Encouragement

Encouragement

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But, I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31

Intro: Your teenage son doesn’t complain about coming to church.

He is not rebellious.

You are pleased with the progress he is making in school.

You are a really proud parent.

He is dating a girl from a good family.

They even come to church together,

Then you find out she is pregnant

and you are disappointed.

Your husband promises to take you on a dinner date and to the movies.

You are really looking forward to spending some time with him.

Then, you get a phone call, he has to apologize:

He can’t make it; there is something that came up at work again.

You help a recovering addict who has been sober and clean for some time.

She seems so sincere and likeable

You want to help her get back on her feet and get her life back.

You help her get a job.

You help her get an apartment.

You help her get her utilities turned on.

She comes to church for several weeks.

You start to have a real relationship with her.

You take her out to eat after the service.

But the next week you look for her but she doesn’t show up.

You find out she went back into an abusive relationship.

She fell off of the wagon and misses work and loses her job.

You invite a co-worker to the Friends and Family Day at church.

They say they will be there.

You are so excited and tell everyone they are coming.

You wait for them as long as you can in the church parking to walk in together.

You look for them to come in even after the service starts but the couple never shows.

The next day, the man explains that his wife was worn out, and they just decided not to come.

You are in charge of recruiting volunteers for a church event.

You have people sign up to be there at a certain time and to bring food and snacks.

A volunteer seems enthusiastic and sincere,

but now she doesn’t show

She does not call in advance

and you are left with a big hole to fill

no one to work that hour and not enough food or snacks for the children.

Other volunteers who are there have to do double work and rush out to buy more supplies.

+SLIDE+

What do you do with unreliable, inconsistent people?

Jesus Christ had an associate like that.

His name was Simon Peter.

Simon meant well,

but he blew hot and cold.

He was walking on water by faith one minute,

and then the next minute he was up to his neck in seaweed in doubt.

He was calling Jesus the Son of God one moment

and then spouting Satan’s line the next.

Simon was so loyal to Jesus that he courageously attacked a host of soldiers with a single sword

and then, a few minutes later, he cowardly denied to a lowly servant girl that he had even met Jesus.

Simon may be our favorite disciple,

we all like him because we can identify with his failures.

But, we don’t appreciate having undependable people like Simon on our committee or other areas of our life.

They disappoint us and leave us holding the bag.

This morning, let’s study how Jesus encouraged Simon to overcome his inconsistency.

This is one of the qualities that made Jesus such an outstanding leader.

He helped people like Simon reach their full potential

and become a consistent and dependable influence in the church.

+SLIDE+

The first lesson is this:

I. Be discerning.

We talked last week about the difference between a hypocrite

and someone one who is sincerely struggling to become a better person.

There is a difference between someone who wants to change and wants to help themselves

And someone who has learned to manipulate the system

They know how to play on your sympathy

There was a big difference between the way Jesus responded

to the religious leaders that we talked about last week

and the way He responded to Simon Peter.

Jesus’ rebuke to the Pharisees was harsh.

He called them “whitewashed tombs” and “blind guides” and “brood of vipers.”

But, from the beginning, His words to Simon Peter were kinder, much more positive.

He calls him blessed, and says, “You are going to be a rock.

I am praying for you.

I am going to give to you the keys to the kingdom.”

Jesus was so much more tolerant of the inconsistency of Simon Peter

than he was the phony Pharisees and religious hypocrites at the temple.