Pastor Chris Wiggs | Changed by the Fire

Welcome to REACH, KC, everybody, it's so great to have you with us, I just want to invite y'all to stand up and join in. I pray into the atmosphere, spirit of God in me, you have all authority, I pray over my heart and mind, I'm healed by your stripes, your blood, your blessing, I am free, in the mighty name of Jesus, I pray, calling all of power offended, I proclaim, every weapon formed against me, I pray, in the mighty name of Jesus, I know I'm bound to run, the cross is still my destiny, in the mighty name of Jesus, I pray, calling all of power offended, I pray, in the mighty name of Jesus, I know I'm bound to run, the cross is still my destiny, in the mighty name of Jesus, I know I'm bound to run, the cross is still my destiny, in the mighty name of Jesus, I know I'm bound to run, the cross is still my destiny, in the mighty name of Jesus, I know I'm bound to run, the cross is still my destiny, in the mighty name of Jesus, I know I'm bound to run, the cross is still my destiny, in the mighty name of Jesus, I know I'm bound to run, the cross is still my destiny, in the mighty name of Jesus, I know I'm bound to run, the cross is still my destiny, in When the enemy comes near, on the doorframe of my life, It's the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear, I will not fear, This is my new angel gear. I'm protected on all sides, the blood of Jesus Christ. In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray for the power of heaven. I proclaim every weapon born against me. Lord, I pray in the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus, I know all the power, fear, and darkness. My soul is dedicated to victory. I hope in the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. I got a phone call a couple of weeks ago.

And it wasn't one I necessarily wanted. And the first thing I did was I got into my husband's office and I just broke down in tears. And then I realized, we have a minister's meeting with our staff, so I need to pull myself together. So I walk into my office and I just start crying. And I'm like, God, this is so frustrating. Why is this happening in my life? And the only thing I heard the Holy Spirit say was, praise me. And at first my heart was like, that's not what I want to do. I want to complain right now. But I heard praise me. And so I pull myself together and we go to this meeting. And after the meeting we have to come right back. I have to go pick my kids up. And so the whole way to pick up my kids, I put on praise music. Because I was like, okay, God, I'm going to praise you through this. I'm going to align my heart with you. Because Adam preached a sermon a few weeks ago about aligning our hearts, the lifestyle. And so I put that praise music on. I start praising him. And me and him had discussed the name Judah over and over again. And I'm like, man, I don't know why this name keeps coming to my heart. So I sit in my car and I Google it. It says Judah, and the meaning of the name is praise. And so we are naming our son champion Judah Brown. But I say all of this because I think sometimes we get news that we don't necessarily want to get. And our first response is we want to go to somebody and we want to complain

or we want to vent. We want to be angry at our situation. And let me tell you, God is so faithful that even in those moments, he deserves our praise. He is so worthy. And I found myself in those moments of praising him and worshiping him where the enemy wanted me to dwell on negative or the what ifs, or you know what I mean? Just the bad stuff. The Lord's like, focus on me. You have so much to be grateful for. And so I found myself praising him. I'm like, God, I'm thankful for my life. I have a good life. I have a great family. I have a great church. God, you're using me. You're doing more than I could have ever imagined, Lord, and I shouldn't even expect anything more, God, because you're so good. I'm so grateful for you. And so right now through this song, I want us just to tell God how grateful we are for him, no matter our circumstances, no matter our situations, because he never changes. Even though our stuff does, he never changes. He's faithful. He's the same good, good father that we have always had. Amen. ♪ God our praise to children, our loves ♪ ♪ So we pour our praise to you only ♪

♪ How great are you Lord ♪ ♪ You give light to our love ♪ ♪ You bring light to the darkness ♪ ♪ You give hope, you restore every heart that is broken ♪ ♪ How great are you Lord ♪ ♪ Children, our loves, so we pour our praise, pour our praise ♪ ♪ Pour out our praise, pour out our praise to children ♪ ♪ Our loves, so we pour our praise to you only ♪ ♪ Children, our loves, so we pour our praise, pour our praise to children ♪ ♪ Our loves, so we pour out our praise to you only, Lord ♪ ♪ After meeting you, how great are you, Lord? How great are you, Lord? ♪ ♪ How great are you, Lord? ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ How great are you, Lord? How great are you, Lord? How great are you, Lord? ♪ All the earth will shout your praise, our hearts will cry, these folks will sing. How great are you, Lord? All the earth will shout your praise, our hearts will cry, these folks will sing. How great are you, Lord? It's your blood, our blood, so we pour out our praise, pour out our praise. It's your blood, our blood, so we pour out our praise, you know. It's your blood, our blood, so we pour out our praise, pour out our praise. It's your blood, our blood, so we pour out our praise, you know. How great are you, Lord? How great are you, Lord? How great are you, Lord? How great are you, Lord? Because you give life, you allow, you bring light to the darkness. Because you give hope, you restore every heart that is broken. How great are you, Lord? How great are you, Lord?

