At daybreak, after a night of fruitless fishing, a charcoal fire is burning on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and Peter knows that at another fire, barely two weeks earlier, he had said three times: I never knew him. This meeting with the risen Jesus (John 21) is the heart of a sermon about a man who failed his closest friend and went back to his boat, convinced his story was over. Instead of reproach comes one simple question about love, and it changes everything. Listen, if you have ever thought that after your fall God has no task left for you.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- What similarities does the sermon point out between Peter's calling by the Sea of Galilee three years earlier and the scene in John 21, and what might they have meant to Peter?
- Why might the charcoal fire with fish and bread on the shore have reminded Peter of the fire in Caiaphas's courtyard, and what does Jesus asking him three times about love tell us about Jesus?
- After his failure, Peter goes back to fishing, to what he knows. What do you go back to when you feel you have failed God?
- Jesus does not reproach Peter but simply asks: do you love me. How does the fact that Jesus asks this question, rather than one about your sins, change the way you think about your failures?
- Jesus not only forgives Peter but gives him a task: feed my sheep. What keeps you from believing that God may still want to use you in his mission?
- Pastor Rafał shared the story of two lakes and how God restored him to ministry. Who can you tell this week that Jesus is not finished with them, and how will you do it?
