Charlie Hughes - I am a repeat offender

Welcome to Church by the Glades. Is anybody glad to be in church today? Make some noise for Jesus one time. Oh my gosh. You sounded good during worship. You guys should sign up for the worship team, man. So good to see you. If we've never met before, my name is Pastor Charlie Hughes. I have the honor of leading the young adult movement of this church called Rally. And I am so excited to preach today as we continue in our series called Breaking Bad Habits, Cycles, and Patterns. Has anyone enjoyed this series thus far? Have you found it helpful? I know I have. I think it's been very helpful because I believe that we all of some sort, of some size, have a habit, a cycle, a pattern that we need to see break in our lives. Whether it is late night snacking or texting and driving or something a little bit more serious, we all have habits in our lives that we need to break. And I actually think that there is a cycle, a habit, a pattern that as a church we need to break. And it's this. I'm gonna step on my own little soapbox for a moment to start this sermon. If you've been coming here for months, years, and you've probably heard either myself,

my dad, Pastor David, or Pastor Nick say something like, to start a sermon, I don't wanna preach at you, I wanna preach with you. Or the greatest sermons are not monologues, they are dialogues. Or don't let the preacher preach by himself today. And even after saying something like that, it's crazy how many of you still just go on to stare at me. Say nothing to me. And it confuses me, because I know no one made you come to church, I know you came here because you wanted to come and you expect to hear from God, but still so many of you stare at me. And for a long time this puzzled me and it confused me. But I spent some time reflecting and I realized why so many of you still say nothing to me after I invite you to speak to me in the time that we have together. I realized what the reason for it was. Why didn't you just say so? You don't wanna lose your voice. You have a big week ahead, meetings to have, people to talk to, you're like Charlie, I would like to speak during the message, I would love nothing more actually, I just cannot risk losing my voice for the week that I have ahead. Why didn't you just say so? I came up with a solution for the both of us.

Everyone stand to your feet, stand to your feet right now. Everyone has to, I can see you, stand to your feet. We are going to do some vocal warmups to prepare to preach together today. Everyone must participate. I'm gonna invite the vocal team to come back out so that way they can help you not hear yourself as you do these vocal warmups. I'm gonna play a track, all you gotta do is very simple, follow the instructions of the track, the recording that's about to play, and just follow our lead, it's gonna be very easy. You ready? All right, tech team, play the track. Daily warmup exercises for speakers. We're gonna start with Goog, G-O-O-G. Goog, Goog, Goog, Goog, Goog, Goog, Goog. Louder. Goog, Goog, Goog, Goog, Goog, Goog, Goog, Goog, Goog. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Goog, Goog, Goog, Goog, Goog, Goog, Goog. Fantastic, let's do Mom, M-U-M. Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom. Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom. Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom. Okay, now we're gonna do Know. Know, Know, Know, Know, Know, Know, Know. Know, Know, Know, Know, Know, Know, Know. Know, Know, Know, Know, Know, Know, Know, Know. Know, Know, Know, Know, Know, Know, Know.

Very good, put your hands together for yourselves. You're ready to preach today. Go ahead, take a seat, take a seat. Some of you were saying Know the entire time. You're like, I'm not gonna do this. Believe it or not, I do those very vocal warmups oftentimes before I preach. I did them before I stepped on stage today. Because whether you think of it as one or not, your voice is a muscle. Your vocal cords are muscles, which means that they run on muscle memory. So oftentimes before I preach, I will do these very voice exercises that cause my voice to get loud, to go low, to go high, in order to give my voice a memory of what it is I'm going to need it to do just a few minutes later when it comes time to get on this stage and preach to you all. Because I'm not sure if I believe the saying that practice makes perfect. I think you can repeat and practice the wrong things over and over again and actually end up worse than when you began. But I do believe that practice makes permanence. And in my life, in your life, it will be what we repeat. That in our mind, in our muscles, through our movement and through our memory become concrete. And I think a similar principle and a similar dynamic

has to do much with why so many of us have been living in certain cycles for so long. Maybe at this point in your life, the reason why you. who have remained in certain cycles and patterns and habits and addictions at this point is not even due to temptation as much as it is because of repetition. You've been in certain cycles for so long that at this point they have become your muscle memory. They have become your instinctual response, your knee-jerk reaction, your second nature when placed in certain situations and when faced with certain problems. It is what you revert to because it is what has become most natural to you through years, months of repetition. Can I say it like this? You have been in certain cycles for so long that these cycles have gotten into you. But I also have good news for you today because if you have already given your life by faith to Jesus Christ, then these cycles are not the only thing in you. The same Holy Spirit that rose Christ from the grave lives in you too, which means that today, this service, this morning, not only can we get you out of these cycles, but we can get these cycles out of you. Does that sound good to anybody today?

Come on, you're gonna help me preach. Does that sound good to anybody today? But I believe the first step to us breaking some cycles that we have been repeating is us admitting that there are some cycles that we have been repeating. For this reason, the title of today's sermon is a confession and it is this. I am a repeat offender. Somebody say, I am. I am. Now say, a repeat offender. A repeat offender. Now look at somebody sitting next to you and tell them you are a repeat offender. Because the truth is, I am, you are, we all are in some way, shape or form, repeat offenders. Like I said to start, we all have habits, we all have cycles, we all have patterns in our lives that we've been repeating that need breaking. For this reason, I believe it will be helpful for us today to study the life in the example of perhaps the most famous repeat offender in all of the Bible. He just so happens to also be Jesus' most famous disciple in all the Gospels. You know him, you love him. I'm talking about the one, the only, the Apostle Peter. If you've read the Gospels, then you know why Peter is the most famous disciple.

Because Peter will not let you not notice him. He kinda has one of those loud personalities that when he walks in the room, he says love me or hate me, that is up to you, but you have no choice. You are going to acknowledge me. That's our boy Peter. He was loud, he was brash, he was outspoken and at times, borderline abrasive in displaying more of the mouth of a sailor than the mind of a pastor. And that is why many of you at Church by the Glacier, they are like, I like this Peter. And the reason why at many times, Peter had more of the mouth of a sailor than the mind of a pastor is because before he was a pastor, before he was a disciple, he was a sailor. He was a fisherman. In Matthew chapter four, we find the moment that Peter and Jesus meet. Matthew chapter four, beginning in verse 18, the word of the Lord reads this. That one day, Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee. Somebody say Galilee. Galilee. And he saw two brothers. They were Simon and Andrew, his brother. They were putting a net into the sea for they were fishermen, I told you. Jesus said to them, follow me and I will make you fish for men. At once, they left their nets and followed him.

But maybe you read that and you're a little confused. You're like, Charlie, you just told me that we're going to be spending our time together today talking about Peter. In this passage, I don't see a Peter. I see a Simon, I see an Andrew, but I don't see a Peter. Where is this Peter? My apologies, I should have told you. Allow me to clarify. Simon is Peter. Peter is Simon. Jesus would later change Simon's name to Peter because God will call you before he completely changes you. Jesus does not need you to come to him feeling all put together and complete because actually Jesus wants to be the one to complete you. And if you show up to Jesus already feeling like you know everything, then how is Jesus supposed to teach you anything? I actually find it so comforting and encouraging that Jesus called Peter while he was still Simon because this tells me that Jesus knew exactly what he was getting and exactly what he was getting into when he called Peter. Jesus knew that to start, that he was not getting a perfect and put together, polished Peter, but rather to start, Jesus knew he was getting a salty Simon, a rough and tough, rugged fisherman.

The reason this encourages me and comforts me is because this tells me that when Jesus called me and when Jesus called you, when Jesus chose me and when Jesus chose you, when Jesus saved me and when Jesus saved you, he knew exactly what he was getting and he knew exactly what he was getting into. He saw your patterns, but he also saw your potential. He saw your cycles, but he also saw you in the future change. He saw your habits, but he also saw the hope in you. Is anybody glad that Jesus loved you as he found you? love you too much or leave you that way, that he saw you while you were still Simon, but he also saw you for what you could be, Peter. I'm glad. But let me take you to the moment where Jesus renamed Simon, Peter. One day Jesus is having a conversation with his 12 disciples and he asked them, fellas, I'm curious, who do people say that I am? And the disciples said, well, Jesus, that's a loaded question. Because people say you're a lot of different things. Some people say, Jesus, that you're Elijah. Others say you're John the Baptist. Others say you're some new prophet. And Jesus is like, okay, cool, that's good to know. Thank you, helpful data. But I'm curious, how about you guys?

