Fruitful Faith: The Joy and Blessing of Salvation | Colossians 1:1-12

[0:00] Welcome to Ontario Community Church, where we're dedicated to encouraging, equipping, and engaging lives for Christ. Located in Ontario, Oregon, Pastor Patrick Daley preaches insightful sermons from the Word of God, offering practical applications for modern living.

[0:16] We're delighted to share this sermon with you. All right. Well, good morning, everyone. Let's go ahead and head to our seats as we, we're going to begin our time.

[0:33] All right. Well, as we're heading to our seats, it's great to be here today as we are starting off with going deeper into the book of Colossians.

[0:46] You know, this last week, we did a reading service where we did the public reading of scripture. And that is something that is so beautiful, where we as the church are actively participating in the reading of God's Word.

[1:01] We read together, we read from God's Word, and we went over the major themes of the book of Colossians. And not only, you know, the big thing is we can learn so much about what happened in the church at Colossae.

[1:16] And we have to think to ourselves, how can we apply these lessons today? What does it mean for the modern church as it did back then?

[1:26] We can learn so much. And what I'd like for us to do as we're going to begin from the chapter 1, verses 1 through 12, what I'd like to do is we're not going to reread it, but I'd like to invite you to open to the book of Colossians and feel free to follow along as we're doing an overview, going deeper into these verses.

[1:47] But before we do any of that, I'd like for us to just let's pray together, and let's ask God to be with us this morning, as we're going deeper into God's Word.

[1:58] And Heavenly Father, we gather together today as the body of Christ, as the assembly, as the church. We have just sung songs of praises to glorify your name, to worship and to honor you, and praise and thanksgiving for who you are.

[2:18] We ask that you reveal truth to us this morning as we're going into this expository sermon series of the book of Colossians. Father God, your Word is living and it's active.

[2:31] And we ask that the Holy Spirit will guide us in truth, in wisdom, in knowledge, and in understanding. We ask, Father, that you open our eyes to see the truth that is found in your Word, and open our hearts that we may live and love like you.

[2:48] May we have that relationship, and may we build on that foundation that exists in you. May our minds be changed to know you, and may you continue to work in and through us in our lives.

[3:00] Help us to not just learn these, these lessons, but let us learn to apply it to our own lives, and also to our church.

[3:10] May you bless this church. May we live it out, be with us this morning, Father. It is in Jesus' precious name that we pray, and we all say together, amen.

[3:23] You know, there is power in the name of Jesus Christ. The name of Jesus is above all names, right? There's a famous worship song that I think of.

[3:33] It's called, Why Does the Sky? And it's written by Matt, I think it's Matt Redman. And it says, Let all the other names fade away, and tell there is only you, Jesus.

[3:46] And tell there is only you. And that song, it makes you think for a moment that there are many other names that we hear about, right? We hear about our politicians, we hear about our co-workers and our families.

[3:58] But at the end of the day, it is the name of Jesus Christ that is transcendent. It is the name of Jesus Christ that is everlasting to everlasting. Much like how God's word will remain true.

[4:12] It remains as a constant. Christ reigns supreme as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, amen. These are things that are, they're critical truths to the Christian as well as the church.

[4:26] And they are truths that we are to preach and teach to the community and to those that are yet to believe. To be saved is to have faith and to place your trust in Jesus Christ.

[4:41] And it isn't we believe when we believe in him, we are saved upon salvation. We're called to live out our faith, not to have a dead faith, but to have an active faith, to live and love like Christ in our everyday interactions with people and with culture, right?

[4:59] Our community and as a Christian and as the church, don't you want to be known as being faithful to the Lord?

[5:09] Don't you want to be known for exhibiting the love of Christ to those around you, your neighbor? Have you considered who your neighbor is?

[5:20] How do you interact with your literal next door neighbor if you have one? How do you interact with the people that you meet in the grocery store, the people that you, you know, maybe the person that cuts you off, right?

[5:33] How do you interact with those people, right? How do you interact with your neighbor when they may not agree with what you believe in? That's a question to think of when we are exhibiting the love of Christ.

[5:44] But it's still the question that I want you to think about. Don't you want to be known for being faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ and exhibiting love to your neighbor, to other believers and to the nonbeliever as well?

[5:56] We are to be known for that faithfulness to the Lord and we should also be known to stand on the truth of the Word of God. We should deal with others in love.

[6:08] It is this balance between grace and truth, right? Love and truth. Standing on the truth of the Word of God and dealing with others in love. When we live our lives in faithfulness to Christ and deal with others in truth and love, I can guarantee you that people will see that.

