Learning to Live - 1/20/24 - Seattle Foursquare Church

Seattle Foursquare Church - WA

Learning to Live - 1/20/24

January 21, 2024 • Pastor Steve & Jen • John 18:10–18, John 18:25–27

Last week, we witnessed Jesus being confronted in the garden by Judas, the Roman cohort, the Pharisees, and the chief priest's officers. We watched as Jesus kept the peace, protecting His disciples and those who came to arrest Him. Judas kissed Jesus, which must have really angered the disciples. Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of the High Priest's servant. Jesus quickly redeemed this by placing the ear back in its proper place. When the enemy comes against us, the authority, love, and protection of Jesus will always be near to bring His redemption.

As we continue to read, we will witness Peter's famous denial. Peter was prepared to die for Jesus, but he was not prepared to live for Jesus. We often read of Peter's fierceness, regular correction, and denials and see a man unhinged. However, Peter was not unhinged. He was a man willing to lay his life down for Jesus. In his flesh, he was willing to die, but he had not learned to live for Jesus in his spirit. Thankfully, this is not the end of Peter's story. Peter failed. He denied Jesus. However, Peter is also known as the rock upon which Jesus would build His Church. Just like Peter, we must choose to learn to live for Jesus. Jesus doesn't choose us because of who we are but because of who He is in us.

Join us every Sunday at 10am as we worship into the Lords presence.

May 12, 2024

Whats it to You! - 4/27/2024

April 28, 2024 • Pastor Steve & Jen • John 21:18–22

Last week, we witnessed this beautiful moment as Jesus restored Peter from the damage he had done to himself through those three denials. Jesus loved Peter. So, in these following few verses, we see how Jesus assures Peter that he will never deny Him again. In fact, Jesus tells Peter that he would glorify God by dying a martyr's death in old age. Those words that assured him of his faithfulness as a follower of Jesus also brought a grim reality of the kind of death he would suffer. Jesus invited Peter to follow Him. By the time the gospel of John was written, Peter had already suffered a violent death. However, that day on the beach, while Peter walked and talked with Jesus, those prophetic words brought a bit of envy as he once again took his eyes off Jesus, but this time, he wasn't looking at the storm that nearly caused him to drown, this time he was looking back at the "beloved disciple" with envy and comparison. Jesus' path for Peter was uniquely his, and John's path was likewise. So, Jesus asked, "What is it to you." It was more of a statement than a question. Jesus calls each of us personally and uniquely to follow Him.

Do You Love Me? 4/20/2024

April 21, 2024 • Pastor Steve & Jen • John 21:15–17

Jesus’ meeting on the beach with His boys was profound in many ways. Not only did He provide for their needs (the miraculous catch of fish), giving them a promise for the future, and demonstrated His servant-heart by feeding the disciples breakfast, but it also included the restoration of Peter, whose courage had failed him when Jesus was arrested. Having boasted that he would never deny the Lord, even if the other disciples did (Mt 26:33, 35; Mk 14:29; Lk 22:33; Jn 13:37), Peter had done so three times (Mt 26:69-75; Mk 14:66-72; Lk 22:55-62; Jn 18:15-18, 22-27). Every one of the gospels reports those denials in detail, but John also tells us that Jesus restored Peter. On the day He was resurrected, Jesus met with him privately (Lk 24:34; 1Co 15:5), and during that meeting, He must have forgiven him. However, that morning, by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus took Peter aside after breakfast and went for a walk with him. During that walk, He carefully healed the damage that those denials had produced, one denial at a time, and He also reaffirmed Peter’s call to ministry. Peter must have felt disqualified from serving Jesus after his denials, but thankfully (for Peter and us), Jesus does not call the qualified. Instead, He qualifies the called.