1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,280 This morning after that slightly, I feel like everyone's 2 00:00:03,280 --> 00:00:07,680 looking at me like, oh, this morning we're kicking off a new 3 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:11,560 series and I hear some of you say, hey, didn't we just kick 4 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:13,200 off a new series? We did. 5 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:17,520 We have kicked off the series on Axe or Impact series, but we're 6 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:21,600 actually kicking off a second new series on Colossians. 7 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:25,760 And we're going to be weaving these two series together over 8 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:28,720 the next couple of months. And they're quite dynamic 9 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:32,560 actually, when we look at the topics of the Holy Spirit and 10 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:38,720 who we are in God, who He is and who we are in him as we look at 11 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:41,880 our impact through the power of the Holy Spirit into our world. 12 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,160 So we're in for a dynamic few months of really digging into 13 00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:48,880 the Word and we're excited for what God is going to do in us. 14 00:00:50,160 --> 00:00:52,000 But I'm going to pray and then we're going to open the Word 15 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:56,560 together. In fact, I'm going to ask you to 16 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:59,240 just hold out your hands if you're open in this room to hear 17 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:06,080 from the Lord today. Holy Spirit, we simply ask you 18 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:11,720 to come. We thank you that it's you who 19 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:14,840 breathes life to the words of Scripture. 20 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:20,240 You open our hearts and we invite you to open our hearts 21 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:24,760 right now that not one of us would walk out of this room 22 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:30,880 within an encounter with you this morning through your living 23 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:38,760 active word, man, man. So turn with me and we're going 24 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:40,440 to be looking at Colossians. We're actually going to be 25 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:43,840 working through Colossians essentially few verses at a time 26 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:46,360 in this series. And this morning we're going to 27 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:51,320 be looking at Colossians one versus 1 to 8, and we're going 28 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:56,320 to read it together. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus 29 00:01:56,320 --> 00:02:02,320 by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother to God's holy people 30 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:05,920 in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ, 31 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:08,919 grace and peace to you from God our Father. 32 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:13,600 We thank God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray 33 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:17,280 for you because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and 34 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:20,800 of the love you have for all God's people, the faith and love 35 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:24,960 that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about 36 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:28,520 which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 37 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:32,920 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is 38 00:02:32,920 --> 00:02:36,560 bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world, just 39 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:39,680 it has, as it has been doing among you since the day you 40 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:42,520 heard it and truly understood God's grace. 41 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,800 You learned it from a Pafras, our dear fellow servant, who was 42 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:52,520 a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf and who also told us 43 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:57,920 of your love in the Spirit, love the word of God. 44 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,640 So to give us a little bit of context as we head into this 45 00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:07,200 series, you know, the book of Colossians is a letter written 46 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:12,240 by a man called Paul to a young church in a place called 47 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:16,000 Colossae, which is a small city that you'd find in modern day 48 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,880 Turkey. Paul is likely and probably most 49 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:23,120 certainly is in prison for his faith at the time that he's 50 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:27,200 writing this letter, alongside a guy called Timothy, who was 51 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:29,960 another respected leader in the early church. 52 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:35,120 To this body of believers who were living in a world at the 53 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:40,280 time that was shaped by a lot of competing worldviews, you had 54 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:44,240 Greek philosophy, you had Eastern mysticism, Roman 55 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:48,000 culture, and Jewish tradition all wrapped up and swirling 56 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:52,320 around everywhere they went. And the danger for believers 57 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:55,880 wasn't that they were rejecting Jesus, it was that they were 58 00:03:55,880 --> 00:04:00,080 slowly and potentially subtly drifting if they didn't stay 59 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:04,360 alert to a faith where Christ was no longer supreme, the 60 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:08,920 highest in their life, he was no longer fully sufficient that 61 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:13,400 everything, it was like Jesus and a bit of extra stuff. 