Be Light – Who is Christ to You?
Opening Prayer

Certainly, the Lord is here this morning. And as we worship, whatever might be hindering you, it will fall away and you’ll know He’s here. We want to look at the word for a second this morning, 1 Peter 1: 3-5, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Father, we come before you this morning. We thank You for the great gift of Jesus Christ. We thank You for the hope in Him, Hallelujah, Amen. He’s coming again. He's our salvation for all eternity. Hallelujah. We praise You Lord, we thank You Lord. Lord, it cannot perish, it cannot be corrupted, Hallelujah. Our hope is pure in Jesus Christ. So, this morning, we walk in faith, in the One who gave His life for us. And all the Church says, ‘Amen, and Amen, and Amen’.

Announcements

You may be seated. We’re so glad you’re here today. You might want to turn to someone else and give a big smile first. Big smiles are always nice – amen. I know it’s January, but for some reason, my brain keeps wanting to write February and I’m thinking, ‘No, slow down’. It’s crazy. I don’t want this year to be like last year. I want it to be a little slower. We had a wonderful season of fasting. Some of you finished on Friday, and we had a wonderful time of just praise and worship. Thanking the Lord for how He spoke to us or just that we were blessed to honor Him. We missed you if you weren’t here.
So, we have one more testimony of sharing, for us this morning. So, we’ll ask Cecilia, if she’ll come and share with us this morning.

Testimony – Cecilia Sakatira

Good morning. When we started fasting, one of the verses that the Lord put on my heart, is found in Isaiah 43: 18,19, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 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.”
As I thought about these two verses, I thought the Lord saying, ‘Cecilia, I want you to open your eyes to see, what I am doing. If you look with your old eyes of 2023, you’ll miss.’ I began to think of the verse, some parts in the Bible, where God opened peoples’ eyes to see and they saw things that they were not seeing before. I Genesis we have Hagar crying because there was no water, and the Lord opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. We have in 2 Kings 6: 17 & 20 Elisha prays that the servant’s eyes be opened, and he saw that they were surrounded by armies, then the armies of the Syrians were blinded and Elisha prayed and their eyes were opened, and they saw that they were in a different place to where they thought. In Numbers 2: 31, God open the eyes of Balaam and he saw that there was an angel there that was preventing him from moving forward.
So, I’ve been praying over this period that we have been fasting, and asking the Lord to open my eyes to see what we are doing here in Lavrio, where You have placed me. Help me to see the people around me and the opportunities that You are providing me to step out into and pray for them. During this time that we have been fasting and praying, God has given me opportunities really to see 4 different people who needed prayer, and they were Greeks, and I asked them, ‘Would you mind if I prayed for you?’ And they said, no, and I prayed for them, and Lord, I’m praying for all of us this year that God, may we behold what you are doing and the opportunities, so that we don’t miss them. As you open our eyes, may You also open the eyes of those around us, so that they can see the beauty in us and be attracted to the beauty of God, in us and through us. This is one of my texts during my fast. Thank you, pastor Gail.
Praise God, Hallelujah. It’s so good to hear the Lord speaking, to people and giving them deep impressions for their spirit, when we fast and pray. I’ll just share very quickly, those of you that are in the WhatsApp group for the Church, you know that every day we put a devotional thought. Before we put the very first one, and actually it was Leto, she did not know what the thought was going to be, and the Lord had already told me, each one to begin with, ‘You’ll watch, you’ll wait, you’ll see.’ And the Lord gave her that exact thought, praise God. And I think we have confirmation here from Cecilia, as we open our eyes at what God is doing. Let’s watch for that, Amen, let’s wait to see it, because we will see, Amen.
Well praise God, it’s good to be here. I want to make a few announcements. We’re going to be having men’s breakfast, in February, amen. We’re excited with what the young men are doing with Michael. It’s been great, they’ve been meeting on Wednesday evenings. It’s so good, I call you young men, not teenagers. I need you to see me or Leto, because, we’re believing to change our Wednesday evening prayer and bible study, we’ll go to Tuesday. It seems to be a little better for some people. Come see me today, or Leto. Please, please, please. If it’s not a good day for you, because, we’re also planning to have small groups, 2 or 3 people – get together, that’s where we grow together, amen. So, if you can’t come in the evening, see miss Evy or me and we’ll talk about when you can maybe lead a group in your home and we’ll help you out, Amen.
In the first week of March, we’re going to be having Church membership. If you’re interested in joining the Church, please let me know. Again, Michael and Idi-Jane are in the back with the children. I just want to point that out to you, I always love that, they don’t miss church because of children, they come to church with their children, Hallelujah. So, we’re so glad to see each one of you here today. Look around and see who’s missing, and call them this week. Let them know you love them and you missed seeing them. Or send them a WhatsApp message, Amen. We’re special. We’re important to one another. Amen.

