The Kingdom of Heaven is like: Matt 13:47-52

Carrying on the series, back in Mount Maunganui after camp, Levi unpacks the parable of the net, revealing a kingdom that gathers widely and welcomes all, yet leaves judgment to God. This message challenges us to resist comparison and self-righteousness, embrace the grace that has caught us, and trust that while judgment is delayed, it is certain. A call to humility, gratitude, and living faithfully within the net of God’s kingdom.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Matthew 13. Matthew 13, 47 to 51, says, Once again the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but they threw the bad fish away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Have you understood all these things? Jesus asked. Yes, they replied. Good luck, Levi. Thanks, brother.

SPEAKER_02 0:57

Hey, um, I just wanted to um before I um use that luck and preach from this uh verse, I wanted to uh just quickly touch on uh something that Aaron just um was talking about with giving. Um we've we haven't touched mentioned this, I don't think we haven't mentioned it enough, but um we believe that the scripture teaches that we should give 10% to the church. And so as a church, our board over the last two years has been like, okay, if we're gonna believe that, that's how we interpret the text. We want to make sure that as a church we're also doing that. And so we have been storing aside um in a separate bank account 10% of all of the donations that our church receives in a bank account which is sitting there ready to be used. And so we've been um so number one, um our church wants to uh give away 10% of everything that we we bring in. So there's right now about $20,000 sitting in a bank account that is we haven't earmarked it for anything because we don't feel like um we know what to spend it on or what to invest it in. So that's the first thing. And the second thing is that um we would love our church to be thoughtful and prayerful of where that money might might go. And so you might be sitting here going, you know. Um so a house deposit, but no, that's no, that's not what we're gonna do it for, um, although it would be helpful. But we what we are gonna do is just make sure that you know that that money's there and that we want to be prayerful about where that might go. So in terms of these like community ideas, or we had this this dream about maybe, or we still have a dream maybe about maybe building a um a really cool playground out here for the kids or a whole bunch of different things. But certainly Nards and I and our board haven't felt like a witness of like, yep, we know where we want this money to go. And so, uh, whether it's church planning or other things. So I just really love what Aaron, what Aaron brought there, and I just want you to know that that's kind of um something that's in the works. Hey, amen. Matthew 13, let's go. He just read this great text, 1347, says this. Uh, once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down in a lake and caught all kinds of fish. So, for all the fishermen here, uh, we talked at camp a little bit about how one of my favorite moments was actually making coffee and then having Jake and Paul Howe um talk about fishing while I was making coffee. So it's like men doing things they love. I was making a warm brew, the boys are talking about fishing. And it was interesting because like it was one of my favorite moments of camp because they hadn't really talked fishing at great depth at until this point. Despite the fact they've been in the church, the same church for two years. And that and an early man was just waking talking, gave us a moment, and I just want the fishermen in our church to know that's you, my bro, you guys were ahead of the game. Because we have been talking a lot about gardening, we've been talking a lot about seeds, we've been talking a lot about fields and weeds, but we because this is all Jesus talks about in Matthew 13, but in verse 47, we have one of our clearest illustrations of what the kingdom is, and it is a fishing illustration. And so let's get on board with that. Anyone who wasn't already on board with fishing. Caught all kinds of fish when it was full and the fishermen pulled it up on shore. Note this, they sat down. I love this. They sat down, they were purposeful, they were deliberate, and they collected all the good fish in baskets and threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels, well, that's good. I'm glad it's not us. I'm glad it's not me or the church, but supernatural angels that have eyes to see will be able to discern, and they will come and separate the wicked from the righteous, and they'll throw them into the