When Opportunity Knocks | Seize The Season | Abundant Life Church | Pastor Sean Thomas
When Opportunity Knocks | Seize The Season | Abundant Life Church | Pastor Sean Thomas
Transcript
Episode transcript
Generated transcript for this episode.
Speaker 1
Hey, everyone. Pastor Sean here, and I wanna thank you for subscribing to our podcast. I'm excited to get into today's message. And remember this, God is a good God. He loves you, and he wants to bless you.
Speaker 2
And so as I was in the word this week, the Lord brought me to Acts chapter one and and I'm gonna read this and then we'll start to make sense of it.
Speaker 2
And so that I hold my my my placement for I wanna... Where I wanna go today, I really wanna talk to you about seizing the season.
Speaker 2
Seizing the season.
Speaker 2
If you'd like another title, you can put this down on your phone. Write it down. When opportunity knocks.
Speaker 2
When opportunity knocks.
Speaker 2
So Acts chapter one
Speaker 2
starting in verse five.
Speaker 2
Jesus has now resurrected and He has begun to show Himself in private spaces with His disciples. He hasn't been public yet, but in close settings He's been sharing and talking with the disciples about what is to happen, what is to take place next. And Jesus makes a statement in verse five as He's assembled with the disciples. And He says, for John truly baptized with water, was baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with Holy Spirit not many days from now.
Speaker 2
He says John was baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Now, love this because the disciples that respond to Jesus in verse six and they say this, therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? And Jesus responds in verse seven, and He says, and He said to them, it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
Speaker 2
Let me say that again. He said, it is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But verse eight, and this is the portion of Scripture that we know very familiar or it's very very well. It says, but you shall receive power.
Speaker 2
I just like the way that sounds. But you shall receive power.
Speaker 2
But you shall receive power.
Speaker 2
That should get you excited right there. But you shall receive power
Speaker 2
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.
Speaker 2
And you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem.
Speaker 2
Look at this. In Judea, Samaria, and the end of the earth.
Speaker 2
Now, even as I'm reading that scripture, many of you have already concluded the outcome of what is being spoken.
Speaker 2
But I actually wanna go back to where the disciples say, is it time for Israel, for the kingdom to be restored in Israel?
Speaker 2
And Jesus says, it is not for you to know the times and the seasons that are under the Father's authority.
Speaker 2
Now, I wanna take a moment and I wanna put a spotlight on that because it's not that He's saying it's not for you to know times and seasons.
Speaker 2
He's saying it's not for you to know the time and the season that is under God's authority, under the Father's authority.
Speaker 2
But the truth is this, is that times and seasons are what we live by, but we're so focused under what God is doing that we're not paying attention to what we're supposed to be doing. And Jesus says this, don't worry about what the Father is doing right now in His time and season. Just know He has sent the Holy Spirit to give you power for your time and your season right now. And your time and your season according to the word of the Lord is for you to be a witness in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. It is a progression.
Speaker 2
The line of text did not say for you to be a witness in the ends of the earth and then Samaria and then... No. It's a progression.
Speaker 2
What Jesus is saying is this, is that the power that is upon your life is going to be revealed in the way that you steward your walk with the Lord, in the way that you steward your witness.
Speaker 2
We want to get so excited about the ends of the earth, but the question is, have you been a witness with the power that God's given you to your Jerusalem, to your Judea, to your Samaria?
Speaker 2
I love it how when we walk into settings, man, we just want to swing for the fences, and I was a baseball player, and every at bat, I just wanted to hit a home run. But I realized this, hitting home runs wasn't what always what won the game. Sometimes it was just a base hit to get on first base, and enough base hits is what's gonna allow me to score enough runs to win the game. What's the point? The point about it is this, is that we are so far on the other side of things that we're not looking at the two feet that's in front of us.
Speaker 2
And the Bible says in Ecclesiastes chapter three and verse one that there is a season for everything, a time for every purpose under heaven.
Speaker 2
Did you know that there is a time in a season for everything? I said there is a time in a season for everything.
Speaker 2
And my question is, with the power that God has given you, how are you stewarding your time? How are you stewarding your season?
Speaker 2
How are you stewarding your life when it comes to your thoughts and your words and your actions, your relationships, your walk with the Lord, your finances? How are you stewarding what God has given you? Because based upon the measure that you have and what you do with it will determine what takes place next.
Speaker 2
Hence, the parable of the talents.
Speaker 2
One had a few, another had a little bit more, and the last one had even more than that. The one with the few buried his, the other two planted theirs.
