Sermon

And Peter

3Ci - Capital City Church International

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  1. We're going to do a preach today called Aunt Peter and Peter, and

  2. my next door neighbour's name is Peter.

  3. So we're going to say Aunt Peter.

  4. So it's Aunt Peter and Peter. And so if my neighbour's here

  5. today, I don't know if he is, but his wife's name is Hesti and

  6. Peter I get bioforyoche petiriviak Vietni hukomni

  7. Mahdiri Namit in my heart. Kurt climb in the yellow VX AG

  8. net in Peter and Peter and Peter say and Peter say and Peter.

  9. And let's put some more names up.

  10. I just asked Ricky to make a list of names, and this is the

  11. list of names he made. That's the scripture, the names

  12. there. And Adam and Amanda and Abigail

  13. and Albert and Alejandra and Ashley and Bazelik and Blair and

  14. Bobby and Butamelo and Bongani and Byron and Caleb and Karine

  15. and Carlos and Kathleen and Shaul and Cowan.

  16. Griselda and Dion and Dionne and Delinka and David and Dimitri

  17. and Diteto and Eddie and Elenae and Ellie and Eloisa and Este

  18. and Ivan and Fabricio and Faith and Farrow and Franco and

  19. Francois and Fuzz. If you don't know who that is,

  20. it's the guy who does the sound. And Gabriel and Gabriella and

  21. Georgie and Gerald and Khat and Gillian and Homo Lemo and

  22. Grayson and Heiko and Hundley and Hannah and Hannah and Helen

  23. and Helcher and Henry and Ian and Ignatius and Isabella and

  24. Isaac Who? And Jack and Jacques and Jayden

  25. and James and Jean Luc and Joanne and Johan and Judah and

  26. Cochentla and Cara and Carabu and Katrina and Kenzie and Kiona

  27. and Komodzo and Kirsten and Latisha and Laura and Leandre

  28. and Lani and Liam and Linka and Lindy and Lily and Logan and

  29. Louie and Luan and Luza and Mandy and Marguerite and Marcus

  30. and Megan and Marilyn and Michael and Mila and Milton and

  31. Peter and Peter and Morgan and Paul and Nadia and Natasha and

  32. Elias and Nikki and Nina and Nico and Olivia and Owen and

  33. Patrick and Philip and Puno and Rachel and Renard and Renee and

  34. Ryan and Roy and Stefanus and Samuel and Sarah and Sean and

  35. Simonet and Sky and Stella and Sumari and Telita and Tamarin

  36. and Tabiso and Theo and Tinnis and Tiffany and Tyler and Ulrich

  37. in Valda and Vanessa and Veronica and Wade and Wendy in

  38. Wagner in Villum in Zander and Yvette and Zack and Zanay or

  39. Zain and Zoe Say and Peter. Let's turn to Mark.

    Mark 16 chapter mention

  40. Chapter 16, please. Good morning.

  41. If your families are with you, it's great to have you with us.

  42. It's an incredible day for the church.

  43. There'll be over 3 billion people meeting across the world

  44. today. And one of the great testimonies

  45. or one of the great witnesses of the resurrection is that there's

  46. so many who serve Jesus and so many that are prepared to put

  47. their lives at risk for serving Jesus.

  48. Because of the resurrection. The disciples were scattered and

  49. shattered, and on the witness of a resurrected Christ, the

  50. movement was birthed. That cannot be stopped.

  51. But I want to look at just individuals today.

  52. And so whether your name is Peter or Peter or Luke or Dennis

  53. or Annie, my Indian friends who were not meant to be here today

  54. but got on the plane last night to be back for the service this

  55. morning. Whether you came from Sun City,

  56. it's good to have you. When the Sabbath was over, Mary

  57. Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices

  58. so they might go to anoint Jesus body.

  59. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise,

  60. they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other

  61. who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb.

