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Welcome to the live big broadcast with Derek Greer. We believe this teaching from God's word will empower you to live a full, impactful life in Christ. Let's dig in.

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Mark chapter 14 and verse 53. And they led Jesus away to the high priest Caiaphas. And they all gathered in this man's home. And Jesus underwent an illegal and kangaroo court until morning. The only thing more frustrating than shady leaders is the people foolish enough to listen to them. And that's why sometimes you need to turn off the news. It just makes you mean and ugly. Did I say that? I did. And with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes. A few chapters Prior, in Mark 11, I think verse 18, the Bible tells us that these men had already made up their minds to kill Jesus. So what happened that night was really a mock trial. In fact, this is why the Bible says in Mark 14:61 that Jesus kept silent and he answered nothing. Sometimes it behooves us to keep our mouths shut. Sometimes true self esteem is choosing not to argue with people who are already committed to misunderstanding you anyway. So Jesus was wise. He's like, it don't matter what I say, y' all have made up your minds. But 54 says, Peter followed him at a distance. And this is where the trouble starts. Whenever I have backed away from Jesus, his people, his church, things have always started to go wrong for me and mine. I really have only one strategy in my walk with God, and it's to stay as close to Jesus as possible and let him do the rest. But if I could add a second thing, it would be, I always do my best to do right by people, whether or not they do right by me. And as I walk close with him, do right by people. These simple principles have kept me for 40 years. It says, but Peter followed Jesus at a distance. Anything in my life that keeps me from walking closely with Jesus has to go. Whether it's my latest disappointment, whether it's my foolish pride, how many y' all got, some of that. Whether it's my hurt feelings, whatever, even if it's my right hand. Jesus said, if your right hand offends you, cut it off. And I've learned anything that gets in the way of my walk with God. I have to value God higher than that thing by letting that thing go. But Peter followed at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest. Watch this though. And he sat with servants. Peter was sitting with the people that would actually beat Jesus. He was sitting with the people that would Shout. Crucify him. Crucify him. If you want to know the direction you're heading, pay attention to the new company you're keeping. The best way not to get burned by fire is by not playing with matches in the first place. But here we see Peter, and he was warming himself at that fire. It gets cold at night. And Peter had certain human needs. But instead of following John, as John 18:15 tells us, into the home of the high priest, to be near Jesus, to be close to Jesus, to perhaps be moral support for Jesus so that his soul could be warmed through the closeness, Peter decided that he would sit with the crowd. I'd rather be cold and alone than warm with a crowd headed in the wrong direction. I can do bad all by myself. And this is why I learned to try to pick my friends wisely. Now, the chief priests in all the Sanhedrin, the council, these are the most respected men in the land. When they walked in, they had these regal robes and they often had entourages with them. They had headpieces, and you could spot them a mile away. These are the esteemed men of the land came together and sought testimony against Jesus to put him to death. But they found none. You know what I found? Rumors are mostly the projections of the individuals that started them. But the only comforting thing about a false rumor is at least you know it's true. And if you give it time, the truth will eventually come out. Might not be today, might not be tomorrow, but it will eventually come out. For many bore false witnessing. How many have been lied on? Yeah, Jesus knows what that's like for someone to look you in the face and tell a bald face lie. But their testimonies did not agree. Which means anyone that was paying attention to the allegations knew the allegations against Jesus were false. But often we believe what we want to believe and we don't let the facts get in our way. How many y' all know that's true? Skip to verse 64. In this distinguished council of learned men, men who had studied the Old Testament scripture, knew every verse in Proverbs, Men who had ought to have been wiser than this, men who should have been much closer to God, they all condemned him to be deserving of death. Then some of these distinguished men, and some who were sitting with Peter, ran in and began to spit on him and to blindfold him and to beat him. And then they began to mock him. One soldier would punch him in the face. And they say, prophesy, which one of us hit you? This otherwise dignified counsel was Stirred into a frenzy. And forgive me, I said it was a punch. But a punch would have been more dignifying. It was a smack with the palm of the hand, which was more insulting. You see, it's okay to feel emotions, but never let the wrong ones rule your actions. Now, as Peter, who is sitting at a distance, and whenever I start to back away from God, that's when I get in trouble. I mean, you