Good morning to you all. Once again, we are here to share prayer, worship and fellowship, We are here to thank Him for being with us all through the good and the bad. We will be looking at Matthew Ch 16:13-20, concentrating on v 18.
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.
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Let us begin our time of worship and sing: O Lord My God
Scripture Reading Matthew 16:13-20
Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[b] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[c] will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[e] loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
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As we go into a time of prayer let us listen to: He sought Me
Time of prayer
O Christ Jesus,
when all is darkness
and we feel our weakness and helplessness,
give us the sense of Your presence,
Your love, and Your strength.
Help us to have perfect trust
in Your protecting love
and strengthening power,
so that nothing may frighten or worry us,
for, living close to You,
we shall see Your hand,
Your purpose, Your will through all things.
Let us share together in the Lords Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
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Before we go to the word let us sing: Faithful One
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On this rock I will build my Church.
Everyone goes through stormy times in life. We all do. And when we’re bobbing around in the ocean, what we really need is solid rock beneath our feet. And so do the people around us. So, what if God means for you and me to be that rock in someone else’s life.
I have a friend who lives thousands of miles away. It’s a small place called Australia. She dislikes traveling over water. She doesn’t mind being beside the water looking at the ocean, which is a good thing considering she lives in a beautiful coastal town called Port Douglas. But absolutely hates being on the water in a boat. Up and down, up and down. She prefers terra firma, The more firma the less terra I think.
Now, if you enjoy the water, as I do, then, God bless you. But I also like to have solid ground beneath my feet. I would think that there’s nothing more terrifying than looking out over an angry, stormy ocean, grey water, white caps and the wind howling. The ocean’s a scary place in a storm don’t you think?
There are storms in life too. So, let’s spend a little time, looking at what it means for us, for you and me, to be the rock beneath someone’s feet. God has this great plan of joy and peace and grace and wisdom for us to live through all the ups and downs in life. There’s beautiful poem called ‘The Weaver’. You may have heard it before but let me share it again.
Life is but a weaving between my Lord and me,
I cannot choose the colours as He weaveth steadily.
Sometimes He chooses dark threads and I in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper and I the underside.
Not ’til the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll His canvas and explain the reasons why
The dark threads were as needful in the weaver’s skilful hands
As the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He hath planned.
It’s the reality of life, isn’t it? Amongst the richness and the joy and the blessing, sometimes there’s the odd dark thread as well. And so much of what we do in life is about being servants rather than being served. I spent most of my life living for “me” but I was never satisfied. And these days I’m living for Him – for Jesus and other people, and for you – and I am happy doing that. I wouldn’t be doing anything else because God is just blessing me through this life of laying it down so that I can take it up again in Him. Jesus said,
“I didn’t come to be served but to serve.” (Matthew 20:28)
And that’s where the satisfaction is in life.
One of the most wonderful things that we can be for someone is a rock beneath their feet in the midst of one of life’s storms. A storm out on an angry ocean is a horrible thing, but a storm when your feet are on solid ground, well it’s not overly pleasant but I would say, it’s not as bad as being on the ocean.
Looking back at my life, I was indifferent to many Christians and everything they stood for, before I met Jesus. The important thing in life wasn’t God, it was me and what I could get. And that had consequences. They caused a storm of mammoth proportions in my life. And on the dark days I felt like a cork bobbing around in this angry ocean in the middle of a storm.
And here’s the funny thing, the Christians, who I didn’t like in my life, they were the ones that stepped up to the plate and gave me support, gave me encouragement, and gave me Jesus. They were the rock beneath my feet. I can’t remember what they said but I will never, for all eternity, forget what they did for me.
We all need solid foundations. So many people have cracks in their foundations. So many people are living life like that cork bobbing around in an angry ocean feeling as though they’re going to drown. A storm comes and people struggle. You see it, don’t you? And often those people aren’t the easiest people to be around. I know I wasn’t when I was like that. Often, they’re dysfunctional and they’re not pretty and they’re not nice and they’re upset but we can step up to the plate and we can be their rock in a storm. What an amazing privilege! Jesus said:
Everyone will know that you’re one of my disciples if you have that sort of love for each other. (John 13:35)
Unconditional love, love that hangs in there, love that’s solid, love that’s immovable, love that says to someone, “It doesn’t matter how bad your life gets, it doesn’t matter how bad that storm blows, it doesn’t matter how much you feel like you’re going to drown, I will be your rock; I will be the solid foundations beneath your feet.”
What about someone near you? Someone in your life – a family member, a friend, a work colleague, a neighbour, someone at your local Church or football club or dance class, or one of the parents of the other kids at school – who is going through a storm and just needs a friend, just needs unconditional love, just needs someone to put their arms around them and say, “I understand. It’s okay, I’m here.”
That’s part of living the life God always intended. It’s being Jesus to them. And it’s difficult some days, it’s not beautiful some days. Those people aren’t pretty some days but what an incredible privilege, what an incredible satisfaction.
It’s amazing! And when we live the life God always intended, Jesus calls us into that place to serve in a practical, hands-dirty, sleeves-rolled-up love, to give them the love of Christ.
Jesus said to Peter, the Apostle:
On this rock I will build my Church. (Matthew 16:18)
And Peter was this impetuous man who opened his mouth before he engaged his mind. He was a fisherman, but he was passionate, he was real. He wasn’t perfect, but he was prepared to step out of the boat and trust Jesus and walk on the water through the storm and Jesus said:
“Now this is the sort of man that I can use as a rock to build my Church on.“
Get out of the boat, get out in the storm, go be a rock that someone else can stand on.
That is living the life God always intended.
Let us sing together: Cornerstone
The Lord bless thee and keep thee
The Lord make His face to shine upon thee
And be gracious unto thee
The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee
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