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[0:00] We have a very short passage this morning. Can we get that on the screen, actually? It's just two verses here. So we're going to read this. I'm actually going to ask you to read it with me.

[0:11] It's just really short. We'll read it twice together, and then we'll jump in. Would you please stand, actually, as we read this together? All right, let's read together.

[0:23] Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

[0:38] Once more. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

[0:52] Thank you. You may be seated. Well, we have reached the pinnacle of the book of Colossians.

[1:08] This is Paul's purpose statement for the entire book. If you were to condense the entire message of Colossians down into two sentences, this is what it would be.

[1:19] So that we would read these sentences and understand that everything that has been written and everything that will be written before these verses and after these verses, they all come back to this pinnacle.

[1:38] In other words, this is a very important section of the book. It is the heart of His message. And what is that message? I'm going to very broadly, just briefly mention what it is this section's about, and then we'll dive into it.

[1:56] Paul is saying here to the Colossians that in all things pertaining to life, for the Christian, that Jesus Christ is Lord, we have entered into His Lordship, and the way in which we enter into the Lordship of Jesus Christ, faith is the very way that we live in that exact same Lordship.

[2:22] So here's what he's going to say. Therefore, it's how we start the section off, and I want to just pause for a second because therefore is a term that is a hinge term. It's meant to get us to go from A to B.

[2:34] So when Paul says therefore, we have to stop for a minute and understand everything that came before. So what is it that Paul has written up to this point? From verse 1 of chapter 1 to verse 5 of chapter 2, all the way up to this point, what has Paul been about?

[2:53] Here's what he's been about. The splendor of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and all of His glory. Let's just recap a few of these things.

[3:05] In verse 12, we learn that Jesus gives us a divine inheritance. In verse 13, we learn that Jesus delivers us from darkness and into His glorious kingdom.

[3:16] In verse 14, we learn that Jesus gives us redemption through forgiveness of sin. In verse 16 to 17, we learn that Jesus was the creator of all things, that all things were created through Him.

[3:29] In verse 18, we learn that Jesus is preeminent over all things. In verse 22, we learn that Jesus did a reconciliatory work to bring us before a holy God, no longer sin, but blameless.

[3:44] In verse 26, we learn that all Scripture is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. And in verse 27, we learn that Jesus is the hope of glory, the fulfillment of all promises to God's people for salvation.

[3:56] And then finally, in chapter 2, verse 3, we learn that Jesus has all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge we could ever want. In other words, Jesus is God's greatest splendor to us.

[4:13] So let's come to verse 6 now. Therefore. Do we see that? Everything Paul's about to say hinges on how incredibly splendorous Jesus is.

[4:28] So here's what he's going to say. Therefore, as you receive Christ Jesus, here's the imperative, here's our directive, church. So walk in Him.

[4:43] What is so important about this first verse? Verse 6. Paul gives us a directive that hinges on everything we've learned so far. But there's a little phrase in between these two elements, the therefore and the so walk in Him, that is extremely important.

[4:59] And what is it? Here's what Paul says. As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord. The reason that that sentence is our gold nugget to understand this passage is this.

[5:12] Paul is saying that in order to live out our Christian faith, first, we receive Jesus in faith by hearing and believing the truth about Him.

[5:26] And then, and only then, he says, so we walk in Him. In other words, that the same way that we receive Jesus is the same way that we walk in Jesus. Super important tie here.

[5:38] And here's the truth of the gospel, that we come to Christ in one way only. The Bible teaches that it is by grace we have been saved through faith.

[5:52] Paul describes this reality. He says, listen, when Jesus called you to Himself, when you were in that darkness, in that sin, in that place of no hope, here's what Jesus did.

[6:03] He called you out of that. And how did He do it? But He did it by grace through faith. So we need to understand when Paul says this, therefore, as you receive Christ, Jesus Lord, so walk in Him, we have to answer a question to even understand this verse.

