His Way or My Way

I want to invite you to open your bibles with me back to Lukes gospel and find chapter 5. As we have been led to spend this year of 2025 focusing our eyes, ears, hearts, and lives on Just Jesus, we will continue that custom today as we want to See Jesus, …Hear Jesus, …Love Jesus, …and Live Jesus! We have been in a series called Into the deep. So today we continue in this series by looking at a moment between Peter and Jesus that begins this road to total surrender for Peter. Now, I have one primary question I want to ask you, are you willing to come to Jesus on His terms? Are you willing to come to Jesus on His terms? The reason I ask that is because I think, without realizing it, we’ve often built a version of Christianity that lets people approach Jesus on their terms. It’s subtle, but it’s there. You can see it in how we talk about salvation, how we pitch the gospel in quick encounters, and how we define what it means to follow Christ. And sometimes I wonder if, in our urgency to make Jesus accessible, we’ve accidentally made Him optional. Like, “Just pray this prayer, sign this card, raise your hand, and you’re good.” Earlier this week, our small group went to the fair. And while we were walking around, we saw this tent—big, bold letters, men’s ministry, free gifts, and the goal was to win souls. Now, on the surface, it seemed like something any Christian would cheer for. And don’t get me wrong—I believe the intention was sincere. But as I looked closer, I couldn’t help but remember a time I was invited to be part of a similar ministry at another fair years ago. I’ll never forget it. We were told to share the gospel with people passing by, and if they said yes—great! We’d put their name on a list, give them a burnt stick, and move on. And that was it. Their names were collected. Their heads were bowed, they prayed a prayer and we sent them off to be devoured by this world. But no one followed up. No one discipled them. No one walked with them. And I remember thinking: Is this what we’ve reduced following Jesus to? A prayer, a pamphlet and a free gift? This year, as I walked past that same tent, I saw a man and a teenager bowed in prayer—what looked like the “sinner’s prayer.” And I’ll be honest, my heart just sank. Not because I doubted God’s power to save in that moment—but because I couldn’t help but wonder: Does this young man know what he’s walking into? Does he know who he’s giving his life to? I wanted to make sure his heart was really there—not just repeating words to get something free. You see, that kind of approach doesn’t build a life of surrender. It builds a list of names and leaves people spiritually homeless. This is what in think… this kind of evangelism offers Jesus as an accessory to your life, not the King who lays claim to your whole life. The truth is: the gospel doesn’t just invite us to believe something—it demands that we surrender everything. Ot pick up our cross and to follow Jesus.

So here’s what I want us to consider: the gospel isn’t an accessory to your life—it’s a call to radically reorder it. And it all starts with a moment like this one in Luke… Look with me in your Bible to Luke 5, where Peter has just returned from a long, fruitless night of fishing. He’s exhausted—deeply honest—and he says, in verse 5, Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” Now, what does it mean that the gospel isn’t an accessory to your life—it’s a call to radically reorder it.

Peter could have chosen not to reorder his own life. Jesus, no. Jesus, I need sleep. But no, I sense this is Peter’s beginning to trust with a love that will eventually become superior. This act of obedience is a seed. Its a new beginning for Peter. But, when I read this, I just feel like there is just something is stirring in Peter that keeps him from choosing his own way. Part one, is this.. Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. That’s real. That’s his frustration talking. That’s his fatigue and disappointment. I love it because to me… that’s Peter being honest. But then… he follows that top with this.. “But because you say so…” That’s the hinge. That’s the shift from Peter’s way to God’s way. That’s not about fish anymore. That’s about trust. And what I see happening here is this, there is a slow birth for a superior love for Jesus. He doesn’t know it yet. He doesn’t even know that Jesus is going to tell him to throw down your ents and follow him… He doesn’t know he’ll follow Jesus to betrayal, denial, and eventually a cross of his own. But somewhere deep inside, in this moment, Peter is beginning to lean toward a Person more than a plan.

