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What's up, family? Super excited that you landed on this YouTube channel. And hopefully this channel becomes or is a trusted source of spiritual nourishment for you. You are about to watch a message that I taught at our Atlanta location, our DeKalb County Atlanta location. And this message is called abandon ship. Mark Twain says this, two most important days in your life are the day you're born and the day you find out why. But in order to go, you gotta leave. And I hope this message helps you do just that. Enjoy the message. If it blesses you, send it to somebody else. Take care. And so we're gonna be walking through that, but this is launch week, and I wanted to do a message that spoke to that. So let's go to the book of Luke, chapter 5, verse number 10. We're going to read a couple of verses. And this is the 1230 service. So I already know you woke, right? You slept in, you woke and you ready for God's word. I know you got your amens ready. Luke, chapter 5, verse 10 says. And so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, don't be afraid. From now on, you will fish for people. So they pulled up their boats up on the shore, left everything, and followed him. I want to stop the reading of scripture there and talk from this subject in our time together, Family, abandon ship. Somebody say, get out of that boat. Get out of that boat. I want to leap into today's lesson by informing some and reminding others that your presence on this planet has purpose. I'm simply suggesting that your existence is not the result of some cosmic coincidence, nor are you the result of some relational accident that your parents might have been surprised by your arrival, but God wouldn't. I can say this with confidence because I eavesdropped on a conversation that God had with a gentleman named Jeremiah in Jeremiah, chapter number one. And he tells Jeremiah these words, before I form you. I thought I was at the 12:30 before I formed you in your mother's womb. I knew you. Notice what he says? I form you. Your parents conceive you, but I form you. The only thing your parents could do was engage in the activity that potentially would conceive you. After that, everything else was me. Your personality, that's me. Your abilities, that's me. Your talent, that's me. You have been built by design. You have been wired for your work, and you have been detailed for your destiny. Therefore, resident in latent form on the inside of you is absolutely everything you need to be who God's called you to be and to do what God's called you to do. And the devil wants you to go throughout this. This phase of life operating as if you've got some deficit. But I want you to know that God Almighty strategically and intentionally and methodically place you on a planet with the personality you have and the talent you possess to do everything he's called and created you to do. Somebody shout purpose. Come on, say it again. Say purpose. Here's what Mark Twain says about purpose. He says the two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you found out why. 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. I thought I was at the 12:30. He starts to cry when you find your why. He fights your why. He's furious about your why. Because he know when you get an understanding of your assignment, then he becomes a liability. Did you hear what I just said? People who are born aren't threats to his agenda, but people who walk in purpose are threats to his agenda. So when he can't stop you and I from being born, his next step is to try to stop you and I from figuring out why. Somebody say purpose. Say it again. Say purpose. Yeah, see, Purpose. Purpose isn't just what you're paid to do. It's. It can be. Purpose is also what you're made to do. Passion is what I like to do, but purpose is what I was born to do. Did you hear what I just said? Yeah. Stephen Covey puts it this way. He says, passion is what I like to do. Talent is what I can do. Purpose is what I'm supposed to do. And the highest. Watch this. The the highest and best use of you is what God has cosmically created you and I to do. And I want you and I to know. Watch this. That purpose is not just a description of what God does through you. It is also a description of what God does for you. That our eternal God is not an exploiter. So he doesn't have to deplete you to use you. Did you hear what I just said? He can make you fruitful and form you at the same time. He can use you and evolve you at the same time. He can send blessing through you and blessing to you at the same time. He can use your skills and shape you at the same time. Our eternal God does not have to exploit you. So God's purpose for you is God's present to you. God's purpose for you is God's present to you. Because God uses purpose not just to do some things through you, but to do some things in you. Because purpose puts a demand on your growth like nothing else