Going Beyond Ministries with Priscilla Shirer – Cast Your Net

Priscilla Shirer (born December 31, 1974) is an American author, motivational speaker, actress, and Christian evangelist. Her father is Dallas mega-church pastor Tony Evans and her brother is Christian entertainer Anthony Evans.
The daughter of Tony Evans, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship Church in Dallas, Texas,[1] Priscilla grew up well acquainted with the Bible. As a freshman at the University of Houston, she interned with a Christian radio station. Soon listeners were calling the station, inviting Priscilla to speak at their Bible study groups and other events. Soon she was invited to lead a weekly Bible study at the Zig Ziglar Corporation and then to join its speaker team. Priscilla has worked as an independent contractor for CBS and hosted a local television show, but recently she has focused solely on Christian ministry opportunities. She calls Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of evangelist Rev. Billy Graham, her mentor in ministry.

Together the Shirers established Going Beyond Ministries, a speaking bureau featuring Priscilla. The parents of three young boys, the Shirers share ministry and family responsibilities. While Priscilla continues to minister full-time, Jerry manages his schedule and other business aspects of Going Beyond Ministries.

Priscilla speaks around the world at churches and other events, including the LifeWay Christian Resources-sponsored Going Beyond conference and Deeper Still: The Event, where she shares the stage with Beth Moore and Kay Arthur. She has also authored several books.

Shirer graduated from Duncanville High School and Dallas Theological Seminary, earning a master’s degree from the latter in Biblical Studies.

In 1993, Shirer was a freshman at the University of Houston. Shirer was married in 1999 to Jerry Shirer, former Hilton Hotels executive. The couple has three sons.

In 2013, Shirer was a speaker at the 2013 Women of Faith conference. In 2015, Shirer made her film debut in the Kendrick Brothers film War Room. In October 2016, Shirer was recognized as one of four prominent women of faith during the 10th anniversary of God’s Leading Ladies Life Enrichment Program at The Potter’s House.[1] Shirer also featured at the 47th GMA Dove Awards.

