COOKED!

Hey, this is Stephen Furtick.

I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. Be sure to subscribe so we can get you these new sermons every week. Hope you're blessed today. You know, sometimes the miracle that you need is one modification away. So we say, I'm cooked, and God says, you're not cooked. You just need a correction. Do you know how many times you are just a little shift away from God doing something amazing in your life? I was so distracted by what I was struggling with. I did not see what God had already done. He says, I know your heart is breaking, and I know your nets are breaking.

You are not cooked. You are called. You are chosen, and he's got you. I'm thankful to be back in this pulpit today, and I want to share with you a message from John chapter 21.

And I'd like you to turn in your Bible.

If you brought your Bible to John chapter 21, if you didn't, the scripture is going to come up on the screen. And this message comes from a story that is very familiar to our church. I have preached it many times, and yet there is a revelation that God gave me that I think will be so relevant. to our lives today. John, chapter 21. If you don't like who you're sitting next to, you have about 20 seconds to move around before I read this scripture. Ask the person next to you, are you a good partner? Because when Pastor Stephen preaches, I need somebody who's not scared to say amen. Come on, I need somebody who's not scrolling on Snapchat while he's preaching this word. I need somebody who's not just waiting to get to lunch. I

need a word from God today. I have to make sure I'm on the right row.

Come on.

Look up and down your row.

Do a row check.

Is there anybody who looks like they're barely breathing? I want all the fired-up Christians on your row. How are y'all doing back there, Legacy? Y'all ready for this word today?

All right.

The Word of the Lord.

John, chapter 21. I'm going to read up to verse 8 for now. John, chapter 21, verses 1 through 8. See if you remember this Bible story. It says, Afterward, Jesus appeared again to his disciples by the Sea of Galilee.

It happened this way.

Simon Peter, Thomas, also known as Didymus … Yeah, if Didymus was my second name, I'd go by Thomas too. Nathaniel from Cana in Galilee. the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. They were together. They were confused, but they were together. They were torn, but they were together. They were in transition, but they were together. Tell your neighbor, let's stick together. Let's stick together. Verse 3, I'm going out to fish, Simon Peter told them. Sounds more like Simon than Peter, you know. going back to his previous occupation.

I'm going out to fish, Simon Peter told them, and they said, we'll go with you. So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, friends, haven't you any fish?

No, they answered.

He said, throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some. When they did, when they did, when they did, not when they heard, when they did, not when they thought, when they, not when they argued, when they did, when they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus thought Loved.

A little self-referential, isn't it, John? said to Peter, It is the Lord!

And he wrapped his outer.

Or, excuse me, as soon as Simon Peter heard him say, It is the Lord, he wrapped his outer garment around him, for he had taken it off, and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about.

A hundred yards. That's the word of the Lord.

Now, if I were preaching this message at the Methodist church where I grew up, I would call it.

Something like faith to move forward through failure and frustration.

I would give it a nice, dignified, self-explanatory title like that. But since I'm at elevation, since I'm back home, since I hadn't seen you in three weeks, I want.

To call this message something different. I'm going to call it cook. Cooked. Cooked. Everybody say cooked.

If you know what I'm talking about when I say cooked, wave at me. If you're pretending like you know what I'm talking about, but you kind of want me to clarify, wave.

Y'all sit down. We'll talk about it. Cooked.

It is a great honor and a great challenge to pastor such a diverse and broad body of believers. To know that some people in this room when I said John 21, say, Yippee! I love John 21. I hope he gets to the part about the three different Greek words for love. Some people are looking around for John.

Who's John? Where's John? I love that.

Diversity of biblical background, the diversity of cultural background. I love how some of you can't clap on rhythm, and you've been coming here nine years. but you're still trying and you keep coming. I love how our church is made up of some people who are going through the deepest valley of their life and some people who are standing on the highest mountain.

I love all of that.

I love how some of y'all are going gray with me and like me. Your hairline isn't as good as mine, but you're going gray with me. I love how at the same time I'm looking over here at about 100 fired up students who love the Lord Jesus and are not afraid to mosh for the man on the middle cross. I almost got knocked over in the mosh pit when they came up here earlier.