Speaker 2
And the two that planted received greater reward, the one that buried his lost everything.
Speaker 2
I would hate to stand before the Lord and say that I wasn't a good steward of what God gave me.
Speaker 2
Now, just so that we can get this in our in our mind, the word power, what Jesus is talking about in Acts chapter one, it comes from a Greek word called dunamis.
Speaker 2
Dunamis means explosive power. Dunamis is is where we get the word dynamite from. Has anyone ever seen in the movies like a stick of dynamite?
Speaker 2
You like that stick of dynamite?
Speaker 2
Does it implode?
Speaker 2
No. It explodes.
Speaker 2
I shared this the other night. Had the opportunity to speak with our youth. And I told them as I said, anybody around, the July 4 or or in that time right there like to go out and buy fireworks?
Speaker 2
I'm gonna ask you, anybody in here like to buy fireworks?
Speaker 2
Anybody like to watch fireworks? My wife and I, we love seeing fireworks.
Speaker 2
Now I don't go to Disney much or at all. But when I do, I like the Epcot fireworks.
Speaker 2
They're grand. They're beautiful. They're exciting. How many of know for you to be able to witness what you see in the sky, something actually has to take place.
Speaker 2
In order for your world to witness the goodness of God, something actually has to take place in your life. That power that's upon your life, it simply means this. It's the ability of God in a believer's life that now puts you in position for you to fulfill your purpose.
Speaker 2
Now that sounds like a mouthful, but it simply means this. It's you using what God has given you to walk in your purpose so that you can give glory to God.
Speaker 2
And others see that.
Speaker 2
The power that is at work in a believer's life is your God given ability.
Speaker 2
It's what God has placed upon you. Not not what you were born with. It's when I enter into the kingdom of God, it's this God given ability.
Speaker 2
I love this. The Bible talks about the gifts of the spirit. And Paul is writing about this. And he says this, is that he he talks about that there are these nine different gifts in Corinthians.
Speaker 2
And those gifts mean charisma.
Speaker 2
It's where we get the word charismatic from.
Speaker 2
But the word charisma, you ready for this? It means a little something extra.
Speaker 2
Some of you might not have known that. It's a little something extra. So when I got saved, man, the Lord, He set me free. He delivered me. He healed me. He put me on the right track. And now we're saying, now when you receive the power of the Holy Spirit, I'm gonna give you a little something extra. Can anybody in here benefit from a little something extra? Anybody in here need a little something extra? Just when you've got to the end of the line in your strength and you feel like I can't do it anymore, the Holy Spirit says, let me into the room right now. Let me take over the situation right now. Let me handle the business deal right now. Let me handle the very thing that you need to parent well right now. Let the Holy Spirit in and give you a little something extra so that you can flourish in every season, in every situation. And someone getting this this morning? The
Speaker 2
power that is at work, the Bible says in Ephesians chapter three verse 20.
Speaker 2
The scripture says this, that God is able. I wanna tell you, God is able. God has never not not been able. God doesn't find Himself on the disabled list.
Speaker 2
God doesn't find Himself tired and and worn out. God doesn't say, well I could only answer you know about a thousand prayers this week with the millions of other people. I'll get to you next week. He doesn't defer your spiritual email or text message or DM because He's just been so inundated with messages.
Speaker 2
God hears you. God sees you.
Speaker 2
God knows exactly where you are right now. And the Bible says that God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all you could ask or think. So, whatever the highest level is that you've been able to imagine, cook up, create in your mind, God says, I'll go past that. I'll go to a dimension that your eye hasn't seen and your ear hasn't heard nor either entered into your heart because I'm a good God and I love you and I wanna bless you. But here's the deal is yet He is able to do exceedingly and abundantly and measurably beyond anything we could think of according to the power that is at work within you.
Speaker 2
God's ability is directly connected to what you're doing in your ability.
Speaker 2
So, you can't have expectation for God to show up when you're sitting on the couch watching Netflix and eating Cheetos.
Speaker 2
When you should be going out and getting a job, supporting your family, or stop being a failure to launch and move out of mommy and daddy's house and actually fulfill what God's put in your heart. I'm helping some mom and dads right there.
Speaker 2
At one point, I mildly found myself in that wake.
Speaker 2
And then I met an amazing woman, and I married up. And
Speaker 2
my parents had peace and freedom.
Speaker 2
The point about it is this, is is that so often we want God to show up, but we're not willing to give Him anything to work with.
Speaker 2
And I took a moment to emphasize, it's not for us to know the times and seasons that's under God's authority, but it is up to us to know the times and seasons that's under our authority.