does. I'm going to say that one more time. Purpose puts a demand on your growth like nothing else does. And God will use your ministry as a mirror to reveal to you some things he wants to fix about you. Come on. And God will use your calling as a classroom to teach you some things that you would not learn any other way. Your assignment exposes where you and I need an evolution. And the Scriptures are inundated with examples that prove this point. Moses purpose exposed his anger. Gideon's purpose exposed his insecurity. Jonah's purpose exposed his prejudice. Paul's purpose exposed his pride. And Peter's purpose exposed his impulsiveness and instability. Look at me. If Peter is cutting off people's ears with Jesus. Jesus. I mean, Jesus right there. What would Peter be doing without Jesus? And some of us ought to take 17 seconds and just praise God right there. Because if I'm a mess with Jesus, you have no idea. Where's my real section at? So God's purpose isn't just a description of what he does through us, but also a description of what he does in us. Because purpose isn't just the contribution I make. My purpose is also predicated on the person I become. And when you see purpose as contribution and not confirmation, then you exalt gift and you diminish character. Come on here. Because you can make high contribution with low character. Did you hear what I just said? I said you can make high contribution with low character. But when I see. Watch this. When I see that purpose isn't just about contribution, when I see purpose is about confirmation, then I realize and recognize, oh, this isn't just about what God wants to do through through me. This is also about what God wants to do in me. Because part of my purpose isn't just the activity I engage in. Part of my purpose is the example I set. Y' all not ready. It's not just my activity. It's my example. Lazarus is one of the most significant characters in the New Testament, and you don't know what his skill is. But God may not have used Lazarus activity the most. He used his example. Did you hear that? He used his example. He says, I'm gonna use your life as an example to show other people how to come back from dead graves. He was dead four days. And God says, I'm gonna use your life as an example that I am capable of creating comebacks when people feel like it's a setback. I don't know how long you've been in a grave, but maybe you've got a Lazarus type of assignment and God says, I'mma raise you up to show other people I'm still in the resurrecting business. Some purpose isn't just a description of what God wants to do through me. It's also a description of what God wants to do in me. It demands that you grow in ways that nothing else will. It causes you to bring a degree of restraint to your life that you would not if purpose didn't demand it. Come on here. It's some places you won't go because it's going to cost you the price of your credibility. Am I making sense? No, Pastor. Is my love for Christ? Yes. Yes, it is. Your love for Christ and God's wisdom on how to best shape you. I got to get to my. Am I making sense? Did not David. I'm sorry? Did not David. Did not David testify? It was good that I was afflicted, he said, considering my makeup and my obstinance and how much I told the line. Even though I'm a man after God's own heart, God knew it took affliction to bring me to a point of some evolution. Pastor, what are you saying? Here's what I'm saying. The reason that so many people get stuck spiritually is because they don't take their calling seriously. If you are only a spiritual consumer, you're going to hit plateaus in your spiritual journey, because being a spiritual contributor demands growth of you in ways nothing else will. And when something like purpose is this consequential, you know, in certain things, everything in scripture is important. Everything doesn't have the same kind of implications to your life. So if you don't understand all of the intricacies of something called eschatology, like, because Jesus was supposed to come back last Tuesday. Was. It was Tuesday before that last. I mean, what, right? The Rapture, Right? People supposed to be. I think we all here. Right? Okay. So if I don't understand all of the intricacies of eschatology, it doesn't have the same kind of implications on my life. But one thing I don't want to get wrong about life is what I'm supposed to do with my life. I can't get this wrong. When something this consequential, we cannot be elementary in our understanding of it. You Have a calling, Purpose, the reason for the creation of the existence of a thing. Calling. God's invitation for your participation in the reason for your creation. You got a purpose, but the calling is the email inviting you to say yes to a role. The role is a strategic set of responsibilities God gives you in a certain season. And your willingness to keep saying yes to roles over your lifetime is what determines whether or not you feel your purpose. 