Restoration - Charlie Pensinger

Thank you for listening to this message from

Lifehouse Church. Good morning, Lifehouse. That's

the first I've seen the title screen. That is

pretty cool. Thank you for being here this morning.

If you're here in the house and online, I'm Charlie

Pensinger, and I might not be who last week you

expected was going to be. Standing up here today,

but they gave me this mic, so I knew it was serious.

A few months ago, I started to talk to Pastor

Kip about feeling a calling. A calling to do

more. A calling to do more here at Lifehouse.

A calling to do more than what I was doing for

my occupation. So, Kip and I had a lot of discussions,

a lot of prayer, and that led me to giving my

CAMS application to Pastor Kip. That is the calling

and ministry studies application. And for the

Church of God, that is our credentialing process

to be a pastor. Thank you. So, this will be the

first message that I give here at LifeHouse.

If I can get enough amens, hallelujahs, and maybe

a praise Jesus, maybe I can come up here and

do it again. Hey! Well, if you've been with us

the last few months, you know that Pastor Kip

has been working through the book of John. A

few weeks ago, he and I talked about where this

message may fall in line with that, and we knew

that it would be close to the end of the book

of John, so I looked at John 19, which was about

crucifixion, John 20, about resurrection, and

John 21, about restoration. So, restoration for

a car guy. Sign me up. That's the one. That's

what we're doing. So today's message is going

to be about restoration. Restoration is a pretty

cool process, and there's all kinds of stuff

you can restore. Cars, trucks, motorcycles, furniture,

artwork. You can restore lost files on a computer.

Has anybody here restored anything before? All

right. Because if you have, you know that it's

a process. And it's a process that often will

take multiple steps. In order for restoration

to occur, you need three principal things. You

need something that is broken, something worth

restoring, and someone to restore it. To illustrate

these three principles, I'm going to take you

through a little bit of a restoration on a 1967

Camaro. the restoration of Simon Peter, and the

restoration of us. But before we begin, let us

pray. Heavenly Father, we just thank you for

this day. We thank you for this gathering. We

thank you for this Memorial Day. And we thank

you for all those who've served. And we remember

today those that gave that ultimate sacrifice,

like my grandfather, Staff Sergeant Harry Pensinger,

who passed away in 1944 in France. Lord, we just

thank you for all of those. We thank you for

our mission team that is back from Guatemala

just hours ago. So great to see them here today.

Thank you for the work that they were able to

do on this trip. And Lord, we just thank you

for this wonderful day that you've given us.

Pray for your guidance, for your strength in

all that we do. And we love you. Amen. The scripture

we will focus on today is John chapter 21. Jesus,

John 21 · chapter mention

at this point, has led his ministry. He's been

arrested. He was crucified, resurrected, and

he has met the disciples twice at this point.

We'll start with verses 1 through 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,

Nathaniel of Cana of Galilee. The sons of Zebedee

and two others of his disciples were together.

Simon Peter said to them, I am going fishing.

And they said, we're going with you. 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 it was Jesus. Then Jesus

said to him, children, have you any food? They

answered no. 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 in the net 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 and plunged into the sea. But the

other disciples came in the little boat for they

were not far from the land, dragging the net

of fish. Then as soon as they had come to land,

he 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, 153. 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. Then Jesus 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.

Now the actual restoration of Simon Peter starts

in the next verse, and we're going to get to

that. So remember, for restoration to take place,

the first principle we need is something that

is broken. So say that with me. Something that

is broken. Broken in terms of restoration means

busted, rusted, damaged, worn out. If you're

broken, busted, rusted, worn out, you might need

some restoration too. And as for that 1967 Camaro

I talked about, it was all those. Chris and Brandy

Whitson owned a 1967 Camaro. It wasn't involved

in a big crash. It was just worn out. Basically

no paint left. Rust and corrosion had started

to take over. It was wearing out tires. No headliner.

The Camaro was broken. And was it Chris's fault?

Yes. Yes, it was. Because Chris drives that car

just like his dad drove cars, just like his mom

drove cars, just like his brother drives cars.

With the gas pedal smashed to the firewall, using

all of those 496 big block cubic inches, Yeah,

a lot of big blocks were 396. Not good enough

for Chris. So it was machined and built to be

a 496. But outside, it was broken and in need

of restoration. That's principle number one,

something is broken. So what about Simon Peter?

What's his story and was he broken? That's a

little bit more of a complicated story than the

Camaro, and we're going to take a little bit

more time explaining that one. I'm going to highlight

several interactions between Simon Peter and

Jesus. So that you can see who Simon Peter was

and understand his brokenness. Simon Peter first

met Jesus on the same sea where we see them in

John chapter 21. Simon Peter was a fisherman.

