“Grab a Net,

Let’s Go Fishing”5th Annual Laymen’s Address

By

Deacon Andre L. Pierre, Sr.

Laymen’s President

Chain Lake District Missionary Baptist Association

167th Annual Session

“Solidarity with the Savior Through a Visionary Church”

July 15, 2010

To the Presiding Officer, Reverend Whitfield, Moderator, Reverend William Wyne, Congress President, Dr. Addis Moore, Congress Dean, Reverend Craig Tatum, Women’s President, Sister Billie Dunigan, Youth Director, Minister Doreen Gardner, Young Adult Director, Reverend Lenzy Bell, Children’s Directors Sisters Cassandra Bridges and Sister Deborah Jackson and to the official staff of this association and all ministry leaders; to the Wolverine State Laymen’s President, Deacon Michael Washington and all of you my brothers and sisters in Christ, I greet you as Paul greeted the community of faith, “grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”.

I thank God for the call he has placed on my life and for His faithfulness to me and to my family. I am especially grateful for the brothers of this association who has shown steadfastness, spiritual growth, commitment and a great love for Christ, thank you brothers for your support and for allowing the Lord to be head of your life. It is my prayer that you will continue on this path. It is because of this call that I stand here today to address you as your Chain Lake District Laymen’s President.

I believe that this past year was a good year for the ministry as a whole. I attended the Wolverine State Convention, Wolverine State One-Day Workshop, two State Laymen’s Meetings; The Walter Cade Seven State Workshop and three Chain Lake District Sessions.

In past years I’ve suggested that we resurrect some events such as the Gathering of the Laymen and our District Laymen’s Choir, while I believe that these two events were important I did not get them off the ground. Therefore I am reassessing our focus for this coming year and I am certain that our attention must be on building up men’s ministries in our local churches and district and secondly in evangelism. We can’t have a powerful Gathering of Laymen if we don’t have men to gather and we can’t have a powerfully charged music ministry if we don’t have voices.

I will accomplish this task by facilitating two one-day workshops that will focus on how the development and maintenance of a Men’s ministry; next by encouraging the growth and development of a Junior Laymen’s ministry in local churches and lastly by teaching the principles of evangelism through the district.

Grab a Net, Let’s Go Fishing

Luke 5:1-11 KJV1

1And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,

 2And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

 3And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

 4Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

 5And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

 6And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.

 7And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

 8When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

 9For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:

 10And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.

 11And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

Over the last few months we’ve heard a great deal about the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and how it’s disrupted the livelihood of fishermen. The lives of these fishermen have been turned upside down. Their purpose was to fish for physical food as a means of providing for their families. This disastrous oil spill is leaving them without hope. While, we as Christians are called to fish in the spiritual realm for the purpose of winning souls for Christ we are sometimes discouraged as well. But God provides both in the physical and in the spiritual realm. Jesus said to his disciples fear not from henceforth thou shalt catch men”.

What has fishing got to do with Christians in the twenty first century? What does casting a net have to do with the word of truth, evangelism and Jesus Christ? Let me suggest to you that God went fishing for you and me, didn’t he? God in His great love for us cast the net of relationships and covenants found in His Holy word; the Bible. Every since the fall of mankind, starting with the man Adam and his wife Eve. God through His redemptive plan for mankind has been fishing for us to re-

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establish a right relationship with Him. That is, the forgiveness of sin and redemption back to Him through Jesus Christ for salvation and eternal life. Go back to Gen. 3:8-9, And they Adam and Eve heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day and Adam and his wife Eve hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called to Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? Man’s Fall, sin enters the world, the end of the first covenant. The time of innocence is over. But God continues to cast a net of covenants to Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and His final covenant Jesus Christ. God is still casting His net for a draught and the species is called mankind. Remember John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.”

So let’s talk about Jesus the greatest fisherman who ever lived, the ultimate fishing guide. Every great fishing trip needs a guide. Someone to steer the boat, take you out into deep waters and return safely. Someone, who knows where to cast your net for maximum draught. Jesus chose twelve men to be His disciples (called Apostles). All twelve were sent out two by two to preach repentance and perform miracles; His special messengers; just ordinary men, mostly laborers and fishermen. At least four of Jesus’ Apostles were fishermen on the Lake of Gennesaret (Sea of Galilee) sometimes called the Sea of Tiberias and Chinnereth (in the Old Testament). It was about thirteen miles long and seven to eight miles wide. It was a very important source of food and work. Many Galileans were fishermen. But fishing for a living during Jesus’ time was hard work. It was heavy strenuous work. Most fishermen worked at night in wooden boats. This allowed their catch to be fresh in the morning for sale. In your mind’s eye can you see the parallel between physical fishing and spiritual fishing. Both types of fishing require physical work. Fishing for men (evangelizing) may seem like tough, strenuous work at times. You may be afraid of rejection and ridicule what if they say no! What if I don’t say the right thing? You may have to give up a Saturday afternoon or miss your favorite soap opera to help plan your next evangelistic drive. You may have to study the word all the more in order that a sinner might believe in what you say. You see net fishing requires a certain skill level and patience. Why fish? We fish because time is running out, Jesus is coming back soon! It’s time to stop setting on the side lines and letting a sin sick world pass us by. And all the while our boys are going to prison and getting gunned down in the streets. Our young girls are giving themselves over to young men resulting in parenthood even before they are fully grown themselves. Low passing grades, high dropout rates and certainly no higher education, a sure recipe for failure, prison and even death. Grab a net it’s time to go fishing. Why go fishing? Because of the Great Commission says so, Matthew 28:18-20 18And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

