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[0:00] our time of worship let us worship God and sing to his praise from Psalm 51 Psalm 51 we don't have an ordinance today so we'll be unaccompanied throughout the service Psalm 51 and we'll sing verses 1 to verse 6 this Psalm where we ask for God's forgiveness and ask that he will cleanse us as we come into worship into his presence after thy loving kindness Lord have mercy upon me for thy compassion's great lot out of my iniquity me cleansed from sin and thoroughly washed from my iniquity for my transgressions I confess my sin I ever see down to the end of verse 6 to God's praise and we'll stand to sing after thy loving kindness Lord have mercy upon me for thy compassion's great lot out of my iniquity me cleansed from sin and thoroughly washed from my iniquity for my transgressions I confess my sin I ever see my sin I ever see kings be the only of thy sin in thy sight of this ill that when thou speak thou mayst be just and clear in judging still that when thou speak thou mayst be just and clear in judging still behold I in iniquity was formed the womb of thy sin my mother my mother my mother also me conceded in guilt and sin and sin behold thou behold thou in the inward heart with truth delight in heart and wisdom and wisdom thou shalt make me know within the hidden part my coisasidel agar

[3:47] Our Heavenly Father we thank you for another new day We thank you for another Lord's Day We thank you for the gift that you have given to us in the Lord's Day A day where we are able to and commanded to stop work And to find that rest that is offered to our souls only in and through Jesus We thank you Lord that we are gathered here in this place that you have given us the health and the strength That you have given us the freedom and the opportunity and that you have given us the desire to come Into this place, this gathering of people, your people Those who meet in the name of Jesus with the expectation that because we do so You will meet with us and bless us We thank you Lord that we do meet this morning in the name of Jesus We thank you that he is the one who unites us

[4:51] He is the one who saves us He is the one who sustains us And he is the one who has promised that on a day The date of which we do not know He will come back and claim all those who are trusting in him To be with them forever And Lord we thank you that we We meet this morning In your presence but with that Hope and that expectation We thank you that we don't Have to fear the future We thank you that we don't have to be anxious about what may come Because you have told us that you will be with us Always to the very end of the age And we thank you Lord God that you have told us that those who are trusting in Christ We share in the victory that Jesus has won at the cross We thank you that we share in the hope that Jesus has purchased with his blood We thank you for the hymn that we often sing

[5:53] In Christ alone my hope is fine And what a blessing to be able to say that On the beginning of this new day We have different circumstances We have different experiences And yet Lord you know each one of us And you have promised that if you are trusting in Jesus No matter whether we are going through difficult times or blessed times Times where we are joyful and looking with great optimism At all that this world contains No matter what we are going through We thank you that we are promised That you are the God who loves us And who holds us And who promises to take us To be with him eternally In that place that he is preparing For all those who love and who trust him So help us Lord we pray Meet with each one of us this day we pray You know our hearts and you know our circumstances

[6:54] Some of us Lord may come in this morning Distracted and with things that are weighing heavily on our minds We pray that you would clear These distracting thoughts from us And help us to fix our eyes upon Jesus Some of us Lord may be Cast down And struggling Going through things that we Wish we weren't going through But we thank you that we can With the psalmist Cry out even from the depths And say Lord hear my cry And we thank you that when we cry out You're the God who saves And we ask Lord that each one of us This morning would have the assurance of salvation We thank you for the gospel of Jesus Christ That when we were sinners As the psalmist professed and confessed in that psalm Whilst we were still sinners by nature and by practice When we had no hope When we had nothing to be able to draw near to you with

[7:56] We thank you that Jesus came into this world As the answer to that psalm and so many others We thank you that he is the one who died to save us We thank you that the prayer that we bring That you would blot out all our transgression and sin That you would cleanse us thoroughly We thank you that that is made possible And is promised to all who will look to Jesus Because we thank you that his blood was shed So that we could be cleansed from our sin And even though our sins are like scarlet We thank you that the promise of your word Is that when we reason together with you When we come to you Lord as we repent of sin And put our faith in Jesus We praise you that we are cleansed Every sin Every transgression Every debt Is removed

