Wandering & Welcome

In our first ever online worship service yesterday, we spent time in a really intimate moment between Jesus and his friend Peter. Jesus praised Peter for his faithfulness and promised this unending welcome to come - an invitation to the table where Jesus had been invited by his Father, presumably so that Peter could invite others as well, and on and on.

But there was a plot twist. Before the joy would come sorrow. Before the welcome would come the wandering. Peter’s steady, consistent life was about to be upended. He would get lost. He would also be found.

Where have you experienced plot twists in your life lately? It could be around COVID-19, it could be completely unrelated. Read the passage below once, and then again. The second time, imagine Jesus is talking to you about your own life.

• What is he praising you for?

• What is he welcoming you to?

• What plot twists is he naming?

• How does it feel when he tells you not to despair - you will turn back? You will find your way home again.

Talk with Jesus about these things for a few minutes.

Luke 22:28-34

“You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”

Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”