Two Great Questions that Jesus Asks that we should answer - Mark 8:27-30

Mark 8_27-30 Two Great Questions that Jesus Asks that we should answer Matt: [00:00:00] Can you hear me now? Uh, I've just got a text from my wife saying she can't hear me, but hopefully you can hear me now. Now we've just reset the sound. We always like to have technical issues, uh, during our live streams. Why not? Why, why, why be straightforward? Why be simple? Uh, hopefully you can hear me now. Uh, do let me know. That will be great. Okay, let's start again. Woo. Welcome to Frontline City. Welcome to our live broadcast. My name is Matt Edmondson and we are broadcasting live from Liverpool. We can hear me now. Awesome. That's great. Thank you Babes. Uh, we can hear me now. Let's get the comments sorted out on the screen. We'll put them there so we know where they're gonna appear. Afternoon bro. Add to, oh, everyone's saying hello now. Great. We've got Al Marshall. We can hear you. Great to see you al living, your little NHS sticker there. Thanks for being awesome. Thanks for being part of the NHS You [00:01:00] rock. Excellent. We've got Abby, Abby can also hear me, which is great. Uh, awesome. Great to see you, Abby. Hope you're doing well. Uh, and Matt's on as well. Hey, Matt, how you doing? Hope you're well. But, uh, great to see you here. So if you, uh, if this is your first time, if you are new to a frontline city Live broadcast, this is an online church service with a little bit of a difference. Let me tell you. We are broadcasting live from the uk. Uh, and as you can see, we tend to interact with people in the comments. So it's not what you'd call a slick and polished performance, but it's definitely, you know, we're definitely here, which is great. Uh, and, uh, we just kind of, we, we just do it like this. This is kind of authentically us. Oh, awesome. Look at this. We've got Hi from Jersey. Hey Serena. Hey, the de. You guys are awesome. Great to see you. I hope the weather in Jersey is as beautiful as it is here in Liverpool. Uh, it's great to see so many [00:02:00] folks and, uh, alright brother. Absolutely. I am. Thanks Al. Yes. Uh, we're all good here. So let me just like your comments because they're all wonderful. So we do like to interact with people. We do like to interact with comments 'cause that's just kind of how we do it. That's kind of how we rock and roll here. So, uh, do put stuff in the comments. Do let us know how you're getting on. Uh, and we will respond to them accordingly. Do bear in mind if you put stuff in the comments, there is a strong chance I may be displaying them on the screen. So do be careful what you put in the comments if you do not want it displayed, just saying hashtag. Okay. It is the last day of May. Can you believe it? Tomorrow is the 1st of June. Uh, which is amazing, isn't it? How quickly this has all come around. So, uh, welcome, uh, to you. It's good to be in church, isn't it? It's good to be in church during this lockdown period. And just to be connected with so many of you folks. Oh, look, we've got Dave. Hi, from North Drive. Hey Dave. How we doing? [00:03:00] Uh, absolutely. I like what I was put here. Look at this. Uh, we are praying for you. There will be an end to this. I assume Al you're talking about COVID and not the live stream, you know, church online service. We're praying for anybody that's watching the live online service. Uh, it'll be over soon. Love it. Excellent. Serena says, yes, they've got beautiful weather in Jersey as well, which is. Well, that's wonderful. I'm glad it's not just us getting it, but it is crazily hot here today. You know, Sharon and I cycled down into town today to catch it with mim, uh, which was lovely to see her, but we had to sit in the shade. The sun was insane. Let me tell you. Uh, and Sharon, what she put his good to be in church eating cake and drinking tea. Yeah. Maybe for some of you no cake on my desk. That's all I'm saying. Not here. I have water, so, you know, good to see you. Anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying the cake, babe. I'm hoping that Zoe's chocolate Guinness cake, Zoe [00:04:00] made a chocolate Guinness cake. Zoe, for those of you who dunno, is my daughter made a chocolate Guinness cake yesterday and oh my goodness, that was lush. Let me tell you. That was lush. Uh, and if you've not had a piece you've missed out, hashtag just seen. So welcome to Frontline Frontline City. For those of you who just joined the live broadcast, we are doing an online church service here from Liverpool, England. Absolutely. And uh, it's great that you know. We can be with you, uh, using the power of technology. It's great that, um, we can do this together. Get into, you know, the Bible, read what God's got to say, get some understanding about the Christian faith grow in our faith and with each other. Why not? It's gonna be good fun. Uh, and if you are new here or you are new to the Christian faith, welcome. It is great to see you, uh, and I hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions, do put them in the comments. Um, and we will respond to them. Um, if you are new to the Christian faith or you are exploring the [00:05:00] Christian faith, and we'd like to find out more about it, Sharon, my wife and I are running an online alpha. Did you see that my cake has arrived? Not that I can eat it because I'm too busy talking to you, wonderful people. Uh, but yes, uh, my cake has arrived. She is such a wonderful wife. You know, the same Proverbs 31 is written about Sharon. That is to Sharon to a t Proverbs 31. Uh, what's Matt put here? Uh, Matt Edmondson. Those Alistair Marshall comments were aimed at me. Oh, okay. That's good to know. Good to know. It wasn't aimed at me. And the church service, uh, Chantel's here. Hey, Chantel. First time ever on here. Did not know we could eat cake or drink tea in church. First one for me. You can definitely eat cake, uh, and drink tea. It's just, it's just what we do [00:06:00] in church. Uh, it's a beautiful thing. Uh, great to see you, Chantel. Glad you made it. Uh, what Sarah put here we are doing church and talking to our new chickens. Okay. Um, you know, there are just some things that you can't really comment that well on, and, and that would be one of them. I'll leave everybody else to make their own decisions. Uh, what's Mona put here? Zoe made Guinness cake. Absolutely. Chocolate Guinness Cake. And Mona, if you were here, you would've been able to eat some, I'm just saying. And it looks like drop some Cuttery looks like this. Oh, yes. I'm a happy man. I just want to tell you, it's gonna be really hard doing the church service and not eating that because I can smell it and I know you can't through the medium of Facebook Live, but I definitely can. So hope I can. Hold on. Um, 'cause you know, eating while you're talking is not good. But anyway, so welcome to all of those who just [00:07:00] joined us. This is Frontline City. This is an online church, so it's a stream of church, uh, that is just streaming through the web. To you on Sunday afternoon here from the uk. Um. So it's good to see you. Good that you are here. We are, like I say, part of Frontline Church. Uh, frontline City is a church plant. We are a news church, which is set up in Liverpool City Center, uh, which is very exciting. Uh, and while we're in lockdown, we decided to do the digital thing, and the digital thing has just grown. Let me tell you. So if you are one of the many people watching this live or if you're one of the many people who will watch this recorded, that always amazes me. How many. How many people watch the sort of recording of this as we go through the week? It is great to see you. Bless you. Thank you for watching. Thank you for getting involved, uh, and uh, and sort of being along. And as I said, if you are new to the Christian faith, if you would like to know more, we are running an alpha course on Friday nights, which is geared to anybody who wants to know more about Christianity, who wants to understand the basics.[00:08:00] It is online, it is super, super easy to attend. It is seven 30. Uh, and if you would like to know more about that, do get in touch or visit the website, uh, which is www dot frontline city. In fact, I'll write that in the comments. Frontline city, uh, you can head on over to, I can't even spell. There we go. Uh, so I've put that in the comments for anybody that needs our web address and I can add it to the broadcast. There we go. In fact, it's underneath my name. Go to Frontline City. Um, and uh, information about alpha courses on there, as well as all the livestream stuff and how to get in touch, which is great. So there you go. Now. We are in the gospel of Mark and before we carry on, uh, our studies in that, there is one of the notes I do need to give you and that is after the Facebook Live. The way we do this, in case you dunno, is we do this stuff on Facebook Live. Please feel free to comment. As you can see, we love it when people comment. Um. We do this on Facebook Live. We're gonna [00:09:00] go through some teaching. Uh, we're gonna carry on our study of Mark's gospel and some amazing stuff has been coming outta that already. So we're gonna carry that on after we have finished. Said, uh, broadcast on Facebook, we will head on over to Zoom, uh, and what we do on Zoom, uh, is we just catch up with each other. Um, maybe pray, maybe do some worship. I dunno, Sharon heads all that up, whatever she's got planned. But we are gonna do that in Zoom. And the reason we do that in Zoom and not on Facebook Live, is I appreciate. As great as it is with your comments, it's very much me coming down the camera to you, but in Zoom we can interact with each other as well. So, uh, part one is always on Facebook Live as we gather together around God's word and we can share the video, which is awesome. Uh, part two is on Zoom, and if you would like to join us on Zoom afterwards, you would be more than welcome to do that. The question is how do you do that? I am gonna get the link for you as we speak. I'm gonna load up the website, uh, and pull out that Zoom link. And I'll post it in the [00:10:00] comments. So you've all got that. I should have copied this earlier. So do forgive me. Uh, frontline City Sunday. That's the in link. Ctrl C Control V. There we go. So in the comments is a really odd looking link. It looks like this. It's got the word zoom in it, which is kind of cool. Anyway, that's the link you'll need after the Facebook Live is finished and I'll tell you more about that at the end. Uh, it's normally around quarter five, somewhere around there. And then we'll head on into Zoom. So how's your sunny Sunday going? So, uh, we've got the Langston's talking to their chickens. Uh, Sharon and the family in there are eating cake. What's everyone else doing? Let us know in the comments, what are you doing on this sunny Sunday as we get ready, uh, to look at God's word. So let me just get [00:11:00] upset, set upset. No, no, no. Set up. Get the words the right way around. Uh, and we will crack on with that. So we are in Mark's gospel and we are now at chapter eight, verse 27. So let me. Bring up the first part of it here. So it says here in mock chapter eight, verse 27, that Jesus and his disciples went out to the towns of CEA Philippi. And on the road he asked his disciples saying to them, who do men say that I am? And so they answered, well, John the Baptist. But some say Elijah and others say, well, one of the prophets, yes. Siri joined in then. Awesome. Um, so, uh, let's move on to the next screen. And he said to them, okay, but who do you say that I am? And Peter answered and said to him, you are the Christ. And then he strictly warned them that they should tell no one about him. Okay. So they're the two pieces of scripture that we're gonna get [00:12:00] into, which is awesome. Now, before we start digging into that, let me explain to you, um, that, uh, this is part one of, in fact, a two part series because when I was preparing for said talk today, there was so much that came outta this little study. I was like, you're gonna be here a really long time if we go through all of this. Uh, and I was finding it really hard. To try and understand which bits to cut out. So we're gonna do this particular scripture for the first time over two weeks. Yes, there is that much involved. So that's what we're gonna do. But before we do, Mona has just put in the comment she's taken a walk with ice cream. Yeah, that sounds amazing. I wish I could be eating ice cream if I say that. Do you think, you know when I said I'm not eating cake and all of a sudden cake turned up with a cake fairy. I'm not eating ice cream. I wonder if the ice cream fairy will turn up. Uh, please don't, because it'll melt by the time I get to it. But you know, that's it. Anyway, let's crack on with this, shall we? So.[00:13:00] Jesus and his disciples are walking down the road and they're having this kind of conversation. These two questions come up, right? Who do men say that I am? And who do you say that I am? And this sparks a whole conversation. And so there's a few things that we're gonna draw out of this this afternoon, okay? These particular verses. And the first one is this. It says here that Jesus and his disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road I've highlighted that phrase, highlighted that phrase there on the road. He asked. His disciples. Now, the reason I have highlighted that is very, very simple. He is on the road and there's something about this phrase which really struck me, uh, and I thought was very, very interesting. And it's very simply this. I think it is just a really powerful thing. It's really good for men. Oh,[00:14:00] we have ice. We have cream, oh, lemme put it that way, around. Double cream. That is my wife being funny. The ice cream fairy has bought me ice cream. Yeah. I hope you're all laughing with me. Not at me. Justing. Okay. Thank you very much. I dunno what to say about that now. Uh, what else can I wish for? No, no, no. Let's not go down that road. So anyway, uh, they're on this road and they're having this conversation. And the reason why I want to draw this out is because I think there's something really profound about men walking with other men on a road journeying together and having conversations. Because it's on the road that Jesus asked these profound questions. Now, men, specifically, I want to talk to you, and I'm not excluding the ladies but men. I want to address you. I wanna ask you a very simple question right here at the start. Who do you travel on the road with and have these kind of conversations with? Who do you journey with? [00:15:00] Now you could say, Matt, are you being metaphorical about the road because I have, you know, this friend or that friend or my church pastor or whatever. And part of me is saying, yes, I am being slightly metaphorical. But actually the other part of me is like, you know what? It is good to get out of the towns, to get out of the cities and to get on the road. Uh, for some of you that may be on a bike for the vis you, it may be walking through a forest or up a hill or a mountain, basically somewhere where technology doesn't reach you. Um, and you can't be distracted. And you just, it's just quiet and you are gonna go down that road with a bunch of men around you and guess what? You are gonna have conversations, and it's those conversations which refresh your soul and refresh your spirit, which are. Incredible. And at the same time there's exercise and at the same time you're outdoors. There's something about the road, the journey on the road. And as I read about that, I thought, I wonder where else in the Bible it talks about this kind of thing. So let's have a look at, uh, some other. Scriptures here in Mark. [00:16:00] Um, I'm kind of jumping ahead of ourselves. We're not in chapter nine yet, but we will be in a few weeks. It says they came to Capernaum when he was in the house. He said to them, what were you arguing about on the road? So they were, they went from a town back, back to Capernaum, which is back where they lived, Jesus and the disciples, and said, they're back at their home. And he said to them, he said, what were you arguing about on the road? In other words, there's another one of these journeys where they're out of the towns, they're out of the cities, they're out of. The distraction, the crowds, and the noise, and they're just wandering and they're having conversations amongst themselves. This particular time it was an argument and they kept quiet because they were talking about who is a great, so sometimes what you talk about with other men on the road, it's just a to nonsense. Sometimes it's arguments, but you know what? Those conversations are still really, really important here in Luke's gospel. Jesus. Um. Has died and he has risen from the dead and he's gone to heaven. And, and then he comes sort of down and again, the disciples are on the road. Notice all of these particular places. Now, uh, for those of [00:17:00] you who know Dave, you'll love this. 'cause he, this is on the road to Emmaus, right? And they're having this sort of conversation again amongst themselves. And the risen Lord, the risen Lord Jesus appears to them and joins in the conversation and they didn't recognize him straight away. And at the end of it, they kind of get to him and go. Well, did our hearts not burn within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures up to us? I dunno about you, but there's. There's a sense of me going, well, one, I would've loved to have been in that conversation, let me tell you. Uh, but your heart burning within you. That sense of excitement and that sense, sense of peace and your soul being refreshed as you are with other men, talking about stuff that is important, um, and that changes your life and just. Energizes you and encourages you and builds you up. And you know what? Uh, there are too many men living lonely. Lives who are isolated from other men and don't do this. And it's a real [00:18:00] shame. And so I would encourage you men, get around other men and go on some of these walks. You don't need to do it like every day, obviously, 'cause there's only like a few instances in scripture. But do it deliberately. Get out from the towns, get out from the cities, leave your phones at home, get away from the distractions, go somewhere outdoors for at least a couple of hours and just. Open up the scriptures to each other and see what happens. You will be amazed. Let me tell you. So that was the first thing, uh, that I, I sort of what sort of read out of those passages. Now, like I said, women, ladies, we love you, you're awesome. But I just want to specifically talk to men. 'cause I felt like I needed to challenge the men, uh, especially in COVID where, I dunno, we were talking about this with MIM earlier on. It seems to me like people have in the last week or two become quite lethargic. Um. We've not got that. We're kind of sleeping in later, we're going to bed later. There's not that, do you know what I mean? There's not [00:19:00] that pace about it. And sometimes it's good for people to slow down, but lethargic is a different thing. 