Converted Heart Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

Guest (Male): Welcome to Converted Heart Church. Whether you're joining us for the first time or are a valued member of our community, we're delighted to have you with us today. As we continue to navigate through these challenging times, we believe that every person who enters our virtual doors is guided by the Lord.

Though we may be apart physically, we greet you with a smile and embrace you with a virtual hug. On behalf of our pastor, Dr. Darryl and First Lady Burton, and the entire Converted Heart family, we joyfully welcome you into our spiritual home.

We are Christ-centered, preaching messages of love and hope, community-minded, being aware of the needs of the community, cultivating relationships, partnering with businesses who have the same vision, and caring hearts, connecting the heart of God with the heart of the people. Thank you for being with us. We're thrilled to have you here and look forward to sharing this journey of faith and fellowship with you. Please enjoy the service.

Dr. Darryl A. Burton Sr.: This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

We're grateful to have this time with you on this morning. Amen. Our call to worship is coming from Psalm number 95. Psalm number 95, which says, "Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord. Let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving. Let us exalt him with music and song."

For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hands are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, somebody say come. Come, let us bow down and worship. Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Amen.

And so, we are here this morning to celebrate our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in this moment of praise and worship on today. Our psalm today is that we come this far by faith. Don't you know that you've come this far by faith? Amen. Hallelujah. I'm trusting in God, my Savior. Hallelujah. Amen.

He's been my foreman in the fire, time after time, born in his Spirit, washed in his blood. And what he did for me is more than enough. He's been my foreman in the fire, time after time. And I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail. I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail.

Perfect submission, all is at rest. I know the Author of tomorrow has ordered my steps. So this is my story, y'all got a story out there today? This is my song, praising my blessed King and Savior all the day long. And that's why, that's why I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail.

I trust in the Lord because he's never failed us. I trust in God because he will always be there for us. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. That's why I trust him. That's why I trust him. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered.

That's why I trust him. That's why I trust him. Hallelujah. I sought the Lord, my Savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail. I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail. Hallelujah.

Come on, let's give God some praise. Come on, let's give God some more praise. If you're going to trust him, go ahead and begin to praise him. If you're going to trust him with your finances, go ahead and trust him. If you're going to trust him with your health, go ahead and trust him. If you're going to trust him with your relationship, go ahead and trust him and praise him and glorify his name on today. Hallelujah.

It's working today. Thank you for the encouragement. Amen. We're on fire for the Lord. Yes. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Turn it up. Amen. Amen. I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail. I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail. Hallelujah. Praise God.

I want to thank you for your awesome graciousness. We praise the Lord for another day of worship. I planned not to be here long because there's brunch waiting for us in Baltimore. But I want to invite you to turn back to John chapter 21 and allow me to read verse 17 for our hearing, just to lay a foundation for what we're preaching on today.

And again, I want to thank our YouTube audience for being with us, those who are watching on Facebook, watching on lifesource.com and listening on oneplace.com. Verse 17 says, "The third time he said to him, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?'" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him a third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you."

From this text, I'd like to preach from the topic "The Unfinished Business: Failure is Not Final." If you live long enough, at some point of our lives, we will experience failure. Let me say that one more time for the people in the back. If you live long enough, at some point of your life, you will experience failure.

We naturally do not look to fail in whatever we embark upon, but often failure finds its way into our lives through some mistakes we've made or some decisions we have made. Picture a respected leader, maybe a coach, maybe a manager, maybe even a public figure who at a defining moment completely collapsed under pressure. They say the wrong thing, make costly decisions, or abandon their responsibilities when it matters most.

In today's social media world, failure can go public. Amen. In this social media world, yes, failure can go public. It can spread quickly and before you know it, their credibility is gone overnight. Now, imagine this instead. Instead of being permanently sidelined, someone with authority pulls them aside, not to shame them but to restore them, not to embarrass them further but to have a heart-to-heart conversation with them.

Failure is not ignored, but neither is it weaponized against them. Then comes the unexpected. They are trusted again, not only forgiven, but they're given responsibility because their failure, while real, is not the final word. The tension between failure and restoration is exactly where we are here in John chapter 21 on this morning.

By the time we arrive at this moment in John chapter 21, Jesus has already risen from the dead. He has already defeated death, conquered the grave, and revealed himself to some of his disciples. But there is still some unfinished business. Turn to your neighbor and tell them there's still some unfinished business. There's still a conversation that has not yet happened. There's still a wound that has not been addressed, and that wound belongs to Peter, the apostle.

