Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction – Your Biggest Failure
This is the story of Juan Sanchez, pastor at High Pointe Baptist Church in Austin, Texas.
My parents couldn’t afford to send me to university.
So, to pay for my school, I enlisted in the United States Navy.
In God’s kindness, I eventually won a Navy scholarship to the University of Florida.
As a part of my training, I served on a tugboat one summer.
Our job was to guide large ships through the harbor without incident, using only thick, heavy lines (ropes, to the non-nautical).
One morning, the petty officer assigned to the tug was preparing the lines.
You can imagine how thick and heavy they had to be to pull such large vessels, yet he was throwing them around like they were dental floss.
As he organised the lines, he started to bad-mouth Christians, going on and on about how hypocritical and unreliable they were.
Then he looked up at me, 19 years old at the time and only a Christian for two years, and he said, “You’re not one of those Christians, are you?!”
At some point in your life, you will have to answer that question.
And, no matter how much you say you won’t, the temptation will be there to turn your back on Jesus.
To say you aren’t a Christian.
Or, you will, as Pastor Sanchez points out on his website, live in silence, or functionally deny that you are a Christian.
In our text today, we see Peter denying Jesus.
It is a well known passage.
And it is one that we often look at with some disdain.
“Poor Peter - he is a failure.
He denied Jesus.”
Thomas is known for doubting and Peter is known for his denial.
We’re known by our failures in life, aren’t we?
Here’s the thing.
Peter’s denial wasn’t due to a moment of weakness.
If you look at Peter’s life, it should come as no surprise to you that he ended up denying Christ in this moment.
But what can we learn from Peter in order to prepare ourselves for when we too are asked or accused knowing this Christ.
I want you to think about a time you made a colossal mistake.
· I want you to think about a time you made a colossal mistake.
Don’t Walk Alone
EX - Peter made several mistakes after Jesus’ arrest but the biggest was thinking he could handle it on his own.
You probably find this hard to believe, but Peter’s pride and arrogance got in his way after Jesus was arrested.
Peter forgot to follow in community
After Jesus was arrested, we know that the disciples scattered in fear.
Only Peter and one other disciple remained.
The rest of the disciples had went their own way.
But Peter did follow.
So before we get too hard on him, remember he was the only one who was around to
We don’t see any other disciples with him and we don’t see John again until the cross - and that is in His gospel.
The “band of brothers” that were the 12 suddenly scattered.
Here is Peter - slowly walking back his bravado from a few hours ago.
But he is here.
He just forgot backup.
It’s obvious that Peter was nervous and probably a little frightened in this situation.
If he had back up, he probably wouldn’t be so frightened.
There is a reason Jesus told them to go out in pairs.
There is a reason
Peter forgot to follow closely
John’s gospel tells us in that it was Simon Peter and one other disciple.
Peter decided to follow from culture
We don’t know for sure, but it could have been John or possibly Joseph of Arimathea, who gave a tomb for Jesus.
Regardless, that disciple, according to John’s gospel, went in while Peter remained outside with the servants.
Peter was, hedging his bets, keeping the option to run open should the religious authorities decide to arrest him as well.
Peter kept his distance, followed in isolation and generally forgot what it meant to be a follower of Christ.
We need to understand that there is no such thing as a lone wolf Christian.
We cannot forget that following Jesus isn’t about doing things the way that we think we should do them - but following Jesus means we actually listen to and obey His commands.
Peter thought he could follow Jesus into this den of darkness and handle it all by himself.
But we know that this is not the case.
He failed.
It’s not about saying “I’m a Christian” and then doing whatever I please.
It’s about saying “I’m a Christian” and then doing what Jesus says because you know it is what is best for you.
Just hours before this, Jesus warned Peter that he’d deny that he knows Jesus three times before the sun came up.
And then when they went to the garden, Jesus warned them to pray so they would not enter into temptation.
Peter ignored the warnings of Jesus, the instructions of Jesus and instead went with what he knew.
IL -
AP - Following Jesus means we walk in community
We were made to walk in community together.
That’s one reason why Jesus picked the 12 and then picked John, James and Peter to go deeper with.
Likewise, we need to be people who live out our journey in Christ in gospel community.
And Christians, literally Christ-Followers, we need to be people who hear from Jesus.
This means that we do more than just show up on Sunday morning and then go back to living in the world.
I don’t ask you to read your Bible or
It means we are in each other’s lives which will, at times, require us to get into each other’s muck and messes.
We don’t call on people to walk together because we are a cult or we want control of everyone’s lives.
We call on people to walk together because that is the pattern of the New Testament.
Discipleship is a team sport.
We need one another.
So, I’m asking each one of you to find one or two people to walk with.
Make a commitment to walk in Gospel Centered Community.
And, if you don’t know what that looks like, let me briefly explain.
And, if you don’t know what that looks like, let me briefly explain.
What this is something like what we do on Thursday nights, only smaller.
2 to 4 people get together regularly to read the word and pray about what’s going on.
This happens in your home or a coffee shop or a restaurant.
So, come on a Thursday - not this week, it’s our week off for the Leadership Team to meet - if you’re not already.
But you need to be in community beyond Sunday morning.
You can’t face this culture alone.
· And then I want you to think about that gnawing in the pit of your stomach.
That sickness that you feel.
Don’t Walk In Fear
And then I want you to think about that gnawing in the pit of your stomach.
That sickness that you feel.
EX - Peter was afraid of the consequences of following Jesus.
Let’s face it, there were those who opposed Jesus and they eventually got the upper hand.
The religious leaders kept pressing and pressing.
And they finally had enough so they arrested Jesus on trumped up charges.
And they tried him, as we will see next week, in a mockery of a trial.
The tide of culture turned on Jesus and his followers pretty quickly.
The crowds went from shouting Hosanna to Crucify in less than a week.
The tide of history can turn quickly.
Peter saw this and it caused him to back off.
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