Hope Reserved For You

[ 001 blank ] Good morning and welcome to River City! If you’re a first time guest with us today, or have only been to River City a handful of times, or if you’ve been here since day one – thank you for being here this morning. We believe that Jesus meant it when he said come to me all who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

No matter where you’re at in your understanding of the Bible, no matter how much you know about who Jesus is and what he’s done, no matter how much guilt and shame you might be feeling right now, or what mountains you are climbing in your life – the invitation this morning is not to just sit back, relax, and enjoy the morning - the invitation today is to join us as we press into Jesus, the friend of sinners, together, and find that his grace is sufficient for us.

You may be seated for just a few minutes before we dismiss the children and greet each other.

If we haven’t had the chance to meet yet, my name is Rodney. I’m one of the pastors here at River City. And as most of you know, I’ve been away for the last 3 months on sabbatical, and just wanted to say a few things quickly about that.

First of all, I just want to say thank you for giving Jodi and I the space to step away for the summer. We slowed down, went for walks, spent time with extended family, and just enjoyed the gift of not needing to be anywhere. And I know there is part of that experience where some of you might think, oh man, that must be nice. I wish I could just take walks and read books for 3 months.

And that is understandable. Sabbaticals are not because pastors work so much harder than everyone else and deserve a break every couple of years. One of the motivating factors in why we do sabbaticals comes from Hebrews 13, where it says that we as leaders of the church “keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.”

There’s a weight that comes with being responsible to keep watch over your souls, knowing we will answer to Jesus one day for how we did that. Even Jesus stepped away from the crowds for a bit from time to time – not because he didn’t love them anymore, or was tired of them, but to refuel for the next leg of the journey. We want to be the kind of leaders who are in it for the long haul, and so sabbaticals will continue to be one of the rhythms we foster in the coming years as well.

I know there was some awkwardness around this sabbatical as you adjusted to a new elder team. It may have seemed like the timing was weird, and then if we ran into each other somewhere maybe you weren’t sure if you should say hi or not and that was weird, or you came over to chat and it felt really weird. Well, if it was awkward, it was probably my fault. So please forgive me – I certainly didn’t mean to make it that way.

I’m sure as I get back to preaching, you’ll hear illustrations or stories that come out of our summer, but suffice it to say, Jodi and I feel refreshed and rested and refueled, and we’re both very excited to be back here with you.

With that said, I want to take the time to give recognition and honor to the team who continued to lead while I was gone – to Bill, Nelson, Nate, Steve, who carried the weight this summer; and Leanne and Janene who picked up most of my day to day things. They all did a great job, so can we please show our appreciation to them for leading well this summer?

Lastly, as we head into the Fall, here’s a snapshot of how things will look.

You spent the summer studying the book of James, looking at the practical side of faith, and for the Fall the elders have directed me toward the book of Colossians. So we’ll be starting into Colossians here in a few minutes, which will take us about 9 or 10 weeks. After Colossians, we’ll take 2-3 Sundays around Thanksgiving/early December to talk about giving and finances and all of that, which will lead us right into Advent and Christmas. So that’s the rest of the year in a snapshot – looking forward to it.

One more thing. When I dismiss KidCity and Pathfinders here in a second, there’s a change to be aware of. Our 1st through 3rd grade class and Pathfinders 4th-6th grade, are switching places. There are a lot of children in that younger grade, and they would benefit from a larger room. So they are switching places starting today. Which means Pathfinders now go to the right, and 1st-3rd go to the left. If you’re a guest and aren’t sure what’s happening or where your child should go, you can head to the back with the group when I dismiss and look for Kerri at the check-in table. She will help you get to where you need to go. Sound good?

Okay, Please stand again, KidCity you are free to head on out to your classes – that’s nursery through 3rd grade, as well as our 4th-6th graders that we call Pathfinders – you can head out as well.

If you’re a guest and aren’t sure what’s happening right now, but you want to take advantage of classes for your children, follow the crowd and look for Kerri at the check-in table back there, and she will get you set up and pointed in the right direction.

The rest of you, take a minute to greet someone around you, refill your coffee, grab a Bible from the table in the back, and I’ll be back in a few minutes.

