Are You At The Right Church? (1st Of 3) Series

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

"What about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

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. 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. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

The church is founded on the Kingship of Jesus Christ

It's all about Jesus. It's not about tradition. It's not about culture.

It's not about denominations.

It's not about entertainment.

It's not about human wisdom.

It's not about the charisma of a leader.

The church is built on the Truth of God

Peter, empowered by the Holy Spirit "loosed the truth and bound the enemy."

Truth is from Scripture, not from human wisdom.

Truth is transforming, where man's wisdom allows us to "be us"

Truth sets the clear standard, man's wisdom makes truth relative.

Truth sets you free, man's wisdom holds you captive.

At (name your church) you will hear the truth spoken love in our preaching and teaching, even if it hurts your

feelings.

The mission of (name your church):

A unified family of Christ followers

The church is to be a family. Jesus in John 17 prayed for unity.

We will disagree with each other at times, as does any family.

What we don't do is deliberately tear each other down.

We can disagree and still love one another, still seek the best for one another, still honor God in our church and our relationships.

Ask yourself are my actions and my words in the church honoring God and edifying to each other? "Well I'm entitled to..."

Growing in the grace of Jesus

The moment we think we arrived, we have not.

(tell your story)

Not that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sister, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14

Discipleship!!

Reaching out to a lost world with love

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20

We have hope for a hopeless world.

Truth for a world held captive by lies.

Love for a world that has never truly experienced love.

Do you want to be a church like that?