For the 40th anniversary of ministry at the New Testament Church in Merrill, Wisconsin, guest speaker Pastor Dennis Toyne preached on the promise Jesus made at Caesarea Philippi: “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” He shows why Jesus chose a place the locals called the gates of hell to say it, what the Bible says the church is, and why God never forgets the labor of love behind forty years of ministry.
Below you will find the full video, a structured summary of the message, the Scripture behind each point (linked to the New King James Version on Bible Gateway), a timestamped outline, and practical steps for standing together as a church that the gates of hell cannot overcome.
Sermon at a Glance
This message was preached at the New Testament Church in Merrill, Wisconsin, during the church’s 40th anniversary celebration, and posted on April 28, 2026. Pastor Toyne begins by describing the bulletin board of ministries he saw when he arrived on Friday night. Behind every one of those ministries, he says, there has been a fight, prayer, fasting, victories and testimonies of God helping the church overcome every obstacle.
He thanks Dr. Hohman, Pam, the whole family and the whole church for being a blessing and an inspiration, pointing to the campus, the ministries around the world, the work in the community and the church’s own radio station. That station’s signal, he says, puts a footprint of God’s glory over Merrill and beyond, a way of declaring that this territory belongs to Jesus Christ.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Speaker | Pastor Dennis Toyne (guest speaker) |
| Occasion | 40th anniversary of ministry at NTC Ministries |
| Main text | Matthew 16:13–19 |
| Key theme | The church built on Christ, which the gates of hell cannot overcome |
| Length | About 51 minutes, ending in prayer over families and workers |
Who Do You Say I Am?
Pastor Toyne opens at Matthew 16:13–19. When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples who people said He was. They answered that some said John the Baptist, others Elijah, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Then Jesus turned the question on them: “But who do you say that I am?”
That, Pastor Toyne says, is a magnificent question for every person on earth. Is Jesus only a prophet, a teacher or a life preserver? Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and Jesus said flesh and blood had not revealed this to him, but His Father in heaven. It was a supernatural revelation.
Jesus then called him Peter and said that on this rock He would build His church. Pastor Toyne explains the wordplay: Peter is a little rock, but the rock Jesus builds on is the huge, immovable boulder of Himself and of the confession that He is the Christ. The church is not built on Peter, a fallible man. It is built on Jesus, the infallible one, “the rock that never rolls,” and on the confession of faith that He is your Savior.
On that rock, Jesus said, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” Pastor Toyne applies the promise directly to the New Testament Church in Merrill: this is the church Jesus is still building.
At the Gates of Hell: Caesarea Philippi
It was no accident, Pastor Toyne says, that Jesus led His disciples up from the Sea of Galilee to Caesarea Philippi, near Mount Hermon. There stood a huge cave known in that day as the gates of hell. A stream flowed out of it, and no one could find where the stream began, so people believed a god must be connected to it.
People there worshiped Pan, pictured as half man and half goat, a god of promiscuity and chaos. Pastor Toyne notes that our word panic comes from Pan. Worshipers threw sacrifices into the stream to appease him. He describes how, if a sacrifice was not accepted, they would throw in something else, sometimes even a child, recalling that the Old Testament repeatedly condemns sacrificing children to false gods.
Two more shrines stood nearby. One was a temple to Caesar Augustus, whom people worshiped as a god who held the universe together, a son of God and a mediator. Pastor Toyne points out that this description fits only Jesus Christ. The other was dedicated to Zeus, the god of thunder and lightning.
The table below follows his description of the three shrines and how Jesus answered each claim by what He declared there.
| Shrine at the gates of hell | What people believed | Jesus’ answer |
|---|---|---|
| Cave of Pan | A god of chaos and panic, appeased by sacrifices in the stream | The Son of the living God, who builds His church right there |
| Temple of Augustus | Caesar as a god, son of God and mediator holding the universe together | Jesus alone is the Son of God and the one who holds all things together |
| Temple of Zeus | The god of thunder and lightning | Gods made by hands are nothing; we serve the living God |
Jesus walked right up to that cave and declared that on the confession of faith that He is Lord, He would build His church, and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. “I would have loved to be there,” Pastor Toyne says.
What Jesus did there, he adds, is what the church still does today. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4). We do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12), spirits that come to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). Jesus took on that wrestling and gave us His name, and He defeated Satan by proclaiming Himself Lord and Messiah.
A Church That Prays Its Leaders Back
The book of Acts shows the gates of hell failing again and again. When Paul preached in Ephesus, a city devoted to the goddess Diana, so many people came to Christ that the silversmiths who made her statues lost business and rose up against him (Acts 19:23–27). Yet the gates of hell did not prevail, and the church was founded there.
Pastor Toyne recalls what Dr. Hohman had taught the night before about Paul being stoned and dragged out of a city as if dead (Acts 14:19–20). The disciples gathered around him, and Paul rose up and went back into the city. Pastor Toyne imagines the church praying that Paul’s assignment was not done.
He turns that picture into a pledge for the congregation: “We will not give up on our apostle. We will not give up on our leaders.” Instead, the church prays its leaders back into power, strength, health and stability, rising up as a mighty army and a strengthening team because they are one in Jesus Christ.
The same happened with Peter in Acts 12:5–16. Facing execution the next morning, Peter was asleep in prison. An angel woke him, his chains fell off, and he walked out of the city. When he knocked at the house where the church was praying, the servant girl recognized his voice, but the others told her she must be mistaken and kept praying.
Pastor Toyne’s point is serious: the gates of hell gave way when the church prayed. Peter was freed not only because God had more for him to do, but because the church started praying. We live in a day of principalities, powers and wickedness that can be seen around the world, he says, but the church has the strength of God, the might of God, the name of Jesus and the blood of Jesus Christ.
Who the Church Is: A 40th Anniversary of Ministry Reminder
Pastor Toyne then reads a series of Scriptures about what God says the church is. He asks the congregation simply to listen, because this is who they are. The table gathers them in the order he gives them.
| The church is… | Scripture | What Pastor Toyne draws from it |
|---|---|---|
| One body with many members | Romans 12:5 | When one member wins, the whole body wins |
| A temple built on the cornerstone | Ephesians 2:20–21 | Jesus sets the measure for the whole building |
| The bride of Christ | 2 Corinthians 11:2 | Jesus rises up to protect His bride |
| Sons and daughters | 2 Corinthians 6:18 | A family, not an organization |
| Children of light | Ephesians 5:8 | Light shining into a dark world |
| A chosen generation and royal priesthood | 1 Peter 2:9–10 | God’s highly sought-after treasure |
| The pillar and ground of the truth | 1 Timothy 3:15 | The house where truth is proclaimed |
Romans 12:5 says we, being many, are one body in Christ, and members of one another, though we do not have the same function. He compares it to a football player making a tackle: his whole body wins, not just his arms. So when someone is saved, healed or taught the word, the whole church shares the victory.
In Ephesians 2:20–21, Jesus is the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building is fitted together into a holy temple. Pastor Toyne explains that a cornerstone was the level marking point that measured the whole building. Jesus is that measure for us.
The church is also the bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2). A husband protects his bride, and when the devil comes after her, Jesus stirs someone to pray. When we do not know how to pray as we ought, we pray in the Spirit (Romans 8:26), and the Spirit prays through us in love (1 Corinthians 13:1).
God also says, “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters” (2 Corinthians 6:18). The church is not an organization, he says, but a family. God knew all our quirks before He brought us in. This is why a 40th anniversary of ministry belongs to the whole family of God, not to one family leading a church.
He asks the church to imagine Merrill filled with the Holy Spirit, and says it is possible. “You are not here by accident today,” he tells them. The church is the house of the Lord, where Jesus’ name is exalted and the word of God is proclaimed.
Believers were once darkness but are now light in the Lord, so they walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:8). 1 Peter 2:9–10 calls them a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and God’s own special people. In unity and purpose, he says, they will have great success; Satan’s strategy is to divide and hurt people until they run off.
The Truth, the Life and the Way
Paul wrote to Timothy so that he would know how to conduct himself in the house of God, “which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). Pastor Toyne connects this back to Caesarea Philippi, where government, Zeus and the gods of nature and chaos all gathered in one place. When Jesus came into that realm, He was taking over everything as the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).
Ask the pagan worshipers what truth was, he says, and each would answer with their own version of truth: to one, Augustus is a god; to another, Pan is. But Jesus declared Himself the Son of the living God. All the other gods were carved or molded by hand. “That ain’t no God,” he says. “We serve the living God,” the God who saves families, changes lives and lifts people out of the muck of sin and death.
Jesus does not just accept a prayer and leave. By the power of the Holy Spirit, He moves into you and says, “You are mine,” breaking the gates of hell off your life so that you can be a testimony of the truth. When Jesus stood before Pilate, Pilate asked, “What is truth?” (John 18:37–38). Pastor Toyne calls the idea that we make our own truth dangerous, because it makes you your own god, and then who will rescue you when things go bad?
He urges the church to rise up together and stand against the gates of hell. When someone falls, the answer is for everyone to commit to living for Jesus. And if you fall and make a mistake, repent as quickly as you can and get back to business with Jesus Christ.
God Does Not Forget Your Labor of Love
Pastor Toyne closes with a verse that came to him in prayer, Hebrews 6:10: “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.” People forget keys, birthdays and names. God never forgets.
Every labor of love carries a reward, he says, and he describes several levels of it. Winning someone to Jesus brings a soul winner’s crown. Even a newcomer lifting a hand in worship receives something. Singing brings more. First, your own heart is renewed, because God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). If you do not open your heart and mouth, he says, you simply miss the reward.
The reward spreads. The friend you brought to church sees you worship and wants to get right with Jesus. Your children notice that mom and dad are worshiping God and that Dad is changing, becoming kinder and taking them fishing. That too is the reward of those who diligently seek Him.
When two families join to pray for a third that is struggling, the enemy is put to flight, recalling how one can chase a thousand (Deuteronomy 32:30). The family in need begins to feel hope. “That’s how a church works,” he says. Do not just say you will pray for someone; really pray, and God will put solutions in your heart.
He finishes with the armor of God in Ephesians 6:14–16, picturing Roman soldiers who locked their shields together into a wall that could not be moved and slowly pushed forward. “My shield is joined to your shield,” he says, so that we win. At the gates of hell, Jesus declared victory, and believers overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony (Revelation 12:11).
Standing Together as the Church This Week
Pastor Toyne ends by having spouses and families join hands and declare that the gates of hell will not prevail against their marriage, children and grandchildren. He thanks workers who felt overlooked and prays for more workers, from drummers to children’s ministry helpers, ushers and greeters. Here are practical steps drawn from this 40th anniversary of ministry message:
- Answer the question. Settle for yourself who Jesus is, and confess Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God.
- Pray for your leaders. Instead of giving up on pastors and leaders, pray them into strength, health and stability.
- Pray for another family. Join with someone to pray for a family that is struggling, and keep praying until hope comes.
- Join in worship. Lift your hands and sing, and let your family and friends see God changing you.
- Bless your household. Declare over your spouse and children that the gates of hell will not prevail against them.
- Take your place in the work. Ask where you can serve, and remember that God does not forget your labor of love.
Timestamped Outline
- 0:00 Forty years of ministries, prayers and victories
- 1:09 Matthew 16: who do you say I am?
- 2:26 Peter’s confession: the Son of the living God
- 3:43 The rock that never rolls
- 4:56 Caesarea Philippi and the cave called the gates of hell
- 6:06 Pan, the god of chaos and panic
- 8:19 The temples of Augustus and Zeus
- 10:29 Jesus declares victory at the gates
- 12:04 Our warfare and Paul in Ephesus
- 14:27 The church prays Paul back up
- 16:30 Peter freed from prison while the church prays
- 19:39 One body: Romans 12:5
- 21:45 The keys, and Jesus the cornerstone
- 23:59 The bride of Christ and praying in the Spirit
- 26:07 Sons and daughters: a family, not an organization
- 29:32 Children of light and a chosen generation
- 31:54 The pillar and ground of the truth
- 34:21 We serve the living God
- 37:46 God does not forget your labor of love
- 40:09 Levels of reward in worship
- 43:33 Families praying together
- 45:38 Shields joined together
- 46:50 Prayer over marriages and families
- 49:21 Calling in workers for the church
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Jesus take His disciples to Caesarea Philippi?
Pastor Toyne teaches that it was on purpose. The cave there was known as the gates of hell, where people worshiped Pan and offered sacrifices into a stream, with temples to Caesar Augustus and Zeus nearby. By declaring there that He would build His church on the confession that He is the Son of the living God, Jesus announced victory over everything that place represented, in the very spot religious leaders avoided.
What does it mean that the gates of hell will not prevail?
In this message, it means the church built on Jesus cannot be overcome by the evil spirits and strongholds that oppose it. Pastor Toyne shows it in Acts: the silversmiths in Ephesus could not stop the gospel, Paul rose up after being stoned, and Peter walked out of prison while the church prayed. The same promise covers the church today, its leaders, and the families who belong to it.
Does God reward small acts of worship and service?
Yes, according to Pastor Toyne. Hebrews 6:10 says God does not forget your labor of love. He describes rewards at every level, from a newcomer lifting a hand to someone winning a soul to Christ. Worship renews your own heart, influences friends and children who watch you, and joins with others in prayer that brings hope to struggling families.
Scripture References
All passages open in the New King James Version on Bible Gateway:
- Matthew 16:13–19 — on this rock I will build My church
- Acts 12:5–16 — Peter freed while the church prays
- Romans 12:5 — one body in Christ
- Ephesians 2:20–21 — Jesus the chief cornerstone
- 1 Peter 2:9–10 — a chosen generation
- 1 Timothy 3:15 — the pillar and ground of the truth
- John 14:6 — the way, the truth and the life
- Hebrews 6:10 — your labor of love
How this summary was made: written with AI assistance from the sermon’s own transcript and checked against the Scriptures listed above.
Watch More Messages
If this anniversary message encouraged you, there are hundreds more teachings from NTC Ministries ready for you. Browse the full sermon archive and keep standing with the church that the gates of hell cannot overcome.
