Do You Need A Second Chance? Series

“DO YOU NEED A SECOND CHANCE?” John 21:1-19

FBCF – 4/16/23

Jon Daniels

INTRO – Ever broken a promise? Done something or said something that disappointed someone? Hard to recover from those moments sometimes.

- Sometimes the broken promise or the moment of disappointment is not a monumental thing – You promised to bring cookies to a party, but you forgot. Your wife wanted you to get some pine straw for the flower beds in the front yard, but you forgot.

- Sometimes the broken promise or the disappointment has major impact & long-lasting consequences – You broke the promise you made to God to save yourself & your purity for your future spouse, or the promise you made to your spouse on your wedding day to “keep yourself only unto him or her.”

- You may be living under a cloud of regret & guilt right this very moment b/c of a broken promise that haunts your memory.

Every one of us has experienced the sting of disappointment when someone has broken a promise made to us. And every one of us has experienced the pain of regret when we have failed in some way. Disappointment & failure are part of what it means to live in a fallen, sinful world. And the deeper our love for someone is, the deeper the pain we feel when they fail us or we fail them. If we didn’t care about someone, then we most like are too concerned about disappointing them or failing them. But when we truly love someone, the thought of failing them can be nearly unbearable.

“Behold! The Lamb of God” series – As we’ve walked through different passages in the Gospel of John, we’ve been able to see how a relationship w/ changes everything in our lives:

- We’ve seen how “This Jesus” shows us what to believe, where to walk, & how to be saved.

- We’ve seen how having a relationship w/ Jesus makes us want to be like Andrew & bring others to meet Jesus.

- We’ve seen how having a life verse can help us truly make Jesus the priority in our lives.

- We’ve seen how Jesus will quench our spiritual thirst.

- We’ve seen how knowing that Jesus prayed for us & is praying for us gives us great encouragement to live for Him.

- We’ve seen how the death, burial, & resurrection of Jesus promise us victory in this life & the life to come!

One of the points I made last Sunday – Easter Sunday – was the Jesus gives us victory over our failures. And that is exactly what one of His main disciples needed to know & experience. Today’s sermon: “Do You Need a Second Chance?”

EXPLANATION – John 21:1-19

“Biggest Loser” reality TV show – contestants strive to lose massive amounts of weight, sometimes as much as 264 lbs like Michael Ventrella did in 2010. (https://biggestloser.fandom.com/wiki/Michael_Ventrella)

Peter could probably be called “The Biggest Loser” when it comes to the disciples. His failure in denying Jesus is the most well-known, well-documented failure of all Jesus’ disciples.

- He failed Jesus in the Upper Room – “Lord, you will never wash my feet” (John 13:8). “Though they all fall away…I will never fall away” (Matthew 26:33). “Even if I must die w/ you, I will not deny you” (Matthew 26:35).

- He failed Him in the Garden w/ Malchus. Peter meant well but accomplished nothing. Jesus told to put his sword away b/c his arrest & crucifixion had to happen.

- He failed Him in the courtyard 3 times when he was asked about being one of Jesus’ disciples: “You’re not one of His disciples, are you?”… “Didn’t I see you w/ Him?”… “I’m pretty sure you’re one of His disciples.” And Peter began to curse & swear that He was not! Then the most haunting crowing of a rooster the world has ever heard happened, followed by the look that drove Peter out into the darkness, weeping bitterly over his denial of Jesus, his failure, his broken promises.

This moment in Peter’s life shows us some important realities about denying Christ, either by our words or by our deeds:

- We lose our joy – Luke 22:62 – “He went out & wept bitterly [w/ agony, w/ mental suffering].”

- We lose our courage – Peter had been so bold in his pronouncement of his standing w/ Jesus, even to the point of death.

- We lose our direction – Just have to wonder where Peter went when he left the courtyard that night. He had been so confident in following Jesus, & now he had nowhere to go.

- We lose our assurance – The man whose name literally meant “rock” was broken apart by a lowly servant girl standing by a fire.