62 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:17,320 And I think in some ways, if we're honest, we can probably 63 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:20,760 resonate with that a little bit, right in our own noisy 64 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:24,360 information opinion aided drenched world. 65 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:27,720 You know, even in the last week, we were listening to the team 66 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:29,040 that had been out to the Himalayas. 67 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:32,520 And they they saw this like really apparent as they were 68 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:36,040 ministering in those in the nation that they went to where 69 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:39,040 Christians could say yes to, where believers would say yes to 70 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:41,600 Jesus, but they'd love to mix in with all the other spiritual 71 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:45,720 things that they're open to. And there was this real need to 72 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:49,400 acknowledge that Jesus was lured not just another God in their 73 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:52,880 life. And so when this letter opens 74 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,200 with the phrase, that first phrase, Paul, an apostle of 75 00:04:56,200 --> 00:05:00,880 Christ Jesus by the will of God, you know how easy it is to read 76 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:02,240 a sentence like that and throw it away. 77 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:04,200 When we read our Bibles, we're like, let's skip to the good 78 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,360 stuff. But that was a deeply 79 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:12,400 intentional statement of identity and authority because 80 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:16,120 Paul is saying into this mixed up world, I'm not bringing my 81 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:18,240 own ideas here to the mixing pot. 82 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:23,840 I'm speaking as someone who's sent by Christ Jesus, which is 83 00:05:23,840 --> 00:05:26,640 confirmed in Galatians 11. It says that Paul was sent from 84 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:31,520 God, not from a man who is rooted in Christ, having 85 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:35,440 encountered him himself. And he was speaking under the 86 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:41,200 authority of Christ Jesus. And it's really poignant that we 87 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:44,600 recognize that because it's what he's saying is this is a heads 88 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:46,640 up, everybody. The stuff I'm about to say is 89 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:51,040 really important, not because of who Paul is in his own merit, 90 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:54,400 but because of who Christ Jesus is. 91 00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:58,160 And what a timely reminder for us church. 92 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:02,040 We not only live in a noisy world, we actually live in a 93 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:06,720 really noisy Christian world where the insta reels and the 94 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,440 access to endless sermons and podcasts and people's latest 95 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:14,600 commentary on scripture can be all really helpful. 96 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:19,320 But you know what? They do not replace this right? 97 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:24,080 Picking up the scripture for ourselves, not taking our 98 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:28,840 theology second hand because in here is the truth and the truth 99 00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:33,000 anchors us and it's not just an idea about who Jesus is. 100 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:39,080 This reveals who He really is and the Spirit in helps us more 101 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:40,640 and more. The more we drench ourselves in 102 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:43,800 here, the more the Spirit is going to make Jesus real in our 103 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:46,920 lives. And so this passage is off to a 104 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:51,680 super intentional start. And actually, interestingly, I 105 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:54,640 think it reveals a lot in that first sentence about what is to 106 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:58,640 come about being rooted in Christ Jesus. 107 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:01,520 And this morning I just want to unpack 3 things that the Lord 108 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:05,440 just highlighted to me as I sat in these few verses about what 109 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,720 happens in us when we are rooted in Christ Jesus. 110 00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:11,960 And they're kind of like an introduction to the rest of the 111 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:13,920 amazing speakers that are going to come after me who are 112 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:18,840 unpacking the rest of this book. But but I want to start this 113 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:22,320 morning with these three things and maybe whet your appetite for 114 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:26,920 what is to come. And the first one is this, that 115 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:33,120 being rooted in Jesus means that we get a new identity. 116 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:39,960 Look at verse 2 with me. It says to God's holy people in 117 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:45,200 Colosse, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and 118 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:47,360 peace to you from God our Father. 119 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:52,640 Before Paul addresses anything that this church needs to watch 120 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:57,360 out for, before he corrects any off track possible theology, 121 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:01,280 before he addresses any behaviour or gives an 122 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:05,080 exhortation for their growth and maturity, what does he do? 123 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,720 He speaks out their identity in Christ. 