It is said that Ed is a regular church goer. He never misses Christmas or Easter. The rest of the year Ed wonders what is the real purpose for the church. He's a farmer and, you see, when he was interviewed one time Ed said, "I'd rather be sitting on my haystack thinking about church than sitting in church thinking about my hay."

The term church, it's an important one, but it's sort of a fishy one. It's a slippery one. What does it mean exactly? What is its purpose? Is it a place where we come? Is it a place where people get married and buried? Is it an institution? Is it like a holy club where members pay their dues and because of that get all sorts of benefits in that club?

You may have heard about the young mother who took her three year old little girl to church for the first time. This little girl had never been in an adult assembly, and you'll see why in a moment. She sat there. She looked around. She didn't know what to make of it. She didn't quite understand it. Then the lights went dim, and the choir proceeded down the aisle with lighted candles. And a look came over that little girl's face as if "I get it. I understand the purpose." And so with a loud voice, she sung out, "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you."

There's some adults that don't get church much more than that little three year old girl. They don't quite understand it as well. I noticed, and it was mentioned, alluded to in that C.S. Lewis quip, that people shop for churches. They look for the right ingredients: the right activities, the right location, and I don't fault them for that.

There are lots of different churches out there, and not all churches are for all people. I recognize that. I actually love that fact. There are young congregations that meet in storefronts. There are older congregations that meet in cathedrals. There are quiet churches. There are loud churches. There are fun churches, and there are boring churches. There are churches that preach long messages, and there are some that give sermonettes. Those are for Christianettes. Can't wait to go outside and have a cigarette, perhaps. But in that questioning about the church, we have left someone out—the one whose church it is. As we'll find out in our text, Jesus said, I will build my church. And if you think about it, it's really not about what I think of a church as much as what Jesus Christ thinks of it and me, since I'm a part of it.

I love what D. James Kennedy wrote, and I share it with you now. He said, "Most people think of the church as a drama with the minister as the chief actor, God as the prompter, and the laity as the critic. What is actually the case is that the congregation is the chief actor, the minister is the prompter, and God is the critic. Well, if that's the case, if God, and since God is the chief critic of the church, what ought a church to be like? What ought I personally in my church, what ought I to be like?

A great question is brought up at a time like this? If everyone in your church was just like you, what kind of a church would you be attending? Frightening thought, isn't it, for some?

Let's read our text. We're going to read, oh, about verse 23 and read down a little bit. Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi. He asked his disciples saying, "Who do men say that I the Son of Man am?"

And so they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

And he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"

Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ the son of the living God.

Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you Simon Barjonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail, or in this rendering Hades, shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bound on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

And he commanded his disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus, the Christ.

I want to draw your attention principally to verse 18. And notice the designation that Jesus gives. By the way, it is the first mention in all of the Bible of the word church, and that's significant. That draws our attention to it even closer. There's always that rule of first mentioned. When something's mentioned first, look at it, spend some time with it, understand it in its origin. There's about 110 times that the New Testament uses the term church. This is the first one.

Now, to our ears, when we hear the word church that word has a distinctively religious ring to it, doesn't it? Most of us know that the word in Greek is ekklesia, and it's a church word. It means religious, spiritual things. We even get an adjective in the English language, ecclesiastical, things pertaining to the church. You say that church, and to some they think immediately of stone buildings with high steeples if they're from Europe, or if they're from older America, high steeples, wood. If they're from the western United States, any shape, stucco.

A lot of times minds when they hear that term go to institutions, rigid sometimes, filled with gray haired men in long black robes and white colors. That's peoples' view when they hear the word church. That's what comes to mind. That's what they see. No wonder church for a lot of people is simply where you get hatched, matched, and dispatched. You're born into it, you get married into it, and you get buried in. That's it.

It's a religious sounding term, but you ought to know something. Since this is the first time Jesus used it, this did not sound religious to their, the disciples', ears. The origin, the term doesn't have any religious connotation whatsoever, purely secular. In fact, governmental. The Greek word ekklesia means an assembly, and originally it referred to a group of Greek citizens who assembled regularly in a public place. Later on it became known as a group, a legislative body, like a jury who would meet and deliberate on issues of the city or of the area in which they lived.