Just days earlier, Peter had done the unthinkable. You know what he did. He denied Jesus, not once, not twice, but he denied Jesus three times. You know the story. Jesus is on trial before Pontius Pilate, and as night lingered, as it went into the early morning, Peter denied Jesus early into the morning.

The gospel tells us when the rooster crowed, Jesus turned and looked at Peter, and Peter went out and wept bitterly. Luke chapter 22, verses 61 and 62. That is not just failure; that is heartbreak. Peter had denied Jesus publicly, repeatedly, and out of fear. Fear can drive us in the wrong direction. Amen.

Peter had failed publicly, repeatedly, and out of fear. One theologian, John Calvin, once observed that Peter's fall was not just a lapse, but a reminder of how fragile human strength really is without God's sustaining grace. Yes, our strength as human beings is fragile, and if we don't have the grace of God to sustain us, we won't make it.

Peter, who is a disciple, is part of those who had been called by Jesus, and he stands in an unresolved tension. He is carrying the weight of guilt and shame. That is what failure does to us. When we fail in business, when we fail in our marriages, when we fail in our careers, when we fail in our relationships, the cloud that hovers over our head is a cloud of guilt, shame, and embarrassment.

And if we don't get the proper help we need, my brothers and sisters, our failure will press upon our mental state. That matter of denying Jesus three times was weighing heavily on Peter, and Jesus knew it. That was unfinished business that Jesus had to attend to.

And I want us to reflect upon some questions that you may want to write these down and we can have a conversation later on. But I want you to reflect upon this surface-level awareness and honest acknowledgment of these questions. Where have you recently fallen short to what God requires of you? Are you minimizing your failure or are you willing to name it clearly?

What moments are you avoiding because it reminds you of where you have failed? Do I need to repeat those for you? Where have you fallen short of what you know God requires of you? Are you minimizing your failures or are you willing to name it clearly? And what moments are you avoiding because we are good at avoiding? What moments are you avoiding because it reminds you of where you have failed?

To get to the other side of our failures, we must address these questions internally. Here in John chapter 21, Peter is still a disciple, but he is not the same Peter as we know in the scripture. He is carrying something; he's carrying the guilt, he's carrying the shame, he's carrying the disappointment of failing to hold up and be what Jesus said he was going to deny him, but he said, "No, I won't deny you. I will be there for you. I will be your ride and die. I will be there for you, Jesus."

But Jesus said, "You're going to deny me three times." And so, instead of moving forward, he said, "Look, I'm going fishing. I'm going back to doing the thing that I used to do." And that may sound simple, but it is a deep, revealing situation that we see here in Peter. In other words, Peter is saying, "I'm going back to my old way of life: fishing. I'm going back to do what I can do well." Because fishing is what Peter did before Jesus called him.

Peter did not know how to move forward, so he went back to what felt familiar. How many of us have done that? How many of us can truly, honestly say that we have done that, that we have failed at something, but then we fall back to the thing that we're most familiar with? What makes it even more significant is that the other disciples followed him. Which reminds us that failure is never just personal; it has influence.

Don't miss this. It was Peter who denied Jesus, not the other disciples. It was Peter who denied Jesus not once, not twice, but three times, but his influence on the other disciples led them to abandon their calling to ministry. And if we're not careful, we can lead people along with us, even though we have failed to live up to what God has called us to do.

And that is why when believers fall short, and we often fall short of the glory of God, we have not always been holy, we have not always done it right. But when a believer falls, we should come alongside that person and give them words of encouragement, give them words of inspiration, give them words of hope, not whispers of judgment.

While Peter is going backward, Jesus is already moving him forward. Here is the transition of the text. The text tells us after a long night of catching nothing, Jesus showed up on the shore side, on the beach. He calls them out and he directs them, he provides for them, and then he prepares breakfast for them on the beach.

Before correction comes, there is compassion. Before confrontation, there is care. And then after breakfast, finished eating, Jesus turned to Peter and asked him one simple question: "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Here is where I want to make my first observation on this morning. Christ meets us in our humility. Christ meets us in our humility.

Notice that Jesus does not begin with an accusation, exposure, or trying to embarrass Peter. No, he does not do that. Instead, Jesus starts with relationship. I'm trying to help somebody this morning. Don't miss this. Jesus does not begin by saying, "Why did you deny me?" He doesn't replay Peter's failure in his face. He doesn't embarrass him in front of the other disciples. Instead, he asks a question about love: "Do you love me?"

In dealing with each other, we often fall into blaming and confronting and embarrassing one another. In that moment, Peter is not the loud, confident disciple that we once knew. He is not making bold declarations. He simply says, "Lord, you know." There is now humility in the position of where Peter is in his walk. There's restraint, there's a quietness in Peter. Why? Because failure causes us to take a deep look inside of who we are.

