Restoration Through Christ: Overcoming Failure and Fear
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But at the same time, we have come so far. This is an incredible, incredible testimony to how bought in our people are and how generous they are towards God. And I'm telling you, the best investment of your resources is in the kingdom of God, because you can't bring anything else with you other than people to heaven. And what we're praying for is thousands and thousands of people to come home and have a relationship with Jesus Christ through what He's doing, through our buildings, through our programming, through the gospel being preached on Sunday morning, and just through our lives in the community. So, be praying for me. I'm so fired up. [00:29:42] (33 seconds)
And they notice that he's a Galilean, so they're like, you must be with Jesus. And Peter says, I don't even know who you're talking about. I don't know the man. And then Jesus is raised, and Peter's wondering, does Jesus even want me back at all? Like, what is he going to say to me? I thought I was the most committed disciple, and now I showed my true colors, and I'm a failure. And I just want to just put this out there to you today before we talk about anything else. We've all done things that we feel ashamed of, right? We've all done things. So, we're like, man, I wish I could take that back. [00:35:53] (40 seconds)
And sometimes we feel like we walked away from God in college, or we've went through a season just being really dry spiritually. And all of a sudden, like, we wonder, like, God, do you even want me back? Like, am I worthless? And we're going to hear in this story how Jesus treats people who disappoint Him. So, John chapter 21, verse 1. I'm going to invite you to stand up with me as we read the story of Peter and Jesus. It says this. After this, Jesus revealed Himself again to His disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. [00:36:54] (37 seconds)
Jumps in the water and swims to Jesus. Now, I'm not sure if he's thinking like this through all the way or he's thinking like last time I saw Jesus on this lake, I was able to walk on water. Let's just see if we can still do that. But either way, he goes straight to Jesus and Jesus meets him there and they have breakfast together. Now, there's a lot going on here. I just kind of want to highlight a couple things. The first is this. You know, Peter was wondering if Jesus cared about him. But along the way, Jesus was orchestrating things to draw Peter back to himself. And you see this through a lot of different details in the story. First of all, that they went back to the lake. [00:42:47] (41 seconds)
He said, I need you to change your job. You need to leave all that behind and follow me. And he did it by doing the same miracle where Peter had fished all night long in Luke chapter 2. Jesus tells him to put the nets on the other side. And immediately the fish jump into the boat to the point that the boat almost sinks. And Peter has an encounter with Jesus. And he says, I will give everything to follow you. And he does. Jesus just recreated that miracle because he wants to reinstate Peter. He can't do that in Jerusalem. He has to do that in Galilee. So he calls him there. [00:44:03] (35 seconds)
And he does the same thing with you. Listen, you may be going through a season where you feel incredibly dry in your faith. You may feel like God has moved on. You may feel like you've gone too far, and he's being quiet on purpose, and he's mad at you. Because some of us import the way that our parents treated us onto God. But God isn't like that. He wants you to come close. And he orchestrates things sometimes in your life so that you can finally listen to what he has to say. Jesus, at the right moment, invites Peter back, which is a great comfort for me. Because there's people in my life that I've been praying for for a long time that are really far from Jesus. [00:46:06] (42 seconds)
He asked him a third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved that he'd asked for the third time, do you love me? He said, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. Feed my sheep, Jesus said. You have this back and forth, where Peter hears Jesus ask him if he loves Jesus. And they do this three times. Jesus says, hey, Simon Peter, do you love me? And some scholars are actually saying, well, there's a thing that Jesus is trying to do by using the word for love that he uses, agape, that he's trying to draw something out of Peter that Peter isn't ready to do. [00:47:49] (46 seconds)
And Jesus invites Peter into a new season of ministry and identity. He tells him to feed his sheep, to shepherd his sheep. He's not talking about fish anymore or anything tied to fishing. He's calling him to step into a completely different vocation, which is shepherding. And it seems that Jesus is inviting Peter into a new calling that's greater than simply going and trying to fish for sheep, but rather to shepherd those same sheep into a relationship with Jesus Christ. So there's an opportunity for restoration here, but there's also an invitation to really give his heart fully to Jesus. [00:49:05] (49 seconds)
But Jesus invites us to leave our fear behind and follow him. That's why he says this thing about Peter's death. He goes on to tell Peter, he says, you're going to die, and you're going to glorify me with your death. When you're old, you're going to be crucified, Peter. And you're going to have to be okay with that, and you're going to need to follow me anyway. You see, the cross of Christ comes for every Christian. Jesus says in Mark 8, take up your cross and follow me. And he's not talking about, hey, put a piece of jewelry on. He's saying, if you want to follow me, you have to be willing to lay your life down and follow me. It means giving everything to me. That's what it means to follow Jesus. [00:52:26] (56 seconds)
