WEBVTT

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Luke chapter 22, verse 31. This may be a passage

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that you have read before, or maybe you haven't

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read it before. I would encourage you to go and

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read the verses before it if you haven't ever

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read it, or maybe you hadn't read it in a while.

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But Jesus had spent a lot of time with his apostles,

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about three years. and he was soon going to be

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crucified, and before he was crucified, he was

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going to be arrested and beaten and mocked, and

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before all this took place, he had this last

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meal with his apostles, the Lord's Supper, the

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first Lord's Supper. They gathered together,

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and he said, look, I'm about to give my life

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for you guys, this meal that we celebrate, this

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time of Passover. It's about to have a whole

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new meaning. There's about to be a whole new

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lamb that's going to be sacrificed for you. So

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from this moment forward, once I'm crucified

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and resurrected, when you have this time of remembrance,

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you remember my body that was given for you and

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my blood that was shed for you. And that occurred

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just a few verses before. And, well, then the

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apostles begin to argue amongst themselves about

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who's going to be first in the kingdom of heaven,

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which one is the most important of the followers

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of Jesus. And Jesus kind of tries to settle them

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down and says, look, you've got to understand

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what your role is as my follower. Jesus said,

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look, all of the kings and the other leaders

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of the world, they want to dominate those people

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that are under them. But Jesus says what you

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have to remember is that you are not called to

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lord your authority over people, but you are

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called to use your authority to serve people.

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And so he says you don't need to worry about

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who's first. You need to worry about becoming

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a servant of all. And that's exactly what Jesus

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had done. And that is good instruction for us

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because our world will tell us that we need to

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strive to be first. that we need to strive to

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be best, and if you're not first, you're last.

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And Jesus would say, you need to be last. Jesus

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would say, if you're not last, you cannot be

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first. And so Jesus gives this good instruction.

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I mean, just that in and of itself is enough

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for us to ponder just those scriptures. But we're

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going to look at these next couple, so let's

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pray, and then we'll get started. God, we thank

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you for your good word. I pray that you would

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help us to... Be ready for a new year, dear Lord,

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as we just really are ever thinking about the

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things we do and choices we make and things we

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shouldn't do and things we want to do and all

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these things. A lot of these are fresh on our

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mind at the start of a new year. And so I pray,

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God, that you would help us to be ready to stand

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for you and to seek you and to live for you in

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this coming year. And I pray that you just bless

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these next couple of minutes and these words

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that we're going to read. In Jesus' name, I pray

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it. Amen. So after Jesus says those things that

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I just kind of summed up for us, then he gives

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some instruction to Peter. And listen to what

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he says in Luke 22, verse 31. He says, Simon,

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Simon, look out. Satan has asked to sift you

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like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your

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faith may not fail. And when you have turned

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back, strengthen. Your brothers. Lord, he told

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him, I'm ready to go with you both to prison

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and to death. Now, we see lots of times Peter

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mentioned in Scripture. He was one of those key

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guys. They all weren't important, but Peter,

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you know, he was kind of right there. He's mentioned

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a lot with Jesus, and he was going to play a

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crucial role in starting the church after Jesus

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Christ was crucified and resurrected. And Peter,

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he was bold. He said, Jesus, I am your right

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-hand man. I am here with you. And what is he

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says? I'm ready to go with you both to prison

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and to death. Whatever you're talking about here,

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about whatever Satan wants to do to me, Peter

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says, look, I am ready, Jesus. I am ready. I

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am yours and I'm ready to live for you. I'm ready

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to die for you. I'm ready to suffer in prison

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for you. And so he had a certain boldness there.

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A certain trust in Jesus. He was ready to do

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anything for Jesus. That is until it came time

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to do something for Jesus. And maybe this is

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a good story for us to reflect on. Because maybe

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we're strong in our faith. Maybe we trust in

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the Lord. Maybe we believe his word. Maybe we

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don't have any doubts about who Jesus is and

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we are his follower. But maybe this story is

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a reminder to us as we start a new year that

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we need to check ourselves. Maybe we're not on

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as sure footing as we thought we were. Not that

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we doubt Jesus. Not that we question Jesus. Peter

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certainly did not doubt who Jesus was. But he

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thought he was really ready to stand for Jesus.

