WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:12.859 he feared the moment they next spoke he had betrayed their relationship broken promises 00:00:12.859 --> 00:00:21.539 that he had spoken that he would always be at their side but he had lied betrayed and fled 00:00:21.539 --> 00:00:28.600 there was love and trust and trust and a close relationship and all of that 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:37.579 was broken but now he stands before them with the pain of his betrayal and fear before his eyes 00:00:37.579 --> 00:00:45.620 what was going to happen what will they say it might sound like a husband and wife relationship 00:00:45.620 --> 00:00:53.439 one potentially confronted with adultery but it's not i'm referring to peter the disciple who had 00:00:53.439 --> 00:01:01.339 promised jesus that he would stand beside him no matter what and yet peter betrayed him he said 00:01:01.339 --> 00:01:08.920 he didn't know who he was three times before he fled back to his old life to his old job of fishing 00:01:08.920 --> 00:01:17.200 and yet now as we come to this final chapter of john's gospel peter is standing before jesus 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:27.079 is reconciliation possible can one like peter who has hurt jesus so much come back and what does 00:01:27.079 --> 00:01:34.099 jesus have in store for one like him this is a fear that some of us may have felt you know i fled from 00:01:34.099 --> 00:01:41.100 jesus i've done things which bring shame to me before god am i out of his good books is there 00:01:41.099 --> 00:01:48.439 forgiveness is my relationship with god damaged forever today we're going to see how peter is 00:01:48.439 --> 00:01:55.399 treated by jesus and what can happen to those who feel far from him because of their actions or decisions 00:01:55.399 --> 00:02:02.560 so let's pray as we jump into john 21 dear heavenly father we thank you for your word to us today 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:10.500 we thank you that you are a god who reconciles and heals broken relationships lord and we thank you that 00:02:10.500 --> 00:02:19.199 you reconcile our relationship with you father give us ears and hearts to hear and be changed today lord 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:27.099 amen please have your bibles open john 21 we're going to be starting in verse 15 uh have your app open 00:02:27.099 --> 00:02:33.240 on your phone take notes or follow along on the screen john chapter 21 from verse 15 00:02:33.240 --> 00:02:41.320 when they had finished eating jesus said to simon peter simon son of john do you love me 00:02:41.320 --> 00:02:48.400 more than these yes lord he said you know that i love you jesus said feed my lambs again jesus said 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:55.140 simon son of john do you love me he answered yes lord you know that i love you jesus said take care of 00:02:55.140 --> 00:03:02.379 my sheep the third time he said to him simon son of john do you love me peter was hurt because jesus 00:03:02.379 --> 00:03:08.539 asked him the third time do you love me he said lord you know all things you know that i love you 00:03:08.539 --> 00:03:18.400 jesus said feed my sheep back in chapter 18 peter had denied jesus three times during jesus's trial 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:25.180 and before his crucifixion and interestingly jesus doesn't refer to him as the name that jesus gave 00:03:25.180 --> 00:03:32.400 peter jesus gave him the name peter which means rock but now jesus is calling him simon son of john 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:41.960 it's a it's a subtle reminder that peter has fled jesus he's fled as a follower of jesus 00:03:41.960 --> 00:03:52.219 but here with this threefold questioning of his love jesus is reconciling peter's relationship 00:03:52.219 --> 00:03:59.639 his threefold profession of love is undoing his betrayal in a very symbolic way 00:03:59.639 --> 00:04:07.379 and jesus questions his love do you do you love me more than these now we don't know what these are 00:04:07.379 --> 00:04:14.759 the these could be these other disciples do you love me more than these others love me or it could be a 00:04:14.759 --> 00:04:19.860 reference to the fishing gear that lay right next to him do you love me more than the career that you 00:04:19.860 --> 00:04:29.240 went so quickly back to and the third time peter is asked about his love he is hurt really jesus 00:04:29.240 --> 00:04:36.240 i've just i've just answered you twice didn't you hear me and all that peter can do on that third 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:47.060 request is just to appeal to jesus's knowledge you know jesus you know that i love you you know my heart 00:04:47.060 --> 00:04:55.139 and while peter is hurt here at jesus's insistence there is actually something really wonderful here 00:04:55.139 --> 00:05:01.680 much like when the apostle paul is saved in the book of acts it's a wonderful reminder