Northside Church - Sydney
Back to Basics - Who is Jesus? - Barry Tramacchi
Here's another inspiring message from Northside Community Church Sydney. Good morning everyone, good to see you, good to be with you, my name is Barry, I'm part of the team here and normally I'm up at Taramara at the campus there but just lovely to be with you this morning and a special welcome to all of those of you who are watching online and to the many people that have been in hospital or who are in nursing homes and lots of people from the Taramara campus I've been connecting with recently who are just doing life tough but whatever situation you're in in life today I pray that today is going to be really helpful for you. It's so good for Jordan, he's doing a great job leading our services and leading our service team this morning because I live at Taramara I popped in to the church briefly I needed to do something before I came down here and it was just lovely to walk in and the whole worship team were just in a circle praying, praying for the service, praying for the people and I know that that happens here and it's just lovely to be a part of that and Jordan really appreciate your leadership into that space and lovely for Kristen and Steph you guys do a great job leading the services here in Kate just lovely to hear that story and I just want to acknowledge that there are so many people in this church who without anyone else knowing share Jesus in their workplace and point people to Jesus and as a result of that many people there's a stack that I'm aware of and there's a stack that I'm not aware of but God knows and God knows the work that you're doing in your place of work and how you point people in your place of work or study or wherever you live God knows and God knows the impact that each and every one of you are having as you point people to Jesus if you're not yet a Jesus follower we just want you to know that that's our mission as a church to help people more and more people become Jesus followers and before I as I get into the message I just wanted to acknowledge that in this room today you may have come here today because you want to check Christianity out and I'm glad you're here and I hope that today you might get a bit of a sense a bit more what it's about we've been doing a series called Back to Basics Sam and Jordan have been bringing those messages on a bunch of different topics and I'm a little tired this morning because last night there was a party across the road from us an 18th birthday party and I've heard that Dylan Sing went to a party last night and you know it just went till 12 or one in the morning and you know loud music but here we are I don't know some of us have been to parties and some of us have played a game there's a game called Celebrity Heads anyone remember or know that game yeah it used to be on Hay Hay at Saturday and basically I'll quickly explain the game the idea of the game is with Celebrity Heads is that you get three people up the front and above them on their head is the name of someone who's a celebrity it could be a famous person who is either living now or who has lived in the past and each person gets a turn and they are to ask the audience a question that can only be answered with a yes or a no and if it's a yes they get to ask the next question so if we were to play Celebrity Heads now we're not going to but if we did we could have three people up here one of them could have for example maybe one of them might have Taylor Swift one of them might have Woody from Toy Story and the other one might have Jesus and so they would ask questions and the person who wins Celebrity Heads is the person who gases who their celebrity is and so the questions might go you know am I female am I alive now have I existed in history am I real you know I'm not Superman or whatever or and then some sometimes the person who has Jesus above their head ask the question am I alive now and so I've done this game played it in youth groups at camps and when I taught religious instruction and scripture in primary schools and high schools I've often played this game just as a bit of a starter and and and and the people often say no you know is he is he is he alive now no and they think they're on to Jesus but and then I say are you sure about that and when I say are you sure about that if the audience has said no and I've said are you sure about that the person is just really really confused like is he dead or alive like or you know and they just don't know what to do and and where to go with it and sometimes it can be really confusing knowing what does it mean to be a Christian and what does it mean to follow Jesus and that's one of the reasons we're doing this back to basic series is to look at what the what the what the essentials are really really are and and whether you're a Christian or not yet a Christian or you're exploring it let's face it it can be really confusing I mean I don't know if you realize this but there are lots of different Christian denominations there's Anglican Baptist Catholic ABC what else can I do then there's denominations and then there's evangelicals and then there's I don't know what the F's are but there's there's just a whole heap it they know there's Pentecostals there's Lutheran there's uniting there's Methodist there's church of Christ there's Presbyterian there's actually about 45,000 different Christian denominations throughout the world and you go whoa that's a lot that's really confusing and