All right, since I can talk as long as I want to talk, turn in your Bible to the Book of Luke chapter 5, and I'm just kidding, I won't talk as long as I want to. Luke chapter 5, Luke is the third book of the New Testament, you will find it on page 1,019 of the Bibles that we have for you there under your chair, 1,019. I want to talk with you this morning about daring to be a disciple. This is our new series that we're going to be looking at together through the fall months. It's going to be a study of the gospel of Luke, not a verse by verse thing, but a thematic approach to the gospel of Luke focusing on the theme of discipleship. Luke chapter 5 verses 1 through 11 is where we will be this morning. One day, as Jesus was standing by the lake of Ganesurate, with the people crowding around him and listening to the Word of God, he saw at the water's edge two 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, and then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch. Simon answered, Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything, but because you say so, I will let down the nets. When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. 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. They 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 catch men. So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him, the word of the Lord. I'll get out of that story. Ordinary people plus slim resources times obedience to Jesus equals Bukus of fish. Four things you see in this story. First you see ordinary people, don't you? You have some ordinary commercial fishermen. James, John, others who were not named. These fishermen probably fit into the lower middle class strata of life in Jesus' day there in the Middle East. They weren't at the bottom rung of society, but they were certainly nowhere near the top. Acts chapter 4 verse 13 tells us that these fishermen were, quote, unschooled. Another translation says that they were common. In other words, these are ordinary fellas, not trained for religious service. They'd never been and never would go to seminary. They just woke up every day, put their pants on like everybody else does and went off to work just like you and me. At least four of Jesus' disciples, Peter, Andrew, James and John were among these ordinary commercial fishermen. Second thing you see in this story is that these ordinary people had slim resources. In fact, Peter says in verse 5, we've worked hard all night Jesus and haven't caught anything. They had an airy a fish to show for the morning. They'd done everything they knew to do, but still came up empty. And so what they had done is brought their boats up on shore and now they were washing their nets. They were ready to go home and crash. Third thing you see in this story is that these people obeyed Jesus. They obeyed Jesus despite the miserable night of fishing that they had had. Despite the fact that Jesus was a carpenter, not a fisherman, not someone who had credibility to tell them how to fish. Despite that, they did what Jesus told them to do anyway. Jesus said to Peter there in verse 4, put out into deep water Peter and let down the nets. You know, sometimes I've wondered what did these hardened, sun-dried, sun-baked fishermen think to themselves when they heard Jesus advising them how to go fishing. It's the middle of the day. You don't go fishing then. You don't let down nets in the deepest water. What business did Jesus have to tell them how to fish? I'm sure they thought, Peter, don't do what Jesus said to do. That guy doesn't know the first thing about fishing. Tell the silly rabbi to get back to his synagogue and leave us alone. Perhaps that's what they were thinking. But Peter says in verse 5, because you say so Jesus, I'll let down the nets. And then fourth and finally, what you see in this story there in verse 6 is that when they had done that, when they had obeyed Jesus word, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. Ordinary people plus slim resources times obedience to Jesus equals boat loads of fish. What does this story have to do with us on Vision 13 Sunday? You and I are ordinary people. We have slim resources. But if we obey Jesus, guess what? He will use us to catch human beings. And isn't that exactly what Jesus wants us to do? Go fishing? Isn't that exactly what Jesus calls us to do? Catch human beings with the good news of Jesus Christ? Didn't Jesus tell a parable one time about the kingdom of heaven being like a net that was let down into a lake and caught all kinds of fish? Didn't Jesus say before he left this earth that we are supposed to go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey whatever Jesus has commanded us to do? Didn't Peter, the same Peter who let down his nets that day in Luke 5, didn't that Peter write in his second letter that God doesn't relish the thought of anyone perishing but desires all kinds of people to come into his family? And didn't the Apostle John who was also there that day on the shore with Jesus, that same John who also left his nets and followed Jesus, didn't that John foresee the day when people from every tribe and language and nation under heaven would love and serve the Lamb of God? I tell you it is God's plan and it is God's promise to grow his church and the ironic thing about it is that he uses us, us common ordinary Joe's and James to use to catch those people. He uses us. Well, what's happening around us in our culture today? If you've been watching the religious scene as I have been, you know that as simple as that sounds, it's not exactly what we see happening in our culture. Are you aware that the Christian Church of America is not doing so well? Over 80% of American Protestant churches in America are in plateau or in decline, over 80%. Less than 5% of those churches in our country that are growing are not, less than 5% are growing by conversion growth. The others are growing because of this grunneled sheep moving from one church to another. 