124 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:13,080 Notice it. How does he describe this 125 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:20,080 Colossian church? God's holy people, faithful 126 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:28,560 brothers and sisters in Christ. And that's pretty remarkable if 127 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:32,880 you think about the context that we know this church is living in 128 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:36,200 and what he's about to address in them. 129 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:40,559 And if I'm honest, deeply reassuring, right? 130 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:44,360 Because Paul doesn't start by saying because you're getting it 131 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:48,440 wrong or because of the dangers surrounding you or the mixed 132 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:52,360 messages in the world, you need to listen up carefully. 133 00:08:52,960 --> 00:09:00,360 He starts by saying church, this is who you are in Christ. 134 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:04,680 And I want us to slow down for a minute and just notice it 135 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:10,200 because we hear these phrases. God's people holy all the time. 136 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,800 If we're in church a lot and I think we sometimes we don't let 137 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:15,760 them just resonate in us a little bit more. 138 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:20,640 You know, maybe even now you just want to close your eyes so 139 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:22,240 you're not distracted and hear it. 140 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:35,080 God's people, we belong to him, our incredible Father in heaven, 141 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:40,320 the one who is full of love and joy and delight over you. 142 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:46,920 You belong to him, you are his. I belong to Him. 143 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:52,080 And as believers, as those who have acknowledged our need of a 144 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:59,520 Saviour Jesus, we have been saved and adopted into his 145 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:05,200 family as his kids into this new life, as Co heirs alongside 146 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:09,640 Jesus, his Son. Let me show you how. 147 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:13,480 I am his Son, I am his daughter. Hear it this morning in your 148 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:17,080 heart. And that means that you have 149 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:21,480 unhindered access to him at all times. 150 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:24,440 You know, just like my kids used to. 151 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:27,640 They didn't care whether their dad was sat in a meeting at work 152 00:10:27,640 --> 00:10:29,440 or in our lounge with friends or anything. 153 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:32,160 If they saw him when he was a toddler, they would run at him 154 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:35,400 unhindered because they knew that he was their dad. 155 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:43,880 We get this new life church completely forgiven, the chance 156 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:48,240 to be free from the power of sin and death that wants to entangle 157 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:53,080 us through the blood of Jesus, created with purpose and 158 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:57,520 intention and meaning. To live a life full of joy as 159 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:02,200 overcomers with the promise of a life eternal. 160 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:07,160 To enjoy endless beautiful relationship, communion with God 161 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:14,240 forever and all because of Him. All because of his deep, 162 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,960 unconditional, radical, undeserved love for each one of 163 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:23,200 us. It's mind blowing. 164 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:27,160 That's how we can sing. Yes, you are. 165 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:30,560 You're the most beautiful. There is no one like you. 166 00:11:32,680 --> 00:11:36,000 And that's why Paul was able to go on and call this body of 167 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:41,520 believers holy and why we are declared in this room holy 168 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:47,440 because it's our inheritance. And yet if I asked any one of us 169 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:50,200 in this room this morning before I got to speak and I said to 170 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:52,160 you, you could you describe yourself? 171 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:55,200 I can't see none of us would have put our hand up and be 172 00:11:55,200 --> 00:12:00,040 like, I am holy. Because when we hear the word 173 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:04,920 holy, our sub, our subconscious translates that into I've got to 174 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:09,640 be doing everything right? But you're called holy this 175 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:11,320 morning because you're God's child. 176 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:13,960 And not because of anything you've done or you're doing 177 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:16,480 anything special, but because he is holy. 178 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:20,000 And now you've been grafted into his family and it's like you 179 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:25,120 carry his DNA, so to speak. Like my kids, my girls look like 180 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:27,160 my triplets. So you often know, there's no 181 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:30,160 denying that my twin girls belong to me, right? 182 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:33,640 They look like me. We look like our Father in 183 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:39,760 heaven, and Paul calls them faithful, drumming home this 184 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:43,760 truth because he definitely did not mean that this church was 185 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:47,360 flawless, as we uncover reading the rest of this letter. 