When we fail, when we fall short, when we miss the mark, it causes us to sit back and take a look at what's going on in us. Why did we fail? What is it that failure does to us? It causes us to think about where we are and what's going on in our lives. And what we see here is that Jesus meets Peter not in his strength, but in his humility.

The Bible says in Psalm 34:18 that the Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and that is exactly where Peter is. And perhaps somebody here today, you're brokenhearted, but you're not abandoned. Your heart may be broken, you may be wounded, but you're not abandoned. Jesus meets him there and he can meet us there too.

But not only does Christ meet us in our humility, my second observation is this: our calling is reaffirmed and not revoked. Our calling is reaffirmed and not revoked. Jesus doesn't stop with one question; he asks again, "Do you love me?" And when Peter responds, Jesus says, "Take care of my sheep."

Now, this is where the text gets powerful because Jesus is not just forgiving Peter, he is restoring Peter. He is reaffirming his calling. Peter's denial three times, and now Jesus restores him three times. But instead of increased judgment, Jesus increases the responsibility: "Feed my lambs, take care of my sheep."

There's a shout for us on this morning right here. Jesus is saying, "Peter, what I called you to do has not been canceled by what you did." We can thank God for that. Amen. Jesus is saying to Peter what I called you to do has not been canceled by what you did. The mistakes that we make doesn't cancel what God has called us to do. Because we do fall short of the glory of God. We do miss the mark. We do not always do what God has called us to do.

And when we mess up, it doesn't mean that God has canceled the calling on your life. You messed up, but I still call you to the work. You missed the mark, but I call you to this work. You failed me in that moment of my need, but I still have called you to this work, Peter. And notice Jesus says, "my sheep." They belong to Jesus. And he still entrusts them to Peter. Imagine that. Wrap your mind around that. In light of what Peter did by missing the mark, by denying Jesus three times, that Jesus still said, "These are my sheep, but I'm going to entrust you with my sheep."

That's heavy and it's really powerful. You may have disqualified yourself, but God still sees you as qualified to his calling. Let me say that again. You may have, because we put ourselves in our own prisons, you may have disqualified yourself, but God still sees you as qualified to his calling. And that's a word for somebody today. Your failures may have interrupted your journey, but it did not cancel your calling. Romans chapter 11, verse 29 says God's gift and calling are irrevocable.

Remember number one, Christ meets us in our humility. Number two, our calling is reaffirmed and not revoked. And then third and finally, Christ's love is the foundation. Christ's love is the foundation. Jesus makes a third time and says a third time, "Do you love me?" And the Bible says Peter was hurt. Not offended, but grieved, because now it's undeniable. Jesus is bringing him face to face with the weight of his failure. And yet even here, Jesus is not asking, "Why did you fail me?" He's asking, "Do you love me?"

He ain't complaining, he ain't confronting Peter, he's in his face saying, "I'm not asking you why you failed me, but I'm asking you do you love me?" Because love, not perfection, is the foundation of our relationship with Christ. Did you hear what I just said? Love, not perfection, not getting it right, not checking all the boxes and everything you do is the foundation for our relationship with Christ.

Before Peter can lead, he must learn how to love because love will hold you when your confidence fails. Love will sustain you when fear shows up again. Love will anchor you when everything else feels unstable. That's why 1 Corinthians chapter 13 reminds us that without love, we are nothing. If I have the faith that can move mountains but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all my possessions to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Jesus rebuilds Peter not on performance, not on promises, but he rebuilds Peter on love because love never fails. Do I have a witness out there on today? I'm here to let somebody know you may have failed, you may have missed the mark, you may have come up short, but I'm here to let you know that love never fails.

When you do what you do for Christ, it will never fail. And I believe that's where many of us are here today. We are not perfect, we are flawed, but we still have the love of God inside of us. Be still and know that God is working. But still love, still call, still capable of being restored.

So what do we do when we fail? First, we must own it. I got to own it. Stop hiding it, stop making excuses. The Bible says in Proverbs 28:13 that whoever conceals their sin will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces finds mercy. I'm here to let you know that you can find mercy, but you got to stop hiding it. You got to own it. You got to stop making excuses.

Secondly, we must also return to the relationship. Rush back, not rush back to the activity, but reconnect with Jesus. We got to reconnect with Jesus, my brothers and sisters. Revelation chapter 2, verse 5 says return to your first love. And third, the third thing we must do, we must step back into purpose.

