The right time
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series V, Cycle B
Theme For The Day: The right time. In the First Lesson (Jonah 3) Jonah warned the inhabitants of Nineveh that it was time to repent. In the Second Lesson Paul thinks that the time of Christ's return is very near. The Gospel begins with our Lord's call to repentance and faith.
BRIEF COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Jonah 3:1--5, 10 (C, RC)
After being vomited up by the great fish, Jonah reluctantly agrees to preach repentance to the citizens of Nineveh. The populous city readily repents and God retracts his decision to punish the sinful people. This story reveals to the Hebrews and to us that God's call to repentance and faith goes to all people, regardless of race or nationality.
Lesson 1: Jeremiah 3:21-4:2 (E)
The Lord pleads with his people to repent of their sins so that the nations will come to experience God's blessings.
Lesson 2: 1 Corinthians 7:29--31 (C, RC); 1 Corinthians 7:17--23 (E)
Everything that Paul says in this passage is colored by his expectation of the imminent second coming of Christ. In light of this hope, he counsels detachment from the world of ordinary human events - marriage, commerce and so forth. These things are not ultimate. His attitude toward marriage especially must be understood in light of the parousia. In Ephesians he holds marriage in a much more favorable light.
Gospel: Mark 1:14--20 (C, RC, E)
Following the arrest of John the Baptist, Jesus launches his public ministry. Mark summarizes the soul of his message in verse 15: "The time has come...The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news." The message was the same as John's but the understanding of those terms is different. It's hard to find the good news in John's teachings, except for his pointing to the One who was greater than he. The Lord's announcement of the kingdom is followed by the call of Andrew and Peter, James and John, by the Sea of Galilee. Jesus forms the redemptive community about himself.
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 62:5--12 (C) - "For God alone my soul in silence waits" (v. 5).
Psalm 130 (E) - "Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!" (v. 1).
Psalm 24 (RC)
Prayer Of The Day
Great God, you sent your Son to announce your kingdom and to make us ready for your rule. By your Spirit, prepare our hearts through daily turning from our sins and toward the good news proclaimed through the life, death and resurrection of your Son. In his name we pray. Amen.
THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Jonah 3:1--5
The Hound of Heaven. Jonah attempted to flee from the Lord but to no avail. He was swallowed by the fish and then spit out. Then God came to him again with the charge to go on a mission to Nineveh and proclaim his message. Jeremiah also tried to turn his back on the distasteful mission God gave to him. Yet the message burned in his heart so hotly he had to speak. If the Hound of Heaven wants us to carry his message he has a way of being convincing.
Change of heart? It doesn't seem that Jonah really had a change of heart. Sure, he did what God wanted him to do but not from the heart, not willingly. God can make us do something but he has a much more difficult time changing our hearts. God, on the other hand, not only repented of his threatened judgment against Nineveh, he had a change of heart.
Lesson 2: 1 Corinthians 7:29--31
Coming up short on time (v. 29). It seems like the only occasions in which we have too much time is when we're at the dentist's or when our bore of a cousin descends like a vulture for a week's visit. Oh yes, I almost forgot about those times conscientious church members inform you if the sermon is over 12 minutes and the service is over an hour. With these few exceptions, it seems that we're constantly coming up short on time. Paul's awareness of the shortness of time promoted him to give the advice in our text. The apostle felt that God was about to consummate the kingdom which Jesus had commenced. He was wrong about that and we can see from his later writings that he altered his position. Nevertheless, it remains true that the kingdom could come at any time and the things we labor for so diligently will have little meaning. Paul's advice still hits the bull's--eye: don't get too attached to the things of this world, even the good things. Adopt the values of the coming kingdom which are eternal.
Gospel: Mark 1:14--20
The appointed time. The RSV version contains this phrase in the first verse of our Second Lesson, 1 Corinthians 7:29. I like that imagery because it speaks of a special time for a special event. When John the Baptist was arrested, Jesus realized that the appointed time for him had arrived. He was well aware that the appointed time arranged by the Father was soon to arrive. What had befallen John was a harbinger of his destiny. He had to make the most of each day and every opportunity.
What time is it? According to Jesus, it is time to repent, time to embrace the good news, time to follow him. Our minds are focused on earthly things. Maybe we're possessed with our job or preoccupied with that which gives us pleasure. It's time to embrace the good news of the kingdom. Once we repent we are prepared to accept the good news because we're open to God.