Speaker 2
And then let me just teach this for a second. So I just... I need listening ears.
Speaker 2
The word time means kronos.
Speaker 2
The word season means kairos.
Speaker 2
Some of you've heard me say that before, but I wanna I wanna unpack this.
Speaker 2
The word time is Kronos.
Speaker 2
Kronos.
Speaker 2
Chronological.
Speaker 2
There's an order to it. You can calculate it.
Speaker 2
It's that there is sixty seconds in a minute.
Speaker 2
Okay?
Speaker 2
I... It's predictable in the sense that I can count on it because it is what is naturally expected to happen.
Speaker 2
Kronos, I can keep the time.
Speaker 2
Kairos is the word for season.
Speaker 2
So when you read throughout scripture, season, it means kairos not kronos.
Speaker 2
Kairos means opportunity or the opportune time.
Speaker 2
The word kairos, it is a maritime word that came from when men were out to sea sailing.
Speaker 2
The word kairos, meaning opportune. The word opportune is when sailors would be out to sea and they knew the season was shifting, they didn't know exactly which day.
Speaker 2
And so the, the, the men that were out at sea, they would begin to lift up their sails for the expectation that the changing winds would go in their direction now hitting their sail for them to be able to come back home.
Speaker 2
They did not know what day the wind was going to come. They didn't know which day the season was going to change. They did not know exactly when this was going to happen, but they were in a place of expectation.
Speaker 2
Opportunity is us being in a constant place of expectation for God to show up.
Speaker 2
I've said this before and I want to emphasize this.
Speaker 2
Listen to me when I say, is that to be able to seize the opportunity of a lifetime, you have to do it in the lifetime of the opportunity.
Speaker 2
To seize the opportunity of a lifetime, you have to do it in the lifetime of of the opportunity.
Speaker 2
I remember not too long back, I was shopping at Bloomingdale's.
Speaker 2
It's where I like to acquire my garb. While I was there, they had this promotional deal going on. If you spend a $100 on your purchase, you get 15 off. I like that. You spend $200, you get $40 off. Come on now. If you spend $300, I'm not gonna look at my wife, I'm gonna go back over here. If you spend $300, you get $75 off. I like that promotional opportunity right there. So here I was, and I was checking out. I'm not gonna say how much I was spending at that moment because I wanna be able to get home and have a nice nap this afternoon. And so while I was in the store, I was pursuing one of those three opportunities.
Speaker 2
And so, I remember I was at checkout and I was excited and I and I and I and I paid the lady. And the lady said, here is your promotional card.
Speaker 2
You can use this. Now, are ready for this? You can use this at your next purchase. And I said, well, can I use it right now? I just purchased it. You gave it to me. Can I return all my stuff and now repurchase it again and apply it? She said, no.
Speaker 2
Y'all acting like I'm the only one that does that. Don't you look at me. Don't you dare look at me and act like the moment you get a coupe, you're not looking to apply it right away.
Speaker 2
But typically underneath it, what what do you see? You see in fine print valid from such and such date through such and such date. Come back at any time in that window and you can apply that promotional opportunity. Come on, are you with me this morning? So here's the deal. I I knew that I had this card, and I went back to the store some weeks later, and I thought to myself, was like, oh, did I miss the window of the opportunity?
Speaker 2
Did did did I miss the window of the opportunity?
Speaker 2
And I pulled out the car and I saw the fine print. Oh, thank you, Lord. I didn't miss the window of the opportunity.
Speaker 2
So I applied that for another beautiful purchase.
Speaker 2
That got me another opportunity. And I said, I know what this store is up to. They're just taking my money right now. Here's the point about it, and this is what I want you to see. The the the the the the deal is this, is that the opportunity, it had a timeline that was attached to it. And if I didn't pursue the opportunity in the timeline, then I wouldn't have been able to experience the opportunity.
Speaker 2
But what it required for me to get to the opportunity was for me to actually show up to the store and participate in the program that required me to get involved.
Speaker 2
What are you saying?
Speaker 2
Time is right here and right now. Time is calculated in minutes.
Speaker 2
Opportunities are calculated in moments. In order for me to get to the moment, I gotta do something in the minutes.
Speaker 2
And so the Bible says that it is a now faith, not a tomorrow faith, not a yesterday faith. Hebrews eleven one says, now faith is the substance.
Speaker 2
Substance means title deed.
