Disciple: Leave Your Nets - Pastor Joseph Pringle

Show Notes

Repentance is more than saying sorry, it's a decisive turn toward the new life God has for you. Pastor Joseph Pringle unpacks what it means to leave your nets, drop old patterns, and trust that Jesus' way is better than anything you leave behind. Scriptures: Mark 1:14-20, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Titus 2:11-12

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We are a local Church in Orange County California who are passionate to witness lives being renewed in Christ, strengthened through discipleship, and to thrive in the fullness of living for Christ.
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So today's message is called leave your nets. Leave your nets? What are you talking about? Well, turn to mark, chapter one, verse 14 to 20. And we will open up with this Scripture, and then we're going to go through this. And at the end, we're going to go through a time of ministry where I believe repentance, freedom and healing is going to be found. Amen. In Mark 1:14, it says, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God and saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, follow me and I will make you become fishers of men. And immediately they left their nets and they followed him. Something in this series I don't want us to miss is that you have been redeemed by Christ to not polish up an already existing life. You were redeemed by Christ to step into a new life as a new creation that he has for you. And so for us to do so, we need to be letting go of an old life and stepping into the new creation that Christ has for us. We started three weeks ago with the call follow me. We went on and we talked about surrender, surrendering to God, how to surrender to Him. And last week we talked about the source that we need to be able to continue in this walk, the fuel that we need within this life, about our dependence on God, that we would depend on Him. And now we arrive at something I believe is incredibly powerful and not reserved for just salvation alone, but is a continued cycle in our life of repenting, turning, reorientating our life towards Christ because there are things that you cannot keep carrying. Amen. Discipleship. Isn't Jesus being some addition to our existing lives or a spoke in the wheel like we talked about last life last week? It's the beginning of a new life for you and I, and that's exciting news. That's the gospel is that he's not just taking an old life and polishing up. No, he's giving you a new life, making you a new creation, that there is a new hope and a new purpose that we have. And that is why I wanted to begin just a little slightly bit earlier, is that the kingdom of God is at hand. Repentance and believe in the Gospel. That's what Mark reveals to us. Repent, believe, follow, repeat. Those things belong together as a consistent rhythm in the life of being. A disciple of Christ. And if I was to define discipleship, I would say it is long obedience in the same direction. Long obedience in the same direction. So we want that wheel to be always consistently turning in our life and in the right direction. Christianity has sometimes been presented as though Jesus came in his primary function to improve the life that we already have. But the Gospel is so much more radical than self improvement. It's so much more radical than just adding some peace and adding a little bit of purpose and helping my marriage and giving us some principles to live by or make us a more healthier or more successful version of myself. Now Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, 17, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away and behold the the new has come. And I'm not saying any of those other things do not happen, that you get a purpose and you get peace. And we were singing today. All my life I was searching for a love like this, for a love this, for a peace like this. The blessings are incomprehensible to us, but it's so much more than self improvement just for our own lives. The Gospel is offering us and gives us, it's a gift, a new life for us to live with it. And a new life requires us to leave some things behind. And that's why repentance steps in. That's where it steps in. That's why it's so powerful and is so important. Like I said, the question I want hanging over everything today is what are you still carrying from your old life? What are you still carrying from your own life? And I want to preface this just with something before we step into this, which is Jesus blood has purchased your freedom. Okay, There is no condemnation in Christ, but there is conviction. Conviction left unchecked will turn into a condemnation. That's how the devil actually uses good things to pervert them is when it lingers unchecked within our life. So things might bubble up to the surface that you might feel ashamed or maybe a condemnation over your life. I want you to put that to the side. The word of God says, take captive every thought and submit it to the feet of Jesus. Submit it to his cross. The devil is a liar, he is a thief and he is a killer. So what he wants to do is to steal truth and implant a lie. He wants to kill the hope that could be living within every one of us. And so this is not a message of condemnation. This is a message that is an invitation to step into true freedom. Okay, so point number One here today is this. Repentance means that you actually turn. Repentance means that you actually turn. You change direction in an area of your life. You change direction of your whole life. You begin to recurate the desires of your heart to be what God desires in his heart. I think we've made repentance far more complicated than it needs to be. Sometimes we've reduced repentance to just feeling bad and to saying sorry. Sometimes it's been reduced solely down to confession. Confession and repentance, though they're intertwined and intimately related, they. They're different. Confession is acknowledging that God's truth is right. That's where confession