MAC KIRK

Matthew 16:18 And I say also to you, That you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I. WHAT THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IS. II. AS TO THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. 1. Negatively. Not Peter. (1) He was but a man. (2) Peter was a frail mortal man. (3) Peter was a sinful man. (4) Peter determines the point himself, and expounds the prophecy in Isaiah of Christ (1 Peter 2:4). (5) Peter, as mere Peter, could never victoriously grapple with the assaults of Satan.Some assert that Peter was the foundation in a secondary sense. (1) This secondary foundation is an absurd distinction, and contrary to the very nature of a foundation. (2) It would have to be extended to all the apostles. 2. Positively — that Christ is the only true foundation of the Church. (1) God the Father selected no other. (2) Christ asserts no other. (3) The Holy Spirit fits no other. (4) Only Christ can withstand the gates of hell. I...

Take Courage. BE not afraid. It is I. Matthew 14:27 We are afraid. We look over the side of the bridge or the height and we feel as though we are going to fall. We have a sickening feeling in our stomach. The air is gone. There is no interest in continuing. We feel alone. What drives us into this feeling? How do we get there? What is missing ? Jesus would say we are missing courage. Courage is not the absence of fear but an emboldening from within. It is the warming of the heart..... Tharsos=Courage-tharséō (from the root thar-, "bolstered because warmed up," derived from /thársos, "emboldened from within") – properly, bolstered within which supports unflinching courage – literally, to radiate warm confidence (exude "social boldness") because warm-hearted. Biblehub " It is when we take our eyes off from Him and think of our own weakness, and worry about our own temptations , that we are imperiled. ..Christ does not rebuke us fo...

Transfiguration Sunday This festival of the Church is in all of the Gospels except for John. Our Lord had been saying things to the disciples and then it says in Luke 9 , " And ...about eight days after these sayings He took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray..." He had fed the crowd---the miracle of feeding the 5,000. Then he asked the disciples, " Who do you say that I am?" After Peter got it right, " The Christ of God" He told them , " The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day." vs. 22 vs. 23, " If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Then He took them up to the mountain. Have you ever been on top of a mountain? You can get a picture of the whole area. There is a place near my old home in Monterey, CA called Jack's peak, that you ...