Real Life Selkirk
August 2, 2026 Pat Lessard

  • Sermon

    Key Passage

    Matthew 14:13–21 NIV
    When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

    Series Introduction

    The book of Matthew is where we get our definition of a disciple
    Matthew 4:19 ESV
    And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
    Biblical Disciple Defined:
    Following Jesus
    Changed by Jesus
    Obedient to Jesus— Making Disciples
    The book of Matthew is where we see our calling as disciples:
    Matthew 28:19–20 NIV
    Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
    So we are using the book of Matthew as our Field Manual on how to live as disciples.
    We have walked through the book of Matthew to this point.
    As we have crossed Matthew 14, we have hit the 1/2 way mark of the book.
    Identity of the King
    Matthew goes to great lengths to introduce Jesus as the Messiah, King, God in the flesh, and savior.
    A disciple is someone who sees and knows who Jesus is.
    Not what preachers say, not what culture says, but rather, what the the Word of God says.
    Authority of the King
    We have just completed a segment where we have emphasized the authority of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom He brings.
    You will see how the passages and teachings of Jesus drive us to a humble surrender to Jesus Christ, His authority and His Kingdom
    This isn’t me imposing this upon the Scriptures. This is the emphasis of Matthew and what he draws out of Jesus life.
    A disciple is someone who lays their lives down to follow Jesus
    That is our calling. My authority or His.
    Kingdom Living
    Now, we will move to a part of the book of Matthew that will emphasize Kingdom Living
    I know this has had practical elements that we can put directly into our lives.
    But Jesus’ identity has been established and His authority has been seen.
    Some have surrendered to the authority, others have rejected His authority.
    Now, Jesus’ ministry will begin to focus on His disciples and those who are choosing to follow Him and what life in the Kingdom means for them.
    These next few passages don’t just convict. They meddle. They meddle with our lives. Our core beliefs.
    God, through His Holy Spirit is going to start pointing at some parts of our lives that we are uncomfortable with.
    This is sanctification. This is the consequence of a surrendered life as a disciple. This is a life that looks more like Jesus as we follow Jesus.
    We don’t wear Jesus down to our sinful nature
    As we devote ourselves to Him, He wears down our sinful nature into conformity to His holiness.
    As a disciple of Jesus, this is our journey.

    Sermon Introduction

    I love how the text moves in our passage today.
    For the last few weeks, we have been looking at the teachings of Jesus.
    I remember when I was at North Idaho College, training for my future career in Law Enforcement.
    We would take classes about law, arrest techniques, and driving cars very fast.
    But do you know what we weren’t doing? We weren’t out there being cops doing these things in the field. We were learning about them.
    I remember talking to my classmates about how hard it is to learn these things, but not being able to see them in action in real life.
    There is a difference from the classroom and real life. This is true in almost every area of life.
    Parenting: Most of us were better parents with more answers, and then we had kids.
    Work: Most of us felt more equipped after an education, but then we started the job.
    Me as a cop: I thought I had been trained with all of the answers, then someone wanted to square up with me and fight.
    The disciples had just heard about:
    The Kingdom of Heaven being like seed on good soil
    The Kingdom of Heaven being like yeast in bread
    The Kingdom of Heaven being fruitful
    The Kingdom of Heaven having eternal Heaven and Hell consequences.
    These are great things to learn, especially from the mouth of Jesus.
    But then real life meets our passage today.