Who do you say that I am? Which, by the way, is a question we will all have to answer for ourselves at one point or another. Who for yourself do you say that Jesus is? This is the question that Jesus asked his disciples before any other disciple could even get out a word. Simon speaks up and he says, I know who you are, Jesus. And I say that you are not just some other prophet. I say that you are the one that all the prophets have been prophesying about. I say that you're the Messiah, the son of the living God, the word made flesh. I say you are God himself. And in Matthew chapter 16, verse 17, Jesus replies to Simon by saying this. He says this, Matthew chapter 16, verse 17, Jesus replied, blessed are you, Simon, son of Jodah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that now you are Peter. And on this rock, I will build my church. And the gates of Hades, the gates of hell, will not overcome it. You should put your hands together because we're still part of this church today. The gates of hell will not overcome you or me or us either. But here's something really cool. Don't miss this, don't watch this. Because Simon called Jesus the Messiah,

Jesus called Simon Peter. Because when you see Jesus for who he is, you will start to see yourself for who Jesus says you are. Because Simon rightly saw Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus showed Simon who he was and who he was called to be and what it was he was called to do, to become Peter, this rock solid like figure on which Christ would build his church. And wouldn't you know it, it would come to pass. Perhaps no more influential or important leader in the establishment of the early church than our boy Peter. He made a big difference getting this whole thing that we're still a part of today started. But I don't think Peter ever would have seen this potential within himself to become this kind of leader in the early church, this rock solid like figure if Jesus had not changed his name all these years earlier. Because in biblical times, names carried real meaning. I mean, I'm 26 years old, which means some of my friends are starting to have kids and no shade, I love my friends, I love their kids. But my friends are naming their kids some crazy things. Some borderline criminal things like say hello to baby lion. We like to welcome to the world baby peach. Allow me to introduce you to my newborn child. This is baby thunder. Like is it a baby? Is it an animal? Is it a fruit or a weather forecast?

I don't know. Nowadays people name their kids crazy things but back in biblical times, names actually meant something. Names carried meaning. Names would often influence destiny and to a degree prove to be self-fulfilling prophecies because we can't help it. It's in our nature as human beings. We just tend to live up to the labels that we live by. I said it like this at Rally the other week, your label will be your limit. This is why it's so important you only go by what Jesus calls you. And I believe that with his name being changed to Peter, Peter would have began to see potential within himself and believe that things were possible for himself that up to this point, he never would have even have thought were an option for himself because no offense to anyone named Simon, but the name Peter back in this day was a major upgrade from the name Simon because the name Simon means one who hears. And in Simon's life, when he went by this name, the meaning of this name would often manifest and take form in his life through him hearing and reacting, through him seeing and doing without much thinking. And this would often get him into trouble and cause problems for Simon. If he was walking around today,

so acting this way and living this way and going by this name and this title, we'd probably also label him as a loud mouth and as a hothead and as a loose cannon, but the name Peter means rock. Oh man. or there was ever Dwayne the Rock Johnson, there was Peter the Rock solid disciple. I worked really hard on that. I hope you enjoy that. And this nickname, Rock, of course, carries the connotation of being strong and solid. It's almost as if Jesus was saying to Simon when he changed his name to Peter, from this day forward, your reputation will no longer be someone who is reactive, but being someone who is rock solid. No longer being someone who is shaky, but someone who is steady. No longer being someone who is flaky, but someone who is firm. Because Peter, you are not who others say you are. You are not even who you say you are. You are who I say you are. And because you call me the Messiah, and your faith is obviously built on me, I call you Peter, and I will build my church on you. Can I tell you this morning that what you call Jesus in many ways will determine what you hear Jesus calling you back.