How great are you, Lord? How great are you, Lord? How great are you, Lord? How great are you, Lord? How great are you, Lord? Thank you. Thank you. ♪ The beauty of all creation ♪ ♪ There's a song of praise that only I can hear ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? ♪ ♪ There is no one, only Jesus, who else is worthy? ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? ♪ ♪ There is no one, only Jesus, who else is worthy? ♪ ♪ God of the ages, you chose to make my heart your dwelling place ♪ ♪ You chose to make my heart your dwelling place ♪ ♪ Beauty of my brokenness, show me your glory ♪ ♪ So I have songs of thanks, not even angels sing ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? ♪ ♪ There is no one, only you Jesus, who else is worthy? ♪ ♪ There is no one, only you Jesus, who else is worthy? ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? ♪ ♪ There is no one, only you Jesus, who else is worthy? ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? ♪ ♪ There is no one, only you Jesus, who else is worthy? ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you Jesus. ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ our honor and glory like the Lord God above. God we just want to give you everything of us today Lord. I feel like there are people that are laying some things down right now in their life. Things that don't need to be picked back up. Things that need to be left at the altar of sacrifice for King Jesus. God we give you glory. We pray that you would have your way in this house God. We just give you everything that we have right now in Jesus name. Amen. Come on can we give a shout of praise to the Lord this morning. Can we give a shout of praise to the Lord this morning. Come on somebody let's let the heavens hear us. In Jesus name. Come on turn to one of your neighbors give them a high-five, a fist bump. Say hey it is so good to see you today. I'm glad that you left the week outside and you brought yourself inside. Amen. Man what a what a wonderful day to be in the house of the Lord. Amen. How many of us are excited to be at church this morning? There's no place like home. There's no place like home. Hey you know the Bible says in Malachi, I know this is a pretty standard verse for this time, but he says hey if you will bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house and I love this because he says hey test me in this. Test me. I don't know about you but when I say somebody for somebody to test me it's about to catch wreck if it don't

happen. But he says test me in this and see if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing. Makes me think of when I'm sitting with my kids and talking about provision. Says hey why don't you test me in this. See if your father will not bless you like I say that I will. Because I want the best for you and and bringing the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in the house. He's saying hey I will I will provide for you. We talk about tithing but it's really about trust. Saying hey God do I trust you? Do I trust you with everything that I have? Because the fact is is God has never needed our money but he does need our heart. He wants our heart. Not even just a need but he wants it and one of the the greatest indicators of where our heart is is what we actually do with what's in our hands. Because you can gauge the heart by what's in your hands and what you use that for. The Bible teaches the principle of first and what we give God was never intended to be about the leftovers. You know I say it like pursuing the life you have as much of the God as much of the Lord as you want in your life. Because if you want more you chase after more and he says he will draw an eye to those that draw an eye to me and so as you draw close to him he will draw close to you. It's deeper it's it's more about what are we going to do with what we have and say God you know what I want to trust you I want to be faithful with what you have trusted me with and what you have given me with because it's really coming to the realization that at the end of the day he gave me everything I got. Because I know where I was at before I surrendered my life to the Lord and when I look at my life now it's like how could I not it's not even how can I it's how can I not when I look at all that he has saved me from I mean a broken abused child that grew up addicted to drugs and affirmation of people and I needed to do all and I mean just ran down this whole list of things and God saved me from that and he set my feet up on the rock and then he he redeemed me and placed purpose in my life God you can have it all like you can have everything that I have because if all I have is you honestly I have