    Topic- True Compassion

    Over the last couple of months, I feel God has been working on my heart. As I prepared this sermon, I want to share three areas that I observed in my world where I saw God’s work in my heart:
    Story #1-
    On June 1, I logged onto my social media. (I am moving away from social media in my life. If you’ve sent me a friend request and I haven’t responded...sorry) But I check on the important things, like my Minnesota Vikings.
    I saw that they had changed their team logo on the profile to a rainbow version of their team logo.
    My first response was, “Ugh, here we go again. Another month of jamming sinful behavior down our throats.”
    I scrolled through a few of the comments and saw vile responses on two sides of a matter that our world wants to fight about.
    I tend to lean toward the, “Well, I’m going to unfollow my team for the month to make a point.” line of thinking.
    This is when God convicted my heart:
    This is an issue that has struck not just hundreds of thousands of people in our nation and in our community.
    This is an issue that has struck my own family.
    What does God see in this moment?
    Does He want to join in with a few Holy zingers?
    No. I don’t believe so
    I believe this breaks the heart of God.
    There are people, created in His image, created to know Him, created to find their identity in Him who have believed something else
    They have rejected Jesus Christ as Lord and have chosen a lifestyle and an identity as their Lord and are proclaiming it from the rooftops.
    If their identity is not in Jesus, their eternity is hell.
    God loves them. God is brokenhearted. Am I?
    I started thinking about my daughter. I’m brokenhearted about my daughter who is caught up in this lie.
    It is my hope and prayer that there is a believer who has enough of the heart of God to show compassion to her, not the comments that I saw on social media.
    My daughter needs Jesus, not a lecture.
    Story #2-
    Around a month ago, I was dutifully working on a sermon in my living room.
    I really get focused on sermons. I pray, I ask God for guidance. I study, read, listen and learn.
    I want to Gospel to impact lives! But I also forget that sometimes God is preaching a sermon that isn’t in my notes.
    My doorbell rang and a longtime neighbor that I have known only by waving through the years was standing there.
    Her daughter had been arrested and released from jail. Her daughter had nowhere to go, no money, no friends, no home. My neighbors house was not an option because of her release terms from jail.
    I had a sermon to prepare. I had God’s work on my plate. I have to give you guys the best.
    But God showed me my heart. Standing before me was a desperate mother. She was broken and hurting and I was the only Christian she knew that might help.
    Understand this, I’ve never asked her for anything and she’s never asked me for anything.
    The reason she was standing before me at that moment was God.
    I sat down and listened to her and told her that I would be willing to talk with her daughter and see if I could help.
    She left and I went back to my sermon, but only for around 30 minutes because the daughter came to my front door.
    Lisa and I invited her in, fed her dinner and found a place for her to stay.
    She had a need, but she had a different need.
    She was where she was because she had a lord of her life, but it wasn’t Jesus.
    My heart broke for her, knowing that her destination is hell apart from Jesus.
    That is why it was worth dropping my sermon for the day.
    I don’t say this to brag, but rather to share with you what God is doing in my heart.
    I open up with these two stories because I hear the words of Jesus in our previous parables, but when it comes to real life, it has taken the work of God in my heart for me to change.
    We stand here every week as a church and say,
    Vision:
    We exist to reach the world for Jesus, one person at a time.
    Our passage today shows us at the ground level how this must begin.
    We don’t learn theological points, then convey those theological points for the salvation of others.
    God’s word has to take root in our hearts
    Our hearts have to break. Our sinful lives have to change. We have to conform to the eyes, hands and heart of Jesus! Otherwise, no soul will embrace the Gospel from our message.
    We are talking about the word, “compassion” today.
    It is something we see in Jesus.
    It is something the disciples knew in theory, but their practical knowledge fell woefully short.
    Today we are going to look at the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000.
    This is a powerful story that I believe God wants us to be very familiar with.
    Many of us have heard this sermon preached about the “Multiplication of Jesus”
    How we give Jesus our loaves and fish and he will prosper us.
    There is a multiplication teaching to this passage. But it is in the context of the heart of Jesus
    This passage is about the heart of Jesus.
    It is recorded in all four Gospel accounts
    It is the only miracle other than the resurrection that is recorded in all four gospel accounts.
    Why do you suppose that is?
    There is something in this passage that reveals the heart of God that He wants us to see.
    Question to Answer:
    What is true compassion?
    This is a question we will all wrestle with in our lives.
    What is compassion?
    What are the boundaries in compassion?
    What is Jesus asking of me?
    This will all boil down to clear teaching in our passage today.

    True Compassion is seeing what Jesus sees (verses 13-14)

