Thank you for listening to this message from
Lifehouse Church. Good morning, Lifehouse. That's
the first I've seen the title screen. That is
pretty cool. Thank you for being here this morning.
If you're here in the house and online, I'm Charlie
Pensinger, and I might not be who last week you
expected was going to be. Standing up here today,
but they gave me this mic, so I knew it was serious.
A few months ago, I started to talk to Pastor
Kip about feeling a calling. A calling to do
more. A calling to do more here at Lifehouse.
A calling to do more than what I was doing for
my occupation. So, Kip and I had a lot of discussions,
a lot of prayer, and that led me to giving my
CAMS application to Pastor Kip. That is the calling
and ministry studies application. And for the
Church of God, that is our credentialing process
to be a pastor. Thank you. So, this will be the
first message that I give here at LifeHouse.
If I can get enough amens, hallelujahs, and maybe
a praise Jesus, maybe I can come up here and
do it again. Hey! Well, if you've been with us
the last few months, you know that Pastor Kip
has been working through the book of John. A
few weeks ago, he and I talked about where this
message may fall in line with that, and we knew
that it would be close to the end of the book
of John, so I looked at John 19, which was about
crucifixion, John 20, about resurrection, and
John 21, about restoration. So, restoration for
a car guy. Sign me up. That's the one. That's
what we're doing. So today's message is going
to be about restoration. Restoration is a pretty
cool process, and there's all kinds of stuff
you can restore. Cars, trucks, motorcycles, furniture,
artwork. You can restore lost files on a computer.
Has anybody here restored anything before? All
right. Because if you have, you know that it's
a process. And it's a process that often will
take multiple steps. In order for restoration
to occur, you need three principal things. You
need something that is broken, something worth
restoring, and someone to restore it. To illustrate
these three principles, I'm going to take you
through a little bit of a restoration on a 1967
Camaro. the restoration of Simon Peter, and the
restoration of us. But before we begin, let us
pray. Heavenly Father, we just thank you for
this day. We thank you for this gathering. We
thank you for this Memorial Day. And we thank
you for all those who've served. And we remember
today those that gave that ultimate sacrifice,
like my grandfather, Staff Sergeant Harry Pensinger,
who passed away in 1944 in France. Lord, we just
thank you for all of those. We thank you for
our mission team that is back from Guatemala
just hours ago. So great to see them here today.
Thank you for the work that they were able to
do on this trip. And Lord, we just thank you
for this wonderful day that you've given us.
Pray for your guidance, for your strength in
all that we do. And we love you. Amen. The scripture
we will focus on today is John chapter 21. Jesus,
at this point, has led his ministry. He's been
arrested. He was crucified, resurrected, and
he has met the disciples twice at this point.
We'll start with verses 1 through 14. After these
things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples
at the Sea of Tiberias. And in this way, he showed
himself. Simon Peter, Thomas called the twin,
Nathaniel of Cana of Galilee. The sons of Zebedee
and two others of his disciples were together.
Simon Peter said to them, I am going fishing.
And they said, we're going with you. They went
out and immediately got into the boat. And that
night they caught nothing. But when the morning
had now come, Jesus stood on the shore. Yet the
disciples did not know it was Jesus. Then Jesus
said to him, children, have you any food? They
answered no. He said to them, cast the net on
the right side of the boat and you will find
some. So they cast and now they were not able
to draw in the net because of the multitude of
fish. Therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved
said to Peter, it is the Lord. Now, when Simon
Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his
outer garment and plunged into the sea. But the
other disciples came in the little boat for they
were not far from the land, dragging the net
of fish. Then as soon as they had come to land,
he saw a fire of coals there and fish laid on
it and bread. Jesus said to them, bring some
of the fish which you have just caught. Simon
Peter went up and dragged the net to land full
of large fish, 153. And although there were so
many, the net was not broken. Jesus said to them,
come and eat breakfast. Yet none of the disciples
dared ask him, who are you? knowing that it was
the Lord. Then Jesus came and took the bread
and gave it to them, and likewise the fish. This
is now the third time Jesus showed himself to
his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
Now the actual restoration of Simon Peter starts
in the next verse, and we're going to get to
that. So remember, for restoration to take place,
the first principle we need is something that
is broken. So say that with me. Something that
is broken. Broken in terms of restoration means
busted, rusted, damaged, worn out. If you're
broken, busted, rusted, worn out, you might need
some restoration too. And as for that 1967 Camaro
I talked about, it was all those. Chris and Brandy
Whitson owned a 1967 Camaro. It wasn't involved
in a big crash. It was just worn out. Basically
no paint left. Rust and corrosion had started
to take over. It was wearing out tires. No headliner.
