The Uncounted Denials - Matthew 18:1-11 March 4, 2001

Sermon 3-4-01 the uncounted denials Mt 18:1-11


Prayer for the Day
Those moments when ugly is just hanging out all over you
Unloading on someone
6th grade girls basketball

Scripture today … Judas as the traitor
Peter offers his first denial [tho uncounted]
Normally we think of peter as the three-denial guy
Peter denies, Jesus, rooster crows, peter weeps
Many ways we deny him in daily life
No rooster crows, no one weeps.

Questions that someone might want to ask/directly denying Christ
1. do you go to church
2. are you a Christian
3. will you renounce your faith in Christ
4. do you believe that Jesus Christ is the savior
Questions where we secretly deny Christ
Denying the teachings & principles of Christ [love me, love my teachings]
1. Do you turn the other cheek
2. Do you return evil for evil
3. if asked about church do you respond mealy-mouthed
4. do you spend more time teaching kids sports that Christ
5. do you say we believe in prayer, but do not pray
6. do we say we believe in love, but act in self centered ways
7. do you say u believe in the eternal, but stuck on the worldly
Are we fulfilling our potential?
If we forget who we are, this place is just a building
Hell begins when we see what we could have been
What is God's intention for us?
What could we do if we gave our best to Christ?

Jesus reminds peter, Jesus reminds us………….
Should I not drink the cup of my father?
Age 12 I must be about my fathers business

Forgiveness … Peter gets to see the worst of himself, yet he is forgiven
Here is the good news

Nothing broken beyond repair

I won the spiritual lottery

Ash Wednesday
As clean as you get
Sins as from the east to the west
Bottom of who you are

We turn our back on him in little ways every day
Jesus never turns his back on us
There is always a way home



Dear Lord,
My heart is filled with love for you today.
I am at peace within my soul
SO FAR TODAY I'VE DONE ALL RIGHT.
I HAVEN'T GOSSIPED.
I HAVEN'T LOST MY TEMPER.
I HAVEN'T BEEN GREEDY,
GRUMPY, NASTY, SELFISH, OR
OVERINDULGENT.
BUT IN A FEW MINUTES Lord,
I'M GOING TO GET OUT OF BED
AND FROM THEN ON I'M PROBABLY GOING
TO NEED A LOT OF HELP. AMEN.