Fill 'er up. Before the days of self--serve gas, when you wanted to have your tank topped off you would wheel into the gas station and announce "Fill 'er up." Time can be equated to an empty gas tank. To run the engine of life the tank needs to be filled with the proper fuel. A lady in my last parish learned how crucial the right fuel was when she filled the tank of her diesel car with unleaded. After snorting and sputtering a few miles it died! Others simply neglect to fill their tank and seem to be constantly running on a nearly empty tank. Jesus realized, as he commenced his ministry, that his tank was nearly full; time was full--filled. Being filled with the Spirit, he called his first disciples and labored toward the fullness of the kingdom.
A matter of urgency. Following Jesus was a matter of urgency, the kingdom of God was a matter that required immediate attention. That's the point that Mark is attempting to put across. "And immediately he called them" (v. 20). Though these fishermen undoubtedly had encountered Jesus before, they too responded immediately to Jesus' call. James and John left their father and placed their fishing business in the hands of their hired servants. A person has to act with dispatch when opportunity knocks.
SERMON APPROACHES WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
Lesson 1: Jonah 3:1--5
Sermon Title: Prophet, Heed Your Own Message!
Sermon Angle: God called Jonah to preach repentance to the citizens of the city of Nineveh. Jonah saw these people as wicked, needing repentance and deserving judgment. The prophet didn't perceive his own sinfulness and his own need to repent. He didn't listen to his own message. Regardless of the response of the listeners, if the prophet or preacher doesn't include himself or herself in the audience, the preaching falls short of the mark. Furthermore, when the preacher doesn't have an earnest concern for the well--being of his congregation, in the words of Jesus, he is only a hireling. Jonah needed desperately to listen to the message God gave him to deliver.
Sermon Title: The ABC's Of Preaching Repentance
Sermon Angle: There is a right way and a wrong way to preach repentance.
Outline:
1. Preach repentance only when God lays it on your heart.
2. Preach to yourself as well as others. You also need to repent.
3. Rejoice when those to whom you preach turn to the Lord. Don't be like Jonah.
Lesson 2: 1 Corinthians 7:29--31
Sermon Title: Placing A Price Tag On Time
Sermon Angle: An economic principle has it that there is a direct relation between the amount of a commodity and the worth of that commodity. Gold and diamonds are relatively scarce and so they are relatively expensive. We term them "precious." The same rule relates to time. The less time we have, the more precious its value. It may be foolish to waste time in our youth but absolutely criminal to trash time when we are advanced in years. Paul counseled the Corinthians that they had precious little time (v. 29) so they had better invest it in that which was eternal.
Outline:
1. State the price principle - the more scarce, the more precious.
2. We look at time differently when young - supply seems infinite.
3. Age makes us cognizant of what was true all along - time was always precious.
4. God's prophets remind us that time is very short and very precious.
5. Response: (Gospel Lesson) Repent and believe the good news.
__________
The Lord taught me yet another lesson concerning the preciousness of time. Our appointed time could come more quickly than we ever imagined. The message came home to me seventeen months ago when my father died after a rather long struggle with cancer. Just two months ago I took my mother to see her physician. The doctor called me in and said, "I'm really worried about your mother. We need to do some tests." Two days later she was admitted to the hospital. Five days after that a biopsy was performed which confirmed the worst. "How much time does she have, doctor?" my sister asked with tremulous lips. "Two days to two weeks." The words nuked our airy hopes like a SAM missile. Mom's birthday was coming up in a couple of weeks. She requested that her children, grandchildren and friends write her letters. It was hard. How does one distill a bucket of water into a single precious drop? We all did the best we knew how as we shared the ways that Mom had touched our lives, as we groped to grasp and transmit the impact that her life had upon our own. Through it all, Mom shared her concerns for us and her love for us and for the Lord she had endeavored to serve throgh the years. Our mutual acknowledgment of the preciousness of time enabled us to use it wisely. There was no time for pretending, for playing games. Only time for loving, caring and sharing. The time we had was short but oh, so very precious. All of us would agree, no price tag could ever be placed on that brief time we had together.
__________
Gospel: Mark 1:14--20
Sermon Title: Mission Mandate: Proclaim Repentance!