[6:19] And it's this, how did we receive Christ? Because Paul just said, the same way that you received Him, walk in Him. And the answer is faith, brothers and sisters.

[6:33] We came first to Jesus. in nothing more than faith. And He came to us first in nothing more than grace.

[6:48] It is not a work of us that we might not boast, but instead, we glory in Jesus, the One that has given us all things from the Father. This phrase here, I'm going to dive a little deeper into it, as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, it refers to a transmission of teaching, if you will.

[7:10] One scholar says this, that the verb receive here is used in a technical sense in Judaism, referring to the transmission of teaching from one person or generation to another.

[7:23] And we know that this is the pattern that we come to Christ because Paul also says in another section, Romans 10, he's talking about how we need to go out with the gospel message, with Jesus, to preach Him that people might hear, that they might believe, and they might call upon Him.

[7:38] He literally says these words, how will they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? How are they to believe in Him in whom they have not heard? How are they to hear without someone preaching? How are they to preach unless they are sent? Here's the progression.

[7:50] It's what Paul is describing here is as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord. Somebody said, I want this church, this town, this place, to know Jesus. So I'm going to go with that gospel.

[8:02] I'm going to preach it. I'm going to proclaim it. I'm going to teach it. People are going to hear about Jesus. And then at that point, there's a decision. When they hear about Jesus, are they going to respond in repentance and faith?

[8:15] And if they do respond in repentance and faith, they will believe. We know that in this circumstance, the person that was sent to Colossae was Epaphras.

[8:26] And the Lord sent him to this little town of Colossae that he might preach Jesus. So here's what Paul says. As you received him, walk in him.

[8:42] The answer is faith. That's how we receive Christ. And that's how we walk. The gospel is not just the gateway into the kingdom of God.

[8:57] The gospel is the kingdom of God. This is why in the book of Mark, when Jesus comes onto the scene, the first words he says are this, the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel.

[9:14] Here's what Jesus just said. The kingdom of God is coming at you right now. And the way in is repenting of sin, turning from sin, and believing in me.

[9:25] Faith. But not only that, once you're in the kingdom of God, you are always in the kingdom of God. And the sustenance that we live in the kingdom of God is the same thing that God has sinned, which is faith.

[9:41] And the reason that this is important to me is because I lived a very long time of my life as a Christian thinking that the gospel was simply a one-time usage.

[9:56] Like a napkin or a straw or a voucher to get into a concert. The gospel, I believe in Jesus, I turn from my sin, I say the prayer, I use my voucher, hooray.

[10:06] Alright, thank you gospel, I'm in now. This is the exact opposite of what Paul is saying. Here's what Paul is saying. The gospel is not a one-time use product, but instead the gospel is the very lifeblood of being a Christian.

[10:21] Period. So here's our big idea for this morning. The Christ-centered life embraces faith in Jesus to save us, ground us, and grow us.

[10:36] A Christ-centered life embraces faith in Jesus to save us, ground us, and grow us. Faith is the key. But for you kids in here, if you've got your notes with you and you've got your ready-to-take notes, here's your big idea.

[10:49] It's the same thing, just a little shorter. And somebody's like this more. Maybe we'll just roll with this for the rest of the sermon. Trust in Jesus for everything. Trust in Jesus for everything.

[11:01] You get to write that down on your clipboard. I'm getting a lot of head nods. Let's get rid of the big one. Let's just go with that. That's what Paul is saying. Trust in Jesus for all things, including your daily obedience and walk.

[11:13] So I want to talk really quickly about Christ-centeredness. Maybe this is a term that you've heard before. Maybe it's a term you haven't heard before. What is Christ-centeredness? What are we talking about with this? Well, I believe this section in Colossians is the heart of Christ-centeredness, or at least one of them in the Bible.

[11:30] Christ-centeredness refers to orienting all aspects of our life and looking to the person and work of Jesus and looking to His grace as a source of all empowerment.

