Colossians 1:3-14

Colossians 1:3-14

sunday morning 5/15/11

V3 There was a group of heresies that had become quite influential on the church. It caused doubt in the hearts of the young believers. To combat these things, Paul introduced himself as giving thanksgiving to God for them. It was a way to assure someone that he or she is on track. He was building their confidence, assuring them that they were in God’s hands.

Paul was thankful for the Colossians:

1)      Identity: V4 “since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints - the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven… ”

a)      Faith is only as good as the object as it is placed in. A person may have a lot of faith in the bank, but it is only as good as the reliability of the bank. Faith itself will not guarantee the safety of their money unless that bank is well managed. For our faith to be valid and secure, it must be placed upon Jesus Christ. Jesus never fails, he never falls, and he never goes bankrupt. When we place our faith in him, we will not be shaken.

Many people say they believe in Jesus but there is never any change in them. If we believe that our faith is good in Jesus Christ, if we believe that Jesus is living, then our faith should be as living as He is. Faith without works is dead. If our faith doesn’t change our lives, it is as good as dead.

b)      Love is the identity of every true and genuine believer. Jesus said that people will know him through our love for one another. John says that he whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, and neither is he who hates his brother. If anyone says he is of God and hates his brother, he is a liar. John Macarthur says that a true child of God will love fellow believers.

Paul thanks God for the love of the saints in Colossians. It was not secretive, and it was not selective. Love does not mean that we have an emotional attachment toward them. It doesn’t mean that we feel good when they do something mean to us. It means that we continue to serve them in sacrifice and selflessness.

John 13:1 “(Jesus) having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.”

 When Peter pleaded with Jesus not to go to the cross during the last supper, Jesus rebuked him calling him Satan. Of course peter wasn’t Satan because Jesus was speaking spiritually. If peter hadn’t known anything about love, he would have thought that Jesus really hated him a lot.

Loving someone doesn’t mean that we will never be mad at them or upset with them. Before Jesus was captured, his disciples fell asleep on him. At this point he probably wasn’t so happy with them but he still loved them.

c)       Hope in Jesus shouldn’t be empty as many people claim. If you believe that Jesus is real, that he died a real death, rose from a real grave, and ascended to a real heaven, your hope will not be empty. If our hope is as real as our faith, one result is that we will be willing to sacrifice the present things on the alter for the future. We need to invest ourselves into heaven. If you sow to the flesh you reap things of the flesh. If you sow to the spirit you will reap spiritual things.

2)      Availability :

In many ways, availability is a word that speaks of openness and availability. During the week we find that we don’t even have time to do ministry work. We like to, but we find ourselves in such time restrictions. We should make ourselves available to prayer, to giving, to support for others.

The Power of a Mother's Love

Mother’s Day Message

The Power of The Mother’s Love

sunday morning 5/8/11

1 Kings 3:16-28

We obey our parents because it is right with God. We honor our parents because it is right with the word. Obeying our parents will result in a successful, prosperous, well-lived life.

1)      The fight for life: The battle between the two women was probably a long painful one before they were able to stand before the king. This battle began with the love of a mother for her son. She was willing to go the extra mile until she could obtain what belonged to her.

2)      The fullness of love:

a.       Sacrifice: The woman who was truly the mother of the child was willing to sacrifice her son so that he could live. She was willing to let go of her right as a mother to let her son live. Our mom’s sacrifice their time so that they can cook and clean for us. They sacrifice that dress or purse they want so they can buy our food.

b.      Suffering: The love of a mother suffers long. If that woman were to give up her boy, she is basically admitting to defeat. She is admitting that she was guilty. She could do that for her son because of the love she had for him.  Our moms suffer when we talk back at them. When we roll our eyes of give them attitude, they turn the other cheek because they love us.

c.       Accepting: A mother’s love is accepting. The mother of the child was a prostitute. She had no husband. She had nothing but the small boy. She was willing to give that only hope and joy she had up for the sake of her child’s life.

3)      The faith to learn: Solomon had the wisdom to be able to deal with this situation. He wrote thousands or proverbs. Among them, he wrote that we should obey our parents and respect them. This man was the wisest man of all time. If he says we should do something, we should listen.

A life of Worship

A Life of Worship

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

sunday morning 4/17/11

1)      Rejoice always: The joy we have in Jesus Christ should be founded upon the things of God, upon the eternal things. Phil 3:1 says to “rejoice always in the Lord”. Tribulations and troubles that come our way should not dictate our outlook on life. Even though we might encounter trials in our lives, we have joy in the Lord. A Christian life is a joyful life. The people of the church of Jesus Christ should be the most joyful people in the world.

It is difficult to worship God in a church gathering if we can’t worship Him personally at home. It is hard to worship God when we are feeling sad and depressed all the time. We need to rejoice in the Lord and learn to worship him individually. It is hard to worship in front of people because we haven’t been prepared.

2)      Pray without ceasing: this doesn’t mean we always have to be on our knees and behind the closet door. It means that the joy we have in God triggers us to pray. Praying ceaselessly doesn’t mean that we need to mumble prayers twenty four hours a day. It means that there is an unstoppable communion with us and God. if we practice listening to God and praying to Him, we will begin to long for it.

3)      In everything, give thanks: Even in the worst circumstances we should give thanks. God is still god in every predicament and will bring together all that we are going through. The mark of a Christian is thankfulness. We shouldn’t wait until thanksgiving or Sunday to be grateful towards God.

Things may be hard but we have a joy in God that is unexplainable. It leads us to constant prayer and thanks giving.