Restoration Before Restoration

Well, good morning, Cornerstone.

How are you all doing today?

Well, for those of you that may not know me,

my name is Mike, sorry about that.

My name is Mike Steinwinder.

I am one of the elders here at Cornerstone,

and it is a honor to be up front here this morning,

kind of bringing God's word to you.

So I think we're gonna have one of those, Thomas,

I think we're gonna have one of those Sundays, right?

Things just don't happen.

Well, what's that?

Well, man, on this last weekend of the summer,

I can't believe it's September 1st, 2024 already, man.

It has just gone by so well.

But if you need a Bible, raise your hands.

The ushers are gonna walk around,

and they will hand you a Bible.

If you don't have one,

that belongs to you personally,

you can have that as a gift from us.

We would love to make sure that you have God's word

in your hand each and every day.

Well, this week, we'll explore a pivotal moment

in the life of Peter.

We're focusing on Peter's denial this weekend.

The theme in there that we're gonna see

is the theme of restoration.

That runs throughout scripture,

and we're gonna be running through verse 26,

or chapter 26.

Verse 30 through 35,

and then we'll also go to 58,

and then we're also gonna be ending in 69 through 75.

But I'm gonna be jumping around

to a couple other scriptures

to make the point of this narrative.

So could you please join me in prayer this morning for us?

Heavenly Father, we ask for your presence

as we gather today.

Open our hearts and our minds, Lord,

to receive your word.

May we learn from Peter's experience

and understand the depths of your restorative power, Father.

Pray that you open the hearts of those

that you need to have this message heard today,

the ones, Father, that may be denying you, Lord.

You just pray, Father, please open their hearts, Father.

Speak through me this morning, Lord.

I don't wanna be up here on my own power,

but I wanna be up here, Father, spirit-filled by you.

Thank you, and we pray this in your name.

Amen.

All right, as we continue our study on,

and we're gonna have problems, aren't we?

Wrong one.

It's my fault, sorry.

We're gonna continue our teaching series,

The Apprenticing with Jesus,

and we'll delve into this powerful story,

as I mentioned, of denial this morning.

Also of failure, and also of restoration

found in these scriptures.

Our focus is gonna be, like I said, on Peter,

an apostle who,

who walked closely with Jesus,

but faced a dark moment

when he had actually denied his Lord.

The story is a testament

to Jesus' unwavering desire

to restore our brokenness.

So we're gonna cover some sermon points today,

as you'll see throughout that,

that the first is gonna,

we're gonna talk a little bit about the Last Supper,

but more of the foreshadowing of the trials

in Matthew 26, 30 through 35.

We're also gonna look at the denial,

the depth of failure,

that we see in Matthew 20,

in verses 58, 69 through 75.

And then we're gonna talk about the restoration process,

how we move from brokenness to wholeness.

But let me take a moment and reflect on Peter,

who Peter was.

Peter was originally a fisherman.

He was emerging as one of Jesus' primary disciples.

He was one that was in the inner circle of three, right?

Marked by his voice,

vibrant personality,

his boastfulness.

We see many times in the scripture

where Peter just speaks out.

He's just a bold man,

but he also provides some leadership, right?

We see in that that he has leadership

for the rest of the disciples.

So he does contain some of those leadership qualities.

He's called to be a fisher of men, right?

We see that in Matthew chapter four,

where Jesus calls him to be a fisher of men,

the one that will go after men.

And then in that,

he would become,

a key leader in the early church.

But you see,

Peter's journey mirrors common themes in our lives, right?

Faith, failures, and redemption.

We experience moments ourselves of strong faith,

and yet times we do stumble.

Praise God that our failures don't define us.

What defines us is our identity in Christ.

In moments of faltering faith,

we must remember that Jesus longs to restore us

just as he did with Peter.

So as we explore,

this narrative will witness how God's grace prepares us

for restoration,

admits like because of our failures,

we're gonna see that we have,

that you'll see we have challenges ourselves.

So at the last supper,

we're gonna see as a foreshadowing of trials.

I went to the wrong one.

I need to move forward.

There we go.

Last supper, we'll see a foreshadowing of trials.

And in that, we'll see an intimate time of fellowship, right?

And then we'll see where Jesus predicts Peter's denial.

We'll also see a prophetic warning and a bold declaration.

So let's start at the last supper.

It's a time of intimate fellowship

where Jesus breaks bread with his disciples,

as which we heard last week, right?