    Matthew 14:13 NIV
    When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.
    Matthew helps us set our context here. We can see the purpose behind the movement of Jesus.
    It says, “When Jesus heard what had happened...”
    We ask the question, “What did Jesus hear had happened?”
    The passage just prior, two things are revealed.
    First of all JTB, Jesus’ cousin, had been killed by Herod
    Second, Herod had heard about Jesus and believed Jesus was JTB resurrected from the dead.
    In grief and in complications we see Jesus’ response
    Grief because his cousin had been killed
    Complications because Herod now possibly had his sights set on Jesus.
    This is a place where we can see the humanity of Jesus.
    Both of these pieces together compounded would make anyone emotionally overwhelmed.
    Being emotionally overwhelmed in this life is a reality
    God created us in His image. We see that God has emotion. Strong emotion.
    He exhibits joy, anger, pleasure, and peace.
    We too carry emotion.
    As a response of hearing this about Herod and JTB, Jesus withdrew by boat to a solitary place.
    If you remember, Jesus had gone to his hometown and preached.
    The people there didn’t have much faith. However, the people in the places surrounding His hometown seemed to desperately want to hear him.
    Nazareth is around 10 miles from the Sea of Galilee, so Jesus withdrew to the sea of Galilee, got into a boat and went to a solitary place
    Why do you think he went to a solitary place?
    To be with God.
    After He dismisses the crowd, he sends his disciples into the boat and he goes up on the mountain by himself to pray.
    The whole purpose of Jesus in this moment was to be with the Father.
    I want to explore this.
    It is a bit of a rabbit trail, but we don’t have too many verses to cover today.
    Is anyone in this room overwhelmed? Stressed? Worried? Battling the news, grief and struggles this world offers?
    There are always responsibilities, but the greater the worry, grief and stress, the greater we need to be in a solitary place with God.
    You may have come to church today to find hope in your circumstance. I want you to know that church will not provide that solution. A sermon will not provide that solution. Five points on how to find peace in life will not provide that solution.
    God is your solution. God and only God.
    And you may be here today and need to hear this: Get alone with God. Get rid of all of the distractions. Shut your phone off. Turn down your computer. Get a babysitter for the kids.
    Go to God. Go to the Word. Spend time pouring out your heart, your fears, your worries, the consequences to Him.
    Allow Him to strengthen you. Build you. Carry you.
    Matthew 14:14 NIV
    When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
    Spending solitary time with God is necessary and good, but sometimes there are disruptions.
    Can I get an amen?
    Let’s notice this. There is an interruption here.
    Was God in the interruption? Yes.
    Did Jesus still make time to be alone with God? Yes.
    Jesus got into the boat and started going to the isolated place and people on the shoreline said, “That’s Jesus in the boat. Let’s follow Him!”
    They probably had their binoculars and started tracking where he was. Others started following the crowds.
    It built up so much and they traveled on foot through enough towns that a massive crowd.
    I want you to see this:
    When Jesus landed, did He see 5 minutes of isolation? Did He see his quiet time with God?
    No, He saw the crowd.
    I want to pause here because interruptions are a big part of life.
    Believe it or not, I am an introvert at heart.
    That means that I find my energy from not being around crowds, rather than from being around people.
    For a long time, I thought something was wrong with me. God put me in a place that I have to work with people, but people drain me.
    Now I have discovered that God is glorified in my weaknesses. Go figure. He should have said that somewhere.
    In reading about being an introvert, one thing that stood out to me is that interruptions frustrate everyone, but they especially anger introverts.
    It is because when they are formulating a thought, that thought literally touches every part of their brain before crossing the road and coming out of their mouth.
    That is why introverts sit at a table think of the right thing to say when the conversation has moved on to three different topics.
    But in this process of figuring out what to say and how to say it, if the introvert is interrupted, you have taken a massive part of their brain processing and flushed it before anything could be formed.
    That is why other people are so much work. You have to have conversations with them.
    You burned their limited energy with other people.
    It’s hard not to see interruptions as personal or at a minimum a frustration in life.
    It is rude, or a problem that needs to be solved or ignored.
    I want you to see what the heart of Jesus is.
    Remember, the heart of Jesus demonstrates the heart of God.
    Jesus saw the crowds and He had compassion on them.
    I want to bump over to the book of Mark and see what Mark highlights about this explanation:
    Mark 6:34 NIV
    When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
    Do you hear the heart of Jesus?
    They were like sheep without a shepherd.
    Jesus has used this language before. He sees these people as sheep.
    Sheep need a shepherd
    Sheep are defenseless
    Sheep fight with each other
    Sheep will wander off and get themselves killed
    Jesus sees these people like this
    There were people claiming to be shepherds, but the sheep were either being neglected or abused, or completely abandoned.
    Jesus saw people who needed a savior.
    He had compassion on them.
    Who was in the crowd?
    There were likely people who leaned toward the Roman govt
    There were people who leaned toward the Jewish leadership
    There were sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes
    There were righteous church attending folks.
    What did they all have in common? They needed a shepherd from where they were in life.
    And they knew they needed a shepherd. That is why they came to Jesus.
    Do you see this in Mark 6? How did Jesus help to meet the needs of the people?
    He taught them the truth from the mouth of God.
    God give us your eyes
    May we not simply see you for who you are
    May we see those around us as you see them
    They are not problems, political issues, or interruptions
    They are hearts and souls that are lost apart from Jesus
    True Compassion is seeing what Jesus sees

