weeklyred

w ou

texturized worship

every saturday at 1:30 p.m.

club fathom

412 market street

chattanooga, tn

10.23.04

fish fry

It was one of those days when it wasn't just the bugs who were biting - the big fish were.

And this particular angler kept reeling in fish that were at least a foot long, and he kept throwing them back.

A fisherman in a nearby boat kept watching this with a mixture of amazement and disgust.

Finally, he couldn't resist.

He called over to the fisherman after he had just thrown back another fish that was over a foot long.

"Hey!" he called, "why are you throwing back all those big fish?"

The answer was more disturbing than his not keeping them.

He replied, "I've only got an 8 inch pan!"

How large is your fry pan?

Are you limiting your ministry because you don't
have enough time?
have enough money?
don't want the extra responsibility?

Are you limiting God's ability to bless you?
bless your ministry?

When you pray--
are you going before God with an "8-inch pan"?

How often has God been ready to give us
a bigger answer than we've ever seen,
and we miss it because
we've only got this "8-inch pan" ?

This is GOD's Message,
the God who made earth,
made it livable and lasting,
known everywhere as GOD,

"Call to me and I will answer you.
I'll tell you marvelous and wondrous things
that you could never figure out on your own."

Jeremiah 33:3

Go Fish

Jesus said in Mark 1:17,

"Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men."

When you go out to fish you can have the best fishing boat money can buy, the finest rod and reel on the market, and you can be in a lake full of hungry fish, but if the fish are going to bite, you must have fish bait.

First of all, the best bait is always live bait and it must be fresh.

Next to having good bait the correct presentation of the bait is the most important factor governing success or failure.

You cannot skimp with bait.

You have got to be generous with it.

You have got to make it worthwhile to the fish to chase your bait.

You have got to match the size of the bait to the size of the fish that you are trying to catch.

Then, above all, the fish bait must be presented properly.

What is our fish bait?

The bait itself is simple , because as you are going to see today, the bait is what we call the "Gospel" and the Gospel is simple. It is so simple, that no matter what your race is, or your nationality, where you were born, or where you are from, everybody becomes a Christian the same way. Everybody gets into heaven the same simple way.

I. See That You Are A Sinner In God's Eyes And Separated From Him

The Bible says in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of God's glorious standard." (Romans 3:23, NLT)

II. Understand That Jesus Christ Died For Your Sins And As God Came Back From The Dead

It is this Good news that saves you if you firmly believe it - that Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, He was raised from the dead on the third day as the Scriptures said.

1 Corinthians 15:2-4

This is the Gospel in a nutshell.
This is the only remedy for the sin problem.

III. Receive God's Forgiveness For Your Sins By Trusting Christ As Your Savior

Now God says He will accept us and acquit us
- declare us "not guilty" - if we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins we can be saved by coming to Christ, no matter who we are or what we have been like.

Romans 3:22

Think about it this way .
Sin is like a debt .
There are only two things you can do with a debt.

(1) - Pay it

(2) - Declare bankruptcy

We are all in Chapter 11 before God. We are all spiritually bankrupt. Sin is a debt that we owe that we cannot pay.

People try all kinds of ways to pay off that debt.

They try to pay off the debt by going to church .

Some people try to pay off the debt by trying to live a good life .

Some try to pay off the debt by giving money to churches and charities ,

but that is like trying to pay off a debt with counterfeit money.

When you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior,
He pays off your sin debt completely.

The best fish bait:

Your life alive in Christ
You express the living Gospel,
fresh! daily!

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live,
but Christ lives in me.

The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galations 2:20

How large is your fry pan?

This is GOD's Message,
the God who made earth,
made it livable and lasting,
known everywhere as GOD,

"Call to me and I will answer you.
I'll tell you marvelous and wondrous things
that you could never figure out on your own."

Jeremiah 33:3

Gyotaku
--GEE OH TAK KOO--

Gyotaku is the ancient Japanese folk art of painting fish. The Gyotaku were created to preserve the true record and size of species caught by Japanese anglers as far back as 1862.

A Gyotaku print is said to be created by "using templates from the hand of God."