Knowing Jesus, Living Sent | Rod Zwemke

Jesus established His church on the solid foundation of Peter's confession that He is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. This declaration at Caesarea Philippi wasn't chosen randomly. Jesus traveled to this center of pagan worship, where temples to Caesar, Pan, and Zeus stood, to make His point about the church's mission. In this place of darkness and evil practices, including child sacrifice, Jesus declared that the gates of hell would not overcome His church.

The imagery Jesus uses reveals the church's true calling: we're not meant to play defense, simply trying to survive until heaven. Instead, we're called to be on the offense, storming the gates of hell itself. Gates are defensive structures, which means the church should be attacking and overwhelming the forces of evil to rescue people trapped behind enemy lines. Jesus went to the worst places and reached the most avoided people: Samaritans, lepers, tax collectors, and the unclean.

Today's reality check is sobering: even in the Bible Belt, most counties have less than 20% church attendance, meaning the vast majority of people are likely lost. The question becomes whether we're fulfilling Jesus's vision for His church or simply maintaining comfortable religious routines. We're called to identify the people and places where the enemy has free reign and say 'not okay anymore,' then take action through love, service, and sharing the gospel.

Our mission is to multiply God’s Kingdom through being and making disciples everywhere.
Be. Make. Multiply.

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