August 23, 2026 Sermon -- Pastor Paula Canby [Matthew 16:13-20]

Our gospel reading for today comes from the 16th chapter of Matthew, beginning at the 13th verse.

Glory to you, O Lord.

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, but others Elijah, and still 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 Messiah, the Son of the living God.

And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven, and I tell you, you are Peter.

And on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

The gospel of the Lord.

You may be seated.

I'm gonna break protocol today because we have so many children here.

And I really would like to have you come forward for a children's sermon.

Come on.

I'm not gonna bite, I promise.

And it won't last long either.

I know this is all new for you again, but I did this the first time I came, and there's so many children here, and you deserve to hear God's word also.

Big brother, you can come too.

Hi.

How's it going today?

You want to sit on the steps?

You can do that.

Or you can stand there, it's fine too.

I know this is all different, so that we gotta figure this out today, right?

So, did you hear in that gospel reading, and I probably should get the exact words for you, which might be helpful.

Jesus told Peter, Blessed are you, Simon of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father in heaven.

So, how do you think that happened if it was his father in heaven?

Talk to him.

How about the Holy Spirit?

Because the Holy Spirit comes and talks to us, doesn't it?

Sometimes it's hard to listen, sometimes it's hard to hear.

But just like our reading from Isaiah from a couple weeks ago told us, it's in that still silence that we hear God's voice.

And we need to be listening for it.

And I don't care how old you are, you could do that.

You can start to do that because that's how we build our faith and our loving God in our souls and in our very hearts.

So he went on and he said, and I tell you, you are Peter, and you are this rock.

I wish I would have brought a rock today.

That would have been a lot better, wouldn't it?

Because then we could see that rock.

But you all have rocks at your house, right?

Or somewhere.

Go down to the river and you'll definitely see rocks.

There's rocks down there.

And I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth, you will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

That's a lot of stuff for Peter to think about, isn't it?

But you know what?

It also goes for us.

Because each and every one of you is a rock for Jesus.

Did you ever think about it that way?

Okay, well, when you get home today, you can think about it.

Because you know what?

You, when you go to school, you talk, yeah, where's your mom?

Is she back there?

She's right there.

Yeah, she's right there.

When you go to school, or like even here, you can be kind.

You can choose to be kind to people, or you can choose to be nasty.

Is she back there?

Okay, good.

Thank you.

Bye.

See you later.

Glad you came.

You have a choice, and Jesus is building his church on you.

So I really am thankful that each and every one of you is here at church today.

You going back to see your mom too?

Okay.

I'm so thankful.

Just keep coming and go to Wednesday school or Sunday school and come to church and learn about God because He makes all the difference in our world.

And that's what this is saying.

Jesus is telling Peter, you are so special that I want you to really lead the church that I'm leaving behind on this earth.

And he did.

And you know what?

Now it's our turn.

And that's what all of you are all about.

Let's pray.

Dear good and gracious God, just please bless these children mightily.

They are our future.

They are the future disciples who will go out and talk about you and show how you want us to live.

Even if they're young, it doesn't matter.

They can still make a difference for you and to glorify you, Jesus.

Bless them, bless their families, take care of them, keep them safe.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Thanks so much.

Let us pray.

Oh loving God, we cannot fathom your infinite love for us.

How can we ever love you so much in return?

We give you our hearts and trust that you will feel the love we have for you.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

I want you to hear this Romans passage from the perspective of a different version of the Bible, the message.

I hope that you've read this Bible.

It is a, it has a very different way of speaking the gospel and the words in the Bible.

And I think in this case, maybe it's helpful for us to better understand what Paul is talking about here.

So here's what I want you to do.

God helping you.

Take your everyday, ordinary life, your sleeping, your eating, going to work, walking around life, and place it before God as an offering.

Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him.

Don't become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.

Instead, fix your attention on God.

And doesn't that make a difference in our lives when we do that instead of whatever's going on in our world?

Because we believe that God really is in charge and God is taking care of us.

Lots of times it's really hard to see that.

But He is in little ways.

And when we're really looking and when we're really listening to that still small voice, we're aware.

And then we can trust that we need to hand our life to God.

Fix your attention on God.

You'll be changed from the inside out.

Readily recognize that what He wants from you and quickly respond to it.

Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings out the best of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

From verse 3, I'm asking you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relationship to you.

Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace.

That's important to remember that we live by grace, not by the law.

It's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God.

No, God brings it to us.

The only accurate way to understand ourselves is what God is by what He does for us, not by what we are and what we do for Him.

So stop and think about it.

What does God do for you each day?

Lots of times we just take it for granted.

But He's working all the time, every minute of the day for each and every one of us.

So from verse 4 to 6, in this way we are like the various parts of a human body.

Every part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around.

And isn't that true?

Because we are a body here.

And we all have things that, talents that we have that we can use in the church.

And I don't think you said it this morning.

If you did, I didn't hear it.

There are Sunday school teachers that are needed.

Sorry, Wednesday school teachers that are needed.

Readers are needed.

People to do the offering.

All kinds of things in the church.

Some of them you can hide.

You don't have to be out and visible.

But those are all ways that we work together as the body of Christ.

And that's so beautiful to see everybody working together using their talents.

But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe, we don't amount to much, would we?

So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ's body, let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be without envious, being envious or prideful, comparing ourselves with each other or trying to be something that we aren't.

If you preach, just preach God's message, nothing else.

If you help, just help, don't take over.

If you teach, stick to your teaching.

If you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don't get bossy.

If you're put in charge, don't manipulate.

If you're called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond.

If you work with the disadvantaged, don't let yourselves get irritated with them or depressed by them.

Keep a smile on your face.

And it really makes a difference, doesn't it?

When you have a smile on your face, you feel better inside.

What a blessing.

I like the way that the message states these verses.

I relate and hear the common, simple language in a clearer, personal way.

Kind of like a friend or a family member who's talking to me.

The bottom line for both readings is God has good, pleasing, and perfect plans for each of us.

God wants us to be transformed people with renewed minds, focusing on God, living to obey and honor God.

God only wants the best for us.

God gave his son to make our new and renewed minds possible.

In return, we can give ourselves as living sacrifices for God's service.

That might need for you preparing or cleaning up after one of the Wednesday Night Suppers.

That's an option too.

This means we are called to find a way of living outside of the selfish, corrupted patterns of this world.

Boy, and don't we all know about those.

This way of living is not just justified from the outside.

Paul calls us to a deeper way of living and thinking, which includes our minds, our souls, and our hearts.

This is what Paul is saying in the verse be transformed by the renewing of your minds.

When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives in deep and meaningful ways, and we accept the Holy Spirit's presence in our lives, we're re-educated, renewed, and redirected to be truly transformed.

As one commentary states, I think Romans is a call to abandon the sin of individualism and to embrace the cross-cultural Christian life, the life in which Paul calls Christians in Rome and us in the 21st century.

It's a life that exhibits the essence of God, Jesus Christ, our Savior, and the Holy Spirit.

Put differently, a holy life is one through which all one says and does is governed by sacrificial living.

To worship the God proclaimed in this letter and throughout Scripture is to adopt a stance of humility and self-denial.

In the scriptures and in life, for some, humility is a birthright.

For others, humility is a learned disposition.

Christians in the Roman Empire were probably accustomed to a culture of affluence.

Not that much different than we have.

We can see this in Apostle Paul's appeal in verse 1, where he pleads with Christians to present their bodies as instruments of the Holy One.

Now, in third world countries, humility is often a daily posture.

Those who struggle to feed their families, send their kids to school, afford clean water, and maintain a farm see God in their daily vulnerabilities.

Alternatively, so-called first world nations seem to take God for granted, easily becoming blinded by affluence, political smartness, academic achievement, and the striving for the first world dream while failing to appreciate God's provisions of these blessings that we receive.

Instead of being thankful to God, the first world Christians sometimes risk worshiping God's blessings instead of worshiping God.

So, what is the source of true life?

It's our call for today.

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind through God.

In the power of Jesus Christ, our Savior, and with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.