caracal well hi y’all I’m so glad to

have an opportunity to be with you

having been able to be here during the

Women’s conferencing to be a part of

that and now to be able to share with

you during a part of your Sunday

services really is a huge treat for me I

said to the women that I appreciate you

letting me kind of hobble up on your

platform this is what happens when you

try to take on your growing boys in a

rousing game of basketball and so my

husband and I had a three-on-three game

with the boys that we invited a couple

friends over and the big boys and we had

this game and I used to not have to

bring my A game when I played the boys

you know I had to let them win but the

problem now is that I brought my a-game

and they still want they beat me very

badly and I walked away with what we

thought may have been a broken foot but

just some pulled tendons and I was glad

because I didn’t want to be I didn’t

want to miss this I didn’t want to miss

being a part of this church you need to

know that the work that happens in and

through this church through the

leadership of this church it precedes

you we we hear about what God does

through your church in this area and so

to have an opportunity to serve you is

our privilege so I bring you greetings

from my home Church in Dallas Texas

where my daddy as my pastor has been

since I was one year old when they

started the church where we still are

members and love serving God there and

I’m excited to share God’s word with you

this morning because I believe in the

power of God’s word anybody believe in

the power of God’s word amen it is not

just a book you know with ink on a page

the Holy Spirit causes it to come alive

to us it’s spirit in life to us and so

let’s pray and see what it is that he

has to say to us today lord I thank you

so much for the privilege of hearing you

speak thank you God that every single

time we come to the Scriptures we can

expect to feel

the warm breath of God brushing across

our cheeks as you speak a present tense

word into our lives so god I’m praying

that you would do what only you can at

the second service on this wet cold

Sunday in Austin would you take this one

little message would you divided a

couple thousand different ways so that

everybody under the sound of my voice

will hear a direct personal word

straight from the mouth of God what we

are glad each other is here but we

didn’t come to see each other we came to

see you so speak Lord we are your

servants and we are listening in Jesus

name everybody agreed and said and then

amen amen

as I mentioned Jay and I have three boys

together Jackson is 12 then little Jerry

jr. is 10 and Judah is our surprise

six-year-old and my full-time job you

should know that my normal regular life

job is that I am a stay-at-home mom

really I counted as my privilege to

raise these boys who will grow up to be

warrior men for Christ or I will spank

them so my life is very much like like

anybody who’s a parent you know how it

is when you are maybe in the summer

months when you’re at home with your

children and they’re not going to school

during the day they’re at home all day

long

24/7 you know how it is every day the

goal of your life is to try to figure

out how do I get to bedtime more quickly

today than I did yesterday so you fill

the hour with activities and errands and

things to just keep life full when when

your children are younger and when

they’re at home and so I do the same

thing we play basketball together we run

errands together we do a lots of

different things and one of the things

we enjoy doing is going fishing I like

taking the boys fishing we live in a

fairly rural part of the dallas-fort

Worth area we like it that way it’s

quiet enough lazy enough out in this

little south of downtown Dallas yes just

so that we feel like we’re worlds away

we can get to the city really really

easily but our little two-lane road is

little lazy and sleepy and quiet and got

horses over there on that property and

somebody over there’s got some cow

and our neighbor across the street has a

pond rachel is one of my best friends

and she and Tom live across the street

and they let us come and use their pond

we love going fishing on this pond every

now and then when the weather is nice

the boys and I will grab some fishing

poles and I bought on sale at the local

Super Walmart around the corner a tackle

box but I also bought on sale at the

local super wall of super Walmart

I have several things in in the tackle

box not the least of which is some

gloves because y’all know I don’t mind

going fishing but I ain’t finished touch

no fish so I send one of the boys to the

refrigerator to grab whatever hot dog

meat is left over from the day from the

week that’s going to be our bake we put

it inside the tackle box and we’d go

across the street and we fish we enjoy

fishing on this pond because when we put

the line in the water in this particular

corner that’s underneath some trees we

really love this one little Cove at the

pond because in this particular corner

it’s like a bunch of fish a school of

small fish always seemed to be right

there in that particular corner so when

we put a line into the water almost

immediately we feel some tugging and

then within three to five minutes likely

we’re going to have a fish it’s going to

be a small you know sun perch or

something like that but we’re going to

we’re going to catch a fish within five

minutes when we throw it back we’ll do

it again in five minutes we have a fish

if we say they’re at the pond for an

hour or more we’re going to catch 1015

fish maybe in the course of that time my

boys love fishing like that instant

gratification it’s the kind of fishing a

six-year-old needs in his life so we do

it fairly frequently I thought that

since we like fishing so much at home

that the boys must enjoy fishing just in

general so there’s a Christian camp that

we go to pretty much every years

actually since I was five years old we

gone we’ve gone to this camp so now we

