Go Where the Fish Are

Dear friends: 

 

As you probably know, over the course of the last number of weeks, I have been preaching strictly through the lectionary, and even more specifically, strickly through the Gospels.  The lectionary is the schedule of Scripture readings that various denominations follow throughout the year.  Once done, the major Biblical themes have been touched upon.

 

But now here is a strange thing -- by doing this, both last week and this week, we have touched on two very different "Call" stories.  Last week, the lectionary passage was from John, and we talked about Jesus' call of Philip and Nathaniel.  This week, the passage is from Mark, and we concern ourselves with the call of Peter and Andrew, James and John.  Both passages demonstrate the authority of Jesus, but this Sunday we learn the implications of the Call of God.  Our passage is Mark 1:14-20, and I hope you'll take time to look it over before Sunday.

 

Jesus was great with marketing.  To fisherman, His call was couched in fisherman language -- "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men" (the Greek is generic, and is properly translated as "people", but somehow saying that Peter and the others would become "fishers of people" just doesn't sound right to me!).  Obviously Jesus is calling Peter, Andrew, and the rest of us into the ministry of evangelism.  But how would the Master have us do that?

 

Well, to continue the fishing analogy, this Sunday we'll talk about how to "Use the right lure", how to "Cast a wide net", and how to "Go where the fish are".  Or, to put it less cryptically, we'll talk about where we need to go, what we need to say, and what the Church needs to do to attract people to Christ.  In these tough economic times, people are looking for answers to tough questions, and Jesus is the source of all those answers. 

 

I'll see you Sunday, and we'll see how the Bible addresses these important issues.

What is Christ calling us to do?

Dear Friends:

 

This Sunday we are considering what it means to be called by Jesus into service.  When one is called to be a disciple of the Lord, are we also called to be a carbon copy of Jesus?   Or are we called to follow the Lord with our lives, but still flavoring our ministries with our own unique personalities?

 

The Scripture story we are considering is found in John 1:43-51.  It is the story of Jesus' call of Philip and Nathaniel.  Philip, when called by the Christ, seems to show a bit of the missionary spirit about him.  He goes straight to Nathaniel and invites him to "Come and See" Jesus.  Nathaniel, on the other hand, shows some hesitation.  He responds with those very famous words "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?".  And yet, in the end, they are both called into Christian service, a service which lasts them the rest of their lives.

 

Like these two very different personalities, we each have unique gifts and graces that we can bring into the ministry.  Some of us do one thing well -- some another.  Some like to be in front of the limelight.  Some behind the scenes.  But each of us is serving as the Lord has called us to do.  Not one calling is better than another.  But all are in some ways very different from each other.

 

What is Christ calling us to do?  Come join us on Sunday, and let's find out together!!!