Daily Devotions - Entries written by Jonathan Ziman

Participating in a funeral last week was a startling reminder that life is incredibly short. This world we live in is impermanent and fading away. Our bodies are aging slowly, but relentlessly. Death will come to each and every one of us. No amount of money, good health or fame and fortune can keep it away.

We can’t stop the day from coming, but we can control how we spend our time in the meantime. Paul’s advice to the Colossians was simple:

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. (Col. 4:5, NIV)

Unless you are a hermit, you will come into contact with “outsiders” all the time. At work, on the train, at the gym, on the bleachers at baseball games, at the playground, in Starbucks, at the grocery store, at the mechanic, in the bank…The list is endless. We all spend our lives surrounded by other people, but do we really “see” them? Are we wise in the way we act towards them?

We fill our days with all kinds of stuff, but what are we doing to maximize the opportunities God is giving us to share our life with those far from God? Our time may be drawing to a close sooner than we think or expect—long life is promised to nobody. How will we use the hours God has given us today to draw others towards the life-giving hope we have in Jesus?

Let’s review the basics. We see prayer modeled for us throughout the Old Testament. It’s hard to find a page in the New Testament where someone is not praying or exhorting us to pray. Paul was a devoted man of prayer. Jesus not only modeled prayer but taught His disciples to pray. The Book of Acts records that the very first thing the disciples did after Jesus ascended to Heaven was pray. The early church was a prayer-filled church. We read in Acts,

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42, NIV)

There’s not getting around prayer. If you claim to be a follower of Jesus, you will pray. Prayer is not an optional part of our Christian life, it’s a necessary part. In fact, it may be the most necessary part of our walk with Christ.

Several years ago, Dallas Theological Seminary professor Howard Hendricks pointedly challenged students to consider how arrogant they must be to treat prayer so lightly. To think that we can really do anything for or with God without prayer is an astonishing display of pride and self-centeredness.

Yet, if we’re honest, all too often our prayer life shrinks down to a few words in the morning and a few words at night, if that. Have you ever had that sinking feeling when you realize it’s been two or three days since you last prayed privately and personally to God?

The amazing news, however, is that even these failures meet their match at the cross. God’s grace covers even these short-comings. As we repent of our pride and turn to Him for forgiveness He gives us strength to start anew. We don’t need to beat ourselves up and struggle under the weight of guilt, when those mistakes have been paid for in full on the cross.

This week is your chance to start over. Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. (Col 4:2) Don’t overthink it, just open your mouth and reveal your heart to God. You are needy and helpless and that’s a good place to be, because we serve a God who calls Himself our provider in times of need and our ever-present help in times of trouble.

Think back over the past seven weeks since we first studied Col. 3:1-4. What are some practical and specific ways in which you have been able to “set your hearts on things above”? Almost everything else in Colossians 3 flows out of these crucial first verses, themselves a sort of summary of the first two Christ-centered chapters of the book. So, how is it going?

Christ is to be at the center of everything we do and everything we are. Moreover, if Christ is indeed at the center of our lives, then that will have practical, specific implications in all of our most vital relationships as a result. So, for example, how do you treat your spouse? How do you treat your children? How do you treat your employees?

Paul ends his “household code” with the following command:

Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven. (Col. 4:1, NIV)

Paul’s command was addressed squarely at the masters of the slaves, calling upon them to treat their slaves with justice and fairness. This call might have been somewhat revolutionary in the overall context of the Roman Empire, but for believers in Christ, this call simply reiterates the core of Christ’s teaching.

Believers in Christ are considered to be brothers and sisters in Christ. There is a leveling of the playing field in the sense that we are to love and serve each other as equal partners, even if we have each been assigned different roles to play. So, how do you treat those over whom you have authority?

When I was growing up in England, one of the things that attracted me to America was the incredible work ethic. The focus on pulling yourself up by the bootstraps was very appealing and I loved this idea that you can be anything you want to be in America, if you work hard enough. This is the lens through which I have always read Paul’s command to the Colossians:

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Col. 3:23-24, NIV)

Work hard! Work with all your might! Strive. Pursue. Build. Be all you can be. Do great things (for God, of course). Yes, God has called us to work hard at what we do. We’ve all been given different gifts and abilities and God expects us to use those, wherever He has placed us. However, the emphasis in this verse is not on the degree of effort we ought to be exerting to accomplish our goals.

Nor is this verse mean to be used as a kind of guilt-inducing motivator (for getting your children to do their homework for example). When we use guilt as a motivator we will never get obedience that comes from “sincerity of heart.” What we end up with is a kind of begrudging obedience that will almost always be limited to those times when we are watching (the absolute opposite of the kind of thing Paul calls us to in Col. 3:22).

What Paul does want for the Colossian slaves (and by extension, us as well) is to see the bigger picture—their work matters. It is significant. The call is not to work harder, but to set their work within the grand scope of God’s Kingdom. Our work is something we do for God, and as such is far bigger than we even imagine.

Do you think your work is insignificant? Imagine being a household slave in a small house in a small town in an insignificant part of the Roman Empire. You’re cleaning and cooking and sweeping, maybe doing some minor administrative work. Few people outside that family even know you exist. So what’s your reason for pressing on, day in, day out? The answer comes in the truly astonishing claim from Paul that your work is somehow for God, and that one day it will be rewarded by Him.

Sound incredible or unlikely? That’s understandable. After all, while a fulfilling career can be the source of incredible satisfaction, a bad job can suck the life right out of us. Either way, Jesus wants us to know that what we do matters. Even if our boss hates us and ignores everything good that we do, God truly does see it, and it pleases Him when our hearts reflect His heart of grace and love, even in the middle of a broken and fallen world.

How in the world does a passage talking about slavery apply to my life today? Paul’s letters may be filled with all kinds of other useful ethical commands, but the chances are pretty good that most of us are neither slaves nor slave-owners. So what are we to do with these verses?

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism. Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven. (Col. 3:22-4:1, NIV)

Paul obviously does not have in mind the kind of slavery that was rampant throughout the world in the 1700’s and 1800’s. Although slavery was sometimes used as a way to subjugate a conquered people or force people to do jobs nobody else wanted to do, many people purposefully and willingly sold themselves into slavery. So, we have to be careful in the way we read the word “slave” in Paul’s letters.

That said, how do we jump contexts across time and culture to contemporary suburban life in the Mid-West of America? For some workers, the application may come a little too easily. Trapped in a lousy dead-end job with no opportunities to move or find something different, many people feel enslaved in every way except by name. Technically they may be free to go and do as they please, but functionally they are at the beck and call of their employer. For these people, Paul has a word.

Others may excel in what they do, enjoying a large measure of autonomy and freedom at work, but the reality is that everyone who earns a paycheck is still beholden in one way or another to the person writing the checks. Of course, that’s a far cry from being a slave, but it is still reasonable to extend the application of these verses to most employer-employee relationships.

So, where would you place yourself on this spectrum? Do you feel totally trapped, basically enslaved to your boss? Who holds power and control over your life? What does that feel like right now? Take some time to honestly assess your work situation and then pray for the Spirit to be at work helping you to understand and apply these verses this week.

There’s no place quite like home when you’re looking for a good fight. Sure, you may get into it with a neighbor or a co-worker occasionally, but nobody quite gets under your skin the way a relative does. In fact, I would argue that there is no clearer confirmation of the historical accuracy of The Fall (Gen. 3) than the kind of strife that only families seem capable of brewing up.

So, what are we to do as a result? Clearly the status quo is not acceptable for any follower of Christ. Will we struggle and fight at times? Of course. Will there be arguments and “heated discussions”? Absolutely. Community is messy, especially in families. However, believers have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit and called to surrender themselves completely to the Lordship of Christ. So take a moment and read back over Col. 3:1-17.

Instead of giving in to the temptation to let anger rule our hearts, let us instead “Set our minds on things that are above.” Let us be parents who “put to death what is earthly” in our lives, slaying sin in all its ugliness. May we be leaders in our families who put off “anger, wrath, malice, slander and obscene talk” and never allow lies to infiltrate our closest and dearest relationships.

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. (Col. 3:20-21, NIV)

However you translate the word “embitter,” the command is the same—do not act in a way that would unnecessarily exasperate, incite, provoke, embitter or enrage your children. This does not mean that parents should be hands-off, letting their children do whatever they want. It does mean that parents should exercise the authority they have been given in a loving, kind and supportive manner.

If you have been blessed to have a child, you know that at times they will drive you crazy. The gospel should determine how we respond in any given circumstance. Will we up the ante and keep escalating the conflict? Or will we respond in love and grace, seeking reconciliation and peace?

If you are looking for more resources on dealing with family conflict, contact our Children’s Pastor, Vance Frusher, .

According to Paul’s letter to the Colossians, children are obligated to obey “everything” their parents command, but what does that entail? What does the Bible say a parent’s duties are with regard to their children?

Yes, there are certain commands and laws a child needs to obey simply in order for a family to function in a healthy manner. Clean your room, eat your vegetables, don’t run in the street, stop juggling knives… These are all necessary and important boundaries we must teach our children to obey.

However, as parents we have also been given the significant and awe-inspiring authority and responsibility to shape the spiritual lives of our children.

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deut. 6:6-9, NIV)

Parents are instructed by God to impress the commands of God on their children. Not just once a week by dragging them to church, but constantly, at all times. There are opportunities for shaping and forming our children to know and love God every minute of every day. When we’re driving them to school, when we’re eating dinner together, when we’re waiting for a sibling to get done with soccer practice, when we spend all day at a baseball game, or even when we watch a movie together as a family.

On the one hand this is overwhelming – why would God put me in charge of the spiritual well-being of a child, when I struggle just to keep my own spiritual life afloat and headed in the right direction?

On the other hand, this is liberating – when we see all of life as a classroom for teaching our children about God, it removes the burden of trying to lump all spiritual instruction into a single “deep conversation” or special class or event.

