main text, Paul's prayer for the Colossians to be filled with knowledge of God's will and walk worthy
9 For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
10 that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy;
12 giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;
13 who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love;
14 in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins;
contrasting earthly wisdom with wisdom from above in explaining the Greek word for wisdom
1 Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment.
2 For in many things we all stumble. If anyone doesn’t stumble in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also.
3 Indeed, we put bits into the horses’ mouths so that they may obey us, and we guide their whole body.
4 Behold, the ships also, though they are so big and are driven by fierce winds, are yet guided by a very small rudder, wherever the pilot desires.
5 So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest!
6 And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna.
7 For every kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and sea creature, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind;
8 but nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the image of God.
10 Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
11 Does a spring send out from the same opening fresh and bitter water?
12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, yield olives, or a vine figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh water.
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good conduct that his deeds are done in gentleness of wisdom.
14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and don’t lie against the truth.
15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic.
16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
warning not to be taken captive through philosophy and empty deception according to traditions of men
8 Be careful that you don’t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ.
instructions to masters, call to prayer, greetings including sending Onesimus back
1 Masters, give to your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving;
3 praying together for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds;
4 that I may reveal it as I ought to speak.
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
7 All my affairs will be made known to you by Tychicus, the beloved brother, faithful servant, and fellow bondservant in the Lord.
8 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts,
9 together with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you everything that is going on here.
10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you received commandments, “if he comes to you, receive him”),
11 and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my only fellow workers for God’s Kingdom who are of the circumcision, men who have been a comfort to me.
12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
13 For I testify about him, that he has great zeal for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis.
14 Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you.
15 Greet the brothers who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the assembly that is in his house.
16 When this letter has been read among you, cause it to be read also in the assembly of the Laodiceans; and that you also read the letter from Laodicea.
17 Tell Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfill it.”
18 The salutation of me, Paul, with my own hand: remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen.
the mercies of God as the grounds for presenting ourselves and walking forward
1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message came from Paul's letter to the Colossians, working through the practical prayer of Colossians 1 alongside the letter to Philemon. The pastor traced Paul's petition for the church at Colossae and showed how it connects to a very specific situation involving one man, his runaway slave, and the gospel. The sermon moved the congregation toward communion as its destination, framing the Lord's Table as the natural end point of everything Paul was praying for.
What was said
Paul's prayer in Colossians 1:9 begins with a request that the church be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. The pastor paused on the Greek word for wisdom, noting that it carries the meaning of clarity, not just information. He drew a distinction between the earthly clarity that lets a person see one angle sharply and the wisdom from above that lets a person see the whole situation, including why someone wired differently might reach the opposite conclusion and still be following the same Spirit.
That clarity has a purpose: so that believers will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. The pastor pushed back on the idea that this standard is out of reach. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead, he said, is available to anyone who will humble themselves and ask for it. The walking is our part; the fruit that results belongs to God. A short poem he quoted put it plainly: the will of God is the nearest thing that should be done that can be done by you.
Paul adds that this walk requires being strengthened with all power according to God's glorious might, and that the outcome is steadfastness and patience, entered into joyously. The pastor noted that joyous gratitude appears elsewhere in Paul's letters as an explicit statement of God's will for believers. Even writing from a prison cell where his literal walk was only a few feet, Paul was thinking about how to walk out his faith in the present circumstances.
Colossians 4 and the letter to Philemon sit side by side because the church at Colossae met in Philemon's house, and the whole point of the Philemon letter is one person. Onesimus, whose name means "useful," was Philemon's slave who had run away and may have stolen from him before leaving. He ended up in Rome, met Paul in prison, and became a believer. Paul then did something that cost him something: he wrote to ask Philemon to receive Onesimus back, not as a slave but as a brother, and offered to cover any debt Onesimus owed out of his own account.
The pastor was direct about slavery in that passage. The system was the system of the ancient world, he said, and the Bible does not condone it. Anyone who used these texts to justify American racial slavery was serving their own pride and self-interest, not the text. What Paul was doing was calling people to live above the system they were inside, treating those under them with justice and fairness because they themselves have a master in heaven.
Reading through the greetings at the end of Colossians, the pastor stopped to pray for Florian, a Romanian member of the congregation who had moved back to Romania and who picked up the phone the day before to say that his mother had just died. The list of names in Paul's letter, he said, suddenly stopped feeling distant when it connected to a real person grieving on the other side of the world.
All of this led to communion. The redemption Paul describes in Colossians 1, the rescue from the domain of darkness and the transfer into the kingdom of Christ, is the ground on which everything else rests. The walk, the fruit, the steadfastness, the unity with people like Onesimus and Philemon who should have had every reason to stay divided: none of it is earned. It flows from what has already been given. The congregation received the bread and cup together as the natural end of the sermon's argument.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Paul prays that the Colossians would be 'filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.' The sermon described wisdom as clarity, including clarity of the whole situation rather than just one point of view. Where in your own life right now do you feel like you are only seeing part of the picture, and what would it look like to ask God for that wider clarity?
