Into The Deep, Week 1

Tim Rivers | February 5, 2023

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Transcription

Oh Lord, this could be dangerous. Welcome, welcome, welcome to Embassy City. If this is your first time here, we want to say welcome. Thank you so much for being here. For all those that are viewing online, welcome, welcome, and those that are in the overflow. Thank you so much for being with us. We believe that God is doing something special in the life of our church, which means that he's doing something special in your life. And I'm excited about today because we're kicking off a new series that we are calling into the deep. And I love it because as a pastor, we get the opportunity to see a lot of people come to know God for the very first time they come into a relationship with Jesus. And that's phenomenal and it's awesome. But for many people who become believers, it stops right there. And a lot of people miss out on the abundant life that God has for you. And when I say abundant, I'm not talking about cars, jewelry,

<laugh>

Houses. I'm talking about the fullness that God has intended for your life. And you can only attain all that God has for you when you are willing to go into the deep. And so for the next few weeks, we're going to be talking about it. So if you have your Bibles, turn with me to Luke chapter five. The book of Luke chapter five last week was crazy. I'm going to try to contain myself unless y'all brought that same energy. I only need about three or four. If I get about three or four that are ready to be witnesses. Yeah,

Yeah, yeah, let's go.

What you talking about? God's been too good to me. I can't be quiet. Amen. Why you excited? Cause God's brought me from a mile long way. If he never does another thing, he's already done enough. If he never does anything else, he's already done enough. Y'all stop. Man. Ain't no reason to get all excited about what God done in your life. Stop. He ain't been that good If I had about two or three people that testified that he actually has,

I once was lost, but now I'm found I was broke down. But God picked me up. I was on the bottom, but he put me on top. I was last, but he made me first. I'm trying to preach. Y'all sit down, man. Yes. Out Luke five verse number one. On one occasion while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets, getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's. He asked him to put out a little from the land. He sat down and talked to people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.

I love the way the King James version says it. It says, launch into the deep. And Simon answered the master, we tore all night and took nothing. I've already been there, done that block the T-shirt. It didn't work. But at your word, I could stop and preach right there, but that's your word. I will let down the nets. And when they had done this, they encloses a large number of fish and their nets were breaking. How many? No <laugh>. They went, God gets in the middle of it. Yeah, come on. You ain't even got enough to hold it. Their nests were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink. Could you imagine being so blessed that your life is at risk?

I'm sorry, I got to get rid of these blessings. They're killing me. How might want to be blessed at that level where you're like, I got to give stuff away. I ain't got enough room in my house to keep this stuff. I got to give it away fam, it's killing me. These blessings are killing me. Who? That's a message. I'm going to write that one down. Somebody write that down. These blessings are killing me. I have no notes and I'm meddling. I'm sorry. Let me get back. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying, depart from me. For I am a sinful man, oh Lord, for he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they have taken. And so also we're James and John, the son of exhibit who were partners with Simon.

And Jesus said to Simon, do not be afraid. From now on you will be catching men. And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. Somebody say, amen. Amen. Okay, so we're starting off in this series called Into the Deep, and my title for today is one word and it's simple. Lunch. Lunch, not lunch. <laugh> kind of some of y'all thinking, did he say Lunch, <laugh> launch. Let's pray. Thank you Lord for your goodness and mercy. Thank you for being with us here in this room and wherever we are watching from I pray in the next few moments, you would give us ears to hear, our heart to receive and a mind to understand what your spirit would say to us. Let us walk out of here different than the way we walked in and help us to launch out into the deep for a catch. We give you name all the praise, the glory and honor in Jesus name. Everybody say amen. Amen.

Well, I want to start off this series by giving you a bit of context for the scenery and what transpired before this passage that we read. And in order to do so, I've got to go to Luke chapter four, which happens to be the chapter before Luke chapter five. We already going deep. Y'all say that <laugh> in Luke chapter four, I'd like to reference this passage because what we find at the very beginning of Luke chapter four is Jesus, he has just come out of the wilderness and the power of the Spirit. And now he is in Nazareth, which happens to be his hometown. And in Nazareth, the scripture says that Jesus opens up the scroll to the book of Isaiah, which he had done many times before. And he reads the Lord, the Spirit of Lord is upon me and he's anointed me too. And then he goes through five things that he's anointed to do, many sits down.