And it signifies his impending sacrifice.

It also establishes a context for trials to come,

not only for Jesus, but also for his disciples.

That act of communion that they took

calls the disciples, including Peter,

to remember Jesus' teaching,

and his call to remain steadfast,

even in all the trials.

Jesus, knowing Peter's intimate denial

and his challenges he would face,

still chose to break bread with him.

This incites the depths of Jesus' love

and foreknowledge regarding our human weakness.

So we'll go to Matthew 20,

and what we see here is when they had sung a hymn,

they went out to the Mount of Olives.

And now, last week, Peter, we ended our service, right?

Todd ended, what did he say?

He said, he sang a song.

And he mentioned that these hymns that were being spoken

during the Passover were hymns,

but he didn't go into the great detail of that.

So I want to just briefly talk a little bit about that.

And so those hymns, when the Passover was finished,

they went out and sung this hymn.

And the hymn is called the Halal, right?

It's meaning praise, and it draws from Psalms 113 to 118.

I'm not gonna cover those in detail,

but I encourage you guys to go back.

And actually read those,

because you will see Jesus in his heart

in prophesizing what's gonna happen.

But in that time of suffering and denial,

Jesus still praises his father in this.

And it's a great reminder of Jesus' prophetic pointing

towards his coming death and his resurrection.

Through these Psalms,

Jesus reminds his disciples of God's promises here,

reaffirming through him,

these promises will be fulfilled, right?

That's part of what we see in the Psalms.

As they make their way to the Mount of Olives,

Jesus is demonstrating remarkable concern for his disciples.

Even in the face of his own impending suffering

that he knows is gonna happen shortly,

he's aware of that the coming ordeal,

that what is happening to him,

what they witnessed happening to him

will be too much for them.

So he devotes time to warn them,

and to prepare them for those trials ahead.

We see in Matthew 26, 31,

that Jesus says to them,

you will all fall away because of me this night,

for it is written,

I will strike the shepherd

and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.

In this passage,

Jesus is foretelling that the disciples will lose faith,

and that they will flee when he's arrested

and face suffering.

Jesus didn't say this to condemn his disciples,

rather he's demonstrating his sovereign control

that fulfills the scriptures about the suffering Messiah.

We move on to verse 32,

we see after Jesus says after I'm raised up,

I will go before you.

In this verse,

Jesus already is looking beyond the cross, we see.

Jesus assures them in his resurrection

and promises to meet them again in Galilee,

symbolizes not only his triumph over death,

but also the promise of restoration.

In his disciples,

and that is our theme today.

So we see that there's a,

in verse 33,

the ever outspoken,

as I said,

remember Peter's boastful,

he's jumps out and makes comments and says things,

but we see in here in verse 33,

how Peter boldly declares and answers Jesus.

He says,

though they all fall away because of you,

I will never fall away.

Peter's sincere in this, right?

But tragically,

he's unaware of both the spiritual reality

and the spiritual battle that Jesus clearly sees.

We see that in the Psalms,

we see that in Jesus foretelling that,

hey, you are gonna deny me.

And Peter felt brave at the moment,

but Peter had no perception of the challenges

that faced him ahead.

Like Peter,

we often declare our commitment to Christ,

promising an unwavering loyalty.

However, many of us,

including me,

when faced with trials,

find that our faith actually falters,

giving away to fear in those difficult moments.

I wanna take time right now

to share a personal illustration or a story.

And I think it's important to do this

because it shows that Peter's very relatable to us,

that our life is very relatable to what he suffered

and what happened to him.

And I think I remember when I first accepted Christ,

I couldn't get enough of church, man.

I wanted to always be in church.

I was engulfing myself in scripture,

surrounding myself with believers.

And I went to every Bible study, every men's retreat,

anything that would get me,

which what I thought was closer and closer to the Lord.

And in that, I think my heart was,

I truly, truly wanted to get it right.

I made those promises of undying love.

I talked the walk well.

I didn't walk it well.

I talked it well.

And although on the outside,

it appeared that I was a faithful follower in Christ

and that any trials that would come before me,

I thought I could take them.

I thought I could handle them easily.

But that wasn't the case.

I was confident in my faith.

I thought I could withstand any trial,

but when life threw these trials at me,

I found myself at a crossroads where my actions,

didn't align with my faith, talking, not walking.