enough amen and so today it's it's really this God I trust you I trust you with my kids I trust you with my finances I trust you with my husband I trust you with my wife I trust you with everything that I have because it's all about you God so if I could get some ushers to come forward you can note the screens if you haven't downloaded the app for the church I would encourage you to do that you can stay up to date you can give through there but God we just thank you what I pray that you would have your way that you would lead every single one of us that you would guide us Lord that that you would encourage us to give with a cheerful heart and that it would be all about you and who you are not about what we're hanging on to because I understand that you cannot bless what I won't let go of and so God we have your way may you have your way in this place in Jesus name amen was never to be kept to ourselves we are transformed so that we can serve and love others well we can sit in rows and worship with our hands up and very easily we can find ourselves retreating back to that isolation one could say that the resistance through community is where our faith and our fellowship builds and better yet where it grows with people that love you where you are known and you are cared for and you are celebrated and all of this is because we were not designed to do this alone no fire burns alone by itself but it continues to burn along with others and in your homes and through laughter and through tears through food and fellowship is where we will continue to lift one another up encourage one another in faith hold each other accountable and grow not through just rows but in circles of your homes welcome to growth groups come on let's give it up for growth groups how many of us how many of us have signed up for growth groups yet I you don't even know you don't even have to raise your hand there's like three people come on play that video again hold on run it back no I'm just kidding hey man we're just so excited you can leave that up there for just a moment I encourage you you can scan that sign up for a group all of them are on there what days they're having them whatever and so you can scan that sign up to get connected those will

be happening basically every night throughout the week and so it's just going to be a great opportunity to get connected and so we are excited for that well hey today this week has been a wonderful week man we got to go down to Houston Texas with our staff and and be at a church leadership conference a church planting conference and man it's it's just it rejuvenates our heart and I knew that we was going to be there a few weeks back and so I hit up one of my my dear friends he's like a brother from another mother he has planted a church in the hood of st. Louis come on somebody if you know if you know the hood then you know st. Louis there's a reason they call each other dirty you know I'm saying and so some of y'all don't get it it's all good it's it is what it is it's a prison joke okay so it's like but you just had to been there okay and but anyways he is a great man of God he now leads an organization called reach Network and so we plant churches all over not even just Missouri anymore but outside of Missouri and so it's just a wonderful wonderful opportunity to have a great dear friend of mine in here today can we give it up for brother pastor Chris Wiggs in the house in Jesus name what's up everybody how's it going it's good to be in the house of the Lord amen I Assume that there ain't no party like a REACH church party, because a REACH church party, that's what I figured, so. Man, what a blessing to be here. As Pastor Adam said, we were blessed to be able to plant a church in St. Louis called REACH Church, believe it or not. Yeah, and so what a privilege it is to be here. Kansas City is bad for a fat boy, let me just tell you. Yesterday was hard for me because I had Bucca di Beppo, come on somebody, glory to God, then I stopped at God's Gas Station, quick trip, because I felt a quickening in my spirit to pull over there and see what the Lord might have,

because I live in Springfield, Missouri now, and we do not have quick trips anymore, and so I stopped there, and then when I got to the hotel, they had a basket of snacks for me. I said, wow, not good, you know, and I had something I've never had before, that's Reese's Cups mixed with cookies and cream Oreo, whoa, that's from the Lord, and then last night I ate at a place called Chick-N-Waffle, has anybody ever been there? Chick-N-Waffle, and that was good too, but I hope that you're hungry for the word today. As Pastor Adam said, I am the Executive Director of REACH Network, we help start churches because we want people to go to heaven and know Jesus, amen, and so that's why this church was started, and we were blessed to be able to be a part of that in some way. I don't know if I'll be preachy today or if I'll be teachy today, but normally I'm the fastest preacher in the Midwest, so you can rest and relax, but I want you to be able to dig in today and hopefully to learn. The title of my message this morning is Changed by the Fire. Changed by the Fire. Father, thank you so much for an opportunity to be able to preach your word. Your word is a lamp to our feet

and a light to our path. And God, I pray today in these next few moments that the anointing of the Holy Spirit would fall upon me. God, that I would speak what you want me to speak. Father, that our hearts would be touched and changed in Jesus' name, and everybody said. Amen. Amen, changed by the fire. Look at your neighbor, say neighbor. Neighbor. You're about to be changed. You're about to be changed. By the fire. By the fire. Oh no, you had the wrong neighbor. Look at your other neighbor, tell him neighbor. Neighbor. You're about to be changed. You're about to be changed. By the fire. By the fire. I almost took a page out of the psalmist Garth Brooks' book and called this Standing Outside the Fire, but I didn't know how many of y'all would even get that. So we're gonna be in John's Gospel chapter 21 today if you have a Bible, John's Gospel chapter 21. And we're gonna be specifically looking at the life of Peter. And when you think changed by the fire, you're thinking changed by the fire of God.

