Ernc - Christ the King or Reign of Christ, Proper 29
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ENGAGE
STARBUCKS CLOSES EVERY STORE
In February 2008, Starbucks closed all 7,100 of its’ stores nationwide for 3 hours to retrain 135,000 employees on how to make Starbucks coffee.
CEO Howard Schultz heard concerns that Starbucks was losing its edge and facing increased competition from McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts.
"We are passionate about our coffee. And we will revisit our standards of quality that are the foundation for the trust that our customers have in our coffee and in all of us,"
He indicated that they had lost their essential focus and foundation and that had impacted everything by about their customer experience.
They had to retrain everyone to make sure that they were following the same foundational procedures and had the same essential values in every location.
TENSION
Around 68 AD, a similar situation was going on a small town called Colossae.
The founder of the small church of about 45 people, a man named Epaphras, had concerns that the disciples were in danger of losing their focus, and shifting from their essential core values as followers of Christ.
So he went to the CEO or Regional Manager, the apostle Paul, who was in prison at the time, arrested for preaching Jesus.
While Epaphras was there, Paul composed a letter to the church to reset them and get them refocused on the essential truth of their foundational beliefs- to center them on who Jesus was, and what he had done for them.
TRUTH
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To 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,
Paul has never met them. He has only heard about the church from its pastor.
He opens up with an introduction and an indication that he feels passionately for them even though he hasn't met them personally.
4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints,
5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,
6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,
7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf
8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
Pastor’s report
The pastor reports of the Colossians faith, their love and their hope. Three essentials that Paul writes about in almost all his letters. These are essential truths of following Christ that the Colossian believers have gotten correct.
Colossians 1:9-10 (ESV)
9 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,
10 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;
He prays that they be filled with knowledge, wisdom and understanding, implying that they are not currently as filled as they can be, or as they need to be in order to be a disciple of Christ, to walk in a manner that is:
Worthy of the Lord
Pleasing to Him
Bearing fruit in every good work
Increasing in their knowledge of God, not stagnate
Colossians 1:11-12 (ESV)
11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;
12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
He reminds them that their strength comes from God himself, not from themselves or anyone else - not other people, not teachers, not angels, not idols, not anything else they could think of other than Christ.
This should bring about a sense of thankfulness for what God has done for them, including sending his Son for us.
13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16 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.
17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Jesus is God, perfect and holy. The creator and sustainer of the universe. He is perfect and holy, he is qualified to be the sacrifice that makes us clean and redeemed.
He brought redemption through his life, death and resurrection- through his love. He is the one who defeated death and the grave.
18 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.
He brings redemption through his church, the gospel message is spread through the church’s witness on the earth.
19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,
This is why we follow him. This is our essential standard.
This is why Epaphras went to Paul.
This is why Paul wrote to the church at Colossae.
It was essential that they were taught (and retaught) the essentials, the foundation of their faith in Christ - so when false teachings -someone teaching ideas that there is something other than Christ that can save you from your sin.
So when these teachings show up, the Colossians believers can stand against them and won’t be swayed by the false teachers.
Just like Starbucks had to retrain their employees in the basics of Starbucks coffee or they would lose customers to McDonalds and Dunking Donut, Paul had to retrain this church in the foundation of the early church, Jesus Christ himself, and what he had done for them or he knew trouble was ahead. There were false teachers and teachings out there trying to lure young disciples away from the truth.
APPLICATION
Paul was genuinely concerned for the Colossian church.
23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
If indeed you continue - there is a possibility you won’t be able to.
Have to be stable
Have to be steadfast and focused on the essential truth of Christ
You cannot shift from the hope in the Gospel
INSPIRATION/REFLECTION
12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.
The founder and pastor prays for maturity and fullness in each of the disciples. So they will hold fast to, and continue to grow and spread the gospel of Christ.
ACTION/NEXT STEPS
Just like the first church, and specifically the church at Colossae, we as disciples must constantly be on the watch for slight shifting away from the truths that we first learned about the gospel of Christ.
When you are driving a car, you don’t make large movements with the wheel to change direction. Even tiny movements will change the course that you are traveling over time.
We have to make constant corrections to keep following as close as we can to the essential truths of Christ.
Paul gives us the book of Colossians to help us keep our focus on Christ.
Here is just some of his instructions to maintain their course for Christ.
Colossians 2:6-10
6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Colossians 3:12–17 (ESV)
12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
We are currently going through Colossians on Wednesdays at 6:30 in the little room off the sanctuary if you would like to join us as we explore these and many other insights from Paul for keeping our focus on Christ.
I believe that the essential truth that we need to take out of here tonight, is that in order to know what we believe, we have to read it, we have to internalize it, and we have to apply it to our lives.
We cant go Sunday to Sunday. Or even Sunday to Wednesday. We have to read and soak up the truths of God’s word, and live in the relationship with Jesus that we claim to have.
What exactly does it look like to be in this relationship with Jesus?
Lets look at Colossians 3:16 and 17.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
We need to be teaching, discipling, worshipping, and thanking God for who he is and what he has done.
We need to constantly make little corrections to stay the course, in everything we do, everything, we must keep Jesus the focus, and never stray from that foundation.
We need his help to do that. We cannot do it on our own.
Prayer
Lets pray
Heavenly Father,
Forgive us when we stray.
Forgive us when we think we know better than you do.
Forgive us when we listen to the world, and we change your recipe for Discipleship, and the essentials of being a follower of yours.
You created the world, you keep it spinning.
You give us life, you give us breath.
We need to stop and recalculate where we are headed,
Lord help others to point out little changes that will impact us down the road,
and help us to deal with them as soon as they come to our attention.
Lord, we love you and need you to be with us every minute of every day.
And all God’s people said,
AMEN
BENEDICTION
The Lord be with you as you leave this place tonight and carry the gospel to the world outside.