We want to welcome you to Cross Life and Breen Community Church is a Good Friday service. And we want to welcome again all the brothers and sisters from Cross Life who have joined us this evening. I think this is our third or fourth year that we're having this together.

And again, we're encouraged that we're able to do this together. And Cross Life, as you guys know, our church knows, is almost like our sister church. I've been to Cross Life many times to preach and Pastor James is almost our backup preacher for our church. And so our church is very familiar with him and his preaching.

And we know we're a like-minded, like-hearted church. As you guys know, Cross Life and Breen, we're working together for the missions going on in India. And so we've had several teams, several trips where we went together and then we're actually supporting. And so the training, the pastoral training center that we have set up out in India, again, is with cooperation with BMC up north and Cross Life and the three churches are partnering together to do that ministry.

And so it's only appropriate that we're able to be here and celebrate this sacred day together. And it is a communion service. And so we want you guys to be prepared for that. That obviously every communion table is sacred and important, but especially tonight as all over the world, Christians are gathered together to remember his suffering for us.

And it's extremely important that we don't just recognize this as just another day and just another religious festival, because at the core of everything that we believe and everything that we do, if we're not moved and built up and challenged and compelled by what Christ has done for us, everything else just becomes just lip service.

And so as we listen to the sermon, as we participate in the communion, that we would recognize what Christ has done and then really pray before God that it would not become old news, but good news, and that it would change and challenge our hearts and prepare us for Sunday worship.

So at this time, we're going to ask Pastor James to come up and deliver the Good Friday service. Let's welcome him. All right. Well, it's a joy to be here and to be worshiping the Lord together with you. And I thank you, Pastor Peter, for that gracious introduction. You know, Pastor Peter has been a mentor to me, and I love spending time with him.

He always imparts wisdom. I love gleaning wisdom. And it really is, you guys are blessed to have such a wonderful and loving pastor. And it's a joy that we can come together as churches. I guess almost sister churches. I just consider us sister churches. But it really is a privilege, and I'm thankful to the Lord for our relationship and the fact that we can worship God together on this special night.

Well, today we're going to be preaching from the book of Luke, Luke chapter 22. So if you have your Bibles, please turn with me there. Luke chapter 22, verse 54 to 62. Luke chapter 22, verse 54 to 62. Can we all stand as we honor the reading of God's word?

Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house. And Peter was following at a distance. When they had kindled the fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light, sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, "This man also was with him." But he denied it, saying, "Woman, I do not know him." And a little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." But Peter said, "Man, I am not." And after an interval of about an hour, still another insisted, saying, "Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean." But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are talking about." And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.

The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him before the rooster crowed today, "You will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly. Please join me in prayer. Lord Jesus, thank you so much for coming down into this world and burying our sins, burying our acts of rebellion, burying all the sinful thoughts and actions that we have done and dying for us in our place upon that cross.

Thank you so much for giving up everything that we might receive the forgiveness of sins and that we might have a relationship with you. It's for that reason that we come here today to worship you and to give you praise, to remember what you have done, and to proclaim your death until the day that you finally come back.

And as we hear your word, as we listen to the book of Luke, may our hearts be moved and may we be directed once again to the beauty and the power of the cross. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. On the Bible, I have a number of favorite characters, specifically three apart from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Okay, everyone, Jesus is everyone's favorite. But I have three apart from the Lord Jesus. My favorite among the three is Samson. So he's my favorite. Okay, Samson is my favorite Bible character. You know, beautiful hair, you know, chiseled body, ridiculously narcissistic, he's just a lot of fun. My number two is a man by the name of Asaph.

Okay, he was a praise leader during the days of David and he led praise with symbols, right? So we wouldn't expect that from a praise leader nowadays, but I'm sure back in the ancient world he ripped it up, you know. My third favorite character is a guy named Peter, Apostle Peter, the leader of the twelve, the great rock of the church, an individual whose life that we're going to study today.

In Matthew chapter 16, Jesus Christ asked the disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" And Peter said in Matthew chapter 16 verse 16, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus responded in verse 17 and 18, he says, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Now, I mean, what a commendation from the Son of God, right? What a commendation, what an absolutely staggering pronouncement of praise. But then right in the next scene, Jesus explains to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem to die at the hands of the elders.

And Peter feeling all smug about his recent commendation takes Jesus Christ aside and this fool has the zazacity to rebuke the one whom he has professed to be the Son of the living God. You don't have to have the wisdom of Solomon to know that you shouldn't be rebuking God, but this is what he does.

He does it anyway and he says, "Far be it from you, Lord. This shall never happen to you." This ignoramus corrects the king of kings. The will, he talks as if he knows the will of the triune God. Then Jesus sharply responds and he says to him, "Get behind me, Satan.

You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but you are setting your mind on the things of man." You're not thinking about the kingdom. You're not thinking about salvation. You're not thinking about redemption. You're not thinking about glory. You're not thinking about life.

You're not thinking about the things of God. You're thinking about the things of man. You talk about a counter-rebuke. That was a counter-rebuke. Jesus went up to the Lord and just slapped him in the face. Jesus Christ dropped, kicked him in the face with truth. I mean, it's absolutely, I mean, it's powerful.

Can you imagine being called the devil? Can you imagine that? I mean, what a confidence killer. You would think it just went a little bit too far, but it was the truth. One moment he was the rock of the church and the next he was the devil of hell.

That's why I love Peter. That's why I love the guy. I love him. I love Samson. I love Asa because I feel like they're as human as you can get. They weren't like Daniel whose life was recorded without any blunders or shortcomings. These men in contradistinction, they failed. They fell short.

They used God. They were disillusioned with God. They forsook God. So that if there was anyone that should have been rejected by the Lord, it should have been these men. But by the grace of God, the Lord kept them. God did not just keep them. He used them. The reason why I love these men, it's not because they were great, but for the very opposite.

They were horrible. They had a moment's weakness, but their weakness and their failures testify to the greatness of our God. That's why I love these men. And that encourages me because if God can love guys like this, if God can love delinquents like this, then he can love a fool like me.

And if he can use broken vessels like them, then he can use broken vessels like us. And I hope their lives will encourage you. If you're the kind of person who has everything put together, if you feel adequate, if you're on top of your game, then the gospel's not for you.

You don't need it. You got it yourself. But if you come here with a cloud of shame hanging over your head, if you come here because you've backslidden for months or maybe even for years, if you come here knowing that you are far from being perfect, then this is the message for you.

Because Jesus Christ didn't come down to heal those who are well. He didn't come to help those who were righteous in their own eyes. He came to help those who were sick. He came to help those who were sinners. He came to die for those who needed life. Today on this Good Friday night, we're going to peer into the death of Jesus Christ from the perspective of Peter's life.

And the single point I would want you to take home tonight is simply that Jesus Christ died for sinners. Jesus Christ died for sinners like Peter and died for sinners like us. Now before I get directly into the text in Luke chapter 22, I want to set up the context leading up to our passage.

On the night before Jesus Christ was killed, he celebrated the Passover with his disciples and he instituted the Lord's Supper. And together they made their way to the Mount of Olives and there the Lord, in anticipation of his impending death, he said this to his disciples. This is from Matthew chapter 26, verse 31.

He said to his disciples, "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.' That after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." Now this is a massive pronouncement, is it not?

It's a massive pronouncement, a prediction of death and resurrection. The moment has basically come for the atonement of sins, for the newness of life, the climax of redemptive history. These are the words that elicit silence and awe from the hearts of men. Even before the moment is given for the people to process this thought, Peter, as expected, he speaks out of turn.

He says in verse 33, Peter answered him, "Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away." If there's anything that should have stuck in this guy's mind, it was the fact that Jesus Christ was going to resurrect from the dead. Who else makes a claim like the one that Jesus Christ made?

To offer up his life and then to take it back up? To enter the grave and then to return? To go to the halls of the dead and return back to the land of the living? Who has the kind of authority like Jesus Christ? Who has this kind of certainty?

But instead of marveling before the weight of the statement, Peter takes a proclamation of the gospel which is about the glory of God and he turns it around and makes it about himself. The moment has come for the son of God to come down to save the world from their sins and the only thing this man can think about is his own magnanimous resolve.

Listen to how he says it. "Though they all fall, although they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away." Listen to this guy talk. He doesn't say, "Oh, no, I will never fall." But he says, "Even if they all fall away, even if they all fall away, I'll stand by your side." If I was one of the disciples, I'd be like, "That's kind of messed up.

You know what? Why you gotta say that? You know, just lift yourself up and there we go." You know? This is how he thought about himself. He elevated himself. But the Lord responded to Peter's arrogance. In verse 34, it says, "Truly I tell you, this very night before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.

You will deny me three times." The Lord speaks, prefacing his words with a phrase of absolute certainty. "Truly, truly, without any doubt, without a hint of falsehood, truly, I say to you, the Messiah says to you, the Son of the living God says to you, is a proclamation of truth from the one who is the embodiment of truth." And he says, "This very night before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." The words of Peter was just nothing more than that, words.

He didn't know what he was talking about. But in full confidence of his own commitment, Peter responds and contradicts the words of Jesus Christ because, of course, Peter knows. And he says, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you." And all the disciples said the same.

Instead of humbling himself before God, acknowledging the fact that he was weak, Peter moves in the exact opposite direction by elevating himself to the highest form of commitment. He wasn't just going to stay by the side of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was going to walk with him to the valley of the shadow of death.

It doesn't matter. The grave will not separate him from the Lord. But then the next scene, the Lord takes Peter and James and John into the garden. And he says in Luke 22, verse 40, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation." It was only a matter of time before the darkest hour of this world would come upon them.

Satan was scheming and his demons were working. The corrupted priests were preparing. The Roman soldiers were moving. The blade was being sharpened for the slaughter of the Son of God. And so the Lord took the inner three that they might pray to withstand the onslaught of the evil and the temptation that would come upon them.

And he withdrew from them and he prayed. He fell down to his knees and he prayed to the Father. He says, "Father, would you take this cup away from me? If there's any other way for the atonement of sins, if there's any other means for redemption, let that way be.

Let the cup of damnation be taken away from me. Not my will, but let yours be done." The Lord prayed until his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. The moment has come for him to bear the sins of this world. The moment has come for him to be damned.

And when he rose from prayer, having found the strength to move forward, he turned to his disciples. The men who were supposed to remain by his side, support him in the greatest hour of need. The men who were to stand by his side, praying against the oncoming wave of temptation.

These men were found sleeping. Not only John, not only James, but the great Peter. The great Peter, the great champion of Christ, the rock of the church, the one who will stick by the side of the Lord until death. There he was, slumbering. And we behold the great resolve of Peter.

What woke him up? Because his betrayer was at hand. When Peter arose, he saw a most intimidating sight. Looked up and there were hundreds of soldiers, hundreds. According to the book of John, it was a cohort. A cohort of 600 Romans, trained warriors and soldiers. But then among them was a familiar face.

He looked and there was a familiar face, somebody he knew, a friend, Judas. And Judas made his way to the Lord Jesus Christ and greeted him as if there was nothing strange happening. Kissed him. And immediately the Roman soldiers approached the disciples, demanding for the one who was called Jesus of Nazareth.

And Jesus, unfazed, boldly came before them and he said, "I am he." And literally he says, "I am. I am." And at the sound of the name of the divine God, the soldiers dropped down to the floor. It was a sight to behold. And Jesus, like the great shepherd and loving father, said to them, "If you seek me, let these men go." Right?

"If you seek me, let these men go. They have nothing to do with this. Spare them. Let them go." And it didn't take long for anybody to know what was happening. It was the fulfillment of the Lord's words of him being betrayed. He was not being delivered over for judgment.

But there was one prediction that would not come to pass, at least in the eyes of Peter. That was his own failure. Peter saw all this and this wasn't a time to give in. Six hundred soldiers and it was not the time. He was ready. In fact, this was his moment.

This was his moment to shine. This was his moment to prove his faithfulness, to prove his loyalty, to prove his love, to prove his resolve. See, they may all abandon him, but he will stand firm. He will hold the ground. He saw undaunted by the clubs and the swords, undaunted by the mob of soldiers.

He whipped out his sword and he charged forward. And in Luke chapter 22, verse 50, it says, "And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear." This is no other than Peter himself. Now, I look at this text and I love how he picks out the slave of the high priest.

He picks out a slave. You know, when I read this, I wonder why he didn't go after the soldiers. Maybe because he saw the slave of the high priest as the servant of the one who's orchestrating all these things. But I also can't help but wonder the fact that he is the most helpless probably, among all of them.

Soldiers, right? Soldiers. Here he goes after one of the most non-threatening individuals, a slave. The sad thing about all this is that he wasn't even able to make the kill. Some of you guys might think Peter intentionally went after the ear, but nobody fights like that. Right? Nobody's like, "Oh my goodness, I got to get him in the lobe, hit him where it hurts." He was going for the head.