The sermon quoted the little poem: 'The nearest thing that should be done that can be done by you.' How does that definition of God's will sit with you, and can you think of a time when the next right step turned out to be simpler or closer than you expected?
Good morning, church. Good to see everybody. How about, how about we begin by worshiping in song? Would you stand with me? And here's an encouraging psalm, to lead us in a worship.
It's Psalm 61. It's, David, and he's in the desert writing this. And he says, God, you're my God. And I I earnestly seek you, and my soul thirsts for you, and I long for you in a dry and parched land where there's no water. But he's pouring his heart out to God.
He's going, God, I need you. In this moment, I need you, and and I wanna sing of it too. So here it is. Fall afresh.
To horn me to overflow. To overflow. Let's sing that again. Awaken my soul. Awaken my soul.
Come away.
To worship with all your strength.
With all your strength. Spirit up. Spirit over the living God. Let's make this our prayer song. Spirit, come and fill this place.
Spirit, come and fill this pain. Let your glory now in vain.
All right. Can you hear me? No. Hey, It's on though. Hey.
Here here we are. Announcements, what are they? Carl, what's happening?
Yeah. Elwana is on tomorrow. It's a regular club night. Kids start checking in at 05:45. Leaders come earlier at 05:15 for for a meal.
We feed volunteers and their kids. But regular clubbers, 05:45 tomorrow, regular club.
05:45 to 07:30 is Awana. We could still use some volunteers for the connect hour. There's a sign up at the beginning portion of the fellowship hall down there. And quite a few people have signed up, if you ever think, You know I want to do that, you can call Addie Hair and she will answer any questions you have. There's her number.
Or you can call the office and we'll put you in touch. Sisters Saved by Grace is a women's Bible study on Thursday evenings at six They're studying Genesis, creation particularly, and they're meeting Thursday evenings at six. They eat, and they pray, and they talk scripture together. Jackson Hole community women's community Bible study is meeting ten to noon on Wednesdays right here in this room, and then they spread out to do little small groups all over the church. The men's snowmobile retreat is coming up February twenty third to twenty fifth.
That's coming fast. Up at Old Faithful Christian Ranch in Island Park. Richard Largie is the guy to talk to about that. That's his number. And $100 for an adult for the weekend for and $75 for kids.
It's mainly for food and shelter, which you will be glad to have at the end of the trail. Hometown Nazareth is our Vacation Bible School, June seventeen through twenty. I know it's a long ways off, but if you want to put it on your calendar, you can. And the musical chairs thing. I'm seeing there are some folks at the back.
We're doing better.
I think we're all right. Yes. It helps. And I didn't explain the rationale behind this. I guess it makes sense.
But if you're coming into the church for the first time or you're just kind of scouting things out, do you just go in immediately, meet everybody in the whole place? Or do you just kind of say, this place might be weird? Have you ever scouted for churches before? I have scouted. And at my size, it's hard to sneak in anywhere.
But I usually wait till the service has started. I stand in the back and I look for a spot and then I slide in and sometimes I move out during the or before the invitation so as not to be accosted. Okay? We want to make it easy to find out that we're not as weird as we might seem. Okay?
So what would help is moving in and leaving the aisle seat open or leaving the seat open. We're not going to have to do it this morning, but if you would, when you stand up next time, just make a little space. That's all we're asking. Scouting Sunday is this Sunday too. Would you stand up if you're a boy scout?
If you are involved with the boy scouts, if you're volunteering with the boy scouts, I am. So So this is a representative y'all, thank you very much for being here. This is a representative sample. It's not every one of them. If you come in on a Wednesday evening, this church is full.
It's people teaching and learning and doing good deeds, all those things that Boy Scouts do. It's great, and I'm glad that the room is full on Wednesdays for Boy Scouts. They're in basically every church this morning around the valley, but they have been meeting at First Bee, wherever First Bee was, wherever this place, on the square, wherever it has been over the years. They've been meeting here for ninety plus years, which is awesome. Amen.
I'm glad about that. Scouting Sunday. Anne, would you stand up and join us in song? Yes. Hold on just a second.
Berkley Johnston. Men's Alliance Breakfast this Wednesday. Men's AM. Men's Alliance Breakfast is happening this Wednesday at what time? 06:30AM.
06:30 in the morning. 06:30AM Men's Alliance Breakfast in the Fellowship hall. Thank you for that, Berkeley. Anybody else have one? Alright.
