Latest / Voddie Baucham Sermons / Voddie Baucham - Failure Is Not Final - John 21_ 15-19

Transcript

Voddie Baucham - Failure Is Not Final - John 21_ 15-19 · Voddie Baucham Sermons

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: All right, thank you very much. My name is Kondela Nkosi.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: I'm the deacon on duty for the month. I'll be
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: bringing you the notices for today by way of reminder
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: and for your information for some who may not be aware.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: The first one is to do with the men's ministry.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: As you may have known, and I think a number
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: of men already know, we're scheduled to have the men's
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: retreat this past weekend, but it was rescheduled due to
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: some issues events that came up. So it's been scheduled
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: for the 8th to the 9th of December. So the
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: men's retreat will be held on the 8th to the
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: 9th of December following the postponement. The second announcement is
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: to do with the events ministry. Again, another postponement. There's
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: supposed to be a couples retreat which has been moved
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: from the 8th to the 9th of December to the
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: 15th to the 16th of December. The venue is likely
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: either Protea Chisamba or Chaminuka. The deadline for payments is
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: this month end, and there's been an appeal from the
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: ministry that the payments have been slow. Those who registered
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: are encouraged to make up payments. For further details, you
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: can visit the information desk.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: Outside.
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: The third announcement is.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: To do with the ladies' ministries.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: The ladies' ministry and the notice is that the ladies'
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: breakfast will be on this Saturday, that's 19th November, at
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: 7am in the morning. For further details regarding the venue
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: and what not, you may visit the information desk as well.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: But all women, young ladies and older women are encouraged
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: to attend this monthly meeting. The fourth announcement regards our
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: ministry to the Jack compound. As some of you may
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: be aware, every month we've been undertaking blanket visitations and
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: crusades in Jack Compound. So the last event in Jack
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Compound for this year will be a Christmas evangelistic supper.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: A Christmas evangelistic supper, and that will be on Thursday,
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: 14th December, just there in Jack. So prior to this supper,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: we'll have a blanket visitation on the 10th of December.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: So the idea is all of us will go into
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Jack Compound and issue out invitations for this supper so
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: that men and women may come and they'll be exposed
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: to the gospel and there'll be a meal shared. So
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: all members are encouraged to participate, to pray for the meeting,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: but also see how best they can put their hands
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: to the plow.
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: I think that's it.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: By way of notices for today. I'll ask our brother
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: Freeman to come up and lead us in the worship service.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: Good morning, church.
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: As per usual, I'll do it again.
• 3:07
  Speaker 5: Good morning, church. Thank you very much. It's indeed a
• 3:11
  Speaker 5: pleasure to be in the house of the Lord this morning,
• 3:16
  Speaker 5: as always, because we are aware that the Lord is good,
• 3:25
  Speaker 5: and the Lord that we serve, we are serving a
• 3:29
  Speaker 5: living God. before we go too much further, I just
• 3:35
  Speaker 5: want us to probably bow our heads and pray, and
• 3:39
  Speaker 5: then I'll do a court worship.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: Shall we pray?
• 3:48
  Speaker 5: Our Father in heaven, we are indeed humbled this morning
• 3:53
  Speaker 5: as we have entered into your sanctuary and your temple dwelling,
• 3:56
  Speaker 5: O God. We are so pleased, O God, that we
• 4:00
  Speaker 5: can come before your throne this morning with our hearts
• 4:05
  Speaker 5: full of gratitude, with our hearts full of humility, knowing
• 4:09
  Speaker 5: that we are worshipping and we are before the throne
• 4:13
  Speaker 5: of the Most High, the Holy One, and the true God.
• 4:17
  Speaker 5: Mighty Father, we are so pleased that you've made it
• 4:20
  Speaker 5: possible for us to be here this morning, that for
• 4:24
  Speaker 5: us to be healthy enough to be here and worship you.
• 4:29
  Speaker 5: Tenor Father, we know The dispensation of the hearts that
• 4:33
  Speaker 5: we have is to sin. And for this reason, oh Father,
• 4:36
  Speaker 5: we know and we are grateful that through the righteousness
• 4:41
  Speaker 5: that you have imputed unto us from the Lord Jesus
• 4:44
  Speaker 5: Christ who died and paid for our sins, we can
• 4:47
  Speaker 5: come before your throne with confidence and with the hope
• 4:51
  Speaker 5: that whatever we are going to ask you, oh God,
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: according to your own will is going to be answered
• 4:59
  Speaker 5: and going to be given unto us. So, Eternal Father,
• 5:02
  Speaker 5: we ask you this morning that may our prayers that
• 5:08
  Speaker 5: we are going to pray unto you be acceptable and
• 5:11
  Speaker 5: may they come to you as sweet answers. Eternal Father,
• 5:15
  Speaker 5: we are so grateful to your unwavering grace and we
• 5:18
  Speaker 5: are so grateful that you have delivered us from our
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: sins and that today we can even worship you. We
• 5:25
  Speaker 5: ask you, Father, to imbue the Holy Spirit among us
• 5:29
  Speaker 5: the men that are going to be standing before you,
• 5:32
  Speaker 5: particularly we want to ask you, O God, to fill
• 5:36
  Speaker 5: our brother, Dr. Vody, who is going to bring your
• 5:39
  Speaker 5: words to us this morning, fill him with your Holy
• 5:42
  Speaker 5: Spirit so that he can speak that which is upon
• 5:44
  Speaker 5: your heart. Also ask you, O Father, to be with
• 5:47
  Speaker 5: me as I lead your people before your worship and
• 5:50
  Speaker 5: that I may do this to the glory and honor
• 5:53
  Speaker 5: of your holy name. Also ask you, O Father, that
• 5:56
  Speaker 5: you be with our brother, Kevin Kaonda as he comes
• 5:59
  Speaker 5: with the intercessory prayer, as well as our brother Nathan
• 6:03
  Speaker 5: as he comes with the Bible reading. We ask you,
• 6:05
  Speaker 5: O Father, that may the worship that we bring unto
• 6:07
  Speaker 5: you be an acceptable worship. We pray all these things,
• 6:12
  Speaker 5: asking through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: for his sake.
• 6:16
  Speaker 4: Amen.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: For the call to worship, I would ask us to.
• 6:27
  Speaker 5: Come to the book of Psalms. Psalm number 96. Psalm
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: number 96 verse 8 to 13. Psalm 96 verse 8
• 6:40
  Speaker 5: to 13. If you don't have a Bible with you.
• 6:44
  Speaker 5: If you don't have a Bible. We do have some
• 6:47
  Speaker 5: Bibles behind. So you can kindly just raise up your hand.
• 6:50
  Speaker 5: And the ushers are going to bring to you a Bible.
• 6:54
  Speaker 5: So kindly raise up your hand.
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: Hi, and.
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: The ushers are going to bring you a Bible. Psalm 96.
• 7:04
  Speaker 5: I'm going to start reading from verse 8. Ascribe to
• 7:13
  Speaker 5: the Lord the glory due His name. Bring an offering
• 7:17
  Speaker 5: and come into His courts. Worship the Lord in the
• 7:21
  Speaker 5: splendor of holiness. Tremble before Him, O the earth. Say
• 7:27
  Speaker 5: among the nations, the Lord reigns. Yes, the world is established.
• 7:33
  Speaker 5: It shall never be moved. He will judge the peoples
• 7:36
  Speaker 5: with equity. Let the heavens be glad and let the
• 7:40
  Speaker 5: earth rejoice. Let the sea roar and all that fills it.
• 7:48
  Speaker 5: Let the field exult and everything in it. Then shall
• 7:53
  Speaker 5: all the trees of the forest sing for joy. before
• 7:56
  Speaker 5: the Lord for he comes for he comes to judge
• 8:02
  Speaker 5: the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and
• 8:08
  Speaker 5: the people in his.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: Faithfulness. There ends the reading of God's word.
• 8:20
  Speaker 5: As we start worshipping our Lord through singing of songs.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: I have.
• 8:32
  Speaker 5: Been reminded this morning of the devotion I had in
• 8:37
  Speaker 5: the book of Romans, Romans 8, which was talking about
• 8:43
  Speaker 5: nothing and absolutely nothing can separate us from the love.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: Of God which we have in Christ.
• 8:50
  Speaker 5: This was a very comforting scripture for me, and after
• 8:54
  Speaker 5: reading it, I felt very I have to come here
• 8:59
  Speaker 5: and sing for joy, for there is nothing on earth
• 9:02
  Speaker 5: that is created that can separate it from the love
• 9:06
  Speaker 5: of God. Stand with me as we sing to God
• 9:08
  Speaker 5: with joy. The song entitled, Redeemed, How I Love to
• 9:14
  Speaker 5: Proclaim It. Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It.
• 9:35
  Speaker 6: He seemed how I loved to proclaim it, written by the.
• 9:43
  Speaker 7: Blood of the Lamb.
• 9:45
  Speaker 6: Reading through his blood.
• 9:49
  Speaker 7: I've received his child and forevermore.
• 9:50
  Speaker 8: Redeemed, redeemed Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb Redeemed,
• 10:06
  Speaker 8: redeemed Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed by the blood.
• 10:33
  Speaker 7: Of the Lamb. His child I'm.
• 10:53
  Speaker 6: Forever I am I know I shall see.
• 11:12
  Speaker 7: Let me start in the night.
• 11:17
  Speaker 6: Redeemed, redeemed. Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.
• 11:58
  Speaker 5: Thank you so much for that powerful singing. Indeed, we
• 12:01
  Speaker 5: have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. And
• 12:04
  Speaker 5: as we continue singing.
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: To the Lord.
• 12:09
  Speaker 5: I would ask us that we continue standing and sing
• 12:12
  Speaker 5: the next song, which I know is my wife's favorite.
• 12:15
  Speaker 5: I know she's going to be very excited to sing
• 12:17
  Speaker 5: this song. These are the days of Elijah. These are
• 12:23
  Speaker 5: the days of Elijah.
• 12:35
  Speaker 6: These are the days of Elijah, declaring the way of
• 12:42
  Speaker 6: the Lord. And these are the days of the servant Moses,
• 12:51
  Speaker 6: righteousness being restored. Oh, all these are days of betrayal
• 13:02
  Speaker 6: Of famine and darkness and sorrow Till we are the
• 13:08
  Speaker 6: boys in the desert Crying, repenting the way of the
• 13:16
  Speaker 6: Lord Before he comes Riding on the clouds Shining like
• 13:24
  Speaker 6: the sun As the trumpets roll, lift your voice, and
• 13:31
  Speaker 6: get up to believe. God loves Zion, still salvation comes. Peace, peace,
• 13:44
  Speaker 6: all is secure. The tribals be coming as friends. These
• 13:53
  Speaker 6: are the days of your servant, David rebuilding a temple
• 13:59
  Speaker 6: of praise. These are the days of the harvest, the
• 14:05
  Speaker 6: field that is white in your hand. And we are
• 14:10
  Speaker 6: the laborers. The Word of the Lord Behold He comes
• 14:26
  Speaker 6: Riding on the clouds Shining like the sun At the
• 14:33
  Speaker 6: trumpet call Lift your voice To the year of jubilee
• 14:40
  Speaker 6: Now the violence in salvation comes There's no God like Jehovah.
• 14:51
  Speaker 9: There's no God like Jehovah.
• 14:53
  Speaker 6: Behold He comes, riding on the clouds, shining like the sun.
• 15:17
  Speaker 6: At the trumpet call, lift your voice. It's the year
• 15:22
  Speaker 6: of jubilee. I will die until salvation comes. Hold me, God.
• 15:32
  Speaker 6: Riding on the clouds, shining like the sun. At the
• 15:39
  Speaker 6: trumpet call, lift your voice.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: It's the year of jubilee.
• 15:47
  Speaker 6: Out of Zion till salvation comes.
• 15:54
  Speaker 5: Alright, I know you can guess it. I would ask
• 15:58
  Speaker 5: that we do from the second stanza again, please. This
• 16:03
  Speaker 5: song is a very nice song. I want it to
• 16:05
  Speaker 5: sound very nice and then we move from it.
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: Please.
• 16:21
  Speaker 6: These are the days of the secure, the dry bones
• 16:28
  Speaker 6: becoming as flesh. And these are the days of your servant,
• 16:36
  Speaker 6: dealing with rebuilding a temple of grace.
• 16:41
  Speaker 7: And these are the.
• 16:44
  Speaker 6: Days of the martyr, He'll turn us white in your world.
• 16:53
  Speaker 6: And we are the labors in your vineyard. Declaring the
• 17:00
  Speaker 6: word of the Lord. Behold he comes. Riding on the clouds.
• 17:08
  Speaker 6: Shining like the sun. The trumpet called, lift your voice,
• 17:15
  Speaker 6: it's the year of jubilee, the hour of science, it's
• 17:21
  Speaker 6: our occasion come.
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: There's no God like Jehovah.
• 17:28
  Speaker 9: There's no God like Jehovah. There's no God like Jehovah.
• 17:34
  Speaker 9: There's no God like Jehovah. There's no God like Jehovah.
• 17:39
  Speaker 9: There's no God like Jehovah. Behold He comes, riding on the.
• 17:43
  Speaker 6: Clouds, shining like the sun. As the trumpets roll, lift
• 17:57
  Speaker 6: your voice It's the year of jubilee Out of Zion's
• 18:03
  Speaker 6: hill salvation comes Behold He comes Riding on the clouds
• 18:12
  Speaker 6: Shining like the sun As the trumpets roll, lift your
• 18:18
  Speaker 6: voice It's the year of jubilee Out of silence new
• 18:25
  Speaker 6: salvation comes.
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: Thank you very much for that wonderful singing.
• 18:35
  Speaker 5: I would ask us that we continue singing to the
• 18:37
  Speaker 5: Lord and we continue standing as we do this. A
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: Bemba song entitled, in English it's entitled, In the Land
• 18:46
  Speaker 5: of Fearless Day. Now we're going to sing this one
• 18:49
  Speaker 5: in Bemba. I'm sure this is going to be a
• 18:51
  Speaker 5: very familiar song to you. So let us continue singing
• 18:54
  Speaker 5: to the Lord by singing the song, In the Land
• 18:57
  Speaker 5: of Faithless Day.
• 19:01
  Speaker 6: In the land of faithless day. Thank you. Shabbat shalom.
• 20:09
  Speaker 7: Thank you.
• 20:40
  Speaker 6: Let's sing together. The Lord is with you. The Lord
• 21:11
  Speaker 6: is with you. The Lord is with you. The Lord
• 21:20
  Speaker 6: is with you. Thank you very much for that wonderful singing.
• 21:53
  Speaker 5: And I would have been glad to interpret to you,
• 21:56
  Speaker 5: some of you that don't understand what this song means,
• 21:58
  Speaker 5: but unfortunately I can only do a bit in the
• 22:01
  Speaker 5: fourth verse. Which means that they don't need the sun
• 22:08
  Speaker 5: in that land because Christ is the light.
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: There is no night. Thank you very much, Uncle Kevin.
• 22:39
  Speaker 10: Good morning to you all. Okay, it looks like people
• 22:44
  Speaker 10: are still... Good morning to you all. I think that's better.
• 22:49
  Speaker 10: I will ask our brother, Pastor... Joseph Tisola to come
• 22:53
  Speaker 10: up so that I just have a little chat with
• 22:57
  Speaker 10: him when you're hearing.
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: Joseph.
• 23:27
  Speaker 10: Some of you will remember our brother, Pastor Joseph Tisola,
• 23:32
  Speaker 10: who was with us for the month of.
• 23:39
  Speaker 10: Who was with us for two months. That's September and October.
• 23:46
  Speaker 10: Doing his internship with us. You will recall that he
• 23:49
  Speaker 10: came from Kawata Baptist Church. And then after 31st October,
• 23:54
  Speaker 10: he has since... gone back to Kawata Baptist Church to
• 23:59
  Speaker 10: go and complete his internship from there by the end
• 24:04
  Speaker 10: of this year. So just ask him a few questions
• 24:07
  Speaker 10: and also get him to say a few fair words
• 24:12
  Speaker 10: at the end. So maybe to begin with, perhaps you
• 24:15
  Speaker 10: can draw closer to the pulpit.
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: Would you.
• 24:22
  Speaker 10: I know we had... asked your family to stand and
• 24:25
  Speaker 10: so on when you were with us. But would you
• 24:29
  Speaker 10: just briefly tell us about your wife and your family?
• 24:33
  Speaker 6: Good morning, Church.
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: Good morning, Church.
• 24:42
  Speaker 11: Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity in
• 24:45
  Speaker 11: order to just talk briefly about my family.
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: As you've heard, my name is George Sola.
• 24:52
  Speaker 11: I'm married to Blessings. I'll ask her to stand. She's
• 24:56
  Speaker 11: there with the kids. The girl is our firstborn, Faith.
• 25:01
  Speaker 11: And then the second one, the boy, that's Joseph. I've
• 25:05
  Speaker 11: given him all my names, so he's junior. We've been
• 25:08
  Speaker 11: married for four years, and we are turning five years
• 25:12
  Speaker 11: in December, on the 22nd of December. I think that's
• 25:18
  Speaker 11: what I can say briefly about the family. So it's
• 25:20
  Speaker 11: four years, so that's why I don't have so much
• 25:22
  Speaker 11: to say.
• 25:26
  Speaker 10: Thank you very much. Would you like to comment on
• 25:31
  Speaker 10: your experience while you were with us for the two
• 25:34
  Speaker 10: months of September and October as a pastoral intern?
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so Hillview is... I want to describe it in
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: my own words.
• 25:47
  Speaker 9: Right.
• 25:49
  Speaker 11: Hillview is a church that when you come to, you
• 25:55
  Speaker 11: hit the road running. There's no time for, you need
• 26:00
  Speaker 11: to fit in, you need to settle, there's no settling down.
• 26:03
  Speaker 11: Once you come, you find that the church is really
• 26:07
  Speaker 11: on the move. And I think that for me has
• 26:10
  Speaker 11: been a great experience. From the first day I came,
• 26:13
  Speaker 11: that was on a Friday. When I just reported, pastor
• 26:17
  Speaker 11: told me there was work. So I knew that I'd
• 26:20
  Speaker 11: come to a place that has understood the reason.
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: Why the church exists.
• 26:27
  Speaker 11: We are here to reach out to the world, and
• 26:30
  Speaker 11: we must make use of the time God has given
• 26:33
  Speaker 11: us to ensure that we reach out to those that
• 26:36
  Speaker 11: are lost. And so many activities that have been lined
• 26:40
  Speaker 11: up for the church, and all of them gospel-centered, which
• 26:43
  Speaker 11: has been an encouragement to me. And the other thing
• 26:46
  Speaker 11: I've noticed about Hillview is the cooperation that most of
• 26:51
  Speaker 11: you as members have shown. For a number of activities,
• 26:56
  Speaker 11: I have seen quite a lot of you involved. There
• 27:00
  Speaker 11: could be a few areas which I've chatted with pastors,
• 27:04
  Speaker 11: so that's just between the two of us, not for you.
• 27:07
  Speaker 11: So I do believe that there's so much life here
• 27:11
  Speaker 11: at Hillview. And I do trust that if we remain
• 27:14
  Speaker 11: committed the way we have been, I think we will
• 27:17
  Speaker 11: stand up, we will be an example to not only
• 27:21
  Speaker 11: the reformed churches, but also the other churches in Zambia
• 27:25
  Speaker 11: and across the borders.
• 27:29
  Speaker 10: Those are very kind words. Now that you've gone back
• 27:35
  Speaker 10: to KBC and are basically winding up, would you like
• 27:38
  Speaker 10: to share with us some of your thoughts on the
• 27:41
  Speaker 10: way ahead after your internship at KBC comes to an end?
• 27:48
  Speaker 11: Yeah, that's quite a difficult question at the moment. Still
• 27:52
  Speaker 11: is a difficult question for me. Probably some of you
• 27:57
  Speaker 11: may not know, before I came to KBC, I was
• 27:59
  Speaker 11: serving as a pastor at LifeWay Central Evangelical Church, and.
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: I was there for eight years. After.
• 28:08
  Speaker 11: My contract ended. I did not renew it. Not that
• 28:12
  Speaker 11: the church didn't want me. I still had an opportunity
• 28:15
  Speaker 11: to renew, but I felt the need to step out
• 28:20
  Speaker 11: and get into this internship program, which I should have
• 28:24
  Speaker 11: done somewhere back in 2013. That's the time I'd applied
• 28:30
  Speaker 11: for it, but something happened. I believe it's still in
• 28:34
  Speaker 11: God's providence. And so I thought, let me now take
• 28:37
  Speaker 11: it up. So when I was leaving the church, I
• 28:40
  Speaker 11: was leaving to get into the internship program, and I left.
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: Everything in the hands of God.
• 28:48
  Speaker 11: Even when we were saying bye to the church, I
• 28:52
  Speaker 11: did not know what the end would be like. So
• 28:57
  Speaker 11: I was at the crossroad where I was saying, if
• 29:00
  Speaker 11: it's the will of God that I go back, to
• 29:03
  Speaker 11: that church, then let it be the will of God.
• 29:05
  Speaker 3: If it is, then I'll go back. But if it's not.
• 29:08
  Speaker 11: God's will, then God will make a way for us
• 29:11
  Speaker 11: to go into another church. So God's will with respect
• 29:20
  Speaker 11: to us going back was actually revealed to us because
• 29:24
  Speaker 11: after we left the church, called another pastor, and that's
• 29:28
  Speaker 11: why we didn't come last week.
• 29:30
  Speaker 3: We went back to LifeWay.
• 29:32
  Speaker 11: Because there was an induction service for the new pastor
• 29:34
  Speaker 11: that has come. So we went to support that work
• 29:38
  Speaker 11: and that's why today we are here to say bye.
• 29:42
  Speaker 11: So after the internship is done, I have still left
• 29:47
  Speaker 11: it in the hands of God, but we are at
• 29:50
  Speaker 11: the crossroads where we either have to go to an
• 29:53
  Speaker 11: already established church.
• 29:55
  Speaker 3: Or get into a new work.
• 29:58
  Speaker 11: And so most likely we may allow God that he,
• 30:03
  Speaker 11: if it's God's will, not allow God, but if it's
• 30:05
  Speaker 11: God's will that he allows us to get into a
• 30:08
  Speaker 11: church plant, then that will work out for us. So
• 30:11
  Speaker 11: we're still praying and trusting God. So please do pray
• 30:15
  Speaker 11: with me. It's a very difficult period because there's anxiety.
• 30:20
  Speaker 11: I mean, December comes. How do I take care of
• 30:24
  Speaker 11: those three there? But I know God is faithful. He
• 30:27
  Speaker 11: continues to take care of us. So please stand with
• 30:30
  Speaker 11: us in prayer and let the will of God just prevail.
• 30:34
  Speaker 10: Thank you very much. We'll certainly take it up as
• 30:36
  Speaker 10: one of our prayer items. But would you like to
• 30:40
  Speaker 10: share any other prayer items that you'd like us as
• 30:43
  Speaker 10: a church to pray for you?
• 30:46
  Speaker 11: Yeah, so apart from God's direction, I think I would
• 30:49
  Speaker 11: ask that you continue to pray for my wife, that
• 30:53
  Speaker 11: she may God may open a door for her in
• 30:56
  Speaker 11: terms of employment. And you also pray for our children
• 31:02
  Speaker 11: that God will grant us, first of all, the two
• 31:05
  Speaker 11: of us, the grace to raise them up in the
• 31:08
  Speaker 11: fear of God. And just also pray that God will
• 31:11
  Speaker 11: continue to provide for us for their education.
• 31:16
  Speaker 4: Thank you.
• 31:17
  Speaker 10: Thank you so much. Before we come to an end
• 31:23
  Speaker 10: in this little chat, would you like to say anything
• 31:27
  Speaker 10: by way of farewell to the Hillview congregation? Just briefly.
• 31:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah, briefly.
• 31:34
  Speaker 11: You know, when you are a preacher, you have so
• 31:36
  Speaker 11: much to say. But let me say from the bottom
• 31:40
  Speaker 11: of my heart on behalf of my wife and on
• 31:43
  Speaker 11: my own behalf, family included, would want to say thank
• 31:48
  Speaker 11: you to Hillview Baptist Church. Firstly, Pastor Mbewe and your
• 31:52
  Speaker 11: dear wife and little Tasu, we are so grateful that
• 31:56
  Speaker 11: you accommodated us. The elders, the members, you are just
• 32:03
  Speaker 11: an amazing church. We are so grateful. You gave us
• 32:07
  Speaker 11: an opportunity to learn almost in every area of life
• 32:11
  Speaker 11: that we needed to learn.
• 32:13
  Speaker 3: You opened your homes for us to come through.
• 32:16
  Speaker 11: We alone, not that my wife followed me through because
• 32:20
  Speaker 11: of some challenges, but I had an opportunity to visit
• 32:23
  Speaker 11: all the cell groups. That was very helpful for me.
• 32:26
  Speaker 11: I saw how the church is running. And above all,
• 32:30
  Speaker 11: I'm so grateful that I have seen the joys and
• 32:36
  Speaker 11: the challenges of church planting, especially in an area such
• 32:41
  Speaker 11: as this. And so Hillview gave me an opportunity to
• 32:44
  Speaker 11: just have a feel, to learn and to understand, to
• 32:48
  Speaker 11: say if I have to step into this these are
• 32:51
  Speaker 11: some of the challenges and joys that I'm going to face.
• 32:55
  Speaker 11: So I'm so grateful that you gave us, with my family,
• 33:00
  Speaker 11: an opportunity to be here and to just learn that
• 33:03
  Speaker 11: which God desired us to learn through you. So thank
• 33:06
  Speaker 11: you so much for all that you have done for us.
• 33:09
  Speaker 11: And one thing that I will encourage you, as a church,
• 33:14
  Speaker 11: please remain committed. to prayer remain committed to the word
• 33:20
  Speaker 11: of God as you have always done and support the
• 33:23
  Speaker 11: pastor and the elders in the work that they are
• 33:26
  Speaker 11: doing because this is not their church it is God's
• 33:29
  Speaker 11: church they are simply here to be used of God
• 33:34
  Speaker 11: to direct us to where God expects us to go
• 33:37
  Speaker 11: so let's hold hands together and let God build his
• 33:40
  Speaker 11: church through us amen.
• 33:42
  Speaker 10: Thank you thank you very much So I will not
• 33:45
  Speaker 10: invite your wife to come up front, but I think
• 33:48
  Speaker 10: you represent your wife when we start praying for you.
• 33:55
  Speaker 10: At this point, I would like to invite our sister,
• 34:00
  Speaker 10: Christina Muchimba, who we are welcoming into membership this morning,
• 34:05
  Speaker 10: so that when we pray, we pray for all of
• 34:08
  Speaker 10: them together with the other intercessory prayer items. So our
• 34:30
  Speaker 10: sister was announced to the congregation two weeks ago and
• 34:35
  Speaker 10: since the eldership have not received any adverse feedback, we
• 34:41
  Speaker 10: are proceeding to welcome her into membership. After we pray,
• 34:46
  Speaker 10: I will give a right hand of fellowship through a
• 34:50
  Speaker 10: handshake and formally welcome her into the Hillview Baptist Church membership.
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: Shall we pray?
• 35:02
  Speaker 10: Our great God and Father who is in heaven, we
• 35:05
  Speaker 10: want to thank you this morning for the way you've
• 35:09
  Speaker 10: been pleased to gather us from our different homes, O Lord,
• 35:14
  Speaker 10: from our different locations, that we could be found in
• 35:18
  Speaker 10: your house this morning to desire and to seek to
• 35:22
  Speaker 10: worship you, to desire and to seek to render service
• 35:27
  Speaker 10: to you. that is acceptable in your most holy presence,
• 35:30
  Speaker 10: O God. And so even as we approach you in
• 35:34
  Speaker 10: this way, indeed, O Father, we are only too mindful
• 35:38
  Speaker 10: of the God that we are approaching. And the fact
• 35:41
  Speaker 10: of our fight-nightness, the fact of our sinfulness is only
• 35:45
  Speaker 10: too evident before us. And so we do want to pray,
• 35:50
  Speaker 10: O God, that you will not cause our sin to
• 35:52
  Speaker 10: be a hindrance in our worship of you this morning,
• 35:55
  Speaker 10: O God. but that you'll be gracious, O Lord, to
• 35:58
  Speaker 10: have mercy upon us, and that you, O Lord, will
• 36:03
  Speaker 10: be pleased to accept our singing of songs and hymns
• 36:07
  Speaker 10: and other spiritual songs before you as an act of
• 36:10
  Speaker 10: worship to you, the most holy God. But at the
• 36:14
  Speaker 10: same time, O Father, we want to pray that you'll
• 36:17
  Speaker 10: be pleased to speak to us when the moment comes,
• 36:21
  Speaker 10: O Lord, that your man-servant declares your word to us
• 36:25
  Speaker 10: according to what you have laid on his heart. And so, Father,
• 36:29
  Speaker 10: we pray that may you be pleased to dwell with
• 36:31
  Speaker 10: us through every sector and every part of this service.
• 36:36
  Speaker 10: And at this point in particular, O God, we do
• 36:41
  Speaker 10: want to bring before you various items, O Lord, of
• 36:46
  Speaker 10: prayer and thanksgiving. And just to thank you for the
• 36:50
  Speaker 10: two brethren represented here in front. Our Father in heaven,
• 36:55
  Speaker 10: we want to thank you for our brother Joseph Tisola
• 37:00
  Speaker 10: and indeed his wife and family who were with us
• 37:03
  Speaker 10: the past two months whilst he was doing his internship
• 37:07
  Speaker 10: with us. We do want to pray, O God, that
• 37:11
  Speaker 10: you cause your blessing to rest upon him and his
• 37:16
  Speaker 10: wife and his family. In a very special way, O God.
• 37:20
  Speaker 10: And that, O God, even as they desire to know
• 37:24
  Speaker 10: you and to grow in the knowledge of you, O God,
• 37:27
  Speaker 10: that you yourself will become more and more real to them,
• 37:31
  Speaker 10: O Lord, in accordance with your promise that draw near
• 37:35
  Speaker 10: to God and he will draw near to you. And so, Father,
• 37:39
  Speaker 10: we pray that you might be very close to our brother.
• 37:42
  Speaker 10: and his family, oh God, at this point of their lives.
• 37:47
  Speaker 10: And we do want to thank you, oh God, for
• 37:50
  Speaker 10: the fact that his service and his labors amongst us
• 37:54
  Speaker 10: were something that all of us can testify before you
• 37:59
  Speaker 10: this morning. to say that indeed he saved you with
• 38:02
  Speaker 10: a passion and that, O Lord, he saved you with
• 38:05
  Speaker 10: every fiber of his being whilst he was with us.
• 38:09
  Speaker 10: And so, Father, we pray that even as he looks ahead,
• 38:12
  Speaker 10: O Lord, to the completion of his internship program at
• 38:16
  Speaker 10: Kabata Baptist Church, We do want to pray, O Lord,
• 38:19
  Speaker 10: that you be gracious upon him to give him a
• 38:22
  Speaker 10: sense of direction as to where you are leading him,
• 38:25
  Speaker 10: O God. Indeed, Father, our eyes are on you, and
• 38:29
  Speaker 10: we do want to pray that may you make your
• 38:31
  Speaker 10: heart and may you make your purpose clear to him
• 38:34
  Speaker 10: as to which direction you would like him to go.
• 38:39
  Speaker 10: And we know, oh Father, that sometimes it's not easy,
• 38:42
  Speaker 10: oh Lord, to sense and indeed to know your lead.
• 38:46
  Speaker 10: And so we pray, oh God, that may your presence
• 38:50
  Speaker 10: be very close to him. May your spirit himself rest
• 38:54
  Speaker 10: upon him in a very special way, oh God. even
• 38:57
  Speaker 10: as he processes, O Lord, a number of issues with
• 39:01
  Speaker 10: respect to this matter, as to how and where you
• 39:04
  Speaker 10: are leading him, that, O God, he might, as it were,
• 39:08
  Speaker 10: seek to plant his feet after then on. Lead him,
• 39:13
  Speaker 10: O Lord, where you'd want him to be, O God.
• 39:17
  Speaker 10: Cause him, O Lord, to plant his feet in thine own,
• 39:21
  Speaker 10: O Lord, where you are choosing to lead him, O Father.
• 39:24
  Speaker 10: We know it's not a very straight forward matter, as
• 39:28
  Speaker 10: he himself has admitted. and indeed we do want to
• 39:31
  Speaker 10: admit the same as we approach your throne, O God.
• 39:35
  Speaker 10: And so, Father, we pray that may you be gracious, therefore,
• 39:39
  Speaker 10: upon him, to give him the wisdom he needs, to
• 39:42
  Speaker 10: give him the understanding he needs at a time such
• 39:45
  Speaker 10: as this, O God, and that in the weeks and
• 39:48
  Speaker 10: in the months to come, he might look back and say,
• 39:52
  Speaker 10: you led him, O Lord, on this path. That you
• 39:55
  Speaker 10: led him, O God, where you wanted him to be,
• 39:58
  Speaker 10: O Father. And so our eyes are on you, O Lord,
• 40:02
  Speaker 10: and we want to pray that may you be magnified
• 40:04
  Speaker 10: in his life and may you be magnified in his family.
• 40:09
  Speaker 10: Be gracious to him, O God, particularly as we have
• 40:13
  Speaker 10: heard when the internship comes to an end, there's the
• 40:17
  Speaker 10: issue of taking care of his family, bread and butter.
• 40:21
  Speaker 10: We ask, O Lord, that you might be gracious. in
• 40:25
  Speaker 10: his concern. You might be gracious to him in this way,
• 40:30
  Speaker 10: O God, that it might not be something that will
• 40:32
  Speaker 10: cause him anxiety, anxiety, O Lord, that may even paralyze him,
• 40:37
  Speaker 10: O Lord, from spending and being spent in your presence
• 40:41
  Speaker 10: in prayer, O God. We pray, dear Lord, that you
• 40:44
  Speaker 10: who has been faithful to him, may you be faithful still,
• 40:48
  Speaker 10: O Lord, even at this point. that he may prove that,
• 40:51
  Speaker 10: O Lord, you are no man's data, and that all
• 40:55
  Speaker 10: those that look to you, O God, you are able
• 40:57
  Speaker 10: to satisfy their every need. And so our eyes are
• 41:01
  Speaker 10: on you this morning, O Lord, as we present ourselves
• 41:06
  Speaker 10: together with our brother before you and asking, O God,
• 41:09
  Speaker 10: that you might be his sustenance, that you might be
• 41:13
  Speaker 10: his sufficiency, you might be his all in all, O Lord.
• 41:18
  Speaker 10: and that his own whimpering and fretting heart, O God,
• 41:22
  Speaker 10: may take rest in the fact that, O God, you
• 41:26
  Speaker 10: are still here with him. You are the God who
• 41:29
  Speaker 10: has been with him from the beginning of his call
• 41:32
  Speaker 10: in ministry to this point. And, Lord, you alone will
• 41:36
  Speaker 10: take him where you want him to go. And so
• 41:39
  Speaker 10: be gracious, O Lord, to meet him at his point
• 41:42
  Speaker 10: of need, that he may not lack in anything, O Lord,
• 41:46
  Speaker 10: that his family requires, whether material or financial, or indeed, Father,
• 41:52
  Speaker 10: in any other way, may you be, O Lord, his sufficiency.
• 41:57
  Speaker 10: May you be, O God, the one who strengthens him,
• 42:02
  Speaker 10: O God. In the words of Isaiah the prophet, O God,
• 42:05
  Speaker 10: may you be the God who takes hold of his
• 42:08
  Speaker 10: right hand and says to him, do not fear, I
• 42:11
  Speaker 10: will help you. And so, Father, be close to him
• 42:14
  Speaker 10: in this way. that he may take courage and that,
• 42:17
  Speaker 10: O Lord, he may know peace that comes from waiting
• 42:20
  Speaker 10: upon you. Be gracious to our brother and his family
• 42:24
  Speaker 10: in this way, O God, that he may prove that
• 42:26
  Speaker 10: indeed you, O Lord, are a good God. Indeed, Father,
• 42:31
  Speaker 10: we also want to pray for our sister, Christine Amchimba,
• 42:35
  Speaker 10: who we are welcoming into membership this morning. We thank you,
• 42:40
  Speaker 10: O Lord, for the fact that you're you are still
• 42:42
  Speaker 10: alive and at work amongst your people to this very day.
• 42:46
  Speaker 10: Even as you continue to bring many, O Lord, to
• 42:50
  Speaker 10: salvation through repentance and faith in your Son, the Lord
• 42:54
  Speaker 10: Jesus Christ. Even as you continue to add to the number,
• 42:58
  Speaker 10: O God, of those that are assembling to worship you,
• 43:02
  Speaker 10: O Lord, in the manner that we have done today,
• 43:05
  Speaker 10: O God. And so we thank you for our assistance.
• 43:08
  Speaker 10: And we thank you, O Lord, for how you drew
• 43:10
  Speaker 10: her out from the world. That, O Lord, she might
• 43:13
  Speaker 10: know forgiveness of sin. That she might know fellowship with you.
• 43:18
  Speaker 10: That she might know fellowship with your beloved son, the
• 43:21
  Speaker 10: Lord Jesus Christ. And that we in turn might know
• 43:24
  Speaker 10: fellowship with her because of the fact that, O Lord,
• 43:27
  Speaker 10: you have redeemed her by the same blood.
• 43:30
  Speaker 3: That has redeemed us.
• 43:32
  Speaker 10: And so, Father, we pray for her. asking, O Lord,
• 43:35
  Speaker 10: that you cause her, O Lord, to be useful in
• 43:39
  Speaker 10: your house, even here at Hillview, O God. May you
• 43:43
  Speaker 10: help her, O Lord, through the various giftings that you've
• 43:46
  Speaker 10: endowed her with, O God, that, O Lord, she might
• 43:49
  Speaker 10: see herself finding her fit in this place and applying,
• 43:54
  Speaker 10: O God, her gift to the honor and glory of
• 43:56
  Speaker 10: your name in the proclamation of your word, O Lord,
• 44:00
  Speaker 10: and indeed in the sharing of what she has come
• 44:02
  Speaker 10: to know of the Savior, O Lord, to those around her,
• 44:07
  Speaker 10: and particularly to the ministry, O Lord, that she will
• 44:09
  Speaker 10: choose to apply her mind and her efforts to. Oh, Father,
• 44:14
  Speaker 10: we therefore pray for your special blessing upon her, for
• 44:18
  Speaker 10: your sustenance upon her, O Lord, that, Lord, you might
• 44:21
  Speaker 10: even preserve her from the wiles of the evil one,
• 44:24
  Speaker 10: O Lord, that she may know something of your protection, something,
• 44:29
  Speaker 10: O Lord, of your preservation, something, O Lord, of your sustenance,
• 44:33
  Speaker 10: O Lord. Something, O Lord, of your meeting her at
• 44:36
  Speaker 10: her point of need, even as she continues to sojourn
• 44:39
  Speaker 10: with you on this journey, O Lord, that you've called
• 44:43
  Speaker 10: her upon. And so, Father, be gracious upon our sister.
• 44:47
  Speaker 10: And help us also as he will view to accommodate her,
• 44:51
  Speaker 10: O Lord, even as she comes into our ranks as
• 44:54
  Speaker 10: a fellow member here in the army of the Lord. That,
• 44:58
  Speaker 10: O God, we might be a people that will be
• 45:01
  Speaker 10: warm to her, a people that will be helpful to her,
• 45:04
  Speaker 10: a people that will be an encouragement to her, O Lord,
• 45:07
  Speaker 10: even as she also continues in her walk with you,
• 45:12
  Speaker 10: O Father. And so help us, O Lord, be the
• 45:14
  Speaker 10: kind of family that that would be a blessing to
• 45:16
  Speaker 10: her and cause her, O Lord, also to be a blessing,
• 45:20
  Speaker 10: O Lord, to your people, even as she integrates, O Lord,
• 45:24
  Speaker 10: with us here at Hillview. Indeed, Father, we also want
• 45:29
  Speaker 10: to remember our several other corporate prayer items as a church.
• 45:33
  Speaker 10: We want to think of the Jack Compound Outreach Program,
• 45:38
  Speaker 10: which was held last Sunday. We want to thank you
• 45:42
  Speaker 10: for everyone that did turn up. We want to thank you,
• 45:45
  Speaker 10: O Lord, for the ministry of your word at the market.
• 45:49
  Speaker 10: We want to thank you for those, O Lord, who
• 45:52
  Speaker 10: showed interest and eagerness to inquire further. And we want
• 45:56
  Speaker 10: to pray, O God, that may you cause your word
• 45:59
  Speaker 10: that was preached to bear fruit in the hearts, O Lord,
• 46:02
  Speaker 10: of those that stood in hearing your word proclaimed. And
• 46:06
  Speaker 10: to this end, oh Father, we also want to pray
• 46:08
  Speaker 10: that may you be gracious still to us as we
• 46:11
  Speaker 10: continue with our work in Jericho, Lord, in the coming weeks, particularly,
• 46:16
  Speaker 10: oh God, as we desire to have a more regular
• 46:19
  Speaker 10: preaching point where your word will be preached Sunday by
• 46:22
  Speaker 10: Sunday and that the gospel of salvation The gospel of
• 46:27
  Speaker 10: our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, will be proclaimed, O Lord,
• 46:31
  Speaker 10: in power and in demonstration of the.
• 46:33
  Speaker 4: Spirit, O God.
• 46:34
  Speaker 10: We pray, dear Lord, that may you be gracious to
• 46:37
  Speaker 10: grant us and to open for us a place where
• 46:40
  Speaker 10: the preaching will be done at a more regular basis.
• 46:43
  Speaker 10: And grant also that we ourselves will be more willing
• 46:47
  Speaker 10: to be available, particularly, O God, when... studies, Bible studies,
• 46:53
  Speaker 10: O Lord, are commenced in that area, that, O Lord,
• 46:55
  Speaker 10: will be the kind of vessels that are used to
• 46:59
  Speaker 10: the honor and glory of your glory, that are used,
• 47:04
  Speaker 10: O Lord, to the honor and praise of your name.
• 47:06
  Speaker 10: Help us to this end, O Lord, and cause, O Lord,
• 47:10
  Speaker 10: this effort we are trying to make in Jacob and
• 47:13
  Speaker 10: to know your blessing and cause it to grow, O Lord,
• 47:17
  Speaker 10: for the sake of your name. Indeed, Father, we also
• 47:20
  Speaker 10: want to remember the other corporate items that we have
• 47:24
  Speaker 10: as a congregation. We want to think of the men's
• 47:29
  Speaker 10: retreat that was postponed to December. We ask, O Lord,
• 47:33
  Speaker 10: that indeed may you continue to be with the organizing team,
• 47:36
  Speaker 10: that they may know your assistance in this matter, that
• 47:40
  Speaker 10: they may know your grace resting upon them in a
• 47:44
  Speaker 10: very special way, O God. that, O Lord, their efforts
• 47:47
  Speaker 10: will be crowned with success from thee, O God, and
• 47:50
  Speaker 10: that when the day finally comes, grant, dear Lord, that
• 47:54
  Speaker 10: it will be a blessing for all the men that
• 47:56
  Speaker 10: will be in attendance during those two days. We also
• 48:01
  Speaker 10: want to think of the marriage retreat, which is also
• 48:06
  Speaker 10: set for December the 15th and 16th. We ask, O Lord,
• 48:10
  Speaker 10: that may you be with the events team as they
• 48:12
  Speaker 10: try to put this event together. We ask, O Lord,
• 48:15
  Speaker 10: that may you go before them in their preparation of
• 48:18
  Speaker 10: this matter, and especially as the deadline for payments draws
• 48:23
  Speaker 10: near the 30th of November. We pray, dear Lord, that
• 48:27
  Speaker 10: you help them to finalize, particularly on the venue, an
• 48:31
  Speaker 10: appropriate venue, O God, that your people will be accommodated,
• 48:36
  Speaker 10: that your word, O Lord, will be proclaimed and will
• 48:40
  Speaker 10: be taught, O Lord, and hindered in that place. and
• 48:42
  Speaker 10: that the man you have raised to speak to the
• 48:45
  Speaker 10: married here, even Pastor Califunga and his wife, grant, dear Lord,
• 48:50
  Speaker 10: that they will know something of your assistance, even as
• 48:53
  Speaker 10: they prepare to speak to the couples here at Hillview.
• 48:57
  Speaker 10: We therefore ask, O Lord, that may you bless that
• 49:00
  Speaker 10: event as well, and the preparations that are going into
• 49:03
  Speaker 10: it towards that day, O God, that you yourself, O Lord,
• 49:07
  Speaker 10: will be pleased. to crown that meeting with your abiding presence,
• 49:11
  Speaker 10: the abundance of your presence, that every couple that will
• 49:14
  Speaker 10: be in attendance will not miss its blessing, but O Lord,
• 49:18
  Speaker 10: that they will know something of your ministry to their hearts,
• 49:22
  Speaker 10: ministry to their marriages, that they in turn, O Lord,
• 49:25
  Speaker 10: will be a blessing even to other marriages, O Lord,
• 49:29
  Speaker 10: in the neighborhood. We ask, O Lord, that may you
• 49:32
  Speaker 10: be gracious to us and upon us in this way,
• 49:35
  Speaker 10: that your name might be honored. And that your name,
• 49:39
  Speaker 10: O Lord, will be glorified even through the marriages represented
• 49:43
  Speaker 10: here at Hillview. And Father, we continue to pray for
• 49:46
  Speaker 10: the ministry of your word here at Hillview. We particularly, Father,
• 49:51
  Speaker 10: want to think of some who have come to begin seeking,
• 49:56
  Speaker 10: O Lord, as a result of your word. And we
• 49:59
  Speaker 10: thank you, O Lord, for just how your spirit is
• 50:02
  Speaker 10: working amongst us in this congregation, O Lord. drawing some
• 50:07
  Speaker 10: to repentance and faith in Christ Jesus. We do not
• 50:10
  Speaker 10: want to take this for granted, O Lord. We indeed
• 50:13
  Speaker 10: continue to commit this ministry of the word into your
• 50:16
  Speaker 10: hands that it may know your continued blessing and that
• 50:20
  Speaker 10: we may see many come to faith in Christ and
• 50:23
  Speaker 10: that we may see this church grow not only in
• 50:26
  Speaker 10: number but also in the quality of our work with you,
• 50:30
  Speaker 10: O Father. And indeed, Father, we want to commit to
• 50:33
  Speaker 10: you the man-servant you have raised to bring your way
• 50:36
  Speaker 10: to us later this morning, even our brother, Dr.
• 50:41
  Speaker 3: Vodibokam.
• 50:42
  Speaker 10: We pray, dear Lord, that your spirit will rest upon
• 50:45
  Speaker 10: him in your very own special way, O God, that
• 50:48
  Speaker 10: he will know power from above, even as he opens
• 50:51
  Speaker 10: the scriptures to us. that, O Lord, he will know
• 50:55
  Speaker 10: clarity of expression and simplicity of truth, even as your
• 51:01
  Speaker 10: word is proclaimed. And yet, O Lord, we pray that
• 51:04
  Speaker 10: may your word come forth in power, that it may
• 51:07
  Speaker 10: draw the wandering hearts to yourself, that it may draw
• 51:11
  Speaker 10: those who are dead and lost in their sins and
• 51:14
  Speaker 10: trespasses to yourself. that may even rebuke those that are
• 51:19
  Speaker 10: not walking, O Lord, in accordance with your word in
• 51:22
  Speaker 10: our midst, that indeed your name will be honored and
• 51:25
  Speaker 10: that your word will bear its fruit in this congregation.
• 51:29
  Speaker 10: Our Father in heaven, we pray that you continue to
• 51:32
  Speaker 10: be with us, therefore, and that you bless us in
• 51:35
  Speaker 10: this way, even as we continue with our service. For
• 51:39
  Speaker 10: we pray, asking all these things through that most blessed
• 51:43
  Speaker 10: and worthy name of your Son, our Savior. even the
• 51:46
  Speaker 10: Lord Jesus Christ.
• 51:48
  Speaker 3: Amen.
• 52:14
  Speaker 12: Good morning church. We continue our consecutive Bible reading. We
• 52:21
  Speaker 12: are still in the book of 2 Chronicles, chapter 17.
• 52:28
  Speaker 12: If there's anyone who does not have a Bible, you
• 52:31
  Speaker 12: may indicate by raising your hand and the Bible will
• 52:34
  Speaker 12: be made available to you. So if there's anyone without
• 52:38
  Speaker 12: a Bible, please raise your hand and the ushers will
• 52:42
  Speaker 12: assist you. So we are commencing our reading at verse
• 52:53
  Speaker 12: 1 of chapter 17, 2 Chronicles chapter 17. Then Jehoshaphat
• 52:59
  Speaker 12: his son reigned in his place, and strengthened himself against Israel.
• 53:04
  Speaker 12: And he placed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah,
• 53:08
  Speaker 12: and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in
• 53:11
  Speaker 12: the cities of Ephraim, which Esau his father had taken.
• 53:16
  Speaker 12: Now the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in
• 53:18
  Speaker 12: the former ways of his father David. He did not
• 53:21
  Speaker 12: seek bows, but sought the God of his father, and
• 53:25
  Speaker 12: walked in his commandments, and not according to the acts
• 53:28
  Speaker 12: of Israel. Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand,
• 53:33
  Speaker 12: and all Judah gave presence to Jehoshaphat, and he had
• 53:37
  Speaker 12: riches and honor in Amadnas. And his heart took delight
• 53:41
  Speaker 12: in the ways of the Lord. Moreover, he removed the
• 53:44
  Speaker 12: high places and wooden images from Judah. Verse 7 Also
• 53:50
  Speaker 12: in the third year of his reign, he sent his leaders, Ben-Hel, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel,
• 53:57
  Speaker 12: and Micaiah to teach in the cities of Judah. And
• 54:01
  Speaker 12: with them he sent Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah,
• 54:15
  Speaker 12: and Stobadonijah, the Levites. And with them Elishamah, and Jeroham
• 54:22
  Speaker 12: the priest. So they taught in Judah and had the
• 54:25
  Speaker 12: book of the law of the Lord with them. They
• 54:28
  Speaker 12: went throughout the cities of Judah and taught the people.
• 54:32
  Speaker 12: And the fear of the Lord fell on all the
• 54:34
  Speaker 12: kingdoms of the land that were around Judah, so that
• 54:38
  Speaker 12: they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. Also some of
• 54:41
  Speaker 12: the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents and silver as tribute. And
• 54:47
  Speaker 12: the Arabians brought him flocks 7,700 rams, 7,700 male gods.
• 54:54
  Speaker 12: So Jehoshaphat became increasingly powerful, and he built fortresses and
• 54:59
  Speaker 12: storage cities in Judah. He had much property in the
• 55:03
  Speaker 12: cities of Judah, and the men of war, mighty men
• 55:06
  Speaker 12: of valor, were in Jerusalem. These are their numbers according
• 55:10
  Speaker 12: to their fathers' houses. Of Judah, the captains of thousands. Adna,
• 55:16
  Speaker 12: the captain, and with him, 300,000 men. And next to
• 55:22
  Speaker 12: him was Jehoanan, the captain, and with him two hundred
• 55:26
  Speaker 12: and eighty thousand. And next to him was Amaseah, the
• 55:30
  Speaker 12: son of Zichri, who willingly offered himself to the Lord,
• 55:34
  Speaker 12: and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of valour.
• 55:37
  Speaker 12: Of Benjamin, Elida, a mighty man of valour, and with
• 55:41
  Speaker 12: him two hundred thousand men with bow and shield. And
• 55:46
  Speaker 12: next to him was Jehozabad. and with him one hundred
• 55:50
  Speaker 12: and eighty thousand prepared for war. These served the king,
• 55:54
  Speaker 12: besides the king put in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.
• 55:59
  Speaker 2: Hence the reading of the word.
• 56:00
  Speaker 6: Amen.
• 56:13
  Speaker 5: As we prepare to hear the word of the Lord
• 56:16
  Speaker 5: being brought to us by Pastor Dr.
• 56:20
  Speaker 2: Vodibokam, I would ask us.
• 56:22
  Speaker 5: That we stand and sing the next song. The song
• 56:26
  Speaker 5: is entitled, Marvelous Grace of Our Loving Lord. Marvelous Grace
• 56:32
  Speaker 5: of Our Loving Lord. Please stand with me as we
• 56:35
  Speaker 5: sing the song.
• 56:49
  Speaker 6: Marvelous grace, O Thou loving Lord, grace that exceeds all sin.
• 56:56
  Speaker 7: And all guilt.
• 56:58
  Speaker 6: Wonder on Calvary's mount of gold, there where the blood
• 57:05
  Speaker 6: of the Lamb was poured. Praise, praise, praise, praise God
• 57:14
  Speaker 6: will pardon our sins. Praise, praise, praise, praise God is
• 57:25
  Speaker 6: greater than all our sins. And His bed I can
• 57:32
  Speaker 6: see where it falls Letten the soul with His blood
• 57:38
  Speaker 6: I pour Praise that is greater than praise untold Point
• 57:48
  Speaker 6: to the refuge the night before Praise, praise, praise Praise
• 57:56
  Speaker 6: the new pardon and praise within Grace, grace, God's grace,
• 58:05
  Speaker 6: this God is greater than all of sin. God is
• 58:12
  Speaker 6: less than the peak of your heart, what can I find?
• 58:19
  Speaker 3: Is is is.
• 58:45
  Speaker 6: Is is This love of hope we leave. Do not
• 59:04
  Speaker 6: long to see His face. Will you this moment His
• 59:12
  Speaker 6: face receive? Rest, rest, love's rest. Next time you'll find
• 59:21
  Speaker 6: out that day.
• 59:37
  Speaker 2: Thank you. You may be seated.
• 59:38
  Speaker 4: If you have your Bibles, open with me to John
• 59:49
  Speaker 4: chapter 21. John chapter 21. We are rapidly approaching the
• 59:56
  Speaker 4: end of our time in the Gospel of John. Many
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 4: preachers who preach systematically through books have had a similar
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 4: experience at coming to the end. And that experience is
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 4: you preach through the entire book, you come to the end,
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 4: and And you feel like, okay, now maybe I understand
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 4: it well enough to start preaching it. Because there's so
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 4: much to be gained by looking at the book in
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 4: its entirety. And my hope for you, as you've been
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 4: here and walked with us through this process, is that
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 4: it's given you a better grasp and a better understanding
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 4: of John's gospel so that when you read it, Again,
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 4: when you read it devotionally, that you'll see things that
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 4: you perhaps did not see before because the Word of
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 4: God is inexhaustible in that way. Today we're looking at
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 4: verses 15 through 19, so join me there. John 21,
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 4: beginning at verse number 15. When they had finished breakfast...
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 4: Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do
• 1:01:26
  Speaker 4: you love me more than these? He said to him, yes, Lord,
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 4: you know that I love you. He said to him,
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 4: feed my lambs. He said to him a second time, Simon,
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 4: son of John, do you love me? He said to him, yes, Lord,
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 4: you know that I love you. He said to him,
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 4: tend my sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon,
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 4: son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 4: because he said to him the third time, do you
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 4: love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know everything.
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 4: You know that I love you. Jesus said to him,
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 4: feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 4: you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 4: wherever you wanted. But when you are old, you will
• 1:02:20
  Speaker 4: stretch out your hand And another will dress you and
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 4: carry you where you do not want to go. This
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 4: he said to show by what kind of death he
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 4: was to glorify God. And after saying this, he said
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 4: to him, follow me.
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 4: I'd like to address this passage from the title Failure
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 4: is Not Final. Failure is not final. Have you ever
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 4: failed the Lord? I mean really failed the Lord. By
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 4: the way, the answer to that is yes. But what
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 4: I'm asking is, have you ever failed the Lord in
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 4: such a way that after doing so, you were glad
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 4: that no one filmed it? Because if someone had filmed
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 4: it and showed it to your fellow churchmates, they would
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 4: swear you weren't really a Christian. Nobody? Nobody? I guess
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 4: we don't have any parents in the room. Because if
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 4: you're a parent, and you've been a parent for a while,
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 4: you've been there. If you can't say amen, you ought
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 4: to say ouch, right? We have. There are things that
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 4: you've said, there are things that you've done, there's things
• 1:03:53
  Speaker 4: that I've said, things that I've done that cause us
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 4: to just pause and ask, has the Lord really done
• 1:04:02
  Speaker 4: a work in me? How can I still be dealing
• 1:04:05
  Speaker 4: with this? But whatever your failure is, does it compare
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 4: to saying that you will never leave the Lord and
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 4: that you'll die for him, pulling out your sword, cutting
• 1:04:26
  Speaker 4: off a man's ear on the night that he's betrayed
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 4: and crucified, and yet before the cock crowed the next morning,
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 4: denying him three times and having that recorded for the
• 1:04:41
  Speaker 4: entire Bible-reading world. To remember over and over and over again.
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 4: Anybody want to put yourself on that level? No, I
• 1:04:57
  Speaker 4: didn't think so. Peter failed miserably. And he failed publicly.
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 4: He failed in front of his fellow Apostle. He failed
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 4: in front of unbelievers. He failed in front of the
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 4: Lord himself. I cannot imagine what it must have been
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 4: like to fail the Lord in that way and then
• 1:05:29
  Speaker 4: watch him endure the agony of the cross, being reminded
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 4: of the purpose of that agony, and then having to
• 1:05:40
  Speaker 4: spend the next three days Hiding and afraid and ashamed
• 1:05:48
  Speaker 4: and humiliated and embarrassed. Spending those next three days with
• 1:05:56
  Speaker 4: the men before whom you have made your arrogant statements
• 1:06:01
  Speaker 4: as though you were better than them. And now hiding
• 1:06:08
  Speaker 4: with them in fear. looking into their eyes and knowing
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 4: that every one of them knows that you were afraid
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 4: of a little girl and denied the Lord because you
• 1:06:25
  Speaker 4: were afraid. Just imagine. And it is in that context
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 4: that we find one of the greatest moments of restoration
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 4: that you will ever see. And it ought to be
• 1:06:45
  Speaker 4: an encouragement to all of us who have failed the
• 1:06:50
  Speaker 4: Lord miserably. And it reminds us of at least four
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 4: things that I want to put out of this text
• 1:06:57
  Speaker 4: for you. It reminds us that your failure is not final.
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 4: Number one, your failure is not final because your failure
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 4: does not mean that the Lord will abandon you. Your
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 4: failure does not mean that the Lord will abandon you.
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 4: Verse 15, when they had finished breakfast, that statement is
• 1:07:19
  Speaker 4: incredibly important. Remember the Lord comes to this very familiar
• 1:07:24
  Speaker 4: place where they're fishing. He comes to Galilee where he's
• 1:07:27
  Speaker 4: told them to go and wait for him. They've received
• 1:07:31
  Speaker 4: this information and they've gone to the place and now
• 1:07:34
  Speaker 4: the Lord comes and they're fishing and there's this great
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 4: catch of fish. Reminiscent of the time that he first
• 1:07:42
  Speaker 4: called them as apostles. After this great catch of fish,
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 4: they sit and they have breakfast together. By the way,
• 1:07:51
  Speaker 4: this is important to John for a number of reasons.
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 4: Let me give you this before we get back to
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 4: our main point. This is important to John because John
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 4: in his gospel and John especially in his epistles is
• 1:08:07
  Speaker 4: dealing with a heresy that was rampant in his day.
• 1:08:12
  Speaker 4: It was a heresy known as Gnosticism. There were two
• 1:08:16
  Speaker 4: versions of this Gnosticism. This Gnosticism believed that there was
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 4: such a distance between God and man that they had
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 4: to deny the hypostatic union. They had to deny that
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 4: Jesus was fully God and fully man. One group of
• 1:08:32
  Speaker 4: Gnostics argued that Jesus was fully manned And then at
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 4: his baptism, the Spirit came upon him, and then on
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 4: the cross, the Spirit left him. Another argues that Jesus
• 1:08:45
  Speaker 4: was never fully man. And they would say things like,
• 1:08:48
  Speaker 4: you know, when Jesus walked on the beach, he wouldn't
• 1:08:52
  Speaker 4: have left footprints. Because he only appeared to be a man.
• 1:08:57
  Speaker 4: But because of the distance between God and man, he
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 4: wasn't actually. a man. And so that's why in John's epistles, right?
• 1:09:06
  Speaker 4: He talks about the spirit of antichrist. The spirit of
• 1:09:09
  Speaker 4: antichrist is denying that Christ came in the flesh. And
• 1:09:13
  Speaker 4: also here in his gospel, he has some things that
• 1:09:18
  Speaker 4: he records that that he sees as incredibly important because
• 1:09:22
  Speaker 4: of the Gnostics that you don't necessarily find elsewhere. He emphasizes,
• 1:09:27
  Speaker 4: for example, the second meeting where Thomas is present and Thomas,
• 1:09:32
  Speaker 4: number one, Jesus walks into a room that's locked. Only
• 1:09:37
  Speaker 4: God can do that. Amen? But then Thomas puts his
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 4: finger in the physical wounds. That says to the Gnostics,
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 4: Your theology is wrong. He still had the physical wounds
• 1:09:52
  Speaker 4: and Thomas put his fingers into them. Also here, when
• 1:09:56
  Speaker 4: he sees them again, he sits down and eats breakfast
• 1:10:01
  Speaker 4: with them. If he's not physically man, he doesn't eat breakfast. Amen?
• 1:10:07
  Speaker 4: The spirit walking around that doesn't leave footprints is not
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 4: going to eat breakfast. So this line may seem like
• 1:10:14
  Speaker 4: a throwaway line, but in light of John's theology that
• 1:10:18
  Speaker 4: he's trying to communicate and in light of the opposition
• 1:10:21
  Speaker 4: that John is facing to his theology this line is
• 1:10:25
  Speaker 4: incredibly important. When they have finished breakfast also is important
• 1:10:32
  Speaker 4: because of the idea of the intimacy and the fellowship
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 4: of eating together. Interestingly enough in matters of church discipline
• 1:10:43
  Speaker 4: in Matthew 18 when You come to an individual, and
• 1:10:47
  Speaker 4: then you come to them with witnesses, and then you
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 4: bring it before the church. If they refuse to listen
• 1:10:53
  Speaker 4: to the church, you treat them like a publican, like
• 1:10:56
  Speaker 4: a tax collector. And one of the things that we're
• 1:10:59
  Speaker 4: told in Scripture is, you know, with such a one,
• 1:11:01
  Speaker 4: you don't even eat. It's talking about the intimate fellowship
• 1:11:05
  Speaker 4: of sharing meal together. And so here, Jesus is enjoying
• 1:11:14
  Speaker 4: the intimate fellowship of sharing a meal together. When he
• 1:11:21
  Speaker 4: had finished breakfast, he reaffirms this intimacy. And he said
• 1:11:29
  Speaker 4: to Simon Peter, just to Simon Peter, and he says
• 1:11:35
  Speaker 4: it in front of everyone. How do we know? Because
• 1:11:37
  Speaker 4: of the first question. Simon, son of John, do you
• 1:11:40
  Speaker 4: love me more than these? Now there's a couple of
• 1:11:44
  Speaker 4: ways that you can take this question, right? He could
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 4: be saying, do you love me? You know, they just
• 1:11:50
  Speaker 4: finished breakfast. How did they eat breakfast? Because of this
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 4: large catch of fish, right? You love me more than these?
• 1:11:55
  Speaker 4: You love me more than this large catch of fish?
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 4: That doesn't make any sense, right? Or he could be saying,
• 1:12:01
  Speaker 4: you love me more than these? Do you love me
• 1:12:02
  Speaker 4: more than you love these men sitting around here? Could be.
• 1:12:09
  Speaker 4: But I think the thing that makes the most sense is,
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 4: do you love me More than they love me. And
• 1:12:19
  Speaker 4: Peter doesn't say. Yes Lord I love you more than
• 1:12:21
  Speaker 4: anybody loves you. Which in his arrogance. He was almost
• 1:12:26
  Speaker 4: saying earlier. Before his denial. But here he just says. What?
• 1:12:33
  Speaker 4: Yes Lord. You know that I love you. He said
• 1:12:37
  Speaker 4: to him. Feed my lambs. Restoration. Restoration. Restoration in the
• 1:12:45
  Speaker 4: form of this intimacy. This intimacy that says, I haven't
• 1:12:53
  Speaker 4: thrown you away. I haven't stopped loving you. I have
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 4: not abandoned you because you forsook me. This intimacy that
• 1:13:06
  Speaker 4: says you're restored. But not only that, this intimacy that
• 1:13:11
  Speaker 4: says I remember what you did, and still I haven't
• 1:13:16
  Speaker 4: thrown you away. John 13, 9. Peter said, you shall
• 1:13:21
  Speaker 4: never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do
• 1:13:24
  Speaker 4: not wash you, you have no share with me. That's arrogance.
• 1:13:27
  Speaker 4: You can wash the rest of their feet, but you're... No,
• 1:13:30
  Speaker 4: not me. Not me. You can't wash my feet. Arrogance.
• 1:13:36
  Speaker 4: John 13, 37 and 38. Peter said to him, Lord...
• 1:13:42
  Speaker 4: Why can I not follow you? I will lay down
• 1:13:44
  Speaker 4: my life for you. Jesus answered, will you lay down
• 1:13:47
  Speaker 4: your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you,
• 1:13:49
  Speaker 4: the rooster will not crow till you have denied me
• 1:13:52
  Speaker 4: three times. Arrogance and boastfulness. Now bring this question. Do
• 1:13:58
  Speaker 4: you love me more than these? Are you still going
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 4: to argue that there's nobody who loves me more than
• 1:14:04
  Speaker 4: you do? You were arrogant. You were boastful. And then
• 1:14:11
  Speaker 4: you were humbled. Not only because you denied me when
• 1:14:17
  Speaker 4: you said you would die for me, but also because
• 1:14:20
  Speaker 4: you denied me in front of your fellow apostles. And yet,
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 4: I have not thrown you away. I have not abandoned you.
• 1:14:36
  Speaker 4: The Lord restores Peter gently and publicly And both of
• 1:14:43
  Speaker 4: those things are important because both of those things say
• 1:14:47
  Speaker 4: to Peter and to you and to me, your failure
• 1:14:52
  Speaker 4: is not final. Your failure does not mean that the
• 1:14:57
  Speaker 4: Lord has abandoned you. We know this not only because
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 4: of this example, But we know this because it's consistent
• 1:15:11
  Speaker 4: with what we find taught in Scripture. There's a passage
• 1:15:16
  Speaker 4: of Scripture, it's a rather long passage in Romans chapter 8,
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 4: but I think it's worth our time. Romans chapter 8,
• 1:15:23
  Speaker 4: if you go there beginning at verse 31. It was
• 1:15:31
  Speaker 4: alluded to earlier by our brother Freeman. Romans chapter 8
• 1:15:37
  Speaker 4: beginning at verse 31. And before we read this, let's
• 1:15:43
  Speaker 4: just be mindful of those moments that we have all
• 1:15:45
  Speaker 4: experienced where we've blown it big time and we sit
• 1:15:49
  Speaker 4: and we sulk because we believe that we've blown it
• 1:15:52
  Speaker 4: so bad that we can't come back from this one.
• 1:15:55
  Speaker 4: Certainly the Lord is done with us now. Romans chapter
• 1:16:00
  Speaker 4: 8 beginning verse 31. What then shall we say to
• 1:16:03
  Speaker 4: these things? If God is for us, who can be
• 1:16:06
  Speaker 4: against us? he who did not spare his own son
• 1:16:09
  Speaker 4: but gave him up for us all, how will he
• 1:16:11
  Speaker 4: not also with him graciously give us all things? Who
• 1:16:17
  Speaker 4: shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God
• 1:16:21
  Speaker 4: who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the
• 1:16:26
  Speaker 4: one who died. More than that, who was raised, who
• 1:16:31
  Speaker 4: is at the right hand of God, who indeed is
• 1:16:34
  Speaker 4: interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love
• 1:16:37
  Speaker 4: of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine
• 1:16:41
  Speaker 4: or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written,
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 4: for your sake we are being killed all the day long.
• 1:16:49
  Speaker 4: We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in
• 1:16:53
  Speaker 4: all these things we are more than conquerors through him
• 1:16:56
  Speaker 4: who loved us. For I am sure that neither death
• 1:16:59
  Speaker 4: nor life nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor
• 1:17:03
  Speaker 4: things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor
• 1:17:06
  Speaker 4: anything else in all creation will be able to separate
• 1:17:09
  Speaker 4: us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• 1:17:15
  Speaker 4: Nothing you've ever done is bigger than a dead Jesus.
• 1:17:23
  Speaker 10: Nothing.
• 1:17:25
  Speaker 4: Nothing. If you're refusing Jesus to receive this forgiveness what
• 1:17:31
  Speaker 4: are you saying about the Lord if you're refusing to
• 1:17:35
  Speaker 4: acknowledge this forgiveness what are you saying about the blood
• 1:17:39
  Speaker 4: of Christ that the blood of Christ is sufficient for
• 1:17:43
  Speaker 4: all the other sinners in the world but not me
• 1:17:46
  Speaker 4: the blood of Christ is sufficient for all the other
• 1:17:49
  Speaker 4: things that people may do but not this thing this
• 1:17:53
  Speaker 4: thing is too big for Jesus Jesus is not holy
• 1:17:58
  Speaker 4: enough righteous enough, pure enough to take care of this
• 1:18:03
  Speaker 4: particular sin. So I will wallow in this and continue
• 1:18:08
  Speaker 4: to believe that he has abandoned me.
• 1:18:13
  Speaker 3: Really?
• 1:18:20
  Speaker 4: Do we believe that the hymn writer was wrong when
• 1:18:23
  Speaker 4: he penned the words that we just sang? Grace, grace.
• 1:18:28
  Speaker 4: God's grace. Grace that is greater than all my sin.
• 1:18:37
  Speaker 4: Do we believe that? Unfortunately, the answer is, at times, no.
• 1:18:43
  Speaker 4: But guess what? Even that, the blood of Jesus covers.
• 1:18:48
  Speaker 3: Amen?
• 1:18:49
  Speaker 4: Amen. even our fear even our doubt no your failure
• 1:18:57
  Speaker 4: is not final because your failure doesn't mean it doesn't
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 4: mean that the lord will abandon you and just think
• 1:19:05
  Speaker 4: about the implications of that christian Just think about what
• 1:19:09
  Speaker 4: that means. What that means is that sanctification is supposed
• 1:19:14
  Speaker 4: to be perfect and immediate, not progressive in the life
• 1:19:18
  Speaker 4: of the believer, that we're to be sanctified perfectly and
• 1:19:23
  Speaker 4: not to wrestle with sin anymore. That we're not to
• 1:19:28
  Speaker 4: be conformed to the image of Christ throughout our lives,
• 1:19:32
  Speaker 4: but that somehow what Jesus is looking for is people
• 1:19:35
  Speaker 4: who will come to him in repentance and faith and
• 1:19:38
  Speaker 4: then never, never need to repent again? Come on now.
• 1:19:46
  Speaker 4: Absolutely not. Nothing can separate us from the love of God.
• 1:19:53
  Speaker 4: So when we sin, we repent again. We turn from
• 1:19:58
  Speaker 4: our sin and we turn to Christ because he indeed
• 1:20:02
  Speaker 4: is our only hope. And his blood is sufficient. Amen. Secondly,
• 1:20:16
  Speaker 4: your failure is not final because your failure does not
• 1:20:19
  Speaker 4: mean that you don't love the Lord. Not only does
• 1:20:24
  Speaker 4: your failure not mean that the Lord has abandoned you,
• 1:20:27
  Speaker 4: but your failure also doesn't mean that you don't love
• 1:20:30
  Speaker 4: the Lord. This is another trap that we fall into.
• 1:20:33
  Speaker 4: I sinned. I can't believe I did that again. I
• 1:20:37
  Speaker 4: must not really love the Lord. Because everybody knows that
• 1:20:41
  Speaker 4: we're sanctified, not by the grace of God, but we're
• 1:20:44
  Speaker 4: sanctified by the power of our own love for God. Oh, wait,
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 4: that's not true? No, it's not. You are sanctified by
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 4: the same thing that justifies you. By the person and
• 1:21:00
  Speaker 4: work of Christ. By the blood of Jesus shed for
• 1:21:05
  Speaker 4: you on the cross at Calvary. You're not sanctified because
• 1:21:09
  Speaker 4: you love God enough. That's why your failure does not
• 1:21:18
  Speaker 4: mean that you don't love God. And this point is
• 1:21:24
  Speaker 4: made powerfully in this interaction. Look at verse 16 and 17.
• 1:21:31
  Speaker 4: He said to him a second time.
• 1:21:41
  Speaker 3: Sorry.
• 1:21:44
  Speaker 4: Simon, son of John, do you love me? He said
• 1:21:47
  Speaker 4: to him, yes, Lord. You know that I love you.
• 1:21:51
  Speaker 4: He said to him, feed my sheep or tend my sheep.
• 1:21:54
  Speaker 4: He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John,
• 1:21:58
  Speaker 4: do you love me? Peter was grieved because he had
• 1:22:02
  Speaker 4: said to him the third time, do you love me?
• 1:22:05
  Speaker 4: And he said to him, Lord, you know everything. You
• 1:22:09
  Speaker 4: know that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed
• 1:22:12
  Speaker 4: my sheep. Not once, not twice, but three times. There's
• 1:22:20
  Speaker 4: a very common reading of this, popularized by, it depends
• 1:22:26
  Speaker 4: on who you ask, but one particular sermon that really
• 1:22:32
  Speaker 4: made the deciding factor in the meaning of this text,
• 1:22:37
  Speaker 4: the difference between the Greek verbs agapeo and phileo. Agape
• 1:22:43
  Speaker 4: love and phileo love. And the point that is often made,
• 1:22:48
  Speaker 4: and there's a number of sermons out there that you
• 1:22:51
  Speaker 4: can find along these lines but the point that is
• 1:22:53
  Speaker 4: made is that the third time Jesus asked do you
• 1:22:58
  Speaker 4: phileo me Peter's been using phileo and this time the
• 1:23:03
  Speaker 4: third time Jesus asked do you phileo me and Peter's
• 1:23:09
  Speaker 4: grieved because apparently you know Jesus has gone down from
• 1:23:13
  Speaker 4: agape to phileo and this whole premise is built on
• 1:23:19
  Speaker 4: the idea that that phileo is an inferior form of
• 1:23:23
  Speaker 4: love to agape. Sometimes people will say, for example, that agape,
• 1:23:28
  Speaker 4: that's God's love, right? That's pure love. And phileo is
• 1:23:33
  Speaker 4: somehow something inferior to God's love, inferior to pure love.
• 1:23:42
  Speaker 4: I don't believe that that's the right way to read this.
• 1:23:47
  Speaker 4: And there's a number of reasons for that. Let me
• 1:23:51
  Speaker 4: just give you a few of them. And there are
• 1:23:54
  Speaker 4: a number of people who have a number of reasons
• 1:23:56
  Speaker 4: for this. For example, D.A. Carson in his commentary on
• 1:24:00
  Speaker 4: this text gives seven reasons that that's not the right reading.
• 1:24:05
  Speaker 4: Seven reasons that it's not the right reading. Let me
• 1:24:09
  Speaker 4: give you four. Let me give you four. Reason number one,
• 1:24:14
  Speaker 4: the two verbs agape and phileo are used interchangeably, not
• 1:24:18
  Speaker 4: only by John... but elsewhere in the New Testament. For example,
• 1:24:24
  Speaker 4: in John chapter 11, verse 5, and then in John
• 1:24:28
  Speaker 4: chapter 11, verse 36. In John 11, 5, now Jesus
• 1:24:31
  Speaker 4: loved Agape, Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. Same story, 11, 36.
• 1:24:38
  Speaker 4: So the Jews said, see how he loved Phileo, him. Again,
• 1:24:46
  Speaker 4: used interchangeably. A number of other places where the words
• 1:24:50
  Speaker 4: are used interchangeably. Secondly, God's love is also expressed with
• 1:24:56
  Speaker 4: this term. And it's expressed with this term in John.
• 1:25:00
  Speaker 4: John chapter 5 verse 20. For the father loves Phileo
• 1:25:05
  Speaker 4: the son. Oh, that's a huge problem.
• 1:25:08
  Speaker 9: Right?
• 1:25:08
  Speaker 4: Because what's the argument? God's love is agape love and
• 1:25:13
  Speaker 4: Phileo is something less than God's love. So, Is John
• 1:25:18
  Speaker 4: saying that the father doesn't love the son with a
• 1:25:22
  Speaker 4: pure God-like love? No. He's saying that the terms are
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 4: used interchangeably. For the father loves the son and shows
• 1:25:30
  Speaker 4: him all that he himself is doing. Third reason. Agape
• 1:25:39
  Speaker 4: is not always positive. Agape is not always positive. For example,
• 1:25:44
  Speaker 4: 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 10. 2 Timothy chapter
• 1:25:49
  Speaker 4: 4 verse 10. For Demas, in love, agape, with this
• 1:25:53
  Speaker 4: present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Now
• 1:25:59
  Speaker 4: how are we going to make an argument that agape
• 1:26:03
  Speaker 4: is God's love and pure love, but Demas abandoned the
• 1:26:08
  Speaker 4: faith because of agape for the world? Fourthly, finally, the
• 1:26:15
  Speaker 4: flipping of terms is commonly In John's gospel. But it's
• 1:26:20
  Speaker 4: also rampant in this passage itself. Just in our passage,
• 1:26:27
  Speaker 4: he uses two different words for love. But he also,
• 1:26:34
  Speaker 4: he uses two different words in the request. Feed my
• 1:26:40
  Speaker 4: lambs and feed my sheep. What's the difference? There's not one.
• 1:26:45
  Speaker 4: He's just using two different words to say the same thing.
• 1:26:49
  Speaker 4: And then when we get down in verse 19, or
• 1:26:53
  Speaker 4: in verse 17, he uses two different words for no.
• 1:26:57
  Speaker 4: Right in the same sentence.
• 1:26:59
  Speaker 1: Why?
• 1:27:00
  Speaker 4: Because that's just something John does. He often uses different terms.
• 1:27:10
  Speaker 4: So that leaves us with a question. If the issue.
• 1:27:15
  Speaker 3: is.
• 1:27:15
  Speaker 4: Not the different words for love, then what's the emphasis
• 1:27:21
  Speaker 4: in the text? Why, for example, did Peter respond the
• 1:27:27
  Speaker 4: way that he did? Look back at our text. Peter
• 1:27:32
  Speaker 4: was grieved because he said to him the third time,
• 1:27:35
  Speaker 4: do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said
• 1:27:39
  Speaker 4: to him the third time, do you love me?
• 1:27:42
  Speaker 6: Why? Because.
• 1:27:44
  Speaker 4: Jesus used a different word or because three times he
• 1:27:53
  Speaker 4: denied Jesus. And so when Jesus asks him the third time,
• 1:28:01
  Speaker 4: he makes it clear. I'm restoring you from your massive
• 1:28:09
  Speaker 4: failure where you denied me three times. In that one night.
• 1:28:20
  Speaker 4: Immediately when Jesus asks him for a third time, Peter
• 1:28:26
  Speaker 4: knows exactly what Jesus is referring to. Oh, you're not
• 1:28:33
  Speaker 4: just questioning whether or not I love you. But you're
• 1:28:40
  Speaker 4: reminding me of my arrogance and of my failure and
• 1:28:46
  Speaker 4: restoring me in spite of my arrogance and in spite
• 1:28:50
  Speaker 4: of my failure. Because each time after I say, yes,
• 1:28:55
  Speaker 4: I do love you, you commission me. Feed my lambs.
• 1:29:04
  Speaker 4: Feed my sheep. Feed my sheep. Isn't it amazing? What
• 1:29:09
  Speaker 4: did they just get through doing?
• 1:29:11
  Speaker 6: Eating.
• 1:29:14
  Speaker 2: Eating.
• 1:29:19
  Speaker 4: This is restoration. Your failure does not mean that you
• 1:29:25
  Speaker 4: don't love God. Peter absolutely loved the Lord. And he
• 1:29:33
  Speaker 4: absolutely failed miserably. Peter loved Jesus so much. So much.
• 1:29:47
  Speaker 4: Walked with him for three and a half years. Loved
• 1:29:51
  Speaker 4: him so much. Remember, Peter's the one who got out
• 1:29:55
  Speaker 4: of the boat. And before you get mad because Peter
• 1:29:57
  Speaker 4: looked down and started to sink, remember, he took some
• 1:29:59
  Speaker 4: steps first.
• 1:30:01
  Speaker 6: Amen?
• 1:30:01
  Speaker 12: Amen?
• 1:30:04
  Speaker 4: And even before that, he got out. Now, come on,
• 1:30:09
  Speaker 4: if we're honest, if we're honest, how many of us
• 1:30:13
  Speaker 4: are getting out of that boat? Not many, right? And
• 1:30:17
  Speaker 4: if you stick your chest out and say, me, I would,
• 1:30:20
  Speaker 4: you'd be just like Peter was when he said, Lord,
• 1:30:23
  Speaker 4: I'll die for you. You don't know what you'll do
• 1:30:29
  Speaker 4: until the moment comes. But here's the thing, even if
• 1:30:33
  Speaker 4: you fail in that moment, your failure is not final.
• 1:30:36
  Speaker 4: It doesn't mean that the Lord will abandon you, and
• 1:30:39
  Speaker 4: it doesn't mean that you don't really love the Lord.
• 1:30:52
  Speaker 4: Luke puts an even finer point on the matter. Luke 22,
• 1:30:58
  Speaker 4: 59-61 After an interval of about an hour, still another insisted, saying,
• 1:31:07
  Speaker 4: Certainly this man also was with him, for he too
• 1:31:11
  Speaker 4: is Galilean. But Peter said, Man, I do not know
• 1:31:17
  Speaker 4: what you are talking about. And immediately, while he was
• 1:31:21
  Speaker 4: still speaking, the rooster crowed, and the Lord turned and
• 1:31:25
  Speaker 4: looked at Peter, and Peter remembered the saying of the Lord,
• 1:31:31
  Speaker 4: how he had said to him before the rooster crows today,
• 1:31:34
  Speaker 4: you will deny me three times. So Luke makes it
• 1:31:38
  Speaker 4: clear that when the third denial came, before the words
• 1:31:43
  Speaker 4: are done coming out of Peter's mouth, he makes eye
• 1:31:46
  Speaker 4: contact with Jesus and then the rooster crows. There's no
• 1:31:53
  Speaker 4: way he misses this with the threefold restoration. No way
• 1:31:59
  Speaker 4: he misses this. And yes, he absolutely does love the
• 1:32:04
  Speaker 4: Lord in spite of the fact that he sinned. You,
• 1:32:08
  Speaker 4: who are a husband and a wife, how can you
• 1:32:11
  Speaker 4: not get this? How can you not get this? You
• 1:32:14
  Speaker 4: sin against your husband. You sin against your wife. Does
• 1:32:18
  Speaker 4: that mean that you don't love them? No, it absolutely doesn't.
• 1:32:22
  Speaker 4: By the way, husbands and wives, that's why you need
• 1:32:25
  Speaker 4: to stop with this foolishness of saying to your husband
• 1:32:28
  Speaker 4: or saying to your wife, if you really love me,
• 1:32:31
  Speaker 4: you wouldn't keep doing that. Amen, somebody. No, they do
• 1:32:41
  Speaker 4: really love you. And they're also really sinners. And because
• 1:32:47
  Speaker 4: they're really sinners and you're the person that they live
• 1:32:49
  Speaker 4: closest to, it stands to reason that they will sin
• 1:32:52
  Speaker 4: against you more than any other human.
• 1:32:54
  Speaker 6: Amen.
• 1:32:55
  Speaker 9: Amen.
• 1:32:57
  Speaker 4: So what are we doing taking that personally? You don't
• 1:33:02
  Speaker 4: like that one? Okay, how about this one? Parents? Children? Parents,
• 1:33:06
  Speaker 4: have you ever sinned against your children? Did that mean
• 1:33:09
  Speaker 4: you don't love them? Children, have you ever sinned against
• 1:33:12
  Speaker 4: your parents? Does that mean that you don't love them?
• 1:33:16
  Speaker 4: Come on now. It absolutely does not. just like Peter's
• 1:33:23
  Speaker 4: monumental sin, monumental failure of denying the Lord. Didn't mean
• 1:33:34
  Speaker 4: that he hadn't truly loved the Lord. Thirdly, your failure
• 1:33:45
  Speaker 4: is not final because your failure does not mean that
• 1:33:51
  Speaker 4: you can no longer serve the Lord. Your failure does
• 1:33:54
  Speaker 4: not mean that you can no longer serve the Lord.
• 1:33:59
  Speaker 4: Feed my lamb. Feed my sheep. Feed my sheep. In
• 1:34:06
  Speaker 4: this act of threefold restoration, Jesus is saying, I remember
• 1:34:13
  Speaker 4: that moment. You remember that moment. I have not abandoned you.
• 1:34:19
  Speaker 4: And it doesn't mean that you don't love me. And
• 1:34:21
  Speaker 4: it doesn't mean that you can't serve me. I am
• 1:34:25
  Speaker 4: commissioning you right now. By the way, this is one
• 1:34:31
  Speaker 4: answer to the question, why Galilee? Why Galilee? Because it's
• 1:34:39
  Speaker 4: a bookend. Jesus comes to the Sea of Galilee and
• 1:34:48
  Speaker 4: he sees his first disciples walking fishing and he tells
• 1:34:53
  Speaker 4: them after they've been toiling all night to put their
• 1:34:55
  Speaker 4: net down they catch this great catch and what does
• 1:34:59
  Speaker 4: he say to them when they come ashore follow me
• 1:35:03
  Speaker 4: and i will make you fishers of men now at
• 1:35:07
  Speaker 4: the end of the gospel they're toiling all night in
• 1:35:12
  Speaker 4: galilee where he has told them to go meet him
• 1:35:16
  Speaker 4: he comes to the shore they don't know who he
• 1:35:19
  Speaker 4: is He says, put down your net. They catch another
• 1:35:22
  Speaker 4: great catch of fish. Just like when they commissioned him
• 1:35:25
  Speaker 4: the first time, they come ashore, they share breakfast, and
• 1:35:28
  Speaker 4: Jesus commissions them again. Again, first time, I'm going to
• 1:35:32
  Speaker 4: make you fishers of men. This time, I'm going to
• 1:35:37
  Speaker 4: make you shepherds of the sheep. Now listen, there are
• 1:35:52
  Speaker 4: most certainly biblical requirements and qualifications for holding certain offices
• 1:35:59
  Speaker 4: in the church. And we should. No, we must pay
• 1:36:05
  Speaker 4: close attention to them. But holding an office is not
• 1:36:09
  Speaker 4: the only way to serve God. Every Christian has been
• 1:36:16
  Speaker 4: called and commissioned to utilize their gifts and graces in
• 1:36:23
  Speaker 4: service to the Most High God. Romans 12, verses 3
• 1:36:29
  Speaker 4: to 8. For by the grace given to me, I
• 1:36:33
  Speaker 4: say to everyone among you, not to think of himself
• 1:36:36
  Speaker 4: more highly than he ought to think, but to think
• 1:36:39
  Speaker 4: with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith
• 1:36:43
  Speaker 4: that God has assigned. For as in one body we
• 1:36:46
  Speaker 4: have many members... and the members do not all have
• 1:36:50
  Speaker 4: the same function. So we, though many, are one body
• 1:36:54
  Speaker 4: in Christ, and individually members of one another, having gifts
• 1:36:59
  Speaker 4: that differ according to the grace given to us. Let
• 1:37:03
  Speaker 4: us use them, if prophecy in proportion to your faith,
• 1:37:07
  Speaker 4: if service in our serving, the one who teaches in
• 1:37:11
  Speaker 4: his teaching, the one who exhorts in his exhortation, the
• 1:37:14
  Speaker 4: one who contributes in generosity. The one who leads with zeal.
• 1:37:19
  Speaker 4: The one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness. This
• 1:37:26
  Speaker 4: is not just about holding office. This restoration of Peter
• 1:37:33
  Speaker 4: says to all of us who have failed the Lord
• 1:37:36
  Speaker 4: and will fail the Lord again, your failure is not final.
• 1:37:42
  Speaker 4: Because your failure does not mean that you can't serve
• 1:37:46
  Speaker 4: the Lord. Now there are some failures that mean you
• 1:37:53
  Speaker 4: can't serve the Lord in some capacities. You may not
• 1:37:56
  Speaker 4: be qualified because of certain failures to serve the Lord
• 1:38:00
  Speaker 4: in some capacities. And that is tragic. But there's a
• 1:38:06
  Speaker 4: huge difference between not being able to hold a particular
• 1:38:10
  Speaker 4: office and not being able to serve the Lord through
• 1:38:16
  Speaker 4: serving his people with your gifts and graces. Serving the
• 1:38:20
  Speaker 4: Lord is an act of worship. To say that you
• 1:38:23
  Speaker 4: can no longer serve the Lord is essentially to say
• 1:38:26
  Speaker 4: that you can no longer worship Him. That your life
• 1:38:30
  Speaker 4: can no longer be yielded to Him. There's a final piece.
• 1:38:38
  Speaker 4: Your failure is not final. Because your failure does not
• 1:38:43
  Speaker 4: mean that you won't finish well. Your failure does not
• 1:38:50
  Speaker 4: mean that you won't finish well. It's not over, saints. Amen?
• 1:38:58
  Speaker 4: Verses 18 and 19 almost seem like they don't belong,
• 1:39:02
  Speaker 4: but put them in this context and you see something. Truly, truly,
• 1:39:06
  Speaker 4: I say to you, when you were young, you used
• 1:39:10
  Speaker 4: to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when
• 1:39:15
  Speaker 4: you are old, you will stretch out your hands and
• 1:39:18
  Speaker 4: another will... dress you, and carry you where you do
• 1:39:23
  Speaker 4: not want to go. And then there's this parenthetical statement.
• 1:39:27
  Speaker 4: This he said to show by what kind of death,
• 1:39:31
  Speaker 4: not he would die. Doesn't say by what kind of
• 1:39:35
  Speaker 4: death he would die. It says by what kind of
• 1:39:38
  Speaker 4: death he was to glorify God. And after saying this,
• 1:39:43
  Speaker 4: he said, follow me. Again, When they're called, follow me
• 1:39:50
  Speaker 4: and I'll make you fishers of men. Now he says,
• 1:39:55
  Speaker 4: this is how you're going to die. Follow me. Essentially,
• 1:40:00
  Speaker 4: follow me to your death. And Peter did exactly that.
• 1:40:07
  Speaker 4: Monumental failure recorded for the world to see over and
• 1:40:13
  Speaker 4: over and over again. And yet his failure was not final.
• 1:40:22
  Speaker 4: And he was faithful to the end. The Lord not
• 1:40:34
  Speaker 4: only restored Peter to service, but he prophesied that Peter
• 1:40:39
  Speaker 4: was going to be faithful even into his old age.
• 1:40:45
  Speaker 4: And he was. Peter was a leader of the Jerusalem church.
• 1:40:50
  Speaker 4: We see that in Acts chapter 15. Peter preached the
• 1:40:55
  Speaker 4: Pentecost sermon in Acts chapter 2. You remember that? On
• 1:41:00
  Speaker 4: the day of Pentecost, he was the preacher. When thousands
• 1:41:04
  Speaker 4: from all over the world come to faith in Christ.
• 1:41:07
  Speaker 4: By the way, thousands of people from all over the
• 1:41:10
  Speaker 4: world hear this message in their language. They're there on
• 1:41:13
  Speaker 4: the day of Pentecost, which means what? They're going to
• 1:41:16
  Speaker 4: go back to these places where they speak these different languages.
• 1:41:20
  Speaker 4: And the church is going to spread throughout the world
• 1:41:23
  Speaker 4: in part because of the sermon that Peter had the
• 1:41:26
  Speaker 4: privilege of preaching on the day of Pentecost. Peter wrote
• 1:41:34
  Speaker 4: 1 Peter and 2 Peter and Peter died a faithful martyr.
• 1:41:46
  Speaker 4: There are various accounts of how And we don't have,
• 1:41:52
  Speaker 4: you know, the details authoritatively. But we have enough information
• 1:41:57
  Speaker 4: to know that Peter died as a martyr. And more
• 1:42:03
  Speaker 4: than likely, Peter died as a martyr on a cross.
• 1:42:09
  Speaker 4: Crucified upside down because he did not consider himself worthy
• 1:42:14
  Speaker 4: to die in the same manner as his Savior. from
• 1:42:19
  Speaker 4: denying him miserably and publicly for the world to read
• 1:42:28
  Speaker 4: over and over again to being restored and laying down
• 1:42:36
  Speaker 4: his life as a faithful martyr. Beloved, your failure is
• 1:42:43
  Speaker 4: not final. It's not Listen to these words from Peter
• 1:42:58
  Speaker 4: and think about them in this context. From 1 Peter 5.
• 1:43:03
  Speaker 4: Turn there. 1 Peter 5. Think about him sitting there
• 1:43:21
  Speaker 4: being restored and how overwhelming the grace of God must
• 1:43:27
  Speaker 4: have been when he was restored, and being restored as
• 1:43:32
  Speaker 4: a shepherd to the sheep. He writes, 1 Peter 5,
• 1:43:40
  Speaker 4: So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow
• 1:43:43
  Speaker 4: elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as
• 1:43:46
  Speaker 4: well as a partaker in the glory that is going
• 1:43:48
  Speaker 4: to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God that is
• 1:43:52
  Speaker 4: among you, Exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly as
• 1:43:57
  Speaker 4: God would have you. Not for shameful gain, but eagerly.
• 1:44:02
  Speaker 4: Not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples
• 1:44:06
  Speaker 4: to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you
• 1:44:10
  Speaker 4: will receive the unfading crown of glory. Now watch this.
• 1:44:20
  Speaker 4: Peter failed the Lord. miserably and publicly for the whole
• 1:44:27
  Speaker 4: world to see. The Lord restores him and not only
• 1:44:34
  Speaker 4: makes him a shepherd of the sheep, but as an apostle,
• 1:44:40
  Speaker 4: he has penned words that every good shepherd of the
• 1:44:45
  Speaker 4: Lord's sheep has been encouraged by for thousands of years now.
• 1:44:57
  Speaker 4: Your failure is not final. You can flee to the cross,
• 1:45:10
  Speaker 4: repent of your sin, plead for God's mercy, and be
• 1:45:15
  Speaker 4: restored unto Him, even to the point of finishing well.
• 1:45:27
  Speaker 4: And I admonish you to do just that. Let's pray.
• 1:45:37
  Speaker 4: Our gracious God and our Heavenly Father, we thank you
• 1:45:39
  Speaker 4: and we praise you because you are indeed a good God.
• 1:45:46
  Speaker 4: You are a forgiving God, a merciful God. And we
• 1:45:52
  Speaker 4: are sinful creatures who stand in need of your mercy
• 1:45:58
  Speaker 4: and your forgiveness. Grant us grace when the voice of
• 1:46:06
  Speaker 4: the enemy sounds louder in our ears, condemning us than
• 1:46:13
  Speaker 4: your voice sounds, forgiving us. Grant by your grace that
• 1:46:21
  Speaker 4: we might be reminded again and again of the sufficiency
• 1:46:27
  Speaker 4: of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 1:46:32
  Speaker 4: And that we might be renewed in our repentance and
• 1:46:36
  Speaker 4: renewed in our faith. Lord, I pray for the one
• 1:46:41
  Speaker 4: in the sound of my voice who has been wallowing
• 1:46:44
  Speaker 4: in guilt, unable or unwilling To embrace the forgiveness of
• 1:46:56
  Speaker 4: the cross. And I ask that you would grant liberty
• 1:47:00
  Speaker 4: to that captive. That you would set them free and
• 1:47:05
  Speaker 4: remind them that indeed their failure is not final. That
• 1:47:13
  Speaker 4: the blood of Jesus is sufficient. That the love of
• 1:47:16
  Speaker 4: Jesus is greater. That the grace of God is greater.
• 1:47:27
  Speaker 4: Grant that, we pray. For we ask it in the
• 1:47:33
  Speaker 4: name of your Son and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 1:47:38
  Speaker 4: And all God's people said, Amen. Let's stand together and
• 1:47:44
  Speaker 4: respond to this great truth with a great hymn.
• 1:48:08
  Speaker 5: Indeed, knowing that our failure is not final is amazing grace. So,
• 1:48:16
  Speaker 5: let us sing together amazing grace.
• 1:48:21
  Speaker 6: Grace amazing grace how sweet I've never been like me.
• 1:48:48
  Speaker 6: I've watched all those bad times. My fears relieved How
• 1:49:23
  Speaker 6: precious did the presence be The eye first believed His
• 1:50:03
  Speaker 6: grace has come. He's set us free. Our prayers will
• 1:50:15
  Speaker 6: lead me.
• 1:50:19
  Speaker 7: Home.
• 1:50:20
  Speaker 4: My Lord.
• 1:51:04
  Speaker 6: Your light shall.
• 1:51:11
  Speaker 7: See.
• 1:51:12
  Speaker 6: I shall profess within and out there. You may be seated.
• 1:52:10
  Speaker 5: I would want to recognize on behalf of the church
• 1:52:15
  Speaker 5: if there is any that are visiting us for the
• 1:52:18
  Speaker 5: first time or you probably were here a long time ago.
• 1:52:21
  Speaker 5: Kindly raise up your hand so that we can recognize
• 1:52:23
  Speaker 5: your presence.
• 1:52:27
  Speaker 2: Thank you very much.
• 1:52:29
  Speaker 5: You're going to receive a brochure and from there there's
• 1:52:32
  Speaker 5: a tear-off section which you're going to tear off after
• 1:52:36
  Speaker 5: filling it out. So as you fill it out, kindly
• 1:52:40
  Speaker 5: fill it in as clearly as possible so that we
• 1:52:44
  Speaker 5: can manage to have contact with you.
• 1:52:48
  Speaker 2: Further, as you do that, we.
• 1:52:51
  Speaker 5: Would request that after the service is done, when everybody
• 1:52:55
  Speaker 5: is walking out, kindly stay in your seats and there's
• 1:52:58
  Speaker 5: going to be someone that is going to tend you.
• 1:53:01
  Speaker 5: So kindly stay in your seats for there will be
• 1:53:03
  Speaker 5: somebody to tend with you. Church, Can we please welcome
• 1:53:08
  Speaker 5: our visitors in our usual way? The clapping of hand
• 1:53:16
  Speaker 5: is there to signify how pleased we are to have
• 1:53:19
  Speaker 5: you with.
• 1:53:20
  Speaker 2: Us this afternoon.
• 1:53:22
  Speaker 5: And as a recommendation, if there's anything that you want
• 1:53:25
  Speaker 5: to know more about the church, we have our information
• 1:53:28
  Speaker 5: desk at the back just as you go out. At
• 1:53:32
  Speaker 5: the umbrella there, you'll find somebody that can advise you
• 1:53:35
  Speaker 5: more about the church. And if there's anything more that
• 1:53:37
  Speaker 5: you still want to know, you can just ask any
• 1:53:40
  Speaker 5: of the ushers, and they are going to advise you.
• 1:53:43
  Speaker 5: But briefly, we do have morning services every Sunday starting
• 1:53:47
  Speaker 5: from 9 hours right here at church. And there's something
• 1:53:50
  Speaker 5: that happens in the week on Thursday, which you can
• 1:53:53
  Speaker 5: also attend something closest to your place.
• 1:53:56
  Speaker 2: So you can ask more about this later on. As
• 1:53:58
  Speaker 2: we go out, there is... our ushers with bags.
• 1:54:04
  Speaker 5: So for those of you that have offering or ties,
• 1:54:07
  Speaker 5: you can kindly leave them there with us. I would
• 1:54:10
  Speaker 5: ask the ushers to come and lead us out from
• 1:54:12
  Speaker 5: the front as we sing together a song.
• 1:54:18
  Speaker 6: Piano plays softly my Savior Lord there is none like
• 1:54:41
  Speaker 6: you all of my days