[11:42] Christ-centeredness is recognizing that even after I've been redeemed and saved and washed and transferred from darkness and into His glorious kingdom, that even after that, I still need to recognize my brokenness, my sinfulness, and my inability and cling to Jesus' perfect work.

[12:04] Christ-centeredness is resting in the finished work of Jesus and not mine. Christ-centeredness is revisiting what He has done as a motivation for what I should and can do.

[12:18] Christ-centeredness is about continual confession of Jesus Christ, His work, and His Lordship in our life. And what Paul says here is just as you received Him, He's wanting the Colossians to follow in this way.

[12:32] Just as you received Christ in humble, modest faith, so too when you decide I want to live for Jesus, I want to preach His word, I want to be about His kingdom, I want to grow the kingdom, I want to worship and pray and read and bless people in the name of Jesus, each and every one of those things, He says this, do them in the same spirit, that is, faith.

[12:56] That I trust in Him for all things. Our confession and faith in Jesus as Lord not only brings conversion from death to life, it also brings about our very growth throughout a lifetime.

[13:10] Faith is, think of a car, or at least a motor that has driving parts and pistons, a combustion engine. Think of faith in this way.

[13:20] Faith is both the ignition to get that engine started and it is the piston. In other words, through our faith, our redeemed lives begin in faith, they're turned over from darkness to light, from death to life, but also they're propelled forward by the same substance.

[13:45] Faith is that substance. Tim Keller, the late Tim Keller, a few years before he passed on, said these words, I think, summarize a faith-driven, grace-empowered life that Paul is talking about.

[13:59] He said this, the gospel is not just the ABCs, but the A to Z of the Christian life. It's everything. Like I told you earlier, I thought the gospel was a one-time use product.

[14:13] Tim Keller and I believe Paul are saying, no, no, no, no. That faith that got you in is the same faith that will propel you forward. So here's what Paul does.

[14:25] He continues the thought by saying this, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. Okay, so we now understand, and we know, faith in Jesus is the fuel for the Christian life.

[14:41] But what does it mean to walk in Him? How do we do that? Well, here's what Paul's gonna do. He's going to define walking in Him in three ways, three images he gives us. First, it's rooted.

[14:51] Second, built up. Third, established. So let's talk about those real quick. Here's what Paul says. Walking in Christ looks like this. You're rooted in Christ, you're built up in Christ, and you're established in the faith.

[15:04] So let's talk about these three things. If walking in Him is a byproduct of believing in Jesus, not just for salvation, but continually through life, I continually trust myself over to my Savior, here's what it means to be rooted in Jesus.

[15:23] All three of these terms work together to give us one cohesive image, but here's rooted. Rooted is the image of a tree. It's a living metaphor.

[15:37] And here's what Paul would want them to know. To walk in Jesus means that like a tree, you plant yourself down on the ground, and you grow your roots down, and you grab onto something.

[15:51] Now what's the purpose of roots in agriculture, right? What is it? It is to draw up nutrients, to live, literally to bring life from the ground up into the rest of the tree.

[16:04] But not only that, it's also to keep the tree grounded. Now I just uprooted a tree that I had planted like six months ago on our front lawn, and I remember when I planted it, it was about this big was the base and the roots.

[16:17] I had to dig twice as deep down in six months just to get underneath where the roots had gone. And I know that because it was hard to get the tree out. My daughter's right here. She watched me do it, and she just said, Dad, just pull it out.

[16:29] I'm like, I can't get under it. This thing is rooting deep. And here's what Paul wants. I want you to recognize that your life in Christ is like a tree. And the tree goes down into the soil, and it grabs onto something so that it can be stable, mature, ready to grow.

[16:46] That's the first image. The tree of our life has been transplanted from the dry, lifeless, inert sand of the desert to the rich, nurturing, life-giving soil of Christ's heavenly forest.

[17:01] And here's what Paul says. Root there. He brought you out. He planted you in his kingdom. Just continue to dig down with roots. And if you're a child in here today, you've got a key word on your sheet, and it would be rooted.

