One word. One service. Six questions.
Alan Evans is leading this morning, and instead of a traditional sermon, he’s doing something you don’t see very often — weaving the teaching throughout the entire worship service. Between the songs, between communion, between prayer. Every piece of the service is built around one person: Jesus.
He starts where any good conversation about Jesus has to start: who is He?
Matthew 16:13-16. Jesus takes His disciples to Caesarea Philippi and asks them point-blank — “Who do men say that I am?” The disciples give the usual answers. Some say John the Baptist. Some say Elijah. Others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Then Jesus narrows the question: “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answers — “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus tells Peter that flesh and blood didn’t reveal that to him. The Father in heaven did. And on that rock — that confession — He will build His church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
From there, Alan walks through who Jesus is. He is Immanuel — Isaiah 7:14, the virgin will conceive and bear a son and call his name Immanuel, which means “God with us.” Matthew 1:23 echoes the same promise. He is incarnate — John 1:1 and 14, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Colossians 2:8-9 — “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him.” He is the eternal God the Son — Colossians 1:15-16, the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, through whom and for whom all things were created. He is Lord — Romans 10:9-10, confess with your mouth and believe in your heart. And then Luke 6:46, the question that cuts right through it all: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?”
Then Alan asks: why is the question “Who is Jesus?” so important?
John 8:24 — “If you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” John 14:6 — “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The question isn’t academic. The answer determines everything.
Why did He come to earth? John 3:16-17 — God loved the world so much He sent His Son, not to condemn the world but to save it. Luke 19:10 — “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Why do we need to be saved? Romans 3:23-26 — all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:23 — the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What has Jesus done for us? 2 Corinthians 5:21 — He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Ephesians 2:1-9 — we were dead in our sins, but God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves — it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
What should we do? Romans 6:1-2 — shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not. Galatians 5:16 — walk in the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 — if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: be reconciled to God.
Live for Jesus.
That’s the whole service in six questions and one answer. Alan lets Scripture do the talking this morning, and it says more than enough.
Scripture References:
Matthew 16:13-18 · Isaiah 7:14 · Matthew 1:23 · John 1:1,14 · Colossians 1:15-16 · Colossians 2:8-9 · Romans 10:9-10 · Luke 6:46 · John 8:24 · John 14:6 · John 3:16-17 · Luke 19:10 · Romans 3:23-26 · Romans 6:1-2,23 · 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 · Ephesians 2:1-9 · Galatians 5:16,24-25
