Happy Friday to you!

I'm so privileged to get to learn and grow with you!!! I won't post any new leads until Monday... but discussions will be left open all weekend. Please use them! Take the time to catch up... feel free to continue to discuss things from the week. Any prayer requests? Please feel free to share and we'll be praying!

Ok. Let's get down to business. Because I'm excited about this :)

Have you talked to your Savior today? Please enjoy some time with Him. Don't skip this.... it's such an awesome priviledge and way to set your mind on the source of LIFE! Prayer is the single most effective way to make sure you're following the Savior, because you're making a conscious effort to acknowledge His Lordship in your hours, minutes, situations, and thoughts. That is the path to victory... it is the path of an ordinary person, following an extraordinary Savior.

Let's take another look at the identity of our fisherman. [Who he was.] This is just awesome.

Please read John 1:42. Jesus looked at Simon. He really, really, looked at him. Then he said “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (Which translated, means Peter.) Would you believe there's even MORE to this verse than we've already hit? Check this out!

[Simon]. I did a little research on this name. Peter's original name (in the Greek text) was Simon Barjona. Simon is Greek for the Hebrew name “Simeon.”

The name Simon is literally translated “He heard.” Now. Of course I know that the definition of a name only means so much... BUT that's just really cool. Can you be said as being a person “who heard?” Do you KNOW the VOICE of Jesus... personally? His name (Simon) has been said to literally be the most common name of the time. A common name... yet holding a meaning that, at least in today's society, can be hard to really find.

Now. Let's follow the passionately loving gaze of a Savior willing to die for His friend... and catch a glimpse of what He saw. “You are Simon... but you will be Peter.” Peter means “the rock.” We'll go much deeper into these concepts as the study goes forward, but for now let's simplify a couple of things we really need to KNOW... and seek to apply them. Ready? This is really cool. :)

1. A common misconception today is that this name referred to Peter's strength of character or ability to be firm, unshakable, or worthy. But really that's not what it means at all! Please read Psalm 18:2. Who is THE Rock?

2. Ok. Ready for this? (Can you tell this makes me excited? :) Now check out Isaiah 51:1. Are you catching this?!? GOD is our Rock. He is the foundation... quite literally of EVERYTHING... and we've been offered the opportunity to find out identity IN HIM. Isaiah addresses it directly. The first half of the verse is a literal cry to follow, to fix your eyes on Jesus! The second says we are rocks, cut from Christ Himself! Jesus looked at Peter and knew that Peter, an uncertain, common fisherman, would “hear”.... he would look to the Rock from which he was cut. He wasn't on his own anymore.

   And neither are you.

   The GOD of the world wants you to take steps to follow Him today.

   And. Get this. “FOLLOW” is a very definite word. It holds purpose. You're going... somewhere. It's not just “do this or do that”... it's... follow me [there.]

JUST LOOK at these verses... but do it as Simon. Be one who hears!

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And IN HIM … YOU TOO are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22

WOW. If that doesn't make you excited... PLEASE go back and read it again!!! WOW.

Do you want to literally hear it from Peter's own mouth Himself? Oh yes. He did understand. He was Simon and he listened. He wrestled. He fell. He got back up. And then He got it. Please read 1 Peter 2:4-5

So. This week we watched Peter and Jesus draw near as friends. We've drawn near to Jesus. Now, Peter is linking himself with us as well. Pretty neat to think about, isn't it?

One more thing about Cephas – The Rock. While Simon was the most common name of all, “Cephas” was never used as a name before this time. “Rock” was an object. Why is that important? Because it wasn't a nickname. It wasn't a term of endearment, and it wasn't praise for an already present characteristic.

It was a calling.

It was a purpose. Simon stood there knowing only the life of a fisherman, looking at a man called Jesus. It was time to “Come. Follow...there. And I will make you...” It was a destiny. And the destiny? To be like Christ.

For discussion:

What are some names that God has given us? Have you stopped to think about the difference between a “nice name”... and a calling? For example. God has called us His friend. Is this a nickname? If so, it's knowledge really, isn't it. But if this is your calling... oh my friend... just what does that mean to you? What are some other names you can think of that might actually be our calling?

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. - I Corinthians 1:26-29