take our family they have a big lake

there and the boys got up early one

morning this particular week we were at

camp they got up early one morning was

too early for the dining-hall to be open

for breakfast so I said well boys the

lake is down by the dining-hall so why

don’t we go down to that Lake and fish

this morning until it’s time for

breakfast so we got those same fishing

poles that we’d brought along with us

that same tackle box

walk down to the lake and we fished and

fished and fished set painful kana

fishing not only was there not a tub on

the line but we certainly didn’t even

see anything underneath the top of the

water I mean we just we just had nothing

going on we couldn’t seem to catch

anything and I was getting intense and

intentional about figuring out what was

going on and figure out a way to catch a

fish when I looked up and it occurred to

me that my boys weren’t even there

anymore they had run off into a nearby

field and they were playing football

with each other I don’t know if that’s

ever happened to you where you’re doing

something for your kids and then you

realize your kids aren’t even there

anymore

hi yells over to the boys and I said

boys I am NOT out here early in the

morning for my health I came out here

for y’all get over here and sit with me

again one of them yelled back to me and

said mom we don’t like fishing like that

the other one yells over to me want to

want the other old one of the older

older ones yells over to me and said

yeah mom fishings not supposed to be

that hard so I sat there on the dock for

a little while longer with the line in

the water and I thought about what my

second son had said I giggles a bit

thinking about it fishing is not

supposed to be that hard it occurs to me

even in a group Desai’s there are some

of you that know exactly how that feels

because you’ve been fishing not

necessarily out on a pond but in your

own life and in mind you know we have

all been commissioned and called to our

own individual fishing expeditions it’s

the marriage that you are in its the

ministry God compels you to start it is

the business that is that you work at it

is the unparent

it is some area of your life where you

are investing some time some energy some

effort you are investing your passion

your creativity’s your ambition your

ideas your investing your skill your

your talent you are sowing in your life

this this ministry or this business or

this person and maybe you’re in the room

on this Sunday morning and honestly this

funding meets you a little bit

discouraged because you have been

fishing and fishing but you feel like

you keep coming up empty-handed but the

investment you are putting in to you

just doesn’t seem to be equal to the

benefit that you’re getting out and so

after all you’ve been giving to you it

just feels like a fishing chip that has

gone bad you keep on putting in but it

doesn’t seem like you’re getting the

same investment same benefits out there

is a fisherman in Scripture who knows

how it feels to have a fishing trip gone

bad because he didn’t just fish for 45

minutes or an hour like me and my boys

this brother that we’re going to read

about he fish all night long and caught

nothing so if you had your Bible and you

want to turn with me to Luke chapter 5

please feel free to do that or if you

have your eyes following your iPad any

manner of – just flip on over to Luke

chapter 5 because that is where we meet

a fisherman and through his story I

think we’re going to find encouragement

for day today for anyone who is in the

room who’s ever been fishing and you

felt like you’ve caught nothing

Luke chapter 5 verse 1 says this now it

came about that while the multitude were

pressing in around him that is Jesus and

listening to the Word of God he was

standing by the lake of Gennesaret lake

of janessa Rhett is another term for the

Sea of Galilee so he’s standing at the

Sea of Galilee verse 2 says and he saw

somebody say he saw Jesus saw two boats

they were lying at the end of the lake

but the fishermen had gotten out of them

and they were washing their nets let’s

just start right here with these two

verses because we get to meet Simon the

fisherman in these two verses the exact

same way that Jesus saw him on this

occasion as he taught a crowd of people

that were gathering around him Simon at

this point has already fished all night

long

he has already discouraged disappointed

irritated upset because he has been

pouring in all of his time and energy

and

all night long into this fishing trip

but he’ll didn’t know benefits he has no

fish

and when Jesus seized him on this

occasion Simon has already abandoned his

boat he has already gotten out of that

one’s representatives discouragement and

irritation he’s abandoned the boat and

Luke wants to make sure that we get the

whole picture of what this looked like

when Jesus spotted Simon he says in

verse 1 that there was a multitude of

people that were gathering around Jesus

he uses the word multitude specifically

because he wants to make sure that you

and I know it wasn’t a couple dozen

people that were there that day not even

a couple of hundred that were likely two

or three or maybe even more thousands of

people that were gathered around Jesus

on that occasion everywhere Jesus went

when he showed up there would be masses

of people that would be gathered around

him and listen everybody didn’t believe

that he was who he said he was they

weren’t quite sure about this whole

Messiah business but what they didn’t

know beyond any reasonable doubt is that

when this Jesus showed up blind people

could see what they knew for sure is

that deaf ears can hear and that the

lame could walk and that dead people

were being raised what they knew was

that every time this Jesus opened up his

mouth and spoke his words were dripping

with an awl and an authority they had

never heard before

they had heard good teaching before from

the Jewish leaders of the day but they

never heard nothing like this before and