SERMON

Back in July of 2024, [ 002 ] a group of guys from River City went to Wyoming to do some hiking, and on the third day we were there, a couple of us wanted to hike to the top of Medicine Bow Peak that’s behind us there in the picture. Most of our hiking was at 9 or 10 thousand feet above sea level, and Medicine Bow is around 11,000. So a 1000ft climb is an intense hike to the top. But you’d hike for a bit, look around and take pictures. Then another bit of the trail and a new view opened up. [ 003 ] Taking more pictures. Some in our group were more experienced, and the hike came somewhat easier. For others, it was hard work. But then we finally made it, and [ 004 ] at the peak of the mountain, you can see on the left, was a small bronze marker that said you’ve reached the summit. Dylan wisely thought there is no better place for a Gold Peak iced tea than at the peak of a mountain. Makes perfect sense to me.

But everything about the hike revolves around the summit. All the way up, no matter how tough it gets, you are always looking ahead to the summit, thinking, that’s where we’re going. We’re going to get there. But once you’ve reached it, and enjoyed it, checked out the views, and appreciated the journey – now, you start down the other side of the mountain with a camera roll filled with the joy and the glories and the beauty of having reached the summit. Does that make sense?

That’s how we’re going to approach the book of Colossians. For the next couple of weeks, we are climbing the mountain of the glories of Christ. Some of the climb might be a lot of work to get our heads around. In chapter 1, Paul lays out the beauty of Christ so masterfully that it’ll have our attention the whole way up the mountain. For some who are experienced climbers, Colossians is familiar ground. It’ll come easy for you. You’ve seen the views before. But for others, it might be slow going, a little more difficult to get your head around.

Chapter 2 warns us of some of the hardships and dangers that can show up as we take this journey. Then, chapter 3, verses 1-4 are the summit. Paul wraps up the climb by saying, so then… if you’ve been raised with Christ, “seek” the things that are above, where Christ is… and then tells us that as believers, our lives are “hidden” with Christ in God. [ 005 ] That’s why this series is called “hide and seek”. Hidden in Christ, Seeking the things that are above. That’s where we’re headed.

From there on through the end of chapter four, it’s all about how you live now that you’ve been to the summit, having seen the glory of Christ, and a few quick themes of how that plays out in your personal life, your family, your workplace, and your community. Sound good? You with me? Let’s pray and dive in.

PRAYER

Would love for you to have a Bible in front of you, digital or otherwise. If you are new to the Bible, and aren’t sure where Colossians is at, you can always use the Table of Contents right inside your Bible [ 006 ] to find it that way, or if you start about 3/4 of the way through or so, you can find one of these on the screen and you’ll know if you have to go to the right or the left.

As you find it, Colossians is a short letter written by the apostle Paul to a congregation in a town called Colossae, which was a relatively small farming town located in the region of Phrygia in western Asia Minor (1), which is now the country of Turkey, or Turkiye. [ 007 ] And there’s something about this city that feels very familiar, because Colossae was part of a triad of three cities along with Laodicea and Hierapolis, all of which were situated in the Lycus River Valley. And it depends how you draw things up, but Riverside, Lone Tree, and Hills sort of form a triad of farming cities in the Iowa River Valley. So it’s fun to imagine this letter being written to a group of believers very similar to us.

Paul had never visited this church. Never met the people. He didn’t start this congregation or pastor it – but the man who did start the church, named Epaphras, had some concerns, so he visited Paul in prison to get some advice, and Paul sent him back with this letter, and just listen to the tone that Paul writes this in. [ 008 ]

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, (an apostle is someone sent on a mission carrying authority) and Timothy our brother: 2 To the saints in Christ at Colossae, who are faithful brothers and sisters. Grace to you and peace from God our Father. 3 We (Timothy and I) always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints 5 because of the hope reserved for you in heaven.

One of my favorite authors, AW Tozer, wrote a book called “The Knowledge of the Holy,” and the very first words of chapter one are, “What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” What Tozer means is that our understanding of God shapes not only what we do on Sunday mornings, but what we do every minute of every day. Our understanding of God shapes how we work, how we play, what sins we entertain and which ones we don’t, how we think about suffering, how we worship, how we think about money, and on and on.

And for the most part, the majority of people in the world are not afraid of the word “God”. You might even hear a person you KNOW doesn’t go to church say something like, “Thank God I didn’t get in an accident on the way to work today,” or say “God as my witness” when they want you to trust what they are saying.

Most people in the world have some concept of a higher power, a greater being, a force somewhere in the universe, that exists in some way or another. You hear people say things like, “the universe brought us together” or “Mother Nature was showing off today.” The idea of an infinite invisible power or force in the universe doesn’t offend most people. But start talking about Jesus, and that’s where lines are drawn in the sand.

According to historians, the people of Colossae were people who took part in various “mystery religions,” and didn’t have any trouble sort of blending different religious beliefs and practices together. It would be sort of like having a nativity scene and a Santa Claus on the same front yard, or having someone sing about the sovereignty of God one minute and then the next minute be talking about karma. That was common in this city, and it’s part of what concerned Epaphras, the guy who started the church. It’s called “syncretism.” Joining two belief systems into one.

Epaphras went to Paul for advice on how to address this, and Paul will address syncretism more in chapter 2, but here in the opening statement, he sets a good foundation for us by clarifying and defining his terms. Paul says, when I pray for you, I always thank God, but I’m not going to let you fill in the blanks on what you think I mean by the word “God”. I’m not talking about a force in the universe. I’m praying to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know Jesus, the one who is Christ, the Messiah, who fulfilled all the prophecies? The one who lived, died, and rose again? The one who ascended to heaven where he is the Lord; where He’s the king; the one who reigns supreme over all other powers and principalities and authorities; the one who is the way, the truth, and the life – yeah, That guy’s dad. The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s who I mean when I talk about God.

Paul is defining his terms here, but he’s doing something else too - He’s reinforcing that everything hinges on Jesus. Everything hinges on Jesus, even the title GOD. You say you believe in God, great, fine, I don’t really care. Why? Because I don’t know what you think about when you think about God. What matters more, Paul might say, is where you’re at with Jesus. Look at verse 4 again:[ 009 ]

4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus… That’s where the evidence really lies. But what exactly is faith?

I own two vehicles right now – a 2021 Toyota minivan and a 2006 Ford F150. The Toyota is smooth, it’s quiet, it’s been all over the country on trips, it’s clean, it has not had any issues in all of its 170,000 miles. The truck on the other hand we bought on Facebook marketplace and we have way more money in it than it’s worth. Two weeks after we bought it we had it to the mechanic because it was leaking oil, and he said, yeah, you might want to start thinking about trading it in for something else. We didn’t even have the license plates on it yet! It has 220,000 miles on it, four bald tires, no A/C – just blows heat on full power no matter what the dials are set at, and I have driven it for four years with the check engine light on.

So when I made a trip to Fort Wayne Indiana last weekend, which vehicle do you think I reached for? Obviously the van. Why? Because I have confidence in it. I believe it will do for me what it has always done for our family. I believe the truck would let me down somewhere between here and Chicago, but the van – I have full confidence in it – so much so that I joyfully invited several others to ride with me.

That’s what faith is. It’s a forward-looking confidence. Now that illustration falls apart quickly because cars don’t last forever, and one day it’ll be my van that is the unreliable one in the story. But you get the point. Faith is not simply believing that Jesus existed once upon a time, but having confidence that he does even if I can’t see him - to the point where I’m betting my life and my eternity on it that he is who he says he is and that he’ll do what he says he’ll do - even if I don’t understand everything or see how it will all work itself out.

So Epaphras came to Paul and Timothy in prison, and even though he has some concerns about this church, he reports that they have this incredible confidence in Jesus Christ that has overflowed, verse four, into a love for all the saints both in their congregation and their region.

Epaphras appears to be celebrating a group of people who have a steady vertical aspect to their lives. Confidence and trust, faith in Christ Jesus AND a steady horizontal aspect – love for fellow believers. Vertical (the inward confidence called faith), and Horizontal (the external fruit of that confidence in Jesus).

This is what James was talking about when he said faith without works is dead. True inward faith, true vertical confidence, overflows into horizontal action. So they have faith, they have love, and Look at the next verse – BECAUSE of the hope reserved for you in heaven. They have hope.

It’s the big three Paul talks about throughout the New Testament: Faith, Hope, and Love. And maybe sometimes we think of those three in this order: [ 010 ]

First comes faith. Gotta start with faith in Jesus. Believe in him. Ask him into your heart. Commit your life to him. Make him Lord. Then, you need to love other people. You gotta be compassionate to the less fortunate, you know, help people move, be kind, etc, etc.

And then here’s our tendency – if I do those things well, then I can have some hope that God will answer my prayers, that he’ll heal me when I’m sick, that he’ll increase my paycheck or whatever, and hopefully allow me into heaven. Right? And if our prayers for healing or whatever aren’t answered, we think, well maybe I didn’t have enough of one of the first two. Maybe I need more faith. Maybe I need to love people more, or pay for the people behind me at the drivethrough.

But that’s not the order that Paul puts these in. He uses a very specific word there in verse 5 to put to death the whole idea that I need more faith, or I need to love people more in order to have hope, which we’ll get to in a second.

As I said, Last weekend, I was in Ft Wayne Indiana and I went to a restaurant Saturday evening with a group of our extended family. Nice place, a vineyard and event center kind of place. And my brother-in-law had our reservation for 7pm, walked up to the counter, Miller party of 10, and they said. Hmm. Looked at the screen for a while, nothing. Hand off to a manager, nothing. My brother in law got his phone, pulled up the confirmation email, here’s the number, 7b8a1-3, 7p Saturday the 12th… nothing. Well, I guess we lost it. You’ll have to wait a while, or find somewhere else.

And I leaned over to one of the cousins and said, oh, this is going in the sermon next week for sure! Because what happened to us in Ft Wayne is a scenario that will never happen in heaven. I know all the jokes and preachers’ stories talk about St Peter sort of guarding the gate, checking over the book to see if your name is there, and if they can’t find it, I guess you go to hell. But that’s not the picture scripture teaches. St Peter isn’t at the gate - no one is! Peter is enjoying the glories of Jesus! Revelation 21 says the gates to heaven are wide open all the time, because if you’re there – you’re in! When you die, you will find yourself either in the place reserved for the devil and his angels, because you rejected Jesus’ offer to know God, or you will instantly be transported into the presence of the Lord – already inside the gates that never shut.

Jesus said, I’m going to prepare a place for you! I’m going to go get your table ready, get your lodging ready. And instead of giving you a number, I’m going to give you a Spirit – my Spirit. And he will guide and direct, comfort, establish, and sanctify you TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU GET THERE. The Holy Spirit in you is your reservation! [ 011 ]

Back to the verse: “for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints (and here’s that important word) because of the hope reserved for you in heaven.”

We might put hope at the back of the line, but Paul puts it at the beginning. [ 012 ] He says that their faith in Jesus, and the love they have for others, is BECAUSE of the hope that is on reservation for them in heaven.

I love how one commentator talked about this, because I think a lot of modern Christianity wrongly teaches that our hope is in this life, and that the victories won by Jesus are for the here and now, and heaven is just sort of the cherry on top. [ 013 ]But 1 Corinthians 15:19 “If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.”

So this might not be what you want to hear today, but most of the things Jesus won for us by his life, death, and resurrection are held on reserve for us in heaven. Oh there are moments where heaven touches earth. God graciously gives us snapshots of heaven, when we come across scenery that takes our breath away, or when he miraculously provides at just the right time, or heals a disease instantly. There are moments where he parts the Red Sea and delivers us from our enemies. He sometimes gives us glimpses of home – but we’re not home yet. If we’re expecting our life to be heaven on earth, we’re probably going to end up very disillusioned with God, church, the bible, etc.

Revelation 22:2–3 speaks of the heavenly city, [ 014] and says this: “…The tree of life was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations, and there will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him.”

Let’s make it personal: God may not fix your cancer here on this earth, no matter how much you pray. But one glorious day, there in the heavenly city, your prayers will be answered with a healing so full and rich and complete that you will not care for one second that he didn’t heal you sooner. God may not deliver you from your addiction here on this earth, try as you might. You pray, you fight, you pray, you fight, and it might be a slugfest with your flesh until the day you die. But one second into the kingdom of the Son, and those corrupted, fleshly desires will be healed fully and completely. God will wipe away your tears of frustration and despair, and you will make your way to the throne of the Lamb and you will be the most joyful, free worshiper you’ve ever been.

Let’s jump ahead to next week’s verses for a second – look what Paul prays for this church [ 015 ]: I’m asking that you would be filled with the knowledge of his will, that you would walk worthy of the Lord, bearing fruit, growing, strengthened by his glorious might, for what reason? verse 11: So that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.

He wants you to know God’s will, he wants you to live a life that represents God’s grace well, and have a life that bears fruit, that grows deep roots into the strength that God provides – why – so that you can patiently and joyfully endure the unanswered prayers in this life, all the while giving thanks that God has given you access to an inheritance that will one day be yours.

Here’s the point [ 016 ]: Thanks to Christ’s finished work on the cross, there is a reservation for us around the table in the kingdom of heaven, where all of our tears are wiped away. All of our sorrows are erased. All of our pains are gone for good. All of our prayers are answered. All of our troubles and struggles and sins are washed off of us, and there is not a single trace of corruption or evil ever to be seen again. And Ephesians 2:7 [ 017 ]says that for all of eternity God will put on a never-ending, ever-increasing display of “…the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”

But it’s BECAUSE OF THAT HOPE, the victories reserved in heaven for us, that we can trust Jesus with our ailments and our aging, trust Jesus with our sadness and our disappointments, trust Jesus with our marriage or trust him with our singleness, trust Jesus with our wealth or trust him with our lack, trust him with our failures and trust him with our success.

That confidence then overflows into love for the people around us. And so we keep showing up to community groups, keep bringing the salad, keep sharing our griefs and our sorrows even when it feels like our prayer request is stuck on repeat, keep pressing into our faith together, keep listening and learning, because when we pray for each other’s healing, when we pray together in faith, when we pray together for spiritual growth, and confess our sins to each other, the Holy Spirit unites us at a heart level. The comforter comforts us. The helper helps us. And yes, sometimes the healer heals us, sometimes the Giver surprises us. Sometimes the Deliverer delivers us.

Because of the hope reserved in heaven for us, we can love others in this life, whether they’ve hurt us or not, whether they’re annoying or not, whether they fill our love tank or not, whether they move me forward or they drain my energy. And because heaven is waiting, we can love those believers who think differently than us and worship differently than us until we step into the fullness of that hope.

Now here comes the million dollar question that so many people have: How can you be so sure? You may have heard about this, but a young Christian evangelist and online personality named Bryce Crawford [ 018] got to sit down with US Vice President JD Vance for an interview. And at one point in the interview, Bryce asked JD to rate his confidence that he was going to heaven. “Mr Vance, on a scale of 1-10, how confident are you that you are going to heaven.”

I don’t know what your number would be if I asked you the same question, but JD said 7 maybe 8. He said he didn’t want to sound arrogant by saying 10 when he doesn’t claim to know everything. Humble answer, and maybe a lot of you would feel the same way.

But I want to show you how scripture helps you answer the question. Here’s the verse JD should have quoted:

1 Peter 1 says [ 019 ] “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.

So there’s the part we’ve been talking about, right – living hope through Jesus, an inheritance kept in heaven for us – That’s all well and good. But how do I know for sure that I will actually receive it when I die? Look at this in the next verse, verse 5: You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Do you see that? 1 Peter 1 says my salvation is not being guarded by my own goodness! MY SALVATION IS BEING GUARDED BY GOD’S POWER!

Rodney, how confident are you that you are going to heaven? 10 out of 10! Not because I’m a pastor or grew up in church, not because I’ve been a good husband or a good dad. Not because I was never an alcoholic or an abuser or a pedophile. Not because I align with a certain denomination or doctrinal stance, or because I know the Bible fairly well. My confidence and yours can be a solid 10 out of 10 because Jesus has made the reservation for me, purchased it by his own blood, gave me the eyes of faith to see it and receive it, and then he guards it with his power until my table is ready. *mind blown*

Oh you believe in that once saved always saved don’t you? 1000% yes.

Listen River City – The heart of the gospel is not about how powerful or strong your commitment is to God – even though he demands your total surrender to his Lordship; Christianity is not a bunch of people trying their hardest to make Jesus their Lord. At the heart of the gospel is God’s free and merciful and powerful offer to commit himself to us in Christ. The good news of Jesus is that in sheer goodness and compassion and kindness, he humbled himself, made himself a servant, and obediently went to the cross in order to make his enemies into his friends, despite the fact that we never actually progress enough to deserve the gift.

