Do You Love Me More Than These

In one paragraph

Jay Cummings brought the message this morning, drawing from John 21 to talk about transformation, what it actually looks like, why even people close to Jesus need it, and how we get there. He started with his own story of sitting in church as a teenager, going through the motions, and ending up at rock bottom before something finally broke through. Jay opened by making a distinction that set up...

Read together

1. 2 Corinthians 5:17 cited as evidence that being in Christ makes a person a new creation
2. Isaiah 49:6 cited as the transformed life being a witness to those around us
3. Matthew 5 referenced briefly as the passage about being light and salt, called to look different
4. John 21:15-19 read aloud and discussed at length as the passage where Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him
5. John 13:37 cited as where Peter boasted he would lay his life down for Jesus
6. Ephesians 4:22-24 quoted as the call to put off the old self and put on the new self created after the likeness of God
7. 1 John 1:8-9 quoted on confessing sin and God being faithful to forgive and cleanse
8. Psalm 139:23-24 quoted as David's prayer asking God to search him and reveal any offensive way in him
9. Psalm 2 referenced in the baby dedication prayer asking God for Parker's salvation

What was said

• Ask someone you trust to point out where you fall short, and give them actual permission to do it.
• Spend thirty minutes in prayer at least one day this week, and if you can't find that time, take a hard look at what you can cut to make room.
• Pray the prayer from Psalm 139 that Jay referenced: search me, God, know my heart, and see if there is any offensive way in me.
• Come to the Israel rally on the town square this Sunday, March 3 at 5PM.
• If you are going through the motions at church the way Jay described himself doing in high school, sit with the question Jesus asked Peter: do you love me, and what does that actually look like the rest of the week?

Talk about it

1. Jay shared that he sat in church for years going through the motions while thinking he was close to God. Have you ever been in a season like that, and what did it take for you to recognize it?
2. Jesus asked Peter three times 'do you love me?' and the Greek shows a shift between agape love and phileo love across those exchanges. What do you think the difference between those two kinds of love looks like in everyday life with Jesus?
3. Jay pointed out that when Jesus found the disciples in Galilee, they had gone back to fishing, their old way of life. What old habits or patterns do you find yourself returning to when your faith feels distant?
4. Jay talked about subtraction, making room rather than adding more activity, as a path to transformation. What is one thing in your current schedule that crowds out time with God, and what would it take to let it go?
5. Several people in the room shared that the hardest feedback to receive is the kind that comes without warning, when someone just calls you out. How do you typically respond in that moment, and how have you seen that response change over time?