WEBVTT 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:29.129 Well, good morning everyone. 00:00:29.129 --> 00:00:30.163 It's great to be with you. 00:00:30.163 --> 00:00:31.231 What a powerful song. 00:00:31.231 --> 00:00:34.933 I just-- that song is so hard to sing at one level. 00:00:35.201 --> 00:00:37.570 I mean, I will make room for you. 00:00:37.570 --> 00:00:38.838 I hope I will. 00:00:38.838 --> 00:00:41.406 I think that's a prayer of faith. 00:00:41.406 --> 00:00:46.679 But it's a great way to enter into a time of worship and to a time of studying God's Word. 00:00:46.679 --> 00:00:55.354 And this is a week I know many of us have been looking forward to for many months that you finally found out Kentucky has a new coach right? 00:00:57.155 --> 00:01:05.331 Yeah, I tried to think of, I worked so hard to try to come up with some kind of Pope saves Kentucky joke, but I couldn't quite work it out. 00:01:05.564 --> 00:01:13.373 Maybe not appropriate at a Baptist church, but I did think what would have been really interesting, I think Kentucky and Louisville both missed an opportunity. 00:01:13.373 --> 00:01:19.245 Honestly, Kentucky should have hired Pitino, right? 00:01:19.245 --> 00:01:21.147 Louisville should have hired Calipari. 00:01:21.147 --> 00:01:23.382 And then we went, had a lot of fun. 00:01:23.382 --> 00:01:26.385 We've had a lot of talk about in the coming years. 00:01:27.052 --> 00:01:27.719 There's still hope. 00:01:27.719 --> 00:01:29.888 There's still time I think. 00:01:29.888 --> 00:01:35.361 What we really have been looking forward to is our conclusion of our study of the book of John. 00:01:35.361 --> 00:01:44.370 Yeah, we've been in the book of John 18 months now, roughly 60 or so sermons covering the book of John. 00:01:44.771 --> 00:01:49.242 And this is the week where we, of course, will still talk about the book of John here and there. 00:01:49.242 --> 00:01:54.647 But we conclude our series walking through the Book of John over these many months. 00:01:55.415 --> 00:01:58.350 And it's interesting how the book ends. 00:01:58.350 --> 00:02:00.286 It ends like a lot of stories end. 00:02:00.286 --> 00:02:07.560 Most stories don't end at the pinnacle of action, at the high point of what is occurring. 00:02:07.560 --> 00:02:16.102 Think of any movie you've seen-- the classic Star Wars, the Death Star is destroyed, the movie doesn't end right then. 00:02:16.102 --> 00:02:18.570 There's still things to resolve. 00:02:18.570 --> 00:02:20.139 There's still questions to answer. 00:02:20.139 --> 00:02:24.811 You still wonder what's going to happen with Han Solo and Luke and Leia. 00:02:24.811 --> 00:02:26.846 Is there some romance brewing? 00:02:26.846 --> 00:02:28.413 What's going to happen with the Republic? 00:02:28.413 --> 00:02:32.551 We still got some loose ends to tie up, even though the main action took place. 00:02:33.752 --> 00:02:37.289 And we see in the book of John, this kind of happens as well. 00:02:37.389 --> 00:02:42.627 Of course, Jesus dies and we think the story's over. 00:02:42.627 --> 00:02:47.432 But then he rises again and the disciples get hope and joy and life. 00:02:47.432 --> 00:02:50.436 But there are some unanswered questions. 00:02:50.468 --> 00:02:58.711 In fact, if you put yourself in the shoes of the disciples wondering what's going to happen now in particular, you're probably wondering what's going to happen with Peter. 00:03:00.079 --> 00:03:05.251 I mean, here's the guy who said, I'm all in no matter what, I'll be with you to the end, no matter what. 00:03:05.251 --> 00:03:08.219 And he outright denies Jesus. 00:03:09.020 --> 00:03:10.455 That's still got to be dealt with. 00:03:10.455 --> 00:03:13.258 We can't just leave that out there. 00:03:13.258 --> 00:03:14.926 What is Jesus going to do? 00:03:14.926 --> 00:03:16.528 Is he going to reject Peter? 00:03:16.528 --> 00:03:19.532 Is he going to cast him aside, or is he going to restore him? 00:03:20.932 --> 00:03:25.905 That's what our passage today, tying up the loose ends of some of what has happened in this story. 00:03:25.905 --> 00:03:27.473 That's what our passage today is going to talk about. 00:03:27.473 --> 00:03:34.447 We're going to see him address Peter, but he's also going to address John, because Peter and John are kind of his two main dudes. 00:03:35.281 --> 00:03:38.550 And so how it affects Peter is also going to affect John. 00:03:38.550 --> 00:03:40.318 Is John going to be our leader going forward? 00:03:40.318 --> 00:03:42.788 If Peter's not the main guy going forward? 00:03:42.788 --> 00:03:46.925 We're going to see all this addressed and kind of wrapped up here at the end of the book of John. 00:03:46.925 --> 00:03:50.862 So we're in John chapter 21, the last chapter of the book of John. 00:03:51.163 --> 00:03:56.534 If you have a church Bible that's on page 853, those Bibles are available out in the connection corner. 00:03:56.534 --> 00:03:58.637 Grab one any time you can keep that. 00:03:58.637 --> 00:04:00.271 We'd love for you to be able to read along. 00:04:00.271 --> 00:04:08.580 Follow along with us as we work through the passage today, and we'll be reading starting at verse 15 in John chapter 21. 00:04:09.481 --> 00:04:27.600 So if you turn there and follow along, as I read John chapter 21, verse 15, when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? 00:04:28.300 --> 00:04:33.137 He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. 00:04:33.505 --> 00:04:36.509 He, Jesus, said to him, feed my lambs. 00:04:37.242 --> 00:04:40.545 Then he said to him a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? 00:04:41.880 --> 00:04:44.983 He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. 00:04:45.817 --> 00:04:48.586 He said to him, tend my sheep. 00:04:48.586 --> 00:04:55.560 He said to him, the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? 00:04:57.262 --> 00:05:02.434 Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me? 00:05:03.002 --> 00:05:05.670 And he said to him, Lord, you know everything. 00:05:05.670 --> 00:05:07.973 You know that I love you. 00:05:07.973 --> 00:05:09.574 Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. 00:05:11.610 --> 00:05:15.514 The disciples last week were waiting on Jesus to show up. 00:05:15.514 --> 00:05:17.548 They went fishing. Jesus appears. 00:05:17.548 --> 00:05:22.855 They come to the shore and I skipped over an important detail last week that was mentioned there. 00:05:22.855 --> 00:05:25.723 I skipped over it on purpose to highlight it this week. 00:05:25.723 --> 00:05:29.127 If you look back at verse nine, when they come to the shore. 00:05:31.562 --> 00:05:32.665 They got out on land. 00:05:32.665 --> 00:05:40.471 They saw a charcoal fire in place with fish laid out on it, and bread. 00:05:40.471 --> 00:05:49.648 That word for charcoal fire is different than the normal word for fire, and it only shows up one other time in all of the New Testament. 00:05:49.648 --> 00:05:57.588 And the other place is in chapter 18, when Peter, in the midst of denying Jesus, is standing, warming himself over a charcoal fire. 00:05:59.024 --> 00:06:01.826 And so he brings the disciples to the shore. 00:06:01.826 --> 00:06:06.865 They show up and the setting early morning charcoal fire. 00:06:06.865 --> 00:06:10.769 It just hints at this issue that we have to address. 00:06:10.769 --> 00:06:13.971 Peter, you remember the last time you were standing over a charcoal fire? 00:06:13.971 --> 00:06:16.608 Peter, remember what happened then? 00:06:16.608 --> 00:06:20.278 This is just the subtle message that's being communicated. 00:06:21.480 --> 00:06:27.351 It's really interesting how the setting at times can communicate things without you having to say anything. 00:06:28.153 --> 00:06:31.355 I remember when I proposed to Julie, we went to Nashville. 00:06:31.355 --> 00:06:36.295 That's where we had first met, and I kind of relived the whole day of when we had first met. 00:06:36.295 --> 00:06:44.970 We went to the same places, ate at the same places, and we ended up at the waterfront where we first spent time really talking in-depth and connecting. 00:06:46.038 --> 00:06:49.040 And then that's where I proposed. 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:54.579 And then on the drive home, I asked her, hey, did you see this coming at all today? 00:06:54.579 --> 00:06:57.581 She said from a mile away. 00:06:57.749 --> 00:06:59.918 How could I not see you if you didn't propose? 00:06:59.918 --> 00:07:02.821 We were going to have big problems today. 00:07:02.821 --> 00:07:08.593 The setting, I mean, so much of everything we went through, it screamed something significant. 00:07:08.593 --> 00:07:10.995 It's going to happen here today. 00:07:10.995 --> 00:07:15.666 Jesus is creating the environment for him to begin to address the issue. 00:07:15.666 --> 00:07:22.973 The elephant in the room, the thing that has been hanging over their heads for these few days since his resurrection. 00:07:23.774 --> 00:07:29.848 Now notice it also said here though, when they had finished breakfast. 00:07:30.115 --> 00:07:33.752 One thing I love about Jesus is he never seems to be in a hurry. 00:07:36.221 --> 00:07:38.156 He. Come on up guys. 00:07:38.156 --> 00:07:40.692 Let's eat. Let's just hang out. 00:07:40.692 --> 00:07:41.625 Let's just connect. 00:07:41.625 --> 00:07:43.894 Yeah. This issue’s there. Peter's feeling it. 00:07:43.894 --> 00:07:46.898 Peter knows it probably all the disciples know it. 00:07:47.732 --> 00:07:50.735 When they had finished breakfast. 00:07:51.937 --> 00:07:56.307 Not only did he wait till after breakfast, it's been at least a week, maybe longer. 00:07:57.074 --> 00:08:02.713 You know, Jesus just doesn't seem to be in the kind of hurry we think he should be. 00:08:04.048 --> 00:08:08.286 You know, there's there's a lot of times where you face some challenge or issue. 00:08:08.620 --> 00:08:13.658 I don't know about you, but my tendency is to charge right in and try to solve it, try to deal with it, press into it. 00:08:13.658 --> 00:08:16.661 And a lot of times that causes more problems. 00:08:17.495 --> 00:08:19.764 There's a lot of things we think that are emergencies. 00:08:19.764 --> 00:08:21.867 And of course there are real emergencies. 00:08:21.867 --> 00:08:27.439 But there's a lot of times we make an emergency out of something that could wait. 00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:32.910 Maybe if I waited for a better timing or the better, a better setting. 00:08:32.910 --> 00:08:38.950 It's crazy how much the setting can affect the outcome of an interaction. 00:08:39.850 --> 00:08:42.486 So they wait till after breakfast. 00:08:42.486 --> 00:08:44.755 They finish breakfast. 00:08:44.755 --> 00:08:47.759 Now look at how Jesus brings up the issue. 00:08:48.460 --> 00:08:59.738 Here's all these simply says, Jesus said to Simon Peter back in verse 15, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:09.413 One of the commentators I read, Josh Moody, pointed out three things about this that I think are real helpful to see what Jesus is doing here. 00:09:09.413 --> 00:09:11.048 The first and I'm going to put these on screen. 00:09:11.048 --> 00:09:14.753 The first is that he just simply engages by starting with a question. 00:09:18.056 --> 00:09:27.532 I don't know about you, but I would have done a different I would have started out, I told you, Peter, I told you, I told you you would deny me. 00:09:27.599 --> 00:09:28.666 You said you wouldn't. 00:09:28.666 --> 00:09:30.235 You said you'd be there to the end. 00:09:30.235 --> 00:09:33.238 I knew better, I was right. Do you see? 00:09:33.303 --> 00:09:36.039 Let me hear it. 00:09:36.039 --> 00:09:38.275 Jesus just simply asked him a question. 00:09:38.275 --> 00:09:50.187 And it's not one of those condemning questions, but is a question that just invites conversation that lets him know I want to address this, but I'm not here to beat you up. 00:09:51.623 --> 00:09:53.991 Now notice the second thing that happens here. 00:09:53.991 --> 00:09:58.428 The second thing he brings up the way he engages this with Peter. 00:09:58.428 --> 00:10:00.030 First he asks a question. 00:10:00.030 --> 00:10:04.635 Next, look at what he calls him in the passage. 00:10:04.635 --> 00:10:07.639 He calls him Simon, son of John. 00:10:08.572 --> 00:10:12.409 The only other time he's called him, that was when he very first met him. 00:10:12.442 --> 00:10:13.912 Your name is Simon, son of John. 00:10:13.912 --> 00:10:18.416 But I'm calling you Cephas, Peter, which in English is the rock. 00:10:21.586 --> 00:10:22.986 He's going back. 00:10:22.986 --> 00:10:24.422 Let's go back to the beginning. 00:10:24.422 --> 00:10:25.889 Do you remember when we first met? 00:10:25.889 --> 00:10:27.392 Do you remember what you were called then? 00:10:27.392 --> 00:10:29.460 Simon, son of John. 00:10:29.460 --> 00:10:31.261 This is just a subtle. 