Sermon Angle: Jesus picked the haunting echoes of John the Baptist's call to repentance as he inaugurated his ministry in Galilee: "Repent and believe in the good news." That one phrase capsulizes our Lord's message. Christ commands his followers likewise to preach repentance. We embrace this task with the enthusiasm demonstrated by fishermen left with the odious task of cleaning fish. We see it as a completely negative task. Not so! Yes, repentance forces us to confront our sins but with the goal in mind of burying those dead fish so that we might go fishing for the really big one. Repentance IS good news because it tells us there is something that we can turn to. We can turn to the gospel, to the kingdom of Christ, where we can know and love him forever.
Outline:
1. Christ issued the call to repent of sins and believe the good news.
2. There is a budding awareness that our society needs to turn back to God.
3. Christ's mandate directs his followers to proclaim repentance.
4. Repentance prepares us to receive the good news of forgiveness and new life.
Sermon Title: What Time Is It?
Sermon Angle: Every now and then someone asks, "What time is it?" As you may know, the New Testament has two different concepts of time. Chronos, time as duration, and kairos, time pregnant with meaning. Jesus is aware of the shortness of chronos but majors on proclaiming time as kairos. What time is it?
Outline:
1. Time filled with meaning, purpose and opportunity (v. 15).
2. Time to repent (v. 15).
3. Time to believe the good news (v. 15).
4. Time to follow him (v. 17).
Sermon Title: Reasons To Go Fishing
Sermon Angle: Most fishermen don't need much of a reason to go fishing. Any old excuse will do. However, there are certainly different reasons for going fishing. The men in the gospel fished for a living. Others fish to gain peace of mind, still others for the challenge of outsmarting the fish. Jesus called Andrew, Peter, James and John to become fishers of men. The object was not to gain something for themselves but to give something (the gift of eternal life) to others.
Outline:
1. How many of you enjoy fishing? What are your reasons?
2. The apostles featured in today's Gospel fished to gain a living.
3. Christ challenges them with a higher calling, fishing to bring others into the kingdom, so they might gain a life, eternal life.
4. Christ's commission is to go fishing - share the gospel of God in your family life, vocational life, recreational life and church life.
__________
Those who have followed in the footsteps of Peter, James and John have also been fishermen and women. The Christian Church is the world's largest fishing society. Our commission by Christ is to Go Fishin'! To bring men and woman into the kingdom of God. Imagine this fishing club where the members merely sat around swapping fish stories about the big one they landed, the whopper that broke away, but they never stepped into a boat or cast their line in the water. What kind of a fishing club would it be whose members were content to admire the trophies on the wall but never to go out and actually go fishing? A lot of churches are like that. They sit around bragging about the days when their boat was full of fresh fish. They look nostalgically to the days when the main purpose of their church was to go fishing, to reach others for Christ. But they never actually go fishing, they merely talk about going fishing. That's not what we're about as a church.
What does it mean to go fishing with Jesus? First of all, you need to enjoy fishing. It isn't something that fills you with fear, frustration or dread. It gives you joy to see lives changed by the power of God's love. But let's face it, we're not going to enjoy something until we try, then we land a few, share the joy of the catch with others and then work on becoming a better fisherman.
Secondly, you go where the fish are. The reason many fishermen get skunked is they don't go where the fish are. What does that mean for us as a church? We find where the needs are and then seek to meet them. We need to reach the youth and so give time, effort and money into youth outreach. There are many divorced people who are hurting in the church and in the community. A group where these needs are addressed and God's grace is experienced would gather people who are open to the gospel. I could give many more examples but do you get the point? We can't just fish in the same old way and the same place we always have. Nor can we expect the fish to swim to us. We must seek to attract them with the gospel at the point of their need.
Thirdly, you have to use the right bait. I've found that if I'm fishing for crappies, I had better not use worms. I might catch one now and again on a worm but I've had much better luck with minnows. I know it sounds crass to talk about bait when it's people you're talking about. We're not trying to trick people, so that we can get them to the place where we can feed on them. We aren't trying to lure people to their death but to a life with God that is eternal.
Some churches use entertainment. Other churches promise prosperity and happiness. Others still appeal to social prestige. The only bait worthy of the Gospel is love. Love which accepts people where they are. Love which is shown through actions. God has given each of us people that perhaps only we can reach with the gospel. Think about it. Who are they? Identify them. Write their names down. Then reflect on specific ways that you can share God's love with them. Maybe they need a friend. Perhaps they have kids and would appreciate a chance to get away by themselves. Offer to baby--sit. A parent has died. Send them a card of condolence. Call them up a week or two after the funeral. Yet get the idea. Now do it! Do it as a fisher of men and women. If we let God use us as his love connection, he will amaze us with the results. Of course we are not accountable for results. That's up to the Lord. All that God asks us to do is to be fishermen and fisherwomen for Christ.
