08/24/2026
Be uplifted by the Spirit's nudging and calling this week
THOUGHT+WORD+DEED FOR THE WEEK..
In Isaiah the people are advised to look to their spiritual ancestors as the rock from which they were hewn. Jesus declares that the church will be built on the rock of Peter’s bold confession of faith. God’s word of reconciliation and God’s mercy are keys to the church’s mission. Paul urges us to not be conformed to this world but to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, using our individual gifts to build up the body of Christ. From the table we go forth to offer our spiritual worship through word and deed.
Thought--Revealing God
Jesus came to earth as God incarnate, meaning “in or having bodily form.” This was no accident. The prophets of the past had used their bodies and their words so people could understand God. In Christ, God was revealed in flesh and blood, allowing us to know who God is and what God’s priorities are for creation.
Peter points this out to us, saying that Christ is “the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). As a living God, moving among us as Jesus Christ, God reveals Godself directly. God reveals the divine nature and priorities through Jesus’ earthly life. Jesus lives without possessions, sharing in the suffering of people who are poor and oppressed. On the Galilean coast he feeds thousands of people before teaching them. He befriends outcasts like Zacchaeus the tax collector and the Canaanite woman. He calls out the greed and misplaced priorities of the wealthy by flipping tables. Instead of merely telling us, Christ incarnate shows us that God has a serious concern for all people on the margins of society.
As the church is formed into the body of Christ, we too now reveal to the world who God is and what God’s priorities are. How does our ministry show God’s concern for those who are poor and marginalized today? Do we seek out and walk alongside people cast out by dominant society? Do we not only preach the word but make sure people are fed as well?
By accompanying our neighbors in their struggles for dignity, justice, and the right to flourish, we do the good work of followers of Jesus, striving with God for the end of all oppression and death, for a world made whole.
From sundaysandseasons.com.
Word--Matthew 16:13-20
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist but others Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Deed--O God, with all your faithful followers of every age, we praise you, the rock of our life. Be our strong foundation and form us into the body of your Son, that we may gladly minister to all the world, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
