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 This last summer, service. Uh, just now we had to put out some more chairs. We were completely packed. And so we’re going to start inviting some of the first service folks to come to the second.

We have a little more space here, but all that to say to, to you guys keep coming to the second and it helps balance it out. And so thank you for those who are committed to the second service. We so appreciate that. Uh, for the first few weeks, it was 50, 50, like a perfect split, but we’re starting to see the first service really outgrow itself, which we’re going to be hitting a problem soon when this one gets fully packed.

Praise the Lord. We’re just going to make it work. And so, thank you for committing to the Second Service. Um, if you are new here at Passion Creek, uh, we make not attenders, but we make disciples. Uh, I hope that you noticed that. Jesus uses not that language explicitly. Uh, I don’t think there was a paradigm of attending a church and not doing anything in the first century, but that’s totally a paradigm, paradigm today.

And so, kind of the language Jesus would use, and what James would use, would be saying, Hey, don’t just be hearers of the word, deceiving yourselves, but be doers of the word. A hearer is an attender. They came, heard the thing, went home, and it didn’t change their life. But disciples are people who hear it and do it.

If you look at, uh, the parable Jesus uses at the end of his sermon on the Sermon on the Mountain, Matthew 7, he says the two houses, everybody know that illustration, right? Between the house built on the sand and the house built on the rock. What we often forget is a couple things. One, this is all free, by the way, we’re about to get into Acts, but, uh, one is that both houses get hit by a storm.

So, Christian or non Christian alike, we all get a lot of pain involved in our life. The other thing we don’t notice is both of those houses, according to Jesus’s parable, heard the word of the Lord. It was just the one built on the rock that did that practice the way that did the word of the Lord. And so that’s our aim at Passion Creek.

Uh, that’s our aim in the gospels and the book of Acts is to make disciples. Our goal in life here at church is not to promise you lowered hostility in your life. Life might actually get worse for you. But our goal is to increase your maturity, so that when those storms come, you’re able to withstand. And that is the heartbeat of Jesus in the Gospels, and it’s the heartbeat of the church in the book of Acts.

In the book of Acts, it really begins with this whole idea of making disciples to the ends of the earth. And so that’s why Jesus presented himself as a rabbi, Coming to make more disciples. This word disciple in Greek is mathetes, in Hebrew it means talmudim. Now for us today, the obvious question, when we tell you this all the time, we don’t make the tenders, we make disciples.

The question is, what is a disciple? This was a common word in the first century. It’s not a common word today. So quickly, let me just give you some context here when we say that word as we’re about to dive into a disciple of Peter’s life. To be a disciple in the first century, it meant your life revolved around three goals.

One was to be formed by your rabbi’s love. So again, we’re saying for Jesus, we’re formed by his love. But by in this time, if you followed any rabbi, your existence was predicated on your rabbi’s approval of you. It was even more important than what your dad thought of you. It was all about your rabbi. And Jesus is saying, yes, I fit that.

Come and be formed by my love for you. The second thing in this century, or the first century they would’ve understood, but we don’t today, is it also means to be formed by your rabbi’s lifestyle. In other words, to sign up for this Jesus life is to say, I’m a disciple, so I’m gonna walk how he walked. I’m gonna talk how he talked.

I’m gonna Sabbath how Jesus Sabbath. I’m gonna be saturated in the scriptures and the Hebrew word haga, which means meditating on it. Day and night, this is what we do as followers of the way. We do everything Jesus did. And lastly, we’re formed by our rabbi’s leadership. It means immediate obedience. Now, for family Sunday, for the parents in the room, here is what we say at our home, and you can totally steal it.

We tell our kids, hey, immediate obedience, right away, all the way, with a happy heart. And they haven’t done it yet, but that’s the goal. We’re going to say it over and over, right away, all the way, with a happy heart. And that’s actually how we’re supposed to do with King Jesus. Let me tell you, if you’re reading your Bible correctly, there are things Jesus tells us to do that will rub us the wrong way.

But we’re still gonna do it, right away, all the way, with a happy heart. And that’s our calling, is to be formed by His love, His lifestyle, and His leadership. And I would argue, in some ways, because we’re in the Moments and Marathons series, this happens in a moment, and we celebrate that. You’re just signing up, yes, Jesus is Lord, Savior, Rabbi, let’s go.

But also, I think a real gift of our church is we’re really passionate. about taking you over the marathon, helping you like deeply, be deeply rooted in his love, like really honestly mimic his lifestyle and completely live out with joy under his leadership. But it takes time. And today’s passage is proof of that.

So I hope you’re in Acts chapter 9. We’re gonna see today, this is our third week in Acts 9. We’re now finally getting over to also chapter 10. We’re gonna see Peter. He was like the apostle at this time, he has the keys of the kingdom, and he is still a work in progress. That’s why the title of my message today is Peter’s Progress, which is a riff off of Pilgrim’s Progress, a really good book.

Let’s pray and then we’ll get into the Bible. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, thank you so much for our children today. Thank you, Lord, that we have the gift of a church that has children in it. Thank you, God, we have the gift of a church that has grandparents in it, and great grandparents, and parents, and everything in between.

God, I pray that we submit to your scriptures today. God, thank you for the way you’ve already used it in our first gathering. I pray, God, that we would just submit to your truth here in a second. God, You have used Acts 9 and 10. To draw people to yourself to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth for thousands of years And I pray that you would continue that in and through us here at Passion Creek.

God we submit to you You’re in charge. This is your church And we love you only because you first loved us In Jesus name, everybody says, amen. Amen. There’s a lot for us to cover, so let’s dive right in. Chapter 9, verse 32. If you remember last week, we introduced Saul, who will later become Paul. Now it’s that gap.

It’s that 17 year gap. We won’t see him again until really in chapter 13. And so, let’s look at Peter again. Luke. takes his focus back to Peter, and there’s a lot of growth Peter still needs. Verse 32. As Peter was traveling from place to place, he also came down to the saints who lived in Lydda. Lydda, by the way, is kind of a Gentile city.

This is actually modern day, the Tel Aviv airport is like right where Lydda is. So if you’ve ever been to Israel, you likely, like me, landed in Tel Aviv. And so that was Lydda. So this was Jewish people lived there, but primarily Gentile, which is helpful for context you’ll see in a moment. There he found a man named Anais who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years.

So he wasn’t born this way. That thing happened and now he’s bedridden. Verse 34. Peter said to him in Aeas, Jesus Christ heals you. Look at the authority he says this from. Now get up and make your bed. One commentator said, now that’s the true miracle, telling somebody to make their bed and they do it.

Anybody? It still hasn’t happened to me. I ain’t making it. All right. That’s why I got married. And immediately he got up. So all who lived in Lydda and Sharon. Um, saw him and turn to the Lord. All right. So a couple of context points here. I need to go quickly through this. This is pretty far from Jerusalem.

You’ll notice that when you land in the airport, it’s a long drive to get to the Holy land to get to where the temple is. But what’s important to note as we read this next part. Okay. Peter’s a Jewish man, primarily ministering to Jewish people, but now he’s pushing himself, he’s now ministering to Jewish people in Gentile settings.

He’s not ministering to Gentiles yet, which, who are Gentiles? Anybody who is not from the family of Abraham, like, by blood, okay? So this is most of us in this room. Okay, so he heals his paralytic, but now he starts to go to Joppa, which is 10 miles away from Lydda. Look at verse 36. In Joppa, there was a disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas.

Now, I love biblical names, but please save your child. Don’t call him Dorcas. Amen? Now, it’s helpful to know this is already a context clue Luke is giving us. Tabitha is her Hebrew name. Amen? Amen. Uh, Dorcas is her Greek name. What is this implying? She is a Jewish person with Hebrew heritage, but is living in a Greek setting, a Gentile setting, so she has to go by Dorcas to those who don’t understand Hebrew.

Both words, Tabitha Andorcas mean the same thing, which means gazelle, and gazelle means beauty and grace. And have you ever seen a gazelle? It’s true. And we have one in our house, uh, stuffed. Uh, okay, so she was always doing good works. You guys aren’t laughing today, I’m nervous. She was always doing good works and acts of charity, which is like generosity.

About that time, she became sick and died. After washing her, which is the ceremonial cleansing, they placed her in a room upstairs, which is essentially like an attic. Since Lydda was near Joppa, again, 10 miles, the disciples heard that Peter was there and sent two men to him who urged him, don’t delay in coming with us.

So Peter got up and went with him. That’s a long walk, right? For, especially as Americans today, 10 miles. And so when he arrived, they led him to the room upstairs and all the widows approached him weeping. And showing him the robes and clothes that Dorcas had made while she was with him. So Dorcas was this incredible lady.

She was in charge of the widow’s ministry and in charge of the poor and helping them make clothes. So she’s just that great gal. When you see her at church, you give her a big hug and she has great perfume. You guys know what I’m talking about. You’ve all met a Dorcas. Okay. So, uh, you are a Dorcas. No. Okay.

So verse 40, Peter sent them all out of the room. He knelt down and prayed and turning. Uh, toward the body said, Tabitha, get up. And she opened her eyes, saw Peter, and sat up. And he gave her his hand and helped her stand up. And he called the saints and widows and presented her alive. This became known throughout Joppa.

And many believed in the Lord. Quickly, if you’re familiar with the Gospels, you’ll notice there are striking similarities between Peter’s miracles and Jesus’s miracles. So for the first one in John 5, if you don’t have to turn there, read it this week. In John 5, Jesus also encounters a paralytic. Remember, Peter’s there watching this event.

And what does Jesus say? Very similar phrase as Peter. He says, get up, pick up your mat, Other people read that translation, make your bed and walk. Same thing happens in Acts 9. 34. He says, get up and make your bed. And he gets up and walks. So that’s the first. So there is a direct correlation here. The second one is, uh, the healing of Dorcas is very much like when Jesus healed Jairus daughter in Mark 5.

Both of those stories, Mark 5 and Acts 9, everyone’s making a commotion. They’re really loved, uh, Peter and Jesus come and clear out the room, and Jesus says, Tabitha, arise. Peter says, little girl, arise. Now here’s what’s really cool. Let me geek out real quick. In the Greek, let me Greek out, okay, whatever. So in the Greek, Jesus says, Tabitha, kumi.

That’s Jesus in Mark 5. In Acts 9, Peter says, Talitha kumi. So you, when you’re reading it, you’re like, oh this is so cool because all this changes one letter. But Peter is living and leading just like Jesus did. So that’s, that’s what Luke wants us to see so far with Peter’s life. Peter is successfully leading like Jesus.

He’s doing the thing. He saw Jesus lead and now he’s doing the exact same thing. He’s saying the exact phrases he learned from Jesus. And that’s what we hope you and I do. We just are embodying the life and lifestyle of Jesus. And let me just say at our church we’re really seeking to embody this. We want to be people who honor others when we see people being successful in the Jesus way.

I think it’s a weird culture we have. We like to dishonor way more than we like to honor. And I think we have this misunderstanding of humility and we think, Hey, I can never compliment somebody because that’ll give them a big head. Anybody ever heard that before? Like people say this to me all the time and I say, look at me.

I already got a big head, size eight y’all, like, so don’t even buy me a hat. It’s not going to fit. But we kind of, we take that lie so far and think I can never compliment somebody. We’re a church. So we just have to give glory to God. You can give glory to God by acknowledging how God is using people. Hey, this is amazing.

What I’m seeing in your life, you’re growing, you are leading like Jesus. I want to say thank you. Right? Right now, the Lord. We’ll humble that person if they need it. And that’s why there’s structures of leadership and elders to help people accountable. But also we have to remember primarily in the biblical texts, what does the church do?

We’re not called to tear people down. The church is called to build one another up. So, let that be something we do constantly. And I think Luke is essentially doing that. He’s saying, look what Peter’s doing. He’s leading just like Jesus. This is pretty great. So, when you’re reading this, you’re thinking, Peter’s awesome.

He’s an all star. Just wait. All right. Verse 43, Peter stayed for some time in Joppa with Simon, a leather tanner. Now, if you just read this quickly, that seems like a throwaway line, like it’s not a big deal. But, again, if you had Jewish heritage, you would understand it’s a huge deal that Peter is growing so much, he’s staying with a Tanner.

Now, the Jewish people, this isn’t explicitly in the Old Testament that you can never hang out with a Tanner, but the Jewish rabbinic letters during this time, uh, the heritage would say, don’t be around Tanners because they’re constantly filled with people who blood, right? They’re constantly killing animals, making leather.

And so with that, they are unclean. They’re ceremonially unclean. And of all places, it’s very unclean to be at their house because they would work from their home. Now, if you’ve ever been to a taxidermy shop, it has a distinct smell. And that’s with a freezer. Can you imagine how it smells without a freezer?

Okay. So this is to a Jewish boy, to a Jewish man. This is a place you don’t want to be around, especially if you think your righteousness depends on keeping the law perfectly. But Peter’s been liberated from that, right? So notice the growth. Peter’s doing something here in Acts 9 he would have never done in, say, Matthew 4.

God is growing him. But let’s keep reading. We’ll see soon where Peter still needs some growth. There is a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion. What was called the Italian Regiment. So was this guy a Jewish person or Gentile? Gentile. Verse two, he was a devout man and feared God along with his whole household.

He did many charitable deeds for the Jewish people and always prayed to God. So a centurion, uh, the root word there is century. So he’s leading at least 100 men, likely up to 600 men. This isn’t a super high rank in the Roman army, but without centurions, the Roman army didn’t exist, right? Very important, uh, task.

Now, Cornelius was raised in a culture of polytheism, which just means a lot of gods. So, we’re, I think we’re a little more familiar with the Greek gods, Greek mythology, but you also have Roman theology, uh, theology, mythology, it is something. theology. But it’s things like Mars and Jupiter and Venus. Now, these are not just planets, but these are gods to them.

And so they all had different, uh, powers over certain things. And so for Cornelius, he’s getting disenchanted with polytheism. He’s saying the religion of this world doesn’t seem to be right. And so he’s drawn to the Jewish faith because the Jewish faith is known for polytheism. Monotheism. Now, it’s, again, important to know he’s not yet a Christian.

This is why I think Peter’s story collides with Cornelius. But at this point, he is searching. And let me just say, I think we’re in a moment in our culture where more and more people are getting disenchanted with secularism. I think more and more people are realizing the lives of this world, living life, pursuing pleasure after pleasure, identifying yourself based on your desires, is falling flat.

And so we’re going to see how Peter encounters Cornelius. I pray it’s the same way we encounter others. First Peter 3. 15, it’s not on your screen. He gives a great encouragement, this is Peter, on how we help those who are searching. He says, always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have, and hear this last line, but do this with gentleness and respect.

I think we’re lacking in that area for many Christians in America today. All that to say, I think Cornelius could be your neighbor. Let’s be mindful of that and let’s be caring and loving and sharing the gospel. But remember, Cornelius is a Gentile and the gospel hasn’t officially gone to the Gentiles yet.

Let’s look at verse, um, Let’s keep going. Verse, uh, man, I just messed up my place. Okay, that was one through eight. Now let’s read, uh, verse. Did I read all the way through eight? No, I skipped ahead. What verse am I on? Oh, I just got ahead of myself. Let’s read verse three. Is that verse three on the screen?

Okay, sorry guys, I got ahead of myself. Let’s read the rest of the Bible. Not the rest of it, you know what I’m saying. All right, so about three in the afternoon, hope you’re here till midnight. About three in the afternoon, he distinctly saw in a vision an angel of God who came in and said to him, Cornelius, staring at him in awe, he said, what is it Lord?

The angel told him your prayers and your acts of charity have ascended as a memorial offering before God. Now this might make some of us uncomfortable, but notice the theology there. Prayers get the Generosity does. Very interesting. Okay, so your generosity towards Jewish people has my attention. Okay, now verse five.

Now, send men to Joppa and call for Simon, who is also named Peter. He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. And when the angel who spoke to him had gone, he called the two of his household servants and a devout soldier, who was one of those who attended him. And after explaining everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

All right, we’re caught up now. Sorry for getting ahead of myself. Okay, so now let’s keep reading verse 9. The next day, as they were traveling and nearing the city, Peter went up to pray on the roof about noon. He became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing something, he fell into a trance.

Notice quickly, Peter is not just successfully leading like Jesus, he’s successfully living like Jesus. like Jesus. Peter was in high demand. That’s why when he was in Lydda, they’re like, Oh, you need to hurry up and come to Joppa. Ministers can fall into this rut of being so busy helping, preaching, leading that they don’t do their first job, which is praying to God, right?

