Table Talks Columbia Life Church

Colossians: The Appearance of Wisdom

2012-01-29T16:32:00.000-08:00

Colossians: Shadows and Substance

2012-01-22T23:05:00.000-08:00

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Talk intro:

We’re continuing our journey through the book of Colossians today and as a reminder Paul is writing to a relatively new group of believers to help them understand 2 important truths. 1. He’s telling them who Jesus is and, 2. What difference He makes in their life.

So far Paul has been revealing a ‘formula’ of sorts that goes like this: The Godhead is completely in Christ and Christ is in us so we are complete in Christ.

He is trying to help them see that Jesus is above all things including their gods and religious systems and in the last couple of weeks we have looked at how He fulfills all of the demands of the law and specifically how everything merges together at the cross.

Today we’re going to look at some of the specific concerns that Paul had for these new Christians and their new life in Christ

Turn with me to Colossians 2:16-19 and let’s read it…..

I’m going to start off by saying a little about what this passage isn’t talking about. It’s not talking about the ongoing debate about whether or not it’s better to be vegan or carnivorous. It’s not talking about whether or not Christians should drink alcohol. Guidance for those types of things will come later on in Colossians.

What Paul is talking about here are the things that were likely to come up as they began to encounter those who were of the Jewish faith who would try to judge them based on these things. Paul understands that the Christian faith is the fulfillment of what the Jewish religion, and religion in general is a shadow of.

Said another way the Hebrew religion of the OT points to and symbolizes what was fulfilled in Christ. The Jews were the chosen people of God and the requirements of their religion were given to keep them holy in a corrupt world. The law was what set them apart as different and unique.

We are the holy people of God because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross and in us by the Holy Spirit and His Word and Paul is driving that point home in the remainder of this chapter.

There are two things that he wants us to be aware of.

In verse 16 is a warning about Jewish dietary laws and keeping the Jewish festivals and Sabbaths. And in verse 18 he is a warning about the Jewish mystics who would try to persuade them of a higher ‘spirituality’ of worship like the angels of God.

Paul is saying that the old traditions and the new ‘higher spirituality’ won’t make you complete. The first two were kind of old school and the other one was a new thing. Isn’t it funny how some things never change? Doesn’t it seem that someone is always trying to get us to either go back to the ‘good old days’ or telling us we’re missing out on some ‘new thing’?

That’s the picture in vs. 16 and 17. When I stand here there’s a shadow. Which one is real, me or the shadow? They’re both real but only one is me. A shadow tells you that I’m here but the shadow isn’t me. The Jewish law and religious practice was the shadow that Christ emerged from.

Jesus was revealed as the substance that the shadows of old religion hinted at. Paul doesn’t say that the Christian faith has nothing to do with the Jewish religion; he’s saying it is the fulfillment of what they sought for.

In verse 18 Paul warns them not to get cheated out of their reward, or their faith in Christ. Isn’t it funny how people will hint around that you’re really missing out because you’re not in the latest so called ‘move of God.’ I could list several of them and I’ll never forget some of the looks I got when I told some people I had no desire to jump in.

I mean seriously, if we already have it all in Christ why on earth do we need to run all over the country to try and find some new thing? That’s Paul’s point He warns them not to chase the shadows of ‘higher spirituality.’

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that some of them aren’t genuine moves of God, they just might be. However I know that God isn’t limited by distance and if He wants to move that way everywhere He will. Until then I’ll just be "satisfied" with Jesus and the fellowship of His church and rejoice for those who are experiencing a special move of God.

I will share this observation though. It seems to me that every single ‘move of God’ ends up being derailed by the very thing Paul writes in verse 18 and 19. Those involved seem to become puffed up as evidenced by their exaggerated claims and each and every time it becomes more about preserving and propping up the thing that is happening than it is about Jesus. I don’t think there’s anything quite as sad as watching people try to hold on to and extend something that God has let go of.

They have become so absorbed by their feelings they can’t stand to let go and usually they equate their spiritual growth to how they feel. It’s so inward focused and based on whether or not I’m feeling a particular thing.

I am all about a faith that captures my entire being; body, mind and spirit. I want to feel my faith but my faith and growth isn’t determined by that it is accomplished in holding on to Christ and in my connection with you. Our spiritual growth is dependent on receiving nourishment from the head, who is Christ, and being knit together with each other.

When Christ died on the cross the law of God was fulfilled for us and we were set free from the law of sin and death. When we have Jesus we have it all.

Paul’s warning to them and to us is that we hold fast to Jesus and resist the temptation to chase the shadows of old, dead religion and the shadows of the next new thing. When we hold on to Jesus and we have everything we need!

Colossians: Nailed to the Cross

2012-01-15T16:10:00.000-08:00

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Talk intro:

We’re continuing our journey through the book of Colossians today and as a reminder Paul is writing to a relatively new group of believers to help them understand 2 important truths. He is telling them who Jesus is and what difference He makes in their life.

He is trying to help them see that Jesus is above all things including their gods and religious systems.

So far Paul has been revealing a ‘formula’ of sorts that goes like this: The Godhead is completely in Christ and Christ is in us so we are complete in Christ.

Last week we saw one aspect of this completeness in that the requirements of the law have been completely met in Christ and today we’re going to see how this was done.

Turn with me to Colossians 2:13-15 and let’s read it…..

We know from vs. 11-12 that the requirements of the law have been met for us in Christ and in these verses we see how it was done.

In verse 13 Paul explains the spiritual condition we all start out with as spiritually dead and separated from God. The word trespasses means to slip aside or take the wrong path and when we trespass we’re in a place where we’re not supposed to be.

By using this description Paul is pointing back to the Garden of Eden and the trespass of our first parents. Adam and Eve sinned and brought death to us all because the plowed right through God’s ‘No Trespassing sign.’ God had said that they weren’t to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil but they did and we all now suffer from spiritual death.

But Paul makes it clear that we are all guilty of sin because we all go past God’s ‘No Trespassing’ signs on our own. We are born with a sin nature because of Adam’s sin but we commit sin by our own choices and actions. Add to that the fact that we are all gentiles, or of the uncircumcised, we are hit with a hopeless double whammy being alienated from God because of sin and race.

The good news starts in the second part of verse 13 and vs. 14. When Paul says that we are made alive together with Christ He is pointing to the importance of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Christ arose from the dead physically and we arise spiritually with Him and because of the resurrection we will someday live eternally.

Now vs. 14 tells us what was done for us by Jesus. When Jesus was nailed to the cross the ‘No Trespassing signs’ were erased. Our trespasses created a legal obligation that we could not fulfill. When you trespass you can’t un-trespass. What’s done is done and you are guilty and under obligation to fulfill the penalty. The phrase ‘handwriting of requirements’ literally means a decree of obligation.

It seems as if Paul is visualizing the cross as he’s writing this and every detail has meaning because the cross is were the law was fulfilled.

Pilate ordered that a sign that said ‘The King of the Jews” be nailed to the cross above the head of Jesus and in that declaration we were all condemned. But when Christ asked God to ‘forgive them for they know not what they do.” He was in a very real sense doing the very thing Paul writes in vs. 14.

So when we sin there is an obligation for our sin to be paid for and the wages of our sin is death. The law works for us until we break it, then it works against us. The law provides for our safe passage through this life but when we break it turns and becomes contrary to us and stands between us and God. .

When Christ was nailed to the cross He wiped away our entire debt of sin. He paid it in full and as Paul reminds us He wipes it away as if it never existed. The only one who can forgive a trespass is the one who has been trespassed against and that’s what Jesus has done for us.

In verse 15 Paul has a special message for these new Gentile believers. The word disarmed means Jesus has taken away their power. The word spectacle means to make a public display of something and the word triumphing means to celebrate a victory.

So basically Paul is saying “You know all of those gods, goddesses, evil spirits and idols that used to control you? Those supposed supernatural beings that brought you so much fear and bondage? Well I’ve got good news for you! Jesus has taken away all of their power and He has exposed them publicly as worthless frauds and He’s throwing a party to celebrate!”

What looked like a defeat turned out to be a victory party and we’re invited.

Colossians: Already Done

2012-01-08T22:28:00.000-08:00

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Talk intro:

We’re continuing our journey through the book of Colossians today and as a reminder Paul is writing to a relatively new group of believers to help them understand 2 important truths. He is telling them who Jesus is and what difference He makes in their life.

He is trying to help them see that Jesus is above all things including their gods and religious systems.

Turn with me to Colossians 2:11-12 and let’s read it…..

