SPEAKER_01: You know, in uh church life is because we work Sundays, is quite often some of our staff have the opportunity to take Fridays off.
SPEAKER_01: And so about a month ago, it is uh I had a Friday off and I was fishing with my boys out in Lake Livingston, and I got a phone call from Todd Pendergrass.
SPEAKER_01: Todd's a stuff.
SPEAKER_01: Now, Todd and I text probably every day.
SPEAKER_01: Like I think if you looked at my phone, the person I text with the most is my wife.
SPEAKER_01: Todd's number two.
SPEAKER_01: But like most people, it's not a lot of phone calls, right?
SPEAKER_01: When somebody calls you, you get a little like, what's going on?
SPEAKER_01: And so I texted Todd.
SPEAKER_01: I said, hey man, I'm I'm on the boat, everything good.
SPEAKER_01: He replied back.
SPEAKER_01: He said, I did something I've never done before.
SPEAKER_01: That's it.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, that could be a really good day or a really horrible day, right?
SPEAKER_01: So that makes me pick up the phone and I call Todd and I said, Uh, hey man, can you describe what you just said?
SPEAKER_01: And in the background, I hear Hector and Scotty laughing and talking.
SPEAKER_01: They were playing golf, and Todd hit a hole in one.
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
SPEAKER_01: He, in typical fashion, they videoed it him walking up.
SPEAKER_01: It was a great celebration, right?
SPEAKER_01: And so I got to celebrate with Todd, and that was great because the staff knows here is I don't I don't play golf, right?
SPEAKER_01: Golf requires three things I don't have uh time, talent, and patience.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: But those guys have that.
SPEAKER_01: And they were also describing to me a couple of charity golf tournaments they played in where you can buy a mulligan.
SPEAKER_01: It's basically a do-over.
SPEAKER_01: So if you're not familiar with it, it is here how this works.
SPEAKER_01: You and your friends go out for golf.
SPEAKER_01: You're in your golf uniform.
SPEAKER_01: You need a uniform golf, you know that?
SPEAKER_01: I didn't know that.
SPEAKER_01: You have a uniform.
SPEAKER_01: You seen those guys, right?
SPEAKER_01: They got a golf hat, golf shirt, golf belt, golf pants, golf shoes.
SPEAKER_01: Don't know why you need golf shoes.
SPEAKER_01: You're not running, jumping, sliding, you're riding in a cart, but you have golf shoes, right?
SPEAKER_01: So you got your golf club, you step up to the tee, the ball's there, you do a good practice swing, you are feeling good, right?
SPEAKER_01: Now comes the time.
SPEAKER_01: You get ready to tee off, the ball's there, you hit the ball, the ball goes straight up, right into the woods, right?
SPEAKER_01: And typically somebody you're playing with says, hey, take a mulligan, a do-over.
SPEAKER_01: And in some of these tournaments you play in, you can buy them up front.
SPEAKER_01: Think about this.
SPEAKER_01: That means you're saying, I know I'm gonna mess up, so I'm paying in advance for it to be like it never happened, right?
SPEAKER_01: I don't know about you, I wish I could do that in real life, right?
SPEAKER_01: Man, I've got plenty of times in life that I wish I could have a do-over.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you do too.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe there's a conversation, maybe words you had with your spouse or your kids, or maybe a decision that you made, and you're like, man, if I could just have that moment over, I would do things so differently.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe a decision, maybe an addiction, maybe a moral failure, maybe a season in your life where you simply drifted away from God, and during these moments, for a lot of us, the pain isn't always in what we did.
SPEAKER_01: The pain is in now believing that what we did defines us.
SPEAKER_01: We think, man, I can never be the husband or wife that I wanted to be.
SPEAKER_01: Man, as I can't be trusted.
SPEAKER_01: Man, there's no way that God could ever use somebody like me.
SPEAKER_01: Well, friends, if you're here today, if you're in the worship center, you're in the courts, and you ever believe that, I want you to know that today is for you.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna introduce you to a friend of Jesus, a gentleman by the name of Peter.
SPEAKER_01: Now, Peter was one of Jesus' disciples, and Peter was a man's man.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what I mean is Peter typically act before he thought, right?
