Proper 12 (2025)

Paris Otterbein

*Opening Prayer

*Call to Worship

(Based on Psalm 85)

Leader: Lord, you have been gracious to your land; you have forgiven the sins of your people.

People: Restore us again, O God of our salvation.

Leader: Show us your steadfast love, O Lord.

People: And grant us your peace.

Leader: Let us hear what the Lord will speak.

People: For He will speak peace to His faithful people.

All: Amen.

Hymn #2 Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing

Scripture Reading - Gladys

Luke 11:1–13 NIV

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: “ ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ” Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Sharing of Joys and Concerns

Hymn #382, v. 1 Be Thou My Vision

Silent Prayer

Pastoral Prayer

Lord's Prayer

Children's Message - Kolaya

Scripture Reading

Colossians 2:6–15 NIV

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Sermon

Paul starts this section of the letter with an assumption. Now, I believe it’s an informed assumption—he’s received letters or messages from Epaphras and perhaps others about the church in Colossae. Paul says at the beginning of this letter, “We always thank God… when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus.” Having never been to Colossae himself, Paul had to rely on the reports he’d gotten from others.

But I’m not willing this morning to begin with that same assumption. I’m not writing a letter—I’m standing here with you. And as I’ve said before, I know you. So instead, I want to ask you a question. A question that comes straight out of verse 6 in the passage we just heard.

This is a question only you can answer for yourself. So, don’t look at your neighbor for help. Don’t turn to your spouse, for their opinion. There’s no 50:50 option. No ask the audience. And definitely no “phone a friend.”

But here’s the question: Have you received Christ Jesus as Lord? Let me say that again: Have you received Christ Jesus as Lord?

As I said, no one else can answer that for you. But I do believe the Holy Spirit might be speaking to your heart as you consider it.

Now, if your answer is “no” or even “I don’t know,” I’m not trying to be unkind or offensive. I just want to be honest. Because if you haven’t received Christ, then the rest of what Paul says here might not make much sense. Everything he says in these verses is based on the idea that he’s talking to people who have received Christ Jesus as Lord.

Now, I do believe many of us would say yes to that question. But I also believe a church isn’t doing it’s job unless there are some here who are asking questions and considering what it might mean to them to be Christians. My hope today is that not only will you understand what Paul says—you’ll come to desire it. Because this life in Christ is not reserved for a few. It’s offered to all.

So with that in mind, let’s move on into Paul’s letter. Paul tells the church in Colossae, and us, “continue to live your lives in him.” Now, I have to confess one of the criticisms leveled against the church is that it’s full of Christians who don’t act very Christian. In fact, Mahatma Ghandi has been quoted saying, "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

And this should not suprise us. We have all seen it. People who claim to be Christians but who don’t act very much like Christ. There are people who think that making their way to an altar or praying the sinner’s prayer or even just being baptized buys them a ticket to heaven and now they can do whatever they want because they are “safe”.

But when we accept Christ as Lord, we are entering into a lifelong relationship. We are entering a new reality. We dare not continue to live as the people we were but we seek to live in a way that recognizes our relationship with Christ.

And you might ask, “Pastor, what does this look like?” I’m glad you asked. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul uses two images to describe this reality. One image comes from the word, “rooted” and the second from his phrase, “built up.” This is what some might call a “mixed metaphor.”

Because in the word “rooted”, Paul is talking about what happens to a seed that is placed in the ground. It dies and from that seed, it grows roots that dig into the soil. And if that seed is from a tree, for instance, we know it will stand because the system of roots will keep it securely in the ground.

The other phrase “built up” is a construction phrase. If you ever desired to build a house or some type of building, you know you can not start at the roof and build down. At least not if you want that building to last. You start by placing the foundation and then building up from there. And the strength of the building depends on the quality of the foundation that was laid.

Again, those who are Christian in name only may have failed to grow their roots or to build a firm foundation. Some simply add Jesus to a list of relationships—like a contact in their phone. But He’s not an addition. He’s the foundation. And Paul warns the church not to allow that to happen. We don’t just add Jesus to our lives—we step into a new reality. And in that reality, we grow roots deep into His grace and build our lives on the firm foundation of His Word.

And it is the deep roots and the firm foundation of Jesus that helps strengthen us in our faith. It is it the continual movement toward Christ that keeps us grounded in Him. It is the testing of the words and the teachings of others against the word of God that helps us follow after Christ without losing our way. I don’t want you to simply believe everything I say because I’m the pastor. I want you to believe the truth and if I say something that doesn’t sound true, that doesn’t affirm the Word of God in some way, I want you to call me on it. But the only way you can do that is by being rooted and built on Christ, yourself.

Have you ever started out on a trip and you get to a place and you realize that for some reason or other, you missed a turn and now you are lost? And the only thing you can do is go back and try to figure out where you got turned around. Now it doesn’t matter if it only takes you 5 or 10 minutes to find it or if it takes an hour or two to find it, that time feels like “lost time”. It’s frustrating and aggravating and annoying. Compare that to when you head out on a trip and you take every turn correctly and you get to where you are going, perhaps even earlier than you thought? Now that’s a great feeling isn’t it. You are thankful for the trip that goes well.

In the same way, when we live our lives with Christ, and we follow His lead on the journey, we can look forward to where He will take us and we can look back and see where He has been with us even when it seemed, at that moments, we were completely alone.

And by recognizing God’s presence in our lives, we can “overflow with thankfulness.” Many of us have heard the song, “Count your blessings, name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done. You see, a grateful heart is a guarded heart. A thankful life keeps you humble, grounded, and more aware of God’s grace—even in those hard times.

Now, I want to challenge you this morning to take some time every day this week and read vs. 9-15. Think about what Paul reminds the church in Colossae that Christ did for them. And when you get to the end of verse 15, I want you to say, “And Christ did that for me.”

Praise Song King Of Kings

Giving of Tithes and Offering

Doxology

Prayer of Dedication

Hymn #271 Standing On The Promises

*Benediction

As you go from this place, may you walk with Christ, rooted in His grace and built on the foundation of His Word.

May your faith grow stronger, your heart stay grounded, and your life overflow with thankfulness.

Go in peace, knowing Christ did it all—for you. Amen.

Sanctuary