Speaker 2
It is the title deed of what I'm hoping for. It's the title deed of that opportunity that I'm believing for. It's the title deed of the very thing that I've been setting my faith towards in Christ Jesus.
Speaker 2
And I don't know what you've been setting your faith towards. I don't know if it's an opportunity of breakthrough or deliverance or freedom or restoration, but it requires a now faith.
Speaker 2
Now faith is your Kronos moment or minute. Now faith is what you're doing right now.
Speaker 2
And my question is, is your now faith only on Sundays?
Speaker 2
Or is your now faith gonna be when you wake up in the morning tomorrow and you're dreading going to work and you're frustrated because you feel like everybody is out to get you, and there'll never be a promotion, but a now faith says that I'm gonna do what God has given me the ability to do with expectation that that promotion is gonna show its face.
Speaker 2
Your minutes will determine your moments.
Speaker 2
Your
Speaker 2
minutes determine your moments. I don't know if I was a sailor when the moment of the wind's gonna come, but it's in the minutes that they're pulling up that sail, that they're pulling up that anchor, that they're readying the ship. It's what I do today will determine what's going to take place tomorrow.
Speaker 2
God came to Abraham in Genesis 12 and He said, Abraham, get out of your father's land and go to the place that I've assigned to you.
Speaker 2
He says, if you go back to Genesis 12, He says, get out now.
Speaker 2
And I believe that there was that much fervor behind the way He spoke that. Get out now. In other words, Abraham, now your faith must be activated for you to get into position.
Speaker 2
Kronos positions you for kairos.
Speaker 2
Abraham would have never entered into the land where God said, I will bless you and all nations will call you blessed. And that's where your inheritance is if he did not exercise his faith in that Kronos minutes.
Speaker 2
Getting this, Kronos determines your kairos.
Speaker 2
You will receive power.
Speaker 2
And in Kronos, I will start with my Jerusalem and I will slowly advance to the Judea and to the Samaria and to the ends of the earth. It's stewardship of the Kronos of the time.
Speaker 2
What are you doing with the time that God has given you right now? What are you doing with the life and the purpose that the Lord has set before you right now?
Speaker 2
There's this parable in Matthew 25 talking about the 10 virgins and how they were waiting on the bridegroom to come. They did not know the day. They did not know the hour. They did not know the moment that He would show up. And the Bible says as Jesus is unpacking this parable, is He says five of them were foolish.
Speaker 2
Five of them were wise.
Speaker 2
Five of them had enough oil to keep their lamps burning.
Speaker 2
Five of them did not prepare themselves.
Speaker 2
And so, when they did not know the hour in which the bridegroom was going to return, they fell asleep. The hours got long. The days got long. Sometimes, we don't know when the moment is going to come. But I want to caution you, don't get caught sleeping.
Speaker 2
Don't get caught sleeping.
Speaker 2
The opportunity of a lifetime is in the lifetime of the opportunity, which means I want to be on high alert. I want to be spiritually prepared. I want to be mentally prepared. Man, I I want to be in a place that I'm steward everything in the right direction, because no one knows the day nor the hour. But I'm here to tell you that our God is not a man that He should lie.
Speaker 2
Our God is not one who's gonna leave your seed begging bread. Our God is a good God who loves you and wants to bless you and wants to move in your life in a way that you have never even comprehended before.
Speaker 2
And so, the five foolish ones, they did not have enough oil and when they heard that the bridegroom was coming, all of a sudden they the the the... They told the wise ones or asked the wise ones, give us some of your oil. And they're like, on a second, Joker. I don't think so. I prepared for my Kronos, not yours. I prepared for my Kronos, not yours.
Speaker 2
They said, go out and go buy some. And as the five foolish virgins went out to go buy some more oil for their lamps, the Bible says that the bridegroom came and took the five ones that were in position into their kairos moment.
Speaker 2
Into their opportunity that was set before them.
Speaker 2
Man, I would hate to miss the opportunity that God has for us. I'd hate for to miss the opportunity to witness to that person that the Lord said I needed to go and bring the gospel to. I'd hate to miss the opportunity when the Lord is saying, hey, here's an area of your life that I really wanna bless you in, but you haven't really stewarded it well.
Speaker 2
Oh,
Speaker 2
your Kronos is not just faith for what you want.
Speaker 2
Your Kronos is in how you're stewarding your life right now.
Speaker 2
Because what you want might not be what gives you peace. What you want might not be what gives you joy if you're not steward... You can be a believer and not have joy, not have peace. Say I love Jesus all day long but because you have not stewarded the bitterness, the anger, and the unforgiveness in your heart, you will never have that opportunity of a lifetime. Because your Kronos is in how you are stewarding right here and right now.
