Bible Study

Don't just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon:

Sermon Notes

• Theme: Jesus restores us from failure not by ignoring our wounds, but by healing them — and then calling us back into mission.
• Introduction
  • Comparison to military standards: Are we disqualified by spiritual failure?
  • Jesus' mission continues through imperfect people.
• Peter’s Failure and Shame
  • Peter denied Jesus three times.
  • Carries guilt, fear, and brokenness.
• Jesus Heals Through Painful Restoration
  • Jesus recreates the setting of Peter’s denial (charcoal fire).
  • Asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?” — one for each denial.
  • Calls Peter's love back to the center.
• Restoration to Leadership
  • Jesus entrusts Peter with responsibility: “Feed my sheep.”
  • Not just forgiveness — but restored trust and calling.
• Your past doesn’t disqualify you from God’s purpose.
  • But healing may be needed first — emotionally and spiritually.
  • Jesus exposes wounds not to shame, but to set us free.
  • Leadership and mission flow from love for Jesus.
  • Jesus wants you healed, free, and ready to serve.

Sermon Application

Discussion Questions:

1. Why did John include the detail about the charcoal fire?
2. Why is our love for Jesus important for service and mission (not simply his love for us)?
3. Should trust be restored after forgiveness? When might that be important and when might it be problematic?
4. Can you share about some way the Lord brought healing to your soul that helped free you up to serve him and others?
5. Can a person offer healthy leadership without emotional and spiritual health?

Questions?

Do you have a question about today’s sermon? Email Randy Forrester (

).

Bible Study

Don't just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon:

.

Sermon Notes

Jesus gives his disciples responsibility and authority in his mission (John 20:21). John's epilogue (chapter 21) offers some important insights about participating in the mission through a fishing trip and breakfast on the beach.

1. If you try to accomplish the mission of Jesus in your own power, you will come up empty (represented by the disciples' unsuccessful all-night fishing trip).
2. Jesus is Lord of the mission, so listen to him (represented by the miraculous catch of fish at Jesus' direction).
3. The mission is sustained through fellowship with the living Lord (represented by the breakfast on the beach: encountering Jesus in a new way and being fed by him).

Sermon Application

Discussion Questions:

1. Review: What were some of the reasons Randy suggested that this fishing trip (though historical) is symbolizing mission?
2. Define God's mission.  What's included? Can your work be part of God's mission - why or why not?
3. How can we know if we're pursuing mission (variously defined) apart from Jesus? What might it look like to do mission connected to Jesus?
4. Can you think of a time when you listened for the Lord's instructions in mission, ministry, even work? What was the result?
5. What are practices that might help us see Jesus in new ways and receive spiritual nourishment from him?

Questions?

Do you have a question about today’s sermon? Email Randy Forrester (

).

Bible Study

Don't just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon:

.

Sermon Outline

• The life Jesus gives
• The community Jesus wants
• The way to a Jesus kind of community

Sermon Questions

1. What are the differences between bios, psychē, and zoē?
2. What does the term "lifestyle savior" suggest to you? Can you spot any in your own life?
3. What would it look like to take just one step deeper into life together with other apprentices of Jesus here at St Andrew's?

Resources Consulted

• David Ford, The Gospel of John (Baker Academic, 2021)
• Richard Bauckham, "The Lord's Day," in DA Carson (ed.), From Sabbath to Lord's Day (Wipf & Stock, 1999), pp.221ff
• Raymond Brown, The Gospel according to John (Doubleday, 1966)
• C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Mere Christianity

Questions?

Do you have a question about today's sermon? Email Sam Fornecker (

).

Bible Study

Don't just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon:

Questions?

Do you have a question about today's sermon? Email Steve Wood (

).

Guest Preacher :: Chris Hancock

Bible Study

Don't just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon:

Sermon Outline

• Jesus asked the bystanders to remove the stone from the entrance of the grave of Lazarus.
• Jesus called Lazarus out the grave.
• When Lazarus was raised, Jesus asked the people gathered to unbind him from the grave clothes and let him go.

Sermon Questions

1. What are the stones that are keeping you in the grave of unbelief...?
2. Have you experienced the new life Christ gives in the resurrection power?
3. What are those things that are binding you to the grave clothes(your old nature)?
4. How does the community's involvement in Lazarus' restoration challenge us to support others in our church or community?

Bible Study

Don't just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon:

.

Sermon Notes

Jesus heals a man blind from birth. The religious leaders are upset because he healed on the Sabbath. A conflict ensues that reveals that the blind man has gained true spiritual sight through faith in Christ, while the religious leaders show their blindness through their refusal to believe, despite the evidence of the healing.

Sermon Application

Discussion Questions:

1. Why is self-perception an important factor for seeing and believing in Jesus?
2. What is a common example of self-perception in Western culture?
3. For those who believe in Jesus, how can we exhibit both humble teachability and bold confidence in the gospel?
4. What are pieces of evidence that led you to faith in Christ (or sustains you in your current faith)? Give examples of both experiential evidence (something that happened to you) and intellectual evidence (something you came to understand).
5. What do we risk by putting our faith in Jesus? Can you give any personal examples of your faith costing you something?
6. Why is worship this man's first response to encountering Jesus as the Light of the World? What does worship look like for you? Is it easy or hard for you to worship?

Questions?

Do you have a question about today’s sermon? Email Randy Forrester (

).

Bible Study

Don't just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon:

Sermon Outline

• Jesus continues in His public ministry by preaching in the synagogues
• His reputation is growing and crowds gather to hear him speak
• The Pharisees are jealous of Jesus’ rising popularity and try to set a trap.
• The Pharisees bring forth a woman caught in the act of adultery and try to force Jesus into a no win situation.
• Jesus flips the script on the Pharisees, exposes the Pharisees for who they are, and offers mercy to the woman.

Sermon Questions

1. Why were the Pharisees threatened by Jesus?  Whey were they jealous of this fellow Jew?
2. What was the trap into which the Pharisees were trying to force Jesus?
3. How did Jesus flip the script on the Pharisees?
4. What was the brilliance in His response to the Pharisees?
5. How is the beauty of the gospel displayed in this historical account?

Resources

Holiness by J.C. Ryle, referenced at the beginning of the sermon, is

.

Questions?

Do you have a question about today's sermon? Email Tim Winkler (

).

Bible Study

Don’t just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon: Isaiah 55:1-3; John 6:1-15

Questions?

Do you have a question about today’s sermon? Email Simon Guillebaud ([email protected]).

Bible Study

Don't just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon:

.

Sermon Notes

Jesus skillfully used questions to lead people into the Kingdom of God (that is, following him in a relationship of faith). In our passage he poses an open-ended penetrating question to a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years.  The question goes beneath his obvious need for physical healing to reveal a deeper need of healing for the mind and the soul.

Sermon Application

Discussion Questions:

1. Describe a question that changed your life.
2. What sickness of mind is this man experiencing?
3. Have you ever experienced hopelessness in a situation you faced? What led to this feeling? How did you regain hope?
4. What sickness of soul is this man experiencing?
5. What does Jesus say to him in the Temple after his healing? Why is this urgent?
6. Do you believe all people are sinful? How can we be healed of sin?
7. Can you think of a time when God used an unanswered prayer to do a deeper work of transformation in your life?

Questions?

Do you have a question about today’s sermon? Email Randy Forrester (

).