At that particular moment in my job,

I was a young rising executive in my late 20s

with responsibilities that often clashed

with my Christian values.

The values that I was learning about

as I was following Jesus.

I felt torn between my duty to perform my job and my faith.

Choosing self-preservation over adhering to Christ's teaching

is what the end result was.

At that time, we were winning all these

massive bids.

We were hitting all these milestones,

rolling over the competition that we had,

all at the expense of the employees,

the people that I was actually managing and overseeing.

Constantly pushing them to be more productive,

more productive at all cost.

The decision I made, I had to feed my family.

I was looking at faithfulness to Christ or feeding my family.

I had a family to take care of.

I had a promising career.

They kept promising me more and more.

Traveling with the president of the company,

just doing things like that,

that just led me further and further away from him.

And the choice I made, I didn't want to lose this.

It was a challenge every single day for me.

I was denying Jesus by my actions.

I was prideful, I was arrogant,

and I was definitely unloving.

And I remember a moment during a men's retreat,

one of the many that I attended,

I heard the story of Peter's denial, right?

Which we all heard.

But I think sometimes we become numb to that story, right?

Because it doesn't really relate to us.

We would never in our ever thoughts deny our Christ, right?

We would just move forward in that.

The realization as the pastor spoke

was when he finally went and shared Luke 22 61.

He said, you know what, I'm gonna tell you a story.

I'm gonna tell you a story that has profoundly changed me.

And that is, and the Lord turned and looked at Peter.

At a moment that Peter's warming his hands,

he's living life, he's ignoring what Christ is calling him.

He looks over and Jesus looks over at him

and Peter turns to see, oh my gosh, Jesus is looking at me.

That was me.

That's what it took for me to realize I was denying him.

That's what it took for me to recognize my failures.

I'd been walking a path of denial, I was doing it.

I confessed my sin and begged Jesus to forgive me.

And I am so grateful that he never gave up on me.

His grace, his mercy, and his love restored me.

And it molded me to the man that he wanted

and created me to be.

You know, I have to say,

remember it's not a matter of if we fail,

but it's a matter of when we fail.

But in that moment, Jesus will be with us.

We're confident that he will be there to restore us.

You know, we hold sermon prep each and every week.

And I don't know if you guys know that,

but there's a group of individuals that kind of gather.

We talk about the scripture that's gonna be taught

and everyone gives their input.

We talk through like, what's the meaning?

What is the theme?

What is the message that we're trying

to have our body hear?

And it's a true blessing to have that.

But it's also, sometimes it's a challenge

because what I've done in the past

is I've prepared my message,

pridefulness in myself, right?

And then I wind up tearing it up,

windowing it up and throwing it away and starting over.

So I'm so blessed that there's people in my life

that can actually talk through that

and with me through that.

But the point I want to make in that sermon prep is I had one of our other elders, Bob Kreitschek, that basically during that sermon prep, he shared his favorite psalm as a reminder that Jesus will be there for us and restore us.

And that is Psalm 37, 23 through 24.

And it says, and I just remember Bob reading that to me in sermon prep, and it was so impactful for me.

But what it says is, the steps of a man are established by the Lord when he delights in his way.

Though he fall, right, falters, he shall not be cast headlong.

He shall not die because of that, for the Lord upholds his hands.

That psalm, to me, and hopefully to you, speaks just restoring power of Jesus in our lives.

As we continue in this narrative,

we see,

we see Jesus' response with a sober reminder

to our human frailty.

It says in there,

truly, truly, I tell you,

this very night before the rooster crows,

you will deny me three times.

Not once.

Not twice.

Three times. That's significant.

Peter said to him, even if I must

die with you, I will not deny you.

And all,

get this, all the disciples

said the same.

Here lies the

tension between

our intentions

and eventual realities.

Here lies where we intend to do something,

but in reality, we do something else.

And I think that's a demonstration that shows us

that we, it's so easy for us to deny our Lord.

Peter's boldness is commendable in here,

but it also highlights the need for humility

in recognizing our limitations and our weaknesses.

As we confront our weaknesses,

be it fear, be it doubt, or lack of fear,

or lack of faith,

we open the door to restoration,

as we see highlighted in Luke 22.

It says in here,

Jesus talking to Simon Peter,

says, Simon, Simon, behold,

Satan has demanded to have you,

that he might shift you like wheat,

but I have prayed for you,

that your faith may not fall.