'cause lethargic is more about being, about being lazy, isn't it, really? And men, I want encourage you, don't be lethargic, don't be passive. There's nothing worse than a passive guy. Be proactive and get out with each other. And of course. As my wife has just reminded me, walk with other people. Great idea. Just keep two meters apart. Oh yeah. I was getting around to that a bit, babe. You know, public service and all that. Awesome. So get out and walk with each other. And while you're out walking the wheelchair, they ask each other a bunch of questions, which is what Jesus does on this walk. And the first question he says is, um, who demand say that I am? Who demands say that I am? And this is a really fascinating question to me, and one which I think is actually, uh, quite relevant, especially if you are a Christian at this point in your [00:20:00] life. And the reason why I think that, um. I think it's good to know who people say that Jesus is right in the culture that we live in and in the, the sort of the life that we have. What is it that people are saying about Jesus so we can better defend our faith and strengthen our faith and encourage others to go and find out more about Christ? Right? So who do men say that I am? Who does a culture say that we are? And so, uh, I had a look. Because you know, we can do these kind of things. And so according to some research by Barn, let me bring this graphic up here on the screen. I thought this was fascinating. So this is in England, uh, which is where we are right now in England. This is typically what people are saying. 21% of people survey said that Jesus was God in human form. So what in five of us think that he was God in human form. 17% of people think that Jesus was just an ordinary [00:21:00] human being. 29% think he was a prophet, a holy man. Uh, 22% think he's a mythical or fictional character. And that really surprised me actually. And the reason why that surprised me is because of the historical evidence that there is for Jesus. Um, there's more for Jesus than there is for Caesar in some respects. And so you kinda like, well, with all that evidence, with all that historical data that we have, for one in five people to think that he's mythical or fictional, I find quite extraordinary. Um. 9% dunno who he is. Um, and 2% kind of thinking something else. I dunno, an alien or something like that. Um, but it's interesting isn't it, that a lot of people, the vast majority of people think Jesus was a prophet, a good man, a holy man, but he was a normal man. He was not the son of God. Okay? And so this is what people are saying about Jesus. I dunno about you, but that looks quite interesting. Uh oh. Wayne's joined us. Hey Wayne, how are we doing? [00:22:00] You. Well, bud. Good to have you on the broadcast. Um, so why is it important to answer this question? Uh, you know, who do men say that I'm, well, like I say, because it's, I need to be able to, when I talk to people and uh, the Bible tells us that we need to be able to give a defense for our faith. And people ask us questions about our faith to, to be able to do that, I need to understand what they think about Jesus so I can talk in a language which makes sense for them. Okay. Um, and so this is generally what people think about Jesus. Now let me throw some other stats on the screen. I promise this will be the last lot of stats I throw on the screen. For those of you who are not statistically minded, but I thought this was quite interesting. So this is some interesting data. When people were asked, um, who were practicing Christians, what were the top influencing factors that caused you to become a Christian? Right? Uh, 41% of people said growing up in a Christian family was the answer. That was the main [00:23:00] influencing factor, 36%. Look at that. Having conversations with Christians was one of the main influencing factors. 28% of people attending a standard church service, 27% said reading the Bible was main influencing factor and 24% an experience of the love of Jesus. And so there are all these factors that influence people in becoming a Christian. But notice the second one there is having conversations with a Christian. The first one growing up in a Christian family, again, was high on the list. Those two, even the third one, are changing. Attending the church service, we have to have an understanding of what culture is saying about Jesus. Now, I asked a few folks earlier on to put on video their stories, um, and needless to say, they arrived about three minutes. I just wanna say before the broadcast, uh, was live, so I'm gonna now try and put them on the screen. Do bear with me whilst I figure this out and I'm gonna see if this works. Here's the first one. This is [00:24:00] Jan. So I became a Christian when I was about 15 I think, because all like faith and beliefs and everything just started to make sense. It just. It kind of clicked at that age for me, and I thought I liked the way that I was living and I wanted to carry on living like that. So I just thought, yeah, I'll give it a go. And I've stayed ever since. I'm like 34 now. I'm still there. Life's still crazy, but that face never gone away, ever. I've got a piece that I couldn't find anywhere else, so I grew up in a Christian family, so I'd say that I've always believed in God. But it wasn't till I was 15 that I properly gave my life to God. And that was because of an experience. Um, I had this overwhelming sense that God was real and he was with me, and that I needed to choose whether to follow him or not. Um, strangely since then that I think [00:25:00] I've gone through periods where I'm like. Why do I believe? Is it just because of some emotion and because that was the way I was brought up. Um, so it's actually more since I've become a Christian that I've looked at it more, um, and looked at the evidence and looked at evidence, is God real and is Jesus who he really said he was? Um, so yeah, I started as a Christian because of, I think experience, but I've stayed a Christian because of looking at, um. Yeah, the other things, the evidence and is this all actually real? So weren't there some great answers as to why people became Christians? And if I, um, if I bring it back to those stats, you know, these conversations, these experiences are so, so important for people, uh, when it comes to find out more about the Christian faith, part of the reason why we do alpha, so we can have those conversations. Um, we can present the evidence that Sharon was talking about, the facts, the information, and you [00:26:00] can make a decision for yourself, which is brilliant. Okay, so it's super important to understand what culture says, uh, about Jesus and who Jesus is. Love this quote here from Tim Keller. You've actually gotta find a way to take the plot line of culture and give it a happy