so everywhere Jesus showed up the crowd

came and they brought with them their

ailments and their needs they brought

with them to discourage in the

downtrodden they bring with them their

their health issues and their financial

issues and they were trying to get as

close as they possibly could to Jesus

they wanted to be like the woman with

the issue of blood do you remember who

forced her way through a crowded group

of people she wanted to get close enough

so that she could just reach out and

touch the hem of His garment and when

she did power left him and went to her

and so Luke wants to make sure you

understand that this was not a calm

casual sedate group of people that were

sitting in their chairs just casually

listening to the

of God like you are this morning these

people were with Jesus and they knew

what he could do for them and so they

were a clamoring chaotic group of people

verse 1 says where they were pressing in

on Jesus he was backed up against the

shoreline of the Sea of Galilee because

people were coming in him from every

direction buying for his attention

trying to elbow their way through the

crowd they were up shouting out his name

they were trying to get his attention

there was chaos swirling all around I

want you to just think of how you feel

if Jesus were your miles that et Chur

and in the midst of all of that chaos in

the midst of all of these people vying

for the attention of Jesus verse 2 says

he saw one man who had a bad night

fishing I’ve got good news for you today

shoreline no matter how big the crowd

gets no matter how many other elements

God also is dealing with no matter how

many other prayers might be lift up to

him no matter how many other needs

he is also contending what you need to

know that we serve a God who sees you so

your fishing trip has not been lost on

God thank your mama might not know when

your dad might not know your spouse

might not be aware that when you turn

off the lights it might roll over that

tears are rolling down your face because

of that issue that you’re trying to

figure out how you’re going to make it

through your spouse might not be aware

your kids might not understand your

parents might not have your back what

you need to know we serve a God who sees

his eyes are on you every single tear

that you have cried not one of those

tears have been lost in the carpet

fibers of your bedroom floor every

single one has been captured in the palm

of Almighty God you need to know that

that brother every single bead of sweat

that has formed on your brow as you’ve

tried to figure out how to deal with

that particular issue in your family or

your business life you need to know that

every single bead of flesh has been

noticed by the hand of God he cares

about and feeds everything that concern

whew she saw Simon and he sees you you

are not lost in the crowd it doesn’t

matter how big shoreline gets it doesn’t

matter how many campuses you have to

multiply – it doesn’t matter how many

online viewers will view these services

you need to know in the midst of it all

God sees the collective but he also sees

the individual you are seen and known

and cared for by God and never in a

million years should we consider this

very fundamental aspect of our faith

that God sees us never should we ever

hear it or contemplated and it roll off

of our shoulders casually as if it is

not something unbelievably profound

that’s the God of the universe

he’s me Victor he can’t with all this

stuff he has to do and he cares about my

24 hours he cares about what’s happening

in my heart and in my mind and on my job

and in my ministry and he cares about my

family he cares about what breaks my

heart he cares about the details of my

life at a God that great would care

about a woman or a man like us that’s

something that should never be casual to

us because He is God after all he has

stuff to do y’all he is the God that is

the one that causes the Sun to rise in

the morning he is the one that makes

sure it stays exactly in its place until

it swaps places with the moon he is the

one that makes sure that this earth that

you and I can exist on he is the one

making sure that it is spinning on its

axis at exactly the right speed as to

make sure that human beings can sustain

life here he is the one that will hide

every single star in the sky and will

know its number and will know its name

and will make sure that it is hanging

exactly where it should until the

morning rises he is the one that will

make sure that galaxies galaxies that

scientists have not even yet discovered

that they exist he is the one that is

making sure it’s hanging exactly where

it ought to be and that God who is

orchestrating the thrones of the

universe has his eyes on you

there’s nothing casual about that that

he would see people like us and somebody

today is here on this Sunday and you

just need to be encouraged because you

need to know that you may feel so unseen

by the people in your sphere of

influence but your God listen I drove up

35 from Dallas to tell you his eye is on

you and he sees he’s aware I was

watching an episode of The Today Show I

have four years as have many of you I’m

sure and this was years ago when

Campbell Brown was one of their only

kind of roving reporters and on this

particular day she had been for the

entire week during a series on religions

of the world the day I caught it she was

on the Buddhist face so I kind of I was

folding clothes there on the edge of the

bed and I’m distracted now because she’s

talking about the Buddhist faith that

was intrigued I don’t know much about it

so I was just listening

she and her camera crew had flown over

to Hong Kong they were standing in front

of one of the big statues of Buddha

there’s one of she was standing in front

of one of five of them that is in and

around the area she said she said that

they had to fly halfway across the world

and then the statues are on the sides of

mountains and so they had to climb up

268 stairs she and the camera crew with