186 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:52,440 But even in their mess, they were postured with a desire to 187 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:56,160 follow Christ while they were still working out and learning 188 00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:59,040 and stumbling and coming back to Jesus and asking for the Holy 189 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:01,640 Spirit help again and again and again. 190 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:06,000 And this morning I just felt in my spirit, the Lord wants to 191 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:08,760 remind us in this room who we are. 192 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:15,400 He is who he says He is, and you are who He says you are in him. 193 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:23,720 And perhaps this morning you're in the room and you've never met 194 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:27,520 Jesus before. Perhaps you're like, what is 195 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:30,000 this girl talking about? I thought church was about rules 196 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:35,400 and doing the right things. This is what's on offer for you. 197 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:41,480 Jesus is for every human being on this earth, including you and 198 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:44,600 his invitation to you this morning. 199 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:47,800 If you would love to give His life, give your life to Him and 200 00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:51,560 let him lead you, recognizing that you can't do this life on 201 00:13:51,560 --> 00:13:54,120 your own. He's saying, I want you to 202 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:59,920 become one of my God's kids and this life of joy and freedom 203 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:05,240 and, and just being accepted and loved and adopted can be yours. 204 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:08,360 But some of us have already done that in this room. 205 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:10,880 We love Jesus and but we forget, right? 206 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:15,280 We forget the reality of the truth because we get so 207 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:18,600 distracted in how we aren't adding up to what we think we 208 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:21,680 need to be. And it's why Paul goes on to 209 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:25,720 confidently declare that grace and peace come to you from God, 210 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:29,440 our Father, because he's reminding us that he knew that 211 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:33,600 even in their imperfect journey, that we have a Father in heaven 212 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:37,680 who loves to pour out his free gifts upon us. 213 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:44,760 This gift of a beautiful life in him, not out of us performing to 214 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,760 acquire it. And I just think it's really 215 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:51,840 poignant that Paul does this before he goes into the rest of 216 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:56,080 this letter, because what he's speaking to us here is that when 217 00:14:56,080 --> 00:15:00,640 we we have this new identity in Christ and it pierces into the 218 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:04,920 core of our human reality, into the world full of lies of the 219 00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:09,120 accuser, who even as believers continues to try to convince us 220 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:12,240 that we have to live for acceptance. 221 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:17,720 But in Christ Church we no longer have to live for 222 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:20,960 acceptance or with an uncertainty that if we mess it 223 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:25,320 up somehow, we have the power to change God's mind, that somehow 224 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:29,520 we can make him reject us. And yet we sang it this morning 225 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:33,080 when he went sent Jesus to the cross, He said it is finished. 226 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:36,640 And when he said it is finished, he ended this for us. 227 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:39,480 We no longer live from for acceptance. 228 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:45,320 We live from acceptance in Christ and everything changes in 229 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:49,720 our future as a result. And that means that as we delve 230 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:52,560 into the rest of this book, God is reminding us this morning 231 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:56,600 when he calls us higher and deeper and convicts us and 232 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:58,400 challenges us in our discipleship. 233 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:01,240 It's never from a voice of do better. 234 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:06,320 It's always from a voice of saying you're mine, you belong 235 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:10,120 to me, and therefore you have access to the fullness of who I 236 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:12,040 am. And together we're going to go 237 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:15,160 at this thing, we're going to press into this area, we're 238 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:17,320 going to go on this adventure in the Spirit. 239 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:21,000 We're going to do this and that. We do it together, empowered by 240 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:24,880 God. Or as NT right puts it, Paul 241 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:29,200 does not tell people how to behave in order to become more 242 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:32,760 Christian. He tells them who they are 243 00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:37,760 because they are a Christian in Christ, and then draws out the 244 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:40,400 implications for how they are to live. 245 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:45,120 So here at this morning church, you are in Christ. 246 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:48,360 You are adopted and accepted and loved in this place. 247 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:51,200 And I hope that gets you to sit up a little bit stronger this 248 00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:54,240 morning, because you should, because you're in the presence 249 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:59,720 of your Father. Point #2 Being rooted in Jesus 250 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:08,040 changes us from the inside out. Verses 3 to 6 you know, in these 251 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:13,760 next few verses, we start to see some of the fruit of a life 252 00:17:13,839 --> 00:17:17,920 grounded in Christ. We see it in poor we he in the 253 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:22,119 way that thankfulness, gratitude is overflowing in him, right. 254 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:26,319 We thank God always for our the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 255 00:17:26,319 --> 00:17:29,800 when we pray for you his he is grounded in Christ and he's full 256 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:32,240 of thankfulness. And it's why we exhort us often 257 00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:36,360 in this room that we have a reason to be thankful even when 258 00:17:36,360 --> 00:17:40,040 it feels like we don't. Because we have Jesus and we can 259 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:42,000 thank him always for what he has done. 260 00:17:42,360 --> 00:17:47,960 But Paul goes on to talk about faith and love and porn, only 261 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:51,600 names the fruit that we start to see growing in them. 262 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:54,760 But I noticed something. This is the moment when he 263 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:58,960 connects it back to the truth that the fruit of our life 264 00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:03,360 springs up. It overflows from the reality of 265 00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:09,440 a hope stored up, secured in heaven, the hope that Jesus 266 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:12,520 secured through his death and resurrection. 267 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:16,000 And it speaks to this eternal promise that we have that is a 268 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:19,840 part of our inheritance that we receive as one of his kids when 269 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:26,040 we say yes to Jesus. But let's have an honest moment. 270 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:28,480 You know me, I like an honest moment, right? 271 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:33,840 You know, as a pastor in this place, I've sat with many of you 272 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:40,000 and I know from my own journey with Jesus that we can hear all 273 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:44,000 these amazing statements about what our what is ours in Christ 274 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:46,200 Jesus. We can know we've got this hope 275 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:50,080 for the future. We can know that we're accepted 276 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:54,440 and loved, and then we can look at our lives and desperately 277 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:58,280 want to become more loving. I would love to become more 278 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:01,640 loving to everyone around me. I'd love to be more patient, 279 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:04,680 more gentle. All those fruits of the spirit 280 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:10,640 that we know. But we find ourselves, don't we? 281 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:14,680 Or maybe it's just me in moments of frustration or Dan Rabbit 282 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:18,640 Warrens wondering, like, why can't I seem to grasp it? 283 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:26,480 And then subtly in those places, we end up trying to fix it in 284 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:29,280 our own strength. We'll cover it up a little bit. 285 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,600 Gosh, if they knew what was really going on in here. 286 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:38,400 Uh oh. Almost like sticking like the 287 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:41,760 good fruit on the outside. We do all the right things. 288 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:43,440 You know, if I show up at all the prayer meetings, they'll 289 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:47,560 think I'm really prayerful. A bit like the day that one of 290 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:51,760 my boys brought me a dead branch in the garden and had attempted 291 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:56,000 to try to tie apples onto it and they declared that they now had 292 00:19:56,000 --> 00:20:01,840 an apple tree for their den. And I had to smile like any good 293 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:05,440 mum does. And but I thought, gosh, how 294 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:11,080 easily we fall into that trap in our faith of trying to tie all 295 00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:15,520 the good stuff on. And yet we know deep down, don't 296 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:19,600 we, that that's not what we really want or how it works? 297 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:24,040 We know that an apple tree is only a living apple tree if we 298 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:28,320 get the seed and we plant it and we it bears roots and they grow 299 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:31,440 and then it starts to form the trunk and the branches and the 300 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:36,160 apples come empowered with water and sunlight. 301 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:39,600 And I want us to notice something as I sat in the 302 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:42,400 Scripture going, OK, God, what? What are you saying here? 303 00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:44,960 Let's look at this verse further down. 304 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:47,960 It says in the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and 305 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:51,280 growing throughout the whole world, just as it has been doing 306 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:55,120 among you since the day you heard it and truly understood 307 00:20:55,120 --> 00:20:58,920 God's grace. And something struck me in this 308 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:01,440 little phrase at the end of verse 6. 309 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:06,560 Fruit had been growing in them since the day they heard it, the 310 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:11,600 good news of the gospel and truly understood God's grace. 311 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:17,120 And what we're reminded is that fruit doesn't just simply come 312 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:19,920 from simply hearing the good news. 313 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:24,720 How does it come? It says since the day you heard 314 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:29,280 it and truly understood God's grace. 315 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:32,960 And in another version, it says understood God's grace in truth 316 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:37,840 and the and is so important. And I want to unpick this little 317 00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:39,360 sentence. So come with me on a little 318 00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:41,800 journey, OK? Understanding God's grace. 319 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:46,960 What is God's grace? Well, essentially as his 320 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:51,320 unmerited favour. It's his is our and His his gift 321 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:54,040 to us. It's in the what we don't 322 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:56,120 deserve. He's giving it to us anyway, and 323 00:21:56,120 --> 00:21:59,960 He's given it to us freely. This in the case of God's grace, 324 00:21:59,960 --> 00:22:02,200 a new life in Him, a new identity. 325 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:05,960 But I loved when I looked at this word because there's also a 326 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:09,880 reflection in the original that this came with dynamics of 327 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:15,040 kindness and great joy. So God's grace is God giving us 328 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:17,560 this gift, delighted to give it to us. 329 00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:22,800 He is joyful in giving it to us. And then the original word for 330 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:28,040 understood is I love it. I love a good word that I can't 331 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:33,800 pronounce, Epigenosco, which means if we break it down, EPI, 332 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,560 it means to come upon, which intensifies the word that 333 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:42,600 follows, which is genosco, which means to know. 334 00:22:43,360 --> 00:22:46,840 And together they literally point to something being known 335 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:51,960 deeply, thoroughly, through personal, lived experience, 336 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,960 embodied knowledge. Not just hearing information, 337 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:59,480 just acknowledging the truth, but a truth that speaks to 338 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,480 receiving it, wrestling with it, engaging with it so that it's 339 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:06,800 life changing, heart shaping reality transforming, 340 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,280 understanding. And for that to happen, it's not 341 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:13,200 a one hit wonder and suddenly you're going to live and have 342 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:16,560 this amazing fruit in your life. It's an active, growing, never 343 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:19,920 ending journey to deeper and deeper understanding. 344 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:24,880 And there is the catalytic truth that the enemy fights for us not 345 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:29,040 to embrace. And my grandparents, my step 346 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:32,120 grandparents, they, they were foster parents. 347 00:23:32,120 --> 00:23:36,720 In fact, they fostered over 50 children in their lifetime and 348 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:40,480 they received an award for it. And I got to meet some of the 349 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:43,120 foster kids because I was a teenager at the time. 350 00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:47,160 And these children were coming to their home and they were in a 351 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:52,280 home that loved Jesus. But because their future was not 352 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,960 secure, and even though they were surrounded by love and 353 00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:59,080 security, there was a guardedness in them. 354 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:03,120 And I think watching that unfold actually impacted me. 355 00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:07,520 Because now whenever I see a picture or a video of an 356 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:11,040 adoption court where the judge puts the hammer down and he 357 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:13,920 tells a child that their new name, that they have a future 358 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:18,080 and a security in this family, it like gets me every time. 359 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:21,200 And I get really emotional watching it because in that 360 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:26,000 moment there is a truth that pierces into the reality of 361 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:30,760 their trauma, that they belong and there's big smiles. 362 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:38,800 But it struck me that even in that those children go home and 363 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:44,000 the parents have to keep making space for the truth that 364 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:48,360 happened in that moment to sink in and change their trust and 365 00:24:48,360 --> 00:24:50,440 their behaviours for the long haul. 366 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:54,560 And the parents have to keep doing it on repeat. 367 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:56,480 And as believers, it's true of us too, right? 368 00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:59,480 We can hear this truth that we're in God's family, that 369 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:05,080 we're accepted and loved, but we have to keep making space for 370 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:10,640 the Holy Spirit to just make it go deeper and deeper and deeper 371 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:13,280 until it sits in every cavern of our horror. 372 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:18,440 And it's why on Sundays, we're making space for the Holy Spirit 373 00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:20,880 in here so that we can just say host. 374 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:24,000 But I need your help to know this is true of who I am in Him. 375 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:28,240 In fact, it's completely changed my approach to prayer. 376 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:30,400 I used to pray. Can you help me become more 377 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:31,840 loving? Can you help me become more 378 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:34,320 patient? And now when I'm impatient and 379 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:38,040 I'm unloving, I say, Holy Spirit, will you help me to know 380 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:42,440 the Father's heart for me? Will you help me to know who I 381 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:45,440 am in you? Would you help me to know that I 382 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:50,280 am loved, that I don't have to strive for His attention or His 383 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:55,000 affection? Would you help me to know when I 384 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,920 mess it up, that I can run unhindered to this Father in 385 00:25:57,920 --> 00:25:59,480 heaven? Because there's nothing that I 386 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:02,600 can do that will change His mind for His love for me? 387 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:08,120 And it's why in these days church, we need each other. 388 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:12,960 We need to create spaces where we can wrestle it out. 389 00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:15,560 We can get in the scriptures, we can hear the truth. 390 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:18,680 We can encourage one another and hear someone else's testimony 391 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:21,640 and pray with each other and stand next to each other and 392 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:24,720 say, Holy Spirit, come and help us know this truth of who we are 393 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:28,200 in Christ because that is where grace takes root. 394 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:32,200 And that is how fruit begins to grow in our lives. 395 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:37,160 We don't conjure up the fruit. We allow God's truth to resonate 396 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:39,760 in our heart. And from that place, the fruit 397 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:44,800 comes naturally. And so we need you. 398 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:49,480 We need you to make more spaces. We are going to see hundreds and 399 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:53,640 thousands of people saying yes to Jesus in this town and our 400 00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:56,160 city, right? Do I hear ya? 401 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:02,520 And in order for us to help people know who they are, to 402 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:06,800 truly understand God's grace, we need spaces for people to come 403 00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:09,920 in and walk beside us. And we do it together. 404 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:13,000 And so we're going to need more of you to, to run groups, to 405 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:17,040 open up your homes, to make spaces to disciple each other, 406 00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:19,680 not because you're a perfect leader and you have all the 407 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:21,880 answers, but we wrestle this side by side. 408 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:24,960 The Holy Spirit is the one that brings the revelation. 409 00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:28,080 We just want to create spaces for that to happen, right? 410 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:31,440 And you don't do it because you're ticking a box in your 411 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:34,240 Christian faith like it's a good Christian thing to do to run a 412 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:36,560 group, right? We do it because we want the 413 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:39,360 Holy Spirit to bring a revelation of the truth in this 414 00:27:39,360 --> 00:27:42,400 place so that we become more like him. 415 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:45,760 Amen. Because as Paul goes on to say, 416 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:50,000 when the gospel is alive, the gospel isn't just something to 417 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:54,600 admire or acknowledge is true. When it's alive in US, it 418 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:58,160 changes not just what we believe, it changes who we are 419 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:04,720 becoming from the inside out. And thirdly, being rooted in 420 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:09,000 Jesus enables us to be faithful followers. 421 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:14,680 Paul turns in verses 7 to 8 our attention to a name guy named 422 00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:18,320 Epaphras. And at first glance, Epaphras 423 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:21,560 might seem like a pretty minor character in the Bible story. 