that even 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:10.699 those who have hurt jesus can be reconciled even the worst who've tried to run and those who have 00:05:10.699 --> 00:05:17.599 betrayed jesus are still loved by him it's really wonderful because it shows that it's nothing to do 00:05:17.599 --> 00:05:25.120 with peter and it's all to do with jesus he is the hero of this story he is the one who lived the 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:32.000 perfect life who died a brutal death who has been raised and now he has come to fix this relationship 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:40.000 with peter this interaction between peter and jesus reminds us that we have a god who is in the business 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:47.720 of reconciling of bringing people back together of healing ripped and torn relationships 00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:55.279 it holds out a hope that a damaged relationship with god himself can be redeemed 00:05:55.279 --> 00:06:04.339 confrontation isn't always easy but jesus directly confronts peter confess do you love me 00:06:04.339 --> 00:06:11.319 and for peter here there is no hiding he can't get around this question for him to get rid of his sin 00:06:11.319 --> 00:06:20.639 and his shame he needs to confess so that he can move from shame to joy and this is that that moment of 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:28.319 joy when a sinner comes to jesus and realizes what his amazing love looks like and re-orients their 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:36.599 whole life to love jesus more the joy that there is reconciliation for one who has betrayed and hurt 00:06:36.599 --> 00:06:44.939 god himself now a bunch of you will be going up to katoomba next weekend and uh what's one of the 00:06:44.939 --> 00:06:55.459 highlights of going to to kick anybody maccas good any other highlights of the weekend 00:06:55.459 --> 00:07:04.519 the weather hopefully it might be cold anything else any night in particular saturday night james 00:07:04.519 --> 00:07:06.439 case and tell me what happens on saturday night 00:07:06.439 --> 00:07:19.439 there's this wonderful opportunity where the gospel is preached and many people respond and it is 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:28.139 joyful this is a joyful moment our hearts should leap for joy when we see one such as peter one such as 00:07:28.139 --> 00:07:35.800 me be reconciled we should be standing up and cheering and weeping and shouting for joy because 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:43.860 one who was dead has been made alive this gives hope to the one who has drifted away who is is 00:07:43.860 --> 00:07:48.340 questioning jesus the one of us who who acts like jesus doesn't even care 00:07:48.340 --> 00:07:51.800 because there is reconciliation 00:07:51.800 --> 00:07:59.360 we do run the risk of making jesus just one of the things we like instead of the one we love 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:04.540 above anyone else to realize that there is more to life than the pursuit of pleasure 00:08:04.540 --> 00:08:11.840 or things or experiences and there is one unique individual who has made this life worth it who says 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:18.859 do you love me do you love me more than these things in your life your job your family your career 00:08:18.859 --> 00:08:27.039 jesus is going to keep asking us do you love me do you love me more than these all throughout 00:08:27.039 --> 00:08:34.220 our lives now in the past i've i've shared my pain and my grief and my dollar my idolatry 00:08:34.220 --> 00:08:40.179 over a particular tv that i bought i bought a tv it was damaged by one of my beautiful children 00:08:40.179 --> 00:08:48.979 beyond repair uh and i still haven't gotten over it uh my my gut still drops when i walk into my 00:08:48.979 --> 00:08:55.620 garage and i see this tv i get anxious when i walk through the shops and i think about buying a new one 00:08:55.620 --> 00:09:05.879 the question for me is do i love jesus more than a tv yes but i am still in danger of idolatry and so i 00:09:05.879 --> 00:09:16.360 haven't replaced that tv yet peter who had betrayed jesus who had fled him is reconciled he is restored 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:25.519 and it is a wonderful moment but jesus has more in store for peter than just a reconciled relationship 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:34.600 because he has been saved to serve peter has been saved to serve three times jesus asked peter if he 00:09:34.600 --> 00:09:40.279 loved him and three times he asked him to care for those who would come after and to follow jesus 00:09:40.279 --> 00:09:46.399 jesus asked him do you love me so feed my lambs do you love me so take care of my sheep do you love me 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:55.560 so feed my sheep jesus is