blazing furnace where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Have you understood all of these things? Jesus said, Yes, they replied. I love that yes, because these are the disciples who we believe were 13 or 14 years old young men. These days the coming of age of a man is much older than it was at that time. So they were probably the equivalent of men in their late teens or early 20s, so sort of young adults. Now I know some men that are at that age in our church, and sometimes when I ask them no names, do you understand? And they say yes. I know that doesn't mean yes, you know. I know that means no. So Jesus gives us parable, and then he says, Do you understand? And they go, they're like this. Oh, yeah, 100%. 100%, you know. And now Matthew 4.17, which has been kind of our our foundation scripture, is is from that time on, Jesus began to preach, repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near. Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near. And Father, we just ask that you would bless our time together, bless this um the scripture, bless our preaching, um, bless our listening, Lord. We pray, Father, as we um try and just like exposite or exegete or pull out from this verse, from your teaching, as we try and just explain the scriptures, that there would be some enlightening, some revelation that would happen in our lives and in our hearts. And Father, we're praying that even um as one sermon is preached, there will be many messages preached, many seeds sown. And Father, we ask Holy Spirit that for the next few moments that we could be still and that we might wait on you, Lord. Holy Spirit, that you might just allow us a moment where we can just stop and sit and rest. And we ask that you would speak. Amen. When I was making coffee, listening to Jake and Paul talk, they would they were that there was there was some depth of fishing conversations I was involved in. And I understood less than half of it. Like I get it. I get that there's like um, you know, when you grow up, you go down to the to the wharf with the old man or whomever, you know, with an uncle, and you might not even have a rod yet, but you have a line. And you maybe sink it, maybe hook, maybe bait, maybe not, and you're just in there having fun. Then you graduate into like rod fishing, so it's like rodless fishing, rod fishing, which let's say includes fly fishing, because that's with a rod. That's where the bait is not um fish, but an insect. And then you have uh net fishing, trawling. What we have here is a dragnet, so not so much trawling, but it's sort of in between your rod and your and your deep sea trawling, which is illegal because of the bycatch, uh, and the sociological or the damage, well, you know, to the to the ecological, you know, state. Then you have this drag net, and as they were talking about fishing, I was like, man, like lures, like different baits, soft bait. I was loving it, you know. Learning clearly as I was listening. And here's Jesus. He turns up and he's like, hey, the kingdom of heaven is like. So he gets up in Matthew 4 and he's like, repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near. And and I think hearing that for the first time, you might be like, today, or certainly, you know, in in first century AD, hearing that, you'd be like, Oh, okay, uh, I don't know what that means. When I think about a kingdom, I'm thinking about a I don't know about you, I just think castle, king, warfare, imperial, takeover, armies, um, bow and arrows, swords. Oh, this is the stuff I'm thinking. And I think the hearers of Jesus preaching might have also heard those things too. The kingdom is coming, the kingdom's on the way, the kingdom has come near. The kingdom um is among you, another, another translation or another verse says. And I think they'll be like looking around. Um, I don't see those things that I would expect. If we were living under the uh the oppressive power of, let's say, the Romans, and we knew what power looked like, and then Jesus came and said there's another kingdom that's coming, the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, I would be looking for something that would be the antithesis of what it is that I'm under. That they would come in, you know, they would fight. Because it look, we're all we're keen on it, you know. No, no, we don't love it, but we're like, we love a good little biffo, you know, like I'm you know, two kingdoms fighting, that we could be there. Jesus then goes on and he does two things. He lives a life that exhibits the kingdom, and he then teaches about the kingdom. So he lives a life that exhibits the kingdom, and then and then he teaches about the kingdom. You could have one