    True Compassion replaces our ideas of compassion

    Matthew 14:15 NIV
    As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
    As evening approached.
    I want to pause there.
    What had Jesus done with these people.
    He had compassion on them. They likely had needs of every sort as they came to him.
    There were thousands and the numbers were likely growing by the minute.
    Jesus taught them until evening.
    There is a spiritual endurance these people had.
    They didn’t come to Jesus and say, “We are awaiting our 30 minute sermon”
    They came to Jesus. He had compassion on their soul. And He presented the truth to them.
    This was not a series of motivational thoughts. This was not a 5 minute devotional.
    Do you think a 5 minute devotional is going to transform your life?
    Or do you think pressing in to the King of Kings because He is the source of truth and He is showing His compassion by sharing the truth of the Bible with you. This will transform your life.
    They were there until evening.
    The disciples were probably getting hungry and they were seeing that it was getting dark.
    They thought, “Well, we’d better bring this to an end. These people don’t have any food and asking them to stay any longer is unreasonable.”
    They felt that they would do the compassionate thing and send people home...away from Jesus.
    Here is where assumptions kill.
    The Pharisees assumed they knew what the Messiah was supposed to do—They were wrong and they missed Jesus entirely because of their assumption
    The people in Jesus hometown assumed they knew Jesus identity (his father, mother and siblings)— They were wrong and they missed Jesus entirely because of their assumption
    Even Herod assumed he knew who Jesus was as a prophet—He was wrong and he completely missed Jesus.
    Here, the disciples assume that they know what is best for the people.
    Is this because they had gone to Jesus and said, “Lord, these are your sheep and you are the shepherd, what do you want us to do?”
    Or did they assume some level of authority and say, “We know what is best for these people.”
    They assumed God’s will, however, Jesus would not let them miss this opportunity to build their faith.
    Matthew 14:16–17 NIV
    Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
    Jesus says, “If we are going to to this in your wisdom, then show me the power by which you are going to perform.”
    They had already crossed that bridge in their mind. They had already asked the question, “Is there enough food present in the crowd?”
    The answer was a resounding “no”
    I want you to see this. This has been one of the biggest failure points of my life and of my ministry.
    I see a need, I see a person, I see a situation and I come up with what I feel is the best circumstance I could think of.
    So often, my solution seem inadequate and doesn’t seem to do anything.
    In fact, when I look at the problems in the world around me and my capability to do anything, it leaves me largely paralyzed.
    If I cannot help them all, I’d rather just not help anyone.
    That is the solution that the disciples found themselves.
    We can’t help these people, so let’s send them home.
    I want to make this point significantly clear today.
    I cannot give true compassion. It is not capable within myself
    I can see needs. I can feel hurt with people. But I cannot have any sort of compassion apart from the heart of God.
    It is God’s compassion they need. Not mine.
    My compassion is a flawed helpless compassion that is limited to my wisdom and strength.
    His is a compassion that can change the hearts and lives of the worst sinner.
    In themselves, they did not have the capability, vision or power to demonstrate God’s compassion.

    True Compassion offers the little we have to by used by Jesus for His purposes

    Matthew 14:18–21 NIV
    “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
    I know everyone wants to jump right to this passage and jump on the prosperity gospel train.
    If you put a little offering in the offering plate, God will multiply it!
    If you do a little, God will give you a bunch.
    So we give under this compulsion.
    Is this compassion? Is this surrender? Is this lordship?
    It is not an act of trust, faith or surrender to go to God and say, I’m giving you something and I expect you to give me back more.
    This is you trying to be God, while using God’s power for your own gain.
    This is the heights of idolotry.
    God is not an idol. He is not to be used for our own gain.
    He is to be glorified in the hearts of all who surrender to Him.
    Jesus showed them His heart.
    His heart was first of all compassion for the lost. They were lost and they needed the truth.
    But the need for their daily bread came to the surface and Jesus had compassion on them as well for this need.
    So Jesus asked His disciples to give him all they had.
    What they had was 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.
    Now, I love this.
    Jesus could have asked everyone to sit down and He could have drawn up a Wonderbread snow-storm. And Wonder bread could have fallen from the sky and everyone could have eaten.
    But Jesus didn’t do this.
    He took all that the disciples had to offer.
    It wasn’t too little. It wasn’t insignificant.
    What they had needed to be surrendered entirely to Jesus.
    Notice that Jesus gave thanks for the bread.
    He didn’t tell the disciples, “thank you”. He told God, “thank you”.
    Your food doesn’t come from your grocery budget or from the grocery store. It comes from God.
    He then broke the bread and gave it to the disciples
    I want to pause here and point to a massive ministry truth.
    The source of our heart should be the love and compassion of Jesus for a lost and dying world.
    Many people put offering in the basket or give online.
    Praise God for that. That is necessary and good.
    But what I want you to see is that they didn’t just give what they had to Jesus, Jesus gave it back to them to give to others.
    The resources required them to do the ministry Jesus wanted, based on His compassion for the people
    They participated in Jesus multiplication.
    But it wasn’t for them. It was for the glory of God and His compassion on these people.
    Are you willing to give what you have because God has opened your eyes to what He sees.
    But then use the life and heart He has given you to be part of what God does in someone else's life?

