Ed Young

I said, “I want a church to be different.  I want a church where anyone can understand what was going on, whether you’re a Hebrew professor or whether you’re a wheels off Florida State teammate.” I wanted it to be understandable so people could hear and apply what was going on. And I began to study the Scriptures and see that God is creative. And I think the church should be the most created entity in the universe.  Boring churches should be unique, not creative ones. Because look at Jesus. He was the most creative teacher and leader in the history of the universe.

So I began to study how he taught and we began to do things like that down in Houston. And then I met this church that was starting up in the Irving area of Dallas Fort Worth.  Now here’s what’s so hilarious about that; I told all my friends, “There’s one place I’ll never go. I’ll never go to Dallas Fort Worth to pastor.  That’s the belt buckle of the Bible belt with televangelists, seminaries, steeple on every corner.  I’m not going there.  I want to go to Miami, Las Vegas, Sacramento, or Toronto. I’m not going to Baptistland USA.  I’m not going up there.  I’ve had enough of that.  I’m not going there.”

Well, don’t ever say that to God.  Don’t ever say that.  There were 30 families that were starting a church in Irving and I met several people who were on a committee to find the pastor of a church.  This church was in rented facilities and everything was projected. They didn’t have any staff members; not even a typewriter, to show you how long ago it was. It was 15 years ago. So Lisa and I began to talk to these people.

Ed Young

Well, I talk to people now and then who are on this performance track, this religious thing.  And they think that being religious and they think that being a good guy or good girl will do the stuff.  There’s a problem with it.  We will always fall short when we try to rely on our good works.  The Bible says we’re going to fall short.  The Bible says the payment of sin is death.  The Bible says we can never work our way into heaven.

ILLUS: I was talking to a young man just recently about the claims of Christ.  He told me how religious he was and how he goes to church and how he had been sprinkled as an infant and confirmed and all of that.  And I began to explain to him about the gospel, the fact that Jesus has already done the work, that he’s already died on the cross for our sins and risen again.  And I said hey, it’s nothing that we do, it’s something that’s been done.  We either receive it or we don’t.  And as I was talking to him I said to myself, “This guy is asleep.  He didn’t get it.  He didn’t comprehend it.”

It was like trying to wake someone up, but I could not do it. Could it be that you’re asleep to knowing Jesus Christ?  Could it be that you are on the “do” stuff and not on the “done” stuff?  Because we’ll never do enough or we can never be nice enough or holy enough or righteous enough to have this connectivity with the Lord.  It’s got to happen when we admit the truth about who we are, when we admit the truth about our condition, turn from our sin and say, “Jesus, take control of my life.  I receive you.  I realize what you have done for me.”

Ed Young

You’re getting uncomfortable, because fishing is an uncomfortable sport. There’s some discomfort in fishing. Others here are followers of Christ, yet you maybe feel a little bit hesitant, a little bit uneasy about fishing. You say, “Well fishing, being a fisher of men, that’s the pastor’s job, or that’s this woman’s job who leads this Bible study. That’s not my deal.”

And some of you are maybe thinking that. Well, I want to challenge you and I want you to own the fact that fishing for men is one of the most joyful and rewarding and eternity altering things you can get involved in. Because so often we’re so focused on the here and now, on the temporal, that we forget about the eternal.  Most of our prayers are about the temporal, aren’t they? “Lord bless me, protect me, Lord help me, and protect me and bless me, and bless me and help me and protect me, and me and protect me and help me and bless me.”

Well, that’s fine and dandy. But we’re eternal beings aren’t we? Do we ever pray eternity focused prayers? Because as a human being, I have the chance to bump up against people and change their forever. If I’m following Christ—because remember followers fish—if you’re not fishing, you’re not truly following.

Others here maybe are not believers. You’re far away from God. You’re disconnected from God. And I want to say welcome to Fellowship Church. It’s a place to express your doubts, your questions; test the waters, seek, investigate. That’s what Christianity is all about.

Continue to do that. But I think you’ll discover through this talk that this church is totally committed to being uncomfortable for you. Because in the Christian life, believers live with this tension. We’re comfortably uncomfortable. We’re comforted by God, but uncomfortable for God. And a biblically functioning church is the same.

