How Christ Prepares Us for Mission | John 21:1-23
Brian Hedges | May 1, 2022
Let me invite you now to turn in your Bibles to John 21. We are nearing the end of this series through the Gospel of John. For a number of months now we have been looking through the Gospel of John; in the fall we were looking at the upper room discourse together, and for the last couple of months we’ve been working through the passion narrative, up until Easter, and now the resurrection narratives in John’s Gospel. We come now to John 21, the final chapter, and next Sunday will be the last message in this series, as we complete this Gospel.
People have sometimes been confused when they came to John 21, because it feels like you’ve already come to the end of the book. John 20:30-31 sounds like a conclusion to the book, as John gives sort of the purpose statement to the Gospel. But I think of this kind of as an analogy with a Marvel movie. Have you ever gone to a Marvel movie? I take our kids to see most of these movies, and every time you go to the Marvel movies, you always stay past the credits, right, for the mid-credits or the post-credits scene, because there’s always a scene, a tag in a Marvel movie, that’s giving you kind of a foreshadowing of what’s going to come next in the Marvel cinematic universe.
While the credits seem to start to roll in John’s Gospel at the end of John 20, in chapter 21 he’s really giving us an epilogue. It’s kind of like a post-credits scene, and I think the purpose of this is really to invite his readers into the continuing mission of Jesus Christ in the world. So this vignette that we have in John 21, as Jesus reveals himself again to his disciples, it’s really for the church, and it’s an invitation for us to be a part of Jesus’ mission in the world. That’s going to be our focus this morning as we look at this final appearance of Jesus as recorded in John’s Gospel.
It’s really all about how Jesus is preparing the disciples for what’s going to come next. This is prior to the Day of Pentecost, this is before they’ve fully launched into their mission, their work as his apostles, and Jesus here is preparing them. What he does for them, Jesus also does for us, so what we want to ask this morning is, what does he do in our hearts and in our lives in order to prepare us and then use us in his kingdom? What we see him do in this passage I think will be true for us as well.
I want to point out three things, and I’m just going to work through the passage as we go, rather than reading it all at once. We’re going to see three things, three points this morning:
- Jesus Reveals Himself to His Disciples (vv. 1-14)
- Jesus Restores His Disciples to Himself (vv. 15-17)
- Jesus Commissions His Disciples (vv. 18-23)
Let’s look at each one of those in turn.
1. Jesus Reveals Himself to His Disciples
You see this especially in those first 14 verses, and in fact, if you read just verse 1 and 14 you can see the key word is “revealed.”
“After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias [that’s also the Sea of Galilee], and he revealed himself in this way.” Then verse 14 is kind of a bookend, along with verse 1, bracketing everything in between. Verse 14 says, “This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.”
It’s a strong word, this word “revealed.” It’s more than a mere appearance. This is a revelation; this is a way in which Jesus is working to reveal not only his physical resurrection body but also to reveal his heart, to reveal his character, to reveal his way of working in the world, and reveal that to his disciples. This is so much so that Edward Klink in his commentary puts it like this; he says, “This appearance is not to establish the fact of his presence, for that was already accomplished, and emphatically, with Thomas. Remember John 20; there are three appearances of Jesus in John 20. Rather, this appearance establishes the continuation of his presence, how the risen Lord will reveal himself to and be present with his disciples in all future times.”
All that to say, this is for us this morning, as Jesus reveals himself to his disciples. So let’s read now verses 1-6. We’re going to take these first 14 verses in two halves. So, verses 1-6.
“After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias , and he revealed himself in this way.” Here’s the cast of characters, verse 2. “Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We will go with you.’ They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
“Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, do you have any fish?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.”
