Elevation with Steven Furtick - The Momentum of a Decision

Episode Date: November 23, 2020

Small decisions can take you a long way. In “The Momentum Of A Decision,” Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church shows that faith isn’t just made of the big, flashy leaps, but of the small steps we take every day.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message. We welcome you right now. Please be sure to let us know right now in the comments or the chat. Where you're joining us from is significant. And then our prayer teams can just start praying for you by name that God, presence would reach you in a powerful way. I also wanted to announce to you what they didn't tell you on Fox News or CNN. This is the year of the Lord's favor.

Breaking news and his love endures. So just to give you a preview, we're going to finish with favor. The Lord spoke that to me. He said, finish with favor. And I'll preach about that in coming weeks. But right there in the chat, right there in the comments say, I want to finish with favor. And that's what Jesus did. He said that it's the year of the Lord's favor.

Yes, there are blind eyes that need to be open. Yes, there are lame that need to walk. Yes, there are poor that need to be helped. It's always been this way. But this is the year of the Lord's favor. This is the year of the Lord's favor. Now, everybody has an opportunity to participate in this and believe with this because we're receiving a year-end offering. We set the date for December 13th.

You can give any time up until then. You can go to Elevationchurch.org. And the best thing to do, if you really believe that everything you have came from God, is to set up a recurring gift of a tithe. That's our way of saying to God, I trust you and I thank you all at the same time. Listen, listen. I feel them clicking off. They're going to watch an old Charles Stanley sermon or something like that.

Listen, listen. Look at me. You get to thank him and trust him with the same act of obedience. And that's a powerful thing. Elijah, I've been tied them since 16. And so for every $50 on a beat you sell, five is God's. Really, it's all his. But we return that top part back to him.

And if you do it, it'll make room for him to prove himself in your life. I promise you that. How many have experienced that and you can testify? So I know it's like, well, this has been a hard year. And yeah, it's been a hard year. I'm not going to make it harder by stopping trusting God. That would be a really weird thing to do. So we're just going to move forward, expand God's kingdom.

The offering is centered around the word favor. So I just call it the favor offering 2020. We always choose a word. You can find out how to give there and give above and beyond. Holly and I are going to give our gift on December 13th, challenge you to do the same all over the world. How many are grateful for the givers that make it possible for these gospel messages to go out? God for you. Come on, say it in the chat. Thank God for you. All of the givers, God is doing

great things through you. And God is about to speak a great thing to you. How many believe that? Say amen. You've got great faith to say amen before you even hear my scripture. So today, I want to take one verse of scripture, and I'll launch from this verse. And it's a very powerful verse found in Luke Chapter 5, thank you, God, for this little message. Help me to communicate it in a way that will make a difference in somebody's life. In Jesus' name. Luke 511, one verse. I promise you that doesn't mean the sermon will be shorter. But this is the verse, so they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything, and followed him. You probably need to hear that in another time to let it sink in. just the magnitude of what they did.

They pulled their boats up on shore. Left, I don't want to say it, because I don't want to do it. I don't want to leave everything. I mean, I want to leave some things, the stuff that I'm tired of. I want God to take that away. But I guess I better preach how it says it in the verse. Left everything and followed him. I want to speak to you today about the momentum of a decision.

The momentum of a decision. God, you're already doing such an awesome work in this place. I can feel it, and I believe it's happening everywhere that someone is connected to this word. Whether it's by a Wi-Fi signal or whether it's in a campus with a building that says church on it or anywhere in between. Speak your word. We're listening. And our answer is amen.

In Jesus' name. You may be seated. Oh, Holly, I forgot to tell you. I had this interesting conversation with Jenny Luscoe. After Holly did a reflect sermon, some of her friends who were here came over to the house, and they were roasting hot dogs by the campfire and s'm smores, which I don't eat the smores. I'm a health food kind of guy, so I eat hot dogs and sausages. It's low-carb lifestyle.

wouldn't understand. And Jenny wrote a book last year, and I thought the title of the book was so great, and I know the story behind it. So for me, there's even more power, because I've watched her Live It and her husband Levi. They passed her church in Montana. You've met them before. They've been here before. Her book was called, well, now I forgot it. Fight to Flourish. Yeah, it's a great title. Don't think because I didn't remember it in that moment that it was bad time. It's a great title. In fact, that's what I asked. I said, Jenny, how did you think of that title? Because I'm a title guy.

I spend just, you can ask my family, notepads trying to get a title for each sermon. And so I'm a title guy. I said, I feel like that title, Fight to Flourish, is a whole sermon in itself. I feel like you could charge $14.99 just for the title and not even have to write the book. And I said, when did you decide to call it that? Awkward silence. He goes, hmm, remember. I said, well, try to remember.

I really like to know. I'm really interested. Where you're sitting outside, where you're sitting inside, where you, you know, with a group. Somebody else suggested to you to go through some other titles, and you chose that one. Were you watching Rocky? And there was a flower on the table, and you went, fight to flourish. You know, like, what happened? And he said, I really don't remember.

She went all the way back, and she went through the chain of events that led her to write the book. Of course, the book was written about how they lost their daughter, Linya, who went to heaven suddenly about eight years ago. And she never set out to write a book, but somebody had suggested to her that God could use what she had been through and the way that she trusted God through it to help them through what they're going through. And of course, you're resistant to something like that at first, and that makes sense.

But she eventually did it, and she walked through that, and she knew exactly where she was when someone said that needs to be a book, and she knew exactly where she was when she decided to begin. She went through all of that, and she gave me the chain of events, but she couldn't remember the moment of decision when she said, I'm going to call it, fight to flourish. She couldn't remember. She remembered when she saw the cover, and she thought, that's how it needs to look on the cover, but she couldn't remember when she made the decision that that's what it was going to be called. And that was interesting to me, because she went back through all of these events, But she couldn't remember the exact moment of decision.