all their equipment to get up to the

side of this mountain where the statue

was and she began to prodigal what it

means to be a Buddhist and she talked

about the faith itself and then she

began to mention how the goal of

everyone who subscribes to the Buddhist

faith is that they save up as much money

as they can a lifetime’s worth if they

have to so that at some point they can

make this pilgrimage so that they can

come halfway around the world and go to

one of these Buddhist statues and then

climb up the two to three hundred stairs

so that they can be near the statue and

pray to their God and I’m sitting on the

edge of the bed folding clothes and all

I can think to myself is if I have to

save up all that money and fly halfway

around the world and climb up 300 stairs

to pray

I would never pray can I get one witness

in the house

how many ain’t nobody got time for that

and while they’re climbing up to talk to

their God little G our God capital G the

one true God he comes down to talk to us

y’all he doesn’t have to he chooses to

condescend because it just loves us so

much he sees simonin and I want you to

know today that because he sees Simon in

this scenario that we can also have full

confidence that he also sees us and you

know what’s so interesting is again Luke

is so descriptive which is why I love

the Book of Luke so much because I liked

all the juicy details and he gives us

lots of details he wants us to know that

when Simon got out of that boat and

Jesus sees him out of the boat that

Simon and his fellow fishermen are doing

something very specific they are washing

their nets now if we did not know that

Simon was finished fishing we’re not

sure about that now we know for sure I

mean he is out of the boat that brother

is washing his net he is throwing in the

towel it is over he is done

fed up finished and I’ve often heard

Simon given a bad time a hard time why

I’ve heard others maybe teach on this or

read some materials about it they were

concerned that maybe Simon had stroke

had thrown in the towel too quickly

maybe he should have hung in there

stayed on the boat instead of abandoning

it and maybe thrown out that net net one

or two more times to just hang in there

a little bit and try again but do you

know that of all the people I have heard

give Simon a hard time for getting off

of the boat and for washing his net

there was one person in this story who

sees that Simon’s out of the boat he

sees that Simon is washing his net but

he doesn’t say one negative word to him

and it’s Jesus Jesus sees exactly what’s

going on here he doesn’t say one there’s

no not one scold there’s no rebuke

there’s no negative word to Simon and I

think this might be why because I want

you to know if I have been fishing all

night long and had caught nothing the

last thing I’d be doing is washing my

net I’d be trying to sell my net on eBay

I would not be trying to wash my net

because if you are washing your net yes

it means you’re done but it also implies

that you have every intention of using

it again otherwise why would you be

caring for the net unless at some point

maybe not right now but you are planning

on getting back on that boat and casting

it out once again do you know the reason

why you come to church on a Sunday the

reason why you gather sisterhood it’s a

sisterhood meetings are once a year at

the Women’s Conference like we just had

the reason why you come is because we

don’t come in here in our perfection we

drag our torn and tattered Nets of our

marriage and our ministry and our job

and our broken hearts we bring them into

the building and it’s in this place that

we wash our necks and there’s no rebuke

there’s no negative reaction from our

God when we’ve got to wash our net we

abandon the both of our regular lives

not to escape our reality just to come a

fine long enough to wash and tend our

net and then get back to the realities

to which God has called us with our

message intact and prepared to go and

please notice that the Fisher men pearl

were washing the net Nets were so large

and so big and then there were weights

up strategically positioned around the

outsides of the Nets and that that’s how

it would sink and catch fish they would

cast it out heavy as it was with the

weights in place around the

circumference and those weights would

cause it to sink and drag down to the

bottom of the sea floor so it was a

heavy net and the weights male even

heavier fishing was never meant to be a

one Fisher person job it was meant for

several fishermen

always in scripture you see Fisher men

of pearl fishing and washing nets

because it was never meant to be a job

for one person when you were born into

the family of God you need to know you

were not born into an only child

situation this is a family and the

reason why church on TV is a good

addition to your membership here but

should never supplant or replace it it’s

because when you’re not in this room you

are missing out on being connected with

your fellow networkers

you and I are supposed to have people

who are around us who love us enough to

get down on their hands and knees on our

behalf and help us depend the net of our

marriage in the net of our ministry and

the net of our broken hearts the net in

our parenting and then encourage us to

take that net and get back onto the boat

that God has called us to and so Simon’s

washing his net and Jesus Jesus sees

that happening and then verse 3 tells us

what happens next he got into one of the

boats which was Simons that’s Jesus

Jesus got into Simon’s boat Jesus got in

to Simon’s boat and asked him to push

out a little way from the land he sat

down he began teaching the multitudes

from that boat Jesus got into one of the

boats verse 3 Jesus got into what’s most

interesting to me about verse 3 is not

actually verse 3 what’s most interesting

to me about verse 3 Jesus getting into

the boat is that in verse 2 Simon just

got out of the boat verse 2 Simon got

out verse 3 Jesus got in

the very thing that was so discouraging

