- Well, happy Resurrection Weekend to all of you that are worshiping with us here at Rockpoint Church. And if you are worshiping online or here physically at Rockpoint, welcome, we're delighted to be with you. This is a wonderful weekend where we celebrate the hope that we have through Jesus Christ because of the cross and the resurrection. And for those of you that are worshiping here at Rockpoint, you're probably wondering why I'm not physically with you. Well, the answer is very simple. I've been diagnosed with COVID-19. So we didn't want to expose you. And Justin Brown, who is on our tech team, he does a fabulous job. He's actually recording this from an entirely different room so he's not exposed as well. We wanted to keep everybody safe. Life has its ups and downs, and it continues to remind us of our human frailties. And today we see that in the Apostle Peter. We're gonna look at one of those moments in his life. It was the lowest of the lows. And yet, in the midst of that failure, it was Jesus Christ who came to him and said, "Peter, do you love me?" So I'm gonna ask that you take a Bible out and I want you to turn to John chapter 21. John chapter 21, and I'll begin to start reading through the story in verse four and make just a few introductory comments as we begin to open up and talk about this wonderful opportunity, even though Peter doesn't quite see it that well, of how Jesus Christ is now going to restore him. And it is all because of the cross and the resurrection. The cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ proves that God accepted His sacrifice on our behalf, and that His claims to be God were absolutely true. And it is because of the cross and the resurrection that it proves that He's done everything for us. And He simply asks us the same question he asked Peter, "Do you love me?" In John chapter 21, it's Peter who says in verse three, "He said to the other disciples, he said, "'I'm going fishing.' "And they all responded and said, "'We're gonna go fishing with you.' It was Jesus that said, "Go to Galilee and I will meet you there," so that's where they are. And so much has taken place up to this point in Peter's life. I mean, it was Peter who was met by Jesus initially because Andrew introduced Peter to Jesus. Andrew was Peter's brother. And Andrew and Philip and Peter, three of Jesus' disciples were from the city of Bethsaida, on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. And it was Jesus who began a relationship with Peter at that moment. It was Jesus who eventually would encounter Peter after a long night of fishing and coming up with nothing, who said, "Peter, I wanna jump into your boat "and I want to address the crowds that are now gathering "so that they can hear my teaching about the Kingdom." And Peter allows that to happen. But then, after Jesus is done teaching, He looks at Peter and says, "Peter, I want you go back out "and I want you to try fishing again." Well, Peter's response is, "Master, we fished all night, we haven't caught anything. "But because you asked, I'll go ahead and do it." In other words, "Jesus, you're a preacher, I'm a fishermen." But the trouble was, Peter wasn't very good at fishing. But he did it anyway. And he had the absolute catch of his life. And he was so overwhelmed by this that he looked at Jesus and said, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man." And it's at that moment where Jesus looks at Peter and said, "Peter, I want you to follow me, "because I'm going to make you a fisher of men." And it was Peter who eventually would say, "Lord, we don't wanna go anywhere. "We wanna follow you because you have "the words of eternal life." And it was Peter who confessed Jesus Christ as the Son of the Living God. And it was Peter who would eventually rebuke the Lord because he didn't want Him to die, he loved Him. And it was Peter who would jump out of a boat and walk towards Jesus in the midst of a storm. He was the only disciple that decided to do that because of his courage and his desire to follow Jesus by faith. And it was Peter who said that they had left everything to follow him. And on the night of his betrayal, when Jesus began to wash the disciples' feet, including Judas, He comes to Peter and He begins to wash his feet. And at that moment, Peter, I think felt convicted that Jesus was serving them when they should have been serving Jesus. And he says, "Lord, you can't wash my feet." Well, Jesus was using it as a spiritual illustration of how He would go to the cross and wash away their sin, how He would serve them as He had done, but ultimately, by giving His life as a sacrifice for them. He said, "Peter, I must do this." Well, Peter didn't quite get the spiritual illustration. And so, he's still thinking physically. And he says, "Lord, if you're gonna wash me "and that is part of me knowing you, "I