Testimony 

Over the days after our assignment to Vietnam with Rest and Reflection the Lord took me back to when I was  9 years old as a Hindu kid. At that time there were very few believers of Jesus in the neighbourhood . We were gathered together by some young adult new believers at a house in the corner of our street on a Sunday afternoon and we were taught Sunday School songs 

and this 2 songs cemented itself in my heart.

1. Building up the Temple 

2. Fishing for Jesus 

(Will post the song on the chat)

The seed that was planted then came to life some 25 years later when I surrendered my life to Jesus.

( Hence I live every moment of this Life for him as he leads me)

 

The Lord also reminded me about the hobby I picked up from my dad who taught me how to fish, we loved fishing. We spent many hours together with all my cousins fishing, so much so that I brought my fishing gear with me when I immigrated to this country.

This hobby has taken a turnaround now, to FISHING FOR JESUS 

( As we read there were at least 7 disciples of Jesus who were fishermen)

 

This morning we will go through some Fishing Parallels in context with the word 

 

1. You don't catch any fish unless you go fishing

Like everything else in life, fishing takes a lot of time. You need to go to the ocean,lake or to the river. You have to take with you your fishing gear and your food. As a fisherman you will have to make time for this hobby.

Sometimes you would plan a vacation around it , take time off work and go to your favourite fishing spots.

 

In Matthew 28:19, Jesus says, "Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit." 

 

Fishing for men takes time. You have to displace yourself, you have to change your schedule sometimes. 

You have to go the extra mile ,get out of your comfort zone, change your routine in order to make time for it, even if it means picking up someone and taking them to church.

Other times it means, going on a campaign or going with a missions team or just going out of your way to share your faith with someone else. Nobody catches fish while sitting at home and watching TV. 

No one wins souls unless they move out of their routine, out of their convenience and out of their comfort zone. 

 

2. You have to fish where the fish are.

When you go fishing you go to spots where you know that you would likely haul in a catch. Sometimes you would catch fish and other times you would not get a single bite.

When you spot a shoal you cast your rod or net into it.

 When trying to reach souls with the gospel, the same principle is at work. You have to bring the gospel to the people, because very few are going to come knocking on the church door to hear it. 

Each one of us has the potential and is responsible of bringing the  reality of God to all those around us by sharing his Love and Grace through acts of kindness and the Gospel.

 

3. Catching fish requires patience. 

Some days you catch fish as fast as you can bait your hook. Other days nothing happens. And usually there are more days like this than the other. 

Fishing requires patience.

Some of us think that, as soon as we explain the gospel, people need to respond right away.

Some may  require more teaching of the word than others. Others may be caught up in many sins, and they find it hard to let go in one moment, others remain unconvinced for many different reasons and they need continual encouragement. 

It took Jesus a long time to bring his own disciples to complete a life changing faith and even after His death, they went back to doubting.

Mathew 28-7

Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you."

 

Eventually their faith was strong, and it was well established. 

Remember Love and Patience are our most important evangelistic tools. 

 

4. Sometimes you have to change your bait. 

Different fishes  are attracted by different approaches, the bait we use , the type of hook or the different types of lures.

(Trust me I can give you some fishing lessons)

Likewise in the kingdom of God each person has a talent and a role to play for building up the body. (Winning souls, evangelism,fishing for Jesus, preaching, teaching,etc)

Ephesians 4:16

16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

 

5. No fish tastes better than our fish. 

Our catch tastes the best. 

 No fish is better and tastes better than our own fish.

A parallel to this, is when the disciples who followed Jesus, had varying degrees of faith and enthusiasm. 

Luke 10:1

1After this the Lord appointed seventy-two a others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

 

We see the Lord choose 70  to go out and preach the word. (He sends them out to fish)And then when they come back, they're excited. Why? Because they began to minister themselves. They didn't just follow Him, they didn't just observe Him, they  went out and ministered by themselves.

They saw the results of their own work. They felt God's power working through them. (They caught some fish) 

When we are responsible for bringing someone to Christ, we begin to experience the same kinds of things. We feel involved. We feel part of the work, not just observing the work. We not only hear God's word, but we actually see how it affects the lives of other people. We actually feel the presence of the Lord in our lives, as he works his will, through our ministry, whatever that is.

No one who is serving the Lord and bringing souls to Christ, or ministering to the needs of other people, ever felt that this was boring, or irrelevant. 

Its only boring and you don’t feel the excitement if you’re only watching, because church is not meant to be a watch thing. Church is for doing, for involvement, not  for observation. 

The Lord saved us not to be spectators but to be participators to bring his reality to this world 

 

As believers let part of our responsibility, aside from worship and holy living, is to win souls for Christ.

John 15:12

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

 

Every branch that is  every believer in Him needs to fish. The more we fish, the more he will Bless us. The less we fish, we  risk being removed .

 

Each one fishes differently. 

Romans 12-6

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying,then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith;

 

We all  have a different way of fishing. But each of us has to fish using the Gift that God as given us

Pray that this gift will be activated within us

 

Fishing is rewarding. 

Lord help us not to be discouraged with rejection and  persecution.

fishing for souls is the most rewarding and motivating experience in the walk with our Lord.

 

Acts 5:41-42

41So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. 42And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and preaching the good news of Jesus as the Christ.

 

PRAY FROM THIS DAY ON WE WILL ALL BE FISHING FOR JESUS 

 

GOD BLESS