not just concerned here for peter jesus is genuinely concerned for this 00:09:55.560 --> 00:10:01.600 fledgling fledgling little church and so peter is directed to a shepherding ministry 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:08.360 because a commitment to jesus is a commitment to the wider church and we don't come to jesus on our 00:10:08.360 --> 00:10:15.440 own and follow him but we come to jesus as as the groom who has a bride the church 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:22.399 loving jesus is going to look like loving other people and so we don't just come to church on our 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:30.160 own we actually meet together as a group a church a gathering and it's it's up there the joy of all 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:37.719 people we love treasuring jesus with other people and so for peter loving other people is going to 00:10:37.719 --> 00:10:43.439 look like shepherding them feeding them the word the word of jesus nourishing them defending them from 00:10:43.439 --> 00:10:50.959 attacks and seeing the sheep grow as they follow jesus peter has gone from a fisherman and now he is a 00:10:50.959 --> 00:10:58.959 shepherd now the word shepherd here is where we get the word for pastor not the food but the uh the 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:07.800 title the role of a leader in a church they're the pastor to to walk with to guide to protect to feed 00:11:07.800 --> 00:11:14.620 the sheep years later peter would write about uh the work of a shepherd in one peter five 00:11:14.620 --> 00:11:22.280 let me read from one peter chapter five to the elders among you i appeal as a fellow elder and a 00:11:22.280 --> 00:11:28.759 witness of christ's suffering who also will share in the glory to be revealed be shepherds of god's 00:11:28.759 --> 00:11:33.960 flock that is under your care watching over them not because you must but because you are willing 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:41.460 as god wants you to be not pursuing dishonest gain but eager to serve not lording it over to those 00:11:41.460 --> 00:11:48.679 entrusted to you but by being examples to the flock and when the chief shepherd appears you will receive 00:11:48.679 --> 00:11:56.200 the crown of glory that will never fade away so these are pastors these are shepherds who are under 00:11:56.200 --> 00:12:01.480 the chief shepherd peter was called to be a shepherd under jesus the chief shepherd the sheep weren't 00:12:01.480 --> 00:12:09.160 going to be peter's sheep as jesus said feed my sheep take care of my sheep but peter has a new 00:12:09.160 --> 00:12:16.140 responsibility for this little church now in church here there are a number of pastors 00:12:16.140 --> 00:12:24.640 we have our brother steve he is the senior pastor under the chief shepherd and so as the senior pastor he 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:32.059 he leads us all he sets the vision he sets the theological direction and he has responsibility 00:12:32.059 --> 00:12:40.659 and accountability for all of us but there are a number of other pastors there's a number of pastors 00:12:40.659 --> 00:12:47.319 on the team people like adrian and myself and debbie people who have been employed and given a measure of 00:12:47.319 --> 00:12:54.059 responsibility who have been set aside we have our time set aside to do that but we aren't the only 00:12:54.059 --> 00:13:00.519 pastors there are many pastors there are many other pastors here there are people who are community 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:06.779 group leaders who are pastors of their community groups there are those of us here who are leaders 00:13:06.779 --> 00:13:15.579 in kids ministry kids church in youth in boom who are pastoring their little flock of sheep 00:13:15.580 --> 00:13:25.480 there are people who are people who are pastors in a one-to-one relationship now not all of us are going 00:13:25.480 --> 00:13:30.759 to be the senior pastor of this church actually if if anybody it's probably going to be someone like 00:13:30.759 --> 00:13:35.220 caleb you know because he's young and so he's got time to kind of grow up what do you reckon caleb 00:13:35.220 --> 00:13:41.700 no thanks no thanks no you've got time for god to change your heart it's okay we don't we're not all going 00:13:41.700 --> 00:13:49.200 to be the senior pastor we don't need to be but that doesn't mean we don't get to pastor and care for people 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:55.139 and you might be reading the bible in a one-to-one with somebody else you you might be leading a community 00:13:55.139 --> 00:14:02.000 group you you might pastor the sheep at fridays on a you uh on a friday night you might be one of those 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:09.240 sheep who are being pastored at a friday night who are also pastoring others all of these different 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:18.580 