10,000 American churches closed their doors within a recent five year period. 10,000 churches, one of those 10,000 was the one that was using our comments, new harvest, Christian fellowship. They didn't make it. Just about a month ago, they decided they had to close their doors and not meet anymore. The vast majority of churches in the United States have an attendance of less than 75. According to the 2007 yearbook of American and Canadian churches of the 25 largest Christian denominations, and I used that word Christian loosely as you'll soon find out, of the 25 largest Christian denominations in the United States, only seven reported any increase. The other 18 reported either stagnation or decline in their membership, and two of those seven denominations that grew were the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. Even in our own denominations, it's called the Presbyterian Church in America, this year was the first year in our 37 year history in which our total membership declined.
So what's happening? Well, I think what's happening is that a lot of Christians in America have pulled their boats ashore and are washing their nets. Too many churches are sitting around washing nets. Too many of us fishermen and fisherwomen are focused more on ourselves and our needs and our wants and our comfort than on the fact that thousands of people around us are perishing and facing an eternity outside of Jesus Christ. You know what I think? I think we all need to get back to obeying Jesus. Jesus says to us, just like he said to Simon Peter, don't be afraid. Follow me and I'll make you catch people. It's a promise if we just do what Jesus told us to do. UPC, University Presbyterian Church, was planted 18 years ago. You know why? To catch people. That's why we're here. That's why we're here. Our mission statement says it very well. You and I read it out loud a little while ago. UPC strives to be a community of grace that what makes a difference. It makes a difference in the lives of people of East Orlando and around the world by helping them to know God grow together and serve others. That's our mission. That's why we're here. We're not here primarily to enjoy good music on Sunday, to get a good sermon, to learn a little bit more about the Bible and to see our friends. All those are really great things. They're blessings that we should thank God for here in America, that we have religious liberty and the ability to walk into this building freely every week. And enjoy these wonderful things that God has given to us. But they are not the main thing. If they were, now hear me out. If those were the main thing of what it is to be a Christian, then Jesus should have brought us all home to heaven already where we would hear even better music than what we have here. We'd hear a much better, maybe even a shorter sermon. We'd know all there is to know about the Bible and my goodness we'd see our friends all the time. But Jesus didn't bring us home. He left us here on the planet Earth to make a difference in the lives of others. And that's why UPC exists. How are we going to do it? The how question. Do we just put our sign out by the road? Why right now they can't even see our sign because of the green pipes that are out there. Do we just put our sign out front and hope people show up? Do we design programs with all the bells and whistles and hope that people will like us better than they like the church down the street or the church in another part of the city? Or do we maybe put strobe lights in here and smoke machines and have a worship experience second to none? No, I don't think any of those are the way that Jesus wants us to do it. All those things are like fishing without a net and hoping fish just jump in of their own accord. No, we fish like Jesus did. We fish like Jesus did. How did he do it? Well, he spent three years with a small group of twelve ordinary men. He taught them. He traveled with them. He laughed with them. He cried with them. He mentored them. In Christian circles, we say that Jesus discipled them. Within the circle of twelve, there were three that Jesus spent extra time with and had a special relationship with Peter, James and John. These three went on to become some of the some of the greatest leaders of the early church. And then within that small circle of three, there was one whom were told Jesus loved. Now that was John. And it doesn't mean at all that he didn't love the other eleven. It just means that Jesus had an especially tight relationship with John. So how did Jesus fish? He did it one to twelve, one to three, one to one. Peter, one of the three, went on to mentor John Mark, who wrote the gospel of Mark. And Paul, who became another leader in the church later on, he did it too. He mentored Timothy and Barnabas and Silas and these men went on to mentor other people and the church grew organically from these close mentoring, discipling relationships that Jesus and his followers had. Do you know what it says in Acts chapter 17, verse six about those people? Fascinating verse. It says that they turned the world upside down. The NIV translates to this way, they caused trouble all over the world. But I kind of like the English standard version. They turned the world upside down. The world needs turning upside down