[17:17] So go ahead and write rooted in if you're a kid in here today. Rooted is your key word. And when we talk about rooted, what we're talking about, here's your definition of rooted, planting your faith in Jesus.

[17:30] Planting your faith in Jesus. That's what we want you to take away today, children, but also us as adults. Paul says, walk in Christ. What does that mean? It means, first of all, that you're going to root down, you're going to plant your faith in Jesus alone.

[17:45] Why is this important? Because in this life, as you know, there are so many things that want to take our faith and pry it away from Jesus and place it on other things.

[17:57] The chief offender here is ourselves. Our fallen, broken hearts are pleading with us. Just place your, you got this. You can do it.

[18:08] You're all you need. Here's what Paul says. No, no, no, no, no. Deny every call to root somewhere else. Instead, root deeply in Christ. The second image is built up.

[18:20] And here are the images of a building in construction. This is a fascinating idea. Paul says, first, rooted. Think of a tree that roots down and grabs on and pulls up nutrients. Next, I want you to think of a building that's not yet complete.

[18:31] It's in construction. Now, if you live in Spokane, which I think most of us probably do, maybe you're visiting from out of town, there's a lot of buildings that are in construction in Spokane. You're with me? You drive around.

[18:42] This is a growing city with a lot of development. I drive by buildings all the time that I have scaffolding and giant cranes. We were just in Coeur d'Alene this last weekend. There's a massive building being built.

[18:55] Here's the image. The building's not yet finished, but pieces are going on. So what does Paul say? He says this. Built up in Christ. And the image here is not complete yet.

[19:07] What he's asking the Colossians to do is to imagine a building in construction and then realize that Christ is the one that's building the blocks on this building.

[19:22] And he does this year after year, day after day. Each growing day, the building grows taller and stronger.

[19:33] It's the image of a growing Christian life. Christ will continue to provide the building blocks, the building materials of your faith. So here's what Paul says. If he's got all of the access to the materials, then be built up in him.

[19:48] Let Jesus build on your life. And then third, there's this third term which is established. And this is a fascinating one. The term here refers to a finalized contract.

[19:59] What? That's what I thought when I saw that too. A finalized contract. So the word, the image that Paul is conveying here is, I want you to imagine there's two people that come to agreement. We're going to do this.

[20:09] Yep, we're going to do this. Let's get into a contract together. And they both sign the contract and then they stamp it. We're now in a contractual agreement on whatever it is they agreed on.

[20:21] How does this relate to us? Well, here's what Paul says. If we walk in Christ, that means we'll be rooted in him. That means we'll be built up in him. And if those things are true, over time we root down in Jesus, we grow up in Jesus.

[20:36] If those things are true, it's like a finalized contract. Meaning, the result of being rooted and built up in Jesus is an established faith.

[20:48] And if you're like me, I've gone through seasons of my life feeling that my faith is not very established. For various reasons. Maybe I'm falling into this certain sin.

[20:58] Maybe I grow tired of church. Maybe I've got other aspirations that I would rather give my time to. And if you're here today, maybe you sit here and you say, you know what?

[21:11] I know what it's like to feel like my faith is not really established. And here's what I would direct us to. What is it that we are to do in those scenarios? We're to root and build ourselves up in Christ.

[21:25] How do we do that? Through faith. So Paul gives these images in order that we might understand that all of life is centered around one person. You can't root, you can't build up, you can't establish, you can't walk unless one piece of the puzzle is there.

[21:40] What is it? Person and work of Jesus Christ. The gospel. So much so that Paul's going to say this now in 7b. Listen to this. He says, rerouted, built up, and established in the faith.

[21:53] And he says this, just as you were taught. Okay. Paul, we get it. As we received the gospel, walk in it. Just as you were taught.

[22:04] This is really important for Paul. Here's what he's saying again. It gives us additional reason to receive faith as the means by which we live our life. Here's what he's saying with as you were taught.

