Sixty-five years ago in London, a violinist was scheduled to
give a concert and the place was sold out. Now normally such a concert would
not have attracted much attention. But this night the violinist was scheduled
to play a $10,000 instrument, and all across the city music lovers flocked to
hear what it would sound like.
As soon as the bow hit the strings everyone knew that they
had made the right decision. They were mesmerized. They had never heard
anything like it. They listened with rapt attention all the way through the
middle of the third piece, when suddenly the musician stood up and began
smashing his instrument on the stage.
The audience was stunned. For several minutes they sat
motionless until the stage manager came out and said that the maestro would be
right back after he uncased his $10,000 instrument. The one he had been playing
was a $100 violin he had picked up earlier that day at a bargain music store.
And you know something? When he returned to the stage and
started to play, no one could tell the difference; because in the hands of the
Master, it’s not the instrument that matters, it’s the Master.
Corrie ten Boom was once asked, “How do you stay humble when
Christians all over the world long to see you and hear your testimony?” Corrie
smiled and said, “Do you think, for one minute, that the donkey that carried
the Lord Jesus into Jerusalem thought the crowds were cheering for Him?”
This week we’re going to go to the beach together where we
find Peter and the other disciples learning again from Jesus the essence of the
Gospel – Jesus + nothing = everything.
It’s not Jesus + obedience. It’s not Jesus + good works.
It’s not Jesus + the approval of others or our own performance. It’s Jesus alone!
For He alone is our Hope of a future.
In preparation for Sunday’s message, “The Hope of a Future”
based on John 21:4-22 and Jeremiah 29:8-14, you may wish to consider the
following:
- What does Paul mean in Galatians 2:14(a) when he says, “When I saw that their conduct was not in step with the Gospel…”?
- How is Peter’s self concept in John 21 out of step with the Gospel?
- Why does Peter say to the others, “I’m going fishing”?
- What is the significance of Jesus’ question in verse 5?
- What is the significance of the catch He provides?
- What is the significance of this being the third revelation of Jesus to His disciples?
- What does Peter’s love for Jesus have to do with his restoration?
- How is Jesus’ instruction to him in verse 17 the essence of discipleship?
- How is Peter’s response in verse 20 & 21 stereotypical of a “works righteousness” attitude?
- How is the Gospel our only sure future?