Just stop right there. Attentive readers, when you read this passage and you know anything about the Gospels, you’ll know that this is an echo of an earlier story of Jesus when he first called his disciples, as recorded in the Gospel According to Luke, Luke 5. This is the lengthiest call story we have of the disciples, and it’s very similar to this. Jesus comes to his disciples in Luke 5, they’d been fishing, they caught nothing. He tells them then where to fish and they catch so many fish that the two boats begin to sink, and they realize that they are encountering someone who’s more than just a man. Peter, when he’s on the shore, he falls down on his face before the Lord Jesus and he says, “Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
Jesus now, three years later, after his resurrection, he’s taking them back to the beginning. So this scene is meant to echo that earlier story, kind of a repetition, as Jesus calls them once again. We really should see this whole expedition of them fishing and catching nothing as something of an active parable of their lives. Because here are the disciples; Jesus had been crucified, Jesus is risen from the dead, but they have not yet come to Pentecost. They are not yet engaged in mission. They’re not out sharing the gospel with people, they’re back on the boats, they’re back at their nets, they’re back to fishing, but they’re catching nothing. It’s a parable of their lives and the futility of their lives apart from Jesus.
We could put it this way; in this first section, Jesus here reveals our futility and his sufficiency. They had been laboring all night, they had caught nothing, but then, at the word of Jesus, they cast the nets to the other side of the boat, and they catch so many fish they’re not able to haul it in. Where once there was futility, now there is abundance under the blessing of Christ. Notice what Peter does in verse 7—really, Peter and John.
Verse 7 says, “That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’” Now, the disciple Jesus loved is John. We’re going to look at John in more detail next week, the testimony of this beloved disciples, the author of this Gospel. This is characteristic of John. He was always perceptive, he was the contemplative one among the disciples. When Peter and John came to the tomb on that resurrection morning, John is the first one to discern what had happened. He’s the first one to believe in the resurrected Christ. And John is the first one now to discern that this is the Lord, so he says to Peter, “It is the Lord!”
Look at what Peter does, also verse 7. “When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.” It’s so typical of Peter, and so different from Peter’s response to the same basic miracle in Luke 5. Isn’t this interesting? In Luke 5, when Jesus encountered Peter this first time, Peter said, “Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man.” But now Peter has a deeper understanding of who Jesus is. He understands the grace, the generosity, the mercy, the compassion of his heart. Even though Peter now has failed Jesus more terribly than ever before—remember, he had denied him three times—even though Peter has seen himself more clearly than he’s seen himself ever before, he’s not trying to get away from Jesus, he’s swimming for the shore, because he wants to be in the presence of his Lord.
It’s a picture for us of gospel confidence, the kind of confidence that can come into our hearts and our lives when we understand the truth of the gospel, when we really understand Jesus as he is.
So Peter swims for the shore. Let’s pick up in verse 8. “The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.”
When the disciples then get to the land, there’s another scene. The scene kind of continues, but now it’s a scene of a meal with Jesus, as Jesus serves his disciples breakfast right there on the beach. You see this in verses 9 and following.
“When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.’ So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them [very interesting eyewitness detail]. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ Now none of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish.”
What’s going on here? I think it’s another way in which Jesus is revealing himself to his disciples. He reveals their futility and his sufficiency, and here he reveals his desire to include them in his work.
Isn’t it interesting? Jesus is on the shore, he’s already built the fire, and he’s already cooking the fish. He already has breakfast, but he invites his disciples, “Hey, bring your fish over here, too.” He invites them to come in. Again, I think this whole thing is an acted metaphor or parable about the kind of ministry that they are to have. Jesus is inviting them to share with him, to partner with him, to bring what they have caught, by his command and under his blessing, to bring it and to make it part of the feast.
It just shows us something about the way Jesus works in the world. Here’s the gospel truth, brothers and sisters: Jesus Christ for his work in the world does not need you, but he still uses you. He doesn’t need you, but he invites you to partner with him in his work.
I don’t know anybody who’s put this better than N.T. Wright in his little devotional commentary on the Gospel fo John, and I want to read to you what he said. You can follow along on the screen.
