The One Who Redeems and Restores

Transcript

Good morning, Saints. If I haven’t had a chance to meet you yet, my name is Andre. I’m a member here at Trinity Church of Portland, and I have the immense privilege of serving this church as one of her pastors. I’d love to meet you if we haven’t already met. Earlier this week, our faithful deacon of music ministry, Carly, reached out to me and I quote, wait, you’re preaching the charcoal fire text? I thought Thomas preached that a couple of months ago. An astute observation, Carly. Pastor Thomas did preach that a couple of months ago. He preached a wonderful sermon on February 21st titled Between Two Fires, where he looked at Peter’s betrayal of Jesus in John 18 while standing next to a charcoal fire and connected this to the restoration next to another charcoal fire in John 21. And friends, I just want to invite you to try to feel my fear and the sensation of a grown man squirming in his seat as he’s listening to a sermon and listening to someone preach the text that I’m supposed to preach in a couple of months and significantly better than I could preach it. And you’d think, wow, that’s hard. to go through. And the thing is, this isn’t the first time that’s happened to me. Several years ago, I was invited to speak at a college retreat, and I had a text that I was preaching. I remember it well, Mark 2. And I’m sitting there, and the preacher that’s going up before me steps up and is like, all right, everybody, I want to invite you to open your Bibles to Mark chapter 2. And he preached my text like an hour before I was supposed to preach it. And I had to try to figure out how do I, you know, emphasize different things and how do I, you know, because this was the sermon I had. This is the topic that I was supposed to preach on. And this pastor took a lot of liberties. I still think I faithfully preached that text. He went a little bit broader, but it’s beyond the point. But, dear saints, the word of God is immensely deep and profound and full of wisdom. Amen? And even though Pastor Thomas faithfully preached John 21 a couple of months ago, I still think the Lord has something for us in that text, and he has something to show us on the topic of redemption and restoration. So if you have your Bible, I want to invite you to open it to John chapter 21, and we’ll be reading the first 19 verses. And can I invite you to stand, if you’re able, for the reading of the Word of God? John 21, beginning from verse 1. After this, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas, called the twin, Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, I’m going fishing. They said to him, we’ll go with you. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore, yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, children, do you have any fish? They answered him, no. He said to them, cast your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some. So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, It’s the Lord. When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far off from land, but about a hundred yards. When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it and bread. Jesus said to them, Bring some of the fish that you have just caught. So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, Come and have breakfast. Now none of the disciples dared ask him, Who are you? They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, feed my lambs. He said to him a second time Simon son of John do you love me He said to him yes Lord you know that I love you He said to him tend my sheep He said to him a third time Simon son of John do you love me Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and 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. This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God. And after this he said to him, follow me. This, saints, is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Please be seated. Join me in prayer. our great God as we continue to study your word as we continue to walk through the gospel of John we are regularly and repeatedly astounded at your grace your patience and your kindness to sinners and Lord we would ask that you would extend more of that kindness to us as we dig into your word and seek to be transformed by it and into the image of your son. Help us, Lord, we ask in his wonderful name. Amen. Friends, if you’ve ever tried to have conversations with people about your faith and you hit a wall in one of these conversations, you may have noticed that at the core of unbelief in Jesus is often really a criticism of those who would call themselves Christians. often the criticism is not so much of Jesus but of the church you’ll hear things like the quote often attributed to Gandhi I like your Christ but I do not like your Christians your Christians are so unlike your Christ or something like I’m spiritual but not religious usually stated for the person to kind of distance themselves from what they would call organized religion. People will often talk about church hurt. People will often talk about disappointments, being let down by the church, being let down by other Christians. The hypocrisy of Christians will often come up in conversation with those