Don't Call It a Comeback // Pastor Chuck Colegrove // April 27, 2025

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What an amazing weekend Easter incredible, so
exciting, so thankful for thegood things happening in church
life.
It was in church news, but justwant to personally invite you.
If you're new to Free Church,maybe you've been here a few
weeks or a few months, or maybea few years and you've never
experienced the freeway.
We want to invite you today.

(00:22):
It happens today immediatelyfound service.
There are three weekends thatit takes place and this is the
first one Freeway 101.
We talk about heart, vision andjust really it's the path to
membership, and so, if you'vebeen kicking the tires for a
while, like we always say aroundhere, there is no place near
this place like this place, sothis must be the place.

(00:42):
So come on, check it out.
We'd love to see you.
Light refreshments, childcareprovided, immediately found
service.
Just follow the signs that saythis way to freeway and we can't
wait to see you there.
Amen, church.
Well, listen, I'm ready topreach God's word.
Are you ready to receive ittoday?
All right, two of you, thankyou.

(01:07):
It's like you guys have anEaster hangover or something
like oh, we work so hard.
The year was 2018, and it wasthe year that the twins, in
their illustrious baseballcareers in Oak Park were playing

(01:27):
what was called Junior Bronco.
It was for 9 and 10-year-olds.
Then the next year they wouldgo up to Bronco.
For this year they were inJunior Bronco Eli's team.
Well, he had a lot of fun onthat team.
I can tell you that they didn'twin very many games.
Eli was always one of thestandouts, of course, because

(01:47):
he's my son and he's a standoutand so whenever I tell the
stories I make sure everybodyknows they were the standouts.
So, anyway, eli's team, theyhad a fun year and their jerseys
were orange.
That's all I remember.
Really, I don't remember thename, team name or anything, but

(02:12):
you know, in Oak Park, ifyou're familiar with Oak Park at
all, the baseball communityover the years has been pretty
competitive and it's like, ohyeah, oak Park.
When we were moving here in 2012, people told us Oak Park is a
baseball community, like this isa baseball village, and we're
like, oh, okay, and actuallythat year they won the state
title for baseball in highschool and so we got here and
got the boys into baseball andEli was playing in this 2018

(02:33):
season in junior Bronco.
Didn't have a great year, buteverybody makes the playoffs and
they were into the playoffsagainst the number one seed and
the number one seed, lookingback at it now, had some kids at
that time that you knew.
They were pretty good baseballplayers and those kids are
actually on their way to playcollege next year in some D1

(02:54):
schools and they were a goodteam.
Well, because they were thenumber one seed, they had this
idea that they should leteverybody know they're the
number one seed and the teamname the sponsor company that
sponsored that team was calledLegacy and they decided to make
their own hats for thisparticular playoff series.
And so, instead of having thegeneric Oak Park hat that all

(03:19):
the other teams were wearing,they showed up with these real
crisp, flat bill with a big Lfor legacy and they just came
out like we're the number oneseed, everybody's gonna bow to
us, we're gonna win it.
But little did they know Eli'slittle team, little orange
jersey team with the basicgeneric hat being in last place

(03:41):
at the time, came walking outwith a different idea and and
they were like we might be downon the bottom but we're not
going to stay on the bottom.
And you know, eli's team pulledoff the biggest upset in
baseball history in Oak Park andthey beat that number one team.
Hey, listen.
Afterwards I asked the boys didthey have an L on their hat for

(04:02):
legacy or for loser?
Because pride goes before afall.
You don't make your own hat inLittle League.
Come on somebody.
You wear the T the league hat.
But it's the year I learned nomatter how far down you feel,
you can always get back up again.
So why don't you lean over toyour neighbor and just say, hey,

(04:27):
don't call it a comeback.
And to the one you ignore atall service, just bump up and
say because I've been here allthe time, if you know?
You know Three of you know,just wait.

