All In

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When playing poker and you think your a hand is better than everyone else's and you are convinced you can win you go "all in". You place all your money in the middle of the table.  Your trusting that what you have is the best.  You are placing all your trust in those cards.  Your trusting that those cards will double your money.  Jesus wants us to be "all in". Tonight we focused on two scriptures; Matthew 4:18-22 and Luke 5:1-11.  Both scriptures are telling the same story, but from different perspectives.  Matthew was a Jew who was writing the stories for other Jews; people well versed and trained in religious ways.  Luke was an investigator who asked questions and recorded the accounts for those of little knowledge and experience.  Luke's story has a few more details than Matthews.  

In both accounts Jesus says "follow me" and they do.  Luke points out that Jesus tells Simon Peter to throw his net to the other side of the boat.  This is after he had been out fishing all night.  This is after he had caught nothing all night.  Jesus asked him to do this during a time when he normally wouldn't go fishing and after he had just experienced repeated failures.  But, in v. 5 Simon Peter says "But if you say so, I'll let the nets down again."  It was in the middle of the the day, no one during that time fished in the middle of the day.  Even though Simon Peter wasn't sure why Jesus was asking him to do this, and even though He probably thought Jesus was crazy for telling him to do it, he still did it.  He was all in. Following always starts with listening.  Intentions do not create results, actions do.  In the beginning of service we watched a video, 'Jesus>Religion' (http://youtu.be/1IAhDGYlpqY).  During devotions we discussed how you can act and be like a Christian, but it can easily be just a cloak to put on for show.  We discussed what it means to us to be "all in".  No going back.  Nothing can change your mind.  Not just sticking your toe in the water, but jumping in.  We shared about a few things in our lives that we are "all in"; marriage, being a sister, extra-curricular activities.  

Are you all in?  
Are you a fan or a follower?  
Do you trust Jesus enough to act on it?

We also took time during devotions to share what we accomplished on our sites.  It was a pretty hot day and everyone has been drinking lots and lots of water. Colton, Sarah, and Abby got the shingles removed from one side of the roof, felt paper layer, and a couple rows of shingles started.  Katie, Amy, and Jana cleared half their roof, and had a few professionals help start to lay shingles.  Some members of their group went on prayerwalks through the neighborhood.  They were well received by some individuals, they even met someone who had a roof replaced by Mission Serve last year.  Others they met weren't quite as receptive.  Catie and Andrew's group as well as Mark's group got shingles off and felt paper down.  Kya, Autumn, Clarissa, and Isaiah's group got shingles off, paper down, shingles started, watched a hyperactive dog and met their homeowner.  Kacey and Don got shingles off, plywood replaced, paper down, raked and weeded the yard and met some neighborhood kids.  

Everyone is wiped out and tired in bed early tonight trying to rest up for a busy day two of service. 

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