LAUNCH OUT – PART 1(INTO THE DEEP): PASTOR (DR) MENSA OTABIL – SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE, 19TH FEBRUARY, 2023.
SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE WITH PASTOR (DR) MENSA OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER, INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) CHRIST TEMPLE, ACCRA GHANA)
TOPIC: LAUNCH OUT – PART 1 (INTO THE DEEP)
DATE: 19TH FEBRUARY 2023
BIBLE TEXT: LUKE 5: 1-4
Let us rise up together as we make our “DECLARATION OF GATHERING” in this “YEAR OF GATHERING”.
Are you ready? Say with me:
I Proclaim Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. The Lord is the Shepherd of my Soul, my Shelter by Day, my Light by Night.
In His Name, we Plough our fields, by His Spirit we gather the Harvest, in His Light we seek and find.
In this Year of Gathering, the Lord of the Harvest has commanded: Launch Out into the Deep. At His Words, we cast our Nets, we gather in Souls and Substance for God’s Kingdom.
The Lord is our Reward; in this Season I received God’s Portion set aside for me: Full Measure, Pressed down, Shaking together and running over.
Nothing is Lost and Nothing is wasted in Jesus Name – Amen!
We are starting a New Series and I titled it: “LAUNCH OUT”.
If you noticed our Backdrop Banner, we have a Picture of a Person drawing a Net of Fish and in our Declaration, we also talked about the Lord commanding us to “Launch Out” and that is why we cast our Net. Because everything that we say is Sermatic to how we want the Year to be.
I am doing what I think will be a 5-Parts Series/Messages.
And this is Part 1 of “Launch Out” and my Subtitle is “INTO THE DEEP”.
My Bible Text is taking from Luke Gospel of Chapter 5, from Verses 1 to 4
Luke 5: 1-4:
- So it was, as the Multitude pressed about Him to hear the Word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret,
- And saw two boats Standing by the Lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.
- Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the Land. And He sat down and taught the Multitudes from the boat.
4 When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch Out into the Deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
The Passage shows two (2) Events that are taking Place here.
And the two (2) Events involve two (2) People doing different things but what they are doing is related.
- The first Event involve Jesus Christ.
And Jesus Christ has just began His Ministry and He is Preaching around His Hometown Lake – The Lake of Gennesaret.
The Lake of Gennesaret is called the Lake of Galilee – The reason it is called the Lake of Gennesaret is because the Lake of Galilee covers a lot of Towns and Villages. So, when it is within a certain Village, the Villagers name it after their Village.
So, the Lake of Galilee, the Part near the Village of Gennesaret is called the Lake of Gennesaret – This is just for your Biblical Knowledge!
And so Jesus Christ is around and was Preaching and a crowd has gathered to listen to Him.
And so Jesus Christ is facing a crowd and the crowd is around Jesus Christ – So large that He could not Preach to them.
And the reason that He couldn’t Preach to them is just to imagine that there is a crowd Pressing Him (On Jesus Christ) at the Beach. Behind Him is the Lake (The Water) and the People were Pressing Him to hear Him.
Of course, if He moves any further; He is going to fall into the water. So, He needs space to Preach the Word of God.
So, Jesus Christ has a Problem which I called “The Space Problem” because crowd requires Space.
One of the Challenges of any kind is that Growth will Present to you the Challenge of Space.
When a Church grows, it will create a Challenge of Space – Where do you accommodate your Members and your children? Where do People Park their cars?
Family grows, it will have a Problem of Space – Where do you put all the children and all the Possessions that you are accumulating?
When a Business grows, you are going to face a Challenge of Space.
So, Jesus Christ has a Challenge of Space and the Problem of Space is because there is a crowd – It is a Good Problem!
It is a Good Problem when your Problem is that you have too much.
So, Jesus Christ has a lot of crowd – The crowd is Pressing Him, He has no Space and He needs to Preach to them.