so disappointing so frustrating so

overwhelming to Simon at all he wanted

to do in verse you was get out of it of

the very thing in verse 3 that when

Jesus was looking around trying to find

a place to stand so that he could

proclaim his word to the people who were

gathered when he was trying to find

something that he could turn into a

pulpit he discovered the abandoned boat

circumstance of Simon’s experience and

he got into it and proclaimed his word

through Simon’s experience do you know

what this tells us this tells us not

only that he sees you it tells us that

he will use the part of your life you

think is useless the abandoned boat

circumstance of your life that portion

of your journey that you’re wondering

how in the world anything good can come

out of that it’s so empty it’s so dry

I’ve been fishing but I haven’t been

catching anything that helps you

platform on your life is preparing

itself for the feet of Jesus to come and

stand declaring his power not only to

you but also to the people in your

sphere of influence who are watching on

and need to see a life that has been

invaded by the hand of God he will use

the part of your life you think of

useless that portion of your journey

that you’re wondering whether any good

can come out of this because you haven’t

been able to catch any fish for that one

your marriage is still hanging on by a

thread you keep investing but that

particular child is still making

decisions you cannot you just can’t

figure out why they are you’ve been

investing and you’ve been fishing but

your your ministry is still in its

fledgling book place that it’s still

difficult for you to figure out how to

what steps you’re going to take next

you’ve been fishing but on your job man

you still haven’t gotten that promotion

that you that you thought would have

come your way a lot sooner you’ve been

fishing and fishing and now the platform

is empty you cannot catch anything and

you feel like it’s going to be a useless

part of your life good news he’s the

master of taking the useless and making

it useful for his glory and also for

your good he’ll use the part of your

life you think

I believe in the sovereignty of God God

is sovereign somebody say sovereign

sovereignty means that our God should be

for time that is pre Genesis 1:1 the

only reason there is a Genesis 1:1 let

there be light let there be such and

such the only reason there is one is

because God already existed so he could

say let there be and it was sovereignty

means God stood before time he had seen

the entire spectrum of eternity past all

of time from Genesis 1:1 to the end of

time which we have not yet seen and he

has seen into eternity future

sovereignty means not only that he has

seen it all

sovereignty means that he has the whole

thing in the palm of his hand

that’s sovereignty sovereignty when we

believe it it’s what allows us to do

church what Psalm 46:10 says be still

relax chill out and know that he is God

sovereignty means what happened to you

last week surprised you but God was not

in the heavens going Hoops that one

slipped past me he’s sovereign he’s

already been there and done that if we

apply God’s sovereignty to Luke chapter

5 then what this means is that while

Simon was out in the deep while he was

out in the water fishing all night long

and catching nothing when he kept

throwing out that net he’s an

experienced fisherman he kept throwing

out that net and pulling and nothing and

he surprised and shocked and is in

complete disbelief when he does it again

and there’s still nothing and again and

there’s still nothing and he cannot for

the life of him comprehend in this

tragic situation this fishing trip gone

bad what it means that even though Simon

didn’t quite understand what what was

going on Jesus in his sovereignty did

and Jesus knew in his sovereignty

something Simon and his humanity could

never know that there was a morning

coming and that in the morning Jesus

already knew

we’re going to be a crowd of people that

were going to be gathered around him and

he was going to have to try to find

somewhere to be able to stand to make

sure that his voice was uniquely

amplified so that the people in the

front row all the way to the folks that

were in the far reaches of the group

would be able to hear every word that

was going to come out of his mouth Jesus

any of sovereignty knew that if he let

Simon catch all those fish the deck of

that boat would be filled with flipping

flopping fish and there would be no room

for his feet

so Jesus in his sovereignty listen to me

he allowed Simon to fish and catch

nothing for the purpose of leaving room

for himself I want you to know that in

his sovereignty God will oftentimes put

you in a scenario on purpose where he

knows that your skill is not going to be

able to handle it your talent is not

going to cover it your money is not

going to be able to get you where you

need to be the diplomas on your wall are

not going to cut it this time your

connections your your abilities he puts

you specifically in a scenario where he

knows you are going to fish and give it

your all but you’re still going to come

up up empty-handed

and it’s a difficult place for us to be

in but he knows that if we are always

capable of filling up our own beat our

own boats with fish there will never

ever be room for his feet in our life

and so it is sovereignty he allows

emptiness it makes us uncomfortable but

in that discomfort we are given an

opportunity a great gift to see what it

looks like when Jesus plants his feet on

the deck of our lives

he will use the part of your life you

think is useless he’s gonna make a

miracle out of that mess my friend he’s

gonna turn that thing around for for

your good and for his glory so my mom my

mom is a master chef actually she’s just

my mom but there’s no cooking like your

mama’s cooking you know I will tell you

that when I grew up I’m sure that so

many of you are like this and your

families when you’re growing up and you