In the previous few verses Paul has been revealing the supremacy of Jesus over all things and our completeness in Him. There’s almost a ‘formula’ here in that The Godhead is completely in Christ and Christ is in us so we are complete in Christ. The image is that the bottle is in the ocean but the ocean is in the bottle.

Now in the next few verses Paul begins to show us what it means to be complete in Christ. And in verses 11-12 he goes right at one of the first issues they will be confronted with.

You could say that circumcision was the first ‘law’ that a Jew had to obey. When a male child was 8 days old it was to be circumcised. It was the outward symbol that they were a Jew and under the law of God. In fact circumcision became interchangeable with the term Jew.

But by its very nature circumcision was exclusive and incomplete because it was limited to Jewish males. The point being that circumcision, like the law, was impossible to completely fulfill. Circumcision was a symbol of the law and a symbol of our inability to keep the law. In fact that’s what God said in…

Deuteronomy 30:6 "And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

And then Paul wrote in….

Romans 2:29 but [he is] a Jew who [is one] inwardly; and circumcision [is that] of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise [is] not from men but from God.
What this means is that the only way that we can fulfill the requirements of the law of God is if God does it for us. And that’s what Jesus has done.

What Paul is saying is that when someone comes up to you and says “Hey, you have to be circumcised and become a Jew to become a Christian.” You can say “I already am because it’s been done in Christ.” Keep in mind it’s not just people who will try to tell you that you ‘need to do something’ to be a good Christian, Satan will too.

Have you ever noticed that Satan will always use the law to condemn you? He’s always there reminding you that you don’t measure up and that if you’re not a ‘real’ Christian. The thing we have to remember is that in Christ the requirements of the law have been completely met and since He is in us we are complete in Him and it been done in Christ.

That’s what Paul means when he writes “putting off the body of sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.”

That’s why Paul says in Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

It’s not just talking about the feeling of condemnation and guilt; it’s about the actual condemnation of the law. Whether it’s Satan or people who try to condemn us the answer is always the same: I am complete in Christ.

Then in verse 12 Paul talks about baptism which is the new symbol of the Spiritual circumcision that is open to everyone. When we are baptized it is the outward sign of the inward work of Christ. We are buried with Christ as we are immersed and when we rise in newness of life when we are lifted from the water because of our faith in the work, or power, of God in our hearts.

Circumcision did not make a man a Jew and baptism does not make us a Christian but both serve as symbols of something else.

Circumcision symbolized entry into the people of God and baptism symbolizes the entry into the kingdom of God in Christ where the rulers of this world have no authority.

Circumcision symbolized the requirements of the law and baptism symbolizes the fulfillment of the law in Christ where we are free from condemnation.

2012: Everyone Returned to His Work

2012-01-01T17:06:00.000-08:00

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Talk intro:

We’re a little break on our journey through the book of Colossians today so that I can share a little about what I feel is God’s direction for us this year.

You’ll recall that last year our ‘Theme’ was based on Ezra 9:9 Repair, Restore, Rebuild. This year I was led to the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was the man God chose to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem after the city had been destroyed.

As he was leading the rebuilding process he ran into some serious opposition from some guys who didn’t want the walls to be rebuilt because they knew it would mean that they were on their way out.

That’s when we come to Nehemiah 4:15-16. Let’s turn there and take a look.…..

The first thing I want you to see is that…

When God is for us nothing can stand against us. That’s a promise that’s repeated throughout scripture most clearly in Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Keep in mind that this does not mean that we won’t face challenges or even what appear to be setbacks or opposition. I can assure you that we will. Jesus even said that. He said in John 16:33 ‘That in this world you WILL have trouble, but I have overcome the world.’

We certainly had a very challenging year in 2010 but as I look back on 2011 I’m reminded of God’s faithfulness. He has provided relief from our financial crisis, a little breathing room if you will, in a very unique way and in the process has taught us a lot about what it means to be humble and willing to share our blessings with others.

Like Nehemiah, I know that God was in all of this change but I also know that the enemy was right there trying to stir up trouble and confusion. But all of his plots have come to nothing because God is in control.

The next thing is that….

Everyone needs to return to their work.

In many ways this past year was a year for us to get used to our new reality. We are a very different church than we were 1 year ago. But the thing that stands out the most to me is that God has brought us a new stability. What felt like a freefall has come to an end and we’ve been re-established on a firm foundation.

I’m not suggesting that there won’t be any more changes coming our way but the changes won’t be for pruning as much as they will be for growth as we begin to serve and minister to each other and the community around us.

The things we begin to do this year may seem small and insignificant when we compare them to the needs that exist. That’s how the wall in Jerusalem looked to the doubters in Nehemiah 4:3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite [was] beside him, and he said, "Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up [on it], he will break down their stone wall."

But the people remained faithful in their service and before long the wall was completed.

Over the next year we won’t be trying to do big things or even a lot of things, but we will begin to do the right things. It will be kind of a return to basics and allowing God to lead us in rebuilding His work here.

That means that we will all have a place to serve. In vs. 16 you’ll see that there were three main types of people and you’ll find that you fit into one of these categories:
The builders: These are the hands on people, the ones that build things and start projects. They like to get their hands dirty when they serve. These are the people who get things done.

The defenders: These are the ones who will take on the service of prayer and spiritual warfare on behalf of the church and local community. These are the people who clear the way for God’s purposes to be fulfilled.

The leaders: These are the ones who provide direction, resources, guidance and encouragement as we serve. These are the people who keep us on track and on task so we don’t lose our focus.

Now, with a church community of this size we will all be wearing multiple hats and doing multiple things, but I know we will all have a primary calling in one of these areas. Our real challenge will be staying focused on what God wants us to do in the face of such great needs.

So together we’re going to seek God’s direction and then everyone will go to their work together.

Colossians: Full and Complete

2011-12-18T17:58:00.000-08:00

Colossians: Cheats, Deceits, and Traditions

2011-12-11T15:07:00.000-08:00

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Talk intro:

We’re continuing our journey through the book of Colossians today, and we’re picking up where we left off two weeks ago.

Paul has been writing to this new group of believers to help them understand 2 important truths. He is telling them who Jesus is and what difference He makes in their life.

In this he is trying to help them see that Jesus is above all things including their gods and religious systems and in this verse Paul is driving that point home.

Turn with me to Colossians 2:8 and let’s read it…..

In virtually all religious systems there is a natural focus on the our self, or to say it another way, we are driven by the notion of making our eternity more pleasant or securing a better place for ourselves through good works.

Unfortunately most people who profess to be Christians have the same misguided thinking and the reason they feel compelled to do good things is so that they can earn God’s favor, or basically keep Him happy so that when judgment day comes they’ll have an easier time of it.

But that’s not the way we’re supposed to think. That’s the result of what Paul writes in vs. 8 – being cheated through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men.

Paul did not want them to get sucked back into a different form of the same old religious traditions and philosophies. If all they did was swap their other god’s for Jesus and went on doing the same old things they used to do they wouldn’t be any better off than they were to begin with.

We can’t to earn God’s favor through religious philosophies or traditions.

We can’t put new wine into old wine skins it just doesn’t work. When we have Jesus He makes us new creations and when we try to start earning God’s favor through any other way we are making the sacrifice of Jesus of no effect for us.

Jesus has already secured God’s favor for us through the cross. He is all sufficient for us and in Him we have everything we need for salvation. We don’t have to try to earn God’s favor through empty philosophies and traditions.

In the gospels there are only two times when the Father speaks audibly and in each of those times He calls Jesus His beloved Son and says He is well please in Him.

One of the things that we need to understand is that applies to us too. Since we are in Christ and the Father is pleased in Him the Father is well pleased with us. That means that we can throw off the bondage of wrong headed thinking and live knowing we’re in His favor.

This is good news! We don’t have to try to figure out what will please God. We are already a pleasure to Him because Jesus is in us and we are in Him.

That doesn’t mean He won’t discipline us or correct us when we stray, be assured that He will because He loves us and doesn’t want us to wander away from Him. It’s like a loving parent will correct and discipline their children to help them mature and to keep them safe from harm.

When we get this deep in our souls it will change the way we think and how we respond to God and His commands. When we serve Him it will be out of love and gratitude rather than as a way to escape punishment or trying to appease Him.

There’s real freedom in that. When we can live in God’s favor knowing that we don’t have to earn it. We can rest and enjoy the relationship we have with Him in and through Jesus.

Why would we ever want to go back to philosophy and empty deceit, according to the traditions of men?

Colossians: Missionary Zeal

2011-12-04T16:34:00.000-08:00

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Talk intro:

We’re continuing our journey through the book of Colossians today, like last week we’re taking a slight detour. Again this week we are turning our eyes to the harvest field of the world around us as we focus on world missions.

