God is still God. God is still in control. And for that, we will give God our best praise, our best worship, and our burdens are cast there.
The burden of The Church. What do you think it means? What is the principle of it? The idea of it? What is the identity of The Church? We tend to treat a thing the way we believe it is. We take it for granted. We think it will be around forever. But what happens when the idea is lost in translation? If the idea of The Church is lost in translation, then there is some information that has been lost. So, what is The Church?
If we were to unroll the scrolls of Matthew 16:13-18, it would read as such:
When Jesus arrived in the villages of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “What are people saying about who the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some think he is John the Baptizer, some say Elijah, some Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
He pressed them, “And how about you? Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter said, “You’re the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus came back, “God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn’t get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. And now I’m going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out. (Message Version)
Have you questioned your reputation? In this particular pericope of text, Yeshua is pressing for the information of his own reputation. People on the outside are expected to have unvalidated answers but those who walk closely will have a different perspective and outlook. Some profound information will come from the connection in lieu of book knowledge. Something must be released in you to be revealed in you. You can’t walk in truth and still live a lie! The connection is the secret to “I AM”. This is the rock upon which the church is built.
"Upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."- Yeshua
For the entire month of September, Pulse24 will be fasting and deep-diving into what it really means to be the ekklesia or ecclesia. If the church wants to make a difference in the world, then we must have an explicable understanding of God’s purpose and creation of The Church.