Main Message

Lord, this morning, let the words of this song be true. That we will believe in You as we never have before. Oh Lord, if even there are things where we feel we have failed or sins we have committed in the past week, into Your hands, into Your hands. Into Your hands oh Lord, where there is safety, where there is love, I commit again oh Lord. Let the world see what I see, how amazing You are. Jesus, I believe in You. Thank You Father. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
You may be seated. Today, I absolutely believe, that we can have one of the greatest experiences of our lives. I don’t know if you came expecting it, but I think every time we come to Church to celebrate Jesus, we should be expecting, the greatest experience of our life. Amen, do you believe me? I mean, the Lord always has something wonderful and for new us.
I’m very excited about our theme for the next 6 months - To be Light. And we’re going to be looking in the book of 1 Peter. It’s an amazing, little bitty book. You can read it a lot of times this week. Actually, a little letter. Peter probably wrote it from Rome. Where, if you know historically, they say his wife was crucified first. He watched as his wife was crucified. Then, he asked to be crucified upside down, because, he didn’t feel worthy to be crucified like Jesus. When we read the book of 1 Peter, it’s a letter about how to have joy in the face of the suffering you’re enduring. I think our thoughts can only be centered on one that had walked with Jesus.
I like Peter a lot, because he reminds me of me. He blew it a lot. Remember, he was in that, ‘I don’t know that man Jesus,’ and even the apostle Paul, he told him, oh yeah, it’s OK to eat everything, and then, when he got around his Jewish friends – oh no we can’t do that. I see a picture of a real human, like you and I. ‘Oh, no Jesus, I’ll never deny You!’ And not only did he do it once, three times. I am very thankful, there’s a picture of a real person in Peter for us to look at.
So, today, I’m going to lay a little background as next week we jump a little deeper into 1 Peter, of some of the thoughts that Jesus had with Jesus. Did you know Jesus asked a lot of questions? I never read in the word of God, where Jesus came upon a situation, and He said, ‘Wow, that was a shock.’ Nothing ever surprised Jesus. Of course, we all know He is not only Omnipotent – or powerful, but He is Omniscient – He knows everything. So, of course nothing would shock or surprise Him. And I like the fact, that He knows or knew everything, He didn’t lead by telling, ‘Do this, do this, do this.’ He led with questions. If I understand correctly, Jesus in the New Testament, asked at least 150 questions, and if He had asked more, it’s not recorded, because John 21:25 “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”
I like the way Jesus leads us to Him, instead of barking orders, there’s a picture of Jesus, I see Him praying in the garden of Gethsemane, we have a picture of Him early in the morning before it was day, going out to pray alone. There’s a picture of our leader, with a humble heart.
So, today, I want to have a look at some of these questions that Jesus asked, that Peter was witness to, and he answered, because Jesus led him to the answer. Has Jesus ever asked you a question? I see some heads shaking. Like when I’m fasting, ‘Gail are you sure you want to eat that carrot cake with that wonderful icing on top of it?’ He asks us questions that we can answer back, and the decision after the answer we make, helps us to grow or kind of stay where we are. I think everybody would say in this room, that we live in a very broken time, we live in a time where there are a lot of hurts, we live in a time where there is a lot of anger.
And the Lord is asking us, ‘Will you let Me ask you if you know who I am?’ Every period of history, every period, until today, has had a question that came from Jesus; it was the question of their time, and because the Church together, they sought the Lord, they were able to answer the question of their time. Let’s look at John 13:38, one of the very first question of the very first time periods. Jesus asks this of His Body of His People. He asked it of Peter “Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!” The Question is: Will you lay down your life for Me, for My sake? We know that the early Church, we know that the early Church answered this question; they gave their lives; they gave their blood; Peter was crucified; Paul was beheaded; all the disciples, except John were martyred, they were killed for their faith. Early Christians were dipped in tar, and they were hung by hooks, on big columns, and then they were set on fire, so Caesar could have a lighted path, from the palace to the Colosseum.
