Breaking Through Traditions to Embark on the Path of Ministry
Recording:
Transcript:
Today's topic: Breaking through traditional concepts, casting your nets according to God's revelation!
Last Sunday, I shared Winning People Like Catching Fish. I was quite excited myself because I began to walk the path of winning people like catching fish! If the Lord Jesus called Peter to follow Him, and he could lay down everything to follow, that's truly remarkable! For me, I marvel at how Peter, a mere fisherman, made such a great choice! A wise man indeed! The wisest of the wise! Although I received a good education, I feel far behind Peter. Although I was willing to serve the Lord Jesus, I really couldn't give up my high-paying job to follow Him. Later, it was God's grace that compelled me to give up my job, and I came to serve the Lord Jesus. Only after walking this path to this day did I realize how abundant the grace and glory of serving the Lord Jesus is! How wonderful life is! How beautiful the life lived out is! It's amazing! I thank You, Lord Jesus, that You didn't despise me and chose me to serve You!In the past few months, especially after attending the 60th anniversary celebration of Taipei Bread of Life Church in Taipei, I felt even more strongly that the brothers and sisters who are serving the Lord with me now are being prepared by God, and they will all become people who win people like catching fish in the future! They are all extraordinary people! I just hope that everyone won't be like me, not knowing that such service is the best choice! God had to block my other paths before I chose to walk this glorious path of service. Today, I am filled with gratitude! But I know that many of our brothers and sisters will be more like Peter in the future, more intelligent than me. When God calls you to follow Him, to win people like catching fish, abandon your worldly work and serve Him!
If Peter had not followed the Lord Jesus, had not served Him, and continued to live a life of fishing, growing old, suffering from senile rheumatoid arthritis, limping, and later developing senile dementia, even with good children, he would still be lonely in a nursing home, and then die without any glory! Do you want to live like that? I don't! Brothers and sisters, do you have that sacred sense of dissatisfaction in your hearts? If so, come and walk the path of service!
Brothers and sisters, I want to tell you that Peter's life was truly wonderful! When I read the Book of Acts in the Bible, I found Peter's life was so wonderful! I said in my heart, God, my God, may You also fill my life with such wonderful experiences! If you want to live a wonderful life, start learning to walk the path of service! There's a song that's very nice, that when the Lord Jesus comes again, I want to walk the path of service. Man is a spiritual living being. When God created man, He knew how man could live a wonderful life. He told us through the Bible that those who believe are blessed! Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph were all such people. Later, God became the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, and was not ashamed! God's name was placed before Abraham's name, what glory that is! God is called the God of Peter, the God of Samuel, the God of us all, and God is not ashamed because we also believe! We also want to walk that path of service, we also want to be called a blessing to all nations and peoples on earth, we also want to win all peoples for God!
The Call to Cast Nets in Deep Water
From last Sunday until now, my heart has begun to dream, like daydreaming. Wow, I see our church's brothers and sisters spread across every corner of the world! Weaving a huge net, bringing those who belong to God into God's kingdom! Each of our brothers and sisters is a little Jesus, doing what Jesus did, releasing captive souls, releasing the oppressed, healing the sick, casting out demons! Those we bless will receive blessings, those we release will be released, and those we bind, the demons will be bound. How exciting! I seem to see that when the Lord Jesus comes again, we will receive praise from Him! I begin to see that our church is a victorious church, a holy church, a united church, seeing the one controlling this dark world in the air being trampled under our feet! Becoming the blameless Church of Philadelphia!
I seem to see the huge net woven by our brothers and sisters. The Lord Jesus said, Go, cast your nets in the deep water, and we cast our nets, catching so many fish at once that the nets were about to break, and our boats were about to sink! That was an exciting moment!
Today, what I want to share with you is Casting Nets in Deep Water! Brothers and sisters, remember, today, this very day, is a milestone for our church entering the next stage! We must prepare ourselves, make our nets strong, make our boats sturdy, and begin to cast our nets in deep water! Because there are too many fish, lest our nets break and our boats sink! Our church will no longer be the church within traditional concepts, we will be welcoming God doing even greater renewal among us! Amen!
