SPEAKER_00: Well, good morning.
SPEAKER_00: It's great to be with you all today at all of our campuses.
SPEAKER_00: In 2019, there was a study that was done with eight to 12-year-old kids, and they asked the question that kids get asked a lot as they grow up.
SPEAKER_00: It's what do you want to be when you grow up?
SPEAKER_00: And I remember this study because I would see multiple headlines that were kind of like this that in the US and in the UK, uh, kids are three times more likely to want to be YouTubers than astronauts.
SPEAKER_00: And some adults responded with, oh, the next generation.
SPEAKER_00: Aren't they just obsessed with themselves, so self-absorbed?
SPEAKER_00: How could they want to be a YouTuber instead of an astronaut?
SPEAKER_00: And as I started hearing adults and even some of my own peers and colleagues kind of continue on with sort of negative thinking about the next generation, I actually grew in sympathy for those kids.
SPEAKER_00: I understood them.
SPEAKER_00: Because if someone were today to ask me that question at 42 years old, Zach, would you rather be a YouTuber or an astronaut?
SPEAKER_00: I would choose YouTube a hundred percent of the time.
SPEAKER_00: I think that for a select few, that a career or a vocation in outer space exploration would be really rewarding and fulfilling and how God wired you.
SPEAKER_00: I've not for a single second thought that my skill set aligned with astronaut.
SPEAKER_00: What I love to do is to create content and deliver that content and hope that it influences someone on the other side, whether it's here in person or across a screen.
SPEAKER_00: Now, does that mean I'm into myself?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, a hundred percent.
SPEAKER_00: And so are you.
SPEAKER_00: This is a battle that all of us face, is to not be so self-absorbed, but it doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you, if you're an astronaut or a YouTuber, you face that battle.
SPEAKER_00: And so rather than desiring or wanting influence, which I think is a godly thing, the questions we're going to be exploring in this series is what kind of influence are you having?
SPEAKER_00: Who are you influencing?
SPEAKER_00: We live in an age of influencers, celebrities, personalities, athletes, musicians, uh, trending voices competing for your attention.
SPEAKER_00: And what we're gonna see in this series is that true kingdom influence isn't measured in likes, how big your platforms are, or how many followers you have.
SPEAKER_00: It's measured rather in how you follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: In this three-week series, we're gonna look at Peter.
SPEAKER_00: And what I love about Peter's story is I think he's so relatable to all of us because he's just an ordinary person.
SPEAKER_00: I would even argue unordinary, that God chose and he turned him into a kingdom influencer.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the opportunity for you and for me.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're gonna look into his life, and something I think that it's important to talk about at the very beginning.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we get it wrong about Peter and the disciples.
SPEAKER_00: Peter was likely the oldest of the 12 disciples, but at that point, Peter was not a seasoned gray-bearded veteran.
SPEAKER_00: He was likely in his early 20s, and the rest of the disciples were likely teenagers.
SPEAKER_00: And so think about the most influential movement in the history of the world began with what many of us are calling the next generation.
SPEAKER_00: And I believe that just as Jesus believed in and trusted and empowered the next generation, it is a call on each of our lives to do the same.
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm really excited to announce today, but probably more so in the next coming weeks, especially the final week, give you a little bit more details on what's happening.
SPEAKER_00: But through King of Kings at all of our campuses, we are launching a young adult ministry designed for 18 to 29-year-olds.
SPEAKER_00: And there's a vision night on April 14th that we're having here at Millard.
SPEAKER_00: All campuses are invited, where we would love to join and gather with you and yes, to share a little bit of vision, but mostly hear feedback from you on what does it look like to have a ministry that would support the stages of life you're going through.
SPEAKER_00: And so if you're 18 to 29, please scan that QR code.
SPEAKER_00: And if you know someone who's 18 to 29, please get them to that link and get them here for that vision night as we embark on, I think, a movement that will shape the future of our church, a King of Kings.
SPEAKER_00: Speaking of 18 to 29 year olds being invited, that's today's message.
SPEAKER_00: The three weeks of influencers looks like this.