  62. I haven't seen Dalian for two years probably, but we've always

  63. preached on the same team who will roll the stone away from

  64. the entrance to the tomb. But when they looked up, they

  65. saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled

  66. away. As they entered the tomb, they

  67. saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right

  68. side, and they were alarmed. Don't be alarmed, he said.

  69. You're looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified.

  70. He has risen. He is not here.

  71. See the place where they laid him.

  72. But go tell his disciples. Say it with me, but go tell his

  73. disciples. Why do you think He did that?

  74. Why do you think He did that? Go and tell his disciples.

  75. Say it. Go and tell his disciples.

  76. And Peter, he is going ahead of you into Galilee.

  77. Jesus always goes ahead of us into Galilee.

  78. There you will see him just as he told you.

  79. Trembling and bewildered, the woman went out and fled from the

  80. tomb. They said nothing to anyone

  81. because they were afraid. Friends, this is an unbelievable

  82. It just absolutely gripped my heart that two or three billion

  83. people are going to be around the world reading this

  84. incredible thing and God somehow just adds these two words.

  85. And Peter and Peter. I don't know if your name is

  86. Peter today or whatever your name is, but on this Easter

  87. Sunday with billions of people meeting all over the world, just

  88. remember this. God knows your name.

  89. God knows your name. What's your name, Sir?

  90. Yanush from Poland. Yanush from Poland.

  91. I saw you staying next to my next door neighbor last night.

  92. I saw your car parked outside. Is that true, Yanis?

  93. God knows your name. God knows your name.

  94. Bring you all the way from Poland to South Africa to work,

  95. to come and stay opposite me. Peter's this side.

  96. You were staying that side. Yanis, I can see you and Peter.

  97. Friends, I want to take you just quickly through a journey of

  98. Peter and see if you've been on any of this journey.

  99. The first one is what we call the declaration.

  100. If you can put it up in Mark 14, please, you will all fall away.

  101. Jesus told them, foot is written.

  102. I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.

  103. But after I've risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee, Peter

  104. declared. Even if all fall away, I will

  105. not. I will serve God.

  106. I will show Pretoria. I will stand up in front of the

  107. church. I will lead the way.

  108. I will worship. I will stay generous.

  109. I will be radical for God. I will give my money to Jesus.

  110. I tell you the truth, Jesus answered today, yes, tonight,

  111. before the rooster crows twice, you yourself will disown me

  112. three times. But Peter insisted emphatically,

  113. Even if I have to die, even if I have to die, where's it?

  114. I will never disown you. And all the others said the

  115. same. Never God.

  116. I have been in the ministry for 35 years.

  117. I have had thousands of people in my office saying I make a

  118. decision for Christ today and I will never deny him.

  119. And God knew that everybody, including all the disciples and

  120. all the women who were scared would eventually leave him.

  121. And so because of that, he had to put 2 words into the book of

  122. Mark and Peter and Peter. And I want to say to you every

  123. declaration that you've ever made for Jesus.

  124. Oh, I'm going to give him X amount of my money.

  125. And after three months you get bored of it and you don't see

  126. the miracles, so you stop it. And then you feel guilty about

  127. it. May all guilt and shame and

  128. condemnation lift off you. Today with two words and Peter,

  129. I've declared many. I've seen young men declare I

  130. will never, I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever again

  131. ever in my life ever watch pornography.

  132. It doesn't last 48 hours. They're back at the TV screens

  133. and you think, what chance is there for me?

  134. The chance is Easter Sunday when God calls you by name.

  135. When God calls you by name. And Peter, he could have gone

  136. him and said, Peter, you stood in front of everyone.

  137. You said you'd never fall away. You said you'd die for me.

  138. And with a little bit of tension, Peter, you just backed

  139. out, like most of us have done most of our lives.

  140. On this day, this incredible day, Just hear the whisper of

  141. Peter and Rory and Melanie and James and Yanis and Peter and

  142. David and Ashley and Amy and Abigail.

  143. Just hear the name and Stephen and Almin.

  144. What's your name, Sir? Francois and Francois and

  145. Francois, the second thing that happened with Peter was distance

  146. when they're walking towards Jerusalem, it says.