Wright says, “How dreadfully easy it is for Christian workers to get the impression that we’ve got to do it all. God, we imagine, is waiting passively for us to get on with things. If we don’t organize it, it won’t happen. If we don’t tell people the good news, they won’t hear it. If we don’t change the world, it won’t be changed. He has no hands but our hands, as we sometimes are told. What a load of rubbish! Whose hands made the sun rise this morning? Whose breath guided us to think and pray and love and hope? Who is the Lord of the world anyway? We may be given the Holy Spirit to enable us to work for Jesus, but the holy breath is not independent of the master who breathes it out, of the sovereign God, the Creator. Neither the institutional church nor its individual members can upstage him. Jesus welcomes Peter’s catch, he asks him to bring some of it, but he doesn’t in that sense need it.”
Here’s the qualification. “Of course we are to work hard, of course we are to be organized, of course there is no excuse for laziness, sloppiness, half-heartedness in the kingdom of God. If it’s God’s work we’re doing, we must do it with all our might; but let us have no nonsense about it being all up to us, about poor old Jesus being unable to lift a finger unless we lift it for him. In fact, we are much more likely to work effectively once we get rid of that paranoia-inducing notion. Jesus remains sovereign; thank God for that.” Amen!
Aren’t you thankful that Christ is at work in the world, and though he doesn’t need us to do his work, he invites us to partner with him in that work?
I think the lesson of this passage, verses 1-14, is essentially the same lesson as John 15, where Jesus tells that parable, really, of the vine and the branches. You remember what Jesus had said? He said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. If you abide in me, you will bear much fruit, but apart from me you can do nothing.” Without Jesus, the disciples are like fishermen without fish, laboring all night and catching nothing; but with Jesus, under the guidance of Jesus, empowered by the Spirit of Jesus, under his blessing and guidance, they are able to partner with him in his work, and in the fellowship of ministry with Christ they are effective in kingdom work.
The same is true for you and me, brothers and sisters. Let me ask you this morning, have you recognized your utter insufficiency in and of yourself and your deep need for the power of Christ to rest on you if you are to do anything of value for him or for his people? I mean, we sang about it this morning: “Yet not I, but through Christ in me.” That’s the secret of the Christian life; it’s not depending on ourselves, it’s depending on him and looking to him. Jesus was teaching that to his disciples here in this little story as he revealed himself—his sufficiency and his willingness to use them—as he revealed that to them.
That’s first. This is the first thing that must be true for us as well. If we are to be prepared for ministry and if he is to use us in his kingdom, he must reveal himself to us so that we see his complete sufficiency.
2. Jesus Restores His Disciples to Himself
Here’s the second thing we see: Jesus also restores his disciples, verses 15-17. Now the focus narrows to Simon Peter. His name was Simon, Simon the son of John; Jesus had named Peter, or Rock, but it’s interesting that from the time that Jesus predicted Simon Peter’s denial of him, from that time up until after the restoration Jesus never calls him by the name Peter, because he hasn’t been acting like a rock at all. He calls him Simon.
Here we have the restoration scene. It’s not the first time Jesus has encountered Peter since Jesus has risen from the dead. Peter was there in John 20 with the two appearances that happened a week apart, and we know from 1 Corinthians 15 that there was a private encounter between the risen Christ and Peter. But this is the public restoration of Peter, as he is reinstated in his ministry in the apostolic band. Let’s read it, verses 15-17.
“When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ He said to him a second time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ’Do you love me?’ and he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.’”
You remember the background and everything that’s happened, even as it’s been recorded in John’s Gospel. In John 13, when Jesus had this last meal with his disciples and he washed his disciples’ feet, he had told the disciples, “All of you are going to forsake me.”
But do you remember what Peter said? Peter said, “Not me, Lord! Not me. Though all the others forsake you, I’m ready to die for you. I’m going to go all the way. I’m not going to forsake you, I’m not going to deny you.”
