elcome And Palm Sunday Setup

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Well, hey, Lifehouse family. Welcome back to our time of reflection with Pastor Mark. Monday, Tuesday, whenever you're listening, we hope you're taking some time to check this out. Just opportunities as we go through each week, and especially we're taking the pause, the pregnant pause from Zechariah this week for a very good purpose. I had some people ask, and they were like, hey, we did?

SPEAKER_00 0:36

I said, no. Sometimes I wonder if people even notice. Yeah, we're gonna pick up in Zechariah on Palm Sunday. You know, Zechariah 9, where we are, as I mentioned yesterday in the service. I mean, there's a prophecy that really explicitly, very perfectly is fulfilled in the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, which is what we commemorate on Palm Sunday. And so I just felt like I wanted to make sure and preach that on that day because of its meaning and significance. So yeah, pregnant pause. Sure. But for a good reason.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

I think this week in Matthew 16, of course, this account is you know told in the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, some different ways, but it's a crucial question. It is something we should never get beyond, and something we really need to focus on.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

So kind of So yeah, I want to talk. So before we go any further, do you guys notice how well we matched it? That's right.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

If you're watching, you know, if you're on the podcast, you might say better. This is like, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

We are in sync.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

Lined up. We have the coordination committee.

hy The Gospels Were Written

eading Matthew 16 Together

SPEAKER_00 1:36

But just kind of thinking about the the purpose, the intent behind the gospel. So Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, all four of them had a very specific goal in mind. They're not just like, you know, writing for the sake of writing, like they're presenting an argument, and their goal is to reveal like what has been revealed to them, to be used by God to reveal the truth about Jesus Christ. I love how John says it at the end of his gospel, John 20, verse 31. He says, all these things are written. In other words, in my gospel, everything that I've documented, specifically referring to the signs and the miracles that Jesus performed, they're written so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing in him, you might have life in his name. And so that was John's explicit goal. But the same thing with Luke and Mark and Matthew, like, like they're just, they're documenting, they could have written a lot more. I mean, they walked with and fellowship with Jesus for three and a half years. And so they could have documented so much more, but they really, wanting to be precise and concise, offered what they felt was sufficient evidence to prove and to present their case. Not they're not writing just to entertain, they're just not writing to show how smart they are. They're writing to convince us of the reality and the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ. And so with that in mind, this is a specific passage. Why don't you read it? Matthew 16, verses 13 through 20.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Yep. Matthew 16, starting in verse 13, it says, Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is? And they said, Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He said to them, But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, son Simon Barjonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the king keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

Yeah, so Jesus engaging his disciples in this way, first know and understand that Jesus wasn't confused. Yes really about it.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

Confusion is the first point. The confusion continues today.

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Jesus was very self-aware of his identity. And really, like I think that this was all for the purpose of kind of addressing the confusion that was there then in that context, but also knowing that we'd be still dealing with so much confusion about Jesus. There's a lot of people who claim to believe in Jesus, who say they know Jesus and about Jesus, but they don't worship the Jesus as revealed in Scripture. Like Jesus is the second person of the Trinity. He is the Christ, not a Christ. Christ literally means anointed one, referring to the Messiah, the promised deliverer of God, the fulfillment of all those promises throughout the Old Testament. And he is the son of the living God, as opposed to false gods, dead gods, non-existent gods that people worship, little g gods, right? That like as an example, like one thing that God does is he reveals who he is and that he exists, but also he shuts down the false ideas. I think about the Egyptian gods, right? The pantheon of Egyptian gods, that with those ten plagues, like God revealed like the their falsehood, their fakeness, time and time again. And yeah, so so Jesus knew who he was, but wanting to have this conversation with his disciples engaged and confronted all the false ideas, and a little literally at this time in particular, it was unnecessary confusion, right? Jesus was doing what no one else could do, healing every kind of sickness and disease, casting out demons with a word, literally fulfilling prophecies, like one after the other, forgiving sins. If you remember the the occasion when Jesus healed the paralytic, where the friends dropped their friend through the roof, not dropped, but lowered through the roof. Before he healed them, he said, you know, your sins are forgiven you. And Jesus knew all the Jews knew that only God can forgive sins, and that was the whole point, right? Jesus forgave sins and did what only God can do. And so Jesus knew who he was. And so with this conversation, like he's confronting the unnecessary confusion that exists in this day. And so I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 6:37