SPEAKER_00: Today we're going to talk about the invitation of influence, the cost of influence, and the calling of influence in Peter's life.
SPEAKER_00: My goal for this series is that you would not only declare this statement, but by golly, that you would live as if it's true.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the statement I'm building towards.
SPEAKER_00: I will influence the world more than I will be influenced by it.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, let's say that together, all campuses.
SPEAKER_00: I will influence the world more than I will be influenced by it.
SPEAKER_00: Now, when I talk about the world, I recognize that's different for every one of us.
SPEAKER_00: For some of us, the the world, God might be calling you to influence is one person, a couple of people.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's your spouse or your kids or your aging parents, or maybe it's a small group, a connect group of people, even joining here at King of Kings, those closest with you.
SPEAKER_00: And so the world, that number of people, is maybe different for you, for me, and for the rest of us.
SPEAKER_00: Let's also recognize that the world changes with seasons.
SPEAKER_00: And there are certain decisions that you make in this season to impact and influence the world around you.
SPEAKER_00: And I've really tried hard the last, especially half of a decade, to be way more available as a dad.
SPEAKER_00: Because my boys are going through middle school and high school.
SPEAKER_00: And it's really important for me that that as I hopefully influence others, that I certainly have the most influence in my home.
SPEAKER_00: And that decision I've made the last several years, my wife has made that for the better part of the last two decades.
SPEAKER_00: But we're also recognizing something with our boys growing and now a senior and a freshman in high school, and we're not out of it yet, but both of us are starting to think like, hey, pretty soon, babe, it's just gonna be me and you here.
SPEAKER_00: Empty nest.
SPEAKER_00: And what does life look like?
SPEAKER_00: Our influence might actually change in the day-to-day when our kids aren't there each and every day.
SPEAKER_00: And we'll be able to use that influence in different ways.
SPEAKER_00: And I really genuinely believe we'll actually have far more money to do it because we'll be buying way less protein.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how our campus pastor at Millard Seflick and his wife Melinda do it with five boys.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of protein.
SPEAKER_00: So again, when I say the world, yeah, there may be one or two or a few that that literally means millions across the world.
SPEAKER_00: But for many of us, it may be much smaller than that.
SPEAKER_00: The point is, though, that God did not create you to sit on the sidelines.
SPEAKER_00: He created you to get in the game and to be an influencer.
SPEAKER_00: And so let's kick this off by defining what influence is.
SPEAKER_00: It's the power to have an important effect on someone or something.
SPEAKER_00: And with that definition, I believe you can argue that Peter was one of the most influential people to have ever lived in this world.
SPEAKER_00: He was the leader of the first church.
SPEAKER_00: He was the preacher of the sermon where 3,000 were baptized and saved.
SPEAKER_00: He was the one that through his leadership opened up the church to beyond just Jewish people and to Gentiles.
SPEAKER_00: He is the leader of the movement that 2,000 years later, still 2.3 billion people adhere to.
SPEAKER_00: This is the influence of Peter, a widely read author today, with the Bible being the best-selling book and growing, praise God.
SPEAKER_00: You can add up the 2.3 billion people he's influencing today.
SPEAKER_00: You can add up other influencers like Cristiano Ronaldo, Mr.
SPEAKER_00: Beast, and Taylor Swift.
SPEAKER_00: And combined, they have about half the reach of our main man Peter, not even counting the billions of people across the last two millennium that have been impacted by Peter.
SPEAKER_00: What an influence.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, when Jesus found Peter, he was probably about as far away as someone you would think he would invite to this type of influence.
SPEAKER_00: He was washing empty nets from a failed fishing attempt.
SPEAKER_00: If Peter had a YouTube channel, it might have been titled The Galilean Net Cleaner.
SPEAKER_00: His most viral video might have been how to throw a fishing net in water and not catch a thing.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, that's the one that Jesus invited to a lifetime of influence.
SPEAKER_00: Just an ordinary failure.
SPEAKER_00: And again, what I love about the story of Peter is we can all relate to him in some way, shape, or form.
