"Who We Were, Who We Are"

CLICK TO EDIT MASTER TITLE STYLE CLICK TO EDIT MASTER TEXT STYLES 1 THE SUN HAD JUST RISEN ON A HOT AUGUST DAY IN 1944 IN A SMALL VILLAGE, IN FRANCE. 2 A 15-YEAR-OLD BOY DID NOT KNOW WHY HE AND THE OTHER PEOPLE OF THE VILLAGE WERE LINED UP BEFORE A FIRING SQUAD. 3 MAYBE THEY WERE BEING PUNISHED FOR HARBORING THE FRENCH FREEDOM FIGHTERS. 4 PERHAPS IT WAS TO SATISFY THE BLOOD LUST OF THE GERMAN COMMANDER ALL THE BOY KNEW WAS THAT HE WAS ABOUT TO DIE. 5 AS HE STOOD BEFORE THE FIRING SQUAD, HE REMEMBERED HIS EARLY CHILDHOOD. 6 BEFORE THE WAR, ROAMING THE FRENCH COUNTRYSIDE. HE THOUGHT ABOUT ALL HE WOULD MISS BY NEVER GROWING UP. 7 MOST OF ALL HE WAS TERRIFIED OF DYING. HOW WILL THE BULLETS FEEL RIPPING THROUGH MY BODY? 8 SUDDENLY, THE BOY HEARD THE SOUND OF EXPLODING MORTAR SHELLS JUST OUTSIDE THE VILLAGE. THE SOUND OF ROLLING TANKS COULD ALSO BE HEARD. 9 THE GERMANS WERE FORCED TO ABANDON THE FIRING SQUAD AND FACE A UNIT OF AMERICAN TANKS 10 ALONG WITH TWENTY GI'S LED BY BOB HAMSLEY, A CORPORAL IN PATTON'S THIRD ARMY. PAUSE 11 AFTER THREE HOURS, FIFTY NAZIS WERE DEAD, AND THE OTHER FIFTY WERE TAKEN PRISONER. P IN 1990 THIS SMALL FRENCH VILLAGE HONORED BOB HAMSLEY 12 ON THE VERY SPOT WHERE DOZENS OF THE TOWN'S CITIZENS WOULD HAVE DIED IF NOT FOR HIM. 13 THE MAN WHO FOUND HAMSLEY AND CREATED THE CEREMONY HONORING HIM WAS THE FORMER MAYOR OF THAT TOWN. HAD BEEN A 15-YEAR-OLD BOY IN FRONT OF A FIRINGSQUAD. 14 HE HAD DETERMINED TO FIND THE MAN WHO SAVED HIS LIFE AND HONOR HIM. IT'S HARD TO FORGET THE ONE WHO SAVED YOU. PAUSE 15 PART OF LIFE IS KNOWING WHERE YOU HAVE BEEN. WHERE YOU ARE NOW. AND HOW YOU GOT HERE. 16 AS CHRISTIANS IT IS VITAL THAT WE REMEMBER WHO WE WERE BEFORE CHRIST. WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST NOW. HOW THIS CHANGE HAPPENED. 17 TODAY WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT PAUL TELLING THE COLOSSIANS WHO THEY WERE. WHO THEY ARE NOW AND HOW CHRIST CHANGED THEM 18 TURN TO COLOSSIANS 1:21. PAUL HAD JUST TOLD THEM WHO CHRIST IS. AND THAT HE HAD RECONCLIED ALL THINGS TO GOD. 19 THINGS ON EARTH AND THINGS IN HEAVEN. HE IS NOW GOING TO APPLY THIS RECONCILATION TO THEM PERONALLY. 20 COLOSSIANS 1:21 AND ALTHOUGH YOU WERE FORMERLY ALIENATED AND HOSTILE IN MIND, ENGAGED IN EVIL DEEDS, 21 WHO WE WERE BEFORE PAUL TELLS THEM THEY HAD BEEN IN AN UNSAVED STATE. ESTRANGED FROM GOD. 22 AT WAR WITH GOD, AND PERMANENTLY SO. “ALIENATED” THIS IS A WORD FOR A STRANGER OR FOREIGNER. 