Introduce Myself

Married to Chrissy, we have a 3 year old son CJ and a 1.5 year old daughter maggie

XP at the church, we lead Young Adults as well

Praying for you, Colossians 1:9-11

Colossians 1:9–11 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; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;

READ

John 1:1–5 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:14 ESV

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

PRAY

Throughout the Old Testament “the Word of the Lord” is used about 400 times

“The word of the Lord came to Abram” in genesis

“Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord” in Exodus

“Hear the Word of the Lord” the prophet Isaiah says

JESUS IS THE WORD

Jesus is God’s ultimate self-disclosure

Colossians 1:15 (ESV)

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

The words and deeds of Jesus

are the words and deeds of God

“Just as our words reveal our mind and heart, so Christ reveals the mind and heart of God to men. “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” -Warren Wiersbe

Texting vs Real life

early in our relationship chrissy and I texted a lot, snapchat was huge then, too, and while we did grow to know one another more and more…there is no substitute for sitting across from her, looking at her face to face and having a conversation. Truly getting to know a person.

We can know God more than every before because of Jesus, who is the exact imprint of his nature

God in the flesh

THE WORD WAS IN THE BEGINNING

God the Son was not created, he has always been

Jesus, the human being, flesh and bones that God the Son became on Christmas day

Alpha and Omega, beginning and the end

Eternal, never ending, which also means…

THE WORD WAS WITH GOD AND WAS GOD

Trinity

God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit

One being, 3 distinct persons

If you are looking to dive deeper into the trinity, there is a book I cannot recommend enough called Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves

Why is it so important to know and believe Jesus, The Word, is truly God?

‘John intends that the whole of his gospel shall be read in the light of this verse. The deeds and words of Jesus are the deeds and words of God; if this be not true the book is blasphemous’ C.K. BARRETT

-If Jesus is not God, then he lied to us “I and the father are one” in chapter 10, chapter 17

-If Jesus is not all powerful God, then his salvation would be limited, because his power would be limited

THE WORD CREATED EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING

All things, and all people were created by the Word

The oceans, the sky, the earth, the planets, the grand canyon, the appalachian mountains, the great barrier reef

all masterfully designed and created by Jesus

You were created by and through Jesus

He knit you together in your mothers womb

He designed you, on purpose

in the image of God

gives each one of us dignity and worth and purpose

THE WORD BECAME FLESH AND DWELT AMONG US

Matthew 1:23

23  “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us).

God the Son, left his glory in heaven, became of human being

lived 33 years, just like us, and he died a real death, just like we will

Colossians 2:9 (ESV)

9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,

FULLY GOD and FULLY MAN

Hebrews 4:14–16 ESV

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

He desires reconciliation with you, a relationship with you, for you to know him fully and be satisfied in him alone

Promised that satisfaction…you won’t want anything else, you won’t wonder if something would have been better, no FOMO

THE WORD IS LIFE AND LIGHT

Jesus is not only the physical creator of life

Life itself, the meaning of it, the purpose of it, the greatest possible life imaginable

John 10:10 ESV

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Imagine if we could all live 100 different lives, pick your own country, family, how famous you are, talent, smarts,

Jesus promises that the 1 life you live completely dependent on him, completely surrendered to him, completely in step with the Holy Spirit, that life though it may be hard, like Paul’s life, like Jesus life, that life would be the 1 you would chose to live again

The question we have to ask ourselves is what is getting in the way of us believing that and living that way?

What lies are we believing instead of the truth that Jesus promises us?

The word is life

Live in such a way that a life lived this way is

Light of men

in the darkness

Undeniable light that shines bright

so powerful that darkness cannot stop it

JESUS IS THE WORD

Small group questions

Bow heads