But I wanna talk to you today about what happened to Peter as God changed his life while he sat by the fire. While he sat by the fire. Let me just kind of catch you up before we jump into John chapter 21. A few chapters earlier, we're ending the end of Jesus's life, right before his crucifixion. And Peter tells Jesus, Jesus, I'm with you till the end. Even if everybody else deserts you, I will not desert you. He told Jesus, I'm a rider, I'll be with you till the very end. And Jesus tells him, Peter, I'm not so sure about that. Before the rooster crows, you'll deny me three times. I like how Luke's Gospel puts it. Jesus says, Peter, Satan has asked for you that he may sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you. Peter is with Jesus in these difficult moments, even as they come to arrest Jesus, Peter takes out a sword and cuts a dude's ear off. Peter is saved, but he's not sanctified. Come on, somebody. He's still got a little bit of hood left in him. And so one of the Gospels tells us Jesus picks up that ear and he's like, he does Jesus stuff to it and puts it back together. Jesus, I'm with you. No matter what, I'll never leave you. How many of you know we're all ready

to do whatever Jesus asks us to do until it gets too difficult? We're all ready to follow Jesus wherever he tells us to go until the cost of following Jesus becomes so great that we're not sure if we can continue on. And so Jesus is arrested and he's carried away and he's questioned and Peter follows him from a distance and he's outside of a fire. The Bible says he's warming himself by a charcoal fire. Everybody say charcoal fire. Charcoal fire. And when asked if he was one of Jesus' disciples, he denies it three times. The Bible even says that he calls curses down himself from heaven as this young girl asks him hey aren't you one of Jesus's upon the people. disciples he does it three times and suddenly cock-a-doodle-doo come on somebody the rooster crows it's what Jesus said would happen this once faithful disciple denies the Lord Jesus Christ and the next time we see Peter after Jesus crucifixion is when someone comes to tell him and some of the other disciples that Jesus has been raised from the dead Peter was not there at the cross with him he left him in fact from what we understand the only one we know that was there was John and John's the one writing this book and John is a little full of himself because if you go look in one of the chapters before 21 when they're racing to the tomb John says it was Peter and the disciple that Jesus loved which was him and we were having a foot race to the tomb of Jesus and the disciple that Jesus loved outran Peter and beat him there right and so this is the next time that we see a Peter after the resurrection and Jesus makes a few appearances to his disciples but we have yet to see a meaningful conversation between Peter and Jesus since his denial the last major thing

that Peter did when Jesus was around was to say that he didn't even know him and as we come into chapter 21 we see that seven of the disciples are together including Peter and they're in a holding pattern they don't know what to do how many of you know when you don't know what to do you go back to the only thing you really know how to do for some of y'all that's going back to a life of sin come on somebody for Peter he said the only thing I know how to do is to fish and so he said hey I'm going fishing and the other guy said well we'll go with you too and the Bible says that they fish all night long and catch nothing but as the Sun comes up they see a man on the shore and he says children which is a term of endearment children do you have any fish they say no we've been fishing all night we don't have anything he says cast your net to the right side of the boat and the Bible says they pull up so many fish they can't even contain them and John gets excited and he says hey it's the Lord and as soon as Peter hears that it's the Lord he throws his clothes on he's like just barely wearing anything out there fishing he throws his clothes on and he runs to go meet Jesus and finally they are reunited as dawn breaks sort of similar to the picture of the time frame when the rooster crows come on somebody and Jesus and Peter's restoration is about to begin now stay with me I know this didn't preachy it's a little teachy but that's okay sometimes we need that and so they come together and the Bible says when they get to the shore they sit with Jesus around a charcoal fire everybody say charcoal fire and they have a little fish for breakfast that's weird I like to have biscuits and gravy for breakfast come on somebody come on anybody can anybody recognize that biscuits and gravy is a little better than fish for breakfast but but hey it's the Middle East and so they have fish together they break bread and I want to look at three things that we learn from the backslider Peter come on and that is this okay number one failure is not final failure is not final hey I want to testify to you today that maybe people have told you in your life that it's too late for you come on that you've messed up too much and and that you've gone too far and that you've crossed the line too many times and you've sinned just a