can even be in church and still following Jesus at a distance. And even in this room and some of you live streaming, you're trying to figure out, how far can I be away from Jesus and still make it in? But I want to tell you, when you get that far away, it can be a slippery slope. And I'm not trying to find out how far away I can be and still make it in. I want to find out how close can I be and make it in. You understand what I'm saying? Now, as Peter was below the courtyard, one of the servant girls, pay attention to this little girl. The high priest came, and when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, you look familiar. You were also with Jesus of Nazareth. Now, we're more progressive in our culture and time, but in the ancient world, the fact that he was frightened by a little girl only added to his humiliation. You know, on one level, it's understandable that Peter would not want to admit that he was with the man who was being mocked, that he was with a man who was being spit upon, that was being beaten, because he too might be guilty by association and drug in that room too. But what I want to tell you is there is a cost to following Jesus. And a person is not truly a friend until they're willing to defend you in your absence. But Peter denied it, saying, I neither know nor understand what you are saying. You act like he ain't speak English and he went out on the porch and a rooster crowed. Didn't he just say in the Last chapter, Mark 14:29, he looked Jesus in the face in front of all the other apostles and disciples. He made this great confession or boast, even if all fall away, Jesus, I'm your God. I. I'm not like them. I will not. You know, it's easy to talk about faith when you're not the one the doctor says is experiencing stage four cancer. It's easier to quote, and my God shall supply all my needs according to his risen glory. When you're not the one who lost your job, it's easy to say that God is a Miracle worker and. And waymaker. When your spouse hasn't come home, telling you that if they've fallen in love with somebody else, or your child you discovered has some secret habits you didn't know about. It's so easy to be brave when bullets aren't flying yet in your life. So just the night before, I mean, Peter, man, you know, is like, I will never. I'm not one of those guys. But life has a way of finding us out. And the servant girl saw him again, same little girl, and wasn't talking to him this time. Started talking to the people around her and began to say to those who stood by, no, no, no, no. I don't care what he said. He's one of them, too. But Peter started going every, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. He denied it again. Now you deny it once. I get it. Maybe it's just, you know, a moment of weakness. But twice, and a little later, those who stood by said to Peter again, surely you're one of them, for you are a Galilean and your speech or your accent shows it. Now, since we weren't there and we're not from this area, we don't know or realize that Galileans were looked down upon at this time by the people in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the big city where the Hori Tori people lived and functioned and operated. And these Galileans had these regional pronunciations. And all of the disciples were Galilean, including Jesus, except Judas. So when Jesus and the disciples would go to Jerusalem, they would stick out like a Mississippi boy in overalls. New York City. And there were a lot of regional tensions that are in play as you read the gospels. But verse 71, he does it a third time. But this time, Peter tries to act like he was about that life. And he slipped back into his old ways. Has anybody ever done this? And the Bible says he began to curse and swear. Now, today, that would be four letter words if it was in America. But this was a religious culture. And the way you would curse in that culture would be to call down God's curse or wrath if you were lying. So he was saying things like, God, strike me dead. This is a disciple too, doing miracles. Not only was Jesus do miracles, the disciples were doing miracles. The Bible said they were casting out demons. But here we have the disciple, in fact, the lead disciple, cursing and swearing and lying. He said, I do not know this man of whom you speak. And at that moment, a second time, the rooster crowed. And when it happened, he was smitten in his heart. The Bible says Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him the day before. Before the rooster crows thrice, Peter, you will deny me three times. Now, as bad as all this was, as deep as the betrayal was, as much as all of this hurt Jesus, everything was still going as planned. God said the night before what he would do. Meaning when God called him, he knew every mistake he'd make. Jesus called him on the water, he began to sink. Many of us have the mindset. The reason God called me is because he expects a level of perfection. Jesus knew the day before what would happen, but still washed his feet, still served him communion. The Bible says all things work together for good. This includes bad things, unthinkable things, even the worst things you can possibly do. God has enough imagination to find a way to work it together for good. Nothing takes God by surprise, not even our mistakes. John 21:15. Watch how Jesus fixes this. So when they had eaten breakfast, now he's already