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THE ORIGINAL PETER PRINCIPLES - " The Calling Principle" - June 5, 2016 - Senior Pastor Scott Christenson

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St. Paul's Lutheran Church Orange, CA

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most biographies start at the beginning where was the person born who were his parents what were is growing up yours like insulin  but when the Bible tells the story of Peter it leaves all of that typical stuff out we know nothing of Peters birth his parents his growing up yours  because for the gospel writers the beginning Peter's life was not his birth but his call the call of Christ dramatically and permanently Peter's life so much so that his early years were made irrelevant to knowing his story The Peter that we in the book of Acts it's just such a different guy from the Peter we first meet in the Gospels  Peter the gospels is impulsive and foolish and slow to understand and full of fear  Peter and acts is bold and confident and at peace with himself wise  it would be difficult to find someone whose life was changed by Jesus Christ then Peters was and roll began with his call what do this morning about Peter's call in the hopes that we can learn something from it about our own calling today I don't want to talk with you about three things difficulty first what is it secondly how does it work and third where does it all lead okay so those three things what is the call how does the call of Christ work and where does his call letus  First what is it what it what is it false exactly what we tend to think of  names of doing something  we feel called or led by God to make a new job or to move to a new location or to select a certain College over another or to take on a new ministry but Peter story teaches us something even more basic than that about the call of Christ  Peter defines the call for us Luke 5 inches 6 words  because you say so I will Jesus said to Simon after a long night of unsuccessful fishing put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch and Simon answered are we worked hard all night and haven't caught anything but because you say so I will I will let down the Nets and that's really the essence of how call the person thinks  long before they ever took on us Vic job or move to a new location or chose a certain college or took on a new ministry they determined in their heart and mind if he says I will  know this sounds very straightforward and obvious doesn't it I mean of course that's how I Christian thinks Jesus is the master so what he says goes right  the truth is that we all have a tendon to embrace Jesus quickly as Savior and at the very same time resist him constantly Lorde  are sinful tendency is to add our own words to Peters and so we say to Jesus instead things like because you say so and if it's not too difficult  I will or because you say and it also makes sense to me I will  or because you say so and I can still fit in with the crowd I will  and so Jesus becomes our advisor  instead of our master no many years ago now at the at the church I pastored at the time we had two women who did the vast majority of all of the singing at our church we had a soprano named Beth and an alto named Diane and they were both very good  but there came I'm even though they were both very good when I started to hear some grumbling in the church about them why did they always get all the solos  what is the  have other people sing why is it always have to be either Beth Or Diane so I went to him and I I talked to him about it I said you know I like Beth and Diane I think they're great they do a great job I'm always happy satisfied when they sing which we do have many other people in our church who sang very well why don't you ever ask them to sing bath or Diane  I'll never forget what he said he said you know Beth and Diane are good singers and and they always do it nice job but he said Scott that's not the reason I asked them to sing for me so much  so the reason I asked them to sing so much is because when I do they always say yes  we all kinds of other good singers in the church but whatever he asked one of them it was always oh yes I'd love to go but that's not a good weekend for me open I don't really like that song you chose  I'd love to but I need to have this particular part or you already chose someone for that part will they know I'd love to put only at the 8 a.m. service I have plans at 9:30 these weren't legitimate concerns he had to get done he had hundreds of service  read over the course of a year and what he needed more than anything else was people who would yes when they asked people who would say  because you say so I will that's what God needs to are there for the first question you have to ask yourself if you want to live as a cold person is are you willing to say to Jesus the six words because you say so even if I don't like it  even if it's not popular even if it's inconveniences me even if it's difficult  because you say so I will you call is but secondly how does it work and there's a few things we have to note here in the story the first one is this that before Jesus ask Peter to do something big he asks him first to do something small walk up to him and say hey Peter leave everything and follow me  a long before that I got comes about comes verse 3 it says he got into one of the boats Still The One blowing into Simon and asked him to put out a little from Shore seems like a fairly difficult verse one that's only there to flush out the story but it actually illustrates an important principle for us of how the call of Christ works  before God asks you to do something big he will likely ask you to do something small first  before Paul the Apostle became a world now or world-renowned evangelist to the God called him first to teach in small groups in the safety of the church before David ever killed Goliath has God called him first to play his harp for a cranky King  