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. I. Oh, you trying to give me a yes to a question I hadn't asked yet? So there's this invit. There's this invitation that God extends. So. So you. You. Have you got a calling? Might not be the pastor, but you got a calling. Am I making sense? Said, am I making sense? If you did not, once you got saved, he could bring you to heaven. Come on, does that make sense? All right. But I want to tell you, if you're serious about your calling, I need to tell you something. Your calling is going to cost you something, Pastor. What is it going to cost you? Luke told me what it's going to cost you. Luke sent me a text message. Luke sent me a text message, and Luke told me to tell you. He said, pd I say, what up, Luke? Oh, I'm not gonna say that. Okay. So he said, no, no, I'm not. Y' all. Okay, here it is. Here it is. This is interesting. Luke sent me a text message, and Luke told me to tell you, y' all good. I'm almost done. I got 14 minutes and 45 seconds. Y' all good. Here it is. Here it is. Here it is. Family. Luke told me to tell you, your calling's gonna cost you your boat, Pastor. Who told you that? Luke told me that. It's right here. It's right here in the text. See, to understand the essence of what I'm getting ready to articulate, you've got to understand that the Gospel according to Luke is couched within the context of what's called the Synoptic Gospel. So there are four Gospels, right? But three of them are called the Synoptic Gospels. The word synoptic just means similar. It doesn't mean same. It means similar. Got me? So Matthew, Mark, and Luke each tell the story of Jesus. So if you're reading all the Gospels, some things in the Gospels will be similar, won't it? You'll be like, okay, I saw that story over here, this story over here, this story over here, Right. It's similar, but then they're not the same because there's some stuff one puts in and one leaves out. Because if we all see the same thing and I ask us to write about it, we're going to write about it from our perspective. So it's some things that may be similar, and then there may be some things that are different. Am I making sense here? So God wanted us to get a comprehensive picture of the life of the Son, Jesus, so he didn't just relegate the telling of Jesus story to one person because we would only have one perspective. So he assigns responsibility to a few authors so that we get a comprehensive picture. Y' all ever had a couple people trying to tell y' all something and then somebody not telling it? Right? And you're just like, you be quiet. You tell me what happened. Because you. You tell me. Because they, they. They missing. They leaving stuff out. Tell me what she said first. Well, what you say when she said that. I mean, am I making sense? So each gospel writer is writing to a different audience. And from their perspective, it's important to note this when it comes to this narrative because Luke is a physician. So the writer, the individual who wrote Luke is Luke. Who? Same one who wrote Acts. He's a physician. He detailed, he thorough. He puts stuff in that other people leave out. And this is important because as Luke tells this story in Luke 5, this isn't the only place in the Gospels that this story is told, but it is the only place where it's told with this kind of detail. Some other gospel writers say Jesus was at the sea. Luke say he was at the sea of Gennesaret. Am I making sense? He's at the sea. He sees some people fishing. He says, come, follow me. Luke said, no, no, no. Luke not only tells us what happens, Luke tells us where it happens. Listen to this church. Luke tells us when it happens. Luke places this part of the story after Jesus has demonstrated his authority through teaching, exorcisms, and healing. Please don't miss this. Some other gospel writers who don't give us much detail place this story much earlier in their writings without giving us insight on what happened before it. But Luke puts this story after Jesus leaves the synagogue in chapter four. Why is this important? This is important because In Luke chapter 4, give me verses 38 and 39. You will see the Bible says, after Jesus leaves the synagogue, when he goes into the synagogue, opens up the Scriptures and says the spirit of The Lord is upon me because he's anointing me to preach. After he closes the book and says, this day, this has been fulfilled in your hearing, he leaves the synagogue and he goes to the home of a man named Simon. That's Peter. And the Bible says Simon's mother in law was sick and she had a high fever. And the text says that Jesus rebukes this fever, and the woman gets up and becomes well. Why is this important? It's important because chapter four come before chapter five. Y' all still awake? Okay. Would you agree that chapter four come before chapter five? So Jesus goes to Simon Peter's house to heal his mother in law in chapter four, would you agree