John 21 · chapter mention

His dad was a fisherman. His brother, you guessed

it, fisherman. He was in his mid -20s to early

30s, making him the oldest of the disciples.

So if you remember when in... the beginning of

John chapter 21, Jesus says, children, do you

John 21 · chapter mention

have any fish? These were like late teenagers,

early 20s. Some of his disciples were just not

much older than that. And Jesus says, he says

in Matthew 4, verses 18 to 20, here's where we

Matthew 4:18–20

find where Simon, Peter, and Jesus meet. And

Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee saw two brothers,

Simon called Peter and Andrew. casting a net

into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus

said to them, follow me, and I will make you

fishers of men. And they immediately left their

nets and followed him. That's a great start for

Simon Peter. In the Bible, you'll hear him referred

to as Simon, Simon, Peter, and Peter, and it's

all the same person. Jesus gave him the name

Peter, which means rock. He was a fisherman by

trade, and now he put down his net for good to

be a fisher of men. Ten chapters later in Matthew,

we have the account of Jesus walking on the water

in the Sea of Galilee. This is a pretty popular

spot for Simon Peter and Jesus. They end up there

a lot. After feeding the 5 ,000, Jesus had his

disciples get in a boat and go out before him.

As the waters became rough and the wind picked

up, the disciples, including Simon Peter, They

were scared. Jesus walks on the water to meet

them. In Matthew chapter 14, we see this account.

Matthew 14 · chapter mention

Jesus says to his disciples as he meets them

on the water, it is I. Do not be afraid. And

Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it is you,

command me to come to you on the water. So Jesus

says, come. And when Peter had come down out

of the boat, he walked on the water to go to

Jesus. But when he saw the wind was boisterous

and he was afraid, he began to sink and cried

out, Lord, save me. And Jesus immediately, he

immediately stretched out his hand and caught

him and said, oh, you have little faith. Why

do you doubt? You'll see this is vintage Simon

Peter. He's the first one to speak up. He's the

first one to get out of the boat. And he immediately

focuses on Jesus, but not for long. He soon takes

his eyes off Jesus. He focuses on the wind, starts

to sink. And without hesitation, Jesus saves

him. Jesus tells Simon Peter he has little faith

and he has doubt. But does that make him broken?

Not yet. But this is what we see in Simon Peter's

life and his walk with Jesus. Moments of absolute

blind faith. Excitement, exuberance, then failing

and brokenness. Sometimes it happens in the same

conversation. Another example of Peter's highs

and lows takes place in Matthew 16, verses 13

Matthew 16:13

and 23. In these verses, Jesus is with the disciples

and he asked them, who do men say that I am?

Some of his disciples, they say you're John the

Baptist, you're Elijah, Jeremiah, some of the

other prophets. But then he asks a much more

pointed question, and he says, who do you say

that I am? The disciples know Jesus at this point.

Who do you say that I am? And as usual, it's

Simon Peter. Simon Peter jumps right in, and

he says, You are the Christ, the Son of the living

God. What a great answer from Simon Peter. And

an even better response from Jesus in verse 17.

Jesus answered and said to Simon Peter, Blessed

are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has

not revealed this to you, but my Father who is

in heaven. And I say to you that you are Peter

on this rock. I will build my church. and the

gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

And I will give you the keys to the kingdom of

heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound

in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be

loosed in heaven. The answer from Peter was an

A -plus answer. Jesus says, I will build my church

on you. I will give you the keys to the kingdom

of heaven. Who's broken now? Not Simon Peter.

But in this same conversation, just moments later,

Jesus explains that some really bad things are

going to happen. They're going to happen to Jesus.

He tells him in verse 21 that he must go to Jerusalem

and suffer many things and be killed and be raised

on the third day. This is not Jesus saying, hey,

I'm thinking about this. This might happen. Let's

go to Jerusalem, just see what goes down. No,

Jesus is saying this must happen. He knows his

father's plans. And Peter, the rock on which

we're going to build the church, the guy getting

the keys to the kingdom of heaven, he pulls Jesus

aside and he rebukes him. To rebuke is to sharply

criticize or reprimand someone because you strongly

disapprove. of their behavior or actions. So

we think Jesus thinks of that. Jesus turns to

Peter and exclaims. He doesn't whisper. He doesn't

mention it. He explains, get behind me, Satan.