I'm glad you're here. Let's join in song. Lord's prayer.
Father, let your kingdom come. Father, let your will be done. And earth as in heaven right here in my heart. Let's sing that again. Oh, father, let your kingdom come.
Father, let your will be done. And earth as in heaven, right here in my heart. Give us this day. Give us this day, our daily bread. Forgive us.
Forgive us As we forgive the ones who sin against us. Forgive them and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. Let your kingdom come from the top. Father, let your father, let your kingdom come. Father, let your will be done.
Earth is in heaven right here in my heart again. Father, I'm glad you kingdom come. Father, I'm glad you will be done. Earth is in heaven right here in my heart. Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us. Forgive us as we forgive the ones who sin against us. Forgive them and leave us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil one. Let your kingdom come. It's yours.
The kingdom is yours. Oh, father, let your kingdom come. Famine that your will be done. And earth as in heaven
comes right out of Matthew six, what we've just sung. And the disciples are asking Jesus, hey, how how should we pray? How do we do this thing? And he says to them, pray like this. Father in heaven, hallowed, holy be your name.
Your kingdom come, and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And would you give us today the bread that we need and forgive us our sins, our debts, as we forgive those who sin against us. And would you lead us not into temptation, away from temptation. Deliver us from the evil one. Amen.
Amen.
Kindness you have poured out grace you brought me out of darkness you have filled me with peace gather our mercy you're my help in time of need. Lord, I can't help but sing. Let's sing of his faithfulness. Faithful
There's a verse, and I can't remember the address right now, but it's but, basically, it says, even when we are faithless, he is faithful. You know, like, we're streaky. Our our our we we we are. Right? But God's faithfulness remains throughout.
Absolutely everything. He is faithful no matter what. He cannot be untrue to himself. That's who he is. He's faithful.
Every blessing. Tune my heart to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing.
You can have a seat here for a moment. It's the worship through giving part of the service. Invite ushers to come on forward. We're gonna sing Hosanna. Hosanna.
The lyrics are, heal my heart, make it clean, open my eyes to the things unseen, and God, would you show me how to love like you have loved me. Before we sing, Ray, may I ask you to pray?
Sure. God, thank you for this morning. I thank you for these who have gathered in your name, Lord. I pray that you would unify us in spirit, that you would you would call us distinctly to our individual parts of your great purpose, Lord, that we would know and be able to perform the task that you have set before us, the steps that you have placed. In Jesus' name, Lord, I thank you for, the call, that's effective, that that is open to whosoever will.
I thank you, Lord, for for those of us who have accepted that call, that it's nurturing and loving and growing through the difficulty, that there's still a myth, Lord, but there is a peace that passes understanding in the midst of it. In Jesus' name, I ask you to call us into greater and greater faithfulness and effectiveness. In Jesus' name, we ask that you would be doing your will and your way through us and in us this morning. I pray for your blessing on this offering, but also on this the next thing that's coming, this message. I pray that it would go deep into our hearts, and it would it would sprout up, and it would produce fruit to the very uttermost parts.
Amen.
I see the king of glory coming on the clouds with fire. A whole earth shames. The whole earth shames.
I see as love
and mercy washing over all our sins.
Amen. Alright, it's time for Children's Church downstairs. All right. Did the sermon slides ever come up there, Preston?
Good. I
printed them out on paper this morning, but I am so glad they came up on that screen. This is a practical prayer and earnest please from Paul's prison epistles. There's a lot of alliteration there. Paul, was rolling and tumbling for a long time. First missionary journey, second missionary journey, third missionary journey.
And I imagine that while he was rolling, he was constantly preaching the same kind of messages because he had come to a place, starting the synagogue, spread out into the local community around that, and he had similar things that he had to say. When he and Barnabas were discussing to go back and edify or build up the churches they had already planted and established, I imagine that that second round, there are some deeper issues that had presented themselves. And a lot of it is how we get along. Now last week, I made it all the way up to the hour and I said, oh, those household codes, those pesky household codes of how we are to live one with another. I made a joke about just skipping them altogether, but it comes down to how you're going to live life, right?
This is a practical prayer for the people of Colossae and one person in particular in Colossae, Philemon. And so the practical prayer for the church is in the very first part of the book, and that's what we're going to start on. And then I think we're going to make it all the way up to the point. If we don't, and you all look really tired, we're working our way towards communion. We're working our way towards, coming together, unified as the body of Christ.
So the prison epistles, since he's been rolling and tumbling and sharing in person all these things, he really hasn't slowed down very much. When he got to prison, that slows you down dramatically. And he was stuck, and he wrote Colossians and Philemon and Ephesians and Philippians. And if you know anything about those books, aren't you glad he got thrown in jail? He had a time to sit still and think about things and get it squeezed down to the essence of what's going on.