However, perhaps most significantly of all, God has not abandoned us in this process. Sometimes people joke about the fact that children don’t come with an instruction manual, and in one sense that is true. But God has actually given a vast amount of direction in the Bible. Pretty much everything we could need to know about how to raise our children to be healthy, loving, obedient worshippers of God living meaningful and significant lives in whatever career they choose can be found in the Bible.

Not only that, but God has also given us His Spirit—the guide and counselor who never leaves us and provides us strength, wisdom, direction and leading in everything we do.

Children are to obey their parents in “everything.” So where are you going to lead them?

On Sunday morning we’ll engage fully with what Paul means when he says,

Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. (Col. 3:18-19)

But for right now we pause for a moment to consider our own hearts and motivations. In marriage relationships in particular it is so easy to consider ourselves as more mature, more capable, more attentive, more (fill in the blank).

The Bible calls this pride, and Paul challenges it head on in a different letter, which he wrote to the Philippians. There he said,

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. (Phil. 3:4-11)

We may excel in any number of areas, but how do our good deeds stack up against the perfect righteousness and absolute holiness of Christ? Are we willing to lose everything for the sake of Christ? How much suffering and struggle are we really ready to put up with?

The pursuit of the “perfect” partner is both foolish and arrogant. Foolish, because there is no such person. Arrogant because it claims that we ourselves are without sin, perfect in every way. Wives will always struggle to submit to their husbands. Husbands will always struggle to love their wives. This is normal. It’s to be expected. We live in a fallen world and we, ourselves, are sinful people. The good news, however, is that God’s grace is deeper still, and as we turn to Him in confession and repentance, He works through the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about transformation beyond anything we could have ever have hoped for or imagined.

We’re working our way back through the third chapter of Colossians this week for two reasons. First, we all have a tendency to forget what we’ve read and heard. Sermons that sound amazing in the moment all too often quickly fade into a hazy distant memory. However, God’s Word is meant to be both heard and applied. If we’re challenged but never changed, then something is missing.

The second reason we’re reviewing Colossians is because we cannot possibly understand and apply the verses about marriage until we have absorbed and put into practice everything that comes before it. How can we talk about submission when we have failed to demonstrate forgiveness? How can we love when we’re impatient and unkind?

So today, however painful it may be, we have to revisit Paul’s admonitions regarding sin.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. (Col 3:5-11)

Sin is the awkward and uncomfortable reality that we all live with. It’s like the mold in the caulking of the shower that we try to cover up with the shower curtain and hope our guests don’t see. When we worshipped together on Good Friday we remembered the amazing and awful truth that Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins and to set us free from the power of sin.

That said, the battle still wages within us day-to-day, and Paul encourages us not just to avoid sin if we can, but to put it death. Drive a stake through it. Do whatever we can and whatever we need to do in order to rid ourselves of everything that “belongs to [our] earthly nature.”

Where does the battle wage the fiercest for you? What practical steps have you taken to really rid yourselves of these things?

We fight with the help of the Holy Spirit, but also with the help of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Who is helping you to fight the good fight? Who can you engage this week to pray for you and support you in this battle for your life?

Finally, what incredible new life would it bring to your marriage relationship specifically if you made significant headway in battling against the sin in your life?

We often run into problems interpreting the Bible when we look at particular verses or commands in isolation (as I have quoted them above, for example). Since the verses we’re looking at this week have often been the source of much confusion, it’s important that we set them in the proper context in order to understand the full depth and weight of their implications for our lives.

The immediate context for these verses on marriage comes from our sermon yesterday, based on the following passage:

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Col. 3:15-17)

How would you summarize the key points of this passage in your own words?

What implications does it have for your life? In other words, how are you going to live differently as a result this week?

Finally, before we even consider issues such as submission and love, stop for a moment to think about your own marriage. What impact would it have on your relationship for the peace of Christ to have complete reign and rule over your heart?

Many of my memories of school as a child are sitting at uncomfortable desk in an uncomfortable uniform staring at a teacher’s back as he scratched away on a dusty chalkboard. Sadly, although we’ve all outgrown uniforms, little else has really changed when it comes to teaching. Certainly we’ve upgraded blackboards to whiteboards, and hopefully most of the time the better teachers actually work to engage their students in the material at hand, but the whole affair is still largely a one-way transfer of cognitive information.

When it comes to learning and transferring the gospel, however, Paul introduces the Colossians to quite a different way of discipleship than we are perhaps used to.

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. (Col. 3:16, NIV)

In this verse Paul doesn’t appear to distinguish between the intellectual acquisition of new facts and the singing worship of God. Rather, it would seem that the gospel is something that we communicate to each other in a variety of different ways, and that the very actions of teaching and admonishing one another can somehow be accomplished through our acts of worship to God.

Such a holistic gospel-centered vision of worship is quite different from the way in which most of us view our church services (worship first, then teaching). Paul seems to subsume teaching under the broader category of worship.

We see this most clearly in our children, who readily learn all kinds of information when we set it to music. They can memorize vast numbers of Bible verses when they are set to song. But it’s true for adults as well. Some of the best hymns we have contain incredibly rich theology, and we’ve internalized that theology in ways we never would have done so had we simply been taught it in a class.

What do you think about this connection between worship and teaching? How should they relate to each other?

The smell of roast turkey wafting through the house, pumpkin pies cooling on the counter and cinnamon-apple-spice tea brewing at the table. With so many wonderful treats to tantalize our taste-buds, Thanksgiving is perhaps one of the best holidays of the year. However, it’s possible that in the middle of all the parades and turkey and football we kind of lose sight of the fact that the fourth Thursday in November is supposed to be a time to express thanks to God for all that He has done and provided in our lives.

In fact, it’s just possible that we’ve lost sight of all the Biblical commands to be thankful. It’s not surprising. After all, we tend to focus on the more significant aspects of theology such as justification and sanctification, and Paul’s commands sometimes read a bit more like after-thoughts:

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. (Col. 3:15, NIV)

If you blink you might miss it, tacked on the end of his challenge to live in peace. Yet at the same time thankfulness is quite important for Paul. Earlier in his letter he implored the Colossians:

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Col. 2:6-7, NIV)

A life “overflowing with thankfulness” is certainly quite a bit different from the way most of us live our lives. We’re used to accomplishing and achieving most things under our own strength. To give thanks to someone else means acknowledging that we didn’t do it ourselves.

Therein lies the root of our problem. When it comes right down to it, we struggle to live lives of thankfulness because we struggle to believe that God is the ultimate source of everything.

Life in community is a challenge. It will always be a challenge. Paul calls the Colossians to be thankful because if they can truly clothe themselves with love and patience and kindness and manage to somehow live in peace with each other they owe it all to God!

As you reflect on your relationships this week, in what areas have you been trying to make everything work under your own strengths and abilities? What can you release to God? Pray for His help to establish peace in areas of conflict this week as you attempt to give thanks to God in all things.

(Image used with permission from http://www.creationswap.com/rkomanapalli)

About this time last week many of us stood in church and looked up at a cross. We sang some songs, took communion and recalled together the awful death that Jesus died; the incredible act of loving self-sacrifice that paid for our sins once and for all.

As we move back into the daily rhythms of our lives, we should pause for a moment to consider the implications of that death and subsequent resurrection. The gospel is ultimately not about us as individuals, but us collectively as a new community, a new people, gathered together into a new institution, the Church. The night that Jesus was betrayed He prayed for this community, and specifically for us; for you and for me.

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

(John 17:20-23, NIV)

Jesus knew more than anyone else how deeply ingrained our sin was, and yet he prayed what seems sometimes to be an impossible-to-answer prayer, that we would somehow “be one.” Not just in the way that teams work well together, but in the same way that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one in perfect unity. This is astonishing.

So, when Paul tells the Colossians, “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Col. 3:14, NIV), he is asking them to live in a way that reflects the kind of supernaturally empowered unity that Jesus prayed for. Gentleness, kindness, patience, humility and compassion are wonderful, but love is the crowning element that holds them all together, and ultimately holds us together as well.

None of this, of course, can happen without God’s help. As you face into relationships this week that may be quite challenging, don’t lose hope and don’t give up. Pray specifically for the Holy Spirit to change your thoughts, your feelings and ultimately your actions. Pray for the Spirit to give you the strength to persevere and to express love when it doesn’t seem possible or likely.

Every morning we stand in front of the closet and stare at rows of clothes. Long-sleeved shirts, short-sleeved shirts, blouses, skirts, pants, dresses, shorts, culottes, capris, t-shirts, running shorts, ties, jackets…the list goes on and on. Both men and women alike spend extraordinary amounts of time picking out clothes. Even the most humble among us wants to at least wear matching sock.

Walk-in-closets were probably the furthest thing from Paul’s mind when he wrote his letter to the Colossians. Nevertheless, he uses the imagery of clothing in order to more carefully illustrate for his readers his vision for Christian community.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
(Col. 3:12, NIV)

Just as we have “taken off” our old self and “put on the new self,” so, too, must we take care to put off sinful ways of living and instead clothe ourselves with an entirely new way of interacting with other people. We take time to make sure we are wearing the right clothes, even though ultimately our clothes don’t matter. How much more so then should we take care to clothe ourselves with the right virtues?

For most of us these virtues will not come naturally. Oh sure, amongst the people we like, who treat us well and agree with us on everything, we have no problems being patient and compassionate. But what about the other 99%? The real test of our ability to be patient is with the person who cuts us off after sitting in traffic for 45 minutes on the Eisenhower. The real test of our ability to be gentle is when our spouse forgets our anniversary, or has to stay late at work on the one night we had plans to go out with friends.

The good news is that neither Paul nor Jesus expect us to rustle up all these virtues by ourselves. We clothe ourselves with them because they don’t come from within us. All of these virtues stem from the fruit of the Spirit and although we actively pursue them and cultivate them and clothe ourselves with them, it is the Spirit who empowers them.