There’s a new beginning begin planted here… and its love. This is the beginning of a super love for Jesus. Let em show you… In the book of Luke, a few chapter later in chapter 14, Jesus would be talking to the crowd that is following him. And he’s about to give them some hard hitting requirements of loving him. One that would shatter anyone who’s following Jesus for themselves… Jesus in verse 26, says.. 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. That is some radical request isn’t it? Think about how it would grab anyones attention. What does he mean to hate my mother and father. Wife and children, bofrthers and sister. Like I don’t get it it.. aren’t I supposed to love them. Love my neighbor as myself. Should we not honor our mother and father? And how can someone honor but hate them at the same time.. Im confused. And to bring my wife and kids into it? Aren’t I supposed to be at one with my wife. And to live my wife as Christ loves the church. Yes. We are. Now lets take a road trip. If we flip back just a bit to Matthew’s gospel, chapter 10—Jesus says something very similar, but in a way that helps make sense of it. In Matthew 10:37, Jesus says, “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” Ah.. so now we begin to see something right? It doesn’t seem so harsh like it did in Luke. Jesus is saying: “Your love for Me must be so supreme, so superior, that every other love in your life—even the most precious ones—looks pale in comparison. This is what I mean by “superior love.” It’s not about hating others in a literal sense—it’s about reordering your affections. Its about saying, Jesus… you’re not just a ;part of my life. You’re not just a part of my routine. Its, Jeuss you are my life. Above all other things, you are everything to me. And that’s what the gospel does. It doesn’t ask to be added to your schedule like a new hobby or a weekend activity. The gospel comes in and says, “I am the center now. (Funny I am the captain now) Rebuild everything around Me.” That’s radical. But it’s also beautiful. And here’s the truth and what I love about the gospel…. : ……. when Christ becomes your greatest love, your other loves don’t disappear—they get purified. They don’t get weaker—they become stronger, holier, healthier, more selfless. Your love for your spouse, your kids, your friends—it all deepens when it flows from a heart rooted in Christ. Men, how do you play out Ephesians 5:25? Love your wife just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. How do you do that if love for Christ is not supreme in your life? You can’t. You can’t love your wife without a radical love for Christ. And hear this church… do you radically love Christ like that? Has your heart, your life, your affections, your emotions been conquered by a far radical love for God? B Because I think—if we’re honest—many of us know very little of that kind of love. Church becomes routine. Faith becomes a list. And before we know it, following Jesus turns into behavior management and spiritual performance. We try to measure our faithfulness by how often we show up, how many verses we read, or how well we’ve avoided certain sins this week. You hear it in the way we express our faith… We say I know I need to be in church. I know I need to take my kids to church. I know I need to pray. I know I need to study the Bible. Listen,. That is not christianity. At all. There is nothing in that kind of faith in Christ where he is all in all. It’s not guilt-driven, checklist Christianity. And I know.. we have the Scripture that says, if you love me, you will obey my commands. But we can’t forget what he says first.. if you love me, then you’d obey. It starts with love. The obedience flows out of a heart that’s captivated by Him. The more you love Him, the more you want to follow Him. And if you don’t love Him—if your affections are somewhere else—obedience will always feel like a burden instead of a joy. And so, when we read Luke 14 again, when it says “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. Listen to what’s being said, this picture of radical love, isn’t to hate but anything that is NOT Christ centered is you not loving the other person in the way they should be loved, because any other kind of love we offer anyone outside of our love for Christ is like hating them. And I believe, right there in Luke 5, we’re seeing the very beginning of that kind of love taking root in Peter’s heart. He’s not all the way there yet. He hasn’t left his nets. He hasn’t denied Jesus or preached at Pentecost. But in that tired, confused moment—when he says, “Because you say so, I will”—he’s leaning into a trust that’s more than logic. What is it? It’s love. I believe Peter in this moment had a love for him, theres no way anyone would leave behind all they know to follow Jesus unless they loved him. Un less they were centered on him. … And because of that moment, when Peter says, because you say so…. It became the seedbed to being able to listen to what Jesus as asking for him to do. Even when he was tired, and even when he was frustrated… his ears were still listening and his heart wasn’t cold.

