Friends, I have the privilege to continue in our series today
called Rooted. Are you excited for that?
Come on, me too. Yes.
If you don't know me, you can tell by my accent that I'm not
English. I am Brazilian.
I'm Brazilian. And I'm I'm also part of Hawaii
man Youth with a mission and harp and I'm a missionary.
And actually I got sent out from a Baptist Church in Brazil.
So here we go. My background is a Baptist and I
grew up in a Baptist Baptist Church and I love the Baptist
and I miss my my home church and they are great.
Wow. OK, my talk for today is
Colossians one from verse 15 to 23.
And before I start and before we read the whole passage, I'd love
for us to think that this is Paul writing, right?
And probably he, he was in prison in Rome.
But imagine like he is in prison writing this letter for the
Church of Colossians and for all of us.
And he was actually saying Jesus is supreme over everything.
He was saying that over rulers, authorities, powers and as we
read that half die in your in your mind.
Paul was in prison writing this letter for us.
OK here we go. Colossians 115 to 23 The sun is
the image of the invisible God, the first born of over all
creation. For in Him all things were
created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
where the Thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all
things have been created through Him and for Him.
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
He is the head of the Body, the Church.
He is the beginning and the first born from among the dead,
so that in everything he might have the supremacy Hallelujah.
For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in him, and
through Him the to reconcile to Himself all things where the
things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through
His blood shed on the cross. Once we were alienated from God
and were enemies in your minds because of your rooted
behaviors, but now He has reconciled you by Christ's
physical body through death to present you wholly in His sight
without blemishing and free from accusation.
If you continue in your faith established and firm and do not
move from the hope held out on the Gospels, this is the gospel
that have you have heard and that has been proclaimed to
every creature under heaven of which I PO have become a
servant. This is a a strong statement
right there for us. He's holding everything together
and I have to say some, probably some of us, I would say probably
all of us. We don't wake up thinking like
I'm going to slowly be feel disconnected with the Lord.
I'm going to slowly drift away. And I have to say it doesn't
happen like there. It's more like a subtle thing,
right? Life gets full even for us as
pastors in our local church. It gets so much Hallelujah, too
much. We got busy, right?
Busy. It's noisy, full of emails and
conversation, responsibilities and desires and all of that.
And this is all good, but it feels like there isn't a clear
moment where everything falls apart.
It's more like a quiet awareness.
It's something like that. It feels like something is not
quite aligned on the inside, even for us here.
We can be in a room full of people and yet to disconnect it.
We can be doing the wonderful things, the right things in life
and still feel disconnected because we are doing things out
of duty, not out of love. And we even being here at
church, you know, raising your hands, bowing down and
worshiping and serving and yet feel like something is missing.
And I have to say, friends, that I'm also preaching to myself
here today because most like, most of the time, like I, I want
to stay home being very honest, like, but because of my love for
the Lord, I am going to do it because I want, I want people to
meet Jesus. And I know that he's holding
everything together for us. And because of like, slowly we
drift away. And sometimes we feel like this
can be, this can be life. Life can be like, like this so
normal. It feels like this is normal.
We still show up, we still functioning.
We we do the right things, but in the inside, there's there's a
sense of disconnection. We feel stretched and
distracted, pulled in different directions.
And the Bible has a language for this, a life that has become
disordered, out of place of center.
The wonderful brother Eugene Peterson talks about this as a
losing the center. The center that holds everything
is still there, but nothing is held together in coalitions. 1
is this is this comes to us not as a pressure, but as an
invitation from Pol to bring everything back to the center
again. And friends, I think I have said
this before and being a Brazilian in this nation, which
I am so truly blessed by being a missionary and a pastor in the
UK, because your nation has has touched my nation.
Your history with the gospel is beautiful and I'm forever
grateful for your nation. But I also have to say, like for
all of us, this is me included as a Brazilian, we need to keep
practicing Thanksgiving. This is a reminder for us that
he's holding everything together.
The first thing you do in the morning shapes you.
So he's he's holding, holding everything together.
And Paul says in verse 15, he talks about who Jesus really is.
He says this, the Son is the image of the invisible God.
I feel this. This is, this is where this is
where everything starts. It's not with what we do, but
with who Jesus is. And we become what we behold.
We become what we behold because how we see Jesus, how you see
Jesus, shapes how you live. Jesus is not just a teacher or
spiritual figure or a part of your life.
He is God made visible for us through Christ.
Sometimes we say, you know, Jesus is part of my life, this
is all good, it's part of my life.
But I feel like this is a wrong statement for us.
He needs to be at the center and then everything else needs to
flow from that place. Everything else is different
from that place. Whatever you do in the like,
whatever you do in the morning is in your workplace university,
your behavior with your spouse, your behavior at your workplace
is inviting God at your, your ordinary life.
But everything, all actions needs to come from that place
where he is at the center. He is at the center.
It's like when you're about to have an argument with your wife,
like if the Lord is at the center, you would think to why
before you say anything. So this is the reality for most
of us. Many of us are not living in
response to who God really is and we are living there.
We are living in a response to who we think He is.
Sometimes it's formed by our past disappointment, pain, and
what others have said, but some of us relate to a distant God.
So far is a disappointed God, a demanding God.
But Paul says something really beautiful.
If you want to know what God God is like, look at Jesus.
Look how he loves, look how he forgives and look how he
welcomes friends. If you, if you've been here this
morning, if you walked in today feeling like I have got nothing
to give. Sometimes when I feel like I
have, I have got nothing to do, I spiritual exercise that I do,
I take a deep breath because our very own breath is a reminder of
the Lord. He's the one sustaining us.
He's the one sustaining us, your very own breath.
And sometimes we take our very own breath for granted.
Why? Because it became normal.
You're not thinking about it. It's just you're just doing it.
You're just doing it because it feels normal.
But if you are consciously aware of his presence in your ordinary
life, everything else will flow from there.
Are you with me? Hallelujah.
It's good to be in a charismatic church.
Amen. So one of the most beautiful
things about Jesus now, it's not just who he is, it's how he
moved towards people. Friend, if you come here this
morning and feel so isolated, I'll feel I'll say there is a
place for room at the table. He's already inviting you.
Can I be the center of your life again and again?
So again and again in the Gospels we see this pattern.
People who felt disqualified are the ones who very ones that
Jesus draws near to. Sometimes even myself being
here, like I'm having a lot of like fear of man feelings,
impostion syndrome, but like I need to remind myself that he is
the one sustaining me, giving the word of God to talk to you
today. And sometimes you feel like the
pastor got it. All the pastors that they got
it. Actually, no, we're doing it
together because he's the ones who stand in this church holding
everything together. Coming back to the center to
coming back to the center doesn't begin with striving.
It begins with seeing, beholding, contemplating.
One of the wonderful things about this nation that loves so
much is the beautiful parks, the national parks that the UK have.
And it's wonderful, even like why, when we have a florist in
the back and this is a good place for us to go and
contemplate the beauty of God, timing for ourselves to behold
the Lamb of God. Remember, the first thing we do
in the morning shapes you, shapes your day, shapes your
character. Invite the Lord to be at the
center again of your life. Hallelujah.
And this is what life is about. Verse 16 to 17.
All things we created through him and for him and that
includes you. Your life is not a random.
You're not here by accident. Your life is not a random.
It's not accidental. No, it's not meaningless.
You were to ready for Jesus. The whole point about your
existence is about relationship. This is the beautiful thing
about the gospels. So, you know, sometimes we have
all of these spokes, work, family, relationship, dreams and
responsibilities and desires. And I would say they are all
good, but they don't make a strong center.
They are not very reliable. And Paul says in him, through
Christ himself, all things hold together.
All things hold together, friend.
This is so powerful, so powerful.
So this donates that Christ is the active, sustaining force
that maintains the cohesion, stability, and existence of the
entire universe. Moment, my moment, moment by
moment. What I'm trying to say is this.
It's not in your control, it's not your effort, It's him,
Christ himself. And this is where sometimes many
of us we struggle because we've built our lives around good
things and good doing. And sometimes they, even the
good doing the good things can become idols in our hearts.
They can become OK, I've done my good bit today.
I've come to church today, but done and I've come, I've read
the you know, the the Bible verse that shows up in my my
phone every day. But done.
You like that, The sound effect. Yeah.
And we slowly replace him. You know, we feel like sometimes
it feels like you don't. It's just a quiet awareness
sometimes, like we're just doing life on your own.
And you're just in that pace of like business and emails and
things and busy and all of that. And sometimes, like, you feel
like, man, something is not quite there yet with my life.
It's because we are putting these these things at the
center. The problem is that the problem
is when they become the central, because whenever it's at the
center becomes the reference point for everything else.
It shapes your decisions. It shapes your emotions.
It shapes how you see yourself. Even if you, if you if work,
friends, if work is at the center, your identity rise and
falls into performance. If approval is at the center,
your piece depends on what others will think.
If comfort is at the center, you avoid everything that stretches
you. Because when Jesus at the
center, everything else finds its right, right place.
It's not about. It's not removed, but reordered.
It was never meant to hold you. Only Jesus can hold your life
together. And let me ask you something.
What is at the center of your life right now?
Because whatever is sits at the center shapes everything else.
Whatever is at the center shapes everything else.
Yeah. Let's take a moment to think
about that. Sometimes when we read this
back, this passage, Colossians one that he holds everything
together. Sometimes we'd even take the
passage for granted. I've read that before.
And this is. Yeah, Yeah, He's got it.
Yeah, but actually this is a strong statement that we are
proclaiming today and friends, like I'd say the Lord is moving
the UK, the Lord is moving the UK.
Like this is a strong statement for all of us that he's holding
his church together in the UK, right.
Even the last, the last last two weeks in the last, I think last
week, I was leading worship in a, in a Church of England called
Imprint in Bank. And the beautiful thing about
that place is there's a lot of people walking outside of the
church. And as we were worshiping, you
know, beholding the lame of God in worship, a lot of people from
outside just got so captivated by the sound, the mighty sound
of worship. And I have to say there was like
a, I'll say 50 people just showing up coming in.
I could see some of the heads. This is great.
MMM good music and some of them left like after a minute.
But there were a lot of people that got so captivated by how we
pursue Jesus in our lives, how we, you know, how we posture
ourselves in worship. And I have to say the Lord, it
is in a movie in the UK. This is the time for us to keep
declaring this in our lives. He's holding everything
together. My friends, if we're struggling
financially, he's holding everything together.
If you're struggling with mental health, he's holding everything
together. This is a strong statement.
It's for us. It's the time for us, for the in
the UK to walk towards one another.
Believers walk towards one another.
There's no time for division anymore.
No time for like, you know, disappointment.
I feel like it's time for us to move closer to one another
because the Lord is moving in the UK.
He's holding everything together, holding everything
together. You know when you you're on your
way to your work on Monday, sometimes some people commute to
London by train. You know when you get into some
Pancras, right? And then you try to use your
phone and you lose sick. You know, I feel like that
sometimes I'm in the phone doing something and then as soon as we
enter the some Pancras and it feels like you, you lose signal.
You try the what you can. Sometimes you try to use the
free Wi-Fi in a train doesn't work, but it stays free Wi-Fi
already paid for my ticket. What's going on?
It's fake news, but it's more like even if it's what I'm
trying to say is this, you can still open the apps on your
phone. You can still like take a selfie
for your social media. You can still, you know, trying
to open another app to check your nose, But it feels like
you're disconnected. It feels like you're out of
control because the tendencies, they're like, I want to be
connected. I want to feel like, oh, yes, I
can see this new, this new, this new news coming up on my phone.
And you feel disconnected. You feel out of control.
So, but what Paul is saying to us here is this is your
conscience, your conscious awareness of him.
What this is what Paul is trying to communicate in these verses,
that your your awareness of him that he is in control is not by
our own power and strength that he's holding everything
together. Even if you get into the into
some punctures by train, he's holding everything together in
your phone. Hallelujah.
So, as I said about Thanksgiving.
What Paul is trying to say to us is the awareness of him and what
Jesus has done. Verse 19 to 22, making peace
through his blood. Once we were alienated, now
you're reconciled and this is the center of everything Jesus.
Jesus didn't say distant, He come close and he stepped into
our brokenness, into our disconnection into into our off
center lives. And on the cross he made peace.
He brought us back. He brought he brought us back.
And friends, notice this, Jesus didn't just come to improve your
life, He come to restore your relationship with God.
He didn't come to improve your life and make yourself the
better version of yourself. He come to restore your
relationship with God and he didn't come just to make you a
better version of yourself. He come to bring you back to the
one, to the one you were created for.
And that changes everything because Christianity is not a
primarily about behaviors change.
It's about relationship restored.
It's about being reconnected to God.
And from that place everything else begins to shape, to change.
And This is why the cross matters so much for us as
believers. Because on the cross, Jesus
dealt with everything that kept us distant, seeing shame, fear
for men in Poston syndrome, guilt, separation.
He removed all the barriers so that we could come near.
Not someday, not next week, but now.
Now he's holding everything together.
God is putting everything back together again in Christ.
The gospel is not is not that you are forgiven, is that you
are restored. And this is the beautiful thing
about the gospel's friends, the gospel of Jesus.
Once you were far, now you're near, you are disconnected.
Now you are restored. You were lost and now you're
welcomed. Amen, yes, Amen, Amen.
Now you're welcomed and you know, like I'm using simple
language today or like the pastor is not coming up with
eloquent phrasing and all of that.
I know like the this is a simple message for all of us.
It's time to for us to go back to the centre.
Simplicity, simplicity. Sometimes you're longing.
So can I have this? Can I have there?
If I have this or have confidence, you have that.
I have confidence, I have this, I have a better life.
But we forget who is the head of the church, who is the head of
your life? Who is the head of your
household? You were brought back into a
relationship with God and so your life can be made whole
again. And this is my and this is the
invitation for us today. Verse 23 says this continue in
your faith, continue in your faith.
So following Jesus, friends, it's not just a one time moment.
It's it's that daily returning, it's that daily recentering.
Daily recentering. As I said, sometimes the first
thing we do in the morning is to scroll, scroll our phones and go
to newspaper and that dictates the shapes how our lives and our
day will go by. But The Walking with Jesus is
about consistency. It's about discipline.
You are choosing to behold the Lamb of God in the morning.
You're choosing to behold. You're choosing to stay with him
daily. Sometimes the return, it looks
very simple. It's not always a big and
dramatic moment. Sometimes it's just pausing for
a few minutes in your day and becoming aware of God again.
Whispering, just whispering, a simple prayer.
Jesus, I bring my attention back to you.
It's like when you feel so overwhelmed at your work, like
there's something going on that I need to or something's off.
Like this is an invitation for the Lord.
Take a moment, take a deep breath, invite the Lord again in
your mind, Lord, you're holding everything together for that.
And now this is I'd love for us to stand right now.
We're going to go into ministry.