Change Church Podcast with Pastor Dharius Daniels

Episode: Abandon Ship (October 6, 2025)

Episode Overview

In this spirited and insightful sermon delivered at Change Church’s Atlanta location, Pastor Dharius Daniels explores the theme of "Abandon Ship"—challenging listeners to move beyond comfort and familiarity in order to embrace purpose and a deeper commitment to God’s calling. Drawing from Luke 5:10-11, where the disciples leave their boats to follow Jesus, Pastor Daniels unpacks the personal and spiritual cost of truly following Christ, emphasizing that purpose often requires abandoning what is safe for what is significant.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Purpose: Why You’re Here

• Your existence is deliberate:
  • “Your presence on this planet has purpose...your existence is not the result of some cosmic coincidence.” (03:30)
  • Referencing Jeremiah 1, Daniels highlights that we are “built by design, wired for work, detailed for destiny.” (05:30)
• Discovering the “why”:
  • Quoting Mark Twain: “The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.” (09:00)
  • The enemy can’t stop your birth, so he tries to stop you from discovering your purpose.

2. Understanding Contribution versus Confirmation

• Purpose shapes character, not just productivity:
  • “Purpose is not just the contribution I make. My purpose is also predicated on the person I become.” (16:00)
  • Examples: Moses' anger, Gideon's insecurity, Jonah's prejudice, Paul's pride, Peter's impulsiveness were all revealed by their callings. (14:30)
  • “You can make high contribution with low character...When you exalt gift and diminish character, you miss the point of purpose.” (18:50)
• Living as an example:
  • “Part of my purpose is the example I set.” (20:00)
  • Cites Lazarus, whose testimony wasn’t about skill but about being evidence of God’s power to resurrect.

3. Calling Comes with a Cost

• Calling = God’s invitation to participate:
  • “You have a purpose, but the calling is the email inviting you to say yes to a role.” (26:30)
  • God speaks to immediate steps, not always lifelong plans: “Some of you trying to figure out what you’re going to do 30 years from now, and God’s like, I’m only talking to you about the next 30 days right now.” (28:00)
• A deeper commitment, not just introduction:
  • Differentiates between initial introduction to Jesus and His “call to commitment.” “Just knowing me isn’t enough. Now I’m telling you, leave that boat and come to a greater level of commitment.” (37:10)

4. The Boat as Metaphor – What You Must Leave

• Luke’s attention to detail:
  • “Luke not only tells us what happens, Luke tells us where it happens.” (32:00)
• Moving from comfort to calling:
  • “This is not a call to conversion. This is an invitation to a greater level of commitment.” (37:10)
  • Jesus uses the story to show that what you rely on for security may now be holding you back.
• Favor as responsibility:
  • “Favor doesn’t always show up looking like opportunity. Sometimes favor shows up feeling like responsibility.” (41:00)
  • “Sometimes favor means you gotta stay at the boat when you’re ready to go home.” (41:30)
• Nothing is wasted:
  • “You thought your career was a career, Peter. Your career was just a classroom. I use fish to teach you the patience and the skill that you need to fish for men.” (54:30)
  • For those who feel they’ve wasted seasons: “Nothing is wasted. Nothing is wasted. Nothing is wasted.” (55:30)

5. Holy Abandonment – The Real Cost of Following

• Definition:
  • “Holy abandonment is the intentional refusal of opportunities, activities, assets, and obligations that dilute your energy and distract you from your spiritual development and destiny.” (56:30)
  • God may not take away your access to the “boat,” but He invites you to leave it. True commitment is revealed in your willingness to leave what you could return to. (57:30)
• What the “boat” represents:
  1. Comfort – “What some people call comfort has become their cage. God: ‘This is uncomfortable.’ He’s like, ‘I know. That’s the price of following me.’” (59:30)
  2. Control – “When God takes control from you, He’s delivering you from the illusion of control...God's like, 'You never been in control.'” (1:01:30)
  3. Comparison – “You don’t get to do what they do...To whomsoever much is given, much is required.” (1:03:25)
• Fulfillment versus success:
  • “The boat only gives you fish, but Jesus gives you fulfillment. And no matter how much fish you have, until you get fulfillment, you’ll always feel empty.” (1:06:00)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Purpose & Identity:
  • “You have been built by design. You have been wired for your work and detailed for your destiny.” (05:40)
• On the Enemy and Purpose:
  • “When the enemy can’t stop you from being born, his next step is to try to stop you from knowing why. He cries when you find your why. He fights your why. He’s furious about your why.” (09:30)
• On Growth Through Calling:
  • “Purpose puts a demand on your growth like nothing else does.” (12:20)
  • “God will use your ministry as a mirror to reveal to you some things He wants to fix about you. God will use your calling as a classroom to teach you some things that you would not learn any other way.” (13:00)
• Favor:
  • “Favor doesn’t always show up looking like opportunity. Sometimes favor shows up feeling like responsibility.” (41:00)
  • “Many people want favor, but don’t want work.” (42:10)
• On Obedience & Surrender:
  • “Your greatest temptation is going to be to emulate what looks like it’s winning. But am I talking to anybody that believes God can do it another way?” (1:04:00)
  • “The refusal to deny yourself access to what you got access to is a revelation of your commitment to Him. You don’t know if you committed when you can’t. You know you committed when you can and don’t.” (58:10)
• On Fulfillment:
  • “The boat only gives you fish, but Jesus gives you fulfillment.” (1:06:00)

Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• Discovering Purpose and “Why”: 03:30 – 10:00
• Purpose As Shaping Character: 14:30 – 20:30
• Explaining Calling: 26:30 – 31:00
• Detailed Context about Luke’s Account: 32:00 – 36:00
• Commitment vs. Comfort: 37:10 – 43:00
• Favor as Responsibility: 41:00 – 42:30
• Moving From the Familiar (Abandoning the Boat): 47:00 – 55:00
• Holy Abandonment Explained: 56:30 – 1:00:30
• Comfort, Control, Comparison: 59:30 – 1:04:00
• Fulfillment Over Success: 1:06:00

Final Takeaways

• Your current abilities, job, and comfort zones may just be boats—tools God used to prepare you, not the destination.
• Purpose is both what God does through you and in you.
• Calling will cost you comfort, control, and comparison, but leaves you with true fulfillment.
• Surrender is not losing; it’s trading what’s temporary for what’s eternal and meaningful.

Memorable Closing Encouragement:

“Jesus gives you fulfillment. And no matter how much fish you have, until you get fulfillment, you’ll always feel empty.” (1:07:00)