​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (5th Sunday in Lent, March 21, 2021)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor
 
“Peter’s Restoration!”
John 21:15-19
 
As you know, during Lent this year, we’ve been looking together at some key events of Peter’s life, some defining moments, you could say, that somehow shaped or reshaped Peter’s understanding of discipleship and what it means to follow Christ.  Over the last three weeks, we looked at Christ’s invitation to Peter; we also looked at Peter’s confession in Caesarea Philippi, and last week, we saw Peter at his worst, denying the Lord three times at Caiaphas house.  Last week we were reminded that in our journey of faith, we will experience ups and downs, victories as well as defeats, gain and loss, joy and sorrow, brokenness and restoration.  Peter’s failure and denial is a reminder that the path of discipleship is one of ups and downs.
 
Peter’s story is real.  It is personal.  Peter is me.  Peter is you.  Peter is us.  That’s what makes his story so personal.  It’s a story that involves calling, risk, stepping into the unknown; it’s a story that involves assurance and doubt, confession and denial.  Peter’s story is our story.  It is a story of grace, of love, and of renewal. 
 
The more we look at Peter’s story, the more we realize that the story in the first place is actually about Jesus.  It points to the greatness and the awesomeness of the God we’ve come to believe in.  The awesomeness of our God is shown in Peter’s restoration and it displays itself in two ways:
 
First: A Broken Disciple is Remembered by God
Denying Christ was a chattering experience for Peter. It was a turning point.  Peter’s own bold confidence and strength were killed.  He knew he was sand, not “the unmovable rock.”  He knew what and who he was.  He knew he was a sinner in need of God’s forgiveness!  That’s why Peter ran to the tomb on Easter morning.  He had to know and to see that Christ had risen from the dead.  If He was… then maybe Peter could ask for forgiveness.  Maybe, Jesus would forgive him.
 
It seems that Peter was not the one looking for God.  In fact, God was looking for him.  On the day Jesus arose, the angel at the empty tomb told the women in Mark 16:7, “Go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’”  Those words, “and Peter,” would have rang in Peter’s ears and lifted his depressed spirit after his miserable denials of his Lord.  I think that Peter would have asked the women, “Did the angel say, ‘and Peter’?”  This assured him that the Lord had not rejected him because of his failure.  In our brokenness, God always searches for us. 
 
Second: A Broken Disciple is Personally Restored by Jesus
As we pick up the account in John 21:15, it has been about two weeks or so since Peter had denied Jesus on the night He was arrested and tried.  Jesus had already appeared to many people including to the disciples twice in Jerusalem.  Jesus told them to go to Galilee where He has now met with them a third time.  When Jesus arrived in Galilee, according to John 21:2, seven disciples were present: Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James, John and two other disciples who are not named.
 
In John 21:15-19, Jesus met privately with Peter to reassure him and restore him personally.  Jesus wanted to restore Peter to his apostolic office in front of these other six disciples.
 
It surprises me that when Jesus meets Peter, He neither confronted nor rebuked him.  Rather, Jesus turns to Peter and asks him, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?”  Peter responds, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”  Frustrated this time, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
 
Jesus had to re-commission Peter.  “Feed my lambs.  Take care of my sheep.  Feed my sheep,” Jesus told Peter.  Why would Jesus ask his question three times?  It’s hard to say.  Some suggested that the three questions might relate to the three denials… thus the undoing of them.  Others suggested that they might refer to the making of a covenant.  At this time in history a threefold of questions and answers was done to enact a covenant.  Maybe it’s both.  In all cases, Jesus tenderly reaches out to this wounded, hurt, afraid disciple who has gone through the worst couple of weeks of his life.  Peter was renewed, restored and recommissioned during this “after breakfast chat.”
 
I like how the gospel of John wraps us Peter’s personal encounter with the Lord.  In John 21:19, we read, “After this he said to him, “Follow me.”  Following Christ is not a single event; it’s a long-life journey.  It’s true that we stumble and wander off the road, but here comes the Lord, meets us where we are and renews our calling, “Follow me.”
 
Peter continued to grow in faith and commitment.  His love for his Lord grew and developed.  It got deeper and stronger.  It’s true that Peter trembled at the question of a servant girl, but on the Day of Pentecost, Peter got up and spoke, preaching the first Pentecost message.  He was able to face a mob unafraid.  Later on, Peter endured persecution, he encouraged the early Jewish-Christian community, was led by God’s Spirit to reach the Gentiles, and eventually was crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to die in the same manner as his Lord and Savior.  Forgiven and restored.  Recalled and recommissioned.  It’s Simon Peter’s story.  It’s our story.  In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (4th Sunday in Lent, March 14, 2021)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor
 
“Failure and Denial!”
Luke 22:54-62
 
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always been captured and, quite frankly, terrified by the story of Peter’s failure and denial.  How did this happen?  I always thought that after spending 3 years with Jesus, listening to His teaching, watching Him feed thousands, raise the dead, walk on water, and seeing His almighty power, denying Him would be impossible. 
 
