A Phenomenal Catch
Opening:
Charles Ingle retells the story of a remarkable incident that happened while being out on sea:
There was a dense fog to the point of the sailors not being able to move.
Despite the fog, one of the sailors - Mr. George Muller - said he needed to be in Quebec by Saturday.
The captain said it would be impossible to be in Quebec by then and the sailor said that surely if you cannot take me, then God will have to find some other way to get me there!
The sailor encouraged the captain and the team to pray. He was not focused on the density of fog but on the greatness of the living God that controls every circumstance in our lives!
After Mr. Muller prayed, he told the captain he does not need to pray since he knows the captain does not believe God will do it while Mr. Muller believes God has already done it!
The fog indeed went away after Mr. Muller’s prayer and Mr. Muller made it to Quebec on Saturday!
God displays His biggest miracles in the face of our biggest impossibilities.
Sermon Key Points:
You do not have to be George Muller to be facing your own impossible fog, where you do not know how you are going to make it to your destination.
It is easy for us to get frustrated or give up when we face these anxious situations.
God is able to do it and He has already done it!
We must will ourselves to believe that the phenomenal is still possible.
The fisherman in the text - who soon became disciples of Jesus - saw the impossible and then were able to do the impossible (after their encounter with Jesus).
These were the disciples who after preaching a simple message saw thousands accept Jesus Christ in their heart and follow Jesus.
These were the disciples that after calling on the name of Jesus were able to make the lame walk
These were the disciples whose shadow will pass by the sick and somehow the sick would get well
These expert fisherman were having an impossible night - They were ready to quit because they were frustrated that they could not catch any fish.
What do you do when you find yourself doing what you are supposed to do & doing what you know how to do and all you end up with is night and nothing?
Night feels like:
When you have given it all your effort and everything that you can yet you seem to be coming up with nothing
When you have tried every solution, read every book and asked every question yet you still come up with nothing
When you are trying to keep it together but you are about to fall apart.
When you go to the doctor and they give you medicine but it does not ease the pain.
When you call a friend for help and they fail you.
This is how the disciples felt when they could not catch any fish.
You don’t have to abandon your boat or become disheartened when you find yourself in an impossible night.
This just means the conditions are right for God to do his greatest miracle!
You must believe that the phenomenal is still possible.
How do I believe in the phenomenal?
1. You give God and let God into your boat. You have to give Him what you got.
God has a habit of using the unlikely things in order to display His power.
Things change when God is in your boat.
Your problems turn into potential when God gets on your boat. He can take your worry and make it into a way when He steps onto your boat.
2. You have to let God tell you what to do with what you got. You have to go beyond what you know (or what you think you know).
You have to be willing to go into the deep.
You have to be willing to do what God tells you to do, even if you tried it before.
3. You have to allow Him to do more for you than what you can do for yourself.
You will never have a phenomenal catch (ie: career, marriage, etc.) until you let God tell you what to do with what you got.
All He is asking us to do is cast our net. In essence, a net is your capacity to handle what God gives (the blessing He gives you).
Faith begins when man’s (human) power ends.
