I'm Chris Christensen, for those of you don't recognize me since I've been traveling a bit.

And I would like to thank Pastor Gaby for inviting me to preach this morning

and also for telling you that I was preaching this morning,

because the first time I preached here, there was some confusion whether I was overstepping my bounds as the lector.

As I was looking at, and I should say since I see Dave Denny in the congregation,

that I already told Dave that since two weeks ago he gave you permission to use your cell phones

during the sermon that if I got a call from the back row, I was blaming him.

As I looked at the lessons this morning, I was drawn to the New Testament and to the

gospel lesson, where Jesus asks two apparently simple questions. And then I think he implies a third

question, which we'll look at a little later, which will conveniently make this a three-point sermon.

But first, he asks the question as he's talking to his disciples up in Caesarea Philippi,

north of Israel, and he is, as Pastor Gavi said,

about three years into his public ministry, and it is drawing to a close.

After this point, he will head to Jerusalem and to the cross.

And so he says to the disciples,

who do people say that I am?

And it seems like a relatively simple question,

but I would like to put it in a little

different context.

In our society, being a fairly pluralistic society that you can believe, whatever you

believe, we may look at this question and think that Jesus was conducting some sort of

survey or focus group.

...