without the other, but in the Lord we have these congruent, cohesive embodiments of what the kingdom of heaven is. What he does, and I think the way he does it, hey, hey, tone to the husbands. What he does, what the what he does, the way he does it, but then what he teaches to try and get us to comprehend it. So oftentimes when you read your Bible, you'll see that he does something and then teaches, sometimes about it, but sometimes something totally separate. So he's got these, he's he's like the left-right punch, Shaq and Kobe. You've got he's got these two these two parts of his ministry. He does things, so he so he does what kind of things does he do? What does Jesus do? For those that have got any concept of what Jesus does, just throw some things out about what he does. He heals the sick. So he says sick people are getting healed from his prayers, from his touch, from his impact. So physical transformation. We had a young man who um is is like a part of our wider church community was in was in hospital last week with what they were enlarged heart, they were concerned, like it was serious. And so this person's grandfather messaged our faithful prayer team, well, of which there might be like 13 people on a WhatsApp chat. People get frustrated with WhatsApp chats. I get it. But these faithful 13 members of this WhatsApp chat were praying, and this grandfather believes that the young man experienced a miracle and is now no longer in hospital. Jesus did Jesus' physical transformation. Amazing, Mary, appreciate it. What else? Because I've I've yeah, go. Hey, you look like you were you were ready. Yeah. So people are coming to Jesus, not just physically broken temporarily. Leprosy was rife in those times, but born, born deaf, born blind, born mute. You know, someone has never ever heard. Have you ever seen those videos of people through through medical science? They get to see or hear for the first time, and they straight away just start crying. So these kind of things. Anything else? What else? We got a he's teaching. So he's teaching, he's healing, he's feeding people. Lots of food, hey, and thousands of people. So he's feeding people, he's multiplying food. Anything else? Yeah, yeah. Where? In the temple, hey. And that he came into the church and didn't always like what he found. Sure, brother. There you go. And then he did those things, but then he taught. So he's trying to embody what this kingdom is like by doing things, and then he's trying to teach us what it is by teaching things. And this here is one of the key parables in Matthew 13 that Jesus gives us to try and teach us what it is. And he says the kingdom of heaven is like a net. Interestingly, prior to this, the kingdom of heaven was always a man doing something or a woman doing something. So it was a man sowing seeds, it was a man planting seeds, it was it was wheat in a field, it was a woman baking bread, it was the yeast, it was the seed. But this time, the kingdom of heaven in this scripture doesn't have a person doing anything. It's just the kingdom of heaven is like a net. So God's kingdom is like this net. So back to our fishing chats at camp. Some people in our church fish with a rod and they're looking for the catch. And whether it's yellow fin tune now, just like whether they just want to just feed their family with snapper, and you know, hey, 158 Ocean Beach Road. On the way past, fill it that bad boy, deliver it, and we will give you much thanks. You know what I mean? And and but this is not the kingdom of heaven, is someone looking for a single catch. Because I think that that's what Nadia preached about the treasure in the ground, about the pearl. That's like a single thing. But we don't find that in this illustration. Jesus is saying that it's like a dragnet. So in those times, maybe between two boats, or in a smaller space, maybe two men with weighted with a weighted net, but maybe between two boats, just like really catching anything. Like in like the kingdom in this illustration is indiscriminate. In this illustration, the kingdom shows no favoritism. In this illustration, the kind of fish, the Bible says, all kinds of fish. When we lived in Canada, there was a seven-kilometer long canal. So it's like a man-made river. Seven kilometers is probably from Arataki to Mawau. And so there and back was 13 to 14 kilometers, so it becomes frozen and it's it's the largest skating rink in the world. So in the summertime, it's like boats are cruising and it's beautiful. But in the wintertime, people literally will skate, ice skate to work. But what they do is in this canal is they have um when it's full in the summertime, in the spring, when it comes into the um the fall and the