What do you do when you're sinking?

Book of Matthew chapter 14 does anyone remember what the pastor preached two weeks ago? This question is always terrible isn't it? What did the pastor preach about two weeks ago? I think it was… someone remembered an event, there behind me, there is a drawing of that, can someone shout it out?

Well, let's go to Matthew 14, verse 22. The pastor preached a sermon about Jesus walking on the water,

remember now?, and he talked about that sometimes God lets us cook a little in the test before rescuing us, Amen. They remember that he was in the mountains watching them, there struggling with the waves, praying for them, and then at the right time he came walking on the water and saved them.

And I want us to think of another time in this text, but in an element of the text that the pastor didn't talk about but that I felt from the Lord that he wants us to talk about a little bit today, so starting in Matthew 14 verse 22, okay? We are there? 14, 22 of the book of Matthew, we are there.

It says “.....immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side while he sent the crowd away. Saying goodbye to the crowd, they went up the mountain to pray separately and when night came he was there alone, and the boat was already in the middle of the sea whipped by the waves, because the wind was contrary. But at the fourth watch of the night, Jesus came to them walking on the sea and the disciples seeing him on the sea were troubled saying: "A ghost" and they cried out with fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying "be of good cheer, I am... do not be afraid". Then Peter answered him and said: “Lord, if it is You, command me to go to You on the waters and he said: “Come” Peter descended from the boat and walked on the waters to go to Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, he cried out saying: "Lord, save me!" And immediately, Jesus stretching out his hand took hold of him, and said to him: "man of little faith, why did you doubt?" And when they got into the boat the wind calmed down, then those who were in the boat came, worshiped him saying: "truly you are the son of God." Amen, Father bless your word in Jesus name.

I want to focus on something, a specific detail of this text, and it is something that struck me a lot when I saw that painting that you know how they project paintings here from time to time, right? About a month ago I saw this painting and I don't know why but it made me want to cry, looking at Pedro's face there, right? I don't know, I think it reminded me of my baby when he's screaming at night, I don't know what, but it struck me, it struck me. I felt Lord, why does it make me want to cry looking at that drawing? And I felt that Peter was drowning there in the water, holding on to Jesus, rather Jesus holding on to Peter, I felt… that's me, that's me. That's all of us at some point in life, right? Amen.

How many of us know that we learn from many things in life? We learn from the word, we learn from teachings, we learn from others, we learn from successes in life, but I think that more than anything, I don't know about you, but I learn from my falls in life, my failures, my mistakes, my blunders in life.

It is the school of the Lord, to teach us through moments when we all get wet, because we are trying to walk on the water and we stay to watch the storm and the waves and the wind and we stay where? There, like the fish in the waters, how many can identify with that? Amen.

You know I want to talk a little bit, just a meditation, about the way the Lord uses the slips of life to make us strong people in Christ, amen. And Pedro learned with many, many falls and slips and slips in life and problems, how many of us know Pedro's story? He was a hard head, with Jesus, I'm sure that I got that wrong, did I get it wrong again? Hard-headed, hard-headed, hard-headed, how about that? Hard face, better? Okay. No head, better, hard head...

When he met Christ as the story went, does anyone remember the beginning of Peter?

He was there fishing all night , he did not catch anything, he was there washing the nets, Jesus got into his boat to teach the crowd and then Jesus says to Peter: "Look Peter, I am going into the deep to fish again", and what does Peter say to him? remember? We have fished all night and we have not caught anything.

I hear the voice of someone there saying, “Look Jesus, stay with the teaching, stay in the synagogue, but I am the expert here on fishing, don't try to give me advice on my things, I I know about fishing”, but almost, I can look at his brothers, looking at Peter come on it´s Jesus. And he says: "Ok, because it is you who says it in your word, I am going to cast the net." Then we know the story, right?

They catch a miraculous catch, so much so that there are no... they don't fit in the boat, they are all there celebrating the miraculous catch except Pedro, who is there recognizing who he was proud of, to whom he responded with a responsive attitude. How is it that he had spoken to a person who had the power to perform a miracle in the sea? And he approaches Jesus, falls at his feet and says: "Get away from me Jesus, I am a sinful man."

How many of us know that to become a Christian sometimes you have to screw up first? A fall, we think we are very good people, right? we believe... if you ask someone on the street if I'm a good person, I don't kill anyone, I'm a good guy and maybe I can accompany you to church because religion is good, right? and maybe I can bless the church with my presence.

Brother, if you think you are a good person who is blessing the church with your presence and doing a great favor to the Lord, accepting it, you still have not converted. He doesn't convert until he realizes that I am totally shameless with the good mask and then we recognize that we need a savior. Someone healthy doesn't need a doctor. Jesus has come to call sinners and Peter recognized through his mistake, his fall, his need for Jesus. God used him in his life, and he uses it for us too, our weakness, our failures, are the ones that help us many times, to know Christ.

Now this fall, this fall was a good fall, look, it's better to be wet here than to stay in the boat doing absolutely nothing, amen. There were 11, I imagine they were all, 11 in the boat that were fine, they… there are no drawings of them falling there in agony because they never got out of the boat.

There is a book that I really like that is in English says “if you wanna walk on water you´ve got to get out of the boat” - If you want to walk on the waters that have to come out of the boat-, amen.

In the Christian life we sometimes have to take risks to live a supernatural life and get into trouble beyond our ability to deal with, because the Christian life is a supernatural life, it is a radical life that requires We have forces that we don't even have in ourselves, it requires supernatural forces to do the impossible. That is the normal Christian life, brothers.

And the apostle Peter stood out as a man who recognized that the Christian life is a life of walking on the water, and he did, he went out to walk on the water.

I remember, I was learning to ski, before I skied, now I don't ski as much, I don't know, I don't know what happens, I haven't skied for ten years, I don't know how many years; but when I was learning, I came home one day and an uncle of mine, who was an old uncle, more like a grandfather, told me: "Gregory, you're all clean!" And I said: “yes, if I didn't fall even once today”, and that day was a total failure, if you are not falling, you are not learning anything, you are not challenging yourself, you are being comfortable, careful, wimpy, in English would say. So he has to do something daring and sometimes lay there on the floor. And I learned that many times and hard skiing too.

And so it happened with Peter, he got out of the boat and fell. But you know that he learned one thing, that in his supernatural life, if one takes his eyes off Jesus even for an instant, he stays like that, he stays like that. He learned that if I am going to move in my apostolic call that he had, it is better that I continue with my eyes fixed on Jesus and that I do not move from there. Pedro learned to walk in the supernatural.

You know what: in Peter's ministry he preached thousands of people converted every day, he preached thousands, thousands knowing Christ, under his preaching. When he walked on the street, his shadow still healed the sick, really. I have never heard anything like this, that he even put the sick on the street, he passed by, touched the shadow and healed, under his ministry. The apostle Paul learned to walk in the supernatural, but he learned the hard way that I have to keep my eyes on Jesus. If I look at the circumstances around me, it's going to be in the water again.

Brothers, how many have had that experience? Are you walking well in Christ? Are you in victory? You are moving in things that you would never have thought possible, and then you start thinking about your situation around you and you stay down. But you know that Pedro learned something else from this fall: he learned that when he falls there are strong arms there, there is an arm that grabs him and that holds him and says: "don't worry, even if you fall you won't drown because I am with you in the struggle”

How many have had that experience? You are there in that water, and believe me brother, the fear is real, you feel it, I fall, and there are sharks and I don't know what down there, but then there is an arm that lifts you up and says: "Don't worry, my son, my daughter, I am here, I am not going to let you drown, I am with you." We learn from the falls of life, amen brothers.

You know what, brother? I want to heal myself before moving forward, saying that we learn from our falls, I do not want to suggest that we plan to fall, amen. Oh well, if I have a fall I am going to learn from that, Jesus is going to catch me, so that I do not sin, so that grace may abound, as the word says, so do not misunderstand me. I also don't want to say that God tempts us to sin, I'm not saying that either, God doesn't tempt anyone, okay? Nor do I want to say that it is better to fall than not to fall, it is not so. What I know I am saying is that my God, our God is able to take all the circumstances of life even the ugly things and turn them for good for us so that we are men and women of faith, men and women who know that we have a God who lifts us up when we have our slip, amen.

Let's look at another one, Matthew 18, I think we are, Matthew 16, Matthew 16, same Book, Matthew 16, verse we're going to start.... But before you read it, think about Peter, the things are going very well, he was in the inner circle of Jesus, walking closely, moving in the supernatural, and look what happens, his highest point of his discipleship to date. Matthew 16:I3

“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, 'Who do men say is the Son of man?' Elijah, other Jeremiah, and one or more of the prophets. And he said to them: 'and you, who do you say that I am?' Answering Simon Peter said: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Then Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I also tell you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. And to you I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Then he commanded his disciples that they tell no one that Jesus was the Christ.” Amen.

The most beautiful moment of Peter's life up to that moment, when he says: “I know who You are Jesus, you are the Christ of God, the savior, the anointed one”, Jesus says, ' the Holy Spirit gave it to you and I tell you I am going to change your name from Simon to Peter which means rock because on this rock I will build my church, I will give you the keys to heaven, not even Hades can prevail against you'.