[8:57] Paid for And we are wiped clean And we ask Lord that by The Holy Spirit you would Impress that upon Each one of us this morning And if there are Those here today who are still In sin Having Not confessed that sin Enable them to see the The danger of that The reality of the Warnings that scripture brings to us Of punishment Of wrath In order Lord that we would Act In order that we would call Upon the name of the Lord For those of us Lord Who are your people With all the distractions In this world Sometimes we Lose the joy Of your salvation But we pray that this morning Even having sung that psalm We pray that as we meditate Upon these words

[9:58] The joy Of your salvation Would rush Back into our hearts And that we would be Amazed at the wonder Of being clean Before you Of being Reconciled to you And of being Accepted and blessed And adopted Into the family of God So Lord we ask that you would Draw near to us As we would seek to draw near to you We pray that you would speak to us And open our ears And open our hearts To all That you have to say We pray That you would save Those who are lost We pray that you would Sanctify those When you are found We pray that you would Encourage those Who are Cast down in their Hearts and their minds We pray that you would Give clarity and direction To those Who are confused And looking for guidance We pray that you would

[10:59] Give hope To those Who are Depressed We ask Lord that you would Draw near to those Not present with us But whom we remember In the Isolation even of their own Homes And Lord that you would Bless them with your presence We pray Lord that you would Grant healing To those who are sick And we ask Lord that you would Give hope To all of us That we would be Able to say that Jesus Indeed Is our saviour And he is our lord So may he be lifted up In all that we do In our singing In our prayers In our meditations Upon the scripture May Christ be lifted up Self be put down And may many Be drawn in faith To Jesus The author And perfecter Of our faith And we ask this in Jesus name And for his sake Amen

[11:59] Boys and girls You're pretty much here already How are you today? All good today?

[12:09] Any over this way? Oh there's one or two Over this way Have you been doing anything Interesting this week?

[12:23] No? Where's Jim Sim? Jim Sim's over there I remember when I was About your age In the high church And the children's talks Would always be From the pulpit Just something that was spoken And then this man appeared With plastic bags And he would bring things Out of plastic bags And I was amazed At the things That he would bring Out of plastic bags So remembering Jim Sim There's some stuff to Some stuff To show you this morning I know you can't all see me But this is not really for you Do you know what I was doing yesterday?

[13:09] What? I'll give you a clue Some of the things I was doing yesterday This is a bag I was giving Pardon?

[13:20] Cleaning stuff Cleaning stuff No Not cleaning stuff One thing Numbers Numbers?

[13:33] It's numbers, yes I wasn't being masked though I'm stuck That's books That's books Yeah No, I mean That Shoes Well, that's shoes You're right And a piece of paper Rubbish What's that?

[13:51] Biscuits Biscuits Can you pay these That sounds to the librarian? What's that? What's that? Biscuits Biscuits Biscuits Harris, Keith, Kieran Shopping Shopping Shopping Shopping Shopping I know That's a squeegee That's a squeegee That's a squeegee Amars bar Yeah What's that?

[14:14] A travel book Wait, it's not a hoovey cushion Pardon? It's not a hoovey cushion Pardon? It's not a hoovey cushion Pardon? It's not a hoovey cushion No It's like a squeegee I know it I know it It's a squeegee And it's a crevice Michael, she's telling us A hoovey cushion When you sit in it It brines It's a squeegee That's a squeegee That's a word I haven't here since then That's right My throat Got a hoovey cushion Look A sock That's a tail A sock A sweaty sock Look Does anyone want to hold it?

[14:52] Look at that I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know It's a sock It's a sock It really It really is a sweaty sock It really is It really is And It's a badge And There is Shoes Shoes Sweaty shoes Wait let me see what I want to see Yeah Yeah Wait what is that?

[15:21] Here It's not very nice is it? That is with a poo And then Do you know what this is?

[15:34] Down the plate That's a number So One So Here's One Two Three That's right Two One Two Three That's right So Do you know what I was doing yesterday?

[15:51] I was Running A Race A race A race I was running a race Like this Put your hands Put your hands up if you've ever run a race I've never run a race You run a race Michael, you run a race too?

