Let's uh let's pray. Father, thanks for being such a great God. Thanks for loving us. I thank you for adopting us as your children. Holy Spirit, we just praise you. We thank you for being here this morning. We thank you for the powerful worship, the connection with you and your presence. And we just ask you to teach us this morning that for each of us that you would just take something that we share, something from your word, and that each of us would walk away and say, Yeah, that was for me. And we just thank you and we trust you, Jesus. Thank you for making this possible, for being our friend, being our savior, for loving us. It's in your name we pray. Amen. Well, we're into the new year. In some ways it almost doesn't even feel like a new year now. You know, you just get into it uh um so fast. But we're talking about fresh starts. I think there are times in in my life, there's times in all of our lives when we could really use a fresh start. Sometimes it's our whole life. We just like in some ways we just want to start over. You know, a lot of times it's just one area of our life. Uh we need a clean slate and uh and a fresh start. It's one of the things that God does most often, it's one of the things that that He does best. We saw two weeks ago how God started everything, what his original plan was, you know, how it wasn't rules and regulations and lists of this is good and this is evil, but it w but it was a relationship and it was life and and it was love and it was with God and it was with each other. And then last week we saw Jesus' first miracle, which was when he created 180 gallons of perfect wine. And it wasn't just that, it was just such an expression in their culture of the reason that he came in the first place. And this morning we're gonna look at another start. It was the way Peter started a whole new life with Jesus. And actually, this morning we're gonna be talking about the first part of Peter's fresh start. Next week uh we're gonna finish up with uh with the second part, really the the rest of his story. But Peter lived in in a city called Capernaum. It was a relatively small fishing village on the Sea of Galilee. There's about 1,500 people that uh lived there. Um this the Sea of Galilee is a freshwater sea, and it was known because it's just it's a beautiful place. The the water is just a beautiful deep blue, and uh and it's clear surrounding the Sea of Galilee is just lush um hills that just kind of cascade down right to the um to the level of of that sea. And uh when you picture Jesus kind of walking and teaching and and living, a lot of times I picture him, you know, in its desert and it's dry and it's it's dirty and it's sand, and and really most of the time uh when uh when Jesus was alive on earth, he was in an area that was more tropical, that it was it was lush and it was it was green and and it was beautiful. It was right on the edge of this uh Sea of Galilee, and it was it was Jesus' adopted hometown, Capernaum was. It's where he lived uh um the most of the the latter part of his uh life. It's where he lived really once I guess he got to to choose. Some of us have had that type of experience. For me, I was born um outside of Portland, Oregon. I was raised in Salem, Oregon, and I've lived in Woodstock, Georgia for about 25 years. Well, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, he was raised in Nazareth, and he lived in Capernaum. Peter, Andrew, James, and John were all from Capernaum. Uh Matthew was also from Capernaum. He had been the tax collector for that area. Much of the New Testament, the things that we see happening, actually happened in and around the small fishing village of Capernaum. Remember the paralyzed man that they kind of tore through the roof of the of the house and lowered him down and Jesus healed him, that was in uh Capernaum. Um Jesus heals uh Peter's uh mother-in-law, who was who was critically sick. Um I don't think Peter actually ever forgave him for that, um, but he might have. And uh that was in Capernaum. You know, if you remember the Roman centurion whose son was dying, and uh but he had so much faith and in in and Jesus saved the boy, uh they lived in Capernaum. The Sermon on the Mount was right outside, it was on a hill right outside of Capernaum. Jesus healed a man with leprosy in Capernaum. Jesus calmed the storm, it was right after they had just left the shore of uh Capernaum. He healed another paralyzed man. You might remember when he said, Take up your mat and follow me. That was in Capernaum. Um you might remember when the woman who had had a terrible um bleeding for twelve years touched the hem of Jesus' robe and was healed. That was in Capernaum, right after he healed uh Jaris' daughter who had died, he raised her from the dead. That was um in Capernaum. A blind man was, or blind men were healed, a person that couldn't speak was was delivered. So you get the picture. There was a lot happening in Jesus' life that just centered around this small fishing village in Capernaum. I think Jesus chose it as his hometown in part because of the relationship that he had with his friend Peter. And we first read about it in Luke 5. One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. Okay, that alone was a miracle. I mean, a bunch of people coming to hear Jesus talk about the Bible. I mean, that is something. I mean, you know these people had been bored their entire life by teachers talking about the Bible. You know, they had to get up on their day off, drag themselves into synagogue, you know, they wanted to be sleeping or playing golf or riding the motorcycle or whatever was comparable at that time. But instead they drugged themselves there, and some know-it-all was going to tell them how they're probably going to hell. But something