then there are millions billions of Christians and if you were to ask those millions and billions of Christians what does it mean to be a Christian you might get a thousand different answers potentially so today we can look at one of these one of these really important topics and just to help each of us understand this church north side is part of a movement of churches known as churches of Christ and basically churches of Christ never intended to be a denomination but churches of Christ have a little catch-fry a little catch-cry catch-phrase it goes like this in essentials unity in non-essentials liberty freedom in all things love and that's a little catch-cry to help us understand and we're just looking at some of the essentials in this basic series and in this series we're looking at what's essential what's not when it comes to being followers of Jesus but today I just want to go back to the very basic one the question today is who is Jesus who is Jesus here's what we know about Jesus Jesus was born in Bethlehem he then spent time as a refugee in Egypt Jesus was once a refugee he grew up in the town of Nazareth where he spent his childhood youth teenage and young adult years and worked as a carpenter until the age of 30 and then at the age of 30 his ministry began he was baptized by his cousin John and then he began his ministry and his ministry involved teaching and gathering around him a group of disciples he was their rabbi and he taught them he invested into their lives and taught them what it means to be his followers and these disciples they these a disciple what a disciple is a disciple is a learner who's committed to obey the one they follow a disciple is a learner who's committed to obey the one they follow and that's what they did and so they had seen Jesus with his authority that was so powerful that he could calm a storm his authority was so amazing that he could that that that people who were blind could now see people who were once deaf could now hear and people who once couldn't speak who were mute could now speak and people who were paralyzed could now walk and people who were lepers were now cleansed and clean and people who are outcasts were now included into the community and into the community of faith they had seen Jesus and heard him teach with power so powerful was his teaching that they were just amazed because he taught not as the other religious leaders or the teachers of the Lord Jesus taught with great authority and and the question about Jesus is interesting who is Jesus I mean when you think about Jesus and that word Jesus often on many places throughout the world that word is used by thousands of people as a swear word and yet this Jesus is also worshipped by billions of people throughout the world and yet there are also billions of people who have never even heard his name Jesus a swear word one who is worshipped and one whom many people have not even yet heard his name the word Jesus means saviour rescuer and Jesus would often speak about himself and he would often talk about himself as the son of man he would say this saying you know the son of man that I the son of man I the son of man and this son of man idea is was was actually talked about by Daniel Daniel was the guy who was in the lion's den and Daniel wrote a whole heap of things and and he he had a prophecy about this son of man and the son of man in the book of Daniel written hundreds of years before Jesus was born refers to God's promised Messiah who is going to reign and be a ruler of a kingdom that will never ever ever end and that's who the son of man is and so when Jesus says I the son of man he's referring back to that prophecy that I'm the ruler of a kingdom that will never ever end and so today what we want to look at I want to look at this beautiful conversation that happens between the disciples and Jesus because Jesus wants to get to help them understand who he is and the time came when Jesus was going to disclose to his disciples who he is and so we're in Matthew chapter 16 today and let's pick it up let's have a look at this it's a fascinating little interaction in Matthew 16 13 when Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples who do people say that I am now this was not Jesus having an identity crisis Jesus was not going I don't know who I am who do people say I am Jesus was also he wasn't going through an identity crisis and he in some ways wasn't that concerned with what people were saying about him I mean he knew anyway but I want us to focus on this this little phrase here Caesar area Philippi it's a good word to get your head around all right who are the the Caesars of the day were the Roman emperors the Roman Empire ruled over Israel they ruled over a large region of land and the Caesar was the one he was the dictator the emperor the one who was in charge and they were very powerful rulers they were so powerful that they had the power to change the name of the months of the year so from Julius Caesar who rained before the time of Jesus's birth from his name we get the month of July anyone here born in July you can thank Julius Caesar for the naming of your month then there's Augustus Caesar he was the Caesar who who rained at the time he was the one who ordered the census by which Mary and Joseph came to came to Bethlehem Augustus Caesar a powerful ruler and what did he do well he renamed because Julius Caesar got a month I want to get a month named after me so he named the month of August anyone here