In my sermon, I discussed the importance of recognizing and embracing the living presence of God in our lives. I emphasized that while it's natural to hold onto familiar images and holy moments, we must understand that God is not confined to the past but is actively working in our lives today. I used the example of changes in worship style and liturgy, and how these changes, though initially resisted, eventually led to a deeper understanding that it's not the hymnal we worship, but God. I also highlighted the danger of clinging too tightly to past holy moments, as it can prevent us from seeing what God is doing in our lives today. I encouraged the congregation to be 'living stones', actively participating in God's mission and being open to the new ways God continues to show up in our lives.

Key Takeaways:
- God is not confined to the past but is actively working in our lives today. We must be open to recognizing and embracing His presence in new ways. ([33:09])
- Changes in worship style and liturgy, though initially resisted, can lead to a deeper understanding of our faith and a renewed focus on God, not the tools of worship. ([33:51])
- Clinging too tightly to past holy moments can prevent us from seeing what God is doing in our lives today. We must be open to new experiences and revelations. ([34:34])
- We are called to be 'living stones', actively participating in God's mission and being open to the new ways God continues to show up in our lives. ([35:23])
- Public confession of faith and active participation in service projects are ways to proclaim our belief in a living God. ([41:42])

Bible Passages:
1. Matthew 16:13-20
2. Romans 12:1
3. 1 Peter 2:5

Key Points from the sermon:
1. Faith in a living God is not about saying the right things or holding onto holy moments from the past, but about offering our lives to the things that matter to God.
2. The church often finds itself caught between holding onto past expressions of God's grace and love and recognizing how God continues to communicate His grace and love today.
3. We are called to be living sacrifices and living stones, actively participating in God's mission in our daily lives.

Observation Questions:
1. In Matthew 16:13-20, what does Peter confess about Jesus?
2. What does Romans 12:1 instruct us to do with our bodies?
3. According to 1 Peter 2:5, what are we being built into?

Interpretation Questions:
1. What does Peter's confession in Matthew 16:13-20 reveal about his understanding of Jesus' identity?
2. How does Romans 12:1 challenge our understanding of worship and sacrifice?
3. What does it mean to be built into a spiritual house, as described in 1 Peter 2:5?

Application Questions:
1. How can we offer our lives to the things that matter to God, as suggested in the sermon?
2. In what ways can we recognize and respond to God's ongoing communication of His grace and love today?
3. How can we actively participate in God's mission in our daily lives, becoming living sacrifices and living stones?

Day 1: The Power of Prayer and Fasting

Prayer and fasting are powerful spiritual disciplines that can deepen our relationship with God. They allow us to focus our minds and hearts on God, seeking His will and guidance in our lives. When we intentionally set aside time for prayer and fasting, we are acknowledging our dependence on God and inviting Him to work in and through us.

Matthew 6:16-18 - "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

Reflection: Reflect on the last time you intentionally set aside time for prayer and fasting. How did it impact your relationship with God? If you haven't tried this spiritual discipline yet, what's one small step you could take to incorporate it into your routine?

Day 2: The Call to Love Our Enemies

Jesus calls us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. This is a radical and counter-cultural command, but it reflects the heart of God who loves all people, even those who reject Him.

Matthew 5:44 - "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecive you."

Reflection: Think of someone who has hurt you or who you consider an enemy. How can you show them love and kindness this week? How can you pray for them?

Day 3: The Importance of Humility

Humility is a virtue that God values highly. It involves recognizing our own limitations and weaknesses, and acknowledging our dependence on God. When we approach God and others with humility, we are able to receive grace and grow in our faith.

James 4:10 - "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up."

Reflection: Reflect on a recent situation where you demonstrated humility. How did it affect your relationship with God and others? If you struggled with pride, how could you have approached the situation with more humility?

Day 4: The Call to Be Peacemakers

As followers of Jesus, we are called to be peacemakers. This means actively working to reconcile relationships and resolve conflicts, both in our personal lives and in the world around us.

Matthew 5:9 - "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."

Reflection: Can you think of a relationship or situation in your life that needs peace and reconciliation? What steps can you take to be a peacemaker in that situation?