What a beautiful moment. Think about the victorious moments in your life, when you knew who Jesus is and felt the anointing of the Holy Spirit, it could be after a retreat where you were touched or healed by the Holy Spirit or maybe you preached to someone and they accepted and the person accepted. to Jesus, and you felt like you were on a mountain.

How many of us know from experience that these are also the most dangerous moments of life? The most beautiful moments are also the moments when we can lower our guard a little.

You meet the Holy Spirit here and you go out to the parking lot and Satan himself meets you there, right?

Have you had this experience? After the baptism many times there is an attack, after the baptism of Jesus he was thrown into the desert. How many have gone through deserts after a beautiful moment with the Lord?

This is how it happened with Peter, he knew, God is with me, God has called me, he has given me authority to conquer in his name and then look what happens, we continue reading Matthew 16, verse 21:

“ ..... And from then on, Jesus began to declare to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer much from the elders, the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and rise again on the third day. Then Peter, taking him aside, began to rebuke him saying: "Lord, have compassion on you, in no way should this happen to you...."

Peter there giving advice to Jesus, rebuking Jesus, no no no no, don't say that, look what Jesus says:

“....But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me Satan, you are a stumbling block because you do not set your sights on the things of God, but on the things of men." And then he proceeds to teach that if someone wants to have authority they have to take up their cross.”

Peter assumed that because he was an anointed person, a chosen person, a person with authority, that he had the right to give Jesus advice on what he should and should not do. He took the right to order Jesus around.

And in your life, have you ever thought that maybe you know better than God? No? Everyone says no, maybe you have thought at some point that you know what and your mom or dad, teachers, cell leader, pastor, I don't know what? Maybe you truly know better than they do so it's not unfair to think so. But it's natural when we feel God's blessing in life that pride fills us up a bit, and Jesus has to place us a bit.

There is a saying in Japanese that my wife has taught me, I'm going to try that in English “the nails that sticks up will we pounded down”. It's like that with the Lord, we get proud, we start thinking WOW, I have the anointing.

Look, that is why we have often observed that people who move in a gift, let's say of liberation, of casting out demons, sometimes it is dangerous to be proud of that, because you send the demons and they they listen, no other person listens to you, but in the name of Jesus the devil listens to you, and you begin to think "AHA I am the ghostbuster here, I can conquer, there are demons here let me out of them", and You think you're... a big deal, and there, in that pride, there are problems, there is pride and there are attacks and there is suffering when this happens.

Peter was getting proud and God had to put him in his place a little bit, had to cock him a little bit, and remind him who is in control of things, this was important. Look, a leader, anointed by the Holy Spirit, knows that he does not have the last word in things, that it is God who rules and not him or her, that we do not have the luxury of preaching what we want to do what we want; there is another who is in control, and he rules in the church of Jesus Christ, amen.

And God always has to take their leaders and locate them, he did it with Moses, God spoke to Moses, "speak to the rock, and water will come out of you", and Moses angrily hits the rock rock and God says, 'because you have not treated me as holy in front of the people, you are not going to enter the promised land, I rule here and not you.

This rod that you have in your hand is a rod that I have given you, of authority but it is my authority through you and it is not your authority to use as you wish'. God has to locate us sometimes.

There's a scene in a movie that I haven't seen but they told me about it, about a gentleman, what's his name, a gentleman, right? that he was holding his position of authority, they put a large necklace on him, he said now you are a knight-errant or I don't know what. And then he was standing there and all happy and the king makes him pahhh, just so you remember who's boss, right? Now ok, God… I don't want to paint God as an ogre, as a monster, it's not like that, but he doesn't share his control with anyone brothers, and sometimes when we fall a little bit he disciplines us for our own good. Amen.

So okay, this goes on, Peter learned never, never, never try to order Jesus around. But Peter still had more lessons to learn. How many remember what happened the night before Jesus' crucifixion? Jesus is praying in Gethsemane, do you remember? He was praying there and he's like sweating and he had his closest friends with him: Pedro, Jacobo, Juan, there by his side. And after an hour he comes to see them and what are they doing? They're sleeping, they're sleeping, that's another, that's a slip, that doesn't look too bad, right? Sleep, what's wrong with getting some sleep? Mira sleeping is not doing anything scandalous, it is not being a bad person, but it is simply being asleep when we have to be awake in the Spirit.