[16:09] Yeah Yeah? We've all run kind of races So Yesterday What I was doing Was I was running a race Like this And Like that And this morning I thought I would just tell you one little thing about running a race Do you think the Bible talks about races?

[16:30] No No The Bible talks about races No The Bible does talk about races No I mean a Bible adventure Yeah Now listen to this one verse That's why I watch it there Tell me that One verse Corinthians 9 It says Run in such a way As to get The Medal Prize What is that?

[16:49] Medal That's a prize I can see the seed of the medal There you go That's a prize And it says in the Bible No I mean a Bible adventure No I mean a Bible adventure Yeah Now listen to this one verse That's why I watch it there Tell me that That's why I watch it there Tell me that One verse Is that prize And it says in the Bible Following Jesus Is a bit like running a race And you've got to run In such a way As to get the Prize Yesterday Michael I got a medal didn't I?

[17:20] Yeah Do you think I ran a race as well Do you think I came first in the race? No I'm sorry No I'm sorry No No No No Second Second Second Second Second I didn't come first Second I didn't come second Third I didn't come third Fourth I didn't come fourth Last Last I didn't come last Second last I didn't come second last Third last Not third last Fourth last No It's almost time for the benediction Six last Six last Six last Eight last Eight last Guess I'll tell you You know what place I came in?

[18:03] One hundred and fourteenth One hundred and fourteenth One hundred and fourteenth But see if you stand up for a wee second And look over here Okay Where's Karen?

[18:16] There's Karen over there See Stand up for a wee second Karen Callum and Anne's little girl See over there Karen Katie sorry Not Karen Carol Not Karen Katie I love the Carol Do you know Do you know that she came in Not the hundred and fourteenth But she came in Many many Many Many Many Many Places Faster than me Do you know how much quicker she did the race than I did?

[18:47] Half an hour That's as long as one of my sermons So The Bible says Following Jesus Is like running a race And we're to run in such a way as to get the prize I got a Quite a poor prize Karen Katie Katie Katie ran in a way That was Much better And much more like getting the prize Where's Where's Where's Marian Where's your mum Michael Is she here?

[19:24] Yes Where is she? Mum She's at the back there I was at Sports Day a few weeks ago And the The mothers all had a race And they said On your marks Get set go And some mothers were plodding along like that And little Marian just went racing through the course Tammy turns and he says Look at that pocket rocket She ran in such a way as to get the prize She came first She came first She came first So Boys and girls Boys and girls Men and ladies I want to ask you one question And the question is this How are you running?

[20:16] If following Jesus Is like running a race How are you running? See Sin pulls us back And when we decide to not listen to Jesus And not open the Bible And not pray And do some of the things that we know he doesn't like We get slower And slower And slower And eventually We even stop But when We ask Jesus Day by day To forgive our sins And when we ask him to take all that bad stuff out of our hearts And when we ask him to give us the Holy Spirit So that he'll help us Then he lets us go faster And faster and faster So boys and girls Men and ladies Myself first I need to tell him See that thing what he said

[21:18] And I'll see that That Bible That Bible I've been watching On my phone And that See that thing What did he say? The Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit That was on That was on The Bible On my dad's phone That's right The Holy Spirit He's the one Who helps us to run Well As we follow Jesus So let's pray just now Will we?

[21:42] Close our eyes Close our eyes And let's pray Dear Lord We thank you for today We thank you that you love us We thank you that you call us to follow you And we know that that's a bit like running our race Sometimes we know that we get very slow Because we let all kinds of sins Things that we shouldn't let into our lives We let them in And we pray that you would forgive us for that Because we're sorry And we ask Lord That you would help us That the Holy Spirit Would fill our hearts More and more So that we would be able to run faster That we would be able to Get closer to Jesus And that we would be able to Know you better And even show other people Through the way that we live What your life And how much you love them As you love us So hear our prayers Take away our sin And thank you for loving us In Jesus name we pray Turn these in our Bibles to John 21

[22:44] Gospel of John chapter 21 And we will read from the beginning of the chapter This is God's word This is God's word Afterwards Jesus appeared again to his disciples by the sea of Tiberias It happened this way Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee The sons of Zebedee and two other disciples were together I'm going out to fish Simon Peter told them And they said We'll go with you So they went out and got into the boat But that night they caught nothing Early in the morning