Day 5: The Importance of Perseverance in Faith

Perseverance in faith is crucial, especially during difficult times. When we continue to trust God and hold onto our faith, even when circumstances are tough, we demonstrate our commitment to God and our confidence in His faithfulness.

James 1:12 - "Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him."

Reflection: Reflect on a time when you persevered in your faith despite difficult circumstances. How did you see God's faithfulness in that situation? If you're currently facing a tough time, how can you continue to trust God and persevere in your faith?

1. "I encourage you to make a cardboard sign or a poster with some kind of confession on it written on it that God is living among us today. It can say something simple like I believe or God's love is for you or I believe that God Is uniting Us in Mission or be creative. What is your confession of Faith about our living God today?" [41:42] 41:42

2. "Faith in a living God isn't about coming here and saying all the right things and it isn't about holding on to holy moments from the past. We come here to confess and offer our bodies and our lives to those things that matter to God and God's Mission." [44:00] 44:00

3. "There have been countless times in religious history where holy moments are the things that God does to communicate New Life in one certain time becomes the very things that we worship in another time. It then causes divisions and that keeps people from following the Living God and Mission." [33:09] 33:09

4. "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." [24:11] 24:11

5. "We are living stones following our living God in the mission fields of our daily lives. We know that the main reason we come here is to learn better how to share our lives and our hope in Jesus with those who are not here yet." [40:07] 40:07

The holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew, the 16th chapter.

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."

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

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

May be seated.

Every time I plan a trip to the Holy Land, I make sure that we visit all the sites that span the ancient boundaries that were once called the Promised Land.

That means that we travel as far south as Beersheba so that we can experience wandering in the wilderness, and then we go as far north as Dan.

Dan is now called the Hermon Stream Nature Reserve, and it is nothing like the desert.

It's nestled at the foot of Mount Hermon, in between modern-day Syria and Lebanon, and there are waterfalls and all kinds of lush hiking nature trails there.

It's hard for group tours to spend much time here hiking, but there is one area that is absolutely crucial for any Christian group to visit.

You see, ancient Dan and modern-day Hermon Stream Nature Reserve are also what was called Caesarea Philippi in Jesus' day.

This would have been the backdrop for the conversation between Jesus and the disciples that we heard in our Gospel today.

Normally, the geographic setting isn't that important, but for this reading, it really is.

Jutting up in the middle of the trees, there is an area in the reserve that has an enormous 70-foot sheer rock wall.

The wall has an opening in it where there is a large cave.

You can see the cave, and then inside the cave, there is this deep, deep chasm that goes really far down.

No one knows how far it goes, and some in ancient times used to believe that the chasm opened up to the underworld or to Hades or to hell.

In Jesus' day, Caesarea Philippi would have been known as a place for pagan worship.

Evidence of this remains because there are still all of these indentations that are in that rock, and they used to function as shrines to multiple other gods.

Most notably, there are shrines to Pan.

Pan, if you remember, was the Greek god of nature, with the torso of a man and hind legs of a goat.

He was worshiped at beautiful places in nature, and this was one of those places.

Those worshiping Pan would come, bringing their sacrifices of sheep or other things, and then drop them into that large deep chasm as a form of worship.

That area also had a temple that was built near the cave.

You can still see the foundation stones there in the picture.

This was built by King Herod to Augustus Caesar, and after King Herod died, his son Philip built a city nearby as well, nearby all these shrines, and called it Caesarea Philippi.

So in addition to Pan and all the other shrines, there was a temple and a city to honor Emperor Caesar.

So it is in this very specific place, with all of the shrines and all of the temples to other gods, where Jesus asks the disciples these questions: "Who do people say that I am?"

And then, "Who do you say that I am?"

No one responded to that second question except Peter, who says, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God."

So in the midst of all of the shrines to Pan and dead emperors, Peter was emphasizing that God is living.

Jesus was the Son of the Living God who is always with us.

After Simon Peter's correct confessional statement, Jesus says, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven."

In other words, Jesus affirms Peter's statement by saying, "Yes, the Living God has revealed this to you."

