SPEAKER_00: Every Sunday at Northwest Church of the Desert in Columbus, Ohio, our congregation is challenged to grow spiritually.
SPEAKER_00: This podcast shares the sermons, insights, and messages that encourage our congregation to mature spiritually.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Well, today we're going to be talking and continuing, uh studying the uh word of God through the book of Matthew as we are in a new series called Build Series.
SPEAKER_02: And we started a few weeks back, and what we're trying to do is continuing with our work on finding a way that we can make disciples.
SPEAKER_02: We are equipping to make disciples.
SPEAKER_02: We began about a few months back with Belong.
SPEAKER_02: And we had series on Belong, we spoke about Belong, we have classes on Belong, lessons on Belong, and we learned on how to be welcome.
SPEAKER_02: So we talked about welcoming those who sometimes needed a place and needed to belong to a place where they could find Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: And that taught us how to welcome people and being sure to do so.
SPEAKER_02: Then we be uh started working on become, and that's where we worked on become Christ-like and disciples.
SPEAKER_02: So we become Christ-like disciples, and hopefully I can spell correctly.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm sorry about my chicken cratch.
SPEAKER_02: No, chicken scratch.
SPEAKER_02: Oh, English.
SPEAKER_02: I'm just gonna blame it on English.
SPEAKER_02: But now with our kingdom people, we are working on build.
SPEAKER_02: And throughout the last few weeks, we've been working on kingdom people, and what we are working on is making disciples.
SPEAKER_02: So we spoke first about how God was preparing us to build a kingdom, and then Pastor Preston spoke about how we were to look for the opportunities that God was opening, and then last Sunday we spoke about the difference that we have when we look at people and how we embrace people.
SPEAKER_02: And today we're gonna be talking about Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: So we are going to have the same thing we did last Sunday, which I really enjoyed.
SPEAKER_02: But uh the title for today's message, and now let me go back here.
SPEAKER_02: The title for today's message is Who Do You Say Jesus Is?
SPEAKER_02: So I'm gonna put Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna draw his face because I don't know what he looked like.
SPEAKER_02: So I'm just gonna write here Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: But if I would ask you, who is Jesus to you?
SPEAKER_02: And I know we're gonna be looking into a question that he asked the disciples, but in your mind, when you hear about the word Jesus, when you think about Jesus, what comes to mind?
SPEAKER_02: Who is Jesus?
SPEAKER_02: All right, I I heard a God.
SPEAKER_02: That's good.
SPEAKER_02: What what other words?
SPEAKER_02: Father.
SPEAKER_02: What was that?
SPEAKER_02: Son of God.
SPEAKER_02: Yes, son of God, correct?
SPEAKER_02: What was it?
SPEAKER_02: Friend Redeemer.
SPEAKER_02: Wonderful.
SPEAKER_01: That's a good one.
SPEAKER_01: What else?
SPEAKER_01: Comforter.
SPEAKER_02: All right, so we have a few a few words, and this is good to start, because every time we talk about Jesus, people want to know who Jesus is and who Jesus is to us.
SPEAKER_02: And today we're going to be talking about when Jesus came to the disciples, spoke to the disciples, and asked this very question: Who do people say I am?
SPEAKER_02: And when we look into that passage, we will see what he has in store for us to not only learn and glean from, but how can we grow out of the Word of God?
SPEAKER_02: So Jesus was with his disciples, and we read in the book of Matthew that he goes to a place called Caesarea Philippi.
SPEAKER_02: Now, Caesarea Philippi is about 25 miles north of the Galilean Sea, and is a place that is on the border of the ancient Gentile world.
SPEAKER_02: So it's out of their custom to be in that town.
SPEAKER_02: But what that town or that area was known for is that they had a large temple for the Greco-Roman god Pan.
SPEAKER_02: And that temple was so big that they built a cave underneath it and called it the Cave of Death, also known as the Cave to the Wonderworld.
SPEAKER_02: And this is at the bottom of the Mount Horeb.
SPEAKER_02: They also had a temple for Julius Caesar, built by Herod the Great.
SPEAKER_02: And they also had several shrines for Canaanite gods, mostly Baal.