424 00:28:22,360 --> 00:28:23,640 You may never have even heard of him. 425 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:25,720 In fact, I bet if I'd asked at the start of this how many 426 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:27,640 people had heard of him, there would just be a few hands that 427 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:31,920 raised in the room. But when? 428 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:39,080 But this guy, he wasn't introduced as an apostle or a 429 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:44,520 big name leader, but he gave his life to Jesus in Ephesus when he 430 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:47,880 heard the good news. And then he faithfully went out 431 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:51,440 and carried the message to people, his people in Colossae 432 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:56,480 and day in and day out, even when he wasn't physically 433 00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:59,200 present in the church. You read further on that he 434 00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:03,000 fervently prayed and contended for them because he loved them, 435 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:07,480 because he loved God. And I absolutely love finding 436 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:09,560 individuals in the Bible like this because they're so 437 00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:12,480 relatable, right? And it reminds us that 438 00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:16,040 faithfulness is what we're all invited into as a follower of 439 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:22,440 Jesus, being available, willing, humble, ready, persistent, both 440 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:26,400 in the seen and the unseen, faithful in our homes and our 441 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:30,400 workplaces, just as I come in to end. 442 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:34,320 It reminded me of a her time our niece in the US when she was 443 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:37,120 born. Just a couple months after her 444 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:40,640 birth, she was diagnosed with something called Botulism, which 445 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:45,760 is a rare but seriously dangerous condition that affects 446 00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:49,240 a baby's ability to breathe. And essentially it was life 447 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:53,600 threatening if untreated. And she needed a really specific 448 00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:57,280 life saving, super expensive medicine that wasn't available 449 00:29:57,280 --> 00:29:59,120 locally on the East Coast where we were. 450 00:29:59,840 --> 00:30:02,920 In fact, it was only on the other side of America on the 451 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:05,840 West Coast, and it had to travel all across the US. 452 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:09,120 And I can remember being sat in this hospital room and we were 453 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:11,960 thanking Jesus for the medicine that was going to save my niece 454 00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:13,640 life. We were thanking him for the 455 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:18,080 doctors that knew what to do. But as I was preparing this it 456 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:20,560 struck me that I don't think once we ever thank God for the 457 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:24,480 pilot that threw flew that medicine across the to the US. 458 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:27,720 So we didn't thank him for the Porter that brought the medicine 459 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:32,440 through the hospital building to get it into the right place or 460 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:35,920 the lab technicians that were making sure it remained active. 461 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:40,560 But each faithfully did their part so that that medicine could 462 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:44,160 reach her and most of them would never have been thanked or 463 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:47,000 remembered. But without their faithfulness 464 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:51,080 in the part that they were asked to do, that life giving medicine 465 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:53,640 would never have arrived and saved her life. 466 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:58,640 And that's what Epaphras minds us, reminds us of Paul would be 467 00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:01,160 perhaps the first name that comes off our lips when we think 468 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:03,360 of Colossians. But it was Apaphras who 469 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:06,880 faithfully delivered the gospel, nurtured them as a church, 470 00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:09,720 carried them in prayer when he couldn't be there. 471 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:14,360 And he was in many ways unseen, Yet God worked through him to 472 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:19,720 build a church marked by what spirit produced love. 473 00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:23,160 And finally, I just want to say this, there's a verse. 474 00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:26,240 So, you know, our heart is the everyone. 475 00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:30,840 Everyone would have the opportunity to encounter Jesus, 476 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:34,840 not because we want a big church and be a big name in the nation, 477 00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:39,440 but because we believe the body of Christ is marked by the Holy 478 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:41,040 Spirit. And that allows us to 479 00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:45,760 demonstrate a love that literally changes everything. 480 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:51,920 And we want everyone to have the opportunity to know this love, 481 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:56,120 God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, whose presence is the 482 00:31:56,200 --> 00:32:00,800 answer for every single human being on this planet. 483 00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:06,400 And so from his love and in His love for one another, we walk 484 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:10,160 and steward all that He's placed in our hands to be faithful in. 485 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:15,320 Just like my niece's life that was saved by the many unfaith, 486 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:21,000 many unseen faithful hands, we Church are just a group of 487 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:25,760 ordinary humble people giving our yes to do our part 488 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:30,520 faithfully, prayerfully, persistently, to bring the life, 489 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:33,760 giving good news of Jesus to the whole world. 490 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:34,680 Amen.