(04:49):
Three of you know, just wait.
Listen, we're starting an allnew series.
First of all, can I tell youhow good God is like.
What a year we've had.
I'm so thankful.
Just the way God's moving man.
It just feels like Sundays havebeen so encouraging to me.
I hope they have been for youand I'm just going to let you

(05:09):
know keep pressing in.
You're still on your way toyour best year yet.
But this series is entitledDon't Call it a Comeback.
Don't Call it a Comeback.
And this is really not, forthis is not only for those of us
who are in the shouting stage,but this is also for the ones

(05:30):
who maybe have tasted more dustthan dream.
Maybe you're looking up andyou're like man.
I've been confessing thesethings, I've been making
declarations this year, I'vebeen expressing my desire to
live in overflow, but here I amand I feel like I'm still
looking up.
This series is for you.
Don't call it a comeback.

(05:52):
This is for the one who'sfallen flat, for the one, maybe,
who's just waiting forsomething that will shift your
mindset, for you to experienceall that God has for you, and
it's really in life.
I can tell you this it's notabout the fall, but it's what
you do after, because all of usthe Bible says in Romans 3, 10,

(06:15):
have fallen short of the gloryof God.
All you know what the Greekword for all is All You're
welcome.
I went to college for that one.

(06:35):
Proverbs 24, 16 is our key versethrough this series and it says
this for though the righteousfall seven times, they rise
again, but the wicked stumblewhen calamity strikes.
We're going to lean into thatfirst half of that verse.
For though the righteous fallseven times, they rise again.
Everybody say seven times.

(06:55):
The Bible is pretty interestingwhen you study numbers in the
Bible and by numbers I don'tmean the book of numbers,
because if you do that, I canpromise you you will be sleeping
in two minutes it's like Joebeget John, beget James, beget
Julius, beget Julian, begetJulie Numbers is not a riveting

(07:21):
read for most of us, not like ariveting read for most of us.
But when you study numbers fromthe Bible you learn some things
about, again, the character ofGod and you learn some things
about the practice of what Godwants to do and what I can tell
you.
This is in life.
You'll find God througheverything.

(07:42):
Wait did I.
You'll find God througheverything.
Wait did I.
You'll find God througheverything.
And so it's interesting for meto point this out to you the
number seven.
When the Bible says therighteous fall seven times, it's
interesting.
The number seven.
Why would the writer beinspired through God's spirit to

(08:02):
write this word?
Why would the Proverbs, whywould Solomon write this to us?
And here's what I will tell youthe number seven is the number
for divine completion.
It's the number for divineperfection.
You've heard people say well,seven is God's favorite number.
I don't know so much about that, but it is the number of rest.

(08:26):
God rested on the seventh dayof creation week, so seven is
significant.
Now, also, I would tell youthat maybe you didn't know this,
but seven is also the numberfor forgiveness.
Remember, jesus says when theyask, should we forgive somebody,
he says 70 times seven, whichthe principle is not for you to

(08:46):
learn how to multiply 70 timesseven, the principle is
unlimited.
So when we talk about, though,you fall seven times, here's a
capsule of you're falling intothis number.
It's like, oh, you might countit a failure, but God is calling
it a setup.
And you might think, oh, man, Ijust can't ever get it right.

(09:09):
And God's like, no, actuallyyou're reaching into divine
completion and divine perfection, as long as you get back up,
because it's not about the fall,it's what you do after.
I'm sorry, I'm screaming.
I'm not screaming at you, I'mscreaming with you, but it's
what you do after the fall.
And so, really, when we thinkabout this, it's like the number

(09:30):
seven significant, because youneed to know there is unlimited
forgiveness for you.
Jesus, when he died on the cross, he died for your past sin,
your present sin and your futuresin.
Sin, your present sin and yourfuture sin.
It doesn't mean you should goout and sin.
We're not sinless, we're tryingto sin less.

(09:52):
But it is the practice of ourlives that we're going to make
mistakes and we're going to fall, and no one's perfect except
him, no one's righteous excepthim, and because of his
righteousness I can be right,righteous, right standing with
God, only because of him, noone's righteous except him, and
because of his righteousness Ican be right, righteous, right
standing with God, only becauseof him.
So yeah, fall seven times, butyou know what?
It's a part of the unlimitedforgiveness and God's grace for

(10:15):
our life.
But there's another thing aboutthis falling seven times,
because if you're getting backup after falling seven times,
that means you're getting backup on the eighth try, and eight
is the number of new beginnings.
So as long as you'll get backup, there's always an
opportunity, there's alwayssomething for you.