SPEAKER_01: Peter was not a ready, aim, fire guy.
SPEAKER_01: Peter was a ready fire, fire, aim, maybe later, right?
SPEAKER_01: Peter typically engaged his mouth and his body before his mind, right?
SPEAKER_01: That's what he did.
SPEAKER_01: But today's story is not just about Peter, it's about anybody in this room who ever believed that, man, can I come back from this?
SPEAKER_01: Can God still use me?
SPEAKER_01: That's the story of Peter.
SPEAKER_01: Because if anybody had the reason to believe that he was finished, that he was disqualified, that God could not use him, that's this guy.
SPEAKER_01: So let me set the stage with you for a moment.
SPEAKER_01: Is Jesus is crucified on a Friday?
SPEAKER_01: So the Thursday before that, is Jesus gets his disciples together.
SPEAKER_01: And he's having a conversation with them.
SPEAKER_01: And listen to what he says in Matthew chapter 26, starting in verse 31.
SPEAKER_01: Then Jesus said to them, Tonight all of you will fall away because of me.
SPEAKER_01: For it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.
SPEAKER_01: But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.
SPEAKER_01: And then we have Peter, right?
SPEAKER_01: Peter's response, Jesus, even if everybody else, meaning the disciples in the room, even if these bombs, okay, even if these guys fall away, I will never fall away from you.
SPEAKER_01: And then you've got Jesus looking like a parent, like, bro, have you not been with me the last three years?
SPEAKER_01: Have you not seen the things I've done, the things I've done, my teachings?
SPEAKER_01: So he uses the word truly, which translation for us in Texas means, come on, man.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says this.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, truly, I tell you, tonight before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.
SPEAKER_01: And here's Peter again, right?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you.
SPEAKER_01: Opening his mouth again.
SPEAKER_01: And then some of the other disciples, Peter's confidence is contagious, so it says, and the other disciples said the same thing.
SPEAKER_01: Now here's what I believe.
SPEAKER_01: I believe Peter wasn't pretending, right?
SPEAKER_01: I believe he actually thought that he would do those things.
SPEAKER_01: But then a few hours later, the unthinkable happens.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is arrested and then begins his trials and all the things that's going to happen that leads to his crucifixion.
SPEAKER_01: And just like Jesus said, as the disciples scatter.
SPEAKER_01: But Peter, Peter begins to follow Jesus from a distance.
SPEAKER_01: That's what scripture says.
SPEAKER_01: And isn't that how compromise usually happens?
SPEAKER_01: We begin to follow Jesus from an ever-increasing distance.
SPEAKER_01: Typically, not just run away at once, as we follow from afar.
SPEAKER_01: And so people begin to see Peter around and they recognize him.
SPEAKER_01: They've seen him with Jesus the last few years.
SPEAKER_01: And so they say, Hey, aren't you that guy that's hanging out with Jesus?
SPEAKER_01: Peter says, I don't know him.
SPEAKER_01: A little while later, somebody else, a second time, says, Aren't you one of his disciples?
SPEAKER_01: Peter says, I don't even know the man.
SPEAKER_01: Second time.
SPEAKER_01: Third time later.
SPEAKER_01: Someone else asked him, Don't you know him?
SPEAKER_01: Aren't you one of his disciples?
SPEAKER_01: Peter again.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know the guy.
SPEAKER_01: At that moment, the rooster crowed.
SPEAKER_01: The Gospel of Luke tells us that at that point, Jesus turns and looks directly at Peter.
SPEAKER_01: Imagine this.
SPEAKER_01: Luke 22.
SPEAKER_01: And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.
SPEAKER_01: And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he'd said to him, Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.
SPEAKER_01: And Peter went out and wept bitterly.
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine that look?
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine that look of Jesus looking at Peter?
SPEAKER_01: I don't think it was a look of disgust or disgrace.
SPEAKER_01: I think it was a look of the Savior looking at his friend.
SPEAKER_01: Saying, Peter, I told you this was going to happen, man.
SPEAKER_01: Peter, I still love you.
SPEAKER_01: Peter, these next few days are going to be tough, but have hope.
SPEAKER_01: Scripture says that Peter ran away sobbing, the kind of tears that only comes when your heart is completely broken.