He was going for the kill. You know, it was the kill shot, the kill swing. And he just missed and he just hit the ear. He cut the ear off. It was a pathetic first move. I mean, his attack would not have instilled any form of confidence in anybody.

And if I was again the disciples, I'd be like, "Oh my goodness, we're all dead. What's this guy doing?" But to make matters worse, after Peter just slices off that ear, he hears a biting rebuke from the Lord. Verse 52, "Then Jesus said to him, 'Put your sword back into its place, for all who have taken the sword will perish by the sword.

Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father and He will at once send me more than 12 legions of angels?'" The Lord didn't need Peter. He didn't need his protection. He didn't need his blade. But with a single word, Jesus Christ can summon 12 legions of angels.

That is 72,000 angels, right? Warriors able to decimate the world a thousand times over. Jesus didn't need a fisherman to fight for him. The purpose of this wasn't to survive. The purpose wasn't to live. The purpose was to die. The purpose was to redeem. And Peter had to get that through his thick skull because he was still setting his mind on the things of man, not the things of God.

The cup of wrath was filled and Jesus Christ was prepared to drink. There before Peter's eyes, he saw the great powerful shepherd give himself over to the soldiers willingly like a sheep to be slaughtered. And it must have been an utterly confusing wave of emotions felt by Peter. Intimidation as he stood before a cohort of Roman soldiers, unrelenting drive as he lunged forward to protect the one that he loved, demoralizing shame at the rebuke of the voice of his king and confusion as he sees Jesus Christ willingly give up his life to be killed.

And it became fearfully apparent to Peter it wasn't a matter of him fighting for Jesus. It wasn't a matter of him killing for Jesus. It was a matter of him being tortured and murdered with Jesus. It was a matter of him laying down his life for Jesus. Immediately his strength left him.

Disciples running for their lives and he knew if he stayed he'd be the only one left. Fear overtook him. Terror seized his heart. And at that moment he ran away with the rest, forsaking and abandoning the life of Jesus Christ to save his own. And so we behold the great resolve of the apostle Peter.

As Jesus was being led away, Peter followed behind from a distance, possibly in shame, definitely because of fear. And we come to our text in verse 54. Then they seized him, led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house. And Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them.

Like a wounded dog, the apostle lived in search of his master. Jesus was going to be judged by the religious leaders and at least Peter could be there when it happened. And he came to the courtyard of the high priest and he waited there. And the book of John tells us that he waited by the door and an unnamed disciple snuck Peter into the courtyard where he hid among the company of servants and soldiers.

But then in verse 56, and a serving girl seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, "This man also was with him." As Peter waited by the fire, a serving girl recognized Peter, literally a slave, a slave. And the text says that she looked closely, she looked closely, she was staring at him.

She's staring at the man, she was looking intently into him. As the light of fire gave form to the features of his face, she realized he was one of the twelve. And she told those around him, "This man also was with him." At that moment, dread overcame Peter and he denied the allegation.

And it says in verse 57, "But he denied it, saying, 'Woman, I do not know him.'" In the face of a slave girl, see that? In the face of a slave girl, not a soldier, not a politician, not a religious leader, but in front of a slave, Peter is unable to stand his ground and cling to his loyalty to Christ.

This man trembles with fear so that without hesitation, without any indication of vacillation, he just drops the name of the Lord in order to save his own neck. His cowardice displayed here is no different from the cowardice that he displayed in the garden. In fact, this is more pathetic because in the garden, at least it was before soldiers.

Peter was before a female slave. This mild encounter is enough to push him back so that he made his way from the fire to the gateway according to the book of Mark. But then in verse 58, "And a little later, someone else saw him and said, 'You also are one of them.' But Peter said, 'Man, I am not.'" Once again, another charge is brought up against Peter.

Luke tells us that this time it was a man. A man made the accusation. Someone undoubtedly more important than a slave girl. But he wasn't alone. In the book of John, we're told that he was with a group of men, officers and servants. The man plainly goes up to Peter and says, "You also are one of them." And again, Peter denies it directly.

He says, "Man, I am not." So the pressure was building up. The plan was falling apart. Peter was falling apart. All he wanted to do was follow the Lord Jesus Christ incognito. He just wanted to stay under the radar. The circumstances were pushing him to choose one or the other, to be with the Lord and die or to deny Him and live.

