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.

• CAREFULL vs 4 & 8

What could be wrong with philosophy since it simply means “the love of wisdom”? 

1. DEAD – Empty, hollow. Many of the philosophies we hear of today when compared with the reality of human existence are far off the mark because they are empty.

• DECEPTIVE – It may sound good but it is nonsense designed to lead people astray. 

• DEPEND – On “human thinking”. They arise out of the thinking of men, find a foothold in society, and then are passed along from generation to generation so as to appear popular and widely supported. Tradition based on human logic becomes dangerous and hardly anyone dares question them because it seems like everybody believes them. One obvious example today is the theory of evolution. 

• DEPEND on “the spiritual powers of this world.” No man-made religion can lead to truth, for truth can only be found in Christ. If you start with nothing but an empty and hollow philosophy you will only fill people with more emptiness. Today many people are walking carelessly and the result is that they are filling their lives with emptiness. By contrast, Colossian 2:2 reminds us that because we know Christ, we have “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” Problem in Colosse was that some were seeking to harmonize the Christian faith with the current philosophies. They were seeking to conform Christ to the current trend. Trends come and go but truth is foundational. When you put these three verses together Paul is saying that a grounded, growing and grateful believer will not be led astray and spiritually kidnapped. 

• COMPLETE Vs 9-10 

A baby is born complete, you don’t need to add more DNA after the child is born. The baby grows from what is already programmed into it. The baby grows from inside out as do we in Christ. When we don’t recognize our completeness in Christ we start to add things. But Its not Jesus and or plus, we lean only on the Lord. Today we try to lean on other things and we become dependent on them so Jesus has to strip away our walking sticks. Why do we lean on sticks when we have the Savior? Are you walking complete in Christ or are you leaning on other things?

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.

D.       Academic – Vs 7 Be Learning

The next metaphor is found in the phrase, “your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught” We’re to be students in God’s school so that our faith can be strengthened. Students must study the Word of God in order to grow deeper. Students learn best in the context of community. The best class I had was where the professor put us in groups of four and we had to solve problems as a team, why because rarely in the real world is it a one man show, it’s a team. How does that translate to you? A disciple must always be learning, are you putting yourself in an environment where you can study and be strengthened on a regular basis? We are called to study the truth so we can spot a fake, Secrete Service study real money so they can spot the forgeries.  Be Studying to strengthen.

E.         Aquatic – Vs 7 Be filled to overflow

This word picture reveals a river bursting over its banks, overflow is what can’t be contained. What overflows out of your life, is it thankfulness or trash? As we study biblical truth it produces an inner joy that overflows out in thankfulness. Truth in thankfulness out, because the more we understand grace, the more gratitude we will have.  A thankless spirit betrays a life which is no longer focusing on the truth of Christ. If you don’t feel very thankful today, it’s probably because you’ve taken your eyes off of the promises and put them on your problems. It is dangerous not to be thankful Romans 1:20-21 – 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened NKJV. Today we have an overflow of complaining because the channel of our river rests on our circumstances instead of Christ. In this list of 5 word pictures, there are only two active verbs: to continue to follow Him and to be thankful. Our living should lead to thanksgiving. Our task is to live surrendered to His supremacy and to abound in the giving of thanks for what God has done for us in Christ. This deals with our response to God vertical Reverence, and our response to others horizontal refreshing. Be filled so that you can overflow.

Paul challenges us to…

Grow downward by being “ rooted”

Grow upward by being “built up”

Grow inward so that we can be “strengthened in the faith”

Grow outward as we “overflow with thankfulness”

Are you living it OUT? Following Christ means relying on Christ and resting in Christ, A Soldier, Tree, Building, Student, River how is your walk who are you following?

20 Deeper Dependence – Part 3

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.

D.       Academic – Vs 7 Be Learning

The next metaphor is found in the phrase, “your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught” We’re to be students in God’s school so that our faith can be strengthened. Students must study the Word of God in order to grow deeper. Students learn best in the context of community. The best class I had was where the professor put us in groups of four and we had to solve problems as a team, why because rarely in the real world is it a one man show, it’s a team. How does that translate to you? A disciple must always be learning, are you putting yourself in an environment where you can study and be strengthened on a regular basis? We are called to study the truth so we can spot a fake, Secrete Service study real money so they can spot the forgeries.  Be Studying to strengthen.

E.         Aquatic – Vs 7 Be filled to overflow

This word picture reveals a river bursting over its banks, overflow is what can’t be contained. What overflows out of your life, is it thankfulness or trash? As we study biblical truth it produces an inner joy that overflows out in thankfulness. Truth in thankfulness out, because the more we understand grace, the more gratitude we will have.  A thankless spirit betrays a life which is no longer focusing on the truth of Christ. If you don’t feel very thankful today, it’s probably because you’ve taken your eyes off of the promises and put them on your problems. It is dangerous not to be thankful Romans 1:20-21 – 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened NKJV. Today we have an overflow of complaining because the channel of our river rests on our circumstances instead of Christ. In this list of 5 word pictures, there are only two active verbs: to continue to follow Him and to be thankful. Our living should lead to thanksgiving. Our task is to live surrendered to His supremacy and to abound in the giving of thanks for what God has done for us in Christ. This deals with our response to God vertical Reverence, and our response to others horizontal refreshing. Be filled so that you can overflow.

Paul challenges us to…

Grow downward by being “ rooted”

Grow upward by being “built up”

Grow inward so that we can be “strengthened in the faith”

Grow outward as we “overflow with thankfulness”

Are you living it OUT? Following Christ means relying on Christ and resting in Christ, A Soldier, Tree, Building, Student, River how is your walk who are you following?