Don't stay stuck in what happened 20 years ago. Don't stay stuck in what happened 10 years ago. Don't stay stuck in what happened last year. The Bible says in Joel chapter 2, verse 25, "I will restore the years." God can restore us, accelerate us to where we need to be in our calling. Which means failure is not where your story ends.

Turn to your neighbor and tell them failure is not where your story ends. God still has some work for you to do. God is reaffirming you. God is recommissioning you. There's much more of the work that you need to do. So don't get tied down and bogged down in the things that you've done to fail the Lord. Just make sure that you stay connected with God. Come back into relationship with him and let him restore you, let him recommission you to the work that he's called you to do.

Which means failure is not where your story ends. And that's how the story leads us. Peter failed publicly, but he was restored personally. And he was recommissioned powerfully. And if Jesus can do that for Peter, guess what, y'all? If Jesus can do that for Peter, he can do that for me. If Jesus can do that for Peter, he can do that for you.

No matter what you're going through, no matter what you're going through, no matter where you've failed in life, no matter how you've messed up on the job, no matter if your marriage is not right, no matter what situation you find yourself in where you've failed to live up and be what you think and what God has called you to be, don't you know that God can restore you and he can recommission you to do the work he's called you to do?

Your story's not over. Tell yourself, my story's not over. My story's not over. Because your calling is not canceled, and your purpose is still intact. Why? Because in Christ, failure is not final. Come on, let's give God some praise. Amen. Hallelujah. Failure is not final. I hope that encouraged you today. I hope that word encouraged you.

Because there's been some failures in my life. There's been some places where I have disappointed the Lord. But I'm so glad that just because I have failed in certain areas of my life, it has not canceled the calling that God has called me to. And I'm so grateful to God for that. I don't know about y'all, but I'm grateful and I'm thankful for his grace and for his mercy.

We fall down, but we get up. We fall down, but we get up. For a saint is just a sinner who fell down, fell down, we get up, we fall down, but we get up. Stand to your feet. We fall down, but we get up. We fall down, but we get up. For a saint is just a sinner who fell down. We fall down, but we get up. We fall down, but we get up. We fall down, but we get up. For a saint is just a sinner who fell down.

The doors of the church are open at this very moment. If you don't know Jesus in the pardoning of your sins, this is your opportunity to come and give your hand and give God your heart. Is there one here today? You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. But let me speak to those who are watching on our YouTube channel. You may be that person who has had many failures and you don't believe that God hears your prayer anymore.

I want you to know that the devil is a lie. That God hears your prayers and he still has a plan for you. Just because you have failed does not cancel the calling that Jesus has on your life. So if you are there, watching and listening to me right now, and you wish to have a relationship with Christ or want to rededicate yourself to Christ, Romans 10:9 says if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead, the Bible says that you are and can be and will be saved.

So please text the word "Join" to 240-269-5193. Text the word "Join" to 240-269-5193. There you'll see a minute and 26-second video describing what it means to become a disciple of Christ. We want you to come into the fellowship of the Lord wherever you may be. Amen.

So if that's you, you want to rededicate your life to Christ, if you want to come into a relationship with Christ, text the word "Join" to 240-269-5193. Can we go ahead and give God some praise? Amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Amen.

Amen. We're grateful to God for prayers that have been lifted up for Brother Eddie, for Brother Leo, and for all those who are having some challenges. Amen. I came in this morning and I was like, okay, Lord, I don't know what's going on, but I know that you are still in control.

Sometimes you walk into situations and you find yourself in circumstances where you don't know what's going on. A whole bunch of stuff is happening around you. And all I could do, I came and I kneeled right down on that altar, and I prayed to the Lord. I said, "Lord, I don't know what's going on. I'm turning everything over to you. You have your way. Lord, you have your way. You have to be bold enough to say, 'Lord God, have your way in this situation.'" And we're certainly grateful for God giving us this opportunity today.

The Lord bless you and keep you. Make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. The Lord bless you. The Lord bless you and keep you, and keep you, make his face, make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Amen. Amen. Amen. One more time for the Holy Spirit. The Lord bless you. The Lord bless you and keep you. Make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Thank you for being here today and thank you for opening your hearts to hear what thus says the Lord. We thank you now, Lord God, for what we have done in this place to worship you, to honor you, and to glorify your name. Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy, and to the only God our Savior, be glory, majesty, power, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord before all ages now and forevermore. Let the people of God say amen, amen, and amen.

Come on, put your hands together before we leave this place. God bless you. Heaven smile upon you and may the peace of God be with you on your journey this week. God bless you, my YouTube audience. God bless you. We look forward to seeing you again soon. Continue to pray for us as we continue to pray for you. Amen.