little bit too much and that that particular sin is that one sin that Jesus won't forgive and the thing that you did on that night that was the last time that Jesus was going to extend you grace and you've gone too far and you failed too many times but I want to tell you today at Reach Church in Kansas City this morning that with Jesus failure is never final I'm testifying and telling you today as a guy who's failed many times I'm thankful that every time I fell I fell at the feet of Jesus and I grabbed a hold of him and I said thank you God that it's not over for me yet there are two charcoal fires mentioned in the Bible only two both in the book of John one in John chapter 18 the other in John chapter 21 the first was the scene of Peter's denial it was the site of one of his greatest sins you know Peter had walked on water at Jesus's command don't you understand that Peter had seen Jesus do the miracle of the fish and the loaves. He looked at the empty tomb. You know, he saw Lazarus raised from the dead. And yet he denied the Lord Jesus Christ. It was his lowest point. What is your big failure? What is your lowest point? What is that thing that the enemy likes to bring to your remembrance every time you're feeling down? It's that thing that he says, you know, Jesus never did put that under the blood. Hello, somebody. I remember being in a low point one time. I'm going to confess something to you. I felt really bad about doing this when I did it. The Lord really convicted me. It was a terrible thing. Can I be a little transparent? I remember going through a difficult time and I looked up in the sky and I saw a dove. Oh, that's kind of cool. But I was in such a bad place. I remember looking up and saying, F you. That's what I said to the Lord. Anybody say F you to God? I said, F you. And then I said, oh no, that was real bad. I'm not saying that's the worst thing I've ever done in my life, but it's one thing that I did. It's that one thing that the enemy likes to bring back up. And he says, you know, Chris, your heart was never really for God. You know, Chris, you failed so bad. Think about that time that you did that one thing. Maybe it's that thing that nobody else knows about except for you and God. And the devil says your failure is final. But Jesus said, that's not so. I love that song that says, they say it's over for a sinner, but you say, no, it's not. No, it's not. The first fire was the scene of Peter's denial. The second fire is the place of his

restoration. Watch what happens when the disciples reach the shore. They have their breakfast, a similar scene is set around the charcoal fire. Pastor Chris, what is important about a charcoal fire? Nothing. It doesn't mean anything except that it jogs our memory to what happened before around the charcoal fire. That's why it's important for us to remember. And so they eat breakfast and watch Jesus's conversation with Peter, John 21 verse 15. Let's get into the word. It says, after breakfast, Jesus asked Simon, Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? Now there's a bunch of different words here used for love and some scholars say that each of them mean different things and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We're not focusing in on that today. We're just going to focus on this passage. Do you love me more than these? Yes, Lord Peter replied, you know, I love you. Imagine how hard it was for him to say that after he knew what he did. Jesus says, then feed my lambs. Jesus repeated the question, Simon, son of Jonah, do you, John, do you love me? Yes, Lord Peter said, you know, I love you. Jesus says, then take care of my sheep. A third time, everybody say a third time, a third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, Lord, you know, everything, you know, I love you. Then feed my sheep. Watch this. Stay with me. Jesus takes Peter all the way back. He takes him back to that first miracle of the fish where Peter first met Jesus. He brings it back and says, let me do another fish miracle. He takes him back to that, that dawn breaking of the place where it, when dawn broke, he denied Jesus. He takes him back to the charcoal fire where he denied Jesus and they share a meal together. Peter denied Jesus. How many times? And three times Jesus asks him, Peter, do you love me? He's taking Peter back so that he can go forward. And sometimes we have to go backwards and remember what happened before we can go forward. Do y'all hear what I'm saying? How many of you have some places that you drive by in the city and when you look at them, you think back there's some places where I grew up that I drive around and I look over and I go, Oh, that was bad. I remember what I did there. I remember what I experienced there. Here's what I want you to know. God wants to get you to the place that when you drive by those places, you don't get discouraged and defeated. Instead you say, Oh look, that's where I was, but this is where I am now. That's who I used to be, but this is who I am now because failure is not final if you're a follower of Jesus.

