Time To Rise & Shine | Larry Brey

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.800 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.320 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.040 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.560 gives your perspective to see God as moving in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:14.680 Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:21.040 Hey, welcome to Elevation Church. My name is Larry Brye. 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:26.759 I'm one of the pastors here at Elevation and everybody 0:00:26.760 --> 0:00:29.080 calls me LB. So in the chat if you want 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:30.840 to call me LB, we'll be friends. I love it 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:33.760 and my wife and had the privilege of being one 0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:36.440 of the original eight families that sold their homes and 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:38.680 quit their jobs nineteen years ago to start. 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:40.279 Elevation Church and. 0:00:42.159 --> 0:00:44.360 Surely one of the biggest honors of our lives to 0:00:44.360 --> 0:00:46.400 have a front row seat. But every time I get 0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:48.160 up in the pulpit, there's a couple things that I'm. 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:48.879 Always encouraged by. 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:53.240 One is Pastor Stephen, you do this every week, My goodness, 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:56.880 thank you for standing in the pulpit every week faith 0:00:56.920 --> 0:00:58.880 inly preaching the word of God. I honor you, we 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:00.760 love you. 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:03.480 And it makes me grateful for our church. 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:06.399 Nineteen years ago we had eight families, and now we've 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:08.440 got nineteen physical locations. 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:09.319 Come on balancein. 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:15.560 Let's welcome all the other locations joining us today. It's amazing, Ronoke, 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:19.120 I love you. And then our very first Sunday, we 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:22.839 had one hundred and twenty one people joining us for church. 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:25.840 Now today, the team told me, on this a weekend 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:28.280 like this, an average weekend, there'll be one hundred and 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:32.280 eighty countries watching elevation chirts. 0:01:32.400 --> 0:01:34.000 So let's welcome everybody. 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:38.839 Joining us from countries all around the world, Denmark and Sweden, Kenya, 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:45.160 the country of California, the country of Texas City, and well, 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:47.240 gratefully you joined in today because we believe God's got 0:01:47.280 --> 0:01:49.400 a word for you. Let me give you one versus 0:01:49.440 --> 0:01:51.760 scripture to set off where we want to go today. 0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:57.520 This is an Acts, chapter four, Verse fourteen says, Then 0:01:57.560 --> 0:02:01.320 Peter stood up with the eleven raised his voice. Let 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:04.480 me say it again, then Peter, he stood up, and 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:08.840 he raised his voice, and he addressed the crowd. Fellow 0:02:08.919 --> 0:02:11.359 Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem. Let 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:15.760 me explain this to you. Listen carefully to what I say. 0:02:15.840 --> 0:02:17.680 I think Peter's got a sermon he's gonna preach for 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:19.839 us today, and we need to listen to the words 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:22.080 of Peter. But not just the words he's gonna preach with, 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:27.160 but he's gonna preach with his very posture, because it 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:33.200 says if he stood up, he was sitting down. And 0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:34.839 I think there's some of you that have sat down 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:37.000 in some things that God's calling you out of. And 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:39.799 so he's not just gonna preach with his words. He's 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:43.400 gonna preach with his posture. And the title for today, 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:46.440 I got it from my mom, Dorothy. She's four foot 0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:49.680 eleven on a good day, and when I was a kid, 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:51.560 I would not want to get out of bed, like 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:52.640 the curtains were closed. 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:53.360 I love it dark. 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:55.760 I'd be curled up in my blankets and my mom 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:59.240 would walk in with all authority of Heaven and she 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:01.600 would throw all open the windows and the light would 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:05.600 flood in, and she says, time to rise and shine. Larry, 0:03:06.280 --> 0:03:08.840 that's the title I got for our message today. 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:11.400 Time to rise and shine. 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:13.560 How about your look at your neighbor, tell him to 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:18.760 rise and shine. Worship Team, thank you for leading us today. 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:25.920 You guys can have a seat. This text that were 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:29.720 jumping into this character Peter in Acts two fourteen. It's 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:32.360 the day of Pentecost. It's kind of the birth of 0:03:32.400 --> 0:03:35.600 the church. The promise of the Holy Spirit had showed up, 0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:38.440 and they started to do profound things that were filled 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:40.839 with the spirit. And it spills out of a little 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:42.560 room into the street. And this is like nine in 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:45.560 the morning, and all the people who didn't quite understand 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:48.040 what was going on looked at and said, these people 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:51.080 got to be drunk. And then it says Peter, he 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:55.560 stood up, he raised his voice because there was a 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:57.839 murmur in the crowd trying to drown out what God 0:03:57.920 --> 0:04:00.800 was doing. And there's always a in the crowd to 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:03.480 try to drownd out what God wants to do in you. 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:06.160 And threw you in all around you. And Peter recognized 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:08.920 the situation because he was he stood up out of 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:11.160 something and he raised his voice. That was not just 0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:13.920 him going, I think that is. 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:14.440 The Holy Spirit. 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:16.880 Saint Peter, you were prepared for this moment. Stand up, 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:19.960 lift your voice, and I'll speak something over these people. 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:22.960 And he got up out of something. But we don't 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:25.720 appreciate Peter standing up as much if we don't actually 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:30.120 know where he sat down, because if you only see 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:31.760 the second half of the movie, you don't appreciate as 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:34.320 much if you don't understand where it began. So as 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:36.000 you look at our character Peter, some of us are 0:04:36.040 --> 0:04:36.719 going to identify. 