The Joshua Victor Theory

  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Looking around I see that you are all land-dwellers…no fish here…but in the Gospel Jesus invites us to imagine catching fish out of the water. Jesus called His disciples “fishers of men.” Enter Jesus’ metaphor for a minute; imagine ourselves as fish happily swimming in our familiar home, an ocean or lake, like the Sea of Galilee. If we put the Sea of Galilee here on Maui, I estimate it would stretch roughly from the base of West Maui mountains up to Makawao, and from Kahului Harbor to Maalaea Harbor—13 miles by 8 miles. Small, but big enough to get caught in a storm. Imagine happily swimming in your watery home when a net encircles you and pulls you out of the water. Panic fills your gills as you gasp and gawk at the frightening fisherman looming over you! I’m dead meat! This guy’s gonna make poke outta me! Peter tasted this fear once or twice in his fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee, looking up at Jesus....

Into a Net that Christ Prepares Text: Joshua V. Schneider Meter: CM (86 86) Melody: MCKEE (LSB 653 In Christ there is No East or West) 1. Into a Net that Christ Prepares A world of sinners swim His Gospel promises He shares And whole, encircles them. 2. Though nets may strain, they will not break His church, it firm shall stand, For this confession it shall make: “Christ is Living God and Man!” 3. Before His holiness we cry: “Have mercy, Lord, on me!” And on our knees hear His reply, “From all your sins be free!” 4. “Caught live for purposes my own, Gifts I bestow on you; Are to be used as I have shown, Serve them as I have you.” 5. Beholding Christ with unveiled face, His image we will take; Drawn on our service He will trace, To live for other’s sake. 6. Into the world the Gospel casts The joy of Christ’s new life! Releases us from dreadful blasts, Of sin and bitter strife. 7. God’s kingdom prospers by His grace ...

**See also in the following post my new hymn composition to match this text: "Into a Net that Christ Prepares"** In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. After a long night of fishing in the Lake of Genessaret, or Galilee, and with nothing to show for it, Peter was likely ready for a good nap. But Jesus was pressed by the crowds nearby and needed a place to teach them from. Jesus was new to Peter—He had just healed Peter’s mother-in-law and other sick people in the neighborhood, shortly before this. No doubt Peter was thankful. So when Jesus hops into the fishing boat and asks for a short row away from shore, so Jesus has room to teach the gathered crowd from Peter’s fishing boat, Peter willingly accepts. But when the sermon is over, Jesus asks something that is sure to make Peter look ridiculous to the other fisherman. Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch. It’s against all fisherman’s logic; and perhaps feeling a lit...

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. We’re never really told why Peter and the six other disciples decided to go out fishing that night, sometime after Jesus’ first two resurrection appearances to them, and before they received the special outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost. But the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias) was an old, familiar place, filled with memories of their lives as fishermen, and then, when Jesus came teaching and calling, their lives as disciples. Were Peter and the disciples restless—searching for guidance on what to do now, after the stunning events of Easter, and seeing Jesus risen from the dead? Were they retreating from the task that Jesus had set before them, to go and proclaim repentance and forgiveness in His name to all nations? Uncertain? Retreating into a familiar, comfortable routine? We certainly know the reasons why we do that sort of thing. Or were they simply passing the time until the gift of the Holy Spirit would...

Sermon Outline:  1.       Jesus calls the first disciples. Ordinary, fisherman, at their occupation, uses their talents in a new endeavor. Not prominent teachers of the law, Pharisees or priests He encountered. Not powerful politicians, judges, or military commanders (although in time, they would follow the fishermen, tax collectors, and other commoners who came to call Jesus as Lord). He could have come for the rich, the powerful, and the intelligent, and the poor and the common would have remained the “have-nots” in more way than one. But instead He came to proclaim good news to the poor, and to use ordinary men to carry and spread His message. So that the exceeding power of God might be seen, rather than the glory of men. You too are called from whatever station or position in life you may be. Come! Follow Jesus! 2.       Some men may also have the call to leave their profession for full-time service to Christ as a pastor. ...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Recently the poem “Invictus” was prominently featured as the title of a movie about Nelson Mandela. These famous lines from that poem gave inspiration to Nelson Mandela while he spent years in a South African prison: “It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” Those last words, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul,” capture the strong emotion of what many people feel about their life and destiny. I am the captain of my soul. I set the course for life, no one else is my master; I answer to no one. In today’s Gospel reading, we’ll see that Jesus leads us to a very different conclusion about who’s ultimately in control of our life, and who rules the soul. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank God that the saints in Scripture were no flawle...