23 THE COLOSSIANS “WERE ONCE CONTINUOUSLY AND PERSISTENTLY NOT IN RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.” 24 WE WERE HOSTILE TO GOD “HOSTILE IN MIND” FALLEN MANKIND HAS A MIND-SET OF INDEPENDENCE. DON’T TELL ME HOW TO LIVE 25 BEFORE SALVATION WE WERE ENEMIES HOSTILE TO GOD IN OUR MINDS AS WELL AS IN OUR BEHAVIOR. INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY.  26 ENEMIES IS A STRONG TERM. THIS SHOWS THE CONFLICT BETWEEN GOD AND THOSE WHO REJRCT HIS OFFER OF SALVATION. THE WORD ACTIVE IN MEANING. 27 WE DID EVIL THINGS BECAUSE WE WERE HOSTILE TO GOD AS A PERSON THINKS, SO HE/SHE BECOMES. AN EVIL HEART AND MIND EVENTUALLY REFLECTS ITSELF IN ACTS OF EVIL TOWARD GOD AND OTHER HUMANS. 28 ROMANS 8:7 BECAUSE THE MIND SET ON THE FLESH IS HOSTILE TOWARD GOD; FOR IT DOES NOT SUBJECT ITSELF TO THE LAW OF GOD, FOR IT IS NOT EVEN ABLE TO DO SO, 29 BEFORE CHRIST I REALLY THOUGHT GOD AND I WERE GOOD FRIENDS. SURE I DID NOT TRUST CHRIST. 30 BUT I THOUGHT IF I WAS GOOD ENOUGH HE WOULD LIKE ME. I HAD IT ALL WRONG BUT I FIGURED AT LEAST I KNEW HE WAS THERE AND I WAS TRYING, SO THAT WOULD BE ENOUGH. 31 BUT WHEN I LOOK BACK AT HOW I LIVED I CAN SEE HOW CLEARLY THIS FITS WHO I WAS. I WAS AT WAR WITH GOD. I REJECTED LITERALLY EVERYTHING HE SAID ABOUT LIFE, ABOUT SALVATION, EVEN ABOUT WHO HE WAS. 32 EVEN IN MY TRYING TO DO BETTER I DID SO MANY THINGS THAT GO DIRECTLY AGAINST HIS WORD. THE CAUSE OF MY SINFULNESS WAS NOT MY EVIL DEEDS; MY EVIL DEEDS CAME FROM MY SINFULNESS. 33 SINCE 3600 B.C. THE WORLD HAS KNOWN ONLY 292 YEARS OF PEACE! DURING THIS PERIOD THERE HAVE BEEN 14,351 WARS, LARGE AND SMALL. IN THESE WARS 3.64 BILLION PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KILLED. 34 ANY WAR IS HORRIFIC THING, BEING AT WAR WITH GOD THE MOST HORRIFIC THING. REMEMBERING WHO WE WERE BEFORE CHRIST IS A BIG PART OF BEING A CHRISTIAN. 35 IT HELPS US STAY HUMBLE. IT HELPS US HAVE COMPASSION FOR OTHERS WHO ARE WHERE WE WERE. IT HELPS US BE MORE FORGIVING. 36 WE NEED TO TAKE SOME TIME TO REMEMBER WHO WE WERE BEFORE CHRIST. IT WILL CERTAINLY MAKE US MORE THANKFUL FOR WHO WE ARE NOW. PAUSE 37 COLOSSIANS 1:22 YET HE HAS NOW RECONCILED YOU IN HIS FLESHLY BODY THROUGH DEATH, IN ORDER TO PRESENT YOU BEFORE HIM HOLY AND BLAMELESS AND BEYOND REPROACH— 38 WHO WE ARE NOW THE PRESENT CONDITION IS ONE OF RECONCILIATION. RECONCILIATION SPEAKS OF A RESOLUTION OF PROBLEMS. A RESTORATION OF FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THOSE WHO ARE OUT OF FELLOWSHIP. 