Rooted - New Beginnings: From Nets to Next Steps

Welcome to South Sub Church. We are so glad that you've decided to worship with us today. Whether you're in the room right now or watching from home, wherever it is, we're just so glad that we get to spend this time together and worship the Lord together as one. Here at South Sub Church, we believe we are one church with two expressions of worship. But we have one mission to bring people to Jesus Christ and together become passionate followers of him. Another way that we worship is through our tithes and offerings. And here at South Church, we believe that we give the Lord back what he gives us. And there's a couple ways that I want to invite you to do that this morning. One is giving online at southub.urch/g. Another way is by texting the number that's on the screen right now. Or there's an envelope in your seatback pocket. And here's what I want to invite you to do. No matter what gift you give, big or small, we believe that whatever we give, the Lord multiplies that and we are able to be the hands and feet of Jesus here where we are right now. If you're new, we invite you to fill out a connect card. We would love to get to know you, pray for you, and find a way for you to get more connected with our church. And if you're watching us online, make sure you leave a comment wherever you are. Maybe you're going to the mountains, maybe you have a soccer game to go to. Whatever it is, we're just so glad that you've decided to join us for worship. You picked a great week to be here. Let's jump into God's word together. Let's worship him today.

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Well, good morning again. I thought about trying to experiment today and that is if I say something worth listening to instead of saying kind of a a good old Baptist amen, you just do a Broncos hurray. But I thought that might be kind of weird and awkward today. So just some head nods and however you want to do today. But but here's the deal. We are starting a brand new series today called Rooted. And it made me think of a story that I heard several years ago about a little boy that was sitting at the kitchen table and um he was having his lunch and his lunch was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and an apple. And this little boy once he was eating the apple, there was a seed inside of it. And he looked at his mom said, "Mom, where does this apple come from?" And so the mom said, "Well, it" because he's just thinking it comes from the grocery store, right? But she took the seed and she said, "Listen, this seed, if you put it in dirt, it will grow an apple tree and then you get apples from the tree." This little boy that had grown his whole life up in the city just kind of amazed him because he really thought they always just come from King Super. That's all he knew about apples. And so he took the seed out in the backyard and he planted it in some dirt and he was all excited about this apple tree growing. So the next day he goes out there and as you can imagine, there's nothing but dirt. And so he went in and said, "Mom, I thought you said there'd be an apple tree." And she goes, "Oh, honey, you have to wait a little while before the apple tree comes." And so every single day for a week, he went out there and he looked to see his apple tree. And as you can just know that it was just nothing but dirt because we all know it takes a while to grow the apple tree. And so after about a week, he came in just mad, just stomping his feet like this, crossing his arms. And he said, "Mom, you lied to me. You said there'd be an apple tree." So she sat him down and said, "Oh, honey, you have to understand it takes more than just a few days." She goes, "What you don't see is below the ground, that little seed is sprouting roots, and those roots have to go deep because the apple tree is actually really tall. Remember when you go to grandpa's house and you climb on trees, it's got to be strong enough for you to grow on. So, what's taking place underneath there is something that will really make sure that apple tree can stay for many, many years. In fact, the story goes on that it was like 10 years later before the tree was actually big enough for the little boy to climb on. But what he didn't understand is it wasn't so much what you saw above the ground. That's all he was looking at. But really the success of that tree was the root system below. And so we are starting this brand new series today and it's going to last the next 10 weeks. And the series is entitled rooted because here's what happens. So many times we look in ourselves in the spiritual mirror and we don't like what we see or we think we should be further down the road or you look at someone else not in a mirror but you look at them across the church aisle and you see their life a life of faith and just seems like a life of just perseverance and you're just going I will never ever be that way. But what we have to understand, even more important than what we see many times on the outside in our walk with Jesus, is what's taking place below the ground. It's the roots that God wants to grow in us that really keeps us strong and healthy. And so, we're starting this brand new series called Rooted. Now, here's what I want you to understand. It is much more than a kind of a spiritual self-help series. Okay? So many times, rooted going, "Okay, I can be better than this and I can be better than this and I can be better than