U Getta Line, I'll Getta A Pole Series

U GETTA A LINE, I’LL GETTA POLE

Matthew 4:18-25

DO YOU REMEMBER THAT OLD SONG “U GETTA A LINE I’LL GETTA POLE AND WE DOWN TO THE CRAWDAD HOLE”? IT’S ONE OF THOSE SONGS THAT GETS IN YOUR HEAD & DRIVES YOU CRAZY!!!!

AS A BOY MY DAD WOULD TAKE ME FISHING! WE WOULD LOAD THE FISHING POLES & TACKLE, STOP BY THE BAIT SHOP & HEAD FOR THE LAKE. THE WATER SLICK AS GLASS IT ALL SEEM SO CLAM….PEACEFUL….TRANQUIL!!! “WE WERE FISHIN”

IT DIDN’T MATTER IF WE CAUGHT ANYTHING, THE FISH WERE EXTRA, JUST THE EXPERENCE OF FISHIN WAS REWARD ENOUGH!

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IT REMINDS ME OF THE DAY THAT JESUS SAID TO SOME MEN “U GEETA LINE, I’LL GETTA POLE & LETS GO FISHIN”….

WELL HE ACTUALLY SAID “COME….I’LL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN”

- WHAT DOES THAT MEAN “FISHERS OF MEN”?

- HOW DO YOU CATCH MEN?

- IF YOU CAUGH ONE WHAT IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU DO WITH HIM?

WELL TODAY WE BEGAN A SERIES I’VE TITLED “GONE FISHIN”! OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS WE ARE GOING TO CONSIDER THIS CALL TO BE “FISHERS OF MEN” AND WHAT IT MEANS IN OUR LIVES.

MY PRAYER IS THAT EACH OF US MIGHT GAIN INSIGHT & OBEDIENCE WHEN COMES TO SHAREING OUR FAITH WITH OTHERS!

MOST IMPORTANTLY THE PRIVILEGE OF THE PROCESS!

Matthew 4:18-22 18As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 20At once they left their nets and followed him.

21Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John.

They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

THEN NOTICE WHAT HAPPENED: 23Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

24News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. 25Large crowds from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

WHAT AN AMAZING STORY! JESUS WASN’T JOKING WHEN HE SAID “I’LL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN” THEY WERE CATICHING MEN FOR CHRIST…DID YOU CATCH THAT?

THEY WERE…

TEACHING….PREACHING….HEALING…FREEING…& SPREADING THE GOOD NEWS & NOTE CROWDS FOLLOWED!

* THIS AUTHENTICATED THAT HE WAS INDEED THE MESSIAH !

BUT WHY FISH FOR MEN?

I. It’s God’s Plan: V-19 & 21

“JESUS CALLED THEM”

AS YOU READ THROUGH GOD’S WORD IT BECOMES VERY CLEAR THAT GOD ALWAYS HAS A PLAN!

- Abraham’s family would be God’s chosen people!

- Moses would lead Israel to freedom

- David would be a king after God’s heart

- John the Baptist would be a pathfinder for Jesus

- The disciples were to help birth the church of Jesus Christ

GOD ALWAYS HAS A MASTER PLAN FOR HE IS THE MASTER! BY THAT I MEAN HE IS THE SOVEREIGN LORD & HIS PLAN TO SHARE HIS SON WITH THIS WORD INVOLVED MEN & WOMEN LIKE YOU & ME!

THEREFORE, HE WOULD SAY “COME I’LL MAKE YOU FISHEWRS OF MEN”!

The term “fishers of men” was not new to these men. For centuries, Greek & Roman philosophers used it to describe the work of a man who sought to “catch” others by his teaching & persuasion.

JESUS WAS CALLING ANDREW, JAMES, JOHN & PETER TO CATCH MEN FOR GOD….IT WAS HIS PLAN TO USE MEN TO CATCH OTHER MEN!

Matthew 28:19-20

19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[1] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Acts 4:11 Peter & John before Sanhedrin

He is " ’the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

ILLUSTRATION: R. G. Lee told about walking down the street & a drunk staggered up to him and said, “Oh, Preacher, I’m one of your converts.” The preacher looked at him and said,

“Yeah, you look like one of mine cuz, you certainly don’t look like one of the Lord’s.”

MY FRIEND ARE YOU A TRUE FOLLOWER OF JESUS CHRIST? - DO YOU LOVE HIM…OBEY HIM…LONG FOR HIM? - DO YOU SEEK, SERVE & SHARE HIM?