comes in. I'm acknowledging that there is a sovereign power, that there is a sovereign truth that I am not living in accordance with. So I am revealing that. I am confessing this to God. I'm confessing it to my brother and my sister. God, you're right. And I'm admitting that your truth is superior over my own truth. But repentance adds this. And because you're right, I'm changing my direction. The New Testament word for repentance is metanoia. And it carries the weight of a changed mind. It carries the weight of reorientation of our lives. A literal turning in our life, and this is why we are in pursuit of Christ so fiercely, is because Jesus transforms lives. For those who say, I'm partnering with you, your truth is higher than my own truth. So I know I've got this inclination. I know I want to say that. I know I want to hit that person in the face. I know I want to do this and this and this and this. I know I want to chase after that, that fleshly desire that I have. I know I want to text back that old girlfriend. I know I want to text that old boyfriend all of these things. But we are saying, I am. I have the thought I'm confessing it. Hey, I'm tempted in this area. And now I am turning from this way. I'm making a literal turn in my life. It's a decisive turning towards God that begins changing where we are going. You can be looking and saying, that's my destination, but steering in the wrong direction. We can apologize in this life without repenting. Don't elbow your spouse right now. We can say I'm sorry without anything changing in our world and doing the exact same thing, right? We can apologize because we got caught. We can apologize because somebody is upset. We can apologize because we want the, ooh, the awkward tension to go away. We just want it to be, you know, no tension at all. We can even apologize in tears because it made you feel bad, it made you feel convicted. I read this quote this week by Ian Bounds, who he says, tears may only be but the breath of summer on an iceberg, creating only a slush that affects the surface alone, but does not converge to the depths of transforming a person's soul, mind, body and spirit. That convicted me. Conviction is meant to lead us to repentance. 2 Corinthians 7, 10 says, For Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. Either way, something is going to be produced in our life. And I love this because it says there is a godly grief that we can receive, that that's a conviction. There is. Ah, this, you know, something's got to change. But that godly grief, that conviction has to be turned into action. That there would be repentance in my life, which is not just saying I'm sorry, but it's deleting the contact. It's changing your friendship circle. It's stopping that relationship. It's stopping. Watching those TV shows, it's stopping. Follow those accounts online. It's stopping and turning and walking the other direction. Worldly grief brings about some insincere displays of repentance. Have you experienced this before? I've also been the provocateur of that. I've been someone who has insincerely apologized for something without ever acknowledging I need to change. I've been that. I don't want that within my soul. A shallow remorse that leads to no positive action in disciplining our lives into a new way while depending on the source of God to be our strength in doing so. But godly grief will produce a conviction in our life, a turn on a pathway that leads to a life of. It says no regret. No regret in that life. That sounds good, right? No regret. How many? How many regret? I just had a list come up. Did everyone have a list of bam, bam, bam, bam? No regrets. If with godly grief, it has turned into repentance. And actually Paul is writing this. This is 2 Corinthians. I don't know if you've read 1st and 2nd Corinthians, but 1st Corinthians is pretty like that's a slap you in the face kind of letter. And he is asking the Corinthian church to take the dumpster fire of a church that they are. And to repent, to make changes and to turn. And so that first letter was kind of harsh. And Paul even notes it just before this scripture. And he said, robby Porter, great to see you, brother. You doing well? Yeah, it's awesome. I love it. So good to have you back here. Let's welcome Robby Porter, back in college, back from Wyoming. Sorry, that's so awesome. And so he's writing in the follow up letter. He's like, I know, he literally says, I know it was hard to hear. I know that this letter was difficult to read and digest. But you heard it and you were grieved by these words in a godly way, that you made the changes to turn and to repent. Paul is even initiating and showing that even with a heavier kind of word within our life, it can be turned for the greatness of God. So he's congratulating them about their committed repentance in that space. Repentance should keep us asking ourselves the questions, what has changed? What is changing in my life because I've received truth? We're going to be talking about teachability either next week or the week after. And the knowing of His Word is actually the responsibility of His Word, that when you know what is right, you are called to be responsible with that. What is changing? Because I heard the truth of God. When John the Baptist begins preparing the way for Jesus, in Mark 1:4, it says, John appearing, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Matthew records John the Baptist saying this in all of that three, eight says, bear fruit in keeping with repentance. There will be evidence in your life of active repentance. You will bear fruit in your life with active repentance. What did Jesus say when he said, this is how you will tell if they are my disciples? He says, by there, by there. And here we are hearing, bear fruit in keeping with repentance. So as a disciple who is marked by the fruit of Jesus, the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of holiness, the fruit of pursuing God within our life. Repentance is necessary. You will bear fruit if you keep pruning the tree of your