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:38.880 I love Peter. I so relate to Peter, and so 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:39.440 do you. 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:42.119 Because Peter's the guy who would always say some dumb 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:43.520 things at the wrong time. 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:46.080 Just call me Peter. That's that's me. 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:50.640 But if we rewind just a couple months, in fact, 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:54.800 fifty three days, just flip over a couple chapters in 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:59.080 Luke twenty two, verses thirty one to thirty four, it says, 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:02.680 and Simon, this is the moment at the Last Supper 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:05.320 that Jesus is going to have with his disciples before 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:07.080 he goes to do what he was created to do. 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:10.159 And he's got this moment with Peter. Pastor Stephen actually 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:11.960 preached on this a couple of weeks ago in a 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:14.400 sermon called the Prayer that Repairs. 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:15.840 Go back and watch that. 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:20.360 That is so good, Jesus says Simon, Simon, Satan has 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:23.799 asked to sift you as we but I prayed for you, Simon, 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:28.200 that your faith will may not fail. And when you 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:30.880 turn back strengthen your brothers. But he replied, Lord, I'm 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:33.560 ready to go to to go to you. I'm ready 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:36.679 to go with you to prison and to death. Peter's loud, 0:05:36.720 --> 0:05:38.800 He's like, I'll take a stand for you. 0:05:39.640 --> 0:05:39.800 Will. 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:42.080 I will take a stand in front of everybody. And 0:05:42.160 --> 0:05:46.559 Jesus like, yeah, surely you will, because he's he says, 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:50.080 I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, he 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:53.640 will deny three times that you know me. And so 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:56.640 at the last Supper, Jesus gives this parting word to Peter, 0:05:56.760 --> 0:05:59.840 and then they go out to the garden, and Jesus 0:05:59.839 --> 0:06:02.520 know about what's gonna happen. After that moment, the disciples 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:05.720 had heard Jesus talk about three times you'll be crucified. 0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:08.400 But now they start to see the story unfold. And 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:10.200 it's a little bit of disbelief, I think as they 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:12.280 go around with this. But if you go to Midnight 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:14.560 just a few hours later Luke twenty two, it says 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:20.960 this verse fifty four says then seizing him him being Jesus, 0:06:21.400 --> 0:06:23.400 they led him away and took him into the house 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:27.520 of the High Priest, and Peter followed at a distance. 0:06:28.600 --> 0:06:30.720 Now it's really interesting to see the story and fold 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:34.320 like this. Remember, Peter, I'll never deny you. I'll go 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:36.159 to prison with you, but you just got to restle. 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:37.480 Like, well, just a little bit of distance. 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:40.200 I don't know if I want all that. I signed 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:42.640 up to follow you, Jesus, but maybe just not quite 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:47.120 that close. And sometimes we don't understand what we sign 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:48.440 up for until we see it in. 0:06:48.360 --> 0:06:49.719 Front of us. And like, I don't know if I 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:50.800 signed up from eh. 0:06:51.760 --> 0:06:54.280 But before we beat Peter up, I think we need 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:57.080 to celebrate him a little bit. Because Judas he betrayed Jesus. 0:06:57.800 --> 0:06:59.279 Where are the other ten apostles? 0:06:59.360 --> 0:06:59.800 They left? 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:03.440 They deserted Jesus. Peter might be following out a distance, 0:07:03.480 --> 0:07:06.600 but praise God for Peter, he's at least following. Can 0:07:06.600 --> 0:07:12.040 we celebrate Peter just a little bit. He's at a 0:07:12.120 --> 0:07:15.760 distance because there's somebody watching this sermon right now, and 0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:17.800 you're afraid that your parents might hear it. So you 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:20.960 got the tone, you got the volume way down. You're 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:22.880 following Jesus. It might be at a distance. And we 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:25.480 have brothers and sisters around the world that if this 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:27.440 sermon were to be played in public, they would be 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:30.520 persecuted for their faith. They might feel like they're following 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:32.440 at a distance, but they're doing the best they can. 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:34.800 And for those of you who took every ounce of 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:36.880 energy to click on the link, Praise. 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:38.080 God, you're following at a distance. 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:40.800 For every one of you that had everything you could 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:42.280 do just to get in the car to get the 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:47.400 church today, Praise God. You're following at a distance. But 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:50.239 Jesus said, you'll deny me three times. But Peter doesn't 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:54.680 realize the denial has already started. Because the destination of 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:59.240 denial starts with just a little bit of distance. The 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:01.920 devil doesn't need much space to work in your life. 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:06.200 I wonder where you've got some distance in your life. 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:07.840 You just got a little bit of distance from the 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:10.320 word of God. You got a little bit of distance 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:12.040 from your small group you just haven't. 0:08:11.800 --> 0:08:12.960 Gone in a couple of weeks. 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:16.360 A little bit of distance from your small group, a 0:08:16.360 --> 0:08:19.200 little bit of distance at work. Maybe the path you 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:22.600 would normally take to get your desk at work, you're 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:24.760 going just a little bit of a longer way because 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:27.760 the person, the guy at work, gave you a little 0:08:27.800 --> 0:08:29.880 bit of a tension, and he noticed your haircut, and 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:34.160 your husband didn't and now you're just adding a little 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:38.160 bit of distance, trying to fulfill something that God wants 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:42.960 to feel, just not that way, just a little bit 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:45.440 of distance. And then. 