SPEAKER_00: That we've fallen short, we've failed, we're younger, we're inexperienced, we're struggling.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus still invites.
SPEAKER_00: So we're going to look at that story in Luke chapter 5, as today we look at the how to be a Christian influencer, and it starts with an invitation.
SPEAKER_00: Luke chapter 5 says it this way that one day as Jesus was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, that is also called the Sea of Galilee, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus saw at the water's edge two boats left there by the fishermen who were washing their nets.
SPEAKER_00: He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon.
SPEAKER_00: I'll be using the word Simon and Peter interchangeably.
SPEAKER_00: It's the same person.
SPEAKER_00: One time later, Jesus would change Simon's name to Peter, but he asked Simon, Peter, to put out a little from shore.
SPEAKER_00: Then Jesus sat down and taught the people from the boat.
SPEAKER_00: Already in Luke chapter 5, the name and fame of Jesus was spreading.
SPEAKER_00: The crowds were listening to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He had charisma around him.
SPEAKER_00: And so on that day, on the shore, there's a lot of people, a lot of scholars that teach that Jesus needed to step into Peter's boat and to get some distance away from the crowd to continue to teach.
SPEAKER_00: He needed to get some distance from the crowd to kind of keep things organized.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's why he got out onto the boat.
SPEAKER_00: And he needed to get out onto the water because he had no microphone in that day and there was no amplification setting.
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus was smart and he was using the natural acoustics that would bounce off the water so that more people could hear.
SPEAKER_00: And so many scholars teach that Jesus needed Peter and his boat.
SPEAKER_00: This was before the days of a bows surround system.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus invented the boat surround system.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, somebody.
SPEAKER_00: Catch up with me here.
SPEAKER_00: But those scholars are wrong.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus did not need Peter, and he did not need Peter's boat.
SPEAKER_00: And I can prove it to you.
SPEAKER_00: In Matthew chapter 14, this was later in his ministry.
SPEAKER_00: Look at what it says.
SPEAKER_00: That shortly before dawn, Jesus went out to them.
SPEAKER_00: What's that next word?
SPEAKER_00: Walking on the lake.
SPEAKER_00: You don't need a boat when you can walk on water.
SPEAKER_00: And he needed no sound amplification system because guess what?
SPEAKER_00: Mark 1:11 says, A voice came out of the heavens, you are my beloved son, and you I am well pleased.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just saying that when you can walk on water and when you can have the amplification of heaven, you need no one and you need nobody's boat.
SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_00: You don't need those things.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, if I were the chief marketing officer looking at the channel, the YouTube channel of Jesus, how to grow your influence, I would actually tell Jesus, you can expand your reach if you do not choose Peter and you do not choose his boat.
SPEAKER_00: Don't associate with failures, and you get out on, you walk on the water, and as you're speaking, have the words come out of heaven, and you'll grow.
SPEAKER_00: You will grow your influence, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus didn't ask me, just like he didn't ask Peter to be his chief marketing officer or his executive coach.
SPEAKER_00: He does not need me.
SPEAKER_00: He does not need Peter.
SPEAKER_00: He does not need you.
SPEAKER_00: And you might be saying, Well, that's kind of a weird thing to talk about.
SPEAKER_00: But I do you do you not genuinely, when you look at that, doesn't that kind of sound really freeing to you?
SPEAKER_00: That you are not invited into influence because God needs you?
SPEAKER_00: I think we form relationships in this world, and sometimes out of necessity, I'm not saying it's wrong all the time, but there's other times when you're in relationship with someone else and it's like, does this person even like me?
SPEAKER_00: Do they want me in their life, or do they just want the things that I can provide?
SPEAKER_00: Do they just want the people that I know?
SPEAKER_00: The do I just want that person in my life because that person will connect me with this person, or I like the things around them, or I just put up with them because I gotta, I need them in my life?
SPEAKER_00: Or do I genuinely like that person, love that person, want that person to be in my life?
SPEAKER_00: I think it's incredibly freeing to know off the top that God doesn't need you, but God wants you.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't choose you because you've got something he needs.
SPEAKER_00: Oh no, he chooses you because he just wants you.