Brothers, many of us fall this way, all in some way and I would be the first to admit it. You are not a bad person, you are not a scandalous person, but brother you are sleeping, wake up in the Lord, because he wants to do something special in your life and if we let ourselves sleep spiritually we are in danger of more serious falls.

I want to talk about Pedro's big fall, right? But before that, let's look at Matthew 26, Matthew 26 come on, Matthew 26:31 to 35, some are thinking, “Gregory…why? Did you wake up on the left side today mad at me? What are you doing?" I'm just saying that God drops us to teach us a few things, ok. Let's go a little further, Matthew 26: 31 to 35

“...Jesus says, -after singing a hymn- he says: “All of you will take offense at me tonight, because it is written, I will ask the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered, but after I have risen I will go ahead of you to Galilee. Responding to Pedro, he again told him, "even if everyone is scandalized by you, I will never be scandalized, I will never deny you," he is basically saying. Jesus said to him: “Truly I tell you that tonight, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times”, and Peter said to him: “Even if it is necessary for me to die with you, I will not deny you”, and all the disciples said the same thing. ...”

Peter had what we call in discipleship a blind side. The blind side when you're driving is the side where the windows don't work, right? you know in the car. I know too well. And one is moving and someone there honking at you... because he was on your blind side. The blind side can be a super dangerous side because it is the side that the enemy can enter. Peter was sure of his commitment to the Lord, he was sure that he was firm with the Lord, we all know what happened.

That same night a maid says: "Look, you were with Jesus and he said: 'No, no, no, I don't know him.' Then look again, we recognize that you come from the same place as him, you are, you have to know him, and he says: "no, no, no, you're wrong" and he starts cursing and swearing three times and he says 'I don't know him. '. It says in the Gospel of Luke that at this moment Jesus turned to look at him from afar. It seems that Jesus was in another place and could see him, and he gave him that look and Peter went out and wept bitterly. That was his big downfall. A fall that he would never forget in his life.

And with that I want to ask the question, what do we do when it's not just a slip? What do we do when it's not a slip? What do we do? What do we do when it is a fall and we are wrong?

In those moments there are two options that we can take, we can be like Judas, what did Judas do? Does anyone remember when he betrayed Jesus? He continued in his rebellion until he ended his life, self-destruction.

Or we can be like the prodigal son. What about the prodigal son? When he ends up in a desperate situation, the word says that he came to his senses and said: "How many laborers in my father's house live better than me at this moment", and he says: "I know what I am going to do, I I will return to my father's house and I will confess to him, and I will ask him to receive me as one of his servants, his servants." And the prodigal son takes, there is a saying in English... "he swallowed his pride", -he swallows his pride-, and he begins to return to his father's house.

We know the story. When still from afar, the father looks at him coming and runs out to find him running like a child, hugs him, cries on his neck, kisses him and says, my son, you are welcome. The son starts telling him, 'father, I'm not worthy of being...' And the father interrupts him and says, 'look, I don't want to listen to your speech. I am your dad and you are my son and I am here to pick you up when you fall. And he looks for the cloak, to put the cloak on him, the new cloak that represents his inheritance, which represents that you are still my son, and he also puts a ring on him that represents everything good, all the benefits of the house and gives him a big party and invites you into the house.

Brothers, Jesus says in this parable, that there is more joy in heaven for a person who has repented than for 99 who do not need to repent, there is joy. And there is no more beautiful joy than seeing a son return home, when Jesus says: "this son of mine was dead and is alive, he was lost, he is found, he is in my house again", it is the joy of seeing a life restored before our eyes.

Brothers, this is what I live for, this is our joy, to see people before God experience the forgiveness and restoration of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Pedro learned a few things, he learned that he was not better than anyone, that he was capable of anything. He learned compassion and empathy for others, he learned that God knows better than him and when God tells him something even if it doesn't fit with his beliefs, he had to adjust to what God told him. But he also learned something, that God has not only called him to repent but God receives him as he is, as he was, that he could not win God's love and he could not lose it either. If the love of God is not won, it is not lost either, the love of God is forever. And Pedro learned that my father's house is a place where I can always go, it is a place where I learn that I am loved by a merciful God.

Brothers, we are all going to have low moments in life, mistakes we make. Sometimes it will be like Pedro, it will be to be daring and fall into the water, but at other times it could be more serious. God wants to speak to you today, he wants to tell you that no matter what you are doing, what you are living, there is a God who knows you by name and who has good things for you.

I want to invite the musicians in and while they come, I want you to think a little bit about the downturns in your life, a little bit, not much, because many times we don't want to think much about these times, right? But I want us to recognize together that God doesn't love you more now than he loved you then. God's love was the same and is the same for you right now.

