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Hi, this is Pastor Jared Brzezinski from Hold Fast Baptist Church in Fresno, California.
And for the first episode of The Anchor, I just want to talk about, you know, the first four disciples that Jesus called, they were fishermen.
And why is that? Why is it the fact that Jesus called Peter and Andrew and James and John and they were all fishermen?
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How are you feeling, Victor?
I'm feeling good. I'm excited.
It's great.
I'm looking forward to catching some fish, hopefully a shark.
Do you think you're going to get seasick or what do you think?
I'm praying in my head that God forbid that happens, or at least not too sick.
What about you, Brother Jeff?
I'm pretty excited.
First time?
Yes.
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Catch me holding the center rail.
All right, you guys jump on.
Everyone knows where the life jackets are. They're down there, okay?
And you guys have your life jackets on.
We're good there.
But just make sure you have a good footing.
We're going to be rocking around a little bit.
The boat ride out there is going to be a little rough.
But it'll be better once we stop, okay?
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I believe that here we're in Avila Beach.
And I believe that the first reason for that is actually in Psalm, chapter 107, verse number 23, where the Bible reads,
They that go down to the sea in ships that do business in great waters,
these see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep.
For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves thereof.
They mount up to heaven, they go down again to the depths.
Their soul is melted because of trouble.
So here the Bible is saying that the fishermen who deal with the sea and the wind and the waves,
you know, they have to rely on the Lord.
This verse is so powerful it's even actually written on the commercial fishermen memorial here at Port St. Louis,
Psalm, chapter 107, and verse number 23.
So I believe that the first reason that Jesus called fishermen was that they had a natural fear of the Lord.
They had a natural, you know, desire to rely on the Lord.
When you get out into, you know, big waters, you know, and the waves come up and the waves rise,
you know, at that point a man feels small and very humble and meek, and he needs to rely on the Lord.
So we made it out here, no one's sick.
So we've got to get to the bottom, that's where the fish are, okay?
Now I close this, I tighten the line a little bit, you'll be able to feel the bottom.
Watch, fish on, okay?
What in the world?
Yeah, okay?
Okay, so hang on.
It's very receptive here.
Yes, it's very, it's very stressful.
Very receptive.
I think, I think I got it.
Less than a minute.
Okay, so we got a fish.
You just, you let him eat for like two seconds, and then you got to like, you see how I set the hook like that?
You got to kind of, you got to hook it in.
You got another one?
Here you go.
Hey, Dad, today's popper!
Look at that, look at that.
Don't give me a pliers, he's in the fire.
How many fish you guys got so far?
Three.
Three for you?
Two.
Two?
I believe the second reason, you know, we can find that Jesus called the first four disciples in Matthew, chapter four, where he called Peter and Andrew and James and John, and they were all fishing at the time.
And in verse number 19, the Bible says, and he said unto them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
So obviously, he was taking these men out of this trade of fishing, and he was taking them into what we would call soul winning or spreading the gospel and fishing for souls, fishing for men at that time.
And it takes fortitude to do something like that.
Just like with fishing, you know, it actually says in verse number 21, it says he saw other two brethren, James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, in a ship with Zebedee, their father.
What were they doing?
It says they were mending their nets.
So fishing is not something that's just guaranteed success.
You know, you go out some days, it's stormy some days, you simply can't find the fish.
I've been out fishing and found fish in one spot one day, and you come back the next month and there's just no fish and you can't find fish or the fish aren't biting.
It certainly isn't guaranteed success.
And not only that, as we already previously talked about, you know, there could be wind, waves, equipment breaking, all sorts of trouble, as the Bible said in Psalm 107, that could happen to you.
And the same thing is very typical of fishing for souls, fishing for men.
It's not guaranteed success when we go out there soul winning.
If you look at the boats out here in the harbor, you'll notice that I don't know if I've ever seen a brand new commercial fishing boat.
You'll see that they're old boats, many of them 40, 50 years old, and they've been mended many, many times.
You'll see that the tackle and the rigging has just been repaired again and again, because commercial fishing is just not a guaranteed business.
It's the same thing for us as soul winners.
That's why we have to make sure that we always remember that this just isn't guaranteed.
You go out soul winning one day and maybe you don't get anybody saved.
Maybe you haven't gotten anybody saved for several weeks.
We must keep going out to those waters and you will find success.
And that's what a good fisherman knows.
A good fisherman knows that if you keep going out and keep going out, you will find success.
And personally, to me, fishing, I really relate to that because I've been out fishing many times.
Today wasn't one of them, but I've been out fishing many times where it was just not successful.
Where it was just nothing but things breaking.
It was nothing but, you know, 10, 12 foot seas all around you.
And there was no fish.
There was no success at all.
But to me, what makes a good day fishing even better is remembering those hard days.
Just remembering those days where it was nothing but toil and mending things and fixing things that broke.
And there was no fish at all.
So we need to remember that in our Christian life because the Bible says that, you know, they that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
You will not only have days where, you know, soul winning or fishing for the souls of men is not successful,
but you will have days where actually people are trying to stop you and things are trying to stop you from going fishing for the souls of men.
And we always have to remember to just keep going out to those waters.
And if you just keep going out those days when you do have success and you do lead people to the Lord Jesus Christ,
there will be that much better remembering those hard days that you had.
It's very applicable to the business of fishing.
And that is why I believe that Jesus chose his first four disciples, his inner circle.
And I believe that's why he chose fishermen.
And that's why I believe that Jesus chose his first four disciples, his inner circle.
So what do you think, Victor?
So what do you think, Victor? How was it?
It was great. I enjoyed it. I caught several fishes, probably about eight.
It was awesome.
It was great.
Great experience.
What's the captain's report? How was it out there?
It was good. It was rough, but it was good.
How many fish did we get?
We got about 30 today.
That's good.
Awesome.
Thank you.