July 2, 2025 • 28 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A
little later in the program, we'll tell you how you
can get a copy of doctor Graham's book Diamonds in
the Dark. But first, here's the message the Rock.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Take your Bibles and turn with me to John's Gospel
Chapter one. Now, Jesus changed the world, and he did
it by his cross and resurrection. But he also used
men and women, people like you and me, to bring
the message so that others can know him. And he
(00:43):
did it by calling common men and women to live
an uncommon life, not people with impressive resumes, but typically
ordinary people who were willing to leave their own life
behind and follow Christ with all of their hearts. One
(01:07):
of the most well known of the early followers of
Jesus was the man that has been called Saint Peter
or Simon Peter, the most well known of all of.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
The disciples of Jesus.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
And certainly you would have to say that this man,
Simon Peter, rocked.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
The world with the message of Jesus.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Saint Peter, Now, just how does God make a saint
Saint Patrick? For example, Patrick was a young man who
had a dream. He literally had a dream and in
his dream, he heard the Irish people saying, we appeal
to you, holy servant boy.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Come and walk among us.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
And for young Patrick, that dreamed became his destiny.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
This young man heard the call of God.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
He was obedient to the word of Christ, and as
a result, he went to Ireland, and he traveled all
across Ireland, telling both commoners and chieftains and kings of
the love.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Of Jesus Christ. And as a result, an entire nation
was converted.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Someone wrote of Patrick that he saved civilization. So how
did he become Saint Patrick? How did Peter become Saint Peter?
It is in the call of God that we are
(02:49):
separated unto him and called for him and called to him.
I want to say that if you're a Christian, if
you're a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, you are
a saint. So let's take a look at how God
shapes the saints through the lens. Through the life of
(03:11):
Simon Peter, who was and is the rock down in
chapter one of John.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Verse forty.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
One of the two who heard John speak and follow
Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, and he first found
his own brother Simon and said to him, we have
found the Messiah.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Which means Christ.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
And he brought him to Jesus, and Jesus looked at him,
and the words looked at him. There means that he
looked not only just at him, but right through him.
Can you imagine seeing the eyes of Christ piercing you
through He looked right at him, and he looked on
(03:58):
the inside, he saw his heart, and he said, so.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
You are Simon, the son of John.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
You shall be called Cephus, which means Peter. So now
he had two names, Simon Peter. Now he was a
follower of Christ. He could never have imagined where this
(04:27):
call would take him, but God did some incredible things
in this big fisherman's life. I want to remind you
that whoever you are, and whatever you do, you may
be selling widgets or computers, or working in schools teaching school.
(04:48):
You may be a minister, you may be a missionary,
you may be an attorney.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Whatever you do, if you do it.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
For him, following the call of God for your life,
you will find purpose.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
You will find satisfaction.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
And fulfillment if you will simply do what this man
Simon Peter did when he began to follow Christ. Now
you got to love Simon Peter. He must be the
patron saint of so many of us because he was
a kind of larger than life personality, a leader. He's
(05:28):
always mentioned among the leadership of the band of believers
known as the Disciples.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
He was an extrovert.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
He was bold, confident, courageous, but he was also a
classically human personality, because you see, his boldness sometimes became
brashness and arrogance. There were times when he was willing
to take on the world for Christ. He was so
(06:00):
just and so committed, and yet there was a time
when he denied the Lord three times and failed the
Lord so miserably.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
As a coward.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
He often spoke up when others were silent. He was
the one willing to go online what he believed about Jesus.
And yet at other times he said some of the
dumbest things. Sometimes Simon Peter, like some of us, was
running his mouth while before he had engaged his brain
(06:30):
in gear.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
That was Simon Peter.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
He was at times impetuous as well as infectious. He
was irresponsible and sometimes inconsistent. But at other times he
stood so tall and so bold and so strong For.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
The Lord Jesus. So we look at Simon Peter and
we say I can relate to that, because the fact is,
Simon was no saint when Jesus first met him, and
it took a while.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Before Christ could really shape this man's character in his commitment.