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:48.240 And when some there had. 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:53.520 Kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:57.800 had sat down, Peter sat down with them. 0:08:59.600 --> 0:09:00.320 Two in the morning. 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:05.640 Peter's been following at a distance. I want to be 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:07.760 right close with you, Jesus, but I don't know. 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:09.079 I don't know. 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:12.160 When he's dismayed and he's discouraged, and he sees them 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:14.000 making a fire in the middle of the courtyard, and 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:18.120 it says, and he sat down, we love talking about 0:09:18.120 --> 0:09:20.480 Acts two fourteen. He stole up, he stood up, and 0:09:20.480 --> 0:09:25.800 he preached boldly. But he sat down fifty three days 0:09:25.840 --> 0:09:27.360 earlier in this situation. 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:30.079 He doesn't know that he's gonna deny Jesus. 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:33.520 He said, I will never And now he sits down 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:36.360 in something that in a sane moment, he would have 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:39.920 never gone close to. Why did he sit down in 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:43.439 that moment? What's two in the morning. Temperatures would have 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:45.720 been in the high thirties. It's a fire, he's cold. 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:49.880 He just the guy he's been following for three years, 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:51.600 just got to arrest and he's like, I don't even 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:54.199 know what's happening around me. And sometimes you get punched 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:55.680 in the face and you sit down in something that 0:09:55.720 --> 0:09:57.000 you wouldn't have picked, but it's. 0:09:56.840 --> 0:10:00.280 Just there, and he sat down in it. 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:03.360 And what I want you to understand, the denial is 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:05.400 already in motion. It started with a little bit of 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:10.320 distance and then he sat down. We live in North 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:13.160 Carolina now, and I didn't see the ocean till I 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:16.719 was twenty five. I was born and raised in Minnesota, 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:18.520 and I had all these images in my head of 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:20.320 what the ocean's going to be like, in the surf 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:22.280 and the oh. And then I went there and I 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:26.880 hate it. I hate the ocean. I hate all of it. 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:29.240 Oh my soul. They paint this picture of it's going 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:31.000 to be amazing, and you go out there and you 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:33.040 bak and you just lay there and you have dirt 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:35.880 all over it and you feel filthy. 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:37.800 Gosh. I hated it. 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:40.520 And then when the kids are little, you got to 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:41.080 take all. 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:44.599 This stuff out there. Oh painful. 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:47.360 And then the kids are out playing in the water 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:51.520 and the waves are coming in, but the waves come 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:54.040 in a little bit of an angle. They don't come 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:58.760 straight into the shore. So they'll go out and they'll 0:10:58.800 --> 0:11:01.719 play in it, and then the waves will push them 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:04.640 up shore just a little bit. And then they go 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:07.200 back out and play and having their fun in the 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:10.240 boogie born and the surface pushing in and the waves 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:13.360 are just pushes them up shore just a little bit 0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:15.600 of distance, and then they go back. 0:11:15.840 --> 0:11:17.120 You're just having a grand old time. 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:24.480 Twenty thirty forty minutes, and now they're way upshore and 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:26.560 they look up and they go, how did I get. 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:28.040 Here? 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:33.520 No one of these movements is significant, but when you 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:36.319 add them all together, it creates a significant distance from 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:39.320 where you started. And what I want you to understand, 0:11:39.360 --> 0:11:45.120 denial is a drift, because the drift wants to push 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:49.000 you away from the purposes of God. It is so subtle, 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:52.680 it's so slippery, and you're just out there having fun. 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:56.800 You don't even recognize how far you're drifting away. So 0:11:56.880 --> 0:11:58.800 when the kids were really little, I would take one 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:03.160 of the orange tents from elevation and I would put 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:05.760 it right on the shore one because I didn't want 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:08.839 to bake in the sun is horrible. But what I 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:12.160 told the kids is every time you play and you're 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:16.320 gonna get pushed. The world wants to push you away 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:21.520 from the purposes of God. All you do, Oh there's 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:24.200 my dad. Take one step over, and now I'm in alignment. 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:30.240 But what happens with the drift of denial is some 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:32.920 of you have drifted so far because you don't realize 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:37.400 you've drifted often until you go, how did I get here? 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:40.920 And now that little bit of distance is a massive 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:42.040 mile of shame. 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:45.199 And the enemy wants to drown you here because you don't. 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:47.400 Feel like there's any way I could ever get back 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:48.360 to there. 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:51.400 That's what denial wants you. But it's a drift. It 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:54.360 starts as just a little bit of distance. 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:57.719 Holy Spirits, show us where we've allowed a little bit 0:12:57.760 --> 0:13:01.040 of distance, a little bit of distance in our relationships, 0:13:01.040 --> 0:13:03.360 a little bit of our distance in our relationship with 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:07.120 you and others and meaningful relationships. And he says, he 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:10.760 sat down. I wonder what did you sit down in? 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:15.720 Holy Spirit, show us where we sat down in situations 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:16.920 we would have normally avoided. 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:18.240 Where did you sit down? 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:20.640 Why did you sit down in that because you were 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:27.160 cold and it was a warm body. Why did you 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:29.920 sit down in that? Not because you wanted it. You 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:31.760 were led to it, or you were lied about it. 