Do You Love Me? | John 21:15-19
- Phillip Bates
- Aug 20
- 3 min read
From the Sermon Series: Questions Jesus Asked
Sermon Guide for August 23, 2026
How to Use This Guide:
These guides are designed to help you engage more deeply with my weekly sermon or serve as stand-alone, self-guided Bible studies. Use them to prepare your heart before worship or to reflect on God’s Word throughout the week.
Parents, use the “Family Practice” section to lead meaningful conversations that nurture your kids' faith and help them grow in God’s love.
Big Idea
Our love for Jesus can be inconsistent, but his love for us is unwavering. Jesus invites us to continually renew our love for him by receiving his grace when we fail, loving the people he loves, and faithfully following him even when it costs us.
Setting the Scene
Peter genuinely loved Jesus. He even promised, “I will lay down my life for you” (John 13:37). Yet a short time later, Peter denied three times that he even knew Jesus.
After his resurrection, Jesus meets Peter on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Three times Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” This conversation restores Peter after his failure and teaches us what love for Jesus looks like.
1. Love for Jesus Must Be Rekindled
Read John 21:15–17
Peter loved Jesus, but his love was more inconsistent than he realized. The same can be true of us. We can sincerely love Jesus while allowing distractions, sin, comfort, or other desires to weaken our devotion.
Our love for Jesus must therefore be continually nurtured through Scripture, prayer, worship, the Lord’s Supper, and remembering the cross.
Reflect: Has your love for Jesus become stronger or weaker lately? What has been competing for your affection?
Practice: Spend intentional time this week reading one of the crucifixion accounts. Remember that Jesus “loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
2. Love for Jesus Can Begin Again
Peter denied Jesus three times, but his failure was not the end of his story. Jesus gives Peter three opportunities to reaffirm his love and then calls him to serve again.
No failure puts a repentant disciple beyond the grace of Jesus. When we wander from him, Jesus welcomes us back and calls us to follow him again.
Reflect: Is there a past failure that makes you feel like you cannot come back to Jesus?
Practice: Confess what needs to be confessed, receive Christ’s grace, and take the next faithful step toward him.
3. Love for Jesus Means Loving His People
Each time Peter affirms his love, Jesus responds by telling him to care for his sheep: “Feed my lambs,” “Tend my sheep,” and “Feed my sheep.”
Jesus connects our love for him with our treatment of the people he loves. We cannot claim to love the Shepherd while despising his sheep.
Reflect: Is there a Christian you have been avoiding, resenting, or treating with apathy? How well does your treatment of others demonstrate your love for Jesus?
Practice: Encourage someone who is struggling, include someone who is lonely, reconcile with someone you have wronged, or find another practical way to care for someone this week.
4. Love for Jesus Means Being Willing to Suffer
Read John 21:18–19
Jesus tells Peter that following him will eventually cost Peter his life. Not every Christian will die for Jesus, but every disciple must be willing to bear a cross.
Following Jesus may sometimes cost us comfort, popularity, relationships, opportunities, or money.
Reflect: Are there any problems in your life because you love Jesus? Does following Jesus ever put you in tension with the values of the world around you? (Because it should!)
Practice: Identify one area where obedience to Jesus is currently costly or uncomfortable. Ask God for courage to remain faithful.
Family Practice
Read Together
Read John 21:15–19 as a family. Explain that Peter loved Jesus but had failed him badly by denying that he knew him. Jesus did not give up on Peter. He restored Peter and called him to follow again.
Talk Together
Ask:
Why do you think Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” three times?
What did Jesus tell Peter to do if he loved him?
How can we show Jesus that we love him?
What should we do when we fail Jesus?
Who is someone we can show the love of Jesus to this week?
Practice Together
Choose one person or family your family can intentionally love this week. Write an encouraging note, take them a meal, invite them over, pray for them, or help meet a need.
Then remind your children: One big way we show our love for Jesus is by loving the people Jesus loves.
Pray Together
Thank God for loving your family even when your love for him is inconsistent. Ask him to help you love him more deeply, love his people more faithfully, and follow him wherever he leads.