I was looking for security, man.

I love that feeling of just on edge. Some of y'all don't know the book of Ruth from a baby Ruth, and that's all right.

Preacher jokes.

I love how y'all laugh at preacher jokes, because some of you never heard them before. I love all of it, and so it's a challenge as well as a privilege, because When I say cooked, there are some of you who know.

Exactly what that means in a cultural sense.

I'm explaining to you real quick, just in case, because I get this stuff from my kids.

I heard my kids say, I'm cooked a couple of years ago. I was like, huh? There's kind of a line.

When you hear your kids saying stuff when you have teenagers, it's like a line is what you can say that they say. that won't make them cringe. Sometimes I like to say their words to make them cringe. It's just a form of revenge for all the hell they put me through.

I first heard it from my son Elijah. He said, I'm cooked.

Now, if somebody says, you cooked, well, that's a good thing. If they say, you cooked, that means you did that. That means you That means when they.

Say, you cooked, you cooked, that's a compliment, right? Like, ooh, they're looking at your outfit. Ooh, that's nice. You cooked with that. You say, thank you. You cooked.

Or sometimes I'll show my kids a song that I just wrote, and I'll play them the demo, and they'll be like, ooh, y'all cooked today.

I say, thank you. Yes, we did.

We absolutely did. And even sometimes, you know, if you just do something that people just want to, like, gas you up a little bit, they'll be like, you cooked when you really did it, like, just to make you feel better.

But it's a compliment. You say, thank you. If, however, they say, you're cooked.

Uh-oh. Because you're cooked is a problem, not a compliment. I know it's confusing because we're a multigenerational ministry, but you cooked, thank you. You're cooked, uh-oh. Two completely different things.

Same word, but you just have to listen for the nuance of it.

I'm cooked. I got a test in an hour I didn't study. I'm cooked.

Pray about it.

It don't matter. God is not listening to the prayers of a sinner. I'm cooked. Oh, that's a cop. I'm going 87 miles an hour. It's because I was listening to Washed, but the cop isn't going to care that I was full.

Of the Holy Spirit.

I'm cooked.

Oh, my mom knows I turned my location off. I'm cooked.

I'm cooked. There's no way out of this. You may never say that. That might not be your word.

Your word might not be as appropriate as cooked, but you know what I'm saying? It's just a word I heard, and I kind of latched onto it, because we all know what it feels like to come face to face with something where you realize, I have more responsibilities than I have resources.

I'm I'm cooked. I'm cooked.

I'm looking at my schedule for the next three weeks, and I don't see a break, and I'm already exhausted, and I'm about to go into my busiest season.

I'm cooked. I'm cooked.

So, if I'm introducing you to this term for the first time, then great, but no doubt you know the feeling.

I'm cooked.

I'm never going to be able to get this problem behind me.

I'm cooked.

The doctor called me back and said it was important that I come in right away.

I'm cooked.

It usually signifies that there's nothing I can do but to accept the consequence.

I'm cooked. I'm cooked. I wasted those years. Now I can't get a job. I'm cooked. I knew my marriage was in trouble.

I think she's really going to leave me this time.

I'm cooked. See how I went from stupid stuff like your homework … and your.

Outfit to something so serious as I think it's too late for me to beat this addiction. I think it's just in me now. I think it was in my dad and his dad, and I'm cooked, and now I've run off all the people that helped me the first time.

I'm cooked. Have you ever been cooked?

I think it's safe to say that in John chapter 21, Simon Peter was cooked.

Think about it.

Every aspect of this passage points not to the glorious resurrection of Jesus, which has already happened, but the lack of resolution in his own life, which he's still waiting for. The resurrection of Jesus was not resolution for Peter. Even though the finished work of the cross was done, the uncertain.

Future of the disciple still loomed. He's cooked.

He's cooked because He's ruined his reputation as a preacher, and he's given up his profession as a fisherman. We can tell he's out of practice because, as I read you in the text, he fished all night and.

Caught nothing, cooked, frustrated, cooked a failure.