[23:46] Jesus stood on the shore But the disciples did not realise that it was Jesus He called out to them Friends, haven't you any fish? No, they answered He said, throw your neck on the right side of the boat And you will find some When they did They were unable to haul the neck in Because of the large number of fish Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter It is the Lord As soon as Simon Peter heard him say It is the Lord He wrapped his outer garment around him For he had taken it off And jumped into the water The other disciples followed in the boat Towing the neck full of fish For they were not far from the shore About a hundred yards When they landed They saw a fire Of burning coals There with fish on it And some bread Jesus said to them Bring some of the fish you have just caught Simon Peter climbed aboard And dragged the net ashore

[24:47] It was full of large fish One hundred and fifty-three But even with so many The net was not torn Jesus said to them Come and have breakfast None of the disciples Stared asked him Who are you?

[25:01] They knew it was the Lord Jesus came Took the bread And gave it to them And did the same with the fish This was now the third time Jesus appeared To his disciples After he was raised From the dead Amen And may God bless that reading Of his word to us We'll sing again Again now to God's praise This time from Psalm 51 again And the last Psalm 51 verses 11 to 13 Psalm 51 verses 11 to 13 In Galilee The Lord Cast me not from thy sight Nor take thy Holy Spirit away Restore me thy Salvation's joy With thy free spirit Then will I teach thy ways Unto those that transgressors be And those that sinners are Shall then be turned Unto thee These two stanzas in Galilee And will remain seated to sing In Galilee

[26:02] O female climbs Hissing To Terre Desation The� Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh okay oh oh oh oh maka church miss

[27:27] Our God bless you again.

[28:15] Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh And we'll pray as we go there.

[29:39] Amen. Amen.

[30:11] Amen. Amen. Amen.

[30:40] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. withhold the Holy Spirit as the psalmist prayed do not take him away we pray that he would be active in us and amongst us in this place at this time and what we pray for ourselves here we pray for all the fellowships that we're connected with for those who are visiting with us we pray for the congregations of which they're part for those who are number who are away at present we pray that you would bless them where they are and if they are in fellowships and worship that you would be near to them as we pray that you would be near to us we pray for the other congregations in this village from different denominations who gather around your world as we do and we pray that you would that you would help them also Lord and that you would speak clearly through your servants and that you would build your church in this local context and across these islands and across a nation that has strayed far from you Lord that you would bring us back and across all nations Lord we pray that as that great commission sends your people out that you would enable by the power of the Holy Spirit many men and women and boys and girls to come in faith to Jesus and we pray finally for our own boys and girls for those in the Sunday school next door for those you met here yesterday evening the slightly older ones we ask Lord that you would touch their hearts that you would open their hearts that you would transform their minds that they would not be programmed to think like the world thinks but that they would have their minds transformed so that they would know

[32:37] Jesus and be and be following him from their early years so hear our prayers and help us we ask take away our sin and we ask this in Jesus name Amen we're in danger the clock is malfunctioned so I will have to keep my eye on this watch John chapter 21 is where we've got to just by way of introduction I think it's fair to say that there's lots of there's lots of memories there's lots of encounters and experiences that have richened our lives that we've shared over over a meal many family meals there's meals with friends and they're etched in our memories and they've been special to us at the time and special to us as time has gone on there's a lot that happens when people that we love sit around a table with us and we share a meal together and John 21 that's the context of where we come to the meal that we're looking at here in these verses is breakfast the location is not some

[34:04] Michelin star restaurant but it's the beach the one who's cooking the chef is Jesus and on the menu is fish and bread and around him are his disciples his disciples who've been through a lot over the last few days and weeks his disciples who had walked close to him for a period but who had scattered who had abandoned him who had denied him and failed him and they're sitting here with him around this fire sharing a meal we see Peter in particular and we'll think about him in particular in this passage and last week as we looked at the verses at the beginning of the chapter we we left Peter splashing about in the water when he saw Jesus when John said it is the Lord