[6:26] There's a famous song, I believe it's from the 1960s that says, They will know we are Christians by our love. By our love.

[6:36] Yes, they will know we are Christians because the love that we have received from Jesus Christ is a radical type of love. And the love that we are to share with other people while standing in truth is a radical type of love.

[6:52] And you know what's so interesting? That is what the apostle Paul is commending, what he is appreciating for the church in Colossi.

[7:04] That's what's happening here. And we begin with verses one through verses two, right? You have Paul's introduction. Paul is establishing himself as the apostle Paul, right?

[7:16] He is giving his credentials. And in your notes, you're going to see there's many verses in which there's too many to go over, but there's many verses in which Paul establishes his apostleship.

[7:27] He references himself as an apostle. It's very common to note that he was called to be an apostle. And Paul testifies to the power of God when God intervened in his life on the road to Damascus.

[7:44] Paul is saying that he is an apostle of Jesus Christ. He's not an apostle of anyone else but Jesus Christ. That's a fundamental truth. He is apostle of Jesus Christ.

[7:56] And this apostleship was set forth by the will of God. It was that he was commissioned by Christ. He was one that was sent. Then we see continuing in verse one, there's the mention of Timothy, who is mentioned as our brother.

[8:13] Of course, in reading this, this is the mention that Timothy is a brother in Christ, but he's also a brother in the ministry that Paul is doing. So there's this distinction here.

[8:25] There's a difference between Paul's unique role and Timothy as the partner in ministry as a brother in Christ. That's something to note.

[8:35] And you'll also see that in your notes as well when it's talking about Timothy. There's many reference verses on here. And so we can see here that Paul is the one who is establishing himself as the author of the letter and establishing himself as the apostle.

[8:52] He wrote the letter and he's referencing Timothy who's been with him in the ministry. And it goes on in verse two. It's speaking of who this letter is written to.

[9:04] Right? Hey, you're writing this letter, Paul. Who is it written to? Right? It's written to the saints and the faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae. In other words, in reading this, we can see that this letter is written to faithful brethren or faithful brothers, right?

[9:21] Those that are following Christ and to the saints, the believers, right? The people who are at the church at Colossae. Now, some of you may be asking the question of where this church is located.

[9:33] It is located in modern-day Turkey and I must have forgotten the slide. I have to apologize. But there is a location and maybe next week I'll actually have the map here.

[9:43] But in Turkey, there is a little town where there's remnants of Colossae. And in fact, there's a sign there that is written in a language that I don't speak.

[9:56] But basically, if you translate it, it's saying that the city was destroyed by the emperor Nero. And it's a historical site. It's not a site that's, you know, how you visit landmarks and sometimes you have really nice signs and it explains explicitly what's going on.

[10:14] And other times, you know, the other day I was at the organ trail and there was a sign there and it was supposed to say what the significance of this part of the organ trail was, but there was nothing there.

[10:27] And unfortunately, that's how it is in Colossae. Here's a very historic site and it's not only are there ruins of what once was there, but you can't really tell what the sign is saying.

[10:40] But from what I could gather online, it's saying that this city was once an existence and it no longer is. And such a historic site, you would think there would be more people who would visit there, but that is what people believe is to be where Colossae was.

[10:57] In other words, it was a small, a small city that isn't in existence anymore. And it makes me think for a moment here. Here is a church that the apostle Paul did not visit, but yet he cared so much about.

[11:14] And so often we think about, you know, in the church world, we think so much about the large mega churches that are out there. But what about the small churches?

[11:25] What about the ones that are faithful to the Lord? Well, so much so, it was so important for Paul to write this letter to commend this small church in Colossae about the faithfulness and the love to others.

[11:39] And so that's just a very good fact, but perhaps next week or all post about the map on there, but there are ruins there. So the apostle Paul goes on to say, grace to you and peace from God our Father.

[11:50] And this was a common thing that the apostle Paul would say. And for those of you who may remember the biblical exposition that I did in Philemon, I provided a chart which is on your notes.

[12:02] It shows what the apostle Paul would write. You'd write the words grace, peace and mercy. And there's quite a bunch of verses in there. We're not going to go through all of them, but it is for your reference to see grace, peace and sometimes he would say grace, mercy and peace.

[12:17] And this just helps us to understand the style that the apostle Paul had when he was writing. And so in the context of the book of Colossians, Paul is wishing that God's grace, that God's favor, the unmerited undeserved favor would be upon this church.

[12:36] And when we think of the peace, we think of the peace that surpasses all understanding. You know, there's a peace that is divine that comes from God. When bad things happen in your life, when you're in a crisis, when it seems like everything is just crumbling, there's a peace that God gives you and people don't understand it.