ending in Jesus, which is, it's very true, isn't it? When we're talking to people, I think one of the things that we can be quite. Skillful at, um, and get better at is understanding how to take the narrative that people are talking about and give it a happy ending in Jesus, for example. Um, the narrative at the moment is, you know, you can create your own self, you can create your own identity, be who you want to be. Um, and the answer or the response to that would be that's true, but, um, our identity in Christ as a, you know, the identity that Jesus gives us, um, is the only identity that we receive. We don't have to achieve it. He just gives it to us. And the identity is, we are a son. And a daughter of the living God, regardless of anything [00:27:00] else, regardless of my skin color, my, you know, my national pride, my, uh, sexuality, doesn't matter, any of those things in Jesus. The happy ending is I'm a child of God. I'm a son of God, and that's my identity and understanding where culture is and knowing how to take that and give that a happy ending in Jesus is so, so critical and so important. So. Who do men say that I am? Very good question that you should definitely be thinking about. But the second question I think is the most important question, and he says this, who do you say that I am? So Jesus is walking down. He's having this conversation. Who do men say that I am? And the disciples kind of say, well, some people say you're a good man. Some people say you're a holy man. Some people say that you are, you know, a prophet. Some people say that you're Elijah. And then Jesus goes, that's all also well and good, what they say. But what do you say? Who do you say that I am? And I think this is probably one of the most important questions you'll ever face in your life personally. Who [00:28:00] do you say that I am? What about you? Doesn't matter what public opinion is, it doesn't matter what your tradition says. Who do you say that I am? Am I really the son of the living God or am I just a prophet? Am I just a good man or a holy man? These are questions you have to ask. Right. Uh, and answer. And I think these are really critical things. 'cause I mean, I personally struggle with the idea that Jesus was a prophet or a good man or a holy man, but just because of the claims that he made about himself. Right. Um, claiming to be the son of God, that a holy man doesn't do that. 'cause that would, if that's a lie, then it's a hoax. And if it's a hoax, it's the biggest hoax in history. And a good man and a holy man does not create those kinda lies and hoax just doesn't right it either. I don't think that's who he was. Um, but who do you say that he is? So Peter answered this and says, you are the Christ. You see that there, right in that verse. You are the Christ. And [00:29:00] this I think is perhaps for Peter, one of his life's pivotal moments. This is sort of the first time he's sort of verbalized to Jesus, who he thinks he actually is. Uh, you are indeed the Christ. And, um, you know, Jen and Sharon, who we saw in the videos, they both came to this point for Jen when she was 15. For Sharon when a similar sort of age. Um, they both came to a point where they're like, you know what, Jesus, you are the Christ. Maybe that's not the words that they used Exactly. Um, but in essence that was what the, the conclusion that they came to. And so, um, is Jesus the Christ? And in fact, if he's a Christ and not a holy man, or just a, you know what, as well as being holy, not just being a prophet, um, you know, I mean, you take, take everything aside. Jesus had a. Good life. He had a holy life. He looked out for the poor. He looked out for the homeless. He looked out for the helpless. He challenged [00:30:00] racism and prejudice, which we looked at a few years ago. A few years ago. Wasn't that long ago, Matt, a few weeks ago. Um, he championed women. Do you know what I mean? In a culture that did not do that. He was, he went against the cultural norms in the society at the time. And his sermon on the Mount is a whole new level of wisdom that we can apply. Let me tell you. Um, but if we think that he's more than that, if we think that he really is the son of God, if we think he is the Christ, if we think he's God incarnate, then the implications for that are, well, they're massive, aren't they? And they're significant and they're life changing. Uh, and that's why I think you have to wrestle with this question yourself and answer it yourself because. Depending on how you answer this question, where it kind of changes your life and it kind of changes who you live for. Okay. So what does this phrase Christ mean? So when Peter says You are the Christ, what's he saying? Because you know. For the longest [00:31:00] time in the culture that I grew up in, I just kind of assumed Christ was Jesus' surname. You know, he was born too, Mary and Joseph Christ. Uh, you know, that's not actually true, is it? Christ is in fact a title. Jesus is. Pete puts it here You are the Christ it. This is your title. So what does it mean? Well, literally translated, it means chosen and anointed one. So Peter is saying that Jesus, you are the chosen. And anointed one. Right. We'll get into anointing in just a second. Christ is also the direct translation of the Hebrew word Messiah. So Peter is also saying, Jesus, you are the Messiah. And this is the The chosen one. The anointed one, that the Jews were expecting to come and set them free from all the oppression that they were living under, right? And it was prophesied for years. The Messiah would come and change their lives. And so Peter here goes, well, that's you. I now realize that you are that [00:32:00] Messiah. Um, in Matthew's gospel it says that, um, in dealing Matthew's version of this story where they're on the road, uh, it deals with it a bit further, says that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. So Peter Expounds on it a bit further. You are the Christ. You are the chosen one, the anointed one. You are the Messiah. You are the son of the living. God, right? And so this is in effect what Christ means, but what does, so I read that and go, that's kind of cool, Matt, but what does anointed mean? Well, in the Old Testament, uh, we see examples of people who were anointed by God. So we can look at that and try and get our heads around, uh, what God understands and what Jesus understands by this word, anointed and what Peter would've. Understood by when he called Jesus the Christ, you are the