00:10:31.261 --> 00:10:32.797 Let's take it back to the beginning. 00:10:32.797 --> 00:10:35.799 Let's start this thing over. 00:10:35.832 --> 00:10:42.740 But then the third thing he does, and this is critical, and this is something I think we all can embrace. 00:10:42.740 --> 00:10:52.649 Whenever you're pressing into an issue with someone, notice, by the way, he asks this questions, what he is doing is he's trying to get to the heart of the issue. 00:10:53.384 --> 00:10:55.219 He's trying to press into the heart of the issue. 00:10:55.219 --> 00:10:59.590 Notice he asks him this do you love me more than these? 00:11:01.558 --> 00:11:03.226 I'm going to talk about what that means. 00:11:03.226 --> 00:11:13.770 But the first point to make here is how important it is when you are addressing an issue between you and someone else, or if you're a parent with your child, is to try to get to the heart of the matter. 00:11:15.239 --> 00:11:20.477 I don't know about you, but oftentimes the temptation is just to deal with the issue that's on the surface. 00:11:20.945 --> 00:11:22.346 I just want the behavior to change. 00:11:22.346 --> 00:11:24.581 That's all. 00:11:24.581 --> 00:11:29.519 But if you don't press into the heart issue, Tim Keller calls it the sin beneath the sin the motivation. 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:30.721 And you can't always do that. 00:11:30.721 --> 00:11:35.359 Look, it takes art, it takes care, it takes time, it takes wisdom. 00:11:35.359 --> 00:11:37.595 There's sometimes you just got to deal with the behavior and move on. 00:11:37.595 --> 00:11:42.667 I get that, but over time we want to be pressing towards what's the heart issue, what's going on in my heart? 00:11:42.667 --> 00:11:47.605 What's causing the behavior if we if we don't go there, the behavior is not going to change long term. 00:11:48.072 --> 00:11:49.774 It will be grudgingly in the moment. 00:11:51.375 --> 00:11:58.649 And so Jesus asks him the question that's at the heart of the issue Jesus, Peter, do you, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? 00:12:00.484 --> 00:12:05.789 Now the hard part for us is to understand what that word these means, because it could point to a few different things. 00:12:06.224 --> 00:12:07.859 There's a few different views on this. 00:12:07.859 --> 00:12:10.360 I'm going to walk through three of them. 00:12:10.360 --> 00:12:12.395 Who are the these in this situation? 00:12:12.395 --> 00:12:15.399 These could be the fish. 00:12:15.633 --> 00:12:17.434 Fishing, your vocation. 00:12:17.434 --> 00:12:20.337 Do you love me more than you love these things? 00:12:20.337 --> 00:12:22.440 Your job, your work, your calling? 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:25.408 I mean, you went right back to it while you're supposed to be waiting on me. 00:12:25.610 --> 00:12:28.578 Do you love me more than that? 00:12:28.578 --> 00:12:29.980 I don't think that's what it is. 00:12:29.980 --> 00:12:33.618 Because Peter was the first to jump out of the boat and forget about the fish leaving behind. 00:12:33.618 --> 00:12:36.586 Come right the shore to see Jesus. 00:12:33.618 --> 00:12:36.586 So it's probably not that. 00:12:38.254 --> 00:12:42.360 The other thing in the immediate context is the disciples who are right there. 00:12:42.592 --> 00:12:45.596 Peter, do you love me more than you love the disciples? 00:12:46.230 --> 00:12:53.269 Your bro's, your guys, your dudes who you've slaved with in the water, the guys who've been there with you all along? 00:12:53.269 --> 00:12:56.273 Do you love me more than you love them? 00:12:57.475 --> 00:13:01.578 The problem with that is Peter's not really known as a very loving guy. 00:13:01.644 --> 00:13:04.948 He's the one that's going, hey, I'm the better one here. 00:13:05.416 --> 00:13:06.082 Look at it. 00:13:06.082 --> 00:13:06.917 I'm the best. 00:13:06.917 --> 00:13:09.787 I deserve the most honor. 00:13:09.787 --> 00:13:15.993 Not necessarily the one known for how loving and caring is for the other disciples. 00:13:15.993 --> 00:13:18.928 I think probably where this could land. 00:13:18.928 --> 00:13:25.001 Do you love me more than these disciples, meaning do you really love me more than the disciples do? 00:13:26.736 --> 00:13:34.345 One of the passages that draws this out, in fact, I've mentioned this before, but a great way to approach Bible study is to read other Bible translations. 00:13:34.345 --> 00:13:38.615 I have a number of different ones I read from, kind of a base translation. 00:13:38.615 --> 00:13:45.589 Obviously we teach from the ESV and you probably have your favorite translation, but it's good to read from the others as well. 00:13:45.990 --> 00:13:48.993 This gets drawn out real well in the NET Bible. 00:13:49.259 --> 00:13:51.227 Have you heard of the NET Bible? 00:13:51.227 --> 00:13:53.630 It's called the New English Translation. 00:13:53.630 --> 00:13:54.731 It's called the Net Bible. 00:13:54.731 --> 00:13:59.537 Also, they kind of did that on purpose because when it first came out, it was only online. 00:13:59.870 --> 00:14:02.740 It was really the first Bible translation to show up, just only online. 00:14:02.740 --> 00:14:06.976 They before they ever printed a copy, they just put it online and it's all free online. 00:14:06.976 --> 00:14:19.389 There's tons of great Bible study notes on that, but they had one little word here to draw out, and they're probably crossing the line from translation to interpretation by doing this. 00:14:19.389 --> 00:14:22.525 But they're trying to draw out what is meant by this word these here. 00:14:22.525 --> 00:14:24.294 And we're going to put the passage on the screen. 00:14:24.294 --> 00:14:26.996 Just look at what it says. 00:14:24.294 --> 00:14:26.996 One little word added at the end. 00:14:26.996 --> 00:14:33.636 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these do? 00:14:35.339 --> 00:14:38.642 Do you love me more than the rest of the disciples do? 00:14:38.942 --> 00:14:42.779 Do you really love me more than you say that you do? 00:14:42.779 --> 00:14:45.783 You have said all along, I'll be with you no matter what. 00:14:46.115 --> 00:14:47.918 All the all the rest will fall away. 00:14:47.918 --> 00:14:49.485 But I'll be there. 