You are not mindful of the things of God, but

the things of men. What a whirlwind for Simon

Peter. What a whiplash. To go from, I'm going

to build my church on you to get behind me, Satan.

But that's Simon Peter wrapped up in one conversation.

So at this point, Simon Peter, he's pretty broken.

But don't worry, it gets worse. Soon after Jesus

calls Simon Peter Satan, Jesus tells his disciples

that they will all stumble. Not just one, not

some. Jesus tells them, you're all going to stumble

during my arrest and my crucifixion. This is

detailed in Mark 14, verses 27 to 31. But you

Mark 14:27–31

know, Simon Peter, in his confidence and his

exuberance, he tells Jesus in verse 29, even

if all are made to stumble, not me. I'm not going

to stumble. But Jesus answers him, assuredly,

I say to you today, Even this night, before the

rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.

So Jesus is arrested. Peter follows to where

they're taking Jesus. And you know what comes

next. While sitting around a fire of coals, Peter

denies Jesus not once, not twice. And the third

time is detailed in Luke 22, verse 59, when Simon

Luke 22:59

Peter asks a third time, surely you know Jesus?

And Peter replies, man, I don't know what you

are saying. And immediately, while he was still

speaking, the rooster crowed, and the Lord turned

and looked at Peter. And then Peter remembered

the words of the Lord. Can you imagine that feeling?

the feeling of failure, the feeling of shame,

looking Jesus right in the eye after you just

denied him three times. This hits Peter hard.

Luke says he went out and wept bitterly. Peter

is broken. He is crushed. He's failed again.

Jesus told Simon Peter, I'll build my church

on you. I'll give you the keys to heaven. And

he threw it all away. Peter is broken. The Camaro

is broken. So what happens next? We need to look

at principle number two. Something is worth restoring.

So say it with me. Something is worth restoring.

Are they worthy of restoration? Chris and Brandy

needed to determine if the Camaro was worth restoring.

And what about Simon Peter? Does he go back to

fishing for fish? Is he too broken to be a disciple?

We'll look at the Camaro first. What is a 1967

Camaro? Is it a one -of -a -kind car? Did they

only make one? Nope. They made 195 ,000 Camaro

Coupes in 1967. There's estimated to be tens

of thousands still around today, but it will

forever be the first in the first generation

of Camaros, and they are indeed the most sought

-after of Camaros. Was the damage to the Camaro

too much to be worthy of restoration? Too busted,

rusted, corroded, or worn out? No. It still started

and ran. Chris drove it to my shop, missing the

right quarter panel. It was just tired and needed

to be brought back to life. It was a car worthy

of restoration. So how about Simon Peter? Simon

messed up a bunch of times that we covered here

this morning. He doubted when he walked on the

water. He rebuked Jesus. He told Jesus he wouldn't

stumble just hours before denying him three times.

In other accounts through the Gospels, he responded

with violence and cut the ear off a guard that

was trying to arrest Jesus. At the Last Supper,

Jesus was washing the feet of the disciples,

and when he came to Peter, he's like, you're

not going to wash mine. Is he worthy of restoration?

Of course he is. Of course Simon Peter is worthy

of restoration. He was made in the image of God.

He's one of the first disciples. And Jesus had

told him, I'm going to build my church upon you.

And here's the thing. God does not throw out

the broken. He does not throw out the broken.

So Peter and the Camaro are both broken. They're

both worthy of restoration. So what's next? Our

third principle for restoration is there must

be a restorer, someone to do it. So say it with

me. There must be someone to do the restoration.

For the Camaro, someone had to make the restoration

happen. And I got the call. A call from Chris

and Brandy that not just got the Camaro on the

road to restoration, but at that time unknowingly

changed my life and Laura's life together as

the Camaro's work is what brought us here to

Lifehouse. But all right. But here's the deal.

I was not the best person for that job. I wasn't.

I was local to Chris and Brandy. I've restored

several vehicles. I've painted quite a few more.

You know who would have been better? Bill Mitchell,

Henry Haga, Irv Rabicki. And you're like, who?

What? These are the guys that designed the original

Camaro and their team. These guys put all that

time in in the mid -60s to eventually debut this

car in 1967. They knew the car way better than

I ever could. The creation came from them and

their team, and they are the ones that breathed

life into this concept that was designed for

one purpose. Beat the Mustang. So to Chris and

Brandy. I am forever grateful that you decided

on my little shop in Shippensburg. The Camaro

was broken, worthy of restoration, and Chris

and I restored it. So what about Peter and his

restoration? Let's revisit the first part of

chapter 2. The setting is in the Sea of Galilee,

the same place where Jesus and Simon Peter met.