Undoubtedly such a list as this may generate some feelings of uneasiness. We all have areas in our lives we need to work on. However, instead of stressing about our failures or feeling guilty and ashamed about our mistakes, we can confess, repent and seek God’s help to do better next time. 

The empty shells of a hundred plastic Easter eggs lie strewn across the house. Bright blues, pale pinks and sunshine yellows nest in corners and hide behind couches, empty; relieved of their candy contents by the eager hands of little children anxious to dig out the sweet treats hidden inside.

Lilies sit by a window, their intoxicating perfume almost too much for a small house, the bright white of their oversized flowers just beginning to fade and the dark green leaves hanging just a little lower than they did yesterday.

For most of us the day after Easter simply means back to work, back to deadlines, back to the projects we didn’t make much progress on last week. It’s possible that for many of us Easter came and went and ostensibly nothing really changed at all. If it weren’t for the few visible reminders still lying around the house we might not even remember what just happened.

Thankfully God does not measure our faith by the level of emotional intensity we happen to be feeling at any given moment. Our Father is more interested in obedience over the long-haul than short-term bursts of enthusiasm. That said, we should pause for a moment today and consider once again the enormity of the events we just celebrated.

As you reflect back over the last week and all that the Spirit may have been convicting and reminding you about, take some time this morning and read through Paul’s summary for the Philippians. May we kneel before Jesus today and confess Him as our King.

1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

 6 Who, being in very nature God,

   did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

7 rather, he made himself nothing

   by taking the very nature of a servant,

   being made in human likeness.

8 And being found in appearance as a man,

   he humbled himself

   by becoming obedient to death—

      even death on a cross!

 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

   and gave him the name that is above every name,

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

   in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

   to the glory of God the Father.

(Phil. 2:1-11, NIV)

Starting today we take a slight break from our series in Colossians in order to prepare our hearts for Easter. Over the next two weeks we will consider some key passages in the life of Jesus and spend some time reflecting on God’s plan of salvation.

Since this is such an important time of personal reflection, for this week leading up to Palm Sunday we are including selected Bible passages only, with no additional editorial comment. May God speak to you directly as you engage His Word this week.

For Holy Week we have prepared a series of five special video reflections, featuring different members of our staff and pastoral team. Our hope is that the change in format for that week will allow you to connect with some familiar passages in new ways. Keep an eye out for the video devotionals, to be available starting Palm Sunday.

A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”

“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”

Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”

The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

(Luke 18:18-34, NIV)

Starting today we take a slight break from our series in Colossians in order to prepare our hearts for Easter. Over the next two weeks we will consider some key passages in the life of Jesus and spend some time reflecting on God’s plan of salvation.

Since this is such an important time of personal reflection, for this week leading up to Palm Sunday we are including selected Bible passages only, with no additional editorial comment. May God speak to you directly as you engage His Word this week.

For Holy Week we have prepared a series of five special video reflections, featuring different members of our staff and pastoral team. Our hope is that the change in format for that week will allow you to connect with some familiar passages in new ways. Keep an eye out for the video devotionals, to be available starting Palm Sunday.

They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”

“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”

“We can,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Starting today we take a slight break from our series in Colossians in order to prepare our hearts for Easter. Over the next two weeks we will consider some key passages in the life of Jesus and spend some time reflecting on God’s plan of salvation.

Since this is such an important time of personal reflection, for this week leading up to Palm Sunday we are including selected Bible passages only, with no additional editorial comment. May God speak to you directly as you engage His Word this week.

For Holy Week we have prepared a series of five special video reflections, featuring different members of our staff and pastoral team. Our hope is that the change in format for that week will allow you to connect with some familiar passages in new ways. Keep an eye out for the video devotionals, to be available starting Palm Sunday.

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

“Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

(Luke 9:21-27, NIV)

(Image courtesy of Jonathan Groß)

Tornados rip through towns unannounced, leaving behind a path of destruction. In a matter of moments they can tear apart entire communities, upending everything and leaving nothing but pain and suffering in their wake.

Such fierce storms seemingly appear out of nowhere, and disappear as quickly as they came. However sunny the weather may be the next day, the lives of those impacted by such awful events will never be the same.

Paul’s admonitions against anger and malice may seem to pale in comparison to sexual immorality. After all, in our culture adultery might get you thrown out of church, but anger is often left unchecked and unchallenged.

Yet Paul is clear that just as sexual immorality will destroy our most intimate relationships, anger, rage, malice and slander have the power to destroy the fabric of our entire community as a whole.

But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Col. 3:8-10, NIV)

A twenty-second outburst of anger can permanently change relationships in ways that may never be healed. Long after a heated argument is over, wounds can continue to fester in ways that can seem confusion. The problem is that words cut far deeper than any knife. I will heal much faster from a black eye than I will from a biting put-down.

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. (James 3:3-8, NIV)

We will sin in this area. It is unavoidable. But praise be to God that we can be forgiven as we turn to Jesus in confession and repentance. Let us lean on the Spirit for help in resisting our base urges to let our anger out on those around us. Instead, may we seek to be “peacemakers who sow in peace,” in every conversation and every relationship that God has blessed us to be a part of.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Col. 3:1-4, NIV)

Over the coming weeks we will draw out in more detail the practical implications of living a heaven-centered life. However, we end this week by going back to a simple prayer that Jesus taught His disciples early on in His ministry.

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’ (Matt. 6:9-13, NIV)

This brief but incredible prayer gives us a clear template for practically applying Paul’s admonition to set our hearts and minds on above.

The prayer begins by calling us to orient ourselves around God in heaven. Although our tendency is to jump straight to all the burdens, needs and struggles we face, Jesus tells us to put those on ice for a moment while we get our spiritual priorities in the correct order.

A good life, a holy life, a Christ-centered life begins with the reverent worship of God “in heaven.” He alone is holy and we are to worship and praise Him as such. This is Paul’s point (“set your hearts on things above,” “set your minds on things above”).

Although I am constantly battling with a strong desire to do things my own way, on my own timing, Jesus says no, I am to pray for God’s Kingdom to come, not mine. I am to pray for His will to be done, not mine. It is this attitude of the heart which then allows us to lead into prayers for provision and protection.

A heaven-focused heart longs for more of God. A heaven-focused heart desires earnestly for nothing less than to see God’s Kingdom grow and expand and over-run every corner of creation. A heaven-focused heart is one that neither elevates earthly needs to the place of priority, nor ignores them as somehow “less holy.” Rather, the model Jesus gave us involves setting our earthly needs in their correct place—secondary to the glory of God.

Take some time today and practice praying through the Lord’s prayer, using it as a template to help direct your heart towards a heaven-focused worship of God.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Col. 3:1-4, NIV)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Heb. 12:1-3, NIV)

The clichéd image of a “heavenly-minded” Christian is someone lost in a day-dream of angels floating around in puffy white clouds, or perhaps obsessed with visions of what they will do and wear and eat when they get to Heaven. However, as these two passages point out, the reality is not quite so rosy.

When we set our hearts and minds on Jesus in Heaven, we are reminding ourselves of the cross. We remind ourselves of the pain and suffering He endured because of our, my, sin. We remind ourselves of the unbelievable price He paid to set us free from the penalty of death. We remind ourselves of the gospel.

To be heavenly-minded is to see at one and the same time both God’s absolute holiness and His unending love. It means seeing our sin in all its ugliness but also our salvation in all its glory.

We should fix our eyes on Jesus every single day we’re alive. It is His work alone that saves us and His work alone that grows us. As Paul says, our lives are “now hidden with Christ in God.”

This way of thinking does not come naturally to us. Everything in our life directs our attention down to earthly things. A heaven-focused worldview is something we must pray earnestly and repeatedly for God to help us accomplish and maintain. Commit to building this into your prayer life every day for the rest of this year.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Col. 3:1-4, NIV)

Most of us have probably heard the clichéd warning, “Don’t be so heavenly minded you’re no earthly good.” I think the idea is that we don’t want to fill our churches with pie-in-the-sky Christians sitting around waiting for glory while the rest of the world slips away into a Christ-less oblivion. We can all agree that’s a bad thing.

However, I’m not sure that’s really the most pressing problem facing our churches today. In fact, a number of pastors and authors have noted recently that we’re actually so earthly focused that we are no heavenly good. The problem is not that people are too fixated on God, but that they’re not fixated enough. We’re far more interested in building our own little kingdoms than praying down God’s.

I would go so far as to say that it is rare to find someone whose heart is truly fixed “on things above.” Most of us are far too focused on earthly things—our friends, our cars, our homes, our families, our jobs, our books, our televisions, our hobbies or our gadgets. I have this terrifying tendency towards creating a world that revolves around me, and that kind of self-centered orientation is a tough addiction to break.

Paul comes at this problem from two related, but different angles. First, he says, we should “set our hearts on things above” because we’ve been joined together with Christ and “up there” is where Jesus is. If we’ve truly been converted, our hearts belong to Jesus and our worship should be focused around Him and Him alone.

This is not to say we should detach ourselves from reality—Paul is a pragmatic and practical realist who is keenly aware of the daily ebb and flow of life in Christian community. Separation from the world is not his point at all. However, if our hope is to grow in Christ-likeness then we can only achieve that if we’re actually looking at Christ. We cannot become what we do not behold.

Where is your heart?

They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. (Col. 2:19, NIV)

 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (John 15:4-8, NIV)

In the introduction to his short book, The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis famously said,

There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or magician with the same delight.

Most Christians that I talk to fall into something akin to the first category. It’s not that we don’t believe in devils. Obviously we couldn’t deny their reality outright—Jesus seems to spend half his time casting out demons. However, we also realize that it’s not very palatable to talk about demons these days. It sounds so…supernatural. This isn’t Ghostbusters after all. We have a civilized and reasonable faith that we want our intelligent well-heeled co-workers to embrace. Talk of spiritual powers comes across a bit kooky and out-there.

Yet, there’s really no getting around it. The Bible is clear that angels and demons are real. Satan is real. There are spiritual forces at work in this world that have real power and real influence, whether we like to think about it or not. In fact, the more we deny it or downplay it, the better as far as they are concerned, since it allows them to operate “under the radar,” so to speak.

Paul, on the other hand, is very clear about two things. First, Satan poses a real threat to us. As he reminds the Ephesians:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Eph. 4:10-12, NIV)

Second, in the big scheme of things Jesus has overcome all this.

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Col. 2:15, NIV)

The cross is the ultimate rejection of every other false god and spiritual force in the world. The cross makes a mockery of every pathetic attempt Satan makes to fight back against God. The cross looks Satan square in the eyes and says, “Is that all you’ve got?”

Stand firm against the devil today. Stand tall in complete confidence that you serve the living God who has conquered death and guaranteed victory for those who stand with Him. Persevere in the knowledge that though the battle still rages, the King is coming, and when He returns Satan will be lost forever.

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, 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. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Col. 2:13-15, NIV)

A runaway steam-train loaded with passengers, a lone cowboy pressing his horse faster and faster trying to catch up, a bridge that’s out, twisted rails sticking out into thin air, a gaping chasm beneath…

Once upon a time we, too, were headed towards certain death. But the amazing news is that “God made [us] alive with Christ.”

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:6-8, NIV)

The gift of life is powerful. More so than we imagine when read the words on a page. When I went bungee jumping the euphoria I felt when I realized I hadn’t hurtled head-first into the sidewalk was like nothing else I had ever experienced. I could not help but scream out loud, “I’M ALIVE! I’M ALIVE!” I walked around for hours and hours afterwards in complete awe of the fact that I was ALIVE!

But those fleeting feelings from sky-diving or scuba diving or parasailing or triathlons or flying pass away and then it’s back to life as normal. From a medical point of view, once the sympathetic nervous system disengages, we come crashing back down to earth (so to speak). The problem is that all these activities, while fun and exhilarating, still leave us wondering, “So what?” “I’m alive, but to what end?”

When we are made alive in Christ however, every question is answered and we find the meaning and purpose and significance we’ve been looking for. When we are made alive with Christ we enter an entirely new realm.  We can join with David in proclaiming:

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

   my body also will rest secure,

because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,

   nor will you let your faithful one see decay.

You make known to me the path of life;

   you will fill me with joy in your presence,

   with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (Psa. 16:9-11, NIV)

What an incredible blessing for us all! But now what are we going to do with that gift? Jesus has given us marching orders—“Go and make disciples.” How are we engaging in that task? 

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ (Matt. 25:40, NIV)

 “If I have denied the desires of the poor   
or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,
 if I have kept my bread to myself,   
not sharing it with the fatherless—
 but from my youth I reared them as a father would,   
and from my birth I guided the widow—
 if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,   
or the needy without garments,
 and their hearts did not bless me   
for warming them with the fleece from my sheep,
 if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,   
knowing that I had influence in court,
 then let my arm fall from the shoulder,   
let it be broken off at the joint.
 For I dreaded destruction from God,   
and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things. (Job 31:16-23, NIV)

 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

   and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

   and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry

   and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—

when you see the naked, to clothe them,

   and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

 (Isa. 58:6-7, NIV)

Feeding the hungry is important, but doesn’t earn us our salvation. After all, atheists can feed the hungry and still be lost in sin. Providing the poor with shelter is a fantastic humanitarian goal, but doesn’t necessarily ingratiate us with God. After all, people of all different religions can be concerned with eradicating homelessness while still worshiping false gods and idols.

In fact, just as fasting can become an empty religious ritual, so too can helping the poor. So, how then do we make sense of this passage?

These verses do not say that the people should stop fasting and start feeding the poor instead. Isaiah is not trying to impose new rules on the people. What it does call for is a heart so transformed by God that it cannot help but express that love in acts of worship and service. As we draw closer and closer to God, more and more of His character should be expressed in our lives, both internally and externally.  

One aspect of God’s character that comes up over and over again in Scripture is His concern for the poor and hungry. As our hearts are transformed that concern should slowly become our concern as well. But where do we begin?

Two great places to serve right here in our community are Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) and the Northern Illinois Food Bank (NIFB).

Every year millions of meals are put together by thousands of FMSC volunteers and shipped around the world to places that need it most.

Watch this video to learn more:

Packing meals at FMSC is a great activity do as a group from 2-90 people and any age kindergarten on up! Visit their website to sign up and pack some meals this month!

Just a few miles west of us in St. Charles is the Northern Illinois Food Bank. They have several volunteer shifts per week with a variety of easy roles. This is a great activity for small groups, but there are age restrictions, so check their website to see if it is appropriate for your children. http://solvehungertoday.org/GetInvolved/Volunteer/VolunteerWestSuburban.aspx

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. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 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 Christ, 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. (Col. 2:8-12, NIV)

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (Col. 2:6-7, ESV)

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (Matt. 7:24, ESV)  

“May you be blessed with the abiding presence of the LORD. May your walk be blameless and your work be righteous.”[1]

“How can a walk be blameless?”

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him (Col. 2:6, ESV).

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. (Col. 1:9-10, ESV)

My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Col. 2:2-3, NIV)

 1 My son, if you accept my words   
 and store up my commands within you,
 2 turning your ear to wisdom   
and applying your heart to understanding—
 3 indeed, if you call out for insight   
and cry aloud for understanding,
 4 and if you look for it as for silver   
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
 5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD   
and find the knowledge of God.
 6 For the LORD gives wisdom;   
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
 7 He holds success in store for the upright,   
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
 8 for he guards the course of the just   
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
9 Then you will understand what is right and just   
 and fair—every good path.
 10 For wisdom will enter your heart,   
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
(Prov. 2:1-10, NIV)

My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, (Col. 2:2, NIV)

Yesterday’s devotional, read in isolation, might lead one to think that Christianity is about “doing more and trying harder.” In fact, some might argue that by claiming we need to exercise our faith with the same kind of discipline as professional athletes, we minimize the life-changing power of the free gift of grace.

Certainly, in a twisted way the call to work harder sometimes appeals to our human tendency to want to earn our way into God’s good graces. The church in Galatia, it would seem from Paul’s letter, was struggling with this very problem, willingly placing themselves back under the burden of the law that Christ had just freed them from!

So, as if sensing this problem, in the very next verse of his letter to the Colossians, Paul applies a much needed corrective to help balance the picture, saying,

To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. (Col. 1:29, NIV)

Yes, Paul affirms, maturity in Christ is something he pursues with every fiber of his being. However, that very strength is itself a gift from God, something that is not his at all. On the one hand Paul is going to “strenuously contend” for this goal with every ounce of strength he has, but on the other hand the source of that power is really Christ, not Paul.

It’s always a both-and situation. Paul is constantly calling his disciples to work as hard as they can. But this call is always set within the context of God’s work in us.

Yesterday I mentioned that Paul had written a letter to the Galatians, rebuking them for drifting into a works-based system of righteousness, unnecessarily putting the yoke of the law back on their own necks. Paul holds nothing back, berating them,

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? (Gal. 3:1-3)

The Spirit, Paul says, is the one who is at work in our lives to energize us. The Spirit is the one who is at work in our lives to transform us. The law and our own efforts are powerless to do or to change anything. This week, as you join with Paul in striving for maturity in Christ, don’t give up and don’t lose hope. Though Satan may send every possible temptation and trouble your way, remember that it is Christ at work in you who provides the power and strength to move forward in your faith.

And finally, know that you are not alone, for we are in this together as brothers and sisters in Christ, and I personally join with Paul in saying,

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil. 1:6, NIV).

27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

How long has it been since you were saved? A year? Five? Twenty? How often do you reflect on the enormity of that moment? Do you ever pause to think through the incredible and astonishing implications of that single moment in time?

In almost every single letter Paul wrote there’s a palpable sense of awe and wonder at the free gift he has personally been given in and through Jesus. There’s a sense in which Paul just can’t ever quite get over the fact that God loves him that much. For Paul, the idea that he has been restored into right relationship with God is not some dry dusty theological concept, but a dazzling daily reality. His black and white world has suddenly become filled with color.

18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (Eph. 1:18-23)

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Eph. 2:6-7)

Christ is in us. He’s in you. He’s in me. The Messiah, the Savior, the Beginning and the End, our living hope is dwelling in us through the Holy Spirit. It’s simple enough that my little girl can understand it, but deep enough that I almost can’t quite comprehend it. The glorious riches of this truth are an endless source of joy and wonder and discovery and delight. They are a treasure-trove without any end.

Christ in me, the hope of glory. May God forgive me for taking His presence too lightly and treating this wondrous truth too glibly.  Pray and ask God to give you that same sense of wonder and awe that Paul experienced.  

I do not like pain and suffering. Sounds obvious, I know, but it has to be said. In fact, nobody enjoys suffering, not even Paul. Even when he says things like, “Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you” (Col. 1:24). As tough as he was, I don’t think Paul enjoyed being beaten or stoned or shipwrecked. However, what he did rejoice over was his service to God. What he lived for was the mission that God had set before him. What gave him cause to celebrate was that, like the apostles in Jerusalem before him, he “had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name” (Acts 5:41).

Paul (and Peter, and Jesus) were not encouraging some kind of masochistic outlook on life that embraces pain as being somehow purifying or ennobling (as some religions might claim). Rather, the focus was specifically on suffering for and in the cause of Christ. As Paul said to Timothy,

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained.  Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. (2 Tim. 2:8-10, NIV)

The same message applies to the Colossian believers. Paul rejoiced in what he was suffering “for you,” “for the sake of his body, which is the church.” The suffering therefore became a sign that Paul was doing and saying and teaching and proclaiming all that God wanted him to do and say and teach and preach. The same message went out to the Philippians as well,

For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. (Phil.1:29-30, NIV).