And the people that were in the synagogue watching this happen were a bit confused and frustrated at Jesus that he didn't give any more commentary. And so then Jesus finally speaks up and he says, today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Now, the people that were around him, his family members and friends were upset at the fact that Jesus had the audacity to read the prophet's words and attribute them to himself. They got so mad at him that they were like, we got to kill him. So the scripture literally says that they take him to the edge of a cliff outside of town and they were about to throw him over to put an end to his life. And Jesus told him, listen, I can't do anything great among you because y'all are too familiar with me. They said, isn't this Joseph's son? Isn't this the carpenter's son? What good can come out of Nazareth? And even Jesus had to deal with a lot.

And if you don't know what I'm talking about, you better go look at the message. So Jesus, he disappears through them, and then he ends up going to a place called Capernaum and a caper he begins to teach. And those that were in Capernaum were surprised at the fact that he spoke with such authority and they loved the fact that when he spoke, it seemed like things were happening within them. And then we find Jesus going to the house of Simon where Simon's mother-in-law was sick and he heals his mother-in-law there. And we're not exactly sure if Simon was excited about that or not, but I have a joke, but I'm not going to say it <laugh>. So Simon is watching Jesus perform this miracle with his mother-in-law. And then Jesus begins to heal many people in that town. So much so that hundreds and thousands of people begin to press upon Jesus for healing signs and wonders and because they wanted to hear him speak.

Now this scenario is what brings us then to Luke chapter five because Luke chapter five opens up by telling us that the crowds were pressing in upon Jesus to hear the word of God. Now to their surprise, and what they didn't know yet was the reason why they were attracted to Jesus when he spoke the word of God is because he wasn't just a person, a rabbi teaching the word of God. He was the word of God teaching. That's good. John chapter one tells us that in the beginning was the word and the word was Griff God and the word was God. Verse 14, the word became flesh. So when Jesus spoke, it wasn't just empty words of a rabbi reading from a scroll, but every time Jesus spoke, things happened. Demons, trembled, sickness flee. Everything happened when Jesus would speak. So thousands of people were gathered around Jesus.

And so the question that we have to answer is how was Jesus able to speak to thousands of people without modern technology? There was no amplifier, there were no speakers, there were no mics. So how is Jesus able to do this? Well, Jesus finds himself at a place that is called the Bay of Parables, also known as the Sow's Cove and the Bay of Parables. We have a picture here that we want to show you is a cove in the sea of Galilee, and this is the location that the story takes place. Now what's important about the cove is that it formed a natural amphitheater and they've done acoustical research in this area, and what they found out is that a person sitting in a boat just a little bit from the shore could speak and their voice would reverberate off of the water and make its way naturally up the side of the hill so that a person could speak to up to 7,000 people at a time without modern technology.

So Jesus finds himself here and he's teaching them from the boat. Now, I want you to understand that out of the thousands of people that surrounded Jesus, not everybody was for Jesus. In fact, when you read throughout the gospels, I think what you will find is there are four types of people that surround Jesus. There are four different groupings of people that are around Jesus. The first type of person that is around Jesus are his haters. These are people that aren't there because they believe in Jesus. They're not there for the miracle signs and wonders. They're literally just following Jesus because they want to catch him slipping. Oftentimes the Bible would say that the Pharisees would be amongst themselves while Jesus is speaking and they were trying to compare one law to the other to see if they can somehow catch Jesus in a trap.

Can I tell you that not everybody that's around you is for you? There are some people that are certified haters. These Pharisees and Sadducees were upset at Jesus because Jesus was confronting their paradigm. Yeah, Jesus was disrupting what they believed was the truth about the law. They were so entrenched in what they felt like the law said that they missed the Messiah standing right in front of them. When Jesus spoke, they thought, Hey, we know the law very well. And Jesus says, Hey, you think that if a man sleeps with a woman, he's committed adultery. But I'm telling you that if a man looks upon a woman to lust after her, he's already committed adultery in his heart. They brought the woman called the act of adultery. He said, Jesus, you know what the law says we should stone her. And Jesus said, I'm not arguing with you, but that are without sin.