  147. But Peter followed him at a distance.

  148. Say distance this Easter Sunday, friends, is to take whatever

  149. distance there might be and to close it.

  150. Because when times are tough, the first thing that goes is, is

  151. our faith goes and, and we start to go cold.

  152. We start to go distant from God and, and when one of your, your

  153. family gets sick, you can't think.

  154. Oh, but God, why are you not answering my prayers and all of

  155. it? There's lots of reasons why we

  156. and then you pray for a job. I got a letter from a man this

  157. week. He said, Rory, I'm in your

  158. church for 22 months. He said, I want to tell you when

  159. I came back from overseas, I was in the church and for 21 months

  160. I had no job. You know what happens?

  161. You start to get a distance. And he wrote and he said, Rory,

  162. I don't understand how you lead the church.

  163. Sometimes you sing the same song for 15 minutes.

  164. And he said sometimes you just stand up at the front and you

  165. smile at people and you keep quiet.

  166. But God wants all of the time he can so that the distance which

  167. goes further and further because of attitude or because things

  168. that get into our heart or because of somebody who's died,

  169. that the distance might become closed.

  170. And maybe you sitting here and you only come to church on

  171. Easter and, and, and maybe you got forced to come to church and

  172. maybe you don't even know Jesus because you're so far from God.

  173. I want to tell you friends, you will never ever be able to get

  174. close to God. God will only be able to get

  175. close to you. And on Easter, he came down to

  176. become close to you. So that distance that exists

  177. between you and him, he will close by.

  178. The I've realized this and I served God for a long time, 35

  179. or 37 years, I've served the Lord.

  180. I realized this time God feels far for me.

  181. But the Bible says he's omnipresent.

  182. He's always with me. And so do not let your feelings

  183. dictate your faith because your feelings are a very poor compass

  184. in a storm. And so when you're in a storm,

  185. friends, instead of walking away from God and saying he's

  186. abandoned me, he will never abandoned you.

  187. You'll never, ever abandoned you.

  188. They're 4 gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

  189. Jesus says 7 things on the cross.

  190. Father, forgive them for the known of what they do.

  191. I tell you today you'll be with me in paradise.

  192. I am thirsty. Take the list.

  193. I it is finished. But the book of Mark is written

  194. from Peter's sermons by John. Mark, who he calls the one Peter

  195. 5. He calls him his son, the one

  196. who left Paul behind. That is the one that Peter

  197. disciple. John Mark took Peter's sermons

  198. and he wrote the book of Mark. The book of Mark is written from

  199. Peter sermons and there's only one saying on the cross that

  200. Peter records or Mark records in the book of Mark as Peter

  201. sayings. And this is a saying Eloy, Eloy

  202. Lamasa Bakhtini, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

  203. Because that was so unbelievably close to Peter, because Peter

  204. knew that he forsake Jesus at the deepest time.

  205. And the only one that he wrote was that one, because he knew

  206. that Jesus had to be forsaken so that he himself say Aunt Peter,

  207. Aunt Peter could be saved. And so if you feel distant from

  208. God, I want to tell you this, that Jesus Christ died on the

  209. cross and became distant from his father so that today the

  210. distance can be closed. Peter and Abigail and Amy and

  211. Luke and Lucas and and Paul. Amen.

  212. The third scripture please. We, we don't have a chance to

  213. look here now, but keep the scripture up.

  214. But you've got to ask people the question, why do they deny God?

  215. Why do people deny God? There are many reasons, but the

  216. Scripture just above this and the Scripture in Matthew just

  217. above this. Don't you mind standing, Sir?

  218. And, and, and some of you men come and stand with me.

  219. Come and stand with me. So there's a whole group of men

  220. standing around Jesus. They're standing around, they're

  221. spitting, Bible says, spitting in their face.

  222. I don't, I don't. Spitting, spitting, spitting in

  223. his face, spitting in his face and hitting him with fists, with

  224. fists, blood nose, split lip getting smashed.