There are a thousand sources of suffering in this world. Sometimes we even bring it on ourselves. However, we have hope because of the person we serve, Jesus Christ. This passage is both a reminder of God’s love as well as a challenge—how will we respond to the pain and suffering we will experience in this life? With anger and bitterness, or confident hope in God? Moreover, to what lengths are we willing to go to see God’s message of hope spread throughout the world? In what ways are shrinking back from the task of making disciples because we fear that there may be repercussions that are uncomfortable?

“but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him”

Here we come to the pinnacle of Paul’s prayer. Although, as we noted before, the mystery of God’s purposes in Christ were hidden until the time of Jesus, nevertheless Paul could assert that “the prophetic writings” attested to them. For Paul, now that the mystery had been revealed, could look back at the books we would call the Old Testament and see Christ everywhere. Again, the point here is not Paul’s personal growth in knowledge and wisdom, but the spread of the gospel to the entire world (“so that all nations might believe and obey him”).

In fact, as Wheaton College Professor Doug Moo notes in his commentary on the Book of Romans, Paul begins and ends his letter with the same focus, namely, the universal nature of the gospel, which goes out to everyone, both Jew and Gentile. In Moo’s personal translation of Romans 1:5, the opening words of this long letter, Paul says:

“through whom we received grace and apostleship for the obedience of faith among the Gentiles for the sake of his name,”

And now, here at the very end of the letter, Moo’s translation of Romans 16:26:

“according to the command of the eternal God for the obedience of faith for all the nations,”

This desire to see “all the nations” come to the “obedience of faith” is the driving force behind Paul’s missionary endeavors. This is the commission he received from God and the calling he pursued throughout his Christian life. And now this is also the reason that Paul is praising God. (Remember, although we are studying the Scripture phrase by phrase, Romans 16:25-27 is a doxology, a song or prayer of praise and worship to God!)

May we, too, be driven by this same desire to see all nations, all people, come to faith in Christ. May our hearts be transformed as we look upon God’s Word and realize that His plan has always been for the world to know that Christ is Lord and Savior. May we be encouraged as we seek to turn our own humble prayers into action and see those nearest and dearest to us come to faith in Christ.

(Douglas J. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, The New International Commentary on the New Testament, 39, 936ff.)

“Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ,” (Rom. 16:25)

To be “established” in the gospel may not sound like much, but the sense that Paul is trying to convey here is that God is the one who can and will “strengthen you in every good deed and word” (2 Thess. 2:17). When God “establishes” or “strengthens” us it is equivalent to Him giving us everything that we need to grow and develop and mature as followers of Christ. Paul’s song of praise proclaims that God is the one who empowers us. But how does the gospel give us this power?

To answer that question we go all the way back to Exodus, and the song of praise that Moses and the Israelites sing to God after their dramatic Red Sea crossing.

 “I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea. The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone. (Ex. 15:1-5)

We can all recognize, along with Moses, that “the Lord is my strength and my song” when he rescues us from some particular circumstance or provides for us in some dramatic way. In fact, we pray for those needs on a regular basis. But Paul’s word to the Romans points out that God’s work goes far deeper than that. Whereas Moses faced impossible odds, with his back up against the sea, and an imposing enemy facing him down, we faced even worse odds in our battle against sin. Our death was (and is) required as punishment for our sin and rebellion. There’s no way out. And yet, “when the time was right” God sent His son to die for us, that we might be rescued and sin and death itself cast down into the sea. That’s the gospel news that strengthens us. That’s the proclamation of Jesus Christ that establishes us firmly as disciples of Christ.

We are established and strengthened in our faith because, as Moses sang to God, “In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling” (Ex. 15:13). Whereas for Moses and the people this meant God’s provision of actual physical land, for us it means that God will lead us by His Spirit, guiding us, convicting us and empowering us for everything that He calls us to be and do. May that gift encourage you as you serve the Lord today.

The astute reader will realize at this point that something is missing. The story began with the wondrous peaceful perfection of God’s Creation, and although Jesus’s death and resurrection paid the penalty for our sin and allowed us entrance into the presence of God, we still live in broken bodies stumbling through a broken world. We have yet to reach our “happily ever after.”

As we consider the grand sweep of cosmic history we have briefly traced a line from Creation through the Fall and into Redemption, but the final piece that’s yet to come is Restoration. For the story to come to a close we must return to the garden from whence we first came.

Author and theologian C.S. Lewis describes this tension as follows:

At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in. (from his essay, The Weight of Glory)

Although we can rejoice in the new life that we have in Jesus, and revel in the idea that God has adopted us as sons and daughters, the truth is that something is still missing. We are not home yet. However, as C.S. Lewis puts it, the New Testament is filled with “rumours” of the return of the King; a return that will usher in the ultimate renewal of all things. This is the move from Redemption to Restoration. It’s the happy ending that all other happy endings point forward to. Jesus is coming back. As the apostle John says:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. (Rev. 21:1-7)

The gospel story ends here, as the Bible does, with the return to Eden, the final and complete restoration of everything that was lost as a result of the Fall. The grand story comes to a close with Jesus’ powerful and definitive words, “It is done.”

Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration. It’s God’s story. And it’s the “back story” that we need to share with those far from Christ in order that they might understand their need for a savior. Think about it, practice telling it, and may God bless your attempts to share this gospel story with the people you have been praying for this week.  

We don’t have to live long in this world to realize that things are not the way they’re supposed to be. Something has clearly gone wrong. What God once declared to be good has since become twisted and broken. Oceans unleash tsunamis. Earthquakes tear apart cities and towns. Cancer creeps silently through our bodies, killing indiscriminately. Malaria, AIDS, poverty, hunger and every kind of evil imaginable threaten to destroy us at any minute. Even wealth, power, fame and fortune can do little to stem the tide of destruction which oozes across the face of the world. Sooner or later everyone must die, and the majority of people will endure significant suffering in between.

This horribly depressing picture stands in bleak contrast to the joyous wonder and glorious peace and perfection enjoyed by Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. So what happened?

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

  “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (Gen. 3:1-7, NIV)

Although we commonly refer to this event as “the Fall,” that phrase hardly seems to do justice to the magnitude of that moment.  The results of that one moment of rebellion were not just bad, or frustrating, or “less than preferable,” but calamitous, catastrophic, cataclysmic. Adam and Eve’s self-centered turn away from God had ruinous, eternal, universal implications for every part of Creation. In that one awful moment sin entered the world, ensuring our own physical and spiritual death and setting in motion a story that would play out over the entire course of human history.

There are countless books and movies which revolve around the idea of going back in time to change a bad decision we made or otherwise alter the course of our lives. We all carry around regrets, wishing we could get a do-over. However, the Biblical storyline reminds us that the problem is far bigger than our own missteps and mistakes. Even supposing I could rent a time-machine and go back to fix many of the bigger, more egregious sins I have committed in my life, the fundamental underlying problem of sin would still remain.

We are all enemies of God, and the punishment for such treason is death. There is no avoiding it. Every nook and cranny of God’s good and perfect Creation has been desecrated and defamed. Moreover, while we may yet catch glimpses of God’s glory all around us (as we discussed yesterday), ultimately we are utterly powerless to restore either ourselves or this world back to the perfect state in which it was initially created.

So, as we continue to trace the gospel story we move from the awe-inducing wonder of the Creation to the desolate darkness of the Fall. But thankfully all hope is not lost, for the story does not end there, as we’re about to find out.

We began our discussion about evangelism last week by emphasizing the importance of prayer. Sharing the gospel with other people is challenging enough as it is, but we make it even harder if we fail to engage the Holy Spirit in the process. We do this through prayer. Prayer is the vital first-step for all our attempts at reaching out to others with the life-giving message of grace found in Jesus Christ.

As you pray today, be sure to ask God specifically for help in sharing the gospel with those closest to you. Pray for boldness. Pray for opportunities. Pray for the Holy Spirit to be going before you, preparing the way. Pray for the right words to come to mind when you engage people in conversation. Pray for your heart to be so filled with wonder and amazement at the free gift of salvation that the gospel message just spills out of you. Our prayer as pastors is that you would be so bowled over by the experience of God’s grace in your own life that it would be hard not to tell others about what God has done (and continues to do) for you.

But as we continue in prayer this week we change gears slightly to consider the gospel message itself. In his book, Counterfeit Gospels, author Trevin Wax has helpfully noted that, while the gospel contains certain propositions about God, man and Christ that demand a response, the gospel is also a story that encompasses everything and everyone from the dawn of Creation until the final consummation. In other words, the gospel is both an announcement and a story. In fact, some might argue that the announcement really only makes sense when set within the context of the story.

For example, although “The Four Spiritual Laws” is a great tool to help in evangelism, we would no doubt all agree that there is far more to God’s story than just a handful of propositions. After all, one of the central tenets of our faith is that God has revealed Himself not just in the person of Jesus but also in the words of the entire Bible (all 66 books).

Quoting Trevin Wax again, “Of course, there is only one gospel. At its core, that gospel is the specific announcement about what God has done through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus to bring about our salvation. The announcement of Jesus is the gospel. Yet this Jesus-centered message needs context.” (Counterfeit Gospels, 26)

This week we’re going to look at that context, which we might summarize under the very broad terms, “Creation,” “Fall,” “Redemption,” and “Restoration.”

"We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6, NIV)

The bad news is that many of our friends and family members are lost in sin and rebellion against God. They may live normal, upright lives and be raising normal, upright children, but “good” is not enough when the standard is absolute holiness. We have all gone astray, all turned our own way. However, the amazingly good news is that our sins, our “iniquities” have been put on Jesus. He has borne the punishment that we deserved. As a result, there is hope now, not just for us, but for all those who are still far from God.

The daunting part is figuring out how to connect those lost people with the living hope they might enjoy in Jesus! So, ask God. Ask God to open up opportunities for you to step out in faith and invite them to church with you. Don't let doubts or cynicism keep you from responding to God's direction.