So that is the first Event or Problem with Jesus Christ.
- The Second Event involves Peter.
Peter is also in the same Place – He is around Lake Gennesaret, he has an ‘Empty Boat’ and there is no Fisherman in the boat and there is Nothing in his Boat.
It is a big contrast from Jesus Christ – One has a Problem of the Multitude/Crowd while the other has a Problem of Emptiness (Nothing). Both of them at the same Lake – The Lake of Gennesaret!
It is very interesting how you see this contrast in the Bible and how the Bible shows us Pictures as we read them.
So here is Jesus Christ; He has a Problem – Too many People and here also is Peter; He has a Problem – Nothing.
One is Empty while one is Overflowing!
Somehow, these two (2) Events Personalities and their Problems are going to converge. There is going to be a Meeting Place:
I. Between Jesus Christ and Peter.
II. Between the Multitude and Emptiness.
III. Between an Empty Boat and a crowd that is facing Jesus Christ.
And these are the issues that are facing them:
I. Jesus Christ is facing Success; Peter is coping with a Failed Mission.
II. One has began His Ministry and doing well; the other began a long time ago and he is not doing well.
Can Failure and Success converge? But somehow in-between these two (2) Events, there is a convergence. And when the two (2) Events converge, something interesting happened – Jesus Christ used the Instrument of Peters Failed Mission to successfully carry out a Divine Mission!
What Peter considered a Failure – An Empty Boat; Jesus Christ takes that Empty Boat and He uses the Empty Boat with no Fish, with a ‘Depressed Fisherman’ who feels that he has failed. Jesus Christ takes it and uses it Successfully!
It is amazing with Jesus Christ and what He can do with your Life:
I. What you called a Failure, He can take it and use it to achieve something Great.
II. What you think is the end of your Life, He can take it and begin something Fresh with your Life.
When you think that it is over, He says that I’m beginning!
And that was what He does with Peter – Peter thought that I have failed; Jesus Christ said that you have no idea of how to spell Failure because when I encounter your Life, what you think that is a Failure will turn to Success!
I don’t know about you but I believed that there is Somebody here this morning or reading now on the Label of DMC with an Empty Boat – Frustrated and wondering: How am I not making it?
I come to announce to you that the same Jesus Christ who turned an Empty Boat to a Platform of Success is going to take your Empty Boat and turn it into a Platform of Success. It is not the end yet – You are frustrated but the Messiah is here and He will turn the Negative into a Positive (Amen)!
So Jesus Christ took what was considered a Failure and made it a Success!
And for that to happen, we come back to the Purpose of this Message – Jesus Christ said to Peter: “Launch Out”.
Now, this word “Launch Out” from the Greek word “Epanagō” – That is the root word of it.
Launch Out is used twice in the Passage (Now depending on which Version of the Bible that you are using).
What does it mean to Launch Out?
- It means to move away from something.
Launching Out will take you out away from something – Usually it is something that is familiar to you, something that you know, something that you have done over and over and over.
When you Launch Out, you are moving away!
- Launch Out also means to move further to something.
Launching Out will take you into something New!
I. So when God tells us to Launch Out, He is telling you to move away from something.
II. He is also telling you to move into something. Because sometimes and many times, if you need to move into something New, you need to move out of something Old.
For you to move to Success, you move away from Failure.
And sometimes, the thing that you need to move away from are things that are familiar to you:
- It may be your Mindset.
- It may be a Practice.
- it may be something that you do all the time.
But when God comes into your Boat, you are going to Launch Out!
That is what He said to Peter – Launch Out!
If you look into the Passage as I said that there are two (2) ways to Launch Out – The two (2) ways that Jesus Christ used the Phrase Launch Out!
- The first is in Verse 3 – Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the Land. And He sat down and taught the Multitudes from the boat.
Note that in my New King’s James Version of the Bible, it says: “Put Out”.
Put in the Greek, it is “Epanagō”.