SPEAKER_01: So can you imagine the next few days, the weight of guilt and shame that Peter carried?
SPEAKER_01: Every conversation about Jesus, did he die?
SPEAKER_01: Is he resurrected?
SPEAKER_01: All of those things before Jesus appears to them reminds Peter of his betrayal.
SPEAKER_01: And later, when Jesus shows himself to a number of the disciples, as we see in scriptures, quite often, is Peter is not just wondering, hey man, I'm celebrating Jesus is alive, but he's wondering, what does Jesus think about me?
SPEAKER_01: And friends, maybe you've asked that same question.
SPEAKER_01: Can God forgive what I've done?
SPEAKER_01: Can he still use somebody like me?
SPEAKER_01: Man, all the times I've messed up.
SPEAKER_01: Can I ever come back from this?
SPEAKER_01: Church, if you've ever asked that question, John chapter 21 exists for you.
SPEAKER_01: Because here's the beauty of this chapter is we learn not only does Jesus rise from the dead, but that the risen Savior gets up and goes looking for the disciple that denied he even knew him.
SPEAKER_01: And so what happens?
SPEAKER_01: What happens when the risen Savior finally meets the disciple that betrayed him?
SPEAKER_01: Is it anger?
SPEAKER_01: Is it disappointment?
SPEAKER_01: Is it condemnation?
SPEAKER_01: It's none of those.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, what we get is one of the most beautiful pictures of restoration in all of Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to look at this today because I believe this, church, that the way Jesus restores Peter is the same way he restores us today.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm going to look at some ingredients of restoration that Jesus uses for Peter and for us.
SPEAKER_01: So if you have your Bibles, will you open them with me to John chapter 21?
SPEAKER_01: John chapter 21.
SPEAKER_01: Last chapter in the book of John that we've been walking through for the past year or so.
SPEAKER_01: And I love that Pastor Ryan has led us through this gospel for the last year or so.
SPEAKER_01: So rich and powerful and so important in the time of our church right now.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to be in verse 1 through 19, and because of time is, I'm not going to read verse 1 through 14.
SPEAKER_01: So I'll summarize 1 through 14.
SPEAKER_01: Basically, it's this as Peter had returned to his old way of life.
SPEAKER_01: He and the other disciples, some of them are fishing, and so they go out and they try to catch some fish, and they can't even do that right.
SPEAKER_01: It says they catch no fish.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus shows up on the banks and tells them to cast their net out onto the other side.
SPEAKER_01: Scripture says that they hauled in hundreds of fish.
SPEAKER_01: They go ashore and then Jesus is there making them breakfast.
SPEAKER_01: And then we pick up in verse 15.
SPEAKER_01: Read along with me.
SPEAKER_01: When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?
SPEAKER_01: Yes, Lord, he said, You know that I love you.
SPEAKER_01: Feed my lambs, he told them.
SPEAKER_01: A second time we asked him, Simon, son of John, do you love me?
SPEAKER_01: Yes, Lord, he said to him, You know that I love you.
SPEAKER_01: Shepherd my sheep, he told him.
SPEAKER_01: He asked him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me?
SPEAKER_01: And Peter was grieved that he was asked the third time, Do you love me?
SPEAKER_01: He said, Lord, you know that everything.
SPEAKER_01: You know that I love you.
SPEAKER_01: Feed my sheep, Jesus said.
SPEAKER_01: Truly I tell you, when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted.
SPEAKER_01: But when you grow old, Peter, you'll stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don't want to go.
SPEAKER_01: He said this to indicate what kind of death Peter would glorify God.
SPEAKER_01: And after saying this, he told Peter, follow me.
SPEAKER_01: The first ingredient of restoration we see right now is pursuit.
SPEAKER_01: Pursuit.
SPEAKER_01: I love how ordinary this scene sort of opens, right?
SPEAKER_01: As Peter just says, I'm going fishing.
SPEAKER_01: Verse three, I'm going fishing, Peter says.
SPEAKER_01: We're coming with you.
SPEAKER_01: They went out, got into the boat, but they caught nothing.
SPEAKER_01: You see, this simply isn't about catching fish, as Peter was returning to his old way of life.
