Rock Steady After the Storm

Prepared?

Have you ever felt completely unprepared for something?

In over your head, don’t have a clue what to do.

I look back at my wedding, almost 36 years ago, I had no clue what I was saying, I will act like I love you till we die.

Whether I feel like it or not.

You think you’re going to feel like you’re madly in love every day of your marriage.

The reality is there are some bad days in a marriage.

It doesn’t matter. You’re going to act like whether you feel like it or not.

Ignorance is bliss. It’s probably good that I didn’t know.

I never served in the military, but my friends who did and had leadership, both enlisted and commissioned, say one thing they heard over and over was:

A battle plan always plays out flawlessly, until the first shot is fired. Then, it’s all improv.

Fall back on your training and figure it out.

The least prepared I ever felt was when I held my children in my arms when they were just born.

Holding my daughter and sons thinking, just how bad am I going to mess you up?

Maturity, we were a little older when we started, 29.

Experience?

My experience.

I had a pretty poor example of an earthly father.

Divorced when I was 2. Unfaithful to my mom.

I saw him 3 times after and my last conversation was not good.

He died shortly after Sara and I were married. Poor choices, cigarettes and alcohol killed him at 53.

I had some really good examples as father figures.

My grandfather.

Sara’s dad, my FIL

Frank Harris led me to Jesus.

My little league baseball coach taught me about investing in kids. Taught me baseball. But also relationship life-lessons.

My high school coach taught me big-boy baseball and about investing in young men.

We won a couple of state championships and I learned what it takes to be successful. Hard work. Discipline.

The best example of a father I had...

When I was in college,I remember sitting at a dining room table after lunch after church on Sunday in the Harris’ house.

We were with a few other adult couples from the church.

The subject of fatherhood came up and I expressed my concern about what kind of dad I might be b/c of the bad example I had set for me by my dad.

One of the men, lovingly, but firmly, got onto me a little bit, said you have the example of the perfect Father.

No earthly father is perfect, but your heavenly father is.

You raise you kids the way God raises you and you’ll do fine.

So the song, Good, Good Father means a lot to me.

Some of you that don’t appreciate modern songs, this has one of those elements that gets criticized; repetitive lines and words.

It’s a prayerful meditation.

But every time I sing it I’m reminded that God is a Good Good Father, It’s who He is, It’s who I am. And, I can be a good father, too. B/C He is a good father to me.

So, as ill-prepared as I was by my earthly father, helped by several men who were father-figures. My heavenly prepared me perfectly.

My application of the lessons not perfect. But, a whole lot better than they would have been if I had only had the lessons of my bio dad.

And, this is the message of 1 Peter.

The last storm prepared you for the next storm.

Maybe you didn’t realize God was preparing you, you may not feel up the challenge. But, you have everything you need to survive and thrive in this storm. So that when you come thru, you will still be standing strong in your faith and in your life.

We’re just going to look at the first 2 verses of ch. 1; who wrote this letter, who he wrote it to, and what we can apply to our current situation coming thru this virus crisis.

We can stand strong after the storm, b/c Peter stood strong after the storm and the church stood strong after the storm.

We are as prepared as they were.

You’d have thought the church would have died. The head was killed and the ppl were scattered.

And, yet, here we are today. Scattered, but still going strong.

How did this happen?

Let’s start w/ why Peter was so qualified to write this letter

Peter; Rash but Restored

1 Peter 1:1 NIV

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,

Peter wrote this letter. He’s known for being the leader of the apostles after Jesus ascended.

And, He was known for his rash, sometimes foolish behavior.

How did he get from Ready, fire, aim to the responsible, mature, leader that he became.

He was a fisherman. It was the family bsns.

Means he was a high-school grad. Didn’t pass the entrance exam to college so he joined his dad on the lakes.

Then, as a leader, he took on and debated grad school grads in theology and the Christian life.

How did he get prepared to do that?

They asked, “How does this uneducated man know so much about God?”

His prep began one morning when Jesus showed up to teach the masses by the sea and asked Peter to put the boat out into the water so he could.

They had been fishing all night, b/c that’s when you fished, hadn’t caught anything, frustrated, can’t pay the bills or feed the family w/ empty nets, the heat of the day and Jesus said put the nets in the water one more time.

Peter was polite. He was a professional. Jesus was a Rabbi.

What did he know about fishing.

Jesus wants to give me advice about marriage.

“You’ve never been married. I’ll handle this. I can figure out my wife.” said no man ever.

“You’ve never had kids. I’ll fix my own kids.” Right!

They put the nets down, wrong time of day, wrong part of the sea, just to humor Jesus and they caught so many fish the nets were breaking.

Something is different about this guy. If He says to do something maybe we should. Maybe He knows something we don’t.

It was Peter, when he saw Jesus walking on the water in that storm, who asked Jesus to call him out so he could too.