When Jesus Christ said “Launch Out” the first time, He says: Move out, move from where you are
And He said to Peter – ‘Put Out’, move from where you are.
And He told him how far he should go – Move from the Land but not too far. ‘Put Out’ a little from the Land.
It is Launching Out but it is not into the Deep – A little from the Land!
You know that many times, when God wants you to do something Great; He doesn’t wait for you to do something that is so demanding of you that you are not able to do it.
He can start with the first Step and there will be a Second Step.
So, the first time that God said to Peter – Launch Out; He didn’t say to the Deep. He said: Launch Out just a little from the Land.
Of course Practically, it was serving a Practical Purpose because the crowd was there at the Shore. Jesus Christ stepped into Peter’s Boat, the crowd is at the Shore. If they go into the Deep, then Jesus Christ cannot Minister to the crowd.
So this Launch Out is to move a little from the Land so that when I speak, they will hear me!
But sometimes it tells us that when we are Launching Out, we are moving from the Land into the Sea. But it is not a very far away Space.
You know many times, when People want to attempt to do something big for God, we want to also start or Launch Out big.
Sometimes, you admire how some People Launch their businesses or Launch a Product – They are going to have a big bang and a big Tent and they are going to invite the President, Ministers of State and invite maybe King Charles of Great Britain and Nobody shows up.
Have you ever been to a Launch that every Invited Guest didn’t show up?
Do you know what they are trying to do? You are Launching Out into the Deep when you should be Launchimg a little further from the Land.
Because when you are Unknown, Nobody will come to Launch/Party. You have to start and Prove something before you go into the Deep.
And Jesus Christ said to Peter – Just a little from the Land.
You are going to do Great Things but start one Step at a time. And don’t be afraid to take a little Step because little Step is not your Final Step.
Its only the first Step and it is going to take you somewhere.
We started our Church in a Classroom but today, we are in this Auditorium.
The first Step is not here – I couldn’t even have imagined this Possibility, there is no way its going to happen. I didn’t have the Capacity, I didn’t have the Resources, I didn’t have the Mindset, I didn’t have the Maturity to Pastor a thousand People. My Maturity Level was just to Pastor twenty (20) People, make all my mistakes with twenty (20) People and so when I have twenty thousand (20,000) Cedis; I would have solved all my Problems and not making mistakes before a Large crowd.
Because if you make big mistakes before a big crowd, you blow your Chance forever but if you make your big mistake before a small People, they will forgive you easily. And if they don’t forgive you, its just twenty (20) People.
The Challenge with many People is that when they Launch Out, they want to Launch Out big.
Nowadays, People Post big things on Social Media and they feel very important that they are Changing or Influencing the world.
But Nobody is reading your comment and you are not Changing anything.
The first thing you need to Change is not the world but your Mind – Launch Out a little from the Sea!
That is what Jesus Christ said to Peter. He is moving from something into something but not in a Big way.
- The Second time the Phrase was used – Most of you are familiar with it. After Jesus Christ Ministered to the crowd, He used the word again in Verse 4 – Launch Out your Boat into the Deep.
Luke 5: 4 – When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch Out into the Deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
First time, Launch Out a little; Second time, Launch Out into the Deep!
What does it means to Launch Out into the Deep?
It means go beyond the Surface!
The word ‘Deep’ there as it was used in the Verse is literally “The Deep Seas”.
One thing about the Deep Seas is far away from the Land.
When you are in trouble in the Deep Sea, the Land is far away from you
And the other thing about the Deep Sea is that it is Deep – If you fall into the Deep Sea, you are going into the Deep.
But even no matter how bad you are; if you are close to the Land, you can go back. But if you go to the Deep Sea and something goes wrong, you are in trouble.
So, Jesus Christ said: Launch Out into the Deep after He has said Launch Out a little.
And the Instructive Thing that God wants us to learn is that He lifts us in Phases and Steps!