SPEAKER_01: He wasn't just looking for dinner.
SPEAKER_01: Think about it, when you feel like you're disqualified for ministry, or you're no longer able to work somewhere that you put your hands to is quite often, you just go back to what feels familiar.
SPEAKER_01: Peter wasn't chasing Jesus anymore.
SPEAKER_01: He was running back to his life that he had before Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: But here's the beautiful truth: Peter quit chasing Jesus, but Jesus never quit pursuing him.
SPEAKER_01: Church, I want you to hear me.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus goes looking for broken people.
SPEAKER_01: Do you know that?
SPEAKER_01: John chapter 21 says this.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 1 starts with this.
SPEAKER_01: After this, Jesus revealed himself again.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus revealed this, right?
SPEAKER_01: Notice who initiates this.
SPEAKER_01: Not Peter.
SPEAKER_01: Peter didn't send for Jesus and say, Jesus, I'm sorry, can we meet?
SPEAKER_01: Peter didn't send him a calendar invite.
SPEAKER_01: Will you accept this meeting for lunch on Tuesday at noon?
SPEAKER_01: He didn't do any of that.
SPEAKER_01: It was Jesus who moved in the direction of Peter.
SPEAKER_01: What's so beautiful is Jesus sort of forecasted and spoke about this in a parable in Luke 15.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to what he said here.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus told them this parable.
SPEAKER_01: What among you who has a hundred sheep and loses one of them does not leave the 99 in the open field and go after the lost one until he finds it?
SPEAKER_01: When he has found it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, and coming home, he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying to them, Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep.
SPEAKER_01: You see, when one sheep wanders away, the shepherd just doesn't stand on a hill and call its name and then say, I guess it's not coming back.
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: He leaves the flock, he goes finds the sheep because sheep rarely come back to him.
SPEAKER_01: That's what Jesus is doing.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, quite often, as some of us believe that our spiritual life depends on our ability to hold on to Jesus, to our ability to perform, to work hard.
SPEAKER_01: But the gospel says that our hope rests not in our own efforts, but in Jesus' determination to hold on to us.
SPEAKER_01: Peter let go.
SPEAKER_01: He gave up.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus never did.
SPEAKER_01: So for us, when we think, man, I've wandered too far, I've failed too many times, I've wasted too many years, I want you to know this that restoration always begins with God's pursuit of you.
SPEAKER_01: And I know this.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't begin with correction at all.
SPEAKER_01: He begins with breakfast.
SPEAKER_01: With breakfast.
SPEAKER_01: Our first ingredient is pursuit, and the second is grace.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 12.
SPEAKER_01: Come and have breakfast, Jesus told them.
SPEAKER_01: None of the disciples dared ask him, Who are you?
SPEAKER_01: Because they knew it was the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus came.
SPEAKER_01: He took the bread, he gave it to them, and he did the same with the fish.
SPEAKER_01: Church, don't miss this, right?
SPEAKER_01: I love this that Jesus feeds Peter before he ever confronts him.
SPEAKER_01: Imagine the scenes.
SPEAKER_01: The disciples, they step out of the boat, they're tired, they're hungry, they're cold, they probably feel a little discouraged because they couldn't catch any fish until Jesus shows up, right?
SPEAKER_01: So they're fishermen who can't even catch fish.
SPEAKER_01: So what begins to happen at this point is maybe Peter begins to think, man, not only did I fail Jesus, is maybe I may fail you.
SPEAKER_01: That's what guilt and shame does.
SPEAKER_01: That's what the enemy does.
SPEAKER_01: You see, he moves from attacking just our actions to attacking our identity.
SPEAKER_01: It's a huge difference in that.
SPEAKER_01: Then something changes.
SPEAKER_01: They get out of the boat, they come ashore, they smell breakfast.
SPEAKER_01: So who's cooked breakfast for them?
SPEAKER_01: Their friend, their rabbi, their savior is standing over a campfire making breakfast for the men who said they didn't even know him.
SPEAKER_01: The Thursday before Jesus died, he did something similar.
SPEAKER_01: We call this the Last Supper.
SPEAKER_01: He gathered the disciples together, he washed their feet, he spoke a blessing over them, he fed them, and now we see it again.
