In the name of Christ Jesus, dear fellow redeemed people of God,

One day, Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, and called Peter, Andrew, James and John to follow him. And they got up and followed Jesus. That's amazing. It can be difficult to leave familiar people, places, and things behind. James and John had to leave their Dad, Zebedee, in the boat. If you have ever had to leave your family and friends behind to move to a new place, you know how difficult that can be. Was there a tear in Zebedee's eye? We don't know. But I know that I saw tears in my grandfather's eyes when we moved away. I've seen tears in my father's eyes before too. But they also wanted us to follow the Lord's call to serve in the public ministry. It was probably much the same with Zebedee. His two sons, James and John, were going to leave him behind to follow Jesus as his disciples. Jesus was going to train them for full time ministry. They were going to be two of the 12 apostles.

We want to follow Jesus as his disciples too. Wouldn't you like to walk along with Jesus on the dusty paths of Palestine, asking him questions, and hearing him speak God's Word? We can't go back in time and experience what Peter, Andrew, James and John did. We are not going to be the chosen apostles. But we can follow Jesus as his disciples. Disciples are students and followers. I want to be a disciple of Jesus, don't you?

1. REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOOD NEWS.

Following Jesus begins with repentance. It begins with admitting, "I am a sinner. I have sinned against the LORD in thought, word, and deed." The Law shows us our sins. We have all fallen short, whether we are willing to admit it or not. No one has kept the 1st Commandment perfectly. We should fear, love and trust in God above all things, all the time, but we don't. We fail to put God first in everything we think, say and do. Whenever we fail to put God first, we are sinning. And there are more sins than that. Some of them are visible to the outside, and some of them are on the inside. It is sinful to take God's Name in vain, or to dabble in witchcraft. It is sinful to neglect God's Word, or to fail to hear and learn it gladly. It is sinful to disobey those who are in authority over us, or to be disrespectful. It is sinful to hurt someone else or to hate them in your heart. It is sinful to commit adultery, to live together without being married, or even to have lust in your heart. It is sinful to steal, but it is also sinful to be greedy. It is sinful to lie, or to say bad things about other people behind their backs. It is sinful to want something that God does not want you to have. Do you always love your neighbor as yourself? Have your thoughts always been pure? Whether you are willing to admit it today or not, the Bible says that all have sinned. And that means you and me. We are sinners.

We should repent. That's what Jesus said. {15} "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" Jesus said, "Repent." Confess your sins. Be contrite in heart, which means to have godly sorrow over your sins. There is a difference between actually being sorry that we did it, and simply being sorry that we got caught. Seek God's forgiveness. But before we can even ask, it is done. Jesus said, "Believe the good news!" The good news is that we are forgiven through Christ. He lived without sinning. He died on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for all of our sins. His resurrection declares that you are forgiven through Christ. Believe the good news!

That's why Peter and the rest were following Jesus. Shortly before this incident took place, Peter had said, "I am a sinful man" (Lk 5:8). He knew his sin. But he also knew his Savior. Peter and the others followed Jesus. May we follow him also. Repent of all sin, and believe the good news. You have forgiveness through Christ! Follow Jesus...

2. RECEIVE CHRIST'S INSTRUCTION AS DISCIPLES.

Peter, Andrew, James and John were following Jesus as disciples. They were going to learn what Jesus was going to teach them. They were going to learn to become his chosen apostles. These four guys had no idea what they were going to learn. They knew that Jesus would teach them the Word of God, but really, they didn't know what was in store for them. They had much to learn, but they would pick it up like sponges. That was their role, as disciples. They were to learn from Christ whatever he wanted to teach them. He taught. They learned. And when Christ was done, people were amazed at how much the disciples learned. They took note that these unschooled men were with Jesus.

Do you wish that you could have been there with them? I do. I wish that I could have heard Jesus teach, day in and day out. It must have been amazing! I couldn't be there, but I think that I had the next best thing. I got to go to great schools to learn what Jesus said from the Bible. Many people look at all the years it takes to become a pastor and think, "That's a long time. That's a lot of studying. That's a lot of school." And, I will not deny that, at times, it seemed like it. But, if the truth be told, I loved it. I loved to learn God's Word. I sometimes wished that I could just do that forever - just study and learn God's Word. From time to time, some of you share similar thoughts. There is just something about learning God's Word that once you really get into it, it makes you want to hear more.

That "something" is the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. I guarantee you that if you give God's Word a chance, if you get in a class where we are really learning and discussing God's Word, it will draw you in. If you get involved with learning amazing truths about God and God's will, applying God's Word to our lives, you are going to be hooked. It will become enjoyable! And that is how it ought to be with us, because God wants us to be disciples of Jesus. And disciples of Jesus are those who gladly hear and learn God's Word. Think of those two disciples who were on the road to Emmaus on Easter Sunday. Jesus was teaching God's Word to them. They had questions. He had answers from the Bible. Once Jesus really got going, they didn't want him to stop! They wanted him to stay with them. Their hearts were burning within them! It can be thrilling to learn God's Word. If you really get into it, you might not want to stop. While we might stop for the day, God does not want us to stop learning his Word! God wants us to remain disciples. He wants us to continue to receive Christ's instruction. But that's not enough. When Jesus said, "Follow me," he meant more. He isn't satisfied with just having us know God's Word. He wants us to...

3. REACH OUT AS "FISHERS OF MEN."

These four disciples were going to become apostles. They were going to preach the gospel to all creation. What they heard in private, they were going to proclaim in public. They were going to learn what Jesus taught them, and teach it to others. These simple fishermen were going to become "fishers of men."

You don't have to be a famous bass fisherman on TV to know that there is a big difference between talking about fishing and fishing. You have to get a line wet if you are going to catch fish! There comes a time to stop talking about it and start doing it. Great fishermen don't tend to talk much. They just catch fish. When Christ called these men to become "fishers of men," he intended for them to go out and preach God's Word. That is mission work, when somebody is proclaiming God's Word. These disciples went out and actually told people about Jesus. Then, God worked powerfully through His Word, and the rest is history. The point is this: If you are going to be fishers of men, you have to share the gospel with somebody. Planning and preparing can be helpful. A good fisherman might plan what equipment he will use, where he will go to fish, and how he's going to go about it. And we can plan out some of our outreach efforts too. But finally, it really comes down to getting lines in the water, and just doing it. Is your line in the water? Can you tell someone about Jesus? Is there someone that you know that you could invite to come along with you to church? Can you help us invite someone to attend a Bible information class?

Many of you have done that before. And that's great. But we're not done until Christ returns. Just think of what could happen if each one of us would try reach out to somebody that we know. It could be a friend, a relative, an acquaintance or a neighbor. What if each one of us just reached out to invite one person. Do you have any idea what kind of an impact that would have? It might multiply our outreach by 500 times! You don't have to do it all, and you don't have to be successful. Just invite them, and see what happens. It's like fishing. If you put one line in the water, that's good. But what if we put more than 500 lines in the water? Do you think that God would catch us some fish? It could be amazing! What could happen if every one of us would just try to invite one person?

It's worth thinking about. After all, eternity may hang in the balance for some of those people. And God's Word is exactly what they need. Don't forget: God can do miracles. What happened here last year was nothing compared to Pentecost. Simon Peter learned as a disciple, but on that first Pentecost, he preached a sermon. God worked it out so that 3000 people were baptized that very day! That's amazing! God can still do amazing things through his Word. Continue to follow Jesus. Reach out as "fishers of men" and you will see! Amen.