Welcome to our Together on Mission podcast, where we seek to be with and like Jesus, as we begin a conversation with Jesus in the morning, through scripture, prayer, and meditation, and then continue that conversation with him throughout your day. Your host is Travis Twyman, the pastor at the Inland Vineyard Church in Corona, California. In this season of the podcast, we will be journeying through the Gospel of Luke, specifically looking for moments in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Daily Together on Mission podcast.
This is Travis, and we are in Luke chapter 5, and so you're going to need a Bible, cup of coffee, cup of tea, whatever you like to drink in the morning, and find your spot, your place you can count on, and let's engage in prayer, let's start a conversation with Jesus. And the title of the podcast this morning is, It's Okay. Like, it's okay, it's going to be okay, it's going to be okay. I want to start with the story this morning, it's a famous story in Luke chapter 5, and we know it's the miraculous catch, it's one of the first times that Peter met Jesus, and Peter hasn't caught anything all night, you know, he's a commercial fisherman, and that's how he makes his living, he hasn't caught anything all night, and Jesus in the morning says, hey, you know, let's go back out, and I'll fill your boat.
And Peter's thinking, you know, no way, and so they go out, and Jesus says, all right, throw your net in, and Peter throws his net in, and the net is just filled with fish. And so we're going to pick up in Luke chapter 5, verse 8, when Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees, and he said, go away from me, I'm a sinful man, for he and all his companions were absolutely astonished at the catch of fish they had taken. And then Jesus said to Simon, don't be afraid, from now on you will fish for people. So they pulled their boat up on the shore, left everything, and followed Jesus.
Now, this is an incredible story. So when Peter sees and realizes who he's in the presence of, go away from me, right? This isn't good, this isn't going to work out, I'm a sinful man, I've messed up so many times, I've done so much bad, go away from me, I'm a sinful man. And Jesus says, don't be afraid, don't be afraid, you don't need to go anywhere.
And Jesus is saying, it's okay, I've got this, we've got this, don't worry, don't be afraid. You know, you're going to make it through this, we're going to make it through this, and when you make it through this, you're going to be a fisher of men. You know, I love this moment, I love that Jesus offers his strength to his soon-to-be friend, soon-to-be, maybe best friend, Peter. Jesus offers his strength in a moment when Peter is weak, and in a moment where Peter is freaking out just a little bit.
You know, Peter doesn't know what to say when he sees all of these fish go into his net, he just, he doesn't, so he reacts, and he says whatever comes to his mind, right, which is what we tend to do when we're freaking out just a little bit, he's like, get away from me, get away from me, this isn't good, get away from me, I'm a sinful man. And it's such an incredible moment, and sometimes we don't notice these incredible moments in the life of Jesus, because we're often looking for, you know, some great teaching, and there's plenty of great teaching. But this is a great moment about the character, about who Jesus was, and who Jesus is. You know, Jesus here offers Peter what we might call reassurance.
Reassurance is saying to someone, it's going to be okay. And that's such a powerful thing to offer people, reassurance that it's going to be okay. That's what Jesus says to Peter. You don't need to go away from me.
It's going to be okay. Don't be afraid. You're going to become a fisher of men. You know, it's like saying to someone, don't worry, I've got it covered.
We've got it covered. Don't be afraid. Don't freak out. We're going to get through this together.
And when we do, it's the other side. We're going to be in a better place than where we are right now. You know, it's okay. Don't worry.
Don't be afraid. I've got this. We've got this. And what a gift this is to give someone to offer our strength in a time of their need.
And, you know, it could be your younger sibling who's being bullied at school or your younger sibling is going through a difficult time in life. It could be somebody on the team that you're coaching and struggling to play well, you know, and they're freaking out a little bit. They're thinking it's not going to be okay. You know, it could be your spouse who's concerned about finances.
It could be, you know, a parent that's getting old and they're getting afraid because they're aging. It could be a stranger that we run into and they're in a difficult situation. They're at the end of, you know, their rope. It could be anyone around us that's worried, that's concerned, frustrated, injured, feeling out of control, not knowing where to turn, freaking out.
It could be someone that's facing something that they've never faced before and they're scared. And honestly, I think this is an incredible gift that we can give our children, you know, when they struggle or even when they get into the teenage years and they do some rebelling, right, to be able to assure them that it's going to be okay. You know, it's going to be okay that we as parents can handle their struggle. We can handle their difficulty that we can be, you know, leaned into.
It's going to be okay. That's a great gift to give our kids. And, you know, what's happening to Jesus right now, what Peter is doing to Jesus happens to us all the time. And actually, this is what God has done with us because Peter is basically saying that his sin and his brokenness and his failure is a problem.
It's too big of a problem. He's freaking out about it. And, you know, and he's coming up with a really bad solution, like, like Jesus, get away from me or, you know, I've got to get away from you. And Jesus says, he's okay.
You know, don't, don't run. Don't be afraid. Let's stay in this together. We're going to get through this together.
I've got this. And again, this is what God has done for us, right? At the end of our rope, in the mess and the muck and the mire that we find ourselves in, right, unable to save ourselves, unable to deliver ourselves from guilt or shame or condemnation. God says to us, I've got this, you know, together we've got this.
Don't worry. Don't freak out. You know, we're going to get through this together. And when we do, we're going to get, we're going to be in a different place on the other side of all of this, you know, and of course, because God has done this to us, because Jesus has done this to Peter, it's an invitation for us to be this kind of person to the people around us, to become people that say, it's okay, you know, to become people that offer our strength, to be people that are a soft place to fall, to be people that offer reassurance when others are struggling, you know, whether it's our friends or our spouse or our children, coworkers, just saying, it's going to be okay.
We're going to get through this. I've got this. We've got this. Lean in on me.
Don't run away. You know, and I think the invitation of this moment is to be people that offer our strength to others, you know, to be people that stand in the gap, to be people that can be leaned into by our loved ones and even by strangers. And of course, this not only will, will this positively impact all of our relationships, but then we're going to find something. We're going to also find that, that, that when we live like this, we're going to be eventually surrounded by people who like to be strong for us when we're weak, when we are strong for others, when they're weak, when we say, Hey, don't worry, you know, we've got this.
I've got this. It's going to be okay. You know, don't run away. Let's, let's be in this together.
When we do that for others, we're going to find that we're going to be surrounded by people that will like, really like to do it to us. People that will want to offer their strength to us when we desperately need it. You know, I can't help but think of that incredible time because, you know, in this story, Jesus is offering his strength to Peter. He's saying it's okay.
But a few years from this experience, Jesus is in the garden of Gethsemane and he looks to Peter in time of need and he says, Peter, I need you. I need you to be strong for me right now. I need you to go to the garden of Gethsemane with me. I need you to pray.
I need you to be by me. I need you to be by you. I need you. And it's such a powerful story.
It's such a powerful text. Chapter five, verse 18. Simon Peter saw the miraculous catch. He fell on his knees.
Go away from me, Lord. I'm a sinful man. And Jesus says to Peter, don't be afraid. From now on, you're going to fish for people.
And I love that line from Jesus. Don't be afraid. Don't run away. I've got this.
Together, we've got this. It's going to be okay. You're going to be okay. What a gift to offer people.
We'll talk soon. Thanks for listening to the Together on Mission podcast. We truly hope that you were blessed and encouraged by you today. If you had any questions about the England Vineyard Church, our ministries, or our Sunday services, feel free to connect with us on our brand new app, which you can find in the Google Play and the App Store.
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