Evangelist Rick Richardson suggests we need to pay more attention to nudges from the Holy Spirit (read John 16:13-14). Richardson challenges us to pray when we are at work, the store, the gym, or the coffee shop, constantly seeking God's leading: "Jesus, where are you already at work? Lord, lead me to people who are receptive. Is there someone you want me to talk to, care for or pray with? Is there someone here who is hurting?"  Commit to praying along these lines today, and then acting when God answers. We have nothing to fear when the Holy Spirit, our guide, leads us into conversation with others.

Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.”
Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”
“Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. (Matthew 15:21-28, NIV)

Prayer is the driving force behind evangelism, and as part of Lon Allison's sermon on Sunday we will once again write down the names of some people we long to see come to faith in Christ. This is an exercise we go through every January, and indeed, you may still have your prayer list from last year. Keep praying for these people. Do not give up.

Don't get discouraged by a lack of response from the people on your list. The Canaanite woman in the passage from Matthew 15 pursued God's intervention in her life boldly and continually. The Canaanite woman knew she couldn't heal her daughter, only God could to that. A similar story appears in Luke 18:1-8. The widow knew she couldn't get justice by herself, only the judge could do that.

Similar principles are in play with evangelism. We cannot "convert" anyone. We are powerless to directly change someone's heart. Only God can do that. As such, prayer is perhaps the most significant thing we can do. As Rick Richardson notes, "Here is Jesus' secret to powerful evangelism. He is a collaborator, a partner. He does only what he sees the Father doing...Our evangelism is often ineffective and guilt ridden because we think it all rides on us. Jesus reminds us that we can do nothing on our own. The only witness that bears fruit is collaborative witness, directed by the Holy Spirit."

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. (Col. 1:21-23, NIV)

As we end this section of Paul’s letter to the Colossians we turn to one last note about Paul. As he reminds the Colossians about the importance of persevering in their faith and remaining established and firm in the gospel, he goes on to call himself a servant of the gospel.

Although it’s a little thing that we might skip over easily, especially if we find ourselves familiar with Colossians, it’s no small point that Paul is making here. Paul doesn’t say he is a teacher or leader but a servant. The gospel, then, is not some product he is peddling to the Colossians, nor is it a solution that he is offering to solve all their problems. Rather the gospel is something that he has made himself subservient to. It’s the gospel which is the source of our hope. It’s the gospel which is “bearing fruit and growing” all over the world. We are simply along for the ride.

As we pursue our hopes and dreams and to-do lists and careers and marriages and jobs and families, let us also remember that the gospel is not something we add to our already full lives as if it were something extra. Rather the gospel should be at the very center of everything we do and everything we are. This year may our lives reflect Paul’s as we consider ourselves to be servants of the gospel; ministers of grace and ambassadors of reconciliation into a dark and broken world.

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation (Col. 1:21-22)

A new year means a conceptual new start for many of us. It’s a time to make some resolutions and try to live life differently. Statistically speaking, however, it’s unlikely any of us will follow through on those good intentions. Whatever initial success we may have, almost all new year’s resolutions fall flat within the first month.

This is why the good news of salvation is such incredibly good news—it has nothing to do with our own efforts or good intentions. Salvation is not something we resolve to achieve. It was achieved on our behalf. And the results are amazing—holiness, freedom from any spot or blemish, without blame or accusation!

First and foremost, as we have already seen this week, our salvation has been purchased through Christ’s death and resurrection. His death atoned for our sins. He took our punishment so that we could be set free. Whereas once we stood condemned before God, facing the penalty of death, we have now been set free, adopted as sons and daughters of God.

But this freedom extends into our personal lives as well. Whatever doubts, fears, concerns, worries, anxieties or guilt we may carry around with us, God announces that they have been wiped clean in and through the person of Jesus Christ. That list of sins we keep in the back of our head is not worth the paper it’s written on. Not only does God not condemn us, but we no longer have to condemn ourselves. We have not only been rescued from “the dominion of darkness” but also from the burden of guilt and shame.

The One who created us has declared us to be “without blemish and free from accusation.” Rather than beginning 2012 under the burden of a new set of laws you set for yourself, rest in the grace-giving love of God and the freedom that He bought for you.   

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. (Col. 1:21-23, NIV)

Some days it is hard to think of myself as ever having been an enemy of God. I never systematically persecuted Christians. I never waved my fist in the air at God or bowed down to golden idols. I lived a mostly normal life, that, while perhaps not up to the moral standards I would hold today, was not certainly not criminal. Yet, when I read the Bible, the evidence against me is overwhelming. According to the Bible the separation between us and God is not a matter of degree, but is written in absolutes. We are either with God or against Him. We are either a child of God or an enemy of God. There’s no middle ground. However clean and wholesome we may look on the outside, without Christ we are all on the opposing team.

It’s not a pretty picture and not one we like to dwell on, but if we are to ever grasp the full weight of the gospel message we have to have a deep understanding of just how far away from God we once were. As Paul says in his letter to Titus:

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. (Titus 3:3)

This is not about beating ourselves up! Paul would be the last person to walk around around muttering under his breath, “I am a bad person.” Rather, Paul is reminding the Colossians and Titus (and pretty much everyone else he came in contact with) that we cannot fall prey to the lie that our hope is based on relative levels of goodness, or sincerity, or earnest belief, or good works, or clean living. The verdict is in and we are all guilty of treason against God. All of us. Every single one. (Even the sweet little old lady down the street with the beautiful house.)

However dark this may sound, and however grim a way this may be to start the new year, this truth has to sink deeply into our hearts in order for us to fully appreciate the incredible and astonishing gift that God gave us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That we were absolute enemies of God makes the incarnation truly remarkable. Christmas is mind-boggling when you consider that God was sending His own Son into enemy territory in order for Him to be rejected and killed as a sacrifice for sin that He had never committed.

Let us start the new year, not with another list of hopeless resolutions, but with a profound sense of awe and appreciation for the boundless love and patience of God.  May we all see and experience His grace more and more each day.

Then the LORD said to Moses: “Set up the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, on the first day of the first month. Place the ark of the Testimony in it and shield the ark with the curtain…Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. (Exodus 40:1-2, 34-35)

When Paul says, “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,” he is drawing on images that bring to mind the Tabernacle, the “Tent of Meeting” established in Exodus. This earthly tent was, for a time, the place where the glory of God rested amongst His people. Later, after the Temple was established in Jerusalem, God’s glory filled that space. Indeed, it was highly symbolic that at the time of the Exile God’s presence left the Temple, never to return. This was a catastrophic moment in the history of Israel. Yet, the promise was that one day things would be different.

 “‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. Then the nations will know that I the LORD make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.’” (Ezekiel 37:24-28)

It’s this prophecy that John alludes to when he says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). And it’s this same imagery which Paul uses to emphasize Christ’s supremacy over all things. Previously God had only been able to dwell amongst His people in a temporary, tentative manner, easily disrupted by the sins of His people. Yet, in Jesus He comes fully and completely, confronting our sin and rebellion head-on, simultaneously just (punishing sin) and the justifier (paying the debt on our behalf). This is what makes Christmas so amazing. It’s the moment when God came to be with us once more.

 “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” (Matthew 1:20-23)

Yes, Jesus is fully God. That’s an incredible truth affirmed here by Paul. But, perhaps more significantly for us is the fact that He is Immanuel, God with us. 

And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15-20 ESV)

What is the Church? Is it the specific building we happen to meet in every Sunday? Or is it my particular denomination? And who is in charge? My senior pastor? Or someone else?

While these may be questions some Christians struggle with today, they obviously were not a concern for Paul as he wrote to the church in Colosse. However, his letter is nonetheless a powerful reminder that in some way, despite all our differences, those who have been born again in Christ are united with him as part of one single body, the Church (with a capital “C”).

Paul assumes as his starting point that all believers are joined together as part of one single body, the Church. In a world divided by thousands of different denominations, such unity defies comprehension. Yet, when we consider the expansive and all-encompassing nature of Christ that Paul sets forth in this hymn, it has to be true.

This is not to preach any kind of blanket universalism. Certainly we will continue to argue for orthodoxy and battle against heresy. Indeed, part of Paul’s letter is intended to fight heretical and misleading beliefs within the Colossian church. However, at the same time we have to remind ourselves that Jesus is above and beyond even all this.

Jesus is the head of the Church. He alone is the ruler, the director, the principal agent and primary actor. He is the one who sustains the Church, not the other way around. He alone directs and controls the Church’s reach and effectiveness. Insofar as we have any impact on the world at all, it is because He is working to produce it. We exist to serve Him and to worship Him and to be led by Him.

As we come out of a Christmas of worshipping Him as the baby born in a manger, let us also revel in Him as the Lord of all things, the head of the Church we have all been adopted into. 

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." (Gal. 4:4-6)

--Read Revelation 4 and 5. What an amazing picture of the risen Lord! May our worship today be inspired by this vision of the holiness and majesty of Christ our Lord.

"In Jesus the promise is confirmed, the covenant is vindicated, salvation is brought near, sacred history has reached its climax, the perfect sacrifice has been offered and accepted, the great priest over the household of God has taken his seat at God's right hand, the Prophet like Moses has been raised up, the Son of David reigns, the kingdom of God has been inaugurated, the Son of Man has received dominion from the Ancient of Days, the Servant of the Lord, having been smitten to death for his people's transgression and borne the sin of many, has accomplished the divine purpose, has seen light after the travail of his soul and is now exalted and extolled and made very high."

(F. F. Bruce, The New Testament Development of Old Testament Themes (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1968), 21. Quoted in the IVP Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, Copyright 1998 by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA)

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." (Gal. 4:4-6)

-- Read 1 John 4. Although TV shows and movies generally like to paint a picture of Christmas as an idyllic time of year with perfect decorations, perfect food and perfect families, the reality can often fall far short of the Christmas card "standard." How does this passage speak to you and the way your Christmas is going so far? What is convicting? What is encouraging? How do you sense God calling you to interact with people differently?

-- Pray for the love of Christ to dwell richly within your heart today and every day this week. Pray for personal healing from the wounds and concerns and troubles that have plagued you so much this year. Pray for Jesus to give you a sense of His great love for you. Pray for God's presence to be a tangible reality for you this week. Pray for God's love to drive out the fear and replace it with His peace.