anointed one. And so the word anoint literally means to pour. So you would, um, you would anoint someone with oil. You would literally pour hot, not hot, but you would put [00:33:00] oil, pour oil all over their heads, right? I mean, just literally drench them in. It just, you know, not just a little cross on the head. I mean, literally pos boom. You know, buckets of oil over them. And the reason that people did this, it was a symbolic act, right? Which said that, um, this person here, Samuel, was an example from the Old Testament. He was anointed by God. They poured oil on his head to show that he was chosen by God and separated out to do a specific job or a specific role. Okay? So he was separated out and chosen by gods to a specific. Role. And the beautiful thing is when God anoints you to do something, he not only separates you out to do that, he chooses you the chosen one, right? So not only you chosen to do that, but when he anoints you, he empowers you to do it. He gives you the skills and the ability to do that. He gives you the anointing, which is a phrase that Christians use a lot to do the job at hand, right? [00:34:00] Awesome. So when God tells you to do something, he not only tells you to do it, but he gives you the strength and the skills to do it. So when God started talking to us about doing the church plant down in Liverpool City Center, I have to be honest with you, it was the furthest thing away from my mind. Did not wanna do it, did not wanna be a church pastor. I was happy as to carry on running my businesses and serve church. As I had been doing for the last 30 years, that was awesome. That was brilliant. But, um, as I, you know, God began to work with me and changed my mind on this. One of the key reasons I didn't wanna do it was I didn't feel like I had the skillset to lead a church to pastor people. Um. But then I have to come back to this understanding that actually if God chooses me to do that, he's gonna anoint me to do that. In other words, he's gonna empower me. He's gonna give me the skills to do that and to lead the church and to do all the things necessary to help, you know, be a church pastor or whatever you wanna call it. Um. Because that anointing comes from him. It doesn't come from within me. I don't have to drum that up, which is a beautiful thing. [00:35:00] Okay? And so when Peter says to him that you are the chosen one, you are the anointed one, you are consecrated by God, you are called to be the Messiah, and God is giving you. The power to save his people from their sin and to rule and to reign as the king of kings and the Lord of lords. That's what Peter is saying when he says, you are the Christ. So you can see by unpacking it starts to get a bit fullon. So if your brain works like mine, you go, that's awesome. So Jesus is the anointed one. Love that. I'll have me a whole bucket load of that, but what was he anointed to do? That's my next question. So let's get into that. Uh, and the good news is Jesus actually answered this, uh, in Luke chapter four. It says he went to Nazareth where he, uh, where he'd been bought up. So he'd gone back to his hometown and it said on the Sabbath day, he went into the synagogue as was his customer. In other words, Jesus went to church, uh, and he stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed [00:36:00] to him. So he's gonna read this and speak, preach, um, from the book of Isaiah, which is a book in the Old Testament. Okay. And unrolling it. He found a specific place where it is written, and he reads this out. Let me bring this out onto the screen here. He says, the spirit of the Lord is on me because he as anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind. And to set the oppressed free to proclaim the year of our Lord's favor. Wow. Let's just, let's just stop and think about that. This is what Jesus was anointed to do. So Jesus is the Christ. He is the chosen one. He is the anointed one by God. To do this, to proclaim good news to the poor, he has sent me to proclaim freedom to the prisoners, recovery of sight, the blind, to set the oppressed free and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. That. [00:37:00] That is quite an astounding list of things, um, that God has anointed him to do. And at the end of this, Jesus kinda reads this and proclaims this to the people and he says, and then he, the Bible says he rolls up the scroll, you know, treats it well, gives it back to the attendant and sits down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were, were like totally fixed on him. And he began saying to them, today, this scripture is fulfilling your. Hearing. In other words, you are seeing this scripture come true today in me. The anointing of God is on me to do these things. And we see that in Jesus' life. He goes around, uh, giving sight to the blind. He releases those who are are oppressed, and he brings God's favor and blessing wherever he goes. And he proclaims this message of freedom. Life and love and his kingdom and all these amazing things, and this is what he's anointed to do, right? This is why he is the Christ, and this is good news. It's good [00:38:00] news if you're poor. It's good news if you're in prison. It's good news if you're blind. It's good news if you've got some kind of oppression because he is the freedom for that, and it's good news for all of us because of God's favor and blessing. Sounds amazing. Right? Sounds fantastic. And it's all summed up in a single word. Christ Jesus is the Christ. And this is, we're just sort of starting to touch the tip of the iceberg of what this word Christ means. Right? Uh, Jesus, the anointed one, even the word Christian is interesting. Christ. In a Christian, it comes from, uh, the Latin. Uh, and so if you are a Christian and you've got to that point like Peter, where he says, you are the Christ, you are the son of the living God, you are. This person here, a Christian, is literally a follower of Christ. A mini Jesus if you like. Um, a follower, someone who follows Christ, but to under, to follow him, you have to understand him. Um. [00:39:00] And the etymology of, of this word, Christian. When you look at it, it's not just about being a follower of Christ or blindly following along, and we're actually saying, when we're saying we're a Christian, we belong to Christ, we will adhere to him. It's the, the language it uses is like we are as a slave in ownership. In other words, I am the slave and Christ is my master. A Christian is a slave. Of Christ. And in