Yet we see in the passage he's moving forward in faith through failure and frustration because he's cooked. But even though you feel cooked, there's usually something you can do.

Am I right about it?

I find all of this all-or-nothing thinking or this overgeneralization … I learned these words when I started going to therapy to help me with my own issues. Sometimes what we do is we slap a label on something, and once we call it over, we don't have to work on.

It anymore because I'm cooked.

There's no need in me getting my grade up in this class because I'm already cooked. There's no need on me eating broccoli tomorrow.

Because I just ate Krispy Kreme today.

Why would I eat cauliflower tomorrow when I'm already cooked from the Krispy Kreme today?

I'm already cooked.

It kind of absolves you from the responsibility. Like, well, I already raised my voice. I ought to go ahead and do it at a black belt level now. Let me add some cuss words in here now, because I'm already cooked. Do you see how it can quickly become a fatalistic state of mind to say something like,' It' s over.

I'm done. It's cooked. It's too late.

I'm cooked.

I want to challenge you from Peter's life that even when you feel cooked … Who am I preaching to?

You don't say that. You don't say, I'm cooked.

You're 63 years old, but you feel it in your bones. Too late now. Too old now. Too far gone now. Should have done it then. Would have done it then. Could have done it then. I'm cooked. They should have done it for me. He should have been there for me. I'm cooked, and it's their fault. I'm cooked, and it's my fault. It doesn't matter whose fault it is. How may I move forward by faith right now is the question we came to ask today. Peter said something in verse 3. He said, I'm going fishing. Even though fishing isn't going to fix it, that's all I know to do. So, when you don't know what to do, do what you can do. You mean you drove all the way out here to hear me say something that simple? Yep. One

time I was going through a little bit of a meltdown in my mind, and I called a friend to talk about all the issues. I was cooked and burned out and tired, and my friend said, Have you been outside today? I said, Have you been listening to anything I've told you? I did not call you as my activity consultant. I called you to give me some advice about all of my problems, which I have just listed for you. I have staff members quitting on me. I have church drama. At the time, we had buildings we had to pay for. I have seven Easter services.

I'm about to preach. I'm cooked.

They said, it's a beautiful day outside. Would you maybe want to take a walk while we talk? Something about serotonin. Something about sunshine. Something about that simple. You know how you get in your head, and Peter is all in his head, and he's cooked, and I denied Christ, and I cursed by the fire, and I said I wasn't one of his disciples, and I said I wouldn't let him down, and I was the first to let him down, and I've seen that he's risen, and I've seen that he lives, but I'm lost. You can know that he lives and still feel lost. You can know that he's risen and still not have resolution. You can be in between even though you've seen him, even though you know him, even though you've touched him, even though he showed Thomas.

Put your hand in the side. Put your hand in the holes. Even though you have had evidence of the presence of God, there can be a sense in your life where you feel paralyzed about what to do next. So Peter said, I know how to fish. Let me get out there and do what I know how to do. Not just fish, but let me fish on the same sea, the Sea of Galilee, where he found me and he called me. Somebody say, he called me. I want to divide this sermon into three points today. The first one is the call. I want to talk to you for a few moments today about the call, because the Sea of Galilee is not only where Peter.

Went to fish after he failed Jesus.

It was where he learned to follow Jesus to begin with in Luke, chapter 5, when Jesus said, let down the nets for.

A catch after he had taught all day from Peter's boat.

So, Peter, fresh from his failure, deep in frustration, not knowing what's next, completely cooked from a human standpoint, says something so simple. I'm going back to the place where he called me. I'm going back to the place where he got on my boat. I know this is so simple, but sometimes when you feel cooked, you just need to come back. Come back to some simple things. Come back to what you know. Come back to, he loves me.

Come back to, he died for me. Sometimes you make it too complicated. Sometimes you need God to show you three steps. Sometimes God only needs to give you one step. Praise me. Worship me. Glorify me. Speak the name of Jesus. Get around somebody who loves God like you love God. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. Peter said to his partners, I'm going fishing, and they said, I'm going with you, so ask your neighbor a question. Will you praise him with me? I'm going through some things right now, and I need somebody on my row right now who really knows what it's like when he's alive. but you're a little lost to come back to the place where he found you. Tell three people, I'm coming back. I'm coming back.

