God is going to restore what you have lost. This is an excerpt from “Found Fishing.” To watch the full message from @elevationchurch , click here: 
• Found Fishing | Pastor Steven Furtick… #restoration #guidance #resurrection #uncertainty #waiting Chapters: 0:00 – God, What’s Next For Me? 2:32 – Can He Still Use Me? 4:34 – God Will Restore You 7:14 – Looking For Jesus 9:20 – Go Fishing 11:44 – He Knows What’s In You!
God sent me to speak to somebody this Easter.
You’re waiting for God to reveal to you what he
has next for you. You don’t really know what
that is. You know he has risen, and you know
he’s real. You believe in God, and you trust
in God, and you have a relationship with God.
You believe he’s capable, and you believe he’s
great and the stone is rolled away. That’s fine,
but the stone can be rolled away and
you still be stuck. Now listen to me.
This word is not for the people who know
exactly what God has planned for you to do.
You’re like, “Right, because then I’d be
dead. I’d be in heaven.” Exactly! This is
an in-between Bible story where Jesus is risen,
but what he has for me has not yet been revealed.
This is such an amazing story for us to think
about, because in the light of the empty tomb,
Peter still hasn’t personally been restored yet
to the Savior he denied just a few nights ago.
It has only been a few nights, remember, since
Peter warmed himself by the fire and said,
“I don’t even know Jesus.” It has only
been a few nights since he cursed and said,
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Jesus who?” It has only been a short time
since he denied the very one he pledged his
allegiance to, his undying discipleship to.
It hasn’t been that long. So, not
only is he uncertain about the future,
but he’s still dealing with that thing within
himself that kind of feels like, “I let him down.”
Even though Peter has seen Jesus risen, he hasn’t
yet received personal restoration for it yet. He
knows what Jesus did. “He died for my sins.” He
knows what Jesus did. “He rose from the grave.”
But the question isn’t what he did; it’s “What do
I do?” I believe God sent me for a message for a
person who’s saying, “I know what he did, and I
believe in what he did, but I came this Sunday
morning wanting to know ‘What do I do?'” As a
matter of fact, it’s more specific than that.
It’s a message for somebody who’s wondering,
“Can he still use me? Does he still want me?
Is there still time left for this to be turned
around or have I wasted my chance? Did I miss
my opportunity? Did I blow it so badly I
can’t recover? Is the addiction too strong
now? Is the hurt too deep now? Did I watch
it walk away, and I should have stopped it,
but I couldn’t? Did I miss it? Is it over for
me? I know he got up and the grave is empty,
but I kind of feel empty too, because
I’m not sure what’s next for me.”
It’s an in-between message for in-between people.
Raise your hand if you’re in between right now.
Everybody not raising their hand needs a class
on self-awareness, honesty… Do you know what they
need? They need a good flat tire after church.
I pray a nail under your front right tire on
the way home from church. Lying to the Lord like
that on his holy resurrection birthday Sunday.
I want to take up for Peter for a moment,
just for a moment, and take up for every
person under the sound of my voice who
believes that what he did is awesome,
but there are some things you’ve
done that make you wonder. No, no,
no. I’m not talking about just big things. “I’ve
never killed anybody.” Neither did Peter. I think
the challenge of getting through to you with a
message like this… We kind of want an abstract
message about resurrection without having
to do the real, deep work of saying, “Okay.
How do I make this idea that Jesus got up from
the dead more than just a special occasion
where I take Mom to church once a year,
and then I have to come back on Mother’s
Day too? Sheesh! This is all kind of stacking
up. Those are kind of close together.” How do
I take this thing of a relationship with
God and a resurrected Savior and get it
beyond the point of being a special occasion
and make it the operating system of my life?
How do I get it down deep in me? That’s what Peter
needs in this moment. He needs a deep encounter
with a risen Savior, and he’s about to have one.
So are you. The Lord spoke to me. He’s going to
do for somebody today what he did for Peter
back then. He’s going to restore you. Today,
he gave me a very specific word. He said, for
some of you, this is going to be a reset Sunday.
You all never played the original
Nintendo Entertainment System,
but if you’re playing Punch-Out, and
you’re getting beat badly enough,
the only thing left to do is hit that button that
says, “Reset.” I brought my Bible today so maybe
we could find a reset button in the Word of God
and find a reset button in your situation and find
a reset button on this Easter Sunday. Somebody
shout, “I’m ready.” Say, “I’m ready for a reset.”
“I don’t want to stay just where I was. I don’t
want to stay just in what I did. I don’t want to
just carry shame. If he’s not in the grave, why
is this shame on me? If he’s not in the grave,
why won’t this depression let
me go? If he’s not in the grave,
why am I looking for the living among the
dead? I’m ready.” When the reset comes,
it means there’s going to be a brand-new “you” for
you to look at in the mirror on Monday morning.