00:14:49.485 --> 00:14:51.488 I will die with you no matter what. 00:14:51.488 --> 00:14:54.357 And you were the only one to outright deny me. 00:14:55.525 --> 00:14:58.528 Do you really love me more than these do? 00:15:00.496 --> 00:15:03.500 Now look at how Peter responds to this. 00:15:03.533 --> 00:15:05.068 Look at what he says. 00:15:05.068 --> 00:15:06.870 Do you really love me more than these? 00:15:06.870 --> 00:15:07.804 Look at how he responds. 00:15:07.804 --> 00:15:13.342 He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. 00:15:13.844 --> 00:15:16.779 What I love about that is what he doesn't say. 00:15:16.779 --> 00:15:19.783 Yes, Lord, you know that I love you more than these. 00:15:21.717 --> 00:15:23.519 No. Yes, Lord. 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:25.589 You know that I love you. 00:15:25.589 --> 00:15:26.889 You know. 00:15:26.889 --> 00:15:28.692 You know how I love you. 00:15:28.692 --> 00:15:31.495 There's just a hint of humility there. 00:15:31.495 --> 00:15:34.464 Before it was. I'm the first. I'm the best. 00:15:34.464 --> 00:15:36.299 I'll be the last to fall. 00:15:36.299 --> 00:15:39.035 I'll be with you to the end. 00:15:39.035 --> 00:15:42.038 Maybe I can't say more than these now. 00:15:44.073 --> 00:15:46.710 One of the things we need to address in this passage. 00:15:46.710 --> 00:15:51.682 And if you've studied this passage before or have heard someone else preach on it, this has been brought out. 00:15:51.682 --> 00:16:00.389 So I'm going to walk us through a little bit what is happening here in the language that we can't see in English, we only have one word for love. 00:16:01.658 --> 00:16:02.826 There's only one. 00:16:02.826 --> 00:16:07.230 We have a lot of words that are similar, but there's only one word that means love. 00:16:07.798 --> 00:16:08.698 And here's how I know that. 00:16:08.698 --> 00:16:11.033 Try to use an any other word than love. 00:16:11.033 --> 00:16:14.037 If your special friend asks you if you love them. 00:16:15.205 --> 00:16:17.506 John, do you love me? 00:16:17.506 --> 00:16:20.509 I am deeply committed to you. 00:16:20.910 --> 00:16:23.913 Okay, that's great, but I asked do you love me? 00:16:23.947 --> 00:16:25.782 I am crazy about you. 00:16:25.782 --> 00:16:27.817 I might even say infatuated. 00:16:27.817 --> 00:16:30.821 Okay, now this is getting weird, but I asked do you love me? 00:16:31.989 --> 00:16:34.157 I really care about you. 00:16:34.157 --> 00:16:35.458 Well, now you know. 00:16:35.458 --> 00:16:38.061 We're just talking about friendship. 00:16:35.458 --> 00:16:38.061 That's all right. It's not. 00:16:38.061 --> 00:16:39.328 It's not me, it's not you. 00:16:39.328 --> 00:16:41.630 It's me. Actually means it's you. 00:16:41.630 --> 00:16:44.701 You see, we really only have one word for love. 00:16:44.701 --> 00:16:51.508 But the Greeks, which is the language the New Testament was written in originally had multiple words for love. 00:16:52.174 --> 00:16:57.346 Part of the interesting part of this verse is that actually, two different words for love are used here. 00:16:57.813 --> 00:16:59.750 And I've highlighted these in different colors. 00:16:59.750 --> 00:17:08.892 So you can see and I don't normally do this, put the Greek words up on the screen, but I think it helps for you to see what's happening because they are some of them are familiar. 00:17:08.892 --> 00:17:12.194 So looking back at verse 15, here's what's going on. 00:17:12.461 --> 00:17:16.766 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon, son of John, do you love me? 00:17:16.766 --> 00:17:18.434 The Greek word there is agape. 00:17:18.434 --> 00:17:21.238 Do you love (agape) me more than these? 00:17:22.204 --> 00:17:23.640 But Peter responds. 00:17:23.640 --> 00:17:29.578 He says, yes, Lord, you know that I love (phileo) I love you (phileo). 00:17:30.380 --> 00:17:36.720 Now, part of what is often asserted here is, and we do know this, agape, phileo have a different range of meaning. 00:17:36.853 --> 00:17:37.887 You've heard these words. 00:17:37.887 --> 00:17:41.892 You've probably seen a church, Agape Church. 00:17:37.887 --> 00:17:48.230 Campus Crusade for Christ, who I used to serve with, named their ministry in Europe Agape because they thought maybe we should drop the word crusade here in Europe. 00:17:48.230 --> 00:17:51.500 That might not be the best word, might not open the most doors here. 00:17:51.567 --> 00:17:53.970 Let's call our ministry love instead. 00:17:53.970 --> 00:17:56.338 Agape Europe. 00:17:56.338 --> 00:18:04.346 Agape is often seen as more of a high, higher love, a more noble love, a more God like love and more unconditional love. 00:18:04.814 --> 00:18:10.153 And the range of meaning often includes that idea. Phileo, which you've heard as well. 00:18:10.153 --> 00:18:12.122 You've heard that word Philadelphia. 00:18:12.122 --> 00:18:14.356 You've heard of that city. 00:18:12.122 --> 00:18:14.356 What's the nickname of that city? 00:18:15.625 --> 00:18:17.693 City of brotherly love. 00:18:17.693 --> 00:18:22.731 Phileo love is often considered more of an affection, more of a friendship love. 00:18:22.731 --> 00:18:26.935 You know, you love a good friend differently than you love your your spouse. 00:18:26.935 --> 00:18:29.939 There's a different type of love there. 00:18:31.141 --> 00:18:42.419 So some have seen this interaction between Jesus and Peter, and they've said, so is Jesus saying something like, do you love me with an unconditional God like higher love? 00:18:43.185 --> 00:18:49.826 And Peter, is he then responding with, well, no, I just kind of love you like a friend Jesus actually. 00:18:49.826 --> 00:18:52.828 Is that what's going on with that difference? 00:18:54.163 --> 00:18:56.365 It's hard to know. 00:18:56.365 --> 00:18:59.035 It's really hard to know exactly. 00:18:59.035 --> 00:19:06.209 Putting yourself back in that setting at that time, understanding the fine nuances between the meaning of words is really difficult to do. 00:19:08.010 --> 00:19:11.780 However, I do wonder why he didn't just answer with the exact same word. 00:19:13.048 --> 00:19:16.051 Well, why didn't he just say agape? 00:19:16.251 --> 00:19:23.593 In fact, you've got to wonder if Jesus didn't wonder that as well, because he does the same thing with verse two, with verse 16. 00:19:23.593 --> 00:19:29.699 In their next interaction, flip ahead to verse 16 and throw that on the screen, because you'll see this again. 00:19:29.932 --> 00:19:41.176 He said to him a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love (agape) me? Giving him another chance, he said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love (phileo) you. 00:19:42.545 --> 00:19:47.083 And it's interesting in your Bible it probably just says love for both words, even though they're different words. 00:19:47.083 --> 00:19:49.352 We don't really have another word to draw that out. 00:19:49.352 --> 00:19:53.789 I appreciate how if you have an old copy of the NIV, they try to do this. 00:19:54.190 --> 00:19:56.259 I'm going to put that on the screen for you to see. 00:19:56.259 --> 00:19:58.361 But just adding the word truly. 00:19:58.361 --> 00:20:03.132 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you truly love me more than these? 00:20:03.967 --> 00:20:05.835 Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. 00:20:05.835 --> 00:20:08.837 That's just an effort to try to say these words are slightly different. 00:20:08.971 --> 00:20:14.277 Do you truly love me or do you love me? 00:20:14.344 --> 00:20:16.378 Twice we get this interaction. 00:20:16.378 --> 00:20:17.946 Do you agape me? 00:20:17.946 --> 00:20:20.482 Yes, Lord, I phileo you. 00:20:20.482 --> 00:20:26.288 And then I think what really gives people pause about this is the third interaction. 00:20:26.722 --> 00:20:28.990 If you look at the third time, put up that third interaction. 00:20:28.990 --> 00:20:41.503 He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love(phileo) me? This time Jesus asks him the word that Peter has been using all along. 00:20:41.770 --> 00:20:43.972 Do you love (phileo) me now? 00:20:43.972 --> 00:20:47.477 Peter was grieved because he asked him the third time, do you love me? 00:20:47.477 --> 00:20:49.178 And he said to him, Lord, you know everything. 00:20:49.178 --> 00:20:50.613 You know that I love you. 00:20:50.613 --> 00:20:53.615 You know that I love you. 00:20:55.218 --> 00:21:01.523 I don't know if we can know exactly that Jesus is meeting him on his ground by using the different words and... 00:21:02.758 --> 00:21:04.693 but there's something going on there. 00:21:04.693 --> 00:21:08.931 Why couldn't Peter just say the same word Jesus was using? 00:21:09.965 --> 00:21:20.910 I think there are other hints in here that a little bit of this is happening, this Jesus coming to Peter to call him up, and Peter saying, I don't know if I can fully go there. 00:21:22.044 --> 00:21:27.148 One of the ways we see that if you look back here at verse 17. 00:21:29.484 --> 00:21:31.921 He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? 00:21:31.921 --> 00:21:35.557 Peter was grieved because he had said to him the third time, do you love me? 00:21:37.559 --> 00:21:47.470 One thing that everyone agrees on when they study this passage, even if they differ on whether you should take the differences and those Greek words as significant or not, everyone agrees. 00:21:49.971 --> 00:21:55.877 Peter denies Jesus three times at a charcoal fire early in the morning. 00:21:55.877 --> 00:21:58.881 And here is Jesus calling him three times. 00:21:58.913 --> 00:22:00.148 Peter, do you love me? 00:22:00.148 --> 00:22:01.584 Peter do you love me? 00:22:01.584 --> 00:22:04.586 Peter, do you love me? 00:22:06.055 --> 00:22:10.859 He is clearly calling him to deal with this issue. 00:22:10.859 --> 00:22:19.000 And when Peter responds, I think we get this hint of what's going on in Peter's heart, because Peter at this time he responds. 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:22.538 He says, Lord, you know everything. 00:22:24.940 --> 00:22:27.942 You know that I love you. 00:22:29.178 --> 00:22:33.548 I think what Peter is pointing at here by just saying, you know everything. 00:22:33.682 --> 00:22:35.183 You know that I love you. 00:22:35.183 --> 00:22:36.684 You know my heart. 00:22:36.684 --> 00:22:39.688 I don't know that I trust my own heart. 00:22:39.688 --> 00:22:41.056 I'm feeling a little humbled. 00:22:41.056 --> 00:22:43.491 I exalted myself before. 00:22:43.491 --> 00:22:48.263 And now we're in a place where I don't even know if I can say the word love fully and mean it anymore. 00:22:48.263 --> 00:22:49.898 I don't know if I can trust my own heart. 00:22:52.268 --> 00:22:53.669 I know I've been there. 00:22:53.669 --> 00:22:55.538 Have you been there at those times? 00:22:55.538 --> 00:23:06.749 I remember in college, man, I was so ate up with control, with trying to figure out what it meant to be a Christian by knowledge and appearance. 00:23:07.849 --> 00:23:15.290 And then you come to know what the real love of Christ is, through his unconditional love for you. 00:23:15.290 --> 00:23:16.892 It's not about my performance. 00:23:16.892 --> 00:23:18.493 It's not about how I appear. 00:23:18.493 --> 00:23:24.599 It's not about what I do or say or don't say. 00:23:25.634 --> 00:23:33.808 And I remember feeling in that moment, okay, Lord, I know I love you, but I'm not sure I even trust my own heart fully to know what that means. 00:23:33.875 --> 00:23:37.579 I need you like the guy in Mark chapter nine, I believe. 00:23:37.579 --> 00:23:40.615 Help my unbelief. Lord, you know my heart. 00:23:41.049 --> 00:23:42.284 You know better than me. 00:23:42.284 --> 00:23:44.519 I thought I knew my love for you and I didn't. 00:23:46.020 --> 00:23:50.858 You see some of what's going on here? 00:23:50.858 --> 00:23:58.500 I've heard that from some of you at times. I've had conversations where someone will go, you know, I really want to go all in on Jesus. 00:23:58.500 --> 00:24:02.837 But I'm afraid if I do, he'll, he'll force me and my family to move to Africa and be missionaries. 00:24:03.872 --> 00:24:06.642 Why is it always Africa, by the way? 00:24:06.642 --> 00:24:07.942 There's plenty of other places. 00:24:07.942 --> 00:24:12.948 I know you don't want to go here in the US probably, so, but that happens all the time. 00:24:13.281 --> 00:24:17.586 There's this sense that I don't know that I can do what he might call me to do. 00:24:17.819 --> 00:24:20.088 I don't know that I currently have it within me. 00:24:20.088 --> 00:24:23.092 I don't know that I trust my own love for him. 00:24:24.859 --> 00:24:25.794 Part of that's healthy. 00:24:27.296 --> 00:24:29.765 I'm not talking about some kind of OCD. 00:24:29.765 --> 00:24:34.936 Overanalyzing your love for Jesus, to the point where you think you could never do right and you’re beating yourself up as a result. 