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Weekend Preview – Work/Labor & the Fall

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I hope you are anticipating this Sunday, March 7, like I am. Here’s where we’re headed…

In the morning, the sermon will come from Colossians 1:29, entitled “Gospel Toil.” There is a work associated with spreading the Gospel. How can we stay energized and not burn out in this work? This is where we’re going to be comforted by God’s Word. You might read Spurgeon’s sermon Work in Us and Work By Us in preparation.

In the evening, the sermon will be from Genesis 3 and how we see Jesus in “the Fall”, or the first sin. It is here as the first prophecy is given about Jesus in Genesis 3:15 that we can find hope for the sin that characterizes our lives.

On top of these sermons, we have Sunday School, Missions Committee and a new theological study group for men (@ 8PM). It will be a full day, but let’s pray that God is glorified and that He would powerfully work within us.

Weekend Recap – Proclaiming Christ

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I thought we had a great Sunday yesterday. My sermon was on Colossians 1:28 entitled Proclaiming Christ. This text really compelled us to be those who are speaking truth about Jesus (as opposed to simply “living a life that tells something” whatever that means). Specifically, we are told to speaking words of warning, instruction and communicate with purpose.

We ended by “proclaiming the Lord’s death until He comes” in the Lord’s Supper. It was a fitting way to say something about Jesus.

Hope you all had a great Lord’s Day as well.

Weekend Recap – Glorious Mystery/Glorious Creator

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Had a full Lord’s Day. My SS class is going through Paul Tripp’s What Did You Expect Curriculum and coming face to face with selfishness week in and week out.

The AM Sermon was from Colossians 1:26-27 and was entitled Gospel Mystery. A mystery, from this text, included truth hidden in the past and revealed to God’s saints. The mystery is Christ in us, the hope of glory. It was a humble reminder of what God has to do to save us.

The PM sermon looked at Jesus in the OT, specifically, the Creation account in Genesis 1:1 on and was entitled Jesus in Creation. Many times, we read this creation account as if God the Father is acting alone, but the NT is quite clear that Jesus was the Creator. I sought to remedy that with this message and was, again, humbled to see the glory of God in Jesus.

Weekend Preview – Mystery and Jesus in Creation

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As we prepare for the coming weekend, know that in the morning, we will be looking at Mystery from Colossians 1:26-27. Here’s Clinton Arnold’s commentary on this verse from the ESV Study Bible:

The mystery does not refer to something mysterious or to a secret ritual. Rather, Paul is speaking of God’s unfolding plan for the world and, above all, his plan of redemption through the Messiah (cf. 2:2; 4:3; Eph. 1:9; 3:3–4, 9; 5:32; 6:19). Although elements of God’s design were already known through the prophets, key aspects of it were hidden for ages and generations and thus were a mystery, which could only be known and understood when they were revealed by God. This language occurs often in the book of Daniel. After God reveals to Daniel that Nebuchadnezzar’s dream foretold four successive kingdoms culminating in the kingdom of God, Daniel tells the king, “there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days” (Dan. 2:28). At the heart of the mystery that God is now revealing through Paul is the amazing hallmark of the new covenant, Christ in you, the hope of glory. God himself, in the person of Christ, will be directly and personally present in the lives of his people, and his presence assures them of a future life with him when he returns. Moreover, Christ does not reside only in believing Jews but also in believing Gentiles, so that there is one unified people of God (cf. Eph. 2:11–22; 3:2–6).

My outline is really pretty simple: it was hidden in the past and revealed to God’s people. If you really would like more reading, check out Spurgeon’s sermon on it: Christ In You. Spurgeon highlights the passage in this way…

The essence of the mystery: Christ
The sweetness of the mystery: Christ in you
The outlook of all of this: The hope of glory

Let’s ask God also to open eyes to behold the light of the Gospel flowing in the face of Christ.

In the evening, we will continue our series on Jesus, the Point of the Old Testament by jumping into the Creation in Genesis 1 and unfolding how Jesus is seen in this amazing narrative. Should be a fun night.

At any rate, this is where we’re heading this weekend. Let’s come ready to worship our Creator and Savior.

Weekend Recap on Ministry…

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Yesterday’s sermon from Colossians 1:25 is now online–entitled Ministry: From, To, For. This sermon greatly affected my heart by allowing me to see afresh how ministry is from God, to us as individuals and for the benefit of others. It also affected me in showing me how arrogant I often function in ministry. As God’s Word called me to humble service, I could find grace.

In small group last night we talked about different kinds of righteousness that we use to inflate our position before God. These performance driven righteousnesses easily get us from centering all that we are on Jesus and His Work for us. One they didn’t mention might be:

MINISTRY RIGHTEOUSNESS — “I’m serving in the church, doing what God has gifted me to do. Surely my obedience in this area and care for others establishes my position before God.” Nope! It doesn’t replace the cross and my need for it daily. I hope you are encouraged, then, to serve in the strength that God supplies, so that HE is glorified.

Recap of Gospel Suffering

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Today’s sermon, Gospel Suffering from Colossians 1:24 is now online. Thought we had a good morning. I was really stirred by the passage and the call to join Christ in suffering. Like I confessed this AM, I have a hard time embracing suffering for the Gospel because I don’t want the negative. This running after convenience is missing what the NT says is the norm for believers. Any applications stick out to you?

Weekend Recap – Perseverance

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Today’s sermon, Gospel Perseverance, from Colossians 1:23 is now online. The outline was pretty simple, getting at motivations for perseverance…

I. We persevere continuing in our faith.
II. We persevere recognizing the scope of the Gospel.
III. We persevere remembering the change the Gospel produces.

I loved the way the passage unfolded to our corporate practice of the Lord’s Supper. We need the encouragement to persevere because we are so prone to think that because we believed at one point in our lives, we are no longer responsible for living out those truths with more and more belief. We need to heed this passage and “not shift from the hope of the Gospel that we heard.”

Stand Fast (or Gospel Perseverance)

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This Sunday, we will be looking at Colossians 1:23. I thought of entitling the sermon “the Big IF” but ended up entitling it Gospel Perseverance. Here’s the issue, from Spurgeon’s sermon Stand Fast on the same text…

But, Brothers and Sisters, the battle does not end when, by a desperate rush, a man has come to Christ. In many it assumes a new form—the enemy now attempts to drag the trembler from his refuge and eject him from his stronghold! It is difficult to get at the hope of the Gospel, but quite as difficult to keep it so as not to be moved away from it. If Satan spends great power in keeping us from the hope, he uses equal force in endeavoring to drag us away from it—and equal cunning in endeavoring to allure us from it. Hence the Apostle tells us not to be moved away from the hope of the Gospel. The exhortation is necessary in presence of an imminent danger. Do not think that in the moment when you believe in Christ the conflict is over, or you will be bitterly disappointed! It is then that the battle renews itself and every inch of the road swarms with enemies.

Between here and Heaven you will always have to fight, more or less, and frequently the severest struggle will be at a time when you are least prepared for it. There may be smooth passages in your career and you may, for a while, be like your Savior in the wilderness, of whom it is said, “Then the devil departed from Him, and angels came and ministered unto Him.” But you may not, therefore, cry, “My mountain stands firm, I shall never be moved,” for fair weather may not outlast a single day! Do not grow secure, or carnally presumptuous. There is but a short space between one battle and another in this world. It is a series of skirmishes even when it does not assume the form of a pitched battle. He that would win Heaven must fight for it! He that would take the new Jerusalem must scale it and if he has the wits to take Jacob’s ladder and set it against the wall and climb up that way, he will win the City. “The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force.”

The Christian life isn’t for the faint of heart. It involves a struggle to continually lay hold of the Gospel. I hope you are encouraged to that end this Lord’s day.

AM Recap from 1/17 – Reconciled!

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Today’s sermon, Before and After, from Colossians 1:21-22 is now online. The sermon sought to highlight snapshots of God’s reconciling work for us. Before Christ, we were in need of reconciliation. We are reconciled through Jesus’ death on the cross and the result of this is positive – we are presented holy, blameless and above reproach before Him. I thought the sermon got to some good truth for me. I need to be humble and patient with unbelievers who don’t necessarily understand the truth of the Gospel. And, I can have confidence for the future only because of Christ, not my performance.

Any thoughts from anyone else?

Weekend Prep — Reconciled & Jesus

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Here’s the scoop for where we’re headed this weekend as we look gather corporately.

On Sunday AM, we will be focusing in on Colossians 1:21-22 and seeing 3 snapshots of our reconciliation, a before Christ element, the element Christ accomplished in His death and an “after” element looking forward into eternity. Pray for the Gospel to be clear to unbelievers who might be present and for God’s Word to richly build us up.

In the PM service, we will be starting a new series overviewing the big storyline of the Bible. The sermon is entitled “Jesus: The Point of the Old Testament.” I hope to give reasons we know the OT is about Jesus in this message, which will be an important framework for the sermons that will follow.

I am looking forward to seeing each of you this weekend.