SPEAKER_00: God doesn't need me, but God wants me.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, so let's say that together.
SPEAKER_00: God doesn't need me, but God wants me.
SPEAKER_00: Turn to the person next to you and say, God doesn't need you.
SPEAKER_00: But God wants you.
SPEAKER_00: Now turn to your second choice and say, God doesn't need you, but God wants you.
SPEAKER_00: And I chose you second, but God chose you first.
SPEAKER_00: Oh man, when this comes from a place of I'm not needed, I'm just invited.
SPEAKER_00: That feels really good.
SPEAKER_00: Also to know that if you're like thinking of Peter and his story, and what does it metaphorically look like for Jesus to come into your story to know that that Jesus met Peter at a really low, uh, an empty moment in his life, uh, a time of failure in his life?
SPEAKER_00: It's important for you to know that Jesus loves meeting people when they're at their worst, when they're empty, when they feel like they're a failure.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus also knows everything about you and who you will become.
SPEAKER_00: He's not only omnipotent and can walk on water and speak from heaven, he knows all things.
SPEAKER_00: And so he knew everything about Peter, who he was, what his past was, and it didn't disqualify him.
SPEAKER_00: And he knew everything about who Peter would be, the decisions he would make, and he still chose to walk in Peter's boat.
SPEAKER_00: And so for some of you that think your past has just disqualified you, that you failed, you have not failed from having Jesus in your life.
SPEAKER_00: For some of you that are fearful of, well, if I walk with Jesus, I might make a mistake, and then what?
SPEAKER_00: I want you to know that Jesus already knows that, and he still metaphorically walks into your boat today and says, I don't need you, but I want you.
SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
SPEAKER_00: The story continues when Jesus had finished speaking.
SPEAKER_00: He said to Simon, put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch.
SPEAKER_00: The first step in the how of influence is to hear God.
SPEAKER_00: Hear God.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us would be like, Well, it'd be great if he did walk.
SPEAKER_00: I don't own a boat, but it'd be great if he walked into my boat and talked with me.
SPEAKER_00: He does talk to you, it's through his word.
SPEAKER_00: You can open his word any day, any time, and you can hear from God.
SPEAKER_00: He speaks to you.
SPEAKER_00: Every day you have an opportunity.
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, and you're here now, so praise God that you're hearing this.
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, as we open up the scriptures, you don't hear my voice, but you hear God's voice through the scriptures to you.
SPEAKER_00: As you join and connect groups, hopefully you open up the word of God and you discern God's voice together.
SPEAKER_00: The problem is not that God is not speaking, the problem is that we are not listening.
SPEAKER_00: And if you want to be a Christian influencer, it starts with hearing from God.
SPEAKER_00: Because if you don't hear from God, you will hear from the world, and the world will influence you and tell you how to be an influencer in this world.
SPEAKER_00: And we're living in a day where there is a certain type of content that just will grow your platform faster and will expand your reach and it will feed other people's algorithms.
SPEAKER_00: And the problem is what works in the algorithm rarely works to build up the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: The algorithms reward outrage, they reward extremes, they reward an us versus them mentality.
SPEAKER_00: Some of the younger generation may not know this, but there's somebody that claims he invented the internet.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know his name?
SPEAKER_00: Al Gore.
SPEAKER_00: And there's a lot of conspiracy theories, but I'm just sitting up here today thinking, Al Gore Ism.
SPEAKER_00: Do what you want with that.
SPEAKER_00: Lately, I've dabbled into the world of creating more content on YouTube for our Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, the denomination we're a part of.
SPEAKER_00: I've got a deep passion for King of Kings, but I'm also a fourth generation LCMS pastor.
SPEAKER_00: And there's a lot of things going on in the leadership of our denomination right now that let me just be frank with you, um, this is not my dad's, my grandpa's, and my great-grandpa's LCMS to be proud of.
SPEAKER_00: And there are things that need to change if the LCMS wants to have an influence in the next generation and beyond.
SPEAKER_00: And if not, it it simply will not exist.
