A God-Centered, Christ-Exalting, Spirit-Empowered Year

Introduction

Opener

As New Year’s Day approaches, it’s about this time each year I begin thinking about the type of year I hope to have in 2025 and the man I want to be.

I think that for many, we wait for a new year to arrive in order to make some changes in our life.

These changes range from financial to physical to spiritual, the list goes on and on.

I think the problem many come to is that while we want to make changes and often times, we do, beginning on January 1st we dive so deep in them that we burn out to quickly and instead of gradually making changes, starting slow and then adding day by day, we’ve found ourselves living this unsustainable life, so we fall back into our old ways, not working again on these changes till the next year rolls around, where once again, the cycle repeats, we dive to deep, we burn out, and find ourselves living an unsustainable life until finally we decide to push it off till next year, complacency hits, takes over, and we see no progress in our lives with our lives being a mirrored reflection one year to the next.

Complacency can be described as the uninformed self-satisfaction someone has when they are unaware of the actual dangers they are facing.

When it comes to Christianity, for the Christian, complacency stunts growth as a person becomes complacent with their current state as a Christian and doesn’t feel the need to grow and mature.

They stop seeking God, they stop feeling the need to share the gospel of Christ, and they stop seeking the aid of the Holy Spirit, our Helper, in their day to day lives.

Complacency is dangerous and unfortunately, for Christianity in the US, we have been and are seeing a period when complacency continues to be an issue that is causing Christ’s Church to not only see less growth in the amount of new people filling the seats each week, as there seems to be less and less people coming to the faith, but we are even seeing less growth in the Christians that make up the Church, as they have lost their eagerness to grow and mature as a Christian.

I was sitting there thinking about complacency and it led me to think of my first sermon that I ever preached after my call to ministry, the sermon was called “God-Centered, Christ-Exalting, Spirit-Empowered Ministry”.

I remember my goal for that sermon was to come visit MCC and deliver a sermon about what I believe you should look for in your next Pastor and I’ll be honest, I didn’t leave that day believing it would be me, but God had other plans and His plan for me has been one of the most amazing blessings, not only for me as a man, as a husband, as a father, but also for me as a Christian, a follower, disciple of Christ.

As the next weeks would pass that would lead to me becoming the Interim and then the Pastor months later, there were many times throughout my tenure here that my first sermon came to my mind as I would ask myself if the life I was living was a God-Centered, Christ-Exalting, Spirit-Empowered life.

It was when I started here and learned that God would keep me here that I began to making small changes in my life that over the last year and a half have taken me out of a state of complacency and put me into a state of desire to grow and mature more and more as a Christian.

That journey didn’t begin on New Year’s Day, that journey began in the middle of a year, June of 2023, and it has been through the different experiences I have had with each one of you, my family, and those from other churches that have allowed me to grow and mature each and every day, I don’t look to stop now and neither should you.

Don’t wait for the next 3 days to pass to begin living a God-Centered, Christ-Exalting, Spirit-Empowered life.

Begin right now.

Main Point of the Text (MPT)

I want to travel back to the Scripture I preached during my first sermon here and consider some changes we can make to start that new life now, please open your Bibles to Colossians 1.

Just a little background before we read our Scripture for today:

The author of Colossians is Paul and Timothy.

The letter is thought to be written ~ 62 A.D. while Paul was in house arrest in Rome.

Paul’s reason for writing to the church at Colassae was due to an issue of dangerous false teaching threatening the church and while many scholars have tried to discover what false teaching was threatening the church, we are still unaware to this day what exactly was being taught, although there is speculation.

Leading up to our Scripture for today at the end of Colossians 1, Paul first takes time to greet the Colossians (Colossians 1:1-2), followed by a moment of thanksgiving for what he has heard about them (Colossians 1:3-8), telling them that he has not ceased to pray for them (Colossians 1:9-14), then taking a moment to offer praise to Christ, speaking to His preeminence (Colossians 1:15-18), before speaking of reconciliation (Colossians 1:19-21)

Leading into our Scripture for today, Paul says this to the Colossians concerning reconciliation, or the restoration of all things to Christ, “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

Let’s consider this for ourselves.