Cast the first stone and everybody left from the oldest to the youngest. So there are certified haters that were following Jesus for the mere fact that they wanted to see Jesus fail. Second group of people that followed Jesus were groupies. These were people who just were following Jesus because they loved the way he teach. They loved the delivery, but they didn't like the message. They followed Jesus for the fish in the lows. They followed Jesus because of him performing miracles. They were a little more committed than haters but not fully committed. They followed Jesus just because of what he was able to do for them. In fact, in John chapter six, verse number 26, you will read about Jesus speaking to the multitudes that he just fed with two fish and five loaves of bread. After performing that miracle, Jesus goes across the sea of Galilee and the multitudes followed him. And Jesus said, you're not following me because of what I am saying, but you are following me because your bellies are full of loaves. There are certain people that only follow Jesus because of what he can do for them. He is their genie in a bottle. They just feel like they can come to church and rub him

And ask for a wish. These are called groupies. These are the types of people that follow Jesus on Instagram but never like any of his stuff. They don't comment, they don't share nothing. They're just for what he is, for and against what He's against. But they're not fully anybody. Have some creepers,

<laugh>.

Some of y'all like, yeah, I know exactly who he is. I'm dealing with a lot of 'em right now.

<laugh>,

The third group of people were believers. And these are individuals that actually believed that Jesus was the Messiah. They actually believed that he was the son of God. Why? Because they experienced things personally that they could not deny. I'm talking about the woman with the issue of blood. I'm talking about blind bar mayo. So I'm talking about the man who was let down through the roof by his four friends. I'm talking about the 10 lepers. They believed that Jesus was the Messiah. However, their commitment to Jesus was limited. They weren't willing to go all the way with them, but they were willing to go part of the way with him. Have you ever wondered that when Jesus was going to the cross and he was bearing his own cross, where was the woman caught in the act of adultery? No. Have you ever wondered when they brought him before Poncho pilot and they were trying to find out, is there anybody who can vouch for this man?

Where were the 10 lippers? Have you ever wondered when Jesus was getting his back beat where the 5,000 who were fed with two fish and five loaves of bread? Yeah. Have you ever wondered where these people disappeared too? They were believers, but they didn't have full commitment. And the fourth group of people that followed Jesus were his actual disciples, and these were people who were willing to go with Jesus all the way. Whatever it took, they were going with him. The way we find the 72 that Jesus trained and send out by twos, we see the 12 that Jesus handpicked, and then we see the three Peter, James and John who were very intimate with Jesus. They were with Jesus at his transfiguration. They were with Jesus when he was praying. He asked them to pray with him for an hour. They knew Jesus on a deep level.

They knew and they Jesus when he was weak, they saw Jesus when he was hurting. They saw Jesus when he was hungry. They saw Jesus and disappear and pray and all these groups of people were following Jesus. And one thing you have to understand about Jesus is that Jesus's invitation is inclusive to everybody. Jesus wasn't mad at the haters and say, you know what? You haters. Y'all will find you another spot. I'm just talking to my disciples. He didn't look at the groupies and say, man, I'm not here. I'm not going to feed you. No. Jesus is inclusive of everybody. Anybody can come to Jesus. But there is another level that you can get to with Jesus, and this is what finds us here at the story. And the reason why I'm telling you about the grouping of people is to make you understand and let you understand that not everybody that follows Jesus is for Jesus.

Not everybody is going to go into the deep with Jesus. Not everybody is going to experience the miraculous with Jesus. So there's a few things that take place before Peter goes into the deep with Jesus. And I want to talk about these three things because I think they're applicable to us. If you are going to go into the deep, the first thing that you have to do is you have to totally surrender to Jesus. Let's go into the story again. So Jesus walking by the shore and he sees Simon. Simon has just got through fishing and he is now on the shore and he's cleaning his nets while he is minding his own business. Tired, worn out. He's already had a disappointing night. He's sitting there cleaning his nets. Jesus rolls up to him and he says nothing to Simon. He just gets into his boat.