SPEAKER_02: So it's an area that is very, very filled and very powerful for knowing of the different religions and the different things that people believe in that time.
SPEAKER_02: So in that setting, in that place that is a little bit pagan or a lot pagan, a place where Jews would not go very often, it's a place where it's known by the many, many deities and many gods.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus takes his disciples and asks them a question.
SPEAKER_02: So if you stand with me today as we read the word of the Lord and hear what he has in store for us as we consider his word.
SPEAKER_02: And we're going to be reading out of Matthew chapter 16, verses 13 all the way to 20.
SPEAKER_02: And thus said the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: Simon Peter answered, You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.
SPEAKER_02: Now Jesus replied, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by the Father in heaven.
SPEAKER_02: And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
SPEAKER_02: I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bind in heaven, and whatever you lose on earth we lose in heaven.
SPEAKER_02: Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
SPEAKER_02: Father, as we pray and as we prepare to hear your word, we ask that you would speak, that you touch, that you transform, that you renew our soul.
SPEAKER_02: And we ask these things in your Son Jesus Christ's name.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
SPEAKER_02: You may be seated.
SPEAKER_02: So in this passage, we find that Jesus' question was looking for an answer.
SPEAKER_02: And this answer, this ask, is not an opinion, but a confession.
SPEAKER_02: He was asking for a confession.
SPEAKER_02: What do you believe?
SPEAKER_02: Not what other people think, not what you have heard, what do you believe that I am?
SPEAKER_02: And he and our our belief, our answer determines how we leave, how we live for Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Because when we answer the Lord, when we say you are this to me, it reflects on how we are living.
SPEAKER_02: If we say you are Lord, then we are living as if He is Lord.
SPEAKER_02: If we say you are God, we're living as if He is God.
SPEAKER_02: But if we say you are a teacher, we're living as a student.
SPEAKER_02: If you are a Savior, we live as someone who has been saved.
SPEAKER_02: If you are the Son of God, then we come before you and kneel before you.
SPEAKER_02: If you are a friend, then we journey with you.
SPEAKER_02: So however we come before Him, He's telling us how we are walking with Him.
SPEAKER_02: A young boy wanted to play basketball, and he went to his dad and said, Dad, I want to play basketball.
SPEAKER_02: And the dad looked at him and said, Son, you're not tall enough.
SPEAKER_02: He goes, but I really want to play basketball.
SPEAKER_02: I love the game.
SPEAKER_02: He goes, but you're not tall enough.
SPEAKER_02: You're not going to be able to get any rebounds.
SPEAKER_02: He goes, but I really want to.
SPEAKER_02: He said, All right, I'll talk to the coach.
SPEAKER_02: So you went to the coach and said, Hey, coach, my son wants to play basketball, but clearly he's not tall enough.
SPEAKER_02: And the coach, as a joke, said, Well, you can go to the museum and they have one of those torture stretchers and try to see if you if if he if he grows any.
SPEAKER_02: And then went on the coach later on saw the father and said, So, how did that work?
SPEAKER_02: You know, jokingly, and the father said, Well, actually I did that.
SPEAKER_02: And we tried stretching him, but he didn't grow any.
SPEAKER_02: But man, did he confess to a lot of things?
SPEAKER_02: Many times we think about confession as something that we have to be coerced for.
SPEAKER_02: It's something we have to, you know, either we say it now or we're gonna get in bigger trouble.
SPEAKER_02: And a confession is something that we do not always willingly do.
SPEAKER_02: Why is it so hard for us to confess?
SPEAKER_02: Especially when we make a mistake, or when we uh fail, or when we why is it so difficult for us to confess?
SPEAKER_02: And this is where the word of God comes.
SPEAKER_02: Because when Jesus was asking, he was asking for an opinion.
SPEAKER_02: He was not asking for them to say what they thought it was, his question was for them to really look into their lives and saying, Who is Jesus to me?
SPEAKER_02: After all these years with him, after walking and journeying with him, who is so the statement that Jesus that Peter gives, and he said in verse 16, Simon Peter answered, You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.
SPEAKER_02: Well, one of the things that we have to recognize about the disciples is that we are a little bit of a disadvantage.
SPEAKER_02: Number one, they were Jews, so they were very much aware of the word Messiah.
SPEAKER_02: The word messiah for us is a word that we like to sing during Christmas time with Handel's Messiah.
SPEAKER_02: Because it's not a word that we use every day, it's not something we look forward to one day to have the Messiah, but they did.
SPEAKER_02: And as a child, they begin to read the Torah and they begin to read scriptures and they understand the scriptures, they understand what kind of a messiah is going to be, they understand the significance of the Messiah.
SPEAKER_02: So when Peter says you are the Messiah, he's saying you are the fulfillment of everything we've ever studied.
SPEAKER_02: Now, many of us don't grow up learning the scriptures and don't grow up memorizing the scriptures.
SPEAKER_02: So we do not have an understanding of all that it comes into the significance of Jesus being there.
SPEAKER_02: So when he says that, it wasn't just because he had learned as a child, it wasn't just because he knew the scriptures.
SPEAKER_02: The reason he said that is because the Holy Spirit, according to this passage, revealed it to him.
SPEAKER_02: The Father revealed it to him because when he saw, when he was asked the question and he saw what Jesus has done, all the healings and all the miracles, and when he saw everything that he has studied being fulfilled in that, he knew he was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.
SPEAKER_02: And that changes everything.
SPEAKER_02: That is not an opinion, that is a confession.
SPEAKER_02: And what we see in this passage, we start with verse 13 with an opinion.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus is asking them, What are people's opinion of me?
SPEAKER_02: What are people saying about me?
SPEAKER_02: And then he goes from that opinion into a confession.
SPEAKER_02: What do you say that I am?
SPEAKER_02: Who do you say that I am?
SPEAKER_02: And he's looking for the confession.
SPEAKER_02: And then Peter answers and he says, This is a revelation from the Father, because you did not learn this from flesh and blood.
SPEAKER_02: You learned this because the Father has revealed it to you.
SPEAKER_02: And then he moves into a community and says, I will build my church on this confession.
SPEAKER_02: I will build my church on this statement.
SPEAKER_02: I will build my church.
SPEAKER_02: And then he continue finishes with a mission.
SPEAKER_02: And the mission is when he says, Here are the keys.
SPEAKER_02: Now, the keys that he gives, these orders that he gives to Peter, he also gives to the rest of the disciples later on.
SPEAKER_02: This is not unique to just Peter.
SPEAKER_02: This is something that he said, in this moment, among all these gods, among all these religions, among all these places that surround us, you have the keys.
SPEAKER_02: And then he says this not even the gates of hell or Hades will prevail against it.
SPEAKER_02: And here's the funny thing, or the interesting thing, is that they thought that the gates of hell, the gates of death, the caves of despair were right there, right behind him.
SPEAKER_02: In the background.
SPEAKER_02: Because they will not.
SPEAKER_02: The only thing that can prevail if we stand on the foundation is Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: And this is what he said.
SPEAKER_02: And then he asked the second question.
SPEAKER_02: Well, what about you?
SPEAKER_02: And this is a question that I also ask.
SPEAKER_02: I already asked today, what about you?
SPEAKER_02: Who is Jesus?
SPEAKER_02: Who is Jesus to us?
SPEAKER_02: Who is Jesus to me?
SPEAKER_02: A professor brought a jar of beans and put it on top of the of the table and passed out cards and said, I want you to write down how many beans you believe are in this jar.
SPEAKER_02: And the students wrote a number that they thought was close to that number of beans.
SPEAKER_02: And then he said, Well, I would like to gather all those cards, and then he got all the cards.
SPEAKER_02: And then he said, All right, let me pass uh new cards again.
SPEAKER_02: I want you to write down your favorite song.
SPEAKER_02: And they wrote their favorite song, and it was a song about you know whatever they liked.
SPEAKER_02: You know, you had different kinds of likes, as we all do.
SPEAKER_02: You know, if I would ask everyone to write their favorite song, probably everyone would have a different song or a different version of a song.
SPEAKER_02: So he gathered all those cards and then he put all the cards together and said, All right, I had this many beans in this jar, in this particular jar.
SPEAKER_02: And the right answer is, and then he gave them the right answer.
SPEAKER_02: And they asked, So who has the right answer?
SPEAKER_02: And no one had the right answer, but that one was the closest number.
SPEAKER_02: He goes, Well, that is the closest to the truth, isn't it?
SPEAKER_02: They're like, Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02: He said, All right, so let me look at all these songs.
SPEAKER_02: So which one is the right song?
SPEAKER_02: And they all said, Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_02: What do you mean which one's the right song?
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, which one is the right song?
SPEAKER_02: There's no right or wrong song.
SPEAKER_02: This is what we like, it's an opinion.
SPEAKER_02: You ask for our opinion, not what is the right song or the wrong song.
SPEAKER_02: What can what kind of parameters did you give us?
SPEAKER_02: He said, Okay, so let me ask you about faith.
SPEAKER_02: When people are looking for faith, are they asking how many beans are there, or what song do I want or do I like?
SPEAKER_02: When they are asking about their faith, are they looking for the truth by looking at the beans, or are they looking for the opinion of what feels good?
SPEAKER_02: And to his dismay, many said, We're looking for a song.
SPEAKER_02: We're looking for what we like.
SPEAKER_02: See, and this is where Jesus wanted to differentiate.
SPEAKER_02: He did not want them to look at what people are saying about Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: You may be Jeremiah, you may be John the prophet, you may be Elijah.
SPEAKER_02: And during that time, Jesus just came out of being rejected, being set aside by all the religious leaders.
SPEAKER_02: So all the people in authority said that Jesus was a hoax.
SPEAKER_02: He was just another charlatan, was another person that was just trying to find believers and followers.
SPEAKER_02: In that midst, among the religions of the world, among the rejection of the Jewish leaders, and among the difficulty in knowing the fact from opinion, Jesus asks, Who am I to you?
SPEAKER_02: And that's when Peter said, You are the Messiah, the fulfillment of everything we've read, the Son of the Living God.
SPEAKER_02: And that is a truth that could not veer.
SPEAKER_02: And that's when Jesus said, on that statement, on that on that confession, I can build my church.
SPEAKER_02: So when we look at the question, who is Jesus to you, we have a revelation.
SPEAKER_02: And the revelation, just like Peter, comes out of our study of scripture, comes out of our experience with Jesus, comes out of our uh observance, comes out of the teachings we have received, comes out of the word of God.
SPEAKER_02: And after we look at all this, we can profess Jesus is my God, is my Lord, He He is my my friend, He is my Redeemer, He's my teacher, my Father, my Savior.
SPEAKER_02: And we can say that because we have known Him.
SPEAKER_02: But unless He is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit, all we are giving is opinion.
SPEAKER_02: So what are we to do?
SPEAKER_02: We are See that this is not about an opinion, it's about a confession.
SPEAKER_02: We already see that he's asking us that question.
SPEAKER_02: So, what are we to do?
SPEAKER_02: Well, we get to know the foundation.
SPEAKER_02: We know the foundation.
SPEAKER_02: And Jesus begins by saying that on this Petra, which is the Greek word for stone for rock, I will build my church.
SPEAKER_02: And he makes like a pun with Peter's name.
SPEAKER_02: On this stone, Petra and Peter, you are the stone.
SPEAKER_02: Now many think that Jesus was saying that Peter is the stone of the church.
SPEAKER_02: But he is not the stone of the church.
SPEAKER_02: He cannot be the son of the church because for the rest of Scripture, he talks about the church as being his bride.
SPEAKER_02: And Peter cannot be anyone's bride.
SPEAKER_02: He made a statement that you are the Messiah, the Son of God.
SPEAKER_02: And on that statement, he builds the church.
SPEAKER_02: The foundation of the church is that Jesus Christ is the Messiah.
SPEAKER_02: He's the Son of the Living God.
SPEAKER_02: The foundation of the church is Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: And because of that foundation, that's why the gates of heaven cannot prevail.
SPEAKER_02: Because the foundation is not on Peter.
SPEAKER_02: The foundation is not on someone in particular.
SPEAKER_02: The foundation is on Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: But it's very easy for us to look at this passage and thinking, oh, Peter must be the most important person in the world.
SPEAKER_02: That's why we find him at the pearly gates.
SPEAKER_02: Well, that's a very interesting concept.
SPEAKER_02: I I've never heard of that until I came to the States, and I'm gonna be honest.
SPEAKER_02: And the first time I heard that, I was confused.
SPEAKER_02: And then I that was before Google.
SPEAKER_02: So I asked some people, hey, what's the deal with Peter being in a pearly cage?
SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah, he he has like a list and and he has the keys, you know, because Jesus gave him the keys to the gates.
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, What?
SPEAKER_02: And I kept asking, and they said, Well, the problem is is that you know, when we go to heaven, Peter is there, you know, at the gate.
SPEAKER_02: I was like, no, the gates of hell don't prevail.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm trying to figure out in scripture, and then I found out, yes, there are pearly gates, and that that's in Revelation chapter 21, and talks about the pearly gates, but these are the 12 gates for the 12 tribes of Israel.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm I'm trying to figure out how that come up, and and and I guess later on I found out that in the Renaissance, you know, the painters were painting Peter with the keys.
SPEAKER_02: And the keys, you know, they just said, keys for what?
SPEAKER_02: Well, I guess the gates.
SPEAKER_02: So they just made Peter and the gates and they just put it together, and it's a folklore thing, which is fun, you know, and there's a lot of jokes.
SPEAKER_02: I have told jokes about Peter and the pearly gates because it's pretty funny.
SPEAKER_02: You know, you just have this gatekeeper that, you know, lets people in or not, and you know, and and it's just interesting how how all that came up.
SPEAKER_02: But it's very easy for us to look at scripture and thinking, oh, Jesus told Peter that he's not gonna only be the rock, but he's gonna build a church on him, so he's probably the most important person there is for the church.
SPEAKER_02: He's like the ultimate leader, I guess, and not only so, but he gave him keys.
SPEAKER_02: So keys open what?
SPEAKER_02: And when we start looking at scripture from a completely detached way, we lose and miss the significance that Jesus had with that statement, because the keys weren't handed to Peter, the keys were handed to the disciples.
SPEAKER_02: And guess who are the disciples?
SPEAKER_02: We are, and guess what we are to do with those keys?
SPEAKER_02: Make disciples because this is not a sermon about someone else, about Peter, and about an event with Peter.
SPEAKER_02: This is a sermon that Jesus asked his disciples as he's asking us as disciples on the foundation that he laid that he is the messiah, the son of God, he builds the church.
SPEAKER_02: We are the church together, the bride of Christ, the beloved of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: And he has given us the keys to make disciples.
SPEAKER_02: He gave us the keys to continue to move the work of God in our world.
SPEAKER_02: C.S.
SPEAKER_02: Lewis said in Mere Christianity, either you call Jesus a fool or fall at his feet and call him Lord.
SPEAKER_02: But do not patronize or call him a teacher or or a great prophet or a great human man, uh great human.
SPEAKER_02: He did not left that open to us.
SPEAKER_02: He did not leave it open for us to attribute any other kind of word.
SPEAKER_02: He's either Lord, he's either God or a fool.
SPEAKER_02: There's no other in between.
SPEAKER_02: So today we find in this passage that the church is built on the foundation that Jesus is Lord, and we confess our love.
SPEAKER_02: I love love stories when they confess their love.
SPEAKER_02: You know, you know, you watch one of those movies and you know the ending.
SPEAKER_02: You know they're gonna fall.
SPEAKER_02: And if you know if you watch one of those Hallmark movies, I can tell you the ending, I can tell you the whole plot.
SPEAKER_02: But I love those stories, you know, Romeo and Juliet, you know, all these beautiful romantic stories that they confess and they proclaim their love, and and everything is so beautiful and it's so emotional, and we love it.
SPEAKER_02: We love a good love confess confession, but when we are looking at Jesus Christ and we confess our love, we're confessing who he is to us.
SPEAKER_02: Because we're not saying, Lord, I love you as a teacher, I love you as a as a as a as a friend, I love you because you are my Lord, you are my God.
SPEAKER_02: And I cannot live life without you, I cannot move forward without your love, your grace, and your touch.
SPEAKER_02: So today we confess our love, you know, from the heart.
SPEAKER_02: It's not an intellectual achievement, it's not the right answer for a quiz.
SPEAKER_02: This is who are you truly to me?
SPEAKER_02: What has been revealed by your love, by your grace?
SPEAKER_02: You know, every organization has a purpose.
SPEAKER_02: Every organization has has a mission.
SPEAKER_02: You know, Apple is to sell electronics, Amazon is to sell products, insurance agencies is to make money.
SPEAKER_02: I I don't know any other purpose that they have but to make money.
SPEAKER_02: Well, Apple and Amazon also make money.
SPEAKER_02: But the mission, the purpose of the church is not to make money.
SPEAKER_02: The purpose of the church is not to sell products, the purpose of the church is not even to teach.
SPEAKER_02: Purpose of the church is not even to gather.
SPEAKER_02: The purpose of the church is not even to be together, the purpose of the church is not even for fellowship, the purpose of the church is not even for, is not even for getting together and feed the poor.
SPEAKER_02: The purpose of the church is not even to help the orphan, the purpose of the church is not even to go and bless our community.
SPEAKER_02: That's not the purpose of the church.
SPEAKER_02: The purpose of the church is one.
SPEAKER_02: Because if we look into the Great Commission, go into the world, which is an action, go into the world and make disciples.
SPEAKER_02: Go to the church and build new churches, go into the world and and and gather with people, go into the world and attend, go to the world and and learn about my word, go into the world.
SPEAKER_02: No, he says, make disciples, and how do you make disciples?
SPEAKER_02: By baptizing them, by teaching them, by by being with them, by investing in them.
SPEAKER_02: And when we look at every single action that the church is called to do, it only has one purpose.
SPEAKER_02: So why do we struggle as a church to make disciples?
SPEAKER_02: Because we think disciples are made for someone else to do.
SPEAKER_02: Because when Jesus asked, What do people say that I am?
SPEAKER_02: He didn't follow up with the question, is and what does your pastor say that I am?
SPEAKER_02: You know, what does your your church leader say that I am?
SPEAKER_02: What does your small group leader say that I am?
SPEAKER_02: What does your your denomination say that I am?
SPEAKER_02: He's asking, what do you say that I am?
SPEAKER_02: Because who you say I am is who you are going to share with others.
SPEAKER_02: And when we share with others, doesn't mean that we go to people and saying, you know, if you were to die today, were you going to heaven or hell?
SPEAKER_02: And what are you doing about it?
SPEAKER_02: And for many, that may be a threat.
SPEAKER_02: Are you threatening me?
SPEAKER_02: Is this a threat?
SPEAKER_02: He's not asking us to go and start and start cornering people.
SPEAKER_02: He's asking us to go and love them, embrace them, welcome them, to be Christ-like, to be disciples to them, because that's how we make disciples.
SPEAKER_02: It's by being a disciple, by following Jesus that others see Jesus in us.
SPEAKER_02: It's by mentoring, it's by investing, it's by welcoming, it's by making them a part of our lives in such a way they see Jesus in everything we do.
SPEAKER_02: And the more they see Jesus, the more they desire him.
SPEAKER_02: But the more they see of ourselves, the more they see the world.
SPEAKER_02: That's why we have to turn around and say, I do not want to have Jesus as someone that I like.
SPEAKER_02: I want to g I want to have Jesus as everything for me.
SPEAKER_02: I want Jesus not to be the center of my life, I want Jesus to be my life.
SPEAKER_02: So we confess our love and we go from belonging, making others belong, and then we become Christ-like to them, and then we build the kingdom by making disciples.
SPEAKER_02: And when we do that, God is gonna use us to build a kingdom.
SPEAKER_02: We will see salvations, we will see people who were lost finding Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: We're people we will see people in darkness finding the light, and all that because we know who Jesus is.
SPEAKER_02: So I have a challenge for you this week, and the challenge is to ask someone who do you say Jesus is?
SPEAKER_02: Just ask someone, hey, I've known you for a few years, but I never asked you that question.
SPEAKER_02: Who do you say Jesus is?
SPEAKER_02: What's your concept of Jesus?
SPEAKER_02: And it's not a problem to ask that question.
SPEAKER_02: We've known each other for a while.
SPEAKER_02: You know I'm a Christian, and if you don't know I'm a Christian, shame on me, but you know, what is Jesus to you?
SPEAKER_02: And let him answer.
SPEAKER_02: And they may say, well, he's a prophet, he's a he's a good man, a teacher, or and and he and they they may say that he was someone that they admire.
SPEAKER_02: And then in the silence, in the silence, you wait until they ask you, and what do you say Jesus is?
SPEAKER_02: And that's when you say, Oh, he's the Son of God, he's my savior, he's my friend, he's my redeemer, he's my love, he's my shepherd, he's my prophet, he's my word, he's my helper, is my teacher, my father, my God.
SPEAKER_02: And when we start expressing who Jesus is to us, we start sharing about this love affair we have that will open doors.
SPEAKER_02: So when we ask someone who Jesus is, and maybe they will not ask us.
SPEAKER_02: So just let that dangle, just let that be the uncomfortable pause, the uncomfortable silence until they'll come to you and ask you, What do you say Jesus is?
SPEAKER_02: And that's when you share about Jesus, and that's how we make disciples by sharing, by journeying together.
SPEAKER_02: Disciples were not made for us to tell them about Jesus and and leave, they're made for us to embrace, to meet.
SPEAKER_02: But before I conclude, if you feel today that you don't really know who Jesus is, if you feel today that you are not sure what he is to you, because you never felt it, you never felt him, you never felt such a passion for him that you're not even sure that you know who he is.
SPEAKER_02: Really deep.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not talking about knowing about Jesus, like who he is.
SPEAKER_02: Don't leave today without praying that the cornerstone, that the foundation it's him in your life.
SPEAKER_02: You pray that he will reveal himself to you.
SPEAKER_02: You pray that he will become your God, that all the things that you have in your life that that you know he doesn't like, all the mistakes and all the things that we call sin, he will forgive, he will restore and give you a new life.
SPEAKER_02: So if you don't know him as your savior, as your God, don't leave today without praying that he'll come into your life.
SPEAKER_02: And if you want to come to the altar and pray, someone will pray with you.
SPEAKER_02: If you wanna if you wanna ask, uh you can ask me or even Pastor Preston, and I'll pray with you.
SPEAKER_02: But do not leave today without knowing who Jesus is, not just by a mental or intellectual knowledge, but in your heart, in a way that changes everything.
SPEAKER_02: I'd like to ask the worship team to come forward as we conclude with a word of prayer.
SPEAKER_02: And as we journey together as a family, as we journey together as as people of God, we are here for one another.
SPEAKER_02: And and as any family, we're not perfect.
SPEAKER_02: No church is perfect, no family is perfect, but we do love each other, and by loving each other, journey together and see God being fulfilled in our relationship.
SPEAKER_02: Father in heaven, we thank you for the joy we have in being in your presence, and we thank you that you have descended today and made yourself among us to be a part of our family.
SPEAKER_02: And Father, we're not just gathering because this is a church, we're gathering because we truly want to be with you.
SPEAKER_02: So lead us, speak to us, encourage us, enable us, empower us that we may go and make disciples, pouring our hearts into others, pouring our lives into others that they may see Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: And Father, I pray that today, as you are the cornerstone and the foundation of our church, that you too will be the foundation of our lives.
SPEAKER_02: And we pray this, Father, because you are Lord, because you are God.
SPEAKER_02: And today, as we go, be with us and lead us and become our everything.
SPEAKER_02: And we pray these things in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: As it is known in our community, Northwest Church is committed to discovering and engaging in a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ, with inspired worship and intentional ministry.
SPEAKER_00: People from all walks of life are welcome and received as family members.
SPEAKER_00: Our family is diverse, multicultural, and although not perfect, in love with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Join us online at nwnat.org or by visiting us in Columbus, Ohio.
SPEAKER_00: God bless you.