WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.419
But my confession to you all today is I am terrible

00:00:04.419 --> 00:00:07.759
at fishing. I am absolutely terrible at fishing.

00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:11.220
I was a teacher for about seven years and we

00:00:11.220 --> 00:00:13.939
were out at this retreat and as we were out there

00:00:13.939 --> 00:00:17.239
I had a fishing pole and I was like there were

00:00:17.239 --> 00:00:18.899
a bunch of people on this dock and we're all

00:00:18.899 --> 00:00:22.140
fishing and I was going at it for about I swear,

00:00:22.300 --> 00:00:24.760
it felt like 30 minutes, just going, nothing,

00:00:25.160 --> 00:00:28.059
nothing, absolutely nothing. And kids nearby

00:00:28.059 --> 00:00:30.660
me, they're catching fish, and I'm like, okay,

00:00:30.780 --> 00:00:34.759
fine. So I hand the pole to this youth behind

00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:38.420
me, went to the exact same spot I was at, and

00:00:38.420 --> 00:00:42.560
in 10 minutes caught five fish. That is the kind

00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:45.539
of fisherman that I am I had a buddy of mine

00:00:45.539 --> 00:00:48.579
Take me over to a tank about an hour west of

00:00:48.579 --> 00:00:50.899
here, and he's like oh, this will be really really

00:00:50.899 --> 00:00:54.600
easy I was casting for two hours nothing every

00:00:54.600 --> 00:00:58.649
spot. I went to he'd follow behind me cast catch

00:00:58.649 --> 00:01:01.149
two fish, and then throw them back in. And I'm

00:01:01.149 --> 00:01:03.289
just like, I don't even know. I had one friend

00:01:03.289 --> 00:01:05.370
that even took me to a tank. He says, don't worry,

00:01:05.689 --> 00:01:08.510
you just put the pole in. There's so much fish,

00:01:08.670 --> 00:01:11.049
you'll get one. After 20 minutes, he's like,

00:01:11.129 --> 00:01:15.689
I think my tank is broken. It was just, that's

00:01:15.689 --> 00:01:18.750
the kind of thing that I go through with fishing.

00:01:18.989 --> 00:01:20.930
And that's the thing about this, is that it is

00:01:20.930 --> 00:01:25.030
not my spiritual gift. See, sometimes it's just

00:01:25.030 --> 00:01:28.739
hard to accept. what it is that we miss out on.

00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:31.379
It's just hard to accept that there are just

00:01:31.379 --> 00:01:36.140
some things that seem to evade us. But whenever

00:01:36.140 --> 00:01:40.299
we do so, whenever we realize that we're struggling

00:01:40.299 --> 00:01:42.379
in some area, there's something where we just

00:01:42.379 --> 00:01:46.359
can't seem to quite get there. Sometimes we're

00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:48.859
wondering whether we're just wasting our time.

00:01:49.180 --> 00:01:52.959
Are we just trying to go through the motions

00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:57.959
and we can't quite seem to get there? Are we

00:01:57.959 --> 00:02:02.299
wasting our time even trying? Or second, sometimes

00:02:02.299 --> 00:02:06.060
we might even just feel like, well, we're a failure.

00:02:06.500 --> 00:02:09.159
Maybe we feel like, well, you know what, I've

00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:11.479
done all this just like everybody else did, but

00:02:11.479 --> 00:02:17.159
I still can't seem to accomplish anything. It

00:02:17.159 --> 00:02:22.099
must be me. I must be a failure. That's a hard

00:02:22.099 --> 00:02:25.780
feeling to have, for sure. whenever we're wondering

00:02:25.780 --> 00:02:29.580
whether or not it's just something about us that's

00:02:29.580 --> 00:02:34.259
worse than the others around us. But as much

00:02:34.259 --> 00:02:37.860
as we might have that struggle, are we willing

00:02:37.860 --> 00:02:42.479
to still keep going and to try again? I still

00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:45.259
have the fishing poles in my garage. They're

00:02:45.259 --> 00:02:48.479
still ready to go at some point. I just have

00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:50.479
to decide whether or not I'm brave enough to

00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:53.520
go back out there and risk... standing there

00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:57.159
for another two hours with nothing. What do they

00:02:57.159 --> 00:03:01.340
say? It's fishing, not catching. Well, I haven't

00:03:01.340 --> 00:03:05.000
figured out the catching part anyway. But this

00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:09.580
idea of what fishing really is all about, this

00:03:09.580 --> 00:03:13.639
idea comes up over and over again in our Gospels.