Remember, our commission is to go fishin'!
BRIEF COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Jonah 3:1--5, 10 (C, RC)
After being vomited up by the great fish, Jonah reluctantly agrees to preach repentance to the citizens of Nineveh. The populous city readily repents and God retracts his decision to punish the sinful people. This story reveals to the Hebrews and to us that God's call to repentance and faith goes to all people, regardless of race or nationality.
Lesson 1: Jeremiah 3:21-4:2 (E)
The Lord pleads with his people to repent of their sins so that the nations will come to experience God's blessings.
Lesson 2: 1 Corinthians 7:29--31 (C, RC); 1 Corinthians 7:17--23 (E)
Everything that Paul says in this passage is colored by his expectation of the imminent second coming of Christ. In light of this hope, he counsels detachment from the world of ordinary human events - marriage, commerce and so forth. These things are not ultimate. His attitude toward marriage especially must be understood in light of the parousia. In Ephesians he holds marriage in a much more favorable light.
Gospel: Mark 1:14--20 (C, RC, E)
Following the arrest of John the Baptist, Jesus launches his public ministry. Mark summarizes the soul of his message in verse 15: "The time has come...The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news." The message was the same as John's but the understanding of those terms is different. It's hard to find the good news in John's teachings, except for his pointing to the One who was greater than he. The Lord's announcement of the kingdom is followed by the call of Andrew and Peter, James and John, by the Sea of Galilee. Jesus forms the redemptive community about himself.
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 62:5--12 (C) - "For God alone my soul in silence waits" (v. 5).
Psalm 130 (E) - "Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!" (v. 1).
Psalm 24 (RC)
Prayer Of The Day
Great God, you sent your Son to announce your kingdom and to make us ready for your rule. By your Spirit, prepare our hearts through daily turning from our sins and toward the good news proclaimed through the life, death and resurrection of your Son. In his name we pray. Amen.
THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Jonah 3:1--5
The Hound of Heaven. Jonah attempted to flee from the Lord but to no avail. He was swallowed by the fish and then spit out. Then God came to him again with the charge to go on a mission to Nineveh and proclaim his message. Jeremiah also tried to turn his back on the distasteful mission God gave to him. Yet the message burned in his heart so hotly he had to speak. If the Hound of Heaven wants us to carry his message he has a way of being convincing.
Change of heart? It doesn't seem that Jonah really had a change of heart. Sure, he did what God wanted him to do but not from the heart, not willingly. God can make us do something but he has a much more difficult time changing our hearts. God, on the other hand, not only repented of his threatened judgment against Nineveh, he had a change of heart.
Lesson 2: 1 Corinthians 7:29--31
Coming up short on time (v. 29). It seems like the only occasions in which we have too much time is when we're at the dentist's or when our bore of a cousin descends like a vulture for a week's visit. Oh yes, I almost forgot about those times conscientious church members inform you if the sermon is over 12 minutes and the service is over an hour. With these few exceptions, it seems that we're constantly coming up short on time. Paul's awareness of the shortness of time promoted him to give the advice in our text. The apostle felt that God was about to consummate the kingdom which Jesus had commenced. He was wrong about that and we can see from his later writings that he altered his position. Nevertheless, it remains true that the kingdom could come at any time and the things we labor for so diligently will have little meaning. Paul's advice still hits the bull's--eye: don't get too attached to the things of this world, even the good things. Adopt the values of the coming kingdom which are eternal.
Gospel: Mark 1:14--20
The appointed time. The RSV version contains this phrase in the first verse of our Second Lesson, 1 Corinthians 7:29. I like that imagery because it speaks of a special time for a special event. When John the Baptist was arrested, Jesus realized that the appointed time for him had arrived. He was well aware that the appointed time arranged by the Father was soon to arrive. What had befallen John was a harbinger of his destiny. He had to make the most of each day and every opportunity.
What time is it? According to Jesus, it is time to repent, time to embrace the good news, time to follow him. Our minds are focused on earthly things. Maybe we're possessed with our job or preoccupied with that which gives us pleasure. It's time to embrace the good news of the kingdom. Once we repent we are prepared to accept the good news because we're open to God.