I'm coming back. I'm coming back.

I'm coming back.

I don't know when I'll see him again, but I'm going back to the Sea of Galilee where he taught me how to obey him, where he said, let.

Down the nets for a catch.

Isn't it interesting that this miracle I read you resembles so closely the miracle that began Peter's ministry, and Jesus is bringing him full circle?

Look at verse 5, y'all. He called out to them. Circle called, Justin. He called.

Somebody say, I'm still called. Cooked, but I'm called. Confused, but I'm called. It's complicated, but I'm called.

I'm back fishing for a minute. but when he went back to the place of his original call, the first love, the joy of my salvation, the place where I remember … I do this every time we go out on Elevation Nights.

You can ask the boys. I come in, and we pray.

Usually, I say, remembering your mind when you were a little boy, when you were a little girl, and you prayed that God would use you to lead people to worship him. Remember that as we go into the next few nights, because you're going to get tired, and there's going to be resistance, and there are going to be times where you're smelling his feet on the.

Tour bus or whatever is happening.

In order to have resilience, you need remembrance, the call.

So, when he comes back to the place, Jesus, he called out to them. Check it out. It gets better. Not only did Jesus come to the sea and call on the sea, look what he called them. Friends. Would you have still called Peter your friend?

Me and Jesus must have a different definition of friend, because my definition of friendship has to be kind of reciprocal. If they're beating me, scourging me, mocking me, and the best you can do is stand back by the fire and warm your hands like you don't.

Know me, look at it again. He called out to them. I can think of some other words. Fools, don't you have any fish?

Because this is an opportunity for him to really shame them should he choose to. Shame is like that blanket that gets on you and starts reminding you of the fact that not only did you fail Jesus, but you can't even catch fish. How many have had a thought like that this week? Let me break this down, Pastor, a little bit. You can't even get this right. You can't even get the thing. Not only are you not succeeding in this area, you're not even getting that right.

I am telling you, the longer I pastor, the more I am compelled by the compassion of Christ than the condemnation that has often been leveled against his people in order to create leverage for behavior modification that is not grace-based change.

He called out to them. I'm called. How do I continue when I'm cooked? Because I'm called. Because I'm called when I'm cooked. Because I'm called when I'm consistent. I'm called when I'm sporadic.

I'm called when I'm impulsive and crazy. And I'm called when my actions and my behaviors … I think we have a different idea of called than God. See, when God called Peter, he also called Simon. And he knew all about Simon when he called Peter. Peter wasn't even his name before Jesus met him. Can I preach about Jesus for a minute? This is a Christian church. And see, whatever Jesus calls it, that's what it is. So when Jesus called Peter rock, that's what he was, even though his failure was still in his future. And although Peter was shocked by his denial of Christ, Christ wasn't.

So I'm called. I'm called.

I'm still called. God calls all of me. all of the parts of me. Do y'all hear me up there? God calls all of you, every part of you, not just the parts you think are presentable, not just in the seasons of your life when you feel the strongest, not just when you have everything together to present in an impressive.

Portfolio for others.

God calls all of you, even your mistakes. I know you can't handle this, because we think God is going to use us only in our maturity, but God has a process. by which he gets things ready. God will use every stage of your development if you embrace him by faith to release grace in your life to show you, I'm called. I'm his friend. I'm with him. Even when I wasn't with him, he was with me, and I'm called to do this. I can because I'm called. So he called out to them, Friends, haven't you any fish? No, they answered. But he doesn't only point to the problem.

He points to the solution.

Verse 6 says, throw your net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some. When they did, they weren't able to haul in the net because of the large number of fish. I want to talk to you secondly about the catch. There's the call, and then there's the catch. The great catch of fish. Later we learned it.

Was 153 fish.

You know, men like to count stuff, like their bench press number and their bank account. It's kind of crazy how from verse 5 to verse 6 something shifted that was so monumental.

Based on something so microscopic.