Speaker 2
Turn with me to Luke chapter five.
Speaker 2
I'm gonna take a few minutes here and put our attention on this.
Speaker 2
Luke chapter five.
Speaker 2
What we'll begin to find in chapter five is Jesus is ministering and the Bible says that there is a multitude.
Speaker 2
Now, whenever you read multitude in the Bible, it's a thousand or more people.
Speaker 2
So anytime you hear multitudes, plural, it's thousands of people.
Speaker 2
And so the Bible says that Jesus is at the sea next to Gennesaret and there, the multitudes begin to gather around him.
Speaker 2
And the bible says in Luke chapter five starting in verse two. And he saw two boats standing by the lake but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.
Speaker 2
And he got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, who later on would be called Peter.
Speaker 2
But he got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and he taught the multitudes, thousands from the boat.
Speaker 2
When he had stopped speaking, he said to Simon, launch out into the deep and let your nets for a catch.
Speaker 2
Let down your nets for a catch. Somebody say, nets. But
Speaker 2
verse five, but Simon answered and said to him, master, we've toiled all night and caught nothing.
Speaker 2
Nevertheless, at your word, I will let down the net.
Speaker 2
And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their net was breaking.
Speaker 2
So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them and they came and filled the boat and filled both boats so that when they began, so that they began to sink.
Speaker 2
So much fish that even the extra boat, the two of them began to sink.
Speaker 2
And verse eight, when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying, depart from me for I'm a sinful man, oh Lord. And verse nine, for he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken. And so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, do not be afraid. From now on, you will catch the men.
Speaker 2
From now on, you will catch men. Very familiar passage. Very familiar story. And I was going back and just revisiting and and and reading through it because there's something about this Kronos and this Keros that I couldn't help but to see pop off the pages in this story.
Speaker 2
I I begin to see this thing and and and I begin to examine this this passage and and and I realize that that there that there is Kronos and Kronos that is rooted right into it. But,
Speaker 2
as I was looking at the entire passage, I I I really wanted to to to put myself in the shoes that if I were Simon Peter and if I was in that setting, what would have all been going on? Because the Bible says that that Jesus
Speaker 2
gets into a boat.
Speaker 2
The multitude, thousands come to hear Him. You know what I love about this? The only thing that we know that is taking place in this church service right now is that Jesus' podium was a boat.
Speaker 2
The only person that we know that has any testimony is Simon Peter and that didn't come till later.
Speaker 2
We don't know who was in those multitudes. We don't know what Jesus taught. But we know this, His podium was a boat and He sat down and He preached without a PA system.
Speaker 2
He didn't have screens behind Him. He didn't have a worship team that went before Him. He just ministered the raw, real Word of God.
Speaker 2
I think that that's important to understand or for us to take a note of is because sometimes we're waiting for the conditions of the Kairos to be there in order for us to take a chrono step.
Speaker 2
And sometimes, you're not gonna have the benefit of a church experience when you're witnessing to that person at work tomorrow.
Speaker 2
But, you just gotta know that you've got the power of God upon your life to bring the real, raw gospel, and that's enough for them to know that God's a good God, and that Jesus died on the cross, and that Jesus rose three days later, and that they too can have new life.
Speaker 2
And so Jesus is here and and and He gets into this boat and He and He tells Simon, and He says, Simon, let's let's let's push out a little bit.
Speaker 2
But you got to understand when he rolled up on the scene, Simon was not in the boat. Simon was washing his nets.
Speaker 2
Washing his nets was the equivalent of him giving up. Washing his nets was the equivalent of him quitting.
Speaker 2
Washing his nets was the same thing as saying, I know that I'm living in a Kronos now, but I've given up on my Kronos now.
Speaker 2
I'm not willing to do anything else in my Kronos now. I'm not I'm not willing to put forth any more effort. And I came to ask you this morning, has anybody just found themselves in a place that you feel like you're just washing your nets?
Speaker 2
You understand to quit or to give up on what God's put in your heart does not mean for you to just disappear.
Speaker 2
Because before you quit in your hand, quit in your heart.
Speaker 2
He was washing his nets and he was still present next to the boat looking at an empty boat. Looking at there was no fish. Looking at the fact that he felt like a failure. And I think that that might be applicable to somebody here today that says, I'm washing my net and I don't feel like getting back out into that boat again.
Speaker 2
Because I'm frustrated that I put forth all this effort and I've got nothing to show for it. And when you find yourself in a place of life washing your net, when you find yourself giving up on yourself, you get bitter and you get angry towards everyone, and it's a matter of time until you get bitter and angry towards yourself.
Speaker 2
Washing your net is telling yourself that I'm not worthy to be loved. Washing your net is telling yourself that I'm always going to be an addict. Washing your net is telling yourself I'll never get healed. Washing your net is telling yourself my business will never prosper. Washing your net is telling yourself my family will never be saved, and my marriage will never be restored. There comes a point in time that you've got to stop washing your nets and know you're called to get in the game.
Speaker 2
And He tells Simon, get into this boat.
Speaker 2
And launch out a little bit.
Speaker 2
Now, catch the text because the text didn't say that they went to the deep first.
Speaker 2
And I think that's important for us as the church to understand that sometimes change doesn't always come at this big blockbuster moment.
Speaker 2
Sometimes change comes when you're willing just to get your pinky toe in shallow water again. I believe that sometimes we overlook this portion of the story, and we forget the fact that Peter was in the boat in shallow water with Jesus as Jesus was preaching the Word.
Speaker 2
So, the Word was getting on him and the Word was getting in him.
Speaker 2
And if it hadn't been for that shallow moment where he was getting the Word, getting what Jesus was saying, I don't know if he would have responded with at your Word, I'll let down my net a moment later.
Speaker 2
I say that it's because we've to be careful not to judge where others are at in their walk with the Lord.
Speaker 2
So be it if where you're at right now is two Psalms and a proverb in your Bible. Be two Psalms and a proverb in your Bible. I understand that some of you might be four Gospels deep. I understand some of you might be Bible in a year, and that's what we all want to go towards. But the reality is don't shortchange where you are right now.
Speaker 2
At the same time, don't get comfortable where you are right now. Because if He hadn't pushed from the shallow water into the deep, we would have never had the miracle of the catch. There is grace for your pace when you're walking with the Lord.
Speaker 2
I just want to give that as a permission slip for somebody.
Speaker 2
Because what we do is we look at what other people are doing.
Speaker 2
Well, if only my business would have done that.
Speaker 2
Or or or or if only this situation would have been like that. Or if only I was as gifted as this person, or as talented as that person, or if I was as tall as that guy, Or if I was a little skinnier. Or if I was a little bus more muscular. If I was a little this, a little that. And all we do is we put ourselves in comparison to one another.
Speaker 2
I could imagine Peter before he got into that boat is looking at all the other fishermen that potentially would have gotten fish. And here he is and he's saying, I've got nothing.
Speaker 2
Because he stopped focusing on the fact that the Kronos will determine the Kronos.
Speaker 2
The Kronos is expectation.
Speaker 2
The Kronos is an opportune time something can shift and happen.
Speaker 2
So he's in the boat and Jesus now at the end of his sermon says, Simon, why don't you push out a little bit deeper to let your nets down for a catch?
Speaker 2
What was his response in that he said? He said, but we've toiled all night and we've caught nothing.
Speaker 2
I think it's important to understand that the word toil is not just this King James version text in word.
Speaker 2
The word toil means to put forth an effort and have no response or no result in return.
Speaker 2
To the point that you're grieved and bitter.
Speaker 2
What Peter is saying is, I put forth all this effort. I didn't just work hard all night.
Speaker 2
He said, we followed the system. We followed the program. We followed the plan. We went out when fishermen are supposed to fish at night when the water is cool and the the the fish are swimming close to the top. And we laid out our nets. We set them down. We casted our nets, and we got nothing. And we did this and over and over. Have you ever felt like you're doing something over and you're following the rules? You're following the playbook. You're following the system. You're doing it over and over and over, but yet you're coming up empty to the point that you're grieved and you feel like, well, ain't nothing to this.
Speaker 2
I might as well just give up.
Speaker 2
Come on. I'm talking to somebody right now.
Speaker 2
Toiling is not just working hard, it's working hard with no result to the point of grief.
Speaker 2
And he was grieved.
Speaker 2
And Jesus is saying to him, let down your nets.
Speaker 2
Hold on.
Speaker 2
I'm grieved in my heart right now. My livelihood, everything, my purpose.
Speaker 2
I got nothing to show for it and you want me to do what?
Speaker 2
Says, nevertheless, Lord, at your word, I will let down the net. The only way that he could let down the net though was that he himself had to be willing to launch out to the deep again. And I wanna encourage somebody that maybe you have been in shallow water season, but God is saying don't be afraid to go out to the deep again. Don't be afraid to get out to the place that I've called you to. Don't don't don't don't be afraid.