[12:55] That's a radical type of peace, just like how God gives us this radical type of love. So grace and peace that surpasses all understanding. Paul is wishing for the Christians at Colossae to experience God's favor and peace that comes from you.

[13:12] I mean, that's a wonderful way to open a letter. These are the first two verses that help set up the scene for Paul establishing his authority, the mentioning of Timothy, the brother and the Christians who are at the church at Colossae to the church that they receive and continue to receive the grace that comes from God and the peace that comes from God, our Father, grace and peace come from the Lord.

[13:37] It is in mentioning this truth that God offers grace from his son, Jesus. You know, when you hear the words grace and peace, right? Grace comes from God, our Father.

[13:48] We should also wish that people come to know this amazing grace that comes from the Lord, that there is this grace that is received by believing in him, just like in Ephesians, chapter two, verse eight.

[14:01] And of course, upon believing in him, it is the continued grace, the peace that surpasses all understanding or the inexpressible inexhaustible joy that comes from him. There's many benefits in knowing the Lord.

[14:13] What a wonderful God we believe in. This then takes us to our next, uh, verses three for verses four, where Paul is saying that we thank God when we pray for you.

[14:25] It goes in that they are thanking God for the faithfulness that this small church, right, this small church that Paul has never visited, he's thanking God for the faithfulness this church has towards Jesus Christ and the love that they have for the saints or the believers.

[14:45] That is significant. The we that we're talking about, it could be Paul and Timothy. That's what most scholars believe it can be Paul and Epaphors, or it could be those that are with him in the ministry or even those who are with him in prison.

[14:59] Most likely it is concluded that it is Paul and Timothy, the we that is thanking the Lord. Whoever Paul is with it's showing how important it is to thank the Lord.

[15:13] And I want to make this abundantly clear. We thank God when we are in a church that is faithful to the Lord. We thank God when truth is being taught.

[15:25] It is it is like how we need to appreciate a church that studies the word of God. It sounds too simple, right? But how often do other churches not focus on the things of God?

[15:38] How easy is it for someone to focus on the things that divide us and not on the core tenants of the faith, right? When we're thinking of the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ or John 3 16 for God so loved the world that whosoever believes shall not perish but have eternal life.

[16:00] How easy is it? I mean, I'm sure many of us have heard of a church that deviated from the truth of God's word or maybe a church that didn't focus on loving one another, that didn't focus on caring for its own, let alone caring for the community.

[16:19] So when we consider the fact that Paul is thanking God for the faithfulness that this church had towards Jesus Christ, we too should thank the Lord when we are faithful to the Lord and we should pray for continued faithfulness of our church.

[16:38] The love that they have for the saints of the believers, the care and the love, the love that is shown from Jesus Christ should be exhibited. It should be shown to other people as well.

[16:50] That's very powerful. It's a great encouragement for Paul and not only and also for us as readers. It should be a reminder for us that we as the church are to be faithful to the Lord and to share that love of Jesus Christ to believers.

[17:07] And that also extends to the community. Right? Stand in the truth of the word of God and you invite people to come to church.

[17:19] You know, this week I went to a conference in Boise and one of the things that I learned in this conference, it's called Exiles in Babylon and it was going over all the controversial things that are happening in Christianity.

[17:35] But one of the main takeaways that I learned from this and it's applicable here. How many of you have heard the word accept? Can you just accept me for who I am?

[17:47] Right? And unfortunately that word's been robbed. Right? That the word acceptance has a very different meaning in the postmodern day context.

[17:57] But did you know in the Greek, the word accept means to invite someone? So when we are accepting someone, it's come on in into the doors of the church.

[18:09] So in other words, it's extending an invitation to someone. That's very different than how I understood and how I understand the word acceptance nowadays.

[18:21] So let's think for a moment. When we're thinking about the love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, let us think about the Greek definition or even the biblical definition of acceptance.

[18:35] It is an invitation for the community to come through these doors. It is an invitation for those who are yet to believe or those who do not believe or those who have been hurt, those who are struggling with addiction or those who they have their issues.

[18:51] Don't we all have our own issues? The invitation is to come to the doors and experience the love of Jesus Christ, the love that we have as a church for one another.

[19:02] That's the kind of church that I want to be a part of. And I can tell you, there are many people who are searching for that kind of radical love that comes from the Lord.

[19:13] That's something to really keep in mind. It is a wonderful thing that Paul is celebrating and thanking God for that faithfulness and love. That leads us to verse five now, which we're going to go ahead and put on the screen that hope comes from the gospel.