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He thought he was really on fire for Jesus. Only

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to find out that... maybe his faith wasn't as

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strong as it needed to be. Maybe he wasn't really

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where he needed to be in his walk with Jesus

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Christ. And what about you and I? Are we so bold

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today to make such a claim? Are we so bold today

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to say, I would die for Jesus, and maybe we would.

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But the reality is that our faith is often tested,

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and it has to be. That's the only way our faith

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can be proven. You can say something all day,

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every day, but there has to be some test to see

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if you really do trust in, believe, know what

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you're talking about. Now, you can sit in school

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all day under your favorite teacher, professor,

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whoever, and at the end of the semester, you

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can say, all right, professor, I know everything

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that you have told me. I understand every bit

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of it. And the professor will say, okay, well

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then you get an A, go home. No, that's not what

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he does, right? At the end of the semester, he's

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going to give you an exam. He's going to give

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you a test. And why? Because that's the only

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way you can be proven that you do know what he's

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talking about. Now, maybe you do. Maybe you ace

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that test. But maybe you take that test and you

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say, I don't know the answer to that. I don't

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remember that. And maybe... In taking the test,

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you realize you're not where you need to be.

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You didn't know as much as you thought. You weren't

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as strong as you thought. And I think God allows

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us to go through things sometimes in our life

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for that reason. Not that we doubt him or not

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that we don't believe that he's powerful or not

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that we don't trust him. But God knows our weaknesses.

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And what God wants is he wants to make us stronger.

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He sees where we're weak in this area and where

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we're weak in that area. And sometimes he allows

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us to go through some really tough things in

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our life. And some of you went through some really

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tough things last year. Some of you may go through

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some really tough things this year. But we have

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to be those who are strong in our faith. And

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maybe today we speak as boldly as Peter. But

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maybe our day of being sifted is coming. Jesus

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says, Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you

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like wheat. What does that mean? It means Satan

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wants to put an obstacle in your way. He wants

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to try to shake you. He wants to try to make

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you doubt me. He wants to try to make you give

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up on me. You are about to be sifted. This is

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not going to be a desirable process. This may

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not be something that you like. And you're going

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to fail. That's what Jesus tells him. He says,

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look, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat,

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but I have prayed for you so that your faith

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may not fail, and you, when you turn back, strengthen

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your brothers. When you turn back. Why would

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Jesus say that? Because he knew he was going

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to turn away. Now, here's something beautiful

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in this passage. Okay, first we see a reality,

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and that is that there are going to be things

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thrown at us in life. That the enemy wants to

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make us stumble, wants to make us fall, wants

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to make us doubt, wants to make us turn from

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the Lord. Just life in itself, not that everything

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bad that happens to us is the devil. We don't

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need to see the devil behind every corner necessarily.

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Life in itself is just hard sometimes. And so

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we are sifted. We are grated like a cheese grater.

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I mean, man, it's just a painful thing sometimes.

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And Jesus says to Peter, he says, look, the devil

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wants to sift you like wheat. That is, things

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are going to be tough for you. But listen to

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the reassurance Jesus gives him here in verse

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32. But I have prayed for you. Isn't that a beautiful

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thing? Jesus Christ, the Son of God, says to

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Peter, but I've prayed for you. The devil wants

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to have his way with you, but I have prayed for

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you. And what was the prayer? The prayer is that

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your faith may not fail. Now, I'm going to tell

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you, spoiler alert in the story, Jesus says exactly

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what Peter's going to do. He says, you're going

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to deny me three times. And guess what Peter

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does? He does exactly what Jesus says. Now, did

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his faith fail? Well, he had a momentary lapse

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in his faith. He had a moment where he could

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have stood up and he failed in that area. But

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just because he failed in one area, just because

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he was disobedient in that area, that didn't

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change the fact that he trusted Jesus. That didn't

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change the fact that he believed that Jesus was

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who he said he was. And his faith did not fail.

