Following up on His question "Who do you say that I am," Jesus foretells His death and resurrection. He then tries to make his disciples understand what true discipleship is.

Jesus has been preparing his disciples for their ministry after he is gone. The disciples' training has been building to this pivotal moment when Jesus poses an important question. He asks the disciples, asks the Pharisees, and ultimately asks us: Who is Jesus to you?

Jesus came to bring hope to the world. We have a holy God who incarnated for a fallen mankind. God, in His grace, in His love, did not leave us as orphans stranded in the depths of our sin. The beauty of the Christmas season is not simply a baby in a manger. It’s Immanuel, God with us.

We learn the gospel is the gospel for the world and that God does not discriminate, and we are called by Him to invite others to see Jesus.

As Jesus continues to make His disciples ready for the ministry that awaits them after Jesus leaves this world, He continues to meet opposition from the Pharisees who are looking to discredit and eliminate the threat that Jesus poses to their comfortable lives. Jesus uses this encounter with the Pharisees to teach his disciples about what really matters in the Kingdom of God, the heart.

Jesus sends His disciples purposefully out into the water, and their insufficiency highlights His full sufficiency in Christ. God is sovereign over all storms, and we can trust Him in the storms. So fix your eyes on Jesus, and while focused on Him, He’s faithful in the midst of difficulty.

Obscure fishermen, who didn’t have anything sufficient enough to do what Jesus was asking, took what little they had to Him, and He multiplied their littleness to be awesome. When we bring what little we have to Him, He multiplies it for His glory.

Flashing back to the traumatic death of John the Baptist, Matthew records the events leading up to the imprisonment and ultimate beheading of the forerunner of Christ. John the Baptist stands firm in his biblical convictions and confronts the Jewish ruler Herod over an immoral relationship with his brother’s wife.

The Well is positioned to significantly influence our city, and God has been preparing us for this moment for years. We are poised to reach an entire region with gospel-centered teaching, community engagement, worship, discipleship, equipping, recovery programs, and next generation initiatives. We invite you to be a part of the redemptive history of our great city.