We, who were once alienated by sin, now reconciled, restored to new life through the death of Christ, which has made us holy, blameless, and above reproach in His sight, now need to continue in the faith, remaining grounded and steadfast, not moving away from the hope of the gospel.

And then Paul says, that the gospel, of which he and the Colossians heard, is why he became a minister.

You might be sitting there thinking, well, I ain’t no minister, but I want you to understand that the word Paul uses here, in Greek, is diakonos, meaning servant, of which, all Christians are called to be servants of Christ and so what Paul is alluding to is that in the same way the gospel made him a minister, so has it made you.

Paul’s ministry was a God-Centered, Christ-Exalting, Spirit-Empowered ministry and it is here at the end of Colossians 1 that he speaks to his ministry.

That is where we find our Scripture reading for today, Colossians 1:24-29, and so if you are able, please stand for the reading of God’s Word.

Scripture Reading: Colossians 1:24-29

Prayer

Body

Point 1: A God-Centered Year

Scripture: Colossians 1:24–26

Explanation:

As I mentioned before our Scripture reading for today, Paul last mentioned that it was the gospel that had made him a minister (Colossians 1:23), a servant of Christ, and we know that Paul’s ministry had him on house arrest in Rome at the time of writing his letter to the Colossians (Acts 28:16, 30).

So, he begins speaking to his ministry by mentioning his suffering, of which, we see Paul do often, knowing that he was God’s chosen vessel, not only to bear His name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Isreal, but also to suffer for His name’s sake (Acts 9:15-16).

And suffer he would as he would face stripes above measure, imprisonment, death, rods, stones, shipwrecks, waters, robbers, his own countrymen, Gentiles, cities, wilderness, seas, false brethren, toil, sleeplessness, hunger, thirst, fasts, coldness, nakedness, and his deep concern for all the churches (2 Corinthians 11:23-28), but despite it all he says to the Colossians, “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you...”.

What a statement to consider, after all of the suffering that Paul had endured, his mind doesn’t go to himself, rather to the members of the church in Colassae, he says, “I now rejoice in my sufferings for YOU...”!

Paul’s focus is not on himself, Paul has accepted his suffering, who he was chosen to be, Paul’s mind is on the church and he continues with this, “I now rejoice in my sufferings for YOU, AND fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the CHURCH...”.

Paul knew that the suffering he was experiencing was the suffering that was intended for Christ, that’s why he said, “AND fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ...”.

Despite Christ’s death on the cross, Christ’s enemies, those who were harming Paul, had not stopped persecuting Christ, they persecuted Christ through His faithful servants, such as Paul!

What Paul is saying here to the Colossians is that the suffering he endures, he endures for Christ, but not only for Christ, but “for the sake of His body, which is the CHURCH...”.

I rejoice in my sufferings for Christ and I rejoice in my sufferings for you, Christ’s church, he tells them, and he then says, “...of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you...”

Again, the word for minister being used here, diakonos, meaning servant, and so God, according to His stewardship, or His supervision, His administration, had made me, Paul says, a servant of the church, a role given to Paul by God, for the church, so that he must do what, he says “to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.”

Paul became a minister, a servant of the church to fulfill the word of God, or as some translation put it to make the word of God fully known, meaning Paul’s ministry will be one that will make the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, the gospel message, that Paul says, God has now revealed to His saints, or all those who believe in Christ, known to all people.

Application:

Everyone’s life has a center and for Paul, at his life’s center, was God and the mission, the ministry He had called him too, to spread the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ to all people, anyone who might believe, because Paul was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for he knew that it is the power of salvation for everyone who believes (Romans 1:16).

What a great question to ponder as we begin our new year, what will the center of our life be in 2025?

Will we/you be at the center of our own life this year?

Will your boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife be the center of your life this new year?