She remembered, well, this led to that, and that led to that, and that led to that, and this was painful, and this was purposeful. Boom, boom, boom, boom. And this I knew in my heart, and this somebody else said. But even though I can remember the events that led to it with clarity, I don't really remember the moment of decision specifically. I thought that was kind of interesting, that there's a difference between an event and a decision. So one thing I like to teach, since everybody now likes to be offended all the time, it's our national addiction. We are addicted to being offended as a nation. And if you're offended, I said that.

Wouldn't that just finish my point? I don't think, okay. You know, one thing I taught years ago, and it seemed to help people, so I thought I'd put it in this sermon up front, is that offense is an event. That's something that happens to you. And it's a real thing. Offense is an event. But offended, offended, how do you pronounce it? offended, that's a decision.

So notice what we just did. We just separated the event from the decision. So somebody, you know, doing something to me that they shouldn't have done might be something that I didn't choose. But my response to that is a decision. The momentum of a decision. Beginning to separate this out is probably important if we're parenting teenagers. Because unless you understand what led to the decision, you will always try

to correct the behavior. I was praying for one of my kids one day, and I was like, why do they keep doing that? And it was like the Lord said back to me, I don't know, why did you do the same thing when you were their age? And I was like, ah, right. It's called puberty. But isn't it easy to explain somebody else's decision as unwise while justifying your own as completely warranted? I'm really good, and I think I should get a professional job at breaking down other people's decisions. You know, they shouldn't let their kids do that. They shouldn't spend that. They can't afford that.

Why would they go there? Why would they say that? Why would they think that? I am so good at diagnosing your decisions. But I've got to be honest, there are some things I do that if you pressed me for it, I really can't tell you why or when. For instance, I can't tell you when I became a cynical person. But I just know that I am a lot of things.

I never woke up one day and I was like, Thursday, March 14th. This is the day. I didn't make a declaration of cynicism. People don't make a declaration of depression. I think today I'll go into a deep state of depression. It's not a decision. You don't really remember exactly when you started feeling this way. Maybe you could trace back some events, but it's a different thing to understand the decision. And that's why we have to be a student of how God works in our lives to understand that every decision has a parent called an emotion. Every emotion is a descendant of a thought.

If I don't deal with the thought that created the emotion, I'll try to make a different decision only to be overpowered by something that is deeper than what I am dealing with at the surface of my decisions. And then I'll know why I bought a peloton and turned it into a coat rack for my sweatshirts. Because when I decided to buy the peloton, I was in a certain state of mind. I was in a certain state of guilt and condemnation. This is not a real illustration about me. I'm just using it. I heard this from some people. That you make a decision and you make the decision in a certain state of mind,

and then you encounter a challenge, and the decision that you made in the state of mind where you saw clearly, the decision that you made in the state of mind where that better part of you, where the spirit of God lives and rules and reigns and knows what's best for you, gives into something deeper in you that pulls you back into stuff, you're getting real quiet. And every decision has momentum. I am not a scientist, nor the son of a scientist. So there are people in books that can tell you the mechanics of decisions that you make.

They can tell you why you pick this over that, and they can tell you about the neurology, and I can't. I chose Luke 511, because where I live in the scriptures, that seemed to me like a very dramatic decision to leave everything and follow Jesus. What does it mean to follow Jesus? For the people who did it right here, I'll show you exactly what it meant. It was simple. See, that's what they did.

For us, it's abstract. For them it was physical. He's not describing a spiritual decision here. It's just a physical one. They left everything. That doesn't mean that they left their way of thinking. That just means they left their boat, their nets, and their fishing supplies. They left their bait, but they didn't necessarily leave their beliefs.

So at some point, they set out and they followed Jesus. I kind of wish it was this clear for us that following Jesus. was as simple as, come here, DeVille, you be Jesus. Won't that be fun? Just for a minute. No pressure. Just walk. That's all you did.

I think I could do it better follow Jesus if it was that simple. All I got to do, I mean, this is not so hard right now. And sit back down and we'll make you Jesus again later in the sermon. But following Jesus for me is not a physical decision. Right? Physical decisions are sometimes easier. But to be a disciple, this is a passage about the calling of the disciples. You know them, you love them. They're famous. They're dysfunctional. They're crazy. They're stupid. They blow it. They don't understand that Jesus is going to the cross, so they try to stop him from going there.

That's who he chose us his disciples. This is how he called them, and this is what they did. They pulled their boats up on shore, left everything, and followed. There's a hymn we used to sing called I Have Decided to Follow Jesus. Will you sing it with me, Cherish? Cherish, I know you love to sing. I have decided. Do you know it? I know you were not a church girl, so this one might have passed you in your prime.

You were singing about different things back when I was growing up in the church, and I know that. But there came a point, I have decided to follow Jesus. Y'all know it? I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. It's great. And singing it is one thing.

Because for most of us to sing that, all it cost us is breath. For the people who did it in this scripture, it cost them their boats. And I want to show you in this scripture, this is really, really insightful to me. disciple to me. I can't possibly show you everything that's in this text because, well, honestly, when they followed him, it led to so much more than they could know in that moment. When they started following Jesus, and I want you to think about it, because some of you have stopped following Jesus, and some of you are just starting to follow Jesus, and some

of you are in stride trying to decide. And so everybody needs this message. As they followed him, although it sounds very dramatic what they did on the surface, there were a chain of events that led up to the decision. And then there were a chain of events that this decision set in motion that would be very powerful. Think of all the amazing things that they would see because of this decision to follow Jesus.

Think of what it must have felt like to be there. When blind Barnamaeus for the first time started to describe colors and sights and objects and shapes, think of what it must have been like to see a man come through the roof and you didn't even know what Jesus was going to do, whether he was going to fuss at him for destroying property or, oh, surprise, he healed him. That's what he wanted. He wanted the kind of faith that would break through a barrier and do whatever it takes to get to his presence.