You know, sometimes the miracle you need is one modification away Notice what he didn't say in verse 6. He didn't say, You're in the wrong sea. He didn't say, You're in the wrong sea. He said, You're on the wrong side. If I'm in the wrong sea, that means there are no fish here, but if I'm in the right sea and the wrong side, there's something so simple.

They went from empty nets to full nets.

But the problem with us is we want the catch without the correction. So, we say, I'm cooked, and God says, you're not cooked.

You just need a correction. Sometimes it's just a small correction.

I'm cooked. I've got all of this anxiety in my life. You're not cooked. You just need one correction. See, you wake up every morning, and you start scrolling what other people are saying.

To start the day.

One correction. You said, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. When you throw your net on the right side of the boat and say, God, I'm starting my day with you. What do you say? What do you want? Before I check in with what's going on in the world, let me get within and meet up with my source and hook up with my God.

Just a little shift. Do you know how many times you are just a little shift away from God doing something amazing in your life? There's a catch, and it's not in another sea.

It's on another side of the same boat.

Let me break this down plain. Some of you are married to the right person. You just need to start treating them the right way. Y'all want me to take three more weeks off, don't you? But I came back to tell somebody, you're in the right sea, baby. You're in the right sea. There are other fish on the other side. Oh, you could have a good family if you'd get grateful and stop nitpicking. You've got a good life if you'd start thanking the Lord for it. Isn't that good? I'm in the right seat. I just have to get on the right side. I just have to approach this differently.

I just have to come at it by grace.

I'm going from an empty net to a full net. You're not cooked, but you're going to have to be corrected. You're going to have to do something different. You're going to have to be willing to adjust your attitude a little bit. You're going to have to be willing to admit, you know, I probably could have said that better. You're going to have to be willing to admit, you know what?

I'm casting myself as the victim here.

You know what? Y'all quiet.

You know what? There's nothing wrong with the sea.

It's the side I'm fishing on that has my nets empty.

Do y'all want more on that, or do you want me to move on to point three?

Point three is my sermon. Point one, edamame. But here it comes.

Because when I have preached this text historically, I have been so impressed by the catch of that just on.

The other side of the boat. God is going to give you a blessing, and it's right there.

God is going to bless you, and you're going to go from empty nets to sinking boats. I'm attracted to that kind of preaching and teaching, because I know God can.

I've seen him do it.

I've seen him do stuff. I've seen him change stuff just right on the spot. I've seen him switch.

Stuff just right on the spot.

I've seen him move things just in a moment, so I'm tempted to stop.

On the catch.

But this sermon is not called catch. So I want to show you. What happened next. After they were hauling in heavy nets. After he called.

And then he. And then he jumped in the water. And he swam toward.

The Lord.

And verse 9 says something. Crazy. When they landed.

They saw a fire of burning coals there with fish.

On it.

And some bread. So wait a minute. Back up.

We talked about the call. We talked about the catch. Let's talk about the coals. of burning fire that were on the shore so that after Peter swam to the shore half naked, put his clothes back on to jump in the water. You think God can't use you because you're crazy? That's the craziest thing I've ever heard in my life. After denying Christ, after fishing all night catching nothing … After being cooked by his own decision, cooked by his own inadequacy, cooked by his own impulsivity, cooked by his own desire for self-protection, after thinking it's over, and can God use me now? I'm hauling these heavy nets on the shore, and the boat's coming behind Peter.

Peter is a leader who doesn't know where he's going. After all of this, he gets to the shore, and he sees a fire of burning coals there. with fish on it. So, you mean to tell me that what they were trying all night to catch, Jesus already cooked. You get excited about the catch, but I'm excited about the cook. I'm not here today because I'm so good at catching. I'm here today because he's so good at cooking.

Here's my message in a sentence. Let him cook. He's good at it. Let him cook in your life. Let him cook in your family. Let him cook in this situation. Ooh, that got me fired up. No pun intended. I was so distracted by the fish in the net, I didn't see the fish that were already on the fire. I was so distracted by what I was struggling with, I did not see what God had already done. I was so distracted by how heavy the nets were, I didn't realize that the fish I've been looking for are already here, and he's got one on the fire with my name on it. Are you feeling this message? You thought I called this message cooked because you're cooked. I did not.

