May, Steve- Getting Focused

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Getting Focused
by Steve May
Text: John 21:1-21
Topic: : How to focus on making a lasting life change
Big Idea: If you’re ready to make a comeback, you need to get focused.
Keywords: Change; Redemption; Renewal; Spiritual growth; Hope; Focus



Introduction:
  • Peter’s life turned around because he chose to stay in the game.
  • Peter also experienced a turnaround in his life because he found a new source of power.
  • No one is immune to failure, and even the biggest failures can make a comeback.
  • John 21:15-21
  • Jesus gave Peter a game plan for the rest of his life, and it’s a game plan that can be used (rather, must be used) by anyone who wants to turn things around.
Focus on loving Jesus.
  • John 21:15
  • Love isn’t a feeling, it’s an action.
  • Illustration: May points out the song “You Were Always on My Mind” as a foolish notion that love without actions is still love and concludes, “The problem is that many of us try to sing the same song to God.”
  • John 14:15
  • More than anything else, the Christian life is a love relationship between you and Jesus.
  • Illustration: May tells the story of Charles Templeton—an evangelist and one-time contemporary of Billy Graham—who later rejected Christianity but told Lee Strobel that despite denying the faith, he missed having a relationship with Jesus.
Focus on serving others.
  • Matthew 20:26-28
  • Your role is now that of a servant.
  • Illustration: May quotes Albert Schweitzer: “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”
Focus on staying focused.
  • John 21:20
  • If we’re not careful, we can lose focus of what we should be doing by becoming too focused on what everyone else is doing.
  • Illustration: May illustrates the distracting and destructive influence of comparing yourself to others through a brief recap of an episode of television’s Seinfeld.
  • John 21:18-19
  • God has great things in store for you, but right now you need to remember that there will be a price to pay along the way.
Conclusion:
  • We’ve seen a tremendous turnaround in Peter’s life.
  • The key principle in making a comeback is you can’t do it without God, and God won’t do it without you.
  • Big Idea: If you’re ready to make a comeback, you need to get focused.
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