Now let's go a little bit deeper. Church, ekklesia. The word is actually a combination of two words. One is a preposition, one is a verb stem. Ek, which means "out of, out from," and kaleo, which means "to call, to summon." And you put those words together, and the meaning is "to call out from, to summon out from an assembly of people for a common goal, for a purpose." So the meaning is "a group of people called out separately from the rest of the community who assemble regularly together for a common goal." That was, that was the meaning as it fell upon the ears of the apostles.

It's interesting that Jesus, of all of the terms he could've used, used this term as the first designation of this assembly, the church. It's revealing because it shows me number one, that we are never meant to be isolated, but integrated. Have you ever heard people say, "Well, you know, I'm really not into the church. I don't go to church because I'm not into organized religion." Have you ever heard that? Can I just say right now, that's a copout? All that is saying is, "I dare not become accountable to anyone. I will do my own thing in the name of God." That's all that means. It sounds cool, but it ain't.

Listen to what Solomon wrote. Proverbs 18, he said, A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire. He rages against all wise judgment. You see, all of us, even the most spiritual, all of us need to answer to someone, to be accountable to someone. We need each other. We assemble together. We're not to be isolated, but integrated. We're not Lone Ranger Christians. We're to be with people.

There's a term the New Testament uses frequently. I counted 70 times, and I was counting quickly. There may be more. Seventy times the phrase "one another" is used in the context of Christians and their fellowship in the church. "One another." Love one another. Serve one another. Be kind to one another. Prefer one another. You can't do "one another" alone. Right?

"Well, it's just me. I don't, I'm not into organized religion. I'm going to practice one anotherness." With who? The imaginary friend that walks with you?

Mrs. William Janssen asked the question, "Can I be a Christian without joining other Christians in the church?" And she answers it, "Yes." But it's something like being a soldier without an army, being a seaman without a ship, being a businessman without a business, being a tuba player without an orchestra—that's funny to me—being a football player without a team, or being a bee without a hive.

When you are isolated from a group of believers rather than integrated, you are more vulnerable at that point to compromising your values and to falling into temptation.

So Jesus uses the term ekklesia, "a called out assembly of people who meet together regularly." How often do I have to assemble you might ask. Well, that's the wrong question. It really is. How often do I have to go to church? How often do I have to assemble? You see, when you belong to Christ you love his people, and you ask, "How often do I get to? How often do I get to use this opportunity?"

I know you've heard it before, but it just fits here so well. Maybe you haven't. There was a husband and wife who were getting up. It was Sunday morning. It was early. Alarm went off. She got up. He wanted to stay in bed a while longer. In fact, he said when it was time to go to church, "I'm not going."

She said, "Get up."

He goes, "I'm not going for three reasons. Number one, the church is cold. Number two, people don't love me. They don't like me. Nobody likes me there. And number three, I just don't feel like it. Good night."

She said, "Get up. Get dressed. And there's three reasons just like you gave me three. Number one, the church is warm and pleasant. Number two, I can think of a few people who like you. And number three, you are the pastor, dear. So get up."

I know that's as old as the hills and twice as dusty. It fits.

How often do I have to assemble? Do I have to assemble? "Well, Christmas and Easter. That's what they say." Listen to the writer of Hebrews chapter 10. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some. Exhorting one another and so much more as you see the day, the day of Christ, approaching.

Why is it the manner of some? Why is it that Christmas and Easter is a stretch for some? Why is it the church is only there for musical recitals, funerals, weddings? Why is it that you have to drag some people to the church? And why is that you can't drag others away from church?

I'm going to give you a partial answer. I want you to listen carefully, because the apostle John answers it for us. This is out of 1 John chapter 3. If we love other Christians, it proves that we have passed from death into eternal life. For a person who does not love them, is still dead.

Now, that makes sense, doesn't it? If you're not a child of God, then the church isn't your crowd. It's just not your group. You have nothing in common with them. You don't want to be around them. It's a chore to get you there. But if you love God and you're his child, you're going to love other kids that are his. And it's not, "I have to go to church." It's, "It's church time. Alright!"

When my wife first came to Christ, you couldn't keep her out of church. Six nights a week, she went to church. It was hard for me to get a date out of her. You want to date her, go to church with her.

Look at verse 17. That's the designation. Let's look at the foundation. Jesus answered and said to him..., that's Simon Peter. Now notice what he says to Peter, because a lot of preachers and Christians love to ditz this guy. "Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you but my father who is in heaven.