who don’t want anything to do with Christianity, or especially those who’ve deconstructed having once called themselves Christians. All of these concerns, all of these complaints are valid. In their own way, they’re valid. But the thing is, God’s plan all along was to use imperfect, faithless, cowardly people who not might, but will fail. This, in his infinite wisdom, is how our God chose to make himself known to the world. God knew that Christians would be weak. He knew that they’d misrepresent him. He knew that they’d be selfish and arrogant and, yes, at times, hypocritical. In this text, what we see is Jesus looking at his disciples, looking into the eyes of those who failed him miserably, especially Peter. And what does he do when he meets them after this massive failure? Does he rebuke them? Does he point them to their failure and how they’re not doing well? Does he berate them? Does he let them know how disappointed he is in them? That they’re not representing him well? That this isn’t how people are going to come to know and believe in him? No, our Lord feeds them. He invites them back in. He calls them into fellowship. And he commissions them to a life of ministry. You see, Jesus redeems cowards and failures and fearful betrayers. Jesus uses them for his glory and to accomplish his purposes. The criticism on the part of unbelievers isn’t wrong. They just miss the fact that it was God’s plan all along to use weak people like Peter and like you and I. Because this then gives him all the glory for his work. as we come to the final chapter of our study of John’s gospel we look at God redeeming and restoring his fearful and unfaithful disciples first we’ll look at their empty nets and the abundant meal that he provides them and then towards the end of the our section we’ll see his command to feed his sheep and to follow him first empty nets and abundant meals when everything in their lives is seemingly falling apart, the disciples returned to what they knew how to do best, fishing. There are some preachers and scholars and Christian writers who when looking at this text will write things like how is it that they just up and got right back into fishing How is it that just a matter of days after everything that shifted their lives around everything that redirected their very path, their profession, the use of their time, how is it that they just jump right back into fishing? Is this them finally and completely abandoning Jesus? Is this them losing their faith? I don’t think that’s what’s happening here. You see, the disciples returned to fishing, led by Peter. It wasn’t them giving up or abandoning their faith. They merely went back to what they knew. They were lost. Their lives and their identities were in free fall. And they’d heard murmurings of the fact that this Jesus was raised from the dead, that he was back. But they couldn’t imagine a world in which they would be invited back into his life and his ministry. They’d abandoned him. They’d ran. They didn’t trust in him. And so they go back to fishing. They go back to a quiet working class life. And their entire night of work, their entire investment of time and a lack of sleep, nothing to show for it. Does the night of empty nets perhaps mirror Peter’s spiritual emptiness and how he feels inside? As he looks down at those nets that are not hauling anything in, and as he looks around and doesn’t see his Savior next to him. Does the night of empty nets perhaps show the disciples’ hollowness after walking away from Jesus in his time of desperation and need? Discouraged and hungry. And just as they’re struggling through the night, just as they’re looking around disappointed at yet another thing that didn’t go according to plan, Jesus calls out to them from the shore. verses 5 and 6. Children, do you have any fish? No? Why don’t you cast the net on the other side of the boat and you’ll find some there. Can you imagine what’s racing through their minds as they remember this happening to them once before? Can you imagine what goes through their minds as they understand that we’ve heard these words? Just consider Luke 5, verses 1 through 11. The disciples are fishing. They can’t catch anything. And at Jesus’ words, they cast down their nets, and the nets are so full of fish that they can’t pull them back into the boat. They can’t actually pull up their hull. And it’s interesting that the very miracle that Jesus performed back then to call them to himself, to call them out of a life of fishing, to call them into being fishers of men, he performs here once again to call them back to himself after they run and after they try to hide and save themselves. And when this happened back in Luke 5, do you remember what Peter’s response was? When he sees this massive amount of fish, when he realizes the miracle that God has just performed, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. and the second time it happens here in our text what’s Peter’s response he put on his outer garment for he was stripped for work and he threw himself into the sea Peter knows that he might just have a second chance when he understands it’s the Lord he doesn’t want to be anywhere else he doesn’t care about the fish. He doesn’t care about