this." And in this series, rooted, we will be looking and examining the fruit that God wants to grow from us. But we have to keep our eyes on the main thing, and that's the roots that will produce the tree that will produce the life that the fruit will really grow from. And so, I'm glad you're here today, okay? On our kickoff Sunday, we are kicking off this brand new series. Now, here's the interesting thing about it. As we think and look and examine this idea of rootedness, we're going to do it through the life of one of the disciples of Jesus. And his name is Peter. And when I say the name Peter, you probably recognize that name if you've been in church or Sunday school or vacation Bible school or anything. Peter is one of Jesus disciples. In fact, we know this. Peter is one of the guys that Jesus looked at him one day and said, "I will build my church on you." So, as you look at the New Testament characters and the people that we encounter throughout the New Testament, he is one of the pillars of what we call the modern day church. And I don't know about you, but sometimes I think about the life of Peter going, "Oh, God, if only I could be like that. If only I could be that kind of influence on the world that Peter has had here 2,000 years later. If only I could kind of have the faith that Peter had one day when he walked on the water. If only I could look and be like that as a Christian." But what we forget about Peter is we think and look and see all the stories in his faith down the road, but we forget where his faith started from. Most of the stories that we read about in Peter, as we read his letter, first and second Peter, as we think about it, took place after some roots had already grown. And so over these next 10 weeks, we get to kind of look and examine together the life of Peter. Both the early years when the seed was just planting and sprouting those roots and the later years when you saw the fruit that we all want to bear in our life. And so today we're going to look at a story and it's going to be found in Luke 5 verse one. So if you have your Bibles or if you're new with us here today, we're so glad you're here. We always put the scripture up on the screen. You received a handout when you came in today that's going to have the scripture there. But we're gonna be looking at the story of Luke chapter or Luke chapter 5 verse 1-11. And this is actually the first story that Peter and Jesus meet. So if you want to talk about our little illustration about the boy taking the little apple seeds and dropping them in the ground, this is the beginning seed in the life of Peter. Historians tell us that he was probably between the ages of 18 and 25. They're not exactly sure, but when Jesus encountered him at this moment, he was just a very young man. He was a man that had grown up in the Jewish faith. So, he had an awareness of God. He had an awareness of of Old Testament laws. He just didn't know this Jesus person that he's going to encounter. So, read with me in Luke 5:1. And here's what it says. One day, as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed on him to listen to the word of God. And so, Jesus had already started his ministry. So, wherever he went, people came because he'd have some miracles. He taught with such authority. And so there's just a great crowd. So you can imagine almost that Jesus is standing with the water behind him. And the crowds are getting bigger and bigger and they're pressing more and more. And Jesus kind of looking behind him going, "Woo! If they keep pushing me, I'm going to fall in the water." And then it says this, "He noticed two empty boats." Talking about Jesus. He noticed two empty boats at the water's edge. For the fishermen had left them and they were washing their nets. Let me give you a little just understanding of fishing back then. They didn't go out and take fishing rods like we might have today. The fishermen that Jesus is talking about are actually fishermen. That was their profession. And and they would have used nets to do all their fishing. The nets would have been about 25 ft long. They might have looked something like this. And so what they would do is every evening during the night they would go out in their boats and when they would take these nets and the nets probably had some rocks tied to one end that would weight it down and probably had some floats on the other end and they would cast the nets out in the water allow the rocks to drop the net the bottom part down to the ground but the float end would keep it up and then they would pull in the nets and that's how they would catch their fish. This was their profession. And they would do it at night because they understood that if they went in the daytime and threw these nets out, the fish would always swim on more the shallow end and the fish would see the boats, the fish would see the nets, and they would just scatter. And so, their profession was actually a profession that took place after the sun went down. And so, on this particular day when Jesus is preaching and the crowd's pressing and he looks over and he sees a couple of boats, it's daytime because they'd come in from night's fishing. And the men were over there taking care of their nets. And the taking care of the nets was so important because the nets were their livelihood. I mean, if there were no nets, there were no fish. If there were no fish, there was no money to take home to take care of their family. So, the nets really were their life. And so, they had to take great care of these nets. It's not like they'd go fishing and come in the next day and kind of throw them on the side of the boat and go out the next day. They would maybe take as long in the morning taking care of their nets as they would at night fishing for the fish. They would be taking the moss out of them. If they got a tear, they would had to restitch them back together. So really, you have to think about it. When the scripture says they were mending their nets, you might think about it this way. They were taking care of their life. At least they were taking care of their livelihood. And so Jesus looks over and he noticed these couple of boats and some men over there and they're by their boats and they're taking care of their nets. And here's what it says next. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon. Now, that name Simon is the same name as Peter. What we're going to find out later in scripture is that Jesus kind of renames him. So, his name is Simon by birth and he's later going to be called Peter. And so, Jesus looks over there, he steps into the boat, and Jesus asked Simon Peter, the owner, to push it out into the water. So, he sat in the boat and he taught the crowds from there. Now, I always think it's interesting to put yourself into the story. Can you imagine Peter? He had been fishing all night long. He's tired, but he's still having to take two or three hours. He's taking care of the nets. And some stranger that does he know he's Jesus, the son of God. He knows he's a a a famous man because all these crowds are there. He doesn't recognize yet that he is the son of God. He just knows he's this authoritative teacher. And so this person who he's never met, a stranger, walks over and steps into his boat. That's like you walking out from Walmart and somebody gets in your car and says, "Can you take me somewhere?" So there had to be this little bit, whoa, whoa, whoa. And he says, "Can you take me out in the water?" Well, Peter was on the side taking care of his nets. He wasn't going to leave his nets on the ground because again, this is his livelihood. So he gets in the boat, he takes his nets with him, and he steps in with Jesus. And Jesus had him push out. And so Jesus was pretty smart. He knew that the crowd was pressing on him, he's about to fall in the water. If Peter just kind of got out in the shallow a little bit, it's not like the people are going to wait in the water to press up against him. In fact, also um people that are really smart and just audio will tell you that even the voice carries better. So Jesus is using the very nature of God and the ability for his voice to project more in the water, the people can't can't come to him and he just continues to preach. I've always wondered at this moment what goes through Peter's mind. He's just a fisherman. I mean, he grew up going to church. He he knew some of the things, the basic things was Jesus saying, but we also know that when Jesus stepped onto the scene, he taught in a way that the Pharisees didn't teach, taught with not just authority, but he thought taught with compassion. He taught with grace. And so, here's Peter that thought he's about done for the day to go home. And he's sitting in the boat next to this man and he's just bellowing out the word of God. He's bellowing out grace. He's letting people, everybody know what's going on with God and why he was there. I don't know if Peter while he sat in the boat kind of picked up his net and kept mending it or pulling the moss out or or whatever he needed to do with it, but he was just there listening to him. And here's what the Bible says next. When he had finished speaking, meeting Jesus, he looked to Simon and said, now here's what goes to my mind. Peter's in the boat. He's mending his net nets. He's listening to Jesus. It was obvious Jesus was done. Whether he said the end, amen, or whatever, but it was obvious he was done. And I wonder for this moment of just kind of pause, Peter's going, "Woo, I love listening to him, but I'm ready to go home." I mean, he's expecting Jesus to look at him and say, 'Hey, can you just roll me back so I can get on the dry land and you can do whatever you need to, Jesus? But that's not what Jesus did. In this moment of pause, in this moment of um of just just hesitation,

Jesus said this to him, "Now go out where it's deeper and let down your nets to catch some fish." Now, we went from a moment of pause to a moment of hesitancy, from a moment of pause to, I think, this moment of reluctance. And here's why I say that. Because Peter was not expecting Jesus to say that. He said, "Go back where it's deeper and we'll catch some fish." Now, now here's what went through Jesus' mind going, "Really?" Remember, he fished all night long. He was on the shore when Jesus met him. He was tending his nets. He was ready to go home. And I've got this idea, the scripture doesn't tell us. But I have this idea that in this moment of hesitancy, this dramatic hesitancy, maybe we could even say dramatic reluctancy, I just wonder what through went through Peter's mind like like did he have thoughts? You know those times that someone says something to you and you pause and you know what you're thinking, but you're just wondering, should you say it out loud? I have this sneaking suspicion that in that moment of pause right there that that Peter's going, I got something I want to say because I'm kind of reluctant on you asking me to go