And he was choosing the latter. Verse 59, "And after an interval of about an hour, still another insisted, saying, 'Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.'" After the second charge, there was a hiatus from the prime words of those in the courtyard. Peter even believed that the worst was done, that he was in the clear.

But after an hour, another man approached him, but this time the words were more condemning because he spoke without any doubt. He came to Peter and he says, "Certainly, certainly this man was with him. There was no question about it." And then there was a charge that came with the circumstantial evidence, "For he too was a Galilean." Just like Jesus, he's from the region of Galilee because his accent gives it away.

And what would a Galilean be doing at this hour, on that night, in that place, in the courtyard of the high priest unless he was one of them, unless he was with him? And the one who brought the accusation according to the book of John was no other than the relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off.

The charge was damning. And he was pushed to a corner and he couldn't escape. So Peter, he pushed back as hard as he could. And then he says in verse 16, "Peter said, 'Man, I do not know what you are talking about.'" But he didn't simply deny Christ. In Matthew chapter 26 verse 74, it says, "Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, 'I do not know him.'" Peter brought forth the denial that the Jews themselves cannot easily dismiss because he called upon the name of the Lord to invoke a curse upon himself, right?

That God would be witness to the truth. That God himself would unleash from heaven his own retribution for anything but the truth. Any foolish and flippant and self-serving Jew would be so reckless to use the sacred name of God for his own purposes and jeopardize his own soul in the process.

But at that moment, Peter wasn't thinking about the sanctity of the name of God. He was thinking about his own survival. So he had no problem using the name of Yahweh to deny the name of Jesus. Turning the names of the Trinity against each other was a disgusting act of perversity.

Peter was taken to the hospital for a 6-day immediately while he was still speaking the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Peter remembered the saying of the Lord how he had said to him, "Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times." His words of denials were being uttered from the lips of Peter, a rooster crowed at that odd hour of the night.

Before the unsuspecting crowd, it was definitely strange, but not something of which to be concerned. As the ears of Peter, that crow blared like a siren of betrayal. Because by the providence, a momentary window was opened for him to look at the Lord Jesus Christ. He saw Christ while he was making that denial.

As he peered upon the face of his Savior, he saw the eyes of Jesus Christ looking back at him, eyes that knew exactly what had happened. And there, when he saw the Lord Jesus looking back at him, he remembered his words, "Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.

You deny that you ever knew me, deny that you ever believed in me, deny that you ever loved me." At that moment, Peter came face to face with who he was, a sinner, a failure, a coward, a traitor. Verse 62, "And he went out and wept bitterly. And so we behold the unwavering bravery and the steadfastness of the great apostle Peter." And that's it.

That's the story of Peter. From here on out, we don't hear from the guy. We don't hear from him in the events of Jesus' death. No sign of him during the judgment before Pilate. No sign of him during the scourging. No sign of him as the cross was being carried to Calvary.

No sign of him when Jesus was murdered on the cross. No sign of him when he was buried. There was no sign of Peter. It's almost as if this guy who tried to save his life, did everything that he could to save his life. It was almost as if he was dead.

The story of Peter is a story of failure. The thing about all this is that Jesus knew about it. He knew that Peter was going to plead ignorance. He knew that Peter was going to reject him. Before the rooster crows, you shall deny me three times. Jesus knew of the inevitability of Peter's failure.

The staggering part of the story is that Jesus went to the cross anyways. But then, that was the point, right? Because there he would bear the arrogance of Peter. There he would bear the self-centered cowardice of Peter. There he would bear the disbelief of Peter. There he would bear the denial of Peter.

There he would die for Peter on his behalf because of love. That was the point. Ironically, in trying to prevent the death of Jesus, Peter further propelled the need for it. You see, when Jesus went to Calvary, it wasn't because we were somehow worthy of it. You understand? He never lifted up his hands to be pierced because we were faithful.

He never offered his head to be crowned with thorns because we were worthy and we deserved it. He never suffered the wrath of God because we lived a life of righteousness. The reason why he went to the cross is because we deserve to be damned. The reason why he went to the cross is because we violated the law of God.

The reason why he went to the cross is because we denied him. Not three times and not three thousand times, but with every waking moment of our lives, we lived in defiance against the King of Kings, doing whatever was right in our own eyes. Worthy of Calvary, we were worthy of damnation in hell.

Even knowing of our failures, Jesus Christ went to the cross anyways. The failure of Peter was a sign of salvation, a sign to the salvation of Jesus Christ. It is there where we behold the greatness of our God. I know that there are some of you who are visiting me today.

