
[00:42:19] You need your strength because you're gonna preach some more.
[00:42:24] I go to a Western country, they give me 30 minutes, and they expect for revival to happen.
[00:42:29] They want the fire to come down just like the thermostat.
[00:42:34] They're not willing to rub two sticks together. They're not willing to do what it takes for God to run with them.
[00:42:40] They just want it done.
[00:42:45] I want you to really ask this in your heart.
[00:42:49] I want you to fundamentally ask this question in your heart. I don't want you to raise your hand so I don't know if that's part of your culture. But if I asked this in my church, they'd be like me.
[00:42:57] Who of you have ever heard of revival and wish that you could be part of it?
[00:43:03] Well, here's the thing. Some of you, if you're really honest, you're gonna say, no, I don't have time for that.
[00:43:08] I'm good with God being who I've made him to be.
[00:43:11] You don't realize that your Jesus is just a wooden idol that sits on the counter.
[00:43:17] Jesus is not the God who you created. You are the Christian in whom he created.
[00:43:24] Peter was finding that out when he stood on the boat after he was sinking. And Jesus said, oh, ye of little faith, we could have done. You wouldn't realize this story would be written different. We could have done two or three laps around the boat. We could have walked all the way back to the sea's edge.
[00:43:40] And John wouldn't have been able to brag about outrunning you to the tomb, John. Bro.
[00:43:51] But the truth is, is that in that moment when he was suddenly sinking, there was a sure salvation. He will allow that to happen in your life. And I want you to know that as it is happening in your life. If you will just look up and you'll get your eyes back on him every single time.
[00:44:07] You'll see something amazing happen.
[00:44:10] Let him prove himself to you.
[00:44:13] And then one day you'll say those words to him.
[00:44:17] Let me prove myself to you.
[00:44:22] We're going to get to this point and then I think we might be able to wrap up. We doing good? Everybody still here?
[00:44:28] Okay, let's go to John 18 it.
[00:44:59] And Simon Peter followed Jesus and so did another disciple.
[00:45:04] Now, that disciple was known to the high priest and went to Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest.
[00:45:10] But Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple who was known to the high priest went out and spoke to her who kept at the door and brought Peter in.
[00:45:22] Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, you are not also one of those men of the disciples, are you? He said, I am not. Now, the servants and the officers who had made a coal of fire stood by. I'm going to go ahead and preach this out of my heart if that's okay. Because I want to get to this. If it's okay with you guys.
[00:45:44] This is what resonates with me the most. And I don't want to get wrapped up in the scripture to where I lose this thought process in the moment where Christ was working on me the most. Is when I decided to turn my back on him.
[00:45:57] I want to commit that to you guys, okay? I want to be fully honest with you. In the moment where God was doing the most with me, I was running prayer meetings. I was doing Bible studies. I was leading the.
[00:46:11] I'm not done yet. You guys don't get to come up here.
[00:46:14] I'm just kidding. I just wanted to see if you would listen.
[00:46:20] Wow. They obey.
[00:46:23] I don't like this guy from South Carolina. He rebukes me.
[00:46:28] Peter. In the moment where pressure was being put on him.
[00:46:35] And I don't want you to miss this, okay? Because I think you guys, if you're not careful, you'll put yourself in a position like I did.
[00:46:43] They didn't know the end of the story, guys.
[00:46:48] Peter cursed out loud and said, I am not part of what he's doing.
[00:46:53] No, I am not. He denied him three times as Jesus was being hung on the cross.
[00:46:59] Now, what I want you to know is this. They didn't know that Jesus was going to resurrect in three days.
[00:47:05] So quit looking down your nose at Peter when you would have probably have done the same thing.
[00:47:12] And some of you right then just went, no, I would not have. You have the delusion of a Christian who knows a savior before you knew the story.
[00:47:24] You didn't have to walk out the story.
[00:47:27] Simon Peter cursed out loud and denied him three times.
[00:47:32] Not because he didn't love him, but he thought the story was over.
[00:47:39] I want you to chew on that for a moment, okay? I know that's probably not something that you ever have compiled in your heart, but I want you to fully grab a hold of this, because it makes what Peter walks into even stronger.
[00:47:52] Peter did not curse the situation because he didn't love Jesus. He loved Jesus. He cursed the situation because he thought the story was over.
[00:48:02] Peter, Jesus did not look at Peter and say, son, there's your mother. Mother, there's your son. No. Peter was apart from everybody.
[00:48:12] He wasn't at the foot of the cross. Peter was going back to the lake.
[00:48:17] You have to understand in just a couple of verses, we're actually gonna touch this in just a second.
[00:48:22] His heart is. Every time I've had something special happen with Jesus, it's been at the lake.
[00:48:30] He just wanted to feel him again. He just wanted to see him again.
[00:48:36] Guys, sometimes when you're in a place where you can't feel Jesus anymore, you got to go back to where you first met him.
[00:48:45] It wasn't too long ago that I heard a Song that I heard when I was in elementary school, an old hymn I came up in a real. And it means a lot more to us in the States, but a real Southern Baptist church. This little Baptist church I grew up in, there was a hymn. And as the hymn was playing, I just felt this thing, something stir inside me and I just started weeping.
[00:49:10] And as I was sitting there, I just thought, you know, this is no doubt what Simon Peter was just hungering for.
[00:49:19] Now, you have to understand in every single one of those moments that Simon was in a mess. Jesus always rescued him. And he wasn't there to rescue him at this time.
[00:49:30] But even there, still, Simon Peter was going to get through the storm because Jesus had something to do in order for Simon to be who he was going to be next.
[00:49:41] See, while Simon Peter was walking away that night, he didn't understand that he was going to see Jesus again in a week.
[00:49:49] He didn't.
[00:49:50] He thought it was over.
[00:49:52] But Jesus was going to go defeat hell in the grave for Simon Peter.
[00:50:03] I want to show you a beautiful picture in this next scripture, if you'll let me. And then we'll let you go about your business in the beautiful rainy Gold Coast.
[00:50:16] John 21:1 19.
[00:50:23] Remember, we were by the sea, and Jesus said, cast out your nets.
[00:50:31] Then we were by the sea, and Peter walked on water with Christ.
[00:50:36] Now we're out at sea because of Peter. Again Peter told the rest of the disciples, I'm going to go fishing.
[00:50:48] And this is the story, verse 21. It says, after these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. And in this way he showed himself. Simon Peter, Thomas called the twin Nathanael of Cana and Galilee and the son of Zebedee and two others of the disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, I'm going fishing.
[00:51:13] They said to him, we're going with you. Also.
[00:51:17] They went out and immediately got into the boat. And that night they caught nothing.
[00:51:24] It's a rerun.
[00:51:26] But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore.
[00:51:30] Yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
[00:51:33] Then Jesus said to them, children, have you any food? They answered him, no.
[00:51:38] And he said to them, cast the net on the right side.
[00:51:42] I don't know if that just gave you chills, but I guarantee you, the disciples on the boat went, oh, they had been out all night.
[00:51:57] And he said to them, cast it out on the right side of the boat and you'll find some. So they cast it. And now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, it's the Lord.
[00:52:14] Now, when Simon Peter heard it that it was the Lord, he put it on his outer garment, for he had removed it and plunged into the sea. But the disciples came into.
[00:52:34] They came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land but about 200 cubits, dragging the net with fish.
[00:52:43] Then as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there and fish laid on it and bread. Jesus said to them, bring some. Some fish which you have just caught. Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to the land full of fish. 153And although there were so many and the net was not broken, Jesus said to them, come and eat breakfast. Yet none of the disciples dare ask him, who are you? Knowing that it was, the Lord Jesus then came and took the bread and gave them and likewise the fish.
[00:53:18] This is now the third time Jesus showed himself to the disciples after he was raised. This wasn't the first time they've seen a resurrected Jesus. This is the third time they've seen the resurrected Jesus. Peter did not go back fishing because he had not seen the resurrected Jesus. When Peter decided to go back fishing, it was not because he did not have full revelation of who Jesus was. I want you to fully grab a hold of that, please.
[00:53:43] Peter did not go back to the sea because he didn't know Jesus was the risen Savior. He knew he was Messiah. He knew he was God, and yet he left. Not because he wasn't sure of who Jesus was.
[00:53:59] He just didn't know who he was.
[00:54:02] And if you're not careful, church, hear me on this.
[00:54:06] The enemy will get in your head and convince you you're somebody you're not.
[00:54:10] And you'll go back to doing what you did before. Not because you don't believe who Jesus is, but because you don't believe who you are in Christ.
[00:54:21] So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?