out and fish in the deep, but I'm just not sure I should say it. So, can you bear with me for a few minutes and can I just say some of the things? Scripture doesn't tell us. So, we're having to suppose this, but can I say some of the things that Peter might have wanted to say back to Jesus? He might have wanted to look at him and if you're taking notes, you can write down that he wanted to say something just because he had a reluctancy because of his skepticism in Jesus. Remember, Jesus is an authoritative teacher. Jesus knows the word of God. Peter was right there at his feet when he was saying all things. That's obvious. But Peter also knew this. Jesus was a teacher but not a fisherman. So when when Peter looked at or Jesus looked at Peter and said, "Cast out, go and deeper and let's cast out your nets." Peter's going, "Jesus, really?" Like you may know the word of God, but I know fishing. Like you may know all these religious stuff, but I've been doing this my whole life. My father taught me how to pre how to fish. I've been fishing for the last 10 years. I've got a successful business. And really, Jesus, I'm a little reluctant just because I'm a little skeptical about you telling me to go to the deep. Jesus, can I just say this? We don't ever fish in the deep. And we only fish at night. So, you're telling me to go to a place we don't normally fish at a time of day that we don't normally fish. Really, Jesus, I'm just a little skeptical of your instructions. Now, remember, I'm supposing, right? We don't know if Peter thought these things or said these things, but let me tell you something else. He might have thought or he might have said he might have just been reluctant because just of his past experiences. Remember this is not Peter's first day on the job. This is not his first day to fish. In fact, here's what we know that we're going to find out later in the story that Peter had been fishing all night long and had caught nothing. Any fishermen in the house? There's some days you just go home going, "Well, let's try another day." I mean, if they're not biting, there's no sense just you staying longer and longer and longer and casting more and casting more. Just some days they're not biting. And so Peter's past experience when Jesus said, "Go out deeper and throw out your nets. Let's see if we can catch some net some fish." His his past experience just kind of said, "It's not really worth my time. It's not really worth my effort. I'm skeptical because I'm a fisherman and you're not and I should know more. And I have real past experiences on this fishing Jesus." and it just doesn't make sense to do this. Let me give you something else. He might have just been reluctant because of his own Peter's own fear and insecurity. I mean, remember there was a crowd on the shore and they were all listening to Jesus teach. I'm sure as soon as Jesus didn't come into the shore, the people didn't leave. They kind of sat there and watched. So, if Peter would have rode outwards deeper and he would have thrown out his nets, Peter's probably thinking, I'm gonna be a laughingstock because all these people are going to be watching me. All these people are be expecting me to haul something in and they're going to just see me haul up just haul in just empty nets again. And he might have just been fearful just going, "My reputation's at stake. What people think about me is at stake." Or maybe he thought a different way. Well, what if I do throw my nets in? And what if I catch a lot of fish, which would make me look more ridiculous as a fisherman if I throw it in and catch no fish or some man who's never fish before tells me how to fish and I catch fish? You with me? But but all of it is is just his own fear and insecurity. He's hanging on to these nets. Jesus says, "Row out there deeper. Throw them in." And and before Peter lets go of him, he's hanging tight onto his nets going, "I'm not sure I can because down deep, I'm scared, Jesus." Or here's another reason he might have held on, kind of hesitant when Jesus told him to cast out the nets in the deeper water. Maybe he was reluctant because of just practical concerns. Can you go with me on this one? 7:00 the night before before it starts getting dark. the night. He usually the time of the day he usually goes out fishing. He kiss his wife goodbye. Hey honey, I'll be in tomorrow. I should be home by 11:00 a.m. like I usually am. We're gonna catch some good fish. We hope make some money for the family. I'll clean the nets and I should be home by 11. And she looks at him and going, "Well, you better make sure you're home by 11 because remember I've got a lunch date with so and so and the kids have school activities and she just listed all the things that he needed to do when he got home." He goes, "I'll be home at 11." So when Jesus messes up his schedule, messes up his routine, and takes him out on the water, and now he wants him to fish more, and guess what? If Peter throws the nets in, guess what he's got to do again? Clean the nets again. He's looking at his watch going, "I won't be home till 3:00." And we know this, if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. So maybe he was reluctant. Maybe in his mind, he was thinking, "Before I let go of these nets, it just doesn't make practical sense." Or maybe here's another reason. Maybe he didn't throw the nets in. He was reluctant because he was just exhausted. He had been working all night long. He had been fishing all night long. He usually gets to go home at 11:00, get a couple of hours nap before he has to start a whole day over with the family. And he was just exhausted. And again, he knew if he threw the nets in there, it seemed like such a fruitless activity and it's just going to cost him more work, more time. And he was just like, I can't do anymore, Jesus. Now, remember all this stuff I'm saying here, scripture doesn't tell us. We're just surmising. We're just supposing. And you may ask the question, Keith, what what place do you have? What what what position do you have that you can guess he's saying these things? I got my personal position because you see when Jesus has asked you and I to go deeper not fishermans we don't have Jesus and fishermen in this room but we have many times where Jesus has asked you and I to go deeper spiritually with him. We have the same excuses. Jesus, I'm tired. I'm at the church on Wednesday nights. I'm on the church on Tuesday nights. And I do this on Sunday. And Jesus, you want me to get up earlier and pray with you and know who you are more? I'm just tired, Jesus. And Jesus, it's not practical. Like, look at the season of life I'm in. Maybe when the kids go off to college, maybe when I don't have all the responsibilities of starting my start my career, maybe then I could do. It's just not practical right now. Jesus. But Jesus, you want me to go deeper with you? I've tried that before. In college, I sold my life out to you. I was passionate for you. And look where it got me. The girl that I love broke up with me. The marriage I was in ended. God, my life didn't turn out. I've tried to follow you, but it didn't turn out. So, my past experiences as Jesus, if you're asking me to go deeper today, I just don't know if I want to let go and throw the nets out because of my past experiences. Are you with me now, church? I don't ever want to write anything into scripture that's not there. But we can sure use scripture to interpret our life. And it's there, isn't it? And so Peter had this moment that Jesus said just or out there deeper and throw those nets in. And he had this moment that he had to decide was he going to do it or not. And let me clarify something in the scripture. The scripture as you read it looks like Jesus told him to. And Jesus told him to do it. But Jesus wasn't commanding him. Jesus was inviting him. Peter could have looked at Jesus in that boat going, "Really, Jesus? There's a couple of more boats out there if you want to go fishing. I'm out." And so, while Jesus's words were direct, Jesus never forced Peter and never forces you and I to ever do something we don't want to do, it's always always an invitation. And on this day, Jesus invited Peter to let go of the nets, to throw the nets out there and trust him, to go deeper, to do something he's never done before, and to trust him. See, this moment in the life of Peter, Jesus was inviting him more than let go of some physical net that catch some physical fish. Jesus was inviting Peter to let go of control because remember his net was his life. His net was how he caught the fish. His net is how he made the money. His net was his life. And Peter and Jesus going Peter just let go. Let go of your finances. Let go of your security. Let go of any presupposition that you have about me. She Peter just let go. And at this moment, Peter had a choice. Look what it says in verse five. Master, Peter, Simon said, we worked hard all night and didn't catch a thing. There's his reluctancy. There's his excuse. There's his hesitancy. But if you say so, I will let the nets go down again. If you say so, I will do something that doesn't make sense. I If you say so, I will let go of the control of the things I try to control in my life. You see, the nets represent control. And letting go of the nets is the beginning of Peter's life of becoming rooted. Or can I say it another way? You and I letting go of our nets. And you can fill in the blank what the nets are in your life. But you and I letting go of control is the beginning of taking that seed and planting it to going deeper and further with Jesus than we ever dreamed possible. It's the beginning of being rooted. And so the story is interesting. Mean storyteller. Go home and read it later today. It is just one of those just whoa stories in the scripture. So they row out, they're deeper, the place they don't even think they're going to catch fish. Peter takes the nets, the ones that he already cleaned, and he drops them. He lets go. And here's what the Bible says is that all of a sudden, more and more fish than Peter had ever caught in his life filled the nets. He's trying to bring them up. They are so full he doesn't even he's not even sure he can get them all up. He even yelled, "Hey, James, John." Two of his fishing buddies, maybe the ones that that own the second boat next to him in the beginning of the story, he said, "James, John, come over here. I need your help. He's pulling these boat this the these fish this net up with all these fish trying to get them in the boat. Guys, help me. I can't do this. And the Bible says this, that he looked up at Jesus. He and Jesus, the only ones in the boat. And Peter goes, "Jesus, I can't be around you because I'm a sinful man. I don't deserve this. I know the things I've thought. I know the things I've done. I know the things I'm doing. I am a sinful man, Jesus. It's obvious you're more than just authoritative teacher. You are the son of God. I can't be around you.