winter, they they let some water out of the canal so they can so it can freeze. But trying to freeze a whole river is tough, but they they bring it down. So then the the walls of the canal also become like a natural barrier to the weather and the wind. And so they they bring the water right down, and then it freezes, and then people skate. It's amazing. It's a it's truly amazing. But when the water goes down before it freezes, you get to see what's in the in the water, which you couldn't see when it was high. Like we just call it a tide. When the tide was high, you just you couldn't see it, you just see seaweed. It's pretty gnarly, you know, these boats on it, so it's pretty gross. But when it goes down, you can see truly how gross it actually is. Like I remember the first time I was there in the winter time before this happened, and I was just walking past the canal, beautiful waterways and walkways, and I saw um a shopping trolley, uh, an electric scooter, like in that time was the lime scooters, just heaps of scooters, which is lithium batteries and all kinds of and then um road cones. So there's all these things that shouldn't have been in the water, were in the water. Let's say we use our dragnet illustration that Jesus gives us, and let's say someone was trolling the river or the Ottawa Canal, the Rideau Canal, before you could see what was in it, and then it would catch all kinds of things, and then they'd bring it ashore and try and separate out trolley, road cone. Like there was like like if New Zealand, hey, gum boots, some red bands, you know, and you get all these things, and all kinds of fish. I think there's two things that I want us to take away today from the next few minutes that I want to preach to you from this passage. The first one is that the kingdom of heaven has a wide reach and a broad scope to bring in as many kinds of fish, that's us, as possible. That the kingdom of heaven is not selective. The kingdom of heaven has no favoritism, the kingdom of heaven wants, and Jesus preaches this in John 3.16, that whosoever would believe, that the kingdom of heaven wants to grab as many people as possible. And then the second thing I want us to take away is that we need to be careful not to try and sort out who's in the net and let someone else do that job for us. We are so blessed that our Father in heaven, our faithful judge, lets us live our whole lives and then judges us on one day. We tend to live our whole lives judging other people and try and get right on one day. One of these phrases I heard, this is a difficult phrase, but I think it's kind of like you've got to be careful with it. Someone said to me once, they're like, Oh, me and Jesus were all good. I'm like, Yeah, that's awesome. Because I think you are. But also, um, if I think that me and Nods are all good, who knows that as a husband, the moment I think that I'm probably resting on my laurels and we're not all good. But when it comes to my relationship with Jesus, I want to believe that in him I am all good because of him. And so therefore now I'm faithful, I'm humble, I'm thankful, I'm grateful. I don't rest on my laurels. So those are our two takeaways. So if you're taking notes, the first thing I say is this the net is holy, but it catches all kinds of fish. The net is the kingdom, so it's holy, but it catches all kinds of fish. The kingdom collects all kinds of people. John 3, 14 and 15 says this. This is Jesus speaking. He says, just as Moses was lifted up, just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. He says that everyone who believes would have eternal life. That the dragnet wants to lift all of us up into the net of Jesus, into the kingdom. The kingdom is not selective, it sweeps everything in its path. The kingdom gathers indiscriminately and without favoritism. I I would hazard a guess and say, for our elite fishermen in this place, to see a trawler or to see a net in the ocean is probably like what do the young people call it? An ick. That'll be like, ah, nah. That's not the one. That's not the kind of fishing that I like, because it's just gonna, you're gonna get all kinds of bycatch, and you will, you will actually potentially harm the ocean, and it's it's not what it's it's it's kind of cheating. And Jesus takes that illustration and says, that's exactly what the kingdom is like. God's loving kindness leads us to repentance, Romans 2, 1 and 4 says, you therefore have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else. For at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself. Because you who pass judgment do the same things. Ouch. Thanks, writer of Romans. Verse 4 says, or you or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness?

