Beginning today, and for the next few months, we are going to begin a new series of message from the book of Colossians titled “Rooted in Christ.” I will stay on this topic until we finish this study, no matter how long it takes.
Here is what I want to encourage you to do in order to maximize or get the most out of this series. First – SHOW UP. When I mean SHOW-Up, there are two ways to show up – you can show up like you show-up to the gym – or you can show -up like you’re going to a Liberty Football game, or an Atlanta Braves Baseball game. I mean you got all the gear, the hat, the shirt, the clear bag. I mean you SHOW-Up. Or like taking a trip to Disney, you got the t-shirt, the Mickey or Mini ears on – you SHOW-Up. YOU ARE ALL IN. So, I want to encourage you to be “All In.” Send me questions, read through this study.
A second way, if you can’t be in the service, read the message online at our websites: Rallypointbikerchurch.com or fightingformypeapatch.com. Stay on top of it because we don’t won’t anyone to miss their opportunity to grow in Christ.
What I’m trying to say is, “If you are going to do church – DO CHURCH. Come expecting God to do something extraordinary. Get in the closet with God and get your cup full BEFORE you get here. You can’t just open your Bible on Sunday morning, or at small group and expect God to fill your cup up. Get in the Bible, get in prayer daily. Truth is, you can’t live in the darkness all week long then expect to show-up here on Sunday morning all spirit-filled!
What I’m really trying to say is this, “HORSE, HERE’S WATER – DRINK IT!” I’ll tell you, if you do that, you will begin to see yourself, not as a flabby, out-of-shape Christian, but one that is Spiritually fit!
Now, look with me at Colossians 1, beginning in verse 1, “Paul” – he is the author, probably written around 62 A.D., “an Apostle of Jesus Christ,” this denotes someone that has actually seen the Lord Jesus. Now I know there are folks who run around calling themselves Apostles, but I’m telling you straight up, they are liars and have mistitled themselves. The reason the New Testament books are attributed to being Canon of Scripture is because they are known to have been directly connect to the Apostles – those who had actually seen the Lord Jesus Christ. Then Paul continues, “by the will of God.” Listen, Paul didn’t volunteer for the mission God gave him. Paul didn’t volunteer to be stoned and drug outside of Lystra; Paul didn’t volunteer to be beat with the cat-of-nine-tails 3 times: Paul didn’t volunteer to become ship-wrecked. Paul was called to be and Apostle to the Gentiles “by the will of God.” How many of you have said this before, “Well, if it’s God’s will, we’ll do it; If it’s God’s will, we’ll endure it.” “It’s God will, but it’s not what I would have chosen.”
Listen, does anyone know where Paul wrote this letter from? PRISON. This letter is part of the Prison Epistles. Paul is likely in chains. Do you think that’s the place Paul would have chosen to be preaching from? Of course not.
However, when you are firmly planted in the Lord Jesus Christ, fruitfulness is not determined by circumstance. When you are spirit-filled, when you are in Christ Jesus:
- You can bear fruit with chains, or without chains.
- You can bear fruit in good health and in bad health.
- You can bear fruit on the mountain top or in the valley.
- You can bear fruit in success and in failure.
Your circumstances do not determine your ability to bear fruit for Christ. Because the fruit we are called to bear is not dependent on us, or our abilities, or our circumstances, they are dependent on us “abiding in Christ.” And, as a child of God, we can “abide in Christ” no matter where we are in life.
GROW IN DEPTH IN RELATIONSHIPS
“Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother.”
Now Paul was in prison, but to our knowledge, Timothy wasn’t. From his prison cell in Rome, Paul was allowed to have visitors. So Timothy, and understudy of Paul, Paul’s “son in the faith,” has taken on the task of going and visiting Paul.
Most of us, if we heard Paul was in jail, we would have begun gossiping about that “jailbird.” We would have been saying something like, “Well, what did he do now?” “Can you believe he’s in jail again?” If we saw Paul walking on our side of the sidewalk, we’d cross to the other side, wouldn’t we?
Though Paul was in the isolation of Jail, he as not in the isolation of community. Paul may have been in a very isolating season, but there are someone’s who keep showing up.