00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:16.599
Because we have several of the disciples who

00:03:16.599 --> 00:03:20.780
are fishermen. That's what they do. And so, whenever

00:03:20.780 --> 00:03:23.259
you're not sure what you're up to and you get

00:03:23.259 --> 00:03:26.159
bored or you've got some extra time, you always

00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:28.240
do what it is that you're most comfortable doing.

00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:31.520
If you're a mechanic and you have free time,

00:03:31.879 --> 00:03:34.319
what do you do? You go and you fiddle with the

00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:38.120
car. If you're someone who goes out and cleans

00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:40.759
houses for a living, if you're bored, what do

00:03:40.759 --> 00:03:44.879
you do? You go and you clean. If you are a pastor

00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:46.960
and you don't really know what to do with your

00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:49.180
day, what do you do? You go lecture at people,

00:03:49.340 --> 00:03:52.479
right? That's what we do. But what we end up

00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:55.740
seeing though is our fishermen, they're not sure

00:03:55.740 --> 00:04:00.560
what to do now. Jesus has come back from the

00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:04.939
dead. Jesus has appeared to them. They know something

00:04:04.939 --> 00:04:09.949
is different, but now what? What is it that they're

00:04:09.949 --> 00:04:12.689
going to do at this point when they know that

00:04:12.689 --> 00:04:15.349
everything has changed, but they haven't been

00:04:15.349 --> 00:04:18.509
told what's next? And so what do you do? Let's

00:04:18.509 --> 00:04:22.649
go fishing. All right? We'll go with you. Now,

00:04:23.110 --> 00:04:26.110
you end up spending the whole night, and you're

00:04:26.110 --> 00:04:28.370
not catching a single thing. How do you think

00:04:28.370 --> 00:04:30.990
that they're probably feeling at this point in

00:04:30.990 --> 00:04:34.120
time? Whole night. You're just like frustrated,

00:04:34.660 --> 00:04:37.480
annoyed. You're like, what's going on here? We've

00:04:37.480 --> 00:04:40.439
been off following Jesus for so long, did we

00:04:40.439 --> 00:04:43.759
somehow forget how to catch fish? But what's

00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:47.699
interesting is that this is so similar to what

00:04:47.699 --> 00:04:51.500
happened when they first met Jesus. Is that they

00:04:51.500 --> 00:04:53.720
were out there on this lake, and they couldn't

00:04:53.720 --> 00:04:57.959
catch a thing. And Jesus had said, go ahead and

00:04:57.959 --> 00:05:00.709
throw your nets on the other side. But what's

00:05:00.709 --> 00:05:03.930
interesting is that back then Peter had said

00:05:03.930 --> 00:05:06.649
well, we haven't caught anything all night But

00:05:06.649 --> 00:05:10.290
if you say so sure because you can tell he's

00:05:10.290 --> 00:05:13.269
skeptical He's not sure that this is going to

00:05:13.269 --> 00:05:17.670
do any good at all but this time they just do

00:05:17.670 --> 00:05:24.730
it and It ends up being overflowing with fish

00:05:24.730 --> 00:05:28.170
see that's the thing oftentimes is that we may

00:05:28.170 --> 00:05:32.180
feel like we're spending all this time, and we

00:05:32.180 --> 00:05:35.579
can't seem to get anywhere. They were catching

00:05:35.579 --> 00:05:41.100
nothing, but they were open to trying something

00:05:41.100 --> 00:05:46.060
different. How often is it that somebody has

00:05:46.060 --> 00:05:48.839
some good advice for us? You know that feeling

00:05:48.839 --> 00:05:51.720
where things aren't quite going the way that

00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:53.860
you thought that they would, and someone comes

00:05:53.860 --> 00:05:56.240
up and they've got some good advice for you?

00:05:56.300 --> 00:05:59.079
you're kind of like uh -huh blah blah blah like

00:05:59.079 --> 00:06:02.680
I didn't try that out already that's great and

00:06:02.680 --> 00:06:07.000
then you try it and then it somehow works. Like,

00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:08.959
I was over there trying to get the bulletins

00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:10.939
printed, and I kept putting them through the

00:06:10.939 --> 00:06:13.519
machine, and it kept folding them the wrong way.

00:06:13.800 --> 00:06:16.379
And then Sue came over, took them, opened the

00:06:16.379 --> 00:06:18.879
tray, put it in the exact same way I did, and

00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:21.319
then it started folding exactly, perfectly right.