And once again, the geographical backdrop is important as they are in the shadow of this enormous 70-foot wall of rock.

Jesus says, "And I tell you, you are Peter, or Petros, and this rock, this Petra, I will build my church on it."

Petra, the name he gives Simon, typically signifies a cliff or a massive rock or a foundation.

So Peter's confession that he had just made, that Jesus is the Son of the Living God, that is the foundation and the rock upon which the church will be built.

Jesus didn't literally mean Peter the person, and he didn't literally mean a church built of stones.

Instead, Jesus was saying that a church would be built upon the foundation of that confessional statement.

A community of believers, beginning with Peter, would be formed where all made the same confession of faith that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Unfortunately, Peter didn't understand the meaning behind these words he had spoken.

He had made a correct confession, yes, given to him by the Living God, but he didn't realize what the Son of the Living God would be called to do.

You see, soon after, in the Gospel we will read next week, Jesus tells the disciples what will happen to him.

He tells them that he will suffer, that he will die, that he will be killed, and then on the third day be raised.

And that would probably mean that the disciples would have a little bit of suffering of their own.

You can almost see Peter's face turn from the glow of pride from Jesus's affirmation to absolute horror.

"What are you talking about, Jesus? That's not how this is supposed to turn out!"

Peter had an old, previous image of what Messiah meant.

He probably had a warlike conqueror image in his mind, and that understanding of what Messiah meant initially kept him from seeing what the Living God was doing at that moment.

He got the words right but not the new meaning.

He got the confession right but not the content that would go along with it.

Peter liked that previous understanding of what a Messiah would be, but Jesus came to bring about a very different kind of kingdom.

He was the Messiah of the Living God who would give his life in sacrificial love.

Peter, however, became the stumbling rock, the one trying to trip up and tempt Jesus away from God's mission.

In the next chapter in Matthew, this becomes even more obvious.

Peter will want to stay up on top of a mountaintop with Jesus because they have this holy moment there.

Peter wants to hold on to that which is familiar and all of those familiar images and holy moments because he still doesn't understand what it means to believe in a Living God.

There have been countless times in religious history where holy moments, the things that God does to communicate new life in one certain time, become the very things that we worship in another time.

It then causes divisions and keeps people from following the Living God in mission.

One example of this is with worship style and liturgy.

This has often become a battleground for churches.

People of faith want worship that is meaningful and relevant to their lives, and so there have been changes made to the liturgy and wording from time to time.

I can still remember when I was just a youth in our church made the change from that old red hymnal to the green hymnal.

You know the previous red hymnal?

Well, it was a really big deal for our church.

I don't know about yours, but the red hymnal had communicated God's grace and love in worship for a generation or more.

So it was difficult to see that praise to God could happen with a new different songbook.

That is until everyone began to realize and caught on that the hymnal was not actually the thing that we were worshiping.

We experience this in our everyday life as well.

There are formative moments in our lives when we've felt like we were close to God or we knew exactly what we were called to do at a certain time.

Sometimes we try and go back to relive that one moment in time and repeat it again and again.

And maybe that's why I keep going on Holy Land trips, right?

But when we try to hold on to that one time and that one moment so tightly, well, the danger is that we can miss seeing what God is doing today.

The church, that is the people who are the church, have always been caught in between.

We're often caught between holding on to that which once communicated God's grace and love at a certain time and hearing how God continues to communicate God's grace and love today.

This is when we need to hear Peter's confession again.

He says, "You are the Messiah, Son of the Living God."

The Living God today, not just in the past.

That means that we can trust that God will continue to show up in new ways to lead us and guide us always.

Many Christians living in Israel and Palestine understand this all too well.

A cry I've heard over and over again from Christians living there is for tourists to come see the living stones, the people in ministry, instead of only the dead stones, the archaeological sites of the past.

They want visitors to come learn about what God is doing in their midst today and not just about what God did 2,000 years or more ago.

It's important for us to see the living stones and the Living God in our midst as well.

Those things which communicated God's activity at one time in history can often become a stumbling block or even an idol for the next generation.

But that is not always the case.

There's a beautiful story from my previous church.

