Tired Fishermen

Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. I am glad to be here. I am looking forward to spending some time in worship together this morning. Before we do that, let's go to God in prayer. Father in heaven, I thank you for your word. I thank you for your church. I thank you that we can gather together and share our lives with one another. Thank you that we can gather to sing and to pray and to come around your table and to open your word. Help us to encourage each other. And this morning, most of all, turn our eyes towards you. Help us to see your goodness, to see your grace, to see how you have been at work, and that you would help us to be assured of how you will be at work in the future. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

One of the things that we are, I think, pretty good at, and it comes pretty natural to most of us, is that we tend to be pretty good at comparing things. You can compare how good something is to how bad something is. And when it comes to our lives, oftentimes we're really easy, and it's really easy for us to look and to see all of our problems and all of our struggles and to begin to compare our struggles and our difficulties to the strength that we have, and we begin to see that maybe we are not strong enough. And so this morning as we gather to worship, rather than comparing the difficulties and struggles that we face to our own strength, I want us to look to the greatness and the strength of God. And we're going to do that in just a moment by going to the 84th Psalm, which is a remarkable Psalm, a Psalm that reminds us that God is our strength.

God is the one who refreshes us in the dry valleys, that God is our shield and that we trust in Him. And so if you would stand, we're going to read through the first four verses of the 84th Psalm together. So let's go ahead and read together. How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yet faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young at your altars. O Lord of hosts, my King and my God, blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise. And I like this picture of God's people called to God's house to praise and to worship, but there's also a picture of comfort in there.

If you've ever been in like a big warehouse store and you see a bird fluttering through the rafters, the picture here in the psalm is of the bird fluttering in the house of God, but as a place of peace, a place for her to raise her young. So as we come to worship this morning, we're reminded in the midst of all of the difficulties and busyness of life, that God is our peace. God is our refreshment. He is our joy and our strength. And we're going to start by singing "Hosanna."

Jesus is rising, eyes all turning to you. We turn to you. Hope is stirring, hearts all yearning for you. We long for you. 'Cause when we see you, we find strength to face the death. And in your presence, all our fears are washed away, washed away. Hosanna, Hosanna. You are the God who saves us, worthy of all our praises. Hear the sound of hearts returning to you. We turn to you. In your kingdom, broken lives are made new. You make all things new. 'Cause when we see you, we find strength to face the dead. And in your presence, all our fears are washed away. Washed away. Hosanna, Hosanna. You are the God who saves us. We're the evil. We give all our praises. Hosanna, Hosanna. Come every way among us. We welcome you here, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Jesus said, "Follow me," Jesus said, "Follow me." Be washed away in the waves of His mercy, as deep cries out too deep. Come, Lord Jesus, come. Come, Lord Jesus, come. All who are thirsty, all who are weak, come to the fountain. Dip your heart in the stream of life. Let the pain and the suffering of His mercy be. Let the pain and the sorrow be washed away in the waves of His mercy as deep cries out too deep. Come, Lord Jesus, come. Come, Lord Jesus, come. Deep cries out too deep. Deep cries out too deep. Deep cries out too deep. Holy Spirit, come. Holy Spirit, come. Holy Spirit, come. Amen. Amen. Amen.

We're going to sing as we prepare for communion, "Man of Sorrows." Man of Sorrows, Lamb of God, by His own betrayed. The sin of man and brother of God, has been on Jesus. The sin on Jesus lay. Silent as He stood accused, beaten mocked and scorned. Bowing to the Father's will, He took a kiss. He took a crown of thorns. Oh, that rugged cross, my salvation, where Your love poured out over me. Now my soul cries out, "Hallelujah!" Praise and honor unto Thee. Send of heaven, God's own Son, to purchase and redeem. And reconcile the very ones, who nailed him to that tree. Oh, that rugged cross, my salvation, where your love poured out over me. Now my soul cries out, "Hallelujah, praise and honor." run to Thee. Now my debt is paid. It is paid in full by the precious blood that my Jesus spilled. Now the curse of sin has no hold on me.

