God, Use Me Today

In one paragraph

This Sunday's message was brought by Florian, a friend of the church preparing to return to ministry in Romania, with Violetta translating from Romanian. Preaching from Colossians 1:1-14, he walked through Paul's opening to the church at Colossae and drew out what it means to live as someone who has been rescued and given a purpose. His heart throughout was a simple one: that each of us would...

Read together

1. 1 Corinthians 15:57 opening verse accompanying the song Victory in Jesus: 'He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ'
2. James 1:17 prayer during offering: 'every good and perfect gift comes from you, father of heavenly lights, it does not change like shifting shadows'
3. Philippians 2:10-11 introduced before the song He Is Lord: 'every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord'
4. Colossians 1:1-14 the passage read and preached through by Florian
5. Colossians 1:2 quoted directly: 'writing to God's holy people in the city of Colossae who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ'
6. Colossians 1:5 cited as the key to the Colossians' walk with Jesus: 'confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven'
7. Colossians 1:13 quoted near close of sermon: 'he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his dear son who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins'
8. Colossians 3:17 closing benediction: 'whatever you do, whether in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him'

Talk about it

1. Florian said one of the three things most important to him about gathering together is searching our hearts, asking God to remove what does not honor Him. What does that kind of honest prayer actually look like in your daily life, and what makes it hard to pray that way?
2. Florian pointed out that Paul's holiness, and ours, comes not from personal merit or effort but from what Jesus did at the cross. How does that change the way you think about trying to live a godly life day to day?
3. Florian talked about starting each day by asking God to use him for at least one person, and said it really works. Have you ever tried something like that? What happened, or what holds you back from trying it?
4. Florian was honest that comfort can become a place where we stop caring about the people around us, and said he had lived through that himself for many years. What do you think causes that to happen, and what helped him, or could help us, get unstuck from it?
5. Florian closed by saying the gospel will advance through us, whatever our circumstances, just as it did through Paul writing from prison. Where in your ordinary week, your workplace, your neighborhood, your grocery store run, do you think God might actually be placing that opportunity in front of you right now?