And the degree to which you build with Jesus will show Jesus the degree to which he can build with you. What do you call Jesus? Is your life built on Jesus? I hope you have good answers for those questions. But at the same time, not to sound confusing or contradictory, but there is something about this passage that confuses me. Because did you notice what events was the catalyst for Simon's name being changed to Peter? For Jesus said, your reputation will no longer be being this reactive guy, but this rock solid leader in my church. Did you notice what event led to this change? A moment of Simon being reactive. Remember, Jesus posed the question to everybody listening, who do you say that I am? And then reactively, impulsively, Simon spoke up and said, Jesus, you're the Messiah. And Jesus said, very good, now you're Peter. It was a moment of Simon being reactive that led to his renaming. Which leads me to believe that by giving Simon this new name Peter, Jesus was not necessarily in any way trying to erase these reactive and impulsive qualities of Peter's personality. Because by renaming Simon Peter, think about it, and this being the catalyst for this, it was almost as if Jesus was rewarding and reaffirming these reactive parts of Peter's personality,

which leads me to believe that actually, by renaming Simon Peter, what Jesus was really doing was this, he was trying to give Peter a picture of all that could be possible for him and what his future could look like and all that could be built through him one day. If he could continue to get a grip on and channel these parts of his personality in this way and for this reason, if he could continue to use these parts of his personality that up to this point had caused him so many problems, productively and positively, Jesus saying, Peter, I can actually use these parts of your personality to help serve your purpose. Here's what I'm trying to say to someone today, forgive me if I've been confusing up to this point. Be very careful to throw the baby out with the bathwater in your life because while yes, God wants to change some of the cycles you've been in, God does not necessarily want to change some of the characteristics he's put in you. I am not saying that everything about you is good and needs to stay, but I also am not saying that everything about you is bad and needs to go, and there may be parts of your personality, qualities, propensities, capacities you have that up to this point, you know, have played a great role in you staying stuck

in some of these same cycles, but I just wonder if some of these very parts of who you are can help you begin to fulfill your calling if you can begin to channel them in this way and for this reason, let me give you a few examples. Like maybe you're here and you know that you have an addictive personality and for this reason, for so long, you've had a hard time shaking some of these substances that you've been addicted to, but I wonder what your life could begin to look like if this very addictive personality you have, if you begin to channel it in such a way where you became addicted to God's house and addicted to God's word and addicted to God's presence, what might your life look like then? How might this addictive personality serve you then? Or maybe you're here and you know that you're a passionate person and for this reason, at times, you've found yourself living in cycles and patterns of you being passionate about things that probably weren't really worth it and your mouth getting you in trouble, but what if you just got passionate about things that were worth it and let your mouth fly with a message that could build bridges between people and the God who made them, people and the God who loves them,

people and the God who has a plan, a purpose, a hope, a reason for their life, people and the God who desires to save them, what might your life? and your loud mouth do for you then. Maybe you're here and you know that you have the capacity to feel oh so deeply, and at times, this is why you have lived in patterns of you holding on to things longer than you know you should and it ruining relationships and you being lonely and you being bitter and you living in isolation. But what if this same capacity you have to feel oh so deeply, if you channeled it and got a grip on it in such a way that this capacity you have to feel deeply birthed within you a deep compassion for the disadvantaged and the overlooked and this compassion you have to feel deeply lets you making a deep difference in the lives of others. How might this serve you then? And if you don't know what part of your life, what part of your personality, what part of who you are that's been causing you problems could end up serving your purpose, maybe just maybe it could be this. We know you have what it takes to get stuck. That's why you've been stuck in some of these cycles for so long. What if we just got you stuck in some of the right things? What if we just got you stuck in some good things?

What if we just got you stuck in God's things? What if we just got you stuck in your purpose? Because Jesus calls you Peter. But make no mistake about it, there is still some Simon left in you. And whether this hurts you or helps you is all up to how you speak to Simon. You tell Simon what to do. Do not let Simon tell you what to do. Simon can help you if you talk to him nicely. For this reason, even though Jesus changed his name to Peter, from time to time, Jesus would actually continue to call Peter Simon. Perhaps no better example than in Luke chapter 22. It's the night that Jesus would be betrayed. And Jesus knows what's coming, but his disciples don't. So he begins to warn them without giving them too much detail. Because he knows it's gonna be hard for them. But he knows that what is to come is going to be especially hard on our boy Peter. So in Luke 22, Jesus gives Peter an additional warning and he says this to him, beginning in verse 31. It reads, Simon, Simon. Not Peter, Peter, but Simon, Simon. Because in this moment, Jesus is speaking to Peter's reactive side, his impulsive side, the side of Peter that he knows that the next few hours and the next few days are going to be very hard on.