And when you have turned again,

when you have repented, strengthen your brothers.

And Peter said to him, Lord,

I'm ready to go with you to both prison and to death.

And Jesus said, I tell you, Peter,

the rooster will not crow this day

until you deny three times that you know me.

I'm hoping in this scripture,

and I'm gonna try to impact it a little bit for you

and what this particular scripture in Luke meant to me.

And I hope it helps you.

And I hope that you will see this.

In this passage,

I'm hoping you see the compassionate nature of Jesus,

the importance of faith

and the potential for restoration even after failure.

In here, Jesus prophesizes Peter's denial,

showing us the spiritual struggle

and testing of Peter's faith.

It's a struggle.

We're constantly gonna be tested in our faith.

Satan wants you to deny him.

Satan wants you to walk away from him.

And here we see Peter,

doing just that.

But Jesus is prophesizing, right?

He will deny me.

I know you're gonna deny me and that's okay.

Because Jesus reassures Peter,

emphasizing that his prayers will strengthen Peter,

demonstrating that Jesus's role as an intercessor

indicates hope for Peter, despite his impending failure.

There's a call to strength, to strengthen others.

And here Jesus instructs Peter that after he has repented,

he must strengthen his brothers.

He's got a role to play in that.

This highlights a future role of Peter as a leader

and points to restoration after failure.

There's also in here this bold declaration of Peter.

Peter confidently asserts that he's ready to follow Jesus

to prison and or death.

But it demonstrates Peter's commitment, his faith to Christ.

Although it contrasts with the reality

of his upcoming denial.

And here we also see Jesus' response.

He says, you will deny me.

He knows he's gonna deny me.

He knows our hearts.

For us, he knows our hearts.

He knows we have the tendency to deny him.

This serves as a forewarning of Peter's weaknesses,

yet it foreshadows the eventual restoration in his ministry.

You see the theme here, failure, restoration.

And then we also see the theme of restoration.

This passes, showcases the journey from failure

to restoration.

Jesus says, you will deny me.

Jesus' prayer and his instruction indicate to Peter,

despite Peter's failure, there's a path to redemption

and service that's following his repentance.

So now I want to transition to the denial

or the depth of the failure.

As this narrative unfolds, we transition to this portion

where we see Peter following at a distance.

And that's in verse 58.

Jesus, you know, proposes.

Peter's following him at a distance after Jesus' arrest.

It signifies a shift from this close companionship

that we saw at the Lord's Supper.

They were camaraderie.

They were hanging out together.

They were, and if you remember all the way back in verse 35,

they all said the same thing, that they would never deny him.

So as a group, we see that there's also failure.

But the interesting point here is that Peter's the only one

that you'll see that actually goes through this.

You'll see that actually goes to follow Jesus.

The other ones didn't.

So it says in Matthew, in 58, it says,

and Peter was following him at a distance

as far as the courtyard of the high priest.

And going inside, he sat with the guards to see the end.

And Peter entered the courtyard following Jesus at a distance,

yet safe, yet separated, trying to remain inconspicuous,

as you see as him moving around amidst this hostile crowd

that he perceived.

It doesn't mean that they were hostile.

He just thought in his mind that they were going to be hostile to him.

He separated from the master he vowed earlier to follow.

This distant following acts as a precursor to his denial.

It's a hesitance to fully associate with Christ when danger looms.

We do that ourselves today.

How often do we find ourselves trying to follow Jesus from a distance,

actually from a comfortable distance,

allowing fear to overshadow our faith?

We move on to verses 69 through 72.

We see the denial start.

And here we witness Peter's repeated denial,

showcasing the inner conflict of his faith and fear, right?

He knew he was fearful, and he lacked faith in that.

So we see in 69 through 74, it says,

now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard,

and a servant girl came up to him and said,

you also were with Jesus the Galilean.

But he denied it before them all, saying,

I do not know what you mean.

And when he went out to the entrance,

another servant girl saw him.

And she said to the bystanders,

this man was with Jesus of Nazareth.

And he again denied it with an oath.

I do not know the man.

After a little while, the bystanders came up and said,

Peter, certainly you too are one of them,

for your accent betrays you.

And he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear,

I do not know the man.

And immediately the rooster crowed.

A servant girl recognizes him, and Peter denies knowing him.

How fearful are you of a servant girl?

When confronted again, he swears his allegiance,

denying his connection to Christ a second time.