think that we’re when we were growing up

there was none of this go out to eat

dinner business on Sunday

that was like a special treat and we

would go to Wyatts cafeteria they all

remember Wyatt Jessica that’s where we

would go that was a special treat every

now and then but most of the time on

Sunday there was no going out to eat my

mom cook Sunday dinner it was like a

deal you know I mean it was a big deal

we look forward to that Sunday dinner it

was a meal that sometimes she would

start cooking on Saturday night so we

would we would smell the roast cooking

all night long we would wake up with our

mouths salivating we hadn’t even gone to

church yet we were already ready for

Sunday dinner you know she had the

macaroni and cheese laid out and ready

she’d had these yeast rolls rising and

maybe a sweet potato pie and she’d make

some fresh green beans am i killing

y’all I’m killing it one time it is

lunchtime so she would make all this

stuff and we loved Sunday dinner and I’m

going to tell you now that I’m a mom

with three kids myself she had four

three kids I cannot for the life of me

figure out how that woman did it I

appreciate her so much more I appreciate

don’t you appreciate your parents so

much more so older you get I appreciate

my mama so much I got I have one up and

I don’t have double ovens I have one of

and my mom had one oven at the time for

the light no matter how hard I try I

cannot figure out how’d you get all that

food on the table all hot at the same

time I can’t do it my poor family poor

Jerry stuff is going to be cold he’ll be

cold I’m trying babe I’m trying

so now I understand why on Monday and

Tuesday

my mother didn’t cook nothing it has

been so much work on the weekend you

know all that cooking and cleaning all

those dishes all that time spent there

was so much work I totally get it now

but I will tell you what she did do on

Monday she would go into the

refrigerator and see all the leftovers

from Sunday a little broccoli left a

little onion little chicken their little

macaroni you know what I’m going to cut

this dice it she would kind of put

everything together in this big

casserole baking dish and she’d stir in

some cream of mushroom soup because you

know that’s just what you do she would

sprinkle on top some shredded cheese

because you know cheese makes everything

better

then she would put it inside of the oven

for just a little while and she would

stand there watching it to make sure

that it was at the perfect perfect baked

goodness and she would at the right time

take it out she would set it on the

table in front of the family on Monday

and Tuesday

she would give it some French sounding

name we thought there was a brand new

dish in front of us we devoured it we

loved it so much but it wasn’t something

brand-new it was just leftovers in the

hands of a master so this is what God

does with your life he looks at every

single season of your life and he takes

this a little bit in that a little bit

this little part that you thought was

useless and wouldn’t do any good or

bring any good for anyone or anything

and he takes all those bits and pieces

and he chops it up and dices it and

reconfigures it and then he pours a

cream of the Holy Spirit on top of it

and it mixes himself into the equation

and then he sprinkles a little grace and

mercy on top because you know grace and

mercy make everything better and then he

puts you inside of the oven of fire and

trial for just a little while but like

any good loving master chef he’s

standing there ready to take you out at

just the right moment and then he gives

you a brand new name y’all he he changes

your identity and

places you in front of a lost and dying

hungry world that needs to know that our

God is oh good amen

Churchill listen to me there are some

people as great as this church is that

will never darken the doorsteps of this

church or any Church they just not come

in they’re not there stereotypes or

there are things from their past

experiences with other Christians or

churches that have made them steer clear

from darkening the doorsteps of this

church they may never come but they can

see the church in you they could fake in

here because you’re their co-worker

you’re their neighbor they can see how

there was this emptiness in your

circumstances and as you can show them

what it looked like when Jesus Christ

stepped into this thing and turned it

all around and changed it and made it

something beautiful they should be

looking at us like how in the world did

that happen and then you can point them

to the wood not because you talked so

great about who Jesus is but because

when they looked at your life they

couldn’t help but see how great aren’t

you

so he sees you he sees you and he will

use the part of your life you think is

useless and when Jesus finished speaking

to the crowd verse 4 says he turns to

Simon and he says push out into deep

water and let down your nets for a catch

Simon answered and said excuse me master

we worked hard all night long we’ve

caught nothing but at your bidding I’m a

let down my net anyway verse 6 when they

had done this they enclosed a great

quantity of fish so much so y’all that

their nests begin to break verse 7 says

so they signal to their partners in the

other boat for them to come and help

them and they came they still dwelt the

mouth with fish and both boats started

to sink y’all that’s a lot of fish so

here’s the deal God says he’s been in

shallow water Jesus has been in shallow

water teaching the people from Simon’s

boat he’s talked to them from shallow

water he turns to Simon now and says

let’s go deep I don’t know about you all

but I don’t prefer deep water like in my

life I like shallow water situations

because in shallow water I could stand

up on my own two feet I got it covered

in shallow water deep water is the place

where I’m in a scenario where I am in

over my head and I don’t know how I’m

going to be able to keep myself afloat

Simon had a decision to make even though

he was going to this irrational

