“Who do you say I am?” In Matthew 16, Jesus asked this question to His disciples, as He understood that there were a variety of opinions circulating about Him. This is because Jesus is the most famous person to ever walk on this earth and people have always been trying to make sense of Him. And since Jesus ascended back to heaven, these opinions have only increased over nearly 2,000 years. It’s good to become educated on these various opinions, but Jesus tells us in that Matthew 16 passage that He is most concerned about your opinion. “Who do you say I am?” is the most important, and the most personal, question in the entire Bible. This is because the question calls every person to process His life and ministry and come to a decision regarding all of it. The weight of the question likewise could not be overstated, as scripture tells us, all of eternity is hinged to that answer. That’s why I’m so thrilled that more and more people in our church are coming to the same conclusion that Peter had that day: “He is the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16).”
This past week we celebrated another baptism, which is a public answer to that essential question. We’ve been humbled to watch 8 individuals in our church get baptized over the past 5 weeks. Believer’s baptism is a special moment where people proudly raise their flags for Jesus Christ. In obedience to Christ’s command, each of those eight people showed outwardly what they already knew inwardly: Jesus is their Lord. Last Sunday we added 6 more new members who likewise answered that question. They joined this family of faith based on our common confession that Jesus Christ is Lord. Three other individuals said they are ready to join our church family as well and will be following through with believer’s baptism very soon. God is moving in our church family, and by His grace more and more people will discover the answer to that question through the ministry of ABC.
This question should stir us to action. The reality is most people do not know the true answer to that question. Everyone knows of Jesus, but most do not know Him personally (Matthew 7:13-14). That’s why we must commit to take the Gospel to others outside of our church, both by word and deed. We are all ambassadors for Christ, and we all must do our part in kingdom service. I’m so proud of Scott Agthe and our Missions Committee, as well as our Deacons, for leading the way in our first ever church-wide service day, “ABC Serves.” These men and women have worked hard in organizing and planning these past 2 months. Their efforts have made it possible for our church to be mobilized to take the hope of Jesus Christ out to our community through service. This Saturday, ABC will work with 12 organizations to meet needs across our city. We will be partnering with great organizations such as Austin Baptist Chapel, Baptist Community Center, Mission Possible, Trotter House, Circle of Hope Community Center, Texas Baptist Children’s Home, Community First, Down Home Ranch, and more. I am proud of those who have labored hard to make this weekend happen, and I’m proud of every person who has answered the call to serve alongside them this Saturday.
My hope and prayer is that we will all continue to open our eyes to the needs around us. Jesus is clear that there is no shortage of work to do. He’s said it has always come down to a shortage of labor. He explains that , “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38 ESV). Jesus has answered that prayer by sending 100+ laborers out this Saturday to serve as His hands and feet. But I know there will be plenty of work left to do next week as well. I encourage you to labor for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Ask for God to use you, and pray for a great harvest here at ABC. By His grace, I believe many more are going to learn the true answer to that question through the ministry of our church.
Ask God who you could invite to join you in worship this weekend. We will press on in our study of the “I am” statements and we’ll learn that Jesus is the light of the world. Come prayed up and expectant to meet with God in His house. Have a great week and I’ll see you Sunday.
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