that chapter four come before chapter five? So in chapter four, he goes to Simon Peter's mother in law's house and heals her, which means when he calls Peter in chapter five is not his first encounter with Peter. Come on. This is Luke's telling, guys. So this means metaphorically. This isn't a call to conversion. This isn't an introduction to Jesus for Peter. This is an invitation to a greater level of commitment. He's saying, come on here. He said, you got introduced to me earlier. We know each other. But now I'm asking you for a commitment. And I'm talking to some people today whose testimony is, I know Jesus. And Jesus is like, right, you in your chapter four. Now I'm turning the page. You in your chapter five, and just knowing me and ain't enough. Now I'm telling you, leave that boat and come to a greater level of commitment. I want you more serious about me than you are about those fish. Cause I'm getting ready to give you what those fish can't. It's a call to commitment. I got to go. I got eight minutes, y'. All. All right, here it is. Maybe nine. Here it is. Ten. Here it is. Here it is. Here it is. It's 12:30. Here it is. Here it is. Because the text says, here's what's happening. Jesus is teaching at this lake. And a crowd begins to come. Jesus is teaching. Jesus is teaching. Jesus is teaching because Teaching for the Savior, an act of spiritual warfare. The Bible says, my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. And then the prophet says, because you rejected knowledge, you rejected me. So the issue isn't your exposure to information. The issue is your unwillingness to submit to the information you've been exposed to. So when I am not taught sound biblical teaching, then the enemy is able to weaponize my ignorance. He is called the Prince of Darkness. And darkness isn't just a metaphor for evil. Darkness is a metaphor for ignorance. When somebody say I'm in the dark, it means I don't know. And the enemy operates in the arena of. Of the dark. Paul even says we are not ignorant of Satan's devices, lest he gets an advantage over us. He wants to exploit your ignorance. But when you get taught good God Almighty, you become steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. You're not being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine because you got an anchor. Boy, if I had time. And when people don't have sound doctrine, the devil uses dilemmas to make them engage in unhealthy deconstruction or to defect from the faith. I know what I'm talking about. If you don't have a sound, if you don't have sound doctrine and you hit a job season, it'll mess up your the. You'll start questioning the goodness of the character of God. When you go through a job like season for which you have. But because Job was anchored in truth, he said, the good Lord giveth. I feel a little Baptist there. I'm sorry. And the good Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. He's still good. He's still good. He's still good. With tears in my eyes. He's still good. With pain in my body. He's still good with people betraying me. He's still. I got five minutes. So he's teaching and a crowd begins to gather. So he says, I need some elevation. I need to stand on something so that people can see and hear me. So Luke says he sees two boats by the shore. How many boats? See Luke detailed. He says he sees two boats by the shore. How many boats? Okay, so Luke sees two boats by the shore. He says, GC two boats by show. And so Jesus goes to one of the two that happen to be Peter's. He said, let me stand in this and teach people. Here's what Luke says though. When he sees the two boats, he sees fishermen who washing their nets. This means they done for the day. Just because you finished don't mean God done. God's about to make somebody. Pick your net back up. Pick it back up. I'm not through with it. You washing your nets? God's like you're about to get them nets right back dirty again. Just cause you said you quit doesn't mean I said you release. Pick it back up. So Peter think he think he done Jesus Say, let me. Let me get in the boat, Peter. Like, okay, I've been fishing all night. I'm tired. I caught nothing. I'm frustrated because you just healed my mom in chapter four. I can't. All right, Jesus, go ahead. So Jesus in the boat, he starts teaching. Peter's patiently waiting. Somebody say, two boats. Peter probably thinking, why he ain't getting the other one. But maybe Peter recognized something we need to recognize, and that is favor doesn't always show up looking like opportunity. Sometimes favor show up feeling like responsibility. Y' all not talking to me. I say, sometimes favor is responsibility. Sometimes favor means you got to stay at the boat when you're ready to go home. Because many people want favor, but you don't want work. Y' all come on. I got to go. Y', all, I want favor. Favor mean work. Favor mean responsibility. You do know harvesting a harvest is work. See, I can tell some