Speaker 2
Fear not for I am with you. Our God is our shield and our exceedingly great reward.
Speaker 2
So what if maybe you failed? You're not a failure in the eyes of the Father. So what if you fell down? You get yourself back up again. It's His power that makes you... It's His power that's made perfect in your weakness.
Speaker 2
It's His grace that's sufficient for you. It's the fact that you've got that power, that ability that's upon your life to go back out into the deep and let that nets down for a catch.
Speaker 2
Because you can't catch what you're not willing to cast.
Speaker 2
We
Speaker 2
come and we want to catch things from God that we're not willing to cast out for.
Speaker 2
We wanna catch a miracle from God, a wonder from God, but we are not willing to cast our worship. We wanna catch a promise from God, but we won't cast Him our praise. We wanna catch a breakthrough on the job, but we won't cast Him tithe and offering. You wanna catch something that you're not willing to cast for yourself.
Speaker 2
We want people to get saved in this church, but when we give the altar call, we're quick to leave out of the auditorium.
Speaker 2
You're not gonna cast what you're not willing to cast.
Speaker 2
Now, wanna reset some culture stuff right now.
Speaker 2
As the body of Christ, as abundant life church, I don't care what they do in other churches, when there is moments where the Lord is ministering and things are happening and an announcement is a ministry moment in this church.
Speaker 2
You can't catch the favor of God when you're not willing to cast your time and your talent and your energy. You want to break through on the job? Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. I I appreciate the applause right now, but I'm I'm saying something straight. You want to catch a breakthrough on your job, but you won't cast your time to serve a ministry?
Speaker 2
Enough.
Speaker 2
Either this house will be fervent in spirit, this house will sow good seed to build a culture that reflects the Kingdom of God, not the Kingdom of this world.
Speaker 2
Something has to shift and change around here if you want to start stepping into kairos opportunities.
Speaker 2
Because the kairos opportunity is not just about you.
Speaker 2
Because last I checked, when Peter let down his net, he had a call for his partners.
Speaker 2
The scale of the miracle is reflected in the amount of people that get involved.
Speaker 2
Not a one and done, I came to church and I got mine. Shame on you if you're about yours.
Speaker 2
You're blessed to be a blessing.
Speaker 2
And if we're gonna reach our world with life, it's because we are willing to recognize that God does have a purpose before us, and that we're willing to be invested in, in what God is doing in the house of the Lord, and what God is doing in South Florida, and what God is doing in Margate.
Speaker 2
But it is time that we stand back up, regrip our tired hands, and cast that net again.
Speaker 2
I will not be a pastor that does all the work and no one else is willing to cast a net.
Speaker 2
I know this isn't this isn't popular to grow churches. This is not what new people or visiting people wanna hear.
Speaker 2
I'm here to equip the body of Christ. So
Speaker 2
that you can go and do the work.
Speaker 2
Ephesians talks about the fact that God gave gifts to men, some apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints.
Speaker 2
Last time I checked, a coach is not equipping a player for him to sit on the bench.
Speaker 2
A coach equips the player so he can get into the field, and that he can score the winning touchdown, that he can make the winning basket, that he can have the game winning hit. A coach equips the team so that they can flourish.
Speaker 2
But we've got to get into the game if we're going to reach our world with life. Because the punch of that story with Peter was not about the fish that he caught, it was the fact that his kairos moment was not filling two boats with fish.
Speaker 2
That was not his kairos moment.
Speaker 2
Last night I was going back into this and I was reading it and the Lord just arrested my heart and said, Sean, go back to the last verse, verse 11.
Speaker 2
He says, now you will be fisher of men.
Speaker 2
His purpose, Simon Peter's purpose was to go and reach his world with life.
Speaker 2
It wasn't for him to have two boats filled with fish and call it a day. He'd retire on whatever he was able to make by profit.
Speaker 2
That was a Kronos moment that in faith he casted his net. That was a Kronos moment that he received the fish. It was a Kronos moment when he got on his knees and he said, God, I am a sinful man.
Speaker 2
I've made it all about me, and I've missed the big picture. And the big picture now is that I recognize that I was wrong, and Jesus says, now you will go and be a fisher of men. Whatever
Speaker 2
God's gonna do in the world, in the earth, He's gonna do it through you.
Speaker 2
I'm just waiting for God to show up and do something. He's waiting for you to show up and do something.
Speaker 2
Kronos creates the conditions for kairos.