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." (Gal. 4:4-6)

 The last few days before Christmas can be stressful and difficult for many of us. Since the temptation may be to skip our devotional time in order to make room for something else, we have kept the devotionals short--focused on the Word and prayer.

 -- Read John 1:1-18. Take a few moments to reflect back on your notes from the sermon yesterday. What struck you most about Pastor Rob's message? How do you think God is calling you to live differently as a result?

 -- Pray today for those who are struggling financially this Christmas. Pray that those who are without full-time employment would find a job in the New Year. Pray that God would sustain and strengthen them through this time of financial drought. Finally, pray for provision to come from unexpected places and for God to raise up a community of caring and supportive friends and family members who can provide assistance in the time of waiting.

I love this passage of Scripture. Jesus performed many miracles during his ministry, but there’s something about this one that stands out. Let’s read Luke 8 together, and then we’ll see how it connects with Colossians 1.

 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.

 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”

   He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.

   In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” (Luke 8:22-25)

Every summer we go to the beach with our children and every summer we build endless sand castles. Of course, the castles need protecting, so half the time is spent creating intricate walls of defense and complicated drainage channels, all in an effort to keep the ocean from washing all our hard work away. However, after watching the inevitable collapse of every single sand-castle, I have to admit that our pathetic attempts at holding back the rising tide are laughable. Who are we kidding? There’s no stopping the sea.

Paul says in Colossians 1 that “all things” were created in and through Jesus. But what does that really mean? We catch a glimpse of that in the story of Him calming the storm. I have heard all kinds of creative explanations for how Jesus managed to heal so many people, and I have even read some “scientific” explanations for the resurrection, but I have yet to read of anyone or anything that has the power to stop a storm dead in its tracks. It’s not that it’s something rare, or that it could happen under the right circumstances. It just does not happen. We can barely keep the sea at bay under the best of conditions. When a storm brews, all bets are off.

Yet, here we have an account of Jesus not merely protecting the disciples (which was appreciated, I am sure), but commanding the very wind and the waves. Rather than the typical, yawning, “I’ve-read-this-passage-a-hundred-times-before-you-better-show-me-something-new,” our response should be the same kind of “fear and amazement” that struck the disciples. After all, “Who on earth can do THAT?!”

Fear of Jesus is not something we typically think of at Christmas time, but Paul reminds us that the same Jesus whom we worship and adore at Christmas is the one in whom “all things hold together.” Our “Prince of Peace” is the Creator of the Universe and as such has absolute control over all things. As we draw near to Him this December, let us stand in awe of His great power and majesty. 

Today we start back again reading from Colossians:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15-20, ESV)

These verses can be a bit of a mind-bender at this time of year. During the Christmas season we are inundated with images of the beautiful baby Jesus, lying quietly in a manger. Yet in Colossians Paul talks about this same Jesus as being the one by whom and through whom all things were created. That means everything—every organism, every rock and every particle. Even light itself was created by and through Jesus.

            In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

           And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

(Genesis 1:1-5, ESV)

I am overwhelmed trying to wrap my head around these verses. The size and scope of what they suggest is at the outer reaches of my understanding. God is not just big. He is not just awesome. He is way above and beyond anything we could even imagine. Which makes the birth of Jesus that much more remarkable, for this baby is God Himself, come to earth. “All things” were created through this baby and for this baby. And one day all things will be restored and made new through this same baby.

What makes Christmas so amazing is that for a brief period of time the vastness of the Universe was condensed down into a single person. In a tiny village, in a tiny country, God came to dwell with us. And changed the world forever. 

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. 

"You are my Son,
today I have begotten you"?
Or again,
"I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son"?
And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,
"Let all God's angels worship him."
(Hebrews 1:1-6 ESV)

How can we "put Christ back in Christmas"? By reminding ourselves who "Christ" is. He is the Messiah; our Savior. Jesus, the image of the invisible, "the exact imprint of [God's] nature" is "the radiance of the glory of God." He is the one who paid for our sins. He is the one who now sits "at the right hand of the Majesty on high." Remember, this is the throne room a vision of which caused Isaiah to cry out in fear for his life.

Putting Christ back in Christmas means reminding ourselves that this baby Jesus is both fully and perfectly human and fully and perfectly God. He is the beginning and the end of all things, eternal, holy, without comparison. He is the "firstborn;" the rightful "heir of all things." This is the One we come to worship. May our hearts be humbled by His glorious presence as we prepare for His arrival this Christmas.

Paul's affirmation that Jesus is "the image of the invisible God" invokes imagery that takes us all the way back to Genesis 1:26-27 (NIV):

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth,and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

The Bible opens with this foundational assertion that we were made in the very image of God. We were made to carry forth God's image and bear His likeness as we ruled over His creation. Sadly, of course, we failed in that task, falling into sin and corrupting the image.

Here at Christmas we celebrate the arrival of the one who is the perfect image of God. Not merely a representative of God, not merely something made to reflect some part of God's likeness, Jesus was God in flesh, the perfect image of God. This has dramatic implications for us, as Paul draws out in his letter to the Corinthians:

All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

   If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. (1 Cor. 15:39-49, NIV)

What an incredible promise this is! Whereas once we were lost and without hope, dead in Adam, we are now made alive in Christ. This is the joyful promise we have the privilege to celebrate at Christmas. Whatever our circumstances may be, we can be glad knowing that whereas we once bore the likeness of Adam, we now bear the likeness of Jesus.

I love singing Christmas carols. "Away in a manger," "Holy Night," "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." In many respects it's just not Christmas without them. However, much as I relish these traditions, I find I have to work even harder at this time of year to remind myself who Jesus really is. We focus so much on this cherub-like baby, "so tender and mild," who lays down his sweet head on the straw in the manger, never crying or fussing, that we can forget that Jesus is God made flesh. The sweet little baby was involved in the creation of the entire Universe.

It is appropriate then that we should use this time of Advent as an opportunity to focus our attention on the supremacy of Jesus. As such, we'll be spending the next four weeks (three before Christmas, one after) studying what some have called the "Christ hymn" in Colossians 1:15-20 (quoted below from the NIV):

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

We will all spend a lot of time over the next 19 days racing around putting up decorations, buying gifts and preparing for big celebrations. The pace of life seems to increase exponentially at this time of year. But how might this passage change your perspective on Christmas? 

Set aside the fact that our economy is in turmoil, even in the best of times the “holiday season” can be a stress-inducing nightmare for many people. Compound that with under-employment, unemployment, medical bills, physical illnesses and relationship problems and you have a recipe that almost always cooks up anxiety, fear and depression.

Against this all-too-common picture Paul paints an alternative for the Colossians, praying that they would be “strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience” (Col. 1:11).

Such a heavy emphasis on their need for strengthening implies that there was a significant feeling of weakness. Paul probably didn’t need to know the specifics; he was undoubtedly extrapolating from his own experiences and indeed the experiences of all humans everywhere. While we like to maintain the illusion of control, the reality is that we live in a scary and unpredictable world where anything could, and sometimes does, happen at any time.

The solution is not to buck up and try harder. The solution is not to work at being less stressed out and afraid. The answer comes from completely outside of us. God, Paul argues, is the one who will strengthen the Colossians (and by extension, us), with HIS power, according to HIS glorious might. It is entirely a work of God in and through the Holy Spirit at work in us.

As you enter into Advent, perhaps uncertain about what the future holds, pray with Paul that God would strengthen you too, “with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience.”

Last week many of us gorged ourselves on Thanksgiving food. We filled our bellies full of turkey and mashed potatoes and pie, and may still be eating leftovers today. We’re physical creatures, and we have physical needs, so it’s easy to find ourselves overly focused on things like food and drink.

On more than one occasion Jesus pulled the disciples up short, pointing out that while they, too, were looking to fill their stomachs, He was trying to fill their souls. As He reminds the crowd following him after the feeding of the five thousand,

“I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” (John 6:26-27, NIV)

And then just a few verses later,

“I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:35-40, NIV)

Paul’s prayer for the Colossians recognizes that the basic human tendency is to be focused on physical needs, so he changes the focus. Whether they realize it or not, the most significant need they have is spiritual, and therefore the most impactful prayer he can offer them is that they, “be filled with the knowledge of [God’s] will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Col. 1:9).

And what is that will of God? Not guidance about which house to buy or school to attend, but that all would come to salvation in and through Jesus Christ. 

Today is often referred to as “Black Friday.” After a day devoted to thankfulness comes a day devoted to conspicuous consumption. Certainly, many may use this day to buy gifts for others, so we can’t write the entire day off as a celebration of selfishness, but the shopping frenzy is disturbing nonetheless.

In the first century Paul did not have to deal with “Black Friday” and although he is often quite blunt in his critiques and exhortations, in Colossians 1:3-8 we see a different emphasis entirely:

 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel 6 that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

The gospel, the good news that turned the lives of the Colossians upside down, was brought to them by Epaphras, Paul’s “dear fellow servant.” While others may have sought for selfish gain, Epaphras was apparently dedicated to the greater cause of spreading the gospel. His heart, his focus, his passion was teaching those in Colossae about Jesus. As we close our week and prepare to come together again to worship God on Sunday, where are we investing our time and energy? Are we more focused on getting a great deal on something or sharing the gospel with the people God has placed all around us? 

We continue our focus on Colossians 1:6-8 today, quoted below from the NIV:

All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

There are also relationships that God has given us outside the home, with neighbors, co-workers and other friends. More than simply trying to be positive role models in their lives, we are to be seeking ways to draw them into the Kingdom of God.

It can take a long time to build and develop the depth of relationship necessary to share the gospel, but what steps are you taking towards that goal? Are you looking for ways to engage people in spiritual conversations? Are you sharing your own faith freely and openly? Again, if you need help in this area, call or email Marie Allison, Director of Evangelism and Connect ministries. She would love to help you take the next step towards sharing your faith with those around you.

