Lesson 3:

A Firm
Foundation

The POWER of a
VISION
 OBJECTIVES:
To recognize Jesus as the Messiah and the only
foundation upon which to build the Church.
To recognize some of the fundamental characteristics
of the Church of God.
To receive the inspiration to be a witness to the
message of the cross.
To understand the different ways you can
demonstrate love for our sheep (disciples).
INTRODUCTION:
Matthew 16:13-19
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he
asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man
is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say
Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I
am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of
the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son
of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by
flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18
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. 19 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.”
THINGS TO BE
How do other people see Me? (V. 13)
How do you see Me? (V. 15)
How did Jesus see His disciples? (V. 18a)
Jesus includes them in the building of His Church. (V. 18b)
Jesus ensured them that His Church would prevail through all
adversity. (V. 18c)
God entrusted them with the key for the salvation of souls. (V.
19a)
God gave them powerful spiritual authority, so that whatever
they did on earth would have an effect in heaven. (V. 19b)
1. Jesus, the Cornerstone
of the Church
(Ephesians 2:20)
20 built on the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus
himself as the chief cornerstone.
 2. Knowing that JESUS is the
CHRIST
Acts 10:38-43
38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with
the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went
around doing good and healing all who were
under the power of the devil, because God was
with him.
39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country
of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging
him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on
the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not
seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had
already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after
he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach
to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God
appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the
prophets testify about him that everyone who believes
in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
His ministry on the earth was supernatural (v. 38)
God entrusted the disciples with the mission to
be witnesses of all that Jesus had done (v. 39)
He died and rose again on the third day (v. 40)
He sent them to tell the people that Jesus is the Judge of
the living and the dead (v. 42)
Everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of
sins (v. 43)
The PRICE for His disciples
(Luke 14:25-33)
WHAT WAS THE
PRICE?
To love Him above all members of our own
family. (Luke 14:26)
To take up our cross and follow Him. (Luke
14:27)
To visualize ourselves having the strength
to reach the end of the race. (Luke 14:28)
To finish what we start.
(Luke 14:29-30)
To give up everything
we have. (Luke 14:31-33)
4. Being FERVENT Witnesses
Fervent - is having or displaying a
passionate intensity.
Acts 4:33
33 And with great power the apostles
were giving their testimony to the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and
great grace was upon them all.
5. Loving the SHEEP
Peter was confronted. (John 21:15-17)
Every believer is a child of God. (John
1:12-13)
Paul became a spiritual father, even
whilst in prison. (Philemon 10-11)
Women can bear abundant fruit for
God. (1 Timothy 2:15)
Paul fought for those who had left the
faith. (Galatiand 4:19)
Not bearing fruit brings shame. (Isaiah
23:4)
The example of the barren fig tree.
(Matthew 21:18-19)
"Just as in the ancient times,
God gave Moses
comprehensive designs for
the tabernacle in the Old
Testament and then told him
to do everything in
accordance with this pattern
(Hebrews 8:5)
 "..., the Lord Jesus left us a
model for how His Church
should be. What He
establishes needs neither
change nor modification
because He does everything
perfectly."