Faith, Love, Hope

Reading of the Text

Colossians 1:3–14 ESV

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 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. 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; 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. 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.

Paul wrote letters to the saints in their day as it pertained to particular matters, but not all those matters are unique to them. In this case the thankfulness to the Lord for those who count among the saints and for the fruit of which the Lord has produced in them ought to be true of us today. As Avery is heading out on this next season of her walk with Christ, I want to encourage us to be thankful to the Lord for Avery as a member of the church of God and the work that He has done through and in her, not only since she has been at Calvery Chapel and labored for us and alongside of us, but also since her conversion, which is to the praise of the Lord’s faithfulness in keeping His own.

There are three principles that the Apostle Paul brings to light in this passage that is true of the saints at Colossae and of Saints worldwide to this day. These principles are faith, love, and hope. Particularly a persevering faith in Jesus as the Christ, Lord over all and savior of his flock, a particular love for the saints of Christ, that is a love shown to the saints in a unique manner, and these two principles being lived out rest on the hope we have in the resurrection of our bodies to commune with the Lord for eternity.

Avery’s faithfulness to Christ has been evident in walking a consistent a life of Godliness, seen in her labor for the expansion of the Kingdom of God by being submissive to the call of the great commission, not simply to evangelize as we have seen numerous times, but also to disciple other women and the youth of our congregation. We have seen her particular love for the body of Christ in her labor on the Lord’s Day(that is Sunday worship service), reaching out to those in pain, those who struggle with sin, and those in need, using her gifts and talents for the glory of God and the love of His people. This is all because of the hope she has in the gospel of Christ Jesus. There is no purposeless pain, there are no meaningless losses, there is only God’s sovereign plan for our redemption, His faithfulness towards a people who do not deserve such a mercy. In this she has learned to suffer well for the sake of the Kingdom of God. It is only by God’s grace can we hold faithful, love our brothers and sisters, and have hope in the promise to come.

Let us all be encouraged by the example she has lived out before us, but also now let us be encouraged to pray for more growth in these areas of Christian living and examine the Word of God will all wisdom to know the will of God for our lives, that is the will of how we ought to live our lives in light of the gospel and hope in Christ. In this growth we will bear the fruits of the spirit that are ever increasing, overflowing into all actives and aspects of our living and being, that which is worthy of those who are called Christians, the Lord Christ’s flock, the very children of God.

Let us pray for strength in the Holy Spirit to persevere until the end with great joy and thankfulness towards the Lord who has given us share in the inheritance of Christ to whom it belongs to all saints by faith in Him. Remember the forgiveness of our sins given to us through faith in the works of Christ, that we are now in the Kingdom of God, removed from the domain of darkness, the realm ruled by the devil, the lying serpent, that is awaiting it’s destruction in the time of judgement.

In closing I hope that by examining the fruits of our sister, Avery, and looking to the foundational truths of our faith, we all can be encouraged as Avery takes her next steps in faith.