BACK TO BASICS: The Church– Ps Luke de Jong
“The Pot or Not?”
KEY VERSE - Matthew 16:13-19
“13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son
of Man is?” 14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one
of the other prophets.” 15 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You
did not learn this from any human being. 18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon
this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.
19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in
heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”
Have you ever… had one of those AAAAAAHHHHAAAAAAA moments?
For me one of those moments was when I first got glasses. I remember driving in the car speechless
because I could read road signs. But the interesting thing was it took a moment of understanding to
bring clarity.
I love this Scripture because Jesus asks a question so can ask what he really wants to ask…
Who do people say I am? But who do YOU say that I am?
Jesus is looking for us to have a personal revelation of who He is and what He has established here on earth…
THE CHURCH!
The question today - What’s your revelation of the Church?
Ephesians 1:23 – “The church, you see is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The
church is Christ's body, in which He speaks and acts, by which He fills everything with His presence.”
… The Church is God’s plan …
Do we go to church or are we the church???
It’s a matter of priority.
Ephesians 5:25-27 – “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life
for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. 27 He did this to present her to
himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without
fault.”
Jesus died for the church! He did whatever it took to be the church, to protect the church, to build the church.
Just as the scripture depicts, it was His pride and joy as the bride to a groom…
So how do you, how do I see the church?
I believe the difference is between being potted or planted.
You know at home I have some citrus trees… my lemon tree is planted and my lime tree is potted. They
started at roughly the same size but the difference between the two now is remarkable different when
it comes to producing fruit!
WHY? - The deeper the root system, the greater the fruit.
Psalm 92:12-14 – “12 But the godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon. 13
For they are transplanted to the Lord’s own house. They flourish in the courts of our God. 14 Even in old age they
will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green.”
The ‘POT’ is all about….
Control
Comfort
Containment
The ‘NOT’ is all about…
Relinquishment
Risk
Release
We think the Pot represents Security instead we end up living with Insecurity.
 Oh look at them and their fruit etc., etc.
 But if we live in the garden we do life together which breed’s security.
We think the Pot gives us Personal Gain but it ends with Personal pain.
 We grow but only to a certain point and then we aren’t able to grow more fruit then before.
 But when we live in the garden, the worlds our oyster so to speak.
We think the Pot helps us to be Fruitful but when the winds come we end up being Fruitless due to the size not
being able to withstand the winds.
- The lemon vs the lime tree, last season we had some bad winds and what had started with so much
promise with budding on the lime tree turned to devastation as the basically all feel off, whereas the
lemon try withstood the test to then produce fruit.
Psalm 27:4-5 – “The one thing I ask of the Lord the thing I seek most is to live in the house of the Lord all the
days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. 5 For he will conceal me there
when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock.”
The deeper the root, the greater the fruit.
Are you in a Pot or Not?
God is asking us to be planted in His church not in our pots, so that we can grow and flourish as we have read.
That not only will we will be string and fruitful but we, the church will be fruitful to those around us.
John 15:5-8 - “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce
much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a
useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and
my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much
fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father”
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Create time at the end of your Group to pray for LIFE as a Church, Ps Paul and Maree, the 20/20 vision, along
with other specific leaders and situations that come to mind.
Pray for the Church of Aotearoa as a whole, for salvation and for nationwide revival.