Set Your Sights, Put Off, Put On

In one paragraph

Carl preached through Colossians 3:1-17 on the Sunday before July 4th, with Ray away visiting family. The message centered on three imperatives Paul gives the church: set your sights on heaven, put off the old nature, and put on the new. Carl framed the whole thing around what it means to live out a new identity in Christ. The foundation Paul lays before giving any commands is this: you have...

Read together

1. Psalm 150 Opening call to worship: 'let everything that has breath praise the Lord'
2. Hebrews 13 Quoted before the offering: 'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever'
3. Psalm 92 Referenced as a psalm to be sung on the Sabbath: 'it is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the most high'
4. Colossians 3:1-3 Always be thankful, cited during offering prayer
5. Psalm 27:13 Displayed after the offering video: 'I am confident that I will see the Lord's goodness while I am here in the land of the living'
6. Psalm 123:1 Displayed alongside Psalm 27: 'I lift my eyes to you, O God, enthroned in the heavens'
7. Colossians 2:9-10 Quoted to establish the supremacy of Christ: 'in Christ lives all the fullness of God in the human body... you are complete through your union with Christ'
8. Colossians 3:1-17 Main preaching text: living the new life, set your sights, put off, put on
9. Colossians 2:12 Quoted to illustrate burial and resurrection with Christ in baptism
10. 1 Peter 1:3-4 Quoted twice to describe new birth into a living hope through the resurrection that can never perish, spoil, or fade
11. John 11 Referenced as example of tender-hearted mercy: Jesus weeping at Lazarus's tomb
12. John 8 Referenced as example of kindness: Jesus and the woman caught in adultery, 'let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone'
13. Luke 22:42 Referenced as example of humility: Jesus praying 'not my will but yours be done' in the garden
14. Matthew 11:28 Referenced as example of gentleness: 'Come to me all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest'
15. John 14:5-9 Referenced as example of patience: Jesus responding patiently to Philip's request to be shown the Father
16. John 14:6 Quoted within the Philip exchange: 'I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life'
17. Luke 23:34 Referenced as example of forgiveness: Jesus on the cross, 'Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing'

Talk about it

1. Carl read Colossians 3 and pointed to three imperatives: set your sights, put off, and put on. Which of those three feels most urgent or most difficult in your own life right now, and why?
2. Carl described all the sins listed in verses 5 through 9 as 'strong desires aimed in the wrong direction.' Do you agree with that framing? What does it look like practically to redirect a desire rather than just suppress it?
3. Carl shared the C. S. Lewis quote that God finds our desires not too strong but too weak, and that we are far too easily pleased. When have you felt that your desires were settled for something smaller than what God had for you?
4. Working through the new clothes in verses 12 through 14, Carl asked us to honestly evaluate whether we are clothed with things like tender-hearted mercy, kindness, and patience. Which one of those do you find hardest to wear consistently, and what gets in the way?
5. Carl said that being a representative of Jesus in everything we do and say is both wonderful and terrifying. Where in your week do you find it hardest to represent Jesus well, and what would it look like to bring the new nature into that specific situation?