born in the month of August you can think Augustus Caesar for the naming of that month the month of August these Caesars were so powerful they wanted people to know that they were in control and that they had power and authority and so this is what they they did and so what happened Augustus Caesar had given a city to King Herod Herod was the king Herod the Great Herod the Great he was one of the king one of the king Herod's okay and after he died Herod's son Philip rebuilt and renamed the city and he renamed the city after himself and Tiberius Caesar right so that's why we have this thing called Caesaria Philippi and here's the reason I'm going into this is because we need to understand the backdrop we need to understand the geography and the history as to why Jesus is asking this question at this place at this time so when they reach the region of Caesaria Philippi he asked his disciples who do people say I am I mean really I've just explained celebrity heads to you in some way there's Caesar Julius Caesar Augustus Herod the king Herod the Great Herod Philippi Herod Philip and Tiberius so these are some of the celebrity heads of the day right and Jesus asks who do people say the son of man is let's have a look at it here's the disciples replied the disciples replied well some say and here they go they're going to play celebrity heads again well some say you are John the Baptist and some say you're Elijah and others and still others you're Jeremiah or one of the prophets but what about you he asks who do you say I am now it's really important to Jesus that people answer this question it's really important to Jesus not so that the person can get the question right but so that each person knows who Jesus is and how we are to relate to him and so Jesus asked the disciples and he asked us what about you who do you say I am and Simon Peter answered you are the Messiah you are the son of the living God that's who you are and Peter declares basically Jesus you are the anointed one you are the one that's foretold about in the Old Testament you are the hope of the world and by but the Messiah is the anointed one the one who is King the one who is God the one who is that's who you are you're the divine one and Jesus replied to Simon and said this blessed are you Simon son of Jonah for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood by people but by my father who is in heaven he has revealed this to you and that's one of the roles of the heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit is to reveal to people who Jesus is that he is the Christ the Messiah the anointed one the hope of this world the King to whom we will give an account for our lives the one that we are to surrender to submit to the one who we are to have faith in the one that we are to believe in and follow Jesus says Simon you are blessed and then he says I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades or the or the powers of death will not overcome that church that I am building well this is an amazing conversation an amazing interaction and helps us get back to basics of who Jesus is and what he's about his his is the main point for today that I want everyone to understand Jesus is central he is God's son and our king he is God's son and our king Jesus being the Messiah the son of the living God his identity is the foundation on which the church is built the church isn't built on Peter the church is built on the identity of Jesus which is what Peter declared and Peter declared Jesus you are the son of the living God you are God with skin on you are the king you are the anointed one and here's here's the encouragement for all of us today no matter what denomination of Christianity what brand of Christianity there is the essential belief statement that Christians have believed for two thousand years is this that Jesus is God's son and our king and that's what the people throughout the world who are followers of Jesus believe and Jesus says to Peter Peter Petros little rock on this statement on this foundation of who I am when you Simon Peter answered when you said that I you are the Messiah the son of the living God when you said that you declared who I am and it is on that statement it is on that identity of who I am that I will build my church and by the way friends church is not a building church is people and the Greek word for church is the word ecclesia and it means people gathered and called out for a common purpose and that common purpose is to point people to Jesus to gather to worship Jesus to show people Jesus to do what Kate did in helping a lady come to know and be reacquainted with Jesus and has a result of that she's helped more people become Jesus followers that's what the church is people people and people who who trust in and believe in and follow Jesus God's son and our king and here's what's encouraging Jesus two thousand years ago predicted you whoa Jesus prophesied you Jesus predicted that people would gather together and unite on who he is now if that doesn't give you goosebumps I'm not sure what will but Jesus thought about you and he declared you in this statement I will build my ecclesia I will build my people who will gather and worship and identify and understand that I am God's son their king Jesus builds his church of people declaring he's God's son and king and and and what's what's beautiful here's the thing we know this throughout the world there is a lot of opposition towards Christianity there's a lot of opposition towards the church that Jesus is building and Jesus says this death itself will not defeat the church why because Jesus rose from the dead and we are the resurrection people we don't have to fear death we don't have to fear the opposition because ultimately we win we win how good is that we get to live forever with Jesus and all people who trust in him and follow him we get to have eternal life now this won't be advertised in the next add on TV as the thing you must have but it's the truth it's the best news in the world Jesus who he is and that he is our king you know there's a there's a little saying that started in Germany in the early 1500s we get anyone here from Germany or got German heritage I'm sure there's some of you online but here's the thing there's a little saying it goes like this don't throw the baby out with the bathwater and friends we understand that Jesus is the baby and sometimes we can be a little bit like the dirty bathwater because no Christian is perfect none of us is Jesus but Jesus is the baby and one of the things that sometimes happens is people will say look I don't want to be a Christian I don't want to be a hypocrite like the rest of them and they don't throw out Jesus because Christianity is about Jesus and sometimes those who say they are Christians may not represent him well but that's no excuse for whether or not Jesus is God's son and whether or not he can be your king Jesus came as a baby but he is much more than a baby he is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords now to be a Christian is to be this it's to believe and follow Jesus Christ God's son and our King that's what it means to be a Christian to be a Christian is to believe and follow Jesus God's son and our King Jesus is not just someone to believe in he is the eternal King he is the supreme one and Jesus as the supreme one he is the one who has absolute authority and he is a loving leader to whom we must submit because that's the relationship between King and subjects we submit we surrender and to be a disciple to be a Christian is to be one who follows Jesus remember what I gave the definition of a disciple earlier a disciple is one who is committed to obey and follow their master and that's what it means to follow Jesus do you know what who Jesus is really matters right now in the world today our year is filled with 365 days sometimes 366 but 365 days and right now in the world today there are 365 million people who are experiencing extreme persecution and discrimination because they are Christians 365 million people for the number of days that there are in a year there are that many million Christians who are experiencing suffering throughout history there have been millions of people who have lost their lives lost all kinds of who have died because they will not deny that Jesus Christ is the Christ that he is the Son of the Living God that he is their King and without going into all the history of it the Romans did a good job of starting it and we could have a really interesting history lesson on that today but we're not going to but why do I say this and by the way not one of those 365 million people is in Australia I'm talking about other countries okay right now though Jesus is asking every one of you who's watching online and everyone who watches this later and everyone who's in the room right now Jesus is asking you two questions but what about you who do you say I am who do you say I am and if the Father God has revealed to you that Jesus is the Christ that he is God's Son and the one who is your King the one for you to surrender to submit to to follow and that's great news but today there may be some here who might actually want to say you know what I want to put my trust in Jesus and I want to start following Jesus then in a while at the back I'm going to be there during our song after we sing very soon and I'd be there and I'd be happy to pray with you and meet with you give you a Bible or help you in starting your journey to help you follow Jesus but before we have communion today I want to read a passage which teaches us how to live I love worship songs we sing a couple of three beautiful songs today one of the first songs written about Jesus is this one of the first songs it's recorded by Paul as he writes a letter to the church at Philippi a place where he had been in prison because of his faith in Jesus and what happened during the night they sang songs and they were released from prison and many years later he wrote a letter to them and I just want to read this as we prepare for communion let's have a look at this he says this in Philippians 2 5 to 11 Paul writes this in your relationships with one another have the same mindset of Christ Jesus who being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage rather he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant and being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man he yet again humbled himself by becoming obedient to death even death on a cross therefore God exalted him and gave him God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus this is a prophecy this is what's going to happen one day one day at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth got the picture this is this is a this is a world event of all people and every tongue will acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord well thanks for tuning in if you'd like to find out more about Northside visit northsidechurch.org.au you [BLANK_AUDIO]