2024 Homeschool Graduation | Luke 22:31-34

The Danger Of Transitions | Luke 22:31-34

Opening Remarks: I’m privileged to be a part of your night. This is a such a huge moment because in many ways, in our culture, this kind of marks the end of childhood and the beginning of adulthood. I’m thankful for the work you put in to get to this point, but this is just the beginning.

I also want to commend moms and dads represented here. I said it Wednesday, but in some ways I think homeschool moms deserve a bigger prize than the graduates. Thank you for your work and sacrifice and labor of love. I hope our graduates will recognize that as well. Don’t miss what has been invested in you.

I’ve been particularly excited about this graduation for a few reasons:

It’s personal in that one of my girls is graduating.

It marks the biggest class since I’ve been at Eastside (I imagine one of the largest classes in a long time).

The primary I’m excited is because this group has been a joy to pastor. I believe each of them has a genuine heart for the Lord.

So I’ve been extra excited about this moment. So excited, in fact, that I may have even had a dream about tonight’s ceremony.

In my dream, Carter’s dad, Chad, had decided he wasn’t going to let Carter get his diploma because he wasn’t sure he was quite smart enough to be a high school graduate.

So in the dream I was standing right here about to speak and Julia, Kaitlyn, Ashton, and Evan all stood up and started chanting, “Let Carter graduate! Let Carter graduate!” Pretty soon, the entire room was involved.

So Bro. Chad had a change of heart and decided to give Carter one last chance to prove himself. So Bro. Chad posed a question, “Carter, If I have five apples in my right hand and five apples in my left hand, how many apples do I have altogether? Not a trick question.”

After much thought and deliberation, along with tearful prayers, Carter stood up and said, “Dad, I think I have the answer. You’d have ten apples.”

The whole place erupted in applause and cheering. Bro. Chad started crying. Lisa passed out with shock. Everyone was going crazy, but things started to die down when a new chant began.

There, from the front row, Julia, Kaitlyn, Ashton, and Evan had stood up and were now chanting, “Give him one more chance! Give him one more chance!”

I’m obviously joking - this is a smart group of graduates. Even carries around dictionaries for crying out loud. Before I get myself in too much trouble, turn to Luke 22.

Jesus is talking to Peter, trying to prepare Him for a drastic life transition.

READ Luke 22:31-34

Jesus is preparing Peter for some of the toughest moments of his life. In just a few verses Jesus will be arrested and then crucified. Peter and the rest of the disciples think they’re strong and ready for anything, but they’re about to find out they’re not.

And it’s interesting that it’s during this time of transition while Jesus is being led away that Satan targets Peter. Peter’s world is about to be flipped upside down. There’s a drastic life transition coming when Jesus is no longer directly having oversight over Peter.

So knowing what’s coming, read verses 31-32 again. Jesus basically says, “A major transition is coming. And Peter, Satan has targeted you. He’s coming for you. He wants to put in the sifter to see if he can break you down.”

Young person, you have a major transition before you. This whole season of life has been one transition after another:

You’re going from childhood to adulthood.

You’ve started doing things you’d never done before: driving, getting a job, having a little more freedom to make your own choices.

Soon you’ll be leaving for college, moving out of your house, changing churches, choosing new friends, then choosing a mate, choosing a career, etc.

This is a time of drastic transitions.

And it’s exciting, but extremely dangerous, spiritually speaking. If you’re not careful, you’ll let your guard down. You’ll be distracted. Not paying attention. Your schedule will be different. You’ll be around new people. Your parents won’t be monitoring you as closely as they used to. And you might think you’re ready for it, but let me just tell you what Jesus told Peter, “Satan desires to sift you like wheat.” He wants to put you through some difficult times in order to break you, spiritually.

I Peter 5:8 says that Satan is like a roaring lion, walking about, seeking whom he may devour. He wants to take you down. He almost broke Peter.

So I’d like to look at three mistakes Peter made during this drastic transition that we can learn from. Many young people make the same mistakes:

I. They don’t stay close to Jesus.

A. Vs. 54 – Peter followed afar off

1. Very often, the first thing to slip in a transition is your relationship with Christ.

2. Your schedule is different. You have more homework. You’re working a job now so you stay up later. Classes are earlier so you want to sleep a little longer.

3. You gain some more freedom and you have more responsibilities. You’re distracted by all the new stuff.

B. A transition is the worst time to allow distance between you and the Lord.

1. You need Jesus now more than ever.

2. To this point in life, your parents have had much to do with where you go, what you say, what you watch, what you listen to, who you hang out with.

3. But that’s changing. As you become an adult, those things move out of your parent’s bucket & into yours. Before too long (and for many of you it’s happening in large part now), the strength of your walk with God will be what determines where you go, what you say, what you watch, what you listen to, who you hang out with.

4. This would be the worst time to allow distance to come between you and Jesus Christ.

5. You need Him now more than ever. But if there’s a time in life that people allow distance, it’s in the phase you’re entering right now.

6. Don’t do what most of your friends and peers will do. Stay close to Jesus Christ.

C. Of all the relationships you’ll pursue the next few years, none will matter more than your relationship with the Lord.

1. That relationship will determine what kind of friends you surround yourself with. What kind of mate you pursue. What kind of people you find yourself drawn to.

2. No relationship matters any more than your walk with God.

3. So do the things that keep that relationship first (God’s Word, Prayer, Church)

4. The one thing you can’t compromise on is your relationship with Christ. STAY CLOSE.

5. Here’s why: Satan’s a lion. Who does he normally go after? Those in the protection of the pack, or those at a distance.

6. All he needs is a sliver and you’re sifted.

Three mistakes young people make as they transition to adulthood:

II. They surround themselves with people that don’t have a heart for God.

Vs. 55 – Peter sat down among them.

A. He’s not trying to be an influence. He sits down among those who didn’t know Jesus Christ.

1. In a transition, you will find yourself in a new crowd.

2. New school. New job. New friends.

3. Many young people, in this time of life, find their place among a set of friends that don’t have a heart for God.

4. I preach a message out of Proverbs 13:20, “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: But a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.

B. Your friends today indicate where you’ll be tomorrow.

1. The most important decision you can make today is who you sit down next to.

2. Some of you are warming yourself by the world’s fire right now.

3. It may not be in person, but it’s who you follow on social media, who you’re talking to at work, people that don’t have a heart for the Lord.

4. The circle you’ve chosen will make or break you.

C. You can’t afford to detach yourself from those that love God.

1. Instead of detaching from your church, plug in even more. Find a ministry, volunteer, be accountable.

2. Many of you are planning to go to Bible College and a big church, plug in. Make it your home. Don’t skip services. Be engaged.

3. The alternative is sitting down by the world’s fire. It may seem warm, but it always burn you.

D. Be careful of being drawn in to the crowd that doesn’t care about your spiritual life.

1. They seem fun, exciting, make you laugh, but if they aren’t concerned about your spiritual life, they could play a part in you being sifted.

2. Countless young people are drawn in by the shine and fun, only to discover later that it was full of empty promises.

3. Some of you will be sifted because of the circle choose. Don’t make that mistake.

If you don’t want to be sifted, stay close to Jesus, choose your circle wisely, and three…

III. Be all-in instead of blend-in.

A. Peter is confronted three times around that fire – first by a young girl and then by two men – who all identify him as one of Christ’s disciples.

1. Read 56-60. Just a few verses earlier, Peter was saying, “I’ll never forsake you” and then he was hacking a dude’s ear off with a sword. And now, he can’t even admit to a young girl that he knows Jesus.

2. As you remove yourself from Christ and attach yourself to the world, you’ll find it’s much easier to blend in rather than stand out.

3. Many young people discover in these years that their faith wasn’t more their parents’ faith than theirs.

4. You’ve all been raised by godly parents in church every week.

5. But faith and boldness are connected. If this faith isn’t yours, you’ll blend in rather than be all in.

B. You need faith for yourself if you want to be bold for Christ.

1. So build your faith. Determine that these are your beliefs. Study this book for yourself. Be passionate about what you believe

2. We need young people that know what they believe and stand for it.

C. Once you’ve established your faith, refuse to blend in. Be all in for God. Completely surrendered to Christ.

1. All in doesn’t mean half in. You can’t serve two masters. Be all in. Say, “My life is for Christ.” Which means:

a. There’s nothing that comes before your walk w/God

b. There’s no excuse good enough…away from church

c. There’s no task your Pastor asks…too inconvenient

d. There’s no ministry too undesirable for you to help in

e. There’s no prayer meeting too early…attend

f. There’s no soul you won’t stop to witness to

g. There’s no mission field too far for you to go to

h. All In means there’s nothing God asks of you that’s too much for you to say yes to.

i. All In means you’re a yes person. If it’s for God…Yes.

D. You say, “That’s radical.” Maybe, but don’t forget what lengths God went to for you.

1. JC thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant and came in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man He humbled himself and became obedient unto death. Even the death of the cross!

2. If you’re here tonight and you don’t know the Lord, He’s done all the work for you to be saved. You have to acknowledge your sin and place your faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross. You can have eternal life. It’s not works, or effort, or good intentions, it’s all about what Jesus Christ did and I must place my faith in that.

3. But young person, Jesus Christ was All In for you to be saved. Is it right for us to not to be All In for Him? Something’s off with that line of thinking.

4. Young person, anyone can blend in. Any young Christian can just blend in. But that puts you in the lion’s crosshairs. And the sifter strikes.

5. But if you’ll determine to make this faith your own and be All In for Christ, not only will you be protected from being sifted, but God will use you to make an eternal difference in people’s lives.

HOW?

1. Stay close to Jesus Christ

2. Be wise in choosing your circle

3. Be all in for Christ

Peter fell hard. But the Lord also showed him mercy and allowed Peter to come back and be used incredibly.

You’re going to fall, at times. But that doesn’t have to be the end.

When you realize you’ve allowed space between you and Jesus, or you find yourself in the wrong circle, or you choose to blend in rather than being bold, ask God for His forgiveness and help, stand up and jump back in. Mistakes don’t have to define us. Our responses to them do.

In this time of transition, Stay close to Christ, Choose the right friends, and Be all in for Jesus.

And maybe in 10 years we’re looking back at a 100% class. They all love the Lord. They all serve God in their church. They all are making a difference for God in eternity. 0% sifted. Transitions don’t have to take you down. You can come out even better after it’s done.

PRAY