“Come and follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” These words have been a foundational statement within the church for the last two thousand years. We hear it as a mission statement to go out into the world and share the hope of Jesus with others. I’m sure you have heard many sermons on this passage. Yet what was Christ saying to Peter? Why….”Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”? The words “Come follow me…” were powerful at the time, but I believe the words, “I will make you fishers of men”, become more powerful to Peter at the Day of Pentecost. These words have a significant meaning whether you are an employee, business owner or CEO. Becoming fishers of men starts with…”Come, follow me….” “Come, follow me” These words were powerful in the culture that Jesus lived in. I believe when we understand the context of those words, it becomes even more powerful in our culture. To understand those words we have to go back some. Hebrew education in the first century in

Luke is the author of the book that bears his name and Acts. Each book is very detailed. Acts records the first thirty years of history of the church, where the Gospel of Luke records the life of Christ and the events that surrounded his story. It was very important to Luke to get the story right, because at this time (around 60 AD) many stories were filling the marketplace about this Jesus character. Many stories were being said that contradicted the divinity of Christ, his death and resurrection. Words were being put into the mouth of Christ that never had credibility and for Luke he wanted to set the story straight! The word of Christ acts and salvation were spreading throughout the region, and in just thirty years or so was making an impact in the culture as a new religion sect was on the rise (Acts 11:28). Luke gives us his reason for writing his account in the first four verses of chapter 1… “Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled amon

                               Through the years I have come to believe that Paul was one of the greatest defenders of the faith. He had to be! In Acts 17 Paul visited Athens. A city that was polytheistic by all means. As Paul was walking the streets he notices altars set up to various god’s. One altar is said to have caught his attention, “The Altar to the Unknown God”. As was custom of the day a group of men, the Council of Areopagus(men who considered themselves as custodians of teachings that introduced new religions and foreign gods, NIV Bible Study), would listen to new ideas. Paul was brought before the council to share with them this "new" idea. The philosophers and others asked "What is this person trying to say?" What happens next is an example of one man using his knowledge of Christ and presenting him in such a way that he did not use Scripture but the very words of the culture's poets. He does not give a three point sermon, but shares his worldvie