    Conclusion

    A few weeks ago, I was reading Nehemiah and he had heard about how Jerusalem was in ruins.
    It broke his heart. I want you to know that he could have used his salary, his influence and his ideas to start making a change.
    Instead, He went to God in prayer.
    He then allowed Himself to be used by God as part of the solution.
    The king asked him why he was sad. The king had never seen Nehemiah sad before.
    Before answering, it says that Nehemiah prayed to God before answering
    He then told the king about the situation in Jerusalem and how it broke his heart.
    The king sent him to rebuild the walls
    This is a story about the power of God, when it is led by God.
    In Nehemiahs, own strength, it would have been a guaranteed failure.
    In God’s hands, the compassion of God, True Compassion was seen for the people of Israel and Nehemiah played a big role.
    The difference between the 5 loaves and 2 fish is that in the hands of the disciples, it was worthless. In the hands of Jesus it met the need and revealed His nature.
    Church, when we opened this message today, we asked a simple but life‑altering question:
    What is true compassion?
    And we began by looking at our own lives—our reactions to culture, our frustrations with people, our interruptions, our assumptions, our limits. We saw how easy it is to know the teachings of Jesus in theory, but how hard it is to live them when real people with real needs show up at our door, or on our newsfeed, or in our family.
    We said earlier that the book of Matthew is our Field Manual for discipleship. Not just learning about Jesus. Not just agreeing with Jesus. But becoming like Jesus.
    And today, in Matthew 14, Jesus takes His disciples out of the classroom and into the field. He takes compassion out of theory and puts it into real life.
    And here is what we learned:

    1. True compassion is seeing what Jesus sees.

    When Jesus stepped off that boat, He didn’t see an interruption. He didn’t see a burden. He didn’t see a crowd that needed to be managed.
    He saw sheep without a shepherd. He saw souls. He saw eternity.
    And church—this is where compassion begins. Not with our opinions. Not with our politics. Not with our comfort. Not with our preferences.
    Compassion begins with spiritual vision—seeing people the way Jesus sees them.

    2. True compassion replaces our assumptions with Jesus’ heart.

    The disciples thought they were being compassionate: “Send them away, Lord. Let them get food. Let them take care of themselves.”
    But they never asked Jesus. They assumed. And assumptions kill compassion.
    We do the same. We assume we know what people deserve. We assume we know what God wants. We assume we know what will fix the problem.
    But Jesus says, “They do not need to go away.” “You give them something to eat.”
    True compassion doesn’t start with our ideas. It starts with Jesus’ heart.

    3. True compassion offers what we have to Jesus and trusts Him to multiply it.

    The disciples looked at their hands and said, “We only have…”
    Five loaves. Two fish. Not enough.
    And Jesus said, “Bring them here to me.”
    Church, this is the turning point of compassion. Not when we have enough. Not when we feel enough. Not when we understand enough. Not when we fix enough.
    But when we bring what we have— our time, our tears, our prayers, our resources, our broken hearts— and place them in the hands of Jesus.
    Because in our hands, it’s never enough. But in His hands, it becomes more than enough.

    So what is true compassion?

    Let me answer the question plainly:
    True compassion is seeing people through the eyes of Jesus, surrendering our assumptions, and offering what we have to Him so He can do what only He can do.
    True compassion is not sentiment. It’s not convenience. It’s not tolerance. It’s not agreement. It’s not withdrawal. It’s not self‑protection.
    True compassion is the heart of Jesus expressed through the hands of His disciples.
    And church—this is where discipleship becomes real. This is where the kingdom moves from theory to life. This is where the Holy Spirit begins to meddle with our hearts. This is where sanctification takes root. This is where we stop wearing Jesus down to our image and let Him wear us down into His.
    This is where we become a church that truly lives our vision:
    “To reach the world for Jesus, one person at a time.”
    Not with lectures. Not with arguments. Not with assumptions. But with compassion— the compassion of Jesus Christ flowing through us.
    May God give us His eyes. May God give us His heart. May God give us the courage to bring our loaves and fish to Him. And may the world be fed—not by our strength, but by His compassion working through us.
    We must see as He sees
    Realize we are truly insufficient
    He is more than sufficient

  • Sermon

    Key Passage

    Matthew 16:21–17:13 NIV
    From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

    Introduction

    What holds groups together
    Facebook groups are held together by bad drivers
    Motorcycle clubs are held together by the brand of motorcycle they drive
    Misery is held together by people who like the Minnesota Vikings
    Today we are going to answer a very important question about the church.
    What holds us together?
    Last week, Jesus introduced the church. He said, “On this rock I will build my church and the gates of hades will not overcome it.
    We broke that down to understand the the church is not a gathering of observers. The church are people who are called out of the world for a mission.
    Today we are going to expand on that and talk about two core elements that hold us together: The Gospel and the King.