Question. When he said that, did Jesus all of a sudden go, I had thought about that, Peter. Good. I'm glad you reminded me. And he starts swimming back to the shore. Peter, Jesus knew who Peter was. The minute he called Peter and invited him, said, "I need to get in your vote boat and I invite you to go deeper." Jesus knew who Peter was. Our life never pushes Jesus back. Our life never makes Jesus going, "That's not the type of person I want to go deeper with." Our life draws Jesus to us. The good and the bad, not the potential, but where we are today draws Jesus to us. So Peter said, "Jesus, I I can't be around you. Just I'm a sinful sinful man. Go away." And here's what Jesus responds to Peter. Again, read it this afternoon. It is good. He looked at Peter and said, "Fear not."

He addressed his hesitancy. He's like, I know letting go of your net, letting go of your control creates all kinds of insecurity in your life as a fisherman and our life as following Jesus. And Jesus just goes and fear not.

Re you can read the story. And the other both the other guys came over and helped him. And this was the beginning of Peter dropping the seed to become rooted and following Jesus.

Peter didn't show up all qualified. Peter didn't show up all having it together. Peter showed up, I believe, with all kinds of hesitencies. He showed up with all kinds of excuses. But it was in that moment that Jesus invited him. It's really interesting the life of Peter that this is the first account. Like I said, he's probably 18, 19, 20, 25, somewhere in that range. He's just like meeting Jesus for the first time. And there's two other books in the New Testament called First Peter and Second Peter. They were written by Peter about 30 or 40 years later from this moment that we're reading about this narrative. 30 or 40 years later that that Peter's gone through all kinds of life. He's lived and and slept and and ate with Jesus for three years during Jesus's ministry on earth. He continued to build the church after Jesus died and was resurrected. So Peter began as a seed. But when he writes first and second Peter 30, 40 years later, he's a big tree producing fruit. Are you with me? I want to read a couple of verses to you because these are amazing. It's the contrast from when he just started as a seed to time of maturity. Now, here's the deal. We don't know exactly when Peter's writing some of these things. What was going through his mind? What was he thinking about? But as I read these verses that were written 30 or 40 years later after this moment in the boat and the fish and all that was going on, I wondered to myself, was Peter maybe thinking back in his mind to that moment on the boat? Was he closing his eyes going, "Jesus, you have grown me so much and I'm matured and I've done always done perfect, but I' I'm just matured, but I remember when." Let me read these to you.