  225. And he said to this guy, hey, do you know him?

  226. And you just see the spit covered blood covered face.

  227. No, no, no, no, I don't know him.

  228. I don't want this group of guys to do what he's doing to him, to

  229. me. So I just deny him.

  230. That's what it says. The scripture before this says

  231. that can be seated. Thank you.

  232. While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the seven

  233. girls of the high priest came by.

  234. When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at

  235. him. You also were with him at

  236. Nazarene. Jesus, he said.

  237. But he did, but he denied it. I don't know understand what

  238. you're talking about, he said, and went out into the entryway.

  239. When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those

  240. standing around, This fellow is one of them.

  241. Again, he denied it. Many reasons for denying Christ.

  242. I've seen boys go to boarding school and the peer group

  243. pressure within the board dormitory, they will deny

  244. Christ. I've seen people go for drinks

  245. at work and in the pressure of the bosses drinking like

  246. maniacs, I've seen them deny Christ.

  247. Some of you, some of you in the last two or three weeks at an

  248. office party while your boss and the directors of the company are

  249. hitting shooters, you denied Christ.

  250. There are many reasons for denying Christ.

  251. That's why we need Easter Sunday to just remind us and Peter and

  252. Peter because Jesus is showing us a very difficult to be his

  253. disciple. All of us have got issues and we

  254. need him to say our name. On Easter Sunday began to call

  255. down. Surely after a little while,

  256. those standing here, Peter said, surely you're one of them for

  257. you're a Galilean. He began to call down curses on

  258. himself and he saw to them, I don't know this man you're

  259. talking about curses on yourself.

  260. I swear to God, I swear to God I don't know him.

  261. I swear to God, I promise you on my oath, by the I swear to God,

  262. I don't know him. We serve a God.

  263. Even if you deny his name, he will call you by name.

  264. Even if you deny his name, he will call you by name.

  265. Maybe you only come on Easter Sunday and Christmas Day.

  266. I want to tell you this, God knows you by name.

  267. You can deny him for 364 days of the year, but on this day he

  268. calls you by name. And Peter And Peter remembered

  269. the word that Jesus spoke to him before the rooster crows twice.

  270. You'll disown me three times. And he broke down and wept.

  271. Just put the next last verse up, please.

  272. The next one immediately the rooster crowed the second time.

  273. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus spoke to him before the

  274. rooster crows twice. You'll disown me three times,

  275. And he broke down. Say broke down.

  276. This is the first guy who has a nervous breakdown in the Bible.

  277. I've had a nervous breakdown. Some of you sitting here have

  278. had nervous breakdowns. I want to tell you on Easter

  279. Sunday, God knows what it means to break down.

  280. I saw one of my friends over there lost their husband

  281. recently. I did his funeral and I spoke to

  282. before. The service is very tender

  283. hearted. There's something that's

  284. breaking down inside here. I have a friend.

  285. I actually prayed for Francois in my phone.

  286. I've got this name, Francois Haberkock.

  287. He's watching online now. He's actually staying at my

  288. house, Francois Haberkock. Because when I had a nervous

  289. breakdown, Francois always sits over there.

  290. I know you Afrikaans don't fill other people's seats.

  291. Those empty seats there. OK, relax.

  292. I know they ever told me Bucky's is going to blix on me.

  293. But don't worry. He's had a shoulder operation.

  294. He won't catch me. So do you know yours here?

  295. Of course I know yours here. But Francis, it's about over

  296. there. And in my breakdown, I had three

  297. months before we built this building.

  298. I had three months in bed. My.

  299. I was just completely. I was like a nervous wreck.

  300. He can't believe it, but I was just cry.

  301. My wife would leave the home. My heart would start racing.

  302. I've got a doctor here who looked after me, but I wrote

  303. this down on the piece of paper. I said Lord Jesus, after about 2

  304. 1/2 months. Lord Jesus, I believe you've

  305. called me to be a preacher, but I don't feel I'll ever have the

  306. guts or the courage to ever stand up in front of people

  307. again and to preach the gospel. Please will you speak to me?

  308. And I was in a town in Wellington where I stayed with

  309. people who had no food, but every time a meal came, we'd sit

  310. around the table and we'd pray. People would bring food.

  311. And I went to bed that night. And I read from the book of

  312. Habakkuk and it says, though the fig tree doesn't blossom and the

  313. fruit produces no vine, yet I will serve you, my God and the

  314. king. Like Hinds.

  315. Feet on the high places. Suicide Reebok of the word placa

  316. and I prepared a sermon in the next week.

  317. My pastor asked me to preach, and the first time I ever

  318. preached was from the book of Habakkuk.

  319. Now the fig tree doesn't blossom and the vine produces no fruit.

  320. Yet I will serve you, my God and my king.

  321. Two days later, Francois who sits there who's watching online

  322. now, wrote me a letter and said, hey, my friend, I'm busy praying

  323. for you. God spoke to me from the book of

  324. Habakkuk, chapter 3. Though the fig tree doesn't

    Habakkuk 3 chapter mention

  325. blossom and the fruit produces no vine yet I will serve you, my

  326. God, and my King. The entry before that, Lord God,

  327. would I ever preach again. And now I stand in front of

  328. thousands of people and I want to say to you, if you've had a

  329. breakdown, if you've broken down and find yourself weeping

  330. bitterly, God says this to you. Peter.

  331. Peter, Rosemary, Julia, Jason, Brandon, Greg.

  332. So Peter goes on this hole from making this incredible

  333. declaration all the way through to the distance, to the denial,

  334. to the depression. Can you imagine what his

  335. Saturday was like? We all had decent Saturday as I

  336. watched the rugby yesterday, so silent Saturday.

  337. But Can you imagine what Peter said he was like?

  338. You know when you've lost the game, when AFIZ are playing

  339. against their main rivals and in the very last minute of the game

  340. all you have to do is catch the ball and put it down and you

  341. fumble it on the line. You saw it when the school was

  342. playing against Gray College in the North State.

  343. All the boy had to do was catch the ball and put it down and he

  344. dropped it. Can you imagine what his Sunday

  345. was like? Can you imagine what his Sunday

  346. was like? We watched the Hilton, my class,

  347. the big Derby of our school last year and and my class should

  348. have won. And a boy kicked the ball and

  349. and the full back just waited and waited and waited and

  350. waited. And the next minute this Hilton

  351. boy just came and he dived between his legs and he scored

  352. and he won the game. Can you imagine what that full

  353. back Saturday would have looked like with Sunday?

  354. Can you imagine what some people who are sitting here, imagine

  355. what they're like, think? I've messed it up.

  356. I completely and utterly messed it up.

  357. I messed it up. I spoke to a man who had an

  358. affair and he got divorced. He just came to see me.

  359. He said, Rory, I've completely and utterly messed it up.

  360. Now so did Peter. So did Peter and he was broken.

  361. He was weeping, he was isolated, he was hiding.

  362. But when Jesus throws up, he said this tell the disciples and

  363. he restored him instantly. He restored him instantly.

  364. Friends, some of you know this story, but let me tell you.

  365. But it comes from an Ernest Hemingway book.

  366. But he tells the story of a dad who has fallen out with his son

  367. Packer. All those tears are coming.

  368. Hey Sir, what's your name? Barnard and Barnard and Peter

  369. and Barnard and Rory. What's your name?

  370. Man Filler and Ashley Nervis. Hemingway writes this story of a

  371. father who's fallen out with his son, and he can't find his son

  372. because he's in Spain. And so he puts an advert in the

  373. newspaper. He just writes, hey, Paco, all

  374. is forgiven. Let's meet outside the Hotel

  375. Montana tomorrow at 12:00 in the city square.

  376. And at 12:00 in Spain, in the city square, 800 men called

  377. Paco. 800 men called Paco came to meet their dad.

  378. Don't you remember that incredible story of Les

  379. Miserables? Some of you would watch that in

  380. London. You had the privilege of

  381. watching one of the longest running shows ever, show of

  382. unbelievable redemption with a man called Jean Valjan, who went

  383. to jail for stealing a loaf of bread and spent 19 years in

  384. jail. And when you came out of jail,

  385. you got a yellow passport. You know, the the, the musical

  386. that goes about. And with a yellow passport,

  387. nobody would take you in because you're a criminal.

