God Will Give You Another Chance

hallelujah hallelujah listen it's time for God's Word and let's ask God's blessing on the Word of God today we're gonna be in the Gospel of Mark chapter 16 the Gospel of Mark chapter 16 let's pray Lord let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts let them be acceptable in that sight Lord you're our strength and you're our Redeemer then Jesus name we pray amen in the Gospel of Mark chapter 16 it opens with Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome II they were heading to the tomb where Jesus has just died on the cross for our sins on that Friday and then he was buried and so the women didn't get a chance to finish the burial process of Jesus because of the Sabbath day they had to wait till Saturday was over and so early Sunday morning they go to the tomb and they're wandering in their journey to the tomb to finish that burial process who's going to roll the stone away and then mark says when they get there they discovered the stone had already been rolled away and there was a young man sitting there that told them I know who you're looking for Jesus of Nazareth and he's not here and he's risen as he said he would and then the young man told Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome II that Jesus has a message for you to carry to his disciples and that message is in mark chapter 16 verse 7 listen to what it says but go tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you into Galilee and there you will see him as he said to you Jesus message was go and tell my disciples and Peter to meet me in Galilee here's what I want to preach about this afternoon I want to talk about that God will give you another chance God will give you a other chance here's why the Lord led me to that title because the message that Jesus had was for his disciples and Peter and I was wondering why is he singling out Peter why is he calling Peter by name why couldn't Jesus just say tell my disciples to meet me in Galilee what is this and Peter about because those of us who were frequent Bible readers we know that Peter is a disciple that Peters brother Andrew Andrew had a habit of bringing people to Jesus and he's the one that brought his brother to Peter to Jesus Simon and when Jesus met he means I know your name is Simon but from now on I'm going to call you Petro I'm going to call you Peter i'ma call you rock and we know that Peter was a disciple and and Peter would hear Jesus preach and teach and walk with him and minister with him for more than three years those of us who read the Bible we know that Peter is a disciple this is the same Peter that had fished all night long and hadn't called a thing and then he heard Jesus preaching the word and let Jesus in his boat jesus said cacheing that's on the other side and Peter called so much fish until his boat began to sink and his nets began to break and then after that experience Peter left everything and followed Jesus and Jesus made him fishers of people we know that Peter is a disciple but yet when Jesus had a message he said tell my disciples and Peter he singles Peter out why could he just say have my disciples meet me in Galilee and not only was Peter a disciple but Peter is what some of us call a part of that inner circle of Jesus Jesus had 12 hand-picked disciples and then there are times that Jesus would get off and not with the the other nine but only three this Peter James and John some called him the inner circle when when Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration and the glory of God shone through Jesus and Moses ended up on that mountain and Elijah so you had in the profits and grace on that mountain and also Peter was there this Peter James and John and when J Iris's daughter got sick and died but he called on Jesus and Jesus gets to the house Jesus put everybody out of the house except the parents and this Peter James and John and they Peter got a chance to witness Jesus raising that little girl from the dead and when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane agonizing over drinking that cup of suffering that would bring deliverance to you and I and then he said nevertheless not my will but thy will be done this Peter James and John was also there we know Peters a disciple a part of the inner circle of Jesus but the post resurrection message that Jesus told the women was to tell my disciples and Peter to meet me in Galilee and I was wondering why and I believe is because even though Peter was an authentic disciple and a follower of the Lord that he had messed up so bad that maybe Peter was wondering am I still the disciple am i still considered a follower of Jesus am I still considered one of Jesus learned ones or has Jesus disconnected with me because I had messed up so bad and let me tell you how bad Peter had messed up and the story is actually in the Gospel of Luke chapter 22 and Jesus as he's approaching the cross he's getting near to the cross he told his disciples all are y'all going to deny me all y'all are gonna forsake me us you say all you're going to forsake me all you're gonna run away it's gonna get so bad and Peter said these other disciples they may forsake you they may run out on you but but Jesus I'll never forsake you I'm not like these other people and he said Peter said I'll go to prison for you I'll die for you and Jesus told Peter that before the rooster crows once you would have denied me three times and that same evening Jesus got arrested in the garden of gethsemane and when he gets arrested he's in pilot's judgment Hall and people are starting to gather outside the judgment hall to hear what's going on with this Jesus and Pilate and so Peter gets out there and he's trying to hear what's happening with Jesus and see if he can get some information and as Peter warms himself by the fire a young girl recognizes him and says you're one of those followers of Jesus you're one of the disciples of Jesus and Peter said no I'm not I don't know him I never knew him and it wasn't long after that somebody else said the same thing yes you are you're I recognize you too you're a Galilean you're one of the disciples of Jesus and Peter a second time denied Jesus in the same night and that young girl came back and said I'm convinced you are the one and one of the Gospel writers said Peter cussed her out and denied Jesus three times in the same night then the rooster crowed and Peter remembered that Jesus said before this rooster crows you would have denied me three times and there he was a huge failure all of these faults in one night he had fallen so bad he had messed up so much and this is after saying that I'll never do that these others may do that but I'm not like that all of us know at least once somebody that's so judgmental about other people and then always saying what they would not do and that's what Peter did these others I'm not like them I'm different from them I'm better than them I would never do that and then ended up doing the very thing that the Lord said he would do he failed he faltered and then Jesus died on the cross got raised from the dead and maybe in Peters mind I've messed up so much I let the Lord down so badly that I'm no longer considered one of his disciples and so Jesus didn't want him to be confused go tell my disciples and Peter I don't want Peter to think that I've given up on him not I want Peter to think that I've kicked him to the curb that I've dissed him that I don't want him to be a heel on the team and Peter to meet me in Galilee my word to you is that God will give you another chance you're not the first disciple to mess up you're not the first Christian to fall you're not the first child of God to make a mistake I don't care how bad your situation is I don't care how you've strayed you can't stray so far that the love of God can't bring you back you can't drop so low you can't fall so low and be so lowdown that the love of Jesus can't get up under you and lift you back up again Peter shows us that Jesus will give you another chance and he's not the only disciple that messed up in Luke chapter 22 Judas also messed up and Judas was the one who's a hand-picked disciple and he walked with Jesus and heard Jesus preach and teach and he Judas have seen Jesus performed miracles and Judas had heard Jesus explained God's Word y'all Judas was with Jesus for more than three years he more than likely drank water from the same cup as Jesus he had fish sandwiches with Jesus but he still failed he betrayed Jesus he went to the chief priests and the Pharisees and the scribes and said for thirty pieces of silver I'll let you know where Jesus is going to be and I will point him out when he's there and in the Garden of Gethsemane Judas a hand-picked disciple he might he carried a bay he was the chief financial officer for the Ministry of Jesus but when Jesus finished praying in the Garden of Gethsemane here comes Judas and he kissed Jesus to betray him and Jesus said betrayus thou me with a kiss and and I know the reason why Luke put that in there he wanted you and I to know that everybody kissing on you ain't looking out for you you got to be careful who you let kiss on you because some people will kiss on you with an ulterior motive and Jesus said to Judas betrayus now me with a kiss and then Jesus got arrested and when Judas saw all that Jesus went through he was beaten he was whipped he was taunted and teased died on the cross and when Judas saw all of that Judas was sorry and he ran back to the chief priests and the scribes and said I never should have done this y'all could take this thirty pieces of silver back and they said man we don't want to have anything to do with that or you and then here's what it says in in Matthew in Matthew chapter 27 verse 5 I want to read that to you in Matthew chapter 27 verse 5 after Judas sinned and messed up here's what it says then Judas threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged himself so here is Judas who had sinned he had messed up but he confessed to the Rome but you got to be careful who you confess to he was sorry but he confessed his sin to the wrong people and went out and did that which was self-destructive he hanged himself and then it was also Peter that messed up he denied Jesus three times he messed up bad and he was sorry but the way he dealt with his sorry his SAR fulness was different from Judas in Luke chapter 22 verse 62 it says so Peter went out and wept bitterly here are two disciples who messed up bad and one Judas when he was sorry he went and got a rope and a branch and hanged himself did that which was self-destruct and Peter when he messed up badly he went in got a family-size box of Kleenex and wept bitterly it's a reference to his repentance you all have sinned and come short of the glory of God none have done good no no all like sheep have gone astray we've all sinned and messed up and it's great that you're sorry for your sin but being sorry is not enough Judas was sorry and when in did that which was self-destructive but when Peter was sorry he wept bitterly he repented he changed his mind in his heart and gave it back to the Lord and that's what I'm trying to tell I'm just trying to get across to you that there's a difference between a rope and a king-size handkerchief y'all we need to repent and when you repent Peter shows us that Jesus will forgive you and include you with his disciples go tell my disciples and Peter and I believe that Jesus would have forgiven Judas too but Judas confessed his sin to the wrong people and he ran and found Jesus after he recognized I was wrong I never should have done this he had all the way to 3:00 p.m. on that Friday Jesus died from 12 noon to 3 p.m. if Judas had just walked up and said I'm sorry forgive me Jesus would have forgave him but he did that which was self-destructive and I know you may have messed up you may have sinned but this is not the time to turn to drugs and alcohol that this is not the time to turn your back on the Lord this is the time like Peter to repent repent means to change your mind you rejected Jesus now change your mind and receive Jesus that you ran away from the church change your mind and come back to the church that you turned your back on God change your mind and come back to God that's what repentance is all about and when you repent Jesus still includes you as a disciple when I was a much younger preacher I was in my early 20s and I used to go to Elyria Ohio to do their youth revival and they invited me three years in a row jail Erie Ohio pastor Henry Johnson no relation but Henry Johnson the first year he invited me and he was sent some money to the hotel to pick me up every night and and drive me over to the church and then the second year he invited me and I drove over from Indianapolis to Elyria Ohio and the second year he said well what time you want me to have somebody pick you up from the hotel I said I'll just drive myself I like to drive I'll just drive myself pastor you don't have to have anybody picked me up and he gave me the address of the church he said now let me give you directions on how to get here I said pastor I've already been here I'm from Indianapolis at the time we were the 12th largest city in the nation I'm from a big city I can handle a Leary I can handle this little town I wasn't trying to be disrespectful but it's a little shitty I said I've been here I'll find the church you ought to tell me this is before GPS on the phone and so when it was time to go preach I jump in my car I hid I'm in I'm in the neighborhood but I can't find the church I'm disoriented I'm lost and and I feel so bad about talking about how little town world's not from the Indianapolis I I didn't even call the pass I didn't want to call him but then I have to eat my words and so I saw some brothers in the neighborhood out there and so I went up to him I drove up and I said man I need y'all to help me I'm looking for pastor Henry Johnson's church and I told the name of the church I said ma'am they said we know Pastor John so that's a great ministry blessed this community we know where that he I said will help me out there and I need you to give me some directions what they told me you're headed in the wrong direction I said I know that that's why I stopped to ask you and they said you see that police officer over there I said yeah I see him they said as soon as he turns his head make a u-turn right here soon as hit that police officer turns his head then you turn around right here you're heading in the wrong direction and then they say go straight for three blocks and then turn right they said then when you turn right you're gonna come up on the hill and as you come up on the hill then you'll see a cross and you head towards that cross because that cross is where you want to be here's what I want to get across to you that there are some of us have made some wrong turns there's some of us who indeed or lost and I'm gonna give you the same directions those young men gave me you headed in the wrong direction make a u-turn turn around repent and then go right and then head towards the cross the cross is where you want to be the cross where Jesus died for your sins in mind the cross where Jesus shed his blood the cross where forgiveness is available to us jesus said go tell my disciples and Peter meet me in Galilee I know you've messed up I know you're saying I know you let me down you did bad but go tell my disciples and Peter go tell my disciples and Geoffrey Johnson go tell my disciples and now put your name in there I don't care what you've done the mistakes you've made the sins you've committed forgiveness is available to you restoration is available to you and God will give you another chance let me quickly give these points to you and I hope that you get them in your head and your heart your mind and in your soul here it is let me give it to you quick that even though you fail your failures are not final you've fallen you got faults you failed you let Jesus down but your failures are not final it's a trick of the enemy to make you think that now God has given up on you a little Word of God says now if you cover your sins that you will not be forgiven but if you confess your sins and forsake your sins then you'll find mercy because your failures are not final the Apostle John says if we confess our sins then God is faithful and jeff's he'll forgive us of our sins and he'll cleanse us from all unrighteousness I just want you to know no matter how bad you've messed up no matter what you've done that your faults are not final that God is not through with you God still wants to use you God wants you to know you still on the team you're still a disciple matter of fact in the Old Testament it says God's married to the backslider so you messed up you've actually it do you want to where God still has a connection to the backslider even though you got faults and frailties and you fallen your faults are not final I told you I'm gonna give them to you quick here's the other thing I want you to get that sense your faults are not final then you can still be fruitful and I know your faults are not final and they're not fatal otherwise you wouldn't be here which means you can still be fruitful that God still wants to use you I keep making a reference to the Luke chapter 22 and Jesus in Luke chapter 22 said he told Peter youyou before the rooster crows once you're gonna deny me three times in the same night and then Jesus told Peter at that time but don't worry about it cuz I prayed for you that your faith would not fail notice he didn't say that you would not fail you are going to fail but I prayed that when you have personal failure that your faith doesn't fail that you still believe and trust in God and still trust have your confidence in the Lord and Jesus has prayed that prayer for you and I to that even though you've had personal failure don't let your faith fail because you can still be fruitful even though you've messed up and then he said this to Peter and when you are converted strengthen your brother and when you turn around then strengthen your brother and sister not if you turn around but win because even though you have failed your failure is not final which means there's an expectation from Jesus you can still be fruitful that when you turn around strengthen your brother and who better for God to use to help those who have fallen there's somebody who's fallen and repented and gotten up again who better to help those who strayed there's someone who has strayed but repented and came back to the Lord who better to help somebody with faults there's somebody who's had a lot of faults but repented and the Lord allows you to come back again you can still be fruitful God still wants to use you matter of fact this is the same Peter that in Acts chapter 2 when the church was born in the Holy Spirit came and those 120 disciples in that upper room and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit Peter was with the disciples there and all 120 of them got filled with the spear and they all began to speak in other languages as the Holy Spirit gave them the ability to do it and they were all sharing their faith but it was Peter this Saint Peter that had failed but it wasn't final and he was so fruitful he preached one sermon and 3,000 souls got say that was after he had messed up and that's my word to you and me that when we mess up there's a litany of here's a list of people that have messed up so bad but God did more after their failure then God had done before they failed Abraham he lied and said his wife was his sister but it was after that failure that God made him the father the faithful and that through his seed all the nations of the world would be blessed it was it was Jacob who was a trickster manipulator he lied with his mother lied to his father lied on his brother but even after that fault God transformed his life and Jacob became the progenitor of the 12 tribes of Israel God did more after his fall than he did before his fall Moses was a murderer and even after a felony in his life it was after that that Moses delivered more to 2 million people out of bondage in Egypt God did more after his failure than he ever did before his failure Samson was a strong man but he had a weakness for weak women and it led to his hurt and pain but God even after that failure that Samson was able to defeat more enemies after his failure that he ever did before the Apostle Paul before he became an apostle he persecuted the church but he met Jesus on that Damascus Road and gave his faith to Jesus Christ and even after his failure God had him planting churches all throughout Europe God did more after his fall than he did before it and Peter who denied Jesus three times in the same night but he came back when the Lord told him to meet me in Galilee with the other disciples and he was the Pentecostal preacher preached one sermon 3,000 Souls got he did more after his failure than he ever did before and Jeffrey Johnson will tell you what I did wrong but since my failure and my repentance God has done more in my life and in my ministry after I failed long more than he's ever done before my failure your failures are not final that God says you can still be fruitful he still wants to use you I tell my disciples and Peter and Jeffrey Johnson and whatever your name is you can steal me when the disciples come together with Christ when the disciples come together with other Christians you still need to be in the number let me give you one more that since your failures are not final and you can still be fruitful which means that even though you have failed you can still finish it's a trick of the enemy to make you think because you failed you messed up you finish you done you God doesn't have anything to do with you that you everything is over know you can still finish he that began a good work in you he will bring it to completion God is not finished with you yes you messed up but when you repent change your mind like Peter you can reconnect with Christ and the Christians and the church and the kingdom of God and the causes of God you can finish even though you have had false in your life I have run in at least five marathons five marathon to my I know I don't look like I'm the biggest marathoner in the history of marathons but I've run in five marathons the first one I ran in was in 2006 in Chicago is actually one of my favorite ones in Chicago I ran with James poor good friend of mine and one of the elders of the church now and James and I we trained together then we ran in Chicago marathon together and and we were about halfway through the race we were in like the 1314 mile marker and we heard an ambulance and James and I we were talking as we were running said man that must have been somebody that didn't prepare for the marathon they didn't know how hard it was and they'd they weren't fit enough to run in this race come to find out that that was not somebody who was not fit and prepared that was the winner of the race that's who the ambulance was for robert cherry odd from Kenya and about 2 hours 7 minutes and 35 seconds into the race Robert was coming to the finish line and as he was running he slipped and failed and he fell so hard that he knocked himself out but when he failed his momentum carried him forward he failed but he failed forward and he finished the race and he got the victory and Robert Sharia teaches us that if you fall going in the right direction you can still finish you can still get the victory here's what I want you to understand if you fall going in the direction of God that God will pick you up again donning kirkin said that a saint is nothing but a sinner who fell down and got up again and then Donnie kept saying you can get back up again you can get back up again you can get back up again y'all just because you have faltered just because you have faults doesn't mean you cannot finish listen to what Jude said jus said now unto Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before his presence wait a minute that he's able to keep us and then present us faultless how can Jesus how can the Lord present you and I faultless I just talked about all have sinned and come short the glory of God I just talked about that all we like sheep have gone astray I just talked about how we've all messed up and then you said that he will present you faultless what does that look like for him when we're at the judgment seat of Christ that the Lord is gonna present us faultless even with all the faults that we had I'll close it with this and I hope this that you can get this in your heart I graduated I went to Bishop College in Dallas Texas for my undergrad work I went that I got called to preach when I was 17 and 18 years old i go to i go to study religion and philosophy at bishop college and i graduated in three and a half years but I didn't March until May 1984 with the class I came in with and I was one of the first ones to graduate from in my family when the first ones to graduate from college so my mother came down uncles and aunts came down my brothers sister came down people thought friends were coming down people from my church were coming to see me cuz it wasn't just for me I represented that whole community in my family and when they came to see me doctor Wright Lassiter was the president of Bishop College when I graduated and and he said I want to present to you the graduating class of 1984 then he began to call us each by name and he called Geoffrey Alan Johnson and he presented us now let me tell you I can tell you now I hopefully don't hurt my mother's feelings but while I was at Bishop College I graduated in three and a half years but there was some some tests that I failed and there were some days that I missed class and there were times that I didn't do the assignment I had to take an incomplete and there were there were times I signed up for a class and was committed then I withdrew from the class but when dr. Wright Lassiter presented us I presented to you the graduating class of 1984 and he called my name Geoffrey Alan Johnson he didn't mention any of my failures he didn't mention any of my incomplete he didn't mention any of those days that I missed class he didn't mention any of that he presented me without fault and if colleges and universities have enough wherewithal to do that how much more shall lord and savior jesus christ when you're at the judgment seat of christ and he's going to present you faultless it doesn't mean you haven't had faults and some withdrawals you didn't miss this time you didn't miss out where you should have been there does that doesn't mean that you made a promise and you got an incomplete with that you've had some withdrawals but because you put your faith in Jesus and because you trust in him that even though you've messed up you can get back up again that God will give you another chance so when the disciples and when Christians meet with Christ and other Christians and the church Jesus said I want you to be there you still in the family you still my son you still my daughter you're still in the family of God you can get back up again praise the Lord now those of you who've never invited Christ into your life for forgiveness of sin I'm gonna give you a chance to do that right now Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins God raised him from the dead the Apostle Paul as he wrote to the believers at Rome said whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved I'm getting ready to lead you in prayer I'm going to pray and I want you to repeat after me out loud and when you call upon the name of the Lord and you put your faith in what you're praying at that moment you become a