This week we move a little deeper into Colossians as we explore Colossians 1:6-8, quoted below from the NIV:

All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Paul’s understanding of the growth and spread of the gospel is expansive, covering every sphere of life. While the gospel is indeed going out into all corners of the earth, it also penetrates deep into our hearts (“just as it has been doing among you”). There is a personal element to gospel growth that can never be over-looked. The gospel first takes root in our own hearts, in our own lives, transforming us from the inside out.

When did that happen for you? How is the gospel continuing to challenge and transform you personally? What is the Spirit convicting you of today? Where is God pushing you to be growing personally? What personal spiritual disciplines do you need to be working on this month?

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will, and Timothy our brother:

    2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ in Colossae.

    Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints 5 because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about [this hope] in the message of truth, 6 the gospel that has come to you. (HCSB)

Why is it that Paul is constantly in prayer, thanking God for the Colossians? What qualities has he heard about that are so encouraging? Paul speaks about the faith that the people have in Jesus. How does he know about their faith? How does faith manifest itself in such a way that others can see it and thank God for it? How is your faith shown to others?

The other quality Paul calls out is the love that the Colossians have. What kind of love is he talking about? What would that love look like? What is it about their love that is so wonderful to Paul? How is love shown in such a way that other people can see it and respond to it?

Faith, love and any number of other qualities are hard to achieve under our own strength. Who empowers us to live in such a manner? Pray for God’s help to live in such a way that your love and faith are evident to all.

1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

 2To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:

   Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6which has come to you, (ESV)

Letter-writing formulas have changed quite a bit over time. These days we are far more likely to send someone a text or write on their Facebook page than we are to write out a letter. For better or for worse, email has forever changed how we communicate with other people.  

Yet, look at this incredible opening from Paul. We’ve included the first few verses above, but read the whole first chapter. Paul’s love and passion for the Colossians spills out in this lengthy introduction. He is genuinely concerned for them and writes with a fatherly love and passion, even though he had probably never been to Colossae and had not planted the church there.

What are the key phrases that indicate Paul’s love for this church? What clues do we have that Paul’s concern is genuine and not just polite introduction?

Although Paul follows some traditional letter-writing patterns, his use of the phrase “grace to you and peace” would not have been used outside of Christian circles. Grace and peace. Where do these terms come from? Think through the storyline of the Bible as a whole—when Paul offers grace to his readers, what themes might that draw to mind for them?

The word “peace” is often used today in the context of military conflicts. But what about the Biblical concept of peace? Where does it come from? What kind of peace is Paul referring to?

Resist the urge to rush ahead in our study. Take the time today to wrestle with these introductory questions.

We live in a crazy, chaotic world. There is no stable ground, no level place from which we can operate. As we search for peace and calm, all too often we find ourselves clinging to all the wrong things. Before reading Colossians again today, take a moment to think through and write down the de-stabilizing forces in your life right now. What are the events, stresses or people that are generating the most anxiety?

Now, read through the entire book of Colossians. While Paul doesn’t directly address concerns such as, “my teenage son won’t listen to me,” or “I can’t find a job,” he does encourage his readers (and by extension, us too), of the solid ground to be found in the person of Jesus. If He is supreme over all things, then everything in our life comes under His authority, and that should change the way we react to the craziness of the world around us.

Once again I encourage you to read the entire book of Colossians today. Certain passages will start sticking in your head, and verses will begin to jump out as convicting, challenging or confusing in some way. Take a pen or pencil and circle or underline the sections the Holy Spirit is drawing you towards. Re-read them. Then, in your time of prayer, pray through them. Ask God for help to understand them. Ask for His Spirit to open your heart to receive His Word. Pray for His help to put them into action.

Today we start a new series based on the book of Colossians. Although the book itself is short, it’s packed full of incredible and challenging insights about God and Christ. We’ll be digging into those over the coming weeks and months, but for now we need the big picture.

This coming Sunday Pastor Brian Hogan will introduce the book of Colossians to us, providing an overview and synopsis of the key themes and ideas. As we prepare for this study, I want you to do something a bit different. Instead of reading little bite-sized chunks of Scripture each day, I encourage you to try reading this book as “a whole,” as if it were a letter, without any chapter or verse divisions. In fact, every day this week I want you to read the entire book of Colossians.

For this, you’ll need to use your own Bible (print or online); we’re not going to re-print anything here in the devotionals. So, set these devotionals to one side, grab your Bible, and read the entire book of Colossians right now. If you have a study Bible, don’t read the introduction and study notes yet. Just focus on the text. It won’t take as long as you think. Then close in a time of prayer.

Abraham was a man whose life, like ours, was full of adversity. How did he respond? What can we learn from his example? Two weeks ago, Pastor Rob explored the first of two crucial episodes in Abraham’s life that demonstrated his faith (as recorded in Heb. 11:8-10). This week we’ll explore the second two (Heb. 11:11-19).

The devotionals this week were written by Jonathan Ziman, Community Life Pastor for Singles here at Wheaton Bible Church.

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

In Pastor Rob’s book, When the Bottom Drops Out, there are countless examples of men and women who endured all kinds of adversity. Fatal illness, chronic disease, emotional turmoil…we would never choose any of it. Yet we are called to walk through it nonetheless, and, as Pastor Rob has argued, “In the hands of God, there is always advantage to adversity.”

However, among the great acts of faith recorded in Hebrews is another kind of situation entirely. After waiting years and years for the child of promise to be born, God presented Abraham with a test, asking him to sacrifice “his one and only son.” As Pastor Rob explains in his book, the ethical/moral problems involved here are not the concern of the author of Hebrews. The question is rather one of faith. What will Abraham do? How will he respond? He has shown great faith in the past, but what about now? Can he give up his most treasured possession, his one and only son?

“Sacrifice,” Pastor Rob says, “is saying no to something you prefer, so you can say yes to God.”[1] It’s a straight-forward concept to teach, but something altogether different to live out. For Pastor Rob it involved a willingness to let go of his wife Carol and his friend Tom, releasing them into God’s hands. Was it easy or straightforward or unemotional? Of course not. But it was an act of faith to realize that the path through the pain was not to be found in clinging tightly to those he loved, but trusting completely in the One who loves him.

Abraham’s life teaches us that we must, “by faith, sacrifice for God, even when it costs [us] everything.”[2] Who or what might God be calling you to let go of today?

God,

This is a hard lesson for me to live out. I can give up little things like my TV or my phone, but you know the big things I have a death grip on. Help me to relinquish control; help me to let go; help me to give it all to you, trusting in your perfect plans.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

Abraham was a man whose life, like ours, was full of adversity. How did he respond? What can we learn from his example? Two weeks ago, Pastor Rob explored the first of two crucial episodes in Abraham’s life that demonstrated his faith (as recorded in Heb. 11:8-10). This week we’ll explore the second two (Heb. 11:11-19).

The devotionals this week were written by Jonathan Ziman, Community Life Pastor for Singles here at Wheaton Bible Church.

Today we are reading and meditating on Hebrews 11:11-12. The text below is taken from the New International Version, but feel free to read from the version of your choice.

By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

We live in a culture that thrives on beating the odds. We love to root for the underdog. We’re convinced that mountains are made to be climbed. We can do anything, be anything, go anywhere…nothing can hold us back.

But then reality comes crashing in. The cancer doesn’t get better, but worse. The loneliness of being single for twenty years starts to weigh more and more heavily and we find ourselves wondering if God even hears our prayers anymore.

When prayer has gone on for years, seemingly without any effect, how does God expect us to respond? How have you responded in your life?

Now, look back at these verses from Hebrews. What seemed impossible to Abraham and Sarah?

Despite the incredible promise of God, after twenty-five years they were still without children. How would God provide so many descendants without even one child to get them started?

Pastor Rob, in his book, When the Bottom Drops Out, refers to this as “waiting in the middle.” It’s messy and difficult and even frustrating at times, but nonetheless a part of life that God has ordained for us to experience. The way through, Pastor Rob says, is to “By faith, stay confident in God, even when the situation seems impossible.”[1]

What is the “messiness in the middle” that you are struggling through right now?

Lord,

I praise you because you alone are holy. You alone are good. You alone can bring healing and hope. Please help me to remain confident in you, even as everything around me seems to be crumbling away. I need you Lord today—please let me feel your presence as we walk through this together.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

On Sunday, Pastor Rob will finish his three-week series of messages focusing on our church's mission and vision. The title of this series -- "Be One. Make One." -- references our calling as a body of believers to be disciple-makers. This week we will focus our attention on reaching the world.

On Sunday, Pastor Rob will finish his three-week series of messages focusing on our church's mission and vision. The title of this series -- "Be One. Make One." -- references our calling as a body of believers to be disciple-makers. This week we will focus our attention on reaching the world.

The second key is leading. A disciple is someone who is not just learning about God, but putting it into practice. In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he encouraged them, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice” (Phil. 4:9). James, the brother of Jesus, would later say basically the same thing, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22).

Now, we have all different kinds of leadership in our lives as disciples. Clearly Jesus is the primary leader—He is our Lord, our King, and we are his servants. We are seeking to obey his commands and serve under his rule. So first and foremost, a disciple is someone who is being led by Jesus and is obedient to his commands.

But a disciple also places themselves under the leadership of a local church, submitting to the authority of the Bible and Gospel-centered teachers, and committing to participate actively and grow consistently.

Within this context we have all been called to work together with the Holy Spirit to lead others one step closer to Jesus. God is at work changing people’s hearts, but he wants us involved in bearing witness for him as well, leading others to the living water we ourselves enjoy. Following Jesus means doing what he did and that means we are called to make disciples who then go make other disciples.

Where are some areas that God might be calling you to engage or lead others to take one step closer to Jesus?

Father,
This task of making disciples and leading other to Christ sometimes feels completely overwhelming. Please guard my heart and help me not to get discouraged or give up.
Amen