You see, Peter thought that he loved Jesus more than the other disciples loved Jesus. He thought he was the most loyal follower of all. He had kind of an inflated view of himself, so he is even willing to contradict the word of Jesus.
I think that’s why Jesus now in this passage, when he comes to restore Peter, the first thing he asks is, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” Meaning, “Do you really love me more than the other disciples?” Because Peter has actually sinned worse than the others have, because he denied that he knew the Lord.
Peter’s response is a chastened, more humble response. He doesn’t claim that he loves Jesus more; he simply says, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” So the Lord says, “Feed my lambs.”
But then he asks him the second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” and then again the third time, and it grieves Peter. It grieves Peter that he’s asked three times. But why is Jesus doing that? Why ask him three times? I think it’s one time for each denial, because he had denied the Lord three times, and now Jesus, to heal that wound and to bring him to full restoration, three times he asks the question, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
It’s an amazing example here of how the Lord Jesus restores fallen Christians, fallen disciples, bringing those who have wandered back to himself.
Notice here both the tenderness and the thoroughness of Jesus in what he does—tenderness because he doesn’t just beat Simon Peter over the head, he doesn’t shame him, he doesn’t say, “Peter, I can’t believe that you failed me that way. You’re such a coward.” He doesn’t do that; he’s not rubbing his nose in his sins, or anything like that. But he’s thorough in that he gets to the very root of the problem. The problem for Peter was really his pride; it’s that he thought so highly of himself. He thought he loved Jesus more than the others loved him, so the Lord is getting right to the root of that and right to the root of his heart. Does he truly love the Lord? Peter has already said in a chastened, more humble way, “Lord, you know everything. You know me better than I know myself. You know everything, and you know that I love you.” So he is restored.
This is Jesus’ way with his disciples, and I think we can say with great confidence that every time we stray from the Lord, every time we backslide into sin, if we belong to him, if we are born again of the Spirit of God, if we are truly united to Christ, he always pursues, he always restores, he always comes after us. He always brings us back to the fold. He comes after us and he tenderly and yet thoroughly does that soul surgery, that heart work to bring us back to himself.
In fact, this is the way in which he prepares us, by in a sense deconstructing our view of ourselves so that we come to see our deep need for his grace and lean more entirely on him.
I think it was A.W. Tozer who said that “God never uses a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply,” and part of the painful process of spiritual growth is that process of coming to see how deeply we need the Lord.
John Newton understood this—John Newton the slave trader, who became a pastor after he met Jesus; he was the famous author of “Amazing Grace.” He wrote another hymn called “Prayers Answered by Crosses.” It’s one of my favorite hymns of all, and I probably quote it here once a year or so. I think it’s so appropriate to this context. It’s a man talking about how he prayed for growth, and the way the Lord answered that prayer for growth was actually to humble him and to show him the hidden evils of his heart. Listen to how it goes.
I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith and love and ev'ry grace;
Might more of his salvation know,
And seek more earnestly his face.
’Twas he who taught me thus to pray,
And he, I trust, has answered pray'r,
But it has been in such a way
As almost drove me to despair.
I hoped that in some favored hour
At once he’d answer my request,
And by his love’s constraining pow’r
Subdue my sins and give me rest.
Instead of this he made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart,
And let the angry pow’rs of hell
Assault my soul in ev'ry part.
Yea more, with his own hand he seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe,
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Humbled my heart, and laid me low.
“Lord, why is this?” I, trembling, cried;
“Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?”
“’Tis in this way,” the Lord replied,
“I answer prayer for grace and faith.
“These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free,
And break thy schemes of earthly joy
That thou may’st find thy all in me.”
That’s what was happening to Peter. Don’t you remember what the Lord had said to him in Luke 22? He said, “Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have you, that he might sift you like wheat.” Right? He let the angry powers of hell / Assault my soul at every part. That’s what happened to Peter! “Satan has desired to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith will not fail. And after you are converted or turned back to the Lord, after you are converted, strengthen your brothers.”