SPEAKER_01: Pastor Ryan and I were talking this week, and he said, Man, this is almost like we should call this the last breakfast.
SPEAKER_01: So he gathers the disciples together again, he looks at Peter and he feeds them and then he restores them.
SPEAKER_01: That's what he does.
SPEAKER_01: And I think there's something profound here, right?
SPEAKER_01: Because for a lot of us, maybe we were expecting Jesus to start right away with Peter, we need to talk.
SPEAKER_01: Peter, I need to know what happened.
SPEAKER_01: But instead he says, Peter, eat.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Friends, this isn't about food, it's about grace.
SPEAKER_01: You see, before Jesus restores Peter's ministry, as he restores his fellowship.
SPEAKER_01: Right before he begins the correction, he's reminding Peter, Peter, you still have a place at my table.
SPEAKER_01: Do you know that?
SPEAKER_01: During my time in the Marine Corps, one of the best leaders I served with was a gentleman by the name of Charles Ridgway.
SPEAKER_01: When he was with me, he was a gunny, he was my right-hand man.
SPEAKER_01: He retired as a sergeant major.
SPEAKER_01: The picture you see on the screen behind you was in the middle of Iraq during one of our combat deployments, and I got to re-enlist him.
SPEAKER_01: What that means is he signed up for another four years of service in the midst of a hostile environment because that's the kind of Marine he was.
SPEAKER_01: But what I loved about Gunny Ridgway is he was the master of what we call the debrief, the after action.
SPEAKER_01: As we were going through training many times, is a Marine would uh, you know, absolutely make a mistake, but instead of hammering the guy on the spot is what Gunny Ridgway would do, is he would wait till there was sort of a tactical pause, a lull in the action.
SPEAKER_01: He'd wait till the Marines were able to calm down a little bit, get something to drink, and then he'd pull that Marine aside and say, Hey, buddy, let's talk about what happened.
SPEAKER_01: Why'd you do this?
SPEAKER_01: Do you understand when you did this it was wrong?
SPEAKER_01: You know, it was not according to our SOP and hey, the actions, how it impacted other people.
SPEAKER_01: But he would do that in a different way.
SPEAKER_01: And he would always remind me, he would say this, he would say, Sir, once they know they're still part of the team, their heart becomes coachable.
SPEAKER_01: Man, that's parenting advice, that's marriage advice, that's leadership advice.
SPEAKER_01: Once they know they're still part of the team, their heart becomes coachable.
SPEAKER_01: How much more does Jesus know our heart?
SPEAKER_01: You see, grace, it creates an environment where truth can be received.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus doesn't ignore Peter's failure.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna see in a moment about that.
SPEAKER_01: He refuses to let Peter's failure be the first thing that Peter hears about.
SPEAKER_01: First, Peter experiences acceptance, then correction.
SPEAKER_01: You know, in a lot of our parenting classes that we have the opportunity to do here, we talk about this.
SPEAKER_01: We tell parents, well, parents, you should always make sure you connect more than you correct.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what Jesus is doing here.
SPEAKER_01: Church, here's what I know is probably you're like Peter and you're scared to come back to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's been a while since you've been at church.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you've had some things in your life, and for whatever reason you're here today, and you're like, man, Brad, I don't know if I can come back, right?
SPEAKER_01: Because for many of us, I understand is we think there's gonna be condemnation.
SPEAKER_01: We think that Jesus is gonna be mad and angry.
SPEAKER_01: Can I share with you for a moment how much condemnation you're gonna receive when you come back to Jesus?
SPEAKER_01: Romans chapter 8, verse 1, Paul says this therefore there is now no condemnation in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Not a little bit, not a manageable amount of condemnation, but zero.
SPEAKER_01: Will there be conviction from the Holy Spirit?
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01: Will there be some scars, some earthly scars from the decisions that you have made?
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01: But how much condemnation?
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely zero.
SPEAKER_01: Zero.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, Jesus never minimizes sin, right?
SPEAKER_01: The cross proves that to us, but he always maximizes grace.
SPEAKER_01: So don't misunderstand what's happening, right?
SPEAKER_01: Breakfast was not the end of the conversation, it was the beginning.