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:35.120 Maybe it was fun or it was familiar. As the 0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:37.320 story will unfold with Peter, you'll see him go back 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:39.880 to the very fishing ship that he said he was 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:43.280 going to leave to follow Jesus. Why would he go 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:47.320 back to it because it was familiar? Some of you 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:49.600 sat back down in it. God called you out of it, 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:51.800 but you went to it because you were so discouraged. 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:56.120 You went back to what was familiar. What did you 0:13:56.160 --> 0:13:59.559 sit down in and why did you sit down in it? 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:02.040 And as we look at the story of Peter unfold, 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:05.160 you already see the denials in motion, a little bit 0:14:05.160 --> 0:14:05.679 of distance. 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:07.680 And then he sat down. 0:14:07.760 --> 0:14:10.240 And then Matthew Chapter twenty six, verse sixty nine, it says, 0:14:10.240 --> 0:14:11.560 now Peter sat outside. 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:11.880 In the courtyard. 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:16.600 A servant girl came to him, saying, you also were 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:19.560 with Jesus of Galilee, weren't you? She comes up, and 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:20.960 she asked Peter a question. 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:22.760 Don't you know him? 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:26.600 Don't you you're one of his guys. You're from Galilee, 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:31.560 aren't you? In verse seventy. But he denied it before them, saying, 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:34.000 I don't know what you're saying. Here's what he did. 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:39.080 He deflected, girl, you crazy. You'll know what you're talking 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:43.360 about is somebody in your life who loves God is 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:45.720 trying to get you back into alignment, but you are 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:50.240 deflecting and blaming them. You see what happens when somebody 0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:52.520 tries to call you out of the slippery slope of denial. 0:14:52.840 --> 0:14:55.800 It's this drift that gets in motion and somebody comes 0:14:55.840 --> 0:14:56.680 to you with a question. 0:14:57.000 --> 0:14:59.880 It says, hey, weren't you don't you go to elevation? 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:00.240 Oh? 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:01.680 You crazy? Arms you're talking about? 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:05.560 You see how he's gaslighting her because the shame is 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:09.960 starting to seep up inside of him. That's a projection 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:12.840 of the shame that he's carrying because he's unaware of 0:15:12.880 --> 0:15:15.120 the distance that has been created between him and Jesus. 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:19.240 And at nine pm, I will never deny you. It's 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:23.640 about two am. Now look how much distance has been 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:26.200 driven there. And then the story continues, and when he 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:28.880 had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:33.520 and said to those who were there, this fellow also 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:37.400 was with Jesus of Nazareth. So what you see now 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:40.840 is that it's not just a girl asking Peter a question. 0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:43.440 It's a girl making a statement to the crowd. Hey, yo, 0:15:43.600 --> 0:15:47.000 guys in the crowd, that guy was with Jesus. You 0:15:47.040 --> 0:15:49.560 see how the enemy is increasing the size of the waves, 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:52.320 trying to push you away. You see the attack of 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:55.440 the enemy, trying to steal your purpose, just one wave 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:59.960 at a time. This has been in motion. This is happening. 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:02.160 And how does Peter respond to this? But he says 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:05.720 he denied it with an oath, I promise you on 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:11.920 the name of Jesus. I don't know Jesus. 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:14.680 He's now defending it with an oath. 0:16:15.000 --> 0:16:19.880 Wow. Wow, the first time he was just deflecting. Are 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:21.040 you aware of your drifts? 0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:23.840 Are you aware of when you. 0:16:23.880 --> 0:16:26.040 Start deflecting things that God's trying to bring into your life? 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:28.400 And now you start. 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:31.920 Defending your things with an oath on my mama's grave. 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:43.120 So a serving girl turns to the crowd. Isn't it 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:46.160 funny how we're so easily swayed by the crowd. We 0:16:46.240 --> 0:16:51.560 love the applause, but then when the criticism comes, the 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:54.440 crowd is very fickle. But what you see is the 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:56.720 start of a servant girl asking him a question. Now 0:16:56.720 --> 0:16:59.520 it's another girl talking to the crowd. And here's the 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:02.560 third time a little later those who stood by, This 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:03.440 is gonna be at. 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:06.400 Like five thirty in the morning. You see. 0:17:06.440 --> 0:17:09.640 He sat down at the fire at two and now 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:11.800 the third denials at about five thirty or six m 0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:13.639 because that's when the sun comes up, and that's when. 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:14.280 The rooster crows. 0:17:15.960 --> 0:17:17.560 And a little later of those who stood by came 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:19.320 up and said to Peter, Now, this is the crowd 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:21.840 that are all murmuring with each other like that guy, 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:26.679 oh yeah, yeah, yeah. And Peter's trying to escape it. 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:29.359 He's just trying to find a safe place to stay warm. 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:32.600 He should have gotten out of the courtyard a little there. 0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:34.160 Those who stood by came up and said to Peter, 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:37.879 surely you were one of them for your speech, but 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:44.680 trays you see, you're from Galilee, that's up north. We're 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:47.480 in Jerusalem here in the south. Now. I was raised 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:50.240 in Minnesota once upon this time, if you would have 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:52.440 heard me talk, I would have said things like, oh yeah, sure, 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:56.080 don't you know, yeah yeah, go out and about oh 0:17:56.119 --> 0:17:59.320 yeah you bet y'ah yeah yeah sure sure, uh huh. 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:01.879 And when I'm moved to the South, I went to 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:03.639 a grocery store and ask a woman where. 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:04.280 Do I buy the pop. 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:10.840 And this woman looked at me. She's like, boy, you 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:14.480 ain't from around here, are you. I said, no, ma'am. 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:16.879 She says, do you know do you know what we 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:17.960 call you Northerners? 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:21.120 I said no. She goes, we call you Yankees? 0:18:22.680 --> 0:18:23.959 And then she says, do you know what we call 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:29.040 you yankees that move to the south, Those darn Yankees. 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:38.120 That's because shame was rising as the pressure was mounting, 0:18:38.480 --> 0:18:41.800 and something's leaking out of Peter. That's betraying who he 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:46.520 really wants to be, And it says verse seventy four. 0:18:46.600 --> 0:18:50.240 Then he began to say, those darn Yankees. He began 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:55.560 to curse and swear. The first denial was a deflection, 0:18:56.600 --> 0:18:59.280 The second one was a defense. Now the third one 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:04.960 is a disgust, he said, disgust in himself, he says. 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:06.679 Then he began to curse and swear. I don't know 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:07.160 the man. 0:19:07.960 --> 0:19:13.320 And immediately the rooster crowed for seventy five, and Peter 0:19:13.480 --> 0:19:15.720 remembered the words that Jesus said said to him, it 0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:16.880 was only nine hours earlier. 0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:20.399 How quickly we forget? Just nine hours? 0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:22.640 He forgot what Jesus said to him, but he remembered 0:19:22.640 --> 0:19:24.840 the words before the rooster crows, you will deny me 0:19:26.200 --> 0:19:26.800 three times. 0:19:26.800 --> 0:19:31.280 So he went out and he wept bitterly. 0:19:32.080 --> 0:19:34.000 I think he sat down at this point and said, 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:36.840 how did I get. 0:19:38.040 --> 0:19:38.119 You? 0:19:38.160 --> 0:19:39.400 See what Shane wants to do. 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:42.639 He wants to get you so far away from purpose. 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:44.240 You feel like the only way out is to do 0:19:44.280 --> 0:19:50.679 what Judas did. And for some of you, your speech 0:19:50.760 --> 0:19:52.080 betrays you. 0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:55.639 You kiss your mama with that mouth. You're acting like 0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:56.600 you don't belong. 0:19:56.359 --> 0:19:59.440 To Jesus, because here's the reality. You'll drift far enough 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:01.840 that his tongue will become a Judas and betray the 0:20:01.840 --> 0:20:09.560 allegiance to CHRISTO, Why are you acting like that? Why 0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:12.560 are you behaving like that? It's not because you love Jesus. 0:20:12.600 --> 0:20:17.639 I've just drifted so far away. And that's what happens. 0:20:17.640 --> 0:20:19.240 And that's what the enemy wants to is to get 0:20:19.280 --> 0:20:23.200 you to drift so far away. And Peter doesn't realize 0:20:23.240 --> 0:20:26.280 it until he remembers what Jesus said, and he says, 0:20:26.320 --> 0:20:30.600 how did I get here? And as I thought about 0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:33.200 Peter sitting in that place, I wonder what he felt 0:20:33.200 --> 0:20:36.320 after he realized he had denied Jesus three times. 0:20:36.320 --> 0:20:37.320 The shame, the. 0:20:37.200 --> 0:20:40.240 Way, I believe he felt like the complete and utter failure. 0:20:41.160 --> 0:20:43.400 And I often thought about that story, and I would 0:20:43.440 --> 0:20:45.800 always assume, of course Peter fail. Look at what he did, 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:49.000 that's what an ultimate failure like. It's easy to see 0:20:49.000 --> 0:20:51.720 his failure in that one. But did he really fail? 0:20:52.480 --> 0:20:54.040 And it went back to the text, And this is 0:20:54.080 --> 0:20:55.919 the part that God really showed me in this sermon. 0:20:57.760 --> 0:20:59.639 If we go back to the encounter with Christ at 0:20:59.680 --> 0:21:03.560 nineteen Luke twenty two to thirty one says Simon, Simon, 0:21:03.600 --> 0:21:04.399 Satan's as. 0:21:04.280 --> 0:21:05.160 The shifty as weak. 0:21:05.800 --> 0:21:10.520 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith 0:21:10.560 --> 0:21:13.480 may not fail. I so skipped over that because I 0:21:13.560 --> 0:21:16.679 like to focus on the dysfunction of man. I so 0:21:16.840 --> 0:21:20.040 identify with the denial. I couldn't even consider Christ's prayer. 0:21:21.000 --> 0:21:23.159 I wonder what Jesus was praying. I wonder what it 0:21:23.200 --> 0:21:25.080 sounded like. I wonder if he prayed out loud right 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:26.640 in front of him, or said I prayed in back 0:21:26.680 --> 0:21:28.040 and I got all prayed up and then I came 0:21:28.080 --> 0:21:31.399 out to you. But Jesus prayed for Peter, And what 0:21:31.480 --> 0:21:34.400 did he pray? That your faith would not fail? Your 0:21:34.440 --> 0:21:38.280 behaviors failed, your actions failed, but the faith I prayed 0:21:38.320 --> 0:21:41.359 for that. I didn't pray for your behaviors. I didn't 0:21:41.400 --> 0:21:44.959 pray for your actions. I prayed for your faith God. 0:21:45.720 --> 0:21:48.520 The Bible says, the prayers of the righteous are powerful 0:21:48.600 --> 0:21:52.760 and effective. Jesus is righteousness, He gives us his righteousness. 0:21:52.960 --> 0:21:55.199 So the prayers of the righteous, the peers of Jesus, 0:21:55.240 --> 0:22:01.920 are powerful and effective. And if Jesus is praying for you, who, 0:22:01.960 --> 0:22:05.679 maybe there's something greater than just me. Maybe it's not 0:22:05.760 --> 0:22:11.200 based upon what I think failure and success is. Because 0:22:11.200 --> 0:22:15.400 I always thought that Peter failed. What's your definition of success? 0:22:16.560 --> 0:22:18.560 Because you aren't often know what a failure is until 0:22:18.600 --> 0:22:21.840 you've defined success. I think most of us walk around 0:22:21.840 --> 0:22:23.960 feeling like a perpetual failure because we have a bad 0:22:24.000 --> 0:22:25.000 definition of success. 0:22:27.440 --> 0:22:29.440 Who gave you your definition of success? 0:22:30.040 --> 0:22:32.920 Who are you trying to impress that isn't even watching, 0:22:33.840 --> 0:22:35.800 Who spoke a word over you that you have been 0:22:35.840 --> 0:22:38.000 trying to prove them wrong and they can't even remember 0:22:38.040 --> 0:22:39.480 they said it, but you'll never forget it. 0:22:40.160 --> 0:22:42.440 Who gave you that definition for success? 0:22:42.520 --> 0:22:45.960 Because when I don't define success correctly, I will always 0:22:46.160 --> 0:22:49.040 feel like a failure. And when I look at Peter 0:22:49.119 --> 0:22:52.639 sitting in that place of weeping bitterly. He felt like 0:22:52.720 --> 0:22:57.879 such a failure, But did he really fail? It all 0:22:57.920 --> 0:23:03.840 depends on your definition of success. Because Jesus would leave 0:23:04.440 --> 0:23:07.879 that moment at the last supper, and Peter would. 0:23:07.720 --> 0:23:09.240 Get it, would would. 0:23:09.000 --> 0:23:10.840 Go through this thing till six am, and then he 0:23:10.880 --> 0:23:14.879 denied Jesus at six am, and then at nine am 0:23:14.960 --> 0:23:17.359 the next day, on Friday, is when Jesus would be 0:23:17.400 --> 0:23:21.119 kneeled to the cross. And as the story continues to unfold, 0:23:21.160 --> 0:23:24.000 to Luke chapter twenty three, it says this in verse 0:23:24.040 --> 0:23:27.520 forty four is about noon, and darkness came over the 0:23:27.560 --> 0:23:30.439 whole land until three in the afternoon. And what that 0:23:30.560 --> 0:23:35.000 darkness reprisen is the wrath of God being placed upon 0:23:35.040 --> 0:23:37.560 his son. There must always be a penalty paid for sin, 0:23:37.880 --> 0:23:41.120 and in that moment, the wrath of God, the sin 0:23:41.240 --> 0:23:43.480 of humanity and the shame of the world, and the 0:23:43.560 --> 0:23:46.359 darkness represents that shame of the world. 0:23:46.440 --> 0:23:47.320 And for three. 0:23:47.119 --> 0:23:50.320 Hours Jesus sat underneath that not just for three hours 0:23:50.400 --> 0:23:53.480 until he died physically, but for three days he sat 0:23:53.600 --> 0:23:57.399 in a grave, underneath the weight of that condemnation that 0:23:57.400 --> 0:24:00.920 should have been placed upon us, and that this represents 0:24:00.960 --> 0:24:03.840 the shame and it's coming on the world. And it's 0:24:03.880 --> 0:24:06.760 interesting because the scripture says this. It says until three 0:24:06.760 --> 0:24:11.200 in the afternoon, verse forty five, for the sun stopped shining. 