So this is the practical prayer. It starts right here in verse nine. For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will. Okay. How many of y'all want to be filled with the knowledge of God's will?
Yeah. What's the next right step, Lord? Show me how to get from this place of absolute conviction over my sin to how do I get over that and go forward in your peace knowing that I'm walking in the steps that you have for me in in humility. How do I do that? Paul says, that's what I'm praying for.
I have not ceased to pray for you. Here, I keep on thinking about it. And I'm asking that you would be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom. And this week, I see a couple of Sophias in the in the class this morning. This week, I looked into this word wisdom, and sophes in Greek means clarity.
Clarity. That's what it is, clarity. In all spiritual, wisdom is about clarity of understanding. If you go to the third chapter of James, when it says the wisdom of the earth that is natural, you can only you're seeing with great clarity, but just from one point of view. But the wisdom that is from above is clarity of the whole situation.
And what we want is the wisdom from above, to be able to see things not just because I know how it is to say, how in the world could anybody believe that? In my head, that just makes no sense. But in their mind, what's in my head makes no sense. Well, if God's called us to be different parts of the same body, there are going be some people who are more justice oriented and some people who are more mercy oriented. There are going to be some people who see the value of study and squeezing everything out of every syllable of the written word of God, right?
And there are gonna be other people like, man, just do it for crying out loud. You know? The spirit of God in their gut just leads them. Now it's not gonna go against the word, but for some of us, it's head right here and for some of us, it's gut. I'm praying that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual clarity and understanding that you get it.
That you get it. That's what I'm praying, Paul says. In all spiritual clarity, wisdom, and understanding, so that why? So that you'll walk in a manner that's worthy of the Lord. Oh, but we can never do that.
Yes. We can. By his spirit, understanding his will for us individually and collectively, we can walk in a manner that's worthy of the Lord. We can walk in victory. We can walk in righteousness.
I've told y'all several times when we sang the song, the Come Thou Fount song. It gets down to the section of prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. How many of y'all are like, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it? I don't have any problems singing that verse. I had a seminary professor who would through that part because he wanted to say, nope, We can walk in victory.
Thought that is shortsighted, buddy. But he would through that part of the song because he didn't wanna he didn't wanna say, I'm prone to wonder. What I'm prone to do is whatever I practice repeatedly. And he woke up humbly diving into the word. I'm a new creation.
Praise God. I love that guy. He taught me a ton. So that you will walk in a manner that's worthy of the Lord, to please him in all respects. And the New American Standard, if you see italics, is to say that word is added for the sake of clarity.
I believe it's true, but I just want to admit that. So that you will walk in a manner that's worthy of the Lord to please the Lord in all respects. It is possible by his spirit if we humble ourselves to do that. So that you'll walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work. I mentioned good deeds from the Boy Scouts.
I mentioned that. Doing your good deed for the day. Can you imagine just living a life where you say, Lord, would you show me what that good deed is for today? Maybe for the next hour, for this meeting, for this conversation, would you show me how I can bless and not curse? Would you show me how I can build up and not tear down?
Lord, I want to bear fruit in every good work or good deed. I want for it to matter so that you'll walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work. I'll come to that later on. You can't control the fruit, but you can keep on planting the seed. You can keep on walking it out.
It goes on to say, and increasing in the knowledge of God. So there's an upward trajectory of clarity and understanding, an increasing of the knowledge of God. And that started off up there to be filled with the knowledge of his will and ever increasing as you go. This is only the first part of a sentence, by the way. Paul has sometimes like 19 lines in a row where it just keeps on going.
So that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will be walking in a manner that's worthy. Walk worthy. That also shows up in Ephesians, to walk worthy. It's what he's thinking about. It's what he's dwelling on in this prison cell.
And you think about that. His walk, literal walk, might be this much. He's trapped. But he's still thinking about how do I walk it out? How do I walk out my faith stuck here?
How do I please God in all respects in the present circumstances? He writes the same letter I mean, the same sentiment in Ephesians. Therefore, I, a prisoner of the Lord. Very first part of Ephesians four. I, a prisoner of the Lord, urge you all to walk in a manner that's worthy of the calling with which you have been called with all humility and gentleness, but strength under restraint, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace.
This is what Paul is dwelling on in prison, to be bearing fruit in every good work. Ephesians two. We are his poem, his workmanship, his craftsmanship, his masterpiece. Those of us who are new creations, new creatures in Christ, we are his poiema, workmanship, that was created in Christ Jesus for good deeds, for good works, which God has prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Whatever the situation you find yourself in, there is a next right step, and that's what God is leading you towards.
