8am Traditional Service
9:30am Contemporary Service
Two thousand years ago, several fishermen were approached by a man people had been calling “Teacher,” and that others had been calling a prophet. But the fishermen concluded He was the Messiah and began to follow Him. What they thought the Messiah had come to do, and what He had actually come to do, were two different things however. That is because those disciples (along with the other disciples the Teacher would soon call to follow) thought He had come to mount a horse, wield a sword, and restore the throne of David to power in an earthly kingdom. Which is why Luke told in us last week’s reading from Acts that after Jesus had risen from the dead, they asked “are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Not that they are alone in failing to realize that the Messiah had come to usher in a spiritual kingdom so He could rule in the hearts and minds of ALL people in ALL nations. Christians today can enter into relationship with the Great Fisherman but fail to understand their calling to be “fishers of men,” as we saw in the video of the “Crossway Fishing Club.” Christians today can choose to follow the Heavenly King who said to Pilate “My kingdom is not of this world” but seek to build their own kingdoms instead. And Christians today can pay homage to the Divine Sovereign who said to Pilate “My kingdom is from another place” but only see that homage as attending the meetings of the fishing club rather than going out to fish for people.