  388. You had been in jail. And then the priest finds him

  389. with the yellow pastor. He says, Jean Valjean, what are

  390. you doing? He said nobody will take me in.

  391. He said, no, you come and stay at my house.

  392. And while he's having dinner at the priest's house, he sees all

  393. the silverware. And while Jean, while the priest

  394. is sleeping, Jean Valjean wakes up and he takes all the silver

  395. where he steals it. And he's about to go out and the

  396. priest confronts him. He says, what are you doing?

  397. And he smacks him with one of the pieces of silver, splits his

  398. eye open and disappears. And the whole story is about the

  399. police chasing Jean Valjean, the law trying to catch you, like

  400. many of you feel like you're running away from the law.

  401. You've got to stop on Easter Sunday and let the grace of God

  402. arrest you in your place and call you Peter, Rory or Melanie

  403. or whatever your name might be. But stop running.

  404. When they brought him back to the priest's house with all the

  405. silver, the policeman gladly said, we have caught the man who

  406. stole your silver. And the priest takes the two

  407. prize candlesticks off the table.

  408. He said, no, I gave him the silver.

  409. But Jean Valjean, you left the greatest pieces behind.

  410. Take these two silver candlesticks and go and change

  411. your life. And the rest of the story is

  412. about him graciously bringing the Kingdom of God to the earth.

  413. Friends, this is the day. This is the day that God calls

  414. you by name and forgives you of all your sin and all your shame

  415. and all your shortages and all your oaths that you've broken

  416. and declared that you've bust. God sets it all free.

  417. Today you walk out of this place with your name being spoken from

  418. heaven, even if you've denied God.

  419. Why Galilee? Why Galilee?

  420. Why did he say, I'll meet you in Galilee?

  421. He said, well is it I'm going to go ahead and I'll meet you in

  422. Galilee? Well, let's have a look at

  423. Matthew chapter 4 as Jesus walking besides the Sea of

    Matthew 4 chapter mention

  424. Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his

  425. brother Andrew, and they were casting a net into the lake, for

  426. they were fishermen. Come follow me, Jesus said, and

  427. I will make you fishes of men. Why Galilee?

  428. Because he had to take him back to the beginning.

  429. He had to take him back to the place that he was called.

  430. He said, Simon, I called you, Peter, I called you and I'm

  431. going to make you a fisherman. What kind of men, Jesus?

  432. Men like you, men like you, Peter, men who are going to deny

  433. me, men who are going to distance themselves from me, men

  434. who are going to do all sorts of things.

  435. I'm going to make you a fisherman.

  436. I'm going to have have a run and then you're going to let me down

  437. and then I'm going to take you back to the beginning.

  438. I'm going to remind you why I called you and we're going to

  439. have another run. Isn't God good?

  440. He speaks to us again, takes us back to the beginning.

  441. See, but I've messed this all up.

  442. So let's go back and remind yourself I called you in Galilee

  443. to go and touch people who are going to mess up their lives

  444. just like you. That's why you need you and I

  445. need to be gracious with each other.

  446. You know, friends, there's an amazing story in the book of

  447. John because Peter cuts off Malkus's ear, he cuts off the

  448. guy's ear. And in the book of John, when

  449. they standing on the fire, it says one of his relatives said,

  450. I saw you in the garden cutting off his ear.

  451. They'll always be somebody to remind us.

  452. I saw you at Brow House, bro. I saw you at Brow House,

  453. Akatyoka sin bedye black. I saw you on the road.

  454. I saw you cut them off. I saw you dancing on the table.

  455. I. There will always be somebody

  456. who can testify against us. Jesus testifies for us.