In verse 1, “Timothy our brother,” is with Paul. In verse 7, “As you also learned from Epaphras . . .” How did Paul know what to write this church in Colossi? Because Epaphras kept showing up at Prison. So, Paul is writing here from Prison – BUT NOT FROM ISOLATION. The difference is, “Who you are with.” Someone of you are in isolation because of who you are with, or better yet, NOT with. That’s why we so strongly believe in “doing life together” REGARDLESS of the season in your life.
Paul has Timothy and Epaphras there to share the ministry – that’s why he is continuing to bear fruit! So I guess my question to you is this: WHO ARE YOU WITH WHEN LIFE GET’S OFF TRACK? WHO ARE YOU WITH WHEN YOU REALLY NEED A FRESH TOUCH FROM HEAVEN? I think this is why small groups are so important to the life of our church – it’s a place where we can bear one another’s burdens together!
GROW IN WIDTH IN RELATIONSHIP
Verse 2-5, “To the saints and faithful brethren which are in Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love which ye have to all saints. For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven . . .”
There is an old child’s song we used to sing that goes: Deep and Deep; Deep and Deep, there’s a fountain flowing deep and deep.
NO – that’s not how the song went. It goes:
Deep and Wide, Deep and Wide there’s a fountain flowing Deep and wide.
Paul is writing here to a group of people that he has never met before. He may have heard names mentioned by Ephaphras, but he’s never seen their faces. So, Paul is so burdened for these people he has never seen before, never meet before, but he is so burden about their condition and the Gospel message that he is taking them before God in prayer.
Just a confession on my part – isn’t it funny how we have no problem going before God and praying for people we have never seen before, people we have never met before, yet we struggle to pray for the people we know, the people we see regularly, even our own families?
So, let me ask you how wide is the reach of your grace to those around you and those you’ve never met? How wide is your thanksgiving for others? prayer life? The question is not “When’s the last time you prayed for yourself, or your needs,” but when is the last time you were so burden for the Gospel of Jesus Christ that you bent a knee before God and cast a wide prayer?
Paul, in prison, on mission, and he takes the time to pray for people he has never seen and never met. So, one of the challenges I throw out to you during this series, is this, “How can you grow a deeper, wider prayer life?” So I am inviting you to join me in not praying selfishly but praying selflessly for others.
It is not enough for us to be deep in God’s word – we have to be wide in our love and burden for others. God is not looking for Pharisees to join Him on mission, He is looking for those who are willing to sit with the tax collector, the outcast of society, the oppressed. As a child of God, we are never relieved of loving God’s kingdom – DEEP AND WIDE. Wide means we are gonna have to be willing to get outside of our comfort zone.
When is the last time we celebrated someone’s faith? Nothing should excite us more than people surrendering their lives to Jesus Christ.
GROW THE GOSPEL
Verse 5b and 6a, “. . . whereof ye heard before in the word of truth of the Gospel. Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bring forth fruit, as it doth also in you . . .”
Paul is talking here about Gospel growth. You may start off in a far away place when you first come to Jesus – but He doesn’t expect you to stay there. The Gospel does not stay dormant. When you accept the Gospel, it produces transformational change. You may not be who you ought to be, but you are certainly nol longer who you used to be!
What Paul is saying to the church at Colossi, is there has been a citizenship change. The reason you are so uncomfortable now is that you don’t fit in with the culture anymore. The winds have shifted.
- You have become salt to bitterness.
- You have become Light in the darkness.
There is something in you now, that causes you not to fit into this world. We used to sing this little song as kids:
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine;
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine;
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
Hide it under a bush OH no, I’m gonna let it shine;
Hide, it under a bush OH no, I’m gonna let it shine;
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
So, we have this idea that because we are Christians now, everything is going to be easy, we’ll just let our little light shine and every bodies gonna come to Jesus. But, If I read the book of Revelation right, the Bible says that one day, the heaven’s are gonna be rolled back, the light is gonna shine, what are the crowds gonna do? Shack their fist at Him!
Listen, if the world rejected Jesus when He was here, and if they are going to reject Him when He returns, I’m pretty certain there will be many times in your Christian life you will be uncomfortable and REJECTED in the World.
The only thing that can transcend diversity, the only thing that can transcend the stuff that divides us in this world – it is not conservativism or wokeness – the only thing that can unite us – is the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Peter, in I Peter 2:9, says we are a “peculiar people.” Does that mean we are a weird people, and odd people? No. What it means is that we are the possession of God in order to be a demonstration of the Power of God.