wanna stay in relationship with you." See, he loved the Lord. And so he says, "Then wash my whole body, "pick the bucket up and dump it all over me." And it was Peter who eventually would fight for the Lord. When he was arrested, he would cut off the servant's ear. And it was Peter who had enough courage who would pursue those that arrested Jesus into the courtyard. All the other disciples had left Jesus at this point. They had ran because they were fearful. But it was Peter who had enough courage to follow Jesus into the courtyard. But it was in that courtyard that Jesus would know what Peter was going to do. And sure enough, he denied the Lord three different times. But it was Peter, once he found out that Jesus Christ was no longer in the tomb, he and John would run to that tomb and John would get there first. I believe he was younger than Peter. Peter was the one, though, that stepped inside. It was Peter who would eventually meet the Lord. It was Peter who was told to go to Galilee. It was Peter who was now in Galilee, but he knew he had failed miserably. And it was Peter who, in the midst of his failure, felt like he was washed up, he could never be used by God again, and so he says, "I'm going back to fishing." Not fishing for men, not spreading the Kingdom. He felt like such a failure that he was washed up and he could never serve the Lord again. It's an amazing illustration of what can happen in our lives when we feel like such a failure, so weak and feeble. And that's why this story is so powerful to all of us. We all see ourselves in the life of Peter. But it's fascinating, because in verse four, if you'll look down at your Bible and read with me, "Just as day was breaking," I love that. Don't forget it, we'll come back to it in a minute. "Jesus stood on the shore, "yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. "And Jesus said to them, 'Children, do you have any fish?' "And they answered Him, 'No.' "He said to them, 'Cast the net on the right side "'of the boat and you'll find some.' "So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in "because of the quantity of fish. "And that disciple whom Jesus loved," and it's oftentimes a reference that John uses in his gospel accounts to refer to himself, "That disciple whom Jesus loved, therefore said to Peter, "'It's the Lord!'" John knew right away. "And when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, "he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, "and threw himself into the sea. "The other disciples came in the boat, "dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far "from the land, but about 100 yards off." Peter was so excited that it was the Lord. And he so wanted for the relationship with Jesus to be restored. He loved the Lord. And so he jumps out into the water and he makes his way to the shore. He forgets the fish. He just wanted to reconnect with the savior that he loved so much. "And when they got out on land, "they saw a charcoal fire in place." Now, the last time that charcoal fire occurs is on the night of Peter's denial in the courtyard. So it's interesting what John is doing here. "And so, when they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire "in place with fish laid out on it, and bread. "And Jesus said to them, 'Bring some of the fish "'that you have just caught. "So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, "full of large fish, 153 of them. "And although there were so many, the net was not torn. "And Jesus said to them, 'Come and have breakfast.'" I love that phrase. Just come, guys. I know all that you've done, I know all of your failures. I know you ran from me. Peter, I know you denied me. I know all of that stuff, but yet here He is still inviting them to come back into a relationship with Him. "Now, none of the disciples dared to ask Him, "'Who are you?' "They knew it was the Lord. "And Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, "and so with the fish. "And this was now the third time "that Jesus was revealed to the disciples "after He was raised from the dead." Jesus loves us and invites us into a relationship with Him. You see that written all over this passage. His interaction with Peter, His interaction with the other disciples. And when Jesus first met Peter, He changed his name. It's very interesting. He said, "You're Simon, but I'm gonna call you Peter." In other words, it was a way for Jesus to communicate to Simon, "Simon, I'm gonna change your life." You see, names meant a lot to individuals in the Bible, and they oftentimes told of their personality and what was gonna take place in their life. And it was Jesus Christ who was saying to Simon, "Simon, I'm gonna spend two and a half years with you, "and I am going to bring about a transformation "in your life that is a result of the cross "and the resurrection and everything that I am