In this sermon Pastor Steve passionately and personally identifies with Peter in Luke chapter 5 as he says to Jesus “Depart from me, I am a sinful man, oh Lord”.  We find that this statement betrays a deeply religious heart and that Jesus rejects Peter’s religious posturing by calling him to catch men instead of fish.  Peter is so moved by Jesus’ grace and His willingness to associate with Peter despite his sin, that he leaves everything to follow him.

This is the crux of the message…That Jesus calls sinners, cleanses sinners, and commissions sinners.  The religious and self-righteous miss the call and reject the true righteousness of God in Jesus.  As we find in the next two verses after Peter’s calling, all that is required of the leper is faith in the context of a humble recognition of need as he says to Jesus “If you will, you can make me clean.”  It is Jesus’ response to the man that Pastor Steve so desperately wants us to hear and prays for all of us to experience… Jesus says to him “I will. Be clean.”

Listen right here by clicking the play button above. You can also listen to the audio or download audio on our Mars Hill Media site by clicking here.

You can follow along with Pastor Steve’s sermon using the text’s below.

Luke 5:1-11
¹On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, ²and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. ³Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. ⁴And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” ⁶And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. ⁷They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” ⁹For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” ¹¹And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Luke 15:1-2
¹Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. ²And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

Luke 5:12-13
¹²While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” ¹³And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him.

John 3:16
¹⁶“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 5:8
⁸but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 8:3
³For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

2 Corinthians 5:21
²¹For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

“Theme” song of the Welsh Revival of 1904

Here is love vast as the ocean
Loving kindness as the flood
When the Prince of life, our ransom
Shed for us His precious blood
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten
Throughout Heaven’s eternal days

On the Mount of Crucifixion
Fountains opened deep and wide
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide
Grace and love, like mighty rivers
Poured incessant from above
And Heaven’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love

Matthew 13:44-45
⁴⁴“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. ⁴⁵“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls,

Luke 9:1-2
¹And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, ²and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.

Luke 10:1-2
¹After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. ²And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

Luke 10:9
⁹Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

Luke 10:17-20
¹⁷The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” ¹⁸And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. ²⁰Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Matthew 28:18-20
¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”