Simon Ponsonby Sermon - Worship
Most would feel that after Peter had denied Jesus three times after Jesus' arrest that would mark the end of his ministry. Surely Jesus would no longer consider him for a position of leadership, and particularly not as the leader of the disciples. Thankfully Jesus is into a work of redemption. He is looking to redeem his creation not scrap it and start again. At the end of time all of creation will be redeemed, made as if new. Restored to how it was always meant to be. So Jesus in this passage is looking to renew Peter's calling as leader of the disciples. Two things we can learn about this passage with regard to worship.
Firstly for genuine worship we have to love Jesus. Do we love Jesus, do you love Jesus? Perhaps as test at the end of today we can take time out to review and say. "In what I did today can I be confident I proved my love for Jesus." or instead did I prove my love for myself or for the idols in my life. If we truely Love Jesus our focus will be for the health of his Church, his flock.
Secondly for genuine worship we have the assurance of how much we are loved. In the gospel of John, he as the author continues to refer to himself as the beloved Aposle. The one whom Jesus loved. If we don't think properly about this we can take this to be an arrogance or favouritism. The truth of the matter is that John was so assured of the love of Jesus toward himself he lived it out. He knew his was beloved and he lived it out. At the last supper so assured was he of Jesus's love he was right up there, first in line, leaning back on Jesus' breast. This level of assurance meant also that at the cross he was the last one standing the only disciple that did not run away and over to him did Jesus place responsibility for his mother Mary. This is the assurance that we also need and to live out! John did not just believe himself beloved but in his letters to the curch, what title does he use for the church? Beloved!
So do we love Jesus enough that it shows through in our lives? Do we know how much we are loved that we can confidently call ourselves beloved? How do you worship...
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