Some of you might think you can only come before the Lord. You can only come before the Lord if you clean up your act. You can only come before God once you get your life straight, once you become that good Sunday going Christian. It may be because you fall short of what you expect to stand.

The standard for a Christian should be that you shy away from the people of God, that you stay away from God and his church. It might be for that reason why you only come on special occasions like tonight. Stand back because of the shame and the guilt of the past.

Maybe stand back because you never feel good enough. But the message of the gospel says that God will accept you, not because of your goodness. He will accept you in spite of it. Because there is nothing that you can ever do that will ever be good enough in the eyes of God.

Romans chapter 3 verse 10-12 it says that as it is written, none is righteous, no not one. No one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside, together they have become worthless. No one does good, not even one. No matter how good anyone tries to be, he will never be good enough before the eyes of the Lord because the standard to be accepted by God is perfection.

You understand? The standard to be accepted by God is perfection. It's an impossible standard even for the most moral and righteous sage or guru or saint. The reason why we cannot attain perfection is because there is something wrong in our souls. There is something twisted inside of us. Romans chapter 8 verse 7-8 it says for the mind that is set on flesh is hostile to God.

For it does not submit to God's law, indeed it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. We are a people who cannot help but sin against God. We cannot help but sin against God. We cannot obey the law of God. We cannot please God. Just like any broken thing that needs to be thrown into the trash, we deserve to be thrown into hell.

It is for that very reason that Jesus Christ came into this world. Not because we were good, not because we were whole, but because we were broken. It is for that reason why Jesus Christ came into this world and took upon himself your sins, your transgressions, all the things that you have thought wrong, all the things that you have done wrong, all the things that you have felt wrong.

The things that you don't share with other people because of the shame that comes with it. The guilt that you carry. He has come into this world to bear your transgressions upon himself so that upon that cross he might die the death that you should have died so he might suffer the damnation that you should have suffered.

Jesus Christ died for you. For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son. So whosoever believes shall not perish but have eternal life. Even though he knew you would fail, even though he knew you would backslide, even though he knew you would forget, even though he knew you would deny him, he went to die on the cross for us because of love.

Apart from Christ, every sin we committed, no matter what we may have professed, was a denial of him and his laws. Denial of purity, betrayed by the indulgence of lust. The resolve of selflessness, forgotten by the inflated mind. The promise of love murdered by hate. The claim of loyalty, a loyalty even unto death, swallowed up by cowardice.

By our own strength we were helpless. We didn't deny the Lord three times. We lived a life of denial. Yet Jesus Christ went to the cross anyways. See, that's the gospel. And that's why we're here today, right? Worship our God. So all of us here have come to trust the message by faith.

May we remember the magnitude of what God has done for us. Remember his sacrifice. As we eat of the bread that represents the body that has taken upon itself our sins, as we drink the cup that represents the blood that ratified the new covenant by which we were saved, may we do so worshipfully.

May we do so with love. Now we have denied our Christ, but he has not denied us. John chapter 21, verse 15 to 17. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" And he said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." He said to him a second time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?" And he said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know 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?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said to him, "Lord, you know everything.

You know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep." Three times Peter denied the Lord. Now three times the Lord restores him. The story of Peter is not a story of a man's greatness. It's the story of the greatness of our God. Let us direct our eyes away from ourselves and let us direct them to the cross.

Join me in prayer. Lord Jesus, when we read about the life of Peter, I know for many of us, we cannot help but see ourselves in him. Fresh, foolish, proud, arrogant. And just like him, we have failed. You know the number of times in which we have said we will follow.

You know the number of times in which you heard us say that we will never fall, we'll try our best only to fall again and to fail you again and again. But we praise you and we worship you God because you don't accept us because of our righteousness. You don't accept us because of our goodness.

You accept us because you have forgiven us. You accepted us because you are good. You accept us because of who you are. So Lord, we praise you and we want to profess our love to you. And as we come before the table and as we eat the bread and drink the cup, may we remember that the story of Calvary is not just some kind of cold theological philosophical study, but it is something personal to us that you came down and died for our soul.

That we might be spared from hell and be taken up to heaven to live with you forever. Until that day comes, we know that you are with us and that you have given us new life. Holy Spirit, you are with us. God, we thank you for this night and time of worship.

We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you.