I called this message cooked because he cooked after I was cooked. Jesus said to them, verse 10, I'm almost done. I'm almost finished, but I need us to get a little happier about the fact that he cooked.

I don't think you understand this. Okay, so say it like this.

You'll get it.

Even when I'm cooked, he's cooking.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, like that, like that, like that. Even when I'm standing in a red sea nowhere to go, he's cooking. That water is what he wants to cook in.

He's going to boil.

My enemies in that water, because even when I'm cooked, he's cooking. He's cooking. He's cooking. He's cooking. He's cooking.

Reach around and tell seven people he's cooking.

He's cooking.

Come on.

I didn't make you tell 21.

Just seven.

He's cooking. He's cooking. He's cooking.

He's cooking. Don't quit. He's cooking.

Don't give up.

He's cooking.

You have to let him cook. You have to stay out of the kitchen. You have to let the chef do what the chef does. You have to let him get all the Simon out so that Peter can preach because he's cooking. I'm not praising because I cooked. I'm praising because he cooked.

He kept … He led. He made a way. He did it. And no weapon that is formed against my family will prosper. Because my God, he caught. He caught.

He caught.

You wonder why we're praising? Because he cooked. He cooked when we couldn't. He cooked when we were out. He cooked when the bills were due. He cooked when the doctors said no way. He cooked when I was lonely. He cooked when my friends walked away. He cooked. He cooked. He cooked. He cooked. He cooked. He cooked when they couldn't catch. He cooked when they did catch. He cooked.

He's giving them a lot of credit.

Look at verse 10.

He said, Hey, boys. Hey, boys.

Jesus is so nice. Jesus is so kind.

He said, Bring some of the fish you have just caught. The ones you … Yeah. You caught them. You did that so good, baby. That drawing is amazing. I'm hanging on the refrigerator. Bring me some of your fish. I love your fish, baby. It's never been about what you can bring to him. Telling me, I'm cooked.

I'm cooked.

You were cooked when you got here. In sin did my mother conceive me. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I'm cooked.

What else is new?

He's been cooking this whole time. Have you thought about the odds that your life would be where it is today? Have you thought about that lately? Have you thought about the fact that I'm up here preaching when you know what our family went through on the other side? Have you thought about the fact that God would let me be a preacher? Have you thought about that?

Because he could. Have you thought about the fact that when I meet people who.

Have been touched by the ministry of this church, they often say, it was in the year 2020 when I found your church online. I didn't think we were going to make it, but you tell the people of Elevation they got our family through. What's crazy about that is when they said, you can't have physical church, legally mandated, no people in the building. That's a bad church growth strategy.

Can we all agree? Can we take a church vote? How many would say it's a bad strategy to not.

Be able to allow people to attend? Then how did we grow? Because he cooked. Go ahead. Bring all your fish in. That's good, Peter. Yeah, bring me some of your fish.

But I read it over and over because I wanted to show you this revelation.

So you can get all the stress out of your life.

So you can get all of the shame off of you, so you can get all of the expectation for your future on Jesus, so you can remember that he called you friend, and he taught you to catch those fish, and he told you where they were.

Come on.

He helped you find that person. He helped you find that opportunity. He helped you get through that transition. He helped you with that. I'm not here.

Because of what I caught. I'm here because he cooked.

And even when I bring it to him, he doesn't need it. Jesus said to them, verse 12, come and have breakfast. None of the disciples dared ask him, who are you? They knew it was the Lord.

Why?

Because he's asking them to bring fish for a breakfast that he's already cooked. He doesn't need it. He just wants all you have. He calls all of you. That's all it's going to take, bro, is all of you.

That's all it's going to take, sis, is all of you.

You're not cooked. You just have to come. You have to come completely. You have to bring all 153 fish. When you get there, you discover the real miracle of the text is verse 13. Not Peter caught, but Jesus came, and he took the bread, and he gave it.

Grace.

It's grace.

Fishing all night, that's effort.

That's good.

But I see you straining, and I'm going to give you grace, because I've already cooked what you're trying to catch.