39 MAKING PEACE WITH GOD WAS NOT SOMETHING WE DID. IT IS SOMETHING THAT WAS DONE TO US. 40 NOTICE IT SAYS HE RECONCILED YOU, NOT YOU RECONCILED YOURSELF. PAUSE THIS VERSE INDICATES THAT THEY ARE NO LONGER ESTRANGED FROM GOD. 41 RECONCILIATION HAS BEEN BROUGHT ABOUT ONCE FOR ALL TIME THROUGH CHRIST’S DEATH. 42 HOW WE GOT HERE RECONCILIATION OF SINNERS TO GOD IS BY CHRIST’S PHYSICAL BODY THROUGH DEATH. RECONCILIATION IS ROOTED IN CHRIST’S DEATH. 43 IT WAS GOD THE FATHER WHO SENT CHRIST TO CALVARY. THERE HE WAS JUDGED, SENTENCED, AND PUNISHED ON ACCOUNT OF SIN, OUR SIN. TO ESTABLISH PEACE BETWEEN GOD AND BELIEVING SINNERS. 44 MEN CANNOT ADD ANYTHING TO THE POWER OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST BY HUMAN EFFORT. PAUSE 45 BUT GOD EXPECTS BELIEVERS TO EXERCISE FAITH AND LIVE ACCORDING TO HIS WILL. 46 CHRIST DID THIS SO WE COULD BE BLAMELESS BEFORE GOD. “IN ORDER TO PRESENT YOU” TO “PRESENT” IS TO PLACE BESIDE OR NEAR, TO PRESENT. EVERYONE WILL BE “PRESENTED” TO GOD, WILL STAND BEFORE HIM AT SOME POINT. 47 THE QUESTION IS WILL WE STAND BEFORE HIM ALONE, OR WILL WE BE IN CHRIST AS WE STAND BEFORE HIM? “ HOLY AND BLAMELESS AND BEYOND REPROACH” THIS MEAN JUDICIALLY PERFECT IN POSITION. 48 THIS IS NOT ABOUT OUR BEHAVIOR THIS IS HOW GOD WILL VIEW US LEGALLY. CHRIST’S DEATH IS THE BASIS FOR OUR JUDICIAL JUSTIFICATION. 49 THE WORD BEING TRANSLATED “BEYOND REPROACH” MEANS; ONE WHO IS UNACCUSABLE, SOMEONE WHOM NO CHARGES CAN BE MADE AGAINST.. 50 SATAN IS “THE ACCUSER”, BUT CHRIST IS OUR “ADVOCATE”, BEFORE THE FATHER. 51 THEREFORE BY THE MERITS OF CHRIST BELIEVERS ARE FREE FROM EVERY CHARGE. IN CHRIST THE ACCUSED ARE UNACCUSED AND THE CONDEMNED ARE FREED. 52 2 CORINTHIANS 5:18 NOW ALL THESE THINGS ARE FROM GOD, WHO RECONCILED US TO HIMSELF THROUGH CHRIST AND GAVE US THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION, 53 A MAN ENCOUNTERED A MEAN LITTLE DOG. THE DOG HAD THE LOOK THAT SAID, IF I LIVE LONG ENOUGH, SOONER OR LATER, I'M GOING TO BITE YOU! THE MAN TRIED TO ENTICE THE DOG TO LET HIM PET IT. 54 THE DOG WANTED NO PART OF THIS, AND BECAME EVEN MORE VICIOUS. AS THE MAN CAME CLOSE ENOUGH TO SEE THE DOG’S TEETH, HE SNATCHED HIM OFF HIS FEET. 55 HE WRAPPED HIS ARMS COMPLETELY AROUND HIM, THUS DISABLING HIS MEANS OF ATTACK. 56 AS HE EXAMINED HIM, THE DOG HAD A LOOK OF DISTRESS, ALMOST DESPERATION IN HIS EYES. IT WAS THEN THE MAN NOTICED, A HUGE THORN HE HAD IN HIS FRONT PAW. 57 REMOVING THE THORN AT ONCE, AND PLACING THE DOG BACK ON THE GROUND. HE FOUND THE DOG WASN'T NEAR THE SNARLING, MEAN DOG HE HAD IMAGINED. 58 BUT BECAUSE OF THE REMOVAL OF THE THORN, HE NOW WAS A DANCING, PRANCING, FULL OF LOVE PUPPY-DOG. HE SEEMINGLY HAD NO CARE IN THE WORLD. PAUSE 59 SIN BECAME A THORN IS OUR PAW, WHICH CONSUMED OUR VERY BEING, AND EVENTUALLY, WE WERE SNARLING DOGS AT WAR WITH GOD. CHRIST REMOVED THE SIN, BY HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS. 60 MANY TIMES, WE STILL FIGHT GOD, EVEN THOUGH THE CAUSE HAS BEEN REMOVED. WE NEED TO LIKE THE PUP ONCE HIS THORN WAS REMOVED. AT PEACE WITH THE ONE WHO REMOVED IT. 61 KNOWING WE ARE AT PEACE WITH GOD CHANGES EVERYTHING. LIVING IN THIS PEACE MEANS NOT HAVING FEAR OR ANXIETY. SOMETIMES I HAVE TO REMIND MYSELF OF THIS. 62 I GET TO STRESSING OVER WHAT I THINK MIGHT HAPPEN, HOW THINGS COULD GO I HAVE TO SLOW DOWN AND REMEMBER WHO I AM NOW. THAT I AM AT PEACE WITH THE GOD THAT RULES THE UNIVERSE. 63 AND THINGS MAY NOT GO HOW I THINK THEY SHOULD. BUT NO MATTER WHAT. I CAN KNOW I WILL STAND BEFORE GOD AS ONE IN CHRIST AND EVERYTHING WILL BE PERFECT. 64 KEEPING WHO I AM NOW IN MIND HELPS ME TO STAY FIRM IN MY FAITH. 65 COLOSSIANS 1:23 IF INDEED YOU CONTINUE IN THE FAITH FIRMLY ESTABLISHED AND STEADFAST, AND NOT MOVED AWAY 66 FROM THE HOPE OF THE GOSPEL THAT YOU HAVE HEARD, WHICH WAS PROCLAIMED IN ALL CREATION UNDER HEAVEN , AND OF WHICH I, PAUL, WAS MADE A MINISTER . 67 HOW WE SHOULD RESPOND PAUL IS NOT TALKING ABOUT HOLDING ON TO SALVATION; HE IS TALKING ABOUT DISPLAYING THEIR FAITH BY CONTINUING IN THE GOSPEL . 68 “IF INDEED YOU CONTINUE IN FAITH” THIS IS A FIRST CLASS CONDITIONAL SENTENCE 69 THE WORD BEING TRANSLATED “INDEED” IS ACTUALLY VERY IMPORTANT. THIS IS PAUL SAYING HE IS EAGER TO SEE THEM STAND FIRM. 70 DO NOT ALLOW OTHERS TO MOVE US AWAY FROM THE GOSPEL THE COLOSSIANS WERE TROUBLED BY FALSE TEACHERS. WOULD THEY RESIST THEM? 71 WOULD THEY DISPLAY THEIR FAITH BY HOLDING FIRM IN WHAT THEY HAD LEARNED OF THE GOSPEL? 72 3 PHRASES EXPLAIN “TO CONTINUE IN THE FAITH” “ FIRMLY ESTABLISHED” TO PROVIDE A FIRM BASIS FOR BELIEF OR PRACTICE 73 “STEADFAST,” BEING STRONG IN ONE’S POSITION OR OPINIONS—‘FIRM, UNWAVERING.’ 74 “NOT MOVED AWAY ” TO NOT BE SHAKEN BY AN OUTSIDE FORCE FROM ONE CONDITION TO ANOTHER. PAUL WARNS THEM TO NOT LET THESE FALSE TEACHERS CHANGE THEIR VIEW OF THE GOSPEL. 75 HE TELLS THEM THEY HAVE A GOOD FOUNDATION. THEY NEED TO BE FIRM IN WHAT THEY BELIEVE. THEY NEED TO NOT LET THESE TEACHERS SHAKE THEIR BELIEFS. 76 PAUL REMINDS HIS AUDIENCE THAT HE NOT SOME FALSE TEACHER. HE IS A MINISTER OF THIS TRUE AND SUFFICIENT GOSPEL. 77 THEY FACED A FEW FALSE TEACHER. WE FACE A WORLD FULL OF FALSE TEACHING. 78 HE IS TELLING THEM THESE THINGS TO HELP THEM CONTINUE IN THE GOSPEL. HE IS DOING THIS BECAUSE IT CAN BE TOUGH TO CONTINUE IN SOMETHING. 79 THERE ONCE WAS A CLOCK WITH A GREAT DEAL OF TIME ON HIS HANDS. BEING A PHILOSOPHICAL CLOCK HE MEDITATED UPON HIS FUTURE. 80 THE CLOCK REASONED HE MUST TICK TWICE EACH SECOND, 120 TIMES EACH MINUTE OR 7200 TIMES EVERY HOUR—IN 24 HOURS, 172,800 TICKS. 81 THIS MEANT 63,072,000 TIMES EVERY YEAR, CALCULATED THE CLOCK. AND IN TEN YEARS IT WOULD HAVE TO TICK 630,720,000 TIMES! 82 AT THIS POINT THE CLOCK COLLAPSED FROM NERVOUS EXHAUSTION. PAUSE 83 I AM PRONE TO OVER THINK THINGS JUST AS THE CLOCK DID. I CAN END UP UTTERLY OVERWHELMED BY SOMETHING LIKE THE IDEA OF CONTINUING IN THE FAITH. 84 I START THINKING ABOUT HOW CAN I POSSIBLY DO THAT THE REST OF MY LIFE. IF WE ADD UP THE SECONDS, MINUTES, HOURS ANY TASK CAN BE OVERWHELMING. 85 IF I JUST STAY FOCUSED ON STANDING FIRM IN THE FAITH RIGHT NOW.. MAYBE THE NEXT 2 OR THREE MINUTES.. THEN I CAN HANDLE IT. 86 HEBREWS 10:23 LET US HOLD FAST THE CONFESSION OF OUR HOPE WITHOUT WAVERING, FOR HE WHO PROMISED IS FAITHFUL; 87 SO HOW DO WE CONTINUE IN THE FAITH. WELL WE DO IT ONE MOMENT AT A TIME. BY DEPENDING ON GOD. 88 TRUSTING HIM NOT JUST FOR ETERNAL SALVATION BUT FOR OUR DAILY LIVES. WE CONTINUE IN THE FAITH BY RESTING IN THE PEACE OF GOD. 89 WE HAVE THIS PEACE BECAUSE CHRIST RECONCILED US TO HIMSELF BY HIS BLOOD ON THE CROSS. 90 TO CONTINUE IN FAITH IS TO REMEMBER WHO YOUR SAVIOR IS. THE YOUNG BOY WHO STOOD BEFORE THE FIRING SQUAD IN 1944 NEVER FORGOT THE AMERICANS WHO SAVED HIM THAT DAY. 91 OUR SAVIOR HAS SAVED US FROM FAR WORSE THAN A FIRING SQUAD. WE NEED TO NEVER FORGET WHO WE WERE BEFORE HE SAVED US. 92 ALIENATED AND SEPARATED FROM GOD, HOSTILE TO GOD, AT WAR WITH HIM. PAUSE BECAUSE OF OUR HOSTILITY TO GOD WE DID ENGAGED IN EVIL DEEDS. 93 WE NEED TO KNOW WHO WE ARE NOW, RECONCILED, AT PEACE, IN FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD. WE NEED TO LIVE IN THIS PEACE KNOWING THAT WE DID NOT RECONCILE OURSELVES TO GOD. 94 BUT THAT THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS WE WILL BE PRESENTED HOLY AND BLAMELESS WITHOUT ANY ACCUSATION AGAINST US. 95 THIS RECONCILIATION, THIS PEACE IS AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE. WE CANNOT EARN IT WE CAN ONLY ENTER INTO IT THROUGH FAITH. 96 THROUGH TRUSTING IN JESUS CHRIST AND HIS WORK ON THE CROSS. IF THERE IS ANYONE HERE WHO HAS NOT TRUSTED IN JESUS CHRIST. 97 98