* Peter, James, and John had the biggest catch of their life - how would they respond?

* They didn’t ask Jesus to partner in their business.

* They left it and followed Him.

* We know that part of the story.

* But the part I want to point out is that before they left their business they brought their boat to land.

* They hauled them ashore and situated them for someone else’s use.

* This is the same thing David did before he fought Goliath - he didn’t abandon the sheep. He left them in the care of another.

* Key - we need to make sure to handle our business before we go off and try to “do things for God.”

* I’m talking about all of your business - family, friends, health, personal issues, etc.

* Business is “what concerns me.”

* If you abandon your responsibility you will lose your authority.

* You’ll have no authority in the place where you are because you abandoned the place you should be.

* Deut 20:5-7 - Four situations where someone was exempted from battle:

* 1) Personal problem (fear).

* 2) Marriage issue.

* 3) Family issue.

* 4) Business matter.

* Christ walked into the wilderness “full” of the Holy Spirit, but He walked out in the “power” of the Holy Spirit.

* The Holy Spirit can be IN you and ON you.

* God wants to do something TO you and THROUGH you.

* The Holy Spirit works IN us to change us so He can be ON us to use us.

* The Holy Spirit IN me reveals Jesus to me.

* The Holy Spirit ON me reveals Jesus to others.

* The Holy Spirit IN me is God doing something in my heart.

* The Holy Spirit ON me is God doing something through my life.

* The Holy Spirit IN me changes me.

* The Holy Spirit ON me changes my environment.

* The Holy Spirit IN me is about enjoying God’s presence.

* The Holy Spirit ON me is about experiencing God’s power.

* Acts 19:6 - Holy Spirit came ON them and the entire region heard the gospel in 2 years.

* This is amazing - that region was the size of FL, AL, TN, GA, KY, NC, SC.

* How do we get the Holy Spirit in us and on us?

* Luke 4:1-14 - Jesus was victorious over temptation.

* Christ’s temptations - the first attacked God’s love, the second attacked Christ’s hope, the third Christ’s faith.

* These are the three pillars of Christianity - faith, hope, love.

* The second temptation:

* Satan can’t steal from you - you have to give him what he wants.

* He “seeks” to rob, kill, and destroy.

* But he can’t take anything from someone who has a stronger spirit inside him.

* Satan had this authority to give kingdoms because Adam gave it to him.

* It had been “handed over” to Satan.

*

* This prayer is a sabotaging prayer.

* The most powerful prayers are always like this because they represent full surrender.

* It’s like praying, “God, if I sin secretly against my wife please expose me.”

* This prayer is about “we,” not “me.”

* It’s the same thing Jesus teaches us to pray - “forgive us our debts AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS.”

* Said another way, “Don’t forgive me if I don’t forgive them.”

* We’re sabotaging ourselves, but it’s what keeps us accountable.

* God’s command to the Israelites regarding those less fortunate than them was the “remember” they were in their shoes at one point as well.

* They were to take their situation into consideration.

* Remembering is key to maintaining relationships.

* Relationship means “the state of being connected.”

* ex: my finger is connected to my hand at the knuckle. If I lose my finger it’s been “dismembered.” The key to be to “re-member” it to my hand by the surgeon so the relationship (connection) can resume.

* The same is true with human relationship - we “re-member” through empathy.

* We put ourselves in another’s shoes and think of ourselves there.

* vs 19-22 - We think of the way God treated us, so we treat them.

* God was generous with us so we’ll be generous with others.

* Up to this point Israel had no prophets. Moses was the first.

* There were no books at this time, so the oral culture is how God got His message to the people.

* So Moses is now preparing the people for the coming of this new type of communication from God, the prophets.

* vs 18 - the role of the prophet was to represent God to the people.

* His responsibility was to hear from God and communicate to the people.

* The prophets quickly became the most popular guys in Israel.

* I bet a number of men thought, “Hey, I want to be one of those guys!”

* This led to the rise of “false” prophets who just wanted to please the people and keep their popularity.

* vs 19-20 - God gives the punishment for those who would not speak properly according to God’s Word.

* ** the role of the priest was to represent the people to God.

* ** the role of the king was to create an environment where the prophet could speak, the priest could minister, and the people could flourish.

* Jesus came as prophet, priest, and king!

* Mary is the most “highly esteemed” woman in history.

* There’s even a religion based on her life.

* But notice that Mary being “highly favored of the Lord” wasn’t written until after she was most likely dead.

* Luke was written in 58-60 AD (roughly 25 years after Christ’s death).

* Tradition holds that Mary died between 10-15 after Christ’s death.

* So there was a 10 year gap between what people believed about Mary and what was true about Mary was revealed.

* She lived her life keeping the secret of what God’s angel had said to her so many years ago.

* For the time being, while she was young and single and pregnant, she would not be highly esteemed at all.

* She endured a temporary painful reputation to inherit a permanent powerful reputation for all time!

* I imagine these women never knew about Peter denying Jesus or that Jesus predicted it would happen.

* They may have thought the angel mentioned him by name since he was their leader.

* But to Peter this may have been the pick-me-up he needed.

* They might have said, “Peter! Jesus has risen! An angel just told us and he mentioned you by name! He wanted you specifically to know.”

* There’s something special about being singled off.

* A year ago a woman I don’t know said she had a dream and a word for me, specifically.

* I was all ears because I felt like God had something special for me.

* It felt good.

* If I miss one of my son’s basketball games and he happens to talk to Tori first, he will always say something like, “Tell dad I hit five 3-pointers.”

* He never asks her to tell David, or Lori, or his grandpa.

* Why? Because I’m more special to Him - we have a bond those others don’t have.

* Jesus was letting Peter know they had a special bond that not even his pitiful denial could break.

* Imagine President Trump coming to town and asking to see you by name.

* God knows each of us BY NAME!

* The first people to discover Christ’s resurrection were two women disciples.

* How were they able to have this privilege?

* Because they stayed close enough for long enough to see where He was buried.

* They never abandoned Him like all the male disciples did.

* We can apply this in several ways:

* 1) Stay close! When the going gets tough, cling tightly!

* 2) Pay attention! Always be looking and listening for God in all things.

* 3) Search Him out! (vs 16:1-2) Move in His direction and you’ll discover His presence.

* Jesus showed up to these women!

* The first people to discover Christ’s resurrection were two women disciples.

* How were they able to have this privilege?

* Because they stayed close enough for long enough to see where He was buried.

* They never abandoned Him like all the male disciples did.

* We can apply this in several ways:

* 1) Stay close! When the going gets tough, cling tightly!

* 2) Pay attention! Always be looking and listening for God in all things.

* 3) Search Him out! (vs 16:1-2) Move in His direction and you’ll discover His presence.

* Jesus showed up to these women!