Sunday, February 3, 2019

Are You in the Right Place?

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Our pastor is continuing his series titled Christ in Every Place.  Today's sermon was titled "Are You in the Right Place?  The following are my Bible study notes based on my pastor's sermon.

Are You in the Right Place?
Image Credit:  Ben White - Public Domain Image via Freely Photos

Christ in Every Place

 Our scripture passage is Luke 5:1-11.
Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” 11 When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him. - Luke 5:1-11

Are You in the Right Place? 

 You are invited to watch the entire sermon here.
Every Place - Are You In The Right Place? from Christ Place Church on Vimeo.


Christ must do something in me before He can do something through me.  I can never embrace a greater vision until I am in the right place spiritually.
 
I like my places of comfort.  I'm a pretty shy person so stepping out of my comfort zone is not easy for me to do.  If you're like me, it's easy to stay in one place in life too long.  It's easy to get used to a regular routine, staying just comfortable enough to be comfortable where I am.   Jesus said, "Go deeper."
When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” - Luke 5:4
When we resolve to "go deeper" in obedience to God - to reach out beyond our comfort zone, obedience yields amazing results.

When Peter, James, and John responded in obedience and went into deeper waters, they caught so much fish that their nets began to break and their boat began to sink.
When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. - Luke 5:6-7

When we respond in obedience to go into the right places, then we will "catch men."
And so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” - Luke 5:10
Then, they left everything and followed Jesus.
When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him. - Luke 5:11
For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. - Luke 19:10
 Ask Jesus:  Am I in the right place spiritually?

 1.  Jesus invites us to join His mission.  

(Does this sound familiar?  This is the theme from our current ladies' Bible study.)

Jesus can do ministry alone but He doesn't.  He invites us to participate in His perfect plan.

 2.  Jesus uses our places to show us "our place."

If we are believers, then we all have a ministry of some sort.  Jesus meets us where we are.

3.  He calls us from out of our safe places into places of trust, obedience, and risks.

We catch bigger fish (more fish) by going into deeper waters.

God blesses us in places of obedience.

4.  Jesus brings us into places we never anticipated and it is awesome.

5.  Jesus wants us to get to the place where we are more like Him.

2019 Challenge

In order to help get us into "deeper waters," our pastor is encouraging us to focus on 5 people/families in 2019.  Do you know 5 people - 5 families - who don't know Jesus?  Perhaps you cn focus on them this year.  Build relationships with them.  Share Jesus with them.

I'd love to hear how you are "going deeper" this year.  If you feel comfortable doing so, encourage our blog community by sharing your stories in the comments below.

You'll find all my posts about this Bible study series here.

 

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