00:24:34.936 --> 00:24:35.971 I'm not talking about that. 00:24:35.971 --> 00:24:44.512 I'm just talking about just a measure of humility going, yes, Lord, I love you, but you know what that means, right Lord? You really know my heart. 00:24:44.512 --> 00:24:47.516 I sure hope you do. 00:24:47.816 --> 00:24:50.853 We just see a glimpse of that here with Peter. 00:24:51.353 --> 00:24:57.826 Peter coming, I think, with a measure of humility. 00:24:58.093 --> 00:25:00.662 Now look at how Jesus responds to him each time. 00:25:00.662 --> 00:25:06.134 What does he say each time after Peter says I love you? 00:25:01.864 --> 00:25:09.438 He uses three different words two, two different words, but he uses them three different times. 00:25:09.438 --> 00:25:13.241 Looking back at each verse, verse 15, he ends with feed my lambs. 00:25:13.508 --> 00:25:20.915 10 my sheep. Verse 17, feed my sheep. 00:25:22.451 --> 00:25:29.825 Here's a word that I think sums up everything that's going on here, the word that we've been wondering. 00:25:29.825 --> 00:25:32.160 How will Jesus approach Peter? 00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:39.901 The word that says how he will view Peter, Peter moving forward, the word that flows from this call to serve. 00:25:40.402 --> 00:25:42.170 Peter, you've been focused on yourself. 00:25:42.170 --> 00:25:43.872 You've been thinking about yourself. 00:25:43.872 --> 00:25:45.673 Go serve others. 00:25:45.673 --> 00:25:50.912 What he's doing in this moment is restoration. 00:25:51.012 --> 00:25:54.016 Jesus restores Peter in this moment. 00:25:54.482 --> 00:25:55.951 Restoration. 00:25:55.951 --> 00:25:59.554 Peter, come serve. Peter, come alongside. 00:26:02.656 --> 00:26:06.661 And here's what I want everyone to hear today. 00:26:06.661 --> 00:26:08.262 I don't know what you've been through. 00:26:08.262 --> 00:26:15.703 I don't know what you've done, but I'm guessing there's a few of us here today that feel like Jesus could never accept me. 00:26:15.703 --> 00:26:18.073 He could never love me because of what I've done. 00:26:19.173 --> 00:26:20.375 The shame. 00:26:20.375 --> 00:26:21.442 There's guilt. 00:26:21.442 --> 00:26:23.077 There's feelings of inadequacy. 00:26:23.077 --> 00:26:26.080 There's feelings of unworthiness. 00:26:28.784 --> 00:26:32.420 And he says to Peter, feed my sheep. 00:26:32.420 --> 00:26:35.423 Come back in. Tend my lambs. 00:26:36.391 --> 00:26:38.393 Feed my lambs. 00:26:38.393 --> 00:26:39.961 He calls him back in. 00:26:39.961 --> 00:26:45.567 I don't know what you've done, but I promise you, Jesus loves you. 00:26:47.269 --> 00:26:50.271 He will accept you. 00:26:51.338 --> 00:26:55.143 And there may be real consequences for your decisions in life. 00:26:55.143 --> 00:27:00.448 I'm guessing that Peter had a little bit of a stigma hanging over him wherever he went for decades. 00:27:00.448 --> 00:27:04.853 Is that the guy that denied Jesus? 00:27:00.448 --> 00:27:05.854 None of the other disciples did. They at least hid. 00:27:05.854 --> 00:27:07.989 But he outright said, nope, don't know him. 00:27:07.989 --> 00:27:11.425 Is that the guy? He's supposed to teach us about Jesus? 00:27:11.692 --> 00:27:13.728 We're supposed to trust him? 00:27:13.728 --> 00:27:15.630 Imagine the rest of his life. 00:27:15.630 --> 00:27:17.332 No, no, no. Remember Jesus forgave him. 00:27:17.332 --> 00:27:18.199 Yeah. We'll see. 00:27:19.968 --> 00:27:24.571 There may be real consequences to decisions you make. If you end up in prison the rest of your life. 00:27:24.571 --> 00:27:26.641 That's a consequence to decisions you made. 00:27:26.641 --> 00:27:30.045 But that Jesus still loves you. 00:27:31.445 --> 00:27:35.549 He still can restore you. May look different. 00:27:36.451 --> 00:27:43.557 In fact, he may use you in greater ways as a result. He may use you in ways, He will use you in ways you never could have imagined. 00:27:45.292 --> 00:27:47.862 But you're not useless, unworthy. 00:27:47.862 --> 00:27:50.397 Those are the lies the enemy wants you to hear. 00:27:50.397 --> 00:27:51.598 You're useless. 00:27:51.598 --> 00:27:52.500 You're unworthy. 00:27:52.500 --> 00:27:56.837 No one could ever love you. No. 00:27:57.971 --> 00:28:00.974 Jesus loves you. 00:28:01.509 --> 00:28:05.313 I heard a theologian once be asked what is... 00:28:05.313 --> 00:28:08.849 And this guy has forgotten more theology than I'll ever know. 00:28:10.451 --> 00:28:13.755 What is the most profound theological truth that you have ever heard? 00:28:14.689 --> 00:28:16.223 Everybody's wondering, what's he going to say? 00:28:16.223 --> 00:28:17.759 Let me get my pen out. Let me get ready. 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:22.931 Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so is what he said. 00:28:25.532 --> 00:28:26.601 It's so beautiful. 00:28:26.601 --> 00:28:29.604 It's so true. He loves you. 00:28:29.837 --> 00:28:32.140 And no matter what you've been through, he wants to restore you. 00:28:32.140 --> 00:28:34.409 He really does. 00:28:34.409 --> 00:28:36.478 This is what he does with Peter. 00:28:36.478 --> 00:28:41.849 Now look at the last thing he says to him that points back to the beginning of their relationship. 00:28:42.951 --> 00:28:57.298 Verse 18, truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself, walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old you will stretch out your hands and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go. 00:28:58.232 --> 00:29:01.068 Everybody understand? You. 00:29:01.068 --> 00:29:12.747 I'm so grateful that John clarified what this means to us, because this verse would make no sense. Now at the time, it was understood that stretching out your hands was a euphemism for crucifixion. 00:29:12.747 --> 00:29:15.349 Much like we don't like to use the word death or die. 00:29:15.349 --> 00:29:22.323 We'll say stuff like he passed on, went to a better place, Is no longer with us. 00:29:19.319 --> 00:29:22.323 Those kind of things. 00:29:22.624 --> 00:29:24.224 Who wants to talk about crucifixion? 00:29:24.224 --> 00:29:26.627 You will stretch out your hands. 00:29:26.627 --> 00:29:34.568 But John here gives us the clarification in what he writes. This he said to show by what kind of death he, Peter, was to glorify God. 00:29:35.536 --> 00:29:39.840 And after saying this, Jesus said to him, follow me. 00:29:41.541 --> 00:29:45.113 Those are some of the same words he used to call the disciples to begin with. 00:29:45.413 --> 00:29:47.382 We're starting over. 00:29:47.382 --> 00:29:49.450 Remember what this is about. 