You know, his name says so much about him. His
name Simon means listener or hero. But Jesus gave him
a nickname in the Ara may becas we read it
in the Gospel of John. That nickname is Cephas, but
(07:34):
you know it in the Greek language as Peter, which
means the rock.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Jesus looked at Simon and said.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Simon, I'm giving you a new name, and that new
name is the Rock. Now, Simon's good friends must have
laughed when they heard that, because at this time he
was anything but a rock. What do you think of
(08:04):
when you think of a rock. You think of stability,
you think of security, permanence, you think of strength. And
in so many ways, Simon Peter was not stable. He
was not strong, and yet Jesus looked at him and said,
you are my rock. This would be like looking at
(08:26):
a ball guy and calling him curly, because he was
not a rock. As I said, sometimes so inconsistent and
insecure and impetuous. He was up and down. He was
not solid as a rock. There were times he over
promised and underdelivered. But Jesus saw something in this man.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
He saw his potential.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
He saw him not for what he was, but for
what he could become. He saw the promise of this
man's life, because Jesus looked beyond the surface all the
roughness and the rawness of this man's life, and he
(09:17):
saw a heart that could be shaped made as a
follower of Christ. Jesus knew everything about this man when
he looked right through him. He knew him instantly. He
knew his character or lack of character at times. He
knew his strengths, he knew his weaknesses. He knew something
of his faith and of his fears. He knew something
(09:40):
of his failures. He knew the best about Simon Peter,
and he knew the worst about Simon.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Peter, just like he does with all of us. He
knows all about me.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
And so in one sense, Simon Peter is a picture
of every one of us, isn't he. We've got the
old man with the old nature, who is Simon and
we've got the new Man with a nickname, the New
Man who is Simon Peter. So throughout life, after we
are converted, after we come to Christ, there's this constant
(10:15):
struggle between the old life and the New life.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
And that is the work of God's.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Spirit to make us more in more like Jesus, more
and more like a Christ's follower. And only Jesus can
do what he has called us to do. You know
why Simon Peter became such a great man, a saint
for God, a leader in the church, a powerful preacher,
a man who wrote the portions of the New Testament.
(10:41):
It was because he was in the hands of Jesus Christ.
And what God starts, he finishes. And when we come
to faith in Jesus Christ, he assures us that He
is beginning to do a brand new work in us,
and he will complete it unto the day of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Jesus looks at you, sir. Jesus looks at you lady.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
And he sees you as you are, but he also
sees you for what you can become.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message
the Rock. If you're walking through a tough season, Diamonds
in the Dark is a message you need to hear.
In this honest and hope filled book, Doctor Graham shows
you how God uses grief, loss, and hardship to reveal
spiritual treasures you'd never discover otherwise. We want to send
(11:31):
you Diamonds in the Dark as a thanks for your
gift of ten dollars or more. Call now to request
your copy. Call one eight hundred seven ninety five four
six two seven. That's one eight hundred seven ninety five
four six two seven, or text the word diamond to
five nine seven eight nine. Don't let stress rob you
(11:52):
of peace. It is possible to break the destructive grip
of stress on your life and enjoy the peace and
abundance God desires for you. That's what doctor Graham helps
you do in his booklet Breaking Free from Stress. We'll
send you a digital download of Breaking Free from Stress
when you sign up for email updates from PowerPoint Today.
Just go to PowerPoint dot org slash stress and sign
(12:14):
up today. Now let's get back to today's message. The rock.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
He began his walk with Christ, this man Simon Peter,
and when he calls us, he calls us to follow him.
You know, there's some people today, some brands of psychology
that tell us that man cannot change, that we are
who we are, that we have our basic personalities, temperaments,
(12:47):
and character structure. That is somewhat in the DNA, it
is said that we are who we are and we
can't really change, but Jesus can change you. Man can't
change you, a human being cannot change you, but God
(13:09):
can change you. Don't let anybody tell you that you
can't change. When the power of Jesus Christ transforms your life.
He was converted, he was changed all because and I
love this in the story of Simon Peter, all because
(13:31):
he was captivated by Christ. What would compel a man
who was a fisherman? He had apparently a good fishing business.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
It was a family business.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
He was doing quite well there on the Sea of
Galilee and was somewhat well known in the regent.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
He was married, had a family. So what would compel
a man, a men's man like Simon.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Peter to walk away from his career, say goodbye to
his lucrative business and start trekking with Christ. As he
followed Jesus all the way to the Cross and beyond.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
Think about that he along with others like him.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
When they met Jesus, just walked away from everything they knew.
They said, we have found the Messiah. We have met
the one who has come to change the world.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
He was a simple man, a fisherman.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
He was uneducated, even when later he spoke so powerfully
and thousands were converted to him, he was arrested for
his faith.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
They noted that Simon Peter was an unlearned and uneducated man.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
And yet they also observed that he had been with Jesus.