[35:05] Peter without a moment's hesitation or maybe a moment's thought even he's over the side of the boat he's into the water he's splashing around he wants to get near to Jesus he's done fishing for fish he takes his coat with him he's done fishing for fish and he's soon to be gospel fishing for men and women and boys and girls again but before that could happen he needed to meet again with and be ministered to by Jesus so today we look at these verses we think about this meal and Jesus' ministry through this meal and I want to think about five details I just want to pick out five particular details John often gives us details that make us think why is that in there I want to think about five of these details in the time that we have from these verses and the first detail

[36:06] I want to highlight is that in this place as Peter heads towards the shore there's a fire of burning coals you see that in verse 9 there's a fire of burning coals and where there is a fire there's heat there's the visual and there's the smell and there are smells and sounds and sights and they act like a trigger in our minds sometimes we can get a sight or a touch or a smell and it just propels us back into a situation in the past in our kitchen in the man's when we walk along past the table there's a pearl soap candle I don't know where it came from if somebody gave it to us but it just sits up in a wee a wee shelf and every time I walk past that candle when I smell it

[37:09] I instantly get taken back to Stornley in the nursery age 3 I have no memories of storing away in the nursery age 3 but every time I walk past this candle the smell obviously is something that was there and I get taken back and there's just brief flashes of that experience verse 9 says when they landed they saw a fire of burning coals so why does John tell us this why this detail is this necessary is this significant well obviously it's significant everything that's in the Bible is significant and I think probably this detail is more significant for Peter than for any of the other disciples see the Greek word that's used here for or translated here is a fire of burning coals it's only used two places in the New Testament it's a very rare word and it's used in this passage and it's also used in John 18 so flick back for a moment please with me to John 18

[38:22] John 18 and verse 15 it says there Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus because this disciple was known to the high priest he went with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard so we have this situation John somehow has this connection with the high priest so John is able to go into the courtyard Peter is also following he's on the periphery he's slightly set back Peter Peter had to wait outside verse 16 at the door the other disciple who was known to the high priest came back spoke to the girl on duty and brought Peter in so Peter is brought then into this place where he can come closer to Jesus and see what's going on verse 17 you are not one of his disciples are you the girl at the door asked Peter he replied

[39:31] I am not it was cold and the servants and officials stood around a fire same word a fire of burning coals a fire they had made to keep warm Peter also was standing with them warming himself I wonder about this fire this fire of burning coals that Jesus had set that Jesus had lit the the visual of it the sound of it the smell of these burning coals the warmth were these triggers that sent Peter back to the high priest's courtyard to that first denial followed by a second denial still in

[40:32] John 18 verse 25 as Simon Peter stood warming himself still at the fire he was asked you are not one of his disciples are you he denied it saying I am not then a third time verse 26 one of the high priest's servants a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off challenged him didn't I see you with him in the olive grove again Peter denied it and at that moment a rooster began to crow and we also know from the other gospels that at that moment Peter was close enough for the Lord to look him in the eye so Peter feels the heat of the fire he sees the fire he smells the fire he's brought back perhaps to that lock of Jesus' eyes as he realises for the third time as predicted he has denied his saviour despite all his huge words about never abandoning never forsaken standing firm with him to the end he fails spectacularly and when he realises that he goes out hopelessly and he weeps bitterly and I wonder was Peter reliving something of the horror of that night we don't know for sure but I can think of no other reason that

[42:07] John would include this kind of details I think it's probable that these burning coals that Jesus lit were meant to send Peter back to that night of failure to that sin of denial so that Peter would in due course repent and the Lord would be able to minister to him and restore him sometimes the Lord does this with us in our experience it's painful but sometimes he does it certainly he's done it in my life he takes us back to a particular situation a particular sin and we almost have to relive it and we feel the crushing weight of the conviction of it we know the reality of our guilt we remember how badly we failed the Lord why does he do this he does this because he loves us he does this because he wants us to repent of sin he does this because he wants us to be forgiven and to be restored and to be recommissioned as Peter soon would be that's the first point first detail it's the fire of burning clothes which likely sent Peter back to his denial back to sin before he comes then to the