Now, I don't know about y'all and y'all's stuff, but Jesus didn't ask permission. Just the Bible says there are two boats and Jesus gets into one of the boats and then he looks at the boat's owner who is Simon. He says, Hey, yo, can I use your vote? Now, is there anything special about Simon at this point? No, there's nothing special about him. He's not Peter the one Peter, upon this rock, I will build my church. He's not Peter, the one that preached in. I will message on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two. He's just Simon. He's just a fisher and he's got his boat and Jesus gets him to his boat and Jesus says, I need to use your boat to do what I got to do. Now, what's the significance of a boat? Well, a fisherman needs a boat. The boat to a fisherman is like clippers to a barber.

The boat to a fisherman is his most prized possession. It's where he finds value. It's where he finds significance and what's, it's what identifies him. It is his livelihood. It's what feeds his family. It's what brings him his identity. When Jesus got into the boat and said, I've got to use it, Simon, what he was telling Simon is, Simon, I need the thing that means the most to you. If I'm going to do what I want to do in your life, can I tell you, if you are going to go into the deep with God, he wants the thing that means the most in your life. It could be a job, it could be a career, it could be a house. It could be money, it could be cars, it could be a relationship. Whatever you have elevated to the highest point, God wants it because he cannot do what he wants to do. If you're holding on to things that you value above him, how do you know if you're valuing something above God, if you lost it, how would it affect your relationship with God? If you lost that job, would you not come to church anymore on <laugh>? If you lost that relationship, would you stop praying? If you didn't get that job, would you stop reading your word? Because if your relationship is drastically negatively affected by that thing you've elevated above God. Here's the thing. God does not need us.

He wants us. Jesus doesn't need us. He wants us. Need implies obligation. Want implies desire. Jesus doesn't need us to be Jesus. He's Jesus all by himself. He's king of kings all by himself. He's Lord of lords all by himself. He doesn't need us, but he wants to use what you have. It's the second thing that you need that he requires of us. He requires us to trust his word. Oh, I love this part because Simon is most likely on the shore while Jesus is in his boat just a little from the shore. So most likely he was tethered to the shore, right? And Simon is sitting there, I'm going to keep cleaning my nets while you teaching Mr. Teacher. But then Jesus said, Hey, listen, I need you to launch out into the deep. Now, Simon is a fisher. Jesus is a carpenter. I don't know about you, but if a carpenter is telling me a fisherman, I need to use your boat to go out and catch great fish, and I done been out there, I'm going to have a little convo with a carpenter.

Simon Peter could have said, listen, I respect you, rabbi. I respect your word. I know that you do great things. I know. I know that you're a great teacher and thousands of people following you, but leave this to the experts. I'm a fisher. You're a carpenter. I know what I'm doing. You. I done been out there and you haven't. I already been out there. I already seen the temperature and I can tell you it's the middle of the day. Fish don't bite in the middle of the day. Fish only bite at night or early in the morning, and now it is midday and you're telling me to go out. But Jesus didn't ask him what he had. Just Jesus said, my miracle for you is not predicated on what you just experienced because what I do in your life is brand new. That's

Right.

And so what do you do when Jesus said, Hey, I need you to launch. And you're like, Hey, but I already tried that business and I went bankrupt. I already tried that ministry and I got burnt out. I already applied for that job and I got declined. I already went into that relationship and ended in divorced. He could have come up with all kinds of excuses not to move based on his history. But how many know that God has noted bound by our historical context?