(10:37):
Can I preach about two secondsabout God being the God of
second and third and fourthchances?
That, hey, you're not seeing meon my first time around the
block, you're not seeing me onmy first experience.
You're getting me five, six,seven, eight times after God's
grace found me again and againand again.
He's the God of second chancesand as long as he's the God of

(11:00):
second chances, we're nevergoing to count you out.
We'll never count you out.
I think about all the places,all the places God was willing

(11:20):
to find me and search for me.
Some of you just need to bethankful that God knew where you
were.
He knew where you were.
So here's the question of theseries Is it just a comeback or
is it a calling?
Because I believe your comebackis not the destination, it's

(11:43):
the doorway to your destiny.
Everybody loves a comeback story.
Hollywood man, hollywood willmake some money on a comeback
story.
The washed up fighter, theoverlooked quarterback, the man,
the dreamer who just never gotoff his feet man, hollywood will

(12:06):
make some money on a comebackstory.
But can I tell you that youknow why a comeback story is
good?
Because it's got a certainamount of drama to it.
They pull you in, they get youto love the main character, they
get you to love like man youjust like, and then you find

(12:30):
yourself rooting for the maincharacter.
Can somebody say, adrian, Imean and you know everybody's
thinking about Rocky right nowbut Hollywood will build on that
drama of the comeback story?
But I'm going to tell you,heaven's really not about the
drama, it's about redemption.
And when we look at people whohave made it through a lot to
get to where they were supposedto be, I'll just take some ideas

(12:53):
for you in terms of like, justkind of real world, like Abraham
Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln was 23 when helost his first job and lost his
first election.
He was 26 when he lost hisfirst love.
At 29, he lost an opportunityto be speaker.
At 39, he lost an opportunityfor a federal appointment.

(13:13):
At 49, he lost the Senate race.
But at 52, he became the 16thpresident of the United States.
Fall seven times.
It's okay, get back up.
It's not a comeback, it's acalling.
Colonel Sanders, get ready.

(13:42):
At 65, regardless of thethousand rejections in front of
him that he had faced, for myGod, nobody having an idea that
he had a recipe that wouldproduce some finger-lickin' good
chicken.
And when everybody else isabout to retire, he kept
pressing forward.
And now, worldwide, there is aKFC on almost every corner.
It's what we lived by on Sundaygrowing up as a kid a bucket of

(14:05):
chicken.
Listen, you knew it was.
I used to pray for good churchon Sunday morning, because if
dad preached good.
On Sunday morning we woulddrive through KFC on the way
home.
Jesus, help us with thosebiscuits and honey.
It was just the idea, thecomeback.

(14:29):
It's just refusing to give up,refusing to be the one to just
be like, oh, I guess it's notfor me.
No, it's not just a comeback,it's a calling.
Well, let's look at thescripture.
What does the Bible say aboutcomebacks and different people?
Well, what about David?
You would say.
Well, pastor Chuck, david wasanointed to be king and they

(14:50):
sing songs about David, likeSaul killed thousands, but David
killed 10,000.
He killed one at the time,actually Killed one One, he
killed one, and they sang songsthat he killed 10,000.
That's a pretty good record.
But I will tell you this, Iwill tell you this David, he did
make mistakes.
In fact, one of the mistakesthe Bible mentions, like how

(15:16):
great David was, saved the wholeidea with one person and that
person's husband.
And so David had, in the wrongplace, at the wrong time, made
the wrong decision, had a moralfailure which led to adultery,
which led to murder.
But in Psalm 52, david writes,says this he says Created me a
clean heart and renewed me aright spirit, o Lord, and that

(15:37):
posture of his heart, thewillingness to get back up on
his feet again, is what made Godsay this is a man after my own
heart Failure, and all but a manafter my own heart Moses.
We talked about Moses in ourseries a few months ago.
We talked about how Moses.
He murdered somebody, he killedan Egyptian and then he ran for

(15:59):
40 years.
And then he comes back to Egyptto say let my people go.
Was it a comeback or was it acalling man?
I could go on and on.
Again, read through the book ofHebrews, chapter 11.
It's called the Hall of Fame ofFaith and when you read their
stories, it's all these peoplethat, by faith, by faith, by

(16:22):
faith by faith by faith, andyou're like man.
Those are amazing people,powerful, perfect people, no,
powerful people that didn't giveup.
They got back up because theywere called, called to get back
up.
And then we get to Simon Peter,good old Simon.