So in some fashion, this man saw in Jesus the
greatness and the glory of God. And he knew that
if somehow Jesus could call him and compel him to
(15:26):
follow him, that he was also destined for some kind
of greatness. Now he could have never imagined that, he
could have never known just how great he would become.
No one would have figured the fisherman for a.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Great man except Jesus. One of the things that I
want to mention in this message is.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Jesus is so majestic and so powerful and so great
that he had compel men through the centuries to follow him.
Thank God for every woman we talked about Mary, the
last time we were together who sat at the feet
of Jesus, and those women who ran with the good
(16:16):
news of the resurrection, Thank God for every one of them.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
But you also need to remember that.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Jesus, Jesus the Savior, the Lord of life. There's something
so compelling about Jesus that calls men to follow him.
And yet I think we've come through a time and
a season in the church at large I'm talking about
now in which we have so often feminized the Christian faith.
(16:46):
We're told that sixty percent of church attenders in America
today are women.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
So the men are falling behind, and there are a
lot of guys.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
They seem to think, well, this following Jesus, this church thing,
that's that's for women and kids. And that's great for
the little lady. That's great for mom. But I'm a
man's man. I don't have time for this church stuff. Well,
Simon Peter was a man's man, but he became God's man.
(17:22):
And you will never be more of a man than
when you laid down your life as a man and
begin to follow Jesus Christ. And you can be strong
like Simon Peter. You could be a man who is
given and prone to some mistakes in life and yet
(17:43):
be powerfully.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Used of God.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
We have to be very careful that we make sure
that men know the right thing to do. The best
thing to do is to follow Jesus Christ with all
your heart. We need a more must regular Christianity and
our generation. You know, we men, we don't know who
we are half the time. We don't know if we're
(18:09):
supposed to be the macho man or the mellow man.
And then we're told, and this is confusing, we're told,
we're told that we're to get in touch with our
feminine side.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
Well, let me tell you something. I got in touch
with my feminine side.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
I married her thirty seven years ago, and I've been
in touch with her every since.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
I kind of like it, by the way.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
I mean, you never hear women saying, oh, I need
to get in touch with my masculine side. So what
is all of this and that somehow that if you're
going to follow Jesus, you've got to give up your masculinity.
You've got to give up your manhood. You've got to
you've got to give up your strength and become a
weakly No. Simon Peter was a man's man, the big fisherman,
(19:04):
but he followed Christ and he became God's man.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
He was destined for greatness and destined for glory.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
You see, it's not how the world sees you, is
how Jesus sees.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
You that matters.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
The world may look at you and say you aren't
good enough, you're not strong enough, you're not big enough,
and maybe you feel obscure and insignificant. But God sees
you in a different way. The Bible says in First Corinthius,
chapter one that we're to consider our calling that not
(19:43):
many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not
many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But
God chose what is foolish in the world to shame
the wise. God chose what is weak in the world
to shame the strong. Now, of course, Simon Peter knew
that there was something so that's wrong, but something so
supernatural about Jesus.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
The Holy Spirit taught you of this.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
In John sixty eight, when many were leaving Christ because
it was becoming demanding and difficult to follow him. Jesus
looked at his men and said, will you also go away?
Simon Peter spoke up and said, Lord to whom should
we go. You have the words of eternal life. And
(20:33):
on another occasion, Jesus said, who do men say that
the son of Man is?
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Who am I? And it was Simon.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Peter who spoke up and said, you are the Christ,
the son of the Living God. On another occasion, after
a miracle, Simon was involved in the miracle, they caught
(21:04):
so many fish at the command of Christ that the
boat couldn't contain them. Simon had been arguing with Jesus
a bit about how to catch fish, typical Simon Peter.
Jesus told them throw the nets on the other and
they weren't catching anything, so Jesus said, throw the nets
(21:26):
on the other side of the boat. Simon Peter says
something like this, Look, I'm the fisherman, you're a carpenter.
Why don't you just you know, you're a preacher. You
do the preaching.
Speaker 3 (21:42):
I'll do the fish.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
But then he said, nevertheless, Lord, at your will, And
so he did it anyway, even though he didn't believe.