Will you lay down your life for Me, for My sake? The Church, the early Church, answered this question, ‘We will follow You Lord, even to death.’ The blood of those early believers, became the seed of Church growth. It became the seed of why we see Christianity having spread all around the world. Because, they had met Jesus, and they gave Him their life. Because compared to this time here, it meant nothing to eternity with Jesus Christ.
Then we come down a little later in the time period in history, another question: Matthew 22:42a, the first part, “He said to them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose Son is He?” A heresy had risen in the early Church, about 300 years after Jesus, there were 2 men, called Arius and Athanasius, and one of the gentlemen, said that Jesus was not equal to God. That’s called heresy. Athanasius defended that Jesus Christ is God. He has the same nature because He is God. And out of that, we have what is called the Nicaean creed. As this heresy came in, the Church rose up. It was a fight. But the Church said, the body of Christ, ‘He is God. He was God in the beginning, He was the Word, He is God’. We can read that in John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Notice, each time the Church dealt with a question, when they would answer in agreement with heaven, the Church would keep marching. And the truth would spread, the Light, the Light would spread. But after this came what is called the ‘Dark Ages’, the dark period. Jesus is going to ask another question to prepare His Church for this time. John 11: 40, Jesus spoke to Martha, whose brother, Lazarus, had just died, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”. Luke 18:8, Jesus asked, “I tell you; he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” The Church entered a dark period, and He asked the Church like He asked Martha; her brother was dead, ‘But will you believe to see My glory.’ Even in dark times, as you enter into dark times, will you believe? Jesus is asking, ‘Will I really find faith, when I come again?’
Those of you who know Biblical history will know this, during this very dark time, it was when Martin Luther wrote his 95 theses, and he nailed to the Church door, because he had found out, ‘It’s not by works, but the just shall live by faith.’ Jesus, I believe in You; Jesus, I belong to You. Because of that, because the Church answered ‘We believe’, fires of revival, began to spread all over the world. Jesus asked Martha, ‘Won’t you believe, even though your brother is dead?’ Church, even when it looks like everything is dead, will you believe? Will you believe even in this day in which you live? Will you have faith in Me? Hallelujah.
Lord, we want our faith to grow. Because of these fires of revival, they began to spread because people believed it is faith in God. We begin to see the birth of the modern missionary movement. Out of the darkness, we saw people like Hudson Taylor go to China, it starts there. But I’m the Light. He took the Light. We saw people like David Livingstone, go to Africa. He took the Light. And the modern missionary world began to spread around the world, as people said, I believe in you, I will take the Light. And that movement continues till today.
I’m often reminded in this time period too, when Jesus asked the disciples, in John, do you want to leave me too, when 70 others, the crowds had left Him, and this is where I want to draw more attention this morning. I believe, that the strong denominational Churches, and I’m not saying any names, but many of them, that were established on faith on Jesus, many of them today we are hearing and reading, they’re going away. They’re moving from doctrinal truths; they’re beginning to follow liberalism; it’s OK to believe just anything; we’re all going to go to heaven. We’re seeing a spirit of liberalism begin to attack the Body of Christ. But Jesus is asking us this morning, Matthew 16: 15, ‘What about you? Who do you say I am?’ And It’s not just a personal question, but it is the Question for our time. When Peter wrote 1 Peter, he had answered the question, even if we suffer, ‘Jesus I believe in You. I will live for You.’ And this is the question for our time. I’d like, don’t answer for each other, but look to one another right now, and just ask them, ‘And what about you?’ Ask your neighbor.
I’m going to give you just a few little terms, I think they are very important. We live in a world that’s called, ’Pluralistic thought’. Pluralistic thought is all around us and it’s saying, ‘If Jesus is anything, He’s just one of many ways.’ That’s why this question is so important today, ‘Who do you think that Jesus is; not just think it but who do you say He is?’ Do you publicly say, ‘Jesus I believe in You. Are you, His Light?’
People who are led by ‘Public Consensus’, they take no stand on any issue. They wait on what everybody else wants to do. You’re getting ready to go to dinner, and, oh where would you like to go? And no, where would you like to go? I don’t care, where would you like to go? I want you to choose. It drives me crazy. Somebody choose! This is what ‘Public Consensus is.’