Be bearing fruit in every good work, and remember that bringing forth the fruit from your good works is God's responsibility. That's not something that you can really control. But walk it out and trust him for the increase. Trust him to do it. Be bearing fruit in every good work and be increasing in the knowledge of God.
I like this. I like the tense or the what would that be? The mood. In Greek, it is either middle or passive, and it's ambiguous. The be increasing is either passive voice, be being increased, allow God to increase in you, Right?
Be being increased in the knowledge of God. Open yourself up. We know multiple places in scripture God resists the pride proud, and he gives grace to the humble. If you're seeking out the knowledge of God, humble yourself before him, and he can and will fill you. So be being increased, the knowledge of God is passive.
But the middle voice is be increasing yourself. Access his word. Access his people. Dig in to what he has already said. Prayerfully listen to what he might be impressing on you as your next move.
Be increasing yourself in the knowledge of God or be being increased in the knowledge of God. I like both of those. Be increasing is good. And this is still just the first part of a sentence. That's a mouthful already, right?
That's a lot. If you want to break it down, Paul's part is he's praying for them. Since the day we heard of what's going on, we have not ceased to pray for you. I think I have a clue as to what's going on. We get to it in chapter four, and we get to it in Philemon.
But I'm concerned for you in a good way. I've got tons of stuff about Jesus in the first chapter. Absolutely tons of stuff about Jesus in the second chapter. Third is how you start walking it out. And four, we get to a point.
You may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding is God's part, that you may be being filled with the knowledge. That's what I'm praying that God would fill you with his knowledge. That's his part. So that you'll walk in a manner worthy to praise in my respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing our part. We can have something to do, but it has to do with our steps, walking it out.
And so Paul's praying for God's clarity for us so that we'll be able to see what the next right step is, that you'd be filled with the knowledge of His will. That's what we want. I had more hands raised on that than anything I've ever asked you all. Just poll in the audience. I like this little poem.
I don't know who wrote it. If you know, e mail me. You ask what is the will of God. I'll give you the answer, true. The nearest thing that should be done that can be done by you.
Isn't that good? Some of you all are in a position that is over other people, and some of you all are not over anybody. You're just barely wandering into a job. And the next right thing that should be done, that can be done by you applies to every single one of us. So there's the first part of that sentence.
What's next? This is next. Strengthen with all power. We're going to need it. We're going to need it.
Strengthen with all power. But is it our natural power, natural strengths? It says according to his glorious might, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available for those who will humble themselves and ask for it. That's what my professor was saying. He said, we have the strongest power in the universe.
We have almighty God on our side, and we can lean into him in humility and watch him take over with that glorious might. For the attaining of all steadfastness and patience, because life takes that. Carl was talking about faithfulness this morning. It's the same kind of words. Steadfastness is just being able to keep on going, putting one foot in front of the other in a difficult circumstance.
For the attaining of all steadfastness and patience, and you know what they say about praying for patience, you get stuck in line at Walmart, Broadway gets closed down. It's an exercise for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience joyously, joyously giving thanks to the father. In other places where it's very explicit about what is the will of God in your life, it says, this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Two things, that you abstain from sexual immorality and that you're grateful in all your circumstances. Wow.
Joyously giving thanks to the father. You're in a spot, Colossi. It's a difficult time, and I recognize it even from prison here in Rome. But what I'm praying is that you'd understand with great clarity what's going on and that you wouldn't faint and you wouldn't give in to the ugliness, but that you would be able to go forward, strengthen with all power according to his glorious might for the attaining of all steadfastness, being able to walk it out worthy and patience and be joyous in the midst of the process, giving thanks to the father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. The mercies of God at the beginning of Romans 12.
I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters, that by the mercies of God, because Christ has been merciful, we would recognize that, humble ourselves before him, and be able to walk forward with all this. For he rescued us from the domain of darkness, and he transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. It all comes back to the salvation that God has provided, he's offered. We're working our way towards communion, unified towards communion. And he's saying that redemption is the grounds for all this other stuff.
You're not going to be able to do enough things to earn God's favor. It is once you have received God's favor, you can walk it out with the same power that raised Jesus from the grave. So therefore, it's all about Jesus. So let's focus our attention on him. It helps to unify if you have a unifying focal point.
So focus attention on him. Oftentimes, we when we sing Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, it says, the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. So there's that. Colossians two. I'm going to just summarize Colossians two and three.
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy or empty deception. According to the traditions of men, he's saying, earthly wisdom is just that, earthly, natural. James would even go beyond and say demonic, deluded. According to traditions of men, according to the elementary principles of this world, rather than according to Christ, stick close to Christ Jesus. The way he operated was by the spirit of God, complete submission to that even when it was painful.
Three seventeen. And no matter what it is that you do, whatever it is that you do, in word or in deed, be doing all of it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're a believer, if you're a believer, right, if you're a believer, then you have the name of Jesus. Take the name of Jesus with you. Have it with you.