amen in order to get freedom sometimes you have to go back and deal with it and put it under the blood so that you never have to go back again how many of you had to have done some things that are so bad you don't want to look at them I remember early on in my pastor job in st. Robert Missouri I used to pastor in st. Robert and it was Thanksgiving bless God my favorite holiday come on somebody said God's like mashed potatoes and gravy he's good all the time and I'm sitting at the Thanksgiving table with my family in Belleville Illinois and I get a call pastor Chris the basement is flooded oh man you ever get a call like that how bad is it so how bad is it they said well a pipe burst from underground it's real bad the whole basements flooded I finished my plate it wasn't that bad I finished my plate ate a little piece of pie and then we hit the road to go back and when I got in the building you know how it is when you step on that carpet and it's all over the place water everywhere water had come up on the walls ruin the carpet ruined everything and I'm like looking around this whole basement I'm thinking a shop vac ain't fixing this and so I did a little something because I remembered the commercials serve pro serve pro had a commercial that said call serve pro like it never even happened ring ring serve pro can y'all fit me in yes we come right over and I walked away and left and I let them handle it I love that slogan like it never even happened and I want you to know today that's how Jesus restores us he restores us like it never even happened he buries our sins in the sea of forgetfulness the Bible says as far as the East is from the West that's how far he has removed our transgressions from us and so when the enemy says look at your failure Jesus says I'm not sure what he's talking about because I wiped that clean from my memory when I made you a new creation are y'all okay can I keep going the other part of Peter's restoration that I noticed is that Jesus restores Peter publicly I love this he doesn't pull Peter aside and say now you messed up they'll figure out later that you've been restored but you really messed up buddy you know Peter's sin was not private it was there in that courtyard with others to hear John was there in that courtyard John knew about

it I'm sure the other disciples knew about it you know the other disciples couldn't be too mad because they all deserted Jesus to people good Peter a hard time he was he made it farther than most of the other disciples and so as six other disciples sit around this fire with Peter and Jesus Jesus restores Peter publicly so that those around him know it's okay for this guy to lead you forward he's made things right you know in the church I find that we're really good about publicly talking about everybody's screw-ups and sins but we don't often talk about how Jesus has restored them hello I know of a minister who did some really bad things I've heard about these bad things people have talked smack about this guy he lost credentials with the Assemblies of God he did a lot of bad things but I found out not long ago that he got his life back together and that he's sober again and that he's trying to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and I've been sharing that with people when they bring his name up and they almost look like they're disappointed because it's a lot more fun to talk about everybody's screw-ups come on somebody then it is to talk about rest but I think we ought to celebrate public restoration and we ought to say hey my brother or my sister was lost but now they're found they backslid so far come on they messed up so bad but look at what Jesus can do and now we accept them back as somebody who's been made whole and restored I'm thankful that he restores us publicly amen number two there's only 15 points y'all don't know y'all are laughing like I may not be but you don't know Number two, the second thing we learned from Peter is this, following Jesus will cost you. Following Jesus will cost you. Jesus makes Peter's assignment very clear. Peter, listen, you're not a fisherman, bro. You're not a very good one. Every time I show up, you haven't caught any fish. I have to help you. Why don't you worry about people instead? So what he told him before is go be fishers of men.

Now he's telling him, Peter, feed my sheep, lead my church, teach my people, preach the gospel, shepherd the flock that I am giving you. This is your assignment. I'm not sure on that day when Jesus gave Peter that assignment, if Peter fully understood what kind of sacrifice it would really take for him to obey Jesus. I don't know if he really understood the cost. Peter's ministry had a lot of challenges. He was arrested three times. Some of y'all are like, that ain't nothing. How many has been arrested more than three times? Oh, yeah, man, that's a lot of y'all. I said, Peter's a punk. Peter don't know nothing. Yeah, but you ain't never been arrested for your faith. You were arrested because you messed up. Peter was arrested because he did right. Peter was beaten because he did right. Peter was put in chains because he did right. Come on, somebody. Peter was beaten publicly. You say, I've been beaten publicly too. Not like Peter. One of his friends and fellow disciples, James, got killed by a sword. He was publicly, Peter was publicly called out by Paul in front of everybody. He deserved it because he messed up, but it still wasn't easy. Surrendering to the call of God didn't make life easy for Peter. It cost him something. I want you to understand this, fellow believer, if you were expecting to come to Jesus and have your best life now, God wants you to be healthy, wealthy, and happy. For your love gift this month, we'll send you this, that, and the other, you know?

