"A Church At Its Best" - Rev. John Gorin

For two thousand years, Christians have practiced their faith by gathering weekly as a church. So it may come as a surprise that Jesus mentions the church only three times in Matthew's Gospel. In one of them, He tells us almost everything we need to know about what the church is for. In this sermon, Rev. John Gorin turns to Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God". John then asks what the church looks like when it is at its best. He offers three marks: a church with Jesus at its center, answering rightly the question of who He is; a church engaged in the mission it has been given, breathing the Lord's life into strained relationships, offenses, and the ordinary demands of a week; and a church rooted and grounded in love, honest that none of us has arrived. Along the way, he takes up the long-contested question of what Jesus meant by "this rock". Rev. John explains how Catholic, Reformation, and Anglican readings differ and offers a corrective on the gates of Hades: gates are defensive, not offensive. The church is not bracing for attack. It is advancing with an offer of life. Holy Trinity Silicon Valley is an Anglican parish (ACNA / C4SO) in the heart of the Bay Area.