(16:45):
Good old Simon, who was neverafraid to say anything.
Simon who walked on water.
Simon who was like when Jesussays who do you?
Say I am, and everybody saidwell, some say you're a prophet,
you're like Elijah, some sayyou're, and Jesus says no, no,
no, not.

(17:06):
What does everybody else say?
Who do you say I am?
And Simon, through theinspiration of the Holy Spirit,
said you're the Christ theanointed one.
It was the first time Jesus wascalled the anointed one.
Christ the anointed one.
It was the first time Jesus wascalled the anointed one.
And Jesus says, simon, uponthat revelation we think it was
on Simon, it wasn't on Simon, itwas on the revelation Jesus is

(17:31):
not going to build his church onyou, he's going to build his
church on the revelation of whatyou just said, what you believe
, that you are the son of God,you are the anointed one.
And Jesus says upon this rockI'll build my church and the
gates of hell will not prevailagainst it.
And the gates of hell neverhave that Simon.
That Simon, that was like whenJesus was in the last supper

(17:52):
moments and in the garden ofGethsemane, and all these
moments where Jesus is likelisten, you guys are all gonna,
you're out the door, you'regoing Never, never will I
forsake you.
I'll go all the way with you,jesus.
And Jesus says, well, that Iknow that's what you wanna say,
but actually you're gonna denyme three times before the

(18:16):
rooster crows in the morning.
And Simon's like never, that'snot me.
All those guys, maybe it'sthose guys, it's not me.
And sure enough, three timesbefore the rooster crowed in the
morning, peter had denied Jesus.
He said things like I don'tknow what you're talking about,

(18:38):
I don't know who you're talkingabout, I don't know that person
myself.
And Jesus goes to the cross.
And you know what's interesting,if you read the scripture we
don't have time to look at it,but you can mark it, it's in
notes that were sent out todayLuke, chapter 22.
It's interesting to me that thelast time Peter denied Jesus
was around a fire, and actuallythe Bible says that when Peter

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said I do not know him, jesuswas not far from Peter, because
Peter had been off a distance,watching what was happening,
keeping himself warm by a fire.
And as soon as he denied himthe third time, jesus looked at
him and they caught eyes.
And as soon as he denied himthe third time, jesus looked at
him and they caught eyes.
And so Peter is like man.

(19:22):
What Jesus said has come trueI'm done, I'm down, I'm out.
No, you're not, because therighteous will fall seven times,
but they get back up.
You may get knocked down, butyou're not going to get knocked
out.
You may be pressed, you may bepersecuted, but you're not

(19:50):
destroyed.
You may be crushed, but you'renot at ruins, like the scripture
declares.
In everything that we face,jesus says listen, there's going
to be problems in the world, inyour world.
There's going to be problemsfor you, but take heart, I have

(20:12):
overcome the world.
So Simon has this moment and Iwant to lean in now to John,
chapter 21, and we'll beginreading with verse 15.
John, chapter 21, verse 15.
This is after the resurrection.
So Jesus was crucified, laid ina borrowed tomb, rose on the
third day.
We celebrated last week sobeautifully.

(20:33):
What about that choir man weekso beautifully, what about that
choir man?
So 2115 starts here.
And when they had finishedeating, jesus said to Simon
Peter Simon, son of John, do youlove me more than these?
Yes, lord, he said you knowthat I love you.