Let's look at today's scripture.
2 Today's Scripture: Luke 5:3-6
Luk 5:3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Luk 5:4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. Luk 5:5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. Luk 5:6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
3 Prayer – Break through traditional concepts, cast nets in deep water
4 The foreshadowing of this passage – How Peter would win people like catching fish
This passage is a prophetic action performed before the Lord Jesus called Peter to follow Him! This passage tells Peter how he will win people like catching fish in the future. Our God often speaks to people in this way. I believe that many years later, Peter still clearly remembered this event and proclaimed this experience in different occasions. So Luke had the opportunity to record this prophetic experience of calling Peter! This is not only said to Peter, but also to us.
Go, launch out into the deep! Cast your nets there! The fish are there. The situation at the time was that Jesus was a carpenter, and Peter was a fisherman. Peter's response was actually quite negative, with a rather unconvinced attitude. This is not to say: We have toiled all night and have taken nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net. We don't know if Peter had a disdainful look at the time, but when the fish came up, Peter felt that he had offended the Lord Jesus and said that he was a sinner, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!
This highlights that,
First, God does not work according to our professional knowledge or our common sense. In fact, God often does new things. God often subverts our traditional concepts! Throughout Peter's life of service, he has been living in ways that subvert traditional concepts. That is exactly how God works! If God tells us to do it, let's do it!
Obeying God's Revelation, Breaking Through Traditional Restraints
Second, even if it does not fit our judgment, we must learn from Peter, seize the opportunity according to God's revelation at the time! Then we will win people like catching fish. If Peter did not seize the opportunity at that time, sail over, and cast the net, and after many days, suddenly remembered, Oh, Lord Jesus said to launch out into the deep, and sailed over, and cast the net, he would catch nothing!
Third, prepare your nets and your boats well in advance. Don't wait until the opportunity comes, the nets are broken, and the boats are sunk. Although there are fish, it's like catching nothing!
Brothers and sisters, do you know why God chose Peter to be a great disciple? In Peter's later ministry, we can see that what Peter showed is precisely the quality that God wants us to have in this generation.
First, it is because Peter has the quality of being willing to break through traditions! We must have the awareness to break through.
Second, Peter has a strong professional spirit, but is not controlled by professional knowledge! So our brothers and sisters, do everything professionally.
Third, he can obey God and seize the opportunity of God's revelation at any time! I believe that God is training you in your work, preparing to use you at the right time! Among us, those who study IT, those who have the ability for writing ministry, logistics, management, as well as nurses, researchers, and clerks, God will greatly use you!
Thank God, because of this, we live a wonderful life serving Him! Today, God wants to do new things among us. My wife and I have led everyone along the way and seen God do many new things. Thank God, my wife and I are not the kind of people who are unwilling to accept new things. On the contrary, we often feel very excited because the things God does are so new!
5 First, we must break through traditional concepts
Peter will never forget the scene when the Lord Jesus called him. That was a breakthrough revelation! As a Jew, establishing the church of Jesus Christ, he could not do it without breaking through traditional concepts! Today, as Chinese people, taking over the baton of evangelizing and building a glorious church, it is difficult for us to be used by God without breaking through traditional concepts! Peter's life, why is it wonderful, is because he often has to live in breaking through traditions! In fact, there is nothing more tragic than living the same every day! Then it's better to just live for one day! Peter is
- The first person to experience the filling of the Holy Spirit – everyone was like they were drunk, praying loudly there, they could not do it without breaking through traditional concepts! The problem is that Jesus himself did not do this! So some very traditional Christians, thinking they are very smart, ask when mentioning speaking in tongues, Did the Lord Jesus speak in tongues? Such people, if they lived in Peter's time, God would not be able to use them! Even if the fire of the Holy Spirit was poured out on Pentecost, he would not open his mouth! Thank the Lord, Peter broke through this concept, because when the Lord Jesus ascended, He told him in person to wait for the Holy Spirit, to pray in tongues, even though they did not understand what speaking in tongues was at that time!