    Why Satan doesn’t want us to learn this

    Jesus said, “On this rock I will build my church.”
    We may think that the idea “build my church” is a good idea. An idea that brings good teaching, good philosophy, good planning.
    But what we see in our text today is that Jesus meant that building His church meant that He would die, so the church would be made possible.
    His death was the foundational stone to build His church.
    This is something that is easily forgotten in our world.
    This is something that seems pretty simple, but I want to briefly walk this out so we see what it looks like to miss this point.
    We have an enemy that is at work battling to undo everything that stands for the Kingdom of Heaven and the Gospel of King Jesus.
    If we forget that the church is built on the death of Jesus:
    We lose humility
    Knowing Jesus died puts weight and gravity to participation in His church
    “We are undeserving sinners saved by grace” rather than “We are thinkers who have better understanding than others.”
    We lose unity
    We divide over our ideas instead of being united under the sacrifice and blood of Jesus
    The church becomes a classroom instead of a Kingdom
    When we forget about our roots as a church being the cross and what it means, we begin to be a place that simply teaches ideas, rather than a community of people who live out a calling.
    Jesus didn’t say, “I will build my Theological Seminary” He said, “I will build my church”
    The church becomes safe, predictable, and powerless
    Ideas never threaten hell, transform hearts, or break chains
    But the cross of Jesus does.
    A church built on ideas is weak
    A church built on the cross invades the gates of Hell and they will not stand.
    Walk this backwards.
    If Satan can remove the cross as the foundational building block of the church, then he has defeated the church.
    Jesus is going to talk through this and our part in living this out in our passage today.
    Today we are talking about the Gospel
    As a church, we exist to reach the world for Jesus, one person at a time.
    The message that we reach to the world is the Gospel
    Good News
    I give a definition of the Good News up here every Sunday.
    We give the Gospel every Sunday because there will always be someone who needs to hear it. If God is going to bring the lost to this gathering, then we need to preach the Gospel.

