Failure- the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective.
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” Henry Ford
So there were these two moose hunters in northern Canada that shot an very huge moose. It was too big for their horse’s to haul out of the woods, so using their cell phone they called in a small plane. They wanted the pilot to pull out this huge Bull Moose. When the pilot took a look at the moose he was hesitant. The hunters did it anyways, The hunters told the pilot, “We’ve done this before. Don’t worry.” So against his own better judgment they talked him into strapping the moose onto the plane. The pilot again was hesitant, “This is too much weight.” But the hunter’s keeps reassuring him, “We’ve done this before. Trust us.” He gunned the engine, took off down the runway of water and crashed into the treetops at the end of the lake. Debris flew everywhere and the moose carcass lodged in the branches of a tall pine tree. Down on the shoreline one dazed hunter called out to the other, “Hey George! How did we do?” His friend replied, “About 50 feet farther than last year.”
These hunters had tried this before but failed, they didn’t give up on trying to get the moose out of the woods.
1.Failure is a universal experience. Everyone experiences it at some point in their life.
Have any of you ever failed at something? You are not alone, Some of the most famous and most successful people have all failed at some point in their lives.
–Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken had his chicken recipe rejected 1,009 times before a restaurant accepted it.
–Henry Ford went broke five times before succeeding
–During its first years Coca-Cola only sold 400 bottles of Coke
–NBA hall of famer Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team
–Dr. Seuss was rejected by 23 different publishers before the 24th took on his book
Personal Testimony
I can remember my first time speaking to the youth group at my church. I felt like I did horrible, In my mind I failed very badly. I was so nervous that I didn’t think anyone got the point I was trying to make that night. But I had to build off that failure and didn’t give up on trying to be the best speaker I can be.
Life’s real failure is when you do not realize how close you were to success when you gave up.
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9
So today we are going to be looking at a man named Peter. A disciple of Jesus. This man failed Jesus by denying that he even knew Jesus not just once…not twice… but 3 times!!!
[54] Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. [55] But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. [56] A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.” [57] But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said. [58] A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
“Man, I am not!” Peter replied. [59] About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Gallilean.”[60] Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. [61] The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” [62] And he went outside and wept bitterly. Luke 22:54-62
-Failure doesn’t mean you have blown everything. It means you have some hard lessons to learn.
-It doesn’t mean you should give up. It means you need the Lord to show you the next step.
-It doesn’t mean that God has abandoned you. It means that God a better plan.
When we have failed, especially when we have failed those we love the most, our mind becomes a swirl of emotions–Embarrassment . . . Anger . . . Fear . . . Shame . . . Despair.
When we have hurt someone deeply, we want to know if they still love us or have we blown everything?
2.FAILURE IS NEVER FINAL!!!!
Christ took charge of restoring Peter!
15When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
16Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” 17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. John 21:15-17
Here Jesus didn’t give up on Peter. Jesus gave Peter a shot to redeem himself. God will never give up on us He will give us another chance if we fail him.