00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:24.300
And from then on, I've never been able to duplicate

00:06:24.300 --> 00:06:26.579
why I couldn't do it right the other time. Nobody

00:06:26.579 --> 00:06:29.060
believes me, but, well, Sue saw it. She's like,

00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:31.810
yeah, it was really bad. You know, that feeling

00:06:31.810 --> 00:06:34.250
where somebody tells you, just do this, and you're

00:06:34.250 --> 00:06:39.889
like, but then you try it, and somehow it seems

00:06:39.889 --> 00:06:43.769
to work now. But there has to be a part inside

00:06:43.769 --> 00:06:49.490
of us that's willing to try. And that's the thing

00:06:49.490 --> 00:06:51.850
that you end up seeing is so different with these

00:06:51.850 --> 00:06:54.610
disciples. From the way that they were when they

00:06:54.610 --> 00:06:56.410
had first gotten to know Jesus, to where they

00:06:56.410 --> 00:07:01.579
are now, Are you open to seeing something new?

00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:09.740
Are you open to what God might do now? See, having

00:07:09.740 --> 00:07:13.939
their hearts open is the reason why Jesus was

00:07:13.939 --> 00:07:17.379
able to give them their whole catch of fish.

00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:20.819
And the whole narrative, the whole narrative

00:07:20.819 --> 00:07:23.589
is just... a little bit strange the way that

00:07:23.589 --> 00:07:26.709
it comes down is is that they were down to their

00:07:26.709 --> 00:07:29.329
undergarments maybe or maybe even less than their

00:07:29.329 --> 00:07:31.790
undergarments and Peter puts on his outer cloak

00:07:31.790 --> 00:07:34.310
so he can jump into the water most of the time

00:07:34.310 --> 00:07:36.870
people don't actually put on more clothing to

00:07:36.870 --> 00:07:40.069
go swimming it's a little bit different but there's

00:07:40.069 --> 00:07:42.689
a belief that maybe the you know putting on the

00:07:42.689 --> 00:07:44.410
clothing might have actually been that he tied

00:07:44.410 --> 00:07:46.649
them up around him the way that the translation

00:07:46.649 --> 00:07:49.689
goes but you know of course if you're going to

00:07:49.689 --> 00:07:51.129
be hanging out with people you should probably

00:07:51.129 --> 00:07:54.490
have more clothing on anyway. But as he gets

00:07:54.490 --> 00:07:58.410
to shore and all the other disciples are trying

00:07:58.410 --> 00:08:02.629
to bring those fish to the shore, how tiring

00:08:02.629 --> 00:08:05.089
would it be when you've got all of these nets

00:08:05.089 --> 00:08:07.730
that are overflowing and you still have to pull

00:08:07.730 --> 00:08:11.389
them in and then imagine then you'd have to go

00:08:11.389 --> 00:08:15.870
ahead and clean the fish, cut it up, cook them,

00:08:15.949 --> 00:08:19.810
get them all ready. But Jesus is already there

00:08:19.810 --> 00:08:23.629
with breakfast. And that's the thing is that

00:08:23.629 --> 00:08:26.769
often times we see the life that we have in Christ

00:08:26.769 --> 00:08:30.129
as something that we have to take care of by

00:08:30.129 --> 00:08:34.370
ourselves. We have to get it all done. We're

00:08:34.370 --> 00:08:36.149
going to have to bring in that haul. We're going

00:08:36.149 --> 00:08:37.409
to have to cut it up. We're going to have to

00:08:37.409 --> 00:08:38.570
cook it. We're going to have to take care of

00:08:38.570 --> 00:08:42.269
it all. And then sometimes we realize that God

00:08:42.269 --> 00:08:47.279
is taking care of things beyond anything. that

00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:50.899
we could have done for ourselves. At the times

00:08:50.899 --> 00:08:53.960
whenever we're weakest, at the times whenever

00:08:53.960 --> 00:08:57.279
we need someone to look out for us, is that there

00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:01.299
is Jesus on the shore with the fish that we need

00:09:01.299 --> 00:09:06.720
to keep us strong. And 153 of them. Could you

00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:09.080
imagine which guy was standing out there? It

00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:11.519
might have been Matthew. You know what? I've

00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:13.059
got to know how many there are. And he counts

00:09:13.059 --> 00:09:15.799
them all. And apparently there have been... for

00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:19.559
centuries, theories as to why 153 is an important

00:09:19.559 --> 00:09:22.279
number. And somebody, I think it was Saint Augustine

00:09:22.279 --> 00:09:25.360
was like, well, 10 is the number of the law and

00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:27.980
seven is the perfect number of creation. You

00:09:27.980 --> 00:09:30.360
add them together, you get 17. And if you take

00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:33.559
every number from one to 17 and add them together,

00:09:33.559 --> 00:09:38.200
you get 153. That really is what his theory was.