uncomfortable place of risky faith which

by the way with against his experience

as a fisherman an experienced fisherman

on the Sea of Galilee knew that to catch

this you fished in shallow water Jesus

was saying to him the exact opposite of

his experience let’s go to deep water

Simon had a decision to make well I

leave on my own understanding or will I

trust that where he’s leaving me is the

place for me to be even if it does not

make sense Simon said yes Lord it does

make sense we’ve already tried this but

Jesus will go out to the deep water and

in the deep water Simon got the miracle

of a lifetime the shallow water was to

teach them

the deep water was to teach him the

shallow stuff was for everybody else the

deep stuff is for you when God calls you

to the deep the place of risky

irrational faith in Him

listen if you’ll say yes Lord he’s he’s

fully planning to do something for you

it’s a setup do you understand it is a

divine setup when God calls you to the

risky place of faith if he can just find

some folks that will say yes Lord and

row out into the deep risky place to

face with him where you’re in over your

head and by the way maybe you’re in here

this morning you’re already in over your

head can I just tell you that once

you’re in over your head it doesn’t

matter how much further you go you’re

already up under there now so just keep

going to the places where God is calling

you knowing that if he’s called you

there you are better off with you in

deep water than you would ever be in

shallow water standing on your own two

feet

shallow water might be more comfortable

but the fish aren’t in shallow water the

fish are in the uncomfortable place and

he throws out his net and all of a

sudden the water that that was

completely lifeless and fruitless the

night before all of a sudden it is

teeming with fish there are fish

everywhere I mean it’s almost like they

just want to get in the boat themselves

in fact you do know that Jesus could

have said fish get in the boat and this

would have just started jumping out of

the water into the boat right this is

the same God who said wind and waves be

still and they obeyed he could have done

that but he didn’t he said Simon you

cast out your net in other words he

wanted Simon to cooperate with him in

the experience of the miracle in the

scriptures there are over 8,000 promises

that are available for you and I as

daughters and sons of God over 8,000

opportunities that we have to experience

God but do you know most of those

promises in the Bible he did not place

them in our hand he placed them in our

reach which means to grab hold of God’s

part you first have to do your part

is he asking you to cast out your net

exert a little effort and energy to it

there’s fish waiting on you my friend so

many fish in fact that verse 7 says

Simon had to signal to his partners

if it would have been me y’all I would

have called out to my partners I would

have been like Cheryl Laura get over

here you are not going to believe this I

cannot wait for you to see this but this

author wants us to know for sure that

Simon did not yell he signaled the Bible

doesn’t tell us exactly why that is but

I just wonder if the reason why Simon

signals is the reason why he didn’t say

a word it’s because he was speechless

because when his brain tried to come up

with the right words to describe what he

was seeing in front of him it couldn’t

so the best he could come up with was I

want to ask you church when’s the last

time God stunned you speech when’s the

last time you saw a miracle of a

lifetime in your personal circumstances

I want to tell you something if he’s

calling you out to deep water in fact if

you are here or listening on this Sunday

morning I believe that the only reason

he would put you under this word and me

under this word is because he’s telling

you right now I’m getting ready to call

you deep in the next week or two or

month God is going to beckon you to deep

water today he’s telling you in advance

if you will say yes and come with me to

the deep and cast out your net I’m

telling you you are putting yourself in

a position to be stunned speechless by

the miracle-working power of God

so today if you’ve been discouraged

because you’ve been fishing and catching

nothing I want to pray for you I want to

pray that that discouragement would be

lifted off of you today in Jesus name I

want to pray that you would be

encouraged knowing that you are seen by

God and He will use the parts of your

life that you think are useless but he’s

a master at that and I want you to

always remember that that when we

venture out into the deep risky place of

faith with him he can do a miracle in

the very place in the very environment

where it seems to us today that a

miracle can never be done if you’re

struggling in some specific area you’ve

been fishing in your marriage or in your

ministry on your job or with that child

or in your classroom and you’ve been

fishing and catching nothing I believe

this morning he’s preparing you for a

miracle let me pray for you Lord Jesus

would you make us men and women of risky

faced Lord if you call us to the deep

we’re gonna go because we want every

single thing that you have for us and

more the Lord I’m asking you in Jesus

name to listen discouragement off of

anyone who under the sound of my voice

who is a bit overwhelmed today Lord

because they’ve been giving and giving

and giving and they feel like they have

seen no benefits for their investment

lord I just pray that your hand would be

upon them that you would comfort them

that they would know that you see them

would you wipe the tears from their eyes

Lord and god I’m going to ask that you

would would use all the useless places

of our stories to bring you glory thank

you Lord that you are setting us up you

are preparing us to do great and mighty

and wonderful things through our lives

thank you for Simon’s story because it

sure encourages us we’re grateful Lord

in Jesus name Amen

you

[Applause]