[22:17] I want you to remember, revisit, review, and rediscover the very same gospel that you've already received. Remember when Epaphras came and told you about the glory and splendor of Jesus and how amazing he is?

[22:32] Just as he taught you that, go back there, go to that space, think about Christ again, go through all of the amazing things about the gospel just as you were taught, just as you received.

[22:44] And as you review, rediscover, revisit, renew the beautiful gospel of Jesus Christ in your heart and mind, here's what will happen. You will walk in him. That's what Paul is saying in this section.

[22:58] And for us today, I want to encourage us that as Christians, it's so incredibly easy to fall off of this faith path.

[23:12] If you're like me, there are times when you think, again, faith is just the way in, but once you get in, it's all on you. Walk and prove yourself worthy of God. There's three different hearts I want to talk about.

[23:26] First is the legalistic heart. The legalistic heart views God as transactional, granting favor only as a reward for performance. And this can happen in all of our hearts.

[23:39] This view gives way to duty-based, law-ruled living as a means to holiness. The legalistic heart reinstitutes the burden of fulfilling the law that Jesus already did.

[23:52] Why is that important? Because for the legalistic heart, the remedy is faith. Go back to Jesus and see that he's fulfilled the law. See that his perfect work is all you need to be accepted by God.

[24:06] That's the solution for the legalistic heart. The second heart is the lackadaisical heart. This heart views God as passive, granting forgiveness with no concern for our holiness. This view of God produces complacency in our hearts as we feel nothing for the costly grace of God given for us.

[24:23] Instead, we choose to idolize our freedom. Regardless of which camp you fall into, we need to recognize that either heart, a legalistic or a lackadaisical heart, they both do the same horrid thing.

[24:41] They replace the cross with a vessel of their own salvation. For the legalist, the cross is replaced with a scorecard. For the lackadaisical, the cross is replaced with a lazy boy recliner, metaphorically speaking.

[24:53] But here's what Paul wants for the Colossians. Let the cross be the cross. That eternal picture of a completed work.

[25:05] That for once and for all, the last sacrifice is made on behalf of sinners. That all a person has to do to come to Jesus in newness of life is repent of their sin, to turn away from sin.

[25:18] I don't want sin anymore. I can't do this brokenness in my life. I'm at the end of my rope. I need some other Savior other than myself. That's what it looks like to repent.

[25:29] Lord, I'm done. To repent of sin and to believe in Jesus. Trust in Him alone. Paul says, walk in Him as you received Him.

[25:44] Let the cross be the cross and it leads to a Christ-centered heart. The Christ-centered heart views God as relational, not transactional, granting us unmerited grace and calling us to respond in obedience to that grace.

[25:57] When we recount God's grace past and present, our hearts generate gratitude. And that gratitude is the very gratitude that leads to a Christ-like life. This is grace-empowered living.

[26:12] This is the reason, the same reason why when I was a kid and my parents would tell, hey Eric, can you go clean your room? And I'd say, ah, go clean your room please. And I would go and clean them after being asked multiple times to come back.

[26:24] They're pleased that I obeyed, right? But how many times did my parents, when I finally had some reason to, you know, I'm gonna do the dishes without being asked. I'm gonna clean my room without being asked.

[26:35] My parents would see that and they would feel so much more loved and grateful for their child when I did it without being asked. Why? It's kind of the same thing here.

[26:48] The Christ-centered life gets all motivation to live for Jesus from the grace of the cross. not to prove God that we're worthy or not to take advantage of His costly grace but to say, I see Jesus on the cross.

[27:08] I see the love. I feel the love of God through what Christ has done and that moves me. All of Christian life is faith.

[27:20] Both the legalistic and the laxodaisical heart both make the same mistake. They remove faith from the equation, brothers and sisters. That which we are called to do is always rooted in what God says He will do or what He has already done.

[27:38] This pattern is even true in the Old Testament. In Deuteronomy 7, the Lord speaks to Israel and He says this, for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

[27:54] It was not because you were more in number than any of the other people that God set His love on you and chose you for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that He swore to His fathers that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery.

