Message from August 25

The keeper of the keys.
This expression has historically applied to the apostle Peter of whom Jesus said “Upon this rock (Petros) I will build my church”.
Our message today focused on Peter as an example of an ordinary person who was recommended to Jesus by his brother Andrew. As important as Peter became in the early Christian church he clearly struggled with his Faith. He had his strengths and his weaknesses just as we do.
We recall through scripture that three different times he actually denied having any relationship with Jesus. He is confirmation that Faith often involves uncertainty and doubt; but he believed through his challenges and he gives us hope and encouragement in the challenges and struggles that we experience with our Faith.
Jesus brought him back and Peter became the primary disciple, a bold and dynamic preacher of the Christian message, who converted more than three thousand people following the death of Jesus.
Like us, Peter was a work in progress. We all in some ways have the keys to the Kingdom and we can, each in our own way, offer those keys to others.