Sunday Sermon Colossians 3:16-17 (2)
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Introduction
Introduction
Good morning and welcome to First Community Church.
Today, is August 1st and here at FCC we like to take communion together as brothers and sisters to remember Jesus’ broken body and poured out blood for us on Calvary, and also to look forward to his soon return.
If you are a believer you are welcome to take communion with us even if this is not your home church, you are family, so please take with us.
If you have not surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, and would like to make that commitment today, please raise your hand or see me after the service.
My hope is that each time we take communion together is that we would know the depths of the Cross and Jesus more.
My heart is this would never become a meaningless ritual, but rather an act of obedience and love.
Here at FCC we believe in what the scripture teaches and therefore, we must search our hearts before the Lord to make sure we partake of the elements in a worthy manner.
I will pray us in and during prayer I will pause, it is here that we can search our hearts. After the pause, I will finish praying and then as the Holy Spirit leads, please come to the table and take a cup and go back to your seat and we will take together.
Prayer
Prayer
Thank You, Father, for this precious time of reverent reflection on all that Christ did for us at Calvary. Loving Lord Jesus, we come before You now and confess that You alone are the living God, You alone are worthy of all honour and praise, for You set aside Your heavenly glory and came into this world as a man, to redeem lost sinners from the curse of the law, and we praise You for your gracious forgiveness.
Thank You, that You willingly offered up Your body to be the sacrifice for our sins. Thank You, that Your body was broken for us, and that Your precious blood was shed to pay the full price for all of our sins, and not for us only, but all who would trust in Your name.
Lord, we kneel before You in humble submission, as we partake of the bread and the cup, and
we do this in remembrance of You.
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
Prayer
Prayer
Lord Jesus, what a privilege to be able to come before Your throne of grace and partake of the precious sacraments of bread and wine, in remembrance of Your atoning sacrifice on the cross of Calvary.
Thank You for dying for us on the cross and paying the enormous price for our sins, so that we may be forgiven!
May we never forget the enormous price that was paid on our behalf. May we never forget that we have been bought with a price, the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. May we live for You from this day on, knowing that Your body was broken and Your blood was spilt for us.
Lord, now as we open your Word that is living and powerful, we ask that you would speak to our hearts and make us more like Jesus today, than you did yesterday. God please remove any distractions and bring healing and hope to those that are downcast, depressed, and full of anxiety. We ask that you Lord would teach us what it means to be doers of the Word, not just hearers only deceiving ourselves. Thank you that your Word says in John 17:17, “Sanctify them by your truth, Your Word is Truth!”
Thank You, Lord. In Jesus' name we love you! Amen
Read Colossians 3 :16-17
Read Colossians 3 :16-17
We have been in a series here in Colossians 3 for sometime now because in this section of Scripture, this is were the rubber meets the road.
Paul has shifted from doctrine to duty, or from belief to behavior.
Let us remember church, that we must know what we believe so we know how to behave for obedience is better than sacrifice the Word teaches.
Our focus has been on allowing the Word of God to dwell richly in us and a few weeks ago we learned that our maturity is directly tied to spending time in the Word.
To let the word of Christ dwell in us means that the Word has taken up residence inside of you, it means that the Word of God is al home within your heart church.
Is God’s Word dwelling richly with in you?
Do you have a problem with sin?
Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.
Are you downcast of have a spirit of heaviness today?
My soul melts from heaviness; Strengthen me according to Your word.
Do you want to be equipped for every good work that God has planned for your life?
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
I could go on and on regarding the Word of God in a disciples life, but we must move on.
To be filled with the Spirit is to be controlled by His Word. To have the Word dwelling richly is to be controlled by His Spirit.
But the bottom line is this:
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
God desires each and everyone of us to know how to rightly divide his Word church
The word picture here means to cut a straight line
Let us not use the excuse that I am not that smart or my reading ability is not that good, because look at the disciples, most of them were not educated in the universities of thier day, but rather loved Jesus and look:
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
We not only teach and admonish with the Word church, but Paul says we also do this with psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs.
Teaching is the impartation of positive truth. Diadasko- to instruct, to instill doctrinal truth
Admonishing is the negative side of teaching. It means to warn people of the consequences of their behavior. Both are the result of a life overflowing with the Word of Christ.
This is not just the job of a pastor, but of all of us!
We are all to get to a place of teaching and admonishing each other as the spirit leads
I think it is important for us to understand that worship is not just singing.
What is worship?
Church the greatest definition that I can give you about worship is it is a lifestyle.
It not just singing, spending time in the Word or prayer, its not just giving or sacrifice, but it is how you live your life.
Its in the words we speak, it in how we serve others, it is the motives of our hearts, it how we spend our time and money, it how we do life church!
Paul then moves on a say if the Word of Christ is dwell in us then guess what the natural products will be : Teaching, admonishing in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs signing with grace in you heart to the Lord.
If you a person that does not sing to the Lord in your heart, then there is a good chance the the Word is not dwelling inside of you!
All great revivals in antiquity happened because the Word of God was being proclaimed, there was personal and corporate repentance that happened, and many come to Christ.
But you know what else happened during these times of revival, great hymns and spiritual songs sprung up inside of John and Charles Wesley and many others, during the great Jesus Movement on the West coast when hippies were saved, they decided to write contemporary music and this is where we have contemporary Christian music now.
When contemporary Christian music started it was all about God church, but now since we have become a biblically illiterate society and have fallen from grace, much of the music we hear on K-Love is about me and God WHY?
It is because we do not know our Bibles church.
Scholars believe that the word Psalms here is pointing to the book of Psalms, this is Israels hymnal.
I have been asked the question, “ If you were stranded on an Island and you could only have one book of the the Bible, which book would you take?” I would take the Psalms. Why you might ask, because it is the longest book in the Bible, because it exalts the Lord, but also deals with the deep emotions and struggles of mankind.
psalms – psalmos – a striking, twanging; of a striking the chords of a musical instrument; a song with musical accompaniment.
hymns – humnos (“hymn”) – a song of praise, whether of God, heroes, or conquerors
spiritual – pneumatikos – “of spirit”, “windy”, might relate to the human spirit; might be of the Holy Spirit.
songs – ode – generic word for “song”
What we see here is a blended style service like we have. It is a mix of great hymns and praise music being lead by the spirit.
The sad thing is that people have left churches because they wanted to go where the music was more contemporary.
Why is this? It is because of not having enough understanding of God’s Word
Church, the old hymns are rich in doctrine, they exalt Jesus Christ and the Gospel.
Many of the old hymns were written out of great trial and suffering like It is well with my soul:
Horatio G. Spafford was a successful lawyer and businessman in Chicago with a lovely family - a wife, Anna, and five children. However, they were not strangers to tears and tragedy. Their young son died with pneumonia in 1871, and in that same year, much of their business was lost in the great Chicago fire. Yet, God in His mercy and kindness allowed the business to flourish once more.
On Nov. 21, 1873, the French ocean liner, Ville du Havre was crossing the Atlantic from the U.S. to Europe with 313 passengers on board. Among the passengers were Mrs. Spafford and their four daughters. Although Mr. Spafford had planned to go with his family, he found it necessary to stay in Chicago to help solve an unexpected business problem. He told his wife he would join her and their children in Europe a few days later. His plan was to take another ship.
About four days into the crossing of the Atlantic, the Ville du Harve collided with a powerful, iron-hulled Scottish ship, the Loch Earn. Suddenly, all of those on board were in grave danger. Anna hurriedly brought her four children to the deck. She knelt there with Annie, Margaret Lee, Bessie and Tanetta and prayed that God would spare them if that could be His will, or to make them willing to endure whatever awaited them. Within approximately 12 minutes, the Ville du Harve slipped beneath the dark waters of the Atlantic, carrying with it 226 of the passengers including the four Spafford children.
A sailor, rowing a small boat over the spot where the ship went down, spotted a woman floating on a piece of the wreckage. It was Anna, still alive. He pulled her into the boat and they were picked up by another large vessel which, nine days later, landed them in Cardiff, Wales. From there she wired her husband a message which began, “Saved alone, what shall I do?” Mr. Spafford later framed the telegram and placed it in his office.
Another of the ship’s survivors, Pastor Weiss, later recalled Anna saying, “God gave me four daughters. Now they have been taken from me. Someday I will understand why.”
Mr. Spafford booked passage on the next available ship and left to join his grieving wife. With the ship about four days out, the captain called Spafford to his cabin and told him they were over the place where his children went down.
According to Bertha Spafford Vester, a daughter born after the tragedy, Spafford wrote “It Is Well With My Soul” while on this journey.
When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll,
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Chorus:
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul
Anna gave birth to three more children, one of which died at age four with dreaded pneumonia. In August 1881, the Spaffords moved to Jerusalem. Mr. Spafford died and is buried in that city.
Fanny Crosby who wrote many great hymns was blind.
Helen Keller was asked if there was anything worse that being blind church and her response was having sight, but not being able to see!
There was a time a despised the old hymns because of being raised in religion that did not change anything in our home.
We went to church week after week, but nothing changed in our home or in my heart.
We went to church and my mother was still beat by my step-father when they drank.
And so were we.
Therefore, I came to have a bitterness toward the old greats.
Why? It is because I did not understand what I was singing, I had not understanding of the Word of God.
But since God has healed my heart of the woundedness that I had experienced in the church and life, I have great respect for the rich old hymns today.
See, the truth of the matter is that much of the music today evokes emotional responses.
And although I believe we need to feel, I do not need emotion to dictate my choices of even the Truth that I stand on!
Personally church, I enjoy hymns and contemporary praise and worship music that is grounded in Biblical truth.
As disciples of Jesus Christ, may we know enough of the Word of God to know what we are singing is Truth.
