Hope Unlimited Church

Vacillation: To waver in the mind – an inability to take a stand

Matthew 16:13 NLT
*When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”*

Matthew 16:14 NLT
“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

Matthew 16:15-16 NLT
Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered…

Mark 14:32-34
They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”

Matthew 16:15 NLT
Jesus asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

Matthew 16:16 NLT
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Matthew 16:17 NLT
Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.

Matthew 16:18 NIV
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

Point #1 - When we allow the Holy Spirit to REVEAL the word, the COVER’S off and we live the word…

Matthew 16:21 NLT
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Matthew 16:22 NLT
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

Matthew 16:23 NLT
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Mark 14:27-31 ESV
“You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

In Matthew 26:73-75
Peter has already denied Jesus twice here’s his 3rd… “After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.”

Mark 16:7 NIV
But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

Luke 15:12-14 NLT
12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. 14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve.

Luke 15:17-20 NLT
17 “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you,19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’
20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.

Key #1
He’s not going to leave you where he finds you

Luke 15:22-23 NLT
22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast,

Luke 15:24
for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.

Key #2
Don’t miss the Party

Luke 15:28-31 NLT
28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’
31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours.

Key #3
God doesn’t celebrate faithfulness, He rewards faithfulness!

Hebrews 11:6 NIV
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

KEY SCRIPTURE: 1 Peter 5:8 (NLT)
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

LONELINESS IS A SIGNAL

GENESIS 2:18 (NLT)
Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”

Craving to be UNDERSTOOD

Genesis 37:4 (MSG)
When his brothers realized that their father loved him more than them, they grew to hate him—they wouldn’t even speak to him.

Genesis 37: 26-27 (NLT)
26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime. 27 Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother—our own flesh and blood!” And his brothers agreed.

Craving to be KNOWN

Genesis 40:14 (NLT)
And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place.

GENESIS 40:23 (NLT)
Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought.

Craving to be NOTICED


I WILL SEEK JESUS

JOHN 6:35 (NLT)
Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

I WILL SEEK PURPOSE


I WILL SEEK CONNECTION

HEBREWS 10: 24-25 (NLT)
24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Hebrews 4:2 PRMS
We heard the exact same message of God’s grace found in Christ as they did, but because they didn't receive it by faith, it did them absolutely no good.

Point #1 Condemnation Conversations

Point #2 - The speck & The Beam

Matthew 7:3-5 NET
Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while there is a beam in your own? 5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Matthew 7:1-2 NIV
Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

2 Corinthians 3:7-9 NIV
Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!

Point #3 - The Two Voices

James 1:22-25 NIV
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

James 1:23
Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror

James 1:24
and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

James 1:25
But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.