0:24:12.520 --> 0:24:17.000 The sun was created to illuminate so everybody else could see, 0:24:17.800 --> 0:24:20.000 but it stopped shining for a couple hours. 0:24:20.040 --> 0:24:22.000 This was not an eclipse. This is a movement of 0:24:22.040 --> 0:24:23.280 God and. 0:24:23.240 --> 0:24:26.560 It represents the shame of the world. The sun was 0:24:26.640 --> 0:24:31.640 created to do something. Hey, when Jesus said I prayed 0:24:31.680 --> 0:24:35.520 for you that your faith would not fail, the word failed. 0:24:35.520 --> 0:24:37.960 There is only used a couple times in the Bible. 0:24:38.280 --> 0:24:40.399 One of the places where it's used is right here. 0:24:40.520 --> 0:24:45.000 So when it says the sun stopped shining, it means 0:24:45.000 --> 0:24:50.560 the sun failed. It did not operate according to its 0:24:50.560 --> 0:24:56.280 original design. It failed to glorify, it failed to illuminate, 0:24:56.560 --> 0:25:00.480 it failed to shine. And here's what I'm taking from text. 0:25:00.520 --> 0:25:03.159 We were created in the image of God. We are 0:25:03.200 --> 0:25:06.800 the image bearers of God. We are called to receive 0:25:07.840 --> 0:25:09.760 and reflect the glory of God in the world. 0:25:11.920 --> 0:25:12.800 Oh, you didn't catch it. 0:25:14.119 --> 0:25:17.760 So when Jesus said I prayed that your faith would 0:25:17.840 --> 0:25:20.199 not fail, I created you, Peter because I picked you. 0:25:20.480 --> 0:25:22.560 I chose you. I knew you were gonna deny me, 0:25:22.600 --> 0:25:24.359 and yet I still picked you. I knew you were 0:25:24.359 --> 0:25:26.000 going to do all that stuff, and yet I still 0:25:26.040 --> 0:25:26.399 picked you. 0:25:26.640 --> 0:25:27.960 I knew you were going to have all. 0:25:27.840 --> 0:25:30.560 These questions, and yet I still picked you. And my 0:25:30.760 --> 0:25:33.080 picking of you is not based upon your behavior. It's 0:25:33.080 --> 0:25:41.199 based upon me, because I know the world is going 0:25:41.280 --> 0:25:44.199 to try to make you drift, and the waves of 0:25:44.200 --> 0:25:46.840 anxiety and the chaos, of the current of chaos will 0:25:46.840 --> 0:25:52.200 try to push you away from the promises of God. 0:25:53.400 --> 0:25:55.840 But when I think Jesus prayed for Peter, here's what 0:25:55.920 --> 0:25:59.200 I pictures that boat out on the lake being tossed 0:25:59.240 --> 0:26:01.159 about by the way, and then Jesus says, I just 0:26:01.200 --> 0:26:05.560 got on your boat. Jesus, I am an anchor, and 0:26:05.600 --> 0:26:07.520 I will go straight through the bottom, through all of 0:26:07.560 --> 0:26:10.560 that depression, through all of that anxiety, through all of 0:26:10.560 --> 0:26:12.320 that stuff, and I will get to the bottom, and 0:26:12.359 --> 0:26:14.920 I will anchor your soul. And a good anchor only 0:26:14.920 --> 0:26:16.160 has so many feet of. 0:26:16.160 --> 0:26:16.880 Rope on it. 0:26:17.320 --> 0:26:19.119 And when the rope gets to the end of it 0:26:19.160 --> 0:26:21.480 and the anchor does what it does, that boat will 0:26:21.520 --> 0:26:25.240 go no further. Jesus says, I know you're gonna drift, 0:26:25.320 --> 0:26:27.919 but I have set by my grace how far you 0:26:27.920 --> 0:26:31.040 will drift, because I am in control of the boat, Peter. 0:26:32.359 --> 0:26:35.080 I'm in control of it. I know it feels like 0:26:35.160 --> 0:26:38.800 the anxiety is sweeping you away, but I am an 0:26:39.119 --> 0:26:43.920 anchor for your soul. And the faith that Jesus is 0:26:43.960 --> 0:26:48.560 talking about is not Peter's faith to Jesus. It's Jesus 0:26:48.640 --> 0:26:54.720 faith to Peter. So that faith I prayed that would 0:26:54.800 --> 0:26:56.760 not fail. It's that remnant of why I picked you 0:26:57.119 --> 0:27:00.360 and I gave it to you, because you see, we 0:27:00.359 --> 0:27:04.200 were created to be the image bearers of God. Saint 0:27:04.280 --> 0:27:07.600 Irenea says it like this. The glory of God is 0:27:07.680 --> 0:27:13.000 man fully alive. In Roman, chapter three, verse twenty three, 0:27:13.000 --> 0:27:16.240 it says this, It says, for all of sinned and 0:27:16.280 --> 0:27:19.040 fall short of the glory of God. I always first 0:27:19.119 --> 0:27:21.159 focused on the first half of that verse, all of sined. 0:27:21.920 --> 0:27:25.560 It's easy for me to identify with the humanity, for 0:27:25.640 --> 0:27:28.040 all of sin and fall short of the glory of God. 0:27:28.400 --> 0:27:29.520 And I think when. 0:27:29.400 --> 0:27:31.960 I look at that story of Peter and the failure. 0:27:31.480 --> 0:27:33.000 And the success and all those things. 0:27:33.760 --> 0:27:39.120 He says, Peter, when you're sitting down in shame, you're 0:27:39.160 --> 0:27:44.440 not standing up giving me glory, and so. 0:27:44.480 --> 0:27:45.720 To me, failure. 0:27:47.000 --> 0:27:50.760 Is to say seated when God gave you the opportunity 0:27:50.800 --> 0:27:54.760 to stand up. A couple of years ago, my son 0:27:54.880 --> 0:27:57.520 was doing a video shoot. His name is Corbin, and 0:27:57.560 --> 0:28:00.200 he was doing a video shoot for our youth. I'm 0:28:00.240 --> 0:28:03.040 watching him do the video shoot and I'm like, oh, oh, 0:28:03.080 --> 0:28:06.280 I'm so proud of Him'm just beaming with excitement God. 0:28:07.200 --> 0:28:08.520 And then we got in the car and he sat 0:28:08.600 --> 0:28:11.080 down after we finished, and you could see in his 0:28:11.119 --> 0:28:14.359 face he was defeated and dejected. And he says to me, 0:28:14.400 --> 0:28:18.480 all right, Dad, give me some constructive criticism. 0:28:18.520 --> 0:28:21.840 And my heart broke and I'm like, son, I'm sorry. 0:28:21.840 --> 0:28:23.879 I need to apologize because you got that definition of 0:28:23.920 --> 0:28:27.920 success from your dad, and because he had the bad 0:28:27.960 --> 0:28:30.679 definition of success, he felt like a failure and he 0:28:30.720 --> 0:28:36.040 could not share his father's pleasure. You see what sitting 0:28:36.080 --> 0:28:40.520 down in shame does. It robs you of sharing in 0:28:40.560 --> 0:28:44.760 your father's pleasure. And he's not making you aware of 0:28:44.800 --> 0:28:47.520 where you sat down to rub your nose in it 0:28:47.600 --> 0:28:49.280 like a puppy, to throw you in the closet because 0:28:49.280 --> 0:28:52.400 he's trying to punish you. He's wanting to make you 0:28:52.440 --> 0:28:55.240 aware of where you sat down because he wants you 0:28:55.280 --> 0:28:57.440 to recognize I sat down with you. 0:29:00.040 --> 0:29:02.880 Because Peter, I know you're gonna deny me, but. 0:29:02.920 --> 0:29:06.640 Jesus says, when you are faithless, I will remain faithful. 0:29:07.880 --> 0:29:09.840 So when you have no faith, I've got enough for 0:29:09.960 --> 0:29:11.880 both of us, is what Jesus was saying to Peter. 0:29:13.280 --> 0:29:15.840 And so when you read themout and he stood up, yeah, 0:29:15.920 --> 0:29:19.160 we like that, and often will preach a message of 0:29:19.240 --> 0:29:22.520 you just got to stand up, meaning I'm just going 0:29:22.560 --> 0:29:24.280 to do it my own strength, my own power, in 0:29:24.320 --> 0:29:27.600 my own way, and I will give you about six hours, 0:29:27.640 --> 0:29:29.840 but after that I'll forget because I grow tired and 0:29:29.880 --> 0:29:33.200 weary and I sit right back down. How many times 0:29:33.240 --> 0:29:34.600 do I go through the cycle of doing it in 0:29:34.680 --> 0:29:37.400 my own strength and sitting back down own strength, sitting 0:29:37.440 --> 0:29:39.880 back down before you get so exhausted, I just settle 0:29:40.040 --> 0:29:43.560 for here, and I'll paint a smile on on Sunday mornings. 0:29:43.560 --> 0:29:46.280 I'm blessed and highly favored. You just cussed your wife 0:29:46.360 --> 0:29:50.880 on the parking lot because your speech betrays you. 0:29:52.920 --> 0:29:53.320 Some of you. 0:29:53.400 --> 0:29:55.880 The reason you're talking like that is you're so disgusted 0:29:55.920 --> 0:29:59.600 with yourself that rather than the recognize how far you've drifted, 0:30:00.200 --> 0:30:04.120 you blame everybody else around you. What have you sat 0:30:04.320 --> 0:30:08.320 down in? What have you settled for? That? The grace 0:30:08.360 --> 0:30:10.440 of God is saying, but I have prayed for you 0:30:10.760 --> 0:30:16.400 that your faith would not fail. So success, success isn't 0:30:16.400 --> 0:30:20.440 dependent upon my behavior. Success is my recognition that Jesus 0:30:20.480 --> 0:30:21.440 still holds. 0:30:21.160 --> 0:30:21.640 On to me. 0:30:22.160 --> 0:30:24.959 And if he is still holding onto me, I'm successful. 