going to do. "I'm going to change you and transform you." And it was this Jesus who would make Simon someone different, someone transformed. And it was Jesus who loved Simon over and over and over again, just like He did with the other disciples. And for Peter, he was all in. He was all in. He decided to follow Jesus. He wanted Jesus to wash all of him. He was the one that pursued Him. And yet, at the same time, he was the one who denied Him. Even after his failure, he ran to the tomb to see if Jesus really was gone, because he so desperately wanted restoration. There is no question in my mind that Jesus loved Simon. He loved the disciples. And there is no question in my mind that He loves you. He gave His life for you. And He Rose from the grave. You a sinner, me a sinner, He gave his life for us and He pursues us. And the question that He asks us on this Easter weekend is, do you love Him? That's really the essence of what salvation is. Do you love Him? Have you come to that moment in your life where you know for sure you love the Lord? And you know what I mean by that? What I mean by that is, have you come to a point in your life where you understand that you are a sinner? You have to understand that you're a sinner, otherwise you have no need for a savior. But there's a in your life when you realize that you can't be forgiven because of your sin. Sin simply means that we've missed God's perfect standard. We've missed the mark. And we all sin and fall short of God's glory. And the wages, or the consequences of that sin is death. It's separation from God. It's death physically and it's death spiritually. But God demonstrates His love toward us in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. He came to us because we couldn't go to Him. And he gave his life for you. And in order to really love the Lord means you believe in Him, you trust in Him. You believe you're a sinner and you turn and you put your trust in Jesus Christ alone as the one who died for your sin and can take you to heaven. Now, in a few moments, I'm gonna give you a chance to confirm that decision, if you're not sure. And then we're gonna give you a chance to let us know here at Rockpoint, so that we can follow up with you and help you begin this journey as Peter did. However, even after Peter began that relationship, even after Peter confessed Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, he still failed, and he failed miserably. Many of us have made a decision to trust Jesus Christ as Savior. We desire for Him to lead our lives and we love Him and we know that we're Christian, but have you oftentimes said, "But I'm no good at this thing called Christianity." "I'm struggling with it, I'm weak, I'm feeble, I fail"? And that's why I love the story of Peter, because we all see ourselves in him. And like Peter, we have good and bad moments. Peter confessed Him as Lord, and yet he denied him three times. We say, "Jesus, we wanna follow you," and maybe you trusted him as Savior as a child, a student, an adult, but you failed after that point. Why? Because we do keep on saying, "We're weak, we're feeble." And we say, "God, I'm a Christian "and I really do know that I love you, "but I'm really no good at this thing called Christianity." And right now, even as I speak, there's just a list of things that are going through your mind of failures. I think all of us are shocked at the portrayals were capable of, and we wonder, is this faith really real in my life? Am I really this person I say I am? And we feel so unworthy and so unsteady at times. But what matters the most to Him is that we love Him at all. What matters the most is that He delights in knowing that we have a weak love, but we come to Him and we give him that weak love. It's Jesus that can do some incredible things with our weak love. Because it's not the strength of our faith, it's the object of our faith that really matters. And so the question is, do you love Him? He's not asking for perfection. He's simply asking that you come to Him, as Peter is gonna learn that He is. And it is Jesus who remarkably can blow into the coals that are there and produce the fire again in our spiritual life. And I love this story because Jesus takes away Peter's final excuse for why he's not following Him. And He takes away all of the excuses in all of our lives, as He illustrates it through Peter, so that we all realize that if we come to Him, even with weak love, He takes us, He accepts us, He uses us. It's Jesus that died for all of these things. He died for our humanity, and no one is beyond forgiveness. His grace is always greater. And you may have accepted that, but there's a struggle going on in your soul. And maybe you feel like Peter, that you just need to go fishing again. See, what matters most is not our devotion to Him, but His devotion to us. What matters most is not what we seemingly can do out of perfection for Him, but His devotion to us. He wants all of us to stop being a super Christian, obsessing with ourself and our performance and the things that we bring to Him to be acceptable. His devotion is what matters. He forgives you, He loves you. He cares for you. Notice this, He's inviting them, "Guys come and have breakfast with me." And then He feeds them. He gives them something. Jesus prepares and He invites them to step into this relationship again. Peter betrayed Him, stabbed Him in his back. And so have you. And every time you sin, and every time I sin, we betray our Lord. But the amazing thing about the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ is that now He's teaching His disciples and He's teaching Peter that because of His love for us, we can find forgiveness. And that that forgiveness and love is permanent. He's already forgiven you of all your sin, past, present, and future. And He loves you. And He's devoted to you anyway. You see this all over this story in Peter's life. I just love that phrase, "Guys, just come to breakfast." Just enter into this relationship again. And even though they denied Him and even though they ran, Jesus took them all back to this miracle of catching fish again. Remember it was Jesus who told Peter, "Go out and fish." And he caught the catch of his life. And James and John were there, too. I mean, it was just overwhelming what had taken place. And so, that's why John recognized it right away. This is the same miracle. You see what Jesus is doing? He's taking them back. He says, "Guys, I haven't forsaken you. "I'm gonna continue to do this. "I'm going to use you. "This is why I did come. "This is why the cross "and the resurrection were so necessary. "And now I'm inviting you back into "this relationship with me, no matter what you've done, "because I wanna use you. "And I still love you." And I think the significance of Jesus having the fish ready for them is probably twofold. It's because He's telling them, "I'm the one that's going to feed you. "You need to rely upon me." He said, in John chapter 15, "You need to remain in me and abide in me." But then, the second reason he does this, is simply because he's telling them, "Guys, I don't need you to catch fish, "but I'm choosing to use you anyway." He already had fish and bread there. He was already gonna feed them. He's the God of the universe. And yet, He was choosing to use these weak, feeble-minded, sinful men who were just like you and me. They weren't superstars, by the way. They were broken individuals. If you simply went through an account of their life, you would realize how weak-minded these individuals were. They didn't have the gifts of Christian superstars that we oftentimes look to today. These were individuals who were weak-minded, who didn't study under the religious systems of the day. They didn't graduate from the Top Gun religious school. They were ordinary people like you and me, who were sinners. And Jesus said, "I am going to take you "and I am going to use you. "In spite of your failures, I'm renewing the relationship." And it was Jesus who looked across that courtyard at Peter on the night of his betrayal, recorded for us in Luke chapter 22, verse 61. And they met eye-to-eye. And it was Peter who looked at Jesus, and Jesus who looked at Peter with a sense of sympathy. And it was almost as if Jesus was saying to him, "Peter, I love you. "And I know what's in your heart and you love me, "but this is why I have to go to the cross "and this is why I have to rise from the grave." Peter denied the Lord three times. And I'm sure it ran through his mind that he stopped loving the Lord at some point. I'm sure he started to wonder about his own faith. And perhaps he even thought, after denying the Lord three times, that he left the discipleship relationship. But Jesus knew better. Jesus knew what was in his heart. Yes, he failed miserably. He was weak and he wanted to be strong. And one of the great truths of the cross and the resurrection is revealed here, that the reason Jesus went to the cross and the reason that He arose from the grave was because He knows us. He knows we're unworthy. He knows that we're imperfect. He knows that we're feeble. And He simply says, "I want you to come as you are "but not stay that way." Because it is as a result of the cross and the resurrection, seeing who we really are, the He then begins to transform us. And Jesus pursued him. He was devoted to him. And we are helpless, we are weak, we are feeble. And yes, we do need Him. But we must take our eyes off of our own self and back to Him. And that His devotion to us is greater than our devotion to Him. And notice the charcoal fire. Don't miss this point. There's a contrast between verse four, and all of a sudden we find this charcoal fire in verse nine, and the