Safe Room

Read Colossians 1:15-23

Colossians 1:15–23 NLT

15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, 16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. 18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. 19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. 21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. 23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.

This is the Word of God for the People of God

Thanks be to God

Prayer

Heavenly Father, We acknowledge you today and the creator and the anchor of all of creation. In Genesis we are reminded that when the world was dark and void your presence was....When you called Moses to lead your people out of Egypt you told the to say I AM sent him. We come to you today acknowledging you are I AM…And I AM is enough.

We Confess that many times we are looking for other ways to get through this life. We look to many ways to fill our time with what we believe will make us happy when our real need is you.

Thank you for not giving up on us. Thank you for you continual presence even when we do not always acknowledge it.

It is our prayer that your eternal presence overwhelms today as I share your word with your people. Give us ears to hear, hearts to feel, and confidence to act as you lead us.

We ask this in your Holy Name....And all of God’s people said.....Amen.

Intro: Do you have or know someone who has a storm shelter? Pictures of Storm Shelters????

Now I having been through a tornado in a less than adequate shelter.......

Even after that we lived in tornado country for many years without any shelter. Every storm in Kansas had a bit more anxiety with it knowing how vulnerable we really were.....

So when we moved here we decided that it would be important to see about getting a storm shelter. The only question for us was what type of shelter would we get.

To be honest without any real investigation I thought that the only really safe shelter would be an underground shelter. In fact I was so sure this was true that I did not really even consider any other type.

In fact I had seen the underground shelters that had a sliding door that opened up into the ground under the garage. I figured this would be the easiest and safest as putting one in our back yard would be very difficult.

Crickett however had several problems with this plan. She was not a fan of having to move the car to get in and as we investigated there were several other potential problems with underground shelters like I was wanting…so I was back to putting one in our back yard…

Then Crickett asked me to consider above ground shelters.

At First the answer was a big fat NO…There was no way this shelter could be safe.

Then I reluctantly started to research it…I spoke with a shelter company and they shared there was a zero fatality stat and showed pictures of the only structures standing after the Moore Tornado being above ground shelters.

Pictures of standing shelters after storm in the Moore tornado and stats of zero loss of life inspired confidence in the shelter…Now the Shelter provides confidence when the storms come.

When the storms come in life it is important that we feel confident in Jesus ability to protect us and hold us together.

Jesus is more than able to hold you life together in the Storms

When we have confidence in this truth the storms of life lose their power over us.

Colossians 1:15-17 “15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, 16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.”

Jesus holds all creation together. As creator, and As Lord Jesus supreme authority is not a tool for controlling our lives but a comfort in the midst of life.

When we are surprised Jesus is not. When we are in crisis Jesus is able to hold our lives together becuase He has been from the beginning of time and still is able to hold our lives together.

Jesus is able to hold all or creation together even when it seems like the world is flying apart. When the economy fail, when the winds of war blow, when disease ravages the land and when relationships seem to be too difficult.

Jesus is unfazed by the storms we fear becuase His power is absolute.

Colossians 1:23 “23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.”

Stand confidently in the storms of life even if you cannot see the calm.

The best way I know to stand firm when you cannot see the calm is to remember and proclaim a time Jesus held you together when everything seemed to be falling apart…remember for your self and proclaim it to others.

I have asked James to come and share about a particularly personal time in his life where Jesus was able to hold his life together in the midst of storms....

Thanks for being vulnerable James....It is quite possible that many of you never knew that about him. I think that this is not only the truth for James but for others among us…Yet I think that every one of us has these moments in our lives…but instead of remembering them we tend to repress the memories.

In some cases the times we have struggled are things we want to forget…and for good reason…these times are painful and just plain unpleasant.

The pain is often just too much for us…so we believe that if we act like it never happened and look for ways to forget them it will somehow make us stronger when in fact trying to forget has the opposite affect.

Not remembering the times Jesus held us together allows us to fall apart.

When we seek to forget the tough times that Jesus has gotten us through we are inclined to forget that He has the ability to get us though the tough times to come.

In remembering and proclaiming we build self confidence and the confidence of others.

Psalms 46:1-2 “1 God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. 2 So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.”

Its ok not to be ok but it is also ok to allow the memories of the times we were not ok and survived move us and others to be ok....Did you Follow that?

Take a moment to let God bring a moment to your mind where Jesus held you together when you were sure your life was falling apart. Possibly motorcycle breakdown lol n turnpike

Now Let’s Thank God for that time and allow God’s past faithfulness inspire confidence in your current storm.

This is part of what making a space for everyone to belong looks like....It is having and inspiring confidence with real stories of Jesus being our refuge in the real storms of life.

Strong Shelters Encourage Confidence when storms come.

The Last supper is a sign and seal of God’s faithfulness. It is an intimate reminder that Jesus came died, and rose again....as well as a promise that He will return.

In other words Jesus can be trusted becuase He is faithful.

Communion.