been resurrected and they'd already betrayed him. Jesus was standing on the shore and he hollers out, he says, cast your net on the right side of the boat. And when they did it, all the fish from Galilee just swam to the boat and filled up the boat. And, you know, they pulled the fish on the boat. And Peter, you know, he's so embarrassed and ashamed that God's been good to him despite his sin. You know, it's the good goodness of God that leads us to repentance. And he puts on his clothes, jumps in the water, which is crazy, which means something's going on with him. To swim to the shore, the boats was too heavy to move fast, but thank God, he's willing to leave the fish behind to get to Jesus. So something's going on inside of him. But it says, so when they had what? Eaten what? Breakfast. Jesus cooked breakfast for the men who hurt him worse. You know, we expect. I say this often, we expect an enemy to hurt us. But what hurts us most about betrayal is it can only come from a friend. Enemy can't betray because you expect them to do bad. It's the friend you don't expect to lie on you, to cheat on you, walk out on you. That's what hurts. But Jesus is cooking a meal. Can you or could you cook a meal for the people who hurt you most? I'm like, lord, I can do it if you let me hit him with the frying pan right after. But I'm trying to be a little bit more like Jesus. It's his kindness that leads us to repentance. The reason we worship, the way we worship is not because we like to sing. It's not because we didn't have something else to do on a Sunday morning. It's because we're so grateful for his goodness. We're so grateful for his mercy. We recognize if it hadn't been for the Lord on my side. You hear what I'm saying? And when they had eaten breakfast, that would have at least made him choke just a little bit. But God is good. Jesus said to Simon Peter, watch what he calls him. Simon, son of John. Notice Jesus didn't call him the preferred name, the name that Jesus gave him, Peter, which means rock. He didn't call him Peter because he had act like anything but a rock. But what I want you to see, despite Peter's failing or Simon's failing, God still had a plan for his life. And God still has a plan for your life. Even when you fail to be everything you know you can be, ought to be, should be. Sometimes you want to do, you know, in your head, it's like, well, I wanted to do it, but then by the time it came out my mouth, it came out differently. And Peter, in his mind, you know, he wanted to do certain things, but he found himself sometimes falling short. And Peter would more times than not, act more like Simon than a stable rock. And Jesus said, simon, do you agape me? Now? In a moment I'm going to read to you four major words that the Greeks used for the word love. Now, the Greeks would brag they were, you know, Plato, Aristotle, all those folks were Greek, the great philosophers, or if they weren't, you know, in Egypt, they were in Greece. And they would brag that in the Greek language you could say more with one word than you could say in a paragraph or a page in another language. So, you know, I say I love my wife, but in the same breath I can say, I love that hamburger. You see, the English language doesn't always get it said the way it needs to be said. So here, since we're reading it in English, the English just translates both words the same way. But because our Bibles do that, we miss some nuance here. So Jesus says to Peter, do you agape me more than these? He was speaking of the other disciples that just the other day he thought he was braver then he thought he loved Jesus more than everybody else. Until the beating started coming. Then Peter was humbled, but only now is he starting to understand and recognize that with God it's Not about being better than anybody else. It's just about me being a better man than I was yesterday. And God just wants us to grow. It's not a competition. I'm just competing with myself. I just want to do better in life. And Peter responded. He said, yes, Lord, you know that I what? Love you. He doesn't say, he doesn't use agape. He uses the term philos here. And philos is a friendship type of love. Agape is covenant love. In fact, let me read you the four major terms. There's actually more that they could translate. Love in our Bible. The first one is philos, love between a close brother. I'm sorry, a close friend or a brother. And this was the word again, Peter used to eros, where we get the term erotic. It's from the word eros is love found in romantic relationships. This is a husband and wife type thing. And then there's storge. That's love between family members. That's how you love your mama, you love your father. And then there's this final word, agape, that the Greeks didn't use very often. They didn't really have much use for the term, but they had it in their arsenal. And it wasn't until the Old Testament was translated into Greek, when they created the Septuagint, that this word started to be used. And when the Bible described the covenant love or the love that God had for his people, it was always agape. It's never erotic. God's not into you like that. It's. It's a love that is covenantal, unselfish, sacrificial, and unconditional. So Jesus was calling Peter to a higher place. Peter, do you agape me? And Peter responds, I saw what I did yesterday, Lord. The best I can do is say that I. I philo you or philos you. Philo