Sermon Cloud

Today…we will be moving into Part II of our Series:  Change It’s Coming!; Last week we discussed that we are Always only…One Choice and One Action away from Change!

The Over Arching Question:  Is Change Possible? 

1) Question:  Can an addict (alcohol, drugs, sex, tv, knowledge, food, etc.) ever stop being addicted?
2) Question:  Can a workoholic ever stop striving to be accepted, affirmed, and valued by others?
3) Question:  Can a young single mom ever reach her childhood dreams and goals?
4) Question:  Can a child  or adult who’s been abused verbally or sexually ever find healing?
5) Question:  Can a child who’s been abandoned ever learn to trust anyone?
6) And my hope, the hope of the Core Team is that you begin to see Change as a very real possibility! 
7) We also know that Change is NOT easy!  Positive change is difficult…if it weren’t everybody would be doing it and we wouldn’t be having this discussion!
8) We hope you leave here today with some idea’s about how or what you what change you might want to see in your life!

Set Up – A Core Value that is a foundational element of Change is Being Real.  We believe in being Real…living the truest you, in the purest sense, in front of all audiences.

Video Clip (4 Minutes):  Frank Being Real

You-Why do they need to know it?
Many of us would say…
• I don’t know who the real me is anymore…
• I don’t want to be real it will hurt to much it’s to hard…
• I don’t believe can change, I’ve spent most of my life living a lie…Hidding and Pretending!
• Or, maybe you’re saying, I am real, all the time I don’t pretend, I don’t hide…(Statistics)

What we want you to know is this…At Matt’s House we are working hard to create a safe place for you to be Real!  And we do this through connecting in Relationship!

We believe that the Church is ultimately about relationships…with God and with People!
1) We believe that Change/Transformation happens when you are in the soil of relationship.  Relationship with God, because He knows you most intimately…
a. A Poet-King named David wrote that God, “You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mothers womb!”  Earlier in that Psalm/Poem David writes that God knows our thoughts and action even before we communicate or act.  That we can’t hide from Him, He knows where we are and is always present…
b. We believe God knows your pain, He knows your struggle…most importantly He cares! 
2) Secondly, We believe that Change/Transformation happens in soil of relationship with other people.  This is one of God’s primary means of bringing life Change/Transformation.

Transition:  So, being in relationship with God and with People helps us, it encourages us to be Real with God, Ourselves and Others and Being Real is a key/building block to life change!  Let’s look a man named Peter…He was a Christ Follower…lets see if we can learn anything from his struggle to be Real…his fight to realize Change…

God-What do they need to do?
John 1:42
Peter was a normal guy…a fisher man; his brother Andrew was also a disciple of Christ, a Christ Follower; both were asked by Jesus asked to Follow him to become fishers of men; Christ saw Simon and renamed him Cephas (Kay-phas) – or in Greek Peter, the Rock.  Peter’s new name communicated what Peter would someday become.  Peter would someday be a Rock, a pillar, a strong leader of the future Church.  Remember this Peter dropped everything to Follow Jesus…

Crazy/Risky…Drop everything…leave your business, your family vocation and follow this particular teacher…this Rabbi…, but they did it.

Lets look at some snap shots of Peters Journey as a Christ Follower:

In John Chapter 6
Jesus had finished communicating a very difficult message…many of his Followers abandoned him…Jesus turns to the twelve and asks…,”You, do not want to leave too, do you?”  And the first to speak up, Peter says, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  We believe and know that you are the Holy  One of God.”

Matthew Chapter 14
In another snap shot…We see Jesus walking across a lake in the middle of the night…the twelve thought that it might be a ghost… they were afraid, then as Jesus approached they recognized their Lord, Teacher, their Master.  Peter calls out, “Lord if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water.”  Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord save me!”

Matthew Chapter 16
Our next glimpse into Peter’s journey we find Jesus asking his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”  There were several responses from his disciples…then Jesus asks a more specific question, “But what about you?” he asked, “Who do you say I am?”  And Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”  

Matthew Chapter 26
In the next snap shot we find Jesus eating with His disciples, what is often referred to as the last supper.  This is a very important time and Jesus is communicating what he believes to be most important to His Followers.
 Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:
“ ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.
 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”    Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”    “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”    But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.

Luke Chapter 22
Dr. Luke records Jesus’ prayer for Peter at the Last Supper…
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift youa as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”  But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”   Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”

We all know what happens next…
Peter, the confident, the cockey, the bold, outspoken Follower of Jesus…always striving to be noticed and affirmed denied any relationship at all with Jesus, 3 times Peter denied being a Christ Follower, then the crow of the rooster…and Peter dejected and confronted with the reality of his own fear and subsequent denial fades into the darkness.

Christ is Crucified and Rises on the Third Day evidence that He is the promised Messiah, the Anointed One, the Holy One of God!  Here Jesus defeats death, the grave and brings a promise of new life…of Change…of Transformation!

John Chapter 21
Then we get another snap shot of the Risen Christ Jesus interacting with Peter and the other disciples…they had been fishing all night and hadn’t caught any fish.  Jesus tells them to drop their nets on the other side of the boat.  They did and Jesus sat with them and ate breakfast with them.  Here is where we will pick up the story…
“When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”  “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”  Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?”  He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”  Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”  Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.
 I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”  Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

You-Why do they need to do it?
Question:  So what do we see through these snap shots of Peter’s life…
First we see  Peter… who is totally self-sufficient; tenacious; outspoken; opinionated; self-centered; driven; a risk taker…and at times we see him afraid and even acting as a coward would. 

Story of Soldier and Police Officer - I have two friends ones a soldier and the others a police officer both have to risk their lives on behalf of others.  Any sign of weakness, fear, or indecisiveness immediately leads to your being rejected and labeled as an outcast.  So, both of these men have to constantly pretend that they are not affected by the requirements of their jobs…even when they have to kill someone.  They have to hide the fact that they may have experienced the emotion of fear; they have to hide the fact that they may have even cried; they have to hide the fact that they are struggling with dealing with their difficult choices pretending they are not depressed, not sleeping, not having nightmares, etc.

Question:  Why do they feel they like have to hide, and pretend?  Because it’s not what a soldier or police officer does…it doesn’t fit the image of what soldiers, and police are supposed to be!

You see Peter came face to face with himself that night he denied Jesus three times…
• Yes the same Peter who walked on water…,
• The same Peter who wacked off a guards ear as they arrested his friend Jesus.

That night…Peter saw himself as he truly was…a weak, helpless, afraid Christ Follower who desperately needed God’s help to Become the Rock Jesus had called him and prayed for him to be.

And here in John 21 we see Peter being his most Real self…
• Surrendering his confidence, his risk taking attitude, his outspokenness, his boldness to Christ. 
• Recognizing that to be all that Christ had called him to be…To Be Changed…To Be Transformed…To Be The Rock, he needed to be Real…with God, Himself and Others…
• To get from here to there meant recognizing he could not do it with all his passion, confidence, skill, outspokenness, hard work and drivenness he still needed Jesus to guide, direct and enable him to feed and tend Jesus’ lambs and sheep. 
Point
• Peter had to get Real with his short comings…
• He had to get real with his own brokenness…
• He had to get real and acknowledge that he to needed Jesus!

Question:  So what are your short comings?
1) Where has your heart been broken and left in scattered pieces all over the floor?
2) What areas of your life or issues are destroying you…slowly killing you?
3) What areas of your life or issues do you find yourself running from by pretending and hiding?

Think About It!

Question:  What are the next steps you can take to deal with the issues, short comings, and brokenness in your own life?

Story of Larry - My father in-law struggled throughout his entire life with the notion that he wasn’t smart enough or good enough.  You see he heard his father one night telling his mother that he wasn’t very smart.  Much of Larry’s adult life was spent proving his father wrong, and Larry did.  If you speak to Larry’s colleagues today you will find a very high regard for Larry’s genius.  From developing the GPS, Defense Navigation Systems, to Kalman Filtering Larry was well known and respected in his field.

You see, their came a time in Larry’s life when he was the cockey, ultra-smart, rising star.  Just like Peter!  His stuff didn’t stink!  He was the man!  And he made sure everyone knew it.  Then Reality hit!  In an instant in front of a mirror…Larry spotted himself choking a little poodle who wouldn’t shut up.  Their Larry, like Peter before him realized the fraud he was.  Their Larry cried out for a rescue, just like Peter in the water and Christ reached out and began to rebuild, to change and to transform him.  Christ helped Larry be real…his church family would help Larry be real…and over time the cocky, self-sufficient, over-confident, arrogant genius would become a powerful influence in many lives, just like Peter…

We
You see when we choose to Live Real…to Stop Hiding!  Stop Pretending!  We are changed for the better…When we are changed/transformed we begin to call others who are still stuck in the status quo…still playing the victim…still blaming others for their problems up and out of their hiding and pretending!  Like CPR we begin to breathe fresh life in to their death.  Breath by breath…Heart beat by heart beat they begin to live… 

At Matt’s House we as representatives of Christ’s
• We need to point people into the direction of hope…
• We need to share with them our personal journey of life Change/Transformation by being Real…
• We need to walk with and lead others who want change in their journey as they follow Christ.

Peter’s Death
Peter got Real!  Peter died just as Christ had promised…Eusebius, a historian reports that Peter was crucified upside down in Rome in AD 64 under Nero. 
Peter kept his promise this time by the grace…and power of God…He didn’t run…He didn’t deny being a Follower of Christ…No He was crucified because he lived to Follow and Proclaim that following Christ brings life change…life transformation!

Series Continues…
Join us in May on the 2nd and 4th Sunday’s as we work our way through Part III, Part IV the Change It’s Coming Series will focus on two other foundational elements of Change. “Living In The Here and Now!” in other words being Relevant and “You’re the Catalyst” living as a Revolutionary!