Lesson One: Followers Are Fishers

Sermon Outline/Notes from the pulpit of Mountain View Baptist Church in Taos, NM.

As we think of being a follower of Christ, we must always remember the fact that true Followers of Christ will be Fishers of men. A person that claims to be a Christian without a genuine desire to share their faith must reconsider whether or not they are truly following Christ.

Mark 1:15-18

15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the Gospel.
16 Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.
18 And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.

Are you genuinely fishing for men?

When Jesus came into this world it was for the purpose of saving people from their sins. His life and example demonstrated the fact that he sought after Sinners.

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
~ Luke 19:10

When he came, he came humbly. He didn’t come with ways to entice people. Yes, He performed life changing miracles, but He was truly seeking for followers that would love Him to death.

He came seeking people who would believe on Him, forsake all for Him, and those who would go about the world telling sinners that Jesus is the Saviour.

Jesus found several men that were fishers by trade. He used that analogy to compare what it takes to be a Biblical evangelist. Here are several thoughts when we think of fishing as found in Biblical times:

• One had to go where the fish were
• They didn’t lure fish
• They spread out a net to catch those that came
• As in our days, sometimes you have good days, sometimes you have bad days

I fear that modern day Evangelism has used the methods of fishing today, in place of fishing of Biblical times. We are not to lure in sinners with what they want, for it compromises the Gospel. Rather, we are to spread the Gospel net wide, and call for sinners to repent and believe the Gospel.

Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Mark 1:14-15

We are to reach the masses

When Jesus dealt with sinners, it was common for Him to have a following. In fact, there are times when there was no room for people due to the “press”. When He fed the multitudes, one would see crowds of thousands of people.

There are two specific phrases used when dealing with reaching people:

Publish

Mark 1:45: The leper who was healed.
Mark 5:20: The demon possessed man of Gadera that was delivered and saved.

Spread

Mark 1:28: The demon possessed man outside the synagogue that was delivered and saved.
Matthew 9:31: The two blind men who were healed.

Jesus came to reach the masses…the world. When we consider our evangelism efforts, are we limiting the power of God with our lack of faith? Remember, Jesus said that we would do greater works!

Let’s stop luring one “fish” at a time, and lets spread the Gospel message to the masses!

This sermon outline was preached at the Mountain View Baptist Church in Taos, NM. It is the first of a series dealing with Biblical evangelism. Join our newsletter to be updated when we release future articles on this topic.

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