For the past 10 weeks, we have discovered from Paul’s Letter to the Colossians how to understand and live out the New Me that is found in Christ. We are New, not because of what we do for God, but because of what God did for us. In this final message we will see how the New Me in Christ discovers new relationships and cultivates new partnerships for the gospel.
The New Me in Christ now has a New Mission in Christ. Let’s discover it together from the Word of God.
Last week Paul unpacked how to live out the Christian life by putting off our old self and putting on our new identity in Christ. Today, we discover together how The New Me should transform our day-to-day relationships.
The Me I am now is not the Me I want to be. How can I get from the "Now Me" to the "New Me"? There can be no “New Me” without “Me . . . IN CHRIST”! Let’s discover from Paul’s Letter to the Colossians how to understand and live out this "New Life" in Christ.
Free Agent, hands-free, free market, free kick, FREEEEEDOM! What does it mean to be free and experience freedom in Christ? As we continue in the book of Colossians, the Apostle Paul offers a warning to anyone who would take their focus off of Christ and be deceived to follow man-made lists of “do’s” and “don’ts.” Fullness and freedom is brought to us in Jesus. Why add anything else to His liberating good news?
How are you . . . really? Would it be impolite to ask, Who are you . . . really? Strip away all the externals and reveal the core you. Who are you there? Happy with who you see? You’re looking at your “identity.” The Apostle Paul, writing to Christians in the 1st century town of Colossae, drills down on the question of identity. Your “old identity,” cultivated from birth, is at best incomplete and at worst grotesque. You need a complete and beautiful “new identity.” It’s yours for the taking. To...
The “New Me” requires a “New Faith.” Not faith in ourselves, not faith in religion, and not faith in faith. But a faith which leads to maturity. A faith worth proclaiming to others. A faith that is firm because it rests in Christ alone.
To live out the reality of the “New Me,” I must understand who Jesus is, what Jesus has done, and how it applies to me.
Through the Apostle Paul’s thanksgiving and prayer for the Colossian church, we begin to understand our “New Reality” that is only found in Christ.
The Me I am now is not the Me I want to be. How can I get from the ‘Now Me’ to the ‘New Me’? There can be no “New Me” without “Me . . . IN CHRIST”! Today we begin to discover from Paul’s Letter to the Colossians how to understand and live out this New Life in Christ.
To be Resolute about how we use our time causes us to evaluate our priorities. God wants to make sure we’re focusing on the right things so that we can have the greatest impact possible, while also finding room to breathe and not be maxed out.
Are you RESOLUTE—determined & persistent, steadfast & firm—about the most important things in life? Throughout 2019 we will look at the resolute characteristics of a follower of Jesus. Today, we start the new year with JOY. Paul says, “rejoice in the Lord always!” Is that possible? Let’s see.
Jesus’s invitation to Come Near not only changes our lives, but He then uses us to extend that same invitation to others. As the New Year begins, we not only want to come and see Jesus more clearly, but to accept his invitation to join him in the compelling mission of “catching people.”
At Christmas, we celebrate that Jesus has Come Near to us in order to invite us to Come Near to Him. In the Christmas story there were some who knew the facts and chose to remain at a distance and just look at Jesus. Others took the invitation that the Messiah had come and moved towards Jesus to see Him and let Him change their lives. Will you come near? Will you see?
At Christmas, we celebrate that Jesus has Come Near to us in order to invite us to Come Near to Him. Even the Wise Men, who were Far Off, were invited to come near. They accepted the invitation and came to worship Jesus. But they met others along the way who responded differently to that same invitation. Some came. Some didn’t. How will you respond?
In the life of every family, and perhaps every person, there are moments that need a Time Out. A timeout can create the needed space to reflect, assess, remember and celebrate. In the life of a Church we have the same opportunity to pause and to remind ourselves of who God is and to celebrate what he has done and continues to do.
God made us for worship, individually and corporately. The worship of heaven to come is the worship we should aspire to now. The highpoint of The One Story is the worship of God. In the Neverending we’ll lift God higher and higher and higher!
The Gospel is for all people of all nations, but it came to the Jew first. God chose Israel to steward The Promise, which is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. As a result, God receives the Glory He was due from the Beginning and He will get it throughout the Neverending. Amen!
From the vantage point of Christ’s Return the grand sweep of The One Story comes into view — from Beginning to Neverending. We see what’s in store for heaven and earth...and also for us. Time now to take heart, and to take heed.
What’s next in The One Story? The last days? No. They began at Pentecost. We now await the glorious return of Jesus! Waiting can be frustrating and boring. But for the Christian, waiting is energizing, motivating and sanctifying. We wait for Christ’s return to move forward to full and final glory.
Jesus commissions his followers to go and make disciples of all nations. They obey, and the church grows breaking geographic, cultural, ethnic and racial barriers all along the way. This movement of the church was not just for them but it continues in and through us today.
Jesus prayed, “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you (John 17:21). The oneness of God’s people is a priority throughout the New Testament. In the Gospels Jesus talked about, and prayed for, His people to be one. In Acts the early church demonstrated what it looks like to be one. In the Epistles we are instructed how to be, think and do...“ONE!"
Jesus fulfills His promise to build His Church on the foundation of His Apostles. He ascends to the Father, sends His Holy Spirit, and the church begins at Pentecost. Peter preaches the first sermon, people trust Christ, experience forgiveness and receive the Holy Spirit. The church is born!
Jesus’ promise to build His Church came with a rudimentary blueprint for its construction. His first task was to lay a firm foundation of stones, twelve of them, with plenty of jagged edges to smooth out. Jesus builds His church, made of people, on a foundation of people.
We hit the high point! Or was it the low point? Perhaps both! Jesus came (the high point). Jesus died (the low point). Jesus rose from the dead (the highest point). In Season 4 we’ll see just what the Resurrected Christ can do.
The Apostle Paul was willing to become ALL things to ALL people, that by ALL means some might be saved (1 Cor. 9:22). Let’s follow his lead as we go “ALL OUT” for the sake of the gospel both AT and AS Calvary Church.
The Apostle Paul was willing to become ALL things to ALL people, that by ALL means some might be saved. (1 Cor. 9:22) Let’s follow his lead as we go “ALL OUT” for the sake of the gospel both AT and AS Calvary Church.
The Apostle Paul was willing to become ALL things to ALL people, that by ALL means some might be saved. (1 Cor. 9:22) Let’s follow his lead as we go “ALL OUT” for the sake of the gospel both AT and AS Calvary Church.
The Apostle Paul was willing to become all things to all people, that by all means some might be saved. (1 Cor. 9:22) Let’s follow his lead as we go “ALL OUT” for the sake of the gospel both AT and AS Calvary Church...