says you love me, I love you. You scratch my back, I scratch my back, your back. And we're friends, you know, as long as we behave and that type of thing. He said, lord, I can't say that anymore. I used to think I was all that, but I can't say that anymore. Despite the fact Peter didn't answer his question. Despite the fact Peter didn't come up. Watch what Jesus said. I'm no longer going to use you in ministry. I no longer have a plan for your life. You're done. No, he said, feed my lambs. In other words, shepherd my flock. What we think should have disqualified him actually had the opposite effect. Now people may throw broken things away. But God never uses anyone greatly until he breaks them deeply. And Peter was in process. God was working on him. The only one that came out of the womb perfect was Jesus. The rest of us are in process. The rest of us are growing and getting better. And God knows it. And he's willing to meet you right where you are to get you to where you need to go. I'm preaching better than you. You say an amen right there, verse 16. And Jesus, when Jesus starts repeating something, he's doing something, he said to him a second time. Simon, son of actually, John, that's Jonah there. It's yournes John. He said, I'm going to ask you again, dude, you didn't answer my question. I said, do you agape me? You answered, do you philos me? So let's go do it one more time. Simon, I'm not going to call you son of God. You, you acting just like your daddy, you know? Simon, do you agape me? And Peter said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I philo you. You see, after his failure, he recognized that his love was selfish. It wasn't truly sacrificial, it was conditional, and it wasn't truly a covenant love. But even when we don't truly love God, he still loves us. And that's our only hope. The Bible says, I don't know. But while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. His love for us has nothing to do with you. Everything to do about who he is. Jesus said to him, despite your lack of agape love, Peter, I still have a job for you to do. If you think you gotta be perfect before you can fulfill the mandate God has on your life according to scripture, you're wrong. You're wrong. Jesus said again, tend my sheep, be a pastor. In this case, some of y' all are called to be business people. And by the way, never act like pastors and ministers. They're the only people called. Listen, whatever you do with your life is your vocation. It's your calling. And if you're not doing your calling, stop what you're doing and get into your calling. Some of you supposed to be teaching in the public schools. Some of you are supposed to be again, business people. Others of you are supposed to be in the military protecting your nation. And God anoints you and graces each of us for the assignment he has given us. But watch this verse 17. Jesus said for a third time, watch how Jesus gave Peter a second chance. Jesus watched. As a matter of fact, the Bible says when the cock crowed. Jesus looked Peter right in the face. He looked through the court, looked Peter in the face. He watched Peter deny him three times. But he also gave Peter a chance to confess his love three times. God is not only a God of a second chance, but another chance. Another chance, another chance. If it weren't for second chances, I would have no chance at all. God will give you a chance to redeem yourself. He'll give you a chance to get it right. I know you messed up. Listen, I'm not glorying in messing up, because messing up ain't fun. Messing up is embarrassing. Messing up hurts you and hurts other people. But guess what? Even though we're pressing toward the mark, sometimes we miss the mark. And when we miss the mark, you need to understand, God still has a plan. He said to him a third time, simon, son of Jonah, watch what he does. He humbles himself. Oh, Jesus. How you say humble? But I guess so. He condescends, but often we use that word in a bad way. But he descends and met Peter where he was. And in this third question, he changes the wording. Jesus said, do you not agape as in the other two questions, but this time, do you philos me, Peter? Then will you at least love me as a friend? If anyone deserves to be loved and loved passionately and rightly, it's Jesus. But Jesus was willing to say, you can't meet me here, but can you meet me here? And if you meet me here, I'll eventually grow you to get you to where you need to be. You know, there's a tradition that has come through Christian history that when Peter was martyred, finally he was able to face the cross. And God will give you another chance, by the way. But this time he looked at it boldly and bravely. He had grown, and God had developed him as an individual. And by the time of his death, he looked at the soldiers and he said, I'm not worthy to be crucified like my master. Crucify me upside down. The point is, God grew him and developed him. If Jesus would have rejected him, we never have that story. And what you can't do and won't do today, if you stay at it, God is able and he'll work in you the will and the do of his good pleasure. He said, peter, do you philos me? None of us, I don't care who you are. None of us love God as we ought to. But just as Jesus met Peter where he was, he'll meet you where you are. But Peter is grieved, his conscience is beating him. What's being said is making him think. And he