Whatever it is that you do, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks. This is God's will concerning you that you be grateful, through him to God the Father. It's all about Jesus. So let's focus our attention on him. Now there's what's left.
Philemon and Colossians. Philemon and Colossians four line up really well with one another because I think that the whole thing the whole purpose for the letter to Philemon is obvious. For the letter to Colossians, Colossi met, the church met in Philemon's house. Philemon was a very well off man, it appears, and he had a slave. And the slave's name was Onesimus, which is, what a name for a slave, useful.
That's his name. And Paul has a pun in here about that. But Onesimus means useful, and Philemon has this slave that Paul meets while he's in jail in Rome. Onesimus comes to him. He's a runaway slave.
Some people think he stole from his boss before he left. Now this is getting into the household codes. If you're looking in Colossians three just before this, it talks about husbands and wives, and then this is the way that masters and slaves are supposed to operate. And if you look at it and you think, well, Bible condones slavery. No.
The system was the system was the system. It was a system all around the world, all around them all the time. It doesn't condone it. If you look at it, it says this is the way you're supposed to live above the system. This is the way that you're supposed to live in the midst of the difficult circumstance of earthly, natural, and demonic stuff.
You're supposed to live focusing all your attention on Christ, not letting the philosophies of the world cloud your vision of what Christ wants. Whatever you do, whatever the position is from the lowest to the greatest, it's to do it as if unto the Lord. And so I'm going to read through this really quickly. Masters, employers, grant to your employees, and that's more the relationship than it is in American slavery, okay? American slavery, racial slavery, absolutely reprehensible.
There's no excuse for it. If anybody ever tried to justify it from the Bible, they were just looking out for their own self interest or their own foolish pride. In this case, employees and employers probably would be better, practically speaking, for us to see how this goes. Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness. Employers, grant to your employees justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a master in heaven, the one in whom you have placed your faith.
Be devoting yourselves to prayer. Be keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving. You hear the echoes from how is it? What is the will of God? What is the knowledge of the will of God?
Paul is sharing it specifically. Treat those under you with justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a master in heaven over you. Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in all attitude of thanksgiving. Praying at the same time for us as well. I know that I'm saying this, and it sounds like I'm over you, but I'm just a brother.
So pray for us at the same time as well that we'd be filled with God's knowledge of his will. Pray for at the same time as well that God will open up to us a door for the word. That's what his whole purpose was, sharing the word. So that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ for which I have also been imprisoned. Pray that this prison would not hold it.
That I may make it clear, again with the clarity, in the way that I ought to speak. I'm not praying anything for y'all that I'm not praying for myself. Conduct yourselves with wisdom towards outsiders. Conduct yourself with wisdom towards outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Look for opportunities.
Look for bridges to communicate the gospel. Let your speech always be with grace. Start off with unmerited favor. Start off with grace, always. As through as though seasoned with salt so that you will know how, you should respond to each person.
People are wired differently, and people need individual care. As to all of my affairs, Tychicus. Tychicus is sort of like a secretary to Paul. He was not trapped inside the prison, but he was ministering to him there. As to all of my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bondservant in the Lord, will bring you information.
For I've sent him to you for this very purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. With news from prison, he may encourage your hearts. And with him, I'm sending Onesimus, Colossians. This is to the collective group. I'm sending you back.
Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother. He's a believer now. He's one of your number. Remember him? And they will inform you they, Tychicus and Onesimus, tell you about the whole situation here.
Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner stuck here with me, sends you his greetings and also Barnabas' cousin Mark, about whom you received instructions. If he comes to you, welcome him. This is the guy that Paul split up with Barnabas over, and he's saying he's a beloved brother too. There's a unity even among them. And also Jesus who is called justice, and these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision Jewish guys.
And they have proved to be an encouragement to me. Epaphras, who is one of your number. Remember Epaphras? Yeah. He's a bond slave of Jesus Christ.
He sends you his greetings. He's always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers. He's thinking about home. By the way, may I stop right here? Florin that we sent out, Romanian piano player, Smith's self checkout guy.
Everybody in town knows him. I called and spoke to him yesterday, and he picked up the call. And he picked up, and I was afraid that I had awakened him because he said, hello. And I said, oh, I'm sorry. Did I wake you up?
I don't I thought it was only seven It is. It's only seven Okay. How are you? We are very well. I'm so happy to hear your voice.
How's Violetta? Violetta, it's Ray. And she comes over, and they're talking. And I said, well, Florian, we're just checking on you. We love you.
I want to share to the church how things are going. And he said he said, I'm at my mother's vigil right now. My mother died yesterday. And he picked up the call. So they did the funeral this morning.