0:30:25.280 --> 0:30:31.520 That's what it means. I wonder if your definition of 0:30:31.560 --> 0:30:40.800 success even includes Jesus. And so what I want you 0:30:40.840 --> 0:30:42.400 to hear at this point is all of us are 0:30:42.440 --> 0:30:44.720 going to sit in things, because that's the natural flow 0:30:44.720 --> 0:30:47.840 of humanity. But the grace of God is another wave, 0:30:50.080 --> 0:30:54.600 wave after wave after wave of grace. And to truly 0:30:54.680 --> 0:30:58.280 stand up, to truly get up, it's not you doing 0:30:58.320 --> 0:31:01.760 it better, trying hard, Gosh darn it, New Year's resolution. 0:31:01.880 --> 0:31:02.680 I'm gonna do it. 0:31:03.320 --> 0:31:05.560 I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about a real faith. 0:31:05.960 --> 0:31:08.040 And you need two people to help you stand up. 0:31:09.200 --> 0:31:12.040 There are two key people in this whole story, because 0:31:12.080 --> 0:31:15.320 the last scene we had of Peter was him sitting 0:31:15.560 --> 0:31:18.840 weeping bitterly, and in one of the other gospel accounts, 0:31:18.840 --> 0:31:21.560 it says he saw Jesus in that moment, the one 0:31:21.600 --> 0:31:24.920 he just denied. He saw face and he wept bitterly. 0:31:25.680 --> 0:31:29.560 And that represents Peter moving forward. As some of you 0:31:29.600 --> 0:31:32.560 have been sitting in this place for twenty two years. 0:31:33.840 --> 0:31:36.840 You gave a part of yourself twenty two years a 0:31:36.840 --> 0:31:39.080 part of yourself. Twenty two years ago you said you 0:31:39.120 --> 0:31:42.520 were going to keep sacred till marriage. And because you 0:31:42.600 --> 0:31:46.120 compromise that part of yourself, you'll feel so unworthy that 0:31:46.160 --> 0:31:50.920 you are settling for sitting down in shame. And I 0:31:51.000 --> 0:31:53.080 want you to know that God sees you, and he's 0:31:53.120 --> 0:31:55.640 not disgusted at you. He's not looking at you with 0:31:55.720 --> 0:31:58.360 a furrowed brow of disappointment, just waiting for you to 0:31:58.440 --> 0:31:59.600 try harder and do better. 0:31:59.720 --> 0:32:03.000 No, he's coming to you. Because if this were. 0:32:02.920 --> 0:32:05.040 The end of the story, how depressing would that be. 0:32:05.320 --> 0:32:07.920 But the great God that we served, Jesus shows up. 0:32:08.480 --> 0:32:12.240 Jesus comes back for him. Jesus remembers, oh, I am 0:32:12.320 --> 0:32:16.800 tied to his boat. He's not died to me. And 0:32:16.840 --> 0:32:19.880 so Jesus is resurrected from the grave. Because you need 0:32:19.920 --> 0:32:22.520 three people, he need two people to help you get up. 0:32:23.240 --> 0:32:26.480 We believe in a God that's a trinity, Father, son, 0:32:27.280 --> 0:32:31.400 and spirit. Each one is full of God. God the 0:32:31.400 --> 0:32:33.920 Father always has been in you, as will be. God 0:32:34.000 --> 0:32:35.840 the Son always has been in you as will be. 0:32:35.880 --> 0:32:38.360 And God the Son took on flesh, and he made 0:32:38.400 --> 0:32:39.440 his dwelling amongst us. 0:32:40.960 --> 0:32:41.560 And the sin that. 0:32:41.480 --> 0:32:43.520 Should have been placed on us was placed on him. 0:32:44.800 --> 0:32:46.480 And he gave up his life, and he went into 0:32:46.520 --> 0:32:49.960 a grave, and he sat down for three days. 0:32:51.360 --> 0:32:52.720 And after three days. 0:32:52.400 --> 0:32:56.000 The Father looked at the son and said, son, I 0:32:56.120 --> 0:32:57.280 created you for something. 0:32:57.960 --> 0:33:01.120 It's time for you to rise and shine. 0:33:01.240 --> 0:33:03.800 And Jesus heard the voice of his father calling him 0:33:03.800 --> 0:33:06.400 from the darkness he had sat in for three days. 0:33:06.600 --> 0:33:08.280 And because Jesus sat. 0:33:08.160 --> 0:33:09.960 Down in it for three days, you and I don't 0:33:09.960 --> 0:33:11.320 have to settle for sitting. 0:33:11.080 --> 0:33:11.920 Down in it. 0:33:15.160 --> 0:33:20.720 And that same Jesus, that same Jesus now shows up 0:33:20.760 --> 0:33:24.080 three days after he's resurrected. And who's the first disciple 0:33:24.120 --> 0:33:27.920 he appears to? Who's the first apostle he appears to Peter? 0:33:29.880 --> 0:33:33.600 And when Jesus shows up on the shore, he looks out, 0:33:33.640 --> 0:33:37.400 and where does he see Peter sitting in a boat? 0:33:41.280 --> 0:33:43.400 I thought you left that boat to follow me. Jesus, 0:33:44.680 --> 0:33:47.880 I thought you left that to come after me. And 0:33:47.920 --> 0:33:51.200 why did Peter go sit back down in it? He 0:33:51.240 --> 0:33:52.960 didn't know what else to do, and it was familiar. 0:33:54.520 --> 0:33:57.040 And I hope that gives you encouragement to realize today 0:33:57.040 --> 0:33:59.160 that Jesus sees you going back to the thing you 0:33:59.160 --> 0:34:04.160 said you would never do. I'll never deny you until 0:34:04.160 --> 0:34:07.560 he did, and God said, I knew it was gonna 0:34:07.560 --> 0:34:10.520 happen along, and I still picked you. You're still my 0:34:10.520 --> 0:34:14.120 first show and fantasy with selection Peter. I won't deny 0:34:14.160 --> 0:34:16.319 you because I'd be denying myself, because my name is 0:34:16.320 --> 0:34:18.640 on you, because I am the anchor on your boat, 0:34:19.000 --> 0:34:21.239 and I will only let you go so far. And 0:34:21.280 --> 0:34:23.239 why haven't you given up to this point? Because the 0:34:23.280 --> 0:34:25.640 grace of God has been an anchor to your soul 0:34:25.680 --> 0:34:27.520 and says, I will only let you drift so far. 0:34:27.719 --> 0:34:29.719 I will only let you get so far away from you. 0:34:29.760 --> 0:34:33.719 But because my grace is holding on to you, success 0:34:33.800 --> 0:34:39.400 is realizing that he is holding on to me, and 0:34:39.480 --> 0:34:41.080 the fails to think I got to do. 0:34:41.040 --> 0:34:42.880 It in my own strength. 0:34:44.960 --> 0:34:47.040 So the Father looks at the sun and says, Jesus, 0:34:47.120 --> 0:34:50.680 it's time to rise and shine, and Jesus kicks the 0:34:50.760 --> 0:34:52.400 end out of a borrow to him because he was 0:34:52.440 --> 0:34:56.400 made to glorify the Father. And then Jesus shows up 0:34:56.400 --> 0:34:58.120 and he sees Peter out on the boat that he 0:34:58.200 --> 0:35:00.960 was supposed to walk away from, and he says, hey, 0:35:01.000 --> 0:35:06.359 you come back yet. So Peter makes his way back 0:35:06.400 --> 0:35:09.720 into the shore, going through the same waves of chaos 0:35:09.760 --> 0:35:13.359 that he was drifted away by. Isn't that funny how 0:35:13.400 --> 0:35:16.319 God comes to you. All that stuff in your life 0:35:16.320 --> 0:35:17.959 will have purpose when you see him face to face. 0:35:18.880 --> 0:35:21.239 And he calls him in to the shore and he 0:35:21.320 --> 0:35:23.960 has this meal, and three times he asked him do 0:35:24.000 --> 0:35:24.480 you love me? 0:35:25.320 --> 0:35:27.160 Do you love me? Do you love me? One for 0:35:27.200 --> 0:35:27.800 each of those. 0:35:27.680 --> 0:35:29.880 Denials, because God's love is always greater than your denial, 0:35:30.640 --> 0:35:32.239 and he needed Peter to hear that for every one 0:35:32.239 --> 0:35:34.920 of those denials, I've got something greater. I've got something greater, 0:35:35.040 --> 0:35:37.160 I've got something right because I picked you for a purpose. 0:35:37.400 --> 0:35:40.480 I picked you to show my love, to receive and 0:35:40.560 --> 0:35:45.759 reflect my love. We were made to glorify God. But 0:35:45.880 --> 0:35:50.640 when I sit in shame underneath the space here, I 0:35:50.680 --> 0:35:53.160 don't bring him glory. 0:35:53.280 --> 0:35:54.920 So when you go to work tomorrow. 0:35:56.239 --> 0:35:59.320 Are you sitting down in something old or are you 0:35:59.600 --> 0:36:03.480 hearing the voice of God saying stand up and glorify? 0:36:04.680 --> 0:36:05.600 So in Acts two. 0:36:05.560 --> 0:36:09.480 Fourteen, then Peter stood up. I wonder if he remembered 0:36:09.520 --> 0:36:13.120 the bitter tears he wept when he denied Jesus. I 0:36:13.239 --> 0:36:15.480 wonder if that was the soundtrack playing in the back 0:36:15.520 --> 0:36:18.040 of his mind on some level, going Okay, maybe this 0:36:18.080 --> 0:36:19.760 time I'll get it right, but maybe I won't. 0:36:20.400 --> 0:36:23.520 I wonder. Peter was dealing with some doubt and like, 0:36:23.560 --> 0:36:24.839 could you really use me? God? 0:36:25.239 --> 0:36:28.120 But something about it, the voice of God, the Holy 0:36:28.160 --> 0:36:31.480 Spirit resonating in him, made him stand up, and he 0:36:31.560 --> 0:36:35.000 spoke loudly and clearly, and he said, let me explain 0:36:35.080 --> 0:36:36.200 the goodness of God to you. 0:36:36.440 --> 0:36:38.080 And who better to explain the. 0:36:38.000 --> 0:36:40.759 Goodness of God than a man who had just disappointed 0:36:40.800 --> 0:36:44.160 and denied Jesus fifty three days earlier. He didn't need 0:36:44.200 --> 0:36:46.560 to go to a class, need to go to a 0:36:46.560 --> 0:36:49.359 twelve step program. Those are good, but he said, all 0:36:49.400 --> 0:36:52.360 I need is Jesus on one side and then the 0:36:52.400 --> 0:36:54.520 Holy Spirit on the other. So in Acts, here's the 0:36:54.560 --> 0:36:58.080 way it begins. Here's the second person. Acts two, Verses 0:36:58.080 --> 0:37:03.719 one through four. So that day that Peter gets up 0:37:03.719 --> 0:37:08.399 and speaks, that day that he boldly proclaims Jesus, here's 0:37:08.440 --> 0:37:12.399 the other person that comes into him. Starting in verse one, says, 0:37:12.440 --> 0:37:15.360 when the day of Pentecosts came, they were all together 0:37:15.400 --> 0:37:17.640 in one place. Suddenly the sound like the blowing of 0:37:17.640 --> 0:37:19.759 a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole 0:37:19.800 --> 0:37:22.880 house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to 0:37:22.920 --> 0:37:26.040 be tongues of fire separated and come to rest on 0:37:26.080 --> 0:37:28.440 each of them. All of them were filled with the 0:37:28.480 --> 0:37:31.440 Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues that the 0:37:31.440 --> 0:37:37.080 spirit enabled them. So some of you have not placed 0:37:37.080 --> 0:37:40.160 your faith in Jesus, and you are dead in your sin. 0:37:41.040 --> 0:37:42.400 And what it would want you to do is to 0:37:42.440 --> 0:37:44.799 hear the voice of Jesus calling you from the grave. 