[44:00] Lord the second detail here is simply to note that Jesus didn't need their fish I know these points are not too snappy they don't begin with the same letter this week sorry about that but the second point is that Jesus didn't need their fish and that's something maybe you noticed as you were going through Jesus wasn't on the shore having lit a fire with the grill ready saying hurry up with your fish so I can get cooking so I can get breakfast prepared Jesus didn't need their fish fish Jesus is on the shore and the fire is lit and the fish is already cooking as they are coming back closer to the shore with an empty boat and no fish Jesus is already on the shore and he's cooking not their fish but the fish that he had already provided verse 9 makes that clear when they landed they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it and some bread it's maybe a subtle point but I think we should note it we can see from this that Jesus didn't need their fish and that's worth remembering

[45:27] I think we live in an age and in a culture where we have quite a high opinion of ourselves we think we have much to offer we have probably higher levels of general self-esteem than many generations going back the way we have to be careful that that doesn't come into our spiritual discernment or lack of it sometimes I'll hear sermons or read books that give the impression that God desperately needs us he doesn't need us I heard about Eric Alexander the church of Scotland minister who was in the Tron he was in America driving along the motorway or the freeway one day and at the side of the road there was a big sign of the candy in

[46:28] American I had a picture and it just said in huge letters God needs you and he says he was just indignant as he drove along God doesn't need him doesn't need me he doesn't need anything or anyone sometimes we hear things and see things that give us the impression that God is desperately almost pathetically begging us for our love and our company and our service and our talents and our money and our gifts the reality is God needs nothing nothing he is perfectly content and sufficient in himself father son and holy spirit that is the perfect loving community there's nothing that we have that he needs there's nothing that we have that he did not first give us he's the maker of everything and just as

[47:42] Jesus here in this passage is standing on that shoreline baking the fish whilst the disciples approached with nothing I think Jesus was making the point that we sometimes sin all that they needed his hand had provided they needed fish Jesus already had fish they're cooking already and then as he approached the shore in the shallow waters where there's not likely to be fish he gives the instruction and all of a sudden he gifts them with this huge haul of fish Jesus didn't need their fish one commentator Johnson says this was a poignant lesson for the disciples in the gospels the disciples never catch fish without

[48:48] Jesus help I hadn't noticed that but that's true he's fishermen search the gospels there's never an instance where they're able to catch fish without the intervention and the help of Jesus they cannot even do the thing they're supposed to be good at without his involvement says Johnson Jesus was pressing home what he had taught them in the upper room apart from me you can do nothing John 15 here is a fundamental truth for the living the Christian life along with the disciples we need to recognise Jesus lordship over the whole of life there is no area from which we can afford to exclude him pause for a moment in that location are there dark corners in our lives in our hearts that we are trying to keep

[49:51] Jesus out of are there any jobs tasks activities relationships that we are trying to keep Jesus distant from he's the lord of all or he's not lord at all so which of which of these options is is the status in our lives lord of all or not lord at all Jesus didn't need the fish the third point though in case we get too extreme on that is Jesus still asked for the fish verse 10

[50:56] Jesus said to them bring some of the fish you have just caught why did Jesus ask them to bring the fish he's there the fire is lit the coals are hot the grill is there the fish are cooking the bread is there why did Jesus ask for the fish is it because he didn't have enough fish to serve everyone well I think that's ridiculous to suggest that because we only need to think back to the feeding of the 5,000 5,000 fish 2,000 loaves and 5,000 men plus women and children were served so the portion control was not the problem for Jesus serving a handful of disciples with the fish that he already has is no problem to him so why did he ask him to bring the fish why he says bring some of the fish you have just caught well

[52:01] Jesus asked them to bring the fish I think so that they would see how large and how plentiful the fish were there was 153 large fish it's another detail what's the significance of that detail well if you read the commentaries you wouldn't believe how wild they go with this number some people just love numbers and the commentators just go wild with this number one old commentator Jerome says there were 153 different species of fish in the sea of Tiberias and Jesus clearly managed to get 153 different species of fish into the net and that is both a miracle and it's a parable of the great commission where all types and all nations and all species of people need to be reached for the gospel and brought into the net that's what he says I think that's probably a lot of nonsense another commentator Emerton goes to

[53:02] Ezekiel 47 he does some maths he talks about how the triangular number of 153 is 17 and 17 clearly represents the 10 commandments plus the sevenfold spirit of God going back to Revelation chapter 1 and on he goes I think that too is probably a fair bit of speculation wild speculation J.C.