Well, here it is. Here’s the restoration scene, as Peter’s being turned back, fully restored to the Lord, fully reinstated as disciple and apostle, fully brought back into fellowship with Jesus.
Let me ask you this morning, where are you in your relationship with God, your relationship with Christ? Have you left your first love? Can you look back on a time where the zeal for Christ was greater, where your fellowship with Christ was sweeter, where you were more earnest in serving him and in loving him and in walking with him, but you’ve drifted away, you’ve fallen away? Maybe it’s because of some secret sin you’ve committed, maybe it’s because of a carelessness in your life progressively, over a period of time, but you’re not where you used to be, and you feel outside, and you feel like you’re not usable anymore.
I want to tell you, brother and sister, Jesus Christ can restore you, he can restore you today, and he can use you, as he brings you back into the fold, back into fellowship with him. He does that as he shows us ourselves, humbles us, brings us to the end of ourselves, so that we will depend on him. That’s what he does for Peter.
3. Jesus Commissions His Disciples
He restores his disciples, and then, number three, he commissions his disciples. That’s the third and final thing we see in this passage, and the commissioning really happens in two parts. We’ve already seen the first part of it in verses 15-17; it’s a commission to feed the sheep. Three times Jesus says, “Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep.” The variation in language is just a stylistic thing; there’s no real difference in meaning there. It really is a threefold charge to feed the sheep of God, to care for Christ’s sheep.
What Jesus is teaching Peter is simply this, that if you really, really love Jesus, the right and appropriate and natural expression of that is service and care for the people of Jesus. If you love Christ, you will express it by caring for his people.
J.C. Ryle, in his wonderful Expository Thoughts on the Gospels (I recommend this to everyone), says that “this was meant to teach Peter and the whole Church the mighty lesson that usefulness to others is the grand test of love, and working for Christ the great proof of really loving Christ. It is not loud talk and high profession, it is not even impetuous, spasmodic zeal and readiness to draw the sword and fight; it is steady, patient, laborious effort to do good to Christ’s sheep scattered throughout the sinful world, which is the best evidence of being a true-hearted disciple.”
It’s one thing to say, “Oh, I love Jesus, I love Jesus, I love Jesus,” but the real test of whether you love Jesus is whether you love his disciples, whether you love his sheep, whether you serve his people, whether you serve the church, whether you are a part, you’re plugged in, serving others, but you’re doing it just out of this motivation.
Listen, there are lots of motives you can have to serve. You can serve out of a sense of duty, you could serve because you feel guilt-tripped into it. A pastor calls you on the phone, “Hey, will you join the nursery rotation?” and you hate to say no. You can serve because you want a platform for your performance; you want to use your gifts. All of those are carnal, inferior reasons to serve. There’s only one reason to serve: You serve because you love Jesus and you want to feed his sheep.
The focus is not on Peter, it’s on the Lord, and it’s on the Lord’s people. “Feed my sheep.” That’s the first commission.
Here’s the second part of the commission: “Follow me.” This, of course, recalls Jesus’ first call to his disciples in Mark 1:17, when Jesus said, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
We see in this passage that following Jesus may be costly. Look at verses 18-19. “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.”
These are Jesus’ words to Peter, and they’re kind of mysterious. What does Jesus mean by this? But look at verse 19; John explains. “(This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, ‘Follow me.’”
We have reason to believe that by the time the Gospel of John was written, the last of the Gospels to be written, written later, probably at least in the late 60s of the first century, that by that time Peter had probably already been martyred, and we know from church tradition and from other sources that he was martyred through crucifixion. So it begins to make sense. Jesus says, “When you were young you used to dress yourself and walk where you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch your hands, and another will dress you [or literally, will bind you] and carry you where you do not want to go.” In other words, “Peter, you really are going to follow me all the way to death. You’re literally going to take up your cross and follow me on the Calvary road.”
It shows us that following Jesus can be costly for us, and it’s the call for every disciples, the willingness to deny ourselves and follow him all the way to death, and sometimes it actually involves that for us.
