Who Do You Say I Am: What's in the Box

Aug 23, 2026

Devotional

Daily Devotional Day 1: Keys in the Dark – Trusting What Your Hands Know

When life demands answers to questions we can’t fully grasp, faith begins with trusting the tangible evidence of God’s presence. Like reaching into a box to identify keys by touch alone, discipleship relies on what we’ve already felt and known through Christ. The pressure to explain every mystery often distracts from the deeper truth: our limited senses still reveal enough to follow. [37:43]

“But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:15-16, NIV)

Reflection: When has your faith felt like “reaching into the dark”? What specific experience with God’s presence (a relationship, answered prayer, moment of peace) helps you trust what you cannot fully explain?

Daily Devotional Day 2: The Unfair Stapler Question – Embracing Partial Answers

Faith falters when we judge ourselves for lacking perfect answers to life’s complexities. Just as identifying a stapler’s brand without seeing it is impossible, some spiritual questions exceed human understanding. Jesus honored Peter’s confession without demanding theological precision, valuing heartfelt conviction over exhaustive certainty. [48:46]

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12, NIV)

Reflection: What “unfair question” about faith (suffering, divine silence, cultural changes) makes you feel defensive? How might admitting “I don’t know” create space for someone else to share their experience?

Daily Devotional Day 3: Leigh’s Trust in Michelle – Faith Through Relational Witness

Authentic faith spreads through trusted relationships, not abstract arguments. When Leigh affirmed Michelle’s guess about the stapler, he relied on her proven character more than physical evidence. Our testimony gains power when others know our integrity, making “I trust their experience” a bridge to exploring God’s love. [53:23]

We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. (1 Thessalonians 2:8, NIV)

Reflection: Who first showed you faith as a lived experience rather than a list of answers? How could sharing a personal story (not just doctrines) deepen someone’s curiosity about Jesus?

Daily Devotional Day 4: The Discontinued Ice Box – Honoring Yesterday’s Boxes

Faithful traditions become idols when we mistake old methods for eternal truths. The transition from ice boxes to refrigerators improved life, yet some resisted progress. Jesus honored Peter’s confession while preparing him for new expressions of Messiahship, reminding us God’s work often arrives in unfamiliar packaging. [31:43]

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. (Isaiah 43:19, NIV)

Reflection: What spiritual practice or ministry model feels like your “ice box” – comforting but outdated? What “new thing” might God be inviting you to perceive without abandoning core truths?

Daily Devotional Day 5: The Disney Cup Surprise – Mystery as Sacred Space

Faith thrives when we embrace mystery rather than resent it. The baffling Disney cup in the box mirrored life’s inexplicable moments – not failures of understanding, but invitations to wonder. Jesus asked “Who do you say I am?” not to test doctrinal accuracy, but to awaken Peter to the holy mystery already stirring in him. [50:43]

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! (Romans 11:33, NIV)

Reflection: Where do you feel pressured to “explain God” instead of standing in awe? How might embracing mystery in one area of your faith deepen your trust in Christ’s presence?

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Matthew 16:13-16
“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.’ ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’” [29:34]

Observation questions

In Matthew 16:13-16, what two different questions does Jesus ask, and how are those two questions different from each other? [44:53]
What kinds of answers do the disciples give about what other people are saying about Jesus, and what answer does Peter give for himself?
In the “what’s in the box” examples, what were people able to identify correctly, and what extra questions turned out to be unfair? [48:00]
What role did trust and relationship play when Lee agreed with Michelle about the stapler? [53:23]

Interpretation questions

Jesus does not stay with public opinion but moves to a personal question: “Who do you say I am?” What does that suggest about the difference between repeating what others say about Jesus and actually trusting him? [45:02]
Peter answers from what he has seen and lived with Jesus. Why might lived experience matter in a confession of faith, even when a person cannot explain everything perfectly? [46:40]
Some questions go beyond what a person has actually been given to know. How can admitting, “I don’t know,” sometimes be a faithful answer instead of a weak one? [51:22]
The box can change from one round of the game to the next. What might that help a group see about the difference between honoring past experience and assuming it fully explains the present moment? [55:15]

