Elements City Church
We are taking an extended dive into the gospel of John. In this gospel we witness the hands-on Jesus in all his splendor and radiance. John writes as one who is very close to Jesus and he goes to great length to record a full picture of the person and powerful work of Jesus: a human Christ to redeem us, a divine Christ to reveal God’s nature, and a powerful, Spirit-filled Christ to help us live godly lives. We want to lean into this incredible portrait of Christ painted in the gospel of John! We want to grow to know Jesus better, grow in the life He gives and grow in the life-mission He invites us into. John writes so that we would BELIEVE. *(see John 20:30-31)
RESET
...the button on the gaming system that reboots the game and starts things over again. what system did you grow up with: Atari? Nintendo? Gameboy? Xbox or Playstation. Nintendo Switch now.
We’ve been praying that God might use this season as a RESET MOMENT – the ability to truly evaluate how am I doing?: personally, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually – that we’d be able to make changes, de-clutter & kick the excess and unnecessary things aside and we’d RESET to Who matters most and What matters most.
*last week we looked at Peter a bit.
Sometimes, just like Peter, we get it right.
Sometimes, just like Peter, we get it wrong.
When it falls apart, when we blow it, when we fail – what’s God’s response then? We're beginning to see in Peter's story, God's amazing TRUTH: You can’t “work your way” into God’s grace and you can't “behave your way” out of it.
This weekend we pick up his story - kind of a part 2. John chapter 21 records it for us. It's a little bit after the resurrection and we see this SPIRITUAL RESET that happens, that Jesus leads Peter through – it puts on display how Jesus interacts with us. As we examine John 21, keep in mind chapter 18 and what occurred with Peter's denial/failure moment.
John 21:4-13 NIV
Suddenly the LIGHT BULB GOES ON…and Peter jumps into the water.
=Was Jesus saying that there could be a new beginning? Jesus had already reached out and touched his life once. Would Jesus want anything to do with him now?
When they got ashore, Jesus was near a charcoal fire (only 2 times in the entire N.T. charcoal fire is mentioned – here—and the same kind of fire that Peter had stood near when he denied Jesus. This was the most vivid reminder imaginable of Peter's failure.
Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.”
“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.
Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.”
“Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.
Once more he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was grieved that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know I love you.”
Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep”
Then Jesus told him, “Follow me”
-John 21:15–17, 19
The question, “Do you love me?” is the first thing on God’s mind after you and I fail him.
As New Testament scholar Murray Harris puts it,
“First things first. When we sin, it’s our betrayal. It’s our disowning. Jesus didn’t call him “Peter” because the question was whether Simon wanted to be Peter. Did he want to be a rock for Jesus? When we sin, we’re the ones who turn away.”
Peter responds, in essence: “Jesus, we both know what I did. But you also know my heart. You know that I love you.”
Each time, Jesus said the same thing. In essence: “Then get back in the game. Don’t let your sin be the last word. Do not run from me, do not run from you calling, do not run back to your old life.”
And then came his final challenge: “Peter, I want you to follow me.”
Suddenly the charcoal fire that had only represented failure; NOW represented something brand new: *forgiveness & a 2nd chance.
A SPIRITUAL RESET MOMENT
Because of all Jesus did and accomplished on the cross and his resurrection. We know Jesus didn't come to condemn; he came to save.
He is a Savior that saves and continues to save.
He came to offer a new life and a new start – A RESET.
Not only is His grace big enough to forgive us. It's big enough to now say to us: “Now, let’s start over. FOLLOW ME.”
You may wonder if you can ever push the patience of God to the limit and never get another chance. Or you may feel like you've taken him up on second chances before, but there's a limit to how many times you can come to him in failure. You may be scared to death that you've committed a sin or a series of sins too great to forgive.
Peter probably thought the same thing. Then when what he feared most took place—standing face-to-face with Jesus—he discovered something so radical he hardly knew how to respond. A RESET.
God is more interested in where you’re going than where you’ve been.
Jesus is pushing Peter to dream again, to get back in the game and leverage His life -- to allow God to move in him and through him again.
Because the mission of Jesus is always so much bigger than just you!
He loves you – immensely. But His mission goes beyond just you = it reaches out to the other ‘you’s’ all around you.
Spiritual RESETS – we all need them. We all get them because of Jesus!
COMMUNION AT HOME
We love you! You can let us know of specific prayer requests via our app (prayer request tab). We're here FOR YOU and God is too! We'll see you back online NEXT SUNDAY ONLINE AT 5PM! We're continuing ONLINE through May - but stay tuned for updates on Elements Reopening Phase Plan -- IN FACT: you should have received an email of 1-Question survey last, please fill this out as it will help us with finalizing our reopening plan! That survey is also available in our app.
*REMINDER: we will still be on Facebook for Sunday May 31st online service, but soon will be moving to a new platform for online streaming. stay tuned...