But then notice Peter’s response in verse 20. It’s so typical of Peter. He is the foot-in-your-mouth disciple. I mean, he’s always putting his foot in his mouth. Every time Peter speaks it seems like he’ll get something right, and then the next time he says the wrong thing. Even here, his personality doesn’t change.
Verse 20: “Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved [that’s John] following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, ‘Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?’ When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, what about this man?’” His focus is in the wrong place again! It shows that we’re so slow to learn, and Peter was too. “Lord, what about this man?”
Look at what Jesus says. “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” In other words, following Jesus is personal and individual for each disciple. We follow the Lord. He’s the Lord, he’s the master, and our concern is not with how the other disciples are following, our concern is, “How am I following?”
“What is that to you? You follow me!”
Do you remember Narnia, in The Horse and His Boy, when Aslan is talking to Shasta, and Shasta is asking about somebody else? Aslan says to him, “Child, I am telling your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own.”
So it is. The Lord deals with us personally, as individuals, and the call, the commission to each and every one of us is very simply this: “You follow me.” You’re not focused on what somebody else is doing and their discipleship, you’re following Christ. That’s the commission, to follow him and to feed his sheep.
Let me end in this way, by asking some questions to prompt some personal self-examination.
(1) First of all, let me ask this: Are you a follower of Jesus? Are you a disciple? Have you come to know him? Have you met him? Do you trust him? Do you love him? Are you walking with him?
If you’ve never placed your faith and your trust in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen for your sins, today can be that day where you bend your knee and you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord. Do that, and you will be saved.
(2) Are you this morning, perhaps, a lapsed disciple? You’re fallen and can’t get up, can’t seem to get back on your feet again; backslidden? Somehow you’re not as close to the Lord as you once were.
Listen, the solution for you this morning is going back to the beginning. It’s going back to square one with Jesus, meeting him again, entrusting yourself to him, and letting him restore you to himself. His grace is sufficient, his mercy is more than your sins, and if you will go to him today in repentant faith, he will receive you, he will restore you, he will bring you back into fellowship with him, and he can continue to use you.
(3) Do you love Jesus this morning? Are you a lover of Jesus? Not just a follower of Jesus, but are you a lover of Jesus? Do you love him from your heart? If you love him, are you serving him? Are you serving his people? Are you feeding his sheep? Are you showing your love by loving others? If not, there are many opportunities to do that, but get first things first. Get your heart right with Jesus, and then serve his people.
This is how he prepares us, brothers and sisters. He reveals himself to us, he restores us to himself, and then he commissions us, calls us to follow him on the Calvary road. Let’s pray together.
Father, we thank you this morning for your word and for the beauty and glory of who Jesus is. We thank you that we have this passage of Scripture and all that it shows us of Christ and his good and loving heart, how he worked in the lives of his disciples, how he restored Peter. What hope that gives us this morning, that we too can be restored when we fall, that we are not left to ourselves, that you don’t abandon us, but you continue to hold us in your grip. You persevere with your saints, you hold us fast. We thank you for that, Lord.
My prayer this morning is that every one of us would now turn in our hearts to you, in whatever way is needed. For those who do not know Christ in a saving way, I pray that today would be the day of salvation, to turn to Jesus in repentance and saving faith. For those who are far from you today but are actually a part of your family, I pray that today would be a homecoming, a day to return and to be restored to fellowship and to service. And I pray that for every one of us today would be a time of renewal, where we reaffirm humbly, without a shred of self-confidence, but we humbly say, “You know all things, you know our hearts; you know, Lord, that we love you.”
Would you work in us this morning? As we come to the Lord’s table, would you use this as a time to search our hearts and to mend our hearts? Would you draw near to us as we draw near to you, and would your Spirit work in ways that are deeply transforming? Lord, we need you this morning, so we look to you for your grace. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
Brian G. Hedges
