Restoration

Y'all may stand if you would.

We want to welcome you this morning on this Resurrection Sunday. We just ask that the Lord would just bless our time with you. I got messed with the pedal there, folks. Forgive me. We just want to welcome you again to Calvary Chapel. And those online with us, just we want to welcome you. And we just want to come this morning to worship the Lord and study His Word.

And Father, we thank you for this opportunity to come this morning. Would you prepare our hearts to worship and study and just draw closer to gathering you, Lord? Bless our time, we ask, Lord. We thank you, Lord.

Praise you, we thank you. Would you make intercession? Good morning. If you could begin to locate your seats. Grab a bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements. Calvary Chapel, happy Resurrection Sunday. I just want to tell you all congratulations. This is the largest first service we've ever had before. So you're making history right now. You're a part of that.

The announcements, first of all, the left-hand side of your bulletin are all the things that go on throughout the week. So find a spot to get plugged into lots of different areas. So locate one of those spots. In the middle section of your bulletin, a couple of things to pay attention to. April 15th, that's this coming Saturday, is men's breakfast. So come lament the fact

that you have to pay taxes. And because it's April 15th, right? Come lament the fact that you have to pay taxes. Come lament the fact that you have to pay taxes and find some comfort in the fact that there's some other fellows that are in the same boat that you are. Come fellowship with us. Enjoy some breakfast together. And then April 30th, the last Sunday of the month,

we are going to have another potluck and kickball game. So this time it will be after church. So more details will be coming out about that in the next couple of weeks. So make plans to join us after church, April 30th, to eat some good food and play kickball. Or if you're like, no, I can't play kickball because that's not what I do anymore. I can't play kickball

because that's not what I do anymore. Then you can be one who cheers on the kickball teams and perhaps is there to help those of us that get injured. I always like to remind you that we do have a good number of doctors, nurses, and medics, EMTs, in our congregation. So if you want to join, go ahead. We'll have you covered. Also, one last thing is that the mowing sign-up sheet

is going to be out for a couple more weeks. So if you want to get involved in that, we're at 19 people signed up. We were shooting for 26. So if you're those last seven people, go ahead and get your name on there and he'll be getting the schedule out in the next couple of weeks. So those are the things that are going on. If you want to make sure that your mobile device

is silenced. And for our responsive reading this morning, we're going to be in Psalm 16. I hope I wrote Psalm 16 on there. I did. Look at me go. Psalm 16. We're looking at the New American Standard just for our responsive reading so that we all sound the same. If you need a copy, it should be one in a row around you. If not, it's time to make a friend. And as you are,

returning to Psalm 16, if you would stand in the honor of the reading of God's word.

Psalm 16. I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Pastor Allen and the even verses. Psalm 16, a mission of David. Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in you. I said to the Lord, you are my Lord. I have no good besides you. As for the saints who are in the earth, they are the majestic one in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those who have bartered

for another God will be multiplied. I shall not pour out their drink offering of blood, nor will I take their names upon my lips. The Lord is the portion of my inheritance in my cup. You support my lot. The lions have fallen to me in pleasant places. Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me. I will bless the Lord who has counseled me. Indeed, my mind instructs me

in the night. I have set the Lord continually before me because he is at my right hand. I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will dwell securely. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will you allow your Holy One to undergo decay. And if you'd read verse 11 with me, you will make known to me the path of life.

In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever. And Father, we come to you and Lord, I do thank you that at your right hand, Lord, there are pleasures forever. You are our God. And so, Father, we need to hear from you this morning. And so, I just ask for that moving of your Holy Spirit in this place, Lord, that you would fall on

each individual that's here this morning in your congregation and that you would overflow me, Lord, with your gifts of teaching. And Lord, may we truly see you more clearly today. We praise you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would open up in your Bibles to the Gospel of John, chapter 21.

John 21.

The title of this morning's message is Restoration. You always start to think, okay, Lord, what do you want me to do for Easter Sunday? Typically, we're in the book of Galatians. We go through systematically through Scripture, but it always feels like for something like an Easter Sunday, you should do something a little bit different. So I started praying, Lord, what do you want me to do?