The sun sets free, O is free indeed. Now my debt is paid. It is paid in full by the precious blood that my Jesus spilled. Now the curse of sin has no hold on me. The sun sets free, O is free indeed. Oh, that rugged cross, my salvation, where your love poured out over me. Now my soul cries out, Hallelujah, praise and honor unto thee. See the stone is rolled away. Behold the empty tomb. Hallelujah, God be praised. He's risen from the grave. Oh, that rugged cross, my salvation, where your love poured out over me. Now my soul cries out, Hallelujah, praise and honor unto thee. In the 84th Psalm, it says, "Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs. The early rain also covers it

with pools." And there is this picture in the 84th Psalm that we began with this morning. And this picture of going through the valley of Baca means the valley of weeping, or this picture of suffering. But it's a valley that is transformed for those whose hope is in God. And this valley of Baca is identified with another valley in the Bible, in the book of Joshua, there is a valley where after his sin, Achan and his family are taken, the valley of suffering, and they are stoned to death. And in the book of Hosea, there is a promise about this valley of suffering or this valley of weeping. And it says this, "God speaking to Israel and to his people, I will bring her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her vineyards and make the valley of Achor." That's the same valley where Achan was killed, the valley of Baca in Psalm 84, a door of hope. And from Joshua, you have a picture of suffering and punishment and paying for your sins.

And in Psalms, you have a promise of a place of weeping being turned into a place of peace, realized in Hosea by saying, "There is one coming who will take the valley of suffering and the valley of weeping and turn it into a door of hope." That is the one Isaiah refers to as the man of sorrows, the one who stepped into the valley where we should have been punished, and who was punished in our place for our sins, who dies on the cross, who is buried, and who rises again on the third day. And as a result, that man of sorrows takes our suffering and our sin and our weeping and our hurts, and he turns the valley of suffering into a door of hope, the place of tears, to a place where we can come and be refreshed.

And so this morning, as we partake of the bread and the cup, we're reminded that what was once suffering for us is now, through Jesus' hope, what once would have brought us to tears, brings us to peace. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for Jesus, and we thank you for grace. And we thank you that you transform our valleys of suffering into doors of hope, and that you take our weeping and bring us to a place of calm, quiet water where you restore our soul. We thank you for Jesus. Help us as we remember him through this bread and cup. It's in his name we pray. Amen. Let's partake of the bread together, remembering the sacrifice of Jesus' body. And let's partake of the cup together, remembering the giving of his blood. And we're reminded, as often as we eat this bread and we drink this cup, we proclaim Jesus until he comes again.

In just a minute, we're going to be in Luke 5, but we are trying to add some moments into our service for everybody of all ages. So we're going to go ahead and show a video that kind of leads us into our text this morning. So we're going to go ahead and start with that. Stories of the Bible: Jesus Calls Peter. It is Jesus, who is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. Jesus grew up in Nazareth and was baptized by John in the Jordan River. Jesus began teaching about God's love and healing people of their sickness. One day, John saw Jesus walking by and told the people around him that Jesus was the Lamb of God, one of the people standing with him was Andrew, whose brother was Simon, who would later be known as Peter.

Andrew went to find his brother and said, "We have found the Christ." Whoa! Ready? Come on! Simon went with Andrew and met Jesus. Uh-huh. I'm Simon. Jesus looked at Simon and said, "Your name is Simon, son of John." Yes, it is. But you will be called Peter. Uh, okay. On another day, Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and lots of people crowded around him to hear what he had to say. Oh, uh, hello. Oh, okay. Jesus noticed two empty boats, for Andrew and Peter had left them, and were washing their nets. Jesus stepped into one of the boats and asked Peter to take him out into the sea. Hi-ya! So he sat in the boat, and taught the crowds from there. When he had finished speaking, he said to Peter, "Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish."

Uh-huh. But Peter said, "We worked hard all last night, and didn't catch a thing. But if you say so, I'll let the nets down again."

And this time, their nets were so filled, they called to some other fishermen for help. Hey! Help! And soon, both boats were filled with fish. When Peter realized what happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, "Oh, Lord, please leave me. I'm such a sinful man." Jesus replied to Peter, "Don't be afraid. Come, follow me. And I will show you how to fish for people." And as soon as they landed, they left their nets and followed Jesus. So Simon Peter became one of Jesus' twelve disciples and followed his friend Jesus throughout his time on earth.

All right, Luke chapter 5. I'm going to read from Luke's account briefly, and then we will dive right into this. On one occasion, when the crowd was pressing into him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake. But the fishermen had gone out of them, and they were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little bit from the land, and he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing, but at your word I will let down the nets."

When they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking, and they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of the fish that had been taken. So also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said, "Simon, do not be afraid. From now on, you will be catching men." And when they brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. This is the word of the Lord. Father in heaven, we thank you for this account.

We thank you for your power to work in ways that we do not understand. And that we don't always imagine. And so we ask this morning as we consider our church, and our future, and our plans, and our goals, and our dreams, that you would help us to see that you are the one who calls us. That you are the one who takes broken people, makes them whole, who takes tired people, and brings them to life. So help us to see the goodness of your Son this morning. It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Probably most of us have had a moment or a time where we were just really, really tired, and maybe at the same time really, really discouraged. I remember early on in our marriage, we came in one day, we had been out somewhere, and at this time our washer was in a little closet at the top of the stairs right off our kitchen.

And our dryer was in our kitchen where our refrigerator is now, and we came in and there was a whole bunch of water. And we're looking, trying to figure out where this water had come from and couldn't really figure it out, so we cleaned up all the water and washed some clothes. And as the clothes were finished washing, I was like, "Man, where did all this water come from?" And finally after like the third load of clothes, I put like two and two together and realized there was a problem, so I started Googling it. And it turns out that the fix was actually relatively inexpensive. It was like this little $7 washer pump that snaps into the bottom. It's not really hard to install. However, it was insanely hard to get to because the closet was not even an eighth of an inch of clearance to get the washer out.

I went to disconnect the cables, and the water in Winchester is so hard that they were now permanently attached to the house. So there's no unhooking it, so I can only pull it out so far. I get the top off the washer. There's water pouring out everywhere. I'm laying there on the floor, almost falling down the stairs, trying not to say really unpreacherly things. It was just a disaster. And then you try to get in there with your screwdriver and your pliers and your ratchet, and it's just not working. And everybody in the family is just standing around observing and giving advice. And it was like I was at the end of my rope. I was tired. I was frustrated. I just wanted it done. Now, finally got the $7 piece in, put it all back together, everything worked.

But it ranks up there as like one of those moments where I was just frustrated at the job. I was tired. I just wanted it to be over with. That's the situation in Luke chapter 5. These fishermen have been working all night. They are tired. They're hungry. They're frustrating. And this is not fishing as we normally think about it, right? This is not sitting out in a boat with some friends. You know, you're fishing, and the beautiful water is sparkling around you, and the trees, and the birds, and there's just right in the middle of a breeze, right? This is not this idyllic kind of picture where everyone is at peace. In fact, what do they say? "Master, we toiled all night, and we caught nothing." And so, as they walk through this, right, they're out there with their nets, and so all night, they would have been throwing their nets out, pulling their nets in. Hard labor, but it's not just a physical labor.

It's this picture of trying to think, where are the fish? Maybe if we go here, or if we go there. And so, the picture of tired, when they say, "We've labored all night, and caught nothing." It's just not we worked really hard, but we are mentally and physically completely empty. These are not guys relaxed and refreshed from fishing with their buddies. These guys have nothing else left in the tank. And then, get this, to make matters worse, some carpenter shows up and starts giving them advice on how to fish. And if you've ever been in this situation where you know what you're doing, and somebody who has no idea what you're doing comes along and tries to give you advice, like that generally doesn't feel the best. And so you have this difficult situation with these fishers, these fishermen, who are extremely tired, and I imagine at this point getting a little bit more irritated.

And the reality of our life is simply this. Life can be tiring. Life can be frustrating. We can work very hard, but not find the results that we want. And for those of us in that position, Jesus has something to say to us in the text. But it's also true for the church, too. We can feel like we're tired and we're frustrated. And things may not be going as we planned. And Jesus has something to say for us in this text. And so Jesus, first of all, says this in this text. To the tired, to the discouraged, and to the frustrating, he says, "Trust me." Look at Luke chapter 5 and verse 4. Jesus has preached to the crowd, and when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."