SPEAKER_01: But before he went after his heart, he reminded him that he still had a seat at the table.
SPEAKER_01: Grace invited Peter to the table, and the next ingredient we're going to see is truth.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 15.
SPEAKER_01: When they'd finished breakfast, they'd finished eating together.
SPEAKER_01: What happens when you eat, you talk, you have conversation, you fellowship?
SPEAKER_01: After that, is Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?
SPEAKER_01: What we see now is Jesus lovingly confronting what must be healed.
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine Peter's heart?
SPEAKER_01: Peter knew this was coming.
SPEAKER_01: He knew this was a conversation that's going to happen.
SPEAKER_01: If you've if you know the kids in the room, all of us, we remember when our parents sat down and they were disappointed with us, and sort of our stomach begins to sink.
SPEAKER_01: And we thought, man, here's the moment.
SPEAKER_01: Here it comes, right?
SPEAKER_01: If you're Peter, here's the moment Jesus tells me that I'm finished.
SPEAKER_01: But notice something interesting is Jesus begins to call him by his name Simon, not Peter.
SPEAKER_01: He calls him by the name that he went by before he met Jesus because he had gone back to his old way of living.
SPEAKER_01: And instead of going straight to his actions, is Jesus does something interesting, is he begins to ask him a question.
SPEAKER_01: Do you love me?
SPEAKER_01: And he asked him that three times.
SPEAKER_01: Three times why?
SPEAKER_01: Because Peter denied Jesus three times.
SPEAKER_01: This is not a punishment, this is restoration.
SPEAKER_01: Is Jesus is trying not to embarrass Peter, not at all, but to give Peter the opportunity to publicly reverse what he publicly denied.
SPEAKER_01: See, Jesus never talks about Peter's past, He talks about his heart.
SPEAKER_01: Because you have to remember, right, when we talked about it in the beginning, is Peter stood before Jesus and says, even if everybody else falls away, not me.
SPEAKER_01: Peter had a bold sense of who he was.
SPEAKER_01: That doesn't exist now.
SPEAKER_01: His devotion before he thought exceeded everyone else's, but now Jesus is saying, Hey, where's your heart at?
SPEAKER_01: And notice now he doesn't boast.
SPEAKER_01: Instead of boasting, we see brokenness.
SPEAKER_01: See humility instead of self-confidence.
SPEAKER_01: Because, church, here's what a lot of us know, right?
SPEAKER_01: Is sometimes God has to break our confidence in ourself before he can build our confidence in him back up.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what he's doing in this moment.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what I love about this conversation that's so important is Jesus refuses to dangerous extremes that a lot of us go to in this moment.
SPEAKER_01: First of all, there's those that know only truth, right?
SPEAKER_01: They're the kind of people at church or at home in your family or work that they point out every mistake, every weakness.
SPEAKER_01: They don't just have a critical eye, man, they've got a critical spirit.
SPEAKER_01: People that are around them, they leave feeling exposed but never restored.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, hear me.
SPEAKER_01: Truth without grace crushes people.
SPEAKER_01: Do you know that?
SPEAKER_01: Truth without grace crushes people.
SPEAKER_01: But then on the other hand, as we've got people that only know grace, they avoid difficult conversations, they never address sin.
SPEAKER_01: They call compromise compassion.
SPEAKER_01: They ignore sin and they call it tolerance.
SPEAKER_01: People leave feeling comfortable, but no change.
SPEAKER_01: So hear me again.
SPEAKER_01: In this moment, grace without truth changes nothing.
SPEAKER_01: That's why at King's one of our core values is grace-filled truth, because that's what Jesus shows us right here in this moment.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus refuses both of those extremes.
SPEAKER_01: He loves Peter enough to invite him to breakfast, and he loves him enough to speak truth in his life.
SPEAKER_01: You see, you can't restore what you pretend never happened.
SPEAKER_01: It's sometimes healing takes honesty to begin.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes Jesus has to get rid of some things in our life.
SPEAKER_01: I think about a surgeon.
SPEAKER_01: I've had a number of surgeries in my life, right?
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes that surgeon, he has to cut me to heal me, right?
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't cut me to wound me, not at all.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, if if he ignored the disease, if he ignored the wound, that wouldn't be compassion, is that would be cruel.
