Voices of Lent: Simon Peter

Thanks so much to the worship team, to Matt Richardson for a powerful testimony, to Gary Schrougham for a moving portrayal of Simon Peter, and to all of the creative people whose talents and efforts bless us each week! Mooresville Church of God is blessed with some talented people!

Have you ever felt your passion for something slowly fading away? Maybe it was your work, maybe in your marriage, maybe in your life of faith. It's subtle and slow, but one day you wake up and realize that you simply don't have the passion you once did. And you wonder, "What can I do to rekindle the passion?" Simon Peter set an example for us as he encountered Jesus in a powerful way!

The disciples had just watched and participated as Jesus taught 5,000 people and fed all of them with a little boy's sack lunch. They must have been amazed, excited, energized as they picked up baskets of left overs from the food Jesus provided the people. But then Jesus provides them with a needed life lesson as he sends them across the Sea of Galilee in a boat...He teaches them that while the mountain top times are great, life's storms are bound to come, and when they do, Jesus will invite us to risk faith in the midst of the storm and trust Him! Peter learned this lesson as he jumped out of that boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But during the stormy difficult times, our passion to follow Jesus can fade, and we begin to sink. It's at those times that we MUST remember our passion, reclaim it, and live in passionate dependence on Jesus! Here's what Peter did...

1. He Recognized Jesus Voice
When a sheep strays away from the flock the shepherd will find it, break it's leg, reset it and put a splint on it, and then carry the sheep with him so that the sheep can learn to hear and recognize the shepherd's voice. Peter had experienced some very high and low times with Jesus already and he knew His voice. So when Jesus said to Peter, "Come...", Peter didn't hesitate to reclaim his passion and jump out of that boat!

2. He Responded Despite Fear
When the stormy, painful and difficult times of life are upon us we find ourselves fearful of what will happen, why it's happening, will we survive it, many, many fears! One step to reclaiming our passion to know and follow Jesus is to respond to His voice despite that fear! And even when we respond we fearfully wonder, "What will it cost me to know and follow Jesus?" My time? Energy? Relationships? Money? The answer is often, "yes" to all of the above. It WILL cost us something to passionately follow Him. But...we may just walk on water in the process!

3. He Risked Faith
Peter risked failure by jumping out of that boat! He risked his very life to jump into the sea during a terrible storm! However, there were 11 other disciples sitting in that boat that risked nothing...nothing! And THEY did not walk on the water! Author John Ortberg called the other 11 disciples "boat potatoes", and you just know that for the rest of his life when Peter saw the other disciples he was saying, "3 Baby! I took 3 steps on that water! How many steps did you guys take? I'll tell you how many...ZERO!" Peter risked faith in Jesus, and he accomplished something that was above and beyond his wildest dreams!

4. He Learned Through Failure
While it could be argued that Peter did not fail at all (he walked on water!!), in truth, in his effort to walk out to Jesus, he did ultimately fail. His passion faded when he saw the storm and he began to sink. So the question becomes, "Did he learn and grow from his failure?" And the answer is yes! He learned that Jesus can be trusted to save even at the stormiest times! He learned that he WAS capable of walking on water when he passionately followed Jesus call! He learned that Jesus wanted him to recklessly respond to the command to "come" and to leave the rest to Jesus. And many other life and faith lessons.

5. He Trusted Jesus
He put his faith, his life, his reputation, his trust in Jesus and he jumped out of that boat! He did it! He didn't talk about trusting Jesus...he actually trusted Him! And in Matthew 14:33 we see the result of Peter's trust...it says that all the other disciples bowed down and worshipped Jesus and declared that He was, in fact, the Son of God! Peter's trust led others to worship and glorify Jesus!

Commit today to pursuing the passion to know and follow Jesus! Commit to responding to Jesus' voice no matter the cost. Commit to abandoning yourself to the faith, trust and love for Jesus that would cause us to get out of our boat and live a life of passionate, exciting and fulfilling faith! We say to Jesus, "Lord if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water." And Jesus calls to us, "Come!" Don't wait, jump out of that boat, and when you do, you just might walk on the water!

In His Grip,

Pastor John