What's in a Name?
As a congregation, we call ourselves, St Peter’s Mission.
The Apostle Peter was chosen for our name because his personality expressed in the Scripture describes the spiritual journey many of us have taken. Stephen Binz describes him this way: “Peter is bold and cowardly, impulsive and fearful, filled with bravado yet weak, flawed, and sinful. In reading the Gospels, we see a wide range of response, from his foolish bluster to his passionate commitment to Jesus. We witness Peter the disciple weeping in anguish after denying his master as well as the deliriously happy fisherman who jumps into the water and swims as fast as he can to meet his risen Lord.
Though Peter often fails to live up to his calling, because of his humility and repentance, he learns and grows in his discipleship through his failures. Peter never tries to minimize, justify, or rationalize his own mistakes, but he honestly confesses his sins and failings. The evangelists demonstrate that Peter’s own merits and accomplishments do not create his heroic character; rather, he is defined in Christian history by what the love of Jesus wrought in him. Peter challenges us to confront the truth of our own brokenness so that God’s grace can fashion us into the disciples Jesus calls us to be.”
The Apostle Peter was chosen for our name because his personality expressed in the Scripture describes the spiritual journey many of us have taken. Stephen Binz describes him this way: “Peter is bold and cowardly, impulsive and fearful, filled with bravado yet weak, flawed, and sinful. In reading the Gospels, we see a wide range of response, from his foolish bluster to his passionate commitment to Jesus. We witness Peter the disciple weeping in anguish after denying his master as well as the deliriously happy fisherman who jumps into the water and swims as fast as he can to meet his risen Lord.
Though Peter often fails to live up to his calling, because of his humility and repentance, he learns and grows in his discipleship through his failures. Peter never tries to minimize, justify, or rationalize his own mistakes, but he honestly confesses his sins and failings. The evangelists demonstrate that Peter’s own merits and accomplishments do not create his heroic character; rather, he is defined in Christian history by what the love of Jesus wrought in him. Peter challenges us to confront the truth of our own brokenness so that God’s grace can fashion us into the disciples Jesus calls us to be.”