You're already accepted. You're already approved. You're already loved. You're already forgiven. You're already free. You see the difference? Even when you're cooked, there's usually something that you can do. But even when you can't, there's something he's already done.

He cooked.

He came and took the bread and gave it to them. This reminds us of communion, doesn't it? Communion over coals. Communion over coals.

Something about those coals. He did the same with the fish. Something about those fish.

5,000 men plus women plus children. Something about that bread. This is my body broken for you. But there's something about those coals. Where have we seen Peter standing over coals before? Isn't it John 18? Standing in the courtyard on the night that Jesus was sentenced. The servant girl came out and asked him, you aren't one of this man's disciples too, are you?

He replied, I'm not. It was cold. The servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm.

Peter also was standing with them, warming himself over the coals. The word fire, anthrakia in Greek, it means coal fire. It's only mentioned twice in John's gospel. The first time, the fire represents Peter's failure. The next time he sees fire, there's fish on it.

One is his failure.

One is his future. Peter's cooked. Jesus cooked to let Peter know. I'm not done with you yet. I am not finished with you yet. You are more than a failed fisherman. You are more than a dysfunctional disciple. You are more than an alcoholic. Give me my camera. I'm prophesying to somebody on this Pando app. You are more than a convict. You are more than an addict. You are more than a mess-up. You are not cooked. You are called. You are chosen. You are drawn. You are his.

You are his friend, and he has got you. So God says, I want to change how you see this fire in your mind. I want to change how you see what you've been going through. I want to change how you see what you did that you can't undo. I want you to change the way you've been saying it. You've been saying, I'm cooked. I can't. I'm cooked. I can't.

I want you to start.

Seeing the fish that are already on the fire. It's already there.

You mean … We were straining all night with empty nets, and you were already frying on the shore what we were hungry for?

Let him cook. Let him have his way in your life. You say, well, how do.

We know that Jesus gave them the fish he already had? Because you can't clean.

Fish that quickly.

When Jesus feeds you, it's going to be a clean blessing. It's going to be a prepared blessing. It's going to be in his time, and he is going to use the very thing you did so that when you stand up like Peter on the day of Pentecost and preach, you're not up there because you can cook. You're up there because he can, and he did, and he will.

I don't know who God gave me this message for, but he's cooking.

He's cooking.

Right now he is mixing ingredients, some bitter, some sweet, some tasty, some troubling, some that are desirable and some that seem dysfunctional.

But when he gets through with all of it, when God does what God does, he says, I know your heart is breaking and I.

Know your nets are breaking, but come have breakfast. It's not that I came to him. It's that he came to me, and he cooked.

So if you need.

To come to him today, you can come. The work has been done. The blood has been shed. The price has been paid. The forgiveness has been granted. The cross is accomplished. The stone has been rolled. The tomb is empty, and the Savior is here. Stand to your feet. All over the auditorium, there are men and women who need to.

Respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ today. Here's the bread. Eat it. Here's the fish. You have a future.

God will not leave you paralyzed in your past.

If you stay there, it will be your decision.

That you did not swim to the shore. He was already there. It's already there. It's already there. It's not something you have to conjure. It's not something you have to catch.

It's something he's already cooked.

You know for your situation in your life exactly what that is.

I want us to do what Peter did. Move toward Jesus.

Whatever that means for you, if that means giving your life to him for the first time, I don't know your situation.

I don't know your failure. I don't know what you've been saying I'm cooked about, but.

I know a name that is greater than whatever you can name. I know a name that's greater than shame. I know a name that's greater than shackles. I know a name that's greater than bankruptcy. I know a name that's greater than disease and depression. I know a name that's greater than generational curses. I know a name. Hey, I hope you enjoyed the podcast. And if you did, make sure to share it and subscribe so we can get you all of these new messages as soon as they're available. I also want to take a moment and thank all of you who are a part of Elevation.

Whether you support us financially or serve with us or just share these messages, it's because of you that we're able to reach people all around the world. And if you want more information on how to be a part of Elevation, Click the link in the description. Thanks again for listening. Make sure to leave a review, share the message and subscribe. God bless you.

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