Think of how amazing it would have been for them to see a woman who was caught in the act of adultery, but instead of stoning her, the only one who had the right to punish her, instead send her away with the new reality of who she was. Think of all they saw because of a decision to leave everything and follow him. They didn't know when they left everything that they would gain everything. In fact, by human calculations, and I know this is going to be controversial, and somebody's going to get offended when I say it, but I studied it, and if you get offended, you're the one it's for anyway. Listen to this. From a human perspective, this is a dumb decision. I'll tell you

why. Because the boats that they left were full of fish, and fishing is what they did for a living. So, Luke 511, from a strategic standpoint, I'm not talking about a spiritual standpoint, from a strategic standpoint, is the dumbest decision that Peter, James and John, that's who they are in the text, that Peter James and John could have made to pull their boats up on shore. This is their transportation. This is their vehicle for their commercial activity. This is their life. This is their way of life.

And they walk away from it to follow somebody who hasn't even proven that what he said is true yet. By any rational decision-making analysis, this is. dumb. At the very least, it's a little quick. Well, you don't have to do it with no net, do you? That's a phrase that means like you don't have any safety net, any backup plan. They follow Jesus with no net. They left everything. Somebody say that's dumb. To the Bible, it's just a practical fact. That's a dumb thing to do. It's a dumb thing to do. But what gave them the confidence to make such a bold decision? Now, in order to understand this decision or your teenager's decision or Jenny Lusco's decision

or the decisions that you're making right now, the ones that are sabotaging you and the ones that are causing you to succeed, in order to understand those decisions, you kind of have to work backward. This is why we keep trying to change, we can't change. Keep trying to pray, can't pray, keep trying to get up at 5 a.m., can't get up at 5 a.m. So then we try 4.30, like that's going to put. fix it. Just get more dramatic.

You know, I'm going to do it. This is the time. This is the... And maybe that's just my personality. I relate to Peter in the text, because when I did decide to do a low-carb lifestyle, I just did it. I didn't go shop. I didn't plan.

I didn't stock the pantry. I just turned to Holly and said, I'm fat and I'm done. And I don't think I ate a carbohydrate for 18 months. And if I went to preach somewhere where they were doing a barbecue chicken, I'd sneak the chicken in the back. sneak the chicken in the bathroom and wash the buffalo sauce off the chicken. Because I have problems, because something is wrong with me. And I understand that about myself now. That's not how you're supposed to do it. But that's how I do it. That's how I do stuff. I mean, the craziest things that I do, I just do it. Just do the thing, you know? Around the campfire with the

ladies, they were, I got to be honest, I hadn't talked to a group of four ladies in a while until after Holley's reflect the other day. And ladies talk about different stuff. And some of it is not mentionable on a worldwide platform for the gospel. Some of the things that they were talking about around the campfire. But I hung with them. I sat around the fire, and I talked with them, and we started telling marriage proposal stories.

And mine's real embarrassing because I had an elaborate plan to do something really special for Holly, but I wanted to do it so bad once I bought the ring, because I took all my money. I mean, I left $5 in the bank account from the ATM and took it upstairs to level three. of this pawn shop, of a guy that I could trust who was up there, and I got her ring, and I asked her dad, and I wanted to propose that day, so I ended up taking her to Pizza Hut. I didn't propose at Pizza Hut. I didn't propose at Pizza Hut, because I feel a really,

really strong hatred from all of the ladies in this church right now. But I took her to Pizza Hut. I proposed, I wrote a song. I did it. I had to do it. Once I had to do it, I realized I could do it, I had to do it. I didn't have time then to wait around. So I relate to this, this kind of decision that I just can't eat Cheetos anymore. Look at me. Look how I look. I can't do this anymore. I've got to do something different. And how many of you are like that, like just this ability. And I can feel the rest of you judging us. There's wisdom. Pastor Steve? Pastor Steve is the name I use when I'm making fun of somebody who I... There's wisdom. And I know there is wisdom, but there's also in here an impulse to make a decision.

And I think we'll understand more why they made the decision if we understand the events that led up to it. The events that led up to it. I think we'll understand more why they did something so dramatic if we understand the context. So I want to go all the way back to verse one. And I want to read this Bible story that is called Jesus calls his first disciples. That's the headline of it in my Bible. Jesus calls his first disciples. How did the disciples who decided to follow Jesus and leave everything that they knew before that, that they depended on before that, everything that was familiar before that, how did they decide to do it?

When you understand the events, you can understand the decision. When you understand the difference between the two, you can understand that an event doesn't have to define the rest of your life unless you allow it to. God gives you the power to make a different decision. You don't have to be a drunk for the rest of your life. You don't have to be mean and hateful for the rest of your life. You don't have to be pessimistic the rest of your life. So how do they do it? Why do they do it?

I want to understand the events, and then maybe I can understand the decision. It starts like this, the decision to be a disciple. I will say one more thing before I read this. Giving your life to Christ is one decision, and many have done that. And many will do it today. I'm going to give you the opportunity to do that at the end of my message today. But deciding to receive God's grace and deciding to be his disciple, those are two different things.

One is an event. It's something God does. It's by grace you're saved through faith. Not of works. That's not decisions that you make that earns God's grace, then it's not grace. That's what God does. But to follow him, this is a decision. And the Bible says, one day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Ganeserat, you may have

heard Sea of Galilee may be more familiar. Same body of water. That's where Jesus ended up basing his ministry. And this is where it started. The people were crowding around him and listening to the Word of God. So no social distancing going on in Luke chapter 5, verse 1. They're pressing in on him, and he needs a little space so his voice can amplify. So it's a very practical need.

He saw at the water's edge to boats left there by the fishermen who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he finished speaking, listen to this, he said to Simon, put out into deep water. Everybody say deep water. Deep water. Right there in the chat, say deep water, deep water, deep water. and let down the nets for a catch. So now I want you to put let down.