SPEAKER_00: So there's a few of us that have been more vocal using our platform, using our influence, and trying to do what we can to move our denomination forward in the right ways.
SPEAKER_00: And the honest truth of what I've learned in this journey as I've dabbled into this is I I know I can grow my reach faster.
SPEAKER_00: I know how to do it.
SPEAKER_00: If I leaned into fear, if I named names, if I pushed more extreme titles and thumbnails and gave bigger facial reactions, if I pushed harder on controversy, those are the things that feed the algorithms.
SPEAKER_00: And I've got a few ideas sitting in my notes and Google Docs that I know would go viral, at least LCMS viral.
SPEAKER_00: But the question I'm asking and continuing to ask, and that all of us that have influence over one or a million people is this.
SPEAKER_00: Are these my words?
SPEAKER_00: Are these God's words?
SPEAKER_00: And I've got a couple of ideas, and I'm not even sure that I won't share some of the things that I do think somebody's got to shed light to some of the things that are happening.
SPEAKER_00: But but I've got them sitting, and all it takes is about 30 minutes for me to record and edit and press play, upload.
SPEAKER_00: And I just haven't felt peace yet.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe I will.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe I won't.
SPEAKER_00: But the point is that as you hear God, that's the first step.
SPEAKER_00: The second step is to obey God.
SPEAKER_00: And to and to obey and listen to his voice and as he speaks, to simply obey.
SPEAKER_00: And I have not heard, I've not felt a piece about some of the ideas that I have.
SPEAKER_00: And so they sit and they wait.
SPEAKER_00: Because it's not about me.
SPEAKER_00: Let's see how the story continues.
SPEAKER_00: Simon answered, Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything, but I love this verse.
SPEAKER_00: Because you say so, I will let down the nets.
SPEAKER_00: It would have been really easy for Simon, for Peter to say, hey, dude, obviously you're a great teacher.
SPEAKER_00: You got a lot of charisma, people like you.
SPEAKER_00: You're Joseph's son, right?
SPEAKER_00: So you're probably good with wood.
SPEAKER_00: And so if I ever need like something patched up on the boat, I'll call you.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm a fisherman, don't tell me how to fish.
SPEAKER_00: But he didn't do that.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't say, I'm so tired.
SPEAKER_00: I'm exhausted.
SPEAKER_00: I'm empty because we were worked hard all night.
SPEAKER_00: But rather he said, master, which Greek is like boss, commander, leader.
SPEAKER_00: Because you say so, I will.
SPEAKER_00: Obedience.
SPEAKER_00: Another translation that I really like of that is at your word, I will.
SPEAKER_00: At your word, I will.
SPEAKER_00: A Y-W-I-W.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you that that ought to be a life motto.
SPEAKER_00: And really, it's a great way to summarize those first two steps of being an influencer.
SPEAKER_00: Hear God, obey God.
SPEAKER_00: At your word, I will.
SPEAKER_00: Because at the end of the day, I'm not saying your words aren't important.
SPEAKER_00: They are, but what's most important is God's word through you.
SPEAKER_00: At your word, I will.
SPEAKER_00: And so even if it makes no sense, if it's God's word, I will.
SPEAKER_00: Even if I don't understand it, or I feel like I'm more qualified, or it comes out of left field, or I'm tired and exhausted, at your word I will.
SPEAKER_00: Because the word of God is powerful, is it not?
SPEAKER_00: At his word, light came.
SPEAKER_00: At his word, the sun and the moon and the stars and the planets were created.
SPEAKER_00: At his word, life began.
SPEAKER_00: At his word, nations and empires still rise and fall.
SPEAKER_00: At his word, you are forgiven, redeemed, and chosen.
SPEAKER_00: At your word, I will.
SPEAKER_00: And when you follow his word, obey his word.
SPEAKER_00: You'll get to see God do things that you otherwise would have missed.
SPEAKER_00: And He'll do it over and over and over again.
SPEAKER_00: And it's what happened in Peter's life.
SPEAKER_00: When they had done so, they put back out the nets into deep water.
SPEAKER_00: It says they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.
SPEAKER_00: So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats.