It was music that calmed the soul of King Saul from David
King David was not only a musician church, but a composer and you can read what he wrote in the Psalms.
Music does a lot for us church, it helps us cope when nobodies words can help.
To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.
But as the world gets worse, as evil men grow worse and worse, the world carries its music with it. As a fallen world catapults deeper and deeper into corruption, headed toward the day when the Lord comes back to destroy this world and to create a new heaven and a new earth, music degenerates with humanity. Therefore, music in our day is dominated by a more degenerate kind of society than years ago. The degenerate - in fact, seemingly, the more degenerate people are, the more impact they have in music.
Music has become a settling ground for degenerate people. Not just music, but just about all the arts; but certainly, music has degenerated in our culture, both in its composition, and its performance and its personnel. And it seems that, in most cases, if you want music that is beautiful, and noble, and lofty, and pure, and good, and intelligent and magnificent, you have to go back in time to a less sensual era, a less blatantly corrupt era.
What are you listening to?
I am not telling you that you can’t listen to secular music because that would be legalistic.
But I am asking you why listen to secular things when it does not feed your spirit, but rather your flesh?
After all, we are , what we eat!
There is great classical music and great jazz church
One of the greatest tools the wicked One has is music.
Think about it!
Singing in psalms, hymns, and spirituals songs is a result of allow the Word to dwell in you richly.
Singing unto the Lord comes out of knowing him and knowing we are saved.
When we surrender our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit come to live within us us, guess what?
He put a new song in our hearts church:
I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth— Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the Lord.
When you are singing church, what do people see? Are they seeing you praising God like this text says? Or are they seeing the world in you?
Notice the test says that many will see it and fear and will trust in the Lord.
Church singing to the Lord will not happening without living a life of gratitude
Gratitude=Attitude=Altitude
If we are grateful for what God has done and is going to do, should we not sing?
Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.
Sing to the Lord a new song, And His praise from the ends of the earth, You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, You coastlands and you inhabitants of them!
We sing a new song because we are new creations. Our music is not like the old song. It’s not like the songs that are of the world church. It’s the song of joy and praise, and thanks for the gift of salvation, the forgiveness of sin, and the promise of eternal life.
The bottom line is our theology if is right and true will move us to doxology (praise).
If the Word of God is dwelling richly within us and we are teaching and admonishing each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs then guess what?
And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
The byproduct of fulfilling the commands that Paul has laid out for us will be doing everything in word and deed in the name of Jesus
Paul closes out this section with giving thanks to God church.
What we are talking about is living a lifestyle of worship.
The highest form of worship is love and obedience.
But we must remember, worship is not just singing, it is how we live our life!
Worship is the highest expression of a believer’s life, and therefore the music that accompanies your worship should be the highest, and the noblest, and the loftiest and the best. In all cases with secular music, it reflects the attitude of the society in the time it was produced, but that’s not true with our music. The music of the redeemed expresses the unchanging truth of the Word of God, that transcends culture. We don’t succumb to the ever-increasing corruption of a fallen world displayed in its music.
Colossians Lesson 23: A Life of Thankful Worship (Colossians 3:16–17)
Dr. John Hannah, one of my seminary church history professors, told a story I’ve never forgotten. He and his wife were moving to Dallas to begin his first year of seminary. They had stuffed all their earthly belongings into an old Volkswagen. As they drove along a deserted highway, something malfunctioned and the car caught on fire. They pulled to the side of the road, jumped out, watched helplessly as everything they owned, except for the clothes on their backs, went up in smoke.
What would you do at a time like that? It would be easy to get angry with God. “Lord, I’m going to seminary to prepare for serving You! It’s not like we were heading for Las Vegas to sin or something! And it wasn’t as if we were living in luxury. We only had these few things and no extra cash to replace them. Why did You allow this to happen?” That would be a normal reaction.
What John and his wife, Carolyn, did was to kneel down on that highway next to that gutted car—and sing the doxology! They were happy in God. You can be happy in God if you’ll learn to thankfully worship Him with your whole being in all of life.
Church Paul has instructed us to :
Put on the Bond of perfection which is love
To let the peace of God rule in our hearts
To let the word of Christ dwell in us richly And now, to do everything in the name of the Lord
And to be thankful church
If we have put on love, and are allowing the peace of God to rule in our hearts, and allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly, then guess what church?
We will teach others
We will sing unto the Lord with grace in our hearts because grace is ruling our hearts
And we will do every thing in the name of the Lord
And finally we will be thankful
Is God’s peace ruling in your hearts, is the Word of Christ dwelling richly within you?
Don’t forget, it is impossible to become a mature believer without the Word dwell inside of us. Be filled with the Spirit and letting the Word reside inside of us are the same thing church.
Prayer
Prayer
Announcements
Announcements
Are there any announcements?
Benediction
Benediction
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.
THE LORD BLESS YOU!
YOUR MISSION STARTS NOW!