of you hadn't had a garden, because if you had a garden, you know them peas don't pick themselves. You know those tomatoes don't pick themselves. And many people saying, God, send me a harvest. And when he send you work. So Peter led him, use it. And Jesus looks at Peter when he gets done teaching, he says, let down. Let's go out into the deep and let down your nest for a catch. Peter. Like, now, wait a minute. I've been fishing all night, so I'm tired. I caught nothing. So I'm frustrated now. I already let you use the boat. Why are you asking the most from me when I feel like I got the least to give you? I don't feel like I got nothing else to give you. But sometimes he makes requests of you to show you what's in you. Did you hear what I just said? See? See, some of you, some of you, some of you know what it's like. If you've ever worked out by yourself and you've ever worked out by with a trainer, if it's a good trainer, the good trainer makes demands that reveal to you what's in you. You like, I don't have no more. And they like, give me three more. And you, you didn't even know you had three more in you until somebody demanded it of you. And Jesus is letting you know you got three more in you. Give me three more. Watch me blow your mind. Give me three more. Watch me open a door. Give me three more. We done. I got to hurry up, because at the 10:30, we people start running out of here, and I almost turned into a bishop. So let Me get y' all out of here so I don't have to turn into a bishop. Stay to the benediction, mister. Don't miss your blessing. Trying to get a seat on the shuttle. The devil. I need a blessing. So Peter said, lord, I respect you, and I know you be doing miracles and stuff, but you're a carpenter, so that's kind of your lane. Fishing is my lane. Let me explain to you the way this work. We've been fishing all night. We ain't caught nothing. Now you asking us to fish in the day. We don't fish in the day because we use nets. If we use nets in the day, the fish will go away from the net. So we've been in the same boat, in the same pond with the same net. We caught nothing. Now you telling me to get back in the same boat, in the same pond with the same net. And Jesus is like, yeah. Because the problem ain't the boat, and the problem ain't the problem pond. The problem ain't the net. The problem is timing. And when I tell you to drop that net. I don't care if it's daytime, you drop that net and watch me feel it. Am I preaching to anybody in the house? Texas, they get so much fish in that boat, that boat starts sinking. When the boat starts sinking, they gotta figure out how to relieve some of that weight. Let's make a homiletical loop. How many boats did Luke say was at the shore? How many did Jesus get in? So the Bible says, when that boat starts sinking, they call for the others. And the other boat would have missed an opportunity to haul fish if they would have left the shore. Cause Jesus didn't get in theirs. If you willing to watch Jesus feel Peter's boat and not be a hater, Jesus can feel yours, too. I came to tell somebody, your turn coming. Stay by the boat. Don't you quit yet. Stay by the boat. You've been watching everybody else. But if you are faithful, your turn coming. We gotta go. I said, your turn's coming. I said, your turn is coming. You've been faithful. You've been steadfast. Your turn is coming. We gotta go. They get back to shore with all that fish, and then Jesus tell them, leave it. Wait a minute. I just started winning. We never had a haul like this at the peak of where they are. Jesus said, if you follow me, I'm gonna teach you how to fish for me. The reason you've got anxiousness, Peter, about leaving it is because you think. Because I'm asking you to leave something. I'm not using what I'm asking you to leave. 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. I'mma take what you learn in one place and I'm going to use it in another place. And I want to talk to people who are dealing with scripts in your mind that you've had some wasted seasons. I want to talk to some people who feel like I wasted get my degree because I'm not using it. And God's like you thought it was a career. It was just a classroom. I was using what you learned over there because I'm getting ready to show you what to do with it over here. Nothing is wasted. Nothing is wasted. Nothing is wasted. Nothing is wasted. Nothing is wasted. Nothing is wasted. All right. And the Bible says they left everything and followed him. Their commitment required holy abandonment. Following Jesus meant they had to leave the boat. Now, 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. It is the thing God invites you to leave, but doesn't remove your access to you. You. Did you hear what I just said? He invites you to leave it, but doesn't remove your access to it. And the reason we know he done remove their access to it is when Peter gets disappointed with himself after he denies Jesus, he goes