SPEAKER_00: I can't say that.
SPEAKER_00: I say both as both boats.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, there we go.
SPEAKER_00: So full that they began to sink.
SPEAKER_00: How cool.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what I know about you is that you're talented.
SPEAKER_00: You are gifted.
SPEAKER_00: Scripture says that.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what I also know about you because I know what it's like to be human, that you have put a lot of times in life, a lot of effort into something and it has not worked out the way you thought it would.
SPEAKER_00: And the the results don't match the effort you put in.
SPEAKER_00: You put a ton of work into a school project and you did not get the grade that you expected, that you thought you deserved.
SPEAKER_00: You put in a ton of work in a relationship you're years in, and you're like, this might have all been a waste.
SPEAKER_00: You you put a ton of work into raising up your kids and you feel like I don't know where it went off.
SPEAKER_00: You put in a ton of work to get the the lead part in the the play, and yet you barely got a line in the play.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe even for some of you, you tried to create content online and you're like, my content is good.
SPEAKER_00: It is quality, way better than his, way better than hers.
SPEAKER_00: Why isn't mine popping?
SPEAKER_00: This is better.
SPEAKER_00: It's better.
SPEAKER_00: And I can't always tell you why.
SPEAKER_00: It's not fair and it doesn't always compute.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't have tidy answers sometimes to why you work so hard and some results just don't match.
SPEAKER_00: But that's life.
SPEAKER_00: You can work really hard and get no results.
SPEAKER_00: Like Peter, he was working really hard, he didn't do anything wrong.
SPEAKER_00: He was fishing in a sea where he knew how to fish, and I'm sure he'd caught some fish prior to this before.
SPEAKER_00: Just didn't work that night.
SPEAKER_00: But because he believed in Jesus, because he at your word I willed, he got to see the results and the blessings that he otherwise would have missed.
SPEAKER_00: That all the fish that somehow were swimming in that sea all night long on his effort, on his power, all of a sudden, with uh a little bit of help from Jesus, a little bit of direction from Jesus, those same fish are swimming and jumping into the net.
SPEAKER_00: I think there's something true there for some of you that you've been working too hard to see the little results that you've been getting.
SPEAKER_00: And I just want to ask, have you invited Jesus into what you're doing to watch what he would do?
SPEAKER_00: Not with your power, but with his power.
SPEAKER_00: Now, don't hear me wrong.
SPEAKER_00: This is not some prosperity gospel or some nice magic formula or some some vending machine God I'm talking about, that you put this in and you'll get this.
SPEAKER_00: But I am saying that when you work with the will of God, when you include God in what you're doing, you get to see things that the rest of the world doesn't get to see.
SPEAKER_00: It may result in great blessing.
SPEAKER_00: It may not at times, but it'll take you on a journey where you see him show up in incredible ways.
SPEAKER_00: When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, Go away from me, Lord, I'm a sinful man.
SPEAKER_00: For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they'd taken, so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners.
SPEAKER_00: And so as Peter was feeling um unqualified, like a failure, like an imposter, like a sinner, and he asked God to go away from him.
SPEAKER_00: How amazing that God chose to come near to him in this next verse where Jesus says to him, Don't be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: From now on, you will fish for people.
SPEAKER_00: And so they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything, and followed him.
SPEAKER_00: And this is the final step.
SPEAKER_00: Hear God, obey God, walk with God.
SPEAKER_00: You get to walk with God.
SPEAKER_00: He invites you into not just a one-time viral moment or a 15 moments of fame thing, but a lifetime of influence.
SPEAKER_00: As you continue to, at your word, I will be obedient and continue to walk step by step with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: At the end of the day, it's not about blowing up, expanding your reach, having 15 minutes of fame.
SPEAKER_00: It's about the opportunity to influence other people and to know that every day when you wake up, your life is filled with purpose and meaning and significance.
SPEAKER_00: This is both the opportunity and invitation that Peter received, and it is the opportunity and influence that you can receive today.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe you've been working hard.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're younger than what people think ought to be someone that could have a life of influence.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've been grinding, maybe you've been casting nets out there and coming up empty, just like Peter.
