From Stumbling to Leading
Sermon Audio
Sermon Notes
Intro:
Hey everybody my name’s Louis, I’m the lead teaching pastor here at City Awakening, it’s great to be with you. Today we’re hitting the pause button on our Visible God series so we can share our 2020 vision for City Awakening. We’re calling 2020 A Year of Transformation, and to help you capture that vision we decided to do a 3 wk series called A Work In Progress. You, me, we’re all a work in progress, and we believe Jesus has the power to help us make that progress. More importantly, we believe Jesus has the power to transform our lives. We believe Jesus has the power to transform our lives, marriages, families, including the lives of people we interact with every day in our city. But I don’t just want to say we believe that, I want to show you why we believe that. I want to show you why we believe that, using real life examples. So over the next 3 wks we’ll be studying the transformation of 3 people’s lives in the bible, and we’ll also be playing some testimonial videos of lives that’re being transformed by Jesus in our church. I want you to see real life examples of Jesus transforming lives both in the past and present. So let’s turn our bibles to Mark 14:26-31 and get into it. If you open your bible to the middle, turn a few books to the right, you’ll find Mark. We’ll start in Mark 14:26-31. The title of today’s message is From Stumbling to Bold Leader, and here’s the big idea. We want to transform into having a bolder, stronger faith...We want to transform into having a bolder, stronger faith.
Context:
Here’s your context. The events taking place in Mark 14 are events leading up to Jesus’ death on the cross, and one of the guys who’s with Jesus is a fisherman named Peter. So he’s a Deadliest Catch kind of guy, a bit rough around the edges, and at this point he’s become very good friends with Jesus. He’s been walking with Jesus for about 3 years, and so he’s seen Jesus preach, teach, heal, do the whole Aquaman thing where he walks on water and calms a storm. Peter’s seen Jesus do all this stuff and more, yet he still stumbles...He still stumbles in his faith, and today we’ll get a little snapshot of his stumbling life. We’ll look at 3 moments in Peter’s life, we’ll look at his stumbling, his restoration, and his life after his restoration. We’ll look at his stumbling, his restoration, and his life after his restoration. Let’s start with his stumbling.
The Word:
Mark 14:26-31 states this, “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 27 And Jesus said to them, ‘You will all fall away, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’” Jesus is prepping his disciples, his followers for his future death on the cross, and the Greek word for fall away means to stumble. He’s saying when he dies they’ll all fall away, they’ll all stumble in their faith. Notice he doesn’t say some will fall away and stumble, he says all will fall away and stumble. So the bad news is they’ll all stumble and we’ll all stumble too. But the good news is Jesus knows their stumbling and our stumbling, yet he offers us his grace anyways. He’s not shocked when we stumble, he knows it’ll happen, but he offers us his grace to restore us for when it does happen. Listen to what he says next.
Vs. 28, “But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” There’s the grace, the hope for when they stumble. Jesus is giving them the assurance that he’ll restore them in Galilee. He’s saying, “When I die you’ll all fall away, you’ll all stumble, but I’ll rise again!...I’ll rise again, I’ll see you again, I’ll gather you all and restore you again in Galilee.” He’s giving them hope and assurance that he won’t abandon them in their stumbling, instead he’ll restore them.
Again vs. 28, “‘But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.’ 29Peter said to him, ‘Even though they all fall away, I will not.’ 30 And Jesus said to him, ‘Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.’ 31 But he said emphatically, ‘If I must die with you, I will not deny you.’ And they all said the same.” Peter makes an empathic commitment to Jesus. He says “I’ll never fall away, I’ll never deny you! I’ll die before I deny you” and I believe he means it! I believe he truly wants to live this commitment out. But he eventually stumbles...He stumbles just like we sometimes stumble to live out the “I’ll never” statements we make. I mean some of you said “I’ll never get a dog,” but that dog’s at home making a mess right now...Some of you said “I’ll never drive a minivan,” but I’ve seen those minivans in the parking lot...Some of you said “I’ll never eat another piece of Halloween candy again,” but I know those peanut buttercups keep calling your name. All of us have our Brittany Spears “Oops I did it again” moments...We’re like “I messed up! I did it again! I went back on my word! I promised I wouldn’t do it again, but I did. I stumbled.” All of us have our stumbling moments where we fail to live out the “I’ll never” statements we make.
But what about the “I’ll never” statements we make to Jesus?...What are some of the “I’ll never” statements we make to Jesus?...Here’s a few I’ve made...“Jesus I’ll never doubt your provision again, when I’m struggling financially...Jesus I’ll never doubt your presence or goodness again, when I’m suffering...Jesus I’ll never tantrum again, when you don’t answer my prayers the way I want...Jesus I’ll never doubt your forgiveness again when I sin, and I’ll never do that sin again,” but I did...I’ve stumbled, I’ve broken my “I’ll never” statements to Jesus before just like you, and just like Peter’s about to do. Let’s go to vs. 66, this is Peter’s stumbling.
Vs. 66 states, “And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, 67 and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, ‘You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.’ 68 But he denied it, saying, ‘I neither know nor understand what you mean.’ And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. 69 And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, ‘This man is one of them.’ 70 But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, ‘Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.’ 71 But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, ‘I do not know this man of whom you speak.’ 72 And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.’ And he broke down and wept.” Peter stumbles...He stumbles...He breaks his “I’ll never” statement to Jesus 3 times, all within 3-4 hrs after he makes his commitment to Jesus, and his 3rd denial is his strongest denial. Notice it says he invoked a curse on himself and he swore. In the original Greek this is the strongest possible language he could’ve used to deny Jesus. He’s not swearing in the sense of a curse word, instead he’s swearing in the sense of an oath. He’s saying “I swear, I’m telling the truth. If I’m lying, then may God curse me and strike me dead.” But Jesus doesn’t curse him, He restores him. Peter deserves to be cursed, but Jesus restores him in Galilee like he promised. Let’s go to John 21 so you can see it. We’ve seen Peter’s stumbling, but now we’ll get to see his restoration, and the context of John 21 is that Jesus has already been crucified and risen form the dead. Peter’s stumbling happened just before the crucifixion, but his restoration is happening just after the resurrection. At this point Peter’s in a boat fishing in Galilee with some of the other disciples, he’s filled with all kinds of guilt and shame over his stumbling, but Jesus is on the seashore waiting to heal his broken heart. We’ll pick it up in vs. 9.
Vs. 9, “When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.’ 11 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. 12 Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’” I love this picture of Jesus, I love how he’s waiting on the seashore cooking them breakfast. But what’s this tell you about Jesus?...What’s it tell you about Jesus when it comes to our stumbling? It tells you he’s not only willing to meet with you in your stumbling, he’s also willing to sit with you. The fact that he’s willing to sit and eat breakfast with them tells us he’s not in a rush. He’s taking his time sitting with them in their stumbling, and he’s willing to do the same with you. He’s willing to sit on the seashore with you in your guilt, your shame, and restore your stumbling heart, just like he’s about to do for Peter. Here comes Peter’s restoration, it’s in vs. 15.
Vs. 15 states, “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.’ 16 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.’ 17 He said to him the 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.’” Jesus asks Peter if he loves him 3 times, once for each denial. He’s restoring Peter’s faith here. He doesn’t stand on the seashore tapping his foot at Peter, belittling him, instead he sits on the seashore with him, enjoys a meal with him, and gently restores him. If Jesus didn’t do this for Peter, he would’ve lived the rest of his life with a broken heart. But Jesus doesn’t leave him with a broken heart, he restores and transforms his heart. Peter’s restored not because of his commitment to Jesus, but because of Jesus’ commitment to him. Jesus promised he’d restore him in Galilee, he did, and it’s the grace of Jesus that transforms the life of Peter. He goes from stumbling, to restoration, to being one of the strongest, boldest Christian leaders we’ve ever known. So let’s turn to Acts 4 to check out our last snapshot of Peter, and it’s his boldness after his restoration. We’ll start in Acts 4:5 where Peter and John have just been arrested for helping a crippled man, and telling others about Jesus.
Acts 4:5 states, “On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.” These are the same people, the same Jewish council that had Jesus arrested and crucified. They had Jesus arrested and crucified, and now they’ve arrested Peter and John. So if there’s a time for Peter to panic, for his knees to buckle, this is that time.
Vs. 7, “And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, ‘By what power or by what name did you do this?’” You see the parallel of Mark 14? Peter once again has a choice. He can either buckle by denying Jesus again, or be bold and tell them it’s Jesus. What’s Peter do?
Vs. 8, “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’” Peter’s legs don’t buckle, he doesn’t deny Jesus like before, instead he’s filled with the Holy Spirit, with the power of God, and boldly tells them about Jesus. He even accuses them of murdering Jesus, and for Peter to say that in front of the same people who had Jesus crucified, is evidence of the grace of Jesus at work in his life. After John 21, after sitting on the seashore with Jesus, he goes from stumbling to bold leader, and even the council notices his bold transformation.
Vs. 13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” So even the council recognizes his bold transformation, and when they say they’re uneducated and common men, they’re not saying they’re illiterate or unintelligent. They’re saying they haven’t received the Jewish rabbinic training the council’s received. But they’re astonished by how boldly articulate they are. So clearly Peter’s progressed in his faith. He’s not perfect, he still has other stumbling moments, but he is progressing, he is transforming. He’s a work in progress, and over time his faith grows so strong, that history tells us he gets arrested again and is told “Either deny Jesus, or face suffering, face execution, face death by crucifixion.” You know what Peter said? He looked them straight in the eyes and said “Then crucify me!... Crucify me!...Only crucify me upside down, because I’m not worthy to die like Jesus.” And that’s what they did. They crucified him upside down. Peter’s life started with stumbling, but it ended with him being a bold leader, who fulfilled his “I’ll never” statement to Jesus in the end.