Yes,

Sir. What God needs is somebody to say, you know what? I don't know what I'd done been through. I know I've been through some hard stuff, but at your word, word, I will trust your word because your word has a life in your word and your word has creative power. Your word will call things that are not as though they were. Your word will make fish come out of an ase that seems to empty your word. What cause blind eyes to see your word will cause lame legs to leave your word. Yeah. Somebody needs to trust his word. I know you done tried it. I know you done been out there. I know you're disappointed, but trust his word. And here is the problem. A lot of times we deal with disappointment because we didn't get a word. There are a lot of us that we've already been out there and we came back with disappointment and we blamed God and God's like I never told you to go. I didn't tell you to marry that person. I said, 50 people to tell you they ain't the one. But you went through all of that and went ahead and married them. And now that it didn't work out, you want to be mad at me. I didn't tell you I didn't to buy that car. You didn't have the money.

So here's another thing that we do. We either don't have a word or we have a word and we don't trust God's timing. Come

On.

I wanted to go out at night. Jesus said, go during the day. Nah, I'm going to go out at night because I know what to do. Right?

Right.

I'm meddling. I'm sorry, maybe I'm not. No, you're not. So Jesus said, first of all, I need your vote. I need the thing that means the most to you. Now I want you to understand, lemme go back here real quickly to what it means to give total surrender. What Jesus didn't do is take his vote and leave him on the shore. Total surrender doesn't mean you got to give all your money away. It means you got to put Jesus at the center of it. Notice that Jesus stayed in the boat.

Yeah.

Total surrender means you don't have to get rid of the business, but get God in the middle of your total surrender. Doesn't mean that you got to break up with the person, but make sure Jesus just is in the middle of that relationship. If Jesus ain't in the middle, he can't do what he wants to do. That's good. That's good. And you got to trust his word. Here's the third thing you gots to launch. Jesus looked at Peter and he said, Peter, thank you for letting me use your boat. Thank you for trusting my word. But it's not enough just to believe that God is able. It's not enough just to trust God can do it. It's not enough just to believe that he will do it. It's not enough to just think, okay, yeah, I know that God is able, but here is comfortable for me.

I like the shore because I can feel like it's solid. I like going ankle deep because I still feel the safety and security of what I'm standing on. But what Jesus told Simon Peter is, in order for me to do what I want to do in your life, you got to cut loose this tether. You got to pull up the anchor and you got to launch into the deep. Where are we going? I'm not going to tell you right now. What direction am I? I'll tell you as you go where are we going to end up? I'll let you know when we get there. But what I need you to do is launch out into the demo. What about my friends? They're comfortable with being on the shoreline, but what I want to do in your life cannot be done in the safety and security of what you've always known.

What I want to do in your life is out there. So Jesus tells Peter, Hey Peter, I need you to launch. I need you to get away from some of these people that don't like to be in the deep. You ever meet these people? They, oh, ooh, man, this water's too cold. Ooh, this is uncomfortable. These are the same types of people that want a new expression. They want a new experience. They want to see deep things, but they ain't willing to do anything different. They go eat at the same restaurant. They hang around with the same friends. They date the same kind of person. They sit in the same booth, they go out to the same restaurants with the same people. They always do the same thing. And Jesus said, as long as you are comfortable doing the same thing, I can't do anything spectacular in your life, but I need you to get uncomfortable. I need you to go the places that you've never been before and do things you've never done before. Because if I'm going into the miraculous, it can't be done right here. You can't fly with eagles when you're hanging around with turkeys.

You can't swim with sharks if you're satisfied hanging out with sardines. You can't be a disciple if you hang out with haters. You can't go into the deep if you're willing to just stay in the shallow end of the pool. If you want to see God move, you got to get uncomfortable. You got to pull your pat legs up and go ankle deep, waist deep, all the way in ankle deep, waist deep, all way deep, deep, waist deep, all the way in. God is looking for somebody who's not willing just to stand on the periphery and on the edge and watch everybody else get miracles and complain about it. But Jesus said, I'm willing to give you a miracle. I'm willing to do something phenomenal in your life. I'm willing to give you the catch that you've never seen before, but I need you to lead where you are and go out there.

That's

Good because if you're satisfied with being on the edge and in the shallow, you will only have shallow experiences. I love fishing. I really do. I love fishing, but I ain't got a boat. So I know the types of fish I catch are limited.