was different. Jesus was different. When he talked about God's word, he spoke of life and love and a father that cared for them and that they could they could trust him if they would only trust him, that he had come to make that happen. In John 5, 39 says, You search the scriptures because you think they give you eternal life, but the scriptures point to me. It was Jesus, and that's not boring. Life and love and relationship and Jesus, and people came from all over to hear Jesus teach the truth from God's word. And it drew a crowd and it created a problem, a crowd problem. But Jesus had a plan. It says he noticed two empty boats at the water's edge, for the fishermen had left them and they were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water, so he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. This is a little bit outside of the box, but it's a really good plan because our voices carry like seven times further over water than they do land. And so if Jesus could just get out about ten yards from the water, he could speak to the whole crowd and they'd be able to hear him. But he needed help. Uh specifically, he needed Peter's help. You know, he was the one that was over there, he was the one that that owned the boat. Now his name is not actually uh Peter, his name was Simon Bar Jonah. That means uh Barr means son of. So his dad was Jonah, and he was known as Simon, son of Jonah. But Jesus would give him a nickname. Um Jesus called Simon the Rock. I mean, kind of like Dwayne Johnson, but different. But uh he called him, he called him the rock. Um and it stuck like uh a nickname from Jesus probably would. You know, this is a little aside, but one thing the Bible says that in heaven Jesus has got a name for all of us. You know, uh a nickname, if you will. And that'll be a pretty cool, uh, pretty cool day to hear that. But the rock, that's what Jesus called Simon. So they started calling him Simon Peter, Simon the Rock. And uh and eventually they just dropped a Simon and they just called him the rock. And it was Jesus' nickname for Peter. Mostly we call him the rock, Petra, as it would have been. Uh Peter is how we say it. Now, I don't know if you noticed this, but but Peter is not part of the crowd that wanted to hear the word of God. He's been working all night. He was just minding his own business. He's over there cleaning up uh his nets. You know, he was a commercial fisherman getting off work, cleaning up after after a hard night of fishing on the Sea of Galilee. And, you know, commercial fishing then, like now, is uh is hard work. It's it's dangerous, it draws a certain um type of person. Have you seen the show anyone like the The Deadliest Catch? I've got a nephew that really likes that show, and we've watched it some times, and it's in Alaska, and it and it's uh fishing crews and they're fishing for uh um King Crab. And it focuses on the captain of each of the boats, you know, and and um how they live for that big catch. You know, and the big catch is is is uh it's kind of glory in their crowd, but more than that, it's a windfall, um, money-wise. And they just live for that. And and and Peter and his friends would have been like that, dreaming of the big catch and the money, the windfall from selling it. You know, on that show, uh the the captains and the crew, I mean, they are a rough bunch. And Peter was too. I mean, he was a rough and tumble guy. You know, later in his life, Peter is with Jesus when the Romans and the religious leaders come to arrest uh Jesus, and uh Peter just draws a sword and he cuts a guy's ear off. I mean, he's like a pirate or something, you know. You know, this the sea captain swashbuckling with his uh with his sword. You know, and then later, just shortly after that, um Jesus uh um I mean Peter denies that he ever ever knew Jesus, and uh they're not sure they believe him. And uh so Peter just starts swearing like a sailor. And um, and you know he dropped a few big bombs because whatever he said, they were like, okay, we get it, we get it. You're you're definitely not with Jesus. But see, that's a picture of Simon Peter, rough, tough, unrefined, foul-mouthed. And in that day in Capernaum, another word would apply exhausted. I mean, he's just exhausted. He'd been fishing all night. You know, in the Sea of Galilee, fishmen always fished at night. They uh their main fish was tilapia. And uh they would um the tilapia hide in the rocks kind of during the day, and at night they go they they they school, and so all commercial fishing was was done at night. And so now Peter is just doing Jesus a favor. Jesus had asked him if he could use the boat. Peter's out there with him, manning the oars so the boat stays steady enough so he can uh uh speak in the same direction. It says when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, Now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets to catch some fish. Well, Peter had been willing to help, you know, but uh but now he is just annoyed. I mean, there are no fish in the deep water. You don't fish during the day. It's daytime, the fish are all in the shallow water, hiding in the rocks. You know, Peter's like, hello, I'm a professional fisherman. I'm tired. He says, Master, Simon replied. We worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing. But if you say so, I'll let the nets down again. Now, master was their word for boss. See, we might hear it and we're thinking, oh, master, whatever you say. But that was just a common word for boss. And so I think that that Peter's tone was more like, okay, boss. I mean, uh, I'm sure you know a lot about fishing, Mr. Carpenter Rabbi guy. But for whatever reason, you know, he trusted him enough to do it. And he said, and he said, you know, if you say so, if you say so, I'll do it. And this time their nets were so full of fish, they began to tear. A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. This event was gonna have a huge, huge impact on Peter. It's not just that they caught a bunch of fish. In a few minutes, with one simple direction, Jesus had been able to accomplish what Peter had been working for his whole life. This was it. The big catch. The windfall. What he'd been dreaming about ever since he started fishing as a boy. The nets were tearing, the fish, the boats were so full, they're starting to starting to sink. But this was it. And if you work or have a business, and you don't let Jesus into your business life, you're missing a tremendous opportunity. I made that mistake for years. I I assumed God didn't really care uh about that. And besides, besides, if I let Jesus into my business world, I might have to change a few things about the way I acted. Maybe I'd have to act a little different out at work, you know, and maybe I'd have to give him the credit when things went well and maybe be a little more generous with with uh the success. But but I finally did. In the last seven or eight years that I owned a company were by far the most successful. Kind of like Peter and his his fishing business. It was what I had dreamed of, it was what I'd worked for. And the best business ideas I I ever got, um, the biggest problem solved, the biggest disasters averted came when I was praying. When I was talking to Jesus about the business, about what was going on in my life. He cared about it because he cared about me, and it just in a way, it was the start of our relationship. Um and Jesus can give you, and in whatever you do, Jesus can give you one idea, one direction that is more valuable than years of trying and planning and and figuring it out. You know, if we just let him into all of our life. You know, I don't want you to misunderstand and think that I think Jesus wants us to be rich, because I don't. Um what Jesus taught was that we can trust him to take care of us. We can trust him that we will have enough for us, and most of the time enough to share with others, which is really his heart's desire. But it wasn't about money or getting rich. I mean, with Susan and I, he was an ask us to give most of it away anyway. It wasn't about that. It was something different. It was about something more transforming, about us being able to trust him, seeing he cares, hearing him on something that was uh important to me, so later I could hear him on something important to him, you know? And it was just it was part of that relationship. And so I hope that we can see that Jesus doesn't only have insight on spiritual stuff, that he's God and he loves you, and he cares about you, and he cares about your whole life. You know, the way it happened for me was I really felt convicted to pray. And so I decided that, you know, to be a good Christian, I was gonna pray 15 minutes every day. And so I made a list of important prayer stuff. And it would be um, you know, our marriage and our kids and Haiti and and friends, you know, that had had um six spouses or or parents and that type of thing. And so I'd I'd get to the time and I'd I'd start um praying, and um, you know, 15 minutes doesn't seem a long time, except when you're trying to pray. You know, it's like riding an exercise bike or a treadmill or something at first, you know, you're like, wow, that was good, and you look up and it's like three minutes. And uh and that's the way it was. It's different now, but then that's kind of the way it was. And what would happen is I started praying about this important stuff, and I would kind of like snap two, and I realized my mind had been wandering. And I wasn't even praying, I was thinking about a business appointment I had that uh that afternoon. You know, I was thinking about how am I gonna get home from work in time to um you know for uh the kids' baseball game? And you know, um those type of things. And I felt like such a jerk. I mean, like, I mean, I can't, I don't even have enough discipline to pray for 15 minutes. You know, what is uh what's wrong with me? And eventually God showed me something really important, and and that's that sometimes when I felt like my mind was wandering, God was really bringing things to my mind to pray about. And God cares about everything, God cares about my business appointment as much as He cares about my friend. And so as soon as I I could tell that, oh no, I'm thinking about that deal or whatever, that situation with an employee, whatever it was, I would stop and I'd pray about that. And then I'd then that would be gone. And I'd get back to praying, then something else would come to mind, and I'd pray about that. You know, and it was so freeing. And and I got to pray about so many important things that I wouldn't have thought were important to God, but they are. Jesus or Peter's fishing business was important to God. That is where Jesus met Peter. That's how that that he met Peter. And what happened is eventually everything in my life started getting better. Because I was sharing my life with God and I was talking about everything in my life. And we developed a we developed a relationship. Now I love to spend some time with him. Now I can spend more time, and I can also just cool out and and and you know sit there for 30 minutes and let him talk to me, you know, see what he wants to talk about. It's just more of a relationship, but it started that way, and he and he loves you and he cares about you, and he values what you do. And if you'll just let him into all parts of your life, your relationships, you know, your children, your career, your business. And he wants to help. And I'd say, uh like Peter, if we just do what he asked us to do. Because