Of course, as I grew older, I began to see different layers to the story.  For one thing, I started to get the danger of the situation.  At this point in time, Jesus has been arrested.  It’s Passover week and political tension fills the air.  The Jewish leadership set up a couple of Kangaroo Courts organized by the Sanhedrin being held in the courtyard and home of Caiaphas, the Jewish High Priest.
 
At this point, most of the disciples have fled.  Most of them, it seems, except for Peter and John according to John 18.  Peter follows at a distance; he follows to see what happens.  We probably should give Peter and John some credit here.  They go further than all of the other disciples.   Peter and John had some courage—courage and strength that none of the rest have.  And yet, when push comes to shove Peter denies Christ three times.  
 
At first, a servant girl saw him seated by the firepit; she looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”  But Peter denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.  A little later someone else saw Peter and said, “You also are one of them.” “Man, I am not!” Peter replied.  About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”  Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”  Fear grips Peter with great force and so he denies Christ.
 
On one hand, I am tempted to think, “How do you say that, Peter?” But on the other hand, I ask myself, “How different am I really?”  I’m not sure I’ve ever denied Jesus publicly when pressed like that, but the older I get, the more I realize how completely and totally we’ve denied Jesus. 
 
There’s more than one way to deny Jesus.  You don’t have to say “I don’t know this man” with your words to do it.  With every careless unloving action to those around us, we say, “We don’t know this man.”  Every day we get up and live our day without reference to Christ, we say “We don’t know this man.”  Every time we cultivate anger, pride, or lust in our heart, we say “We don’t know this man.”  Every time we chase money instead of generosity, we say “We don’t know this man.”  Every time we keep silent about Christ out of fear of rejection by our culture, or neighbors, for being one of those “Christians”, we say “We don’t know this man.”   In a million different ways, our lives have screamed “We don’t know this man!”
 
The story of Peter’s failure and denial is our story too.  So as we consider this story today, please allow me to offer two short observations:
 
First: The Path of Discipleship is One of Ups and Downs
This is our third week in our Lent series on “Discipleship.”  We have been looking at some key events in the life of Peter as a model for what it means to follow Jesus as a disciple.  We looked at Christ’s invitation to Peter to “come, follow me” and how Peter and his brother, Andrew, immediately left everything and followed Jesus.  We also looked at Peter’s confession in Caesarea Philippi “You’re the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
 
This week, we are reminded that the path of discipleship is one of ups and downs.  Our minds would like to think that there is a set process when it comes to faith and that as long as the instruction manual is followed closely, everything will fit together nice and neatly.  Our experience, however, proves the opposite.  In our journey of faith, we will experience ups and downs, victories as well as defeats, gain and loss, joy and sorrow, brokenness and restoration.  Peter’s failure and denial is a reminder that the path of discipleship is one of ups and downs.
 
Second: Failure Doesn’t Make us Become Less of a Disciple
If the life of a disciple includes all these different experiences, what happened when we struggle and fail?  I want to assure you today that we do not become less of a disciple when we struggle.  Even when we struggle, we know that God is with us.  I like how Luke puts it in Luke 22:61, “The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter.”  In his failure, Jesus wanted to say to Peter, “I am here for you.  I am with you.”
 
Throughout his gospel, Luke shows a certain concern for those considered “lost.”  For example, only in Luke’s gospel do we find stories concerning a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost child – all of which are eventually found.  Luke also tells the story of the thief on the cross, the one whom Jesus invites into paradise – again one who is lost but now is found.  Luke seems to have a soft spot in his heart for lost things.  His treatment of Peter’s denial of Christ fits this theme. Peter falls into this category of being lost after denying and disowning Christ for three times, but, he too, would be found as Luke says in Luke 22:61.  Of course, a full restoration of this broken disciple will take place after Christ’s resurrection.  Failure doesn’t make us become less of a disciple.
 
Friends, today’s lesson captures the essence of a disciple’s life that includes that which we could never have imagined, even denial and failure.  If you ever have the opportunity to visit the Holy Land, one of the sites you will inevitably spend time touring will be the Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu.  The word “Gallicantu” is Latin for “rooster’s crow.”  It is the site that memorializes Peter’s failure and denial.  It seems strange that we would choose to build a church in the very spot that Peter denied even knowing our Savior.  Yet, you and I need to remember that because when we remember our failures and weaknesses, we will seek the strength and the grace of God. We must never forget that where there is death, there is also rebirth.  The life of a disciple includes it all, even that which we never could have imagined.  In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen. 

