Message Recap
Today we kicked off our new series, Future Focus. We're starting the year by bringing focus to the vision of our church. Our vision is not about building a church; it is about building people—it has always been about people and always will be. And so, we begin by diving into what it means to be For the One.
Pastor Shawn took us to Luke 5:1-11 where we find Jesus preaching and Simon Peter fishing on the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is the lowest freshwater sea in the world, and 18 of 33 miracles happened around this body of water. God often reserves His greatest miracles for the lowest places. It is then we undoubtedly know it is Him at work. This is why our vision is for the one—the one who feels low, broken, lost, confused, anxious, and alone. When we are at our lowest, God is at His best, doing His greatest work in our lives.
Pastor Shawn challenged us to partner with God so we might see what He'll do "for the One" through our church. How do we do this?
Offer God Your "boat"
Peter was fishing, and his boat was available for Jesus to use to preach from (Luke 5:2-3). Jesus can walk on water, yet He asked Peter to use his boat—Peter needed God's blessing, Jesus didn't need the boat. The truth is, we can't just be about attending church, we need to let our lives embody this vision of For the One and give God all that we have to offer. This could be the sports team you coach, your cubicle at work, or your locker at school—wherever God has you; there is someone that needs to know the love of Jesus. When we offer our "boat" to God, as He does something in our lives, He does something through our lives.
Journey to the Deep End
As Luke continues (v. 4-5), Jesus instructs Peter to throw his nets into the deep waters. This advice is counter to fishing techniques but ends up producing the biggest haul of their lives. There are two groups of people in this story—the crowd and the crew. It's the crew—the one's participating in the mission—that got to experience faith transformation firsthand. The crowd received the message, but the crew "gets" the message. Pastor Shawn said, "Faith is putting out to the deep when you do not know the result." Great teaching will never substitute for an intimate daily walk with God. Our faith grows when we participate with God in His mission.
Join Jesus in His Mission
As we move into 2023, we want to follow Jesus' example and be For the One. This means living for the one in our day-to-day lives and considering who is the "one" God has placed in your life. It also means that as a church, we reignite the invite culture that is a part of our history. Our goal is to invite people into a relationship with Jesus, and an invitation to church is one of the vehicles to do so.