I've told you before, I think there's going to be a long line of preachers in heaven waiting to give their apologies to Peter. You know, we love to take pot shots at this guy, don't we, for his weakness, for his failures. Here Peter stands tall. And he didn't say, "Blessed are you Peter, and John, and Andrew." Just Peter here, because he got it right on the target. He answered the question the right way. Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah.

Now, I want you to look carefully at this because some people in reading this text have said, and have thought mistakenly, that Jesus is saying, "Peter, you are the rock upon which I will build my future church." And let me say, if Peter is the foundation of the church, it's a weak one. Oh, he's a great guy. He's not chopped liver, but he's not the one the church was built on. That's not what he is saying.

Now why do people come up with that interpretation? Simply because the name Peter means "rock;" so they think, "Peter means rock, so upon this rock, that must be Peter, I'll build this church." Well, yes and no. Peter means rock, but not the kind of rock that you may think. Don't think of Rocky Balboa. Think of maybe Pebbles from Flintstones. That's the meaning of his name. You are a stone, petros. A small little pebble. So Jesus isn't saying, "Peter, you are so amazing, and so godly, and so spiritual, and I am going to place the future upon you, Peter, as a foundation."

"Yo, Jesus, thanks a lot." (Rocky Balboa voice)

Now, let me paint the picture for you, so you will understand it. We read about verse 13, that Jesus takes them up to a place called Caesarea Philippi. That happens to be where the Jordan River gushes out of a huge, huge rock, a foundational stone at the base of Mt. Hermon. From there the river feeds the entire land of Israel.

But it was also a place of contrast. You see, it was a landmark, and it was holy to the Jews, because it was that place that fed and gave living water to the nation. But it was also a place of many other religions. You see, there were about 17 temples on site when Jesus was there with his disciples. All the way from worshipping Baal to Phineas, the Greek god, to Caesar Augustus, who was deified and worshipped. And it was as if Jesus brought them to the place of contrast and said, "Hey, let me ask you a question. Who do people say that I, the Son of man, am?" And you read the litany of answers. Who do you say that I am?

Peter: You're the messiah. You're the Son of the living God.

"Bingo, Peter." He didn't say bingo, but blessed, close. Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah. In other words, you got an A on this part of the exam.

So, Jesus is not building the church on Peter pebbles, but on the rock-like truth that Peter uttered out of his mouth. You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now, let me retranslate that, and listen carefully. You are Petros, a pebble, and upon this petra, massive stone, of what you just said about me, that I am the Christ, the Son of the living God, I will build my assembly of people who gather around that.

Now, some of you if you know your Bibles well may think, "Now Skip. Now wait a minute. It may refer to Peter, because it was Paul the apostle in writing the Ephesian letter wrote these words, We are his house built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. And the corner stone is Christ Jesus himself.

Ah, did you hear that? The foundation of the apostles and prophets, but the chief corner stone is Jesus himself. Modern terminology might sound something like this, "Jesus is the slab, and those apostles are the 2 x 4/2 x 6 studs and base plates, kick plates, at the bottom, but it's built upon, not a man, not an apostle, not a human leader, only on Christ.

Paul wrote these words to the Corinthians. By the way, he said them right after he rebuked them for honoring one leader over another leader--Paul, Apollos. He said this, For no one can lay any other foundation, did you hear that? Not even an apostle. No one can lay any other foundation than the one we already have, which is Jesus Christ.

So now I want to ask you a question. Are you just coming to church or are you resting on the rock Jesus? And by resting on the rock, since he builds his church by using foundational truth about himself, upon this rock I will build my church, that's the question you need to ask yourself. Because you can come to a building, and you can sing at church, and sit at church, and read things at church, and do all sorts of things at church, but if there's not a heartfelt, authentic, personal confession, with conviction, that says, "I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God, guess what? You may come to church, but you're not part of the church. Because this is what he builds it on: that heartfelt conviction and confession that Jesus Christ is who he said he was.

You know the text. I'm going to read it to you. Paul described a group of people in the New Testament by saying, They have a form of godliness, but they are denying its power. I love the NLT's rendering. Listen to it. They will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Those are people who come to church, but don't rest on the rock. Their life isn't being transformed by the truth of God. As one pastor said, "Loving God is a lot more than an emotional goose bump."

So, what is the church? Who are we? What are we supposed to do? It's a group of people, saved, separated from the rest of the world, who meet regularly together, and whose heartfelt conviction is that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

Let's move on. Let's look at who owns it, its possession. Verse 18, I say to you, "You are pebbles, and on this massive rock, what you just said, this rock-like truth, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

Did you note to whom it belongs? I will build my church. He's very personal and possessive here, and I love it. The church is not the work of a pastor, a group of bishops, a board, a set of elders. Jesus, because it's his church, does not have to clear his decision, his direction with Rome, with London, with Minneapolis, with Costa Mesa. He just does what he wants to do, and you better follow because it's his church. It's his work.

I came across an interesting little article. I want to share with you. It's called how to get rid of your pastor. Ready? Some of you want to listen up.

1. Look the pastor straight in the eye while he's preaching and say amen once in awhile, and he'll preach himself to death.

2. Pat him on the back and brag on all of his good points, and he'll probably work himself to death.

3. Rededicate your life to Christ and ask the preacher for some job to do, preferably some lost person you can go win to Christ, and he'll probably die of heart failure.

4. Get the church to unite in prayer for the preacher, and soon he'll become so effective that a larger church will take him off your hands.

Now, I didn't share that with you so that you'll get rid of me, but to say that it's time to enshrine Christ, not a man, not a group, not an organization, not a denomination, but Jesus Christ only as the head of his church, the body of Christ. It's time to do that, and it's time often to remind ourselves, "Oh, yeah, it's his church."

You know why it's his? It was his idea. He's the one who set it here. He's the one who planned it. It was a mystery the Bible says, kept silent in the Old Testament, revealed in the New Testament. And by the way, he didn't just think up the idea. He paid for it. He bought it with his own blood.

Paul reminds the church of that. They were having some problems in Ephesus, and he said in Act 20 to those elders, Be sure that you feed and shepherd God's flock, his church, purchased with his own blood, over whom the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders.

I'm here to tell you that I think every pastor and every board member should remember whose church it is, because it'll take load off. Sometimes I come, and I see the building, and I see the air conditioners that we just put in and the grating, and I know what it costs. I go, "Oooff."

And the Lord reminds me, "It's my church."

I go, "Oh, yeah, that's right. It's your, your bills, too. Take them. Take them. They're yours."

It's his church.

Or I see people coming forward, like last Easter at sunrise, 100's of them. "Lord, look at all these people with all these needs. Oh, yeah. It's your church." That's really my testimony.

When I came here doing this little Bible study, I had no idea how to run a church. You know, in a lot of ways I still don't. Maybe that's the magic of it.

I think every Christian should remember this. It's not your church. "Let's go to my church this week. Let's go to Skip's church this week." Hello. It's Jesus' church.

Paul opens up his letters to the Thessalonians, and he says, Paul, and Silas, and Timothy. To the church in Thessalonica, you who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't you love that? Let me put it another way. You are called by Christ to be owned by Christ. That's what it is to join a church. It means you absolutely surrender. You give your pink slip, not to the pastor, but to the pastor's Lord, Jesus Christ. "Here's my life. You run it." Jesus bought you that he might own you. He called you that he might own you.

And, and let's be realistic. He's called you along with lots of other people. Some of whom you will like. Some of whom you will not like. And they're there to hone you, mature you. You may want to just take a moment and look around. Just for a second, just look around, the next, 20 people that are sitting next to you around there. Just look how different some of us are. Not just your husband and wife. There are others, the other side. I think it's safe to say that nothing else could bring some of us together but Christ. We just wouldn't, we, we have nothing else in common some of us; but it is Jesus who has done this.

Moody Monthly Magazine said, "There's a lot of different kinds of nuts in the Lord's fruitcake." Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad? I'm one of them. You're one of them.

I want to close with the last point. That last phrase, it speaks of the church's preservation. I say to you, you are Peter. Upon this rock I will build my church. The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. How permanent is the church? How long will it last? If you ask some people, not very long.

Back in 1776, a philosopher by the name of David Hume announced proudly, being an atheist, "I can see the twilight of Christianity." I can see the twilight of Christianity? Somebody needs to tell that boy the difference between a sunrise and a sunset. A lot has happened since that time.