Will your friends or children be the center of our life this new year?

If they are the center, where does that leave God?

What if I told you that if you choose to make God the center of your new year that all of the others I just mentioned, you, your boyfriend/girlfriend, your husband/wife, your friends, your children, will benefit from it?

What does it mean to make God the center of your life?

For Paul, to have God at the center of his life meant to focus on his calling, to be a servant of Christ and His church that spreads the gospel no matter how much he suffered.

Perhaps, that may lead you to ask, what is my calling so I might focus on it? What if I told you that your calling is no different that Pauls?

It is true that Paul was a chosen vessel of God (Acts 9:15), that he got to meet Jesus at the moment of his conversion (Acts 9:5), and fulfilled a special role in spreading the gospel to the world outside of Jerusalem to Gentiles (Acts 9:15-16, 13:2), your calling is no different, in fact, your calling, as a believer in Christ, as a Christian, is the same.

What is your calling?

In Matthew 28:19–20a, Jesus gives all of those whom he calls disciple, simply meaning a follower of Christ, their calling, to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded...”

We are to “go”, to go and spread the gospel message, just as Paul, and it will be the gospel message, the good news of Jesus Christ that will “make disciples of all nations”.

Following that, we are to baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, where they will get to symbolically imitate what Christ did for them, as they are buried with Him through baptism into death, and just as Christ was raised from the dead they will come out of the water, to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4), confessing to all who are in attendance (Romans 10:9) that it was through their faith in Christ that they have put off the old man, so that may put on the new (Ephesians 4:22-24).

And lastly, just as Paul, we must teach them to observe all things that I have commanded you.

For Paul at the time that was through the use of the OT Scriptures and the teachings of Jesus, but for us, since we have been given the entirety of God’s Word, both the Old and the New testaments, that is from where we are to teach those who come to faith in Christ.

That is why each and everyday of our lives, Scripture must be read, because in order to have a God-Centered life, you must include Him in your everyday life and while His Spirit dwells in us, it is through the reading and careful study of Scripture that we learn most about Him.

And so, how might you make God the center of your new year?

Three simple ways:

First, by being a minister of Christ and His church, by being a servant to others in the church.

This includes not only those you cling to at church, but all who attend, older, younger, those who have been here for years and those who have not.

Second, by being a disciple of Christ, going, and spreading His gospel outside of these walls, making disciples, baptizing them and then teaching them God’s Word.

This includes not only your family and friends, but all people, no matter their age, their background, their race, their sex, the gospel is the power of salvation for anyone who believes (Romans 1:16).

Lastly, by going to God in prayer and reading His Word each and everyday, so that you might grow closer to Him.

As someone who just read the entire Bible for the first time last year, I can tell you that from now on that will be something I do each and every year, as it caused me to dedicate moments each day to the One who dedicated everything He had to me…which leads me into my next point, a Christ-Exalting year...

Point 2: A Christ-Exalting Year

Scripture: Colossians 1:27–28

Explanation:

Paul continues to speak to of the saints, whom the mystery, the gospel, has now been revealed to, he says, “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

We need to pay close attention to the words God gave Paul here in verse 27:

To the saints, Christians, believers in Christ, “God willed...”

What does it mean for someone to will something?

Listen to the different definitions that the Merriam-Webster gives us for this word:

to express futurity;

to express desire, choice, willingness, consent;

to express a command, exhortation, or injunction;

to express frequent, customary, or habitual action or natural tendency or disposition;

to express inevitability;

to express determination, insistence, persistence, or willfulness;

to express capability or sufficiency.

So to saints, Christians, God had always planned, He had always desired, He had always commanded, He had always habitually (as we saw throughout the OT), inevitability, determined, through His sufficiency to make known what are the riches of glory of this mystery among the Gentiles.

Of which, Paul tells us, is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Christ, the gospel, the mystery being revealed to all who believe was always apart of God’s will, it was always His plan.

His plan was always for you to find hope in Christ and it is because of this hope that Paul begins his next statement, “Him we preach...”

“Him we preach...”

Paul could of stopped there, he had literally just told all Christians that God had always designed His plan that all who would believe the gospel would receive it so that it would bring them hope.

But he chooses to continue, saying, “Him we preach, WARNING every man and TEACHING every man in all wisdom, that we may PRESENT every man PERFECT in Christ Jesus.”

Let’s break this down:

First and foremost, Paul says, “Him we preach...”

Above all else, before all else, we preach Christ, or as some translations put it, we proclaim Christ, because every Christian, every minister of Christ, every servant of Christ, should proclaim the gospel.

It is faith in the gospel that saves, that restores, justifies, sanctifies, and eventually glorifies the Christian and so proclaiming it to others should come before all else.

Second, Paul continues, “Him we preach, WARNING every man...”

Warning them of what?

Third, Paul says, “Him we preach,...TEACHING every man...”

Teaching them what?

What is it that we warn and teach every man in?

We warn and teach every man, Paul says, “in all wisdom”.

Where does wisdom come from? From God.

Where do we obtain God’s wisdom? The Bible.

The words of Paul here echo his words to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16 concerning Scripture, where he declares that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

And so, all Scripture, aka God’s wisdom, is given to every man by the inspiration of God, meaning God-breathed, meaning straight from God himself, and is profitable to warn, as he says, for reproof, for correction, and to teach, as he says, for doctrine, for instruction in righteousness and then look what he says at the end...

Lastly, just like he says in Colossians, “that we may PRESENT every man PERFECT in Christ Jesus.”

He echos these words at the end of 2 Timothy 3:16, “that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

It is through our preaching of Christ, our warning and teaching every man in all Scripture, that we may may PRESENT every man PERFECT in Christ Jesus.

It is Christ who perfects and it is Scripture that aids us in striving for that perfection as we try, even though we fail, to walk each and every day as God’s wisdom, His Word, instructs us to.

It is not only through our words that we should exalt Christ, but it is through our life that we do so as well.

Application:

If our new year is one to be God-centered and to be God-centered means that we focus on our calling, which as I mentioned in the first point is the Great Commission, the spread of the gospel, then it only makes sense that our new year should also be one that exalts Christ, as He is the center of the gospel we spread.

How might we exalt Christ in 2025?

What if I told you that Paul speaks to how we might later on in his letter to the Colossians?

In Colossians 3:11 he says that for all who have put on the new man, or in others words, been saved, have repented, been restored to new life, been justified, and are now walking in sanctification, Christ is in them.

He then goes into speaking on that new man that I told you those who have been saved put on.

Saying this in Colossians 3:12–17 “Therefore (since Christ is in you), as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

And so how might you exalt Christ in 2025?

First, realize that you are the elect of God, holy and beloved, meaning you are a chosen heir of God, your are a child of God, you have been made holy, righteous, and blameless by the precious blood of Christ, and you are loved.

Second, each and every morning, when you wake up, put on Christ.

What does that look like?

You put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;

You bear one another;

You forgive one another, just as Christ forgave you;

But above all else, you love one another, which Paul says, is the bond of perfection.

It was through Christ’s love for each of us that we have been made perfect in Him before a loving and just God and so we must love as He did.

Third, let the peace of God rule in your hearts and be thankful for what God has done for you through His Son.

Fourth, as Paul alluded to in Colossians 1:28, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another.

Study the words of Christ; study the Words of the OT, the Law, the History, the Poetry, the Words of the Prophets; study the Words of the NT, the Gospels, Church History, the Letters and Prophecy, let the Word of God dwell within you this new year.

Fifth, praise God in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Don’t forget to worship and praise God each and everyday for His gift of grace, that is Christ Jesus.

Last, but not least, how you can exalt Christ in 2025, Paul final words from this Scripture, “whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Do all things, whether in word or deed, in the name of Lord Jesus, or in other words, live every moment for Christ and give all the glory for each to Him.

How might we make that possible, our last point, by having a...

Point 3: A Spirit-Empowered Year

Scripture: Colossians 1:29

Explanation:

Paul ends the section on his ministry, by saying, “To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.”

“To this end I also labor”, also translated as “for this I toil”, Paul saying here, to preach Christ, to warn every man and teach every man in all wisdom, so that every man may be presented perfect in Christ Jesus, is why he, the Greek word here being, agōnizomai (ag-eh-ni-zo-mI), meaning to struggle, strive, fight, labor, or toil.

Paul’s service to the church was not one where he was lightly involved, no he was heavily involved.

Paul was not only willing to put in the work, but to work hard and at great cost on behalf of the church and how was he able to do that?

As he says following these words, “striving according to His working which works in me mightily.”

In other words, through Christ in him.

And how is it that Christ lives in us? The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9; 1 Peter 1:11).

The Holy Spirit, whom Jesus referred to as our Helper (John 14:26), the One sent by Christ (Luke 24:49), the Promise of the Father (Acts 1:4) to all who believe, have faith in the name of Jesus Christ.

Just as with Christ, whom was filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1), led by the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:14), and being empowered by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:28), so are we.

Upon salvation we are filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38), while walking in sanctification we are led by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14), and throughout that walk we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry out the work God in our lives (Ephesians 3:14-19).

If it wasn’t for the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, working mightily in us and He did in Paul, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do for His Church.

Application:

So, how might we live out this Spirit-empowered life in 2025?

How does the Holy Spirit empower us?

There are many ways He empowers us, but the best example is through the gifts He gives us.

But before speaking to these gifts, why is it that the Holy Spirit gives us these gifts?

The answer is simple, found in 1 Peter 4:10, “to minister it to one another”, or in other words to use them to serve others, and as Peter continues, “as good stewards of the manifold grace of God”, meaning, that since God had given you a gift so that you can serve others, use it or them, as it was by the grace of God that you recieved it.

To live a Spirit-empowered life is to use the gifts he has given us to serve the church and in 2025, that is how you can have a Spirit-empowered year, by serving the church with your gifts.

What are these gifts?

Just to give a few examples as each deserve their own sermon, all found in 1 Corinthians 12, some examples and how you can use them in 2025 are:

Administration (1 Corinthians 12:28): People who have this gift are good at organizing, administering, promoting, or leading.

Serve your church by asking the Pastor how you can get involved in areas such as outreach where you can use your skills to help organize events such as ones that provide opportunities to spread the gospel, provide for families in need, or help draw more people in to the church.

Evangelism (Ephesians 4:11): People who have this gift love leading others to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

While each of us should love leading others to Christ, some feel more called to evangelize than others, taking the gospel out into the world can be a scary thing, but each church needs people who love to do it despite how uncomfortable it may be.

If this is you, ask the Pastor how you can get involved in a ministry outside of the church to help spread the gospel, ministries such as prison, food, or prayer ministries are great ways to spread the love of Christ beyond these four walls.

These are just a few ways you can use your gifts to make your 2025 a spirit-empowered year and I am sure that many of you may already know what gifts God has given to you and many of you may not.

My best advice is to first, pray about it, then get into God’s Word, read Scripture about spiritual gifts, read examples throughout the Bible of the Spirit empowering people with their gifts, talk with your Pastor or Youth Pastor about what you fell your gifts may be, and finally, go and serve how ever you can.

I guarantee it won’t be long till you find those gifts or gift that God has given you.

Altar Call

Summation

As the worship team comes...

What will your 2025 look like?

We’ve covered a lot today:

About how God needs to the center of your life.

About how we can exalt Christ each and every day.

About how we can live a spirit-empowered life through the use of our gifts.

And perhaps what was said from our Scripture today has encouraged you to do so in 2025.

The best way to begin this journey would be with prayer and so at this time I would like to invite anyone who would like to come and let’s go into 2025 with a mission, to have a God-Centered, Christ-Exalting, Spirit-Empowered Year.