00:29:49.450 --> 00:29:51.385 Follow me. 00:29:51.385 --> 00:29:52.886 Come with me. 00:29:52.886 --> 00:29:54.521 We're still in this together. 00:29:54.521 --> 00:29:56.723 You're still a part of what we're doing. 00:29:56.723 --> 00:29:58.960 Jesus restores Peter. 00:29:58.960 --> 00:30:01.962 There's a restoration. 00:30:03.230 --> 00:30:06.768 Now, we've talked about Peter, and now we need to talk about John. 00:30:07.468 --> 00:30:10.971 Because if you're the disciples, you've wondered, okay, you've restored Peter. 00:30:11.038 --> 00:30:13.039 We weren't sure what was going to happen with Peter. 00:30:13.039 --> 00:30:16.042 So we wondered, is John going to be our next leader? 00:30:16.076 --> 00:30:16.911 And here's what he does here. 00:30:16.911 --> 00:30:19.913 He clarifies John's role. 00:30:16.911 --> 00:30:19.913 He restores Peter. 00:30:20.548 --> 00:30:22.250 But now what does this mean for John? 00:30:22.250 --> 00:30:24.751 Let's get some clarification around John's role. 00:30:26.487 --> 00:30:29.490 Look at verse 20. 00:30:29.757 --> 00:30:40.233 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, Lord, who is it that is going to betray you? 00:30:40.902 --> 00:30:43.570 And we know we covered this when we studied that section. 00:30:43.570 --> 00:30:46.574 This is John referring to himself in third person. 00:30:47.974 --> 00:30:53.681 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, Lord, what about this guy, our man? 00:30:53.681 --> 00:31:01.588 Jesus said to him, if it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? 00:31:01.588 --> 00:31:04.557 You follow me. 00:31:10.064 --> 00:31:14.167 It's a big temptation to be worried about what God might do with someone else. 00:31:14.167 --> 00:31:16.703 And Peter, in this moment. 00:31:16.703 --> 00:31:18.271 So you're saying I'm going to be crucified? 00:31:18.271 --> 00:31:21.409 Yes, Peter, remember you said you would go all the way to the end with me. 00:31:21.409 --> 00:31:24.077 Don't forget, that's what you asked for. It's going to come. 00:31:24.077 --> 00:31:25.179 What about this guy? 00:31:26.614 --> 00:31:28.214 What about this other guy? 00:31:28.214 --> 00:31:31.085 What's going to happen to him? 00:31:31.085 --> 00:31:34.188 Now because of the way... the way Jesus responds here. 00:31:34.188 --> 00:31:39.359 There's a little bit of confusion in the early church, and John just takes a second to clear it up. 00:31:39.393 --> 00:31:42.997 So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die. 00:31:42.997 --> 00:31:46.099 Yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die. 00:31:47.167 --> 00:31:52.239 But if it is my will that he remains until I come, what is that to you? 00:31:52.873 --> 00:31:58.645 In this moment he just simply says, I've got a different mission in mind for John than you. 00:31:58.778 --> 00:32:01.615 And that's okay. 00:32:01.615 --> 00:32:04.617 He clarifies John's role moving forward. 00:32:05.885 --> 00:32:12.792 Let me wrap up the book with these last couple of verses, and then we have a couple of application points for us about what does this mean for us today? 00:32:12.792 --> 00:32:20.601 Because John says this of himself, this is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things and who has written these things. 00:32:21.000 --> 00:32:23.703 And we know that his testimony is true. 00:32:25.038 --> 00:32:28.275 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. 00:32:28.474 --> 00:32:39.420 Where were every one of them to be written I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. 00:32:39.720 --> 00:32:48.162 John wraps up the book of John, clarifying his own role, resolving the issue of Peter's lingering sin. 00:32:48.162 --> 00:32:51.097 Will he be restored or not? 00:32:51.097 --> 00:33:00.708 And two extremely influential guys in the history of the church are now set up for the church to move forward, and much more could be written about that. 00:33:01.608 --> 00:33:04.612 There's so much more that could be written. 00:33:05.112 --> 00:33:07.748 What does all this mean for us today? 00:33:07.748 --> 00:33:19.460 I think as we look at this passage and we think about Peter's lingering pain and sin, wondering what would happen with them, what do we do in the midst of failure? 00:33:19.460 --> 00:33:22.328 How do we live in the midst of your own failure? 00:33:23.797 --> 00:33:26.633 What does this section mean for us? 00:33:26.633 --> 00:33:28.701 Well, let's look at I've got four things we're going to cover. 00:33:28.701 --> 00:33:32.472 As we look at --what does how do we move forward in the midst of failure? 00:33:32.940 --> 00:33:36.609 First, number one, move toward Jesus. 00:33:39.113 --> 00:33:41.848 Move toward him in the midst of your failure. 00:33:41.848 --> 00:33:48.489 I don't know about you, but when he shows up on the shore and John says, that's the Lord, my temptation would be to sink down in the boat. 00:33:49.655 --> 00:33:51.791 I don't want to have this conversation. 00:33:51.791 --> 00:33:53.493 He's going to want to bring up my failure. 00:33:53.493 --> 00:33:57.131 He's going to want to bring up how I denied him. 00:33:57.131 --> 00:33:59.700 And what does Peter do? 00:33:59.700 --> 00:34:01.335 He does the opposite. 00:34:01.335 --> 00:34:06.405 He's the first to dive into the water and move towards Jesus. 00:34:06.405 --> 00:34:09.809 And this tells you a little bit about how Jesus, how different he is than us. 00:34:14.882 --> 00:34:20.219 I think many times I want people to feel shame and guilt for what they've done wrong. 00:34:21.688 --> 00:34:24.757 But Peter has this sense I've got to move toward Jesus. 00:34:25.559 --> 00:34:27.460 I got to move toward him. 00:34:27.460 --> 00:34:28.628 I know he'll accept me. 00:34:28.628 --> 00:34:32.065 Even in the midst of this. Move towards Jesus in the midst of your failure. 00:34:32.833 --> 00:34:36.168 Number two, focus on serving others. 00:34:38.438 --> 00:34:43.476 In the midst of restoration, focus on serving others. 00:34:43.476 --> 00:34:44.878 You know, that's what he says to Peter. 00:34:44.878 --> 00:34:47.947 Feed my sheep, tend my sheep, feed my lambs, care for them. 00:34:48.014 --> 00:34:51.117 Those are two powerful words feed and tend. 00:34:52.853 --> 00:34:59.458 There is something about getting your eyes off yourself and in the midst of your misery and suffering. 