SPEAKER_00: Empty nets, emptiness.
SPEAKER_00: And it's in that moment where Jesus walks into his story, steps into his boat.
SPEAKER_00: It's in those moments where you're feeling weak, beaten down, exhausted, and tired today, that Jesus rocks up on shore and metaphorically steps into your boat to offer the same thing that he offered to Peter.
SPEAKER_00: Not a one-time viral moment, but walk with me.
SPEAKER_00: It's the opportunity of a lifetime.
SPEAKER_00: I love the final verse that we read that it says that after Jesus invited him into this, that not just Peter, but Andrew and James and John, they they left everything and followed him.
SPEAKER_00: I love that they didn't pray about it, though prayer is a good thing.
SPEAKER_00: I love that they didn't procon list it out.
SPEAKER_00: But they recognized I've been trying hard on my own and I'm coming up empty.
SPEAKER_00: And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, the opportunity of a lifetime comes.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna miss it this time.
SPEAKER_00: And so I don't know if you feel like you've been cast in your nets and coming up empty.
SPEAKER_00: If you've been cast in your nets and coming up empty in your marriage, if you've been cast in your nets and coming up empty in your education, if you've been casting your nets and coming up empty in your parenting, if you've been casting your nets and coming up empty in caring for aging parents, if you've been casting your nets and coming up empty in your faith.
SPEAKER_00: But when you are empty and when you are low and when you are exhausted, and when you feel like I've tried hard and I've got nothing else that I want to do, Jesus comes into your life, steps into your boat, and says, put it out into deeper water.
SPEAKER_00: And your first inclination is going to be, but I'm tired and I've tried everything and I don't want to do that.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, if you'll just take that step of faith, you'll hear God, you'll obey God, and you'll walk with God.
SPEAKER_00: You get to watch God do incredible things over and over and over.
SPEAKER_00: Peter and Andrew and James and John were not the obvious choices.
SPEAKER_00: They were likely on the boats that day because they hadn't measured up to what society would tell them is a successful, influential person.
SPEAKER_00: In those days it was quite the privilege to follow a rabbi.
SPEAKER_00: It was an even greater honor to become a rabbi.
SPEAKER_00: And yet the ways that rabbis recruited would be you would go through certain levels of education, really rigorous education.
SPEAKER_00: And if you passed the test, you would move up and up and up until a time where you got so high up that there was no more tests to pass.
SPEAKER_00: You simply had to be invited by the rabbi.
SPEAKER_00: And they would choose the best of the best.
SPEAKER_00: And here you have Rabbi Jesus that operates so differently from the way the world does, that he chooses guys that failed at some point along the way and went back to fishing for fish, the family trade.
SPEAKER_00: Though there's nothing wrong with fishing for fish.
SPEAKER_00: That's a good profession for some people if God wired you that way, just like an astronaut.
SPEAKER_00: But Peter had been coming up empty for far too long.
SPEAKER_00: He was young, he was unimpressive.
SPEAKER_00: He was empty.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus stepped into his boat.
SPEAKER_00: Not because he needed anything, but because he wanted Peter.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe you can relate to that.
SPEAKER_00: I can relate to it.
SPEAKER_00: And I haven't always done it right in influencing others for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: But I can look back at a couple of times in my life where I was feeling down, feeling rejected, and yet God told me metaphorically to put it out into deeper water.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, really me?
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: And it's been really a challenging but rewarding journey to walk with Jesus and to watch where he leads.
SPEAKER_00: I genuinely don't know that I would be here as one of your pastors in Omaha, Nebraska, if I hadn't followed an at-your-word, I will moment in my life that made no sense to me.
SPEAKER_00: At no point in my growing up, in my years of education at Collierville Elementary School outside of Memphis, Tennessee, or Millard North Middle and High, or Concordia, Wisconsin, or Concordia Seminary, at no point did anyone ever look at me and say, Zach, you could be an author one day.
SPEAKER_00: You've got a gift in writing.
SPEAKER_00: I was a really B student.
