A God-Centered, Christ-Exalting, Spirit-Empowered Year - Garrett S.
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A God-Centered, Christ-Exalting, Spirit-Empowered Year
A God-Centered, Christ-Exalting, Spirit-Empowered Year
Introduction
Introduction
Opener
Opener
As New Year’s Day has now come and gone, I am sure you’ve been thinking about the type of year you hope to have in 2025.
With a new year comes many changes, changes ranging from financial to physical to spiritual, the list goes on and on.
I think the problem many come to when making changes is that 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.
Then an annual cycle repeats, we dive to deep, we burn out, and find ourselves living again living this unsustainable life, complacency hits, takes over, and we see no progress in our lives with our lives being a mirrored reflection of 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”.
Since being called to ministry, there have been many times throughout my time as a pastor there that I would ask myself if the life I was living was a God-Centered, Christ-Exalting, Spirit-Empowered life.
I remember after answering the call those where they three words that sat on my mind daily and so I began to making small changes in my life that took me out of a state of complacency and put me into a state of desire to grow and mature more and more, not only as a Christian, but a husband, father, and friend.
That journey didn’t begin on New Year’s Day, that journey began in the middle of a year, June of 2023 to be exact, and it has been through the small changes I have seen progress, and so, my advice to you, don’t wait for 2026, as I am sure many have already grown complacent, even though it is only day 5, begin right now.
How can we have a God-Centered, Christ-Exalting, Spirit-Empowered 2025? Well, let’s go to Scripture to find out.
Main Point of the Text (MPT)
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 (Colossians 1:1) and is thought to be written ~ 62 A.D. while Paul was in house arrest in Rome.
Paul’s primary reason for writing to the church at Colassae was due to an issue of dangerous false teaching threatening the church, but also to encourage them and challenge them to a greater devotion to Jesus.
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 (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 hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 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, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel...”
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 stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel.
And then Paul ends the section, saying, 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 consider the Greek word Paul uses here for minister, 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
Scripture Reading: Colossians 1:24-29
Prayer
Prayer
Body
Body
Point 1: A God-Centered Year
Point 1: A God-Centered Year
Scripture: Colossians 1:24–26
Scripture: Colossians 1:24–26
Explanation:
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, and the list continues ending with his deep concern for all the churches (2 Corinthians 11:23-28), but despite it all he says to the Colossians, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake...”.
What a statement to consider, after all of the suffering that Paul had endured, his mind doesn’t go to himself, but rather to the members of the church in Colassae, he says, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for YOUR sake...”!
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, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for YOUR sake, AND in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s affliction for the sake of HIS body, that 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 in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s affliction...”.
Despite Christ’s death on the cross, Christ’s enemies, had not stopped persecuting Christ, and in Christ’s place, persecuted 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, that is, the CHURCH...”.
Paul is saying, I rejoice in my sufferings for Christ and I rejoice in my sufferings for you, Christ’s church, and 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 make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.”
Paul became a minister, a servant of the church to make the word of God fully known, meaning Paul’s ministry will be one that will make the mystery hidden for ages and 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:
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, the Bible is our tool to teach those who come to faith in Christ.
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.
It’s so important that we dedicate moments each day to the One who dedicated everything He had to us…which leads me into my next point, a Christ-Exalting year...
Point 2: A Christ-Exalting Year
Point 2: A Christ-Exalting Year
Scripture: Colossians 1:27–28
Scripture: Colossians 1:27–28
Explanation:
Explanation:
Paul continues to speak to of the saints, whom the mystery, the gospel, has now been revealed to, he says, “To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, 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 chose...” or I like better how the NKJV puts it, “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…;
to express...habitual action…;
to express inevitability;
to express determination…;
to express...sufficiency.
So to saints, Christians, God had always planned, He had always desired, He had always habitually (as we saw time and time again throughout the OT), inevitability, determined, through His sufficiency to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery.
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 believers to find hope in Christ and it is because of this hope that Paul begins his next statement, “Him we proclaim...”
“Him we proclaim...”
Paul could of stopped there, but he doesn’t, instead he chooses to continue with, “...WARNING everyone and TEACHING everyone with all wisdom, that we may PRESENT everyone MATURE in Christ Jesus.”
Let’s break this down:
First and foremost, Paul says, “Him we proclaim...”
Above all else, before all else, we proclaim Christ, because 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 proclaim, WARNING everyone...”
Warning them of what?
Third, Paul says, “Him we proclaim,...TEACHING everyone...”
Teaching them what?
What is it that we warn and teach everyone with?
We warn and teach everyone, Paul says, “with 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 breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
And so, combine that verse with our for today...all Scripture, aka God’s wisdom, is breathed out by God, meaning straight from God himself, and is profitable to warn, as he says, for reproof, for correction, and to teach, as he says, for teaching, for training in righteousness and then look what he says at the end, “that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
Doesn’t that sound alot like what he says in Colossians?
That through our proclaiming of Christ, our warning and teaching everyone with all Scripture, that we may PRESENT everyone MATURE in Christ.
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:
Application:
And so, 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 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.
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 reconciled, been justified, and are now walking in sanctification, Christ is in them.
Putting on the new man, now that is something we can all do daily to exalt Christ.
Let me summarize Pauls words for you and while I do keep the question in your mind, how might you exalt Christ in 2025?
First, realize that you, as a believer in Christ, are chosen by God, holy and beloved, meaning you 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? Everyday...
You put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience;
You bear one another;
You forgive one another, just the Lord forgave you;
And above all else, put on love, loving one another, which Paul says, binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Third, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts and be thankful.
Fourth, as Paul alluded to in Colossians 1:28, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.
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, offer praise to God by singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
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 everything 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
Point 3: A Spirit-Empowered Year
Scripture: Colossians 1:29
Scripture: Colossians 1:29
Explanation:
Explanation:
Paul ends the section on his ministry, by saying, “For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”
“For this I toil”, Paul saying here, to preach Christ, to warn everyone and teach everyone in all wisdom, so that every man may be presented mature in Christ Jesus, is why he, toils, struggles, strives, fights, labors.
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 Him(Luke 24:49), that the Father promised (Acts 1:4) to all who believe.
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:
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 why gifts, why does He give us 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
Altar Call
Summation
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, something that was said from our Scripture today has encouraged you to do so in 2025, begining right now.
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 continue 2025 with a mission, to have a God-Centered, Christ-Exalting, Spirit-Empowered Year.