What direction do you want me to go? And the Lord led me in this direction of restoration. And I feel like that's a need in our world right now in the lives of people to be restored. And so there's three aspects of the message. There's an introduction, there's an illustration, and there's an application. As we look at the introduction this morning, I want to point a couple

of things out to you. The word restoration is defined as the act of restoring something to its former condition. That's always been God's heart for us. God's heart for humanity has been restoration. That heart for humanity began in the Garden of Eden. That garden that God had prepared for humanity to live in, that place of perfection that God had prepared for humanity to live in,

and that we as human beings through our ambassador, Adam, destroyed. It was destroyed through sin. The condition that God intended for us to live in was a condition of perfection. Not only perfection of nature, not only perfection, not only perfection of humanity, but perfection in our relationship with God. But that relationship was damaged at the Garden of Eden

when Adam, as our ambassador, sinned because as our ambassador, he passed that sin on to the rest of us. And that condition that God intended for us to be in, that condition of perfection, was destroyed. And ever since then, God has been in the process of restoring humanity back to himself, to restore us to our former condition. The first thing was the promise that God made in the Garden of Eden when he said that even though the serpent would bruise the heel of the seed of the woman, the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent.

His promise that there would come a day when the serpent that had brought sin into the world would ultimately be destroyed. Then as you go throughout Scripture, you find some other places where restoration is mentioned. You find that in Psalm 23, that psalmist David, as he wrote what I like to affectionately refer to as the psalm of an old sheep, Psalm 23. As he tells all about the work of the shepherd in his life, one line always sticks out to me in that psalm.

He says, he restores my soul. Then I'm reminded of that prophet Joel. Joel who prophesied during the time in Israel when sin was dominant in Israel and God sent a plague, a plague of locusts, the swarming locusts, the chewing locusts, the destroying locusts, and God made that promise. In Joel chapter 2, verse 25, when he said, I will restore to you the years that the locusts have eaten away.

That process of restoration has always been in God's heart and it found its culmination at the cross and at the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And it will find its ending place when he ultimately takes us home to be with himself. But that process of restoration, though sealed at the cross, is still something that takes place in our lives because you see, I know humanity because I work with humanity all the time. And believe it or not, I'm a humanity too.

And I know the things that we need restored from it. So as I was thinking about this process of restoration, I not only thought of God's heart, but I thought about man's need. You see, I wrote down a little list. I condensed the list. It was much longer than this. I condensed it to subjects, lists of things that we need restored from. So I want to go through

a handful of those with you and perhaps this will touch you in your heart wherever you are. The first thing that man needs restored from and maybe you need restored from is guilt. Guilt. Guilt. Guilt over sins that have been committed. You see, we find that in this life we end up falling into sin. And as we fall into sin, the natural consequence that goes along with that sin

is the guilt that we feel in our hearts over sin. And we need restoration from that. You see, I believe that a great deal of the people that are walking around in a poor mental state right now are walking around that way because they live under the weight of the guilt of sins committed. And God wants to restore you from that guilt. The second thing that I wrote down

is that some of us need restored from the wounds of the sins of others. There are a good number of people who have seen what other people have done in their lives and it's brought wounds into their lives. It's brought an aspect of brokenness into your life because perhaps an adult that you trusted at one point in time did something that an adult should never do with a kid. Perhaps you have found yourself in a place where somebody that you thought you could trust now you have found you can no longer trust them anymore.

Perhaps somebody that was supposed to be the hand of love ended up instead being the hand of abuse. And you find that you need restored from the wounds that were caused by the sins of others. Some of us need to be restored from grief. I thought one day I'd have to stop talking about this but I don't think that I can because over and over again I deal with people who have experienced great loss in their lives.

And as you've experienced that great loss in your life you know that there's always that void there that that person no longer fills for you. And you need restored from that aspect of grief that you have in your life from a loss that is taking place. The next thing that I wrote down and I always couple these two things together is depression and anxiety. Some of you need restored from depression because life has so weighed you down that much like the psalmist David said the things of life are so great they're more numerous than the hairs of my head and I can no longer look up.

And you found that the joy that at one point in time ruled your life is no longer there and all that you have now is this aching sadness that you can't seem to do away with and God wants to restore you from that. Some of you deal with anxiety the panic of the world the anxiousness of the world the worry of the world and it has your mind so occupied that you can never think of anything else except those worries and you need restored from that. And then the last one that I wrote down is what I call the rubber clause and I just wrote brokenness because many of us just feel broken. You feel broken because of a damaged relationship that you're a part of.