SPEAKER_01 20:27

Oof.

SPEAKER_02 20:28

Forbearance and patience, forbearance is long suffering. Not realizing that God's loving kindness is intended to lead you to repentance. God's loving kindness, his kindness, his his broad his broad mercy leads us to a point of repentance in our own lives. That that this is an important note for us. The net is not elusive, it's inclusive. I wonder sometimes if we expect if we have an expectation for behavior in church. I wonder if we have an expectation for perfection of the people who come to church. But that's so funny, isn't it? When you think about the concept of being in a net, how would I, as the gumboot, expect that the road cone would have a certain behavior just because I'm caught in the net? Just because I'm in the net and I might think I'm a lovely rainbow trout, how could I look at a shopping trolley and think anything less of them? We're all just caught in a net. But even though I think that I'm a lovely rainbow trout, how many people know that they look at me and see nothing but one of those oversized road cones? You know, those nasty ones that have been driven over so many times and someone hurled into the ocean. Like a lime scooter that was once brand new, you know, tech startup, lots of agile investment, and then all of a sudden people just thrummed it into the ocean and someone just trawled it up and caught it. I mean, you've seen forest gump. You know, before, and so I looked, I looked at something the other day. Forrest Gump, as a fictional character, along with Smaug and Scrooge McDuck, are the three most wealthy fictional characters that ever have been fictionalized. $54 billion is worth. That's not the point. The point is this you've seen the film, and then they try and catch shrimp. Bubble gum shrimping boats, industry, fisheries. They try and catch shrimp, and then you know those first, and then him and um Lieutenant Dan, and then it, and then the things drop, and there's just like random stuff. How do they catch them shrimp? Correct. With a net. And we are in this net and we look at sometimes what the Lord brings in, and we go, ooh, they don't belong in this net with me. I'm a good fish. And aren't you so glad that he doesn't call us to pass judgment in this age? Because man, we might judge too soon. I used to go to church, so when I was, I still go. Um the church. We'll get it, lone wolf. And so when I was at church, uh, this is this is Elam International Church, Wellington Tennyson Street, back in the days. And uh, this is where Nadie was keeping me in church. I don't want anything to do with it, Nadi's like keeping me in church. So then I started going to church and we sit at the back, and um it was awesome. But my mates, one thing I've never been into, and no judgment for those if you are into, because we're all in this, in this, in the net, is I've never been into clubbing. Too loud. Bears are too sensitive. But my mates loved it. My mates loved it. Catch, bro, hands, that's Father Reflex. My mates loved it, all the rugby boys loved it. Oh, they're whatever sport. And so, and they would go clubbing on Saturday night, and then they would come to church on Sunday. And I wouldn't club on Saturday night, but I would go to church as well on Sunday. And they would come tired, so tired. Sometimes in the same clubbing gears that they went to the night before, and hadn't brushed their teeth, you know, just like kind of just got a kebab on Courtney Place and just came straight through, you know, J ⁇ Ms. And they went to, they came to church. And oftentimes what would happen is we would be sitting in church, and I'll be sitting there, and my mates who remain nameless would be like this. And you know those people who um they always get away with stuff? You know one of those people right now, straight away, you're like, yeah. One of your kids is like that. They'll just always get away with stuff. My friends were like that. And so people would be like, oh man, that's so awesome, eh? Praying in church. Praying in church, you reckon? Bro's drunk and he's sleeping. I wouldn't say that. I would just smile and wave. Aren't I so glad? That isn't he so glad that I'm not the faithful judge that would pass judgment too soon on my friend. Because as much as it frustrated me, the Lord taught me in time that is there a better place for someone to be? No matter what state they're in. That when the Lieutenant Dan pulled that catch out, that who am I to judge my friend who might come to church half drunk just after the clubs with a tasty uh mixed meat kebab with the hot chili still on his breath? Who am I to pass judgment thinking that I'm a great yellow fin tuna? That I might sell for six million dollars in Japan, you know. John 3, verse 16 says this for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever, this is key for us, that whoever would believe in him, whoever, uh our broad approach, our wide casting of the net, shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Verse 18, that whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only son. And Luke 19, verse 10 says this. Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. There's a mixture now, and there will be separation later. Wow, you got some bro, you got some images. Oh, we've elevated today, Karen. There's a mixture now, there will be separation later. There's a mixture now, separation later. Okay? And so gnashing of teeth. We'll come to that another time. We get it. Everyone was looking forward to it. That's because we think we won't be in it. Mixture now, separation later, which means this. Mixture now, important for us that think we're a prize-winning trophy. No separation now, no selection now. This is just all in bull rush at lunchtime at high school. This is a this is volleyball at camp, very low quality. The whole setup was just nonsense, wasn't it? With the straps, the thing was crooked. But the kingdom of heaven is like a game of volleyball at church camp where anyone can play. There was no expectation on the sidelines for anyone that would come and ask, How good are you? You'd look, you could tell. Brown skin, okay, you're on my team, let's go, you know. Anyone can play. The separation comes later, and the separation is out of our hands. That's the first thing I noticed. The second thing I noticed is this judgment is delayed, but it is certain. Judgment is delayed, but it is certain. Matthew 13, verse 48 says this. I love this verse. When it was full, so the kingdom of heaven, Jesus is saying that the kingdom of heaven will wait until it's full. He'll wait. So you and me won't know the time. Because what we think is full for him might not be full. I don't know the metric that the Lord uses for fullness. He's not told me that. If he's told you, let me know, because then we'll get a sense of timing. If anyone thinks they know, I would turn and run the other way because they probably don't. The Bible says we might know the season, but not the time. You get people that are, I love those prophets, man. I love them. And they announce a date. Oh, do it more. Announce more dates. Because I want to watch the live stream the day after. I want to watch the live stream the day after and watch Bro just tell us how he got it wrong. Oh, the Lord misspoke. Oh, really? You know, okay, amazing. You know, we don't know the time, but the net will be full in his eyes. And then look, I love this here. Watch this here. When the net was full, the fishermen pulled it ashore, and then watch this. And they sat down, and they collected the good fish in baskets, and the Bible says they then threw the bad away. One of my favorite parts of that verse is their posture. They sat down. When I think about someone sitting down, sorting, like we have six people in our house, so sometimes we have three full baskets of laundry. Three full baskets of laundry. Right now at our house, we have three full baskets of laundry. And so when you sort laundry, I don't know about you, but I, every time, man, sit down, sort. Good from bad. And I sit and I'm and I'm I try to be deliberate, patient. I try and be intentional. You just see the kids, any of the kids, apart from Mika, when they come in and they'll be like, hey, give us a hand with the laundry, and they're like, Yeah, sweet ass. That have you do you remember Tasmanian, the Tasmanian devil? And he would just and then they just clothes flying around, like, and like my stuff ends up in Jovi's pile. Like, how on earth can you take something that belongs to the old man and put it in eight-year-old Jovi's pile? And why have I got rainbow leggings? You know what I mean? Like, how have I got a why have I got a unicorn dress which my arm could fit in, and she's got old man smelly running outfits? Like, how you know, because they're not sorting deliberately and with patience, and they're definitely not sitting down, they're just that's how we would judge. But the faithful judge, he takes his time, he's deliberate. Judgment, note this is not chaotic, it's purposeful. God's grace to us is expressed in how much time we are given. I'm so glad that the church doesn't perform judgment, it doesn't perform the final sorting, that he gives us a life to sort it out. And in one day he sorts. But we would rather use a life to do the sorting and then try and get it right one day. The kingdom is gracious. This is the third thing I say as I close. The kingdom is gracious in invitation. Why are you laughing? Oh, the images. Yeah, bro. You're crushing back there, my G. I love it. This is perfect. The kingdom of it, when it because it look at the back screen there. Well, I don't look at the bottom, right? Because it says I'm four minutes over time, but I can't see it when I look there. Oh, it's just in the peripheral, just beautiful. The kingdom is gracious in invitation, but intentional in outcome. The kingdom is gracious in invitation, but it is intentional in its outcome. God gives us here in this verse, I believe, not just a picture of the kingdom, but I think he gives us our job description. I think he tells us that we're to be.

