By Hook Or By Crook

1. Am I a Fisherman? vv4-6 But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. So Jesus said* to them, "Children, you do not have any fish, do you?" They answered Him, "No." And He said to them, "Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch." So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.

v.15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said* to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?" He said* to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said* to him, "Tend My lambs." Effective Evangelism has 4 components

A. Must Love Christ first & foremost. Any attempts at service must have as its prerequisite love: deep, passionate love for Jesus. Where there is no love, there is no life. Without love for Christ, our service will be perfunctory, selfish, faulty, and fleshly. Love is unequivocally the prime prerequisite for serving Christ in any capacity. Did you notice Jesus didn’t ask Peter if he loved fishing, or sheep? Jesus asked him if he loved Him, b/c love for Christ is the prime prerequisite of service for Christ. God wants an intimate, daily relationship with us. He compares it again and again to a marriage. He doesn't want to be a part of our lives; He wants to be our lives. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (Mark 12:30) Not some. Not part. All. Not $3.00 worth. Not one day a week’s worth. Not inside the church building worth. God wants all of us, every day. That's what it is to be a disciple. That's what it is to be a Christian. Someone said that instead of focusing on being the right church, we should focus on being the right kind of Christ followers. If we are going to be effective at fishing/evangelizing for Christ we must first get our affections on Christ. All the education/programming while proper & good, are fruitless & futile if we neglect cultivating love in our hearts for Christ.

B. Must have the right passion. What are you passionate about? Whatever captures your heart and interest most is what you are passionate about. All of us have our passions in life whether we want to admit it or not. Sports/hobbies, etc. Don’t view the church as a parking lot to doze in, but as a launching pad to reach out to those who are lost in sin. JW & Mormons put us to shame in their enthusiasm for reaching out. They have the wrong message, but we have the right one. What are we doing w/it? We seem to just sit on it. We need to wake up to the needs of the hour! The apostle Paul was one who was passionate about witnessing & soul winning. You cannot have too much passion for Jesus & winning others to Him. Let’s ask God to shake us, wake us up out of our spiritual stupor & uncaring attitudes towards our lost world. An essential to effective evangelism is passion. C. Must have the right priority. We are tasked by almighty God to win souls & keep people out of hell. Jesus came to die for man’s sin, rose again, & paid the price for our redemption. We were His priority. C.H. Spurgeon once said, “If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap into hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish w/ our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, let not one go there unwarned and un-prayed for.”