SERMON SEEDS appear everywhere. This article on going into deeper waters contains a number of points useful to putting together a sermon on its base passage, Luke 5:1-11. Sadly, the author really misses the point as he attempts to make various outreaches more Christ-focused. He writes:

'Our church is known for its recreation program.'

Now I'm sorry, but if that's your church's claim to fame there certainly needs to be a reassessment. He continues:

'For the first time in 70 years, the leaders of the recreation program committed themselves to the goal of evangelism and discipleship.'

This reminds me of a story my brother-in-law told me about a school-friend's account of a church run outreach focused on basketball and tutoring. The church believed in 3-5 years they would be able to bring some of the youngsters in the program to Christ. But at first they simply wanted to gain their trust.

I have my doubts that Paul took that model with Timothy, or Barnabas with John Mark.