Building Blocks of Faith

Rebecca Sheridan
Sunday, August 23, 2026
Matthew 16:13-20

Building Blocks of Faith
    “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asks the disciples in our gospel for this morning.  A long time ago, when I was in seminary, I had the opportunity to travel to Caesarea Philippi in modern-day Israel, where Jesus and the disciples are when he asks this question.  The question is a powerful one when you stand right there in the same spot where Jesus has this conversation, because existing in the ancient site still today are statues and carvings of Roman gods all around you.  It was a pilgrimage site for pagan worship, in other words, and among these false gods Peter proclaims to Jesus, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  When we get it right, like Peter – when we put our faith in the Son of the living God, nothing, not even sin, death, and the devil, can prevail against us.  We put our faith in Christ, the solid rock.
    We, too, however, are surrounded with many tempting false gods.  If you know Peter’s full story, he doesn’t always get it right about Jesus – he famously denies him three times before Jesus is crucified.  Like Peter, we don’t always get it right – we sometimes falter to build our lives on Christ as our priority.  Just a few months ago, I got caught up in the FIFA World Cup, watching as many games as I could.  I made it a pretty big priority in my life – I wouldn’t say I was worshipping soccer, but you could see the people who kinda were!  People sold their cars, quit their jobs, even, to attend the World Cup matches.  Soccer isn’t bad of course, but it did cause me to wonder, would people go to similar lengths for their faith?  This conversation between Peter and Jesus this morning gives us an opportunity to reflect around what do we build our lives?  Sports? Work? School? Money?  A particular relationship? A health fad? A certain politician or news channel?  Our every day lives give us many opportunities to place our trust and most of our time, money, and attention on things other than God.  Buy this product!  Subscribe to my channel!  Try this program – your life will change for the better!  And Jesus stands in the midst of the noise, the marketing, the screens that are reducing our attention spans to microseconds and asks, “Who do you say that I am?”  What are you building your lives on?
    Jesus invites us to build our lives on a rock that is solid. Not a program, a fad, or a subscription service, but a living God who will be there for us through thick and thin, in the ups and downs of life, in the changes of life, for good.  And Jesus invites us to renew our faith in him and continue to build on this rock today as we experienced the baptisms of Gianni and Morgan.  Baptism is the beginning of helping us return to the rock of our faith – to the living God.  Baptism is the first building block of constructing our lives on Christ the cornerstone.  Christ can withstand a broken economy, the political pendulum swinging left and right, the latest trends, and the journey of aging.  The church was built on Christ the rock 2000+ years ago, and it is still here, despite the changes around us.  
    Earlier this August, my entire family gathered in Spain to celebrate my brother’s 40th birthday. It was pretty amazing!  We started out in Barcelona, which if you are familiar, is the city of the architect Antoní Gaudi.  We visited Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia Cathedral, which is still under construction after 130 years – Gaudi died 100 years ago, but his vision of building a church with the “bible in stone” as the stories of Jesus are told on the inside and out of the building is still being put into reality.  Now, my family visits a lot of churches when we travel – my kids get sick of it.  But this one was one of the most unique.  Gaudi considered his vocation as an architect to be one of serving God.  He dedicated the final years of his life to building a church that would tell the story of the living God in Jesus.  He even lived inside the cathedral as it was being built, he was so dedicated to that project.  He famously said, ““My client is not in a hurry. God has all the time in the world.”  He had confidence that others would continue his work – that this particular church building was a project that included other people of faith who would do the work well.
We welcome Gianni and Morgan to join us on this journey this morning.  We promise to be here as the church, the body of Christ, as they grow in faith.  We will strive to provide Sunday School, confirmation classes, youth group and service opportunities to teach the basics of our faith.  Like Peter, we all are growing in faith on a journey which includes detours and not always getting it right.  Our scriptures invite us to consider how we are building our lives on the solid rock of Christ – not just a church building, but a way of life.  Like Gaudi, how do we use the gifts we’ve been given, the jobs we have, the resources and talents and so on, to proclaim that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of the living God?  We stand amongst the idols of our time to point our children to the love of God in Jesus Christ that is real, steadfast and everlasting. This love does not change or fade away with time.  It grows, in fact, as we grow.  This is love is there for us constantly, and God stands with open arms to welcome us into the way of Jesus.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.