And then finally facing pressure by the bystanders,

he is filled with fear,

and he denies Jesus again,

inverting a curse.

When the rooster crows in this scripture,

Peter remembers what Jesus predicts

and weeps bitterly.

Shit, I went on.

And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus

before the rooster crows,

you will deny me three times.

And he went out and wept bitterly.

Here, Peter's experiencing the pain

of letting down the one that he loved most.

Peter's tears symbolize a painful acknowledgement

of brokenness, a crucial step towards restoration.

As we move to this final point in this narrative,

which I think is one of the most important parts,

I hope that you see the themes of denial and brokenness

that they can lead to a deeper understanding of restoration

and journey towards wholeness and faith.

We see that in that,

there's a nature of God's grace.

Peter's story doesn't end in despair.

It transitions to a powerful restoration.

After the resurrection,

Jesus seeks Peter out and highlights

the nature of his grace in this.

We see this in John 21,

verses 15 through 17.

He says there,

when they had finished breakfast,

Jesus said to Simon Peter,

son of John,

do you love me more than these?

And he said to him,

yes, Lord, you know that I love you.

And he said to him,

feed my lambs.

He said to him a second time,

Simon, son of John,

do you love me?

And he said,

yes, Lord, you know that I love you.

He said to him,

tend my sheep.

He said to him a third time,

Simon, son of John,

do you love me?

And Peter was greed because he said to him,

a third time,

do you love me?

And he said to him,

Lord, you know everything.

You know that I love you.

And Jesus said to him,

feed my sheep.

In this tender exchange,

we see Jesus restoring Peter

with three affirmations of love.

Do you love me?

This is a pivotal moment

that underscores a beautiful truth.

Regardless of our past failures

and our brokenness,

Jesus offers us restoration.

He invites us to repentance,

transforming our guilt and shame

into a renewed purpose.

You might ask,

how do we move from brokenness to wholeness?

Well, it requires God's grace,

like I said.

Moving from brokenness to wholeness

involves recognizing our struggles,

embracing God's grace,

seeking forgiveness,

building supportive relationships,

renewing our identity in Christ,

actively participating in God's work,

and committing to continual growth.

This involves a number of steps,

but it's up to us.

It's our heart change that is important.

These steps include acknowledgement of brokenness,

as I mentioned.

It's the first step

in recognizing our state of brokenness.

This means honestly confronting our fears

and our sins,

just as Peter acknowledged his denial of Jesus.

We must admit when we are struggling

and have fallen short.

It also involves embracing God's grace.

One of the most important things

that we can do

when we are struggling

and have fallen short

is to embrace God's grace.

One of the most important things

is to embrace God's grace.

Once we acknowledge our brokenness,

we must turn to God's grace.

Ephesians 2.8.9 says

and reminds us

that we're saved by God's grace through faith.

It's essential to understand

that our worth is not determined

by our failures,

but by God's unconditional love for us.

It also involves repentance and forgiveness.

True healing comes through repentance,

turning away from our behaviors

and our attitudes that lead to brokenness,

and turning towards God.

We can seek forgiveness from God

and extend forgiveness ourselves and to others.

This act frees us from guilt and shame,

allowing us to move forward.

It also involves restoration through relationship.

God desires us to restore within us

a community of believers,

the body,

surrounding ourselves with supportive friends and family,

engaging in church,

and building meaningful relationships

that can help us heal.

Just as Peter was restored among other disciples,

we too find wholeness in our community.

It also includes renewing our identity in Christ.

Understanding who we are in Christ

transforms how we view ourselves.

We're not defined by our past mistakes,

but rather by the identity

as beloved children of God.

This renewed perspective enables us

to embrace our new life in Christ

and hope and purpose.

It also includes active participation,

as I said,

in God's work.

After experiencing grace and restoration,

we are called to serve others.

Spending time in prayer,

engaging in scripture,

and participating in spiritual habits

and disciplines that foster growth

and deepens our relationship with God.

With each step,

we learn to rely more on God's grace.

So moving through these words,

we often open our hearts to the transformation

that God desires for us.

Moving from wholeness to fulfillment.

And you would say in here,

all right, I get that.

But what made Peter restored?

Sorry for the grammar.

I was trying to figure out

what was the best way to phrase this.

But what made Peter restored?

We already know he was restored

through God's grace.

But there's also three steps,

I believe,

or three things in here

that we need to realize,

is that what made Peter restored

was reconciliation with Jesus.