He says, Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. But then Simon replied, Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death if I have to. And in verse 34, Jesus answered, boy, I tell you, before the rooster crows today, before the rooster crows this morning, you will deny three times, not once, not twice, but three times that you know me. And this is why I've selected to preach on Peter for my installment of this series, Breaking Bad Habits, Cycles, and Patterns. Because even though he did his best not to do it, he did do it. Just as Jesus said he would do it, Peter repeatedly denied Jesus, not once, not twice, but three separate times before the day even broke, before the rooster even crowed. This is why I say that Peter is the Bible's most famous repeat offender. Peter, the repeater. And it happened just as Jesus said it would, before the rooster even crowed, out of a reactive place, out of a place of fear, out of a place of fearing that if he did admit

to knowing Jesus, he would be put on a cross just like Jesus. Peter denied Jesus three separate times. And we're actually given the detail in one of the Gospels that when Peter denied Jesus for the third time, the rooster crowed just as Jesus said it would. And Peter and Jesus on the cross actually locked eyes. And in that moment, Peter realized what he had done. And it broke his heart. He was ashamed, began to weep. He was devastated because although, yes, he denied Jesus, he loved Jesus. He just didn't want to have to go to a cross like Jesus, but nevertheless, he failed Jesus. In a very real sense, he... betrayed Jesus. So he's devastated by all sorts of things. In part, he's devastated because he's disappointed. Because he had been doing so good recently. Up to this point, he'd been managing so well to get a grip on these parts of his personality, to channel his reactive side productively and positively, but yet once again, when it matters most, he cannot help but revert back to his old ways and the worst ways. He's disappointed. He's devastated because he has to be believing in this moment that he's now disqualified. That there's no way God could ever use him. But there's no way now Jesus could ever build anything significant through him because how is he supposed to be a rock that Jesus builds on when he crumbles when it matters most? He so believes that he's done and disqualified, that when Jesus actually does come back to life, and Peter sees Jesus resurrected with his own two eyes, that Peter instead of going back to ministry,

he goes back to fishing instead. Almost as if Peter was thinking whatever work Jesus still has to do, there's no way because of what I did to him, he wants me a part of it. Because Peter saw Jesus resurrected, this means with his own two eyes, Peter knew for himself that Jesus had overcome death, hell, and the grave. But yet still, Peter did not believe that Jesus could overcome what he did to him. What an inflated view we have of our own mistakes. And so like I told you, Peter went back to fishing. We're told in the Gospel of John that he's fishing actually on the Sea of Galilee, where he first met Jesus in a boat, which had to have been a painful reminder of how he failed Jesus, but that's where the fish were, so that's where Peter was. Except we're given the funny detail, that this particular night, Peter had been fishing all night and did not manage to catch a thing. Because after living for Jesus a while, and you try going back to how you used to live, it will not work for you like it once did. It will not distract like it once did. It will not numb like it once did. So he'd been fishing all night, couldn't catch a thing, when all of a sudden there was a man far away standing on the shore who cried out to Peter and said, Catch anything? Probably frustrated and annoyed, Peter's like, no, rough night, not a thing. And then obnoxiously, the guy yells back, try casting your net to the other side. Which Peter had been fishing all night, surely he'd been casting on both sides of his boat up to this point, and so he's like, I've tried, but you know what, getting ready to go in, sure, I'll cast the other side one last time. We're told that upon casting his net to the other side of the boat, one final time, that the net so filled with fish that he couldn't even pull it in, the net was beginning to break. And immediately, Peter recognized that the man on the shore was Jesus, and true to form, Peter reactively and impulsively, he jumped in the water, and he began swimming to Jesus. And what do you know is so funny, we're told that when Peter got to shore,