I can sit there with my rod reel. It don't matter how long my rod reel is. It don't matter how heavy my weight is. I can only catch it so far, and I can only catch certain types of fish. If I want to get them big jokers, I need to get into a boat and launch out where we going? I don't know. But the radar will tell me, well, we got to get deep enough because the big stuff is out there. The miraculous stuff is out there. The things that you write home about is out there. All that shallow stuff is right here. But if anybody wants to experience something, great, you got to get in your boat and lunch. Stop waiting around listening to people who don't want to go anywhere. Stop getting advice from shallow people. You will make shallow decisions with shallow advice. You can't have a deep relationship if you're getting advice from people who have shallow ones. You can't go make good financial decisions if you are around people that are satisfied being broke. Quit taking polls on Instagram,

<laugh>.

Quit relying on people that ain't willing to go out there. Let me tell you something. If God gave you a business idea, then it's time to launch. If God gave you a ministry idea, then it's time to launch. If you got a word from him, it's time to launch. Quit telling us about your idea, man, I got so many ideas for this launch. Launch that ministry launch, that marriage launch, take off. Let's go. It's time. It's time. It's time. It's time. It's time. It's time. It's time. It's time. It's time. It's time. It's time. It's time. No, no, no. I'm not comfortable anymore. I'm ready to get uncomfortable. I'm not satisfied anymore. I'm all right. Alright, I'll preach. I'll preach a little more then come. Here we go. Oh Lord. Are you going to the Lord? Don't mess with me in the organ. I'm trying to behave. Let me talk to you about Abraham. Can I talk to you about Abraham? Yes. Abraham is called by God to be the one who is going to have a generation that God is raising up to be his own. And God says to Abraham, Abraham, I know that what you see right now seems impossible. And I know that you've tried before and it didn't work.

<laugh>,

You've tried to have a child, but your wife is very it. You've tried to have a legacy, but it didn't happen. You, you've tried and tried and tried. You've done everything to do and it hasn't worked. But now I'm giving you a word. Oh, well, God, I'm 75. I'm past age and I've already tried for many years and it hasn't happened. So let me just wash my nets. Let me just be comfortable here. I already been out there and tried to, it didn't work. So now I'm here. Let me just be comfortable. Let me just do my thing. But God disrupts him and says, listen, what you are going to experience cannot happen in the shallow end of the pool, but I need you to leave where you're at. Where am I going? I am going to tell you. But what you need to get is you need to launch. I need you to get away from here. Why? Because you're around shallow people that un don't understand deep things up. Why do I need a lunch? Because you are in a comfortable spot and I need you to get uncomfortable. Why am I leaving? Because you are okay and safe here, but where I'm taking you and you can't contain it where you're at right now.

So Abraham takes off and he goes 25 years later, guess what happens? He has a son and his son. His name is Isaac, and Isaac is the apple of his eye. It is the glory of his existence. It is his legacy. It is his generation that is to come. Everything that Abraham has been telling people about what God's been telling him is in his son. And then God says, I want it back. Wait a minute. Aren't you the one that gave it to me? Yes. And now I want it back. Abraham is upset at this. He doesn't like it. Why? Because why would God ask you to give something back that he gave you? This is conjecture, but is it possible that God said that God was thinking, Abraham, I gave you Isaac for my glory, but you have used him for your glory.

Is it possible that Abraham started elevating Isaac above the purpose that God gave him Isaac in the first place and God said, Hey, listen, you are an elevated a little higher now. I want it back. Yeah. So God, it tells Abraham, Hey, meet me on the mountaintop. And so Abraham begins the journey to the mountaintop and he's got his service with him. He's got his donkeys and they're packed and ready to make a sacrifice, and they get to the location where God is requiring Abraham to give up. Isaac. And at the base of the mountain, Abraham says to his servants, now servants, y'all stay here because me and the lad are going up to worship and when we do will come back. Now, now, now, that's not what God said. God said, I need you to go up, sacrifice Isaac. But Abraham said, I believe that God is able to do something fantastic. Either he's going to give me another son or he's going to raise up the one that I'm going to sacrifice, but when I go into the deep, I'm going to catch something that I'm going to bring back.