And when he did, they caught so many fish that
the net was breaking. Jesus told them to throw the
nets on the other side of the boat.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
He threw one net and as a result, nearly sunk.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
The whole ship had just obeyed Jesus and set out
many nets. As Jesus said, they would have had the
problem that they had. So when Simon Peters saw this miracle,
when he saw his own failure in the presence of Christ,
he says in Luke chapter five and verse eight that
he fell down at Jesus' knees and said, depart from me,
(22:25):
oh God, for I am a sinful man. He saw
the greatness of Jesus. In seeing the greatness and the
glory of Jesus, he was so humble, and he was
so broken by his own sinful behavior and bad attitude. Ultimately,
he saw the risen Christ, and even though he had
(22:47):
failed the Lord and denied him three times, Jesus went
to him and personally restored him. And he found after
he met the risen Savior, he found a great purpose
and passion.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
For his life.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
You know, every person on earth, including you and me,
especially you and me, we need to discover why God
put us on earth, why are you here? And that
is to live a life of significance, and a life
of significance is to know and to do the will
(23:24):
of God. That's significance. And that's why Simon Peter, who
could have spent the rest of his days in a
lucrative fishing business along the Sea of Galilee, made some money,
fed his family, and then die and no one would
have ever heard of him. But when he began to
follow Christ, everything changed. We began to do the will
(23:47):
of God for his life.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
The ordinary was transformed to the extraordinary.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message
The Rock. Life doesn't always unfold the way we hope.
There are setbacks, losses, and seasons that leave us asking
where is God in all of this. In his honest
and encouraging book Diamonds in the Dark, Doctor Graham shares
how God is not absent in our pain. He is
(24:16):
present and He is at work. This powerful resource walks
you through some of life's hardest places to reveal spiritual
treasures God plants along the way. If you or someone
you love is facing grief, fear, or uncertainty, this message
will help you find strength, clarity, and hope right where
you are. And when you give a gift of ten
(24:38):
dollars or more, we'll send you a copy of Diamonds
in the Dark as our thanks call one eight hundred
seven ninety five four six two seven. That's one eight
hundred seven ninety five four six two seven, or just
text Diamond to five nine seven eight nine, and don't
forget to visit Jack Graham dot org where you can
(24:58):
shop our East store, give a gift online, or sign
up for doctor Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website
again is Jack Graham dot org. And also be sure
to sign up for doctor Graham's podcast Bible in a
Year Pastor what is your PowerPoint for today?
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Well, I want you to think about the way Jesus
sees you today. When Jesus looked at Simon and called
him Peter, which means rocks, most of Simon's friends were shocked,
maybe a snicker or two, because Peter wasn't anyone who
could be referred to as a rock, someone who was stable, strong,
a source of strength. But Jesus, you see, saw so
(25:37):
much more in Peter than even his closest friends could see.
In the exact way. When Jesus looks at you, he
doesn't see you as others see you, or even as
you see yourself. He sees you for what you can become.
He sees the potential in your life. Now that's a
real encouragement. But here's a problem. A lot of Christians
(25:58):
aren't letting God move them into their full potential into
their future. The reasons are so numerous, but the most
common reason is because most people are afraid to really
get out of their comfort zone. In order for you
to reach your full potential and to fulfill your mission
as a follower of Christ, you need to be willing
to take risks to get out of your comfort zone
(26:21):
and to get into His zone. But here's the great
thing about the call of Jesus upon your life. He
doesn't ask you or command you to do anything that
he doesn't give you the power to accomplish. So when
you face trials or times of uncertainty, it may be
hard to trust God. But if you just keep following
after him, trusting him with every step, you will be
(26:43):
amazed at how your faith and your character will grow.
I love the scripture which says the steps of a
good man are ordered by the Lord, and though he fall,
he will not be utterly cast down, for the Lord
upholds him with his strong right hand. You will be
able to handle so much more than you think if
you walk with God each step of the way, you'll
(27:04):
be able to forgive when you thought you couldn't forgive.
You'll be able to trust God and wait patiently when
you thought you couldn't wait, and be longer, and you
will have a hope when it seems everything around.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
You is Cromboy.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
And that is today's power Point. Remember when you give
a gift of ten dollars or more to PowerPoint, we'll
send you doctor Graham's book Diamonds in the Dark as
our thanks. Call one eight hundred seven ninety five four
six two seven. That's one eight hundred seven ninety five
four six two seven. You can also text the word
(27:37):
diamond to five nine seven eight nine and join us
again next time as doctor Graham brings a message about
the adventure your life becomes when you surrender to God's purposes.
That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with
Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministry.
Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A
little later in the program, we'll tell you how you
can get a copy of doctor Graham's book Diamonds in
the Dark. But first, here's the message the Rock.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Take your Bibles and turn with me to John's Gospel
Chapter one. Now, Jesus changed the world, and he did
it by his cross and resurrection. But he also used
men and women, people like you and me, to bring
the message so that others can know him. And he
(00:43):
did it by calling common men and women to live
an uncommon life, not people with impressive resumes, but typically
ordinary people who were willing to leave their own life
behind and follow Christ with all of their hearts. One
(01:07):
of the most well known of the early followers of
Jesus was the man that has been called Saint Peter
or Simon Peter, the most well known of all of.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
The disciples of Jesus.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
And certainly you would have to say that this man,
Simon Peter, rocked.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
The world with the message of Jesus.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Saint Peter, Now, just how does God make a saint
Saint Patrick? For example, Patrick was a young man who
had a dream. He literally had a dream and in
his dream, he heard the Irish people saying, we appeal
to you, holy servant boy.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Come and walk among us.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
And for young Patrick, that dreamed became his destiny.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
This young man heard the call of God.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
He was obedient to the word of Christ, and as
a result, he went to Ireland, and he traveled all
across Ireland, telling both commoners and chieftains and kings of
the love.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Of Jesus Christ. And as a result, an entire nation
was converted.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Someone wrote of Patrick that he saved civilization. So how
did he become Saint Patrick? How did Peter become Saint Peter?
It is in the call of God that we are
(02:49):
separated unto him and called for him and called to him.
I want to say that if you're a Christian, if
you're a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, you are
a saint. So let's take a look at how God
shapes the saints through the lens. Through the life of
(03:11):
Simon Peter, who was and is the rock down in
chapter one of John.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Verse forty.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
One of the two who heard John speak and follow
Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, and he first found
his own brother Simon and said to him, we have
found the Messiah.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Which means Christ.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
And he brought him to Jesus, and Jesus looked at him,
and the words looked at him. There means that he
looked not only just at him, but right through him.
Can you imagine seeing the eyes of Christ piercing you
through He looked right at him, and he looked on
(03:58):
the inside, he saw his heart, and he said, so.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
You are Simon, the son of John.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
You shall be called Cephus, which means Peter. So now
he had two names, Simon Peter. Now he was a
follower of Christ. He could never have imagined where this
(04:27):
call would take him, but God did some incredible things
in this big fisherman's life. I want to remind you
that whoever you are, and whatever you do, you may
be selling widgets or computers, or working in schools teaching school.
(04:48):
You may be a minister, you may be a missionary,
you may be an attorney.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Whatever you do, if you do it.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
For him, following the call of God for your life,
you will find purpose.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
You will find satisfaction.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
And fulfillment if you will simply do what this man
Simon Peter did when he began to follow Christ. Now
you got to love Simon Peter. He must be the
patron saint of so many of us because he was
a kind of larger than life personality, a leader. He's
(05:28):
always mentioned among the leadership of the band of believers
known as the Disciples.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
He was an extrovert.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
He was bold, confident, courageous, but he was also a
classically human personality, because you see, his boldness sometimes became
brashness and arrogance. There were times when he was willing
to take on the world for Christ. He was so
(06:00):
just and so committed, and yet there was a time
when he denied the Lord three times and failed the
Lord so miserably.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
As a coward.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
He often spoke up when others were silent. He was
the one willing to go online what he believed about Jesus.
And yet at other times he said some of the
dumbest things. Sometimes Simon Peter, like some of us, was
running his mouth while before he had engaged his brain
(06:30):
in gear.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
That was Simon Peter.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
He was at times impetuous as well as infectious. He
was irresponsible and sometimes inconsistent. But at other times he
stood so tall and so bold and so strong For.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
The Lord Jesus. So we look at Simon Peter and
we say I can relate to that, because the fact is,
Simon was no saint when Jesus first met him, and
it took a while.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Before Christ could really shape this man's character in his commitment.
You know, his name says so much about him. His
name Simon means listener or hero. But Jesus gave him
a nickname in the Ara may becas we read it
in the Gospel of John. That nickname is Cephas, but
(07:34):
you know it in the Greek language as Peter, which
means the rock.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Jesus looked at Simon and said.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Simon, I'm giving you a new name, and that new
name is the Rock. Now, Simon's good friends must have
laughed when they heard that, because at this time he
was anything but a rock. What do you think of
(08:04):
when you think of a rock. You think of stability,
you think of security, permanence, you think of strength. And
in so many ways, Simon Peter was not stable. He
was not strong, and yet Jesus looked at him and said,
you are my rock. This would be like looking at
(08:26):
a ball guy and calling him curly, because he was
not a rock. As I said, sometimes so inconsistent and
insecure and impetuous. He was up and down. He was
not solid as a rock. There were times he over
promised and underdelivered. But Jesus saw something in this man.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
He saw his potential.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
He saw him not for what he was, but for
what he could become. He saw the promise of this
man's life, because Jesus looked beyond the surface all the
roughness and the rawness of this man's life, and he
(09:17):
saw a heart that could be shaped made as a
follower of Christ. Jesus knew everything about this man when
he looked right through him. He knew him instantly. He
knew his character or lack of character at times. He
knew his strengths, he knew his weaknesses. He knew something
of his faith and of his fears. He knew something
(09:40):
of his failures. He knew the best about Simon Peter,
and he knew the worst about Simon.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Peter, just like he does with all of us. He
knows all about me.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
And so in one sense, Simon Peter is a picture
of every one of us, isn't he. We've got the
old man with the old nature, who is Simon and
we've got the new Man with a nickname, the New
Man who is Simon Peter. So throughout life, after we
are converted, after we come to Christ, there's this constant
(10:15):
struggle between the old life and the New life.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
And that is the work of God's.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Spirit to make us more in more like Jesus, more
and more like a Christ's follower. And only Jesus can
do what he has called us to do. You know
why Simon Peter became such a great man, a saint
for God, a leader in the church, a powerful preacher,
a man who wrote the portions of the New Testament.
(10:41):
It was because he was in the hands of Jesus Christ.
And what God starts, he finishes. And when we come
to faith in Jesus Christ, he assures us that He
is beginning to do a brand new work in us,
and he will complete it unto the day of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Jesus looks at you, sir. Jesus looks at you lady.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
And he sees you as you are, but he also
sees you for what you can become.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message
the Rock. If you're walking through a tough season, Diamonds
in the Dark is a message you need to hear.
In this honest and hope filled book, Doctor Graham shows
you how God uses grief, loss, and hardship to reveal
spiritual treasures you'd never discover otherwise. We want to send
(11:31):
you Diamonds in the Dark as a thanks for your
gift of ten dollars or more. Call now to request
your copy. Call one eight hundred seven ninety five four
six two seven. That's one eight hundred seven ninety five
four six two seven, or text the word diamond to
five nine seven eight nine. Don't let stress rob you
(11:52):
of peace. It is possible to break the destructive grip
of stress on your life and enjoy the peace and
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Just go to PowerPoint dot org slash stress and sign
(12:14):
up today. Now let's get back to today's message. The rock.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
He began his walk with Christ, this man Simon Peter,
and when he calls us, he calls us to follow him.
You know, there's some people today, some brands of psychology
that tell us that man cannot change, that we are
who we are, that we have our basic personalities, temperaments,
(12:47):
and character structure. That is somewhat in the DNA, it
is said that we are who we are and we
can't really change, but Jesus can change you. Man can't
change you, a human being cannot change you, but God
(13:09):
can change you. Don't let anybody tell you that you
can't change. When the power of Jesus Christ transforms your life.
He was converted, he was changed all because and I
love this in the story of Simon Peter, all because
(13:31):
he was captivated by Christ. What would compel a man
who was a fisherman? He had apparently a good fishing business.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
It was a family business.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
He was doing quite well there on the Sea of
Galilee and was somewhat well known in the regent.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
He was married, had a family. So what would compel
a man, a men's man like Simon.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Peter to walk away from his career, say goodbye to
his lucrative business and start trekking with Christ. As he
followed Jesus all the way to the Cross and beyond.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
Think about that he along with others like him.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
When they met Jesus, just walked away from everything they knew.
They said, we have found the Messiah. We have met
the one who has come to change the world.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
He was a simple man, a fisherman.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
He was uneducated, even when later he spoke so powerfully
and thousands were converted to him, he was arrested for
his faith.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
They noted that Simon Peter was an unlearned and uneducated man.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
And yet they also observed that he had been with Jesus.