In fact, the gospel isn’t even about you accepting Jesus as your Savior, and welcoming him into your heart. That’s not even in the Bible. The gospel is much more about God accepting US in Christ Jesus (Lucas, 33), adopting us into his family, giving us a seat at the table, lavishing us with his grace, and calling us friends in spite of our unworthiness.

That’s the good news! And Paul says in verse 6, [ 020 ] man, when men and women and teenagers and children get a hold of that and it settles into their hearts, when people truly appreciate the grace of God, I’m telling you it takes off like a vine and bears fruit and grows all over the world.

There’s not a corner of the planet where this good news does not apply. The gospel works in every language, every culture, every economy, every form of government - it works for men, women, teenagers, children – it works for people who are morally decent, and people who are moral trainwrecks. It’s by grace you have been saved.

Let’s summarize [ 021 ]our first couple of steps up the mountain of the glories of Christ here in chapter 1:

Everything hinges on Jesus. It might make us uncomfortable, but when someone says I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me – then that person dies and rises again 3 days later, you have to at least consider that maybe he is who he says he is.

There is a glorious inheritance, a living hope that is in reserve for those who are linked to him with a forward-facing confidence that one day, he will make everything new. Every tear wiped away. Every desire of our heart will be fully and wholly satisfied. Every ache and pain completely and wholly healed for good.

And last, that glorious hope is not at the back of the train, an “if” that is only available if we have enough faith or do enough good. When we truly appreciate God’s grace, and the face that there is a living hope that he has reserved for us in heaven, we can’t help but have confidence in Jesus in the here and now, and serve others every chance we get.

So I don’t know where all you are coming from today. You may have lost sight of heaven, and you are discouraged and weak because God doesn’t answer your prayers in the here and now. Or maybe you’re carrying some deep wounds from the past, some hurt from the present, some joy some sorrow some sickness – God doesn’t always heal those in the here and now, but sometimes he gives us a sneak peak at what’s to come, and he invites us to ask, like children asking their dad for things. So if you would like someone to pray with you this morning, to pray with you for physical healing, or maybe you just want someone to pray that God would open your eyes to the living hope that is ours in Christ, there will be some folks up front here ready to pray with you, or most of the time, the people sitting next to you would be happy to pray with you as well.

Please stand, let’s pray, and then sing.

BENEDICTION.

Colossians 1:7 says this: [ 022 ]You learned this (the gospel message that we’ve been talking about, this hope on reserve for us, this inheritance – You learned this) from Epaphras, our dearly loved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 and he has told us about your love in the Spirit.

Here’s what’s awesome – somewhere along the way, Epaphras came to know the grace of Jesus, and he went back to his hometown of Colossae and proclaimed the gospel to whoever would listen. And here’s the closing point – God does not always need an apostle, a missionary, or a “full-time Christian worker” for the gospel to be spread or bear fruit.

God doesn’t always choose pastors to start ministries. Nor does he need fancy buildings and multi-layered organizations. Epaphras was an ordinary guy from a small farming city who faithfully served the Lord in the everyday stuff of life, who loved people and told them about the hope reserved for them in heaven.

So, Lord, I pray for those in the room today who do not yet know that hope. I pray for those in this city, and the cities we live in, who do not yet know about that hope. I pray that you would fill us with courage and boldness, like you filled Epaphras, to be faithful carriers of this message of hope that you have entrusted to us. Holy Spirit, fill us with love for each other and for the lost. Fill our hearts with hope as we look forward to the day when you make all things new, and usher us into the inheritance that is reserved for us.

And I pray that in this room and in this city that the gospel seeds that are planted would take root, and grow into maturity, bearing fruit all over this city, this state, and even to the corners of the world.

I pray with Philippians 1:20, asking that we would not be ashamed about anything, but with all courage, that Christ would be honored in our lives as we go our separate ways today.

We love you – thank you for Jesus.

Amen.

SOURCES

Derek R. Brown, Colossians, ed. Douglas Mangum, Logos Research Commentaries, (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2026)

R. C. Lucas, Fullness & Freedom: The Message of Colossians & Philemon, The Bible Speaks Today, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1980)

Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996)