The Call

Passage: Luke 5:1-11 

1. “Going Deeper Requires Trust.” (Luke 5:4-5)  

We see in verses 4 &5 that Jesus gives the command to “put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch.”  

• Worked through the night – nothing to show for it  

•  Meets Jesus who tells him to turn around and head back out again 

• Instructions can often not make sense when we receive them 

• Decide, will we obey?.. or do it our own way 

• This moment in peters life – like being a scuba diver 

• Can snorkel in shallow waters – comfortable.safe. Easy.  

To find the REAL treasures, the untouched beauty you’ve got to go deep. 

Going deep requires gear, preparation and trust. 

• Dive buddy (Holy Spirit) 

Called to leave the safety of the shallow waters and dive into the deep.  

And yeah, the deep can be scary. It's unknown, it's dark sometimes, it stretches us. But it’s also where God does his most beautiful work — not on the surface, but in the depths. 

Scuba Gear Illustration: 

• 1st:  Mask & Snorkel (shallow faith) 

This is where most people are comfortable. Shallow water. You can breathe easy, see the surface clearly, and there’s not a lot of risk. But also — not a lot of reward. You’re not going to find the real treasures here. In the shallows, you stay in control. But God isn’t calling us to stay on the surface amen?  

• Fins (Preparation) 

These help you move deeper, faster — but only if you’re willing to actually swim. Like spiritual disciplines — prayer, fasting, reading the Word — they don’t make you a Christian by themself, much like standing in a garage doesn’t make you a car. But they’re essential tools to get you where God’s calling you. 

• Oxygen Tank ( Trust in God) 

This right here is everything. You cannot go deep without it. It’s your lifeline. You’re trusting that this tank is going to sustain you. That’s what it’s like trusting God when He asks you to take a leap of faith — it may feel risky, but He never runs out. He’s faithful, even in the deep. 

• Weight Belt (Obedience)  

When diving, you need weights to counteract your body’s natural buoyancy or tendency to float. It sounds strange, but obedience is like the weight that actually pulls us deeper. It anchors us in the Word. Without it, we’ll stay floating on the surface, never experiencing what God has below. 

See each piece of equipment illustrates one of the stages we progress through on the journey of obedience.  

Scripture often offends us, it shows us that we’re wrong – we don’t like to be wrong!  

We need to humble ourselves to progress past the stages of shallow faith – else we end up like the seed scattered among the path.  

• Get prepared, develop spiritual discipline and pack your oxygen tank! (Trust in God) 

Remembering that immediate obedience is a challenging discipline to develop, don’t be too hard on Peter in this story when he responds with; “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything!” You can see where Peter is coming from, his human reasoning is kicking in and is causing him to doubt, But Faith – Real Faith requires obedience, even when it doesn’t make sense.  

It’s so easy to grumble, complain and procrastinate -> But difficult to trust, and obey immediately.  

I’d challenge you to think about; What areas in your life is God calling you to trust him more deeply?..  

God = good father – delights in his children.  

Not a prosperity gospel – but a Promise from our father.  

2. The 2nd  truth id like to draw out is that;  

“Going Deeper, Brings Abundance.” (Luke 5:6-7)  

We see in verses 6 & 7 that Simon Peter does in fact obey, even if he thought this roaming preacher was out of his mind. And what do we see happen church?..  

Out of his obedience – Jesus, then performs a miracle!  

The once barren waters now produce a mountain of fish, a blessing so abundant that it’s now breaking apart the nets, and almost sinks 2 vessels because of the sheer weight of them!  

This. Church.  

Is the POWER of Faith and obedience, the Word says without faith it is impossible to please God, (not that it’s difficult – but Impossible) and without faith it actually limits what God can do in and through you. If we want to see a radical change in our lives and the lives of our community then we have to have a radical type of faith – and trust that God can and will provide a breakthrough.  

The question I’d like us to ponder is;  

What blessings (Physical/Spiritual) might we be missing out on, because we’re too afraid to take that step of faith and go deeper with God?..  

3. The 3rd truth I’d like us to draw out is that;  

“Going Deeper reveals what is hidden.” (Luke 5:8-10)  

In verses 8-10 we see Peters response after witnessing this miracle… What does he do? - He falls at Jesus’ feet and says “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”  

See when we truly encounter Jesus, when we enter into the presence of the Lord, it humbles us… It exposes our fragility, our ego, our sin. But church this is a good thing! We don’t want that garbage rotting away underneath. He is called the refiners fire – He burns away the impurities, leaving us blameless & blameless before the father. That’s why we come away from an encounter feeling clean, pure and unburdened.  

I find it encouraging how Jesus responds to the man self-declaring to be a dirty, sinful mess. Jesus doesn’t cast him aside, writing him off and instead looks for someone else who will fit the bill. No, Jesus actually calls him to something greater – Jesus sees the gold in this man and knows that the Father has a plan & purpose for his life so He says come, I will make you a fisher of Men!  

4. The 4th and final truth I’d like to explore is that; 

 “Going deeper – requires FULL surrender.” (Luke 5:11)  

In verse 11 we see not just Simon but these men also answer the call of Jesus, it says; “They pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.” 

Jesus’ first disciples didn’t need to do a 40 day fast to make the decision to follow him, they didn’t need to seek wise counsel or write a pro’s/con’s list to help them make up their minds. Not saying that these things are unwise to do… But what I’m trying to say is that the disciples were so Gripped by the call to follow that they immediately dropped everything to go with him -> Straight away they could discern the authority this man had and were willing to surrender all, for a chance to know him.  

Is this the sort of authority that Christ has in your life?..  

Have you truly made him King of your life… Or are there things that have been placed above him, things like fear – a need to keep a hold of the reigns -> A fear of “Well what happens if things don’t turn out well, how could I take that sort of risk?..”  

Can I encourage you today; Will you trust him?.. Will you trust him with your finances, will you trust him with your family, will you trust him with your career path… Cause HE.IS.Faithful! He IS faithful.  

He will not let your foot strike the stone, He’s never failed, never has, never will. And he loves you far too much to allow you to settle for mediocrity and has too many amazing plans for you to allow you to fall away, to be cast aside, or to be forgotten.  

Church are you ready to step into deeper waters, are you ready to put your faith into action and trust God even when your circumstances are dire / uncertain? Are you ready to have life and life abundant, with blessings beyond measure, revelation from the Lord, and a fulfilling purpose that all comes when we go deeper with the Lord?  

As we close today I want to challenge you: Where is God calling you to go deeper?..  

 It may be going deeper in trust: Trusting that his word is final, his word is true.  

It might be going deeper in obedience; Like Peter are you willing to say: “But Lord because YOU say so… I will.”  

Perhaps he’s calling you to deeper waters of surrender -> Peter and his crew left everything to follow Jesus. Ask yourself, what is holding you back from fully surrendering to him? – Is it fear?.. Comfort?.. Control?..  

This week lets be bold hey, lets take that step of faith and ask God to take you deeper. Then step out, Trust him and just watch how he moves in your life.  

Lets pray: (Example)  

"Lord, take us deeper in faith. Help us to Trust You, Obey You, and Surrender Fully to Your will. We don’t want to stay in the shallow waters—we want all You have for us. Give us courage to step forward in Faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen."