Isaiah
53:1-6 –
Who
has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For
He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we
should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was
despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried
our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The
chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All
we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And
the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
1
Corinthians 15:3-4 –
For
I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died
for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He
rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
Romans
1:16 –
For
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to
salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
John
21:1-14 –
After
these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of
Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: Simon Peter, Thomas called the
Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His
disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”
They
said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got
into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning had now
come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was
Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any food?”
They
answered Him, “No.”
And
He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find
some. ” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the
multitude of fish.
Therefore
that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon
Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had
removed it), and plunged into the sea. But the other disciples came in the
little boat (for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits),
dragging the net with fish. Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a
fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring
some of the fish which you have just caught.”
Simon
Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and
fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken. Jesus
said to them, “Come and eat breakfast.” Yet none of the disciples dared ask
Him, “Who are You?”—knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then came and took the
bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish.
This
is now the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised
from the dead.
1
John 1:9 –
If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We received
a warm welcome just as when we visited the early service, and I did recognize
one Marine we met on our last visit. For me, the large wooden cross was
welcoming.
We
were blessed to be here for the boys’ choir; the smallest was my personal
favorite as his smile won me over, though there were many incredibly cute
children present. I thought the boys might not be happy to be singing from the
platform, but they seemed to enjoy the opportunity to worship God in song.
There
was some music that I really could have used my ear plugs for; for me, when it
gets too loud, it’s only noise.
The
message was called Unresolved Issues. We all struggle with guilt over past
thoughts and actions even though Christ’s sacrifice cleansed us of our sin. The
devil knows which buttons to push to plant the seeds of doubt and make us
wonder, “How can God forgive my sin?” and we are mired in guilt. The sermon was
well developed and delivered with solid Scriptural references.
A
point that touched me: when Christ was crucified, the disciples were lost. They
tried to go back to what they were, fishermen, forgetting that Christ had
called them to be fishers of men. I was a sinful man before Christ claimed me
and that forgiveness and redirection is part of my testimony.
Another
favorite line: “How long will the boogie man be under your bed?” forced me to
recall a friend who was well known for creating monsters and body parts for
horror movies. Someone asked his 4-year-old daughter if she was afraid of the
monsters. She said, “No, daddy keeps them under my bed.” May we all refuse to
be afraid of what can’t hurt us.
On
this, our second visit, we opted to attend the later service. It is the same
contemporary format as the early one, and equally well-attended, if I recall.
We
were greeted by many people, though I don’t know if they recognized us as
guests or just as people they did not know. We were encouraged to help
ourselves to coffee, and we felt warmly welcomed.
There
was very little echo for such a high ceiling, but at times the volume was an
issue for me. Still, I could understand most of what was said and it was well
worth the effort.
The
singing was led by males ranging in age from adult to about 5 years (at a
guess, as we were all the way in the back). It seemed like a mentoring
situation, which I think is fantastic. At one point, each took a turn singing
the same lines, so it was obvious each of the youngsters was included as part
of the group. A wonderful effort on every level.
The
message, entitled Unresolved Issues, hit me right between the eyes. He said
that, like Peter, the person we find it most difficult to forgive is ourselves.
The
pastor made three major points:
1
– You can’t return to where you were to get where you should be. Jesus always
knows where to find us when we’re lost.
2
– You don’t have to remain in your deficient state. Peter was lost in himself,
and Jesus would not allow him to stay there. Jesus will come for us in our
stagnant places too. It’s the devil who wants to keep us afraid and therefore
neutralized and controllable.
3
– You don’t have to get upset when Jesus clarifies the relationship (as He did
when He asked Peter if he loved Him) because it validates your value. God threw
our sins into the sea of forgetfulness where He then placed a “No Fishing”
sign. We must learn to accept that as truth, believe we are truly and
completely forgiven, and move forward into the new life Jesus has planned for
us.
As
the pastor read the John 21 passage prior to preaching, the part that caught my
attention was verse 11, about Peter’s dragging the overflowing net to the land.
It was crystal clear to me how Peter was trying to prove himself to Jesus and
the others. That detail escaped my attention every other time I’ve read that
passage, so I found it strange that it was such a major piece of the message.
But
what he said is true: so often we’re hiding in shame and pretending our sins
didn’t really happen. Like Peter, we get lost in managing pieces of our lives
for which Jesus already paid the penalty and that were thrown into the Sea of
Forgetfulness. We need only accept that forgiveness by forgiving ourselves.
It
truly IS finished.
Lord, we pray You continue to bless Your Church and make them a shining witness for You. Amen.
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