In Matthew 16:13-19 , Jesus is in dialogue with His disciples. The purpose of the discussion is to see if the disciples truly know who He is. The first question Jesus asked them was “who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Their  responses were “some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah, or one of the. prophets.” It’s amazing how they had various thoughts about who He is. Now the reality is, did His disciples embrace any of these thoughts? If so, they were missing the mark on who Jesus is. That’s why Jesus asked the second question directed to the disciples “but who do you say that I am?” I can see them looking at one another, then Peter says “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God.” Jesus was pleased with his answer, and told him, he was blessed. He also let him know it was the Heavenly Father that revealed this truth to him. All of this took place to teach the disciples they needed to know why they were with Jesus. They were hand picked by Jesus to be the ones to spread the Gospel. If they did not understand why they were with Jesus, their ministry would not be effective.

In order for your ministry to be effective today, you need to know why you are here. Let me explain, many people go to church, but do they know why they are there? There are a number of people who are there that know about Jesus, but how many know Him! If you know about Him, this is based on what you heard others say. However, when you have a personal relationship, you know Him. Through this relationship you know why you are here.