[28:13] Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations.

[28:24] And listen, here's the last verse of this section. You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.

[28:37] How is that relevant? Here's what God just said. I didn't choose you to be my people because you were impressive. I didn't choose you because you were stronger than the other nations.

[28:49] I chose you because I set my love on you and I want you deeply as my people. That's the only reason God chose Israel because He loved them.

[29:02] And out of that reality, He says, so therefore, obey, follow the commandments, trust me, and live for me. See, what we're commanded to do in Scripture always, always stems out of who God is and what He has done.

[29:17] So here's our application this morning. When Paul talks about this section, when he gives the Colossians their big idea, he wants them to grow in Christ, to be grounded in Christ.

[29:28] All of this is contingent upon faith. What do we believe about Jesus? What do we believe about the gospel? First thing I want to encourage us to today is become gospel literate.

[29:40] What does that mean? It means that in order to live a life of faith, we need to understand what we're believing in. Faith is contingent upon trusting in something, a claim, a person, in this case, both.

[29:54] That's what the gospel is. Become gospel literate. What that means is that we understand the gospel message and the work of Jesus. So one way to describe the gospel message is creation, fall, redemption, restoration.

[30:08] God created all things. We rebelled against him in the fall. Christ came to redeem all of creation, which leads to the final restoration where God's going to take all things and make it new. Another way to understand the gospel is something we use here at this church called the gospel hand.

[30:22] You heard Kate just pray it. The gospel hand is simply this. Jesus is the good news, okay, which means this, that Jesus lived perfectly died sacrificially, rose victoriously, forgiving our sin if we repent and believe.

[30:40] That's another way to understand the gospel. Another way would be to just read through what I believe is probably the original apostolic understanding of the gospel message, which Paul gives in 1 Corinthians 15. He says this, I remind you, brothers, of the gospel that I preached to you, which you received, which you stand, and by which you are being saved.

[30:58] You listen to all those passive terms there to say this is all part of our Christian life. Here's what he says, I deliver to you as first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised in the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, and then he appeared to five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

[31:24] Then he appeared to James, then to the apostles, last of all, as one untimely born, he appeared to me. That's the gospel message. 1 Corinthians 15, verse one to eight.

[31:36] But I want you to notice how that ends. How does it end? Last of all, as one untimely born, he appeared to also me. And here's where it becomes personal. In order for the gospel to take root in our hearts and for us to center our lives on Jesus, the gospel has to be real to us.

[31:56] And what Paul just did is he described the entire gospel message and then said at the very conclusion, of that. Me as well. Christ died for me.

[32:10] Second application here, which follows on the heels of become gospel literate, is revisit Christ's work often. One of the ways we do this is we preach the gospel to ourselves. In order to be Christ-centered, we have to have Christ at the center of all that we do.

[32:26] Preach the gospel to yourself. Embrace being that weird person that talks to themself. I've embraced this over time. Preach the gospel. Talk to yourself in the way that God sees you through what Christ has done.

[32:38] Maybe that's the gospel hand. Maybe that's another way. But also, I want to encourage us to think about testimony. How have you been saved? Articulate to yourself how Jesus saved you.

[32:50] What you once were, who you once were, and how Jesus drew you out of that. Preach the gospel to yourself. Read scripture. Maybe you're here today and you've been frustrated with your lack of quiet time recently. I know that's something I struggle with occasionally, or often actually.

[33:03] Life has been busy. The first thing to go is reading the word of God, which points us to Jesus. Let me tell you what won't work to get back in a rhythm. Challenging yourself to toughen up and just do it.

[33:16] I've tried this. Self-pep talks might work for a few days, but then you'll eventually revert back because our strength is weak and feeble, but instead, try this. Take 15 minutes in the morning one of these days and just sit, pray, and meditate on the love of Jesus for you.