On the sea in storm ppl belong in a boat. If you’re not you’re going to die. But, that night ppl in the boat were going to die so Peter asked Jesus to get him out of it.

Don’t try to defy science unless Jesus calls you out to do it.

You’ll look like a fool if you do.

Eyes on Jesus he walked on the water, too.

Eyes on the storm he began to sink.

Eyes back on Jesus, Jesus saved him.

Peter was there when Jesus healed his MIL, and a few others from that village.

And, it was Peter who, the next day, had to explain to the crowd that had gathered to be healed as well, that Jesus was going on to the next village and wouldn’t be healing any of them.

These were his friends and neighbors he had to send away, hurt and unhappy.

Jesus came to preach and die so He could get ppl to heaven.

Once in heaven everyone is healed. But, not everyone gets healed on earth and Peter had t/b the one who told them.

Peter was the first to acknowledge and say he believed Jesus is the Messiah. He was a saved man at that moment.

Jesus replied w/ a play on words. Petros means “rock”.

Peter the rock, and Jesus would build His church on the rock solid foundation of faith like his.

The gates of Hell will not prevent it from happening.

Jesus is not building buildings, he’s building ppl into the church.

Immediately after, Peter, being the loyal follower, assured Jesus he would not let him die. Peter would die defending him.

To which Jesus said, “Get behind me Satan.” He couldn’t have called him a worse name.

Peter was just trying to say that he was all in w/ Jesus. But, he messed up when he said that. How many times and how bad did Peter mess up!

Jesus had to die. He’d told him so. But Peter didn’t understand it till later. Jesus had to repeat that lesson till Peter got it.

It was Peter who lopped off the servants ear when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus.

There he was trying to defend him when he didn’t need to.

Not a soldier, not trained in combat or swords or knives.

He swung and missed the center of the man’s head where the seam of his helmet would have been if he were a soldier.

But, he was servant and only cut off his ear.

When Jesus put his ear back, he fixed another mistake Peter made w/out any consequence b/c Jesus is gracious and fixes our mistakes. That’s what a loving Savior does.

And, then, after all that, Peter denied being a follower of Jesus and even denied knowing him.

After saying he’d die for him, die w/ him, he denied knowing him.

At the next to worst moment in Jesus’ life Peter quit on him.

The worst moment being when God turned his back on Jesus.

Peter was crushed when he realized and the rooster crowed.

The guilt. The shame. Surly Jesus was done w/ Him.

Peter would be done w/ Peter if he’d done it to himself.

What do you beat yourself up over. It keeps coming back to mind and you chew on it believing that there is no way Jesus could forgive you for that.

Whatever it is, it’s not worse than what Peter did.

And, when Jesus showed up on the shore that morning after his resurrection and welcomed Peter back, forgave him, and then restored the relationship better than it was before.

Peter was ready t/b the leader of the apostles.

He was prepared as any man could be.

God would give him the words he needed when in a theological debate w/ PhDs and ThDs so he could stand strong when it was over.

God would give him the strength he needed when he was being beaten and imprisoned so he could stand strong during and after.

He wouldn’t get this stuff before he needed.

God would show up in a big way at the pfct time w/ the pfct help.

Peter’s life wasn’t easy. In fact, his death was horrible. Tradition has it he was crucified upside down b/c he didn’t consider himself worthy to be crucified like Jesus.

And now he’s in heaven. W/out a care in the universe.

Ill-prepared? No. Perfectly prepared to lead the apostles and write this letter to the young church and us so we could be as prepared as he was when we find ourselves in our next storm.

That’s the author of the letter. What about the recipients, the readers that can teach us about how prepared we really are for the storm we are in and its aftermath.

The Church; Scattered but Still Strong

1 Peter 1:1–2 NIV

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Peter wrote this letter in the mid-60s. It was about 30 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Stephen had been stoned (Acts 7).

Nero, the Roman Emperor had begun severely persecuting Christians.

Rome wasn’t really anti-Christian, anti-Jewish, or anti-Pagan.

They worshiped the emperor, so they were not so keen on the competition to worship God or Jesus.

But, they were all about keeping the peace. And, when riots broke out they shut them down quickly and cruelly.

They didn’t really care who was ultimately responsible for the unrest, they came in and killed ppl

The conflict was between the Christians, Jews and Pagan. The Romans took it out heavily on the newest org and they were brutal.

They took it out on the leaders, but also average families who were Christian and members of the church.

Men, women, and children would be paraded into the coliseum where they would turn the lions loose. It was sport. Entertainment. The ESPN of its day would have covered it and televised it.

The Christians’ family and friends were dying. They were taking their lives into their own hands by staying in Jerusalem and meeting w/ the church.

Jesus had said, “Go be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Initially, though, they stayed in Jerusalem and built the first mega-church. Thousands of members.

The apostles were the preachers. Imagine, Peter, Matthew, and John being your weekly preachers.

They had small groups all over town.

Places to serve, feeding the needy and homeless, spiritual gift classes, and miraculous things were happening.

And, then the persecution broke out and they had to run for their lives.

Think about what they left behind. Home. Job. Friends. Kid’s school. Non-believing family. And, church.

They had to start over in their new village.

They scattered. They didn’t dare all settle in the same place. It wouldn’t have been safe.

They no longer had their favorite preacher. Their small group blew up. How could they find out what their spiritual gift was?

They were now the poor and needy.

You’d think this would have been the final nail in the coffin of the church. Nero hoped so.

Their head was dead and gone. Resurrected between, but that was wishfully unsubstantiated.

Now the Christians had scattered like cockroaches when the light comes on.

What chance does the church have for survival, much less t/b able to stand strong when it’s over.

It’s never really over. New normal.

How? How would the church survive?

God had a role in electing us. In choosing us. He knew us before we were born. He had a relationship w/ us.

Some Christians overcook this issue on one side or the other.

Did God choose you or did you choose God? Yes.

I remember the day I chose God. Aug. 17, 1977 at a Bill Gothard Seminar.

I have since learned that God had role in it, in that He had to change something inside of me so I could choose Him.

I chose. But, so did God.

And, God won’t un-choose you. He chose you knowing what was coming. He’s never surprised.

So, when the Christians scattered He had prepared them to start over. Not only start over personally and professionally. But they had to start over and plant their own church.

But, remember, the church isn’t the building, it’s the ppl.

The Greek word, ekklesia, means a gathering of people w/ a common purpose. It wasn’t unique to the church. It could have described a political convention or service fraternity.

PPL w/ a common purpose. We don’t need a building. It’s a tool. A resource. We don’t need programs. They are helpful to organize around to help accomplish our purpose.

That’s why we have a building and programs.

Many of you know Vaughn Autry passed away suddenly this past winter. Bev, his widow, obviously devastated at the loss.

B/C of our building and programs, specifically our dinners for 8 or dinner w/ friends, the Autrys developed close friendships w/ Larry and Linda Ruffe and Tom and Gwen Hlusak.

So, when Vaughn passed, Bev didn’t need to come to a building or a program, she needed ppl to come to her.

Larry and Linda have cared for her and comforted her since it happened. They brought her up here and w/ Tom and Gwen are helping Bev adjust to her new normal.

We have the best teacher, preacher, and trainer in the universe. Not me. The HS.

He indwells us, empowers us, counsels us and provides what we need right when we need it.

We are being sanctified. Changed. That’s growth. We will more like Jesus tomorrow than we were yesterday.

We don’t need a mega-church for that to happen.

And, we have abundant peace and grace. So when the storm is at its worst, we can be at our most peaceful.

We’re a little scattered right now. We don’t have access to the building or the all the programs.

We did up until the first of March.

God used this building, and these programs, and those at your churches in the valley, to prepare us for this storm.

Maybe we didn’t realize it at that time. We take for granted what we have when we have it. And, don’t realize how much we will miss it when we don’t.

The church didn’t die then after they were scattered, it’s not going to die now after we’ve been scattered.

The last storm prepared us for this storm. And this storm is preparing us for the next storm.

We will always be able to stand strong in and after every storm b/c God is w/ us giving us exactly what we need exactly when we need it.

Peter found out. The early church found out. We are finding out.

This storm isn’t ending any time soon. It may never. We may be doing things differently from now on.

But, we’ll be stronger as a result.

This is the message of 1 Peter. Standing strong in the storm and standing strong after the storm.

We’ll be in 1 Peter all summer as we adjust to our new normal.

And, we’ll come out stronger in the fall.

Applications

Eyes

Peter learned where to stare.

If you stare at the trouble you will stumble.

Eyes on Jesus. All the time.

Don’t try to defy science unless Jesus calls you to do it.

If you take your eyes off Jesus and start sinking, He won’t let you go. Eyes back on Jesus.

Are you staring at the storm, the virus, the germs, the fear of getting sick? Or, are you staring at Jesus.

Eyes back on Jesus.

Understanding

Do you understand everything Jesus is teaching you right now?

It’s okay if you don’t. It’s okay to say, I don’t understand.

He will slow down and repeat the lesson as many times as necessary for you to get it.

Don’t stress what you don’t understand Either you don’t need it right then, or you’ll have lots of opportunity to get it later.

Keep studying, listening, trying and applying.

Fix it and forgive it

If you’ve messed up and you think if it were up to you, you’d let yourself drown this time, Jesus isn’t going to do that.

There is nothing so bad Jesus won’t forgive you.

In stressful storms we can mess up bad.

Let Him fix it. Let Him forgive you. And, forgive yourself.

The last storm prepared you for the next storm.

Maybe you didn’t realize God was preparing you, you may not feel up the challenge. But, you have everything you need to survive and thrive in this storm. So that when you come thru, you will still be standing strong in your faith and in your life.