THE NET DID NOT BREAK

Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken. -John 21:11 NKJV

1. Do you remember the time in Luke 5 (3 1/2 years earlier) when Peter and his friends let down their net and caught a huge catch offish? Concerning that time, the Bible says, "Their net was breaking" (Luke 5:6 NKJV). However, this time in John 21, the Bible says, "The net was not broken."

2. What accounted for the difference between these two stories? The difference is that by the time of the second story, Christ had spent 3 1/2 years teaching His disciples the principles of holding the harvest (consolidation). All of His teaching was illustrated in these two stories. In one, they lost the harvest, but in the other, they counted and consolidated the harvest.

3. When 3,000 people were saved in one day on the Day of Pentecost, all of them were baptized in water (Acts 2:41). Then, they all "continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers" (v. 42 NKJV). The 120 members of the church took in 3,000 new souls in one day! How did they do it?

4. They established a "culture" of consolidation. They opened their homes to these new souls. They invited them to come eat a meal with them. They taught (them doctrine and prayed with them right around their own dinner tables. Children are meant to be raised in a home, not an institution. We tend, however, to try to attach new believers to the church (the building), instead of joining them to a spiritual family (our homes). No child is raised as effectively by an institution as he is in the loving, caring, correcting environment of a family.

5. David said, "God sets the solitary in families" (Ps. 68:6 NKJV). How are you doing with your spiritual children? If someone that you know gets saved, do you "take him in"? Do you invite him to the cell and even eat meals with him? Do you parent him, showing him how to live as a Christian? Do you help him get water baptized and help him feel a part of your cell?

Questions for DiscussionI. Give a testimony or share ideas concerning seeing a spiritual newborn grow up in your cell. Do they feel a part of the family?2. The early believers embraced the apostles' doctrine. Discuss the importance of helping new believers to "go to school" through the Encounter, Post Encounter, and School of Leaders.3. Do you know a person who got saved but has drifted away from the Lord?

What if you had ten children and nine were lost? Would you say that having only that one child was enough? Spend time praying for the lost persons, and develop a prayer strategy to bring them back into the "net".