You feel broken because of the place that you have found yourself landed in life. You feel broken because you can't measure up to the standards that either you've established for yourself or you feel like social media has established for you. You feel like you can't measure up to the standard that you feel like your parents laid upon you. You can't measure up to the standard of being the parent that you thought that you always were going to be.

And quite frankly you're just broken because all you see in your life is I just can't be enough and you need restored from that. Can I tell you that you're not the only ones that have felt this way in your life? As a matter of fact about 2,000 years ago there was a group of about 11 guys that found themselves broken. That found themselves grieving. That found themselves

with the guilt of sin upon them. You see that Good Friday was not that great for the disciples because on Good Friday the disciples found themselves in a place where they went I failed worse than I thought I could have ever failed before. I've lost somebody that meant so much to me and I frankly don't know what I'm going to do now. My life is absolutely broken and if there's one disciple who understood that more than anyone else it was Peter.

You see on the night before Jesus was crucified Jesus and his disciples were in the upper room together and as they were in the upper room together Jesus had already told one of them go and do what you need to do but please do it quickly. He told the rest of me he said I need you guys to understand something all of you are going to be offended because of me tonight and you're all going to abandon me tonight and then Peter because he was the guy who spoke up and said what everybody else was thinking but wasn't willing to say said Lord even if they all abandon you I will never abandon you and Jesus with that broken hearted feeling said oh Peter before the evening's done as a matter of fact before the rooster crows you will have denied

that you even know me three times and Peter sort of went how can that be? I'll die with you and Peter said or Jesus said Peter Satan's asked for you he wants to sift you like wheat but I've prayed for you when you're done you come back as those days went by the disciples found that Jesus had done what they had forgotten that he would promise to do he rose again and though as far as everything was concerned the guys were born again because after all Jesus appeared to them in the upper room and there's one little phrase in the book of John that's very interesting because while they're in the upper room it says that Jesus breathed on them and said receive the Holy Spirit that's the point in time when I believe that the disciples were born again

so even though Peter was born again he was still holding on to that guilt he was still holding on to that shame he still needed to be restored and that's the place we come to in John chapter 21 is that Peter is going to be restored by Jesus and he's going to be restored by Jesus in a very public way now the verses that we're reading we're going to focus in on are verses 15 through 17 but let me give you the backdrop of what's taking place okay we're now maybe a couple of weeks past when Jesus rose again and Peter and several other of the disciples are back up at the Sea of Galilee and as they're along the Sea of Galilee if you remember correctly Peter and some of his friends were fishermen Peter looked at his friends and he said

I don't know about you but I'm going fishing now some of you have said that that meant Peter was going back to the lifestyle of fishing I don't know that we can make stretch that verse and make it go that far but I do think there's an aspect of Peter wanting to go back to his old life thinking that possibly there was no way he could ever be who God had called him to be remember the first time that Jesus met Peter the first time that Jesus met Peter he said your name is Simon but I am going to call you Peter a rock and that's how you'll be known but at this point in time in Peter's life he doesn't feel very much like a rock he feels a whole lot more like a puddle nut so he looks at his friends and he says I know that maybe at one point in time

Jesus had big plans for me I don't think I can fulfill those plans anymore let's go fishing and so the boys go out and they go fishing and of course it's Peter and James and John and a handful of the other apostles and they're out fishing and of course for fishermen have you ever noticed that we never actually read of them catching fish unless Jesus is involved and they must have been the worst fishermen known to man and so they're out there all night long and they're toiling and they're struggling and can you imagine how Peter would have felt at this point in time man not only can I not be the apostle that Jesus called me to be I can't even catch some fish you ever been in that situation where like one thing went bad and you don't feel good

about maybe the spiritual aspect of your life but you're like but at least I can do this and then you go to do what you're always good at and you can't do that either and you're like great turns out I can't do anything in life I know the feeling I've been there Peter knows the feeling he's been there and so as they're toiling away they're about to pull their nets in and kind of call it quits when all of a sudden there's a kind stranger standing on the beach and as the kind stranger is standing on the beach they don't recognize who he is remember Jesus is in his glorified body at this point in time and though recognizable perhaps the distance caused them to not see him and we all know what it's like to have people be out of context

I was at a track meet the other day and I was looking for my daughter and I know exactly what my daughter looks like but I couldn't find her in a sea of nothing but track uniforms and pole vaulting right it was some similar situation for these guys and this kind stranger says have you guys caught any fish right there's nothing like getting insulted injury to have somebody how's the fishing going they're like it's not good okay I've caught nothing we haven't caught anything and so he says why don't you cast your nets on the other side of the boat and can I just tell you right now as somebody who does like to fish there's nothing worse than somebody saying maybe you should try it this way when you fish for the past three and a half hours

and haven't caught anything and you know that all of these prideful fishermen were like but they've heard that statement before and perhaps John who always seems to be the worst fisherman and spiritually perceptive of all of them said hey listen it worked another time let's give it a go they throw the net in and all of a sudden they have caught more fish than they can possibly imagine and as they're there and they're pulling this net in John kind of looks up again the more spiritually perceptive I believe of all of the apostles he looks at the man standing on the shore and he looks at Peter and he says that's Jesus and of course Peter does what Peter does what Peter's so great at doing he does something impulsive right

everybody else is trying to bring in the largest load of fish ever and Peter doesn't care he puts on his outer coat and he jumps into the water and he swims up to Jesus and he just kind of stands there what I love the most is that we don't see that he embraces Jesus he doesn't high five Jesus he doesn't bro hug Jesus nothing he just stands there okay I want you to think about this who here has ever seen the movie Forrest Gump right do you remember this scene when Forrest Gump is pulling the boat into the harbor and he sees Lieutenant Dan sitting on the dock and he gets really excited and the boat's still going and he goes Lieutenant Dan and he jumps off and jumps into the water and swims all the way across there and jumps up there and goes

Lieutenant Dan right that's how I picture Peter being at this point in time with Jesus right Peter jumps into the water and swims up to Jesus and he goes Jesus because he's just standing there right that's how I picture it probably didn't happen that way but Peter swims up to see Jesus and as he sees Jesus there's Jesus already there's Jesus with some fish making breakfast by the sea so the rest of the apostles pull in the fish they bring the boat in and they have breakfast with Jesus that morning that's the scene that's set to bring us to a conversation that will take place between Peter and Jesus verse 15 of John chapter 21 so when they had finished breakfast Jesus said to Simon Peter Simon son of John do you love me more than these he said to him

yes Lord you know that I love you so he said to him tend my lambs he said to him again a second time Simon son of John do you love me he said to him yes Lord you know that I love you he said to him shepherd my sheep he said to him he said to him a third time Simon son of John do you love me Peter was grieved because he said to him a third time do you love me said to him Lord you know all things you know that I love you Jesus said to him tend my lambs three questions three questions that Jesus has for Peter the first thing I'd like to point out to you before we get into the three questions is you should ask yourself why does he ask him three times I think there's one reason and one reason only because Peter denied Jesus three times

see God's in the business of restoration and he knows exactly what we need and so as they're all sitting together eating breakfast I want you to take note of the fact that they're all sitting together eating breakfast and where had Peter said Lord even if I were to ask you everybody else abandoned you I will not where had Peter denied that he even knew Jesus in the most public way possible so where does Jesus restore Peter in the most public way possible so he looks at him and he asks the first question he says Peter do you love me more than these now there's a good deal of debate about one part of this verse the one part of this verse that there's a great deal of debate about is who are the more than these some people say that Jesus was asking

do you love me more than these fish I don't think that that's the question I think the question that Jesus was asking is do you love me more than these I think that for a couple of reasons number one because Peter had said even if everybody else abandoned you I won't as if to say I love you I won't more than these and all of the people that are surrounding Peter right now are all of the people that he said he loved Jesus more than I love you more than all these so as they're sitting around this fire warming themselves finishing up their breakfast having an interesting conversation about the amazing catch of fish that they had Peter makes that Jesus makes that direct eye contact with Peter and he says do you love me more than these Peter says

you know I love you now we must do something quickly before we go into these three questions we must identify the Greek words for love the English language is pretty inept in its ability to express itself because I love my wife and I love brownies and contrary to popular belief I do love my wife in a different way than I love brownies but we use the same word for both right I love that roller coaster ride that I went on and I love my family right We only have one word. The Greeks had multiple words. There's three main words that are used in Scripture for love. The first word that you see for love in the Greek language is the word eros.