the loss of profession and the whole night waste. None of these things matter. Oh God, might he forgive me? Might he understand? And so he throws himself into the water because he doesn’t want to be anywhere else but by Jesus. Can you imagine the joy that he felt. I’ve been reading this text all week and I’m just bowled over by this reality of having a second chance after you failed so miserably. This is the grace of our Lord. Can you imagine? It was actually John who first realized it was Jesus talking to them, but Peter just can’t contain himself. He jumps in and he swims to the Lord. And isn’t it just like Peter to leave the other disciples struggling with this massive haul of fish as he goes to do other things. When they get to the shore, what’s waiting for them there along with Jesus? It’s a charcoal fire. And I just picture Peter walking in from the water and he smells it probably before he sees it. And this must have brought something back for him. This must have stirred up his senses to that fateful night when he denied Jesus, when he betrayed him. With the second charcoal fire, Peter finds himself back at the scene of his own failure his greatest failure This time however in the presence of the resurrected Jesus This time with the reality before him that death has been defeated that his sin and his failure may not be the final word, this time may be connecting what John likely communicated to him that Jesus said on the cross. It is finished. Like I mentioned earlier, Thomas preached a wonderful sermon on this topic. He went into this topic in depth, and I encourage you, if you haven’t listened to that sermon, to do so. But what I want for us to see this morning is that Jesus shows the disciples and us the beauty of redemption in this text. Peter’s life didn’t end, and it wasn’t defined by his failure. No, by God’s grace, his restoration of Peter, his redeeming of Peter, even that failure, turning every one of those three denials into something beautiful. Every one of those times where he said, I don’t know the man, is changed into, you know that I love you. And so Jesus calls them to breakfast. Jesus calls Peter to walk past that charcoal fire, to look at it, to smell it, to hear it. And he calls him to sit down for a meal. He asks them to bring the fish that he miraculously provided for them, and it’s a lot of fish. There’s much that’s been speculated and written about this exact amount of fish that the disciples caught, this 153 fish. Now, whether or not there’s significance to this exact number, I’m not sure. I’m not going to speculate on that. There may be. Maybe there’s something to that number. Maybe there’s something to dig into there and some connections to be made to certain Old Testament promises. But two things are for sure, that you’d have to have been there, to have counted the fish, to know the exact amount, as John is telling us, that he was. and that this amount of fish points to the abundant provision of the risen Savior for his people. He will provide and he will provide abundantly. Jesus is so very generous. He provides this abundance of fish and then he doesn’t even call them to use it. He doesn’t say bring the fish and let’s cook that fish. No, you keep that for later. You keep that for your friends, for your families. You take care of yourselves with that. I will feed you. He’s already cooking a meal for them. can you see it the eternal son of God perfect sinless all-powerful the logos the one who performed miracles who taught countless people the one who went to the cross to die in the place of sinners when he sees his disciples after being raised from the dead what does he say to them come and have breakfast he’s still serving them he’s still taking care of them he’s still seeking to be close to them. The risen, glorified Lord of the universe makes breakfast on a beach. Saints, consider, this is the one who washed the feet of his disciples in John 13. This is the same Lord who knelt down with a towel to serve his disciples, doing the job of a slave, kneeling down over a cooking fire. You see, servant leadership wasn’t just a phase of Jesus’ ministry. He’s been resurrected. He’s in his glorified body. Servant leadership is the permanent posture of his reign. And it’s what he’s ultimately calling his disciples into. He’s reminding them, if this is how I serve you, if this is how I live with you, if this is the picture that I’m showing you of what it means to take care of people and to love them and to serve them and to give to them, you live like that. Come to me. Eat with me. Be with me. He doesn’t scold them. He could. He could. He could berate them, but he doesn’t. There’s plenty that he could have rebuked and called out, but he calls them into fellowship. He takes the step towards them. He takes the step toward the unfaithful ones to restore them to himself. Don’t forget that they’ve already heard of the resurrection, and they’re not seeking him out. They’re ashamed of their cowardice. They’re ashamed of their fear. They didn’t think Jesus would ever want them back. So they didn’t seek him out, but he sought them out. He called them back. He fed them. He lets them know that they are still his, and although they abandoned him, he never abandoned them. He will restore what they broke. And as the disciples are having this meal, and everything is swirling around in their minds and they can’t believe that he would take them back and that he would provide for them and that he would love them and he would care them. Jesus shifts his focus to just one of them to have a very specific kind of conversation. This is where we come to verses 15 through 19 where Jesus calls Peter to feed his sheep and to follow him. Let’s reread these verses. This is an incredibly important portion of scripture. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, feed my lambs. He said to him a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, tend my sheep. He said to him a third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me? And he said, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and 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. This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God. And after saying this, he said to him, follow me. Beginning in verse 15, Jesus zeros in on Peter. We see this very special, this very important conversation take place between the two of them. From the incredible confession, I’m sorry, but this conversation is incredibly important, really not just for Peter at that time, but this is incredibly important for all followers of Jesus. And so it’s really no coincidence that this happened in a way that the other disciples heard it as well. And by God’s providence, John was able to record it for all of us. And so as he’s having this conversation with Peter, and we’re reading this conversation, our minds should go to the fact that, man, this is just like Peter’s life. It’s just ups and downs. Peter’s life consisted of a lot of highs and a lot of lows. From the incredible confession in Matthew 16, 15, You are the Christ, the son of the living God, to Jesus telling him to get behind me, Satan, just a few verses later. From walking on water to him then ultimately sinking because he feared and he lost faith. From Peter pulling out the dagger and cutting off the ear of the high priest’s servant to defend Jesus, to him denying Jesus three times mere hours later. High highs and low lows for Peter. His story is one that shows us that our greatest failures and our weaknesses are the best setting for God to work wonders and do great things. It’s easy for us to look at Peter’s denial and be appalled at him for doing that. It’s easy for us to read what Peter did and think to ourselves, how could you, Peter? How is that even a possibility for you? But don’t forget, friends, that despite his failures and his many ups and downs, when Jesus first called him in John 1, Peter left everything to follow Jesus. He left everything behind to be with the Messiah. Peter had great intentions. He risked a lot for the Lord. He put a lot up, or he gave a lot up in order to follow Jesus, and he never looked back after that until, that is Jesus was crucified and Peter was so ashamed so overcome with guilt for what he’d done that he was sure his ministry was over at one point in his life Peter had grandiose plans of all he’d do for Jesus of all he’d be for Jesus but then reality hit him like a ton of bricks and he saw oh man I’m a coward and here when Jesus is sitting with him when Jesus is looking him in the eyes, he presses in on Peter. He doesn’t just kind of gloss over it. He doesn’t just move past it. He presses in. And the three times that Jesus asks Peter if he loves him was to match Peter’s three denials. This was meant to humble him. And this may seem harsh, but don’t forget that Peter’s denial was public, as was his restoration. The other disciples needed to witness this, as it would be essential for his future leadership in the church. And by the third question, Peter isn’t annoyed. He says he’s grieved. He’s not like annoyed. He’s not getting fidgety. No. This is the grief of a man forced to face his own failure. This is genuine restoration because genuine restoration requires a reckoning of what was broken. It requires looking at it, acknowledging it, and dealing with it. And when Jesus calls Peter by his old name, Simon, son of John, this echoes his original calling in John 1.42. This takes Peter back to the beginning as if Jesus is recommissioning in from scratch. He points Peter to who he is and what he’s capable of, but more importantly, he’s showing Peter who he’s committing to follow. He’s showing him, Peter, here’s who I am. I forgive you. I love you. I’m calling you back. But here’s what you’re setting yourself up for when you’re going to follow me. Jesus is teaching Peter about the Messiah that he thought he knew. Jesus is teaching Peter that he had some preconceived notions about this Messiah. And he didn’t deal with those. Now it possible that in verse 15 this phrase the more than these means more than these other disciples love me referencing Peter boast maybe in John 13 37 or Mark 14 29 that he would never fall away even if all of these others would. Jesus is pressing Peter not just to affirm his love but to abandon that comparative self-confidence that preceded his great fall. What Jesus is seeking to do with Peter is to strip away his self-sufficiency, his self-reliant