Ed Young

Matthew 4 he said “Follow me I’ll make you fishers of men,” then in Matthew 28 he talks about going into all the world and making disciples of all people. So the bookends of his ministry were all about fishing for souls.

I think it’s interesting, too, that Jesus picked a bunch of fishermen when he was bringing together his inner circle. He could have chosen some attorneys or preachers or accountants or real-estate tycoons, but he didn’t. He picked a bunch of fishermen, and when Jesus said, “Follow me,” the fishermen just dropped everything and they began to follow Jesus. So followers fish. If you’re fishing, you’re following.

If you’re not fishing, you’re not truly following. And the strategy that Jesus gave his followers what 2000 years ago is the same strategy he is using today.

Do you like to fish? I do, I enjoy fishing. It’s a biblical sport. Fishermen are interesting people. They’re always telling stories and they’re very passionate about their sport. I love to take someone fishing who’s never been fishing. They’re like “Wow! This is off the chain!”

The cork goes under the water, they feel the pull or they hear the drag and they’re hooked! Then they go out and they spend untold amounts of money on all this fishing gear and everything else. And they’re into fishing.

Fishermen are passionate people. They’re focused people. And I think you’re going to discover why Fellowship Church today is so passionate.

We have a number of people here from different walks of life. Some of you are fishermen; you’re followers and you fish. And that’s why we have to do so many services and have all these satellites and this place now in South Florida. And that’s why we do all these mission trips and everything, because you people are freaky fishermen! I want to thank you for fishing.

As many of you know, I love to fish. One of my favorite things about fishing is tying flies.  I’m a big fly fisherman.  I love to saltwater fly-fish.  That’s my favorite thing.  A while back, a friend of mine invited me to his fishing lodge here on Andros Island.  Andros Island is one of the most remote areas in the Western Hemisphere.  It has some fantastic fishing.  So, right now, I’m tying a fly that sort of matches what all these fish are eating. This fly is a good fly because the hook is pretty well disguised and I think the fish will be all over it.

Today, I want you to do a little fishing with me. This fishing trip, I think, is going to have some pretty powerful stuff in it.  The fly is tied. I’ve got my gear and all my flies…let’s go fishing.

“Let’s go fishing” that’s what Jesus said to a bunch of first century fishermen. In Matthew 4:18 -19 Jesus was walking around the Sea of Galilee, a beautiful body of water. Picture about thirty villages around this lake, and Jesus looked at some guys and he said “Follow me, I will make you fishers of men. Follow me I’ll make you into something that you’re not. Follow me and I’ll make you into fishers of men.”

In other words, followers fish. If you’re following, you’re fishing. If you’re not fishing, you’re not truly following. I’m really thankful that someone fished for me, aren’t you? I wouldn’t be here if someone hadn’t fished. And the reason you’re here is because someone got out of their La-Z-Boy and they got out of their comfort zone and got uncomfortable for you. I’m glad that someone fished for me. Jesus talked about this time and time again, if you look at the bookends of his ministry.

I’d better involve myself in the church.  That’s a command of Scripture.  I need to hang around people who will encourage me, who will challenge me, who will hold me accountable, who will pray for me, who will love me, who will affirm me.  We’ve got to have the church.  We’ve gotta put the church back in the bed.  We’ve gotta be involved in things that renew our mind.

How about the Bible?  The Bibles says that it can renew our mind.  It’s the Word of God.  How about payer?  How about relationships and friendships?  Ask yourself if the people you are running with, the people you’re hanging with are renewing your mind or not.  Are they big sex people, big bed people? Or are they creepy crawler people? You know what?  Some of you are saying, “Man I’m having all this good sex.  It is great!  I’m in the dog bed.  Ed, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

This (the bed) is a fireplace.  One spark and you’ll get torched.  You may not have been torched seriously yet.  You may not have been burned yet.  And I wish I could tell you there’s a good chance you will not get burned. But I’m going to tell you, you will get burned. Some of the time? No!  ALL of the time.  So, if you want to get torched and charred and totally incinerated, go for it!  Do it with whomever, whenever, whatever, however.  Go for it!  The choice is up to you.  But, God gives us this sexual advice for our best interest.

All of us, though—don’t miss this—all of us in this room have committed adultery spiritually. All of us have. Jesus Christ is the bridegroom. The church is what? The bride of Christ. We’ve slept in the wrong bed. We’ve chased other lovers. We’ve been unfaithful in this marriage. And in a real way, we’re slaves. Slaves to sin. We’re dependent on our desires and we’re standing on the auction block, naked.

The auctioneer has started the bidding for your life and mine. Sensuality says, “I bid this.” Money says, “I bid that.”  Power says, “No, I’m going to up the bid.” But a hand goes up in the back, a nailed pierced hand, and this young man says, “I bid my precious blood for that one.”

And Jesus points at you and he points at me. He makes his way through the crowd, through the clamor, and he clothes us in his righteousness. And he brings us in and adopts us into his family. He provides us a mansion in heaven and a purpose and a power and a strength that is beyond what this world can even comprehend. That, friends, is a true love affair. As our heads are bowed and eyes are closed, let’s just spend some time thanking God for his grace.

Yes, we know that sin rips and strips. But God, we thank you that your grace grips us. Some here, I know, are in the stage with the briars. You’re hung up. You feel the puncture in your life. Don’t take another step. Retrace your steps and come back to where you need to be. Others are saying, “You know, I’ve bolted through that.

You may be hesitating thinking, “What will people think; what will people say?”

I want to tell you something else about the story that I didn’t say in the video.  Right when Bruce got to that point of making that decision, a guy walked up and literally began to get Bruce off track and into some other stuff and it was almost the ninth inning.  I remember looking at him and I began to pray, “Get this guy out of the conversation because he is going to blow the deal!”

I know a lot of you right now have a lot of excuses in your mind why you should not walk forward.  Don’t hesitate.

A friend of mine is a professional athlete, and he and wife had been out of church for fifteen years.  They walked through the doors of Fellowship Church the first time we extended an invitation.  He stood in the back and walked all the way down front to make a public decision.  So if a professional athlete will do that, which is some serious pride, you can do it. So don’t hesitate.  Don’t worry about someone to your right or to your left, what they will say or what they will think.  You come forward only as God leads.

I want to say something to you down front. This is the best thing that you will ever do.  This is what Fellowship Church is all about, giving the opportunity to make this decision and then to discover the implications of this phenomenal life.  It is the best part of life; it is what it is all about.

We want this place, Fellowship Church, to support you, to encourage you so that you can discover more about the best life and how to live in the sweet spot of God’s success.  And we just want to help you and encourage you.

You know, anytime that God wants to birth a bunch of baby believers he looks for the warmest incubator he can find.  And that is why I am so thankful to be a part of Fellowship Church.  And I want to thank you for this incredible decision that God has orchestrated today.

Right now I am going to ask you to head out that way so that we can talk to you about the decision.  So if you would follow these pastors out and head toward room 229 so that we can talk to you briefly on the upper deck.

If you came with some of these folks, after the service is over in the next couple of moments you can go up there and wait for them and they will be up in the lobby to greet you.  But we want to talk to you briefly and give you some literature on this awesome decision that you have made.  Let’s show our appreciation again

How about technologically?  If you don’t have a filter on your computer, don’t use your computer until you get a filter.  Because lust dealt with effectively is lust dealt with radically.  We have had filters on our computers for a long, long time.  It is awesome accountability.  Because if we go on the wrong website it is reported to others and we need accountability.  Accountability emerges from affinity.

I’m telling you, if you want the best for your life, I’m telling you we need to get serious about these things because the temptation is there. Think about this.  I have so much stuff.  I have to get this out.  I don’t have too much time for this.  But think about Adam and Eve, again.  Adam is created.  All of the sudden God gives him Eve; he presents Eve to him in all of her glory.  We don’t know what Eve looked like.  Eve, though, guys, was Adam’s standard of beauty.

Look at your spouse, guys. That’s your standard of beauty.  Ladies, look at your husband. That’s your standard of beauty.  Okay. Let me tell you how bad porn is.  This is just one aspect of porn.  Porn is lust and lust is porn.  I don’t care if you’re married, guys, to the lady I saw at the upscale resort who would embarrass any Victoria’s Secret model and make Angelina Jolie go, “Oh my goodness.”

This girl was that beautiful.  What if you were married to her?  Just for a second, ladies, don’t worry. Guys, just picture yourself married to her. Now, here’s a computer.  I’m married to this lady, but guess what? I can go online and see women that would rival Solomon’s harem.