If you've been around the church for any period of time, this is a pretty familiar story. And because it's familiar for us, I think the impact may be a little blunted. I want to try to give you just a little bit of context for what is happening. There's two big problems in regards to Jesus' instruction to Peter. First of all, the fish aren't there. If the fish were there, the professional fishermen would have caught the fish. But there are no fish, and so why is Jesus, who does he think that he is, that he can tell them to put down their nets and catch fish? In fact, that's their response. "Master, we toiled all night and caught nothing." They're like, "Yeah, we respect you as a teacher, but as a fisherman, not so much. We're the experts."

Their failure is a proof that there is no fish. Jesus isn't a fisherman, he's a carpenter. In fact, it says of this, in Matthew, "Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? Are not his brothers James and Joseph, Simon, and Judas?" So the question is, what does Jesus know about fishing? It turns out a surprising amount about fishing. Look what it says this, "When they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. And they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink." The message to Peter and to the others is that Jesus knows what he's talking about. He's in control of the situation. There's something more to Jesus than he's just a great teacher or a great healer

or a guy who is really wise and who knows a lot about the Bible, right? To the tired and the discouraged and the frustrated and the hungry, Jesus looks at them and says, "Trust me." And they look at Jesus and say, "Jesus, we've fished all night. How can we trust you? You're a carpenter from Nazareth." And it turns out Jesus does know what he is talking about. The second thing you see Jesus saying to both us and to the church is that Jesus says to the sinful, to the fearful, and to the unworthy, you are forgiven and accepted. Remember what Peter's response is to this miracle in Luke chapter 5 verse 8. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying, "Depart for me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."

And what we've done with this passage, I think, is we've made it a little bit too shallow about what Peter is saying. This is not Peter being embarrassed because he said something awkward or sinful in front of Jesus. This is not Peter ashamed because he used some strong language as his boat was sinking with the amount of fish. This is not Peter embarrassed about some kind of sin he has just done in front of Jesus. Let me show you why this is just a little bit too shallow of a view of what Peter is saying. When he says, "Depart from me. I am a sinful man." You know, Peter knows Jesus already. Jesus doesn't just walk up to a strange man and say, "Put me out of your boat. Let me speak. Now put down your hands."

Jesus knows Peter, and in fact, in the verses right before this, in Luke chapter 4, Jesus goes to synagogue, the equivalent church, goes home for lunch with Peter. Peter's mother-in-law is sick. He heals her and then has lunch at Peter's house. So Peter doesn't just know about Jesus, but he's had Jesus at his house, ate lunch with her, healed his mother-in-law. Peter has seen the power of Jesus up close. And when Peter says, "I am a sinful man." This is not an "oops, I did something wrong." Biblically, this is what people do when they see the holiness of God. It's what Isaiah does in Isaiah 6 when he sees the glory of the Lord fill the temple. And he says, "Woe is me, for I'm a sinful man and I have unclean lips from a people of unclean lips, and my face has seen the Lord."

And he falls to his knees. What Peter is doing here is not saying, "Oops, I did something embarrassing in front of Jesus." What Peter is doing is seeing the glory or a glimpse of the glory of God falling to his knees, recognizing that he is unworthy to be in the presence of Jesus. And here, in what is happening, I think is something wonderful and incredibly hopeful. Peter has heard Jesus preach. Peter has seen Jesus do miracles. However, it's not until this moment, with a boat full of fish, that his eyes are truly open to who Jesus is. And think about the hope that that gives us, especially for those in whom we long to come to know Jesus. And we want to see their lives changed and transformed. And we say, "Well, they've heard and they know and they've seen. So had Peter."

But it's in this moment that he has transformed. Isn't that so wonderful and so hopeful? Especially as we pray for salvation and transformation in the lives of people we know and we love and we say, "They've heard and they've heard and they've heard. So had Peter." This picture that Jesus changes him in a moment. And Peter's objection is simply this, "Jesus, you don't really want me. I'm not very good." Peter is saying to Jesus, like so many of us do, "We're not good enough." And look what Jesus does. First of all, he comforts Peter. He starts by saying, "Do not be afraid." And then he says, "Peter, I have a mission for you. From now on you will be fishing or catching men." Peter looks at his unworthiness and looks at Jesus, and Jesus looks at Peter in love and says, "Don't be afraid.

