Placerville Church of the Nazarene

Restoration

Mustang – my Dad did something right. (photo)

John 21:15-19

15 After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.”

“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.

16 Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.” “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.

17A third time he asked him, “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 that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.

18 1 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 are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will dress you and take you where you don’t want to go.”

16 Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God.

Then Jesus told him, “Follow me.”

Jesus met His disciples on the beach (photo -Jesus by fire) where He had already prepared breakfast for them. This scene must have stirred Peter’s memory and touched his conscience.

Surely Peter was recalling that first catch of fish and even the feeding of the 5,000 with bread and fish.

(photo -Peter by fire) The “charcoal fire” would remind him of the fire at which he denied the Lord.

Peter messed up by the fire in the courtyard. (John 18:18) Peter denied the Lord three times at that charcoal fire. Peter needed restoration. And Jesus could provide it.

(photo – Jesus w/ Peter)First Jesus loving allows Peter to dry off, get warm, satisfy his hunger and enjoy personal fellowship. All this before his spiritual needs are dealt with.

This is a good example for us to follow as we care for God’s people. Certainly the spiritual is more important than the physical, but caring for the physical can prepare the way for spiritual ministry.

It is good for us to remember the past; all of us have taken things (and even people) for granted and we have things to confess. We all need restoration.

Remember the Good old days – we could go to a restaurant, a sporting event, a play, we could go to church!

The virus is keeping us from these wonderful things today. But it is much worse when we cannot enjoy real life because of something else that blocks our way, SIN!

Peter followed Jesus for three years and he sinned.

We follow Jesus and sometimes sin too.

When we mess up, and sin, we need restoration too.

The Path to Restoration

Confess the sin in prayer to Jesus.

Peter and the Lord had already met privately and no doubt taken care of Peter’s sins. Luke 24 and 1 Corinthians 15 state that Peter had a meeting with Jesus on Easter Sunday.

The Path to Restoration

Do you love me?

The key issue is Peter’s love for the Lord. This is the key matter for us today. Do I love Jesus?

CharChar -” I love you” and then “I love you more” and then “I love you to the moon” and then to “infinity and beyond”!

Jesus asked Peter “do you love me more than these?” The question probably meant, “Do you love Me—as you claimed—more than these other disciples love Me?”

 

Peter had boasted of his love for Christ and had even

contrasted it with that of the other men.

“I’m ready to die for you.” (John 13:37)

“Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert

you.” (Matt. 26:33)

These statements tell us that Peter thought that he loved

Jesus more than the other disciples loved Jesus.

Peter did love Jesus and was not ashamed to admit it.

He did later die for that wholehearted belief.

The Path to Restoration

Serve. Feed my sheep.

Both the lambs and the more mature sheep need feeding and leading, and that is the task of the spiritual shepherd. It is an awesome responsibility to be a shepherd of God’s flock!

We toured a little last week. We made the rounds of some of the flock. (Sorry if we missed you)

I loved going to some of our people’s homes and seeing them. Several said: “We se

Lockdown Limbo

Everything has changed. In a matter of days our world changed. • Lockdown! (photo – baby) Shelter in place without going crazy. Now what? Limbo!

(photo – Christ in Limbo, Bosch) The idea of “limbo” origi­nated in some Roman Catholic traditions that a soul dwells in a state of Limbo between heaven and hell after this life.

Limbo of the Patriarchs (photo) is seen as a temporary place or state of those who died in the friendship with God but could not enter Heaven until the redemption by Christ.

Limbo of the Infants (photo) is applied to children who die before being baptized.

The church has stepped away from the theory of Limbo as recently as April 2007.

Perhaps one idea of Limbo comes from Matthew 27:50-53

5° Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit.

51 At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

The earth shook, rocks split apart,

52 and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead.

5’1 They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.

These chosen saints who resurrected after Jesus arose on Easter Sunday began to walk around the Holy City. What a trip it would have been to see people who were dead for ten or hundreds of years cruising around Jerusalem!

Notice they rose from the dead the moment Jesus died and waited until Sunday, after Passover, to enter the city.

A 2nd view of limbo is defined by Merriam-Webster as:

an intermediate or transitional place or state;

a state of restraint, confinement, neglect or oblivion; “The graduate was in limbo for a while, trying to decide what to do next.”

a state of

I feel like I am in limbo today. Lockdown limbo.

Are you in a state of limbo? Uncertainty?

Now what? What do we do while we are waiting – in limbo?

That was a question for the disciples.

It was after Easter and before Pentecost.

They had followed Jesus three years.

They expected great things: A Kingdom of God, the removal

Roman oppressors, and to Rule this new Kingdom.

Then Jesus died and with Him their hopes and dreams.

But He came back. Now what?

John 21:1-14

‘Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it

2 Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin). Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other

Simon Peter said, “I’m going“

We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.

‘At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was.

“He called out, “Fellows (boys), have you caught any fish?” “No,” they replied.

“Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!”

So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.

7 Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!”

When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore.

“The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore.

When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread.

“Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus said.

 

“ So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn’t torn.

12 “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said.

None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.

13 Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish.

14This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead.

When you are in Limbo – go fishing.

But you won’t catch anything without Jesus’ help.

Gone fishing. Back to the familiar, returning to his old occu-

pation.

Why? Did he not have anythin

Hey Kidz! Grab a chair and listen close as Pastor Sean discusses being in Limbo, Are you ready for some fun?!

Do you believe?

Between Easter and Pentecost we find people struggling to believe. I like evidence, proofs, on which to base my beliefs.

I had an early crisis of belief. Greenwood Boys’ club.

(photo, team) I sold stuff to play sports. Boxes of chocolates, M&M’s, Candy Bars.

I had to believe in what I sold to sell well.

When I was a kid you could get a candy bar for a nickel. Big ones for a dime.

Then came the $1.00, big candy bars. Tough sell. (photo World’s Finest, kids) How could I sell $1 candy bars, even if they were the World’s Finest and they were pretty big, for a dollar!

World’s Finest Chocolate’s history (photo, Edmond Opler) traces back to 1908, when founder Edmond Opler, Sr. went to work at 12 years old to support his family after his father died. He had faith he could do something great. He believed. In 1949, Ed pioneered chocolate product fundraising with the World’s Finest Milk Chocolate.

(photo, box of candy)

I learned to believe in those candy bars. At first, a hard sell. But everyone has $1. No making change.

People bought the candy bar because they wanted to help me play sports at the Greenwood Boys Club and they wanted to get rid of me from their doorstep or office.

I sold hundreds of candy bars at my mom’s office building in downtown Seattle. In sixth grade I won the contest for the most sold. I really believed.

In chapter 20, John describes the responses of people confronted with evidence of Jesus’ resurrection. They generally reacted in one of four ways:

Some believed with direct evidence.

Mary was confused and doubtful at the tomb until she saw the risen Lord with her own eyes.

Mary spoke to angels and to Jesus himself. He called her by name. Jesus knows your name too. But we don’t live in that special time between the resurrection and ascension, but Mary did.

John 20:18

Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

She was blessed to see and speak to the Lord directly.

Some believed with indirect

Peter and John responded to the initial report with curiosity, and skepticism when they viewed the empty tomb and saw the grave wrappings, they wondered if He had risen.

John 20:8-10

Then (John) went in, and he saw and believed— for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. “‘Then they went home. John went in to the empty tomb and he saw and believed. What did he see? Nothing! It was empty. Indirect evidence helps people believe. Later they too became eye witnesses.

Some were slow to believe even with direct evidence. They initially responded to the Lord’s presence with fear and then slowly accepted the reality of His resurrection.

Last week, Pastor Sean talked about Thomas, who was slow to believe. John 20:26-28

Eight days later the disciples were together again, awl this time Thomas was with them.

The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before. Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you, he said.

17 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”

2R “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.

 

Some believed without evidence, indirect or direct. Some believed based on the promises of Old Testament Scripture, the predictions of Jesus, and the testimony of credible witnesses.

John 20:29

Then Jesus told him (Thomas), You believe because you have seen me.

Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” Wait, you can believe without seeing.

believe in the Effel Tower (photo) although I have never seen it. I’ve seen pictures, I know people who have seen it. So I believe too.

Jesus never questioned the need for evidence in matters of faith. He offered “signs and wonder” to validate His identity and to authenticate His message.

However, He was selective in His use of tangible evidence, because He knew that no amount of proof will satisfy a skeptic. During His public ministry, Jesus rarely

Join us for an encouraging message from our Associate Pastor Sean Carpenter. Today’s Pastor Sean is speaking to about John 20:24-31 and is entitled SCARS: Beacons of Victory.

Here’s hope for those tired of being in lock down. An encouraging message from Lead Pastor Steve Dickerson.

Pastor Steve gives an encouraging message about Understanding the way to Peace on this sixth Sunday day of Lent!

Lead Pastor Steve Dickerson speaks of Sacrifice from Romans 12:1-13 on this fifth Sunday of Lent.

Pastor Steve Dickerson speaks about preparation on this fourth Sunday of Lent. Taken from John 6:27-40

This week we are in the third Sunday of Lent. Pastor Steve is Speaking about what it means to Rise Again!