Sometimes, you have to do Big things, Mighty things, Deep things, attempt something bold, Audacious.
But before you attempt something bold and audacious; then you should have attempted something small and significant.
David didn’t start with Goliath – He started with a Lion and a Bear.
You have to Launch Out but you have to determine that I am Launching Out a little so that I can Launch Deeper or will I start without any experience to my Launch out Deeper?
If you try to Launch Out very Deep, you can get Lost in the Deep because the Deep is deep; the Deep is far!
This Year (2023); there will be People who will Launch Out into the Deep because you have been at the Shore for too long. You Launch Out a little so long ago and now you have to take a Bold Step.
I remembered the first time that we took our Cross Over Service to the Stadium – We have been in our Church, Christ Temple West for a long time. We started Cross Over, fill the Auditorium, we fill the Outside and then fill the Car Park, then fill the Game Court and People are still Standing on the Street.
So, I knew that we have moved a little – Launch Out!
Then one Sunday, I said that this Year’s Cross Over, we are going to the Accra Stadium.
That was into the Deep but it was Possible because we have mastered the Launching Out a little from the Land.
You don’t just Stand and say: I am going to fill the Accra Sports Stadium – The Stadium will swallow you and you can break your Confidence.
So, two (2) kinds of Launching Out:
- Launching Out a little from the Land.
- Launching Out into the Deep.
This Morning or as you read now on the Label of DMC, I just want to Pray for anybody who is Launching Out into something this Year (2023).
I. For some of you – You are starting something this Year (2023). You want to start a New Business or some of you are Launching a New Marriage (Marrying afresh) – It is a Launch Out.
II. Some of you, this is your first time of attempting something. So, I’m going to Pray for you.
III. For some of you, you have done it for so long and now God says it is time to Launch Out into the Deep.
And don’t be afraid if you are told to Launch Out into the Deep. The Lord who tells you to go into the Deep is the One who told you to Step Out a little.
And if He has been Faithful in little, He will be Faithful in much.
So this Morning, we just want to Pray before I close for everyone who is Launchimg Out into anything – You are starting something; it may be small or big but you are Launching Out. I Pray that God will help you.
So, just Stand Up wherever you are:
I. I don’t know how far you are going but the Lord is your Helper.
II. Even if your Boat is Empty, you can start something New with it.
III. Maybe you have come from a Frustrated Life but He is gping to turn it around.
So, put your Hand on your Chest as I Pray – Say:
Father, we are encouraged by the Scriptures this morning as we read the Encounter of Jesus Christ with Peter on the Sea of Gennesaret dealing with a Man who has lost everything over night and came out Empty.
But we are encouraged by the Instructions of the Lord that we can Launch Out a little from the Land, we can also Launch out into the Deep.
And so for everyone of your children here this morning or reading now on the Label of DMC; who is Launching Out into something.
Whatever is it that they are Stepping into:
For some, it is a very small Bold Step. I Pray Father for Courage, for Vision, for Clarity, Favour, Wisdom that you will Launch Out and you will Launch Out Successfully.
That the Lord will be with you, even if it is small Step, He will make it work and He will use your small Steps to do Great Things.
For those who are Launching Out into the Deep, I Pray for them that they are going to dare to do something Big in the Deep. And I Pray that Failure will never be their Song and Failure will never be their Portion.
So, I Pray Father in the Name of Jesus Christ for Grace, Favour, Wisdom, Direction. May the Lord and Holy Spirit be with you. Then Lord this Morning, be their Shield, be their Portion Lord
And Father, when they go into the Deep, let them come with Boats filled with Fish.
And I Pray Lord for us Your Child, that we will Launch Out for Souls, let this be a Soul Winning Church Lord – Where we Launch and bring People to Your Kingdom.
We give You Praise and Glory and Honour that You are making a Successful Story out of our Story.
In Jesus Name – Amen! Amen!! and Amen!!!
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