I have something better for you." I want you to think about what Jesus means when he says, "Fishers of men." He's saying to Peter, "Peter, you used to devote your life to bringing fish out of the water and into your boat. Now you will devote your life to bringing men out of sin and into the kingdom." You might say, "How does this impact us?" Luke's purpose from the very beginning of this gospel is certainty. He wants us to be certain about some things in relation to Jesus. And I want to show you three of those from this text this morning. And the very first is this: is that there is certainty in Jesus. What happens when God asks you something that doesn't make sense to you, or seems beyond your powers or your skills or your ability?

And we often, I think, respond with maybe, "I have a better plan." Yeah, that's a good idea, but maybe I have a better way to do it. That's how Peter initially responds, right? We fish at night, Jesus. We don't fish in the day, right? The fish aren't active in the middle of the day when it's hot. They've gone down deep. Our nets can't reach that far. And Jesus says, "Look, trust me, because in me there is certainty." We often think we know everything. We want all the answers at the beginning. And what we're so frequently called to do is not have all the answers, but to simply trust Jesus. Like a parent parenting their child, who may be in that moment of danger or that moment of urgency, doesn't have time to explain every little detail, and simply says, "Let's do this."

We look to Jesus with certainty. But I think maybe our greatest excuse is that Jesus doesn't understand. Jesus, you don't understand my situation. You don't understand my struggle. You don't understand my mission. Don't you think Peter has that same thought? "Jesus, don't you understand how fishing works?" I've fished all night. If there were fish to be caught in the lake, I would have got them. I have experience. I have skills. And what does Peter find out? Peter finds out that Jesus understands so much more than he does. And the same is true for us, and the same is true for the church, that when we put our certainty in Jesus, we will find that he understands so much more than we ever will or be able to. When we put our trust in Jesus, we find that he understands and he knows and there is certainty.

The second thing we learn is that there is certainty in our acceptance. None of us want to feel unwanted. We want to be sure that we're wanted. And we know in this moment that there are others there with Peter. And you have to wonder if Peter looks at them and goes, "What about these guys?" Some of these guys obviously are more qualified and more righteous and more holy. Are you sure that it's me? Jesus doesn't just accept Peter, but he commissions him to ministry. Do you know that one of the great ways Satan attacks the people of God is through accusation? By saying to you that you're not good enough, you're not strong enough, Jesus would never really want you. The great lie of our adversary is that we are not accepted. We're not good enough, strong enough, skilled enough for kingdom work.

Here's the thing. Our adversary is partly right. We're not strong enough. I'm not strong enough. You're not strong enough, but Jesus is. And Jesus comes, and he takes all of our brokenness, gives us all that we need. We are sinners, and it is true, but Christ is stronger. And we rejoice in him who has saved us through his blood. And who has accepted us, and who has given us a mission. In 1 Timothy chapter 1, Paul says this: "There's a trustworthy saying deserving of full acceptance. That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I receive mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience. As an example to those who are to believe in him for eternal life.

What he says is, first of all, Jesus saved me when I was broken and a sinner bigger than anybody else. And in part, he saves me and he rescues me, but there is another purpose in our salvation. And that is to display the patience of God to those who are around us. To be reminded through our transformed life that God accepts us. That God might display his goodness to others. Third, there is certainty in our mission. We often face uncertainty in our mission. I mean uncertainty in this. Not in what we're supposed to be doing, but how we're supposed to do it. Scripture makes it clear that God has called his church to reach out and to advance. The question is, how do we go about doing it? The church tells of the grace of God as a light in the shining darkness.

It's called to advance against the gates of hell. Notice this in this account. Jesus doesn't command Peter to catch fish. He commands him to go fishing. Peter learns that it's Jesus who brings in the catch. Peter is called to let down his nets, and it is Jesus who fills them. In 1 Corinthians chapter 3, Paul says this. What is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants in whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted Apollos water, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. Paul says, "We planted the seeds and watered them, just as Peter let down the nets." There are these things I think we find when it comes to sharing the gospel. How do I do it?