tendencies. He’s making Peter dependent on him. Do you love me? No, really, Peter, look at me. Do you love me? Peter, really, truly do you love me? When we want to get an idea of whether someone is a Christian and ready to live for Christ what’s the best possible question we could ask them? How do we dig in in the context of discipleship to see where people are at and how they’re doing in their walk? Do we ask about their lifestyle? Do we ask about sins? Do we talk to people about their values and their priorities? Do we talk to people about what they believe? Do we maybe discuss gifting or ministry? Jesus is showing us that the best thing you can ask someone to understand where they really stand and whether or not they’re really willing to live for the Lord, do you love Jesus? No, no, no. I get what you’re, do you love him? This is what Jesus is doing here. He’s pricking Peter’s heart. And as he continues to ask, as he continues to chip away, Peter’s confidence shifts drastically from, I’ll do this for you, Lord. I’ll do that for you, Lord. You can count on me. Even if they all fall away, I won’t. I’m not going anywhere. shifts from that to head down, eyes closed. Lord, you know that I love you. Peter, you’ve fallen short, Jesus says. You’ve not done what I’ve asked you to do. Yes, I know, Lord. Therefore, feed my sheep. Do you catch that? there’s not a a caveat in there there’s not an explanation in there about how we transition from the failure into the restoration and the process of restoring somebody and building them back up okay Peter you see how weak you are you see how broken you are you see that tendency in you to rely on yourself and your own strength I see it Lord and I love you and I don’t want it feed my sheep. The restoration of Peter happens because he failed, because he acknowledged his failure, but more than his failure, because of his love for Jesus. Isn’t this whole exchange fascinating? Do you see the magnitude of what Jesus is saying here to Peter? This isn’t just like a general like invitation to ministry. Jesus isn’t just saying, Peter, go do ministry, go preach, go visit churches. He’s entrusting Peter with his people. He’s entrusting Peter with his church. When Peter said, there’s this fascinating quote that Charles Spurgeon, when he’s writing about this text, when Peter is hearing this, this isn’t just like a call into ministry. Charles Spurgeon writes the following. When Peter said, yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee, you have thought that the Lord would answer, ah Peter and I love you. But he did not say so. And yet he did say so. Perhaps Peter did not see his meaning, but we can see it. Jesus did in effect say, I love you so that I trust you with that which I purchased with my heart’s blood. I make you a shepherd to my sheep. I gave everything for them, even my life. Now Simon, take care of them for me. Do you see the love of Jesus for Peter? I love you, Lord, and I love you, Peter. I’m entrusting to you that which is dearest to me. I trust you. This isn’t just love in words. He trusts Peter with that which is most valuable to him. And how is Peter to care for the sheep? What is Peter supposed to do with these sheep? Feed them and tend to them. The imperative shifting back and forth from feed to tend to feed indicates the comprehensive nature of pastoral care that Jesus is calling Peter into He calling him into nourishment oversight and more nourishment Nourish them with the word Peter Feed them with the truth of God Tend to them Care for them Provide for them. Keep them safe. He’s calling Peter into a comprehensive life of caring for people, of loving people, of walking with people, of investing into people and giving of himself and struggling alongside people just like he saw his Lord do for him. Feed my sheep. This really is the definition of pastoral ministry. It’s not management. It’s not building a ministry. It’s not expanding your reach. It’s not building a platform. It’s not programs. It’s feeding Christ’s sheep. He says, my sheep. They don’t belong to the pastor. Peter, they’re not your sheep. They don’t belong to you. You don’t get to do with them whatever you want. You don’t get to build the great church of Peter. These are my sheep. And I trust you with them. The pastor’s authority, Peter’s authority, my authority, all of our pastor’s authority is always, always a derivative authority. always in the service of the sheep’s nourishment and to that end saints i ask you please pray for your pastors we need it because we like peter have egos unfortunately we like peter are self-sufficient unfortunately we like peter rely on ourselves on our gifting on our ability on our powers of persuasion, unfortunately. And Jesus is chipping away at that for Peter, and he’s giving us this model of, Peter, my sheep. Feed them with my word. Point them to me. It’s beautiful. Do you notice that Jesus here isn’t asking anything for himself? He doesn’t ask Peter to prove his love by doing something for Jesus, by serving Jesus. He only points Peter to his people. What a beautiful model for Peter and for every pastor of servant leadership. And then Jesus calls Peter to follow him. Where is he following him? Where is he expected