And that should change our perspective on our faith from what I want my faith to be, to Jesus I want to be centered on you so that I can truly love those around… Because when we have a love for Christ, and it starts to grow—when it starts to stir something deeper in us—it also starts to challenge the parts of us that are still clinging to control. And maybe you're like me… you’ve had that moment where you feel something rising in your soul and you ask, "Am I afraid to surrender to this kind of love? Am I afraid to be fully captivated by Christ?” What will cost me to step out into the deep and to say, If you say so? Death. Thats the cost. There is no other way to explain it. It will kill you… and that is why so many followers are shore bound. Listen…….

Surrendering to Christ means dying—dying to your dreams, your control, your comfort, your preferences, your reputation. It means laying down the life you thought you were building, the image you were trying to maintain, so that He can raise up something entirely, new in you. That’s why Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Not weekly. Not occasionally. Daily. Because this death is not a one-time altar call—it’s a daily invitation to let go and trust Him more than yourself. But the flesh in us wants to avoid that kind of death. Thats where fear has take up residence.. in our flesh. It’s not the Spirit that’s afraid. It’s not the new man in Christ who resists surrender. It’s the old man—the flesh—that clings to comfort, control, reputation, safety, and self. That fear you feel when God nudges you to give something up, when He calls you deeper, when He whispers, “Trust Me…”—that fear isn’t from the Spirit. That fear is the last breath of a dying flesh trying to stay alive. Because the cross doesn’t just kill sin—it kills self. And the flesh knows it. And it will resist it at all cost. That’s why you feel the fight in your soul. That’s why surrender doesn’t come easy. Thats why we stop at desire but yet we have yet to delight in Christ. It will argue, it will bargain, it will delay. Because deep down, it knows—Jesus doesn’t do halfway. He doesn’t just touch part of your life. He comes for it all. And that’s the scandal and the beauty of surrender: It feels like death… because it is death… But it leads to life. Real life. And let me just say, there is deceit at every turn in our life… You have been deceived by this world. By the enemy of your soul. What would it take to surrender your heart today and say “I am yours, and I want to be as free as I can be from sin, and as fruitful as I can be in glorifying you. What would that take? You’re afraid that saying , I surrender will have consequences you don’t want. Your dread is a deception. You’re not unique in this; I’m not pointing my finger at you, because millions of people deal with this. Including me….. … My young life was rooted in what I wanted Christ to be, for me, not what he wanted to do in me, to free me. My heart had a desire but no delight in it. Because I was deceived. I was deceived to want what I wanted. And it teamed up with the devil to keep me from being surrendered so entirely that it if I want to go from what I want, to……… Father, what is your will for my life. That it would harm me in some way.. that death to self meant not freedom, but bondage. But that’s was a lie. My heart and the enemy teamed up… because my heart was sick and it needed to be renewed. Jeremiah says, says that the human heart, and your heart, “is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it. When God says “the heart is deceitful,” he’s reminding us that the heart is the seat of sin. And sin only has power by deception. That’s the only way sin can work… by deceiving you. Thats what hebrews says, “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” Thats how hardness in our hearts work.. we are deceived so much, that it becomes calloused to the love of Christ. And the fear rules our lives to fear a surrender so deep, so captivating that we fear living our nets and walking away. Thats why we learned, to seek, and to put off in Colossians last week. Put off your old life. You’ve got desires — desires to avoid something and desires to embrace something — and they’re deceiving you.

And here’s the dangerous thing about deception: it doesn’t always feel like rebellion. Sometimes it just feels like fear, or hesitation, or logic. But underneath it all is a lie—that if you give yourself fully to Christ, if you say, “Yes, Lord, I’ll do whatever You ask,” then He’s going to make you do something you really don’t want to do. That’s the falsehood that destroys. The lie that obedience equals misery. That surrender means loss. That God’s will must somehow be opposite of your joy. But what if the opposite is true? What if the thing you’re afraid to surrender is the very thing that’s holding you back from joy? What if your fear is lying to you—whispering that death to self is the end, when really, it’s the beginning? The truth is, God never calls you to surrender just to break you—He calls you to surrender so He can raise you. You’ve got to let go of what you want to do, so you can finally do what He’s calling you to do. And the Spirit of God won’t just force you into it. He’ll transform your desires until obedience isn’t just duty—it becomes delight. So yes, surrender feels like death. But the lie is that it ends in sorrow. The truth is it leads to joy. That’s what Jesus meant when He said, “Whoever loses their life for My sake will find it.” The old you has to die for the new you to live.