What am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to do it? How does it work? What's the best one? Jesus simply calls us to let down our nets. Jesus does not drive us to work with guilt, but rather leads us in what he would have us to do. That's the call and the invitation of this text. That as we follow Jesus, we find that he calls to the tired and the broken, that we can trust him to the sinful, that there is acceptance and transformation through his grace. There is certainty in Christ. There is certainty in his mission. There is certainty in the fact that he has transformed us. And now he calls us, I think, both as individuals and as a church to let down our nets. So here's the question I want us just to think about in terms of sharing the gospel.

If we think about it in terms of letting down our nets, how can we go about doing that? Now, tomorrow, the next day, when we see those opportunities, is it through encouraging someone? Is it through an invitation to participate in something? Is it through generosity and love or being there in the midst of a difficult situation? How can you and I let down our net of God's invitation that there is peace for the hurting, that there is hope for those who are hopeless, that there is light for those who sit in darkness? How can we let down the net of God's invitation to the world that is around us? So many times we struggle with how rather than simply letting down our nets and trusting God to fill them. I don't just want you to see the challenge of this, trusting that as the church opens their arms or lets down their nets, as we open our arms or let down our nets, whether we're inviting, whether we're sharing what God has done in our life, whether we're simply encouraging, being present, being generous, just loving those around us with both our words and our actions, letting down our nets.

I don't just want you to see the challenge. I want you to see the invitation in this text to the tired, to the discouraged, to the frustrated, to the sinful, to the fearful, to the unworthy. Jesus calls you. He calls all of us, reminding us in the church, and if you're not in the church, there's certainty in Jesus. Whether you're inside or outside, that Jesus can change you, transform you, give you a mission, that there is hope in Jesus. Let's pray. Father in heaven, I thank you for your goodness. I thank you for your patience with us. Help us, as we as a church, seek to let down our nets in love and invitation, and proclamation of your righteousness and your goodness, and your son to this world. I pray for two things. One, that you would help us see those opportunities.

And that when we do see those opportunities, you would give us the courage to speak and to act in the way that would glorify and honor you. May we be a people and a church who find our certainty in you and our mission in you. I thank you for Jesus. I thank you for grace. It's in his name we pray. Amen. We're going to sing a song that is probably familiar to some of you. I know it's familiar to me from my childhood. A little maybe a little different, but the same song we sung. So if you would stand, we're going to sing "I Stand Amazed." I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene. And wonder how he could love me as I am. A sinner condemned unclean. Singing, "How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall never be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me."

He took my sins and my sorrows and made them His very own. He bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone. Singing how marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. And with the ransomed in glory, His face I at last shall see. It will be my joy through the ages, to sing of His love for me. Singing how marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall never be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall never be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. Just a few announcements this morning. First of all, Wednesday night Bible study. This evening, 6 p.m., we're starting a study entitled "Body of Proof." Four weeks leading up to the resurrection of Jesus. Also, we rescheduled our congregational meal to Sunday, March 17th.

That is St. Patrick's Day. So, come Sunday, March 17th, invite a friend. We'll worship together and then spend some time fellowshipping together around a good meal. So, next men's breakfast is the 23rd, Saturday, March 23rd. So, also, invite some friends, men, and come and spend some time together with us. Those are a couple of things that are coming up. Also, next Sunday is our kids' class, children's worship. And we're excited and thankful for that. So, make sure to be here with kids for that. And that's it for this morning, I think. I'm going to pray. We'll read a verse of Scripture and sing the theology. Father in heaven, we thank you for your goodness and your grace. We thank you for how you love us and care for us. We just ask that you'd be with us as we leave, that we would be a people who seek to put down our nets to share the good news of the gospel.

It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. It says this, we read it a little bit earlier, "Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are as the highway to Zion. As they go through the valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs from the early rain, and the early rain covers it in pools. They go from strength to strength. Each one appears before God in Zion." Maybe. Amen. Amen. Amen. Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. Thank you.