So what’s this have to do with us, our church, our 2020 vision? It has everything to do with us, because Peter’s story is your story. Peter’s story is my story. Peter’s story is our story. Our stories are filled with stumbling like Peter, and it’s because we’re all a work in progress like Peter. You might not ever become a bold leader or risk your life like Peter, but you’re a work in progress like Peter, and you’re called to follow Jesus in a culture that wants to deny Jesus. That’s part of what it means to be bold today, it’s to follow Jesus in a culture that wants to deny Jesus. But all of us, including non-Christians are a work in progress in need of the grace and power of Jesus like Peter. Jesus had the very power to resurrect himself from the dead, which means he has the very power to resurrect you from the dead. He has the very power to transform your life. So our 2020 vision will be A Year of Transformation, and our focus will be on helping you grow in a relationship with Jesus, grow in learning to rely and abide in Jesus. On your way out you’ll receive a Work In Progress packet like this...It’ll give you details on our 2020 vision, and some ways we’ll be investing in you and the generations in our church. A few things to look forward to are:
A teaching series called “Grow” = We’ll be starting the New Year off with a 6 wk teaching series called Grow, and it’s about how to experience true life change. We’ll be studying John 15 where Jesus gives us some very specific things on how to rely and abide in him. We want to teach you those things, so you can experience true life change in 2020.
A spiritual assessment tool = We’re currently working with Lifeway Resources on a spiritual assessment tool to help you discover areas of growth in your faith. We know that might sound scary to some of you, which is why our staff wanted to take it first. So we’ve taken it, your results private so that only you can see them, and what we love most about it, is it’ll give you some practical next steps you can take in whatever areas of growth you have. For example if you need to grow in your understanding of the bible, it’ll give you some practical next steps in that area of growth. It really is a great tool for growth.
A Bible Reading Plan = We’re working on a bible reading plan so you can enjoy an overview of the entire biblical narrative. We’ll have hard copies of the plan, a link to access it on our website, with basic questions to remind you to seek Jesus in every page.
A Prayer Guide = We’re working on a prayer guide to help you grow in relying and abiding in Jesus through prayer. We’ll have hard copies and a link for this too. We’ll actually have a Work In Progress link so you can access all this anytime you want.
In your packet it’ll tell you how to access these materials, but the hard copies and links aren’t active yet. They’ll be active as we enter the New Year. But we wanted to give you the info now, so you have something to look forward to later. In the mean time you can start growing by taking our Growth Track, joining a small group, serving on a ministry team, or visiting some of the resources we have at our next steps table after the service. There’s so much more I want to tell you, including investing in the generations, so stick around for the rest of this series.
The Big Idea:
But here’s the big idea of all this. It’s that we want to transform into having a bolder, stronger faith. The point isn’t for us to become more like Peter, it’s for us to become more like Jesus, and we want to help with that. We want to spend 2020 investing in you, investing in every generation in our church, while we keep investing in those outside our church. In fact we believe if we invest in you it’ll be an investment in our city, because as your life transforms it’ll spill out into every relationship you have in our city. So our focus is to invest in both you and our city. There’s too many people living defeated, deflated lives instead of living in the restorative joys of Jesus, including Christians. Sometimes we live in the bad news of our sin, instead of the good news of Jesus forgiving our sin. Sometimes we live as if the good news has become old news, yesterday’s news, when it’s actually everyday news. The gospel’s never old news, it’s always good news, everyday news, where every morning we get to wake up having fresh access to the joyful, transformative grace and power of Jesus. The life of Peter tells us Jesus is willing to meet and sit with us every day on the seashore. The same grace and power Peter received back then, is still available to us and the people in our city today. It’s available to anyone who believes Jesus is their God who came to live, die, rise again for the forgiveness of their sins. Jesus will always transform the heart of a person who’s willing to sit with him on the seashore. You saw it happen in Peter’s story, and I want you to see it in a current story, right here in our church. Check it out.
Let’s give God praise for the work He’s doing in the Harvey Family...Brian and I first met while coaching against each other on the football field. Since I’m not a competitive guy, I won’t tell you who won. But I’m sure Brian would love for you to ask him after the service...All jokes aside, it was a back and forth game filled with intense yelling, that led to a friendship with our families, that led to their lives being transformed by Jesus, that’s even led to their son now praying in difficult times. Our church has meant so much to them, that they ended up celebrating their wedding anniversary with their small group. Brian received his first bible from our church, your financial giving helped with that, it helped us get him his first bible...and the greatest thing I want to share with you, is a few weeks ago both Brian and Melynda openly professed their faith in Jesus. Let’s praise God for that!...They’re still a work in progress, but Jesus is helping them make that progress. They’re walking evidence that Jesus not only transformed lives in the past, but he’s still transforming lives today in the present. Many more transformations are coming, they’re coming in 2020. So let’s stand and worship Jesus for his amazing grace.