life. Fruit is the evidence. And repentance will in all our lives, eventually show a visible change. There will be something that changes within you. I'm not saying perfection. I'm not saying instant maturity. My wife just said amen. She's saying that over me. But there is a decided and dedicated change in our life, evident by the seeding and the growth of fruit within it. I begin to love my wife not just with I Love you, honey. And then I'm impatient with her. No, I speak differently to her. I now see fruit in the way that I take responsibility of my own prayer life and I put it into action that I'm not just praying for something, but I'm also pursuing it in partnership with God. I tell you this. If I'm driving five on the south and I'm meant to be going north, me feeling really sorry about driving south doesn't change anything. I could start a small group for people driving south on the five. I could feel terrible about it. I could tell everyone in the car how sorry I am for driving south. Guys, I acknowledge it and I'm absolutely going south right now. I could cry about going south, but going south on the freeway. But at some point I need to take an exit and I need to turn around and orientate my life north. There needs to be an initiation within my heart and truth left alone in just my mind without actioning it. James would say, do not be just hearers of the Word and yet deceive yourself, but be doers of the Word. The minute I hear truth and I go. It's so hard to love that person. So hard to be patient with that person. So hard to this and that. I submit it to God and my source is his power. So, spirit, fill me. I need patience in this moment and I'm going to act patient. I may not feel it immediately, but I'm aligning my life with truth. Amen. That is repentance. Turning around. There may be still miles to backtrack. There may be accountability to install. There may be damage that requires a strong dedication to restoring what has been dismantled and broken in our lives. There may be patterns that have been reinforced for years or for decades, for a lifetime that now have to be pulled apart. And don't get caught up comparing your journey to someone else's journey. God may deliver somebody else instantaneously from something you've had to fight through for years. But I'm telling you, I'm imploring you. Take the exit now. Take the first step now. Make the call. End the relationship. Confess the sin. Install accountability. Change the environment. Organize your atmosphere. Delete the app, delete the contact. Call yourself out and allow yourself to get called out. Forgive everyone and ask for help. Whatever obedience looks like in your world, just turn. This is such a great invitation that has. That does not have some empty promise at the end of it. He says, turn. You are a new creation. So we got to let go of the old ways. Repentance is not proven by how badly I feel about yesterday. Repentance is not God demanding us to give up something because he wants less for us. But repentance is revealed by the direction I'm walking today, by what I decide today, by what I initiate today. Repentance is God calling you to drop. What is keeping you and I from following him into more? And he wants more for your life. My desire as a pastor, I want to see more in your life. And our American brains sometimes just instantly go to more money, more career, more this, more. No, I want to see more God in your life. Like, I want to see more bearing of the image of Christ in all circumstances. I want to see this growing like an orchard in your life. Because those blessings, no boss can fire you from, no storm can take away. But just like last week, you will be evergreen even in the season of drought. And I tell you, there is so much blessing when we come to a point of repentance. There is so much blessing that is found in that the humility that is kept within us for whoever would be, would be so high in the kingdom would become so low that we would be kept humble, that there is a continual check within our life, that there is a continued mode of deliverance and healing within our world. The blessings of active repentance in our life are huge. So you and I, we can't just think about turning. I'll do it tomorrow manana. I try to think of tomorrow in another language. But we cannot live in this tomorrow mindset that we would turn today, actually turn and orientate our life to Him. Amen. Point number two is, leave the net. We've got to leave the net behind. Mark 1:18, it says, and they immediately they left their nets behind. This is the part of the scripture that jumped out to me. This is what was unraveled within my life. And I looked at these nets that I could still be carrying in my life, laying them down. Those nets weren't just ropes, but they were those people's livelihood. This was their security for tomorrow. It was what they had trained up in their whole life. Repentance, just. I'm not saying you're following Jesus so you got to throw away, you know, your career now. It's not that this is a turning of the heart and the carrying of burdens within our life, but this was their family business. It was their competence. It's how they provided for their family. Their entire previous way of life was wrapped up in those nets. And Jesus said, follow me. And the action that they took Was they left their nets immediately, just straight away, just like the good servants in the story of the talents. They were given something valuable. And it says, immediately they went out. Immediately they went to work with what had been given to them. Jesus walks on. He finds James and John. In the Book of Mark, it says they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. And Luke talks about Jesus walking up to Levi sitting at the tax booth, and he says, levi, follow. Follow me. The corrupt tax collector, Levi, follow me. And in 5, 28, Luke 5, 28 says, this. This is Levi's response. And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. I want to preach that so bad, but it's going to take me off my notes, man. When