[00:54:27] He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, feed my lambs. He said to him again a second time, simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. And he said to him, tend my sheep.
[00:54:42] He said to him a third time, simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him a third time, do you love me?
[00:54:51] And he said to him, lord, you know all Things you know I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. Most assuredly I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself walk where you wished. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hand and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish. This he spoke, signifying by the death he would glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he said to him, follow me. He looked at Peter and said, listen, you are a child and one day you will be an old man.
[00:55:24] But right now you have business to be about. And it's not out there doing what you've always done. You Gold coast, listen to me. This area down here, all of these beaches are full of people who need Christ.
[00:55:40] And you have got something. You may not have silver, you may not have gold, but what you do have, you can give freely.
[00:55:52] There is something that my grandmother used to say, I used to do. And I want to share this with you because this is a little bit of southern United States for you.
[00:56:00] Evidently, I was a loud mouth in her house all day long. But when my mom showed up, I didn't talk because I wanted my mom to believe that I was being a good kid.
[00:56:09] My grandmother would look at me and my grandmother was a bit of a mean person.
[00:56:14] She was about this tall and hateful.
[00:56:16] She needed Jesus. No, she probably had Jesus. She was just a regular Christian like most Christians.
[00:56:22] Rise above, be better than my grandmother.
[00:56:28] She would say, oh, Jamie, you've got nothing to say now? Are you playing shut mouth?
[00:56:34] I know that's probably not an Australian thing, but it's definitely a Christian thing.
[00:56:39] You have all of the stuff that'll change people's lives inside you and you want to blend in with them.
[00:56:47] Quit blending in.
[00:56:51] You are not called to a chameleon culture. You are called to live in Christ out loud. Open your mouth. Change your neighborhoods. Change the Gold Coast, Change Australia. It's just a big chunk of dirt. There's nothing special about it. Just go change it.
[00:57:07] The same God that's in America, the same God that's in the Middle east, the same God that's here is more than able to provide you with everything you need to change everybody that you know.
[00:57:18] But you got to stop being quiet about it.
[00:57:20] But it's just our culture. No, it's not your culture. You're a Christian now. You are kingdom. You rise up and you get loud about how Jesus is. He is worth being loud about.
[00:57:41] Can you imagine Peter and John and the other disciples? I want you to realize that it wasn't just Peter being a certain way. But I want you to notice that when Peter said he was going back to go fishing, everybody else said, us too.
[00:57:56] You'll always take a crowd if you go somewhere you're not supposed to be. But some of you realize that you're leaders and you don't act like it.
[00:58:05] See, Peter was a leader enough so that everybody decided to go with him.
[00:58:10] Now understand this.
[00:58:12] Jesus was risen and yet they followed Peter.
[00:58:18] Some of us are under the impression that if we were alive in that time frame, it would have been easier for us to follow Christ.
[00:58:24] They saw Christ risen and yet went back fishing.
[00:58:29] How much easier will it be for you guys after hearing something like this today to just go back like nothing ever happened?
[00:58:35] There's no change in me. There's no. I don't. I don't feel anything special.
[00:58:40] Can I ask you a question? Do you think there was any special feelings in Peter as Jesus was looking right at him saying, peter, do you love me?
[00:58:49] Stop going off of feelings and go off of what you know has happened.
[00:58:59] Can you imagine? It's just my mind. And I'll just give you this. I don't even think that Peter leaving the boat happened the way he thought it was going to. I thought maybe he was going to think he was going to run across it.
[00:59:10] It's Jesus. He didn't ask to come that time, did he? He just jumped in, but it didn't stop him when he sunk this time he realized that if Jesus is here, it's going to be alright.
[00:59:22] I promise you. If you'll take the plunge, it's going to be alright.
[00:59:26] I promise you that. If you want to see something magnificent and powerful, if you want to see signs, mir miracles and wonders, you have to get off your rear end and actually start living for Christ.
[00:59:36] You can't judge all the other churches and all the other people doing it some other kind of way. You have to be the spark that pushes it.
[00:59:46] You can fan the flame.
[00:59:48] If you guys would please stand.
[00:59:52] Thank you for tuning in to today's message. To connect or find out more, you can reach us online at worldchangers Life.
[00:59:59] Remember to subscribe for more uplifting messages from our pastoral team and may you continue to walk in faith and transformation until we meet again.
