Matt 4:18-20 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him. NKJV

There is no greater privilege in the world than to teach someone else the gospel of Jesus Christ, and watch as God’s word changes that person and he or she becomes more like God. It is amazing to watch, and it always convinces us that the power must always be in the word of God, not in the person doing the preaching.

What is even more amazing is the fact that God allows us to be his fellow workers as we carry out the Great Commission. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:9 “For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building.” (NKJV) As I look at my life, and see the sins and the mistakes, the faults and the failures, I stand amazed that God could and does use someone like me to help him in spreading the good news. He could have used angels to do his bidding, and they would have done a much better job in preaching his gospel. He could probably have used animals to do his bidding, and they would do a better job as well. But he entrusts us with the gospel—and expects us to obey him in carrying that gospel to the world.

We have failed in doing this effectively. We have lost our enthusiasm in teaching others. We feel like that is what we pay the preacher to do—and that he is supposed to do all of our teaching and preaching for us. We fell like we are not qualified, because we have not had the extra “schooling” necessary to teach the gospel to others. We feel like we are to busy to spend the necessary time to teach someone else God’s word. We have lost the excitement of watching someone being baptized, and we have lost the urgency of realizing that if we do not teach someone the gospel, they may never be taught. We have lost the value of an immortal soul that will spend eternity in hell if we don’t do what we can to teach them. We have lost our heart in a world that minimizes or downgrades the gospel.

We have lost sight of the fact that if we don’t preach the gospel, no one else will. We have lost sight of the fact that preaching and teaching is as binding on us as attending services, giving, worshipping or living the faithful Christian life—and God will hold us accountable for what we have done or failed to do in this matter.

Beginning August 23rd here at South Cobb, we are giving the opportunity for all of us to learn more about being better soul winners. When we had the Fishers of Men course in 1995, we baptized 35 people that year. We can do it again, but we have to be willing to commit the time and effort necessary to learn how to do the job more effectively. I hope that you will avail yourself of the opportunity to learn to do a better job in teaching the gospel. I hope you have the heart and the fire to want to teach others, and to do it as best as you can. After all, God deserves our best efforts, as he gave his best for us. Look at the cross, see Jesus dying there, and realize that Jesus died for all of mankind as he did for you.

Someone taught you the gospel – return the favor and make a difference in the souls of others. Become a “fisher of men.”