Yeah, he accepted worship, he declared, you know, in the synagogue, these scriptures are fulfilled. So I think to your point, you know, confusion persists. There's the historical Jesus, like, well, there was a guy, you know, but we don't want to accept his claims. And so I think it's a crucial question, you know, especially other faiths. You get like Islam believes, oh, Jesus was a prophet, or there's other confusions about, well, Jesus was born, you know, in Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormon, some of those faith. And so every, you know, a lot of times people use Jesus, but like, who is Jesus? And you have to answer that question.

iar Lunatic Or Lord

SPEAKER_00 7:15

And so there's a right understanding, but also a right response connected to that understanding, and that's faith. Like he is worthy of worship and he's worthy of our trust. But so let's talk about some of the confusion that exists today. So, first I want to just talk about kind of surface level. I remember engaging a guy, good guy, very educated man, had a PhD in, I think it was education or organizational leadership, exactly, was his PhD was in organizational leadership. And he was fascinated by servant leadership, specifically as modeled by Jesus. And so he wanted to, as an atheist, connect with me and meet and talk leadership and talk Jesus as a great leader. And he was. Jesus was a great leader, a servant leader. But this man was confused. I mean, I mean, he he respected Jesus, and and we'll get to the C. S. Lewis argument in a moment. But but how can because of what Jesus claimed about himself, there's he either he was, as C.S. Lewis presented in a much more eloquent way, he was a liar. In other words, like because he claimed to be God, I mean, you think about this the seven I am statements that that are documented in the Gospel of John, tying them to Exodus chapter three, when God revealed himself to Moses, when Moses said, like, who should I say sent me to? You tell God says, tell them I am, sent me, you sent you to them. And so Jesus, knowing that, like tying himself, he says, before Abraham was born, I am, I am the door, I am the bread of life, I am the good shepherd, I am the resurrection and the life, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Not a way, the truth, the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus said these things about himself, and we could go on and on, accepted worship, forgave sins, all those things. Like, so the only three possibilities that exist is either he was literally lying about himself, like he knew he wasn't the bread of life, he knew he wasn't the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and he didn't correct Peter. He said, you know, blessed are you, because God's revealed this to you, you know, when Peter made this confession. So either he was lying and intentionally deceiving people. How evil would that be? Oh, yeah. Right? But here we are, 2,000 years later, worshiping this man who came to serve people. Clearly, his intention was not to be lauded and applauded. Like he went to the cross, knowing what would happen to him, like all these, it just it's ridiculous to think and reason in your mind that Jesus was intentionally deceiving people or lying. Second possibility is he's a lunatic, like literally crazy. Like he thought he was. We know people, right? People who claim to be God, but they're crazy. Like they had too much LSD or crack or all these different things. Jesus didn't do that, right? Jesus was not crazy. All these people followed him: Peter, James, Andrew, John. And we know that they weren't like the religious elite of their day, but they were men who had families who wanted to provide for them. These men were willing, and they did, most of them, after Jesus died, died themselves. They were so convinced. Like Jesus wasn't a crazy lunatic, like he was sincere, he was authentic, he performed miracles. They saw him perform miracles. And he wasn't just a magician, like he did what no one else could do. So he wasn't just a deceiver or a lunatic or a liar, a lunatic. Like that's it's crazy to think or to reason that we would be standing here today talking about him 2,000 plus years later if he was just a crazy person. So the only other possibility that exists is that he is who he claimed to be, that he actually is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And I, for one, am convinced, Matthew was absolutely convinced. That's why he followed him. Like, again, even just thinking about the gospel writers. Like, so Matthew was one of the twelve. He saw Jesus crucified, suffered. Matthew suffered himself, and yet he never threw in the towel, he never gave up. The 12 disciples, other than Judas, who was used, it was all part of the plan, they all were faithful to the end, faithful unto death, because they were so convinced and knew and believed what is revealed, what Jesus reveals about himself.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

Oh, yeah, it's super critical. And like you said, who's gonna die for a lie? You know, it was a really impactful thing. There was a guy, Chuck Coulson. I don't know if you've known that name. He was chief of staff of uh Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal, and he was not a believer during the Watergate scandal, but in prison and through that ordeal, he came to Christ. And here's why I think it was, I can't remember, it was 12, 10, 11, 12, people who were involved in that cover-up. He's like, we couldn't hold a lie for like three weeks together, you know, because everybody started bailing out and saving their own life. He's like, for these 11 guys, you know, 2,000 years ago to hold that lie together, all 11 of them, all till none of them. He's like, that's just not that's not gonna happen.