Jesus had made a charcoal fire. Simon Peter,

in his usual exuberance, when John said it was

Jesus, Simon Peter jumps out of the boat. But

how broken is Simon Peter at this point of chapter

21? Well, for one, he went back to fishing for

fish. He's out in the boat fishing. And even

more importantly, was Simon Peter even a disciple

at this point? In Mark chapter 16, verse 7, when

Mark 16:7

Mary arrives at the empty tomb and the angel

tells her, go tell the disciples and Peter. The

angel didn't even include Peter and the disciples.

So, Peter's about as broken as you can be. But

the restoration, it's ready to occur right now.

John chapter 21, verse 15 through 19. And by

John 21:15–19

the way, the book of John is the only book of

the Gospels that detail Peter's restoration.

Verse 15, so when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus

said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do

you love me more than these? He said to him,

yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said

to him a second time, oh, he said to him, first

feed my lambs. He said to him again a second

time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? He

said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love

you. And he said to him, tend to my sheep. He

said to him a third time, Simon, son of Jonah,

do you love me? And Peter was grieved. And he

said to him the third time, when he said to him

the third time, do you love me? And Peter said

to him, Lord, you know all things. You know that

I love you. And Jesus said to him, feed my sheep.

Each question and answer was followed with an

instruction for Peter to do something. And this

all gets back to the, I'm going to build my church

on you. You're the rock. So after the first question

was feed my lambs, the young believers in the

church, the ones needing the most instruction

or nurturing. Tend my sheep. What does that sound

like? A shepherd. So shepherd them. and feed

my sheep. So give the flock, the church, the

spiritual food they need. Jesus concludes verse

19 telling Simon Peter two words. Again, he says

to him, just like their first meeting, follow

me. Simon denied Jesus three times. Jesus gave

him three opportunities to correct it. Simon

denied knowing Jesus around a charcoal fire.

Jesus gave him the opportunity to restore that

relationship while sitting around a charcoal

fire. It's the only two times in the Bible that

a charcoal fire is mentioned. Simon Peter's restoration

is now complete, as is the book of John. When

we turn the pages to the book of Acts, we see

the arrival of the Holy Spirit to Simon Peter

in the 120. Simon Peter then preaches the very

first message to the Christian church, and 3

,000 are saved. Not bad for somebody who was

busted, rusted, broken, corroded, worn out, worthy

of restoration and restored. If I could have

the worship team come forward. So what about

you? I'm not going to ask if you're broken because

you're broken. And I'm broken. We're all broken.

Every one of us. Now, does it look different

than the Camaro? Or look different than Peter?

Well, the Camaro was once shiny and new. But

over time, it became busted, rusted, corroded,

and worn out. Simon Peter, like the Camaros,

started out bright, shiny, and new in his relationship

with Jesus. When Jesus said, follow me, I'll

make you fishers of men, he abandoned his entire

life to follow Jesus. Yet just three years later,

Simon Peter denies that he even knows Jesus.

Time can take its toll. It can wear us out. Experiences

can corrode us. Satan finds a way inside and

gets us to start rusting from the inside out.

Broken relationships can get us sidetracked.

Addictions, depression, anxiety, jealousy, lying,

deceit, everything like that wears us out, and

it can break us right down to our knees. We are

broken. God doesn't throw away the broken. You're

never too broken for God. He is the great restorer.

He restored Peter, and he restores us. You just

have to ask him. That's it. It's no more complicated

than that. God called... Jesus called Peter Satan

and said to get behind me. Peter denied he even

knew Jesus, and yet after all of that, Jesus

didn't throw him away. He restored him. The same

one that restored Simon Peter, he wants to restore

you. He made you in his likeness. Just as the

original designers of the Camaro knew it best,

God knows you best. He doesn't deny us his grace

because we're busted. Like Simon Peter, we all

take our eyes off God. Yet God picks us up. He

picks us up. We can be broken in a million pieces

and God puts us back together. We've made mistakes.

He never leaves us. You are not too broken for

God. Ask him to restore your brokenness. He wants

that. He wants that relationship with you more

than anything. The worship team, they're going

to come forward. They're going to sing a song.

Pastor Kip is going to close us out. But you

are not too broken. You just got to ask him.

He wants to restore you. Just give him the opportunity.

Thank you. message from Lifehouse Church. We

pray that you were impacted powerfully by this

message. If you have been personally affected

by our ministry and you would like to partner

with us as we love God, love people every day,

visit our website at www .lifehousecog .com.