00:09:38.279 --> 00:09:40.639
I'm just gonna say it was a lot of fish. We're

00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:44.659
just gonna go with that. But now Peter's on the

00:09:44.659 --> 00:09:50.440
shore. one -on -one with the person he denied.

00:09:51.759 --> 00:09:54.220
You know those times whenever you know that you've

00:09:54.220 --> 00:09:57.379
had a really tense relationship with someone

00:09:57.379 --> 00:10:00.179
for a while, and you're always trying to look

00:10:00.179 --> 00:10:03.019
for other people to be around before you have

00:10:03.019 --> 00:10:06.120
to see them? I mean, that kind of explains most

00:10:06.120 --> 00:10:09.299
Thanksgivings, I would say. And you're over there,

00:10:09.700 --> 00:10:12.779
what do you say? What do you do? What do you

00:10:12.779 --> 00:10:17.779
talk about? And what does Jesus end up doing?

00:10:18.679 --> 00:10:21.659
Because remember, He denied Him three times.

00:10:22.919 --> 00:10:29.100
And Jesus says, Do you love Me? There's a lot

00:10:29.100 --> 00:10:32.090
of discussion. about this word for love and parts

00:10:32.090 --> 00:10:35.409
of it in the Greek some of them use the word

00:10:35.409 --> 00:10:39.590
agape and some of them use phileo and the fact

00:10:39.590 --> 00:10:42.289
that agape is supposed to mean the love of God

00:10:42.289 --> 00:10:45.809
and phileo is the brotherly love between people

00:10:45.809 --> 00:10:48.870
and it goes back and forth and the theory is

00:10:48.870 --> 00:10:52.549
that Jesus trying to get Peter to say do you

00:10:52.549 --> 00:10:57.090
love me in a God like divine love, and he keeps

00:10:57.090 --> 00:11:01.809
saying, I love you like a brother, phileo. And

00:11:01.809 --> 00:11:05.750
the difficulty is that those two words are oftentimes

00:11:05.750 --> 00:11:09.610
used back and forth in Scripture. So it's not

00:11:09.610 --> 00:11:12.929
a hard and fast rule. Yeah, but also there's

00:11:12.929 --> 00:11:16.269
words for feeding, bosco, and taking care of,

00:11:16.470 --> 00:11:20.009
poimino, and lambs, for arnea, and sheep, and

00:11:20.009 --> 00:11:23.960
probata, and oida, and gnosko, for no. The words

00:11:23.960 --> 00:11:27.840
go back and forth. But what really matters here

00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:35.159
more is that he asks them three times. Somebody

00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:40.740
asks you something three times. Doesn't that

00:11:40.740 --> 00:11:44.159
get on your nerves? You're like, okay, you're

00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:46.200
asking me the thing that you know I've already

00:11:46.200 --> 00:11:48.360
answered, I've already taken care of. Why are

00:11:48.360 --> 00:11:51.250
you asking me again? and then you get to the

00:11:51.250 --> 00:11:53.850
third time, and you just wonder, do you not believe

00:11:53.850 --> 00:11:58.990
me? Do you not trust me? Why do you have to keep

00:11:58.990 --> 00:12:02.889
asking? And then you have to remember that he's

00:12:02.889 --> 00:12:06.250
the same one who said it three times himself.

00:12:07.470 --> 00:12:11.509
Because the whole point is not that Jesus is

00:12:11.509 --> 00:12:15.009
trying to throw it in his face. The point is

00:12:15.009 --> 00:12:19.740
that he's trying to show him, I truly Forgive

00:12:19.740 --> 00:12:25.940
you Because even Even if you say that you love

00:12:25.940 --> 00:12:30.940
me, and I know that you could fall away I'm still

00:12:30.940 --> 00:12:34.080
going to keep forgiving you when you walk away

00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:39.080
And that's the thing about forgiveness is that

00:12:39.080 --> 00:12:45.039
it has to still be there We oftentimes see these

00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:48.580
things in our lives Whenever we know that we've

00:12:48.580 --> 00:12:50.980
struggled with the same thing over and over again.