This Sunday is traditionally our Faith Promise Sunday where we make ‘faith promises’ to support our missionaries. .

Turn with me to Colossians 4:13 and let’s read it…..

In this passage Paul is writing about his friend and fellow ‘missionary’ Epaphras. The interesting thing is what Paul says about him. Epaphras has a zeal for the churches. The Greek word for ‘zeal’ comes from a word that means to boil with heat. Epaphras has a passion for the churches that he seems to have caught from Paul.

It seems that everyone around Paul catches his zeal and passion for the churches and preaching the gospel to people they have never met in places where no one has gone before. In reality they don’t catch this zeal from Paul it is born in them by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the driving force behind missions; both going and giving.

While it is the Holy Spirit who drives us to respond to the commission of Jesus to go into all the world as His witnesses there is a part of this zeal that is contagious. When you’re around passionate people it does something in us. When I hear the stories of missionaries who shipped their goods across the oceans in caskets because they assumed they would never return it does something in me.

The Holy Spirit uses passionate people to create a zeal and passion for missions in us.

I know that the economy is tough right now and that there are a hundred priorities that need our attention, but missions is something that really should be a priority above other things.

The four signs of a passionate global missions church:

A church that prays for missionaries
A church that gives to missionaries
A church that receives missionaries…welcomes them and encourages them (they don’t avoid missions services because they think they’re boring or don’t want to give an offering.)
A church that sends missionaries

My prayer and goal for this year’s missions emphasis week is that the Holy Spirit would create a passion for missions in us.

I have been at this for a while and I have to admit that when this Sunday comes around each year I struggle with it because too often it feels like I’m trying to ‘sell’ missions giving so I always feel slightly awkward about it.

So as I was thinking about it this week I felt a strange impression to not focus on the money aspect at all. Let’s face it you all know that missions is very important and the majority of you already give very generously and even sacrificially. So I felt this peace about asking for a different kind of ‘Faith Promise’ so we’re going to talk about that a little bit this morning.

In your bulletin there is a Faith Promise card, but if you’re already giving sacrificially to support missionaries I’m not asking you to give more. The Holy Spirit may be prompting you so if you feel that inner voice of the Holy Spirit urging you to give more by all means do it. Or if you haven’t given to missions but you feel the Holy Spirit urging you to start giving, even if it’s a $1 a month, please obey Him.

But there is one Faith Promise I’d like us all to commit ourselves to and that is to pray that God would give us a zeal for the lost and in that a zeal for missions.

When you complete this little card I want you to bring it and place it on the communion table as your faith promise and commitment to pray for zeal and passion for the lost and for global missions.

Colossians: Mission

2011-11-27T15:49:00.000-08:00

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Talk intro:

We’re continuing our journey through the book of Colossians today but with a slight detour. This week we are turning our eyes to the harvest field of the world around us as we focus on world missions.

Turn with me to Colossians 2:8 and let’s read it…..

Here’s the big question as it relates to world missions: Why do we even care about the spiritual condition of other people?

In virtually all religious systems there is a natural focus on the inner self, or to say it another way, we are driven by the notion of making our eternity more pleasant or securing a better place for ourselves. Even the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses that come knocking on your door do that because they want to secure a better afterlife for themselves.

Unfortunately most people who profess to be Christians have the same misguided thinking and the reason they feel compelled to do good things is so that they can earn God’s favor, or basically keep Him happy so that when judgment day comes they’ll have an easier time of it.

But that’s not the way we’re supposed to think. That’s the result of what Paul writes in vs. 8 – being cheated through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men…

Here’s a thought to ponder: when our thinking and reasoning about eternal matters more clearly resembles the world then we are living according to the basic principles of the world and not according to Christ.

When Jesus was walking the paths of Palestine His mind and heart were moved by the needs of the hurting and lost people of the world. His entire life mission was to help the very people who would one day reject Him and put him to death. His focus was on others and not Himself. He didn’t try to help them in order to earn God’s favor; He already knew that His Father was “well pleased with Him.”

We need to understand that too. Since Christ is in us and we are in Him, then that means the Father is well pleased with us. This means that we can throw off the bondage of wrong headed thinking and live knowing we’re in His favor.

But that does bring up a challenge for us when it comes to missions and being concerned that people around the world are being cheated by empty philosophies and worthless traditions. Since we don’t support missions because of selfish religious motivations what motivates us to do it? Why do we care about the world around us?

We can manufacture and push ourselves to go give, even out of guilt, to support missionaries but that only lasts as long as the feelings of guilt remain. We can give out of a sense of duty because it’s something we should do, or because someone asks us to do it.

Why does it matter to us that people might be cheated by empty philosophies and worthless traditions? We care because of a divine impulse that is placed in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus linked our love of God to love for other people. He was saying that when we really love God loving people will be the evidence. When we feel compelled by God’s grace to give and support missions, or to go and serve our neighbors we are responding to a divinely implanted motivation that compels us to care.

Missions giving is not about meeting goals, budgets or even receiving a blessing from God. Missions giving is about responding to help hurting people because God has placed His love for them in our hearts.

When we give to missions it’s not a financial decision it’s a love decision that we make in response to our faith in God’s ability to supply. That faith is expressed most clearly in our giving because when we really love someone we’ll sacrifice whatever we have in order to help them.

I know when it comes to helping my family in a crisis I don’t make my decisions based on my budget. Yes, I have to consider what I have to give, but I don’t decide to help after I consult my budget. What I have may be limited but what I give is unlimited when it’s offered in love and placed in the hands of Jesus to heal a hurting world.

Colossians: Rooted

2011-11-20T15:32:00.000-08:00

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Talk intro:

We’re continuing our journey through the book of Colossians today.

As a quick reminder in the first half of the book of Colossians Paul is explaining to these new Gentile believers more fully who Jesus is and the last ½ of the letter is focused on what it means in the life of the church.

Last week we looked at Colossians 2:1-3 and we saw that in Jesus we have all of the wisdom and knowledge of God in us. What that means is that we have constant access to the wisdom and knowledge of God and we can know God and His ways in every circumstance.

Today we’re going to continue with that idea as we look at….

Turn to Colossians 2:4-7 Let’s read

So right off the bat we need to see what Paul wants them, and us, to know. When we have Christ in us we have all of the wisdom and knowledge of God so that we won’t be deceived.

Think about that for a minute. Now if it were me I’d probably say something like “Hey if you’re not sure about something come and check with me.” But Paul says, in essence “Hey if you’re not sure about something look to Jesus. I’m here to help but you really have who you need living inside of you.”

That’s the basic idea behind verse 5. Paul has confidence in them because of who they have in them, even though he’s not there himself. I’m reminded over and over of how much confidence Paul had in the gospel of Jesus and its ability to preserve God’s people in Christ.

Pastors are notorious for thinking that their people have to have them in order to survive spiritually, but Paul makes it clear that pastors and leaders are here to help but as longs as people have Jesus in them they’ll be alright.

Paul knows that they are in Christ and that Christ is in them because of two things he mentions in vs. 5. He rejoices because he sees their ‘good order’ which means that they maintain proper order in their lives and their gatherings and he sees that their faith is ‘steadfast’ or firm and solid. In other words they’re not easily deceived. Deception is avoided by tapping into the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God. When you do that you don’t have to go chasing the latest fad doctrine or “move of God” because God is living inside of you in Christ and you have everything you need in Him.

That’s leads us to vs. 6-7 where Paul reemphasizes the practical reality of Christ in us. When we receive Jesus our responsibility is to walk in Him. When we receive Him that means we not only accept Him, but we also join with Him. We can accept people but we’re not always quick to join with them

When we’re on the bus and someone wants to sit down by us we’ll accept them, but that’s not the same as joining with them. When it comes to Jesus we’re not just talking about a mental agreement where we’re good with the idea of Jesus only to go living they way we want too. It’s deeper than that. To receive Jesus means that we join ourselves to Him.

Now when we do that it changes the way we live. The word ‘walk’ means to make progress or to take a walk from one place to another, but it also refers to the way we ‘order’ our life. When I receive Jesus fully it will change the way I live. My priorities will change, my direction will change and even my reason for living will change.

That’s because, as Paul goes on to say, we’re rooted and built up in Christ. Here’s the thing to remember, a tree can’t grow any higher than what the root structure can support and nourish it. Paul makes sure to tell us that we have to be rooted in Christ. Being rooted in anything but Christ will limit how much we can grow spiritually.

Paul doesn’t say be rooted in personalities, doctrines or philosophies. Those things can be important and helpful, but they don’t replace Jesus. Paul wants us to know that if we lock in on anything but Jesus we will end up less fulfilled and more stunted than we could be.