Yeah.

So Abraham is getting ready to make this journey to the mountaintops, but he looks at his servants and he says, listen where I'm going. Y'all can't go with me because not everybody gets to have this exclusive the reality of a miracle. Not everybody can go with you on the journey into the deep. Not everybody is going to be willing to make the journey through brushes and through thickets and through thorns to get where God wants them to go. Not everybody is willing to make the sacrifice to make a sacrifice. And so Abraham looks at his servant and he says, y'all stay here with the donkeys. I love the way the King James puts it because the king James says, y'all stay down here with the ass in the Bible. He said, you can't bring that donkey up here. You can't bring your baggage up here. You can't bring your package up here. You can't bring your past up here. You got to leave it. Yeah.

I'm telling you, God is about to break, loosen somebody's life. God's about to give you a catch that you can't contain in the nets that you have. God is about to break. Lua all the things that have been trying to bind you. God is getting ready to bless you beyond measure. I'm not talking about money, cars, and fame. I'm talking about a fullness of who he is at work in your life. I'm talking about you walking in your purpose. I'm talking about you seeing what God sees in you. I'm talking about a identity change. I'm talking about a shift in your atmosphere. I'm talking about a change that you can see in your family. I'm talking about generational curses being broken. I'm talking about being delivered. Don't do it, bro. I believe God is getting ready for someone to experience a catch like you've never seen before. But what God is looking for is about 12 people that are saying, I'm ready to launch. I don't care if you done been there and done that. I don't care if you came back and you got nothing. I don't care if you're dealing with disappointments. I don't care what the enemy has told you. I don't care what people around you are doing. What God is looking for is somebody who is willing to leave safety and security to leave the status quo, to stop doing what everybody else has been doing and get out there. You know how crazy people thought Peter was? Yes.

Imagine all of his friends, bro, we done been there. We done did it. Why you going to listen to this guy? You ain't even a fisher. He's a carpenter. And Peter said, there's something.

Yeah. Wow.

About his words.

Yeah. Wow.

There's something about what he is saying, and I'm willing to go out again. Oh, I feel the Lord trying to speak to somebody right now. Yeah. Some of y'all, you've been out there and you don't want to go out again because it was embarrassing to come back the first time with nothing.

Woo. There's some of y'all that you didn't want to launch that business because the first time you tried it and you told everybody about it, it disappeared. And then you had to shut down your Facebook. You had to shut down your Instagram, and you had to keep telling people who were asking you what happened. Oh, I'm not sure. I didn't have the money. I didn't have the support. And so you don't want to do it again. I'm talking to somebody that the relationship didn't work out, and so because the relationship didn't work out, you're afraid to go back out there because you were so embarrassed of telling everybody why it didn't work out. But I hear the Lord saying, go back out. It's time to launch again. It's time to get back out because this time you got a word.

Yeah.

This time you got the authority of Jesus' words dripping off of you. This time. It's not going to be you trying to make it happen this time. It won't be you trying to build your own platform this time. It won't be you trying to catch bigger fish this time. It won't be you. It'll be Jesus.

Woo. Yes.

I don't know who I'm preaching to, but I'm preaching to somebody. You're washing your nets.

Yeah.

Yes. Because it's comfortable.

Yeah.

You've been hanging around the shore because it's safe. It's okay here. And you've dipped a little bit into the water. You've gone ankle deep, but it's still

Safe.

