Scripture:
Matthew 16:18
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

When I read this passage, I am reminded that God is in the business of reframing us. This is not the only time He has changed someone’s name: Abram became Abraham, Sarai became Sarah, and Jacob became Israel, to name a few. But here, just after Simon declares, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus says to him, “You are Peter” (Petros), meaning a stone, an individual rock, or a boulder. What a fitting name, considering what Jesus says next: “and on this rock I will build My church.”

What rock? We can easily be confused by this statement, or miss it entirely, thinking Jesus is saying that Peter is the rock the church is built on. But what He is really saying is that Peter’s declaration, that Jesus is the Christ, is the rock on which the church is built: Christ came to redeem humanity and to save us from death and hell, and nothing could stop it.

But here is where Peter comes in: Petros. Peter is an individual stone fitted into the solid-rock foundation that is Christ. His declaration makes him part of Christ’s plan to redeem you and me, and anyone who will receive Him.

Today’s God-Shot is a reminder that you and I are part of the foundation that is Jesus. Our calling is to tell others about Christ, to bring them onto the foundation of His sacrifice for them, to see them redeemed from sin and death, and to bring them into the plan of God, the solid rock that not even the gates of hell shall prevail against.

The truth is, God is still in the business of reframing us: transforming lives, changing our future, and shoring up the foundation of our today, so that the life we live is lived in His purpose and His plan.

Q: Who will you bring into this unshakable foundation that is Christ?
Q: Whom do you love who needs to know Him?

Father, I pray for those we will encounter today. Give us a God-Moment with someone, an opportunity to “build Your church” and share the truth of the Gospel, so that someone today might come to the saving knowledge of Christ that we have. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen!