Matt Beaney

Jul 28, 20214 min read

#403 - GOD OF RESTORATION - (28/7/21)

During this LEARNING TO HEAR series I’m taking a different approach to these devotionals. I want to us work harder at searching the scriptures for ourselves. We will use the ‘Come to Jesus Daily’ method below to help us with this. It’s well worth the hard work involved!

TODAY’S TEXT

‘Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.’ (Luke 22:60-62)

I’ve included my reflections on today’s text below. However, I encourage you to pray and spend time reflecting (writing can be helpful) using the 5 questions below before reading my thoughts.

i. †GOSPEL - 'Gaze on the cross'- What does this text reveal about salvation through Jesus?

ii. UP – What does this text say about God – His worth, character, attributes, will, promises…?

iii. IN – What does this say about me, the church and how we are to relate? Is there a promise to believe, command to do, attitude to have, something to avoid, is there forgiveness to seek or give?

iv. OUT – What does this say about my community and mission?

v. DO - This has two components. Firstly, list as many possible ways that you can think of that one might apply the text (actions or attitudes). Secondly, hear - Pray about how the Holy Spirit is leading you, specifically, to respond.

MY REFLECTIONS

1. †GOSPEL

Jesus is the God of restoration. Jesus is going to the cross for us. He is going to the cross for those, like Peter, who have been unfaithful to Him. We, like Peter, deserve to weep bitterly, but we know that Jesus will restore Him and He restores us. We deserve to be ‘outside’, but Jesus brings us close.

2. UP

Jesus is sovereign. These events are according to His will. Jesus knew what Peter would do. Peter’s failure is permitted by God. In God’s wisdom, Peter, and all of Christian history, has been enriched and comforted through Peter’s sin. This is mysterious, but we can rest assured that goodness and restoration can come out of our deepest failures if we will repent and come back to Him.

3. IN

We have all been unfaithful to Jesus. We’ve not been brave and open about the gospel as we could have been. We’ve also denied Him in our disobedience and sin. We all have a ‘plank in our own eye’. Remembering this will help us to forgive as we have been forgiven.

God wants to teach us to repent. Peter ‘went outside and wept bitterly.’ Godly sorrow leads to repentance. We must learn to grieve and then turn from our sin.

This incident warns us against self-confidence. Peter believes that he is strong and can put himself into the fire without being burnt. It’s not that we can always avoid such situations (sometimes we should!) but we must know our vulnerability and ask for the Spirit’s strength.

4. OUT

Jesus is going to the cross for those who have sinned and who are outside. He’s the God of restoration. He wants to work through us to restore people. Many are ‘weeping bitterly’ and we are to bring friendship and hope. We need to learn to ask the Spirit to make us brave in contexts in which we feel threatened.

5. DO? - Here are a few examples of application that I’ve come up with:

He’s the God of restoration. An application could be to see yourself as a restorer; look for small and big ways of restoring different kinds of people to God.

Pray of ‘back-slidden’ Christians.

Make a choice to be more honest and courageous about the gospel and your relationship with Jesus.

Remember your failures and salvation by grace before correcting anyone else.

Make time to confess and repent of our sin. Give adequate time to ‘weep bitterly’ - express our grief - when we sin.

‘The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter’ - Seek to go through the day with the awareness that Jesus’ eyes are on you - they are on you!

HEAR - Pray about how the Holy Spirit might want you to respond.

COMMUNITY GROUP STUDY

During this LEARNING TO HEAR series we are going to take a different approach to learning from the Bible together. We will use the ‘Come to Jesus Daily Method’ together (Gospel, Up, In, Out, Do) - you will have to do all the work!

1. Icebreaker - How has God spoken to you from the Bible this week? (During this LEARNING TO HEAR series, we are seeking to develop a culture of listening to God out of His word)

2. Select a text of scripture. (You could use the text from Sunday’s message or something of your choice.)

3. Read and recall. (Read the text and ask each person in the group to put it into their own words.)

4. Please go through these questions together:

i. †GOSPEL - 'Gaze on the cross'- What does this text reveal about salvation through Jesus?

ii. UP – What does this text say about God – His worth, character, attributes, will, promises…?

iii. IN – What does this say about me, the church and how we are to relate? Is there a promise to believe, command to do, attitude to have, something to avoid, is there forgiveness to seek or give?

iv. OUT – What does this say about my community and mission?

v. DO - This has two components. Firstly, list as many possible ways that you can think of that one might apply the text (actions or attitudes). Secondly, hear - Pray and share (if it’s appropriate) about how the Holy Spirit is leading you, specifically, to respond.

5. SIV - Finally, it would be helpful to talk and pray about how we are doing in regard to Serve, Invest and Invite. Do you have any encouraging stories or any plans in this regard? How do you want to pray in regard to our mission?

#403 - GOD OF RESTORATION - (28/7/21)

During this LEARNING TO HEAR series I’m taking a different approach to these devotionals. I want to us work harder at searching the scriptures for ourselves. We will use the ‘Come to Jesus Daily’ method below to help us with this. It’s well worth the hard work involved!

TODAY’S TEXT

I’ve included my reflections on today’s text below. However, I encourage you to pray and spend time reflecting (writing can be helpful) using the 5 questions below before reading my thoughts.

i. †GOSPEL - 'Gaze on the cross'- What does this text reveal about salvation through Jesus?

ii. UP – What does this text say about God – His worth, character, attributes, will, promises…?

iii. IN – What does this say about me, the church and how we are to relate? Is there a promise to believe, command to do, attitude to have, something to avoid, is there forgiveness to seek or give?

iv. OUT – What does this say about my community and mission?

v. DO - This has two components. Firstly, list as many possible ways that you can think of that one might apply the text (actions or attitudes). Secondly, hear - Pray about how the Holy Spirit is leading you, specifically, to respond.

MY REFLECTIONS

1. †GOSPEL

2. UP

3. IN

We have all been unfaithful to Jesus. We’ve not been brave and open about the gospel as we could have been. We’ve also denied Him in our disobedience and sin. We all have a ‘plank in our own eye’. Remembering this will help us to forgive as we have been forgiven.

God wants to teach us to repent. Peter ‘went outside and wept bitterly.’ Godly sorrow leads to repentance. We must learn to grieve and then turn from our sin.

This incident warns us against self-confidence. Peter believes that he is strong and can put himself into the fire without being burnt. It’s not that we can always avoid such situations (sometimes we should!) but we must know our vulnerability and ask for the Spirit’s strength.

4. OUT

5. DO? - Here are a few examples of application that I’ve come up with:

He’s the God of restoration. An application could be to see yourself as a restorer; look for small and big ways of restoring different kinds of people to God.

Pray of ‘back-slidden’ Christians.

Make a choice to be more honest and courageous about the gospel and your relationship with Jesus.

Remember your failures and salvation by grace before correcting anyone else.

Make time to confess and repent of our sin. Give adequate time to ‘weep bitterly’ - express our grief - when we sin.

‘The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter’ - Seek to go through the day with the awareness that Jesus’ eyes are on you - they are on you!

HEAR - Pray about how the Holy Spirit might want you to respond.

COMMUNITY GROUP STUDY

During this LEARNING TO HEAR series we are going to take a different approach to learning from the Bible together. We will use the ‘Come to Jesus Daily Method’ together (Gospel, Up, In, Out, Do) - you will have to do all the work!

1. Icebreaker - How has God spoken to you from the Bible this week? (During this LEARNING TO HEAR series, we are seeking to develop a culture of listening to God out of His word)

2. Select a text of scripture. (You could use the text from Sunday’s message or something of your choice.)

3. Read and recall. (Read the text and ask each person in the group to put it into their own words.)

4. Please go through these questions together:

i. †GOSPEL - 'Gaze on the cross'- What does this text reveal about salvation through Jesus?

ii. UP – What does this text say about God – His worth, character, attributes, will, promises…?

iii. IN – What does this say about me, the church and how we are to relate? Is there a promise to believe, command to do, attitude to have, something to avoid, is there forgiveness to seek or give?

iv. OUT – What does this say about my community and mission?

v. DO - This has two components. Firstly, list as many possible ways that you can think of that one might apply the text (actions or attitudes). Secondly, hear - Pray and share (if it’s appropriate) about how the Holy Spirit is leading you, specifically, to respond.

5. SIV - Finally, it would be helpful to talk and pray about how we are doing in regard to Serve, Invest and Invite. Do you have any encouraging stories or any plans in this regard? How do you want to pray in regard to our mission?

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