Luke 5:1-11; Matthew 14:22-33; Luke 22:54-62; John 21:1-19; Matthew 28:16-20; Acts 2:1-39
Peter was one of Jesus’s closest disciples. But that doesn’t mean that Peter was better than the other disciples or that he didn’t mess up as much. In fact, when we look in the Bible at the life of Peter we see that at times, he messed up pretty bad.
One of these examples comes from a well-known story of Jesus. Late one night, the disciples were in a boat and it was storming. They were afraid of the storm but when they looked out they saw something walking on the water. At first, they thought it was a ghost, but when it got closer they realized that it was Jesus and he was walking on top of the water.
Peter asked Jesus if it was really him to call him out on the water too. So Jesus calls Peter out onto the water and he begins to walk on it too. However, before long, Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and started to fear the storm again. When he took his eyes off Jesus he began to sink, but Jesus caught him and put him back in the boat.
We learn from this story how important it is to put our faith in Jesus and to keep our eyes on him. But we also learn that if and when we mess up, Jesus will always be there to pick us up.
Another account from Peter’s life is his denial of Jesus. Before Jesus was taken away to be crucified Peter told him that he would never leave him. But Jesus knew this wasn’t the truth. Jesus told him that he would leave him and even deny him 3 times before the night was over. Peter did not believe it at first, but before the night ended he had done exactly what Jesus said he would do. As anybody would be, Peter was extremely disappointed in himself.
Thankfully, however, that is not where Peter’s story ends. After Jesus’s resurrection, Peter gets to reunite with Jesus. And after Jesus ascended into heaven Peter became one of the biggest figures in the early church. He preached to thousands of people and talked about Jesus everywhere he went. In Acts, we see that Peter was bold in the way he proclaimed the good news about Jesus. Fear and doubt controlled him early on, but faith replaced those feelings and that gave him a boldness that led many people to Jesus.
Peter is one of the most well-known disciples, but he still messed up a lot. That is encouraging for us because we mess up a lot too. However, Jesus is always there for us. He is always there to pick us up, even if we have turned our backs on him. The key is putting our faith in him and allowing him to put a boldness inside of us that will urge us to testify about everything He has done for us.
Key Takeaways:
Keep your eyes on Jesus
Jesus helps us even when we fail
Jesus gives us boldness
Everyone Needs JESUS
Parents, 3treesKIDS will also be learning about Peter this Sunday, both in-person and online.
Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids.
To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit