Sermon - November 11, 2012 AM service - Colossians 1 - All we need is Jesus!
Been a while since I posted. Below is the AM service sermon I gave.
Life can be crazy at times, with its ups and downs. I can tell you that the Hudson family has seen its share of craziness these last few years. We have had some great things happen, I was ordained back in 2010, had a couple of promotions at work, and we see our recent move to Centralia as a really good thing for us. On the other hand, we have been thrown some curveballs. Just shy of 3 years ago I was diagnosed with a brain tumor, followed by a 13 day stay in the hospital to remove it. As if that was not enough Alexis has had two surgeries in the last year or so; and of course all the bills that come along with all these medical issues. These were not challenges we were expecting or had planned for.
Life is full of good times and times full of struggles.
All of us go through things that make life seem like it is out of control. We have medical issues, back problems, knee surgery, finding a job, housing issues, and much much more. Life never seems to go as we are expecting it to or would like it to.
We are encountering these curve balls, we have all heard Christians say things like ‘lay it at the cross’, ‘ give it to Jesus’, ‘pray about it’, ‘Jesus will provide’ and more. Now all of these statements are true but they can be hard to hear when we are going through tough times. Today I want to look at a piece of scripture today and talk about why they are true and hopefully give each of you something to hold onto when you are climbing that seemingly never ending hill.
To start with we need to understand that Jesus was not just some ordinary man, who was blessed or empowered by God. He was much, much, more. So the question this morning is “Who is Jesus that He can take on all of our struggles, concerns, and worries?”
Please turn to Colossians 1 starting at verse 15.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17 He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.
18 He is also the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, so that He might come to have
first place in everything.19 For God was pleased to have
all His fullness dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile
everything to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross—
whether things on earth or things in heaven.
21 Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. 22 But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him— 23 if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for His body, that is, the church. 25 I have become its servant, according to God’s administration that was given to me for you, to make God’s message fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. 27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Let’s Pray.
1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Jesus is the image of God the Father. He was not a cheap photo copy that is not as good as the original, He is an exact image. He was a masterfully made complete likeness of the Father.
Jesus is First Born – in other words, nothing came before Jesus. He was prior to anything ever being created and even better than that, He is over all of creation.
If Jesus is over all creation and is an exact duplicate of the Father, do you think He can handle all of our concerns?
1:16 For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through Him and for Him
This verse is telling us that everything that exists today, things we can and cannot see, those who are our political leaders, the actual government structures, everything was created by Jesus and was created for His glory.
In John 1:3 we are told “All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.”
Our Lord Jesus created everything, even the things that cause our struggles. Everything is subject to Him, even all spiritual authorities.
If everything is subject to Jesus, do you think He has power needed to take care of everything we lay at His feet?
1:17 He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together
Jesus holds all things together. What does this really mean, is He holding the podium together… does He hold the balance between good and evil together… yes He does. But it is even more personal than that. Jesus holds us together; to the point that He is involved with every breath we take. Without Jesus holding all of creation together, we would cease to exist.
If Jesus is involved in our every breath, don’t you think He is capable of taking care of our needs?
1:18 He is also the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He might come to have first place in everything.
Jesus is the head of the Church. He is completely in charge of everything, he can resolve conflicts and is the ultimate reconciler.
Our problems fall completely within His realm of control.
1:19 For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him
Reaffirms what we are told in verse 15. It was part of their plan for Jesus to be exactly like the Father, to have all of His power and authority.
1:20 and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross— whether things on earth or things in heaven
Jesus has the power to allow us human sinners to be in a relationship with the Father. All who believe are restored. If Jesus can restore our relationship with the Father, He is more than capable of restoring any earthly troubles we may have. He can restore all things, all issues, all troubles, and all sin.
1:21-22 Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. 22 But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him—
Simply put, if left to on our own we are sinners and are alienated, separate, from God. Thankfully Jesus has paved the way for us. If you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you are completely restored. Instead of being a broken sinner, you can become Holy, Faultless, and Blameless in the eyes of the Lord. Jesus takes our sin and makes us whole.
If Jesus can take all of you sin away, do you think He can give you peace while you are in a storm?
1:23 if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.
So far we have focused on who Jesus is and what He is capable of, but here we are told that we need to remain pure to the gospel; we need to maintain our HOPE in Jesus. Essentially we need to believe in Jesus and follow His teachings. We need to remain faithful to our Lord.
1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for His body, that is, the church.
Here Paul is talking and telling us that life is not always easy. Paul suffers, and Jesus was afflicted. Basically we are being told that life will not always be easy. Even though Jesus is in control of everything and that He has allowed us to be forgiven of our sins we will face struggles.
Acts 14:22 tells us “strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to pass through many troubles on our way into the kingdom of God"
We are going to face our own afflictions; we are going to have to carry our own burdens or crosses. Jesus will be with us, but life will not be easy.
Thankfully that is not where it ends. There is Hope!
Romans 8:16-17 16 The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, 17 and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—seeing that we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him..”
If we believe, if we have faith, and if we stay true to Jesus, life will not be easy, but it will mean we get to go to heaven. As believers in Christ, we get to share in His glory!
Back to Colossians 1:25-27 25 I have become its servant, according to God’s administration that was given to me for you, to make God’s message fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. 27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Jesus is all these things, an exact image of the Father, The Creator, The Sustainer, The Reconciler, He Restores Us, and He Makes us Spotless.
Verse 27 tells us that If Christ is in us, If we have accepted Him as our Savior, we have Life, we have Glory, we have Hope.
Jesus is bigger than our troubles!
When life knocks you down, remember who Jesus is!
Now let’s take a look at some of the troubles we may face, keeping these verses in mind.
If we are having medical issues, Jesus is in control. If it is your back or an upcoming surgery, Jesus created your body, He sustains your breath, He can take care of any medical issue that comes your way. He saw me through my brain surgery, and He will take care of your knee, back, or anything else that comes your way.
Are you worried about finding a job or with the loss of unemployment benefits? Do you believe that Jesus is in control? He is! If he can restore our relationship with the Father, He can restore your finances! Put your faith in Him!
Do you have housing issues? Well remember our Lord and Savior takes care of all of His creation. He will help you find exactly what you need.
We are told in these verses that we will struggle, life will not be easy. Jesus is not going to make life easy for us, He is not going to take away our struggles, what He is going to do is help us make it through them. He is bigger than anything we are facing.
The real good news is that if we have a relationship with our Lord, we have Hope and will someday share in Christ’s glory. We will be able to spend eternity with Him in heaven!
So what do we need to do?
We need to remember, when life knocks you down, remember who Jesus is!
As we go through life together and face all of our struggles, I would like each of us to remember who Jesus is. As we do that compare Him to our medical, financial, and any other issues we are facing. As we do this we will see He is so much bigger and greater than anything we will encounter. If we depend on Him, we will get through it.
Just remember: When life knocks you down, remember who Jesus is!
Thanks for reading!
Robert
Life can be crazy at times, with its ups and downs. I can tell you that the Hudson family has seen its share of craziness these last few years. We have had some great things happen, I was ordained back in 2010, had a couple of promotions at work, and we see our recent move to Centralia as a really good thing for us. On the other hand, we have been thrown some curveballs. Just shy of 3 years ago I was diagnosed with a brain tumor, followed by a 13 day stay in the hospital to remove it. As if that was not enough Alexis has had two surgeries in the last year or so; and of course all the bills that come along with all these medical issues. These were not challenges we were expecting or had planned for.
Life is full of good times and times full of struggles.
All of us go through things that make life seem like it is out of control. We have medical issues, back problems, knee surgery, finding a job, housing issues, and much much more. Life never seems to go as we are expecting it to or would like it to.
We are encountering these curve balls, we have all heard Christians say things like ‘lay it at the cross’, ‘ give it to Jesus’, ‘pray about it’, ‘Jesus will provide’ and more. Now all of these statements are true but they can be hard to hear when we are going through tough times. Today I want to look at a piece of scripture today and talk about why they are true and hopefully give each of you something to hold onto when you are climbing that seemingly never ending hill.
To start with we need to understand that Jesus was not just some ordinary man, who was blessed or empowered by God. He was much, much, more. So the question this morning is “Who is Jesus that He can take on all of our struggles, concerns, and worries?”
Please turn to Colossians 1 starting at verse 15.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17 He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.
18 He is also the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, so that He might come to have
first place in everything.19 For God was pleased to have
all His fullness dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile
everything to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross—
whether things on earth or things in heaven.
21 Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. 22 But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him— 23 if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for His body, that is, the church. 25 I have become its servant, according to God’s administration that was given to me for you, to make God’s message fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. 27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Let’s Pray.
1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Jesus is the image of God the Father. He was not a cheap photo copy that is not as good as the original, He is an exact image. He was a masterfully made complete likeness of the Father.
Jesus is First Born – in other words, nothing came before Jesus. He was prior to anything ever being created and even better than that, He is over all of creation.
If Jesus is over all creation and is an exact duplicate of the Father, do you think He can handle all of our concerns?
1:16 For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through Him and for Him
This verse is telling us that everything that exists today, things we can and cannot see, those who are our political leaders, the actual government structures, everything was created by Jesus and was created for His glory.