SPEAKER_01 32:27

Yeah, bro. Yeah, bro. Yeah, that's it, bro. That's it.

SPEAKER_02 32:41

I'd like to print that. I'd like to get that printed. That's it. Too good though, now they're too good now. What does it say? God gives us our job description. To be collected. So, firstly, I think as fish, just understand as you read this verse, your job is to be collected by the net. That's our number one role in this in this parable. All kinds of fish, all kinds of gumboots, all kinds of trolleys. Just be collected by the net. That's awesome. But then we can see from Jesus' other preaching that he calls us to be fishes as well. So we're we're part of the fishing mission, but primarily our job is to be collected. Here's five classic Christian mistakes. I can't wait for this one. Um five class? Okay, yeah, good. The first one is this. This is the first one. And we've kind of covered this already a little bit. The first one is this I'm in the net, I'm fine. If if the the parable teaches us that we're the kingdom's collecting all kinds of fish, just because we've caught up in the net doesn't necessarily mean that's that it's kosher, that we're all good. I say that because um coming to church doesn't make you a Christian, eh? Being associated or perceiving to be righteous or doing good things doesn't make you a Christian, but having a relationship with Jesus is what it means to be a follower of him, to be a Christian. So I'm in the net, I'm fine, is kind of, and it's I think that can be a Christian mistake. The second one is this um I can't believe they're in the net. Now I know you've never thought that. That's the cool thing about our church. I just think our church is just such great fish. I've thought that. I'm gonna I'll be the bad guy. Is anyone anyone want to join me with be the bad guy? Oh, just five honest people there. Exactly who I thought. I can't believe they're in the net. We judge too soon. And the third mistake I think we make I'm glad that they're not in the net. The fourth one is this the net looks full. I hope he brings us to shore. Oh man, church is growing. Changing a used to like my seat, now it got moved. Or things are different, or it's like now I've got to um, I've got to now do some work to be a part of a church that's healthy and growing. It's full. I hope he brings us to shore. I I quit. And the fifth one is this he takes, he's taking too long. Let's start the sorting now. Okay, you know, uh, these guys are out. I'm definitely in. That's the issue with the sorting that we would do. We would start with us. I'm clearly in. So then anyone who looks like me, they're in too. Five mistakes. This I just like to say this. None of these are biblical, but they're really common. Jesus says there will be sorting, and not by us, not yet. Matthew 7, 5 says this, you hypocrite. First take the plank out of your own eye so that you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Someone said to me at camp when I preached on the weeds, they said, Oh, loved it because, and then in their own words, they were like, Man, the message was just like stay in your lane. That's what you're saying. It says, Stay in your lane. In the present, be patient, stay in your lane, just do what the Lord has called us. Is it another good one?

SPEAKER_01 36:08

Oh, really good.

SPEAKER_02 36:10

Because I see what you did there, bro, with the lane. God's love is not exclusive or elusive, it is available to us all. I would really like for us today to um to be thoughtful and be grateful to be in the net with all kinds of fish. I think what Jesus is saying here, he's trying to softly, gently encourage the listeners that you are all kinds of fish. That we are so quick to assess our own righteousness and go, yeah, the old gumboot over here, without realizing that we are that gumboot, eh? I think that's what Jesus is just subtly just trying to encourage us. So we should be grateful to be caught. But also, too, I would like to make sure that people who are here that you maybe don't feel like you are caught in the net, that Jesus is still trolling, that Jesus is still dragging that net. And that if if you're in the room and you sort of feel like, man, I feel like I've been I've missed out. Like the net felt selective and it missed me. I would hate for you to leave feeling that. I would just be so, I'm so desperate that you wouldn't leave going, I'm out of the net. I would love for you to go, no, no, no. I'm confident that I today have been caught up in the net of the kingdom and that I can live my life trying to serve Jesus and be devoted to him, have a relationship with him, so that at the end, when he sorts the good from the bad, he looks at me and goes, Oh, this is one of my favorite fish, and puts me in the good pile. So if you're here today, I would like primarily I want to pray for you. That if you're not sure if you're in the net or not. So would you mind closing your eyes? And I just want to pray for that group of people first, and we'll see what the Lord does. If you're here today and you're saying, That's me, man. I need Jesus. I need to get, I need to be in that net. If you're here and you're saying, Leva, I'm not sure if I've been caught by the kingdom. I would love to just give you an opportunity today, right now, to make sure that you are. And what I'll do is this I'll just ask if if that's you in a moment, just to raise your hand and we'll pray a very simple prayer together. So if that's you and you're here, you're saying, Leva, I want to make sure I'm in the net. Could you right now just raise your hand so I can see it? Lift it high? Yeah, cool. Yeah, awesome, awesome, brilliant. That's brilliant. Yeah, cool. You can put your hand down once you've raised it up. If there are others today, you're saying, that's me. I need to um I need to make sure I'm caught in the net. Lift up your hand. Yeah, thank you, Father. We're gonna pray this prayer together. And all of us fish that are already in the net, oh man, we should be praying this hearty and loud and with force and passion, with gratitude and gratefulness that we're in the net of the kingdom. Amen. And as we welcome in new fish into the net today, let's not judge the quality of the fish, that's God's job. But let's welcome them in graciously as fishes of men. We'll pray this prayer, and I want everyone to um repeat the prayer line by line back to me. It goes like this Dear Lord Jesus, I come to you. I need you in my life. I ask you, forgive me of my sin. And I thank you that you do. I thank you, Jesus. Amen. Um, no, it's gonna have that Bible. You can open your eyes. If you lifted your hand, there were five people that just raised their hand. That that's it, that was a pause for an applause. If that if I was you, I'd be really excited about that. There's a lot of room in the net. There's a lot of room in the net. And every single person. By the way, Claire and Marie are here today, visiting New Zealand for two weeks, just on the South Island, and about to do the North Island. And um, I just sat down and said hello. So these guys are from San Luis Abisbo, which is central central coast California, and their church is a part of the seed funding through Orchard Group that helped plant this church. And so they're here today, and so so wonderful to have you. Um show them afterwards, get them a cup of tea. Um, but also how good a like a church in a place. How many people? 60, 70,000, maybe in San Luis Obispo? Quite similar, like quite similar vibes to this too, eh? Like nice and sunny there. Happiest place in America, Oprah called it. Remember that? Whatever. Oprah, you know. Um the young people call it. Heck. And so for you guys to have come here and you've sown a seed, hey. And to see a church that you've helped start, and today five people made a decision for the Lord. Thank you so much. So, so grateful. Um, but there's a Bible and a and a book for you guys at the back of the service if you'd like to do that. And if you've lifted your hand today, I mean, I'd love to personally just say hello. And I feel like the Lord was speaking to you today. So if you'd love to come up afterwards, I'll be at the door, just come say hey. Um, that'd be great. Before I hand over to Nadia, I'd like to pray for another group of people, and that's probably for the people who feel like clearly you feel like you're in the net. Awesome, because if you don't, you would have raised your hand, eh? So you feel like you're in the net, and so my prayer is as we're in this net that is the kingdom, what has the Lord been speaking to you about today? Has it been about um not being too judgy? I don't know. Has it been about the fact that we need to be grateful that we're in the net? Has it been about the fact that there will be judgment? That's not today. My job is just to be a part of the fishing process. I don't know. So let me pray for you. Father, we just thank you, Lord, for your word. We thank you, Father, for this preaching of this parable, Lord, that stirs up in us um all kinds of emotions and thoughts and challenges. And I pray, Lord, that you would stir us and stimulate us and speak to us. Father, that in the season of our life as a young church, Father, you are building and shaping culture and values. And that today, Lord, that you would just continue to do that and just um, Lord, you've caught us. We're in your kingdom. We're so thrilled and we're so grateful. And we're asking, Lord, that as we are a part of a community that's in a net, in a small corner of that net, that Father, we would do justice to your calling, do justice as ambassadors, and that you would stir us up, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.