00:12:51.240 --> 00:12:52.899
When we know we've struggled with our temper,

00:12:53.220 --> 00:12:55.299
and we're like, we'll do better, and then we

00:12:55.299 --> 00:12:58.179
still struggle with our temper. Whenever we've

00:12:58.179 --> 00:13:00.679
struggled with what we eat and drink, and we

00:13:00.679 --> 00:13:02.419
say we're going to do better, and then we struggle

00:13:02.419 --> 00:13:06.740
with what we eat and drink. But here's Peter,

00:13:08.299 --> 00:13:11.460
and he's flustered because he knows he failed.

00:13:12.500 --> 00:13:15.539
And he knows if Jesus is asking him three times.

00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:19.820
Do you believe that I really do love you? And

00:13:19.820 --> 00:13:21.539
that's the thing about this is that it's not

00:13:21.539 --> 00:13:24.559
as important that Peter loves Jesus as much as

00:13:24.559 --> 00:13:28.759
that Jesus loves Peter. And that's the thing

00:13:28.759 --> 00:13:32.840
about this is that if you look at his life, Peter

00:13:32.840 --> 00:13:36.000
has been an evangelist for the last few years

00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:39.039
to share the gospel and then reveals himself

00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:43.100
to be a sinner who still throws it in Christ's

00:13:43.100 --> 00:13:47.019
face. and yet he is now the one that Jesus is

00:13:47.019 --> 00:13:50.080
saying, I need you to pastor the people around

00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:53.779
you. Does this mean this is the last time that

00:13:53.779 --> 00:13:57.500
Peter is going to end up failing? Let's just

00:13:57.500 --> 00:14:01.759
be honest, it's not. The life that is to come

00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:06.100
following after this is still going to be a life

00:14:06.100 --> 00:14:09.580
of struggle, and it's still going to be a life

00:14:09.580 --> 00:14:13.200
that requires the cross of Christ. See, that's

00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:16.059
the thing, is that being restored with Jesus,

00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:18.899
this isn't, hey, let me just answer the question

00:14:18.899 --> 00:14:22.559
one time and then we're done. It's that we have

00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:26.320
to keep coming back to the same thing over and

00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:31.379
over because we keep struggling over and over.

00:14:31.799 --> 00:14:34.720
Isn't it amazing how many sermons are like, okay,

00:14:35.059 --> 00:14:38.379
you did wrong, now here's the better thing, okay,

00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:41.600
now we're done, as if... Magically hearing the

00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:44.320
sermon has somehow fixed everything in your life.

00:14:45.159 --> 00:14:48.059
I would be very remiss if I thought that everybody

00:14:48.059 --> 00:14:50.179
had everything down from here on out, especially

00:14:50.179 --> 00:14:52.299
because I've listened to my own sermons pretty

00:14:52.299 --> 00:14:55.340
much every single time, and I have definitely

00:14:55.340 --> 00:14:58.320
not become a perfect person by any means. There

00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:00.279
was that one sermon that I gave though, oof,

00:15:00.379 --> 00:15:04.620
that was boring. The thing about being restored

00:15:04.620 --> 00:15:07.740
though, is that it does keep bringing you back

00:15:07.740 --> 00:15:11.440
to the cross. because the Christian walk is not

00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:17.500
always glorious. Peter discovers what that means

00:15:17.500 --> 00:15:20.679
in his own life. He may not have realized what

00:15:20.679 --> 00:15:22.659
it was that Jesus was saying at the time. That

00:15:22.659 --> 00:15:26.779
commentary is being written by John. John outlived

00:15:26.779 --> 00:15:30.899
all the other disciples. But the thing about

00:15:30.899 --> 00:15:35.759
going to the cross is that we are part of what

00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:40.700
Christ is doing. even the hard parts. See, Peter

00:15:40.700 --> 00:15:43.240
would end up going and struggling with the same

00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:46.159
thing again, worrying about what other people

00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:50.519
thought of him. He would later on be so worried

00:15:50.519 --> 00:15:54.480
about the Jewish converts that he would end up

00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:57.240
avoiding eating with the Gentiles and Paul had

00:15:57.240 --> 00:16:00.220
to come along and call him out later on. Just

00:16:00.220 --> 00:16:02.159
like he was worried what people thought when

00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:07.309
they saw him with Jesus. He still... struggled

00:16:07.309 --> 00:16:11.429
with the same mistakes. That's the thing about

00:16:11.429 --> 00:16:15.009
grace. Grace doesn't somehow disappear because

00:16:15.009 --> 00:16:18.990
we're struggling on that road. The grace of God

00:16:18.990 --> 00:16:23.870
is still there, restoring us time and time again.

