3 Reminders About Our Obedience As Disciples

Introduction

Ioannis Metaxas was a Greek general and dictator, served as Prime Minster of Greece from 1936 until his death in 1941. He was once invited to try out a new flying-boat. He decided to pilot it himself and did so masterfully until the commander, his host, noticed that they were about to make a landing at an airport.

This man was a pilot as well as being a general in the army. He piloted his own plane.

One day somebody asked him if he would like to go out in one of the latest hydroplanes that had been developed. A hydroplane is a plane that takes off on water and lands on water. He said, “Yes, I would like to do that.” So the fellow took him out to the plane. They went up in the plane, and while they were up in the plane the fellow asked the general if he would like to pilot the plane. “Yes,” said the general. “I would like to do that.” And so they flew around for a little while, and then the fellow said, “Would you like to land the plane?” The general said, “Yes. I would like to do that.”

The first mistake Metaxas made was that he headed for the city airport. Here is this fellow thinking, “How do you say to the dictator, without getting your head shot off, that he was making a mistake here?” But he got his courage together, and he told the man, “I think it would be good if you took the plane over to the bay and land it there because we have to land on water.” “Oh, oh, yeah,” replied the dictator. So he took the plane to the bay and made a beautiful landing. He taxied up to the dock, got out of his seat, and the fellow said, “General, that was really a very good landing that you made.” Metaxas said, “Thank you,” turned around, and stepped out into the bay. That really happened. He forgot where he was.

His host humbly accepted his thanks. But, upon saying which, the General, His Excellency, opened the hydroplane’s door and stepped out – down into the sea.

Many of us, if not all of us, can easily forget things sometimes. We need people like the co-pilot, to refresh our memory and remind us.

Today, we’re kicking off our church Missions Series called “Be Obedient” for our Missions month, something we do every year, to remind us about our mission as a church and our mission as followers of Christ.

Please read with me Luke 5:1-11.

Sermon Text

Luke 5:1-11 “On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on Him to hear the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and He saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, He asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." 5 And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.”

Today we want to look at God’s word and let it remind us of 3 things:

1.The commission to make disciples

Two weeks ago, we’re already given a reminder of this when our guest speaker spoke about this and our mission as a body and as followers/disciples of Christ. He made reference to this passage in Matthew 28, the Great Commission. If you missed that message, then let’s take a look at it again.

Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”