You already put deep water, now I want you to put let down in the chat. Everybody say let down. Say it again. Say let down. Let down the nets for a catch. And Simon, that's the name of Peter before he was called Peter. His name was Simon. Jesus gave him the name Peter, Cephas, Petrus, Rock. Simon answered, Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught any.

besides we're professional fishermen, and you're a good preacher, and you were doing good with that sermon. But the time to catch fish has already passed, and it's fine that you're using my boat to preach, but telling me out of fish is something different. You hear the attitude? We've fished all night but caught nothing. But because you say so, I will let down the nets. And when they had done so, verse 6, they caught such a large number of fish that they've been

their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat. This is so good, to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sing. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, go away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man. For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken. And so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, don't be afraid from now on you will fish for people. So, verse 11, right back where we started, they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything, and followed him. Now that you've heard the chain of events, do you understand the decision a little bit better? I do. It helped me. Because as

someone who is drawn to dramatic decisions. 40-day fast, 30-day fast. I've done both of those. Haven't done it in a decade, but I did it one time. I just got to be honest about that. I haven't done it a long time, but I'm down with that. And as somebody who wants to go deeper in God, I want to go deep. God, do something deep. God has been speaking to me lately that the deepest things he will do in my life start shallow. I know this sounds like a contradiction of everything you would normally hear in a pulpit because we want a deep sermon, a deep word from God, one that we can't understand so then we don't have to obey. While I was reading the text, I was drawn to verse 11. I was like, yes, Lord, I want to follow you wherever you leave.

Don't none go with me. That's the second verse of the hymn you didn't learn when you were a kid cherished, the one that you were at the club and they were singing in church. It said, "'Don't go with me. I still will follow. Yes, Lord, I just want to go into the unknown. I will follow you, Lord. I will follow you.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death." And the Lord's like, kid, you hadn't even read your V-Version Bible plan. Start shallow. That's about the deepest thing that you could do. Leave everything and follow him. But notice in the verse. It's in the verse. It's in the Bible.

It's in the Bible. I don't understand everything about decision-making science, but I understand something about Scripture, a little bit about Scripture. I understand a little bit about Scripture. And it said that the boats were at the water's edge, the crowds were coming around, and in verse 3, he got in a boat and asked him to put out a little. I stopped when I read the word little. And I realized that before they left everything, they did a little thing.

So the reason that we keep on deciding to do stuff, and then we go from deciding to disruption, to denial, it's a cycle, deciding to disruption, to denial. The reason sometimes is because we stay too deep. And I want to give you a story that I never had the guts to share right now, but something about this year has made me a little bolder. I don't know if it's just that I think that Jesus is coming back next Thursday and it doesn't matter anyway, so get me out of here. Whatever.

I feel a little conspiracy theorist rising up in me this year. I don't know. I never had all that before, but it's coming now. Anyway, when I was going through a period of criticism and I'm not going to live in it because God knows It was about this time in 2013. Many were in the church, and it was weird because it was more criticism than we had ever experienced as a church. It kept coming.

That's all I want to say about that part. I lived in fear for six months. To really tell you the extent of it, let me tell you the text that I sent to chunks after about three months of it. I said, if anything happens to me and I don't make it, you got Holly and the kids, right? I wasn't suicidal. I just didn't know if I could keep day after day after day. I was trying to preach through it, and I didn't know if I could or something bad would happen.

I didn't know what bad would happen, but... So during that time, that'll make you pray, and it'll make you pray deep things. Lord, I need your peace. I need your vindication. Some of the things, many of the things they're saying are not true, and they're twisted, And I don't want to keep having to deal with this. So, Lord, deliver me. When I tell you what brought me peace, you are not going to be satisfied.

Because while I was praying the deep prayers, I found some prayers in the Psalms where David was praying stuff like smashed my enemy's heads against a rock. I found some great scriptures during that time that I never saw before. Very meaningful to me. But now, my answer wasn't on my Bible app. It was on my Twitter app. And when I decided to delete Twitter, I know that sounds shallow. But that little, I don't even know if people use Twitter anymore, because I haven't been on it really in seven years.

They put stuff out. That's not me. That's somebody on a computer somewhere putting Bible verses out in my name. I can't go on there. I can't go on there. And I was telling my friend, it's like, when I deleted all the things. this stuff. Now, I'm going to tell you what God's going to speak to some of you through this sermon today. He's going to tell you to delete something that is defeating you. Because

you think victory is so deep. The battle is the Lord's, but the app is yours. The brain is yours. The decision is yours. And when I deleted Twitter, I told my friend, it's like I thought there were mountain lions in my yard waiting to attack me. And then I saw it was just squirrels. It was just squirrels. And I thought, I can't survive it because I was surrounded by squirrels. I know it sounds so silly. I prayed. I said, God, I can't tell them to do that. I need to. It's a lot of stuff going on in people's life. I need to go to the Book of Revelation. Book of Revelations. Put an S on it. I need to go to Book of Revelation. I need to go to the Beast. The Mark of the Beast, the Six, Six, Six, the number of the beast. God said some of the

Some of the things that they're praying for me to deliver them from, I have given them the power to delete. Can I preach a shallow sermon? Jesus didn't call them to leave their boats. He called them to push out a little. It's a little decision. I was talking to a friend about depression. They said, have you gone for a walk today? You don't hear me.

It's spiritual warfare. They said, no, I said walk, not war. You're trying to be so deep. You don't need God to give you the victory. You need to go get some vitamins. And I'm not saying that the problem isn't deep. I'm saying that sometimes the solution is so simple. Lord, give me a simple solution.

