The Substance Belongs to Christ

In one paragraph

This message worked through the final verses of Colossians 2 and the opening of Colossians 3, pressing on a question the whole series has been building toward: what does it actually look like to walk in Christ rather than getting pulled off course by rules, rituals, or spiritual obsessions? The pastor returned to the target illustration from the week before and drove it through to a practical...

Read together

1. Ecclesiastes God has set eternity on our hearts, used to explain why people grasp for the supernatural
2. Colossians 2:6 just as you received Christ by faith, in that same way be walking in him
3. Colossians 2:16-17 let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, festivals, new moon, or Sabbath, which are a shadow of things to come
4. Colossians 2:18-23 let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, puffed up without reason, not holding fast to the head
5. Colossians 2:19 the whole body nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments grows with a growth that is from God
6. Revelation 22 John fell to worship the angel who showed him the visions, and the angel told him to worship God instead
7. Romans 12:1-2 do not conform to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind
8. Colossians 3:1-4 if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above where Christ is seated, set your minds on things above, your life is hidden with Christ in God

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ryan used the image of a target to describe how Christians can miss the center by leaning too far toward the naturalistic, supernaturalistic, dogmatic, or experiential. Which of those four directions do you think you personally tend to pull toward, and why?
2. Paul tells the Colossians not to let anyone act as an umpire over them regarding food, drink, festivals, or Sabbaths, because those things were a shadow pointing to Christ. Are there rules or traditions in your own church background that you have had to rethink in light of what Christ has already done?
3. The sermon described asceticism, the worship of angels, and an obsession with visions as things that can sideline a believer. Have you ever seen one of those things distract a person or a church community away from focusing on Christ? What happened?
4. Pastor Ryan said that 'do not handle, do not taste, do not touch' rules have no power to stop the indulgence of the flesh, and that leaning too hard on them can actually hurt the unity of a church. Where do you think the line is between a helpful personal conviction and a burden you are placing on others?
5. Colossians 3:2 says to set your minds on things above, not on things on earth. Pastor Ryan observed that the more you preach against something, the more people want to do it. What does it actually look like, practically, to set your mind on things above rather than just trying to stop thinking about something?