I want a Sunday resurrection to get in a Monday
morning mirror so that when you look in the mirror
tomorrow morning, you say, “Hello, let’s go. God
has something in store for me.” This is reset
Sunday. So, Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” They
said, “Peter shouldn’t have even still had his
boat. Why did he keep his boat? See? Peter didn’t
have real faith. That’s why he kept his boat.
He followed Jesus, and he left
his nets, but he kept his boat,
because he wanted a backup plan in case it
didn’t work out. Then when it didn’t work
out and Jesus went to the cross, he went back
to his boat. If you really want to follow God,
you’ve got to get rid of your boat and burn
your bridges and go forward and don’t let
anything stop you.” He kept his boat so he could
drive Jesus around so he could preach from it!
I don’t think he was running from Jesus. I think
he was looking for him in the last place he felt
confident in his calling. I think Peter was
tired of sitting around wishing he didn’t do
what he did. You know you can spend the rest
of your life wishing and call it repentance?
Wishing you didn’t do it isn’t repenting, and
feeling guilty about it doesn’t make God feel
better about it. He died for all that stuff.
So, when Peter said, “I’m going fishing,” I
don’t hear it like he’s saying, “I quit. This is
stupid. He didn’t even tell us what to do next.
He dies on us and rises from the dead and makes
us look bad because we all ran…except you,
John, the one he loves.” I love how
John gets that in there. He said,
“The one he loved turned to Peter and
said…” He’s talking about himself. I love
it. Now watch this. What was Peter
looking for when he went fishing?
He said, “I’m going fishing,” and they said, “All
right. We’ve got nothing better to do.” The Spirit
hasn’t come yet. Jesus hasn’t ascended yet. It’s
that in-between period. “We don’t know the next
thing. He hasn’t told us our next assignment.”
So, what do you do when you know what he did,
but you can’t get over what you did, and you don’t
know what he’s calling you to do? Go fishing.
I know it’s a controversial Easter message.
You used to hear everybody preach about Peter
going fishing like he made the wrong move. I
think that’s the exact right thing to do. See,
three years earlier Peter went fishing. Three
years earlier, he cast his nets all night long and
caught nothing. Three years earlier, he pulled his
boat on the shore, and he was cleaning his nets.
This wonder-working rebel priest named Jesus
Christ of Nazareth pulled up on him and said,
“Can I use your boat to fish? But I’m not fishing
for what you’re fishing for. I need to catch some
people.” Peter was like, “Uh, is that legal?
Do you have a license for that?” He was like,
“Yeah, I have the license. I’m the Lord of heaven
and earth. I am the Word that existed before time
began. I am the Word made flesh dwelling among…
I’ve got a license to fish. Push out a little.”
They pushed out a little, and Jesus
preached a little. Then he said,
“Now push out a little more,”
and they pushed out. Jesus said,
“Now that I’ve got what I’m looking for, I’m
going to show you what you’re looking for.
Throw down your nets.” When they dragged them up,
Peter wasn’t happy; he was scared. He said, “Oh,
no! This is bad. If you knew those fish were
in that water, you know the sin that’s in me.”
And he fell down at Jesus’ feet and said,
“Go away from me, Lord. I’m a sinful man.”
Jesus said, “I’m not going anywhere
but inside of you to show you what
I put in you. I’m going to make you a
fisher of men.” He knows what’s in you,
the good and the bad. He knows what’s in you, the
gifts and the weaknesses. He knows what’s in you,
the trauma and the testimony. He knows what’s
in you and chooses you and calls you. That was
three years ago, three years before that
moment Peter would deny him, three years
before that point that Peter would disappoint
him, three years before he would let him down.
Three years have gone by, and Jesus has done
amazing things, including but not limited to
the healing and opening of blinded eyes;
including but not limited to the loosing
of tongues; including but not limited to
the raising of dead people after their
body was already stinking and covered
in maggots and wrapped in graveclothes,
and everybody else gave up and started
crying and went home to comfort the sisters.
He did all of that, and Peter denied him.
Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” It makes
you wonder. Was he fishing because he
lost his faith or was he fishing so he
could find it again? “I remember three
years ago when I let him use my boat.
I remember three years ago when I put
out a little and he started teaching.
I’d never heard anybody teach like he taught. He
taught with authority, but he was gentle, but he
was commanding.” Maybe Peter wasn’t saying, “I’m
giving up.” Maybe he was saying, “I’m going back.”
Before we judge him, before we penalize him,
before we tell him how he should have sold his
boat, and we don’t even come to church when it’s
rainy outside… (Look straight ahead. They won’t
know I’m talking about you. Watch the screen.
Watch the screen.) Peter said, “I’m going fishing,
because I was fishing when he called me.” If you
don’t know what to do, do what you know to do.
But don’t run from what God
has put right in front of you.