Fill 'er up. Before the days of self--serve gas, when you wanted to have your tank topped off you would wheel into the gas station and announce "Fill 'er up." Time can be equated to an empty gas tank. To run the engine of life the tank needs to be filled with the proper fuel. A lady in my last parish learned how crucial the right fuel was when she filled the tank of her diesel car with unleaded. After snorting and sputtering a few miles it died! Others simply neglect to fill their tank and seem to be constantly running on a nearly empty tank. Jesus realized, as he commenced his ministry, that his tank was nearly full; time was full--filled. Being filled with the Spirit, he called his first disciples and labored toward the fullness of the kingdom.
A matter of urgency. Following Jesus was a matter of urgency, the kingdom of God was a matter that required immediate attention. That's the point that Mark is attempting to put across. "And immediately he called them" (v. 20). Though these fishermen undoubtedly had encountered Jesus before, they too responded immediately to Jesus' call. James and John left their father and placed their fishing business in the hands of their hired servants. A person has to act with dispatch when opportunity knocks.
SERMON APPROACHES WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
Lesson 1: Jonah 3:1--5
Sermon Title: Prophet, Heed Your Own Message!
Sermon Angle: God called Jonah to preach repentance to the citizens of the city of Nineveh. Jonah saw these people as wicked, needing repentance and deserving judgment. The prophet didn't perceive his own sinfulness and his own need to repent. He didn't listen to his own message. Regardless of the response of the listeners, if the prophet or preacher doesn't include himself or herself in the audience, the preaching falls short of the mark. Furthermore, when the preacher doesn't have an earnest concern for the well--being of his congregation, in the words of Jesus, he is only a hireling. Jonah needed desperately to listen to the message God gave him to deliver.
Sermon Title: The ABC's Of Preaching Repentance
Sermon Angle: There is a right way and a wrong way to preach repentance.
Outline:
1. Preach repentance only when God lays it on your heart.
2. Preach to yourself as well as others. You also need to repent.
3. Rejoice when those to whom you preach turn to the Lord. Don't be like Jonah.
Lesson 2: 1 Corinthians 7:29--31
Sermon Title: Placing A Price Tag On Time
Sermon Angle: An economic principle has it that there is a direct relation between the amount of a commodity and the worth of that commodity. Gold and diamonds are relatively scarce and so they are relatively expensive. We term them "precious." The same rule relates to time. The less time we have, the more precious its value. It may be foolish to waste time in our youth but absolutely criminal to trash time when we are advanced in years. Paul counseled the Corinthians that they had precious little time (v. 29) so they had better invest it in that which was eternal.
Outline:
1. State the price principle - the more scarce, the more precious.
2. We look at time differently when young - supply seems infinite.
3. Age makes us cognizant of what was true all along - time was always precious.
4. God's prophets remind us that time is very short and very precious.
5. Response: (Gospel Lesson) Repent and believe the good news.
__________
The Lord taught me yet another lesson concerning the preciousness of time. Our appointed time could come more quickly than we ever imagined. The message came home to me seventeen months ago when my father died after a rather long struggle with cancer. Just two months ago I took my mother to see her physician. The doctor called me in and said, "I'm really worried about your mother. We need to do some tests." Two days later she was admitted to the hospital. Five days after that a biopsy was performed which confirmed the worst. "How much time does she have, doctor?" my sister asked with tremulous lips. "Two days to two weeks." The words nuked our airy hopes like a SAM missile. Mom's birthday was coming up in a couple of weeks. She requested that her children, grandchildren and friends write her letters. It was hard. How does one distill a bucket of water into a single precious drop? We all did the best we knew how as we shared the ways that Mom had touched our lives, as we groped to grasp and transmit the impact that her life had upon our own. Through it all, Mom shared her concerns for us and her love for us and for the Lord she had endeavored to serve throgh the years. Our mutual acknowledgment of the preciousness of time enabled us to use it wisely. There was no time for pretending, for playing games. Only time for loving, caring and sharing. The time we had was short but oh, so very precious. All of us would agree, no price tag could ever be placed on that brief time we had together.
__________
Gospel: Mark 1:14--20
Sermon Title: Mission Mandate: Proclaim Repentance!
Sermon Angle: Jesus picked the haunting echoes of John the Baptist's call to repentance as he inaugurated his ministry in Galilee: "Repent and believe in the good news." That one phrase capsulizes our Lord's message. Christ commands his followers likewise to preach repentance. We embrace this task with the enthusiasm demonstrated by fishermen left with the odious task of cleaning fish. We see it as a completely negative task. Not so! Yes, repentance forces us to confront our sins but with the goal in mind of burying those dead fish so that we might go fishing for the really big one. Repentance IS good news because it tells us there is something that we can turn to. We can turn to the gospel, to the kingdom of Christ, where we can know and love him forever.