fact, when you read a lot of the books in the New Testament, um, Paul who writes a lot of those books, opens up a lot of his letters by going, I am Paul, a servant, or a slave, or a bond servant, all the same word of. Christ, he understood what this meant. And Christian is a slave of Christ. And this single fact is actually very, very important 'cause to Peter by acknowledging that he's, the Christ is also saying that he will follow him and belong to him and be a [00:40:00] slave to him. And that's why answering this question, who do you say I am, is insanely important. Because if you say that, Jesus, you are the Christ, it impacts who you live for. Right, and what your life is about more than anything else that you ever come to. But what about this idea of slavery? I'm not sure what you think about that or how you feel about this idea of being a slave. Because at first, when I got my head around this years ago, I didn't. I didn't like that idea. Especially in a world which preaches freedom. We are free. Right? Let me play for you a video here because this video is really, really important and. In this video, a guy called Tim Keller is talking. He's in an interview with Kerry Nh and he is talking about when he moved to New York and started his church, um, 30 odd years ago, and he planted a church in New York. And in New York. Everyone was saying, you know, our, our main aim is to be free. We want freedom. We choose to be [00:41:00] free. But I realized something quite profound. I think we're all slaves, all of us, and this is something that Tim touches on. So let me play this video for you and hopefully it will work. If you can't hear it, do let me know. Young people that I came to here in New York, basically, I said, you think the meaning of life is to be free, but you're actually not as free as you think you are. You have to live for something. Everybody has to live for something, and whatever that thing is you're living for will enslave you and you will feel guilty and shameful because you'll never feel like you can live up to it. So let's just say, well, I've left my little. Bible believing church back in hot coffee, Mississippi, and I've moved up here to be an actress or to be an actor or to make it on Wall Street. Well, guess what? You've got a new God. You've got a new master. And when you say, I'm gonna be free to discover that my true self, now you're gonna have to live up to that. And you're actually still a slave. You'd be a slave to your work. You'd be a slave to your, you know, your, your figure. You gotta keep your weight down. You'd be a [00:42:00] slave. You think you're free, but you're not. 'cause if you're living for anything but God, you are uh, a slave. And Jesus Christ is the only master who, if you get him, will satisfy you. And if you fail him, we can forgive you. Your career can't die for your sin. Isn't that an incredible thing that he said there? You think the meaning of life is to be free, but you are not actually as free as you think you are. Everybody has to live for something and whether that thing you are living for whatever that thing you are living for, sorry, uh, it will enslave you and you will feel guilty and shameful because you will never. Uh, you'll never feel like you can live up to it. So whether we're living for, um, you know, our job, our career, whether we're living up for our, you know, figure, he talked about being a slave to having a sort certain type of figure, didn't we, or being a slave to social media, like whatever it is, whatever our identity says that we are, it end snares us and it traps us, [00:43:00] uh, in. That whole side of things. So if we're designed to be free and if we're, if we're trying to live like we're free, um, but we're not actually as free as we think we are because Jesus, I think is the only master that we have. And if being a Christian is being a slave, but on the same hand we're talking about freedom. You know, Jesus came to set free, those were oppressed. So what is freedom? Just a question, uh, to ponder. What is freedom? And I like to answer it like this, that freedom is the ability to choose what binds you. If you are a free person, you get to choose what, what binds you, what you become a slave to, that it's your choice. And this is the fundamental thing about humanity and humankind. When Jesus talks about ch uh, setting us free from those things that oppresses is basically saying, you now have a choice to choose who your slave is gonna be. It can be me. Or [00:44:00] it can be your job, it could be your family, it could be money, it could be career, it could be your self-esteem, it could be your sexuality, it could be your skin color, it could be all of these different things, right? But this is the cool thing. You get to choose what binds you. And if you think freedom is escaping those things, I think you've misunderstood freedom. Because freedom is not escaping these, you never actually escape them. It's, it's. It's an elusive dream that everybody's kind of chasing. Everybody who wants to be free is chasing something that is never gonna actually fully come to them. There's nothing other than Christ that will fully satisfy that longing and that craving, because he's the only master who fulfills us. None of the others do. Okay? So freedom is the ability to choose what binds you. And Peter chose to be a slave to Christ Now. As we wrap up, I'm gonna give you a bit of a heads up into what we're going to talk about next week, and that is [00:45:00] this. When Peter said to um, Jesus, you are the Christ, you are the Son of the living God, and he kind of acknowledges this. You are the chosen one. You are the anointed one. You are the Messiah. You are the one that's come to set those who are oppressed free. And I choose to be, uh, a follower of you. I choose for you to be my master. Jesus turns around to him and goes, blessed are you. That was his response. Blessed are you and next week. We are gonna get into this whole idea of what that means. Blessed are you blessing. What is that all about? Jesus calls him Simon Bar Jonah. What is that all about? And he says that flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven, what is that all about? So we're gonna get into this whole thing. Of blessing next week, which I'm super excited about. So that's part two. So part one is this whole lead up to this whole idea where [00:46:00] the disciples are on the road, they're having a conversation. Peter is confronted by Jesus. And you know what? It's amazing this conversation that happens and Jesus has this revelation and at the end of it, Jesus says, you are blessed and I want to understand what blessing is, and I want to understand why Peter was blessed. I want to get my head around that and that is next week. What's Abby put here? Oh, we've got Wayne Wayne's comment. Sorry I missed your comment here, Wayne. Let's add that I became a Christian because in times of worry and troubles, he has pulled me throughout the hard times over the past few months, and I surrendered to him because he is loving and feel great, and I cannot wait to give my life fully when eventually I'm baptized. Amen. Yes. We're all looking for your forward to your baptism. When that can happen. Uh, thanks Wayne. That's awesome. That's such a great story, right? Uh, what's that we put here? Love that video with Tekel. It's a great video and if you want to see that video, the whole thing is like an hour. One of the best interviews I've seen.[00:47:00] Loved every minute of it. Check out Kerry New Hofs site. Um, it is spelled a bit funny, but if you just type Tim Keller and Kerry in YouTube, it will come up. I'm fairly sure, uh, what Sharon put here. Freedom is living as God created you to be. A fish that is free from water is not really free at all. That ladies and gentlemen is way more profound than anything that I've said today, so pay attention to that. That's awesome. Thanks babe. Right. Let me throw the final questions on the screen and if you want to respond in the comments she can do, we will be going over to Zoom. Uh, in a few minutes time. Um, so, but in the meantime, let me know what you thought. Let me know what challenged you, what provoked you in this conversation. And here are some questions. Who do you travel on the road with? Men especially, do you have travel? But is it you can walk down the road with and have conversations with? Uh, question number two, who or what do you live [00:48:00] for? That is a such a profound question, and if you're a Christian, don't just go, well, I, I live for Christ as your default answer, because we know that's your default answer. But is there something else in life that you are currently living for that is taken the place of Christ? Be honest with yourself. Be brutal with yourself. Question number three, what is freedom to you? I said that freedom is the ability to choose what binds you. The ability to choose who your master is going to be, right? You have that power of choice, but that's my understanding, that's my thinking about freedom. What do you say freedom is? What is freedom to you? And the final question, who do you say that Jesus is? These are all great questions to be asking yourself. Uh, so freedom. I meant, I'm just gonna put this back on the podcast here on the podcast, not on a podcast. I'm on a live stream. Um, freedom is living as God created to be. A fishes, uh, that is free from water is not really free at all. So Sharon would say [00:49:00] that's her answer to what is freedom. Freedom is living as God created you to be, which is very, very true, right. We can choose to have that, that relationship with him and let Jesus be our master. What else? What else, guys? I appreciate there's always a bit of a delay on these things, so do be typing away. Uh, I'm just gonna scroll back through the comments. I don't think there's anything that I've missed. Nope. Awesome. So in just a few minutes, as you are typing and writing your comments and your thoughts on today's talk. We are gonna be heading over to Zoom. And in Zoom, it is a two-way conversation, not just a one-way conversation. Uh, we are gonna be in there and we are gonna pray together. Uh, well, I'm saying that I don't actually know what Sharon's got planned because we're a little bit behind today, uh, in our conversations about all things church, which is fine. Uh, I can cope with that. Um, so, but I know it's gonna be good because Sharon's leading it. Hashtag Just [00:50:00] saying whatever your wife does is always good. Right. So we're gonna be heading over to Zoom in just a couple of minutes. Has anybody else got any further comments, thoughts on stuff that we've said here? Um, Wayne, do you know yet when you are getting baptized, kind of curious to know if you know, I dunno if there's a date been said. Actually, I don't think there is. Is there, um, next week? We will be back here at four 30, no, no, four o'clock. Scratch that. We'll be back. Uh, we'll be back here at four o'clock next Sunday. As I said in part two, we are gonna carry on looking at the rest of this scripture, this sort of conversation that now happens following Peter's sort of mini revelation. Um, about Jesus being the Christ. And we're gonna get into what, like I say, what blessing means when Jesus says that we are blessed, what that actually means. So, uh, that's gonna be part two. Make sure you join us for that. It is gonna be on Facebook [00:51:00] Live, so do click the notification button, uh, and you'll get all the notifications as and when we go live. Um. Sharon's put here, zoom will be a catchup with each other and prayer. Awesome. So that's what we're gonna be doing in Zoom. So do make sure you can join us in the Zoom room in just a few minutes time on Friday night. As I said, we have alpha at seven 30. Uh, this week is week number eight. Uh, how can I resist evil? And on Saturday. A week yesterday, which I think is the 6th of June, if my math serves me correctly on Saturday, uh, on the Holy Spirit Day, we will be, uh, looking at who the Holy Spirit is. So we've got this sort of special interim. Alpha set on Saturday, who is the Holy Spirit? How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit? And that's on Saturday starting at 10:00 AM Then we'll be back here at 4:00 PM uh, for the continuation of Frontline City, uh, monks Gospel. Um, so we'll be getting into that next Sunday. So that's what's coming up this week. Just to remind you, [00:52:00] for now, I am gonna sign off and I'm gonna say Tatar, it's been great to see you. Great that so many folks joined us. Um, I hope you got something outta this and I hope that God spoke to you. We are gonna head on over into Zoom, so go grab a drink. I'm gonna eat my slice of cake and not quite sure what I'm gonna do with that ice cream. And I will see you in the Zoom room in about two or three minutes. We're gonna be in there. Sharon's gonna lead that section. Thank you so much for joining me. On the Facebook Live, God bless you and we will see you again very, very soon. Tartar for now.