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (3rd Sunday in Lent, March 7, 2021)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor
 
“Confessing!”
Matthew 16:13-20
 
Last week we saw Jesus calling His first four disciples, namely, Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John.  “Come, follow me,” Jesus said.  Christ’s invitation to His early disciples is a reminder of our own invitations to come and follow him.  As Jesus of Nazareth invited twelve disciples to join His movement over two thousand years ago, He continues to invite us today to a life of discipleship.
 
Last week I pointed out that this is actually a message of hope.  Jesus calls all of us to be His disciples.  Despite our past failures, He calls for us to “come” and He invites us to “follow” Him.  His call to discipleship is a grace–filled invitation to become participants in the continued life and ministry of Jesus.  The call to discipleship is not reserved for the best among us, a certain type, or a select few.  Jesus invites everyone, including ordinary men and women like you and me, to come, to follow, and participate in His extraordinary life and ministry.  
 
I also pointed out last week that the call to discipleship is a call to community.  It’s true that when we answer the call, we answer it individually, but at the same time, we are invited to join a community, the church.  We travel this journey of discipleship together.  Jesus did not call people to follow Him and then train them in isolation from others.  Rather, He calls us as individuals to train us in community.  Yes, the community gets messy at times, but we are to reprove, rebuke, encourage, and exhort each other with complete patience.
 
Accepting the invitation to follow Christ is not the end.  It’s the first step in a lifelong journey.  When we look at the life of Peter and his formation as a disciple, we get to know that “Confession” is another component, another step, in the life of discipleship.  Confession is the ability to stand your ground and confess the identity of Christ as Lord over your life and over the whole universe. 
 
Our study this morning takes us to Caesarea Philippi so what I would like to do this morning is to say a couple words about Caesarea Philippi, then we will look together at Peter’s confession and what it means to us today.
 
Caesarea Philippi
Caesarea Philippi was built up around the Banias Spring, one of the primary tributaries forming the Jordan River and therefore, the Sea of Galilee.  The city was built by Herod Philip, one of Herod the Great’s sons and it’s located approximately 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee at the base of Mount Hermon. 
 
In Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” And they replied, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  Then in Matthew 16:15 Jesus turns to His disciples and asks, “But what about you?  Who do you say I am?”   
 
“Who do you say that I am?”  In the Greek text, that pronoun “YOU” has an enormous stress.  In fact, the pronoun you comes at the beginning of the sentence.  This is how the original Greek emphasizes an important idea.  It is as if Jesus was saying, “But you who have followed me and have known me from the beginning, who do you say that I am?”  In Matthew 16:16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 
 
Confession of faith is important.  It was important back then and it’s important today.  We confess what we believe every week using the words of many creeds.  In Caesarea Philippi, Jesus was asking His disciples are you willing to stand your ground when it gets dangerous?  Are you willing to confess your faith when a high price is expected?  Are you ready for the cost of discipleship?
 
The gospel of Matthew doesn’t give us a specific reason for choosing Caesarea Philippi to be the location for teaching the disciples on the identity of Christ.  Yet, I truly believe that Jesus intentionally took His disciples to Caesarea Philippi for this particular lesson.  It was the perfect place for this lesson.
 
Jesus Not Caesar is Lord
We have to know that two gigantic temples stood in Caesarea Philippi: one to honor and worship Caesar, the great leader of the Roman Empire; the other to honor and worship Pan, the god of shepherds and flocks. For this reason, Caesarea Philippi was considered the “Sin City” of its day, and most Jews would have completely avoided going there.  This is not the place you might expect Jesus Christ, the Jewish Rabbi, who was said to be the Messiah, the Son of the living God, to take His disciples to there and ask them to confess whom He really is.  We might think that the Jerusalem Temple or at least one of the synagogues would have been a better place.
 
Yet, Jesus took His disciples to Caesarea Philippi to reveal His identity to them.  In Caesarea Philippi, everyone was required to confess the lordship of Caesar.  Caesar was called “Savior,” “Lord,” and “Son of God.”  People in Caesarea Philippi were required to bow down to Caesar and other false gods.  It was here, in this city devoted to the worship of idols and false gods that Jesus demanded His disciples’ confession of faith.  In Caesarea Philippi Peter confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God; not Caesar nor Pan, but Jesus of Nazareth.
 
Who do you say that I am?  It is easy to confess Jesus Lord and Savior in Jerusalem. The real challenge is to do so in Caesarea Philippi.  But we also need to remember that a confession of faith is just an idea. And any idea by itself is just a weak and limp and lifeless thing.  Take the principle of electricity.  By itself it’s just a principle. But take a man like Thomas Edison, let him meet that principle, and the lights go on around the world.  Our actions should reflect our confession, otherwise, it will be meaningless.  We confess that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.  Do our actions reflect that?  May God help us.  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (2nd Sunday in Lent, February 28, 2021)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor
 
“Come, Follow Me!”
Mark 1:16-20
 
“Discipleship” is the topic that I’ve chosen to focus on during the Season of Lent this year.  Discipleship is a very broad topic and we literally can spend a few months just scratching the surface of this topic.  But I would like to spend the next six weeks looking at this topic from a different angle.  We will revisit our understanding of discipleship through examining some key events in Peter’s life.
 
