A Place to Be Real
When
Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do
people say that the Son of Man is?”
“Well,” they replied, “some say John the
Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other
prophets.” Then
he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” 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. MATTHEW
16:13-18 NLT
Jesus
promised he would build his church
Jesus
never promised it would be easy
Look, I am sending you out as sheep
among wolves. So be as shrewd
as snakes and harmless as doves. MATTHEW 10:16 NLT
Jesus
never promised it would be cheap
But King David replied to Araunah,
“No, I insist on buying it for the full price. I will not take what is yours
and give it to the LORD. I will not present burnt offerings that have cost me nothing!” 1 CHRONICLES 21:24 NLT
Jesus
has called me to build the church with him
“So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord,
Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? I will show you what it’s like when
someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. It is like a
person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock.
When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because
it is well built. But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who
builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that
house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.” LUKE 6:46-49 NLT
Unless the LORD builds a house, the work of the builders is
wasted. PSALM 127:1 NLT