Can I pray for Florine right now? God, when we read these letters, sometimes they seem so distant, and then I hit that, and I think of Epaphras and Tychicus and Aristarchus and all those names that are hard to say, and immediately my heart went out to Florine. So God, I pray that you would you would fill him with all spiritual clarity, that he'd know how to answer each one. I pray the exact same prayer for Florine and for Violetta and for the girls. I thank you that you gave Florine's mother the peace of having him back and having met her grandkids that she had never met before.
I pray for the relationship between all those cousins, and I pray that your kingdom work would be made manifest through the commitment of that family. Fill them, Lord, with your comfort, with your peace and with your grace. In Jesus' name, I feel a great unity with our brothers and sisters who are in Romania. Amen. Where were we?
Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, he sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all of the will of God. For I testify for him that he has a deep concern for you And for those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis and Luke, the beloved physician, he sends you his greetings and also Demas. Greet the brothers and sisters who are in Laodicea and also Nymphah and the church that's in their house. Share this letter with them. When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans.
And actually, have it read in Jackson. Have it read in the Hoback. Have it read for all of us need to hear it. For your part, read my letter that's coming from Laodicea 2. Say to Archippus, take heed to the ministry which you have received from the Lord that you may fulfill it.
Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my imprisonment. Grace be with you. That's to the Colossians. Okay?
Now I said Colossians and Philemon go hand in hand. Philemon, he says who he is, and he says who the letter's to. Great. Grace to you and peace. Always start with grace and peace.
No matter what situation, grace and peace to you from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always. I'm always mentioning you in my prayers. Philemon, this is to one guy. He's a slave owner.
Now immediately, my heart goes to the American South, and I I see this as this is an awful person. It is the system. He was a wealthy man. He was an employer of people that were under him. Whatever happened to put him in that position, I don't know.
But it is the position he found himself in. I'm always making my mention of you in my prayers because I hear of your love and your faith, which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints. That's good. And I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ's sake. For I've come to have much joy and much comfort in your love.
I love you, man. Because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, my brother. You're out there, and I'm in here, and I'm stuck, but you're still getting after it. Therefore, though I have enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what's proper, I think Paul led this guy to Christ. So he said, I think I have the authority to do it.
And though I think I do have the authority to do it, yet for love's sake, I'm not telling you you have to, I'm asking you to. I appeal to you. Since I'm such a person as Paul, the aged, rundown old prisoner of Christ Jesus, I'm appealing to you for my child, Onesimus. Remember Onesimus, the guy that ran away from you? Whom I have begotten in my imprisonment.
I met him here in jail. He was formerly useless to you. I told you his name is Onesimus. Useful was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful, both to you and to me and to the gospel. I have, I have sent him back to you in person.
Think about that. Think about the bravery, the courage that it took for Onesimus to go back. Under Roman law, Philemon could treat him any old kind of way, really bad. But he said, I'm sending him back in person. I'm sending you my very heart.
I love this guy whom I've wished to keep with me. I wish I could hold him here, but I think the right thing to do is send him So that on your behalf, he might minister to me for my in my imprisonment for the gospel. But without your consent, I didn't wanna do anything so that your goodness would not be in effect by compulsion. I don't wanna force you. It's your own free will in Christ here.
Perhaps it was this reason though that he was separated from you for a while. Maybe. He's running away, which I'm sure made you angry. Maybe it was so that he would come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. That you would have him back now forever.
No longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother. That's equal footing before God. No longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but much more to you, both in the flesh and the Lord. You knew him before. If then you regard me as a partner, accept him as you would me.
But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I'll pay you that. I'll find the money, if it's money. I, Paul, am writing to you this, Philemon, in my own hand, and I will repay it. That sounds like the Good Samaritan, doesn't it?
If there's anything that goes over this, would this guy stay and taking care of him? I'll I'll cover it when I get back. I will repay it, not to mention you owe me. You even owe me your own self as well. Yes, brother.
Let me benefit from you and the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you since I know that you will do even more than what I say. At the same time, also, prepare me a place for I hope that through your prayers, will be given to you. I don't wanna stay in here forever.
I wanna be faithful while I'm here, but I really long to be back with you. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner of the Christ. Jesus greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Aristarchus, Demus, Luke and my fellow workers. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Starting with grace, ending with grace.
We're going to go right now to this. This is communion, the Lord's Supper, the Lord's Table. I'll invite the ushers to come forward, and I'll invite the band to come back up. But I wanna pray through this prayer for all of us present in whatever hard situation you find yourself in. This is Paul's prayer for them.
This is my prayer for you. And it's our prayer as we come to this table that we're leaning towards unity in Christ. If we know that we have anything against anybody, we lay that down right now and do our best that we can. If we know they have something against us, we'll go after them. Lord, would you help?