Second Peter 1:3. This is what Peter writes. Remember 30 or 40 years later, everything that goes into life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know personally and intimately the one who invited us to God. Is he thinking back over those last 30, 40 years going, man, everything in life, it is because on that day Jesus invited me to go out deeper. on that day he invited me to drop my nets and I had all these excuses why I shouldn't all these hesitencies why I shouldn't but it all began at that moment to the one who know to know him personally and intimately and he says this it is the best invitation ever then he goes on to write in in chapter 1 verse 5 and 8 he says don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given so remember there when Peter's writing this he's actually writing a letter to churches so we might even think about this here is Peter writing a letter to us south subchurch to you a follower of Jesus where you are right now he says so don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given compl complimenting your basic faith can I put that another way so complimenting on the seeds that have been planted that are building the roots so that no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Lord Jesus Christ our master Jesus he's going don't waste a today. Don't just plant a seed and walk off and let it go. Keep keep trying to water that thing. Give it fertilizer. Keep working with it for the maturity. And then in second Peter 1:10, he writes this. So friends, confirm God's invitation to you, his choice of you. Oh, church, check that out. If Peter's actually thinking 30 to 40 years later back that one to that moment that he's in the boat. He's going Jesus gave an invitation not to some broad everybody that was listening. He gave an invitation to me. So he's telling us as followers of Jesus, don't ever ignore the invitation that God is giving to you. Don't put it off. Do it now. Do this and you'll have your life on a firm footing. the streets paved and the way wide open in the eternal kingdom of of God of our master Jesus Christ. He's going just answer the invitation. Like don't don't mess up. Don't ignore it. Don't put it off. Answer it today. Can you imagine what Peter would have wrote 30 years later if on that day that Jesus said, "Push out in the deeper. Let go of the nets." Peter looked at him going, "Don't think so. Life is busy. I'm not sure. I'm too scared. I'm not sure. I've got other things I've got to do. Can you imagine what Peter would have thought and look back on his life, watch this, with regret if he hadn't responded to the invitation. And the invitation was simply to know Jesus deeper. The band's going to come back up and we're going to wrap up here in a few minutes. But I want to share something with you. An invitation to you today. It's the invitation to every single person in this room, including myself. Today, Jesus is saying, "Take the boat, push out, and go deeper and let go of control." Now, I don't know what that looks like for every single person. It's different. God's Holy Spirit will come and show you what your control is, what you're hanging on to. But he's going, "Just go deeper with me." You're going, "But I don't know what that means." Okay, none of us do. I've tried that before, but it didn't work. Try it again. Jesus is going, "Just let go and go deeper." I said, "We're starting this new series called Rooted." And it's not a one-dimensional series that we're kicking off all of our new groups. And all of our groups are going through the material rooted. There's a like a devotional kind of Bible study devotional. Not a maybe like three pages a day of homework, but really three pages a day that you get to read to know God better. And the book drives you to scripture. It drives you to God. It just drives you to know who God is. It drives you to go deeper. And so, church, here's my invitation to you. Join us. If you are not in a group, it is my loud invitation. Join a group and you're going, "Well, Keith, couldn't I do this on my own?" You could. But let me go back to the story. When Jesus going, "Hey guys, help me with this. I need some help over here. I got too many fish." James and John came to help him. Do you know who James and John are? They're two more of the disciples. that moment in time, Peter, James, and John, they left things behind and they said, "Jesus, we're going to follow you. We're going to go deeper with you. We're going to experience you." And here's what I know in the life of Jesus. He did it in community with people. Peter could have went by himself on some solo trek, but it's never the same as understanding, experiencing God together with people. And so I believe this church that groups are the best way that we can even get to know God better than by yourself. God will still reveal himself to you by himself, but there's something life transformational when you do it with other people. And so the invitation today is for 10 weeks, give it a try. 10 weeks, get one of the books. 10 weeks, $20 is what the book costs. If you do it for 10 weeks and come back going, Keith, you flat out lied to me. there. That book is as bad as your cowboys. I will reimburse you the $20, but give it a try. Look back with Peter and going, I went deeper and it was worth it. If you're here today and you're going, Keith, I I just not I just can't get in a group right now. Does it mean I'm left out? No. Get a book. Join us on Sunday mornings. Doesn't mean you can't go forward. You'll be missing a piece of it, but God can still use it in your life as well. But the call is let's go deeper. Lord Jesus, we come before you now.

Thank you for inviting us.

Thank you that you invited us where we are right now. You call us. You want us in our sinfulness. And Jesus, I pray this and I pray it boldly that we as individuals and we as groups and we as a church over these next 10 weeks, will we experience you, Jesus, in a way that will change our life forever? No matter how long we've been following you, may we experience you. May we go to deeper waters.

And we pray this in your name. Amen.