SPEAKER_01: That'd be a cruel doctor, a cruel surgeon.
SPEAKER_01: So likewise, many times as Jesus does spiritual surgeries, what he has to do is he has to cut precisely in a very loving way, carefully to get rid of some things in our life to allow true healing to take place.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what he's doing for Peter.
SPEAKER_01: So for us, what does that mean?
SPEAKER_01: It means many times is we want to remove guilt without allowing him to expose its source.
SPEAKER_01: That we want peace without repentance.
SPEAKER_01: And we want freedom without being honesty.
SPEAKER_01: But here's what I love Peter, right, gives us an example many times about what not to do, but then he gives us an example of what to do here.
SPEAKER_01: Peter doesn't make any excuses.
SPEAKER_01: Zero.
SPEAKER_01: He says, This Lord, you know everything.
SPEAKER_01: You know my heart.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, you know all things.
SPEAKER_01: And you know that I love you.
SPEAKER_01: Peter no longer trusts sort of his own self-assessment of his self.
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_01: He trusts Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: That's humility.
SPEAKER_01: That's repentance, and that's where restoration begins.
SPEAKER_01: So we see pursuit, we see grace, we see truth.
SPEAKER_01: And then lastly, once Peter's heart has been restored, is Jesus immediately begins talking about Peter's future, right?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus never restores us and just allows us to stand still.
SPEAKER_01: He restores us for the fourth ingredient is this it's purpose.
SPEAKER_01: Purpose.
SPEAKER_01: Every time that Peter answers Jesus' question, Jesus gives him an assignment.
SPEAKER_01: Feed my lambs, feed my sheep, do this.
SPEAKER_01: Because Jesus doesn't simply forget people.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, he does is he recommissions us.
SPEAKER_01: Peter thought his ministry had ended.
SPEAKER_01: He thought it was over, he'd gone back to his old life.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, Nope.
SPEAKER_01: Not you, Peter.
SPEAKER_01: Not today.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to restore you and you're going to shepherd my people.
SPEAKER_01: And the great evidence of this is Jesus not necessarily just forgiving Peter, is that he trusted Peter again.
SPEAKER_01: And think about the transformation, right?
SPEAKER_01: Is a couple of days ago as Peter denies he even knows Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And this moment, Jesus restores him.
SPEAKER_01: And we see a little while later in the beginning of Acts chapter 2, Peter stands before thousands, proclaiming who Jesus is.
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible tells us that thousands came to faith in Jesus that day.
SPEAKER_01: The man that Satan wanted to crush was the man that Jesus used to shake Jerusalem for Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: That's what he does for you.
SPEAKER_01: It's the power of restoration.
SPEAKER_01: The one who once denied he even knew Jesus now boldly proclaims him.
SPEAKER_01: You see, failure did not become Peter's identity.
SPEAKER_01: Grace did.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, I hope you hear that.
SPEAKER_01: When you look at Scripture, you'll see that God loves to use restored people.
SPEAKER_01: We can look at the lives of Jacob, Moses, David, Jonah, Paul, Peter, all of them restored.
SPEAKER_01: God delights in using restored people because restored people love to give the things that they have received from Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Compassion, kindness, grace.
SPEAKER_01: The things they have first received from Jesus, they now extend to others.
SPEAKER_01: And here's what I know.
SPEAKER_01: I know there's people in this room, there's people in the courts that have accepted God's forgiveness, but you've never accepted his calling on your life again.
SPEAKER_01: You're going through the motions.
SPEAKER_01: You're thinking there's no way God can use me.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, God, I believe you forgive me.
SPEAKER_01: I'll spend eternity with you in heaven, but I don't think you can use me on earth now.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, I will tell you this: that's not humility, that's unbelief.
SPEAKER_01: That's unbelief.
SPEAKER_01: If Jesus has forgiven you, don't argue with him.
SPEAKER_01: He wants you back in the game.
SPEAKER_01: If the king says you're restored, stop living like you're disqualified.
SPEAKER_01: Your failure may explain part of your story, but it doesn't have to determine your future.
SPEAKER_01: Last week my family and I were in Rome.