Help us. I pray, Lord, that we would be filled with the knowledge of your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that we would be able to walk worthy of you, to please you in all respects, to be bearing fruit in every good deed and increasing in the knowledge of God. Lord, you rescued us from the domain of darkness, and you transferred us into the kingdom of Christ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. We celebrate this communion time, Lord, asking your blessing on the elements, the little cracker and this little plastic cup of juice, Lord, as representatives of the blood and body of Christ. In Jesus' name, we ask your blessing as we distribute it.
This is an open table for all who would partake. In Jesus' name, amen.
In desperation,
I turned to heaven and spoke your name into the man.
The work is made. The end is written. Jesus Christ, my living hope. Who could imagine so great a mercy? What heart could father such boundless grace?
The God of ages stepped down from glory to wear my son and bear my shame. The cross has spoken. Spoken. I am forgiven. The king of kings calls me his own beautiful savior.
I'm yours forever. Jesus Christ, my living. Hallelujah. Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah.
Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name, Jesus Christ, my living hope. In the morning that sealed the frothiness, your buried body began to breathe. Out of the silence,
So on the same night that Jesus was betrayed, he offered to his disciples this after he had given thanks after supper. He said, this is my body which is given for you. Take this and eat of it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Lord, thank you for walking it out. Thank you for giving us a divine example.
The same spirit that led you leads us, The same power available to you, Lord. By your spirit, would you allow us to walk out the very steps that you have established in advance and to be able to be grateful in the midst of it and humble along the way. In Jesus' name, I ask your blessing on this representative sample, this cup that we will distribute here, Lord. As we distribute, I pray for everyone who would receive it that would be nourishing and filling, Lord, that we would actually consider the innocent blood that was spilled on our behalf. Lord, but for those who must let it pass, I pray that the quiet witness of the people around them and the words that they choose to utter would fortify and bring about conversion in their friends, in their family, in their coworkers, in this community to the very uttermost parts.
Lord, do your will and your way through this. Amen.
Bids me come down to find that I may truly live. Oh, the wonderful cross.
In the same way that he took the bread, he also took the cup and he said to the disciples there and his voice rings to us here. This is the new covenant in my blood. Take this, drink it in, do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Lord Jesus, thank you for the blood that was spilled. Thank you for the life that was lived.
Every good and precious gift comes down from above, and you are that primary gift. Amen. Would you stand with me? And let's sing the doxology to close. G.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above ye heavenly host. Praise father, son, and holy ghost. Speaking of good gifts, I forgot something.
Matt and Amy, would you all come forward? This is officially their last Sunday, but they might be here next week. This is officially their last Sunday as far as we're celebrating. These two have been precious servants to this valley for a long time, and they are going to be heading down the road. If you have anything to say, Matt, I'll give you the chance or Amy, either one.
There you go, sorry.
Not sure where to start. The Amy and I were married here thirty five years ago, New Year's Eve. So that's where we started with First Bee. And then we went a lot of places in the body of Christ, a lot of different churches, ministered a lot of different ways, grew a lot, died a lot, wounded by the church, restored by the church. And our story here has been amazing.
Testimony of healing and restoration in our marriage and the opportunity to serve and to be blessed by great leaders and great folks.
Yes. Yes, please.
I was just thinking recently about the day that I walked in this church. We we got married here, but we we didn't really live here. Matt's mom was here, and and we found somebody who would marry us and first be let us use their church. So we got married here. But thirteen years ago, almost to the day, we came here in February thirteen years ago, we had just come through a really hard season.
We had just gotten back together. I came here really broken. And Matt's like, I just feel like we're supposed to go to Versby. We know a lot of people there. I just feel like we're supposed to go there.
And I did not want to go. I wanted to crawl in the closet. And I am so glad that Matt said we need to go. And I just took that one step of faith and just went with him. And Marlin Young, Donna and Marlin were here, and a lot of you know her.
And she met me at the door like I was her best friend. I'd never met her. And it was so God, because that's what I needed. I needed an older lady that just loved me for just a little while. And so it was just amazing to be in a place where we could be loved and brought back into family.
And then get to turn around and love other people and bring them back into family. So we treasure this family and we're not that gonna be that far away. You'll see us around.
Amen. Thank you all and stay enough to say howdy and goodbye and everything with them. I wanna pray a prayer blessing as you go. In Jesus' name, Lord, I know that you will, but I just ask that you do strengthen them with every step that you have for them, that they would walk forward towards Dillon, Montana for right now, Lord. But in that community, that there would be a bright, bright shining light that would draw people into your kingdom purposes.
In Jesus' name, may their may these lives be a blessing, and may your blessing rest on their marriage and life. Amen. Amen.