before Joseph saved Egypt from famine God call him first to prison ministry before Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem God called him first two serve as cupbearer to the king  not a very glorious job but she God never fastest to do great work before he first asks us to do grunt work because Jesus knows what we so often forget that whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large ones the truth is if you're not willing to do small things for Jesus  you don't have a character before him to entrust you with great things  but now there's something else we have to see about how all the Call of Christ fix it again it's in verse 3 it says Jesus got into one of the boats the one belonging to Simon and you have to ask yourself what why do we need to know this  the two boats there he picked one of them to go out and why does it matter that it happened to BP boat that he chose this is not an incidental detail because in the Gospels  throwaways if as John says there were many other things that Jesus did that were not recorded in this book will then every word that the gospel writer put down matters why is this one important because the boat was Peters world and the call of Christ started when Jesus entered his world we all have this terrible tendency to compartmentalize our faith Church world belongs to Jesus  work world belongs to us Sunday morning Jesus time Monday through Saturday that's our time so we come to church and we get our advice and counsel from Jesus and then we go back and do our world and do our thing  but Peters call reminds us that that's not how the call of Christ works living as a called person doesn't just mean we come to the church from time to time to do some Ministry work  it means invite Jesus into the world we previously thought of as ours  and we seek is calling there it's so every place becomes a place for Ministry  we go to work or school even on vacation and we invite Jesus to come with us  no matter where we go no matter what we do we are constantly in and asking Jesus what's your call for me here how can I be Salt and Light here how can I bring your grace and your truth to this place that's how cold thank  no one last thing I need to say though about how the call of Christ works we learn from Peter it only when you have come to the end of yourself  adjust as it is not an incidental detail that it says he got into it is also not an incidental detail that the context of this call is when Peter says Master we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything it's also not an incidental detail that after Jesus starts to do his thing it says when Simon Peter saw this he fell at Jesus knees and said go away from me Lord I am a sinful man when Peter sees himself as he really is and how far he falls short he is certain that he is disqualified for men you don't even deserve to be around Jesus much less work for him  and yet this is the very moment when Jesus says to him in essence now I can use you to do great things this is how the call of Christ works for all of us until we understand and really believe that apart from him you can do nothing  we will do exactly that  nothing who want to live as a cold person we have to learn to say to Jesus with the writer of Rock of Ages nothing in my hand simply to the cross I cling naked come to thee for dress helpless look to the for Grace foul I to the Fountain fly Wash Me savior or I die I'll talk to strew of our Salvation that's true of our calling as well  so that's what the call is and that's how it works now one final question where does it all lead  verse 10 then Jesus said to Simon Don't Be Afraid from now on you will which men so they pull their boats up on shore left everything and followed him and that is an amazing they walk away from the greatest catch of their lives in other words the very thing that once would have meant everything to them no means nothing to them and notice Jesus does not command them to do this not in this story he doesn't stand up at the end and say okay guys see that fish now everybody leave everything and follow me  they just do it  they want to do it they can't help but do it I mean not do it would have seemed absurd to them  until they did it without even thinking about it much let me be very clear this first does not mean it does not mean that every serious Christian has to go into vocational men Street  serious Christians can still be fishermen  Jesus had other plans for Peter in this case but that's not the way Works in every case because this first is not really addressing what you do but how you do whatever it is you do whatever you do whether you are a fisherman or an evangelist or whatever what is it that's most important 4 Peter the most important thing in his life had become too play to Jesus because you say so  I will  Luke says for he and all companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken and don't you just want to enter into that story say to Peter all my friend You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet because someday soon Peter while you're busy taking a little stop  Jesus will be sweating drops of blood and gets cemani and he will see the suffering that is be for him the suffering necessary for him to redeem the world from sin and he will say to God the Father I don't want to do this take this cup from me because you say father  I will Thai will be done if you think you're astonished now Peter just wait till then  4 Peter the call of Christ led to the cross  and for us that leads from the cross into all of the so-called boats we used to think we're hours your friends in Christ the one who gave his whole life for you  now invite you to give yourself wholly to him  may we all learn to say with Peter  because say so I will

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THE ORIGINAL PETER PRINCIPLES - " The Calling Principle" - June 5, 2016 - Senior Pastor Scott Christenson

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