Note: Basic idea for message came from Ministry Pass' sermon series Back at It.
Title: Back at It
Theme: To show the importance of getting back into the routine of church and ministry.
Text: John 21:1 – 7; Genesis 11, 12
Introduction
If you would turn in your Bibles to John 21. I would like us to read through this story. It is not my goal to preach through this passage this morning. Brian did an excellent job back in June sharing expounding these scriptures.
John 21:1-7 After these things - after what things
This is after Jesus had risen from the dead. This is after Peter and John had ran to the empty tomb about found the grave open and the grave cloths clothed. This is after the confirmation of the angels
Mark 16:6 But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. After Jesus appeared to Mary Mangelin.
I could go on and on. John 21 begins after the many appearances of Jesus. This is what makes this passage so surprising.
Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: (2) Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. (3) Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We are going with you also." They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing.
So after all that where does Peter find himself. He finds himself fishing. He finds himself back to the place that he knows. He goes back to familiar. Peter would say, “I don’t know much, but I know fishing”.
When our life gets disrupted it is always tempted to go back to the familiar. To go back to what we are used. When our life is disrupted it is tempted to get back into the old routine.
Sometimes that may mean the “old way of life”. The way we used to live without Christ. We let old habits creep in. That which we did for so many years become so familiar.
Even in a place where we have been for the last year and a half. We are tempted to find a routine that is not healthy in our relationship with God.
We are tempted to settle.
Settled
Story of Haran & Abram
Most of us are familiar with Abram who became Abraham. A faith follower of God who was willing to just go in the direction God had called him to go.
But what the Bible tells us in Genesis 11 is that his father left home first.
Genesis 11:27 NKJV. This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. 28. And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29. Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. 30. But Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31. And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. 32. So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.
Abram kept moving to receive the blessing
Haran means settled. Terah got settled and never made it to the land of Cana.
12:1. Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. 2. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'' 4. So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.
Why People Settle?
A. Fear can cause you to settle
Fear of the unknown. Fear of the enemy. Fear of the giants in the land. Fear of the battle.
B. Sorrow can cause you to settle
Sometimes we allow trials and things that happen in our lives to stop us from going on. Terah had lost his son Haran. Maybe he was disappointed or hurt.
C. Reminiscing
Looking and dwelling on the past and the way things used to be.
D. Satisfaction can cause you to settle
Becoming satisfied can cause us to become settled. We become comfortable. We become settled. Yet throughout scripture we are challenged to never become set. To hunger and thirst. To seek God with all our heart.
E. Doubt can cause you to settle
I won’t stay on this long because we talked about this a few weeks ago talking about breaking limitations “try again”
When we doubt and have lack of faith then we can settle
Luke warmness
In the book of Revelation we read about a church
Revelation 3:14-16 "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: (15) I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. (16) So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
Luke warmness is that place where there is no change. It is a settled place.
God does not want us to be at a settled place.
He wants us to be like Psalms
Psalms 1:1-3 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; (2) But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. (3) He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
We get settled when we step away from the waters edge and quit drinking from the fountain.
We get settled when we no longer bear fruit: of love, joy, peace,
But I want you to notice something else about this passage
Jesus finds Peter.
1. Jesus sought out Peter just as he seeks us out. No matter how many times Peter denied Jesus and walked away, Jesus kept returning to seek him out. He does the same for each and every one of us. There is no such thing as a useless person in the kingdom of heaven, nor is there someone who is beyond forgiveness, even if they must be forgiven over and over.
When we get back at it, we have the opportunity to be Jesus to someone like Peter who may have slowly, or suddenly, left the fold. It’s an act of love to remind someone of their true love: Jesus. From series Back at It by Ministry Pass
(4) But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. (5) Then Jesus said to them, "Children, have you any food?" They answered Him, "No." (6) And He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish. (7) Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea.
Conclusion
How do we get back?
Maybe a touch of the familiar. Revisit the devotional time. Revisit church again. Reconnect with the muscle memory of faith.
Maybe it is acceptance of forgiveness. Yes we have failed. Yes we have let God down. Let God forgive you. No matter how many times you have tried to escape.
Maybe it is reconnecting with the family. Finding you place of ministry again.
