Mark 1:16-18 – And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
This passage has been important in my life since the very beginning of my walk with Jesus. As most of you know my walk with the Lord began on the shores of Lake Ponchartrain in the City of New Orleans when Jesus called me to follow Him speaking to me from the mouths of young Jesus freaks. From those first days I saw myself as one of His fishermen, fishing for souls became my life’s calling. That was confirmed many years later when Jesus visited me in a hospital room and called me ‘Fisherman’, I suppose to Him that is my name. As Parris and I followed the Lord from those early days up until now we have found ourselves pioneering and pastoring a church in the New Orleans area for 47 years, that brings me to what I want to speak to you about today. Parris and I feel urged to complete this half century of pastoring Victory Church with all of our might. We see these next three years as critical and we are asking the Lord for a large team of fishermen to finish this 50 years with fire. Maybe you are going to be one of the 300 as we finish these 50 years of harvesting souls in NOLA.
What exactly do we feel the Lord is leading us to do as a church in this critical season? We want to raise up fishermen, Christian workers and ministers, to reap a harvest in this special season appointed by the Lord. There are three areas of fishing that we are asking you to join in with us. First, simply winning souls for Christ. This may be intimidating for some but it is natural for a Christian. The easiest way to win a soul is by reaching out to your circle of family and friends and bring them into the house of God. You can start a prayer meeting or a Bible Study in someone’s home, place of business, or school and make winning people to the Lord personal and intentional in your life. This is the most effective form of evangelism.
Secondly, is to become a mender of nets. If you read a few verses down from today’s scripture you will see that John was mending nets when he received his calling. I believe this is also prophetic. John was a restorer of broken lives, a net mender. This too is a vital part of being a fisherman, restoring broken lives is the work of a net mender. We see this happen in small group ministry as well as in net mending specific ministries like Christ Centered Recovery gatherings or outreach into prisons, hospitals, or recovery ministries. Finally we see the importance of partnership in this call to be a fisherman. Luke’s gospel chapter 5 made this clear, twice Luke emphasized that these disciples were partners in the fishing business. This is also part of being one of our 300 fishermen. All of us become partners together offering our time, resources (tithing), and talent into the work of God. All of us can fit into all three of these categories. Maybe one of the three will stand out more in your life but all of us are called to become His fishermen. Join with me for three years and see what the Lord can do through us.