Christ is Enough

INTRODUCTION

Hello All Stars! For those who don’t know me, my name is Jae and I am the intern pastor at Joshua generation! Pastor Michale asked me to preach to you guys this week and

I’m really excited to share todays message with you and I really hope that you guys would be encouraged and find greater joy in Christ.

Also 8th graders, congrats on graduating middle school and I hope to see you guys next year at JG!

Let me pray for us and well get right into the message for today.

the title of todays message is ‘Christ is Enough’. In a world that demands so much from us, and even ourselves wanting more, we have the joy and delight of saying that our hearts are truly at peace knowing that Christ is truly enough for us in every situation. But its not as easy as it seems.

We are surrounded by so much noise around us, from tiktok and instagram to our close friends. We are constantly fed information, and alot of the time, we’re not able to discern which information is helpful and which are harmful.

And this is exactly what the church in colossians struggeld with. The church was infiltrated by heretics who spread misinformation about the Christian life and about Christ, that caused the christians to stubmle, lose trust in Christ, and ultimately live in constant fear.

We actually saw this recently during the eclipse season. so called ‘christians’ posted videos online saying that the eclipse was the end of the world. So many people thought the end was coming and acted out in fear.

But I also think we have gotten on that train, where so much of the secular philosophy and thoughts have infiltrated into the church and blinded us from seeing God as who He truly is, causing us to doubt God and His reliability.

I have a video for us that pretty much sums up

*Plays video*

As silly as this looks, this is how some of us are living like, blinded by worldly wisdom and what the world says about achieving success, we fail to see who our Lord God is and what He is capable of doing.

And so, what I want to do for us today is to take off that blind fold thats blocking what’s infront of us, and see the reality of our situation, in the safety our God.

We NEED to understand who we are trusting in,

TRANSITION

What wording will get me seamlessly from the introduction into the text?

write out the transition

How will I cultivate a need to look into the Scriptures?

If there’s a mist on the pulpit, there’s a fog in the pews

TRUTH & EXPLANATION

Christ is over All of Creation(v.15 - 17)

V15. Where else do we see this ‘image of God’ language? Genesis 1! Where Adam was made in the image of God, and he was the firstborn. And this word firstborn not only mean it literally of being born first, but it also holds the weight of authority. That whoever is the firstborn, has more authority than those who come after.

Like an older brother who has authority over the younger sibling. Adam had authority over the land God gave him. He was to have dominion over the creatures, and subdue it.

However we know from Genesis 3 that Adam fails to obey God in having domination over the creation, and so he gets kicked out.

But Christ in his infinite being as creator, is the firstborn of all creation, in which he creates the world through him and for him.

When Paul uses the word ‘image’, it does not mean that Jesus somewhat resembles who God the Father is, but he is reflected perfectly who God is. The wholeness of God is manifested in the person of Christ.

And if you’re taking notes, this will be our first point:

First section is that Christ is over all of creation.We will look at the first two verses, verses 15-17.

Christ is the image of the invisible God, first of all creation.

Anyone remember or know this word "image"? It often sounds familiar.Genesis: Adam was made in the image of God, and he was the firstborn.This word means being born first, but also holds the weight of authority.Whoever is the firstborn has more authority than those who come after.Brother has authority over younger sibling.Had authority over the land. God gave him dominion over the creatures.That was the law, the command that God gave Adam.

Adam fails to obey God and have dominion over creatures.

The authority from God to man and to creatures completely flipped.Man now listens to the serpent.When the serpent came to him, he ate the fruit.He was unable to fulfill the command that God had given him.He was kicked out.

Christ as the infinite being, creator:

We see the universe was created for him.All things are created by Jesus.Jesus is not only the firstborn, who has authority over all creation.He is also the creator of all things.The authority of all creation.All things were created by Christ.Christ was the vehicle through which all creation was made into existence.

Firstborn does not mean that Christ was a created being.

It means that Christ has authority over all creation.Creation in heaven or invisible, with thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.All things were created through him and for him.This emphasizes again that Christ is the creator of all creation.Creation was meant for his glory.

Christ is the sustainer of all creation:

He is all things and holds all things together.He is supreme over all creation.He is the firstborn because he created all things, all creation.He existed before creation.All creation was created by him and for him.

In the first three verses, we see:

Christ is preeminent.He reigns over creation before time, after time, and every time in between.He is the one who created it.He reigns over it.He sustains all of it together to exist and function.

What is the original context of the passage? Why was the author writing? How will I help the audience understand this?

The church in Colossae was struggling with alot of different religions ideas and philosophies infiltrated the community. There was a big jewish popoulation wehre they taught that circumcision is needed to be a part of God’s family.

What 3-5 points will best show the author’s flow of thought and help the audience digest the text?

How will I walk verse by verse and help the audience grasp what each verse is saying? What words or phrases need extra explanation?

What illustrations will help explain or put an exclamation point on the points I am making?

Where is the gospel in this passage? How will I clearly and effectively communicate the gospel?

APPLICATION

In light of what we have learned from the text:

What do I want the audience to do before they leave?

What do I want the audience to do when they get home?

What do I want the audience to do with their community group?

What do I want the audience to do every day this week?

CONCLUSION

Can I effectively bookend the talk by circling back to my introduction?

if you can bring back the story from earlier (bookend)

How can I land the plane in a way that ties a bow on the message?