Speaker 2
And if you want a kairos opportunity, it starts in a Kronos minute activity.
Speaker 2
What you're doing. What has God given you to reach your world with life? I know not everybody is called to be a preacher. I understand that. I know not everybody's called a pastor or be in ministry.
Speaker 2
But ministry is the people that you reach on the daily.
Speaker 2
Your witness. He says, I give you power to be a witness, to testify that God is good. You don't think that young lady that we heard about earlier that pastor Chad was talking about was now not testifying and being a witness? Oh my goodness. I ran into my pastor from when I was a student and student. You don't think she didn't share her witness and her testimony of what God had done?
Speaker 2
I've been praying and setting my heart before the Lord.
Speaker 2
God, I wanna see a greater kairos opportunity.
Speaker 2
And the Lord keeps reminding me then to get to that kairos opportunity, we have to mobilize ourselves as the church to truly walk in this in this Kronos, in this now faith.
Speaker 2
We should never come to a gathering of this size and not have expectation for God to move. The strength, the scale of the miracle is reflected in how many get involved.
Speaker 2
It's the corporate.
Speaker 2
It's when he's talking about in Psalm 133, how good pleasant it is when believers dwell in unity.
Speaker 2
That's where the blessing is commanded. That's where the anointing flows. That's when God pours out. I would hate it if one person encountered God, and the rest of the people did not encounter God. What a shame this day would have been. Now, here's the deal. I'm okay if God encountered one because I'm not in it for the masses. I'm in it, Lord. Just touch the one.
Speaker 2
But we can't come together for the expectation that well some got it and some didn't when God says I'm no respecter of persons. I want every single one of you to step into your miracle. I want every single one of you to step into your breakthrough. I want every single one of you to step in and know that God has called you to walk victoriously in Christ Jesus.
Speaker 2
But the kairos is determined by the kronos.
Speaker 2
And I think God's got a funny sense of humor because Jesus says, Peter, let down your nets.
Speaker 2
More than one. Plural.
Speaker 2
And Peter says, nevertheless, Lord, at your word, I'll let down my net.
Speaker 2
Jesus was saying, prepare. There's a big kairos moment that's coming your way.
Speaker 2
But his Kronos
Speaker 2
was where he felt that he was.
Speaker 2
It's all the bit of faith that he was. But the bible says that even the faith the size of a mustard seed.
Speaker 2
I'm here to tell you church, kairos is coming.
Speaker 2
It's coming. Whether your Kronos is slim, thin and small, or outrageously large, kairos is coming.
Speaker 2
But what's gonna determine whether we're ready to receive everything that God has is gonna be determined about what we do today. For God is not mocked whatsoever man sows that shall he also reap. So if you slow to the flesh, you reap corruption. If you sow to the spirit, you reap everlasting life. But don't get weary in well doing For in due season, due opportunity, due kairos.
Speaker 2
You will reap a reward.
Speaker 2
Ready? If you do not give up.
Speaker 2
Just because you're weary doesn't mean you're done.
Speaker 2
Now faith is. Now Kronos is.
Speaker 2
Father, I thank you for your word.
Speaker 2
Ministering to hearts and lives. I thank you God for what you're doing in this place, stirring and waking within the people of God, the families, the church.
Speaker 2
God, let us not walk out of this place small minded. Let us not walk out of this place grieved as if we were given up on everything. But Lord, today, I thank you for restoring the joy of our salvation, for putting victory back in our spirit, for giving us the now faith to believe for the unexpected,
Speaker 2
because you're a good God, and you love us, and you want to bless us. Father, I thank you, Lord, for strengthening the people of God for such a time as this. And maybe you're here today and you say, Pastor, I've been through a season that I'm weary. I've been through a season I've been grieving. I've been through a season that I've just broken and down.
Speaker 2
I want to encourage you today that in Christ Jesus, you have the strength.
Speaker 2
The Holy Spirit, you've got the power, the ability
Speaker 2
to walk in the purpose that God has for your life.
Speaker 2
Jesus, I thank you, Lord, for what you're doing in the people today.
Speaker 2
Strengthen them this day.
Speaker 2
Bless them this day.
Speaker 2
Remind them this day that they've got something to live for.
Speaker 2
For where there's breath, there is purpose.
Speaker 2
In Jesus' wonderful name, amen and amen.
Speaker 2
Amen.
Speaker 1
Thanks again for listening to today's podcast. We trust that it has touched your heart and blessed your life. Listen to support the ministry, you can go to our website, abundantlife.tv.
Speaker 1
And remember, we are better together.