And that's what you bought into. And then you accept Christ and you're like, oh, man, my friends don't want to be around me anymore. I'm dealing with persecution. The devil wasn't messing with me before because I was doing whatever he wanted me to do. Now the enemy's messing with me more than ever before. You're like, hey, this thing isn't easy. It costs something. Yes, it costs something, but in reward, in return, you gain everything. I don't consider my life my own anymore. I pastored a church in Owensboro, Kentucky for two long, horrible years, but one of the great... Bro, it was bad. Hit me up after, I'll tell you all about it, but I had this lady that worked for me. She was the secretary of the church, and she didn't really do nothing except... But she encouraged me. We didn't really need her. She folded bulletins and stuff. It was all she did. Sweet old lady. I wasn't going to fire her. She was like a grandma. And one day, I said, Miss Shirley, I'm sorry. I had said something I thought was maybe offensive that I didn't mean to. I said, I hope I didn't offend you, and she looked at me and she said, offend me? You can't offend me. I'm dead. And that was a revelation for me, that dead people can't be offended. Come on, somebody. Amen?

It'll cost you everything, but the Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 129, for you have been given not only the privilege of trusting Christ, but also the privilege of suffering for Him. What? You've been given the privilege not only of trusting Christ, but the privilege of suffering for Him. It is a privilege, and although Peter suffered, I imagine that he was honored to do it for his Lord, knowing that the sacrifices he made in this life would echo into eternity for blessings that he could never count. And I want to say to the suffering Christian today, my brother and my sister, hold on for one more day, as the song says, because, come on somebody, there is a day coming when your eternal reward will be great. And so while you suffer for a while here, you'll celebrate forever there. It wasn't all suffering. Not everything in this Christian life. is bad. I get tired of meeting people all the time that are just like Eeyore, you know. How you doing, brother? Well, nobody likes me. Everybody hates me. I guess I'll go eat some worms. Fat worms, skinny worms, bitty, bitty, bitty worms, you know. I wonder why nobody likes you because you look like you've been baptized in pickle juice. Come on, I'm saved and I'm glad about it. I'm sanctified and I'm glad about it. I'm filled with the Holy Ghost and I'm glad about it. Peter experienced some incredible things, you guys. On the day of Pentecost, he was there when the Holy Spirit was poured out. When the gift of the Spirit, when they all began to speak in tongues as the Spirit of God gave them utterance, on that same day, he stood and preached and 3,000 people gave their life to Jesus Christ. Have you ever done that? I don't think so. He saw a lame man walk in the name of Jesus. An angel came and got him out of prison two times. How many of you all wish that would have happened for you? Two times he was sitting there locked up. An angel said, hey, bro, come here, I've got the key. He saw a woman raised from the dead. The list goes on and on. You know, ultimately, following Jesus cost Peter his life. Oh, now I see my timer. Oh, good. Okay. I've got like 40 more minutes. Ultimately, following Jesus cost Peter his