What do you think about Jesus? Oh, I’m not sure, what do you think? I don’t know, this is what the world says. A lot of people are talking about Jesus like this. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Just a small parenthesis, think a lot of the families today, are letting their children lead them and that’s why we see a lot of families turned upside down. Have ever watched in the political scene also, some politicians won’t take any stand, until all the data gets in from the poles, and what everybody’s thinking.
We also live in a time, where the Lord is calling us, by living in the conviction, ‘Jesus I live in You.’ That it’s deep in your core, that it’s central of who you are. You live in the conviction of what the Word of God says about what is right and what is wrong. No matter what anybody says, and if they’re leaning a little bit to the liberal side, you will stand on your convictions. Yes, sinners in the world, and because sin is a corruption of identity, but I believe and I hope you do too, that even people who are unsure of whether they are man or woman, when we introduce them to Jesus, because we are His Light, we can say, ‘I’ll walk with you, because He’s with me, and when the times get a little hard, we’ll make it through together.’ Church, we live in a time, when we have got to have personal conviction, that God has right and wrong. We cannot be led by what the world is saying.
When Jesus asked, ‘Who do you say I am?’ at this point Jesus took the disciples away, away from the crowd, He took them up to Caesarea, Philippi (Matthew 16:13). That’s a great topic for another sermon, whether God pan ruled. Thousands were flocking around them, but He took them away. Matthew 16: 13, “When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’” This question was so important to Jesus, so important to get the disciples away, to where the noise of the crowd would not sway their core convictions, to where they could hear Him, and He had their undivided attention. This is what we need to get away with Him, to hear Him, to where He has our attention.
And actually, I’m going to ask you if you have your Bibles. If not, Leto and Stavros will pass them out really quickly. I want us to read this section, Matthew 16:13-19, If you need a Bible, please raise your hand. This is another great reason to carry a paper Bible, because you see the picture all around. “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.’ Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’”
So, Jesus is up there with His disciples. He has their attention. So, He asked them the first question, “Who do people say I am?” Was He asking what the polling data is? He was kind of asking, “Do you know what the public are saying?” And I think He asked them, because He knew that they had been listening. He wanted to hear what they were going to say, but now He is going to center on the focus. But wait a minute, guys, “Who do you say I am?” Not what the public is saying. It is a question of personal conviction. And that was the question of their time, and it is the question of our time. “Who do YOU say He is?” Those of you in this room, we need to understand this today; it’s not just a question of our time, it’s a question of eternity. It’s a question of eternity – Amen. And “Who do you say He is?” And here is Peter, I just love it, he is just boisterous and loud; makes me think of little kid, “I know, I know, I know!” “I know who You are – You’re the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Hallelujah. Amen, Amen. I don’t think he said it quietly, “You know, You’re Jesus Christ the Son of the living God.” I don’t think he answered like that. He had a revelation, from the father, through the Holy Spirit. This one that is teaching you, this one that has His eyes on you, Hallelujah, this is THE CHRIST the Son of the living God.
He is looking at us this morning, and He is asking us, ‘Who are you?’ And Jesus says, ‘Oh, Simon Peter, you are blessed.’ When we study 1 Peter and these letters, these upcoming months, it would be good for us to remember, Peter had made up his mind. He wasn’t let the opinion of the world change his conviction. Look, I fail the Lord sometimes, I pray every morning. Lord, if I’ve anything and I don’t even know it, forgive me and He does. None of you are perfect. None. If you think you are, let’s pray for you right now – you’re not perfect! But the thing is, even when we fail, we must get back to our personal conviction in who He is. We must be convinced, He is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
We are living in a world and we want to be like Peter that says, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ What happens when what men say is more important than God? It gives rise to 2 things:

Pluralistic Compromise and
Political Correctness.

This will kind of give a hint to that I’m not 39 forever. But when I was a little girl, pastors and reverends and priests, they were highly respected. I remember, it was the number one position you could have, for people to trust you. But we live in a world today, where what men say, is often more important to most people than what God says. We live in a world of opinions. I don’t have an opinion about Jesus, and I don’t care if you think I’m a know it all. Because I know Him. And I know this morning, you might have a different opinion, but Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords, and He’s coming again. Amen. I’m absolutely certain that if Jesus were here today, and He went on one of the television talk shows, and I’m absolutely sure that if someone was living with her 4th or 5th husband, and if Jesus said to the woman, just like He did with the woman at the well, ‘That man you’re with, he’s not your husband.’ They’d call Jesus a bigot.
Church we’re at a crossroads, where we will decide what the world says, or what Jesus says. What happens when what men say is more important than God? It gives rise to pluralistic compromise, and political correctness. Let me just tell you quickly what ‘Pluralistic’ is again, we’re all going to heaven, everybody, Mormons, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Evangelicals, Charismatics, we’re all going to go to heaven, there’s just different roads. A lot of people believe that today. ‘Political Correctness’, borders on universalism, there’s no hell. Everybody is going to go to heaven. We cannot lean either way. We must be concerned, to the point where we pray to grow to know. Paul said, ‘I know in whom I have believed in.’
I know Him and He is able to keep me whatever difficulties are in the day, and if everybody thinks I’m narrow minded or a bigot, I want to look at him and say, I’ve met Jesus, can I introduce you to Him? He made something beautiful of my broken life. Stop and think about it. If we believe all the roads go to the same place, if we believe that it doesn’t matter what we believe about Jesus, that He was born of a virgin, or died and rose again. And if none of that matters, if everybody is going to heaven anyway, Sarah go home, Billy and Eva-Lena go home, Gail, Brian go home, Elize go home, the couple from Helping Hands, whoever you are, if you came here as missionaries, we don’t need you, go home. Because there is no reason to tell people about Jesus, they’re going to go anyway.
But I’m convinced, that a great darkness came upon the earth, and the Lord wants His light to shine out of our lives, so that others, in the midst of all the compromise and political correctness, they’re still not at peace, you can say, ‘Let me show you the One.’
The question, ‘Who do you say I am.’ Jesus says, as the alternative pluralism and inclusivism, He says in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”. Jesus is asking you today, who do you say He is? He’s emphatically asking, who do you say I am. There’s only one way for deliverance, and that’s through Jesus. There’s only one way to heaven, it’s Jesus. Who do you say He is today? We need to say with a proud and glorious and humble voice, ‘You alone, You alone. Jesus You are the way.’
And I think that Peter was able to write 1 Peter, and tell them ‘You can be victorious.’ Because he had seen Jesus. He’d heard Jesus. And he was convinced that He was the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God, Hallelujah. So, when it was time for Peter to give his life, he didn’t then feel worthy, he was crucified upside down. When they would ask him, ‘Will you deny Jesus?’ he would not.
Who do you say He is. It’s not easy, but truth is narrow. You may not like it today. Let me give you one fact, I have a lot, but I’ll give you one today, 2+2=4. It never equals 5. That’s a truth. The truth today is, He is God. And He came to reveal Himself to us this morning.
There’s a beautiful passage as we get ready to worship the Lord, I’m going to ask the prayer teams to come up front. Revelation 7:14, John sees a crowd of people and one of the elders asks, who are these and the voice said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Let me ask you today, ‘Do you belong to that glorious throng of the redeemed?’ If you know Him, your robes have been washed and they are white. Sometimes we might fail, but I love how He just washes us, again and again and again, Hallelujah. I want to be one of those, that have come through life and stand with the redeemed, because I’ve been washed by the blood of the Lamb, Hallelujah. Come ye blessed of the Lord this morning, and say, ‘I know He is Jesus.’ As we begin to worship the Lord, “I will bow down”, I love the second verse to this song. It says, ‘I will bow down, and hail You as King.’ You are the King of kings, and Lord of lords, and you might be here today and you know who you believe in, but you want someone to agree with you that you grow to know, that you grow to know more and more. As you stand, feel free and let one of these teams pray for you. Please stand. But if you’re here this morning, and you’re here because you know the name Jesus, but you’ve never asked Him to come and wash your sins away. We want to pray with you today, that you will know, that Jesus is God, and He loves you. And I feel like there are some here today that you’ve been going through a hard time, a lot of battles, and your spirit is heavy, the Lord wants to lift your spirits today, so you also come forward.