The Camaro was broken. And was it Chris's fault?
Yes. Yes, it was. Because Chris drives that car
just like his dad drove cars, just like his mom
drove cars, just like his brother drives cars.
With the gas pedal smashed to the firewall, using
all of those 496 big block cubic inches, Yeah,
a lot of big blocks were 396. Not good enough
for Chris. So it was machined and built to be
a 496. But outside, it was broken and in need
of restoration. That's principle number one,
something is broken. So what about Simon Peter?
What's his story and was he broken? That's a
little bit more of a complicated story than the
Camaro, and we're going to take a little bit
more time explaining that one. I'm going to highlight
several interactions between Simon Peter and
Jesus. So that you can see who Simon Peter was
and understand his brokenness. Simon Peter first
met Jesus on the same sea where we see them in
John chapter 21. Simon Peter was a fisherman.
His dad was a fisherman. His brother, you guessed
it, fisherman. He was in his mid -20s to early
30s, making him the oldest of the disciples.
So if you remember when in... the beginning of
John chapter 21, Jesus says, children, do you
have any fish? These were like late teenagers,
early 20s. Some of his disciples were just not
much older than that. And Jesus says, he says
in Matthew 4, verses 18 to 20, here's where we
find where Simon, Peter, and Jesus meet. And
Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee saw two brothers,
Simon called Peter and Andrew. casting a net
into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus
said to them, follow me, and I will make you
fishers of men. And they immediately left their
nets and followed him. That's a great start for
Simon Peter. In the Bible, you'll hear him referred
to as Simon, Simon, Peter, and Peter, and it's
all the same person. Jesus gave him the name
Peter, which means rock. He was a fisherman by
trade, and now he put down his net for good to
be a fisher of men. Ten chapters later in Matthew,
we have the account of Jesus walking on the water
in the Sea of Galilee. This is a pretty popular
spot for Simon Peter and Jesus. They end up there
a lot. After feeding the 5 ,000, Jesus had his
disciples get in a boat and go out before him.
As the waters became rough and the wind picked
up, the disciples, including Simon Peter, They
were scared. Jesus walks on the water to meet
them. In Matthew chapter 14, we see this account.
Jesus says to his disciples as he meets them
on the water, it is I. Do not be afraid. And
Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it is you,
command me to come to you on the water. So Jesus
says, come. And when Peter had come down out
of the boat, he walked on the water to go to
Jesus. But when he saw the wind was boisterous
and he was afraid, he began to sink and cried
out, Lord, save me. And Jesus immediately, he
immediately stretched out his hand and caught
him and said, oh, you have little faith. Why
do you doubt? You'll see this is vintage Simon
Peter. He's the first one to speak up. He's the
first one to get out of the boat. And he immediately
focuses on Jesus, but not for long. He soon takes
his eyes off Jesus. He focuses on the wind, starts
to sink. And without hesitation, Jesus saves
him. Jesus tells Simon Peter he has little faith
and he has doubt. But does that make him broken?
Not yet. But this is what we see in Simon Peter's
life and his walk with Jesus. Moments of absolute
blind faith. Excitement, exuberance, then failing
and brokenness. Sometimes it happens in the same
conversation. Another example of Peter's highs
and lows takes place in Matthew 16, verses 13
and 23. In these verses, Jesus is with the disciples
and he asked them, who do men say that I am?
Some of his disciples, they say you're John the
Baptist, you're Elijah, Jeremiah, some of the
other prophets. But then he asks a much more
pointed question, and he says, who do you say
that I am? The disciples know Jesus at this point.
Who do you say that I am? And as usual, it's
Simon Peter. Simon Peter jumps right in, and
he says, You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God. What a great answer from Simon Peter. And
an even better response from Jesus in verse 17.
Jesus answered and said to Simon Peter, Blessed
are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has
not revealed this to you, but my Father who is
in heaven. And I say to you that you are Peter
on this rock. I will build my church. and the
gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
And I will give you the keys to the kingdom of
heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound
in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be
loosed in heaven. The answer from Peter was an
A -plus answer. Jesus says, I will build my church
on you. I will give you the keys to the kingdom
of heaven. Who's broken now? Not Simon Peter.
But in this same conversation, just moments later,
Jesus explains that some really bad things are
going to happen. They're going to happen to Jesus.
He tells him in verse 21 that he must go to Jerusalem
and suffer many things and be killed and be raised
on the third day. This is not Jesus saying, hey,
I'm thinking about this. This might happen. Let's
go to Jerusalem, just see what goes down. No,
Jesus is saying this must happen. He knows his
father's plans. And Peter, the rock on which
we're going to build the church, the guy getting
the keys to the kingdom of heaven, he pulls Jesus
aside and he rebukes him. To rebuke is to sharply
criticize or reprimand someone because you strongly
disapprove. of their behavior or actions. So
we think Jesus thinks of that. Jesus turns to
Peter and exclaims. He doesn't whisper. He doesn't
mention it. He explains, get behind me, Satan.
