Jesus' Enduring Questions: Who Do You Say I Am?
Matthew 16:13-18
Pastor Hannah invites the church to imagine what it means to truly answer Jesus’ question, “Who do you say I am?” After reflecting on the community’s shared life—its desire for deeper relationships, spiritual growth, and faithful presence in the world—the message turns to the moment in Matthew 16 when Jesus leads his disciples to the spiritually dark city of Caesarea Philippi and asks them to name who they believe he is. In that unlikely place, Peter declares that Jesus is the Christ, and Jesus responds by giving him a new identity and promising to build a church that even the powers of darkness cannot overcome. The sermon casts a vision of a people who courageously confess Jesus as Lord, receive their identity from him, and join his mission—bringing light, hope, and restoration into the very places that seem farthest from God. It ends by inviting each listener to answer Jesus’ question personally and step more fully into a life of faith, courage, and participation in the unstoppable work of Christ.
Sermon Notes
Summary of Church Survey
What suggestions do you have to help A2CC grow and mature?
- Top response: Deeper community and relational connection
- Strong themes: More serving in our neighborhoods and cities together, Increased spiritual depth and Christ-centered formation, Clearer communication and increase in clarity on why/how things operate as they do
What do you appreciate most about A2CC
- Top response: our diversity, particularly that together we reflect the
diversity of God’s kingdom
- Strong themes: authenticity and “come as you are” culture, justice oriented church and servant leadership
Other insights…
What are the top practices that have impacted your life with God:
Top responses: personal prayer, reflection and worship (76%) and serving others (72%).
Next most common: spiritual friendships (60%), time spent in nature (54%)
I know what our church values & what we’re attempting to do and be in God’s world – 60% said yep & I can explain it to someone else; 37% said generally yes, but I couldn’t explain it; 3% said I don’t know what we value or where we’re going
Two Easter Invitations that might require planning:
- Participating in the Easter Offering. Every financial gift given to A2CC between 3/29 - 4/5 will go toward supporting neighbors who’ve immigrated
- Hosting a meal on or near Easter. Invite people in your circles to share a meal, trusting that generous hospitality is a means by which grace spreads.
Matthew 16:13-18
When Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
And Jesus answered him, “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but 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 overpower it.”
Jesus has taken them to this specific place to ask very important questions in this culminating moment. The geography is adding a particular oomph to his words.
- Cesarea Philippi: known for worship of Greek god Pan, worship of Ceasar, home to “the gate of hell”
What if there are multiple meanings here…
- The church will be built through Simon Peter (whose new name means rock) and other ordinary people like him who believe Jesus is the Christ
- The church will be built on the actual rock they’re standing on and places like it– in the spiritually darkest places, the places furthest from religious life.
Jesus is saying…
I am more powerful than any other god, I am more powerful than any force of darkness, I am more powerful than any evil in or around you. My church, the global community of everyone who is in Christ, will not be stopped by darkness or evil.
Today, how would you answer Jesus asking you, “Who do you say I am?”