Being a man of God’s presence. And so Peter is so mature. He’s still abiding in Christ. He’s still taking, okay, it’s noon. I need to go up to the roof and to pray. He had this rhythm of prayer, and I pray at our church, if you’re around us long enough, you will begin to carry those rhythms as well. So, so far, Peter looks like a superstar.

And not anymore. Let’s keep reading verse 11. He saw heaven opened and an object that resembled a large sheet coming down, being lowered by its four corners to the earth. In it were all the four footed animals and reptiles of the earth and the birds of the sky. A voice said to him, and this is what I text all my friends on Thanksgiving day, Get up, Peter!

Kill and eat! Amen? November can’t come soon enough. Now, No, Lord, Peter said, for I have never eaten anything impure and ritually unclean. Again, a second time, the voice said to him, What God has made clean, do not call impure. And this happened three times. I love Peter, it always takes three times for him to learn a lesson.

Anybody else in the room? Amen? Alright. And suddenly, the object was taken up into heaven. Okay, so. Why is Peter so repulsed about this, this white sheet? Well, in Leviticus 11, we see a list of animals that Jews in that era were, uh, and the Jewish people were called to, they’re allowed to eat. And then there was a long list of things they were not allowed to eat.

We would call it today kosher. So things that were allowed, you’re allowed to eat things like oxen, sheep, and doves. Things that were forbidden are swine, right? So no pork sandwiches, no, no owls, no seagulls. This is a sad one. No lobsters. All right. No buzzards. You can have that. No reptiles. And so Peter is seeing a list of things he’s been taught as a Hebrew boy never to eat because he’s kosher.

Because the law said if you ate those, you’d become unclean. So, here’s what’s happening though. Deeper than just exposing Peter’s dietary habits, God was exposing Peter’s prejudice. So, by now, Peter knows he could eat this, and he’s still forgiven and going to the kingdom. I don’t think anybody, we’re not worried, Peter’s not worried about losing his salvation here.

But what’s deeper here is if Peter eats unclean animals, he’s He is associating and affirming Gentiles. And that for Peter was a step too far. Peter is failing to love like Jesus. He’s leading like him, living like him, but not loving like him. Now we’re going to cover this even more next week. There is a major divide between the Jews and the Gentiles.

And by the way, who are Gentiles? People who are not of Jewish blood, right? Gentiles were pagans. They were the heathens. They were the one following multiple, polytheistic, a ton of gods and, and living in a way that dishonors God and brings wrath. But what did Jesus do when he comes to the earth? He says, no, no, no, listen, this plan has always been for the whole world.

I just chose the Jewish people to start this blessing, but the plan since the beginning was to save all tongues, tribes, and nations. And Jesus does this all the time. So again, Luke is the one writing Acts. He also is the one who wrote the Gospel of Luke. And in Luke 4, Jesus gets his hometown so frustrated and upset, they want to take, they want to pick him up and throw him over a cliff.

Why is Jesus, why did they get him so angry that they wanted to throw him over the cliff? In Luke 4, he tells them straight up, he says, look, although there were many Jewish widows during the time of Elijah, God used a Gentile widow. He’s saying, look, I know you think you’re special, but God has used Gentiles in the past.

And then he goes on to say, look, although many had leprosy during this time of Elijah, who was the one who got healed of leprosy? Oh yeah, name in the Syrian, the Gentile. And so this, what Jesus was doing was poking at the disgust, the hate the people had for the Gentiles. And Jesus was saying, I have come to save them as well.

And so we have to know this hatred was deep within Peter because it was deep within the Jewish people. And I’m not sure if it was hatred at this point for Peter, but it still was disgust. And let’s be honest, we all have elements of disgust in our own hearts. We can spend a long time on this, but we belittle people and label them based off of all sorts of things.

Their education, their race, their political tribe, the culture they’re from, their history. The funny ones to me are denominations, right? Oh, those are the Pentecostals or whatever, right? We label these people and push them away. But I think to faithfully read this passage, we have to ask, who is on my sheet of disgust?

Is it people who vote differently than you? People who were born on the other side of the border? People who don’t work hard as you? People within the church who have wronged you in the past? People who don’t have the same philosophy of parenting as you? I mean, we get mad at a lot of different things and we label them and we say, okay, I love you God, but I don’t love them.

