This message was preached at theHUB conference 2013 in Dubai which is the annual Regions Beyond ( led by Steve Oliver) family of churches gathering . This message was preached by Ray Lowe
Luke 5:1- 3 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat."
This was a defining moment for Peter. We can’t
afford to miss them sometimes, on which so much rests. All else that Peter did
is because he responded in the right way here.
Martin Luther’s action of questioning the indulgences set
off the Reformation.
In 1735 George Whitfield was asked to speak to someone in
prison. He speaks from John 3 and the 2 prisoners are saved- crying out ‘I’m
saved’. Whitfield is bewildered- goes home and ponders on the thief on the
cross who realizes that the thief could not do anything. This moment started a
great awakening.
In 1861- Wesleyan society conference- William Booth’s method
was not accepted by everyone. He hated Calvinism. He was firing evangelists.
Some thought he should be reined in. wife shouted, “never William, never”. That
started the Salvation Army. It was a defining moment.
In 1898- Methodist minister (America) gathered 40 students
every year. Got them to study Acts 1-5- realized that the Baptism of the Spirit
was indispensable. Agnus Osmond- asked for baptism in the Holy Spirit and spoke
in Chinese for 3 days. They all spoke in known languages and then went on to
those countries as missionaries. The start of the Pentecostal charismatic
movement!
Billy Graham- the night before his first crusade had an
encounter with God.
What do they all have in common? They did not have a clue
that it would be so big. Today we look at it with hind sight at their success.
They did not know it would be this way.
Luke is the only one who records the defining moment for
Peter.
In Regions Beyond, this new phase of us coming together-
Jesus was not unknown to Peter. Peter may have even
witnessed healing. He is having a bad night. He is happy to loan his boat to
Jesus. He did not know what was coming. Peter was a middle class business man.
Fishing was his skill and knew when to fish and knew he could have had a bad
night. You still need to clean the nets even though empty.
Jesus is a preacher/healer but knows nothing about fishing
in the natural.
He tells Simon to ‘go fishing’. Why did he do it? It just
seemed like the right thing to do. That’s true for us.
1.
Obedience- they learnt it in the natural and in
the spirit. Peter was impetuous, reckless, failed publicly. But Jesus had him
in hand. Discerning the will of God is tough sometimes. The timing of God is
important to know. These are defining moments- when we will have to conclude
whether there is God or not.
G Booth- Booth’s son’s very different from
his father. He has a strange experience – a woman climbs into his room and
tells them her story which was tragic (child prostitution). William Booth did
not want to get involved. Gram well felt this
was the leading of God. Those days, age of consent was 12. He fought to raise the age and the result was the
age was raised to 16.
John and Betty Stan in 1930 moved to China
and were martyred. 700 men and women volunteered for mission work at their
funeral.
It’s important to know what’s gone before.
Obedience is tough.
2.
Partnership- we see it here. They call the other
boats for help. We talk so much about team. This is vital to everything we do.
Newfrontiers was built on relationships and we need to keep it that way. Not
one fish was lost because he asks for help.
The next three years they are jockeying for
position- strange. He did not say he did not want them to be great- but not in
worldly terms but in serving.
Even at the last supper, they are arguing
about who will be the greatest. We are not in competition.
History is not on our side when it comes to
this.
Reformation in Europe- it could have
achieved so much more. Luther and Zwingly divided over breaking of bread. This opened
the door to Counter Reformation.
Whitfield-Wesley- the followers alongside
the Great Awakening did not achieve what it could have.
We can do more together than apart- we can
make history of working together not jockeying for position. Wesley did not do
a good job at the end of his life.
They were great men of God but we learn
from their mistakes. We are here for one another’s success.
3.
For Peter this defining moment was about too
much. He was undone. He could cope with miracles but Jesus recruiting was
almost too much for him. His response was “go away, I am a sinful man”. I don’t
think it was sin. He just didn't feel worthy. It was the realization that he
was encountering the awesome and big recruited by the most magnificent being ever. He
was then to have full revelation.
When Isaiah went into the temple and
encountered God, he was undone. This is an attitude for a lifetime and not for
a moment. It was like that for Abraham, Moses, Joshua… it was something they
lived with.
This Conference is a defining moment. We will model
something- about partnership around the world.
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