So in some fashion, this man saw in Jesus the
greatness and the glory of God. And he knew that
if somehow Jesus could call him and compel him to
(15:26):
follow him, that he was also destined for some kind
of greatness. Now he could have never imagined that, he
could have never known just how great he would become.
No one would have figured the fisherman for a.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Great man except Jesus. One of the things that I
want to mention in this message is.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Jesus is so majestic and so powerful and so great
that he had compel men through the centuries to follow him.
Thank God for every woman we talked about Mary, the
last time we were together who sat at the feet
of Jesus, and those women who ran with the good
(16:16):
news of the resurrection, Thank God for every one of them.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
But you also need to remember that.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Jesus, Jesus the Savior, the Lord of life. There's something
so compelling about Jesus that calls men to follow him.
And yet I think we've come through a time and
a season in the church at large I'm talking about
now in which we have so often feminized the Christian faith.
(16:46):
We're told that sixty percent of church attenders in America
today are women.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
So the men are falling behind, and there are a
lot of guys.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
They seem to think, well, this following Jesus, this church thing,
that's that's for women and kids. And that's great for
the little lady. That's great for mom. But I'm a
man's man. I don't have time for this church stuff. Well,
Simon Peter was a man's man, but he became God's man.
(17:22):
And you will never be more of a man than
when you laid down your life as a man and
begin to follow Jesus Christ. And you can be strong
like Simon Peter. You could be a man who is
given and prone to some mistakes in life and yet
(17:43):
be powerfully.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Used of God.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
We have to be very careful that we make sure
that men know the right thing to do. The best
thing to do is to follow Jesus Christ with all
your heart. We need a more must regular Christianity and
our generation. You know, we men, we don't know who
we are half the time. We don't know if we're
(18:09):
supposed to be the macho man or the mellow man.
And then we're told, and this is confusing, we're told,
we're told that we're to get in touch with our
feminine side.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
Well, let me tell you something. I got in touch
with my feminine side.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
I married her thirty seven years ago, and I've been
in touch with her every since.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
I kind of like it, by the way.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
I mean, you never hear women saying, oh, I need
to get in touch with my masculine side. So what
is all of this and that somehow that if you're
going to follow Jesus, you've got to give up your masculinity.
You've got to give up your manhood. You've got to
you've got to give up your strength and become a
weakly No. Simon Peter was a man's man, the big fisherman,
(19:04):
but he followed Christ and he became God's man.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
He was destined for greatness and destined for glory.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
You see, it's not how the world sees you, is
how Jesus sees.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
You that matters.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
The world may look at you and say you aren't
good enough, you're not strong enough, you're not big enough,
and maybe you feel obscure and insignificant. But God sees
you in a different way. The Bible says in First Corinthius,
chapter one that we're to consider our calling that not
(19:43):
many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not
many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But
God chose what is foolish in the world to shame
the wise. God chose what is weak in the world
to shame the strong. Now, of course, Simon Peter knew
that there was something so that's wrong, but something so
supernatural about Jesus.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
The Holy Spirit taught you of this.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
In John sixty eight, when many were leaving Christ because
it was becoming demanding and difficult to follow him. Jesus
looked at his men and said, will you also go away?
Simon Peter spoke up and said, Lord to whom should
we go. You have the words of eternal life. And
(20:33):
on another occasion, Jesus said, who do men say that
the son of Man is?
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Who am I? And it was Simon.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Peter who spoke up and said, you are the Christ,
the son of the Living God. On another occasion, after
a miracle, Simon was involved in the miracle, they caught
(21:04):
so many fish at the command of Christ that the
boat couldn't contain them. Simon had been arguing with Jesus
a bit about how to catch fish, typical Simon Peter.
Jesus told them throw the nets on the other and
they weren't catching anything, so Jesus said, throw the nets
(21:26):
on the other side of the boat. Simon Peter says
something like this, Look, I'm the fisherman, you're a carpenter.
Why don't you just you know, you're a preacher. You
do the preaching.
Speaker 3 (21:42):
I'll do the fish.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
But then he said, nevertheless, Lord, at your will, And
so he did it anyway, even though he didn't believe.