- Peter was the first person to lift up the man who was lame from birth! Amazing, something that no one had ever done before. When the Holy Spirit moved him, he was willing to obey the prompting of the Holy Spirit and pull that person up. I think, at that time, he would not have thought, What a shame if that person can't get up!
- He was the first to go into the house of a non-Jew to preach the gospel to the Gentiles! Facing all kinds of pressures from traditional forces, not only from outside the church, but also from people inside the church, there would be a lot of pressure on Peter! But Peter was able to break through such traditional concepts!
Innovation and Breakthrough: New Perspectives on Serving God
Those who serve God must break through the bondage of tradition! People always think that old wine is better. But God always thinks that new is better! God is a God who does new things! Even if it does not fit your traditional concepts, God will still do new things! Isaiah Isa 43:18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Isa 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
How wonderful and interesting it is to work with our God! Our God is a God who creates something from nothing! Creation and innovation all start from Him! Everything is from nothing to something! It is all created! Today is the creative generation. What everyone competes in is no longer effort, but creativity! Innovation. What traditional industry took 100 years to do, Microsoft did in 30 years. Google did in 10 years.
Today, all the convenient products in the world did not exist before. Things become real from nothing, and this is the result of those who treat nothing as something. They always wish, observe, and eventually invent. Nothing will pop out for no reason. They are created by those who treat nothing as something while having a yearning desire. How is our future created? The future is created by those who treat nothing as something, hoping with fervent expectation, and observing along the way. We cannot create our future destiny by sitting at home. We must be people who treat nothing as something, hoping and observing with that mindset.
There was a man who often took his children to play in the park. However, the swings and slides were very old, unkempt. He hoped to take his children to a better, more beautiful park where they could have more fun. He hoped that science and nature were harmonized so that children could develop new dreams. He often cherished such a dream and hoped in his heart. The realization of this dream was after a long time. A park that was built in the suburbs of Los Angeles, the well-known Disneyland. The person who made this dream was Walt Disney. Later, he had a new dream, that this kind of park would allow children all over the world to come and play. The realization of this dream was Walt Disney World, which was built in Orlando. Sadly, Walt Disney died before Walt Disney World was completed. When Walt Disney World was completed, and dignitaries from all walks of life came to attend the opening ceremony, one person came out to give a congratulatory message and said: It is a pity that Walt Disney himself was unable to see the realization of such a big dream before he passed away, from the world. Therefore, there was silence in the arena. But Disney's widow, Ms. Disney, went on stage, picked up the microphone, and said: I'm sorry, I would like to correct the congratulatory message just now. Although my husband is not here today, he has already seen Walt Disney World.
We must make concrete dreams. Nothing will be realized if we don't dream. Brothers and sisters, the cars we drive were invented by Henry Ford. He was a man who had never studied at school. However, he often saw people riding in horse-drawn carriages and dreamed of making a car that could walk by itself without being pulled by a horse. When he came home from work, he kept hammering and banging in the backyard, so his wife was often worried about him. He had a dream in his heart - a car. He racked his brains to make a car that could walk by itself, and as a result, his dream was achieved. He made the first-generation car. Therefore, cars were also invented by dreamers.
Seize God's Revelation, Break Through Tradition to Build a Glorious Church
Today, we must share a dream with our God! To break through all traditional concepts and build a glorious church according to God's will. Even if what God wants to build is not yet visible today, we must still follow God like Peter, obey God, and become people who break through traditional concepts!
Peter was a person who broke through tradition in that era! Martin Luther was a person who broke through tradition in that era! Calvin was a person who broke through tradition in that era! John Wesley was a person who broke through tradition in that era!
I think most of us are people who break through tradition! God wants to do new things through us, new things that break through traditional concepts! Amen!
Is the church we are building today different from many churches? Is our Sunday service different from many churches' Sunday services? Don't worry about being different, we are here to break through tradition!
What tradition are we going to break through today? It is the very form of a church! Everything starts from scratch.
The generation we are in today is a generation of breakthroughs! The church must have a greater capacity for breakthrough and innovation than the world! The church should be a place that guides innovation! Amen!
Tell the person next to you: You must break through traditional concepts!