    Preaching

    THE GOSPEL

    The Gospel that saves us
    Matthew 16:21 NIV
    From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
    Jesus had just said, “On this rock, I will build my ekklesia”
    He was going to build His group. A group with authority. A group with a mission. A Kingdom!
    And now, Jesus is going to reveal the necessity of how that ekklesia would be built.
    It is not a coincidence that Jesus introduces the church, then immediately begins to talk about His death.
    He will continue to talk about His death until His arrest.
    Jesus says that he needed to go to Jerusalem and that these things would happen.
    It seems like a really simple solution. Maybe Jesus shouldn’t go to Jerusalem. If He didn’t go to Jerusalem, He wouldn’t be killed.
    Jesus doesn’t die. The disciples get to follow the Son of God longer. Seems like a win-win.
    But Jesus DID go to Jerusalem.
    It wasn’t that it was willingly. It was intentionally. Jesus knew that the cross was the only way that there could be salvation. It is the only means by which His church/Kingdom would have a front door.
    When we think of church today, we often think about it as a place to “be inspired” or to “learn new things” or “become a better person”.
    This is the purpose of most gatherings in our world today.
    This is why we have gyms, schools, or entire libraries of self-help books
    We naturally slip into the mentality that the church and the Gospel are for self-help as well.
    But this is Real Life.
    When someone’s marriage is falling apart, they don’t need ideas—they need rescue.
    When someone is drowning in addiction, they don’t need inspiration—they need deliverance.
    When someone is crushed by guilt or shame, they don’t need advice—they need forgiveness.
    When someone feels spiritually empty, they don’t need a pep talk—they need a Savior.
    The Gospel is not “tips for living.” It is “Jesus had to die for me.” That’s what holds us together.
    You see, the church is not built on the parables of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus, the miracles of Jesus, or even the life of Jesus
    All of those things were good. But apart from the death of Jesus, they held no value to us as sinful human beings.
    The church could not simply be a place of teaching theological truth
    The church had to be a Kingdom of commissioned saved believers being equipped to invade the gates of hell.
    Jesus predicts His death. Why did Jesus have to die?
    Talk about the cross and why Jesus had to die.
    There is no hope or life in this world apart from Jesus Christ and the Gospel He lived in front of His disciples
    Matthew 16:22–23 NIV
    Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
    This is a profound moment in Jesus’ and Peter’s lives.
    I want to put myself in Jesus’ shoes.
    Jesus was his friend. He was following Jesus and brothers protect brothers.
    If you have friends, I hope you have the same mentality.
    He says, “I don’t want you to die. We’ll even fight for you.”
    Jesus responds in a harsh way.
    Jesus is harsh because this is important.
    Peter responds:
    Matthew 16:23 NIV
    Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
    If anyone presents a Gospel other than the Gospel that Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected, I want you to hear this.
    It isn’t just a wrong theology. It isn’t missing the point by a little bit
    We have an enemy and that enemy is Satan
    The cross is his defeat.
    Jesus says the harsh statement, “Get behind me Satan.”
    He doesn’t say, “You are mistaken”
    In fact, Jesus highlights that spiritual nature of what is happening.
    When Jesus says, “Who do you say that I am?”
    Peter says: “You are the Christ the Son of God”
    Jesus says, “This was given to you by the Father”
    Now, when Peter says, “No, I don’t want you to die.”
    Jesus says, “Get behind me Satan”
    Peter was just trying to be a nice guy, but by trying to add his own ideas to the work of Jesus in an undermining of the cross.
    Peter wanted a Kingdom/Ekklesia that was built on his expectations and desires
    However, Peter’s desires are not in line with God’s desires
    Many of you have experienced this in church:
    When the Gospel is forgotten, small disagreements become big divisions.
    You’ve been there when the divisions draw lines and people are destroyed over things that really don’t matter.
    People start fighting over music styles, carpet colors, or ministry preferences.
    There are people hanging by a thread over hell and we care to get into arguments about what? The songs that make me feel warm and fuzzy?
    Our singing is not for you to feel warm and fuzzy. It is to honor and glorify our risen King.
    Bible studies turn into battlegrounds instead of lifelines.
    Social media arguments become more important than actual relationships.
    We become critics instead of worshipers.
    When the Gospel is central, the church becomes a hospital for sinners.
    When ideas are central, the church becomes a courtroom for arguments.
    Our mission is very simple and very clear. We are called to make disciples of Jesus
    People who were not followers become followers.
    We baptize them
    If you haven’t been baptized, now is the time. Don’t wait until November. Please.
    Teach them to obey
    Then send them out to make more disciples.
    The Gospel saves us. We need to keep our eyes focused on the Gospel.
    None of us are more saved than any other of us.
    We are all saved by grace.
    Matthew 16:24–28 NIV
    Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
    There is so much to this passage
    Jesus died and resurrected.
    He calls us to put our old self to death and live as a new creation.
    He gives a high call of surrender to King Jesus’ authority
    Jesus says the same thing three times in a row, but in three different ways.
    Who you are, what you want, and your own authority must be completely surrendered.
    That which you think you want in life, needs to be surrendered to Jesus.
    Only then will you find life and citizenship in His Kingdom
    I want you to see this: This is one of the easiest sections of Scripture to preach, but one of the hardest to tackle in our lives.
    We all know what we want. The problem is that we are the masters of slapping a cross on our will and saying that it is God’s will.
    In my flesh, there is not one thing that makes me want to follow Jesus
    Absolutely everything that has benefit to the Kingdom has a cost to me.
    It is the cost of my time
    The cost of my attention
    The cost of my money
    The cost of my plans
    The cost of my future.
    Jesus wants it all.
    I remember my struggle coming up here to Newport.
    I don’t often share this story here, but when Lisa and I were offered this job, we had a house. Both of us had jobs. We had two kids. Life was actually really good.
    Then we were asked to come to Newport.
    It was hard. It was lonely. It was brutal. Not just for a couple of years. But for over a decade.
    I felt like quitting so many times.
    But quitting would have been my flesh winning. Jesus said to go. I had to go.
    Jesus never said stop. I think this may be preaching the sermon from a few weeks ago on grit.
    But I want to pull this together as a church.
    What unites us is the Gospel that saves us and the our surrender to King Jesus.
    A church that understands its salvation will humbly stand before its King
    Our passage now shifts to a powerful picture of King Jesus.
    The Gospel unites us and our King unite us.

    OUR KING

    Our King who defines us
    Matthew 17:1 NIV
    After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
    I love this.
    Last week, we saw that Peter correctly identified Jesus as the Messiah
    This week, we see Peter wrongly try to impose his will onto the plan of Jesus
    Who is the first person mentioned here? Who is the visual learner that needs to see the authority of Jesus first-hand? Not just by using parables and teachings? Peter.
    Matthew 17:2–13 NIV
    There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
    The transfiguration reveals the King
    In talking about the Kingdom of Heaven, I want you to see what was happening here:
    Jesus revealed to these disciples that He was not merely starting something new. Rather, He is the eternal God.
    He is the God who was, who is and who is to come.
    Elijah and Moses acknowledged His authority
    God the Father acknowledged His authority.
    The Kingdom of Heaven or the Ekklesia has a very clear leader and that is the King of Kings, Jesus Christ
    If you want to be a part of the church, then you are connected to everyone else by your recognition and surrender to Jesus Christ as King.
    Jesus shines with divine glory. Moses and Elijah defer to Him. The Father declares: “This is My beloved Son… listen to Him.”
    We live in a world where everyone wants to define themselves—identity is self-chosen, truth is self-constructed, authority is self-assigned.
    Even in church, we often want Jesus to be a consultant, not a King.
    I want you to know that in Psalm 139, it says that it was God who knit us together in our mother’s womb. It was God who knew us before the creation of the world. We were created in the image of God, not the image of our own desire. You were fearfully and wonderfully MADE. Not self-made. Made by a loving creator.
    This exalted Jesus is the King and the authority.
    When we surrender to Jesus as King...
    But when Jesus is King:
    He defines your identity—not your past or your failures.
    We allow our past, our failures, our circumstances, our sin, our view of ourselves to define us.
    That may be what you see. That is not what God sees. Are you willing to surrender your identity?
    He defines your purpose—not your job title or achievements.
    He defines your relationships—not your preferences or grudges.
    He defines your morality and holiness—not culture or convenience.
    The glorified Jesus is not just our Savior—He is our King. And the King defines His people.
    The King is returning as Judge
    We have walked this out in past sermons.
    This is a kingdom of reality
    It is a kingdom that we must give account for the breath in your lungs
    Did you surrender the life He created for His purposes? Or did you take the life that was created for His purposes and live it for yours.
    That is theft in every definition. You took what was created to be His and deprived Him of it...with intent… and used it for your own benefit.
    There is Heaven and hell
    And this hits everyday life: Jesus will not ask how many Bible facts we knew. He will not ask how many sermons we listened to. He will not ask how many theological positions we defended.
    He will ask:
    Did you surrender?
    Did you obey?
    Did you follow?
    Did you engage in My church?
    Did you listen to My voice?