French atheist, Voltaire, said something very similar. Nikita Khrushchev, once who headed up Russia/the Soviet Union, said the same thing. In fact, Nikita Khrushchev proudly, boastfully announced that he would display the final and last Christian on public television by 1965. I've been to Russia. I've met a lot of Christians. It's, 1956 is come and gone, and you know what? Nikita Khrushchev has come and gone and has stood before the judgment bar of the Christ he tried to get rid of.

The gates of Hades will not prevail against it. A lot of people throughout history have strutted across the stage of life announcing the end of the church.

Now, let's not be blind. Let's be real. There is cause for concern. I'll give you an example. Every year in England since 1974, 85 Christian churches close. And you ask, "What do the become?" They become public buildings, entertainment centers, and Islamic mosques. Eighty-five a year since 1974. Baptismals are used as bird baths and homes. They're auctioned off for furniture. Pews are used as decorative things around buildings and homes, as are stain-glass windows. Eighty-five a year are closing.

Churches in America are growing. Some are closing. But if I read my Bible right, and if I as Jesus the question, "Hey, Jesus, question. How permanent is this thing you're making? This assembly, this church? How long will it last?" He would tell you, "I'm going to build it so the gates of hell/Hades will not prevail against it.

You know what that means? The word gates. The idea of a gate is the symbol of authority or power. The city gate 2000 years ago in an Israeli town was tantamount to city hall today. It was a place of power and authority. Jesus uses the term the gates of Hades. Symbolizes the organized powers of death and Satan. So, in other words, you can open up the gates of hell and unleash all of its power, all of its demons to assault the church of Christ, you could persecute, you could torture, you could kill, you could burn their buildings, you could forbid them from assembling, and they're not going away. "I'm going to build it. I'm going to do new works." And that's simply because the builder is stronger than the destroyer. The builder, Christ, is stronger than the persecutor. I will build my church.

Let me ask you a question. What do you think the people 2000 years ago thought, the crowd, as they saw Jesus hanging on a cross? They probably thought, "Well, we thought it was off to a good start, but this is the end of it, right? This is the twilight of it all. The founder's dying." It was just the begin--, it was just getting off the ground because of his death, and burial, and resurrection.

Having said all of that, can you think of anything better to be a part of? Any organization that has ever existed, can you think of anything better to be a part of than that, the church? Can you think of anything else in life, Christian, follower of Christ, that deserves your time, your talent, and your treasure more than his work on earth. Think about it. Every project you build, every edifice you build, everything you lay your hands to will one day be reduced to ashes. Not the church. Not the church. He's building it.

And remember, since the church isn't a place you come to, it's you who come to it. Remember, you are the chief actor, and Jesus Christ, God, is the chief critic.

So it's time to look at that question as we close. If everyone in church was just like me, what would it be like?

Heavenly Father, we understand that your plan upon the earth, your plan for getting the gospel out, your plan for exalting Jesus Christ and drawing people to him, your plan for worship that is to continue of you/to you, includes and involves intricately a group of people called the church. Not a particular brand, but people all over who gather together regularly, called out, saved, separate from the world system, gathering together frequently, all ardently proclaiming with a heartfelt confession that Jesus is the only answer, the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the living God. You said in your word, the church is the pillar in the ground of all the truth. And I pray we would ever proclaim that. We'd be about that not only corporately, but individually. As members, stones being added to this building called the church. So build us up. Build us up with your truth. May we rest upon a solid foundation, more solid than any radio ministry, tape ministry, famous author, charismatic personality. It's not based on Paul. It's not based on Peter. It's not based on Andrew, John, or anyone else. It's based solely upon Christ. He's our foundation, and our relationship to that foundation by what we believe about him. I pray these things would be clear in our minds, clear in our thinking, so that we could live powerfully, dynamically. Not trying to be like the world, that's when we're weak, but trying to be who we are, different from the world. Thank you, Lord. Thank you that we are part of this great, grand program that you call your ekklesia, your church "called out from" group of people. And Lord, we look at ourselves and we realize though I am a member of this great plan, I am so imperfect. And I'm sitting around lots of people like me who are imperfect. And so help us to extend to them as much grace, and love, and kindness, and acceptance as you do to us. In Jesus' name, Amen.