Dr. Gregory S. Neal - “Who Do You Say?” - 8/23/2026

Isaiah calls people living through upheaval to look back, not because God wants them to go back, but because remembering gives them courage to move forward. The rock from which they were hewn is the story of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, God’s promises, and God’s faithfulness. God’s people have always had to change in order to be faithful in the world they actually inhabit. Abraham left home, Israel left Egypt, exiles built lives in Babylon and then went home, disciples left nets and tax tables, and the early church learned that Gentiles belonged.

Change does not mean losing identity. Change can happen without letting go of God, without abandoning the foundation, and without confusing old forms with the faith itself. Grace remains. The gospel remains. The call to worship, serve, welcome, seek justice, and love God and others remains. The ways that calling gets lived out can, and sometimes must, change.

Jesus presses the disciples beyond public opinion when he asks, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter gives the magnificent confession: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus, however, does not allow that confession to remain a set of correct church words. Confession has consequences. If Jesus is Lord, compassion, hospitality, boundary crossing, healing, feeding, forgiveness, and justice must show up in hands, feet, calendars, budgets, relationships, and priorities.

The church’s real confession is revealed by what it actually does. The church answers Jesus’ question through whom it welcomes, whose pain it notices, where it invests resources, and what it is willing to change because people matter more than preferences. Feeding hungry people and making room for people religion has rejected are not side projects. They are part of the real work of church.

Peter’s confession also warns that right words do not guarantee readiness to follow where Christ leads. Jesus kept taking Peter toward places that were not part of Peter’s agenda. Christ likewise calls Grace to become the church needed by this community, city, and moment, rather than the church of 1950, 1985, or any other remembered time. Christ says, “I will build my church,” and that promise means the church is not finished. Isaiah’s call to remember and Jesus’ question of confession point in the same direction: remember where God has brought the church, confess who Christ is, and live like it means something.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Remember the foundation, not every form Isaiah roots God’s people in the rock from which they were hewn. God’s faithfulness, grace, gospel, and calling do not disappear when familiar structures change. The foundation remains even when the forms built upon it need to shift. [55:48]
• 2. Confession must move beyond the mouth Jesus refuses to let “You are the Messiah” become a safe answer detached from life. Faith in Christ must enter decisions, relationships, schedules, spending, service, and witness. A confession without consequence can sound true while leaving a life untouched. [49:00]
• 3. People matter more than preferences The church reveals Christ’s character when it chooses people over comfort, habit, and personal taste. Christ’s welcome requires more than preserving what has always felt familiar. Love becomes visible when a congregation changes so that hungry, lonely, hurt, and excluded people can find room. [50:10]
• 4. Christ is still building the church Jesus says, “I will build my church,” not “I built my church.” Christ’s ongoing work means that the church remains called, formed, and changed by grace. Fear does not get the final word because the gates of Hades cannot prevail against Christ’s church.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [37:14] - Look to the Rock
• [37:52] - Remembering for the Future
• [38:57] - God’s People Have Always Changed
• [40:28] - Change Without Losing Identity
• [41:24] - Change Is Here
• [43:22] - Grace and the Call to Change
• [44:04] - Who Do People Say Jesus Is?
• [44:36] - Who Do You Say That I Am?
• [46:10] - Peter’s Confession of Christ
• [46:55] - Confession Has Consequences
• [49:32] - The Church’s Revealing Answer
• [51:30] - Faithfulness in a Changed World
• [55:48] - Do Not Confuse Form and Foundation
• [57:19] - Becoming the Church Needed Now
• [58:37] - Christ Is Still Building

Bible Reading

Isaiah 51:1-2

Verse 1: “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord. Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.” [37:01]

Verse 2: “Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him.” [37:15]

Matthew 16:13-18

Verse 13: “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’” [44:36]

Verse 14: “And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’” [44:17]

Verse 15: “He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’” [44:46]

Verse 16: “Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” [46:19]

Verse 17: “And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.’” [46:25]

Verse 18: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” [58:42]

Matthew 16:24-26

Verse 24: “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’” [48:48]

Verse 25: “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” [49:00]

Verse 26: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” [49:17]

Observation questions

1. In Isaiah 51:1-2, whom are the people told to remember, and what parts of their shared story are they meant to recall? [37:15]
2. What examples from Scripture show God’s people changing location, habits, or expectations in order to follow God’s leading? [38:57]
3. What is the difference between Jesus’ first question—“Who do people say that I am?”—and his second question—“Who do you say that I am?” [44:36]
4. What practical areas of life are named as places where a confession that Jesus is Lord should become visible? [49:10]

Interpretation questions

1. Isaiah calls people in an unsettled time to look back to the rock from which they were hewn. How can remembering God’s faithfulness give a congregation courage to move forward rather than simply return to an earlier time? [38:01]
2. What is the difference between the church’s foundation and its forms? Which parts of Christian faith must remain steady, and which practices may need to change to serve people faithfully today? [56:01]
3. Peter’s confession is true, yet Peter still has much to learn about where following Jesus will lead. Why can a person say the right things about Jesus while still resisting Jesus’ direction? [56:27]
4. If a church’s real answer to “Who do you say that I am?” can be seen in its use of time, money, welcome, and attention, what might those things reveal about a congregation’s actual priorities? [49:53]

Application questions

1. What part of your own faith story helps you remember the “rock” from which you were hewn—someone who shaped you, a season when God was faithful, or a promise that has carried you? How might that memory help you face a change in your life now? [40:41]
2. Is there a familiar church practice, personal habit, or preference that you tend to treat as if it were the faith itself? How can you honor what it has meant to you without confusing the form with the foundation? [56:01]
3. When you say, “Jesus is Lord,” what is one place in your calendar, spending, relationships, or use of time where that confession could become more visible this week? [49:00]
4. Jesus welcomed strangers, crossed boundaries, fed hungry people, healed the hurting, and challenged injustice. Which of these needs do you notice most clearly in your community, and what is one realistic way you could respond? [47:23]
5. People matter more than preferences. Can you name a time when a change in church or community life was difficult because it affected your comfort or expectations? What might it look like to make room for people even when it costs something? [50:15]
6. Who around you may be lonely, hungry, hurt, excluded, or convinced that church has nothing to offer them? What could genuine welcome look like for that person—not just in words, but in a specific action? [57:29]
7. Christ is still building the church, which means Christ’s people are not finished being formed and changed. Where do you sense Christ inviting you to participate more fully through your time, gifts, service, generosity, or witness? [59:19]