Moments in the life of a Pastor

Colossians 2:4-15

⁴ I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. ⁵ For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is. ⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. ⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. ⁹ For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. ¹¹ In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by^[c] Christ, ¹² having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. ¹³ When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴ having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

So far in our Colossians series Paul has taught us about praise, prayer, the preeminence of Christ, God’s purpose and plan for our lives and now he talks about proactively pursing our relationship with Jesus. As we live out our purpose, we quickly realize that Christian growth is a process. We become Christians in an instant when we receive Christ Jesus the Lord, but it takes a lifetime to live out our faith. Our focus should not just be on knowing, our emphasis must also be on growing. The Bible links information with transformation ­ we’re to become what we’ve begun. Truth must be perceived and then personalized because biblical belief always leads to action. As Paul talks about a deeper dependence he says that we must continue to follow Jesus, Paul forces us to examine the question “How is my walk with Jesus?”

YOUR WALK:

1. IN CHRIST vs 5-7

Walk starts with Christ at the cross Vs 13 Categorized by genuine repentance 

Our Walk Should Be Consistent With Our Conversion

But it doesn’t end with the start Paul says you must continue to follow him, our Walk is Sustained by Christ. The Christian life must be lived out. It’s to go from our head, to our heart, to our hands. When Just as we received Jesus by faith, so too we must walk by faith in His power, its the only way to make spiritual progress. The verb indicates ongoing action, we are to continue, the past event of receiving Christ should be a present reality in our lives. Our worship should affect our walk and our practice must conform to our principles. But before we can talk about pursuing Jesus we have to determine who is Preeminence, Paul confronts us again with who is in control, Paul says when we accept Jesus as LORD. The title, “Christ Jesus as your Lord” is unique, occurring only here in Paul’s letters. As Christ, He is identified as the Messiah, or “anointed one,”. Jesus was his human name given at His birth and means Savior. Lord indicates that He is supreme and sovereign, He has no rivals and we must bow before His preeminence. Our conduct must be consistent with His lordship. Have you accepted Jesus as Lord?

Colossians 1:21- 2:3

^“21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. ²² Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. ²³ But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it. ²⁴ I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church. ²⁵ God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you. ²⁶ This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. ²⁷ For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. ²⁸ So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfec^] in their relationship to Christ. ²⁹ That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me. 2 I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other believers who have never met me personally. ² I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. ³ In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

1. STRIVE in the Spirit Vs 1:29 – 2:3

 Struggle and Sweat 

If you are serious about your purpose then you can’t be passive. Paul talks about “work” which means to “grow weary through hard toil.” The word “struggle” comes from the root word in Greek translated “agony.” Both words were used of athletes competing in the arena working to the point of exhaustion. Paul used this same word at the end of his life as he reflected on how he had lived in 2 Timothy 4:7: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” We’re called to lay ourselves out, to become spiritually fatigued to sweat in order to move people toward full devotion to Christ. But Paul doesn’t just work in his own strength; He instead depends and relies on the power of Christ as he struggles “with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me.” There’s a play on words in the Greek text here. We might translate it this way: “Striving according to His energy which powerfully energizes within me.” Paul surrendered his availability to God’s ability. Don’t hold back, don’t become spiritually lethargic or lukewarm, enrich the lives of others through encouragement. Paul uses a medical metaphor “knit together in love.” We are to be connected to each other, everyone here needs you, and you need everyone else. It’s impossible to fulfill God’s plan alone, your purpose is in the context of community. You can’t do it alone. 

CONCLUSION

Have you been ministering for God and not allowing God to minister through you? Is it time to let Christ live His life in you and through you; to love through you, forgive through you, suffer through you; reveal His Word in and through you. The Christian is the dwelling place of God, the riverbed of the glorious flowing streams of the Living Word.