Jesus was already cooking fish on a fire when he got there. Because whatever you've been fishing for, Jesus already has it. And wherever you've been fishing for it, Jesus already has it. Are you looking for joy? Because Jesus already has it. Are you looking for peace? Jesus already has it. Are you looking for fulfillment, for purpose, for meaning? Jesus already has it. Look no further than Jesus Christ. And so Peter sits down with Jesus by this fire, that we're told—weird detail—was a charcoal fire, by the way. But the reason this is significant is because I didn't read it to you, but we were told that the first time Peter denied Jesus, he was standing by a charcoal fire. And the reason this is extra significant is that these are the only two times in all the Gospels that a charcoal fire is mentioned. When Peter denies Jesus, and now when Jesus is cooking for Peter, the only two times in the four books of the Bible that tell the story of the life and ministry of Jesus that a charcoal fire is mentioned. Coincidence? Never with Jesus. So they're sitting by this charcoal fire, talking, having breakfast. When we're told in the Gospel of John that out of nowhere Jesus asked Peter this question, Hey Peter. Yeah, Jesus. I'm just curious. Do you love me? Not to imagine a little taken aback, Peter's like, yeah, Jesus. I love you. Jesus says that's great. I love you too. Feed my lambs. Then a few more minutes pass and Jesus says Peter I'm sorry I just have to ask again. Do you love me? Probably even more confused this time. Peter says Jesus, I love you. Jesus replies with, then feed my sheep. Some more time passes and a third time Jesus asks Peter, Peter I'm sorry but I just have to know do you love me? And we're told that upon being asked a third time that now Peter's hurt. He says Jesus you know all things. You know that I love you. And Jesus says then feed my sheep. Because what does a pastor do? What's a pastor's job? To care for the flock. You see by asking Peter three times do you love me? Jesus was not in

any way trying to hurt Peter. Once again he was trying to help Peter begin to see himself as Jesus saw him. So much so that Jesus went to this extent. He recreated the scene of where Peter first denied him in the setting of where Jesus first called him on the Sea of Galilee. And Jesus asked Peter not once not twice but three separate times. Because how many times did Peter deny Jesus? Not once not twice but three times. So Jesus asked Peter do you love me this many times? That way he can give Peter an opportunity for every time that he denied him to go back on his previous denials and say actually Jesus I do love you. Actually Jesus I do love you. Actually Jesus I'm sorry I didn't mean it before I do love you. That way Jesus can respond with feed my lambs. Peter what are you doing then? Go back in a ministry. Feed my sheep Peter. Go back to being in this rock on which I'll build my church. Feed my sheep Peter. Go back to preaching. Go back to what I've called you to do all along. So Peter I brought you back to this speech that I called you on three years earlier. Because when I called you three years ago I knew we'd be here today. And I called you then and I still called you now. Because I think this is the real message that Jesus was trying to communicate to Peter. Peter you might repeat yourself but guess what Peter I repeat myself too. And you cannot out repeat me. What is a repeat offender to a repeat Redeemer? To a repeat blester? To a repeat Savior? So Peter even if you've repeated the same mistakes if instead of returning to your past if you just return in repentance to me you will find that my mercies are repeatedly made new every single morning. What I've come to tell some people at church by the glades is maybe recently you made a mistake that you were thought you were done making and you think this means that God is done with you but he's not done with you baby. You might have repeated but this repeat does not have to be a return. You might have made a mistake but this mistake doesn't have to turn into a cycle. You might have had a lapse in judgment that doesn't mean it has to turn into a pattern because this failure did not ruin your future so you don't have to return to your past. Your only choice is not to go back to that cycle because God still chooses you. Repeatedly. Over and over. Again and again. You might be a

repeat offender but your God he's a repeat Savior. So with every head bowed if this message was for you raise your hand high enough for me to see. Lord you know what these raised hands represent. God you know the mistakes they've made that they thought disqualified them but God I pray for them in this moment that they would begin to believe that they can never sin too bad for you to stop being good. So God I pray Lord that as they choose not to return to their past but to return in repentance to you that they would begin to believe that their best days are still ahead of them. That God you still have a plan for them. That God you still have a future for them and God we ask that as we return to you you would get all the glory for it. It's in the name of Jesus we pray together. Amen. Make some noise for Jesus.