Christian you become a disciple and the Lord never forgets about you let me lead you to Christ follow me in prayer father I come right now I acknowledge my sin I'm sorry for my sins lord please forgive me of my sins I believe Jesus died on the cross I believe you raised Jesus from the dead I receive him by faith into my life please fill me with your Holy Spirit in Jesus name Amen since you prayed that prayer now you are a child of God your disciple let me welcome you to the family of God and please go ahead and communicate with us connect with us and help us ripp just let us know you made that commitment today just go ahead and email us that membership at Eastern star church dot org as some of you already Christian you already saved but you had some faults and some failures and maybe the enemy was messing with your mind making you think you no longer a part of what God is doing you are pardoned Jesus said when Christians come together disciples come together to meet with him you need to connect as well and you need a church home and then I would love to be your pastor I know the brothers and sisters here at Eastern start church love you to be a part of our ministry so going you give you like the Christ now go ahead and and connect with our ministry you can do that at membership at Eastern Star Church dot or go ahead and email us and let us get you connected hallelujah to the land will praise God well it's time to give it's just our opportunity to invest in the kingdom of God through Eastern Star Church and I certainly want to thank you for your generosity that the needs during this crisis have increase but because of your generosity some amazing things are happening the rock initiative is still doing this thing people are still getting brand new homes and renovated homes and homes that they can afford and still nice and wonderful thank you for that we're still feeding the hungry we still helping people in the midst of crisis all that is still going are we still blessing our brothers and sisters in Haiti and in Indianapolis in Marion County one of the hot spots for Kovach 19 that Eastern Star Church has become one of the testing sites and we praise God for that because this community is a hot it is one of the hot spots and now we are partnering up with the Marion County Health Department of state of Indiana and the city of Indianapolis and we're able to do this but it's because of your generosity and your giving and your support and your prayers they put us in a position to make that happen so thank you very very much the needs of increase so our giving has to increase and I praise God for that and I know when you give God is going to bless you that's that's all throughout his word now let me well let me help you don't say how to give you can you can give electronically you can text a gift four five seven seven seven and then put esc in the message field four five seven seven seven ESC or you can go on our website to give eastern star church dot org and there's a place forgive just click on that gift and then you have an opportunity or you can do like some of our old school persons are doing their milling in their tithes of their offerings to Eastern Star Church 5750 East 30th Street Indianapolis Indiana for six two one eight let me pray over these gifts father thank you for your love for us your compassion thank you for saving us and even when we've let you down you never gave up on us thank you for allowing us to be a part of your family and having eternal life everlasting life Annelle Lord we praise you for how you've been so generous to us and now we want to be generous we give back to you and what we pray that you'll take our gifts and unite them with other believers other people in the kingdom and then just Lord expand them increase it and let these gifts go to save souls and make a difference in the lives of the poor and I believe it done in the name of Jesus Christ and those who are giving I pray that you open the windows of heaven and pour them out of blessing that they won't have room to receive at all in Jesus name Amen amen amen listen before I give the benediction you know Mother's Day is coming up we're not on site we still online and and and I want you like we did with Easter y'all sent us some wonderful peace do go to those pictures it makes me feel so good to know your commitment to Christ and just seeing your your family so for Mother's Day we want to do something similar to that so take those selfies take those pictures with your mom or some old coaches that you can go ahead and and send to us to do technology communications at Eastern star church dot or communications at eastern star church dot or so let's see some of those pictures of you and your mother or grandmother or somebody they may not be your mother but they were motherly to you and so let's celebrate Mother's Day like that I love y'all so much and I know that the joy of the Lord is your strength let me go ahead and give you the benediction may God bless you and keep you may God have his face to smile upon you and be gracious unto you may God turn his countenance towards you and grant you peace in Jesus name Amen

Channel: Eastern Star Church

Views: 1,224

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Keywords: eastern star church, pastor jeffrey a johnson sr, indianapolis, indy church, indianapolis church, gospel, god, sermon, faith, hope, inspiration, motivation, jesus, love, christianity

Id: OhJMzbX1fsA

Length: 37min 39sec (2259 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 29 2020