Not just what they did. Put out a little bit from the shore. They put out a little bit from the shore. Hey, leave a little bit of the space. What one thing are you willing to do different? with this addiction that's so deep in your life that you don't think you'll ever be free from it. Will you do a little thing different? And that, that little event, that little thing, led to something so massive

that Peter would be the one who would preach the Holy Spirit into the earth in Acts 2. If you read a sermon in Acts 2, you'll be like, this dude is deep. He didn't start deep, he started shallow. I just don't want you to think it's always that deep. It was a little decision. How many believe that's a little decision just to put your boat out a little bit and let me use it for a few minutes while I teach? That's a little decision. I think I'm going to watch Church, Elevation Church, today.

That was a little decision. But God can do a deep thing with a shallow start. Now, I think if I were the devil, I'd try to get you so overwhelmed with something that felt so deep that you wouldn't do something so simple. I think that's his strategy, but God's strategy was very simple. Remember, these are the ones that Jesus wants to use. It's a little bit of a trick because he's asking them to carry him in the boat, but he really wants them to become boats so that the gospel can go out through them. And it's really a picture. It's really a picture of the purpose that he's given them. This helped me. He put out a little bit, and then Jesus preached, and then verse four,

when he had finished speaking, somebody say first the word, first the word. He said to Simon, Peter, put out into the deep water and let down the nets for a catch. Now let's go deeper. So put out a little, now put down the nets. Put out a little, now put down the nets. Put out a little, put down the nets. Don't try to do too much at first. Don't leave the boat yet. I need it right now. Put out little, put down the nets. I think this is really powerful. I don't think it's a small thing.

I really don't. The more I study it, the more I realize that every decision that others see contains millions of little decisions that were invisible. So how could they do that? Why would they make that decision? There were a million little decisions. When they said I do, they never did. thought there would be a time when they didn't. And I remember early in our marriage getting

in a fight with Holly on the phone. And one of us hung up on the other one. I don't know which one hung up on the other one. I really don't remember the details of this, maybe conveniently. But I remember one of us hanging up, and I remember talking about that and say, we're never going to do that again. We're never going to hang up the phone on each other in the middle of a conversation again. Because nobody walks away from someone that they gave their heart to all at once. decisions have momentum. So the day I hang up on you, five years later I hate you, because I put out a little.

See, this works both ways. Nobody decides I would like to be straddled with an addiction that will follow me to the grave. Nobody decides that. What I do decide sometimes is I don't want to feel the way I feel, so if I do that, I won't have to feel this. The decision has momentum. And isn't it a horrible thing for somebody who's 11, 12, 13 years old, that they can look at something on their phone and out of curiosity, they can see something that will take them into a place that will wrap them with something, that will limit them the rest of their

life from being able to be free mentally? Nobody decides I want to have something that masters me the rest of my life. That's not the decision. But decisions have momentum. Because I was impressed by what they did. Push out the boat and let down the nets. These are the nets they just got done washing. These are big nets.

One guy said that they were 25 feet in diameter. So it takes a long time to clean them. And they're made of linen. So if you don't clean them, they're going to rot and they're not going to last very long. And I thought it was cool that they were just fishing. They didn't go out that day to decide to follow Jesus. They went out to catch fish. Can we talk about daily decisions for a moment?

This is what they did every day. What do you do every day? What do you do every day? This is not what they did on Christmas and Easter. This is what they did every day. This is not what they did on New Year's Eve. Like the calendar is going to change your habits. I have no idea what this motion.

this. Don't even worry about it. The point of the illustration, I don't know where that came from. The point of the illustration is, this is what they did. What do you do? Being there, now I'm telling you that this is Bethsaida. This is a fishing village. Bethsaida means house of the hunt. But they fished. They were fishermen. They were from Bethsaida. That's where Peter was from. Bethsaida. So guess what you do when you grow up in a fishing village? You fish. It wasn't deep. It wasn't a decision. Peter didn't go to a job fair, taking an enneagram, a Myers-Briggs, a ST-N-J, Element O P, A-D-D, ADHD. None of that. We wanted a deep. God, I want a calling from you and a purpose of my life. We want to pray. Deep goes to deep. He went fishing, and he caught nothing.

Can you make a positive decision even after you've experienced the negative result? This is what amazed me. See, when I get on a roll, I can do amazing things. I can do amazing things. When I get on a roll, it's like, boom, knock them down, boom, there's another one, boom, another one, boom, another one. I don't mean to bring DJ Caled up here with me on the stage, but I just, I feel like sometimes I can get in a zone.

This is not the situation. This is not the event. It was after the event of a failed night of fishing at the point where they were vulnerable because they were exhausted, that they did what he said anyway. And 2020 has been a year for us to have to learn how to do what we know God has called us to do anyway. And to know that we can have a feeling and not act on it and make a different decision. Have a temptation and not act on it. You know how grace is the power to cover your sin?

It's also the power to change your decisions. And only because you're frustrated doesn't mean you have to make decisions that create more frustration. When they did what Jesus told them to do, when they obeyed the Word of God, and that might mean a lot of different things for a lot of different people. That might not mean anything having to do with a fishing net, but it could. It could be a career thing. I always get scared when I preach like this that people are going to take Luke 511, quit their jobs and leave their boats and follow him.

But I'm going to tell you something. If you leave your boat without a backup plan in this economy, it's going to be a minute before you're going to leave your apartment, leave your house too, because they are not going to take the message of the Lord as a mortgage payment. So you better be very careful that you put out a little bit from the shore. Praise him. Glory to his holy name. And the 24 elders said amen.

But see, decisions have momentum, right? So put out a little bit from the shore, put down the nets, boom, boom, ba-ba-ba. And their nets were breaking. But the nets were not the only thing that broke in that moment. When I obey the word of the Lord, it breaks the flow of frustration. We fished all night, caught nothing. When he put down the nets, not only did the nets break because God blessed them so much because they were just obedient.

Not only did the nets break, but so did the flow of their frustration. So did the flow of their failure. So did the flow of their fear. You do not think your way out of the flow of fear, failure, and frustration by thinking deeper about it. It broke the flow when they did something different. I'm going to have to talk to people different. I'm going to have to manage my thought life different.