    The disciples’ fear and confusion mirror ours.

    All of this may seem like a lot for one sermon...and it is.
    But I wanted us to see this all in one broad view.
    The disciples were confused by all of this. They had the power, presence and voice of God before them.
    Instead of saying, “Oh, I see it now.” and being clear. They continued in their confusion and missing the target responses.
    They fall on their faces—right response.
    They misunderstand Elijah—common response.
    They struggle to grasp suffering + glory—human response.
    And Jesus touches them. He lifts them. He calms them. He leads them.
    This is everyday life:
    When life feels chaotic, Jesus says, “Rise.”
    When you feel spiritually inadequate, Jesus says, “Do not be afraid.”
    When you don’t understand everything, Jesus leads you step by step.
    When you feel like you’ve failed, Jesus lifts your head.
    The King who defines us is also the King who comforts us.

    Conclusion

    CALL TO SURRENDER — “Our Gospel Saves Us”

    Church, if what holds us together is our Gospel, then the only right response is surrender—not in theory, not in emotion, but in practice.
    Jesus didn’t die to make us think differently. He died to make us live differently.
    So here is the call to surrender today:
    Lay one thing down.Pick one thing up.
    Lay down one thing that is keeping you from Jesus— a habit, a bitterness, a secret sin, a fear, a comfort you cling to.
    And pick up one act of obedience— a conversation you’ve been avoiding, a step of faith you’ve been delaying, a ministry you’ve been resisting, a relationship you need to repair.
    Not ten things. Not everything at once. Just one thing laid down and one thing picked up— because surrender becomes real when it becomes specific.
    The Gospel saves us. Surrender is how we respond to that salvation.

    FINAL PASTORAL CHALLENGE — “Our King Defines Us”

    And church, if what holds us together is our King, then the question is not, “What do I want the church to be?” but “What does Jesus say His church is?”
    The glorified Jesus—the One shining on the mountain, the One the Father commands us to listen to, the One who will judge our response—He defines us.
    So here is the pastoral challenge:
    Choose one way this week to let Jesus define your life instead of your preferences.
    One way to let the King lead instead of convenience. One way to let the King speak instead of culture. One way to let the King shape your priorities instead of your schedule.
    Maybe it’s:
    joining a small group instead of staying disconnected
    serving somewhere instead of spectating
    reconciling with someone instead of avoiding them
    opening your Bible instead of scrolling your phone
    praying with your family instead of hoping things improve on their own
    showing up consistently instead of drifting casually
    Pick one defining action that says, “I belong to the King. He defines me. He leads me. He shapes me.”
    Because one day, the same Jesus who died for you will stand before you in glory. And He will not ask how many ideas you defended. He will ask how you responded to Him.
    So Real Life Selkirk—
    Be a people held together by the Gospel that saves youand the King who defines you.Be a church shaped by His cross and led by His glory.Be a community that remembers the cost and lives for the King.
    This is what holds us together. This is who we are. This is our Gospel. This is our King.

      • Matthew 1:21ESV

      • Matthew 20:28ESV

      • Matthew 26:28ESV

      • Matthew 6:9ESV

      • Matthew 6:26ESV

      • Matthew 12:50ESV

      • Matthew 5:3ESV

      • Matthew 6:10ESV

      • Matthew 6:33ESV

      • Matthew 4:19ESV

      • Matthew 5:13–14ESV

      • Matthew 28:19–20ESV

Real Life Selkirk
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