God maybe, no maybe, surely he can use these moments to make you a more compassionate and merciful person with others, because you are not going to look at others and think, well poor thing that you have problems I don't. You will see, you look, I am a beggar telling other beggars where to find food, I am a wounded healer, because we comfort with the same comfort that we receive from the Lord.

I invite you to do something daring, if you are still in this situation, the Bible says that those who walk in the light as God is in the light, the blood of Jesus purifies them from all evil and fury.

I want to invite you and encourage you to find a trusted brother or sister and talk to him or her, it should be a person like we talk about in discipleship, who knows how to keep a secret please, not someone who He is talking about the things of others, he should be a person of spiritual maturity, a person who can really help and not make the situation worse than it was, preferably a person of the same gender.

But step into the light of God, and acknowledging that whatever it is is not going to shock God. He knows you, he loves you, he has chosen you, I don't know, I look at this face and I see us there, I see us there, I see Jesus, I don't see a rebuke, although he said 'man of little faith, why did you doubt? ?' But I imagine that he said it with a smile, a man of little faith, what am I going to do with you, God is saying - look, come on, come on, I'm here for you, I love you, I know you, I'm here to help you go ahead and I have good things for your life. God's calling and gifts are irrevocable.

I want to close with a testimony and I feel free to speak about it because the same family spoke to many people about this testimony of a pastor who he pastored for 7 years in a church, loved the Lord, preached the word and fell into sin. And he walked away from his pastorate and he has a lot of children all over Boston and they are not children as they should be with the right person, are they? That man got sick, he was about to die and I went to visit him in the hospital 2 or 3 weeks ago and I spoke to him about God's forgiveness, God's call, and I asked him, and he could speak but with a voice hoarse, I don't know a hoarse voice, I asked him: Why did you enter the ministry? and he said: “For souls, for souls”, and I said: “You love souls, don't you?”, he said yes. And do you love the Lord? and he said yes.

And we began to... I began to sing to him; I only sing for people who are about to go with the Lord, that's my thing, and only if I'm alone with them, and I started to sing and it was "Your faithfulness is great", and we're going to... we'll do that after, it was "Your fidelity is great" and he... I couldn't believe it, but he started moaning, but it was moaning from the song, he was singing, I couldn't say the words, but this making the sounds. Your fidelity is great, so he sounded better than me, I think but... And then I read Psalm 23, and again I heard, he didn't say words but groans.

Brothers, I believe that there is a crown that this man awaits. Now it was better that what happened had not happened, but there is a God who rejoices in a person who comes to him. And look at how he got better, he's much better, maybe he himself can come here to testify one day. I hope, we will see what God does, we will see, but I hope so.

I invite you to stand up, let's pray. Father, I thank you, Lord, not only for the victorious things in life, Lord, I also thank you for the slips, for the failures, for the blunders that we make, Lord, for the falls. Lord, thank you Lord, that your mercy is great Lord, that you are able to receive us Lord, receive us with your love, Lord with your forgiveness, Lord. And I ask you Lord, for everyone here who still feels a situation that is not resolved in their lives and if this is you and you want to reconcile with the Lord, I invite you at this moment to say this prayer with me, there where you are .

Lord Jesus, I recognize that I have failed you, but I know Lord, that I am your son, your daughter, Thank you Lord, that you are good and your mercy is forever and I return to you. I ask you to forgive me, I ask you to cleanse me, I ask you to teach me through what I have lived Lord, that I be a person more devoted to you Lord, for what I have lived. Maybe it wasn't a sin, maybe it was just super low time. You know that the Lord wants to hold your hand and get up at that moment, amen.

If anyone here wants to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior you can do it right now, I invite you to raise your hand and say 'Jesus I want to receive you as my Lord and Savior.' If there will be someone here who wants to receive Jesus at this moment and be a true child of God, I invite you to raise your hand and say to God, 'Jesus, I want to receive you as my Lord and Savior.'

God bless you brother. If there will be someone else who wants to receive Jesus today means 'today God I want to meet you, I want to enter your house', I invite you if there will be some more who want to make you raise your hand before the Lord and say to the 'Lord I I receive at this moment', amen. Amen God bless you, amen God bless you, I invite you.

Sister, if you want to come here so we can pray for you, do you dare come in? Very good. I invite you, Marina, could you... amen. Amen, let's reach out brother. If there are any more who want to join this sister, sister, I invite you to pray this prayer:

Lord Jesus, I receive you as my Lord and Savior, I thank you that you are a loving Father and I I believe that Jesus died for me on the cross and I receive you in my heart, and I want to live for you, in the name of Jesus. Amen.