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And Jesus said feed my lambs.
And again Jesus said Simon, sonof John, do you love me?
And he answered yes, lord, youknow that I love you.
And Jesus said take care of mysheep.
And the third time he said tohim Simon, son of John, do you
love me?
And Peter was hurt becauseJesus asked him the third time

(21:20):
do you love me?
And he said Lord, you know allthings, you know that I love you
.
And Jesus said feed my sheep.
Know that I love you.
And Jesus said feed my sheep.
You know?
It's pretty amazing to me,because what Jesus does in this
moment is so critical in thecalling of our lives.
What Jesus does not say is Simon, why did you deny me?

(21:41):
Hey, simon, why did you followat such a far distance and act
like you didn't know me, simon?
Why did you have such a bolddeclaration before the cross?
And then, when the real heatwas on, you just faded?
He said none of that.
He said Simon, do you love me?

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Do you love me?
Do you love me?
And for every time that Simonhad denied Jesus, jesus gave the
calling in his life again tofeed the sheep, take care of the
lambs, feed the sheep, guide,lead, direct, speak, share love.

(22:24):
Do what you're called to do,simon, regardless of what
happened yesterday.
Today's a new day.
Seven times you fell.
Get up on number eight, the newbeginning, and start again.
And he's setting this up for us.
And so you can see.
I mean jesus.
Do you have to ask him threetimes?
Well, probably not, but for theimpact of the idea of what

(22:45):
we're talking about, the idea ofit's not a comeback, it's a
calling.
It's not just about gettingback up, it's getting back in.
So I just was studying this andI'm just going to tell you it
was crazy to me that as I readthis, it occurred to me that
they were if you read in John 21, verse 9.

(23:07):
In verse 9, the Bible says thatJesus was by a fire and he was
cooking fish, and the word forfire in that moment is like
charcoal fire.
It's like so it's this fire.
It's a very specific fire thatwe're reading about in John 21,

(23:41):
9.
It's only used one other timein scripture and you want to
know when that fire was used inscripture one other time?
The third time, peter deniedJesus when he was standing by a
fire to keep himself warm.
So in one setting by a fire,simon's denying Jesus for the

(24:01):
third time and in the samesetting of a fire, jesus is
saying get back up and get backin.
You're not done yet.
Church, can I tell you, ifyou're still living, god's not
done.
If you're still here, god's notfinished.
And the reality is there is acall of God on every one of your

(24:25):
lives.
It might not be a call topreach from this stage or to
sing on this stage, but you arecalled to make a difference in
the world you live in.
And the reality is the world iswaiting on you to get back up
and get back in the game,because it's just not about

(24:47):
getting back on your feet, it'sgetting back into your function.
It's not just a rescue, it's arecommissioning.
God's not just trying to fixwhat's broken, he's trying to
activate what's buried in yourlife.
Peter didn't get called backinto the circle, he got called
back on mission.
I could spend time to talk toyou about the ultimate comeback.

(25:11):
We celebrated last week thecross.
Jesus did not rise again justfor the banner to be called the
risen one.
He did it so we could walk withhim.
He didn't just do it to recoverwhat was lost.

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He did it so that we could liveredeemed.
And so today I wanna ask you, aswe close are you living in
recovery or in your calling?
Are you living in your recoveryor your calling?

(25:54):
Your comfort zone or yourcalling?
Have you settled for survivalwhen God is calling you to serve
?
Are you on your feet, but notin the field.
God is not calling you to getback up.
He's calling you to get back in, and this is your moment.
I know I'm speaking to somebodythat walked in today wondering

(26:19):
is God going to do what hepromised to do?
And the answers are resoundingyes.
But maybe it's time to stopwaiting on God and start getting
up and moving forward.
Get back in, serve, getinvolved, give, give your time,
Give your talent, give yourtreasure.
This is your moment.

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Stop replaying the fall andstart embracing the invitation.
Oh, we love the fall.
We love the fall.
You know what happened.
We rehearsed that fall.
It gets better.
We tell it better.

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It has more like we learncertain cues and certain words
that make everybody go wow, yeah, wow.
Stop replaying the fall.
Let's get back into thisembrace of what God wants to do
in us, because the righteousfall seven times, but the

(27:22):
righteous get back up again, notjust to walk, not just to
breathe, but to build, to serve,to love, to lead Church family.
This is not a comeback, this isyour calling.
Can you receive that word today?