You've gone knee deep, but it's still safe. Some of us, were up to our neck on our tippy toes, but it's still safe. Why? Because something happens. I can can back back out. Why? A lot of people won't go into the deep, because if you've ever been in a boat trying to go out into the deep, you will face the waves pushing you back. And for a lot of us, we want to get back out there. So you apply again, but a wave of rejection hits you again. You try to go back, but wave keeps knocking you back. And in your mind you're thinking, why am I doing this? Because the last time I was there, it didn't work. Can I testify? Yeah,

Yeah,

Yeah. 2016, I've already told y'all about this. I went through a traumatic, what I considered traumatic church hurt, and I was in ministry and I was doing what I felt like was the will of God, and it ended suddenly and it threw me into a tailspin because I thought, God, you got me out there. And now I got to tell pastors and my preacher friends that I'm not out there anymore, that I'm working a job at a desk and nine the five. Well, when you were preacher revivals, I know I'm cleaning my nets now. Who you? What happened? Did you sin? No, I didn't sin, but I'm cleaning my neck now and my wife can attest. There was a time in 2016 where I said, I'm not telling anybody about my experience because I'm embarrassed that I don't have the evidence of being out there. Then 2017 came and I said, all right, God, I'm willing to go ankle deep. So I started MCing a little bit at our church and then they said, Hey, can you preach? And I said, alright. So I went knee deep. I said, all right, God. Ah, I'll teach preach a little bit. And then they said, Hey, can you come on staff? And I said, nah,

<laugh>.

Why? Cause I already been out there. I've already tried it. And last time it didn't end well until there was a service, a prophetic service and a prophetic service. A presbytery is where those that are gifted with prophecy or sharing words in season. And one of the guys that was on assignment, first thing he did, he looked at me and jenice and he pointed his finger at me. He said, I got a word for you. I said, all right. He said, it looks the same, but it's different. He said, you tried it before and you got hurt, but now it's safe. You can go back in. I don't know who I'm preaching to, but I feel like telling somebody it looks the same, but this time it's different.

Why?

Because Jesus is in the boat with you and he will never leave you or forsake you. Even unto the end of the world. I don't know who I am preaching to today, but I hear an invitation from the Lord to somebody. It's time to launch again. It's time to launch again. It's time to step into that ministry again. It's time to open that business. It's time to preach again. It's time to enter that relationship. It's time to launch. Over the next few weeks, we're going to be talking about what's in the deep. But you can't experience the deep hanging on to the shallow. You got to get rid of some things. You got to cut some ties. You got to get rid of some people that are holding you back and launch out into the tape. If you want to close your eyes and bow your heads, I feel like I'm preaching to some people that are on the periphery. You've been hanging out on the edge, safe and secure. Maybe you're partially in the water,

But I'm here to preach and tell somebody what God has for you. No, I has seen, no ear has heard, neither has it entered into the heart of men, the things that God has in store for you. But what God is looking for is somebody to say, I'm no longer going to be hanging out with the crowd of onlookers. I want to get right in the middle of what God is doing. I want to be used of God. I want to be the one who God can trust. I want to be the one that sees the miracles, the signs, the wonders. And if you're that person that I hear God saying, it's time to launch three things that are your assignment. Number one, surrender everything to God. If there's anything that you are holding back from him, if there's anything that is more important than him, it's time to surrender it. If it's your job, it's if it's your career, if it's money, if it's significance, if it's a platform, if it's a ministry, bury it at the feet of Jesus is the second thing. Trust his word. I know you've already tried it. I know you have dealt with disappointment, but trust his word anyway.

But it's not enough just to surrender everything. And it's not enough just to say, God, I trust you. The ultimate sign of trust is obedience. When he says, go, I will go. If he says launch, I will launch. If he says put out into the deep, I will go into the deep. I don't know what's out there, but I know that He's with me. Dear Jesus, as we ponder your word, I pray for a deep conviction and our hearts to pursue you fully, to engage you fully. God, I don't want to be a part of the crowd. I'm not satisfied. We're just fish and lobes. I'm not satisfied with just a good word. I'm not satisfied hanging around the edge and watching the boat just push off into the distance. God, I'm ready to be in the boat and so do whatever you got to do in me. Change me from the inside out because I am ready to go into the deep with you. Because the deep is where miracles are. The deep is where revelation is. The deep is where the things that transcend time and space are. And so, Lord, I don't know what's out there, but I know I'm getting out there and I'm leaving everything to follow after you

In Jesus' name. Somebody give Jesus some praise in the building right now.