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Yeah, he sinned. He didn't do right. He didn't

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stand up for Jesus in the way that he thought.

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But that test that he failed taught him something

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he needed to know. It taught him to draw that

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much closer to Jesus. And as a result of that,

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we see Peter denying Jesus here at the end of

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Jesus' life. Then when we flip over into the

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book of Acts, we see Peter at the forefront of

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starting the new church. He's no longer denying

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Jesus, he's proclaiming Jesus. And he could have

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never gotten there had he not gone through that

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test. So Jesus says, look, what's before you

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is difficult, but I have prayed for you, so hang

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in there. Now this is a beautiful thing. And

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it's even more beautiful, I think, when we flip

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over to John 17. You can read that this week

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for your homework. When you flip over to John

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17, what you're going to find is that Jesus is

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going to be praying. He's going to be praying

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for his apostles. He's going to pray that the

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Lord will watch over them and take care of them

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and protect them, not take them out of the world.

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He says, look, I know the world is a bad place.

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I know it's difficult. But he says, God, don't

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take them out of the world, but protect them,

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watch over them, use them while they're in this

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world. And he says this beautiful prayer for

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his apostles. And then right after he finishes

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that, he says, and I pray not only for them,

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but I pray also for those who come to know me

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through them. Well, that's good news. That's

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you and me. Jesus prayed for Peter. And guess

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what? In John 17, Jesus prays for us. Because

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he knew what his followers would have to go through.

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He knew how difficult life would be. So maybe

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for some of us, this passage needs to be something

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to get our attention and say, okay, it's a new

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year. We don't know what the new year holds.

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There's things that occurred in your life this

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year that you would have never dreamed last January

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the 1st. And there's probably going to be things.

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That happened in your life in 2026. We can't

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see them coming. We don't know what they are.

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But there's going to be some hard things in our

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life. Some really hard things for some of us.

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Some things that are not so hard for others.

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But there are going to be difficult times in

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our life. And we have to be ready for those times.

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Maybe for some of us. That sifting like wheat

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was 2025. Maybe that time has come and. And maybe

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it's our time to turn back. He tells Peter, he

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says, look, I've prayed for you so that when

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you turn back, you can strengthen your brothers.

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Maybe this verse is a call for some of us to

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turn back. Maybe in our sifting over the last

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year of our life, being sifted, maybe some of

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us have denied the Lord in some way, denied to

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follow him in some way. That doesn't mean that

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we didn't believe in him. No more than it meant

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that Peter didn't believe in him. Yeah, Peter

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believed in Jesus. He trusted in Jesus. He believed

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who he said he was. But he failed in that moment.

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And maybe there's been a moment in our 2025.

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And maybe today is our call to turn back. And

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what does Jesus say? And when you've turned back,

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when you've seen the work that I've done in your

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life, go and strengthen your brothers. So let

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us be prepared for whatever may come our way

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in the year that's before us. Let us return to

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the Lord and seek him even more, perhaps for

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our failures in the year that is behind us. Let

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us grow in him and let us be able to strengthen

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others in the year to come. Let's pray. God,

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we come to you. We thank you for your good word.

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And I pray, God, that you would just help us

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to be ready for whatever may come. Maybe we...

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We think we have a strong faith tonight, and

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maybe our faith is pretty strong, but maybe it's

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not as strong as we think in the same way that

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Peter. He thought he was ready, but you helped

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him to see areas where he needed to grow. And

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so, dear Lord, I pray that you would help us

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to see those areas in our life and to grow in

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those areas. Maybe we're coming out of one of

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those areas. Maybe we've gone through it in the

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last year. God, I pray that we would turn back

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to you if we haven't already. that we would turn

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back to you, that we would know that you love

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us, that we would seek you and ask you to forgive

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us, that we would repent, that you'd work in

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our life, dear Lord. I pray that you would just

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help us to be able to strengthen others that

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we encounter, God. I pray that you'd protect

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us in the year to come. I pray that you'd protect

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this church and all these folks, dear Lord. And

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I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.