[53:30] Ryle who I often quote he gives a really helpful comment he gives all the many many theories of what the 153 may represent and then he summarizes it all with one single sentence at the end which is clearly his thought he says and I quote him here concerning the number 153 we know nothing and it is useless to speculate so why tell us about the 153 I think I told about the 153 because that's how many fish were caught it's as simple as that there were 153 fish caught in the shallow water in an instant it was a lot and the fish were large I used to watch that film that documented The Deadliest Catch some of you have watched it over the years and when the pots start to get filled with the crabs you got this dialogue going on between the guys on the deck and the guy in the wheelhouse and the pots come in and they throw them through the machine and then they shout up with every catch the number there's great drama and glee when the numbers get big

[54:44] I think that's what was happening here they could barely believe the number of fish that were caught in that moment and so somebody sat there and they counted it and they recorded it and Jesus said bring them bring some of these fish and the reason he said it I believe is because he wanted them to take in the wonder of this miracle so that their faith in him would again be boosted their waning faith and so that their hearts that were cast down would again be encouraged as they received the absolute assurance that this was definitely the same miracle working Jesus who was dead but now is alive this is the same

[55:55] Jesus who was sitting with them and serving them breakfast the breakfast that he gifted them Jesus didn't need their fish but he asked them to bring their fish so that they would see his power and his love for them I think there's more too although Jesus didn't need their fish he asked for the fish and he likely cooked and ate some of the fish and although Jesus didn't need his disciples to do his work for him in the world he asked them to he called them to be involved in the greatest fishing expedition ever known now when he went to the cross the disciples scattered the mission you could say was aborted and now

[57:07] Jesus he's calling them back together again and he's making clear to them that the mission is not aborted the mission of salvation is completed he has done it but he was now going into all the world through them he wanted them even though he didn't need them he wanted to use them in this gospel initiative he wanted their fish and to just import that metaphor Jesus you could say today is still asking for our fish still asking for our fish he's asking for our time we're giving him our time he's asking for our talents the talents that he has given us he's asking for our resources he's asking for our lives he's asking for us to use this building and this work of gospel fishing you want to think even about this building what is it think about it as a boat it's a boat that we can fish from it's not ours it's his he doesn't need us he could do everything without us but what a privilege to be part of such a great work what a wonder to think that just as the

[58:58] Lord was asking them to be useful to him he's asking us to be useful to him he's asking us to be part of this great commission that he has given to go and reach the world with the good news of the gospel the fact that Jesus lived and died and rose to save us he's asking us to be involved in that mission why because he loves us sometimes you know you see you see a shenner with a grandson he's digging the garden along comes the grandson can I help oh of course you can help and he gives him the spade and he makes a mess and he gets in the way and he could do it much quicker without it but because he loves him he says come on get involved and that's one of the wonders that we are charged with the fact that God would ask us to be involved in this work of ministry it's not just for me it's for all of you if you're

[60:22] Christians to tell that story of Jesus and his love you are people I cannot get near and Jesus asks he asks for us to be involved and how liberating it is as well to know it doesn't depend on us if I thought that if I thought that the eternal salvation of people depended upon me and how clearly and how strictly I can present the message I would never stand here again it doesn't depend on me or you we simply have to pass on the good news about Jesus he asks us to be involved don't know who said this but I remember reading the quote the only thing you can take with you into eternity is other people the only thing you can take with you into eternity is other people our money our property our reputation our business our policies all the stuff that we prize and we hang on to we pour ourselves into we're going to leave it all behind for those who look in faith to Jesus the Jesus that we point them to they will come with us if we're trusting