doesn't it? There are so many things that we all acknowledge are messed up nowadays in our culture. People seem to have everything backwards, right? And I want you to know if you don't know it already, the need of the hour is not a different president or a better economy or cheaper healthcare or more renewable sources of energy. People need Jesus. And we're the ones. We are the ones who can bring them to him. So again, a how question, how are we going to do that? We ordinary people with slim resources. How are we going to do it? We're going to do it by obeying Jesus and doing it the same way that Jesus did by building discipleship relationships of one to 12, one to three, one to one. Now I'd say we're doing the one to 12 thing really well. Another way of looking at that is our life group ministry. Many of you are already involved in the one to 12 thing. We have a lot of those small groups going on. 75% of our folks I said earlier are in the one to 12. But what we haven't focused on intentionally yet systematically yet is the one to three and one to one. That's why I'm calling this year the year of discipleship because I believe it's the next big challenge for us to take what we know already and to begin to translate it over and hand the baton over to people who are really wanting to know more about what it is to be a follower of Jesus. It's you're in my job to be involved in that either you're going to be the mentor or the mentoring and by all means there are thousands of people around us who need to be the mentors. How do you know them? You know them at work? You know them in your neighborhood? You know them at school? You meet them in the market. You sit beside them in the stadium at the Timber Creek High School game. You serve with them at the parents, PTA meeting. PTA meeting, that's how you know them. You build the one to one, the one to three, and so forth. Now let me define some terms and I know that we're going over but I look you told me long-winded sermon, give her out her. Now give me about, let's see, it's about five after it. 10 minutes, you got 10? All right, long near seats, we'll fast. A disciple. A disciple is a mature follower who is multiplying his influence. A mature reproducing follower of Jesus, that's what we're going to call a disciple. And before he left this earth, Jesus told us to make these people, right? We all know Matthew 28, the end of the gospel of Matthew says make these people, this is our job, this is what we're here for to create by God's grace and with his help, these mature reproducing followers of Jesus. A discipleur is someone who helps another person become one of these and discipleship is the intentional process by which we help people become these mature reproducing followers of Jesus. And to make a bunch of disciples, what's got to happen is those who have walked with Jesus for a while, those of us who have walked the path of the Christian life for a while are going to have to take other people by the hand and mentor them and teach them what we know and transfer to them, what others have given to us. Do you know why I'm up here today? It's because a man by the name of Lanny Moore back in 1981 said Mike, I want to take you by the hand and help you to know more about Christ. He spent hours with me. God's calling many of us to do the same for others. Well, I want to just show you a diagram, but I'm not going to have time to explain it. Come back next week and I'll explain it more fully. But here's this diagram that I do want to give you a little taste of, this circle represents our church, there's our Mission Field East Orlando, of course it's beyond, it's the world, but our immediate focus, our frame of reference is East Orlando. We want to become part of our family and then eventually become part of the core, right? How do we do that? We tell them come and see, we say come and join, we say come and stay, then we say go and grow, go and serve, and finally go and multiply. This represents a continuing process of reaching out to our friends and leading them eventually to become people who themselves reach out into East Orlando. You get it? It's a non-ending circular process. But how we do that is through our worship service, our discovery weekend, our life group, and here's what I'm going to tell you about, our D groups, we ask them to find a ministry and then finally, when they're at a place where they're ready to disciple others, they can lead a D group. What's a D group? A D group is a small group of one, two, maybe three. Two, maybe three, four people, where you have one person being the discipleer and one, two, or three being the disciples. You meet weekly, and I'll tell you a little bit more about them momentarily. But here's what I want you to understand is that I got to looking at this circle and I realized, oh, this is what we're already doing. Helping people know God, grow together, and eventually serve others. And I started looking at our mission statement, and I noticed something interesting here, that it supports the mission that we have of being a community of grace where we enfold and welcome people in to the family, and then we equip and send them out to help make a difference in our community. So that eventually what's happening is that the arrows are turning out, and we are not focused inward on our own comfort, safety, wants, needs, but we're looking outside ourselves at the people who have yet to know Jesus. Now, I went through this very quickly, but what I'm going to do next week is step through it a little bit more deliberately, because what I want you to get a little bit of a vision for today is D groups, the new piece that this year we're going to work on. Here's the difference between a life group and a D group. A life group's purpose is support and friendship, a D groups purpose is transformation. The size you see is very different, five to 14 in the one hand, two to four in the other. The accountability level, it's more intense in a D group. The gender, I would say, is going to be the same in a D group as opposed to our life groups being men and women, young people, boys and girls. The life span of a life group is open-ended. The life span of a D group is more like one year, because at the end of the one year, the people who have gone through it are going to turn around and reach out and bring one or two others into their new D group. And the structure of a D group is more set. The goal is multiplication. And here's what you're going to be doing in a D group. The meetings last maybe an hour and a half the most, you build a relationship, you share what's going on in your lives, you work through a lesson, you pray for each other, you're accountable to each other, and you encourage each other. And here is the material, boy, that projector is really bad, isn't it? Here's the material that we have for you. For nine weeks, you go through a gospel-centered life curriculum that's foundational to understand the good news. And then the second part is the discipleship essentials book that takes the rest of the year. What I'm encouraging you to do today is come back for the rest of the series, because beginning next week I'm going to take the time to really walk through that diagram with you more carefully. To explain what it is that we're asking you to consider if you would like to be discipled. We're not going to ask you to sign up for anything today, but if you are interested in being on a discipleship team, you say, well, I don't know, tell me more. If you're interested in leading a de-group, that is, if you feel you're at the point where you would like to take one or two or three other people and start meeting with them, going through these materials that I have selected already, sign up on the worship guide flap, which is right here. It says, yes, I would like to be a part of the discipleship team. If that fits you and you'd be interested in leading a de-group, let me know by signing up on that little flap. If on the other hand you think, well, I'm not sure I'm ready for that, but I might enjoy going through some training with you to learn how that looks in my life, then sign up to be a part of the discipleship team. If you're interested in helping launch and sustain what I'm talking about by being a part of the leadership team of the discipleship ministry, then sign up on that flap right there. I'll look at your name and I'll contact you and I'll talk with you about, well, are you ready to lead a de-group? Would you like some training or do you want to be on a team with me? Those are some options that I'm asking you to consider today as we move forward in a discipleship ministry like this. I heard that because of time, but I hope you get just a little bit of a glimmer of the emphasis that I want us to put this year on taking people along and helping them to know Jesus better so that they can begin to look outside these circles into the community around us. You know, we've already said this morning that we've turned 18 today. I remember when I turned 18, 1972. It was one of the greatest days of my life when I turned 18 because I knew that I was getting close to graduated from high school and the word freedom took on new meaning for me. I was looking forward to college, I was looking forward to voting in the presidential election that was going to come up later that year. Of course, there was this little thing called the draft and I knew that my lottery number might be called up, but that wasn't weighing too much on my mind at the time. But looking back on that 18th birthday, I could tell that it was a critical hinge moment in my life. It was a time for discovering the real purpose for which I was created. Would I live for myself or for other people? Would I develop a passion for character and integrity or lust after comfort and material plenty? Which would I choose? Well, those are choices every 18 year old must make and it's kind of similar to our situation because this month when we turn 18, we have some choices to make as well. Will it be a choice to live for ourselves or for others? Will it be all about us or all about them around us? Will we pull our boats ashore and wash our nets or will we put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch? Come on, let's go fishing because God has greater things yet to come for this city. Ordinary people plus slim resources times obedience to Jesus equals Buku's of fish. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the challenge this morning to follow Jesus. I for one am scared to death about the implications because I know myself very well. I know how lazy I am. I'm Dr. Apathy. I know how prone I am to choose comfort over conflict. And Lord, I know how scared I am of my neighbors and how I don't really relish the thought of reaching out beyond my comfort zone. Father, I confess that to you. And I join my brothers and sisters here at UPC asking, oh Lord, that you will make us to be fishers of human beings. In our schools, in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces, and here in East Orlando, a waterfurt in Eastwood, at Stony Brook, at Havelon, in Ovedo, in Maitland, and everywhere else in this city. God, we do long for greater things that are yet to come. And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen.