Hoping the picture came through, hopefully you're looking at a picture of a church like Jesus was talking about in today's Bible verse. It's literally a church built on a humongous rock that is also literally inside the church. It's the church in the mountains where Amanda and I worshipped this past Sunday. It's called Sallie Howard Memorial Chapel.
The literal rock, though, is just a symbol.
When Jesus said to Peter that he would build his church on a rock, I do not understand Jesus to say that he was building his church on Peter (a name which means "rock"), nor was Jesus building his church on a material rock.
The rock on which Jesus has built his church is the confession of faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God. That's what Peter had just said to Jesus, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God," (Matthew 16:16) when Jesus replied and said, "Upon this rock, I will build my church."
That kind of confessing was what happened at Sallie Howard Memorial Chapel.
First, the place was packed! It sat 78 people in the pews and choir. There were 90 of us Sunday, so 12 of us sat in folding chairs in the aisle. Confessing Jesus as the Christ looks like people going to church. Like the preacher said, going to church is a witness, and not going to church is another kind of witness. Somebody's always watchin' the way we live, so everything we do is confessin' to 'em what we believe.
Second, everybody sang. It took Amanda and me a verse or two to catch on because we never heard of songs like "The Royal Telephone," but everybody else from the mountain towns sang out so that we couldn't help but get swept up on the phone lines to heaven with 'em. Confessing Jesus as the Christ looks like people singin' in church. Like the preacher said, singin' out in church is a witness, and not singin' out in church is another kind of witness.
Third, and finally, everybody listened to the message. There wasn't a bunch of "Amen"ING goin' on, just listenin', which was pretty awesome since the preacher talked about, what in my experience isn't a very popular topic. He said that God loves us, which everybody loves to hear, but then he said if we believe God loves us then we care about how we know God so we can live in God's image and show people that we know God so that when we start talkin' about God's love to 'em then they might actually believe that we know God instead of just knowin' the world like everybody else. (Yes, the preacher meant the sentence to be that long.) See all the confessin' goin' on in that sermon. Preacher was talkin' about confessin' God's love, confessin' we're sinners, confessin' God's lovin' forgiveness, confessin' that God actually has a way to live instead of just doin' what's right in our own eyes (like it says people did in the Bible book called "Judges"), and confessin' all this stuff about God to other people in BOTH our deeds AND our words.
All this confessin' of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, made us feel like we'd died and gone to heaven.
Come to think of it. The church was up in the mountain clouds. But I'm sure it was all real because if you can see the picture at the top, you can see plain as day that that church was built on a rock.
May every church and every person's life on earth be the same.
"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." - Matthew 16:18 (King James Version)
Praise God!
The literal rock, though, is just a symbol.
When Jesus said to Peter that he would build his church on a rock, I do not understand Jesus to say that he was building his church on Peter (a name which means "rock"), nor was Jesus building his church on a material rock.
The rock on which Jesus has built his church is the confession of faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God. That's what Peter had just said to Jesus, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God," (Matthew 16:16) when Jesus replied and said, "Upon this rock, I will build my church."
That kind of confessing was what happened at Sallie Howard Memorial Chapel.
First, the place was packed! It sat 78 people in the pews and choir. There were 90 of us Sunday, so 12 of us sat in folding chairs in the aisle. Confessing Jesus as the Christ looks like people going to church. Like the preacher said, going to church is a witness, and not going to church is another kind of witness. Somebody's always watchin' the way we live, so everything we do is confessin' to 'em what we believe.
Second, everybody sang. It took Amanda and me a verse or two to catch on because we never heard of songs like "The Royal Telephone," but everybody else from the mountain towns sang out so that we couldn't help but get swept up on the phone lines to heaven with 'em. Confessing Jesus as the Christ looks like people singin' in church. Like the preacher said, singin' out in church is a witness, and not singin' out in church is another kind of witness.
Third, and finally, everybody listened to the message. There wasn't a bunch of "Amen"ING goin' on, just listenin', which was pretty awesome since the preacher talked about, what in my experience isn't a very popular topic. He said that God loves us, which everybody loves to hear, but then he said if we believe God loves us then we care about how we know God so we can live in God's image and show people that we know God so that when we start talkin' about God's love to 'em then they might actually believe that we know God instead of just knowin' the world like everybody else. (Yes, the preacher meant the sentence to be that long.) See all the confessin' goin' on in that sermon. Preacher was talkin' about confessin' God's love, confessin' we're sinners, confessin' God's lovin' forgiveness, confessin' that God actually has a way to live instead of just doin' what's right in our own eyes (like it says people did in the Bible book called "Judges"), and confessin' all this stuff about God to other people in BOTH our deeds AND our words.
All this confessin' of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, made us feel like we'd died and gone to heaven.
Come to think of it. The church was up in the mountain clouds. But I'm sure it was all real because if you can see the picture at the top, you can see plain as day that that church was built on a rock.
May every church and every person's life on earth be the same.
"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." - Matthew 16:18 (King James Version)
Praise God!
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