levels of pastoring are crucially important to the health of our church peter had his relationship with 00:14:18.580 --> 00:14:28.300 jesus reconciled and now that he is saved he serves but that's not the only role that peter would have 00:14:28.300 --> 00:14:36.759 serving god have a look at verse 18 with me jesus said to peter very truly i tell you when you were 00:14:36.759 --> 00:14:42.420 younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted but when you are old you will stretch out 00:14:42.420 --> 00:14:47.259 your hands and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go 00:14:47.259 --> 00:14:53.259 jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which peter would glorify god having his arms 00:14:53.259 --> 00:14:59.100 stretched out led where he doesn't want to go that is a first century saying for being crucified 00:14:59.100 --> 00:15:08.700 peter is going to be crucified just like his lord jesus jesus is prophesying about his future death 00:15:08.700 --> 00:15:16.919 and his death isn't going to be the only thing like jesus's but peter's death is also going to glorify god 00:15:16.919 --> 00:15:25.479 it will somehow make god look awesome whether it's by peter refusing to recant and him saying no 00:15:25.479 --> 00:15:34.659 jesus is my lord even if you crucify me peter's death would bring glory to god now we don't know for 00:15:34.659 --> 00:15:41.779 certain when peter's death was but it's reported that he was killed in the 60s of the first century 00:15:41.779 --> 00:15:51.639 under emperor nero and so peter is called by jesus to live a life of discipleship marked by the love of 00:15:51.639 --> 00:16:01.159 jesus care of the other people in the church until the end of his life now this is so i think just on 00:16:01.159 --> 00:16:07.959 its own it's an amazing privilege that god loves us and we get to be with him for eternity not only that 00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:14.759 but we get brought into his family we get to be his children but that's not where it stops jesus 00:16:14.759 --> 00:16:24.440 actually invites people like peter like you and like me to actually serve and work beside him 00:16:24.440 --> 00:16:33.139 to work beside god side by side to bring him glory to see his kingdom grow this always astounds me that 00:16:33.139 --> 00:16:40.460 god would actually want us involved often in the mornings one of our early morning rituals 00:16:40.460 --> 00:16:48.039 is the very very important task of coffee making and one of my kids micah loves to help make coffee 00:16:48.039 --> 00:16:53.899 and so i'll often pick him up put him on the bench put the coffee machine on and his favorite thing to 00:16:53.899 --> 00:16:59.500 do is tamp the coffee if you don't know what that is it's where you get the the coffee grip guy and you put 00:16:59.500 --> 00:17:04.700 the coffee in the little basket thing and then you squash it down and micah loves doing it he's always 00:17:04.700 --> 00:17:11.019 wanting to tamp the coffee um and so he he does that uh and he's helping he's feeling part of this 00:17:11.019 --> 00:17:17.380 important daily ritual to you know motivate people to kind of keep going in the morning but i always 00:17:17.380 --> 00:17:23.500 have to fix it it's always on an angle it's always done terribly it's never quite right but that doesn't 00:17:23.500 --> 00:17:30.900 bother him sometimes just even having the kids in the kitchen can be a burden just get out of the way 00:17:30.900 --> 00:17:40.539 it'll be quicker if you watch from another room but our god isn't like that he saves us to serve to get 00:17:40.539 --> 00:17:49.579 involved to welcome people to his family to care for one another to give to the work of ministry out of 00:17:49.579 --> 00:17:53.319 what he has given us to show compassion and to love others 00:17:53.319 --> 00:18:01.579 now peter was unique jesus restored him to relationship personally and told him how he was 00:18:01.579 --> 00:18:06.980 going to serve directly wouldn't it be amazing if we had the same journey 00:18:06.980 --> 00:18:12.879 that we've been saved by jesus either through reading his word or through a message just like this 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:19.160 and then jesus makes it look really clear what we are to do you're going to follow me forever 00:18:19.160 --> 00:18:24.720 and it's going to look like this you're going to go back to china and as a missionary and you're 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:30.380 going to plant a church are you going to go and plant a school somewhere you go you're going to be 00:18:30.380 --> 00:18:36.320 the most welcoming person in all of chatswood and you're going to be here at st paul's 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:43.500 at 3 30 every sunday so you can make sure every single new person that comes in is welcomed and 00:18:43.500 --> 00:18:49.299 feels part of the community and the family of god here wouldn't that be wonderful if god just said 00:18:49.299 --> 00:18:50.819 this is how you're going to serve 00:18:50.819 --> 00:18:58.899 but it's not as obvious as that always maybe you've been a christian in this church for a while 00:18:58.899 --> 00:19:04.460 and you're not exactly sure what god wants you to do how should i serve i don't know 00:19:04.460 --> 00:19:14.019 i saw a basketball game uh recently the team was the milwaukee bucks uh i love their uh their mascot 00:19:14.019 --> 00:19:20.360 it's a deer and so they're saying is fear the deer because you know fears are so scary deers are so 00:19:20.360 --> 00:19:27.160 scary uh and i have this guy called janice antitunkupo and i love saying his name even though i'm pretty 00:19:27.160 --> 00:19:34.440 sure i never get it right he is their star player uh and it was great being able to cheer this guy on 00:19:34.440 --> 00:19:40.500 from the stands and whenever he got the ball everyone would cheer because this guy is the 00:19:40.500 --> 00:19:45.580 best player in the league at the moment and he does amazing stuff this guy is elite 00:19:45.580 --> 00:19:56.080 and i think church can be like this we can think that serving god is only for the elite oh you know 00:19:56.080 --> 00:20:01.039 we're gonna we're gonna cheer adrian on when he does you know he shares the gospel at esl 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:07.659 woo yeah adrian go you good thing no cheer for adrian oh that's all right brother you know we're 00:20:07.659 --> 00:20:12.819 gonna cheer you know laura on when she's leading youth ministry yeah laura there's a little bit of 00:20:12.819 --> 00:20:19.099 cheer there you know good on you but that can be where it stops in the stands 00:20:19.099 --> 00:20:27.579 there are a multitude of ways we can serve and get involved at church from organizing to admin to 00:20:27.579 --> 00:20:33.619 leading kids uh to to youth uh and often we can get involved in areas we're passionate about music 00:20:33.619 --> 00:20:42.220 or creative things or we might just fill in in an area because there is a need jesus invited peter 00:20:42.220 --> 00:20:50.220 into a very important ministry and he invites us not to just sit on the sidelines and to watch others 00:20:50.220 --> 00:20:58.539 and cheer woo but to actually get involved to step onto the court and be on the same team as jesus 00:20:58.539 --> 00:21:03.940 and later in our service we're going to have an opportunity to get involved uh just grab grab your 00:21:03.940 --> 00:21:08.319 card out for me for a moment uh hopefully you received one of these when you came in if not our 00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:15.480 our snazzy red vested people will will get one to you we're going to have an opportunity to respond a 00:21:15.480 --> 00:21:22.480 little bit later in three areas how we uh what to think through what is getting in the way of us 00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:29.559 loving jesus how we need to commit to serving and where our heart needs work and so we're going to 00:21:29.559 --> 00:21:32.980 spend some time looking at that later just wanted to flag that for you now brothers and sisters 00:21:32.980 --> 00:21:43.839 but even when we are saved even when we are serving there can be issues there can be a cancer of 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:53.879 comparison have a look with me at john 21 verse 19 then jesus then he said to him follow me peter turned 00:21:53.879 --> 00:21:59.539 and saw that the disciple whom jesus loved was following him this was the one who had leaned back 00:21:59.539 --> 00:22:06.659 against jesus at the supper and had said lord who is going to betray you when peter saw him he asked 00:22:06.660 --> 00:22:14.540 lord what about him peter has been reconciled he betrayed jesus he's brought back into relationship 00:22:14.540 --> 00:22:21.500 he's given an important ministry by jesus himself and he starts by getting jealous of somebody else 00:22:21.500 --> 00:22:25.779 the cancer of comparison starts to grow 00:22:25.779 --> 00:22:34.700 the disciple referred to as the one whom jesus loved is later identified as the author john himself 00:22:34.700 --> 00:22:41.799 he it seems had a special relationship with jesus he was really close and peter gets jealous okay 00:22:41.799 --> 00:22:49.940 great i've got a lifelong ministry ahead of me i'm gonna be crucified uh that's fine but what about him 00:22:49.940 --> 00:22:59.600 and i can understand the temptation here it's totally selfish though it's the it's crying out me me i don't 00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:05.139 want to miss out it's fomo what it's fear of missing out on somebody else's ministry i want something 00:23:05.139 --> 00:23:09.099 better jesus maybe you're going to give something better to them and i want that 00:23:09.099 --> 00:23:16.859 so often i think we can be like this advertising in our world certainly doesn't help us to be content 00:23:16.859 --> 00:23:23.740 with what we have always desiring for more but it's