In John 1:3 we are told “All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.”
Our Lord Jesus created everything, even the things that cause our struggles. Everything is subject to Him, even all spiritual authorities.
If everything is subject to Jesus, do you think He has power needed to take care of everything we lay at His feet?
1:17 He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together
Jesus holds all things together. What does this really mean, is He holding the podium together… does He hold the balance between good and evil together… yes He does. But it is even more personal than that. Jesus holds us together; to the point that He is involved with every breath we take. Without Jesus holding all of creation together, we would cease to exist.
If Jesus is involved in our every breath, don’t you think He is capable of taking care of our needs?
1:18 He is also the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He might come to have first place in everything.
Jesus is the head of the Church. He is completely in charge of everything, he can resolve conflicts and is the ultimate reconciler.
Our problems fall completely within His realm of control.
1:19 For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him
Reaffirms what we are told in verse 15. It was part of their plan for Jesus to be exactly like the Father, to have all of His power and authority.
1:20 and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross— whether things on earth or things in heaven
Jesus has the power to allow us human sinners to be in a relationship with the Father. All who believe are restored. If Jesus can restore our relationship with the Father, He is more than capable of restoring any earthly troubles we may have. He can restore all things, all issues, all troubles, and all sin.
1:21-22 Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. 22 But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him—
Simply put, if left to on our own we are sinners and are alienated, separate, from God. Thankfully Jesus has paved the way for us. If you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you are completely restored. Instead of being a broken sinner, you can become Holy, Faultless, and Blameless in the eyes of the Lord. Jesus takes our sin and makes us whole.
If Jesus can take all of you sin away, do you think He can give you peace while you are in a storm?
1:23 if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.
So far we have focused on who Jesus is and what He is capable of, but here we are told that we need to remain pure to the gospel; we need to maintain our HOPE in Jesus. Essentially we need to believe in Jesus and follow His teachings. We need to remain faithful to our Lord.
1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for His body, that is, the church.
Here Paul is talking and telling us that life is not always easy. Paul suffers, and Jesus was afflicted. Basically we are being told that life will not always be easy. Even though Jesus is in control of everything and that He has allowed us to be forgiven of our sins we will face struggles.
Acts 14:22 tells us “strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to pass through many troubles on our way into the kingdom of God"
We are going to face our own afflictions; we are going to have to carry our own burdens or crosses. Jesus will be with us, but life will not be easy.
Thankfully that is not where it ends. There is Hope!
Romans 8:16-17 16 The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, 17 and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—seeing that we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him..”
If we believe, if we have faith, and if we stay true to Jesus, life will not be easy, but it will mean we get to go to heaven. As believers in Christ, we get to share in His glory!
Back to Colossians 1:25-27 25 I have become its servant, according to God’s administration that was given to me for you, to make God’s message fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. 27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Jesus is all these things, an exact image of the Father, The Creator, The Sustainer, The Reconciler, He Restores Us, and He Makes us Spotless.
Verse 27 tells us that If Christ is in us, If we have accepted Him as our Savior, we have Life, we have Glory, we have Hope.
Jesus is bigger than our troubles!
When life knocks you down, remember who Jesus is!
Now let’s take a look at some of the troubles we may face, keeping these verses in mind.
If we are having medical issues, Jesus is in control. If it is your back or an upcoming surgery, Jesus created your body, He sustains your breath, He can take care of any medical issue that comes your way. He saw me through my brain surgery, and He will take care of your knee, back, or anything else that comes your way.
Are you worried about finding a job or with the loss of unemployment benefits? Do you believe that Jesus is in control? He is! If he can restore our relationship with the Father, He can restore your finances! Put your faith in Him!
Do you have housing issues? Well remember our Lord and Savior takes care of all of His creation. He will help you find exactly what you need.
We are told in these verses that we will struggle, life will not be easy. Jesus is not going to make life easy for us, He is not going to take away our struggles, what He is going to do is help us make it through them. He is bigger than anything we are facing.
The real good news is that if we have a relationship with our Lord, we have Hope and will someday share in Christ’s glory. We will be able to spend eternity with Him in heaven!
So what do we need to do?
We need to remember, when life knocks you down, remember who Jesus is!
As we go through life together and face all of our struggles, I would like each of us to remember who Jesus is. As we do that compare Him to our medical, financial, and any other issues we are facing. As we do this we will see He is so much bigger and greater than anything we will encounter. If we depend on Him, we will get through it.
Just remember: When life knocks you down, remember who Jesus is!
Thanks for reading!
Robert
Comments
Post a Comment