Paul says, He tired his whole life to boast in the fact that he was righteous on his own, he tried to be holy – on his own, he tried to please God on his own. BUT – none of it worked. So now Paul boast, not that it’s the work of man that makes him righteous, it’s not the work of man that makes a man holy, IT IS THE WORK GOSPEL OF GOOD NEWS IN MAN THAT MAKES HIM RIGHTEOUS AND HOLY.
What I am trying to say is this – the Gospel doesn’t just get you saved – it gets you growing – transforming. And once you begin to grow in the Gospel – though you may not be appetizing to the world, your fruitfulness will increase.
I think it matters that Paul is saying this FROM PRISON. Some of the greatest testimonies for God is not found in the easy things of life, but in our struggles – when we can clearly see the hand of God that brought us through that valley, through that storm, through that tough time. When God shows up in such a way that there is no doubt that it was God and credit can be given to anyone but Him!
It is great to know that God is not going to give up on you, He is not going to forsake you – His mercy and grace are fresh and new to you each morning! You can press into God no matter what is happening in your life – GOSPEL GROWTH.
GROW IN GRACE
Verse 6b, “since the day you heard of it, and knew (understood) the grace of God in truth.”
Most of what we understand about grace is from man’s perspective. But Paul says that the grace of God is found in what? TRUTH.
So there is a difference between the world’s version of grace, and God’s version of grace. One is grace that is a lie, and is not grace at all – the other is grace that is TRUE, and it is free and unmerited, and it is given – but it comes with a cost.
Let me show you the difference between Biblical Grace and False Grace.
| BIBLICAL GRACE | FALSE GRACE |
| Rooted in the Cross – Jesus’ death paid the price for sin and offers new life (Rom. 5:8) | Ignores the cost – treats Jesus’ sacrifice like a free pass, rather than a call to surrender (Hebrews 10:29) |
| Leads to Repentance and Transformation (Titus 2:11-12) | Leads to complacency and indulgence in sin (Jude 4) |
| Empowers Obedience (Rom. 6:1-2; I Cor. 15:10) | Excuses disobedience in the name of “freedom” (Gal. 5:13 |
| Results in humility and Worship (Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 12:1 | Breathes entitlement and self-centeredness (II Tim. 3:1-5) |
| Produces the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23 | Leaves the flesh unchecked. No real evidence of Spiritual fruit (Matt. 7:16-20) |
| Acknowledges sin honestly and seeks cleansing (I John 1:9) | Redefines or minimizes sin – makes conviction seem like legalism (Isa. 5:20) |
The whole point of the book of Colossians is that if you GET JESUS – YOU’VE WON! But if you are holding on to Jesus, and holding on to the world – you have reason to fear – WHY? Because you may not have gotten Jesus.
“And what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and lose his soul?” Biblical Grace works through our weakness to show God’s power.
Biblical grace is personal and relational
GO TO GROW!
Verses 7&8, “As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; 8 Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.”
Again, when you read the name Epaphras, his name doesn’t rank in the Top 10 List of Who’s Who in the Bible. But he was used mightily by God to plant the Gospel seed in Colossi. You see, God uses people who are willing to be used – not for their Glory – but for God’s Glory. Epaphras wasn’t in it to get his name on a list.
And here’s the problem in our society. Many people follow and give honor to online preachers – and I’m not saying that’s wrong. However, we are quick to give honor to someone who you’ve never meet; they won’t be visiting you when you are in the hospital; they won’t be there when your marriage falls apart. Yet, you people that have labored for Christ, sewn seeds in your life for Christ – shared the Gospel with you – yet not once have you ever gone to them said THANK YOU for planting a seed in my life.
I thank God this morning for Claudia and Freddie James. You ever heard of them? Claudia and Freddie taught me the Bible when I was 6 years old. They never served on deacon boards, or elder boards, they never pastored a church – they simply taught a kids Sunday Class at 4th Street Baptist Church. They never had their lesson online; they never had written papers published; they didn’t have a college degree – yet most of what I know about the truth of the Bible I learned from them. They were the Epaphras’ in my life.
Never think that your role here is insignificant and doesn’t matter – because EVERYTHING you do for Christ produces fruit. And who knows, maybe one day, some of our fruit will be pastoring this church or another church – or better yet – planting a church.
Fighting for My Pea Patch 