00:16:24.470 --> 00:16:28.190
Not so that we ignore the issues as if, well,

00:16:28.289 --> 00:16:30.490
I'm always going to struggle with that so I might

00:16:30.490 --> 00:16:36.090
as well just give up. But also, not expecting

00:16:36.429 --> 00:16:38.690
that we're going to have it all figured out.

00:16:39.909 --> 00:16:43.289
The thing about grace is that it knows we may

00:16:43.289 --> 00:16:46.850
be sharing the gospel one day, caring for people

00:16:46.850 --> 00:16:50.549
another day, and completely falling off the trail

00:16:50.549 --> 00:16:54.830
of the next. And yet God is still welcoming us

00:16:54.830 --> 00:16:59.590
back into His Kingdom. And that's the thing that

00:16:59.590 --> 00:17:02.389
I'm wanting to make sure I bring up for today.

00:17:03.570 --> 00:17:05.970
Because we have a person confirming his faith.

00:17:07.329 --> 00:17:09.750
He's going to come up here, and he's already

00:17:09.750 --> 00:17:12.529
sent me what it is that he's planning to say.

00:17:13.109 --> 00:17:16.210
And if you're going to go off script, just warn

00:17:16.210 --> 00:17:19.829
me first, okay? If you know Nevin, you know that

00:17:19.829 --> 00:17:24.410
that's always a risk. But the thing about it

00:17:24.410 --> 00:17:26.670
is that today he's going to confirm his faith.

00:17:27.769 --> 00:17:29.930
Is that the last time he's ever going to struggle?

00:17:31.049 --> 00:17:33.029
Is that the last time he's ever going to doubt?

00:17:33.569 --> 00:17:35.710
is that the last time He's ever going to need

00:17:35.710 --> 00:17:38.109
to come back and be restored back to Christ.

00:17:38.769 --> 00:17:41.509
And when those days happen, that doesn't mean

00:17:41.509 --> 00:17:44.390
that He needs to go get re -baptized or somehow

00:17:44.390 --> 00:17:46.910
hope that maybe has to get re -saved or anything

00:17:46.910 --> 00:17:49.789
like that. But to remember, it's that the same

00:17:49.789 --> 00:17:54.589
God loves Him today as He did yesterday. Because

00:17:54.589 --> 00:18:01.309
Jesus brings grace for the second chances. See,

00:18:01.309 --> 00:18:03.450
there will be the times whenever we feel like

00:18:03.450 --> 00:18:07.049
we've stalled. We're out there fishing, or doing

00:18:07.049 --> 00:18:10.589
whatever keeps us busy, wondering what's next.

00:18:11.430 --> 00:18:13.329
And we wonder whether or not we've dropped the

00:18:13.329 --> 00:18:16.630
ball, and whether we really have any part in

00:18:16.630 --> 00:18:19.490
this kingdom with God. But there are also the

00:18:19.490 --> 00:18:22.750
times whenever we know that we've failed. We

00:18:22.750 --> 00:18:25.509
know we dropped the ball. We know that what we

00:18:25.509 --> 00:18:28.890
did was wrong. And we're wondering, what now?

00:18:30.279 --> 00:18:33.059
But there are also times whenever we're afraid.

00:18:34.140 --> 00:18:37.440
Because the Christian life does involve the cross.

00:18:37.900 --> 00:18:41.019
It is hard. It is a struggle. And not just with

00:18:41.019 --> 00:18:43.400
the world, it's oftentimes even with each other.

00:18:44.259 --> 00:18:46.920
Sometimes our life in Christ is hardest because

00:18:46.920 --> 00:18:51.599
of one another. But it is still a life with Christ.

00:18:52.859 --> 00:18:56.920
Because whatever we may be facing, is that each

00:18:56.920 --> 00:19:00.710
moment is still a time for a second chance. So

00:19:00.710 --> 00:19:02.930
whatever it was that maybe you've been struggling

00:19:02.930 --> 00:19:06.950
with in your Christian life is that today is

00:19:06.950 --> 00:19:10.670
always a day to be restored because of God's

00:19:10.670 --> 00:19:14.190
grace, because of his son, and because of what

00:19:14.190 --> 00:19:17.529
he is doing in your life each and every day.

00:19:18.109 --> 00:19:20.349
With that, thanks be to God.