to go? Where are we going, Lord? Follow me to the cross, Peter. you see that phrase stretch out your hands may not make a ton of sense to us but this was a well-known euphemism in the early christian tradition for crucifixion for your hands to be drawn out and nailed to a cross the command follow me therefore carries the weight of a literal call to walk the path of the cross and you see when we read early church history and when we read church tradition, do you know how Peter died? He was crucified, likely under Nero. And when he went to be crucified, he understood the weight of what was happening, and his mind went to Jesus. And he says, no, no, no. I’m not worthy to be killed like him. No way. Crucify me upside down. Make the suffering greater, because I don’t deserve to die like he died. Jesus’ statement, follow me, encompasses everything in Peter’s life. Vocation, suffering, obedience, mission, and ultimately even his death. Now the irony of the prophecy of Peter’s death is that he who drew a sword to avoid death on the cross will himself be crucified. But this isn’t punishment. you see this is an honor because Jesus says your death will glorify God and so what we see here with this conversation with Peter and with this broader conversation with the other disciples is Jesus is actually redefining discipleship for us it’s not merely ministry but it’s martyrdom it’s not merely feeding the sheep but it’s following the shepherd into death friend notice the fact that Peter’s story in the New Testament is written with his failures all clearly included when my story is told I kind of like to you know downplay the stuff that led up to the good stuff but the authors of the New Testament books under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit included Peter’s failures included Peter’s many weaknesses and they did this to show the beauty of the one who uses weak people and does incredible things through them to his glory. Friend is your story unimpressive and at times embarrassing Welcome to the club Jesus calls you to follow him to do his work You see, he’s in the business of redeeming that which was broken and flawed and unattractive, and he’s in the business of restoring traitors and cowards. The failures in your story show that you’ve been transformed and redeemed, dear saint. when Jesus tells Peter and the other six disciples present at this breakfast and what he’s telling you and I is that your future legacy doesn’t have to be whatever your past failure was our God redeems our past and makes the whole of who we are brand new what we see in John 21 is the movement from failed self-reliance fishing all night and catching nothing, to Christ-dependent abundance, the catch, the miraculous catch, to restored vocation, the commissioning of Peter. Despite the utter failure of the disciples, Jesus is patient with them, calling them back, continuing to provide for them, feed them, teach them. Despite Peter’s cowardice and self-reliance, Jesus graciously softens his heart and draws out a confession of sin and love for his Lord. Despite Peter’s and the rest of the disciples and our weakness, our ineptitude, Jesus entrusts his people to imperfect under-shepherds who will fail like me. How comprehensive and how beautiful is this restoration, saints? How marvelous is this Redeemer? Friend, if you can’t quite picture how you can be used by the Lord because of your past or your present struggles. You’re in good company. What kinds of people does God use? Former betrayers? Liars? Thieves? Adulterers? Addicts? Murderers? The list goes on and on and on. Look at the Bible as a whole. Are there a lot of good people with clean and tidy pasts? Not really. And yet, God calls people to himself and uses them for his purposes because he’s gracious and kind and patient. And because it’s not about us. Just like it wasn’t about Peter. You see, the star of this story is the one who was always faithful to Peter, despite Peter’s faithlessness. it’s the same one who will always be faithful to you if you are in him and it’s the same one who will abundantly provide for you even when, not if you fail him Amen? Friends would you pray with me our Lord our Savior our best friend Jesus we stand in awe of you as we read your word as we look at the beauty and the magnitude of your grace Lord we can’t quite wrap our heads around how it is that you could love us as we are so Jesus we pray and we ask would you give us faith to believe that you can redeem and restore all that we are and use us for your purposes we want so badly for our lives to be lived for your glory but we can’t do it alone so with the encouragement from your word this morning for each of us be that you can do this in us we ask Lord help us we pray this in your wonderful name Amen Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Beloved, it is good and it is appropriate that after hearing the word of the Lord preached, we respond. So we are going to respond this morning as one body by reciting the Apostles Creed together, and we do this as an act of worship. So I will read the question, Christian, what do you believe? And we will all respond in reading the answer. Christian, what do you believe? I believe in God the Father Almighty.