SPEAKER_01: We got to spend some time on the coast in Sorrento and then in ancient Rome, and we got to tour a lot of places.
SPEAKER_01: And one of the parts that sort of hit me to my core was a picture you're about to see on the screen.
SPEAKER_01: It's the prison where Peter sat.
SPEAKER_01: I took this picture.
SPEAKER_01: It's not a great picture because there's not a lot of light.
SPEAKER_01: It's cold or hot, depending on the time of year.
SPEAKER_01: It's damp, it's depressing.
SPEAKER_01: And it just hit me as I'm sitting there, because I know I'm going to be preaching today, that Peter was sitting there on that stone.
SPEAKER_01: What led a man to going from I don't even know who Jesus is to I'm willing to die because I refuse to deny him?
SPEAKER_01: How does that happen in somebody's life?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus had an encounter with a risen Savior.
SPEAKER_01: Same answer to me and you.
SPEAKER_01: Peter worked the rest of your life to pay me back.
SPEAKER_01: He simply looks at Peter and says the same words when he met Peter before he called him a disciple, and he says, Follow me.
SPEAKER_01: Follow me.
SPEAKER_01: And that's how their conversation ends.
SPEAKER_01: So for us today, undoubtedly we have moments in our life where we wish we could have a mulligan, that we wish we could have a do-over.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes it's in our relationships with those around us, and sometimes it's in our relationship with God.
SPEAKER_01: But I want you to know this that there is nothing you can do that will make your Savior not pursue you.
SPEAKER_01: Do you know that?
SPEAKER_01: He pursues you today the same way he pursues Peter.
SPEAKER_01: So today, in a moment, here in the worship center in the court, says we'll have an opportunity to respond.
SPEAKER_01: And it can look like a few different ways.
SPEAKER_01: First of all, is maybe you're here today, somebody brought you to church, you haven't been here in a while.
SPEAKER_01: We're talking about Jesus and grace, the cross, forgiveness, and you're like, man, I don't know a lot about that.
SPEAKER_01: I'm sort of skeptical.
SPEAKER_01: Man, we would love to just answer some questions.
SPEAKER_01: There'll be some people up front, or you can go by the connection center.
SPEAKER_01: We love to answer questions.
SPEAKER_01: Let us be with you on step one of your faith journey.
SPEAKER_01: We would love that.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you're here and like Peter when Jesus was arrested, is you just been following Jesus from an ever-increasing distance.
SPEAKER_01: Today you say no more.
SPEAKER_01: The last service, I have the opportunity to pray with a lady who came up front and she says, I've been following Jesus for way too far away.
SPEAKER_01: Today's the day.
SPEAKER_01: She made a recommitment in her life.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe today is just about some conversations you need to have with people in your life.
SPEAKER_01: You need to ask them for forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: But lastly, for all of us, is our challenge is the Lord says, get back in the game.
SPEAKER_01: Not only do I forgive you and I restore you, but he looks at us with the same two words that he told Peter.
SPEAKER_01: Follow me.
SPEAKER_01: So Heavenly Father, today we thank you for the gift of restoration.
SPEAKER_01: We thank you for the gift of grace and truth and purpose.
SPEAKER_01: We thank you for a God, Lord, that you're a God that there's no condemnation in you.
SPEAKER_01: That you call us back to you, that there's a seat at the table for us.
SPEAKER_01: So, Lord, today would you open our eyes and our ears and our hearts to those things today.
SPEAKER_01: Let us be moved by your spirit.
SPEAKER_01: In the master's name of Jesus we pray.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, Pastor Ryan Rush here, and I just want to thank you for being with us at Kingsland Online today.
SPEAKER_00: What an honor.
SPEAKER_00: But I'll tell you what'd be even better.
SPEAKER_00: We'd love to see you get connected with the physical church in the days ahead if you haven't already.
SPEAKER_00: And that means maybe if you're local in the West Houston area, we'd love to see you at Kingsland.
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, regardless, we'd love to help you facilitate uh jumping into a local church near you, and we can do that together.
SPEAKER_00: You can go to Kingsland.org slash online connect.
SPEAKER_00: Kingsland.org slash onlineconnect to find out the next steps on your journey.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, thanks again for being with us today at Kingsland.