realizes, yeah, I'm not all that. And I did say in front of all these guys, if no one left him, I wouldn't betray him. But then I did. So he's grieved. And I don't know if they were tears, but I know his voice was at least cracking because he said to him a third time, do you filo me instead of agape me what I need to say to you, particularly the young people in this room. Failure is not the opposite of success. It is a part of success. And as painful as it is, it is part of God's plan. Don't mishear me, though. God doesn't tempt us, neither can he be tempted. But he has complete knowledge of every choice we will make before we make that choice. And he knows how we really feel. So all Peter could do is kind of back up and say, well, Lord, you know all things. This is a guy that just swore he'd never do this, never do that. I don't do a whole lot of swearing about what I'll never do. I'd be like, well, if God helps me, you know, Now there's some things I'm not likely to do but put me in a certain I don't know without God's help, I don't know. I love myself, but I don't completely trust myself. So every day I'm like, lord, help me be the man you need me to be. Help me make the choices you need me to make. Help me do the things God you need me to do. All God in myself. I'm nothing, but I can do all things through Christ, who strengthen me. God, strengthen me one more time again. Help me live this day the way I ought to live this day and love the way I ought to love. I used to be impressed by myself until I lived a little bit longer. He said, lord, you know all things. Finally conscious of his own weaknesses, he realized that Jesus knew him better than he knew himself. And then he said, you know that I philos you what I want you to notice, and we do need to apologize to one another, and don't mishear me. But Jesus did not make Peter apologize. He did not make Peter promise to never do it again. I would have like. I want to see some groveling. I want. But what we see here is God does not require perfection in his children, only growth. And if you are growing and moving in the right direction, God's got you. And he Got space for you. You are still on track. How do we say, I may not be who I want to be, but at least I'm not who I. Yeah. And Jesus said to him, and I'm done with this. Feed my sheep. God was not looking for a faultless person to do his work. He was just looking for a person that would start where he was and be willing to grow. Some of you saying, God don't plan for failure. He's holy. Why don't you read the Bible just a little bit? Because my Bible says that before the foundation of the world, God had a plan to send his son to a cross. He knew Adam and Eve would fail in the garden, but he had a plan. If God didn't plan for failure, there would have never been a plan for Jesus to go to the cross. You see, it's not whether or not you get knocked down, about whether or not you get up, fall down seven times, get up eight. God knows you messed up. I messed up. Here's the deal. Calm down. Everything's still going as planned. He got you. He'll make it work together for good. He knows how to turn stuff around. Listen, Peter was the guy God used to preach and 3,000 people got saved because Peter wasn't acting holier than thou. He's like, I'm a broken dude just like you. And if God can use a broken buster like me, he could use you. And it gave people hope. Tell your story. Don't just tell your kids about your accomplishments. Accomplishments. Share with them the times you were knocked down, the times you failed, the times you were disappointed, the times you thought you'd never come back. But you did. Stop acting so perfect. We've all made mistakes. The only one who came out of the womb perfect was Jesus. The rest of us are in process. The rest of us are learning and growing. Now, don't mishear me. I'm not lowering the bar for you. I'm not telling you to live any other way. No, I'm saying press toward the mark for the prize. But as you press sometimes you're going to miss it. Pay attention to me. I just watched a movie the other day. Sit down for just a second. I'm going to be done. You know that first Apollo rocket that went to the moon? After they got outside the Earth's orbit, you think that that thing just went directly to the moon? About every 15 minutes, they had to correct the direction. But you see, NASA was pleased because at least they were going in the right direction. But then as they were going in the right direction every 15 minutes. They needed to tweak, they needed to make an adjustment. Repentance is simply making an adjustment to the course you're on to get back on the real course you're on. You hear what I'm saying? Repentance is a good thing. Saying I'm sorry God is the good thing. When you realize you're wrong and can do better, it's a good thing. Thing. The way they got to the moon was making adjustments every 15 minutes. So I'm living my life making adjustments. Lord, I, I know what I just said, but I can, I could say it better next time. Lord. Lord, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm going to tweak this, I'm going to tweak that. I'mma go at it again. Life. Listen man, I wish that I just got saved it just to straight arrow but that's why I gotta pray so much. That's why you gotta pray so much. To hear the daily adjustments we gotta make to get it to the moon. To get it to the place God has called us and predestined us.