life. Jesus speaks of Peter's death, John 21, 18 and 19. I tell you the truth. When you were young, you were able to do as you liked. You dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go, but when you're old, you'll stretch out your hands and others will dress you and take you where you don't want to go. And Jesus said this to him to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. And then Jesus told him, hey, hey, follow me. You know, that's not the most encouraging prophetic word that you can get. Hey, hey, Peter. Hey, right now you dress yourself, you go where you please. When you get old. Somebody else will dress you and take you somewhere where you don't want to go. Peter's going, whoa. And then Jesus says, hey, hey, hey, follow me. Follow me. I'm the way. I'm the truth. I'm the life. No one comes to the father except by me. History tells us that Peter was likely in his 60s when somebody probably came and dressed him and put him in shackles and carried him to the place of his crucifixion for following the Lord Jesus Christ. And as they went to crucify him, Peter said, do me a favor, flip me upside down because I'm not worthy to be crucified in the same manner in which the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords was crucified. So if you're going to crucify me, crucify me upside down. Peter's last breath on earth was his first breath in heaven. And can you imagine the rejoicing and the singing and the shouting as Peter walked in and all of heaven says there he is, bro. You did it. You're here. You finally made it. And Jesus says, well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into your rest. And Peter receives his glorified life in Jesus Christ. You say, well, heaven's not complete yet. And when you die, you go to a holding plane. Whatever. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Figure out the theology some other time. But I'm telling you, he's with the Lord Jesus. Failure is not final. Number three, and this is it. The third thing we learned from Peter is this. Stay in your lane. Look at your neighbor. Tell him, stay in your lane. Mind your own stinking business. Come on. John chapter 21, verse 20. And I'm wrapping this up, guys. So just focus with me. I got five more minutes to preach and we're done, OK? Jesus has restored Peter and given him a glimpse into the future. And even after all of this, Peter's eyes are in the wrong place. Verse 20, Peter turned around. and saw behind them the disciple of who Jesus loved the one who had leaned over to Jesus during supper and asked Lord who will betray you and Peter asked

Jesus what about him Lord Jesus replied if I want him to remain alive until I return what is that to you as for you follow me what God decides to do in someone else's life is not any of your business well they got more money than me that part that's right they got more money than me they've got a bigger ministry than me they have more recognition than I do they honey so what they're probably judged harsher than you are too let me tell you where you ought to be at the feet of Jesus if I never preach another sermon again guess where I'm gonna be John says what about this guy this guy who outran me this guy who notices it's you before I do this goody two-shoes what about John our selfish nature wants to be sure that everything is at the very least fair if not more favorable for us from a young age what do we learn to say that's not let me tell you something when my kids were little and I told Jaylee to go do something guess what Jaylee said what about Lydia if I decide to go buy Lydia a fudge sundae with whipped cream right now that ain't none of your business now Jaylee didn't know I had some work for Lydia to do to come on somebody say stay in your lane I'm teaching my daughter how to drive and I'll close with this that's some scary stuff I'm always having to say hey stay in your lane don't go too far to this side or that side you need to stay in your lane when she veers I got to tell her to get back on track see her car that she's gonna be driving is old and busted because that's how you start but our new car has something called lane assist anybody know what lane assist is oh I push a little button if I get off track that thing goes puts me right back you know Peter had lane assist he said what about John Jesus said follow me eyes on me like for everybody in the room to stand if you would your life can be changed by the fire let's focus in it's still early it's still plenty early don't get distracted focus in for five more minutes if you're here today I want you to know that eternity is in the balance if you don't know Jesus Christ there is a heaven there is a hell heaven is the reward for those who follow him hell is the punishment for those that deny him he doesn't want anybody in hell today as

you were in this church if the Holy Spirit has convicted your heart here's what I want you to know God loves you so much that he sent his only son that whosoever believeth in him would not perish but have everlasting life if you need to accept Jesus as Lord of your life boldly right now I want you to raise your hand you say that's me pastor Chris that's me come on put your hands up put your hands up if that's you thank you thank you now hey if you raised your hand come on come on down come on down we want to celebrate with you that's right we're excited for you we're excited for you here's some guy right here come on we want to celebrate with you how many of you know Jesus can change our lives Jesus can change our lives I want you to pray this prayer with me and then we're gonna do our second part here but let's all pray this prayer together father I know I'm a sinner I need your forgiveness I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died and rose again for me come into my life change me and I'll be forever changed in Jesus name amen and now for the rest of you amen yeah give God praise now if you're here today and the road to the assignment God has given you has been hard and you need a little pick-me-up I want you to come down and if you're here today and your eyes have been on somebody else's paper when you got your own test I want you to come one two three I'm not gonna manipulate just get to the altar if you need something from God today let's come let's worship come on let's pray come on let's seek the face of God come on let's do what we came here to do father we thank you we worship you God God you're a life changer Lord you turn our lives around mighty God you're the only one God you're the only one we worship you Lord father fix our focus right now prayer team if you can come and surround these Wow Oh I Thanks for watching us we're so grateful that you've been a part of our church We don't take it lightly that God is using unlikely people from overlooked places to do extraordinary things for the kingdom of God

And you are a part of that