0:37:44.880 --> 0:37:48.680 Say rise and shine. It is time to rise and shine. 0:37:48.800 --> 0:37:50.800 It's time for you get up out of that grave cloth. 0:37:51.080 --> 0:37:53.520 It's time do you come into relationship with me. Some 0:37:53.560 --> 0:37:57.280 of you have been following at a distance for so long, 0:37:58.440 --> 0:38:00.720 but God says, I still got you, and I'm still 0:38:00.719 --> 0:38:03.480 calling you. And today is the day that you're going 0:38:03.560 --> 0:38:06.279 to hear jesus voice calling you from the boat of 0:38:06.320 --> 0:38:11.640 doubt follow calling you from the boat of disappointment and 0:38:11.640 --> 0:38:15.160 despair and disgust, and the grace of God wants. 0:38:15.000 --> 0:38:16.680 To wash over you and clean you and make you 0:38:16.719 --> 0:38:17.360 a new creation. 0:38:18.400 --> 0:38:21.480 And when you come into relationship with Jesus, when you 0:38:21.520 --> 0:38:23.400 place your faith in him, it says, when you believe 0:38:23.960 --> 0:38:25.399 in your heart that he was raised from the dead, 0:38:25.440 --> 0:38:27.360 and you confess with your mouth that he is Lord, 0:38:28.080 --> 0:38:32.319 the Holy Spirit, the person of God comes to live 0:38:32.320 --> 0:38:34.239 inside of you. This Holy Spirit's not a power or 0:38:34.239 --> 0:38:38.360 an energy. It's not a viber of feeling. It's a person. 0:38:39.160 --> 0:38:42.440 And the Holy Spirit desires to lead you so to 0:38:42.440 --> 0:38:44.439 get up out of that grave. It's hearing the voice 0:38:44.440 --> 0:38:47.560 of Jesus. But now once we come to Jesus, we 0:38:47.600 --> 0:38:49.440 also want to sit right back down in that place. 0:38:51.320 --> 0:38:54.000 And if success is about you trying harder or doing better, 0:38:54.600 --> 0:38:58.279 Earth success is more square footage. Earth success is a 0:38:58.320 --> 0:39:01.040 corner office, sir, a certain amount of money in the 0:39:01.040 --> 0:39:05.319 retirement account, you may or may not be successful. But 0:39:05.360 --> 0:39:07.799 if success is based upon what Jesus did for me, 0:39:09.000 --> 0:39:11.719 and if success is that he came back from me, 0:39:12.680 --> 0:39:15.439 if success is recognizing that the Holy Spirit is tied 0:39:15.440 --> 0:39:18.360 to me living inside of me. And though you're gonna 0:39:18.360 --> 0:39:22.720 sit back down in something, here's what I believe. 0:39:23.719 --> 0:39:26.560 The Holy Spirit is a gentleman. 0:39:29.000 --> 0:39:32.000 He's not gonna kick down the door, but he's gonna 0:39:32.080 --> 0:39:34.439 knock and say, I'm still here. 0:39:36.280 --> 0:39:39.319 I've not left you. I'm right in this thing with you. 0:39:40.280 --> 0:39:43.440 Would you respond to that voice, just as that voice 0:39:43.440 --> 0:39:45.960 was so tender with Peter saying come here, Peter, get 0:39:45.960 --> 0:39:48.879 out of that boat. I know you were sitting down 0:39:48.920 --> 0:39:51.920 feeling disqualified, and you feel like you've got nothing to say. 0:39:53.000 --> 0:39:55.799 But to rise and shine is to hear the Holy 0:39:55.840 --> 0:39:57.080 Spirit saying, come forth. 0:39:58.880 --> 0:39:59.800 To respond to that. 0:40:00.719 --> 0:40:04.000 Now, the waves are going to be loud, the waves 0:40:04.000 --> 0:40:05.680 of disappointment and doubt and discuss. 0:40:05.760 --> 0:40:08.160 They're just crashing, they're crashing rush. 0:40:09.480 --> 0:40:15.920 But the voice I'm talking about, it's a whisper, Simon, Simon, 0:40:17.840 --> 0:40:21.400 it's a Hebrew term of intimacy. 0:40:21.560 --> 0:40:22.839 Because I'm close. 0:40:24.160 --> 0:40:26.240 And the Holy Spirit's inside of you, and he's whispering 0:40:26.280 --> 0:40:30.680 to you, rise and shine. I put you in that 0:40:30.760 --> 0:40:32.440 job to give me glory. I put you in that 0:40:32.440 --> 0:40:35.920 school to give me glory. And when you sit in shame, 0:40:36.160 --> 0:40:38.680 you don't operate according to what you were created for 0:40:39.840 --> 0:40:43.240 the sun stopped shining. It was created to shine because 0:40:43.280 --> 0:40:45.960 of the shame that was in the world. You were 0:40:45.960 --> 0:40:50.120 created to glorify God. Don't let the shame rob you 0:40:50.400 --> 0:40:52.520 of giving him the glory. Would you stand your feet 0:40:52.560 --> 0:41:00.200 at all of our locations, And what we want to 0:41:00.200 --> 0:41:02.240 do at this point is offer an invitation for somebody 0:41:02.280 --> 0:41:05.720 to place their faith in Jesus as their Lord and savior. 0:41:06.560 --> 0:41:08.360 And what I wanted you to hear today. 0:41:08.120 --> 0:41:10.239 Is of a good God who sees you sitting down 0:41:10.280 --> 0:41:13.799 in something that he says, I still picked you, I 0:41:13.880 --> 0:41:15.480 love you, and I'm here. 0:41:16.160 --> 0:41:17.359 Will you respond to it? 0:41:18.480 --> 0:41:21.480 Will you come out of the grave and say, I 0:41:21.560 --> 0:41:24.719 need to give him glory? Will you receive the gift 0:41:24.760 --> 0:41:27.239 of salvation that's found in him? The Bible says if 0:41:27.280 --> 0:41:30.640 you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and 0:41:30.719 --> 0:41:32.600 you believe in your heart that He was raised from 0:41:32.600 --> 0:41:34.680 the dead, you will be saved. 0:41:35.360 --> 0:41:36.360 Would you buy your heads? 0:41:37.480 --> 0:41:39.279 Would you close your eyes at all over locations, in 0:41:39.320 --> 0:41:42.680 everybody online, And if you need to place your faith 0:41:42.680 --> 0:41:46.919 in Jesus, this is your prayer. I'm not talking about 0:41:46.960 --> 0:41:49.960 a commitment to try harder or do better. I'm not 0:41:50.000 --> 0:41:52.040 talking about a resolution to say I'm just going to 0:41:52.280 --> 0:41:55.719 give it one more chance. Now I'm talking about confessing 0:41:56.200 --> 0:42:00.239 you are dead in your sins and you cannot save yourself. 0:42:00.840 --> 0:42:02.399 That is why Jesus had to die. 0:42:03.440 --> 0:42:05.880 And if that's you, I want to lead you in 0:42:05.880 --> 0:42:08.200 this prayer in the church family. I want us to 0:42:08.239 --> 0:42:11.359 say this prayer together out loud for the benefit of 0:42:11.400 --> 0:42:15.359 somebody who's making this decision to follow in Jesus. Pray 0:42:15.440 --> 0:42:18.280 this with me, Church family. I believe that Jesus Christ 0:42:20.200 --> 0:42:23.200 is the son of God who died on the cross 0:42:24.040 --> 0:42:25.040 and rose from the grave. 0:42:26.160 --> 0:42:27.480 So forgive me of my sins. 0:42:28.760 --> 0:42:31.560 I give you my life, I give you my sin, 0:42:32.600 --> 0:42:36.960 I give you my shame. Forgive me, and I'll spend 0:42:36.960 --> 0:42:41.040 my life following you with your head still about in 0:42:41.040 --> 0:42:42.880 your lives still close. If you just place your faith 0:42:42.880 --> 0:42:46.160 in Jesus for the first time and you're recognizing I 0:42:46.560 --> 0:42:48.400 need to be forgiven. If that's you, I'm going to 0:42:48.440 --> 0:42:50.840 count to three, and when I get through without hesitation, 0:42:50.920 --> 0:42:52.000 I want you to boldly. 0:42:51.760 --> 0:42:53.080 Shoot your hand into the air. 0:42:53.600 --> 0:42:57.960 One, two, three, shoots your hand up all across the sauditorum. 0:42:59.560 --> 0:43:03.239 Come on, Church family, no, let's celebrate. 0:43:02.760 --> 0:43:07.040 That thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those 0:43:07.040 --> 0:43:10.080 of you who give generously to this ministry. Is because 0:43:10.080 --> 0:43:13.040 of you that this ministry is possible. You can click 0:43:13.080 --> 0:43:16.000 the link in the description to give now or visit 0:43:16.040 --> 0:43:20.239 Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information and if 0:43:20.239 --> 0:43:23.520 you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share 0:43:23.560 --> 0:43:25.760 it with your friends. You can click the share button, 0:43:25.840 --> 0:43:28.240 take a screenshot and share it on your social stories 0:43:28.280 --> 0:43:31.040 and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. 0:43:31.080 --> 0:43:36.640 God bless you.