You're a stumbling block to me

Did you know that the first person to use name Church is Jesus himself? Well take your bible and you will find it in Matthew 16: 18. Amazing, isn't it? Don't stop there, keep reading through verse 23. Do you read this: "Get behind me Satan! You are a stumbling block to me..."

Actually the story begins with the question Jesus asks the disciples about who people think he is. Then he asks them who they think he is. Peter's response was that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus responds to that saying that it is not flesh and blood that have revealed that to Peter, but God, the Father.

Then if you go to verse 23, you will come across Jesus turning to Peter to say: "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me..."

It appears here as if Peter has two faces, a Rock on which Jesus will build a church, and a stumbling block to Jesus. Is this not who we are and we move from one to the other? Yes, but what do you want to be: a stepping block, a rock Christ will build upon his Church, or a stumbling block to Jesus and his church?

In Matthew 26: 75, Peter, after denying Jesus, wept bitterly. That was his repentance. It was the time he chose to become the Rock on which Christ would build his church. What do you choose today to be?

My hope and prayer is that all days of your life, you always choose to be the Rock for Christ to build upon his church. In other words, be the Church wherever you are and to everyone you meet all day long!

Emmanuel