Application questions

Jesus’ question is still personal: “Who do you say I am?” If someone asked that today, what would be the honest answer from this season of life, not just the answer learned years ago? [47:23]
Many believers feel pressure to have an answer for everything. What unfair question about faith has felt heavy or discouraging, and what would it look like to answer with humility instead of panic? [59:25]
Limited sight can still be true. Where has God’s grace, love, or mercy become real through actual experience, even if there are still unanswered questions? [59:31]
Relationship gives witness its weight. Who is more likely to trust spiritual words because trust has already been built through love, consistency, and care? What small step could deepen that relationship this week? [54:12]
Sometimes people speak with great confidence about someone else’s experience without really being in that story. Where is there a need to listen more carefully before giving advice, correction, or judgment? [54:32]
What was in the box before may not be what is in the box now. Where is there a temptation to assume that what once helped faith grow must work the same way for everyone today? [55:38]
Grace, love, and mercy feel truer than selfishness when they are actually lived. Where is one concrete place this week to choose grace, love, or mercy instead of self-protection or self-interest? [57:31]

Sermon Summary

The question at Caesarea Philippi presses past rumor and into trust. Jesus asks first, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” and the disciples can report the talk going around: Elijah, John the Baptist, Jeremiah, one of the prophets. Jesus accepts that answer, but Jesus is not after gossip, trends, or what everybody out there thinks. Jesus turns the question closer and asks, “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answers because, of course, Peter answers. Peter says, “You are the Messiah,” and Jesus praises him because Peter has used what he has seen, heard, felt, and lived. Jesus is not asking a random stranger in Philippi to guess what is in the box. Jesus is asking someone whose hands have been in the story, someone who has walked with him, watched him heal, listened to him teach, and experienced his mercy.

The mystery box becomes a silly but serious picture of faith. The keys can be felt, but the last place the car drove cannot be known. The stapler can be identified, but the brand and owner are unfair questions. The book can be recognized as a book, but the title is beyond touch. The orange bird sipper cup is so far out of context that nobody should be expected to name it.

Faith works a lot like that. The disciple may not have all the answers, and sometimes the questions are just unfair. “Why do bad things happen to good people?” has been asked for thousands of years, and not having a clean answer does not mean everything known about God is wrong. What is seen and felt is limited, but limited does not mean false. Some of the answer is still real.

Relationship also matters. Lee could trust Michelle’s answer about the stapler not because he felt it himself, but because he knew Michelle. That is why telling someone about Jesus cannot be separated from trust, love, and relationship. A faithful witness is not just information tossed at strangers. It is a life that has become believable.

The box also changes. What was in the box back then is not always what is in the box now. Older experience deserves honor, but it cannot always name the present moment for another person. Jesus’ question still invites disciples to trust what they have truly known: grace, love, and mercy feel better than selfishness, and the hands that have touched Christ’s love can say so with humble confidence.

Key Takeaways

1. Trusted experience matters to Jesus [58:54] Jesus does not shame Peter for answering from what he has seen and known. The life of faith is not built only on abstract arguments, but on the lived recognition of Christ’s grace, mercy, and presence. The disciple’s experience is not unlimited, but it is not meaningless. Jesus asks for honest witness, not pretend certainty. [58:54]
2. Unfair questions are still unfair [51:22] Faith is often treated as if one hard question should erase every true encounter with God. The mystery box shows that some questions ask for knowledge that has not been given. The disciple can admit limitation without surrendering conviction. Humility says, “That part is mystery,” while still holding fast to what has been faithfully known. [51:22]
3. Limited sight can still be true [59:31] Human knowing is partial, shaped by what can be seen, felt, and understood. Partial knowledge is not the same as false knowledge. The disciple does not need to know everything in the box to know something real about the box. Faithfulness often means telling the truth that has been given without pretending to possess the whole. [59:31]
4. Relationship gives witness its weight [53:23] A claim about Jesus lands differently when it comes through a trustworthy life. Lee trusted Michelle because relationship had already made her believable. Christian witness becomes more than a speech when love, consistency, and care have prepared the ground. Trust is not a gimmick for evangelism; it is part of the shape of Christlike love. [53:23]
5. The box may change now [55:38] Past experience can be true without being the final word for the present. What worked, formed, or carried one generation may not be what another generation is touching now. Wisdom honors what was in the box before, but love allows others to discover what is in the box today. Faithfulness resists turning memory into control.

## [55:38]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[30:57] - Trends, Mystery Boxes, and Curiosity
[36:15] - Playing “What’s in the Box?”
[37:13] - The Keys in the Box
[39:11] - The Stapler in the Box
[41:12] - The Book in the Box
[42:09] - The Strange Toy in the Box
[42:58] - Jesus Asks Peter a Question
[47:23] - Faith and the Limits of Knowing
[51:02] - When Questions Are Unfair
[52:59] - Trust, Relationship, and Witness
[55:15] - What Was in the Box Then
[57:17] - Why Grace Feels True
[58:54] - Trust What Jesus Has Shown
[60:28] - Proclaiming Grace, Love, and Mercy

Sermon Clips

35s

#SomeAnswersAreEnough

“Who knew that this thing existed? What we know is limited. I'm admitting that. But just because we don't have all of the answers, it doesn't mean that we don't have some of the answers. And that's okay for right now. Don't be discouraged by the fact that you don't have all of the answers. Sometimes, the questions are unfair.”

30s

#TrustYourFaith

“Rather, trust yourself. Trust what you know to be true. Trust what it feels like to be loved and embraced by Jesus. Friends, may you proclaim the grace, love, and mercy of Jesus Christ. May you feel that love with your senses and believe it to be nothing but true.”

38s

#TrustYourExperience

“I guess one of the beautiful things that Jesus was talking about that day with Peter, who do you say I am? One of the things that he was teaching Peter and us is this, trust yourself. You've had the experience. Trust yourself that you know what God's love is like in your life. Jesus is asking you to trust your feelings, to trust what you know to be true. Don't get distracted by people who don't have their hands in the box and are trying to tell you what's in the box.”

38s

#TrustThroughRelationship

“Because if I don't know you and you said it to Stapler, I have no idea if you're trying to trick me or not. I have no idea if you're trying to bamboozle me. But Lee knows Michelle, and she knows her to be trustworthy. And so, Lee said, yeah. Yeah. I think it's a stapler because she's been right about other things. Can you see how important it is to build relationships with those whom we want to tell about the love of Jesus Christ?”

49s

#TrustedVoicesMatter

“I asked Lee if he agreed with Michelle's assessment that it was a stapler. Now, Lee would have no possible basis on which to agree or disagree with Michelle except for one, relationship. Yeah, I trust her. She's somebody I can rely on. She's somebody that never steered me wrong, and so why why would she start now? That's the only way that Lee had to agree or disagree with Michelle's assessment. Can you see why it's so powerful when our friends tell us about the love of Jesus?”

45s

#ExperienceMatters

“There was one time that I asked Rick what was in the box, and he had no idea. Of course he had no idea what was in the box. He wasn't up here. He didn't have that experience. And so, of course, why would he know what was what was in the box? I didn't give them give him any clue. I just asked him, what's in the box? By Jesus asking Peter who he says he is, he's saying to Peter, Peter, trust yourself. Trust what you've seen. Trust what you know. Trust what we've done together. Use that to determine what's in the box. Use that to determine who I am.”

37s

#FeelItBelieveIt

“That's how I feel about Jesus. What makes you think that living a life for others rather than self is better than living a life for yourself? What makes you think that living a life of grace and love and mercy is better than not living a life of grace and love and mercy. And the only thing that I can do is say, that's what it feels like. That's what it feels like to me. That's what my senses telling me.”

58s

#JesusAsksQuestions

“But one of the reasons I love Jesus so much is that he never answers a question. Rather, when Jesus is asked a question, he asks a question back. He puts the onus on someone else, on the question asker to do a little bit more thinking and a little bit more self reflection. I love that about Jesus. Jesus values the thoughts of his followers and disciples, and he uses the knowledge that they already to teach them about taking the next faithful step. I love this scripture because it so clearly depicts Jesus doing exactly that. And it tells us some valuable things about ourselves and about what Jesus thinks of us as modern day disciples.”

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