Make The Best Use of the Time

Introduction/Prayer

Tonight’s sermon is going to be based on the book of Colossians 4:2-18, which is on page 985 if you’re using one of the black Bibles on the table. When you have found it, let’s stand for the reading of God’s Word:

Colossians 4:2–18 ESV

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts, and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here. Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him), and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas. Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. And say to Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.” I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.

Let us pray: Our Father in Heaven, we thank you for the book of Colossians. We thank you that you have given your people this letter from Paul as inspired, sacred Scripture, fully your words and fully Paul’s words through the incredible work of inspiration. I pray that as we conclude the book of Colossians tonight that we would come to appreciate everything that Paul does here in the conclusion of his letter, and that we would leave here tonight desiring to walk in wisdom to others for the sake of the Gospel. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.

Recap

We are finishing the book of Colossians tonight!

Last week we looked at [fill in from Merker’s sermon]

Tonight, we are going to spend a couple minutes looking back at some of the big things of Colossians

We are also going to discuss how this text relates to our vision for Redeemer Youth and our summer plans.

Before we get into tonight’s text, let’s recap the book of Colossians as whole.

Colossians Summary

Colossians is a book that is all about the supremacy of Jesus. Jesus changes everything and is worthy of our full devotion and worship.

Colossians is a book that teaches us 1) who Jesus is and why we should love him and 2) how do we love Jesus?

Who Jesus Is: Jesus is fully, completely, absolutely God. He is not a created being or anything lesser than God.

Why we should love Jesus: he took the penalty for our sins in our place by dying on the cross

How do we love Jesus: by understanding our identity in Christ, which determines how we live for Christ.

We need to know who Jesus is and be able to say with confidence not only who he is, but why we love him

Our identity in Christ is the basis for how we love Jesus, and our identity in Christ comes from knowing who Jesus is and why we love him.

We do not love Jesus by doing the practices of Christianity for it’s own sake or by over zealously disciplining ourselves to love Jesus in our own strength.

The shortest way to say it: we love Jesus by keeping his commandments.

His commandments in chapter 3 stem from our identity in Christ. We are to put off our sinful desires and our “old self” because we have put on Jesus Christ.

We cannot say we love Jesus and do not keep his commandments.

The goal of our faith is to be rooted in Christ and become like Christ, which is the goal for all of us despite our unique contexts and backgrounds.

In everything we do, we are to do in the name of Jesus because Jesus is now our identity.

Tonight’s Text

This may come as a shock to y’all tonight, but we are not going to spend much time on verses 2-6 here.

These instructions are important, but they’re very clear and I don’t think we need to spend too much time explaining them since they explain themselves well.

We are going to focus on verses 7-18, which are likely the verses you mentally checked out on when I started reading them.

Often times we get to the end of a letter in the New Testament and gloss over these greetings and final instructions.

We believe all of Scripture is the inspired Word of God, and that all of Scripture is equally inspired. We don’t believe some texts are more important than others or that some texts are unnecessary.

Just because the purpose or point isn’t immediately clear doesn’t mean there isn’t a purpose or point.

Let’s read the text again:

Colossians 4:7–18 ESV

Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts, and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here. Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him), and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas. Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. And say to Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.” I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.

So what is the point of this text? Why is it here?

Before I answer that, I want to take a quick detour and ask: why are you here tonight?

I know for some of you, you don’t have a choice - your parents make you come. But even if you don’t have a choice on whether or not you come to Redeemer Youth, I still want to ask: why are you here?

What do you hope to get out of Redeemer Youth? What are your expectations? What are you looking for?

Here’s the thing: we cannot give you everything that you could possibly want us to give. There are some things that we can’t necessarily do as a group, and then there are some things we intentionally choose not to do because we don’t believe it’s the best use of our time or energy.

At Redeemer Youth, we can give you two things: truth, and relationships. We can give you the truth of the Gospel as found in the Word of God, and we can give you relationships not only with other believers your age, but with older brothers and sisters who love you and care about you and want to mentor you and serve you.

Talk about MS/HS studies, summer hangouts, camp, etc.

Covid isolated us, but the Church and the body of Christ is not meant to be isolated. Truth and relationships are not either/or, they’re both/and.

What happens when they’re both/and? What happens when we pursue the truth of Scripture and relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ? You get the church in action.

You get people that Paul talks about in the end of his letter to Colossians, people he loved and cared for, and what they’re up to and how they’re accomplishing the mission of the Church

Tychius - people who can encourage you about what God is doing

Onesimus - people whose live has been radically turned upside down by the Gospel, see the book of Philemon

Aristarchus and Mark - people who are willing to suffer alongside you when going through trials and help you bear your burdens.

Epaphras - people who is willing to pray and struggle to serve his brothers and sisters in the faith.

Luke - people who have walked close to Christ and can share wisdom and perspective that can only come from experience

The point of the end of the book of Colossians, and other letters in the New Testament, isn’t meant to give you things that are immediately practical. The point is to show you a picture of the church in action, and to invite you to join in the action of the church today.

These people Paul mentions risked their lives for the Gospel. Being a Christian was dangerous. But it was worth it.

If Jesus isn’t God, there is no salvation, and all of these people Paul talks about and all of us today are just wasting our time.

If Jesus is God, there is salvation for the world, and there is nothing more urgent or important than to believe the Gospel and join in that mission.

The Gospel is going forth, and if you’re here, I hope its because you want to be a part of seeing the kingdom of God come.

If we are here for only truth, we miss out on the relationships Christ has called us to enjoy in the church

If we are here for only relationships, there is no Gospel, and there is no salvation.

If we are here for truth and relationships, we will see the kingdom of God go forth in the world through the Gospel

You have a part to play in that. You may be in middle school or high school, but if you’re a Christian, you are a part of the body of Christ. You are a part of the church.

Summer will be crazy and hectic, but don’t check out on your faith. Don’t waste your own time claiming to be a Christian and letting that have no impact or influence on your life.

Even if you can’t come to camp or make it to our weekly events or hangouts, don’t check out on the Word. Don’t check out on church. Don’t let being busy dictate how you spend time with the Lord.

At the very least, remember who Jesus is. Remember why you love him. From that, love Jesus by keeping his commandments.