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And when they brought their boats upon the land and left all things, they followed [Jesus] (v 11). [Introduction] Our Gospel reading for this Fifth Sunday after Trinity is more than an account of fishermen hearing the call of Jesus, abandoning their boats and nets ... in fact, their livelihood ... and following Jesus. Our Gospel reading provides a picture of how ... THE CALL OF JESUS CAPTURES THE HEARTS OF ALL MEN AND CREATION I. In the beginning, the disciples had their hearts on a different kind of fishing. Simon and Andrew, James and John knew their vocations well. They put all of their heart into fishing. Sometimes they went fishing during the heat of the day, like in John 21[:3], when they didn’t know what else to do. Sometimes they did it all night long, like in our Gospel reading. They loved fishing so much that they made it their livelihood (v 5). They loved it even when they were exhausted and frustrated, poor and hungry (v 5a).  But then it happened one morning ... Jesu...

[Introduction] The world is groaning.  Do you hear it?  Creation is creaking.  Do you feel it?  Relationships have been broken. Families have been divided. Brothers have become jealous of one another. Sickness has ravaged our bodies. Anxiety, addiction, depression, and fear has disrupted our peace. Society has been marred by corruption. Poverty abounds. Men and women murder one another with words to their friends. And death hangs over us all like a dark cloud. Creation is groaning and creaking under the strain of sin. But life everlasting awaits us when Jesus returns in glory!  That's what Saint Paul is reminding us of today in our epistle reading.  THE DARKNESS OF DESPAIR IS SHATTERED WITH THE GLORY OF THE GOSPEL I. Paul writes, For I count that the sufferings of this present age are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed in us (v 18). This is not sugarcoating our reality. We are sinful beyond measure. That is the cause of su...

[Introduction] Not every song has a tune or is even sung. But there’s a song fathers like to teach their sons these days ... a song they sing, if not literally, nevertheless loudly and clearly. The lyrics vary from man to man, but the substance remains the same. They sing ... Born to rise and own your flight / Dreams aren’t wishes — they’re your light. Build your own and lay it in stone / Then the world will be your throne. Yes, all too often these days, fathers invariably teach their sons to be strong but selfish ... successful but smug. And when they discover that their sons possess certain gifts or talents, they teach them to make these the focus of their lives, even at the expense of everyone and everything around them.  Sadly, too many Christians these days also find themselves singing something similar, teaching their sons that Jesus should be the center of their lives UNTIL he gets in the way of something they NEED to achieve. They sing ...  We build our altars out ...

[Introduction] Today’s epistle reading introduces us to one of God’s great servants, the Apostle Paul. Among ordinary Joes or Jerrys like you and me, there is no one who has played a bigger role in enabling us to hear the Gospel, to know the Gospel, to believe the Gospel, and to confess the Gospel than the Apostle Paul. His 13 epistles have defined and defended the faith. He articulated all of the core doctrines of the church, notably the doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. His fearless and precise proclamation of the only Gospel during his missionary journeys led to the establishment of at least 14 churches, notably in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae, and Thessalonica, but let’s not forget in Athens, Berea, Derbe, Iconium, Lystra, Pisidian Antioch, Troas, and who knows how many others. His legacy of personal sacrifice to preach that Gospel continues to inspire Christians worldwide. I. That didn’t make him any less of a si...

[Introduction] Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, you should never be surprised when the world looks at you ... or speaks to you ... with hostility or disdain (v 13). As Saint John reminds us this morning, the world will hate you because of the Gospel ... or we should, as our Lord said in John 15[:18], because it hated him first. How or why the world could and would hate us because of the Gospel, because of Jesus, is a mystery to me. The Gospel is the best gift of all. And it’s free. It doesn’t demand anything from you. It tells you what God has done and continues to do for you. It offers nothing but grace and love, peace and pardon, redemption and forgiveness and eternal life. And the world hates that ... because you didn’t deserve any of it. I know that doesn’t make sense. But it’s true.  The Gospel is rejected by the world because its core message flies in the face of human pride and autonomy, self-preservation and self-exaltation. The world hates it when the radical, uncondit...