Jesus' questioning of Peter about his love

symbolizes a personal reconciliation,

a one-on-one reconciliation.

It emphasizes forgiveness

and the opportunity for restoration

despite our failures.

Secondly,

there's a commissioning and a purpose in that.

After affirming his love,

Jesus commands Peter to,

feed my sheep.

The commissioning signifies

that Peter is still valuable

and has a role in the church.

It underscores that restoration

comes with responsibility and purpose.

Thirdly, there's transformation as we see.

This encounter signifies

a transformational moment for Peter.

From a frightened denier

to a leader of a church,

his restoration highlights

themes of redemption,

and divine grace.

And you would say,

also, what did that mean for Peter?

Well, it meant for Peter

a renewed identity.

Peter's no longer identified by his failure,

but by his renewed relationship in Christ.

His identity shifts from being one

who denied Jesus

to being a foundational leader

in spreading Jesus' message.

Also meant for Peter was,

there was a leadership role.

We saw that where Jesus went to him

in Galilee and said,

I have work for you to do.

Jesus' directive to shepherd his flock

places Peter in a position of authority

and responsibility within the early church

or the Christian community.

It highlights the importance of leadership

rooted in love and care for others.

It's what we're called to do.

Love and care for others.

There's also what this meant for Peter,

that there was a call to action.

Jesus clearly communicates

that there's work to be done.

Peter is called to transition

from his former life as a fisherman

to a new mission as a fisher of men,

as we saw in Matthew 4.

Emphasizing the call to evangelism

and discipleship.

Disciples, making disciples

that make disciples.

You hear this by everyone that's up here

over and over again.

That is our mission,

to make disciples.

So as we reflect,

as we reflect on Peter's journey,

we see ourselves mirrored in these struggles.

Just like Peter,

fear may cause us to waver in our faith.

But just as Jesus extended grace to Peter,

he extends that same grace to us.

Our identity is formed not by our failures,

but by our willingness to repent

and accept God's grace.

Peter's transformation illustrates

that God can take our brokenness

and restore us to his glory,

important.

May we all understand

that the road to restoration

begins with humility

and the courage to confront our failures.

Let's embrace our shortcomings

as opportunities for God's grace

to manifest in our life.

Point being,

it's up to us to change.

It's up to us to surrender

that sinful nature that we have.

It's up to us,

it's up to us to depend on Christ to restore us.

He promises that.

Don't forget that, church.

He promises to restore you in failure.

Doesn't mean that it gives you the ability

to continue to go out and remain in that sin.

It's part of that transformation.

That transformation is for you to step up

and acknowledge it, repent.

And that word repent means to stop,

to turn and to move on and move forward in that.

And that is part of the restoration process

that we see in Jesus.

That he's gonna forgive us.

He's gonna move us forward to restore us.

But he has work for us to do.

So as the band comes forward for our final song,

I encourage you to consider the promise of restoration

that's always offered through Christ.

As we conclude,

I invite you to reflect on your relationship with Jesus.

Are there areas where you've distant yourself

because of fear and because of pride?

Bring these concerns before the Lord.

Trust in his promise to restore you as he did with Peter.

Trust him.

He's a trustworthy God.

You know, we have, as you notice each week,

we try to invite you guys to prayer.

And I think this is important, especially in this message.

We have a prayer room there with people that are,

that love you so much and wanna pray for you and with you.

I encourage you guys to don't leave today.

That part of that is we pray with one another.

We fellowship with one another.

We work our issues out with one another.

And part of that is prayer.

Part of that is confession of your prayer.

Part of that is praying with someone to be repentant

in your situation.

And the band is up here.

Where's Shannon?

I'm gonna slow things up a little bit.

Anyway.

Do you guys get that?

I hope that you can, as we finish the last song,

you can go up for prayer.

I hope that as you may think about it,

you have people around you, you have the body,

you have fellow brothers and sisters around you

that would love to pray for you.

Just ask them.

So let me close in prayer.

Dear Lord, thank you for the testimony of Peter's life

and the powerful reminder of your grace,

your forgiveness,

and your restorative love.

Help us, Lord, to recognize our weaknesses

and guide us towards true repentance.

May we understand that no matter how far we stray,

your love welcomes us back into your embrace.

Restore us, Lord, that we may serve you faithfully

and boldly share your love with the world around us.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.