Untitled Sermon (6)

Intro

Whenever I write a funeral message I always sit with the family and ask them to talk about the theme of the life of their loved one.

I ask a number of questions to the family to share with me what they were like, what they really thought, who they really were.

Trust

And this time as I sat with Peter’s Daughters and Niece. There was a word that jumped off the page. In fact this word is something that has already been mentioned here a number of times.

In 4 pages of hand written notes I have the word “Trust” written and circled 6 times.

It was the theme of his life. He trusted God in the good times and in the bad. He trusted God through thick and thin

And the verses that were Read by Peter’s family have a special significance to him.

They were significant because contained in them is what God has been up to over the years and what he is up to even right now.

Jesus is the light in darkness, and he is in the midst of making “All things New”

It is these simple truths that Peter trusted…

· Jesus is the light in the darkness

· Jesus is making all things new

And Peter had seen darkness.

Losing a wife to a car accident and another to cancer will show you darkness.

But when you understand that Jesus is the light in the darkness and your trust is settled in Jesus then although darkness is sad and difficult, it gets easy to navigate.

See it is through trusting in Jesus that you get a new set of eyes to see the world.

Peter had a deep abiding trust in Christ that allowed him to let go of trying to control outcomes and relying on Jesus.

John also says that in Jesus was life and that life was the light of all mankind.

See what Peter knew is that when you trust Jesus then God begins this renovation project within your heart.

God goes to work on your heart, so much so that after months and years of following Jesus, your old heart is God and God has replaced your heart with his…

This is Jesus giving you his life

And I believe that Peter experienced this

Otherwise how could he so deeply trust his savior when life became difficult?

It is in saying yes to Jesus that he begins to renovate your heart and give you the amazing ability to follow and to trust.

This all come from what God has been doing in the world for 2000 years

The Book of Revelation envisions God on the throne and what he says from that throne is really really important….

All Things New

God says: “Behold, I am making all things new”

What is God talking about when he says that He is making all things new?

And is this a future promise or is this a right now promise?

If Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end then I think this starts with Jesus

I think this started with Jesus taking our sins on the cross and then being raised to life again on the third day

Jesus himself was made new at the resurrection. And if Jesus is the alpha and Omega the archetype of all things then we follow in his example

The Apostle Paul wrote to the corinthian church that if

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

So why did Peter trust?

Because he had his mind and his heart settled on Jesus

And when that happens God creates a new person inside of you

This is really the promise of the resurrection

Its why we celebrate easter Sunday

Because Jesus conquered the grave and he was made new and since that time that first resurrection he is working to make all of his creation new again

And the beauty of what the Apostle Paul was saying in 2 Corinthians 5 is that this isn’t just the mission of Jesus

When we settle our trust in Jesus and we get made new, then we become partners with God in bringing about this new world that God wants

This is what Paul will go on to write

2 Corinthians 5:18–21 NIV

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

See once we become made new then God wants to work in each one of us to partner with him to make this world new

The church then becomes this divine conspiracy....See when God changed Peter’s life he set him on mission for him

He became an ambassador for Jesus and that was most clearly seen in the love that he had for his family and for the trust that he had through all areas in life.

See once we get it in us deeply that Jesus made him who had no sin to become sin so that we might become righteous

In sitting with peter’s family you get the sense that something of heaven and earth kissed in His life.

That his love for God and dedication to his family has tangible affects even today

Response

Peter’s life to all of you was a gift

and it was an invitation

-an invitation to trust in Jesus

-An invitation to allow Jesus to make you new