Our Ongoing Ministry

The Call of Colossians: Christ-Centered Living

Christ is the fullness of God

He is the absolute center of all of Creation - and is to be the Center of our Lives

We were created, and are new creations, in Christ Our lives are hidden in him, his life is being lived out in us

Putting off the old and putting on the New - living in Christ Even our relationships - all are meant to show Christ

Two conversations

Paul’s final word of instruction -

Prayer - our conversation with God

Speech - our conversation with others

Both are to be Christ-centered, because it is in Christ we live and move and have our being.

Steadfast Praying

The Necessity of Prayer

What is prayer

Prayer is pouring our hearts out to God

Prayer is seeking from God our hearts desire

The goal of prayer is the ear of God.

Charles Spurgeon

Prayer is drawing near to the throne of grace

Prayer is the lifeblood - and we are anemic

Prayer is the pulse of life.

Andrew Murray

Prayer is the breath of faith. Prayer meetings are the lungs of the church.

Charles Spurgeon

The problem of prayerlessness

We are moving on our own strength

Churches can run without prayer. Whole denominations can run without prayer. The question is: Is what they’re doing worth doing if they can do it without prayer?

Ben Patterson Deepening Your Conversation with God (1991)

Christ is the fullness of God, and we feel empty, because we are not in prayer We starve ourselves of our vital union with Christ

The Nature of our Prayers

Steadfast - resilient

Watchful - The persistent widow -

Watchfulness in the garden

Seeing the needs of those around you Being on guard against temptation

A habit of prayer demands mental awareness of dangers of life and the needs of those around us

Thankful

Thankfulness is a powerful weapon against temptation and sin -

The Content of our Prayers

Prayers for the needs of the saints

Epaphras’ prayer (4:13) struggling in prayer for you that you may stand mature and fully assured in the will of God

Paul’s request - pray for me, that I might preach the gospel, making the mystery of Christ clear

Paul knew he was dependent upon God for everything, and needed other Christians to pray for him The mystery - that those who were separated from God, having no hope, now have the hope of glory in Christ - the mystery of Christ in you Pray for your pastor - for the preaching of word - to clearly unfold the mystery of Christ - the salvation of sinners, the gospel, in his preaching

Wise Walking

Wisdom Needed to Walk with Christ Today

Weathering the storms, avoiding the traps, engaging the lost

Wisdom found in Word and Spirit

Wisdom from above

Redeeming the Time

Making the best use of our time, buying back the time - that it would not be spent in useless, empty, or meaningless waste - but taking the advantage of every opportunity to encourage, challenge, and bless others with God’s word

Gracious Speaking

Grace

Certainly means rising above the course conversations, riddled with profanity, about vulgar things - refusing to speak ill of others, to join in the gossip and slander that comes so quickly -

That is ungracious speech - but it’s more than that

Gracious Speaking is Christ-centered speaking

Grace in our speech requires grace in our hearts - from the heart the mouth speaks Not necessarily mentioning Jesus in every sentence, but allowing the grace and truth revealed in Christ to permeate every conversation

If Christ is to be seen in our marriages, in our families, in our workplace, Christ must also be heard in our voices

Seasoned with Salt - what this means today

Being interested in others, and interesting

Not the dull, “churchy” language, but thoughtful, joyful, savory speech

Giving an Answer

1 Peter - be ready to give an answer for the joy

Conclusion

What we want for the church… only found when Christ is at the center of all that we are

The fullness of God was in Christ - If we want to be filled, we must have Christ

Seek him in prayer, steadfastly

Walk with Him in His wisdom

Speak of him often -

Christ-Centered living - where he is evident in all that we are