you leave everything behind that you feel like you need a grasp onto, you will rise to follow Christ. He left everything behind, and there was a lightness within him. Okay, if you want to rise in this life, man, stop hanging on to what God is pleading for you to let go of. And you and I, we can see there. There is a pattern here. There's. There's a pattern there. Jesus says, follow me. He sends the call, they leave, and then they actually follow him. You cannot follow Jesus faithfully somewhere new, while insisting on dragging everything from the old life behind you. Sometimes we get so caught up, too. We're asking God to deliver us from a particular circumstance. We're asking God to take it out of our life, but we are still clinging onto it so fiercely within our world. Sometimes it's praying for a situation to change, and God is saying, I need you to switch the chair to change me for the situation that I'm currently facing. Like, oh, I don't want to pray that one. I want this. I want my way through this. But if Jesus says that he is the way, then I need to follow him, need to follow him through all circumstances. We spend our so much time waiting for a miraculous deliverance, and God is asking us to recognize that we need to first let go, to repent and to turn and orientate our lives towards him. And here's where I think we need to broaden our understanding of the nets. Okay, you guys with me? Okay. Because when I feel like sometimes when we hear repentance, we're thinking, you know, a couple of things. We might think, oh, yeah, that's the salvation prayer, like the turning of my life over. And it's just solely reserved for that. Or it's the billboard sins, you know, Right? Oh, cocaine addiction and sexual immorality and murder. And all of these large billboard sins, like, that's where repentance actually belongs. And yes, repent from those things and turn. But Scripture tells us to look much deeper. Proverbs 6, 16, and 19. It says this. There are six things that the Lord hates. Crazy to think that, huh? There are six things that the Lord hates and seven that are an abomination to him. Haughty eyes, a lying tongue. Hands that shed innocent blood. A heart that devises wicked plans. Feel that? Feet that make haste to run to evil. A false witness who breathes out lies. And one who speaks, sows discord among the brothers. Just look at that list. It says, haughty eyes. That's pride. It's arrogance. That's. I got this on my own. Pride isn't just the arrogant alpha dog who walks in the rooms like, yeah, how's it going? Everyone love me. It's also just saying, I've got this on my own. A lying tongue. Dishonest. Someone who's dishonest within their world, just continually spreading lies. And I tell you, when you plant one lie, you gotta plant another lie to cover up that. And before long, you got a garden of lies that you don't even know who you are anymore. A heart that devises wicked plans. Hidden intentions that no one sees. A false witness who breathes out lies, goes on. And this is all just so you're aware. In the list of someone who has murderous intent, someone who sheds innocent blood, these are listed alongside of these. One who sows discord among brothers. That's gossip. It's character assassination at a distance. Constant criticism. It's whispering behind people's backs. Did you hear about what's happening with this? Oh, my gosh. Do you know what I heard? Or maybe it's the dispensing of someone else's issues so that you feel better about your own life. Taking offense and recruiting others into that same offense. Man, there's a lot of warnings in Scripture about that. From Christ's mouth in red words. And God says, I hate what this does among my people. So maybe your net isn't this dramatic, big billboard sin that everyone can see. Maybe the net is pride. Maybe you've had talents given to you, and talents can come in many forms. Maybe people have given you good, godly advice that you have buried. Maybe it's insecurity. Maybe it's envy, it's bitterness. Maybe it's gossip. There's a relaxed tongue wagging around in your mouth and you need to nail it to the cross. Maybe it's the need for approval. So you spend your life trying to please everyone around you. Maybe it's a relationship with money, maybe it's image. Maybe you become so obsessed with appearing successful that you've leveraged your life into debt because you think that if I just look a particular way and act a particular way, I'm gonna get through this. But there's a responsibility that God calls us to steward. Maybe your net is control. Maybe it's the coping mechanism you developed when you're hurt. Maybe it's an identity that once helped you survive, but Jesus is telling you it cannot define you anymore. Maybe it's a pattern of thinking, a secret compromise, the way you speak to your spouse. Maybe it's the story you've been telling yourself for 20 years about why you are the way way you are. The nets won't always be presenting themselves as these big evil things, but as an old life, old mentalities, old connections. And here's where repentance gets uncomfortable. Because some of us want Jesus and the nets. Some of us want to be this new creation with an old habit, a new identity with old appetites, new direction with old loyalties. Ephesians 4. 20 would say this. That is not the way you learned Christ. And the beauty of it all is you do not have to do this in your own strength. Like Cecily said, this is not a TED Talk for self improvement. There is a source that gives you strength to walk in this life. Ephesians 4. 22. It says, Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds. So put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Put off. Be renewed. Put on. Put off. Be renewed. Put on. These are the things that I'm stopping to carry. These are things that God changes in my thinking. And there is a new life that you and I make a delay, deliberate decision to walk into. And I'm telling you it is a fantastic life. May not always be easy. I can't promise you that. But I can promise you that God will be standing beside you and the Holy Spirit will empower you to live above and not below, to be the head and not the tail. To be an overcomer, not underwhelming. Jesus, like I said before, did not die to polish up an old life. He died to give you a new one. So for you and I, the question has to be, what did Jesus call me out of that I'm still carrying today. Point number three, trust Jesus with what comes next. This is the big thing because we don't know what comes next, right? We're kind of up in the air. And all of these disciples, when they walked away from their boats, Jesus didn't hand them like a three year itinerary and say, okay, Peter, you're going to walk on the water this day. It's going to be pretty fantastic, Peter, you're going to see all these people get healed and eventually you're going to turn to someone and you're going to see a lame man, you're going to pull him up. It's going to be incredible. He didn't say any of that. He just said, follow me and I'm going to turn, I'm going to leave behind and I'm going to follow you into this marvelous unknown because I trust that it is good with you. It's believing that Jesus way is better. Because if all you see repentance as is something that is costing you, eventually repentance will feel like deprivation in your life. I can't do this anymore. I have to give this up. I can't live that way anymore. Look at everything Christianity is taking from me. But listen to the promise of Jesus. Listen to this. Claim it over your life. Whoever would save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. You can lose your life for so many sakes out there. There's so many negotiations happening throughout the week. Lose your life for this sake, but it does not promise a new life on the other side. Anyone who would try to save his life in his own methods, it doesn't lead to anywhere with life. And Jesus is saying, if you just lay it down for my sake, man, you will have life and life abundantly and you will find it. And that's the part I want you and I to see here today. Jesus doesn't just talk about the life you're losing, he talks about the life you're finding and that you are receiving and that you are accepting here today. Repentance isn't God's demand that you give something up because he wants less for you. He doesn't want less for you. Repentance is God calling you to drop what is keeping you from following him into more. The enemy will always make you stare at the nets. Oh, what if I miss it? Oh man, it's going to be so hard without the net. What if following Jesus just it cost me too much. What if I let this go and I regret it the enemy will always start planning these thoughts. But Jesus is standing beyond the net saying, trust me, the life is so much better when you let go, when you turn off the five south and you start running north. And that's where repentance ultimately lands. Do I trust Jesus enough to believe that what he is calling me into is better than what he's calling me out of? I trust Jesus more than I trust what I'm releasing. I trust his future more than the life I'm forgetting with. In Romans 6:12 it says this. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. I love that. Present yourself to God. What an awesome opportunity to be able to present yourself to God. For when we do so and we put away an old life and we receive what God is giving us, this is what I can assure you, is that you will bear fruit in your life. In keeping with repentance and presenting myself to God, confessing, repenting, believing, following, repeat. That's what separates Christian repentance from behavior modification. Not just trying to be a nicer person. I'm not just simply trying to break habits. I'm not just cleaning myself up so God will accept me. I am responding to the God who has already come for me. The same is present for us today as Jesus walking up to those disciples and say, follow me. The same invitation is here today. That invitation was sent 2000 odd years ago when he hung on the cross and he said, I will carry this burden for you. I will give you the Holy Spirit to empower you and I will preserve my word to guide you. These disciples, they dropped what they were holding because someone greater was standing in front of them. And today Jesus is standing in front of you. Say follow me. And it's by his grace that we are able to do so in Titus 2:11 12 and we'll end here in just a moment. The grace of God has appeared to bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age. Grace does not compete with holiness. Grace trains us into holiness. That's the blessing of grace. It's not just a covering of sin in our life. It's a empowering for you to live life towards God. This connects the whole series we surrendered because his authority is greater than ours. We depend because his strength is greater than ours. And now we repent because his life is better than the one we're leaving behind. Amen. We have to ask God. Don't be thinking I've done this before. We need to ask God and say God, I truly want to turn from my old ways and be filled with your strength to continue on this path. Don't spend another year searching for a better method when God is inviting us to be transformed. Men and women, we might spend our life looking looking for these methods and strategies and plans and self improvement tools. But I will say God is looking not for a better method. He's looking for great men and women who would submit themselves as disciples. For many are called but few are chosen. Chosen is not some set apart elect. Over here that word actually means choosable. For many are called but few are choosable. So for you and I to say I'm going to make myself choosable for God's kingdom. I'm going to make myself choosable as a disciple. I want to make my life choosable as someone God can depend on that God can invest in and will move forward. God's kingdom. Amen. Hey, thanks for tuning in. There's a bunch of different ways that we connect throughout the week including Sunday mornings and we would love to see you there. You can check out all the [e-mail].