You are not mindful of the things of God, but
the things of men. What a whirlwind for Simon
Peter. What a whiplash. To go from, I'm going
to build my church on you to get behind me, Satan.
But that's Simon Peter wrapped up in one conversation.
So at this point, Simon Peter, he's pretty broken.
But don't worry, it gets worse. Soon after Jesus
calls Simon Peter Satan, Jesus tells his disciples
that they will all stumble. Not just one, not
some. Jesus tells them, you're all going to stumble
during my arrest and my crucifixion. This is
detailed in Mark 14, verses 27 to 31. But you
know, Simon Peter, in his confidence and his
exuberance, he tells Jesus in verse 29, even
if all are made to stumble, not me. I'm not going
to stumble. But Jesus answers him, assuredly,
I say to you today, Even this night, before the
rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.
So Jesus is arrested. Peter follows to where
they're taking Jesus. And you know what comes
next. While sitting around a fire of coals, Peter
denies Jesus not once, not twice. And the third
time is detailed in Luke 22, verse 59, when Simon
Peter asks a third time, surely you know Jesus?
And Peter replies, man, I don't know what you
are saying. And immediately, while he was still
speaking, the rooster crowed, and the Lord turned
and looked at Peter. And then Peter remembered
the words of the Lord. Can you imagine that feeling?
the feeling of failure, the feeling of shame,
looking Jesus right in the eye after you just
denied him three times. This hits Peter hard.
Luke says he went out and wept bitterly. Peter
is broken. He is crushed. He's failed again.
Jesus told Simon Peter, I'll build my church
on you. I'll give you the keys to heaven. And
he threw it all away. Peter is broken. The Camaro
is broken. So what happens next? We need to look
at principle number two. Something is worth restoring.
So say it with me. Something is worth restoring.
Are they worthy of restoration? Chris and Brandy
needed to determine if the Camaro was worth restoring.
And what about Simon Peter? Does he go back to
fishing for fish? Is he too broken to be a disciple?
We'll look at the Camaro first. What is a 1967
Camaro? Is it a one -of -a -kind car? Did they
only make one? Nope. They made 195 ,000 Camaro
Coupes in 1967. There's estimated to be tens
of thousands still around today, but it will
forever be the first in the first generation
of Camaros, and they are indeed the most sought
-after of Camaros. Was the damage to the Camaro
too much to be worthy of restoration? Too busted,
rusted, corroded, or worn out? No. It still started
and ran. Chris drove it to my shop, missing the
right quarter panel. It was just tired and needed
to be brought back to life. It was a car worthy
of restoration. So how about Simon Peter? Simon
messed up a bunch of times that we covered here
this morning. He doubted when he walked on the
water. He rebuked Jesus. He told Jesus he wouldn't
stumble just hours before denying him three times.
In other accounts through the Gospels, he responded
with violence and cut the ear off a guard that
was trying to arrest Jesus. At the Last Supper,
Jesus was washing the feet of the disciples,
and when he came to Peter, he's like, you're
not going to wash mine. Is he worthy of restoration?
Of course he is. Of course Simon Peter is worthy
of restoration. He was made in the image of God.
He's one of the first disciples. And Jesus had
told him, I'm going to build my church upon you.
And here's the thing. God does not throw out
the broken. He does not throw out the broken.
So Peter and the Camaro are both broken. They're
both worthy of restoration. So what's next? Our
third principle for restoration is there must
be a restorer, someone to do it. So say it with
me. There must be someone to do the restoration.
For the Camaro, someone had to make the restoration
happen. And I got the call. A call from Chris
and Brandy that not just got the Camaro on the
road to restoration, but at that time unknowingly
changed my life and Laura's life together as
the Camaro's work is what brought us here to
Lifehouse. But all right. But here's the deal.
I was not the best person for that job. I wasn't.
I was local to Chris and Brandy. I've restored
several vehicles. I've painted quite a few more.
You know who would have been better? Bill Mitchell,
Henry Haga, Irv Rabicki. And you're like, who?
What? These are the guys that designed the original
Camaro and their team. These guys put all that
time in in the mid -60s to eventually debut this
car in 1967. They knew the car way better than
I ever could. The creation came from them and
their team, and they are the ones that breathed
life into this concept that was designed for
one purpose. Beat the Mustang. So to Chris and
Brandy. I am forever grateful that you decided
on my little shop in Shippensburg. The Camaro
was broken, worthy of restoration, and Chris
and I restored it. So what about Peter and his
restoration? Let's revisit the first part of
chapter 2. The setting is in the Sea of Galilee,
the same place where Jesus and Simon Peter met.