  457. Let's read 1 Peter chapter 2. One Peter chapter one.

    1 Peter 2 chapter mention

  458. This is a book that Peter wrote. We're nearly done one Peter

  459. chapter one. They never turn the clock on,

  460. which means I can preach longer. Now relax, I know you're outside

  461. there because you want to get out fast.

  462. And one guy, I saw his mate in the car park, he was trying to

  463. push in on Friday and he shake shook his first and then he

  464. went. So when you want to race out,

  465. you just shake your first on you.

  466. But there'll always be one who sees you.

  467. Always be one. I'm so scared to go to shopping

  468. centers because there's so many of you now.

  469. Now do something wrong somewhere.

  470. Just remember Peter, just remember Peter.

  471. So Peter writes this book and he says praise be to the God and

  472. Father by Lord Jesus Christ in his great mercy.

  473. In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope

  474. through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

  475. He's writing to us, Peter, the guy who's messed it up in

  476. writing a book and he's saying praise be to the God and Father

  477. of our Lord Jesus Christ in his great mercy, Say great mercy.

  478. He denied Christ great mercy. He stepped out of the boat and

  479. he fell in the water, Great mercy.

  480. He fell asleep while Jesus was praying, great mercy.

  481. He cut the guy's ear off, great mercy.

  482. But there's a time, friends, when Jesus asked this question

  483. and he says, who do people say that I am?

  484. They say some say that you're Elijah, some say that you're a

  485. prophet. He says, but you Peter, who do

  486. you say that I am? He said you are Christ, the Son

  487. of the living God. And in the book of Matthew, it

  488. says you are right. What you say this has been given

  489. to you by God, not by man. And Peter on this rock I will

  490. build my church. But that's not what the book of

  491. Mark says. The book of Mark is not the

  492. whole lot of things disappearing.

  493. And in the book of Mark, after he makes that statement, he says

  494. he takes because Jesus said I'm going to die on the third day,

  495. I'm going to rise and I'm going to Galilee.

  496. Peter takes him aside and he rebukes him.

  497. Peter rebukes Jesus. You know what Jesus says to him?

  498. You get behind me, Satan. Get behind me, Satan.

  499. Maybe you've been here involved in satanic stuff and you don't

  500. know how God can fix it. He fixes it on Easter Sunday

  501. because even when there's been satanic behavior in our lives,

  502. God redeems it in his great say it in his great mercy.

  503. When Peter writes this, friends, this is not some kind of holy

  504. apostle. This is a man who's deeply

  505. broken, who's had an encounter with Christ.

  506. He says I've really messed up my life, but Jesus was so gracious

  507. that when 3 billion people meet, they're going to mention my

  508. name. And God is going to save me from

  509. all my mistakes, even when I represented Satan, even when I

  510. represented Satan, his mercy is going to save me.

  511. Isn't that amazing in his great mercy has given us new birth

  512. into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

  513. Say living hope, living hope, friends, you know, you know when

  514. we don't have time to read the story of John, but many of you

  515. know it. But Peter loses it and he goes

  516. back fishing and he takes all the disciples fishing.

  517. And if you fished in Galilee, the sun would come up behind

  518. you, and when you stood up, the shadow would be in front of you.

  519. And Jesus is on the beach. Jesus on the beach making fish.

  520. Bry and Peter would have got off the boat.

  521. He's walking towards Jesus and the Son is behind him and his

  522. shadow is in front of him. Everything that he's done wrong,

  523. he's, he's denied Christ, he's distanced himself from Christ.

  524. He's had a nervous breakdown. He's been hiding away from

  525. everybody because it's a complete and utter failure.

  526. He's gone back to what he thinks that God and, and, and, and he

  527. starts walking and his shadow would have been in front of him.