Now hear me. If this kind of disgust is still present in Peter. Who was used by God to do incredible things, was the, helped, kind of found the church in Acts 2 and spent time with Jesus, it can still happen in you and it can still happen in me. Now, let me be clear, I think it’s okay to disagree with people, but it’s never okay to dishonor people.

Right? Theologically, we believe in the Imago Dei, which means everybody’s made in the image of God, which means everybody has dignity and worth and value. And so we love them, we pray for them. There’s not a soul here that’s still living. We will not, we will always share the gospel to them. We will always pray for them and root for them.

But here’s what I think the major lesson in Acts 10 that we need to learn as well is if we have forgotten the grace extended to us, we won’t extend that grace to others. Right? And that’s actually one of the main lessons. A lot of us think this is just a New Testament idea. This is also an Old Testament idea.

Anybody ever heard of Jonah and the big fish, right? It’s not a whale technically, right? He got swallowed up. Now, what’s the story of Jonah? Jonah was told to go to Nineveh, like the worst of the worst, terrible Gentiles who would scalp people, like just terrible stuff. And he says, Hey, I’m going to have you go and preach the gospel.

Well, at this point, you know, preach about God and have them repent. And then if they believe I’m going to save them. And Jonah’s like, I don’t want to save these people. I hate the Gentiles. And so he runs away. And guess where, what city he runs to? Joppa. Joppa. Where is Peter when the angel comes to confront him of his disgust of the Gentiles?

Joppa. I promise you. The moment this happens, the moment, uh, the angel, this is what I believe, I guess I can’t promise it, but I’m assuming, because Peter’s a good Hebrew boy who now knows his Old Testament, he’s thinking, oh wow, God spoke to Jonah in Joppa about God’s favor for the Gentiles, and now I’m in Joppa, and God is talking about his favor for the Gentiles as well.

God is continuing this story of saving all the peoples of the earth. It’s pretty incredible. Let’s look at verse 17. While Peter was deeply perplexed about what the vision he had seen might mean, right away the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions to Simon’s house, stood at the gate.

And they called out, asking if Simon, who were also, who was also named Peter, was lodging there. And while Peter was thinking about the vision, the Spirit told him, three men are here looking for you. Yet again, the number three. I just love it. Also, notice God’s sovereignty is right when the vision happened that the men showed up.

Get up, go downstairs, and go with them with no doubts at all, because I have sent them. So then Peter went down to the men and said, Here I am, the one you’re looking for. What is the reason you’re here? They said, Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God fearing man, who has a good reputation with the whole Jewish nation, was divinely directed by a holy angel to call you to his house and to hear a message from you.

Quickly, notice the angel didn’t preach the gospel. The angel said, go to a man who will preach the gospel. Friends, it is our duty to preach the gospel because we have a testimony. We know what it was like to be lost in the kingdom of darkness and now delivered into the kingdom of light. Amen. This is our call.

What a joy. Verse 23, Peter then invited them in and gave them lodging. The next day he got up and set out with him and some of the brothers from Joppa went with him. Notice the progress here. Peter goes from as a Hebrew boy, especially like Matthew Vohr, pretty hostile to Gentiles all the way, even in this story, slowly becoming more and more person of love.

Right? He’s extending hospitality. In the beginning, we read he is ministering to Jews in a Gentile setting. So that shows growth from him. Then he stays at a Tanner’s house, which shows even more growth. Then he gets rebuked for his vision of not wanting to eat certain things. So now he’s responding in humility, and we really know it because now he goes and he hosts these Gentiles in the home overnight.

Here’s what I want you to be encouraged by. God still loves and uses Peter while he is still in progress. Isn’t that great? Jesus, when he first encountered him in Matthew 4 years ago, could have been like, Hey, I want you to follow me, but I feel like you still have disgust about the Gentiles, so let’s fix that right now, and now once you’re perfect, you can follow me.

Does Jesus do that? Not at all. He loves him and uses him where he’s at. Now, it’s not an excuse, but God is patient with us. Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and hear me, God still loves and uses you while you are still a work in progress. One of the greatest lies of the enemy is thinking, Oh, God can’t love me until I get better.

God can’t do this until I am perfect. It’s a lie from the pit of hell. And when you look at all of the life of Peter, it’s a perfect example of the marathon of transformation quickly in the gospels. Peter slowly embraces God’s love toward his whole being. Let me just give you a few examples of Peter finally slowly learning this lesson.