[19:29] Excuse me, I have a little bit of a cough here. So verse five goes on in explaining that the church is faithful to the Lord and exhibits the love of Christ because the hope that is laid up in heaven.

[19:47] This is speaking about how in a believer, we're saved by grace through faith, there is the promise of eternal life, eternal security.

[19:59] It's just like when you put your money in a bank. You don't want that bank to go bankrupt, no pun intended there. You want to make sure your money is stored and it's secure.

[20:10] You don't want to hear about a thief breaking in and stealing all your money or stealing money from the bank and you don't get your money back. I think of, what is that movie?

[20:21] Is it Sound of Music? Give me back my money. It's the top, there's this little scene, Feed the Birds, the Toppins, the Birds. Is that Mary Poppins?

[20:32] It's an old movie where they run out of money and they end up closing the bank. Is that Mary Poppins? Okay, that just came to my mind here. You don't want to have that scene where you want to go to the bank and you want to get your money back and you can't have it.

[20:45] That's the point here, right? We think of terms of salvation here though. We have to think that there's eternal security, right? That no one can snatch you out of the hand of God.

[20:56] That there's nothing that can separate you from the love of Jesus Christ. That is true security. I'm sorry, when you put your money in the bank, that bank might close. I know it gets secured by the FDIC, but that's still very different than the treasure that we have in heaven.

[21:11] Amen. That's something that is very, very remarkable, right? We are saved by grace through faith and there is a hope that is laid up in heaven, the promise of eternal life, the future resurrection and being the ability to live forever in the presence of God.

[21:33] The laying up, it speaks of security that exists in Christ beyond the security of a bank, beyond the security that exists here in this world. The security of Christ is eternal.

[21:45] It is for here on this earth, but it extends beyond this world. It's an assurance, a promise, a reservation, if you will, because salvation does not fade away.

[21:58] We go from this physical life into the spiritual realm. There's this transition that happens in life as we become more like Christ.

[22:09] The apostle Paul is going on and speaking to that. The church has heard of this in the word of truth, the gospel. Now the word of truth is another way of explaining what the gospel is, right?

[22:24] It is saying, you've probably heard the phrase before, the gospel truth, right? It's very similar in saying that, which is in turn the good news about Jesus Christ and the hope that we have in him.

[22:37] Because let me tell you, there is hope for you. There is hope for your friends and your family in knowing Jesus Christ, because hope comes from the word of truth.

[22:51] Hope comes from the gospel. And for some of us, this may be new to hear about the hope that comes from Jesus Christ.

[23:01] Have you heard the word of truth? Have you heard the gospel message? Do you know that our Lord, our God loves us so much that he sent Jesus Christ to this earth that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life that Christ came to earth in the form of a man who lived, performed miracles, taught many parables, died and was buried and on the third day rose again from the dead.

[23:30] First Corinthians, Chapter 15, verses one through four is a really remarkable verse that speaks to all this. Do you realize that the Old Testament points to the mystery of Christ, which gets revealed in the New Testament?

[23:43] We'll go further into that as we go along in Colossians, the mystery of Christ being revealed, that God hid away what was to come.

[23:54] And we as the church nowadays get to discover that. Again, I have to tell you that Colossians is not only a book that is that points to Christ, but it is a book that is about the attributes, the characteristics and the significance of Christ.

[24:14] Let's go to verse six, bearing fruit from knowing God. In verse six, we find that Paul goes on to say that the gospel has come to you and the gospel has come into the whole world.

[24:26] And this speaks not only of how the gospel message has reached this specific church in Colossae, but also how Christ was revealed to both the Gentile and the Jew.

[24:39] It's speaking of the revelation of Christ, the mystery that was once hidden. And because of the gospel coming to the whole world, to the church, it is bearing fruit.

[24:53] Does that make sense? Right? It is increasing. So the gospel is coming to the world and it is bearing fruit, right? Much like how we have our own, we should all bear fruit.

[25:06] We either bear good fruit or bad fruit, right? We don't like eating a rotten apple. And if you do, there's got to try a good apple, right? We like good fruit. Can you think of the last time when you had a really nice, juicy apple and you took a bite and you went, and it was the most tasty thing ever?

[25:24] We liked that. Go to will we produce fruit? And when we're talking about this verse here, it's talking about the church bearing fruit and increasing because the gospel message is being proclaimed.

[25:38] It is being preached and it's being taught to the masses and it has the power. Listen to this. The gospel has the power to transform lives back then as it does now and it will in the future.

[25:54] That is the consistency of the power of the gospel message. That is the consistency of Christ being the word and that is the consistency of how our God never fails us.

[26:07] That how our Lord has revealed salvation and there are benefits from knowing the Lord and the more we seek God, the closer we get to him.