00:34:59.458 --> 00:35:02.429 There's so much power in that. 00:35:02.896 --> 00:35:10.936 I hope that we can give everyone here an opportunity to serve in some way where you feel like this is what God has made me to do. 00:35:12.539 --> 00:35:13.739 Have you experienced that in life? 00:35:13.739 --> 00:35:14.807 You know what I'm talking about there. 00:35:14.807 --> 00:35:17.744 Those moments when you're like, I can't wait to do more of this. 00:35:17.744 --> 00:35:20.447 I feel like God is using me because of what we're doing. 00:35:20.447 --> 00:35:23.449 I'm seeing him work. 00:35:23.849 --> 00:35:37.563 I love it when sometimes on Mondays in the morning, I'll take a break from studying, and I might go down and talk to the folks who are cooking for Helping Hands, our homeless ministry, and they're preparing to go out that night and serve to take food out to the homeless. 00:35:37.563 --> 00:35:40.567 They go downtown to go to a couple of different homeless camps. 00:35:41.735 --> 00:35:43.402 But there's a problem with this. 00:35:43.402 --> 00:35:48.641 I know that if I'm going to go down there, I better have lots of time because they're excited. 00:35:48.641 --> 00:35:51.311 They're happy. They have a lot to say. 00:35:48.641 --> 00:35:51.311 They got some questions to ask. 00:35:51.311 --> 00:35:53.112 They want me to taste things and see things. 00:35:53.112 --> 00:35:57.717 And here's this new piece of equipment we got because we're so pumped up about what we're doing. 00:35:57.983 --> 00:36:00.987 I love that. It's great. 00:36:01.054 --> 00:36:03.190 And look, feeding the homeless may not be your thing. 00:36:03.190 --> 00:36:05.692 You may not have found your thing, you may have tried different things. 00:36:05.692 --> 00:36:10.396 But I firmly believe God has some area of service like that for you. 00:36:10.396 --> 00:36:23.909 Where you feel like this is what I was made for, and we're going to talk a lot more about that this fall in terms of the service opportunities in the church and how to figure out how you're wired and where God might have a seat for you. 00:36:24.510 --> 00:36:28.949 But there's so much power in getting our eyes off of ourselves and serving. 00:36:31.117 --> 00:36:37.023 Number three, in the midst of your failure, avoid comparison. 00:36:37.222 --> 00:36:38.425 This is what Peter, right? went to. 00:36:38.425 --> 00:36:39.693 What about him? 00:36:39.693 --> 00:36:44.230 Yeah, well, no, no, no, don't worry about him. 00:36:44.230 --> 00:36:46.699 Follow me. 00:36:46.699 --> 00:36:49.469 If I have a different plan for him, don't worry about it. 00:36:49.469 --> 00:36:52.338 Follow me. 00:36:52.338 --> 00:36:53.639 And here you have Peter. 00:36:53.639 --> 00:36:59.311 His mission is to go out, travel, plant churches, die on the cross. 00:36:59.311 --> 00:37:00.447 John. 00:37:00.447 --> 00:37:04.284 He maybe stays more local, does more writing, lives a lot longer. 00:37:04.284 --> 00:37:05.751 I like John's ministry path. 00:37:05.751 --> 00:37:11.757 I think I'll follow that one personally if the Lord allows, but avoid comparison. 00:37:12.291 --> 00:37:13.793 I'm sure we've all faced this at times. 00:37:13.793 --> 00:37:22.902 You see someone who's doing better than maybe you are in the moment, and the temptation is to look down on them, to be upset with them, to not like them. 00:37:25.170 --> 00:37:34.380 My hope is that we do the opposite, that we celebrate what God is doing in their lives, that we say, thank you, Lord, for what you're doing in their lives. 00:37:34.380 --> 00:37:39.184 I don't know why that's not happening in my life, but you have a different path for me, Lord, what do you want me to do? 00:37:39.619 --> 00:37:42.621 And a move away from comparison. 00:37:43.523 --> 00:37:53.266 And then lastly, number four, seek to restore, not punish, seek to restore, not punish. 00:37:53.266 --> 00:37:53.833 And I get it. 00:37:53.833 --> 00:37:56.835 There are times where punishment is needed, no doubt. 00:37:57.402 --> 00:38:00.907 But the heart of what we do should be restoration should be behind that. 00:38:02.342 --> 00:38:08.847 You've probably heard it said that the the church are some of the best out there at beating up their own. 00:38:09.882 --> 00:38:16.356 There's other ways, I've heard it said some not as polite. 00:38:17.155 --> 00:38:19.057 And it's often true. 00:38:19.057 --> 00:38:25.164 How do we move towards restoration with one another to build one another up? 00:38:25.364 --> 00:38:31.070 One of the ways that we can point our hearts towards restoration is by taking communion together. 00:38:31.804 --> 00:38:32.838 And we're going to do that today. 00:38:32.838 --> 00:38:38.878 And if you're a deacon helping to distribute communion, if you would slip out now and prepare the elements. 00:38:40.278 --> 00:38:42.447 And they're going to distribute those. 00:38:42.447 --> 00:38:45.617 And communion here is open to anyone who knows Jesus. 00:38:46.085 --> 00:38:52.557 If you call Jesus Lord and Savior, even if you're not a member of this church, we'd love for you to participate in communion. 00:38:53.326 --> 00:38:56.728 When the tray comes pass, just take one stack of cups. 00:38:56.728 --> 00:38:58.898 There's one cup with the juice, one with the bread. 00:38:58.898 --> 00:39:00.967 Take that and hold on to that. 00:39:00.967 --> 00:39:05.804 And once everyone receives the elements, then I'll lead us through taking those together. 00:39:07.873 --> 00:39:10.643 But here's what I want you to pray for while those are being distributed. 00:39:10.643 --> 00:39:18.650 I find this moment while I'm waiting to take communion, to be a powerful moment to press into my own heart. 00:39:19.251 --> 00:39:24.157 Is there someone in your life that needs restoration? 00:39:24.757 --> 00:39:27.893 It could even be you by the way. 00:39:27.893 --> 00:39:30.563 Pray for them during this time. 00:39:30.563 --> 00:39:34.199 If there's a reason you need to go towards someone, pray for them. 00:39:34.599 --> 00:39:37.036 Pray for wisdom. 00:39:37.036 --> 00:39:40.072 And if it's you that needs restoration, pray for your own heart as well. 00:39:41.641 --> 00:39:46.978 So if you would go ahead and start distributing those, hang on to those and pray. 00:39:46.978 --> 00:39:50.750 Pray for restoration during this time, and then I'll lead us through taking them together in a moment.