Matthew 4, he encounters Christ for the first time. He drops his nets and he follows him. But we see quickly, he still has a hot head and he’s pretty impulsive. Matthew 14, he’s terrified in a storm. Jesus comes walking on water. Peter’s excited. Let me get out into the boat. He gets out. He walks on water for 2.

7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu. And then, anybody else? Tim McGraw? And then gets nervous and starts to sink. Right? He had a realization in that moment. His faith wasn’t as strong as he thought it was. John 13. Jesus about to wash the disciples feet. Peter says, No, no, no, no. You can’t wash my feet. And then what does Jesus say?

Hey, you’re gonna deny me three times. And Peter says, Surely not. Peter doubts Jesus more than he doubts himself in John 13. He knows I’m strong. John 18. What happens? Peter denies Christ. How many times? Three times. John 21. Right? Now Jesus resurrected, Peter encounters this risen Jesus, and Jesus asks him a question three times, matching his three denials.

Do you love me? Yes. Do you love me? Yes. Do you love me? Yes. Jesus was meeting him where he is at and saying, for your three denials, I’m giving you three affirmations. I love you. I want you to know I am for you. This is the journey of Peter. So in the gospels, he starts to really get it. He is love. Now in Acts, Peter doesn’t just Embrace God’s love, but now Peter is slowly extending God’s love towards the whole world.

Acts chapter 2, he preaches the gospel to Jewish people. Thousands are saved. Acts chapter 8, he hears the gospel has been to the Samaritans. So he goes to them, lays hands on them, and now they have the gospel of Jesus. Now in Acts chapter 10, he encounters the first Gentile and brings the gospel to them.

This is a journey for Peter, and it’s a journey for you. I would argue your first objective is to know and to believe that Jesus loves you. So much that he died for you. He took the payment of your sin on his behalf so that he can give us his righteousness. This is agenda number one. To love God and know that he loves you.

And, and it’s been fun. As a church, this has been our story. In 2023, we start our, we started our Formed by Jesus practices. And so, we started with Sabbath. Remember that about a year and a half ago? And the whole idea was, look, rest in the presence of God, rest in his grace and his finished work. And then we moved to scripture and then simplicity.

And that whole year last year was just honestly, primarily about you and God, putting away all distractions and just knowing how Christ loves you. Then me and Pastor Caleb were getting a little nervous because those practices Last year we’re, can be taken as self centered. It had nothing to do with other people.

And so, that’s why we crafted it this year. If you’ve noticed, it’s been all about others. Right? We’ve been pushing us. Like Peter, slowly learning how to extend God’s love to other people. And so, in February, we said, hey, to make friends and love other people, we need to be hospitable. Bring people over for dinner.

Love them, no matter where they’re at. Saint, stranger, or sinner. And it’s been so great to see you take up that challenge. And then we said, okay, if that wasn’t hard enough, now it’s peacemaking. So now we want you to forgive the people in your past. We want you to reconcile people who you have wronged. We want you to love people who have hurt you.

And it has been a long process, and hear me, just wait till generosity comes. But I want to say this. It’s supposed to be a process. You’re supposed to not get it right away. For the type A people in the room, these practices, our biggest fear has been, oh no, condemning yourself. I’m not hospitable as I should.

Oh no, I’m not as generous as I should be. And we don’t want you to use that as an excuse to never grow, but we also just want to just tell you, God loves you where you’re at. What made Peter so great? He was, he was messed up. He made a lot of errors, but he just kept getting back up and put one foot in front of the other.

And God is slowly doing that work in you, and he’s slowly doing that work in me. And so I want to leave you with this encouragement. The marathon with Jesus is less about intensity, and far more about consistency.

The temptation of us being a practice based disciple church that actually does the word is we can try to do it all in one day and say, look how intense that was, I prayed the whole time, I did it perfectly, and then we don’t do it again for a few months. The call as disciples is to consistently approach the throne, to consistently, love the least of these and receive the grace every step of the way as we stumble.

But my prayer for our church is that we would slowly, but surely, but consistently just see the call God has for us, not condemn us for messing up, but to be like Peter, fully embracing that we’re a work in progress, but fully enjoying the fact that God is still working on us and it’s our job. just to do the next right thing.

Let’s pray.