Outline:
1. Christ issued the call to repent of sins and believe the good news.
2. There is a budding awareness that our society needs to turn back to God.
3. Christ's mandate directs his followers to proclaim repentance.
4. Repentance prepares us to receive the good news of forgiveness and new life.
Sermon Title: What Time Is It?
Sermon Angle: Every now and then someone asks, "What time is it?" As you may know, the New Testament has two different concepts of time. Chronos, time as duration, and kairos, time pregnant with meaning. Jesus is aware of the shortness of chronos but majors on proclaiming time as kairos. What time is it?
Outline:
1. Time filled with meaning, purpose and opportunity (v. 15).
2. Time to repent (v. 15).
3. Time to believe the good news (v. 15).
4. Time to follow him (v. 17).
Sermon Title: Reasons To Go Fishing
Sermon Angle: Most fishermen don't need much of a reason to go fishing. Any old excuse will do. However, there are certainly different reasons for going fishing. The men in the gospel fished for a living. Others fish to gain peace of mind, still others for the challenge of outsmarting the fish. Jesus called Andrew, Peter, James and John to become fishers of men. The object was not to gain something for themselves but to give something (the gift of eternal life) to others.
Outline:
1. How many of you enjoy fishing? What are your reasons?
2. The apostles featured in today's Gospel fished to gain a living.
3. Christ challenges them with a higher calling, fishing to bring others into the kingdom, so they might gain a life, eternal life.
4. Christ's commission is to go fishing - share the gospel of God in your family life, vocational life, recreational life and church life.
__________
Those who have followed in the footsteps of Peter, James and John have also been fishermen and women. The Christian Church is the world's largest fishing society. Our commission by Christ is to Go Fishin'! To bring men and woman into the kingdom of God. Imagine this fishing club where the members merely sat around swapping fish stories about the big one they landed, the whopper that broke away, but they never stepped into a boat or cast their line in the water. What kind of a fishing club would it be whose members were content to admire the trophies on the wall but never to go out and actually go fishing? A lot of churches are like that. They sit around bragging about the days when their boat was full of fresh fish. They look nostalgically to the days when the main purpose of their church was to go fishing, to reach others for Christ. But they never actually go fishing, they merely talk about going fishing. That's not what we're about as a church.
What does it mean to go fishing with Jesus? First of all, you need to enjoy fishing. It isn't something that fills you with fear, frustration or dread. It gives you joy to see lives changed by the power of God's love. But let's face it, we're not going to enjoy something until we try, then we land a few, share the joy of the catch with others and then work on becoming a better fisherman.
Secondly, you go where the fish are. The reason many fishermen get skunked is they don't go where the fish are. What does that mean for us as a church? We find where the needs are and then seek to meet them. We need to reach the youth and so give time, effort and money into youth outreach. There are many divorced people who are hurting in the church and in the community. A group where these needs are addressed and God's grace is experienced would gather people who are open to the gospel. I could give many more examples but do you get the point? We can't just fish in the same old way and the same place we always have. Nor can we expect the fish to swim to us. We must seek to attract them with the gospel at the point of their need.
Thirdly, you have to use the right bait. I've found that if I'm fishing for crappies, I had better not use worms. I might catch one now and again on a worm but I've had much better luck with minnows. I know it sounds crass to talk about bait when it's people you're talking about. We're not trying to trick people, so that we can get them to the place where we can feed on them. We aren't trying to lure people to their death but to a life with God that is eternal.
Some churches use entertainment. Other churches promise prosperity and happiness. Others still appeal to social prestige. The only bait worthy of the Gospel is love. Love which accepts people where they are. Love which is shown through actions. God has given each of us people that perhaps only we can reach with the gospel. Think about it. Who are they? Identify them. Write their names down. Then reflect on specific ways that you can share God's love with them. Maybe they need a friend. Perhaps they have kids and would appreciate a chance to get away by themselves. Offer to baby--sit. A parent has died. Send them a card of condolence. Call them up a week or two after the funeral. Yet get the idea. Now do it! Do it as a fisher of men and women. If we let God use us as his love connection, he will amaze us with the results. Of course we are not accountable for results. That's up to the Lord. All that God asks us to do is to be fishermen and fisherwomen for Christ.
Remember, our commission is to go fishin'!