SPEAKER_00 12:19

So it was Peter and John, when they were arrested and beaten and threatened by the Sanhedrin in Acts chapter 4, I think it is, and they were commanded by the Sanhedrin, Sanhedrin. After having been beaten, they said, All right, we're gonna let you go, but do not speak or teach it all in the name of Jesus. And Peter and John's response were, we cannot help but speak of that which we have seen and heard. We are going to speak of Jesus because he told us that we are gonna be his witnesses, right? We have to like tell the truth. And so, yeah, they were convinced. And yeah, I the other thing too is I think that, you know, the Lord, when people are seeking truth to know and understand Jesus sincerely, God's gonna reveal. Like that is that, you know, if people are praying, like, show me who you are, Lord. I I the Lord that I know, the God that I know is a God who reveals and and reveals himself to those type types. Seek the truth, you will find the truth, is the promise we see in scripture. The problem is when people seek with m ulterior motives, or you know, uh God's not going to be played, you know, and he sees hearts and the intents of hearts.

SPEAKER_01 13:26

Another I think important, yeah, just kind of transitioning, like there's so much evidence, and I would just even commend, you know, we could talk for an hour because we love this.

SPEAKER_00 13:36

You could go on and on.

SPEAKER_01 13:37

I would certainly commend, you know, The Case for Christ, you know, by Lee Strobel. Great book. You know, he was an atheist who set out to like, I'm gonna prove this wrong, I'm gonna quest for all of this, and he came to faith, exactly like you said, because he kind of went in with an open mind. Yeah. Also, you know, at C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity is a great book.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Evidence that demands a verdict is another one. I mean, there's so many.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

Cold Case Christianity by Jay Warner Wallace. There's some great books out there. So if you are seeking or you just want to strengthen, maybe you believe, but I'd like to strengthen my belief. There are just so many. Like we have thousands of copies of scripture, we have so much and we have extra biblical, you know, references. There is more evidence for Jesus than anything else on the planet.

Different Jesus And False Gospels

SPEAKER_00 14:20

And many of the books that we just referred to, and C.S. Lewis was an atheist. You know, I mean, there are many of these men are not just like, you know, guys who grew up in church and drank the Kool-Aid. Like these are men who actually were atheists or agnostics and you know, on their journey somehow like came to find and know and understand the truth. Another, one of my favorite books, interestingly enough, it's kind of a different, it's not necessarily an apologetic as much as it is a collection of testimonies. It's called the Unexpected Journey. I don't know if I've ever told you about that one. I highly recommend it. It's one of my favorite books of all time, and in it are numerous testimonies of people from all walks of different faiths. So including atheism, but Mormonism, Jehovah's Witness, cult satanic. I mean, like all these different things, people were all in, not just casual in these in these different faiths, but completely all in, and how they came to the knowledge of the true Jesus Christ and saving faith. And they they share their journey, and it's just so impactful. And it really, for me, it really inspired me to evangelism because you read these testimonies and you think, oh man, these people are the people that you would consider too far gone. Like there is no hope for them, like they're just immersed in these other things, and yet God is able. What's impossible with man is possible with God. So it really elicited and inspired in me the desire to go and to be bold, knowing that God can do anything. But it showed kind of the fallacy of these other faiths and the reality and the truth of Jesus Christ. Yeah, and so that's another thing. So, with addition, in addition to that, I think we also need to address the misunderstanding or confusion because so many people say the name, Jesus, and they say they believe in Jesus. And even there are religions, cults out there, and I say this, you know, with a burden and in love, but Mormonism, Jehovah's Witness, they claim Jesus. Like I know people growing up, we had friends, and part of the strategy for the Mormon faith in regards to their evangelism for their church and faith is to make Christians think that they're one of us. Like they we believe in Jesus. Like that we have the Old Testament. I believe in Daniel and the Lion's Den and Jonah and the whale and Adam and Eve. And so, yeah, like we're just one of us. Come be with us. It's a different Jesus. They they believe in a different Jesus, not the Jesus that is revealed in and through Scripture. Same with Jehovah's Witnesses. They'll say we we love the Word. They have a Bible, but it's actually a Bible that's translated. Scrubbed by everything that to fit into the confines of what they believe. Namely, uh John chapter 1, verse 1, where it is said about Jesus that he was in the beginning with God and was God. The word, like the word, but they put in there, even though it's not in the original text, he was a God, not God. He is God. John chapter 1, verse 1. He was in the beginning with God, and he was God. And so we don't want to diminish who Jesus is. Like we want to make much of Jesus. Jesus says, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men into myself. And so we need to be very careful and cautious, you know.

SPEAKER_01 17:39

And led astray and about where we get our information.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

There's a lot of experts out there that, you know, they're not experts. Like, like, and it just there's these subtle nuances that are so profound. This reality, this truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of Living God, is a hill to die on. It is critical. Right. There are a lot of open-handed. I'm sorry I'm getting so passionate here. But I'm a pastor, like we need to protect the flock, you know, and like there are a lot of open-handed issues, and I am okay with those things about methodology and practice, and that's why there's different denominations. And I think that we can fellowship with people from different denominations. So there are hills that aren't to die on. This is not one of those. This is a hill to die on. If you do not believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, then you are not saved. Do not have a false sense of security. You must believe. This is imperative. It is critical, it is crucial to believe. So don't be okay with any other lie. Paul says, and part this is part of the gospel. If any one of you preaches or if anyone preaches a gospel other than the gospel that I preach to you, and part of the gospel is Jesus Christ, the good news of Jesus Christ. And every time you say Jesus Christ, you're essentially confessing what Jesus, He is the Christ. Paul says, if anyone preaches you a different gospel, let him be anathema, cursed. Like have nothing to do with that at all. Don't crack the door to that. Sorry.

SPEAKER_01 19:15

No, it's hey, I mean, it's we've talked. You're like Mark, I'm right beside you. But like, man. It's it is I I agree in the gospel math. You know, don't add any works to Jesus, but also don't subtract. Absolutely. Those other false religions want to add to the gospel and then they want to subtract from Christ. You know, so you're either diminishing Christ's deity and then adding on works. You know, you have to, because if Jesus is God, if he is who he says he was, if he did we, then what is works going to do in comparison to the works of Christ? And this is a question everyone has to answer it. I think doing a big study of Matthew, I know we went through it, but even just if you macro zoom out, Matthew paints. There are two types of people in the world, those who believe and follow, and those who don't. You know, like we we like to paint all kinds of divisions and races, classes, whatever, but there's really two types of people, those who believe and those who don't. And absolutely. Once we get past this world, that's all that's gonna matter. So it is. It has to be right, and some people who have gotten it right, peripherally many people have, you know, kind of like, well, why do we come back to this? We have to keep coming back to this because the world, the confusion persists.

elief That Becomes Worship And Trust

SPEAKER_00 20:25

So we have to be abundantly clear on this. Well, let's talk about belief, right? So to be saved, you need to believe.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

There's a response. I think talking about who Jesus is and where you're going, is a right response.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

Yeah. So Jesus is Lord, and there's like so words have meaning, you know, but but talk is cheap at the same time. And so, really, like, do you believe what you really claim to believe? Right? It's one thing to claim to believe something, but if you really believe something, like it will impact the way that you live your life. Like, do you believe that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, that he is sovereign, the Alpha, the Omega, the Word who is in the beginning with God, the bread of life, the door, the way, the truth, and the life. Like, if so, like that will play out. Like you will follow him. Like, what's it mean to follow him? Right? Like that means that you want to follow in his footsteps, like you want to be like him. You want to observe or obey everything that he commanded you. Like you want your agenda, is his agenda because you follow him. You don't lead him, right? Jesus is not your genie, your get out of jail free card. He is loving, he is gracious, he is merciful, right? He's sitting at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us. I mean, who are we that he's even mindful of us? He is the friend that sits closer than a brother, but he's not your homeboy, right? He is the Lord. And so I've heard people say, and and you know, and I want to say this in a condemning way, but I actually would affirm this truth. If he is not Lord of all, he is not Lord at all. And so we must not just believe, but but with that believe, like what or say we believe, with that true faith, we must come under. Like he is Lord, as in he is high and lifted up. He is in charge. All authority in heaven and earth have been given to him. Jesus said that about himself. So was he lying? Was he a lunatic? Or is he Lord? And so we must come under with that belief, that authority, and that it's just important like to that's the right response.

SPEAKER_01 22:35

Well, and I think that's what we see in this passage and you know your points yesterday. When we eliminate the confusion, there's going to be a confession. You know, you confess him as Lord or you don't, you know, and if you confess him as Lord, if you truly respond, that's going to change you. And then that's the commitment to follow. You know, okay, he's the son of God, he died and rose again, but like, how do you not deal with it? You have to deal with that. And if you deal with it appropriately, it humbles you, it brings you to that point, to a response, like you say, making him Lord of your life, then you're going to follow. And it's not that, you know, too often we get the legalistic kind of things, but it's you're going to be a follower of Christ and it's going to change you, and that's how you'll commit your life. Because who else in your life right now is the son of God? Right. Nobody else is. So who else is worth of following and listening to and studying their word and reading after? Like it should transform you in terms of being committed. You know, it's hard to be halfway about something like this. You know, like so, again, like you said, if you believe what you say you believe, but then you're only kind of lukewarm about it, yeah. Well, we know how that goes, you know.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

Yeah, the two kind of veins or I would sum up, like, and you know, people have this idea of what worship is. It's not just singing songs, right? We say at Lifehouse that worship is all of us responding to all of him all the time. You know, if you believe what you claim to believe about Jesus, that he is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, you will worship him, like lifestyle worship, and you will trust him. Like I think that even trusting him, like that, even when you, you know, go through hard times and trials and tribulations, and even, you know, when he doesn't answer your prayer in the way you want him to, in the time you want him to, but you will trust him. Like you will trust that he is coming back. Because why? He said he was coming back very explicitly, and he will return. So trust. I mean, I you know, belief. We need to believe what he says. We need to believe that he will do what he said that he will do. Like, so it's worship and trust, and how that plays out in our daily lives as we obey his word. One thing I'd like to talk about is the Son of Man. Like, I I Jesus' favorite title for himself.

SPEAKER_01 24:45

Like, any thoughts on that before I Yeah, no, I know you mentioned Daniel and Ezekiel in just another way that you know he's using these critical titles from the Old Testament. And you know, we could just say much about why the Old Testament then matters because Jesus is leveraging, not leveraging in like a bad way, but he's saying, like, this is the prophecy, this is how you know. You know, the Old Testament is written down, so Jesus didn't come out of nowhere, like, no, from the beginning, yeah. This was God's plan. So, yeah, Son of Man is a very important it is very important.

SPEAKER_00 25:15

It was Jesus' favorite title, uh, he uh referring to himself time and time again throughout all the gospels. But yeah, fascinatingly, and the Jewish mind, specifically Matthew was writing to the Jews, his people, they all knew exactly who the Son of Man was. Like, you know, Daniel chapter 7, verses 13 through 14, where Daniel sees the son, one like a son of man, standing before the ancient of days, right, the Lord of all creation, and to him was given dominion and glory and power, right? You know, here's this humble, you know, carpenter, you know, born in Nazareth, right? Placed in a manger at his birth, to this humble family walking the earth, serving people. He's saying, I'm the son of man. Like everyone knew Daniel 7, 13 through 14 in that context. Most people knew. And and he's saying, I that's who I am. Who do people say that the son of man is? Who do you say that I am as the son of man? That's really profound, too. And again, I just it's fascinating to me because what we see documented is not Jesus saying, Yeah, laud me and applaud me, not worship me, even though he's worthy of worship. He serves people and he came to die for people. And it's just, I don't know, it's it's very humbling and profound that he would do that. He knew exactly who he was. And here's the thing our finite minds truly cannot comprehend the greatness that he is. I mean, greater is he that is in us than he that is that is in the world. We get that, but he he is higher, right? His ways are higher. He is higher. He's worthy of worship and ways that just would blow our minds if we truly could comprehend and know the reality of it.

hurch Community And Spirit Empowered Mission

SPEAKER_01 27:05

So know who Jesus is, believe, respond, be committed. And I know we could talk a lot too, you know, these last couple verses, you mentioned it yesterday, but you know, of course, with building the church, which then I think you know that commitment comes with, and we talked about this on you know this platform, you know, again, it's Christ saves us to be in community. So we are to be in community, and the church is that purpose. You know, some people, you know, there's so much, oh, I don't need church, these kind of things, but I just think in these verses, Jesus is laying this out, you know. So again, we could get way in the weeds on some of these of Peter and what this means and keys, but you know, Jesus says, like, on this belief, you know, on this rock, on this foundation, this is you know how this will go.

SPEAKER_00 27:49

Later, we don't have time to get into it, but even Peter himself like clarifies what Jesus is saying here. Paul, I'll name that because I think it's very the one easiest one to understand. I think it's 1 Corinthians 3, where he says, There is no other foundation or rock, no other foundation that can be laid other than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ. He was talking about the church. And even so, the church, let's talk, he said, I will build my church. What is that? This is the first time Jesus uses that word as recorded. He maybe used it and they didn't record it, but this is where he, it's from the Greek word ekklesia, which literally means like called out and together. And kind of the idea, if you picture like a Jewish village in ancient Judy, Judea, people lived in homes and they had kind of a town square, and when they had a big announcement, or when like they were, like they had to do something, like they would call people out of the home and together, you know, into the to the square. So people would assemble together, and that's what the word ecclesia is referring to. That's what we are. We've got so many rogue Christians, isolated Christians, that that I mean, really, the the word ekklesia speaks for itself as translated church. It is an assembly, like we come together, like faithfully, regularly. We are the body of Christ. This is what Jesus said that he was gonna build. He was gonna build. Right. And really, that's the whole reason I felt led to this passage. Like to, you know, we are used by him. In verse 19, he tells Peter and the disciples, like, you will be given the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind in heaven will be bound, whatever you bound on earth will be bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. And I believe he's talking about the gospel. Like, I'm gonna give you the gospel. You have the keys. Like, like, in other words, a responsibility, like I'm entrusting you with a responsibility to establish and to further advance, to be used by me as I build my church. And I to tie it all back to Zechariah chapter 4, verse 6, when they were to build the physical temple, the Lord says, Not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. That's how you're going to be obedient and accomplish what I've commanded you to do. And I believe in the same way, the only way that we will be successful in doing what Jesus wants us to do in seeing his church built is in his power and his strength and by his spirit, his enabling, his empowering, his gifting. And so we must look to him and trust him to do that as the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

Nothing says, Peter, you will build, or he says, I will give you. So I think it's super important that we have no authority apart from Christ. So Peter had no authority that Christ did not give him. And it was this confession, you know, this was recognition that he had, and that was why the disciples would become the church, and we could get into Acts and how it became a community. Yeah, nobody was like off on their own.

losing Invitation For Questions

SPEAKER_00 30:51

Like it was to be together, to be gathered together, to be encouraging praying, all of these things. Well, that and that leads us to, I'm sure we're running out of time because I got on my high horse today. But so, in closing, this coming week, in preparation for Palm Sunday and back into Zechariah 9, Danny Mattis, our student director, will be preaching from John 15, where Jesus says, Apart from me, you can do nothing. So to tie it back to what you just said, like Jesus said, I will build my church. He wants to use us, he wants us to bear fruit, but and he will help us and give us what we need to do that, but he is the one that does it. I will build my church, not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 31:32

Well, Lifehouse family, we appreciate you joining us. Certainly, you know, if you have questions, everything we've talked about here, there's so much we, like I say, could talk about, just the evidence and these kind of things, the needed response. So if you're working through things, we'd love to talk to you. Feel free to send us questions. I would love to get with you if you have any. I know Pastor Mark would be, I would. We have plenty of people who would be glad to talk to you because this is the question of our life. You know, it's going to change us in so many ways, and it is the critical question that we all have to answer. So have a right understanding and a right response. Yep. So the Lifehouse family, thanks for joining us. We'll look forward to seeing you next time.