Jesus had made a charcoal fire. Simon Peter,
in his usual exuberance, when John said it was
Jesus, Simon Peter jumps out of the boat. But
how broken is Simon Peter at this point of chapter
21? Well, for one, he went back to fishing for
fish. He's out in the boat fishing. And even
more importantly, was Simon Peter even a disciple
at this point? In Mark chapter 16, verse 7, when
Mary arrives at the empty tomb and the angel
tells her, go tell the disciples and Peter. The
angel didn't even include Peter and the disciples.
So, Peter's about as broken as you can be. But
the restoration, it's ready to occur right now.
John chapter 21, verse 15 through 19. And by
the way, the book of John is the only book of
the Gospels that detail Peter's restoration.
Verse 15, so when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus
said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do
you love me more than these? He said to him,
yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said
to him a second time, oh, he said to him, first
feed my lambs. He said to him again a second
time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? He
said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love
you. And he said to him, tend to my sheep. He
said to him a third time, Simon, son of Jonah,
do you love me? And Peter was grieved. And he
said to him the third time, when he said to him
the third time, do you love me? And Peter said
to him, Lord, you know all things. You know that
I love you. And Jesus said to him, feed my sheep.
Each question and answer was followed with an
instruction for Peter to do something. And this
all gets back to the, I'm going to build my church
on you. You're the rock. So after the first question
was feed my lambs, the young believers in the
church, the ones needing the most instruction
or nurturing. Tend my sheep. What does that sound
like? A shepherd. So shepherd them. and feed
my sheep. So give the flock, the church, the
spiritual food they need. Jesus concludes verse
19 telling Simon Peter two words. Again, he says
to him, just like their first meeting, follow
me. Simon denied Jesus three times. Jesus gave
him three opportunities to correct it. Simon
denied knowing Jesus around a charcoal fire.
Jesus gave him the opportunity to restore that
relationship while sitting around a charcoal
fire. It's the only two times in the Bible that
a charcoal fire is mentioned. Simon Peter's restoration
is now complete, as is the book of John. When
we turn the pages to the book of Acts, we see
the arrival of the Holy Spirit to Simon Peter
in the 120. Simon Peter then preaches the very
first message to the Christian church, and 3
,000 are saved. Not bad for somebody who was
busted, rusted, broken, corroded, worn out, worthy
of restoration and restored. If I could have
the worship team come forward. So what about
you? I'm not going to ask if you're broken because
you're broken. And I'm broken. We're all broken.
Every one of us. Now, does it look different
than the Camaro? Or look different than Peter?
Well, the Camaro was once shiny and new. But
over time, it became busted, rusted, corroded,
and worn out. Simon Peter, like the Camaros,
started out bright, shiny, and new in his relationship
with Jesus. When Jesus said, follow me, I'll
make you fishers of men, he abandoned his entire
life to follow Jesus. Yet just three years later,
Simon Peter denies that he even knows Jesus.
Time can take its toll. It can wear us out. Experiences
can corrode us. Satan finds a way inside and
gets us to start rusting from the inside out.
Broken relationships can get us sidetracked.
Addictions, depression, anxiety, jealousy, lying,
deceit, everything like that wears us out, and
it can break us right down to our knees. We are
broken. God doesn't throw away the broken. You're
never too broken for God. He is the great restorer.
He restored Peter, and he restores us. You just
have to ask him. That's it. It's no more complicated
than that. God called... Jesus called Peter Satan
and said to get behind me. Peter denied he even
knew Jesus, and yet after all of that, Jesus
didn't throw him away. He restored him. The same
one that restored Simon Peter, he wants to restore
you. He made you in his likeness. Just as the
original designers of the Camaro knew it best,
God knows you best. He doesn't deny us his grace
because we're busted. Like Simon Peter, we all
take our eyes off God. Yet God picks us up. He
picks us up. We can be broken in a million pieces
and God puts us back together. We've made mistakes.
He never leaves us. You are not too broken for
God. Ask him to restore your brokenness. He wants
that. He wants that relationship with you more
than anything. The worship team, they're going
to come forward. They're going to sing a song.
Pastor Kip is going to close us out. But you
are not too broken. You just got to ask him.
He wants to restore you. Just give him the opportunity.
Thank you. message from Lifehouse Church. We
pray that you were impacted powerfully by this
message. If you have been personally affected
by our ministry and you would like to partner
with us as we love God, love people every day,
visit our website at www .lifehousecog .com.