When Israel crossed the Jordan River, following Joshua into Promised Land, they had a mission. They came to Jericho a large fortified city. It was safe from the invading armies. But they weren’t safe from God.Now what’s interesting is that until Joshua conquered the rest of the land, Israel never built a fortress or a castle. Their mission was not to defend, but to conquer. Now let’s fast-forward to the days of Jesus. In Matthew 16, Jesus asks His disciples to explain who They thought He was, and Peter replied: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Then Jesus said, “On this rock (Peter’s confession) I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).Just like Jericho’s massive walls and gates, nothing is going to defeat “My Church!” God is in charge. He’s in control. Just as those Israelites—we are on a mission. We are to conquer. Jesus built His church—not of brick and mortar—but with people. We are to be God’s army.Too often we see Christianity as something happens in the building. And too often congregations view their building as the mark of success. The bigger and more ornate the church building, the more successful they think that they are. The bigger the crowd the more successful we are.Now there’s nothing wrong with church buildings and crowds. But Jesus never meant for us to focus on our buildings or have the largest crowd. He meant for us to rescue souls from Satan’s control. He meant for us to focus on spreading God’s kingdom and Satan is not going to stop us.How do we get people to get interested in Jesus instead of our grand buildings or our large crowd? Let’s see what Peter did in Acts 2:36-37. Peter said something there that CUT THEM to the heart. It bothered them so much that they cried out “WHAT SHALL WE DO? Peter had said something that made them question their relationship with God. That made them wonder if God would ever forgive them. Peter declared: YOU CRUCIFIED THE CHRIST!Peter stated an uncomfortable truth—accept Jesus or reject Him. They had to make a choice. That is our question—What will you do with the truth about Jesus? Will you believe and obey Him or will you reject Him?