contrast of the charcoal fire on the night of Jesus' betrayal. Because then it was a dark night around that charcoal fire where Peter failed and he denied the Lord. But here in verse four, this is the beginning of a new day. And once again, there's a charcoal fire. And that charcoal fire is taking place in the dawn of a new day after the cross and after the resurrection. I love that imagery. Because even though it was a dark night of despair, it was Jesus, because of the cross and the resurrection that gives Peter hope. It gives you hope that we don't have to stay there, that God speaks down into the truth of those situations to bring about healing. And that is precisely where Jesus wanted to go with Peter now. As He takes a look at what has happened in Peter's life and He surfaces it. Because when we fail, we have a forgiving Savior who knows everything about us and chooses to love us and use us anyway. If you'll look down at verse 15, because Jesus matches Peter's three denials with three invitations to say that he loves Him. "And 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 that I love you.' "And He said to him, 'Feed my lambs.'" A couple of things here. First, Jesus says, "Simon, do you love me?" That word for love is . And it is a perfect, selfless love. That's the idea. And He says, "Do you love me with a perfect love, "more than these other guys?" And the reason why Jesus does this is because that's what Peter was doing, he was bragging. If all else, if everyone else fails you, Lord, I will not. I will stand with you. I will not deny you. And yet, he did. And so Jesus asked Peter to once again visit that painful circumstance. But he's a different man now, he's humbled. Because notice his response. He said, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." But he doesn't say, "You know that I love you "more than these." That's gone. He's not comparising himself. He's not boasting. He's not arrogant anymore. And actually, the word that Peter uses for love is the word , which means human, brotherly love. He's not even gonna go the direction of a perfect love. No, he doesn't. And then Jesus says, "Okay, Peter, "I want you to feed my lands." He's inviting him back into a relationship. He says, "Lord, you know that I love you." Now, by doing that, I think Peter is saying... He's taking the focus off himself. Lord, you know that I love you. Why? Because I think in Peter's mind, he's probably questioning it. He's probably doubting himself. Peter's wondering, is it real? Is it alive? Peter is once again having to get rid of all of that comparison that he once held towards other people. And I think it's striking, because honestly, I don't believe that you can fully love others the way Jesus wants you to love them if your pride and your arrogance and yourself is in the way. That has to go. Why? Because we need to set that stuff aside. Otherwise, you'll be treating them as less than. You won't sacrifice fully for them. You'll give them the leftovers, and you won't fully release yourself and all of your arrogance so that you can receive the very gift of His grace and power to love them through you. You see yourself as someone who's better than, instead of seeing yourself as a sinner who's helping other sinners find Jesus Christ. In verse 16, "He said to him a second time, "'Simon, son of John, do you love me? "And he said to Him, 'Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.' "And He said to him, 'Tend my sheep.'" And a second time, Jesus says, "Do you love me?," but he says, "Do you love me with this perfect, " selfless love?" And Peter again comes back and says, "No..." Or, "I do love you," but Peter won't use the word . He won't use perfect love. He says, "Lord, I love you with a " love, "a brotherly, human love." See, Peter says in his own mind, "No, I'm not going down that road anymore. "I'm not going down the road of bragging about "loving you more than others. "I'm not going down the road of bragging that I love you "with this perfect... "No, no, no, I'm not going there. "But I'm coming to you with all I have, just my human love, "my brotherly love because I so want restoration from you." And Peter says, "Once..." Or, Jesus says, again, really the same idea, "Tend my sheep." He calls them into serving Him. Our love can most definitely be sincere but wobbly. And Jesus can take it and work with it. And He says to us, "If you do, then here's how you show it. "Go serve other people." "Not by being your best, not by trying to perform better "than everybody else, just go and serve them as you are." And He takes that weak love, it's all that we have, and He begins to infuse His life within it. Peter had to deal with his pride. Pride comes because of your arrogance thinking you're better than other people, but there's another side of pride. And pride also shows up when you begin to think