I'm going to have to manage my time different. I'm going to have to manage my money different. And we hear the truth and we still won't tithe. it would break the flow. It would break the flow of everything that comes to me is for me, and it would open me to receive the blessing of God. And we hear the truth, and the Word of God speaks from our boat. Jesus gets done speaking, and we still won't drop the nets. I heard the Lord say, drop it. I heard the Lord say, drop it. That applies to every offense that you've been carrying. Drop it. That applies to every empty net that's in your life where you've been failing

and carrying the failure around of fishing all night and catching nothing and what you did last week. And even the fight that you had before you clicked on this YouTube video. And even the stuff you looked at online before you came to online church today, I heard the Lord saying, drop that. Drop that. Sometimes we don't drop the net because we're so busy. We're so caught up in the discouragement. You know, it's really hard to drop the net when you're drowning in disappointment.

I make good decisions when I'm in a good flow. Oh, this worked, and that worked, and this did good, and that did good. That is not the occasion in Luke 5. That is not why they left everything and followed him. He got in their boat at a bad time. How annoying is this. He came in their boat as a distraction. You say, well, Pastor Steve.

Yeah, I'm back on it. The Lord is never a distraction. It was for Peter. He was trying to wash his nets. He was still dealing with a night of coming up empty, and God was trying to fill him in that moment with not only fish but faith. Now, can I keep going? We can stop right now, and I'll preach this again in the future, or we can go a little deeper. We could go a little deeper.

We can go a little deeper. If you want to go deeper, say it in the chat. I want to go deeper. Say it in the comments. Because none of this was really my message. I'm so sorry that I tricked you. into thinking that I was preaching about Peter's decision. It would be irresponsible for me to tell you, Luke 511, and not tell you Matthew 26. And when they followed him with the first step,

they never knew what the next step would bring. They never really understood Jesus, even though they were attracted to him. They never really understood why he came, even though they were willing to follow him wherever he went until he went to the cross, and Caiaphas put him on trial. And look at Matthew 26, because it said they left everything and followed him, but there were some things they didn't leave. Their concept about what the Messiah would be, their concept about what the Christ would be, their concept of what it would mean to follow God. They left their nets and their boats. But look what the Bible says. It says that all this had taken place, that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.

Then all the disciples deserted him and fled. receiving grace, receiving grace is a one-time decision. Following Jesus is a moment by moment. Am I following him in this moment? Is this his thought? And I walk in in peace right now. That's what we mean to say you're a disciple. There's a difference between the event of becoming a Christian and the decision of being a disciple. You don't make a the decision of discipleship once. You make it daily, daily, daily. And I'm preaching to somebody who stopped following. And I needed you to know that that decision doesn't mean God can't use you. I also wanted you to know that the disciples who started the movement of Christianity

made the same decision you did. And since you're wondering why Jesus chose Peter, I think I'll tell you. Because he knew he would do something dumb. He knew Peter would cut off Malchus' ear in the garden. He knew Peter would do something dumb. He knew Peter would speak up and blurt out, you are the Christ! He knew Peter would do something dumb. He knew Peter would drop his nets after they were clean and put up for the night.

He knew Peter would do something dumb. I know a preacher never told you this before, but do something dumb. dumb for God. I don't mean something that's contrary to wisdom. I don't mean burn down your life. I don't mean any of that. You know, I don't mean do something unbiblical. You know, I don't mean that. I don't teach that. But do something that seems dumb, but really what God is using to take you deep. Because sometimes the dumbest stuff on the surface leads to the deepest stuff later. So it would be dumb for you to forgive them. Do it. It would be dumb for you. to trust God and keep praising Him, although your body is sick.

But do it. Do something dumb. It would be dumb for you to sit and listen to a sermon for two hours on the weekend. But do something dumb. It would be dumb for you to believe that God is still good while you're going through hell. Do something dumb. That's why he chose Peter. He said, I need somebody who will be dumb enough by the world standard.

to do what I say and not care what anybody thinks about it. Are you dumb enough? The message of the cross is foolishness. Foolishness to the world. But it is the wisdom of God, the power of God. Not yet. I want to tell you that the reason he picked Peter and the reason he chose you and the reason you can have confidence to know that there is no decision that you can make that will predate

God's purpose for your life is because he knew you would do something dumb. You did something dumb. You did something dumb, and you learned from it, and you grew from it. You did something dumb. There's no honest people in the building, but put in the chat, I did something dumb and raise your hand on an emoji since all the plastic saints came to church today. I did something dumb. Peter denied Jesus, just like the other disciples.

Only one who stayed was John. Peter did something dumb. And now, if God's purpose for Peter depends on. Peter's decision is over. You feel like that? I screwed it up. You know what we do? We go through things and they're painful and we don't take the opportunities and we weren't

there like we should have been there. And we go back and say things that make absolutely no sense, like, if I knew then, well, I know now. You didn't, but now you do. And now you've got different wisdom. Right now in this moment, you've got wisdom from that painful experience. You've got wisdom from that dumb decision. So I was talking to one of my good friends the other day, and he was beating the crap out of himself,

you. It was somebody else. You were doing it too, but this was another conversation. I've noticed a lot of people are doing this lately. He was saying, I should have done it different, I would have done it different, I could have, I would have, I should have done it different. And I said, you would have, and you will. But don't judge yesterday's decisions with today's wisdom. That's only going to paralyze you and the momentum of shame will carry you to an even deeper place of despair. How many have experienced this? The momentum of saying, I said to my friend, I said, you are literally, this was a deep pain. This was not what he wished he would have bought $2,000 in a, on a Zoom stock at the beginning of the pandemic. This was much deeper than that.

I said, you would have done it different and you will do it different, but you are using today's wisdom as a weapon to beat yourself up for yesterday's decisions. God doesn't want you to do that. Because in the wisdom of God, he chose you knowing that you would do something dumb. Do you believe that? I want to help you believe that. I want to help you from Luke chapter 5, verse 3, where the Bible says that you're going to The Bible says that Jesus saw at the water's edge.

Isn't that a beautiful image? I'm on the edge. I could do it this way, I could do it that way. I'm making a decision. Jesus got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon. He hadn't even changed his name yet, but he chose his boat. He hadn't even grown yet. He hadn't even done anything right yet.

In fact, we find out later in this story that Peter said, I'm a sinful man. Go away from me, Lord. Some of you've been doing that. Not me, Lord. Not me. I'm not a good person. Not me. I'm not a good parent. Not me. I'm dumb. I don't know what I'm doing. Not me. Anybody but me. That's what Peter said. But put the verse back up because this was the revelation I got. That Peter's destiny didn't begin with Peter's decision. It said that there were two boats. That means Jesus chose. You see? This is a fishing village. There's way more than one boat available.

And how did he choose it? I wonder, did he go, Eity, Meeny, Miny, Moe. I'm picturing Jesus, right? I'm picturing Jesus is choosing. Whose boat do I want to preach from? I'm launching a ministry. Not only am I launching a boat, I'm launching a movement, I'm launching the gospel, I'm launching the world.

Who's boat? Here's a boat, there's a boat. Eany, Miny, Miny, Mee, Mow! Catch a disciple by his boat. I felt like God was saying, I knew what was in Peter when I got in his boat. God in your boat. The one he knew where I was broken when he got in my boat. He knew what I didn't know when he got in my boat.

He knew where I would fail when he called me to follow. So it wasn't my decision that started this. He got in the boat. See, we thought it started when Peter let down the nets. We thought it started when Peter let out a little from the shore. No. You thought it started when you were born. No.

He said, before you were born, I formed you. I knew you. I knew the good stuff, the funky stuff, the weird stuff, the perverted stuff, the twisted stuff, the genetic stuff, I knew your dove stuff, and I got in your boat. Because it's you I called, and it's you I chose, and I know whose boat I'm stepping in. See, the momentum depends on who made the decision, and if you think you chose God, then it is dependent on you. But when you get a revelation that Peter got, much later in his life. much later in his life. It took him years, man. He went back fishing in John 21 and didn't catch fish again.

He never really got it, but he still preached. Why? Because Jesus knew his condition before he called him. I don't think there's anything more important than this to teach you about the grace of God and the life of faith is that God's decision predated your dysfunction. He knew Peter was a cussing mess when he got in the boat. We're predisposed to these emotions when he got in your boat. When he came in your heart, he saved you by grace. I just want you to know. Because where it starts, determines where it. And if God's purpose for your life stopped with your last bad decision, it'd be over for all of us, for all of us. Peter said something later in his life that I think he learned in that boat. And this scripture came to me right before I came out.

It was the last thing God gave me, and it's the last thing I want to show you. He said in Second Peter, you know, he went on to write some of the Bible. That's pretty cool that God picked him as an author of the Word of God while he was cleaning empty nets. We get so arrogant and we get so crazy that we think something we brought to God drew him to us. No, no. He chose you before all that, before the achievement.

Put all those trophies back in the basement. God doesn't need any of that. God doesn't need any of that. And I didn't even know where this scripture was, but it said, I had to look it up. It said no prophecy had ever had its origin in human will. But prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. powerful all in itself, that no prophecy has ever had its origin. It doesn't start with the human will. It didn't start when they left their boats. It started when Jesus stepped in.

And the momentum of that decision can carry you through any season of your life, any failure, any setback, any shame, I'm saying anything you can name. He took it all to the cross, buried it all in the grave, and there's a resurrection that can happen if you're realize that no prophecy ever had its origin in human will. The way I saw it, and I had to set this up last minute, so y'all pray it works. Bring me that little road case. I asked them, do you have anything that I can show the people? And I want you to get this wherever you are in the world. Everybody say momentum, momentum, momentum, momentum, momentum. You've been praying for that in your life. You have been very, very stuck and frustrated and disappointment, and in a

state of disappointment this year. And the truth is, some of us are drowning in it. We're drowning in it. We fished all night. We fished all year. We've caught nothing. Nothing's changing. Now, I just said, give me something heavy on the stage so I can leave them with an image because I know how you are, you're like I am, and we'll forget everything, but sometimes if we see it, we can get it. It hit me. I need somebody who's not very strong to come here real quick, and you'll have to identify yourself. I'm certainly not going to point at you. And I mean, I need you to be real weak. I need you to be like you hadn't seen a gym since COVID start.

You hadn't seen a gym since Y2K. That's who I need right now. You remember Y2K? I need like you have not seen it. I mean like you really aren't strong. Is she really not strong? I mean, I don't mean her character. I mean, just, yeah.

So who is it? Who's the weakest person in this section? I mean, I need the weakest. I wish you were all here so I could do a whole poll. Who is the weakest person in the room? physically weakest person in the room. Is it you? Like for real? Okay, come here, overalls. And you've got to hurry because this is winding down. Now, everybody in the room stand up. I'm going to show you this and I need you to just follow my instructions. Just follow, follow,

follow, follow, follow, follow, follow. Everybody say follow, follow, follow, follow, follow, follow. So, thank you for volunteering. I chose you because you said you were weak. I chose you because I said, I mean, me, my, ni, no. Remember how it went? Ketchedagabaito? If he hollers, I could change it. I could make a whole Christian song out of it. If he sins, I won't let go.

