Net(s)

Last week I had a conversation with a friend about a message I preached a number of years ago. To be honest, I had forgot about the sermon, but when we started talking I realized it was relevant to where we are with the church plant.

Luke 5:4-7 NKJ

When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”

And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.

So 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.

After an unproductive night of fishing, Jesus tells Peter to go out again and drop his nets. Peter was the fishing expert and knew the time of day was terrible for fishing. The sun was out and it was midday by this time. Any fisherman knows the best time to fish is the crack of dawn or in the late evening as the sun is going down. Regardless, Peter indulges Jesus by entering the water (again) and letting down his net. The key word here is net. Notice Jesus told him to take the crew and let down their nets. Instead, Peter goes out and lets down “the net.” Peter partially obeyed what he was instructed to do. The result was a catch (a harvest) he could not contain. Peter had to call for help from other boats to pull in the fish. I am guessing a bunch of people went home with fish that should have belonged to Peter and his crew.

Jesus clearly instructed Peter to put out his nets (plural). If he had listened, he would have kept all of the catch. If you want to catch a lot of fish use multiple nets. If the only net a church utilizes is the services net, the church will likely not grow. Many churches make the mistake of just thinking people are going to magically appear just because the church has the doors open each weekend at a certain time, that is a one net mentality. The church should use the social media net, the invitation net, the outreach net, the relationship net, the creative net….you get the point. Every function of the church is a net. My heart for Lake Hills Church is to have many nets.

Tenille and I have spent the last month sewing new nets, stretching ourselves to find creative ways to meet/attract people. Every net may not catch a fish, but I do know a net that never enters the water has a 100% failure rate. Bottom line, we want to reach people and will do everything in our power to let people know about Him. I pray God blesses every net that is thrown.