But in Christ we are built up and established in our faith, and we can abound in thanksgiving. That’s not talking about eating a lot of turkey and stuffing. The word translated ‘built up’ literally means to finish the structure of which the foundation has already been laid.

In Christ we have a firm foundation and we are complete. We have everything we need in order to live an abundant and thankful life. This past Wednesday we looked at this idea in comparison to marriage. In Ephesians Paul wrote that marriage was a symbol of Christ and the Church, and like a marriage when we find our spouse our search is over, we are completed and we don’t have to look anymore. There’s security and blessing in that, but in a way we begin a new search to learn more of them, to begin the process of ordering our life around our love.

Our life is complete in Jesus and our journey begins anew. When we are in Christ, we are complete and secure and then we can explore the depths of our relationship with Him and begin to discover more of Him as we search to know His heart and ways.

Jesus invites us all to come and join with Him in a sweet communion that will draw us deeper into the riches of His grace and love. Because when we have Jesus we have everything we need.

Colossians: Treasures

2011-11-13T15:28:00.000-08:00

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Talk intro:

We’re continuing our journey through the book of Colossians today. Thank you to my friend David Hall for bringin’ it the last two Sundays.

As a quick reminder in the first half of the book of Colossians Paul is explaining to these new Gentile believers more fully who Jesus is and the last ½ of the letter is focused on what it means in the life of the church.

Here’s an experiment to try; read the first 2 chapters of Colossians and then read the gospel of Luke. It might be very revealing.

Anyway we’re going to continue our exploration of who this Jesus is.

Turn to Colossians 2:1-3 Let’s read

It’s interesting to note how Paul talks about the gospel. He calls it the knowledge, wisdom and understanding of the mystery of God. That sounds really cool doesn’t it?

In Colossians 1:27 Paul tells us what the great mystery of the gospel is… Christ in you. That’s a big deal because the fullness of God dwells in Christ and Christ dwells in you. So the fullness of God dwells in you and me.

That means we have everything we need to be complete in Jesus. It goes beyond what we feel or think. It affects those things but it is a fact that the God who created the universe isn’t out there somewhere, He’s in here!

Because Christ is in us we now have within us the wisdom and knowledge of God. Jesus isn’t the key that opens the storehouse of the wisdom and knowledge of God. He is the living treasury of the wisdom and knowledge of God. That wisdom and knowledge dwells in us in Christ.

What we know as fact is still a mystery to the rest of the world who doesn’t know Jesus. They don’t understand the gospel because it’s a mystery to them. They may have heard the gospel but they don’t understand it. They find belief in the gospel to be very strange and we find their unbelief in the gospel to be just as strange.

The thing to remember is that we didn’t come to the knowledge of this truth because we’re such great scholars or gifted people. We have had this mystery revealed to us by Christ and we know it’s true because we are in Christ.

In vs. 3 Paul writes that in Christ are hidden the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The word ‘treasures’ refers to collected treasures in a storehouse and that storehouse is Christ. The only way to get at them is in Him.

In John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

There isn’t a plan ‘B’ when it comes to the wisdom and knowledge of God. If you don’t have Christ you don’t have them. It’s not cruel or selfish it’s simply a fact.

But here’s the cool thing, unlike the other religions of the day where the only way to understand the mysteries was to have them revealed by certain people who had this secret knowledge. Paul saw the gospel as something that was to be unleashed in the world so everyone could know the mystery.

He had no intention of holding the gospel for safe keeping, it was to be recklessly proclaimed everywhere and given to everyone freely. It wasn’t to be a guarded secret revealed to a special few but an open door to all who would seek Him. In Paul’s mind the gospel didn’t need to be protected it needed to be preached.

In the book Jesus Manifesto by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola they write:

“You who would seek knowledge, lay hold of Him who is knowledge itself, the true gnosis. You who would chase after wisdom, seek Him who is the embodiment of all wisdom. All its treasures are found in Him. You who would chase after truth, come to Him who is the truth. In Him all truth dwells. You who would seek strength and power, find Him who is the very power and strength of God. You who wish to bear fruit, walk in love, and please the Lord, lay hold of Christ, who is the Vine, Love incarnate, the only One in whom the father is well pleased.”

When we are in Christ, He is in us working to reveal Himself more fully to us, in us and through us.

Colossians: 1:19-23

2011-10-30T22:59:00.000-07:00

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Colossians: Above All Things

2011-10-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

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Talk intro:

We’re continuing our journey through the book of Colossians today and we’re going to be wrapping up our look at one of the prayers that the apostle Paul wrote to the Colossian church.

This prayer serves as an introduction to Jesus for the Colossians who were believers but very new and with only a shallow understanding about Him.

It makes sense that Paul would spend the first few lines of this letter to introduce Jesus to them. Since most of them had come out of Greek and Roman mythology it was important to Paul they would have a clear picture of who Jesus is and how He is different than the mythological figures they were familiar with.

If you look at verses 9-14 it gives a summary of what Jesus has done and verses 15-18 tell us who He is.

Today we’re going to look at verses 17-18.

Let’s read Colossians 1:17-18

In these verses Paul is establishing the preeminence of Jesus. He is following on from the previous verses and he is revealing the special connection between Christ and His Church.

In verse 17 Paul uses two Greek words that have double meanings. The first one is the word ‘before’ it can mean in front of something or superior to something. And the second word is translated ‘all things’ and it can mean all things individually and all things collectively…

So by using these words together Paul is saying that Jesus is above and before everything all inclusively. Nothing and no one is left out of His authority. So even if the Greek and Roman gods existed they would be subject to Christ and that definitely includes the dark powers of the spiritual world behind those gods.

Then Paul goes on to say that in Jesus all things consist. What that means is that Jesus brings everything together under His authority and He holds it all together. But it also means to put something together to teach by combing and comparing things.

He brings all things together for the purpose of revealing His perfect will to us by showing us what it good and right and to reveal Himself to the world more clearly. It goes back to what Jesus said in John 12:32 "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all [peoples] to Myself."

That brings us to vs. 18 where Paul begins using the body as an illustration for Christ’s authority. But in this case it’s based on a very special relationship. Christ is above all things yet Christ is united with us.

He is the beginning, the firstborn of from the dead meaning that He started something that will continue and since He is the head of the body, the Church, you and me, that means us! Our future in Jesus is assured and secured and it helps us see that we are what it says in…

1 Peter 2:9 But you [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

Another way to see this is that Jesus has always been over all, He has always been the Lord over all creation, but through His death and resurrection he has revealed Himself to the world as the Head over all things.

The Church is the firstborn of the new creation and He is working in and through us to reconcile the world to Himself.

Hebrews 2:9-11 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. 10 ¶ For it was fitting for Him, for whom [are] all things and by whom [are] all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified [are] all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.

That is who He is and because of who He is that is who we are!

Colossians: Visible and Invisable

2011-10-16T13:43:00.000-07:00

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Talk intro:

We’re continuing our journey through the book of Colossians today. Last week we were looking at one of the prayers that the apostle Paul wrote to the Colossian church.

If we look at this prayer as an introduction to Jesus it reveals some amazing things about Him. Keep in mind that while the Colossians were believers they were very new at this and only had a shallow understanding about Jesus.

So it makes sense that Paul would spend the first few lines of this letter to introduce Jesus to them. Since most of them had come out of Greek and Roman mythology it was important to Paul they would have a clear picture of who Jesus is and how He is different than the mythological figures they were familiar with.

If you look at verses 9-14 it gives a summary of what Jesus has done and verses 15-18 tell us who He is.

Today we’re going to look at verses 15-16.

Let’s read Colossians 1:15-16

The first compelling thing is that Jesus is the image of the invisible God. He has been seen with human eyes by people who at the time this letter was written had actually seen Jesus, including Paul. They had seen Jesus the man who had physically lived and walked on the earth with people and the resurrected Jesus who ascended into heaven.

That could not be said of the Greek and Roman gods. No one living had ever seen them or witnessed their mighty exploits or their actions.

What Paul means by ‘the image of the invisible God’ is that God has fully and completely revealed Himself to the world through Jesus. It echoes what Jesus had said of Himself in John 14:9 ‘He who has seen me has seen the Father.’

By using this phrase Paul is showing Jesus to be God rather than one of many gods. That means He is completely unique and unlike the gods of mythology.

The Greek and Roman gods were created by the men to explain the reasons for the way things were.

But Paul says that Jesus was the firstborn over all of creation. The literal Greek meaning of that word is ‘before-born’ which means that Jesus was before all things and even His human birth was different than others. He was the first one born the way He was born. He was born of a virgin and the divine work of the Holy Spirit.

The Greek and Roman gods were believed to be divine but they all acted very human, doing things that were wicked and in some cases horrific.

Jesus was very human but lived a sinless, divine life. He was God with skin on and instead of sinking into the sin of the people He lived in such a way to give an example of what a holy life looked like.

In verse 16 Paul drives home the point. He is crushing the false beliefs that these new believers used to rely on. The very gods they used to think were all-powerful are instead under the authority of the One who is above all things.

The gods they worshipped were false gods who were created by the corrupt imaginations of men influenced by the demonic power of darkness. While the gods themselves did not exist the power behind them was very real and Paul describes them as thrones, dominions, principalities and powers.

In this verse Paul is not suggesting that evil was created by Jesus. Everything that ‘is’ was created through Christ and those things that are evil came about because those created chose to rebel. That includes both men and angels.

He allowed them to rebel but even in their rebellion they are still under His authority and are used to fulfill His divine purposes. The OT story of Job is a good example of this truth in that God allowed evil to touch Job and still God’s purposes were fulfilled.

It’s also revealed in the crucifixion and death of Jesus. It was the corrupted hearts of evil men who dreamed up and carried out the plan to murder Him, yet God used it to fulfill His purpose to redeem people from their sin.

So Paul is correct in saying that all things were created through Him and for Him because nothing exists outside of Him. It all came though Him and is under His authority.

This really shows that Jesus is different and above the other gods. They acted in ways that were fickle and inconsistent yet Christ is sure and always responds in perfect agreement with God’s will.

Nothing is above Him or before Him. Jesus is the beginning and the end, the alpha and omega, the One who is, who was, and is to come. The almighty maker of heaven and earth.

Colossians: Deliverance

2011-10-09T23:12:00.000-07:00

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Talk intro:

We’re going to continue our journey through the book of Colossians today. Last week we started looking at one of the prayers that the apostle Paul wrote to the Colossian church but also to those of us who are part of the Church today.

We’re going to continue to the next part of this letter today. It’s important for us to remember that the main focus of this prayer is the preeminence of Christ. Paul is using this prayer as an introduction to Jesus.

Let’s read Colossians 1:13-14

I want you see that the tipping point of everything is Jesus. We are delivered and conveyed by the Father because we have been redeemed and forgiven through Jesus.

That’s an important point because once again Paul is showing us that Christ is the way of entry into all the blessings that God has given us. It’s also important to note that there is nothing we can do to help ourselves.

There are three things mentioned in these verses that have been done for us.

God doesn’t help those who help themselves He helps those who turn to Christ.

In Christ we have redemption and forgiveness of sin. In vs. 14 Paul writes that in the Son of His love we have redemption. The Greek word that Paul uses here would have been familiar to the Colossian believers because it was used in reference to purchasing a slave from the slave market.

But to the Jews it would have pointed back to their deliverance from Egypt. The idea for both is that they were in the grip of someone more powerful than they were. They could envision being powerless and downtrodden to really make any changes other than to possibly make their bondage more tolerable.

Paul equates this bondage to sin. We are under the severe pain of sin by our own doing and because of that we are part of the kingdom of darkness. The enemy of our souls didn’t take us by force; we walked willingly into his kingdom and sold our souls to get there with no possibility of escape or parole.

But because of Jesus we have been purchased from the bondage of our sin and forgiven because He shed His blood for us. Because of what Jesus did…

The Father has delivered us from the power of darkness. In vs. 13 The Greek word for delivered has two connected meanings. It means to be rescued but it also means to be drawn in.

Years ago the nation was focused on the fate of little girl known as “baby Jessica” who had been playing in the back yard and suddenly fell head long in the dark abyss of a dry well. For 2 ½ days they worked to rescue her by digging a parallel shaft and when they finally reached her the rescuer reached out and took her in his arms as they rose to the surface together. They had gone down to get her and set her free and help her close.

That’s a picture of God has done for us. Jesus made a way for the Father to reach down into our darkness to rescue and draw us close to His heart. The other part of this image captures what happens next.

The Father has conveyed us into kingdom of the Son of His love. The rescuer was holding that little girl and carried her back to her family. She was conveyed from one place to another. The idea of conveyance has a physical part to it where you literally carry something from one place to another. It’s also a change in circumstances and to put something where it belongs.

Baby Jessica wasn’t meant to live in a dark hole and neither are we. God’s desire and intention for us from the very beginning has been for us to live in fellowship with Him.

In the spiritual realm God has put us back where we belong. While we live this life in the world surrounded by darkness, we have been transferred into the kingdom of Christ Jesus by the Father and someday we will be there in body and spirit. But for now we live there by faith.

Colossians: Walk Worthy

2011-10-02T20:36:00.000-07:00

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Talk intro:

Last week we looked at the introduction of this letter and the blessings that we have now that we have been brought into the kingdom of God through the blood of Jesus.

The main reason for Paul writing this letter was so that the church in Colosse would understand who Jesus was and what it meant to follow Him.

Today we’ll be starting the section of this letter that is focused on the preeminence of Jesus. This section of scripture goes from vs. 9-18. We’re going to start off by looking at one of Paul’s written prayers in vs. 9-12.

Let’s read Colossians 1:9-12

In these verses Paul is telling the Colossians what he is praying for them. Isn’t this a great prayer? It covers everything yet it’s so concise and to the point. It’s a great prayer. Its wonderful prayer and I would like to challenge us to pray this for each other.

Now when we take a closer look we see in verse 10 that the main purpose of this prayer is that they will ‘Walk worthy and fully pleasing to the Lord.” Keep in mind that when Paul uses this term ‘Lord’ he is talking about Jesus. That means the most important thing to him, and the focus of his prayer for them, is that they would live their life in such a way that Jesus Christ their Lord would be pleased.

It’s important for us to see that Paul prays this because even though they are making great progress in their spiritual growth he knows that they can’t do it without God’s help.

But there’s something else here that we need to see that is just as big today as it was back then. To the Greeks knowledge was the most important thing and all of their energies we focused on gaining knowledge about things and discovering some ‘secret’ knowledge was very important. Does that sound familiar?

The desire for knowledge is still a driving force behind our culture. We have a lot of faith in science and the idea that if study something long enough we’ll learn the secrets of the universe. We’ve never had more access to information. With the rise of the internet and Google we can ‘know’ just about anything. But all of this knowledge has not brought any closer to really knowing God. Google can’t reveal God

In verse 9 Paul tells us that our knowledge of God can only come from God Himself, It can’t come from more information. Apart from God revealing Himself to us we can’t really know Him.

The only way we can live a life that is worthy and pleasing to Jesus is to be filled with the knowledge of His will and wisdom. When God fills us with the knowledge of His will and wisdom they flow together and result in spiritual understanding.

The ultimate object of spiritual understanding is Jesus Christ Himself. In other words God has chosen to reveal Himself fully to us through Jesus. People search for God in many places but it is only through Jesus that they can find Him. Revealing Jesus is the ultimate point of God’s will and His wisdom.

It’s interesting to note that God points the world to Jesus and the Holy Spirit’s work is to reveal Jesus to the world and then Jesus reveals the Father to everyone. In other words you can’t see God until you look at Jesus.

When we truly know and understand who Jesus is our life takes on a new dimension. In verse 11 Paul reveals what we will happen as a result of spiritual understanding. We become fruitful in the good, or God, works that we do. Our work is now redeemed and it bears fruit and we continue to grow in the knowledge of God.

We are made strong through the might and power of God so that we can live this life in patience and longsuffering with joy. Let’s face it there are plenty of things about life that can get you down. There’s trouble all around and life isn’t fair. It can get down right discouraging and if all we had was our own wits and will we’d never make it.

Our own will power is pretty much useless against the forces we face in the world, but armed with the strength and power of God we can over come every obstacle. That’s why Paul is praying this prayer. That’s what he desires for them and ultimately it’s what God desires for us.

In verse 12 Paul finishes up this section of his prayer with a call to give thanks to the Father who has qualified us through the blood of Jesus to be partakers of the eternal inheritance as the enlightened saints of God.

Colossians: Faith, Love, and Hope in Christ

2011-09-25T15:56:00.000-07:00

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Talk intro:

Last week we started a series where we’re going to be going through the Letter to the Colossians and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us a portrait of the incomparable Christ.

The main reason for Paul writing this letter was so that the church in Colosse would understand who Jesus was and what it meant to follow Him.

In verses 1-2 we saw how Paul called the Gentile believers ‘saints’ and ‘faithful brethren’ revealing that the gospel of Jesus Christ and removed the barriers that had separated them from the kingdom of God. In Jesus Christ they had experienced the grace and peace of God.

This gift is also given to us. Through Jesus Christ we have received the grace and peace of God. This is an important point because it shows us that Jesus is the focal point, the gateway, and our access to all the benefits of the gospel of the kingdom of God.

A very rough way to think of it is that God has provided these blessings from the foundation of the world, but we can not reach them because of the barrier of our sin. But Jesus has removed our sin and made it possible for us to enter into the kingdom of God and to receive its blessings.

Now as we look at verses 3-8 we will see that grace and peace were only the beginning of the blessings of the kingdom we receive through Jesus.

Let’s read Colossians 1:3-8

In these verses Paul is telling the Colossians how thankful he is for their faith, love, and hope that they have in Jesus Christ. Now did you happen to notice that in the first 8 verses of this letter that Paul mentions five blessings of the kingdom of God: grace, peace, faith, love and hope?

What that tells us is that this is no ordinary greeting, or some nice words to make them feel better. Paul is revealing to them how Jesus changes everything in their life. God’s undeserved favor and inner peace come to us through Jesus Christ.

In addition to grace and peace we have faith, love, and hope. Do those three sound familiar? 1 Cor. 13:13 Now abide faith, hope and love… These five blessings are the result of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In vs. 7-8 Paul tell us that Epaphras was the one who had taken the gospel of Jesus Christ to Colosse and he had shared with Paul what had happened. So Paul is saying in vs. 3-5 that he knows that what has happened in Colosse is the real deal because he sees the evidence of these five things at work in their midst.

Wherever the gospel takes root, grace, peace, faith, love, and hope are the fruit.

Let’s take a closer look at the three things Paul is thankful for. The first thing he mentions is their…

Their faith in Jesus Christ. It’s not surprising that this is where Paul would start. It is through faith that we believe and are saved. Faith, as it is used here, means a conviction of the truth. It is belief amped up by an inner assurance that what is believed is true. That’s why you see truth and the gospel so closely connected in Scripture.

It’s also important that we see that our faith is in Jesus Christ and it is the gospel that opens the door for faith.

Paul is also thankful for….

Their Love for all the saints. The word love comes from the Greek word ‘agape’ that is always used of God’s love. Paul is thankful because love for other people is proof that we have been born of the Spirit. Love is the active, outward expression of true faith.

John said it like this 1 John 2:9-10 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

Love is the unmistakable and unfakeable evidence of faith in Christ.

Finally, Paul is also thankful for….

Their hope in what is laid up in heaven. Faith is tied to belief and hope is tied to expectation. Hope, as it is used by Paul, is a product of the gospel that proclaims everlasting life in Christ and points to the earnest and compelling expectation of heaven, but is anchored in the object of that expectation, the person of Jesus Christ.

So in all these things Jesus Christ is magnified.

Jesus is the seed of faith, the source of love, and the supplier of hope.

Colossians: The Incomparable Christ

2011-09-18T16:41:00.000-07:00

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Talk intro:
.
I have good news. I received a letter this week from a good friend and I’d like to read it to you. Now I would like you to listen closely and I’d encourage you to write down some things that connect with you.

(Read the Letter to the Colossians as if it were written to us.)

As you were listening to this wonderful letter did anything seem to stand out to you?

For the next few weeks we’re going to be going through the Letter to the Colossians and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us a portrait of the incomparable Christ.

This week I’m going to summarize the Letter to the Colossians so that we can see the reason that Paul wrote this letter.

One thing to keep in mind is that the Gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; had not been written down yet so everything that the church in Colosse knew about Jesus had come to them by word of mouth. What that means is that they knew the story of Jesus but they still didn’t quite understand who He was and what it meant to follow Him.

So the first thing we notice about the book of Colossians is that it is divided into two major parts. The first part which is chapter 1 – 3:11 tells us who Jesus is and the chapter 3:12-4 tells us what it means to follow Him.

Now if we break it down even farther we’ll see that what Paul wants them, and us, to know about Jesus is that:

Jesus is preeminent or above everything else. 1:9-18

Jesus is the reconciler of all things. 1:19-23

Jesus is the revealed mystery of God. 1:24-29

Jesus is superior to philosophy. 2:1-10

Jesus is superior legalism. 2:11-23
Jesus is superior to cultural norms. 3:1-11

Then in the 2nd half of Colossians Paul’s focus is the changes that happen in us when we follow Jesus. What we see is that…

Following Jesus changes our character. 3:12-17. We’re not talking about behavior modification here. It is a total transformation of the very essence of who we are.

Following Jesus changes our relationships. 3:18-4:1

Following Jesus changes our priorities. 4:2-18

That’s a quick summary of what we’re going to discover together over the next few weeks.

I’d like to spend the rest of our time this morning looking at Paul’s introduction in this letter found in verses 1-2

Like our letters, or emails, today we usually start them off with a preamble or greeting and Paul’s letter to the Colossians is no different. Now it might be tempting to think of these opening verses as simply some kind words that Paul started out with before he jumped into the good stuff but I would challenge us to look a little deeper.

In these first few verses there is valuable information for us.

The first thing we see is that Paul isn’t writing this letter on his own authority. He is quick to point out that his authority is in Christ. Paul isn’t an apostle because he made a career choice or because someone decided it was a good ministry for him. Paul is writing this letter, and serving as an apostle, because God called him to do it.

Likewise in verse 2 we see another important calling, to be saints, or a holy and separated people in Christ. Just as Paul was called to be an apostle of Jesus by the will of God, we are made saints in Christ. The key thing to remember is that this term isn’t just a nice way to greet people it was an important fact for them to know.

By calling them ‘saints’ Paul is saying that these Gentiles, once considered unholy, and unacceptable by the law are now accepted and holy in Christ. They aren’t outcasts anymore they are now the people of God and co-equal with the Jewish believers.

The law had kept them out as separated them from God, but in Christ they are now the beloved people of God. Paul goes so far as to call them his ‘brethren’ which was not something a Jewish rabbi would ever say about a Gentile.
For Paul to say this meant that something had radically changed inside of him and in the Spiritual realm of God’s kingdom. Gentiles and Jews weren’t simply neighbors on a planet hung in space, they were brothers born of the Spirit of the living God through Jesus Christ.

What had changed? Jesus Christ had come into the world and because of His death and resurrection the grace and peace of God was extended to all people, not just a chosen few.

That grace and peace is extended to us too. Because of Jesus Christ we are now part of the kingdom of God. We are saints and brothers because we are one with Him. Being one with Him means that we are reconciled and accepted by God. We are the beloved and blessed people of God because He chose to reveal Himself to us through His only Son, Jesus.

Pruning for Closeness

2011-09-11T14:56:00.000-07:00

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Talk intro:
There is a purpose to everything that God does and that includes the things we don’t understand. It also includes the things we don’t like. When God prunes our life it’s not always pleasant at first, but when we submit ourselves to His skillful hands the result is always beneficial.

There are two primary reasons that God prunes us. The first reason is for spiritual fruitfulness. We need to remember that God’s pruning will prepare us for growth and an abundant life.

Last week we talked about how God prunes our life to make us more fruitful spiritually. It may seem unpleasant for the moment but the apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal weight of glory, The weight of glory is fruitfulness.

The second reason goes hand in hand with the first. God prunes us for spiritual closeness.

Open your Bible’s to John 15:1-8.

What we saw in our skit was an illustration of this purpose of pruning in our life. I think we can all agree that the more baggage we haul around with us the harder it is to have a close relationship with Jesus and with each other.

Keep in mind that the baggage we carry is often considered ‘bad’ stuff but it can also be what we would consider ‘good’ stuff. We touched on this a little last week but if your ‘success’ in ministry makes you too busy to spend time with Jesus or other people then that good thing is really not so good, right?

In John 15:1-8 there’s a connection between pruning, abiding, and fruitfulness and it’s not a coincidence that abiding is right in the middle of them. Pruning makes it possible for us to abide in Jesus and pruning and abiding makes it possible for us to be fruitful.

Let’s take a closer look at that word ‘abiding’ the Greek word in this context can mean to be held or to remain as one. So when we abide in Jesus we are being held in place and we become one with Him. We also become one with every other branch that’s connected to the vine.

Our spiritual growth depends on abiding in Jesus and is enhanced by abiding with each other. By its very nature abiding with Jesus will place us in relationships where we are abiding with each other. That’s not some afterthought on God’s part by the way. It’s the way He has designed it to work.

In Philemon 1:6 it says I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.

When we share our life of faith together it results in a more complete understanding of Christ.

When God prunes us two great things happen, we can draw closer in our relationship with Jesus and it makes more room in our life for each other. When that happens we grow spiritually and more fruitful in God’s kingdom.

I want you to imagine two tomato plants. The first one has one branch on the vine and the second one has several branches on the vine. Which plant will produce more fruit? The one with the most branches will.

Now at the risk of pushing this metaphor too far what do you think will happen if one of the branches on the fruitful tomato plant grows a lot more fruit than all of the others? The farmer will prune that branch so that the other branches can be more productive.

Remember what I said last week:

The Bible tells us that the lack of pruning is a sign of God’s judgment, and….

Success in God’s kingdom isn’t measured by who has the most stuff but by who is pruned the most.

When you feel the sharp, surgical application of God’s pruning hook in your life make sure to remind yourself that what God prunes away will be replaced by a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

Pruning for Fruitfulness

2011-09-04T17:19:00.000-07:00

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Talk intro:
In our walk with Jesus we all experience painful events. If anyone ever promised you that life in Christ would be free of pain they lied. I can promise you that we will experience seasons of pain and loss.

A promise that has always helped me in these seasons is Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

God uses every circumstance, including seasons of loss and pain, for our good. From our perspective me may not see the purpose or even understand what’s happening but we can be assured that God is at work making every loss into a blessing for our good.

Children don’t always understand why parent take things away from them. When a two year old finds a pair of scissors and mom takes them away. That child experiences loss from its perspective, but we know it was for their own good because of the risk of injury.

When a 10 year old has his favorite video game taken away because he didn’t do his homework they experience loss but we know that it’s for their own good to help them learn the correct priorities and values.

The same thing is true for us when God chooses to take things away from us. But we also need to remember that God’s pruning will also prepare us for growth and an abundant life.

For the next two weeks we’re going to look at the purpose of God’s pruning.

Open your Bible’s to John 15:1-8. Today we’re going to talk about the first purpose of pruning.

In this passage Jesus reveals two of the primary reasons for God’s pruning in our life. The first one is that….

Pruning makes our life more fruitful. In vs. 2 Jesus says that God pruning makes us more fruitful. God’s desire is that our life in Christ will bear fruit.

I think it’s important for us to understand something about what ‘bearing fruit’ means. The word ‘bear’ can simply mean to produce something, but it also means to carry a burden. So bearing fruit isn’t just producing more fruit in our life it is also carrying the weight of that fruit.

When a farmer sees an overloaded apple tree it’s a good thing but he also knows that if he just lets that tree go it will eventually collapse under its own fruitfulness. He also understands that if that if he can prune and graft branches into the other trees in his orchard that the whole orchard benefits.

When we are involved in fruitful service to the Lord it’s wonderful because we see lives being changed for the better and we feel fulfilled. What we don’t see is that all of that new growth begins to weigh us down and starts to do us more harm than good.

That’s where God’s pruning comes in. He sees what is happening and He begins to cut away the burdens. God prunes us to promote healthy sustained spiritual growth. He cuts away those things that need to go and throws them into the fire and the good things He prunes He preserves by grafting them into another branch that’s ready to carry the burden of the fruitfulness.

What we need to remember is that when God is at work, pruning and grafting are not just a ‘me’ thing, they’re a ‘we’ thing. It’s not just about us. We are in God’s garden, his vineyard and what He has pruned from us He will graft into somewhere else, or if what He prunes is destructive He will burn it in the fire. In every case He blesses us and benefits the whole vineyard.

Resisting God’s pruning can lead to big problems. In the ‘religious’ world we see this when people keep trying to hold onto their ministry ‘success’ instead of letting it go for God’s kingdom purposes. Trying to come up with flashier presentations in order to keep people in the seats by feeding their desire for a better experience is one sign that we might be resisting God’s pruning to our own and the kingdom’s loss.

It’s also true of us individually. Trying to hoard our fruitfulness can be harmful to our spiritual growth. instead of sharing the blessings of God with others it. When we experience the blessings of God it’s only natural for us to try and hold on to them. That’s the way we’re wired. Remember the disciples didn’t want to share Jesus either. They got angry when other people tried to do ministry in His name.

When it comes to the fruit of God’s work in our life we always have to remember to hold on loosely and let God prune us for more fruitful kingdom purposes. Success in God’s kingdom isn’t measured by who has the most but by who is pruned the most.

We don’t always understand or see the point but God’s pruning is always for our benefit. In fact the Bible tells us that the lack of pruning is a sign of God’s judgment.

Isaiah 5:6 I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, But there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds That they rain no rain on it."

The absence of God’s pruning in your life is a sign of trouble.

So be assured that if you are being pruned or experiencing a rainy season you are encountering the loving activity of the Father in your life.

David Hall - Love

2011-08-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

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10 Times Not to Make a Decision

2011-08-07T10:40:00.000-07:00

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The Eternal Life Cycle-Grow in Grace and Knowledge

2011-07-31T20:29:00.000-07:00

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Talk intro:
This is the final talk in our series called “The ‘Eternal Life’ Cycle.” You’ll recall that I defined the eternal life cycle as more like a spring that is ever propelling us upward as we grow spiritually rather than a circle that starts, grows, and eventually declines. That’s because with our eternal life cycle there’s no decline as long as we’re connected to the True Vine of Jesus.

The eternal life cycle of spiritual growth begins with being born again and ends when we graduate to heaven.

We started off by taking a look at the first part of the eternal life cycle which are those things that God does on our behalf like being born again, and making us a new creation.

Then we looked at the outward signs of spiritual maturity. These are the things that indicate that someone is growing in their spiritual life. Basically what that means is that as people watch your life they’ll see the change in your character as you follow Jesus.

For 5 weeks we looked at things that are good signs of spiritual maturity. If you’ll turn your bulletin over you’ll see the listed under the Vision Path in the personal confessions. And then last week we talked about how spiritual maturity and growth means that as we follow Jesus we’ll become more like Him.

Today I’m going to share two ways we mature spiritually. They’re found in 2 Peter 3:14-18. Let’s take a look….

When the apostle Peter wrote this letter he was nearing the end of his life. Tradition tells us that he chose to be crucified upside down because he didn’t consider himself worthy to be crucified in the same manner as Jesus. The purpose of this letter was to warn and instruct the church in how to avoid being led astray by false teachers that would come after he died.

In this last section of the letter he summarized his thoughts and then leaves us with the two ways we mature spiritually: growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus.

I think it’s very important to notice that spiritual growth is a proactive thing. Far to often we have defined spiritual growth by what people stop doing instead of by what they start doing. Even today people often label Christians as people who don’t do ‘bad’ things. But that’s not what we should be known for. If you look at the early Christians they were always known because they followed Jesus.

That’s what Peter is writing about here. When we grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus folks will notice we’ve been with Him. Does that make sense? Our focus should always be on growing in Jesus rather than trying not to do things because when we spend all of our time trying not to sin we don’t have time to look at Jesus.

What does it mean to grow in grace? Growing in grace means that God’s grace will influence every part of our character. We all receive God’s undeserved favor for the forgiveness of our sins and our character flaws. Through grace our sins are washed away and as we grow in grace God corrects our character flaws. Any progress I make in becoming more like Jesus is due to God’s grace growing in influence in my life.

When I forgive someone who doesn’t deserve it then I’m growing in grace. When I release an offence that I’m carrying then I grow in grace. When I step out of my comfort zone to right a wrong it’s because I’m growing in grace. When I grow in grace the temptation to sin is diminished. It’s still there but my desires are influenced by God’s grace rather than my flesh.

The next thing that Peter mentions is to grow in knowledge of Jesus. He’s not limiting this to memorizing scriptures, Bible stories, or the Ten Commandments. Those things are good and I highly recommend them, but the word knowledge has a much fuller meaning.

Knowledge of Jesus is both knowing about Him and knowing Him to the point that I am known to be like Him. In my humble opinion (which really means my sort of arrogant opinion) knowledge that doesn’t influence our actions is pretty worthless. If my knowledge of Jesus doesn’t influence who I am and what I do what good is it really?

Memorizing scripture and stories about Jesus won’t do you much good unless it moves from our head, through our heart and out to our hands, feet, and words.

If my life style doesn’t change then I’m simply affirming that Jesus was no different than any of the other teachers and prophets who have come along over the years. More importantly it means I have settled for a form of godliness that is powerless, which is another way of saying worthless.

How do we grow in grace and knowledge? We grow in grace and knowledge when we respond to what God reveals to us about Jesus by the Spirit through the scriptures. Here’s an quick example: Paul wrote in Galatians 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Jesus was led by the Spirit and even though He was tempted He was without sin. That means the only way that I can have power over my lusts, or my corrupt, selfish desires, is to pay attention to the check in my spirit as the Holy Spirit points out an area of weakness and I then choose to do His will rather than my own.

Spiritual maturity is, after all, the ability to consistently make good choices based in the grace and knowledge of Jesus.

The Eternal Life Cycle-Pursuing Perfection

2011-07-24T16:09:00.000-07:00

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Talk intro:
This is the tenth talk in our series called “The ‘Eternal Life’ Cycle.” You’ll recall that I defined the eternal life cycle as more like a spring that is ever propelling us upward as we grow spiritually rather than a circle that starts, grows, and eventually declines. That’s because with our eternal life cycle there’s no decline as long as we’re connected to the True Vine of Jesus.

The eternal life cycle of spiritual growth begins with being born again and ends when we graduate to heaven.

We started off by taking a look at the first part of the eternal life cycle which are those things that God does on our behalf like being born again, and making us a new creation.

Now we’re looking at the outward signs of spiritual maturity. They’re the things that indicate that someone is growing in their spiritual life. Basically what that means is that as people watch your life they’ll see the change in your character as you follow Jesus.

For the past 5 weeks we’ve looked at things that are good signs of spiritual maturity. If you’ll turn your bulletin over you’ll see the listed under the Vision Path in the personal confessions. How’s your SUGEE this week?

Today I’m going to talk about what it means to be a spiritually mature. To do that we’re going to look at four passages of Scripture: Matthew 5:48; Matthew 19:21; Ephesians 5:1-2; 1 Corinthians 11:1 and what we discover might change the way you think about what it means to be spiritually mature.

Let’s start by reading Matthew 5:48…

After reading that I don’t have much of anything to say because we’re sunk before we even get started. Is anyone in here perfect? Didn’t think so. We all have faults so if that’s that standard then we’re in big trouble.

O.k. I’ll be honest here, it is the standard, but the good news is that God has met that standard for us through Jesus’ death and resurrection. He has paid the price for our imperfection. But there’s another side to this idea of perfection. I’d like to read this passage from another translation of the Bible called ‘The Message’

“In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you."

Basically if you take that word ‘perfect’ and substitute the word ‘mature or complete’ you an see that this is also talking about become spiritually mature and Jesus defines spiritual maturity in terms of living generous and gracious lives that reflect the God we love and serve.

There was a good religious young man who came to Jesus one day and asked Him what He had to do to have eternal life and Jesus mentioned a few things and then said this in Matthew 19:21 Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."

I don’t want to go into too much depth here, but I will say this that Jesus equated spiritual fitness or maturity with giving to the poor and following Him, which is another way of saying being generous and gracious. Notice the it wasn’t just giving away his stuff it was following Jesus that mattered. It wasn’t that the stuff was bad but it would just get in the way of following so it had to go.

I’d have to say that there would be a lot fewer people who find church offensive if they experienced that kind of spiritual maturity. Would you agree? By far the most common reasons I have been told by people who have stopped going to church all point to the fact that most of the supposedly mature ‘Christians’ aren’t gracious or generous but are judgmental instead. And we’re all painted with the same brush whether we’re like that or not.

The only way that we will ever be able to change that perception is to start really living this out. If we’ll live our lives by the example of God there will be a lot more people who will find the church appealing.

Here’s a bottom line fact: Who, or even what, we follow will shape our character.

Like it says in Ephesians 5:1-2 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

That’s why Jesus told His disciples to ‘follow me.’ He wasn’t just talking about leading a hike it was about spiritual character formation. If the disciples followed Jesus they would over time become more like Him. That’s true for us too. When we imitate Jesus we’ll grow to become more like Him as clearly gave of Himself to everyone. He was generous and gracious like His Father. Do you see a pattern here? Jesus was generous a gracious like the Father, and we’ll be gracious and generous like Jesus.

Then finally the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11:1 Imitate me, just as I also [imitate] Christ. Let’s see a show of hands of everyone here who would feel 100% comfortable saying this to someone else? I know it causes me to swallow hard and hesitate a bit because I hang around with me all day and I know what I’m like.

But the ability to honestly say to others “Copy me as I follow Jesus” will require us to be spiritually mature. I’m going to guess and say that we’ll probably never feel completely comfortable doing that but we can all say that to the level where we’re at.

We grow spiritually when we generously and graciously invite someone to follow us as we follow Jesus. Does that make sense?

I heard it said this way: everyone needs a Paul, a Barnabas, and a Timothy in their life. We need to follow someone who’s more spiritually mature than we are. We need to walk with someone who’s at the similar level we’re at, and we need to invite someone who’s just starting out to follow us as we follow Jesus.

Keep in mind that what we’re talking about today comes after we’re spiritually born again and say yes to Jesus’ invitation to follow Him. There’s not a single person in this room who can grow spiritually by being generous and gracious without first making the decision to follow Jesus.

We can’t mature physically until we’re born or conceived physically and we can’t mature spiritually until we born spiritually. Jesus said that doing that was very hard but very easy. It’s hard to believe that He can forgive our sins but it’s easy to receive His love and forgiveness because He’s generous and gracious. He has given us a gift, the gift of eternal life, and all we have to do is receive it and follow Him.

When we do that we’ll become more like Him in every way as we mature spiritually.

The Eternal Life Cycle-Embracing the Holy Spirit

2011-07-17T21:23:00.000-07:00

Click HERE to listen or download this talk on mp3...

Talk intro:
This is the ninth talk in our series called “The ‘Eternal Life’ Cycle.” You’ll recall that I defined the eternal life cycle as more like a spring that is ever propelling us upward as we grow spiritually rather than a circle that starts, grows, and eventually declines. That’s because with our eternal life cycle there’s no decline as long as we’re connected to the True Vine of Jesus.

The eternal life cycle of spiritual growth begins with being born again and ends when we graduate to heaven.

We started off by taking a look at the first part of the eternal life cycle which are those things that God does on our behalf like being born again, and making us a new creation.

Now we’re looking at the outward signs of spiritual maturity. They’re the things that indicate that someone is growing in their spiritual life. Basically what that means is that as people watch your life they’ll see the change in your character as you follow Jesus.

I believe that there are 5 things that are good signs of spiritual maturity. If you’ll turn your bulletin over you’ll see the listed under the Vision Path in the personal confessions. How’s your SUGEE this week?

Over the last four weeks we’ve looked at sacrificing our comfort to serve others, choosing to be in unity with our church family, growing in our relationship with God, and encouraging others to follow Jesus. This week’s we’re going to talk about the fifth sign of spiritual maturity Embracing the Holy Spirit in our life.

Let’s read John 14:16-17…

At some point during the last supper before His crucifixion Jesus told the disciples that He was going to send the ‘Helper’ the Holy Spirit to them. Jesus told them that it was to their advantage that He would go away so that the Helper could come.

I want you to ponder that for a moment. Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God said that it was an advantage for us that He would go away. It’s really an amazing thing for Him to say isn’t it? It speaks volumes about the importance of the Holy Spirit’s ministry in us. Yet it’s sad how much the church neglects the importance of the Holy Spirit.

But the fact remains that in order for us to mature spiritually we have to embrace the Holy Spirit in our life. It’s almost as if we need to be re-introduced to Him and experience the advantage that Jesus said He would be.

One of the first clues of the importance of the Holy Spirit’s ministry is that Jesus calls Him the Helper. A helper is someone who will stand up for you when you can’t stand for yourself. Jesus promised to send the Holy Helper to lead us to a deeper knowledge of the gospel, and give us the supernatural strength needed to live life as citizens of the kingdom of God.

It seems to make sense then that if Jesus sent the Helper that we should embrace His ministry in our life, yet so often we resist it, or don’t give it much thought. I’m not going to try to tell you why, but I am going to encourage us accept and even seek Him.

Another hint to the importance of the Holy Spirit’s ministry is the word ‘dwells’ it means to live with someone, but even more importantly it means to live as one. What Jesus is saying is that the Holy Spirit has become one with us and continues to stay with us.

The Holy Spirit is our indwelling Helper. He’s not out there somewhere, He’s right here in us. We don’t have to go looking for Him hoping to have an encounter with Him. We can encounter Him every moment of every day.

This leads us to the question of how the Holy Spirit helps us. The Scriptures tell us that

He helps us pray. Ever been at a loss for words when you pray? The Holy Spirit can pray for you through you.

He helps us know the truth. He teaches us what we need to know about Spiritual things.

He anoints and empowers us to serve others through gifts and talents that He gives to the church.

He fills us to overflowing with the very presence of God.

He is the river of living water that flows out of our souls to revive and refresh a world that is lost in the desert of discontent.

What’s not to love end embrace about the Holy Spirit?