Events in the life of Peter became a model for what it means to follow Jesus as a disciple. This series of messages is not a biography of Peter, but a way to see the formation and maturing of a disciple.  So we will follow the journey of Peter from his response to Jesus’ invitation to follow Christ in Mark chapter 1 and end with Peter’s sermon in Acts chapter 10.
 
In this series of messages, we will focus on Peter’s response to the call of Christ to follow Him and then look at Peter’s confession in Caesarea Philippi that Jesus is the Christ.  That bold confession of faith is followed by Peter’s failing and denial of Christ.  Still later we see transformation in Peter after the resurrection of the Lord.  We then see Peter serving others, proclaiming the gospel, stepping outside of his comfort zone, and crossing the barriers and borders erected by tradition or culture.  The Peter who speaks in Acts chapter 10 differs significantly from the Peter we meet in Mark chapter 1.  Through this journey of discipleship, Peter was not perfect for sure, but God’s sustaining grace is evident in every step of the way.
 
What is Discipleship?
Discipleship.  What is discipleship?  Christian discipleship is a lifelong journey of going wider and deeper – wider by our ministry and service, deeper by our study and learning.  Discipleship is our response to Jesus’ invitation to “Come, follow me.’”
 
The gospel of Mark begins with an invitation: an invitation to join Jesus at the beginning of something – a movement that is the beginning of the Good News.  The Good News is that the Kingdom of God has come near in the person of Jesus Christ. The Good News is that Jesus is inviting all who will believe to not only proclaim the Good News, but to also be, to become the Good News in the world.
 
In Mark chapter 1, we get to see four individuals joining the movement of Jesus of Nazareth.  Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John immediately accepted Jesus’ invitation – seemingly without hesitation, consideration or buyer’s remorse. What was it about Jesus’ invitation that was so irresistible to these first disciples?  I like what someone said that Jesus meets us where we are and invites us to follow Him from there.  So as we kick off this new series this morning, please allow me to share two short observations regarding the nature of Christ’s call.  Discipleship is a twofold call:
 
First: It’s a Call to ChristThe first thing that I want to highlight is the call to discipleship is primarily a call to Christ Himself.  Jesus called the early disciples and us today to “follow” him (vv. 17, 20).  It was a call to shadow Christ in order to learn from Him.  It was a call to be committed to Christ.  What a disciple would eventually become, would depend on how closely and faithfully we follow Jesus.
 
I want you to know that discipleship was not something that Jesus invented.  In fact, it was very common before and during the time of Jesus.  In first century Palestine, it was very common to see a Jewish Rabbi with a group of followers or disciples who would adhere to a certain way, a certain methodology or school of interpreting scriptures.  There were also so many philosophers who would teach a certain philosophy and call people to adopt it as their way of life.  Unlike those rabbis and philosophers, Jesus never invited His followers to follow a certain ideology or philosophy, rather, He called them to “follow Him.”  So Jesus Himself was the philosophy.  He was both the curriculum and the instructor.  I like how Mark 3:14 puts it.  Mark says, “He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach.”
 
Second: It’s a Call to CommunityWhen Christ called His disciples to follow Him, He was also calling them to community.  The call of the four fishermen in Mark chapter 1 indicates that the essential work of Jesus consists in forming a fellowship, a community, a diverse community. 
 
It’s true that when we answer the call, we are answering it individually, but we are, at the same time, answering it in community.  In other words, we are not the only ones answering the call.  Jesus has called us to be meaningful, faithful members of the community of faith—the church.
 
Jesus did not call people to follow Him and then train them in isolation from others.  No, He calls us as individuals to train us in community.  Yes, the community would get messy at times. The disciples would bicker with each other and would argue who is the greatest among them.  They would often fail to grasp what the Lord was teaching them. They would lose their temper with those who were not Christians. They would grieve their Lord, on several occasions, when they failed to take seriously His mission and message of His cross. They would all ultimately forsake Him when the shadow of that cross crept closer.  Yet what do we find at the end of the story?  We find them as a community again—in Galilee (Mark 16:7)!  We are called to be followers of Jesus Christ together, to be fishers of men together. 
 
“Come, follow me,” Jesus would say to all of us today on this Second Sunday in Lent.  If you’ve been a follower, take your discipleship to the next level.  If you’ve never responded to Christ’s call, today is the day.  Friends, let’s remember that Jesus will meet you wherever you’re today.  He calls us to a deeper and more intimate fellowship with Him and He calls us to a journey that we travel together as a community.  Discipleship is a call to Christ and it’s also a call to community.  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.