[33:35] And see what that stirs up in your heart. Prayer. Focusing on adoration. Confession and confession leads to thanksgiving and supplication. Fellowship with other redeemed, Christ-centered people.

[33:47] And finally, our third application, simply this, walk in Him in faith. God's faithful work in the gospel and through Jesus Christ are the stepping stones of our faith.

[34:02] Taking the steps of those faiths is walking in faith. How do we do Christ-centered living? How do we walk as Paul wants us to? Well, first, root ourselves in the gospel through faith, but here's some practical ways that we might find a Christ-centered life being lived out.

[34:23] Revisiting how truly sinful we are and how unable we are to rescue our hearts from destruction. When we revisit this, it inspires us to look outside of ourselves for salvation. When it comes to freedom, revisiting that there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus allows us to live free and obediently.

[34:42] When it comes to prayer, revisiting that Jesus is our high priest who intercedes for us at all times and allows us to approach God confidently in prayer. When it comes to growth, revisiting the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit and His sanctifying presence in our hearts allows us to say no to sin and yes to becoming more like Christ.

[35:03] Persecution, revisiting Jesus' sacrifice empowers us to take up our cross and embrace suffering on account of His name. Worship, revisiting how deeply we have been loved by God who sent His only Son, moves us to authentic praise and adoration of Him.

[35:19] Despair, revisiting the hope of the resurrection lifts us from the despairs of life and hopelessness that we all experience. Joy, revisiting how we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing through Christ's love for us, fills us with enduring joy and satisfaction.

[35:35] Marriage, revisiting how Christ's unconditional love for His bride, the church, compels husbands and wives to love each other sacrificially each day.

[35:48] Parenting, revisiting the grace and patience of the Father towards us, teaches us to be gracious and patient with our children as they grow to maturity. Forgiveness, revisiting how radically and repeatedly we have been forgiven moves us to forgive others radically and repeatedly.

[36:09] Unity, revisiting the common faith we have in the same person and work of Jesus allows believers all over the world to instantly enjoy fellowship with one another. You ever run into a Christian that you've never met and there's an immediate bond?

[36:24] It's because of the gospel. Community, revisiting that we have been adopted into the family of God enables us to view one another redemptively and treat one another redemptively. Mission, revisiting our former life that we once walked in darkness but now walk in light compels us to share the truth of the gospel with those who are perishing without hope.

[36:45] And finally, gratitude. I'll draw your attention lastly to the last section of this verse. Abounding in thankfulness.

[36:56] revisiting that the deserved wrath that was stored up for us Jesus absorbed it and took it on our behalf that we might experience blessing produces gratitude that goes beyond any form of gratitude we could ever experience on earth.

[37:21] For those of us in here today who have never received the first initial message of the gospel. Consider a life of faith caught up in the work of Christ and not in our own work.

[37:39] Similarly, for those of us who have received the gospel and have already trusted in Christ guess what the application is? It's the same. Consider a life of faith in which Jesus is the hero who will never let us down.

[37:55] trust only in him just as you received it and we will walk in Christ. Lord, thank you for this morning. I pray that, Lord, as we consider a Christ-like life, a Christ-centered life, that help us to see the role of faith in the Christian walk.

[38:18] I pray that as a church, Lord, that we would never outgrow our need for the gospel. that being rooted and built up and established in Christ is our calling, Lord.

[38:30] Lord, I pray for the legalistic heart or the lackadaisical heart or any other heart in between, Lord, that has perhaps lost the goodness of the gospel. Would you redeem our hearts, Lord?

[38:42] Would you wash us white as snow? Would you remind us of the simplicity of faith to simply abandon self-reliance and instead trust in the work of Jesus Christ?

[38:55] May that be our heart song as a church. I pray that this week even, that for any of us that feel that we've lost a step in our faith, that instead of creating a giant list of how to get back on the right track, we would simply and purely take time to meditate on all that you have done for us, your great love for your bride.

[39:19]  Lord, thank you for today. We love you and we praise you and we give all over to you in the name we pray. Amen.