  528. And the closer and closer he gets, the Son behind him and the

  529. Son of man in front of him, the closer he's gets.

  530. The shadow would have come into him.

  531. And then the Bible says there's a shadow that goes behind him,

  532. and when he walks through the book of Acts, that shadow starts

  533. to heal people. Wherever he goes, a shadow

  534. starts to heal people. You know those shadows that

  535. haunt you? You know those things in your

  536. life that completely haunt you. You can't go to sleep at night

  537. because they haunt you on Easter Sunday.

  538. Gives you a living hope. A living hope that means while

  539. you're still alive, he takes your shadow, He pushes it back

  540. towards you, and then he sends it out behind you and that

  541. shadow starts healing people. You know what the Bible says?

  542. It says Jesus goes ahead to Galilee.

  543. He always goes ahead of us. He wants us to come to Him.

  544. He wants us to leave where we are and come to him.

  545. Where are you today? Are you depressed?

  546. Are you broken down and come to him?

  547. It's a living hope. The Bible says he's seated at

  548. the right hand of the Father, and I'm seated with him.

  549. I'm here and physically in three CR, but my spiritual position is

  550. seated with Christ. And because of that I have a

  551. living hope. And I watch the markets do this

  552. and I watch the country do this, and I watch the G&U do this, and

  553. I watch Prostor do that, and I watch SAA do this, and I watch

  554. all these things, but I'm not seated here.

  555. I'm seated with Christ and so I have a living hope.

  556. I've seen so many people leave this country and take their kids

  557. to Australia and their kids don't serve Jesus.

  558. We have a living hope in this country, friends preached by

  559. Peter. Peter, whose life fell apart,

  560. said we have a living hope. We are meant to be here at this

  561. time, speaking to this nation about Jesus, giving them a

  562. living hope and an inheritance. An inheritance that can never

  563. say never. It can never.

  564. You can deny him, you can distance yourself from him, you

  565. can do whatever you like, but it will never perish, spoil, or

  566. fade. Kept in heaven for you who

  567. through faith are shielded, say, shielded, shielded by God's

  568. power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be

  569. revealed in the last time. Friends, He deals with my past

  570. in mercy. He deals with my present in

  571. living hope. And he deals with my future by

  572. giving me an inheritance that can never spoil, perish, or

  573. fade. I close with the Scripture and

  574. then we're going to pray. Acts Chapter 2.

    Acts 2 chapter mention

  575. In Mark 16 it says and tell the disciples and Peter who denied

  576. me, distanced himself for me, had a nervous breakdown.

  577. He's in a really bad place. I'm going to just use his name

  578. and I'm going to call him close. I'm going to meet him in Galilee

  579. to remind him of why I call the mother fishing into preaching.

  580. I mean, use a man called Francois of Reconst Man just to

  581. pray for his English pastor and write them a scripture so they

  582. continue to preach. Then Peter say Peter stood up

  583. with the 11. It's gone around.

  584. It was disciples and Peter. Now it's Peter and the 11.

  585. He's doing what he's called to do, raised his voice and address

  586. the crowd. Fellow Jews and all of you who

  587. live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you.

  588. Listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk as you

  589. suppose. It's only 9 in the morning.

  590. Peter and Adam and Amanda and Abigail and Albert and Alejandra

  591. and Ashley and Basilique and Blair and Bobby and Bottemella

  592. and Bongani and Byron and Caleb and Corinne and Carlos and

  593. Kathleen and Shawl and Cowan and Griselda and Dion and DNA and

  594. Delinka and David and Dimitri and Diteto and Eddie and Irani

  595. and Eli and Eliza and Estie. Stand up on Easter Sunday and do

  596. what God has called you to do, free from your past, delivered

  597. from your sins, redeemed from your failures, overshadowed by

  598. the goodness of God in your denial.

  599. Say this with me and Peter. Turn to the person next to you

  600. and use their name. With faith, we're just going to

  601. say two things, English first, Afrikaans second, and Peter from

  602. the bottom of your heart say. And Peter and Peter and Peter.

  603. Don't ever forget 2 words that changed one man's life.

  604. That man's life has changed our lives.

  605. And you 2 are called to change people's lives.

  606. Happy Easter.