that you're unworthy to be used by God. And the reason is because you're still focused on yourself and your performance. If you're saying that, "I'm unworthy to be used by God "because of my sin and my failure. "I know I love the Lord and I'm following Him, "but I've failed, I've done something "that He's not gonna be able to use anymore," then you're still caught up in performance. And what He's saying to Peter, and what He's saying to you is you gotta accept the fact that He has forgiven you. Because if you hold to that position, then you're essentially holding to the fact that He's not big enough to forgive you and set you free. We come to that point in our life where we must believe that we are spiritually bankrupt, that it's totally based on His grace. And the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ means that His grace is greater than anything that we've faced. And it is the acceptance of who we are that guides us down the path of hope and gives us a taste of His grace. And then finally, in verse 17, "He said to him the third time, "'Simon, son of John, do you love me?'" Now, you need to note this. Jesus now uses Peter's word, , a human love. Peter's not bragging that he can have a perfect love anymore. And Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" "And he said to Him, 'Lord, you know everything. "'You know that I love you.' "And Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep.'" Notice, he doesn't start with himself anymore. He starts with the Lord. He says, "Lord, you know everything about me "and you know that I love you, "but I'm loving you with everything I have. "I'm not bragging about a perfect love. "I'm just coming to you with my human love towards you." And that's all that Jesus is asking for us to do. And he says, "Lord, you know me." In other words, by saying, "Lord, you know everything, "I am fully known by you. "You know my weaknesses. "You know the fact that I sinned. "You know, though that my heart of hearts, "even though it's a weak love, is that I still love you." And that's what Jesus wants more than anything because he takes it and he says, "I want to use you." Jesus calls Peter back to serve Him again. Despite his humanity. Jesus knows we cannot love Him perfectly, but that's why He gives us His grace. And so He loves us perfectly, because grace is the game changer. He knows everything about us. And this gives us hope. This gives us, at the point of the resurrection, this celebration of knowing that despite who we are, despite who we continue to be, He forgives us and changes us. And yet we come to Him, as feeble and weak as we are, to experience His amazing grace. I love this quote, it's actually a quote by my son. And he says, "There is no wasted time in God's story. "He uses your past to tell His story." He takes us with all of our pain, in all of our agony, and He still says, "I forgive you and I love you. "Just accept it." And then He actually takes us and He pours His resurrected life through us. And He uses us to love others, helping others that are just as weak and feeble as we are. And He doesn't restore us because He needs us. He restores us because He desires to demonstrate His grace in and through us, regardless of who we are, to simply help others find hope in Him. And when we fail, we have a forgiving Savior who knows everything about us and chooses to love us and use us anyway. I love that. When we fail, He takes us, He forgives us, and then He chooses to love us anyway. We're either feeding His sheep or we're starving His sheep. The choice is yours. Your past does not disqualify you. Your past does not disqualify you. And the past of someone else that you're seeking to love and share Jesus Christ with doesn't disqualify them. It actually demands that you go and serve others, because they're just like you. And choosing not to share, and choosing not to feed them really says to them that their future doesn't matter. And it really says to them that God is not big enough to forgive them and to set them free. You gotta believe that in your own heart, based upon your own understanding of your weakness so that you can turn and you can trust. Many of you do love Him. I know you do. You're listening online today because you love Jesus. You're here at Rockpoint Church because you love Jesus. And you come to Him and you say, "Lord, I do love you." But hand over your worst and He'll take it and He'll use it. And He'll build in you this concept of what it means to really be used by Him. You need to stop telling Him that you're too broken. This is the hope of the resurrection. And if you do not serve or wallow in your guilt and shame, you are, in essence, saying He's not good enough to forgive you, but He is. The key is accepting you for who you are. Stop clinging to the pride and the performance. And then begin to accept the fact that you don't have to be some dramatically gifted Christian. You just have to be like other weak Christians, helping them find Jesus Christ who died and rose from the grave. Well, eventually Jesus describes, in verses 18 and 19, how Peter will die. And at the end of it, in verse 19, He says, "Peter, I want you to follow me." He says, "Peter, you're gonna be someone "who is going to experience something different "than you've ever experienced in your life. "When you were young, you used to dress yourself, "but there's gonna come a day where you're gonna "stretch out your hands and another is going to dress you." He was talking about his death, but he says, "Follow me." Why? Because it's this question, "Peter, do you love me?" that will sustain you from suffering and persecution and even your own weak failures. I'm just as weak as you are. I sin. There are times when I wonder, Lord, I don't get this thing. And I'm struggling, myself. There's times when I doubt whether or not I should even continue to do what I do, because I'm just as weak and sinful as you are, in so many different ways. I trusted Christ at the age of 10, but then I got on the fast track of performance. And I'll tell you what, it didn't take me too many years to figure out into adulthood that I'm not perfect. And that is what is so truly amazing about God's grace. We are all weak-minded, imperfect sinners helping other weak-minded sinners find hope in Jesus Christ. And when we come to the end of ourselves, that's that moment when He can truly love others through us. When we embrace His grace, when we realize we're not washed up and He wants to use us to spread His message around the world. If you are listening today and you've never committed your life to Jesus Christ, I promised that I would give you an opportunity. I won't take long to do this. It's not that complex, but it will require you to bow your heart to Jesus Christ. On this Easter, we celebrate that Jesus Christ did what we could never do for ourselves, that He paid the price for our sin. I've already explained what sin is, it misses God's perfect mark of perfection. We do so by our thoughts and by our deeds. And if you have no idea whether or not you really love the Lord, you have no idea whether or not you're forgiven of your sin, you can, in this moment, in this time, by simply acknowledging before God that you are a sinner and you are in need of a savior. And then you turn to Jesus Christ, that's repentance. You're repenting of your sin in yourself and you're turning to Jesus and you're confessing that He died for you. And you're placing your trust and faith in Him as Savior and Lord. And then you're asking Him to lead your life, which confirms that you've really turned and trusted Christ as Savior. If you're not sure that you are forgiven, we are going to ask that you, right now, give your life to Jesus Christ, whether you're watching online or whether you're here. And while I am speaking, they're going to put up, on the screen a text. And it's simply, you are going to text, "Believe." And when you do that, people are gonna contact you from Rockpoint Church so that we can walk you through not only confirming that decision, but how to begin to follow Him. So if it is your desire to trust Jesus as Savior and Lord, regardless if you're watching online or you're here at Rockpoint, I just want you to bow your heads. I want you to close your eyes. And if it is your decision to trust Him as Savior and Lord, then just follow me in this prayer. The prayer doesn't save you, but it is the commitment of your heart. And I oftentimes do this because I want you to confirm in your heart that you're making this decision today. And here's the prayer, you can pray it. Dear God, I believe that I am a sinner. I believe that my sin deserves to be punished. But I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sin and rose from the grave. And I am now repenting of my sin in myself. I am now turning to you, Jesus, trusting you as my Savior and my Lord. Please lead my life. Help me now, as I walk with you. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. And again, if that's a decision you have made, then please, please text, "Believe." We wanna contact you and help you begin to grow as a follower of Jesus Christ. And if you've made that choice, then it is our incredible opportunity to not focus on the sins of our past but to accept the enormous grace that is demonstrated through the cross and the resurrection. And that we as feeble and weak individuals, we accept His love and His devotion to us. And we rest in His grace, unworthy as we are, so that we might now go and love others the way He's asked us to. So that He will live out the hope of His cross and resurrection through us. So that others can find the hope that we celebrate this Easter. God bless, and thank you for being with us today.