Joe-Eric Lopez is our guest speaker this week! We are so thankful for him coming in while our pastors were out of town. He brought a refreshing word on our intimate relationship with God.

Introduction to Matthew (0:00 - 8:41)

Matthew 16:13-18 (8:41 - 9:55)"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."

Our desire for intimacy (9:55 - 19:29)

God wants to be known (19:29 - 23:09)“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

God’s desire has always been to reveal himself to his creation. We see it in the Old Testament, God is constantly revealing himself to the Israelites and pointing to Jesus. In the New Testament Gospels we see Jesus on earth revealing who God is. In the book of Acts and in today’s church we see the Holy Spirit revealing Jesus to us. He is always revealing himself.

Only God can truly reveal himself (23:09 - 27:20)“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.”

God’s Revelation is for Relationship (27:20 - 45:16)

God made the sacrifice, not us. God went the distance, not you. When it was our disobedience that caused the separation, He still came near.

Genesis 3:15 (NIV)

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers, HE will crush your head and you will strike his heel.

John 1:14 (NIV)

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.

John 17:2-3 (NIV)

For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NIV)

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”