The Assignment - From Nets to Next // Aaron ShawThe Assignment - From Nets to Next // Aaron Shaw
Cedar Point Recovery - Weekly Messages
Pastor Aaron Shaw talks about moving from comfort to calling, using Simon Peter’s empty nets as a picture of obedience in recovery. The message focuses on leaving old habits behind, serving others, and trusting Jesus with the next step in a Christ-centred journey.
42:18•4 Aug 2026
From Nets to Next: Letting Go of Comfort to Embrace Your Calling
Episode Overview
- Faith is described as a doorway into a life where you are sent to serve, not just kept safe.
- Comfort and staying in familiar routines can quietly block spiritual growth and recovery.
- Obedience often begins with small steps, like "pushing out the boat" before seeing the full plan.
- Letting go of your "net"—old identity, habits, or patterns—is necessary to follow Jesus forward.
- God uses what is already in your hands and looks for surrendered hearts rather than impressive credentials.
“Jesus does not wait for us to get impressive.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? In this message from Cedar Point Recovery, Pastor Aaron Shaw talks about how faith and obedience fit into that picture, especially for people who feel stuck in the same old cycles. You’ll hear Aaron frame the year’s focus around four stages—"know God, find freedom, discover purpose, make a difference"—and this talk lands firmly in the "discover purpose" quarter.
He argues that "God did not save you just to keep you"; instead, faith is described as a doorway you step through so you can be "sent" to serve others, rather than just stand in the entrance. Using Luke 5, Aaron walks through the story of Simon Peter’s empty nets and long night at work.
The turning point comes with five simple words: "But if you say so." That moment of obedience, after failure and exhaustion, becomes the picture for recovery—letting Jesus step into the very boat you’re embarrassed for anyone to see and trusting him with it.
As Aaron puts it, "Jesus does not wait for us to get impressive." The talk has plenty of humour and honesty, including Aaron’s own past with drinking, womanising and anger, and his years of treating church like "the club without the commitment." He challenges anyone who’s been attending for over a year but isn’t serving to ask some hard questions: is comfort quietly running the show?
Are you trying to hold on to your "net"—the old life, habits, or identity—while hoping for something new? For those in recovery, this message leans into practical steps: offer God one thing already in your hands, do the one thing he’s already asked you to do, and name one "net" to leave behind this week. It’s aimed at people who want Jesus at the centre of their sobriety and are ready to move from surviving to serving.
What "net" might you be brave enough to drop next?
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