A Life Worth Living: Faith and Fellowship
A Life Worth Living • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 5 viewsAs Christians, we were never meant to live life alone. We were never meant to isolate ourselves away from a family of faith and fellowship. A Life Worth Living comes through a genuine faith in Jesus that produces fruit in our lives and in fellowship with other fruit producing disciples.
Notes
Transcript
INTRO
INTRO
CHILDREN’S CHURCH
Who is your best friend? Why are they your best friend?
Do you have friends that are there to help you out when you need them?
Are you the kind of friend who helps out others when they need some help?
SERMON INTRODUCTION
As Christians, we were never meant to live life alone.
We were never meant to isolate ourselves away from a family of faith and fellowship.
A Life Worth Living comes through a genuine faith in Jesus that produces fruit in our lives as we grow in Christian fellowship with other fruit producing disciples.
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. 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; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
1) Faith Defines Fellowship with Others (vs. 1-5a)
1) Faith Defines Fellowship with Others (vs. 1-5a)
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5a because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.
The Church is a vastly diverse group of people from various walks of life and various backgrounds who come together with one uniting focus: Jesus!
Background:
Paul, a Diasporic Jew (Not raised in Jerusalem, Tarsus is about 356 miles from Jerusalem)
Timothy, A young man from Lystra (modern day Turkey) whose father was Greek and mother was Jewish
Epaphras: Colossian Christian who first brought the Gospel to Colossae (v. 7)
Most likely a tradesman who heard the Gospel under Paul’s ministry in Ephesus.
The saints in Christ in Colossae.
Colossae was a Roman city founded upon the Lycus river in the region of Phrygia.
Filled with pagan worship to false gods, most prominently Artemis of Ephesus, it’s major trade partner.
In the midst of this Roman pagan worship, there are those who heard the Gospel of Jesus from Epaphras, responded in faith, abandoned their false gods, and now follow the One True God through Jesus Christ, His Only Begotten Son!
What brought these Greek peoples and this Jewish man together?
What would drive Paul to write this letter with such an expression of endearment to a group of people he has never met in person? Jesus!
Jesus bridges every divide.
Have you known people that weren’t sure you could get along with? You can…if there is a mutual faith in Jesus.
Examples of people I have known in my Christian life:
People whose lives had been shattered by drugs… People who drug runners and drug pushers.
People with ties to the Vegas Mafia… People who just “good ole boys” but were lost.
People who were rough and tough bikers… People who were chasing the American dream.
People who are worth millions…and people who spent part of their lives on the streets.
People who were average Joes just tried to do the right thing… and people who used to just take advantage of others for personal gain.
ALL TURNING THEIR LIVES TO JESUS AND FINDING HOPE AND LIFE TOGETHER IN CHRIST!
This is why God’s Church is called to be unified as a shining light to a lost world!
In a world that seeks to divide and polarize everything…Jesus removes barriers and draws people to Himself.
If you want to have A Life Worth Living it starts in Faith and grows in Fellowship with others.
2) Fellowship Develops the Faith of Others (vs. 5b-9a)
2) Fellowship Develops the Faith of Others (vs. 5b-9a)
5b Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. 9a And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you…
As we grow in fellowship with one another, our faith grows.
Want to know how this works…come to our Sunday Night Bible Study at 6pm!
This is why people need to be engaged in the church.
If you want to grow spiritually, you need to be actively engaging and serving with fellow believers.
When we are in healthy fellowship with one another we are praying with and praying for one another.
Fellowship with one another helps you to develop your faith and helps others to develop their faith.
Anyone who says they have a healthy relationship with God but is not engaging with His Church has been fooled by demonic deception.
No one can be a healthy, growing mature Christian and be neglectful of the Church.
God has put the Church together to help one another in developing our faith in Him together.
Actively being engaged in your local church is one of the ways the Gospel bears fruit in your life.
You need others… others need you… we need each other!
A Life Worth Living is rooted in faith and faith grows and develops within Christian Fellowship!
3) Faith and Fellowship Drive our Relationship with God Deeper (vs. 9-14)
3) Faith and Fellowship Drive our Relationship with God Deeper (vs. 9-14)
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; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
As we grow in our faith and in our fellowship we drive each other into a deeper relationship with God!
As our faith grows and our fellowship grows we are praying for one another, specifically for:
to be filled with all spiritual wisdom and understanding (vs. 9)
to be strengthened with all power (vs. 11a)
to have all endurance and patience with joy (vs. 11b)
The results is that we bear fruit (vs 10), and give thanks to God (vs. 12)
We also develop a richer understanding that all of this comes from the Father (vs. 12-14)
He is the one who qualifies us.
Remember this when we aren’t getting along with someone and that pesky temptation comes into your mind to entertain the thought “What are they even doing here? Why do they even come?” …REMEMBER: they have been qualified by the Father.
He is the one who delivered us and transferred us from darkness to light.
He is the one who redeems us and forgives our sins.
Remember that our Faith and Fellowship is founded in Jesus and should therefore drive us into a deeper relationship with Jesus!
A Life Worth Living is rooted in faith that is developed in Christian Fellowship which drives us to be closer to God…together!
CLOSING
CLOSING
As we remember and give glory to God for the work He is doing in our lives, we must do so together.
It is only in fellowship with one another that we grow in our faith and in our fellowship with God the Father.
Let us stir one another to love and good deeds.
I want to encourage you during this time of response to spend time thanking Jesus for the faith we have in Him; thanking Jesus for His church and the Christian Fellowship He provides; committing ourselves to this Christian Fellowship through our local church; and committing ourselves to growing closer to Jesus as we seek to have A LIFE WORTH LIVING!