What if Peter believed that lie in Luke 5? What if he had said, “Jesus, I’m tired. I’ve already tried. I’ve already failed. I don’t need a sermon—I need a solution. I’ve done it my way all night. I’m done.and he waled away? Thank God he didn’t say that. He kept to the calling… even when it hurt. Even when he needed forgiveness.. even when he had messed up and made mistakes.. he clung to Christ and was made even more into his image and done great things in the name of Jesus. Thank goodness he said, Because You say so, I will let down the nets. ”That was a moment of surrender. It wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t loud. It was quiet, tired, obedient trust. And it went against all of the deception of the heart to not surrender. And that little act of surrender didn’t just lead to a boat full of fish. It led to a life full of purpose. It led to Peter leaving behind the very thing he thought defined him—fishing—and following the One who would give him a new identity as a fisher of men. You see, Peter had to lose the life he had built to find the life that Christ was offering. Luke 5 is proof: surrender may feel like death—but it always leads to resurrection.

amen? As the worship team comes back up…

I just want to finish with this.. how do we defeat deception? How do we silence the deception that say, “Surrender will ruin you... Obedience will break you... Giving up control will rob you of joy”? Well first, We look to Jesus. Listen, what you behold will shape what you believe. Fix your eyes on him. We live in a world filled with distractions, comparisons, and false treasures. But if you’re constantly looking at the world, it will constantly be shaping you. What you behold with your heart will eventually determine what you chase with your life. That’s why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that when we behold the glory of the Lord, we are transformed. We are made new. We are being made into the very image of Christ… in our minds, body strength, heart and eyes. Swe;rew becoming image bearers. The more you look to Jesus—not just glance, but gaze—the more the Spirit will transform your fears, loosen your grip on control, and free you to love Him above all. You will never surrender to someone you don’t treasure. But when you see Jesus for who He truly is, surrender becomes joy.

Pray for Eyes to See. Ask God to awaken your heart to His beauty. The enemy would love nothing more than to keep you spiritually blind. David says, open my eyes, that I may behold the wondrous things of your law. Open our eyes.. let the blind see. Not just physical blindness, but even those who are spiritually blind. And that happens through prayer. Surrender begins with a posture of prayer. Not performance. Not willpower. But humble, desperate prayer.

And thirdly, Surround Yourself with a community of Truth-Tellers. If there is one thing the enemy wants to do is get your alone. And so, what we learn is this.. Isolation breeds deception. Let godly community sharpen your faith and speak truth into your blind spots. Sin grows in silence. Fear thrives in isolation. But God didn’t design you to fight alone. Hebrews 3:13 says we must exhort one another daily so we aren’t hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. That means we need people in our lives who love Jesus enough to call us out, build us up, and remind us of what’s true when we forget. We need brothers and sisters who won’t let us settle for shallow faith or spiritual compromise. Small groups, teens.. these are opportunities to grow in confidence in Jesus. We need people in our lives who love us enough to tell us the truth. So let others in, and create a space for grace for one another.

And that’s exactly what we’re about to do as we come to the Table. This moment—communion—is not just a personal reflection. It’s a shared confession. It’s a family meal. Church, the call to follow Jesus is not casual. It’s costly. And yet… it is the greatest joy of our lives—to belong to the One who gave everything to make us His. At the center of that call… is the cross. And this table we’re about to come to—it’s not just a moment to remember. It’s an invitation. To surrender. To trust. To say again, or maybe for the first time: ‘Because You say so, I will.’ We don’t come to the table because we’ve earned it. We come because He offered Himself in love. This meal is the invitation to reorder our lives around that love.” “In just a moment, I invite you to come forward, take the bread and cup, and serve one another. Look that person in the eye—maybe your spouse, maybe someone you've never met—and say: ‘The body of Christ, broken for you. The blood of Christ, shed for you.’

“Jesus, we come not just to remember… but to reorder. We lay down our preferences, our plans, our pride. We say: not our way… but Yours. As we eat the bread and drink the cup, let it be a declaration: You are enough. You are worthy. We trust You. Because You said so, we come. Amen.” *