Jesus And Peter Series

There’s always conflict when you are near the real God. There’s always trauma when you’re near Jesus. The Bible says God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). To get near Him is to be burned. To be near God, you’ll feel terrible about yourself because He is infinitely pure.

Watch Peter’s reaction in the second miracle. Just like the first miracle, loads of fish come on the boat. But unlike the first miracle where he runs from Jesus, in the second miracle, he runs to Jesus. So what changed in Peter? It was the gospel of God’s grace. Peter had not seen Jesus since he denied Jesus three times. Peter has unresolved guilt and he’s much more aware of his sin in John 21 than he was in Luke 5. Despite Peter cowardice, Peter runs to Jesus. What changed in Peter? Peter understands the gospel of grace. What does it mean to really be a disciple of Jesus? To be a disciple is follow Jesus but it’s also to enjoy God’s grace.

Disciples Obey God’s Word

Disciples Trust God’s Son

Disciples Turn Away from Their Sin

4. Disciples Make More Disciples

“And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.’ And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him” (Luke 5:10-11). From the start, God has designed Christianity for every, single disciple to make a disciple who in turn, makes a disciple. Peter has a simple faith (and that's a good thing). Modern readers are shocked when they see the words, “they left everything and followed him.” (Luke 5:11b). While this was significant commitment, the disciples had been aware of Jesus for some time. Remember, some of Jesus’ disciples were first John the Baptist’s disciples (John 1:35-49) While discussions among the Twelve will continue for sometime (Luke 8:25), Peter recognizes that Jesus is not ordinary. Jesus was becoming a “known person” throughout Galilee when Peter, James, and John left their occupations to follow Christ.

The moment these fishermen have one of their best days fishing, they leave their professions to follow Christ. And this is what separated these men from the crowds. Not every disciple of Christ has to leave their job. But every disciple has to leave their life to pursue Christ. Some of you are called to keep your job and bring Christ to your place of work.

From the start, God has designed Christianity for every, single disciple to make a disciple who in turn, makes a disciple. Disciples multiply. Disciples don’t stay silent. Disciples pray for people. Disciples invite people to church. Disciples have memorized a short presentation of the gospel. Disciples financially support missions. But disciples don’t substitute financial support for being personally involved.

The first step of making disciples is to do evangelism. We need to be more aggressive in loving witness that wins people to Christ and then folds these people in the fellowship of a church where they are discipled. Evangelism is where people turn from death to life, from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the power of God. Invest and Invite is a commitment where we’ve asked you to pray for three people and share the gospel with them in 2013. We were made to be disciples who make disciples until the end of time. How can you think you’ll stand before God Himself one day and ignore this? “Almighty God, I ignored this command and I didn’t make one single disciple.” Healthy things live. Healthy things multiply.