It's a physical attraction sort of a love. We get our word erotic from that word. So it's more of a self-satisfying physical aspect of love. That word's not used here. The second Greek word that's used for love is the word phileo or phileo. It's where we get our word Philadelphia from. And it has the idea of a brotherly affection. In other words, I love you like a friend or a brother.

That's the love most of us have. But then there's a third word. And the third word in the Greek is agapeo. We often pronounce it agape. That is a divine, sacrificial love. So let me read it to you with the Greek words for love that are used here. So when Jesus comes to Peter, he says, Peter, actually that's not what he says, he says Simon. Simon, son of John, do you agape me more than these?

And Peter responds by saying, Oh Lord, you know all things. You know that I phileo you. Jesus says, do you have a sacrificial, divine love for me? And Peter says, you're a really good friend. Right? Right? That's in high school experiences every time we talk to a girl, right? Like, do you like me? You're a really good friend. And that's exactly what Peter has to do with Jesus.

He says, you're a really good friend. And I want you to notice what Jesus says. He says, tend to my lambs. Isn't it great that as he's asking this, he's going to do the same thing every time. He's going to remind him of what his calling is. You know why Peter needs to be reminded of what his calling is? Because he didn't think he was good enough to do that anymore.

He didn't think he was capable of that anymore. But Jesus reminds them that by God's grace, he can be who on his own he never could be. He comes to him a second time. It makes it a little bit easier. The second time he asks him, Simon, son of John, do you agape me? Do you notice what he left out the second time? The second time he didn't say more than these.

He's like, let's throw out the are you better than everybody else. Do you just agape me? And of course, Peter looks at him and says, Lord, you know, you know, I think that you're a really good friend. You know, I love you like a brother. Then Jesus says, shepherd my sheep. Then we come to the third question. The third question says this. Simon, son of John, do you love me like a good friend?

Do you phileo me? This is why I think it's important to point these words out, because you notice what happened this time when Jesus asked him. It says that Peter's heart was grieved. Why was Peter's heart grieved? I'll throw one suggestion out there, and then I'll tell you what I really think that it is. One suggestion is that perhaps the third time that Jesus asked him,

in the back of his mind, he heard a rooster. I kind of wonder if the third time Jesus asked him, he didn't in the back of his mind kind of hear the crowing of a rooster and see Jesus being led away as the rooster crowed and perhaps remembered exactly what he had done. And his heart was grieved. I think the real reason why his heart was grieved is because this time, Jesus brought it down to his level.

He said, Peter, do you love me like a good friend? So Peter's heart was grieved, because he knew what was true about him, and he knew that Jesus knew what was true about him. He said, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you like a good friend. He said, feed my sheep. In each of these, he still gave him that job that he was supposed to do. Well, from this, I would like to bring an application.

There's four things I want to point out to you about restoration that we pull from this story. Number one, Jesus knows who you are, and he loves you anyway. Jesus knows who you are, and he loves you anyway. I don't know about you, but the more that I get to know myself, the more I don't like me. Maybe you feel the same way. Of course, maybe the more you get to know about yourself,

the more you do like you, in which case, you're lying to yourself. Because the more I get to know about me, the more I think I don't like me very much, because I know what the real me is capable of, right? The more I've come to understand the depth of my ability to sin, the more I have a hard time believing that Jesus could actually love me. But Jesus knew what he was getting himself into when he called me to be one of his followers.

He knew what he was getting himself into when he called me to be a pastor. He knew what he was getting himself into when he called me to be a husband, and he knew what he was getting himself into when he called me to be a father. Because he knows who I really am. Do you think that Jesus, at any point in time, didn't know what was really going on in Peter's heart?

Of course he knew what was going on in Peter's heart. And yet he loved him anyway. Where are your great points of weakness in your life? Where are the areas where you have seen that you have fallen the farthest from God? Can I tell you that Jesus loves you anyway? The world seems to set standards for us that are almost impossible for anyone to achieve, but we're reminded that Jesus loves us anyway.

I'll never get the words of this quote out of my head. It was a quote by Ray Steadman. He was standing up in front of a group of Bible college students at a seminary. They were all excited to hear what he had to say. Because any time you get somebody that's a professor like him, you get really excited about this, right? You get excited to hear what biblical truths they've learned.

So as he's lecturing this group of students, he opens it up for a time of questions and answers. And at the end of the time, at the beginning of this time of questions and answers, one of the students raises his hand. He calls on him and he stands up, and he says, Could you tell me what the greatest theological truth you have learned in your years of study has ever been? And do you know how he responded to him?

Jesus loves me. This I know. For the Bible tells me so. Because there is no more powerful truth than the fact that Jesus knows exactly who you are, and he loves you anyway. Number two. You have to be honest about who you are. You have to be honest about who you are. I think the most difficult thing about restoration is truly being honest about what's really going on on the inside of me.

Truly being honest about my character and my nature. Jesus so masterfully did this with Peter. Did you notice how he went from the greater and brought him down to the lesser? He started off with like the best, right? Peter, do you have a divine sacrificial love for me? Do you love me more than any of my other followers? Do you love me more than any of these?

Now, Peter, a few weeks ago would have said, darn straight I do, I love you more than them all. Because that's what he had said, right? Lord, even if everybody else abandons you, I will not abandon you. I will die with you. Unless a little girl comes up and talks to me around a campfire, which point in time I will deny that I've ever known you. But now that Peter,

has been through the real ringer of life, and seen the greatest failure in his life, and stands there before the one who he knows, knows everything. He has to say, you know I'm doing the best I can. And that's all that I can offer you. And then Jesus brings it to the second time. Let's not worry about whether you love me more than all of these. Do you just love me with this divine sacrificial love?

And Peter has to be honest and admit, I don't. I don't. I really like you. I want to love you like that, but I don't right now. And then, of course, Jesus brings it down to his level. He says, Is this where you love me? And Peter says, yeah. That's where I am. You see, there's something very powerful about each of us finally coming to the truth of who we really are.

You see, when we first start walking with Jesus, we usually feel pretty good about us, right? Once Jesus has done some healing in our lives, we feel really good. And then, And then things begin to happen. I begin to get built up in pride. I begin to think that I'm a pretty good person. I begin to think that I've got this whole thing together. And then all of the brokenness of life hits me.

All of the guilt of life hits me. All of the things of life hit me. And pretty soon I realize, and I have to get real honest about my character and my nature. But do you know what else I have to get really honest about? I have to get really honest about my sin. I have to be honest with God about who I am in the reality of my sin. I read this in a Joe White book one time.

He was talking about the importance of confessing our sins to the Lord. And he said, when you confess, confess retail. We have a tendency to sin wholesale or sin retail and confess wholesale. Let me tell you what he meant by that. We sin in lots of little ways. And then we come to Jesus and say, God, I'm sorry I sinned today. No, get down to the nitty gritty of it.

Okay. You drug Jesus through it all. Jesus saw everything that you did today. Get serious about owning it. You see, there's something powerful about me verbalizing my sin to Jesus in confession to him and my being honest with Jesus to actually get real about the sin that's in my life. To actually call it what it is. Don't call it a mishandling of the truth.

Call it a lie. Don't call it stumbling into immorality. Call it what it is, sexual sin. Don't call it a few too many drinks. Call it alcohol. Don't call it alcoholism. Don't call it I was sharing prayer requests. Call it gossip. Call it what it is. Because there is something very powerful when I'm willing to say, Lord, this is what's really going on with me.

Because once I'm willing to do that, Jesus says, now we can do some work. Because you are not hiding anything anymore. Because you are not holding back anything anymore. See, there's something very powerful about me being honest. Not only with the reality of who I am. Not only with the reality of my sin. But can I also say this? With the reality of the emotions that I have.

I think sometimes, and I say this in particular when you're dealing with grief. I think sometimes we're too good at knowing what the right answer is. And not being honest about what the real answer is. Listen, when you're dealing with hard things in life, sometimes you're going to be mad at God. And you need to be honest about that. You need to tell God you're mad at him.

I can't say that. He knows already. He sees what's going on. He's with God about the things that are really going on in your life. And the feelings that you really have. Do you need to just yell for a little bit? God's secure enough to handle that. Are you having doubts? God's secure enough to handle that. Are you not sure that God is actually good anymore because of what you've seen happen in your life?

God can handle that. He's not insecure. The problem is, when I'm not honest with God, he can't work with me. Because you know what you call this? Honesty? You call it a wall. If that wall is up, God's a gentleman. He can't get through. Part of the process of restoration in our lives is tearing down the walls. That means being honest with God. And listen, if that means being honest with somebody else, then do that too.

But it always starts with being honest with God and who I really am. On the inside. Number three. Surrender.

Surrender. Peter had to surrender to a handful of things. You know what the first thing Peter had to surrender to was? The fact that God had forgiven him. Do you know who often the last person to forgive you is? You. And you know why? And I'm sorry, I don't want to heap more conviction on you, but it's usually because of pride. It's usually because... I shouldn't have fallen into that.

I knew better than that. I was too good for that. And yet, here I find myself. Just confess that one too, okay? Just tell Jesus about it. And he's faithful enough to forgive you. But the first thing that we have to surrender to is the fact that God has forgiven us. Again, I think that way too many people are walking around with their heads hung low because they're still living under the guilt of their sin.

And even though God has pronounced you, you have been forgiven. Which, by the way, that happened for Peter prior to this. I want you to know that. Peter had already met what Jesus wants. We're told that in Scripture. And yet, he still needed to be restored in this public way. Why? Because I think Peter had a hard time forgiving himself. I think Peter had a hard time letting go of the guilt of his sin for himself.

But we have to surrender to that aspect of forgiveness in our lives. I know that seems like an odd thing to say, but it's true. Listen, you holding on to that guilt doesn't make you more holy. You holding on to that guilt doesn't mean you're not sorry for sin. You holding on to that guilt doesn't mean that it makes you a better Christian. It actually makes you a debilitated Christian.

Letting go of that guilt will set you free. Letting go of that guilt is agreeing with the fact that Jesus' sacrifice was enough to cleanse you from all of your sin. You know what else Peter had to surrender to? The fact that now that he'd been forgiven, God wanted to use him. Again, I think that there's a good number of people that God wants to use in powerful

ways in the life of the church and the lives of the people around you, but you won't do it because you're still held down by the guilt of your sin and you won't surrender to God's plan now for your life. Oh, God can never use somebody like me. Listen up. If God can use me, he can use anybody, okay? If God can use any of the men who stand before you to preach God's word, he can use anybody.

If God can use Balaam's donkey, he can use anybody, okay? You just need to know that.

We need to surrender to what God wants to do in our lives. You know what else sometimes that we need to surrender to? Forgiving other people. Can I just be honest and say I think one of the sins that holds back the church the most, the redeemed church, is the fact that we won't forgive people. We're still holding on to bitterness. We're still holding on to anger.

We're still holding on to strife. And can I just be honest and say, I think one of the sins that holds back the church the most, is to be honest with you and tell you that that absolutely hinders the work of the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit wants to flow freely through the veins of the church. But those arteries get clogged up with the cholesterol and the bitterness.

And God's Holy Spirit can't flow. And we need to surrender to that forgiveness. Because listen, if God can forgive you, then he can give you everything that you need to forgive the people that are around you. Brothers and sisters, we need to surrender to Jesus. Number four, really simple. Come to Jesus. Come to Jesus. It's as simple as that. Listen, I was listening to this song last night as I was finishing putting all of my notes and stuff together.

And there was one line in there and it says, there's restoration for everyone who comes to the foot of the cross. I was like, man, it's just so simple. Just come to Jesus. And once you come to Jesus, don't ever leave. I'm a firm believer in the fact that there is healing in your time with Jesus. That there is healing in your own personal time with Jesus Christ.

There's healing in your own personal relationship with him. It starts with you coming to Jesus. And it finishes with you abiding in him for the rest of your life. But who are you here this morning? What are you dealing with here this morning? There's some of you that the greatest way that you can be healed in your life is to simply begin to have a personal walk with Jesus every day.

You say, yeah, I know about Jesus. I accepted Jesus at one point in time. But you never commune with him. You never meditate on the things of the word. You never spend time with Jesus. I took a group of teenagers to Young Christians Weekend last weekend, which BTW, I'm much older than I used to be. And I don't handle roller coasters as well as I used to. I held my lunch down, don't get me wrong.