SPEAKER_00: And I even remember some constructive criticism on some things that I wrote in some writing classes where this isn't creative enough.
SPEAKER_00: And they were telling me all the things I lacked.
SPEAKER_00: And so it felt really strange.
SPEAKER_00: When it felt like the Lord was inviting me into an idea in my little church plant in central Florida, Mount Dora, where I had this idea that developed.
SPEAKER_00: I was trying to help people walk with Jesus and just do what Jesus said.
SPEAKER_00: And so in 2012, I did a call, we called it the do what he said challenge.
SPEAKER_00: Sounds pretty legalistic, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_00: And we just had a great experience for 40 days doing what Jesus said.
SPEAKER_00: We did it again the next year.
SPEAKER_00: And over a few kind of what I look back on in the moment felt like random steps, but what I look back on was sort of at your word, I will obedience.
SPEAKER_00: Over seven years, this idea that I'm like, seriously, of all people, God, you're you're putting this in my lap to steward, it makes no sense.
SPEAKER_00: And as do what he said challenge turned into an idea called red letter challenge, and I approached many publishers with this idea.
SPEAKER_00: They said, Zach, we think it's a good idea, but you're not influential enough for us to take this on.
SPEAKER_00: And so it was interesting and rewarding and fulfilling when I felt like Jesus was saying, Well, put your nets into deeper water.
SPEAKER_00: Pay for it yourself.
SPEAKER_00: So it was really fun in this fall of 2017 to see a semi-truck with a pallet of books and opening that first box and seeing my name on the bottom of a book that I wrote.
SPEAKER_00: I think my kids like the new smell of the book there, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: Felt even wilder a few months after that, when pastors were saying, this book really helped our church.
SPEAKER_00: Felt even crazier when about a year after it came out, they were asking me and my wife to write more resources to help.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I'm a I'm a B player, man.
SPEAKER_00: And it led to a really tough, challenging decision at the age of 36.
SPEAKER_00: Being a lead pastor at a church I loved in Central Florida, which is not the worst place in the world to lead a church, y'all.
SPEAKER_00: It felt strange to step out of that seat.
SPEAKER_00: At your word, I will.
SPEAKER_00: And to step into a world of writing more books of all things.
SPEAKER_00: And that decision led to another decision a few months later of being a part of a local church in Omaha, Nebraska, where I had been influenced in my faith formative years as a young person.
SPEAKER_00: And now I get the joy of leading alongside the team here at King of Kings and using whatever influence I have to give back to a church that and to a God more so that was so influential in my story, and to believe in and empower and entrust all the B team players out there, all the Peters, all the young people, all the inexperienced, all the failures, all the not good enoughs, all the overlooks, to say I don't know where God will take you.
SPEAKER_00: And I still don't know what he's doing with me.
SPEAKER_00: But at your word, I will.
SPEAKER_00: Hear.
SPEAKER_00: Obey.
SPEAKER_00: Walk.
SPEAKER_00: Hear.
SPEAKER_00: Obey.
SPEAKER_00: Walk.
SPEAKER_00: God doesn't need you.
SPEAKER_00: But he wants you.
SPEAKER_00: All campuses, will you pray with me?
SPEAKER_00: God, I sense your spirit in this moment.
SPEAKER_00: God, just as you stepped into Peter's boat on that day, will you metaphorically step into each person's boat today?
SPEAKER_00: God, especially step into the B-team players, the overlooked, the failures, the ones that are empty, the ones that have cast nets and keep coming up empty and exhausted and tired.
SPEAKER_00: Help them to see that not only do you have a gift of grace that gives them eternity, but a gift of invitation to walk with you and influence the world, whether that's one or a million people.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you that you come for the young, for the inexperienced, for the forgotten, for the cast aside, for the tired, for the broken, for the exhausted.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you that you don't need a thing from me, but you see me for who I am, and you still say I want you.
SPEAKER_00: God, would you give us the strength to obey, the courage to walk, and the joy that comes with seeing not what our power and our influence can do, but what you can do through us, your influencers.
SPEAKER_00: It's in your name we pray, and together all campuses say, Amen.