I may have told it before; I don't remember.

But the story is about stained glass, an organ, and a man named Ed.

The church appreciated the stained glass windows in the sanctuary very much.

The funds for these windows were raised during some really tough economic times during the Great Depression.

So the stained glass windows represented the sacrifice and how the church had united in mission at one time to install them at great sacrifice.

The windows symbolized the faith in what God was doing in that place at a certain time.

Later, there was much debate about where to install a new organ.

The place that was chosen was going to block the view of one of the stained glass windows, this sacred window that symbolized God's activity in the church's history.

Ed, in particular, was one who opposed the organ being installed because it would block a window, and Ed had a pretty big group of friends.

Soon it was time for the congregation to vote, and the overwhelming decision was to install the organ so that it could lead the congregation in praising the Living God in a new way and in a new time.

And yes, unfortunately, it would block one of those sacred, precious windows.

Now, disagreements like this one can often be a huge issue for a church.

Instead of God's mission, divisions begin, and there's anger that can bubble up and solidify with everyone taking sides.

After a while, so much attention is put on the division that no one gets on with the original mission of the church, let alone what God is going doing today and where God is calling them anew.

However, that division did not happen in that church.

Instead, the dissenting group listened to where God was leading the congregation in a new time.

Ed, while disappointed at first, was the first one to slowly—and I mean really slowly—stand up and come forward and write a rather large check to help pay for the organ.

Stained glass did not become the object of worship or cause him or the congregation to be distracted from God's mission in a new time.

They continued to confess that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, the Living God today, here and now, with their words and with their actions.

Today, here at Kinsmen, we continue to follow our Living God with our words and our actions.

We are living stones following our Living God in the mission fields of our daily lives.

We know that the main reason we come here is to learn better how to share our lives and our hope in Jesus with those who are not here yet.

We're called, as the Apostle Paul says, to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship.

Peter has a similar quote.

First Peter says, "Like living stones, let yourselves be built into spiritual houses to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."

So we are to be living sacrifices and living stones following our Living God.

We come to worship then so that we are filled up and so that we can share our hope and God's love with others, no matter where we are.

One way for you to confess that God is living among us today is to present your body, namely your hands, to be a living sacrifice through one of the God's Work Our Hands service projects this weekend.

We confess and proclaim our Living God when we are actively participating in his living message of love today.

Another way to confess that God is living among us is to participate in a public confession of faith.

Don't get scared now; hear me out.

I've heard of other congregations doing this from time to time, especially when this reading about Peter's public profession comes up, and I want us to try it at the beginning of September or today at your service project.

I encourage you to make a cardboard sign or a poster with some kind of confession on it written on it that God is living among us today.

It can say something simple like "I believe" or "God's love is for you" or "I believe that God is uniting us in mission," or be creative.

What is your confession of faith about our Living God today?

Write it down and then take a picture of yourself or your family holding that sign in a place that you believe communicates or symbolizes hope in a Living God in our community.

Again, you might want to do that as you serve today.

Then on September 9th through 10th, we'll feature some of these photos in worship, and we'll pray that God might transform our literal signs and our confessions into a living faith that knows no barriers or boundaries.

Finally then, on September 11th, this day that has come to have great significance in our country, we'll post all of these pictures on social media, and you can read more about this whole project in the pastor's word for September that will be in the newsletter.

Still another way to confess that God is living among us today is by being living sacrifices today, and then throughout the year continue to be God's hands in the world.

There are many service opportunities and groups that you can join now and throughout the year.

We invite you to do these things because presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice and having a living faith isn't simply about getting the words right, as Simon Peter found out.

Faith in a Living God isn't about coming here and saying all the right things, and it isn't about holding on to holy moments from the past.

We come here to confess and offer our bodies and our lives to those things that matter to God and God's mission.

So as you become a living stone, discern the things that matter to God as you proclaim the Living God in our midst.

See God's activity all around you becoming more and more visible, and as you nurture a living faith, see and affirm that in every place and in every time, God is present.

God is among us, and God will continue to show up in new ways that will lead us and guide us in this time.

For this, let us give thanks to our Living God.

Amen.