6 Second, seize God's revelation in that era, obey God's revelation and cast your nets.
In that era, Peter led one innovation and breakthrough after another, establishing churches where there were none! Let the glory of God be greatly manifested. All through God's revelation and guidance in that era. Peter obeyed God's guidance. Today, God is still doing the same revelation and guidance, building a glorious church in our generation! We must learn to see God's work among us. That is God's guidance and revelation!
The pastor's wife said before that the pastor manages the remote. She doesn't care. But what about now? The new people who came to class on November 29 were basically all remote! Not only that, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, they are bringing remote people along!
We inexplicably started Weibo, WeChat, websites, and writing ministries! We inexplicably started remote service. And QQ's functions seem to fit our needs very well! Some use the phone to gather with us, and some use QQ to gather with us, through small windows! But their reception is very rich, and they receive more and faster healing than those of us nearby!
As time goes by, many ministries have remote participants!
What is God saying to us?
The distinction between remote and nearby is no longer so clear. It is no longer the nearby serving the remote, but all who have grown up and matured, who can fight, must rise up to serve. All are a key and organic part of the church God has given us.
A sister told me that Paul actually used remote service in that era! Aren't the Pauline epistles we read Paul's remote service? If Paul lived in our generation, he would definitely use telephones, emails, WeChat, Weibo, and websites extensively!
God wants to do new things! In this generation, He has chosen us to do new things.
Seize God's Revelation and Build a Breakthrough Online Church
Isa 53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Isa 54:1 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. Isa 54:2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; Isa 54:3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Isa 54:4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. Isa 54:5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
We must lengthen our cords and strengthen our stakes. Seize the opportunities of this generation! Launch out into the deep and cast your nets! If online stores on Taobao can replace physical stores, why can't we?
From now on, our church will be an online church! The nearby is only a part of the online church! This is a breakthrough in our inherent concepts! This is God's revelation among us. We must seize this opportunity and cast our nets according to God's revelation! Because there are many of God's people waiting for us there! Just as the Macedonians waited for Paul!
Our hearts must be big, and our goals must also be big! If your goal is Singapore, you will only get the small island. If your goal is the world, God will give you the world! Amen!
We must weave a big net, launch out into the deep, and win the Chinese nation for God!
7 Third, seize the main axis of the Bible - healing the sick and casting out demons must go hand in hand with evangelism.
The Apostle Peter could break through traditional concepts, he could seize God's revelation in that generation, and he also prayed often, but how did he catch the fish? How did he catch men like fish? Let's carefully examine what the Bible says! We pray a lot, we also do healing and deliverance, we also have systematic theology, and we imitate what Peter and Paul did according to the Bible, all the way through. Where have we imitated to now?
Let's take a look at the chapters in the Bible's Acts of the Apostles:
Act 5:12 And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. Act 5:13 And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: howbeit the people magnified them. Act 5:14 And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.) Act 5:15 Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. Act 5:16 There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.
Prepare the Nets and Boats and Welcome God's Harvest
Act 9:31 Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied. Act 9:32 And it came to pass, as Peter passed throughout all quarters, he came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda. Act 9:33 And there he found a certain man named Aeneas, which had kept his bed eight years, and was sick of the palsy. Act 9:34 And Peter said unto him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed. And he arose immediately. Act 9:35 And all that dwelt at Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned to the Lord.
Act 9:36 Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did. Act 9:37 And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber. Act 9:38 And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them. Act 9:39 Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them. Act 9:40 But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up. Act 9:41 And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive. Act 9:42 And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord.
What should we do? We brothers and sisters must prepare ourselves to start seeing God do such things as in the Book of Acts! Amen!
New vision? Direction for the New Year 2015? - Prepare us to cast our nets into the deep!
8 Fourth, specifically implement teaching and transformation work (both nets and boats must be strong).
In today's passage, we see that because there were too many fish, the net was almost broken, and the boat was almost sunk! We must be careful and carefully make our nets well and repair our boats well! That is our infrastructure, our systematic courses, and systematic transformation work!
9 Conclusion: See the opportunities of this generation, see the needs of this generation, be raised up to serve this generation!