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And they notice that he's a Galilean, so they're like, you must be with Jesus. And Peter says, I don't even know who you're talking about. I don't know the man. And then Jesus is raised, and Peter's wondering, does Jesus even want me back at all? Like, what is he going to say to me? I thought I was the most committed disciple, and now I showed my true colors, and I'm a failure. And I just want to just put this out there to you today before we talk about anything else. We've all done things that we feel ashamed of, right? We've all done things. So, we're like, man, I wish I could take that back. [00:35:53] (40 seconds)
And sometimes we feel like we walked away from God in college, or we've went through a season just being really dry spiritually. And all of a sudden, like, we wonder, like, God, do you even want me back? Like, am I worthless? And we're going to hear in this story how Jesus treats people who disappoint Him. So, John chapter 21, verse 1. I'm going to invite you to stand up with me as we read the story of Peter and Jesus. It says this. After this, Jesus revealed Himself again to His disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. [00:36:54] (37 seconds)
Jumps in the water and swims to Jesus. Now, I'm not sure if he's thinking like this through all the way or he's thinking like last time I saw Jesus on this lake, I was able to walk on water. Let's just see if we can still do that. But either way, he goes straight to Jesus and Jesus meets him there and they have breakfast together. Now, there's a lot going on here. I just kind of want to highlight a couple things. The first is this. You know, Peter was wondering if Jesus cared about him. But along the way, Jesus was orchestrating things to draw Peter back to himself. And you see this through a lot of different details in the story. First of all, that they went back to the lake. [00:42:47] (41 seconds)
He said, I need you to change your job. You need to leave all that behind and follow me. And he did it by doing the same miracle where Peter had fished all night long in Luke chapter 2. Jesus tells him to put the nets on the other side. And immediately the fish jump into the boat to the point that the boat almost sinks. And Peter has an encounter with Jesus. And he says, I will give everything to follow you. And he does. Jesus just recreated that miracle because he wants to reinstate Peter. He can't do that in Jerusalem. He has to do that in Galilee. So he calls him there. [00:44:03] (35 seconds)
And he does the same thing with you. Listen, you may be going through a season where you feel incredibly dry in your faith. You may feel like God has moved on. You may feel like you've gone too far, and he's being quiet on purpose, and he's mad at you. Because some of us import the way that our parents treated us onto God. But God isn't like that. He wants you to come close. And he orchestrates things sometimes in your life so that you can finally listen to what he has to say. Jesus, at the right moment, invites Peter back, which is a great comfort for me. Because there's people in my life that I've been praying for for a long time that are really far from Jesus. [00:46:06] (42 seconds)
He asked him a third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved that he'd asked for the third time, do you love me? He said, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. Feed my sheep, Jesus said. You have this back and forth, where Peter hears Jesus ask him if he loves Jesus. And they do this three times. Jesus says, hey, Simon Peter, do you love me? And some scholars are actually saying, well, there's a thing that Jesus is trying to do by using the word for love that he uses, agape, that he's trying to draw something out of Peter that Peter isn't ready to do. [00:47:49] (46 seconds)
And Jesus invites Peter into a new season of ministry and identity. He tells him to feed his sheep, to shepherd his sheep. He's not talking about fish anymore or anything tied to fishing. He's calling him to step into a completely different vocation, which is shepherding. And it seems that Jesus is inviting Peter into a new calling that's greater than simply going and trying to fish for sheep, but rather to shepherd those same sheep into a relationship with Jesus Christ. So there's an opportunity for restoration here, but there's also an invitation to really give his heart fully to Jesus. [00:49:05] (49 seconds)
But Jesus invites us to leave our fear behind and follow him. That's why he says this thing about Peter's death. He goes on to tell Peter, he says, you're going to die, and you're going to glorify me with your death. When you're old, you're going to be crucified, Peter. And you're going to have to be okay with that, and you're going to need to follow me anyway. You see, the cross of Christ comes for every Christian. Jesus says in Mark 8, take up your cross and follow me. And he's not talking about, hey, put a piece of jewelry on. He's saying, if you want to follow me, you have to be willing to lay your life down and follow me. It means giving everything to me. That's what it means to follow Jesus. [00:52:26] (56 seconds)
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