May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ (Matthew 16:13-16)

In Christ's name and to his glory, dear friends: Today we hear Peter's good Confession-you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. God does not give us the option of either confessing Christ or not. Confessing is a must for the Christian. Scripture say: if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (Romans 10) When we believe in Christ as our Savior, we will confess Christ as our Savior. Believing and confessing go hand-in-hand; where one is there the other will be as well. Faith without confessing is sham faith. Confessing without faith is hypocrisy. These two always go together-believing and confessing. And this is the purpose of this group and this place-every time we gather it is to confess Christ's name and to encourage each other to be confessors. Today lets think about confessing Christ-what it means to, how it is that we do, and what the result will be when...we confess Christ. We borrow the words from the hymn: YOUR NAME ALONE CONFESSING.

What does it mean to confess Christ's name? As you and I might fill a pitcher with lemonade and then draw that lemonade that we placed there out into glasses to be enjoyed, so the Lord Jesus drew out of his disciples the good confession he had placed in their hearts.

Who do people say the Son of Man is? He asked the Apostles. They give the popular opinions that had been buzzing around the crowds. Some say John the Baptist. This idea was mostly King Herod's fear. He had killed John and now when this amazing fellow Jesus appeared on the scene Herod and his are afraid that John has come back from the dead to avenge his own death. Some say Elijah. This was the hope of many in Israel. They remembered how Elijah of old was an avenger-calling down the Lord's fire on the prophets of Baal at Mr. Carmel. They hoped Jesus would eliminate Israel's enemies in similar spectacular fashion. Others say he's Jeremiah or a prophet. These felt Jesus was wonderful but nothing more than one in a long line of similar prophets who come and go.

But confessing Christ is not repeating popular ideas about what the world thinks of Jesus. Nor is it drawing Jesus into our ideas about what he is and what he should do for us as if Christ were one of many services we can employ to make our lives better. So Jesus moves on from these thoughts about him to real confessing.

But what about you? Jesus asked them. Who do you say I am? Jesus was saying, I know what the crowds think. I want to hear you say what you think of me. You see, friends, confessing Christ isn't just thinking of him as is popular. And so the Savior draws out of them what was in their hearts. You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

This is a beautiful, concise, profound confession about Jesus. These words really summarize the whole Apostles' Creed. It says who he is--the Christ-the one sent by the Father, anointed by the Spirit, God's own Son. It tells us what he is here to do-rescue us as the Christ. He is the great King who rescues his harassed people. He is our great High Priest who will give his life over to death as sacrifice for our sins. He is our great Prophet who tells us of himself so that we might believe and be saved. To know Jesus in this way and to speak of him in this way-this is what confessing Christ is.

And knowing how it is that a person has this wonderful confession in his heart to pour out of him is just as important as what the confession itself is. How is it that Peter had this true confession in his heart? Jesus says, Blessed are you, Peter, for this was not revealed to you by man but by my Father in heaven. As our Lord created the sun in the sky, he must create faith in the heart so that we confess with our mouths.

Friends, it is not enough to know Jesus as the world knows him. That's why we have this place, this church, the worship and study that we have here. Unless we drink of the word regularly we'll lose the true confession of Christ's name. I was at the bookstore browsing. There I saw a book that caught my eye--What would Jesus eat? Is that why Christ came-so we would eat grains and fish instead of red meat? No! He came because even a healthy diet will not clear me before God's judgment throne. He came to be my Christ-my conquering King who defeated sin for me; my Great Priest who offered his life and death as propitiation, as a payment.

Friends, it's not enough to know Jesus according to our own wishes and wants. Our live are so immersed with securing our daily bread. And in a way that's the way it must be. If a man will not work he shall not eat.(2 Thessalonians 3) But then all of a sudden we find ourselves thinking only of daily bread. We haven't forgotten God. We pray to him loads. But it's always, mostly about the things that spoil and rust and rot-the earthly. Less and less it's about his name, his kingdom, his greater blessings. So we need this place, this church, the worship, and study here. Unless we drink of the word regularly we'll lose the true confession of Christ's name.

Friends, it's not enough for our children to have us parents, for us sinners to have each other. Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. We need the outside, the heavenly influence, which comes with time with the Word and Sacrament. So we need this place, this church, the worship, and study here. Unless we drink of the word regularly we'll lose the true confession of Christ's name and will not know how to lead others to Christ either.

And what can we expect as we do stay near the word so that God keeps us in the true confession of his name? On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven, Jesus said to Peter and the others confessing his name. This is what we can expect-victory over sin through Christ to enjoy and to share with each other. This is what God promises victory over hell and Satan itself!

O Lord, let this your little flock, Your name alone confessing, Continue in your loving care, True unity possessing. Your sacraments, O Lord, And your saving Word To us e'er pure retain. Grant that they may remain Our only strength and comfort. Amen. (Hymn 536)