not even just things peter is not is worried 00:23:23.740 --> 00:23:30.200 he's not going to have the same ministry as someone else he's not gonna have the same influence in the 00:23:30.200 --> 00:23:38.839 church and it's easy to start thinking in terms of it's my ministry compared to his ministry but it's not 00:23:38.839 --> 00:23:47.700 it's god's that peter and we get to be part of jesus dismisses peter's concern verse 22 00:23:47.700 --> 00:23:55.720 jesus answered if i want him to remain alive until i return what is that to you you must follow me 00:23:55.720 --> 00:23:59.100 effectively jesus is saying it's none of your business 00:23:59.100 --> 00:24:07.519 in the end john would have a very different ministry to peter peter would live until the 60s 00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:14.860 and be crucified after he'd led uh many many people he'd led the church but john would have a long 00:24:14.859 --> 00:24:20.619 life he wouldn't die until over 100 ad and he would write down the good news of the gospel 00:24:20.619 --> 00:24:29.539 so that we have it in our bibles and so what if he lived a long life one of them was going to glorify 00:24:29.539 --> 00:24:36.059 god in their death and one of them was going to glorify god in their life in their longer life 00:24:36.059 --> 00:24:44.339 peter is almost caught with a cancerous growth in his heart i'm constantly challenged by other 00:24:44.339 --> 00:24:50.799 christians and it tempts me to sin like peter comparing myself to them you know they might 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:58.039 know the bible so well they're a prayer warrior they're compassionate and they're a just a better 00:24:58.039 --> 00:25:04.339 christian than me now it's good to be encouraged by one another but not so that a cancer of comparison 00:25:04.339 --> 00:25:12.980 grows because it can fester it can make us think i'm not good enough i'm not loved by god as much 00:25:12.980 --> 00:25:22.240 as them i'm not as good a christian if only i were better god calls us to love jesus to love jesus more 00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:31.000 than ourselves and my ministry because it's an amazing privilege that god invites us to be on his team 00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:39.420 to work beside him i hear about the players who play with the the elites the greats like janice 00:25:39.420 --> 00:25:46.539 enter to him good boy i'm sure it would be easy for the regular good player to get jealous of the 00:25:46.539 --> 00:25:53.700 excellent player but whenever i hear these people talk they're always so excited and thankful that 00:25:53.700 --> 00:25:59.200 they're on his team that they're on the experts team because they get to play with them they get to see 00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:09.240 how they go up close and they have success they get to be with them god invites us to be on his 00:26:09.240 --> 00:26:17.599 team and it's a multi-faceted team it's a it's described as a body we're a team a church with 00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:25.000 many different parts that are all required and complement each other comparison in life can 00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:31.579 encourage but it can be a cancer that spreads and hurts us so there's three questions that we need to 00:26:31.579 --> 00:26:40.839 be asking ourselves are we loving jesus what is getting in the way of us loving him who has loved 00:26:40.839 --> 00:26:50.659 us are we serving on god's team are we still on the stands or are we actually on the field serving one 00:26:50.659 --> 00:26:58.379 another and where is our heart at are we comparing ourselves to others instead of reminding ourselves that 00:26:58.380 --> 00:27:03.840 we are loved by jesus and invited to work beside him let me pray 00:27:03.840 --> 00:27:18.180 dearest heavenly father it is an amazing joy that you reconcile people like us and like peter 00:27:18.180 --> 00:27:24.900 to you that we can be in relationship with you even though we have fled we have shamed you 00:27:24.900 --> 00:27:34.920 and we continue to do that lord father you are good and you are loving and it is such a privilege that 00:27:34.920 --> 00:27:45.780 you invite us to work alongside you father help us to check our loves so that we can love you more than 00:27:45.780 --> 00:27:52.200 we love anything else in our lives lord even the ministries that you give us the service that we do for 00:27:52.200 --> 00:27:59.840 you lord father help us to serve you if we're not serving you lord i ask that many of us would step 00:27:59.840 --> 00:28:08.880 forward and be keen to serve in some capacity and lord when we serve when we are working hard to bring 00:28:08.880 --> 00:28:18.100 you glory help us not to think it is ours but it is yours help us not to have that cancer of comparison 00:28:18.099 --> 00:28:24.719 and grow in our hearts but lord help us to love you more than anything else there is lord amen