I can do all this stuff. This is why I do. And remember how we'd say, my mama told me to pick the very best one? And I know this is so simple and so silly, but sometimes it's the shallow stuff that sticks with us. It was like, how did he pick Peter? and I heard my father told me to pick the very worst one, the weakest one, the most impulsive one, and he got in that boat, and that gave me hope because I make dumb decisions. It's not my decision and my good decisions that I'm putting my faith in, not as a pastor,

not as a parent, not as a husband, not as a man, his decision. Give that one good push. All you're allowed to do is push. it as hard as you can. With one push, don't keep your hands on it. Three, two, one. Who's the strongest person in the room? Who's the strongest person in the room? I mean the strongest person in the room. I mean the strongest person in the chat. Somebody give me a flex emoji in the chat. Come on. Who's the strongest person? I need the strongest person in the room. I'm going to have to select somebody if somebody doesn't volunteer. Give me three

strong people. Notice I didn't just say men. I am very, very politically correct, y'all. I don't want to offend anybody. Who's the strongest? Give me the three strongest people. You're coming. They're all pointing at you. You, they're all coming. I know you got flowers on your shirt, but they said you're strong. Come on, man. Let's go. Let's go. I need one more. Bernie, are you coming? Who else is coming? The strongest guy in the room. Yeah, he is. He is. Come on. All three of you. Come on. And I wanted to remind you of this. Y'all start clapping, because this is about to hit you. This is about to hit you. Line up, line up, line up, line up, line up, line up. When I say three, all on one side, I want you to push it as hard as you can with one push.

You don't get to lock out, you don't get to do anything. But I just want them to realize you can be there for a backup in case we do it. But I heard the scripture say, at the water's edge was a boat, and I was thinking about all my dumb decisions and how prophecy and the word of God over your life doesn't originate with the will of man. And I was thinking about the momentum of the decision. So what I thought about is how far it goes. Depends upon how strong you are when you started.

So on three, one, two, three, push it. Look at that. Catch it, catch it, catch it, catch it. Oh, look at that. And it's all right, because I wanted it to fall. And it's all right, because I planned for it to crash. And it's all right because I set it up for the illustration and I knew it would fall when I called them and I knew what was in it when they pushed it. The question is, who started this?

Who brought you into the earth? Who chose who? I don't think you chose Jesus. I think he got in your boat. A long. I'm the one pushing it? Eh, no offense. If it's Peter's decision, if it's Peter's prophecy, if it's human will, it stops when I sin.

But if you understand that no prophecy, no word God spoke over your life, no assignment he gave you, nothing he put you to do. Started with you? I hear the Lord saying, the momentum is not based in. your decision. Clap your hands and give him praise. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Come on, give him praise. Give him praise. Give him praise all over the world. Give him praise. Come on. A simple thing. Clap your hands. A deep praise.

A simple thing. A simple illustration. A simple thing. If he started it, no one can stop it. So sometimes I tell God, it's your boat. You made me. You know me. You chose me. I guess you knew what was in my heart when you got in my boat. So use me, Lord. I want to go deeper in this season. But I want to call you right now to make a decision to receive his grace. So bow your head and close your eyes. The presence of the Lord is in this moment.

And the presence of the Lord was in the moment before that. It'll be in the moment. moment after this. But this is a moment of decision for someone to place your faith in Jesus Christ. The Lord spoke to me to do the invitation myself today, which I don't always do, but he said that there was someone who needed to stop trying to save themselves and stop trying to earn his love and stop trying to fix their life on their own, but to receive his grace. Let him in your heart. It's by grace through faith. Right now, I want to pray a prayer with you, and I'm going to close my eyes and bow my head. And I just want us to think like it's just me and you and God. No crowds, no distractions.

And the Bible says that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Will you make this your day to leave your boat, your nets, your old way of life and be a follower of Christ? God has already decided what he thinks about you. He demonstrates his love toward us and this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And he wants to get in your life. He wants to come in, take over. So right now, if you'll pray this prayer with me, I believe God will hear and he'll

enter your heart, take your sin away. The Bible says you will be born again from above. I want you to repeat this prayer after me, everyone praying together for the benefit of those who are coming to God or coming back to God, who have stopped following or who have never started following it all. This is your moment of decision. The moment of decision. Repeat after me. Heavenly Father, I am a sinner in need of a Savior. And I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. And today, I make Jesus the Lord of my life. I believe He died that I would be forgiven and rose again to give me life. I receive this new life. This is my new

beginning. On the count of three, if you prayed that prayer, raise your hand. One, two, three. If you're watching online, put it in the chat. Say, I receive Jesus. Say it in the chat. Say it in the comics. Come on, we want to celebrate with the angels. That's the best decision of your life. And God made that decision a long time ago. You are accepted, you are chosen, you are predestined, you are his child. Raise on every location. Thank you, Lord. I have decided to follow Jesus.

I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back. Let's make it present tense. I am deciding to follow Jesus. This moment. I am deciding to follow Jesus.

I am deciding to follow Jesus. Every step. No turning back. Push off a little. No turn. So we're going to even say simple things. I am deciding to stop complaining. That's what it looks like.

follow Jesus. I am deciding to get off Facebook. I'm modernizing the hymn. Come on, Saints. I am deciding to follow Jesus. I am deciding to follow Jesus. I am deciding to follow Jesus. I am deciding to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back. No turning back. Well, that's the end of my message. It's decision time now. What are you going to do with the word that you just heard? I pray that you'll put it to work in your life, put it into practice, use it as a foundation to build your life on Christ. Know that nothing that you have done or will do is going to push his love away or earn it. He chose you. The scripture says in John 15, 16 that I chose you, you didn't choose me. But you know what? I'm really thankful for those of you

who choose to connect with this ministry. You choose to pray. You choose to give. You choose to serve. You choose to watch. You choose to share the messages. That makes a big difference. And I just want to remind you again that as we get the word out together, like we don't have boats, but we have broadband and Wi-Fi and all of these ways of sharing the gospel that what you do matters. So, know that we're praying for you. Make sure you subscribe to the channel and all of you who are giving to our favor 2020 offering. Thank you for all of you who are giving. Thank you. It's because of you that the gospel and the word of God goes out and know that God chose you. He got in the right vote. We love you. See you next time. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.