AS A FAMILY WE HAVE CHOSEN TO REVOLVE OUR LIVES AROUND JESUS & THE LOCAL CHURCH!

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because My Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build My church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.  (Mat 16:16-18)

Let me continue to break down this powerful statement of Jesus…

“because My Father in heaven…” – Jesus is the Son of God, His Father is in heaven. Jesus never shirked from calling God His Father, claiming equality with God. I realize some people believe the Discovery Channel more than the Bible, but we can’t ever say that Jesus didn’t claim to be God.  He did over and over again.  And once again as Jesus calls God His Father, He is claiming equality with Him.

When I decided to follow Jesus I was in a bad place, but that wasn’t ultimately why I gave my life to Jesus Christ! Some people today think, “every person I know that has become a Christ-follower has been in some kind of trouble or tragic crisis, well that just isn’t me.”

First of all, don’t wait until you are in the middle of trouble or a tragedy to turn to Jesus.

Second, I didn’t turn to follow Jesus because I was in trouble but because HE IS THE TRUTH. I decided to follow Jesus because He is TRUE! JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY TO EXPERIENCE REAL & LASTING TRANSFORMATION!

“has revealed this to you.” – you and I don’t know anything about the truth of Jesus Christ unless God reveals it. What an awesome reality. We have a God who loves us so much that He chose to reveal Himself to us. He is not silent, He is not distant, He is not unloving or uninvolved. He is very much involved, so much so that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to die on a cross to save us from our sins. The Word of God is the written revelation of God’s Love to Mankind.

If you want to know Jesus, know His Word! The more you get into the Word of God, the more the God of the Word will get into you. If you have the Son, you have life!

AS A FAMILY WE HAVE CHOSEN TO REVOLVE OUR LIVES AROUND JESUS & THE LOCAL CHURCH!

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because My Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build My church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.  (Mat 16:16-18)

Amidst all the other options and opinions, Peter believed in WHO Jesus was and is. There are many opinions out there, but Jesus wants to know WHO YOU SAY HE IS. Don’t worry about the guy next to you, FOCUS ON WHO YOU SAY JESUS IS! Sometimes we get so caught up in pointing out everyone else’s faults or flaws that we don’t take the time to address the emptiness and pain within our own lives.  Jesus, doesn’t let his students get away with that.  He cuts right to the chase and asks them, BUT WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM.

It’s also important to note here that Jesus says, “my Father in heaven has revealed this to you.”  So, Jesus is not saying that I value your opinion more than others – HE SAYING THAT YOU WOULDN’T EVEN KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT ME HAD GOD THE FATHER NOT REVEALED IT TO YOU.  We know the revelation of God by reading His word, the Bible.  The Bible reveals the truth about who Jesus is.  If you and I want to know Jesus, we must get to know God’s Word, the Bible.  The more we get into the Word of God, the more the God of the Word will get into us!  Then He can begin to morph us from the inside out.

Let me explain a couple of words in this passage of Scripture:

“Messiah” – this is the Christ, the Annointed One (the Chosen One who would take away the sins of the world); like the kings of the OT. If you believe there is any other way to God, then you don’t believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.  Until, you and I humbly agree with God (that is what confession means “to agree”) that Jesus is the ONE, THE MESSIAH, THE CHRIST, then we can’t tap into His soul-saving power!  Faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God sent to take away the sins of the world is the ONLY WAY TO GOD – that is what Peter just confessed.

“You are blessed…” – we are blessed simply to know God. Some people think blessing is all about how much money you have, or how much fame, prestige, power, or pleasure you have. But Jesus says, “You are blessed, because My Father in heaven has revealed this to you.” Knowing that Jesus is THE ONE is the greatest BLESSING OF ALL TIME.

WHEN YOU RECEIVE JESUS, YOU RECEIVE ALL THAT GOD HAS FOR YOU!

When I was a kid, probably in 3rd Grade, I was allergic to certain amusement rides:-) like the ones that spin you around so fast that the centripetal force moves your insides to your outsides.  Now, as an adult, I am even worse, I can barely listen to someone talk about the “tea cups” ride without wanting to heave all over them (sorry to be so graphic). So, I was at an amusement park with some friends and for fear of looking like a total weenie I decided to join them on this ride called THE TURKISH TWIST (I think terrorists might have thought up this ride, I don’t know). Now, the worst thing you can do before you GET ON a ride called the Turkish Twist is WATCH OTHER PEOPLE on the Turkish Twist.  I saw people sticking to the walls, as it spun around and around – it looked like a human blender. Disgusting?!?! I don’t know why people would want to do this, unless you were in 3rd grade and didn’t want to look like a wimp. So, I got on this ride.  I seriously don’t remember any of it, I think I either blacked out or have blocked it out from my memory:-)

After I got off the ride, I was sick for like 3 days – seriously.  It was an amusement ride from hades.  For three days I felt like my entire world was revolving around the Turkish Twist, my insides were revolving around my outside.  Not fun!

IN LIFE WE WILL ALL END UP REVOLVING OUR LIVES AROUND SOMETHING…

IT’S SO EASY TO GET CAUGHT UP IN REVOLVING OUR LIVES AROUND THE WRONG THINGS – SELFISH PLEASURE, DRUG ADDICTION, SEX WITH WHOMEVER, WHENEVER & WHYEVER, GETTING BOYS TO LOOK AT YOUR SOFT PORN PICS ON FACEBOOK, SPORTS, MONEY, HOBBIES, OUR KIDS’ HOBBIES, OUR WORK, OUR BIKES, OUR PETS, ETC…

AS A FAMILY WE HAVE CHOSEN TO REVOLVE OUR LIVES AROUND JESUS & THE LOCAL CHURCH!

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because My Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build My church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.  (Mat 16:16-18)

In the next post I will break down this passage from Scripture to see what it is saying to you and me today…

The previous has been an excerpt from The Dialogue Church’s current sermon series, HELL PROOF MY HOME.  Here is a short description of the series:

Hell has a wanted poster with your family portrait on it. These dark forces have waged war on Heaven’s plan for a happy and successful family. Thus, the biblical model for home-life is under attack and people are suffering the tragic consequences in their relationships, sex-life, parenting, and finances. In this series, Pastor Steve unpacks some heavy artillery from the Bible to help families fight back and become homes of healing instead of houses of hurting.

You can listen online to any of these messages at www.theDC.tv/listen.