 19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

 20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

We fish because of I Timothy 2:4 which talks about our God who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. We cast our nets for

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freedom. Freedom from Sin and death. The most beautiful part of it all is that God does not discriminate. Whosoever lands in His net, whosoever is blessed to have been caught has been blessed and accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior will be saved. Romans 10:13 13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

But wait just like every building needs a strong foundation every fisherman needs a great ship and a strong anchor. You can think of the church; your local church as your great ship from which you will cast your net. The world is your vast sea of fishing opportunity waiting to be landed. Jesus is your strong anchor. Have you invited Jesus into your ship? What are you doing to keep your ship afloat? Are you supporting your Pastor’s (the captain of your ship) God given vision? Are you helping your pastor to carry out the ship’s mission statement. Have you committed to tithing, keeping the external and internal infrastructure sea worthy? You see every great ship has a great crew. We all have different gifts and talents. The Bible says, ”many members, but one body” I Cor. 12:12. You may not be called to steer the ship or toot the horn, but you may be called to maintain and clean the net. If you are called to preach or teach, lead, or exhort, usher or cook, sweep or clean then you are maintaining the net, each strand tightly woven together for a heavy draw. But whatever you do stay with the ship. You can’t sail a ship without a crew. Each auxiliary or ministry with its God given talents works together in a tribal relationship to go fishing and evangelizing. I like to call it “Frangelizing”. This new word expresses action, draws a parallel between fishing and evangelizing. So as we prepare ourselves for a lifetime of witnessing consider these practical steps for successful Frangelizing. Our goal is to draught a certain kind of fish called “lost soul” and for bait we will lure them in with the Word of God.

First Pray! Pray the Holy Spirit to come in to guide and bless your Frangelism expedition.

Second, follow the instructions and examples of Jesus. If He says go out into deep water, just go. If He says cast your net on the right or on the left just do it!

Third, study to show yourself approved  2 Timothy 2:15 15Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Fourth, make friends with someone who you know is not a Christian. After you win their confidence, based on your lifestyle and Christian testimony invite them to church; Bible study, and prayer meeting. They have the potential to be your greatest frangelistic leader.

Fifth, find out who’s doing what in your church as it relates to evangelizing and commit yourself to helping them on their fishing expedition. Connect with other ministries and be supportive.

Sixth, live the lifestyle you preach. Someone will notice. Let them see the God in you. If you walk the walk you can talk the talk. There may be some cost to following Jesus on a fishing expedition, but the rewards are great. A fisherman may encounter rough seas and deep waters, but cast your net and stay with the boat. You may be rejected and talked about, someone might say – aren’t you so and so? Or I knew you back in the day. Jesus says to his disciples “Don’t fear”. Just cast

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your net. Jesus cast a net for you and for me. It doesn’t seem to matter that we were born in sin and shaped in iniquity He takes on any and all comers.

Finally, one day God went looking for you and for me in the breeze of the day and we heard him saying in a loud voice, where are you? And you said here I am God hiding under a load of guilt and shame. Then He cast the net of salvation, the final covenant, through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Fully man, yet fully God. Down through forty two generations, lived a perfect life went about doing good healing the sick and raising the dead; teaching; preaching. And that same net landed on a hill called Calvary, Golgotha (The place of the skull). The same hill that Jesus struggled up for you and me. Struggling because the record says they scorged Him and placed a crown of thorns on His head. They thought they had Him trapped in a net of death. But Jesus broke through and continued up that rugged hill. They stretched him wide and lifted him high on that heavy cross beam called the cross. He suffered, bled and died. They buried Him in a borrowed grave for three days, but on that third day Sunday morning He got up with all power in His hand. I’m glad today that God came fishing for me and you. Now it’s time to grab our net, clean our nets and

LET’S GO FISHING.

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