And when he did, they caught so many fish that
the net was breaking. Jesus told them to throw the
nets on the other side of the boat.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
He threw one net and as a result, nearly sunk.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
The whole ship had just obeyed Jesus and set out
many nets. As Jesus said, they would have had the
problem that they had. So when Simon Peters saw this miracle,
when he saw his own failure in the presence of Christ,
he says in Luke chapter five and verse eight that
he fell down at Jesus' knees and said, depart from me,
(22:25):
oh God, for I am a sinful man. He saw
the greatness of Jesus. In seeing the greatness and the
glory of Jesus, he was so humble, and he was
so broken by his own sinful behavior and bad attitude. Ultimately,
he saw the risen Christ, and even though he had
(22:47):
failed the Lord and denied him three times, Jesus went
to him and personally restored him. And he found after
he met the risen Savior, he found a great purpose
and passion.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
For his life.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
You know, every person on earth, including you and me,
especially you and me, we need to discover why God
put us on earth, why are you here? And that
is to live a life of significance, and a life
of significance is to know and to do the will
(23:24):
of God. That's significance. And that's why Simon Peter, who
could have spent the rest of his days in a
lucrative fishing business along the Sea of Galilee, made some money,
fed his family, and then die and no one would
have ever heard of him. But when he began to
follow Christ, everything changed. We began to do the will
(23:47):
of God for his life.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
The ordinary was transformed to the extraordinary.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message
The Rock. Life doesn't always unfold the way we hope.
There are setbacks, losses, and seasons that leave us asking
where is God in all of this. In his honest
and encouraging book Diamonds in the Dark, Doctor Graham shares
how God is not absent in our pain. He is
(24:16):
present and He is at work. This powerful resource walks
you through some of life's hardest places to reveal spiritual
treasures God plants along the way. If you or someone
you love is facing grief, fear, or uncertainty, this message
will help you find strength, clarity, and hope right where
you are. And when you give a gift of ten
(24:38):
dollars or more, we'll send you a copy of Diamonds
in the Dark as our thanks call one eight hundred
seven ninety five four six two seven. That's one eight
hundred seven ninety five four six two seven, or just
text Diamond to five nine seven eight nine, and don't
forget to visit Jack Graham dot org where you can
(24:58):
shop our East store, give a gift online, or sign
up for doctor Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website
again is Jack Graham dot org. And also be sure
to sign up for doctor Graham's podcast Bible in a
Year Pastor what is your PowerPoint for today?
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Well, I want you to think about the way Jesus
sees you today. When Jesus looked at Simon and called
him Peter, which means rocks, most of Simon's friends were shocked,
maybe a snicker or two, because Peter wasn't anyone who
could be referred to as a rock, someone who was stable, strong,
a source of strength. But Jesus, you see, saw so
(25:37):
much more in Peter than even his closest friends could see.
In the exact way. When Jesus looks at you, he
doesn't see you as others see you, or even as
you see yourself. He sees you for what you can become.
He sees the potential in your life. Now that's a
real encouragement. But here's a problem. A lot of Christians
(25:58):
aren't letting God move them into their full potential into
their future. The reasons are so numerous, but the most
common reason is because most people are afraid to really
get out of their comfort zone. In order for you
to reach your full potential and to fulfill your mission
as a follower of Christ, you need to be willing
to take risks to get out of your comfort zone
(26:21):
and to get into His zone. But here's the great
thing about the call of Jesus upon your life. He
doesn't ask you or command you to do anything that
he doesn't give you the power to accomplish. So when
you face trials or times of uncertainty, it may be
hard to trust God. But if you just keep following
after him, trusting him with every step, you will be
(26:43):
amazed at how your faith and your character will grow.
I love the scripture which says the steps of a
good man are ordered by the Lord, and though he fall,
he will not be utterly cast down, for the Lord
upholds him with his strong right hand. You will be
able to handle so much more than you think if
you walk with God each step of the way, you'll
(27:04):
be able to forgive when you thought you couldn't forgive.
You'll be able to trust God and wait patiently when
you thought you couldn't wait, and be longer, and you
will have a hope when it seems everything around.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
You is Cromboy.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
And that is today's power Point. Remember when you give
a gift of ten dollars or more to PowerPoint, we'll
send you doctor Graham's book Diamonds in the Dark as
our thanks. Call one eight hundred seven ninety five four
six two seven. That's one eight hundred seven ninety five
four six two seven. You can also text the word
(27:37):
diamond to five nine seven eight nine and join us
again next time as doctor Graham brings a message about
the adventure your life becomes when you surrender to God's purposes.
That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with
Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministry.
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