[62:08] Christ see the details fire of burning coals sent Peter back to that terrible night the fact that Jesus didn't need their fish but he still asked for their fish the fourth detail is to listen to what Jesus said Jesus said come Jesus said come verse 12 Jesus said to them come and have breakfast now when we think about breakfast we think about a wheatabix in the microwave for 30 seconds or a cereal bar on the run breakfast takes all of 30 seconds usually in our experience but that's not what we're talking about here meals back then were not rushed there were times of communion there were times of fellowship one commentator Montgomery Boyce says this invitation to come and eat involves fellowship with

[63:11] Jesus and not merely physical provisions in the bible eating always suggests fellowship so when Jesus was saying come and have breakfast what Jesus was saying was come and come and spend time with me and in doing that he was sending the disciples back to day one where he called them mark 3 14 to be with him and it was the time that they spent with him that then would equip them to go out for him so Jesus says come before you go you need to come Jesus said come some people will never encourage you some people will never encourage you to come to them their their door is always closed their diary is always full they're too busy they're too distracted they just radiate that message do not disturb me do not do not approach me but Jesus is always saying all through the gospels he's always saying come to the disciples to everyone he's saying come come and see me come and come and follow me come and spend time with me come and learn from me come and eat with me come and come and find rest in me come says

[64:43] Jesus come and that's still the enduring call of Christ come to me and everyone who's in this room this morning if you're still hearing if you're still alert if this is making sense Jesus is saying come to me to the one who sits here looking calm but with war in their hearts rebellion against God Jesus says come to the rebel who's far away like the prodigal in the parable of the prodigal son Jesus says repent of your sin leave the pigsty and come to me Isaiah 1 18 come now let us reason together says the Lord though your sins are like scarlet though your life is an absolute dark mess come to me let us reason together for your sins are like scarlet they shall be white as snow for they are red like crimson they shall be like wool or to the failure of a Christian if you're sitting here this morning feeling like

[65:59] Peter did you've had a disaster of a week maybe a disaster of a month maybe secretly a disaster of a year spiritually you're on the rocks you're far from Christ your Bible reading means nothing your prayer life has gone and you think I've got no future with Jesus and Jesus says come to me to all the Peters he says come to me James James come near to God and he will come near to you wash your hands you sinners purify your hearts you double minded and to the steady bright Christian who may be doing very well walking walking close to the Lord Jesus says come to me don't neglect

[67:02] I can all fall apart so quick keep coming to me John 15 remain in me and I will remain in you Jesus said come and so the disciples came maybe nervously maybe fearfully but they came they were obedient to the call of Christ to come what about you and me if we're hearing will we be obedient we may be fearful we may feel ashamed we may have questions we may have complications we may have all manner of things that would cause us to hold back but as Jesus says come we trust him with the details and come final point it's just a word the disciples said nothing did you notice that the disciples said nothing verse 12 none of the disciples dared ask him who are you they knew it was the

[68:36] Lord Jesus came took the bread and gave it to them and did the same with the fish this was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead the disciples said nothing and you know nothing was the best possible thing that he could have said there was silence and there was silence because they were in reverence and in awe at being in the presence of the risen Christ we sang I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how he could love me a sinner condemned unclean they knew their sin they knew their uncleanness they were all too aware of how they had failed

[69:52] Jesus and yet Jesus called them to come to him and to commune with him and as they did they were in silence not even Peter spoke and in that silence Jesus served them and in that silence Jesus fed them and he ministered to them and my final thought is how much we need a sense of silence and awe to descend upon us today how transformed the life of the church would be if we again would be overwhelmed and silenced by a realization of the glory of Christ and a sense of wonder that he would call us to come to him and to be with him and even to serve in the work of the gospel oh for that silence oh for that reverence oh for that sense of awe let's pray our heavenly father we thank you for your word to us we thank you for that gentle restorative and yet deep ministry of

[72:14] Christ as he ministered to flawed and sinful disciples and brought them close again to him and we look at the disciples and we see so much of ourselves so often we are broken we are flawed we fail you we drift from you and yet we thank you that we hear the call of Jesus to come or to come back enable us we pray to be obedient and enable us we pray on this day that you've gifted us with to be still and to know that you are God and that you're with us we ask this in Jesus name Amen Amen you are good good to be honest

[73:17]  I to see now