back to the boat. He says, I'm going back fishing. Cuz you still got access. And 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. I could, but I won't. If some of your enemies knew that they would be treating you different. I could, but I to follow him, they had to leave the boat. Let me tell you what your boat is not. I got to say this in 2025 because some people gonna go out here tomorrow and do something and blame it on God. I'm not saying leave your job, Pastor. No, that's not what I'm saying. Some people get ready to leave a spouse. I'm you. I got compliment. Don't blame that on me. Have your spouse looking for me tomorrow. Pastor told me to leave you. No, I did not. Yeah, that's unholy abandonment. That's not. But the bow represents three things. I'm done. It represents and this is what your calling Is going to cost you. Every time God asks you for a deeper level of commitment, it's going to cost you, number one, your comfort. I mean, Peter was. This was his livelihood. This was a fishing collective. It was a business. And they didn't have, like, paddle boats. They had, like, boats. Mark, chapter one tells us they actually had hired men. Like, they had a crew. Am I making sense? It was comfortable. Your calling is going to cost you comfort. Because what some people call comfort has become their cage. Like, God. This is uncomfortable. He's like, I know. That's the price of following me. It's going to cost you, number two, control. Because when you official. When you got fishing business, you control. We going fishing today? No, I don't feel like it. But now when he followed Jesus, he had to go. When Jesus. He had to go where Jesus went because control. Watch this. When God takes control from you, he's delivering you from the illusion of control. You don't have it. So you got false peace about false control. Did you hear what I just said? You got false peace because you think you're actually more in control than you are. And God's like, you've never been in control. You thought you was in control. You never been in control Is a willingness to say, there's nothing I have that I won't give. If you ask me for it, I'll use my gifts the way you say, having a desire for control isn't evil. But refusing to surrender control means you've made control an idol. And God's like, I'm not gonna fight you for the steering wheel now. I'm not gonna fight you for this steering wheel. When you get ready to give it over, come back and say, see me. Your call is going to cost you that. Y' all all right? And number three, it's going to cost you comparison. You don't get to do what they do. Let me go to this side. Let me say it for every in the balcony. I'm talking to you. You don't get. You don't get to do what they do. Cuz some of you like, Lord, they just get the whatever and every. And as soon as I do a little bit, you get to spanking me and pulling me. What's up with this? To whomsoever much is given, much is required. I got something on you that ain't on them. And therefore, you can't do what they do. You can't go what they go. Because comparison turns your calling into a competition. And instead of being who God's call called you to be. You'll start trying to be what you think works. 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? Hallelujah. Am I talking to anybody whose testimony is. I'm not following playbooks. Cuz God's called me to be a blueprint. I got a John the Baptist anointing. He calling you to greater commitment. This why we all in on 180. Nice, Reggie. You mean I got to come out on a Wednesday? You don't have to. Gonna cost you some comfort. Gonna cost you some control. Gonna cost you some comparison. I gotta get in a group, I gotta jump on a zoom an hour a week. Yeah, it's gonna cost you some comfort and cost you some control. But here's the thing. The boat only give you fish, but Jesus give you fulfillment. And no matter how much fish you have, until you get fulfillment, you'll always feel empty. So you know Jesus, but the invitation he's extending is he's calling you to another level of commitment. Even though you've been fishing all night so you're tired and even though you've been throwing that net and you're not catching anything. Because when, when he asked Peter to use this boat, he didn't tell him he would feel it, but he filled it. Say if you let me use it, you're gonna watch me feel it. Because I feel what I use. We're done if you're here today. All right, well, listen, I hope this inspired, stretched and even challenge you. And if it did, my one request is that you share this with someone else. We want to reach as many people as possible with a message that is biblically faithful yet highly practical. And we can't do that without your help. So thanks in advance for sharing the message. And for those of you who want to sow back into the field that you're harvesting from, you want to be generous toward this teaching ministry. Ways to do that are on the screen. Take care.