But after three of them, I said, kids, you got to go do your thing. Pastor Ryan needs to sit. But when I took these kids down to Young Christians Weekend, I found it fascinating that there was one theme in what everybody shared. And the one theme in what everybody shared was, kids, you need to get into this and spend time with your Savior. Because the only way that you can look like your Savior,

the only way that you can believe your Savior, is if you know what your Savior has to say. And my friends, restoration.

Restoration comes in your personal time with Jesus. I will always remember. What Jesus did in my life.

On an old couch, in the basement of my parents' house, in Kansas City, when I simply spent time in the Word. Because I was going through hard times. I fit into the depression and anxiety category of restoration. That's what I needed restored from. And as I dealt with that, all I knew to do was say, Lord, heal me. Use your Word to heal me. So every morning, I'd wake up, and I'd get my Bible out, and I'd read, and I'd read.

And I remember for so long, I would be like, Lord, I didn't get anything out of that. And He always told me the same thing. Come back tomorrow. So I kept reading, I kept reading. And I remember hitting the book of Colossians. And all of a sudden, all that truth about what Jesus did for me on the cross began to break down my walls. It began to break down all that anxiety that I had.

And so I continued reading through. And the next year, I decided I'd read through the one-year Bible. And as I was reading through the one-year Bible on that same couch, in that same basement, I started going through the book of Leviticus. And God showed me exactly what Jesus did for me on the cross in the book of Leviticus. And I said, do you mean that's what you did?

You really took away all my sin like that? You really put it all on Jesus, and it's no longer mine to hold? It's no longer mine to live under? And He said, yes. And on that old couch, in that basement of that house in Kansas City, I was restored. I was restored through my time alone with Jesus. And so again, I don't know where everybody is in this room this morning.

I don't know where you are in your walk with Jesus Christ, or if you have a walk with Jesus Christ. But I want to share the same message with you. Come to Jesus. It starts with you coming to Jesus. It's your life. feel broken? Come to Jesus. Have you been hurt by the sins of others? Come to Jesus. Do you feel like you can't achieve that standard? Come to Jesus. Are you held down by the guilt of your sin?

Come to Jesus. Is your marriage broken? Come to Jesus. Is your life hurting? Come to Jesus. Do you have an addiction that you can't get past? Come to Jesus. Are you dealing with bitterness and unforgiveness? Bring it to Jesus. Have you lost all of the joy in your life? Come to Jesus. Does panic and anxiety overcome everything of who you are? Come to Jesus. Come to Jesus and be

restored. There's a wonderful old song that my dad used to sing. And it's, I think the title, I don't know what the title is anymore because my daughter named it lots of different things when I used to sing it to her, when she would actually let me sing to her. But the lyrics go like this. I will serve you because I love you. You have given life to me. I was nothing until you found me. You've given life to me. Heartaches, broken people,

ruined lives are why you died on Calvary. I will serve you because I love you. You have given life to me. Brothers and sisters, just come to Jesus. Let's all stand. As the worship team comes up and gets ready, I'd like to have you bow your heads with me. Father, we come to you. And Lord, I just thank you that you are alive. Lord, I thank you that you have given life to us.

Lord, I thank you for the work of the cross. And Lord, I want to lift up all the folks that are gathered here this morning, all the people that might be watching online. I just want to pray that you would do your work in their hearts and in their lives. Father, that you would minister to them, that they would know so clearly that because you live, we can have restoration in our lives. And Lord, I want to lift up those who are in need of that that are here right now. As a

matter of fact, I just want to take a minute. Just keep your head up. If that's you this morning, if I hit on something of you this morning, I just want you to agree with me in prayer by putting your hand up right now. If there's an aspect of restoration that you need in your life right now, I just want you to put your hand up. Praise the Lord. If you're online

and you're watching, I want you to do the same thing because I'm going to pray right now for you. And I just want you to agree with me in prayer. Lord, I just lift up the hands that are up in this room right now. Lord, I know that that represents a soul. It has some aspect of brokenness in their lives. And Lord, they need restored. Father, they need that work that only your Holy Spirit can do, that only a living Savior can do in their

lives. And Father, as they put their hands up, I know that means that they want to come to Jesus. And so Lord, meet them where they are. Meet them by the power of your Holy Spirit and bring that healing and that restoration that they need in their lives. In Jesus' name. Amen. May the Lord bless you today. Enjoy your time with your family. Jesus is alive. Amen. Lord bless. Y'all have a great week.