
To Love Jesus is to Know Him
John 21:3-17 (NLT)
A Stand Alone Message | Mick Veach | lead pastor | first aired on 09.12.2021
Introduction
Read Scripture
3 Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”
“We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.
4 At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. 5 He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?”
“No,” they replied.
6 Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.
7 Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. 8 The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore. 9 When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread.
10 “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus said. 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn’t torn.
12 “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. 14 This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead.
15 After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.”
“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.
16 Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.”
“Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.
17 A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep. —John 21:3-17
1) The million - dollar question is; do you love Jesus?
- Do you know how to love Jesus?
2) Luke 10:27 — We are commanded to love the Lord with all our heart and with all our soul, with all our strength and with all our mind and to love our neighbor as we love our self.
3) Our mission statement at KCC is to Know Him and to Make Him Known
a. Today, we look at knowing Him
b. You can’t know Him or desire to Know Jesus with out loving him
4) Today we hear statements like
a. Love is Love
b. Love wins
c. Love is never wrong
5) We must define what love is and how that applies to Jesus
6) Question — Can you have a wrong form of love?
a. Selfish love
b. Abusive love
7) Biblical Description of love
a. Phileo—love of friends
b. Eros—Erotic, passionate love
c. Storge—love of family
d. Agape—Unconditional love
8) There are many reasons we struggle to love Jesus
a. Hurt in our past or present
b. Disappointment with God, church and people
c. Unmet expectations
d. Do not understand what a relationship with Jesus is
e. Jesus is not #1 priority
f. Do not know how to love Jesus
g. Do not accept Jesus’ teachings
9) Let’s learn from Peter and how he loved Jesus
Learning how to love Jesus and thus Knowing Him
I. Loving Jesus is our
A. Verses 7-8 — The one Jesus loved…jumped into the water and headed for the shore
B. Peter was so in love with Jesus that it caused him to do things that others would not do.i. The intimacy that he had missed was now possible and he was not going to miss him
ii. It is interesting that this time, he swims and does not walk on the water
- Peter is in a different moment
C. Phil 3 — Paul had everything that he would have ever dreamed and then he experienced the love of Jesus and everything changed
- Paul counted all the good things in his life as rubbish compared to knowing and loving Jesus
D. Question—What had occurred in these men’s lives that so changed them?
i. The supernatural moment of experiencing his love changed everything
ii. I John 4:19 — We love because he first loved usE. This love is for you today regardless of what you are experiencing
F. Personal Example of how I experienced his love for the first time and it has been growing ever since
G. Romans 2:11 — God does not show favoritism
i. He desires to grant this foundational love for each of us
ii. God does not have favorites like in familiesH. Many have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior but few have experienced this foundational moment when the love of Jesus is expressed all over them
I. Remember if we are going to know Him, then we have to first love him
J. Come as you are and open your heart and ask Him to fill it with his love at this moment
- Surrender of your heart is the only way to know and experience his love
Key Point—Loving Jesus is the first step in knowing Him
II. Loving Jesus Is Not Based Upon Your
A. Verses 15-17 — Jesus asks Peter three times do you love me
i. Jesus already knew that Peter loved him
ii. The questions were for Peter not Jesus
iii. Peter saw himself as a failure because of his denial of Jesus and that he ran awayB. Jesus is asking many of us today the same question
- Do you
_ love me? C. Too many are caught in the performance trap
i. If I am doing good, then Jesus loves me
ii. If I am doing bad, then Jesus is distant from meD. Most religions of the world fall in this work mentality
i. Islam
ii. BuddhismE. Most Americans base their faith on their good works
*It is a bad set up for all of us
F. My acts of service are a result of his love not to earn it
G. John 3:16 and I John 4 — He loved us first so this makes it possible to respond in loving him
H. Please note that a continuous path of wrong choices will have consequences but that will never change his love for us
- The more you love him the more appealing he will be over sin and selfish decisions
Key Point—The love of Jesus is complete and waiting upon our response
III. Loving Jesus
A. In this dialog in John 21 — Jesus tells Peter to feed my sheep
i. He is saying to him love my children, serve my children, teach my children, lead my children
ii. But this is only possible if Peter first loves JesusB. Remember, you can’t give what you don’t have
C. Matthew 25 — Loving others is loving Jesus
- Phil 2 — Put the needs of others before you
D. Loving Jesus also keeps our motives right
- We love others because we have first experienced his love
E. Loving others in an agape way is only possible once we have experienced it in our hearts
F. The challenge for the church today is that we have failed in our ability to love
i. Those who we disagree with
ii. Those who have treated us wrong
Iii. Those who are out to get usG. It is important to note that loving others comes from our own intimacy with Jesus
H. Loving others does not mean
i. To be emotionally beat up
ii. To be mistreated over and over againI. Loving others is the supernatural ability to pray for those who are your enemies and ask God to work in their life
i. Stephen did in Acts 7 and he learned it from Jesus
ii. Jesus prayed for those who killed him in Matthew 28
Key Point—Today’s world is crying out for those who will them love unconditionally
Call to Action
1. Sign up for a Community Group
2. Attend Open Table Wednesday night
3. Engage the various classes offered
4. Read Scripture and Pray systematically
5. Worship consistently with the greater church community
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