a lot of times it just doesn't seem it's like you know, it's like Peter, hey, I know how to fish. That doesn't seem like such a good a good plan. We saw that last week with Jesus' mom. Mary said to the servants, do whatever he asks you. And well, what he asked them was a hard work, 180 gallons of water they had to draw from a well, but what it would turn into was a miracle. Here Jesus asked Peter to fish in the wrong place at the wrong time of day. He's already exhausted. And as we come to know Peter in the New Testament, Peter was very hard-headed. You know, he's like strong-willed and he's very impulsive. And I'm sure he was this close to saying no. I mean, he had to be this close to saying, No, I'm tired, I'm going home. I wrote a while for you so you could talk. I'm gonna go home and go to bed. But he didn't. He said, Okay, because you asked, I'll do it. But the result was a miracle. What he had dreamed of, a catch of a lifetime and the start of a relationship. And it's the same with us. It's the same with us. So in Luke 5, he keeps going to verse 8. When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, Oh Lord, please leave me. I'm too much of a sinner to be around you. For he was awestruck. By the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him, his partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were also amazed. See, Peter doesn't know this much, that much about Jesus at this point. I mean, they're just starting their relationship, but he knew enough to know that Jesus is holy, and he wasn't. And so this rugged commercial fisherman drops to the knees, the middle of his boat. And Jesus replied to Simon, Don't be afraid. From now on, you'll be fishing for people. And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus. See, Peter got a glimpse of a whole different way of thinking. I mean, here was a person, Jesus, that obviously could be wildly successful at fishing if he wanted to be. But instead, he had little, you know? And he spent his time teaching and healing and helping and loving people. And just a combination of all this must have had Peter a little bit freaked out. Because Jesus said, you know, the one thing that he says more times than anything else in the Gospels. He says to Peter, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid, Peter. Then after that, he said something else. And it could have been anything he said. He could have said, you know, Peter, from now on, you'll be doing something really important. Peter, from now on, you're going to be doing something better. But he didn't. He said something that was meaningful to Peter. From now on, you'll be fishing for men. What Peter would have heard is, I like who you are. I respect what you do. You're a fisherman. I value that. I created you that way. I value you. Together, you and I, we're going to keep fishing. We're going to keep fishing just in a different sea. Four of the books in the New Testament list twelve apostles. They're all listed in slightly different orders in all the books, except for one. And that's the first name on each of the list is Peter. The rock. The rock's life is still impacting the world from this day that he met Jesus. One of the most exciting parts of this particular story is more what it says about Jesus. You know, Jesus didn't hang out at the seminary graduation, you know, hoping the uh the Jewish scholars would uh would come with him. He chose ordinary people with real lives, with real life experience, with faults and a past and mistakes and all that stuff. And he loved them and he valued them. And he loves you and he values you. So we can be like Peter. If we can just trust him enough to see the miracle. You know, if we can follow him, we can see a whole different life. You know, we can change our worlds around us. 1 Corinthians 1, it says, everything that we have, right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start, it comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. If the worship team comes up, we're going to finish one more song and we'll uh we'll sing that. I mean, we're going to finish with one more song, we'll sing that together. Um let's stand and we'll get uh get ready for that. A clean slate and a fresh start. It's what Peter got, it's what's available for all of us. You know, Jesus didn't hand Peter a list of rules and say, okay, here it is, here's the list, here's your checklist. This is what I want you to do and not do. What he said to Peter was, follow me. Follow me. And where was he gonna follow Jesus to? Nowhere. Nowhere. They were gonna live in Capernaum. See, he was gonna travel, they'd go to Jerusalem for the Passover, and they would go to areas around it. But when he said follow me, he's not talking about go with me to some place. He is like, follow me with your heart and with your life. And we'll do something different together. It's the same offer to us if we just follow him. It's so simple to start. We say to Jesus in our own words, in our own way, I want to follow you. I will follow you. I need you. Help me. And then he fills us with his spirit, and he strengthens us, and he starts changing us from the inside out. And we do something together with him, and we do live a whole different life. You know, if you haven't done that, you could do that today. Follow Jesus. The best choice I've ever made. Next week we're gonna uh see Peter, the rock, and we're gonna see him in his same boat, in the same spot, and a whole nother fresh start. Let's pray. Father, we just thank you for being such a good God. Jesus, we just thank you for loving us, and we thank you for valuing us. We need your strength, we need your help, Jesus. Help us to trust you enough. Help us to follow you. We love you, we need you. It's in your name we pray. Amen.