Good day, friends.  Hope you’re all staying warm and dry.  We were missing a couple of folks last Sunday, but they are doing ok and hopefully will be back with us next week.  Keep Cathy and her family in prayer.  The cousin we’ve been praying for over the last few months has passed away.  She and Benny have gone for the funeral.

Do you remember the first time you got a key to something?  I don’t remember the first time, but I remember liking the feel of keys in my pocket.  It make me feel grown up.  The more keys the better.  It means that something of value either belongs to you or has been entrusted to you.  We have keys because we have locks.  We have locks because we want to protect what we value.

What if God gave you the keys to something?  Do you think that something might be important?  What responsibilities might come with those keys?  Well, if you have given your life to Him, He did, and what they unlock is of greater value than anything you have ever known!  But does it need protecting?  Are the keys for locking people out, or for letting them in?

Over the past few weeks we have been examining Jesus’ teaching about His kingdom.  I almost skipped over this text because it does not fit that pattern, but I think we will benefit from taking a look at it.  Jesus asks His disciples who people say that He is.  After they answer, he then asks, “Who do you say that I am?”  This leads to Peter’s famous response, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  What comes next has defined divergent theology for millennia, so let’s see if we can discern what Jesus is really saying and what it means.  Our text is from Matthew 16:13-20.

I hope to see you there.

Love y’all!

Larry