[26:18] I want to bear good fruit and I hope that you do as well. The apostle Paul goes on saying that since you've heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, because you hear this gospel message.

[26:32] Look when you change your mind about who Jesus Christ is and you believe in him, when you have faith in him, when you place your trust in him, you will be on a path of increasing in the Lord and coming to know the Lord and bearing fruit.

[26:49] Don't just remain a child. Don't just remain a spiritual and a new baby in the Lord beyond a path of growing, much like how our physical bodies, we get older, right?

[27:03] Our backs start hurting. We're always sore, right? We mature though. So too should we mature in our spiritual walk with the Lord.

[27:19] When we become a believer, we are placed on a path of spiritual maturity and this all happens from the word of God and it's important in the early church to come to know the Lord and to grow in him, but it's also important for us in this postmodern age.

[27:41] There's so much division that exists nowadays. So many distractions. You know, I mentioned the conference that I went to. There was a lot of controversial topics that were being discussed.

[27:55] There was certain things that can be very divisive, but you know, what's more important than divisiveness and politics and trends and cultural things that are happening in this world is that we focus on Christ.

[28:14] That should be our main aim is to focus on him and the truth that is found in his word, that we it is important for us as the church in this postmodern age, postmodern age, that's a handful that we come to faith in Christ, that we extend that acceptance or in other words, let's just call it what it is an invitation to come to know the Lord and to grow in him.

[28:42] It's wonderful. It is that it is wonderful to know the Lord and to grow in him and also to know that we will bear up fruit.

[28:53] This leads us to verses seven and verses eight. Verse seven speaks about how Paul is talking about Epiphras, who is a key individual in the early church.

[29:03] It was he who taught these things to the church in Colossae. Not only did this man teach the church, but because of this man's influence, because of him being a leader in this church, the church responded by being faithful to the Lord.

[29:19] It wasn't a focus on him as a man, but it was pointing the church to focus on Christ, to focus on the truth. And we can think about that today, right?

[29:31] Don't focus on the keynote speaker. Don't focus on the pastor. Focus on your relationship with Christ and focus on that faithfulness to him. That is what's important.

[29:42] The church became faithful to the Lord and they exhibited that love of Christ to others so much so that church was bearing fruit. Individuals in the church were bearing fruit.

[29:53] The epiphras, he had to tell the apostle Paul of what was going on here. And we see epiphras only in Colossians and Philemon. You'll see that in your notes as well.

[30:07] Only a couple of times, but yet God saw to it that he had to be in the Word of God for us to read and to study. Then there's verse nine here, the prayer for increasing.

[30:19] It goes to verse nine where the apostle Paul is saying that since they have heard about the faithfulness and love that Colossae is exhibiting, they have not ceased to pray for this church.

[30:32] We pray for the churches in the treasure Valley. At least we should. We should pray that truth is being taught and that if there is any deviance from the Word of God or the truth of the Word of God, pray to get back on track.

[30:51] It makes me think of this wonderful analogy of a boat that's out on sea. You have to course correct from time to time. In fact, you have to course correct all the time because if you go three degrees the wrong direction, if you're out and see your, come on, let's go back on track.

[31:09] You might go in a completely different direction. The point is we should just like how Paul was doing, we should continue to pray for the faithfulness of the church, right?

[31:22] The collective church and also for our own church to remain faithful to the Lord. It's a wonderful encouragement to see what is happening from the words of Paul and it's an encouragement for us today that when there is a church that is faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ and exhibiting that love of Christ to others, we should pray.

[31:43] We should thank God for that church. This leads us to verse 10 and 11 live a fruit bearing life. The apostle Paul is saying that he is praying that this church will be filled with the knowledge, the knowledge of God's will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that they can walk in a manner that is worthy of the Lord fully pleasing to him.

[32:10] And Paul is speaking about how he wishes for this church. Check this out. He is wishing for this church to continue on the trajectory that they are on in a good, godly, fruit bearing positive trajectory.

[32:25] The growth in the knowledge of the Lord is about the ability to learn the word of God, apply the word of God, but also the ability to discern right from wrong.

[32:38] You know, the more you study the word of God, the more you'll start seeing patterns that existed not only in scripture, but you'll see patterns that exist in the world today, right?

[32:51] And sometimes we, as we increase in our discernment from right and wrong, we can, sometimes you hear someone say something and your ears perk up and you're like, yeah, that's true, but I don't know about this, right?

[33:07] Might be the Holy Spirit's kind of tugging at you. Have you ever felt that way before? I hope you haven't felt that way about me, and if so, let me know. I will repent of any wrong I have done.

[33:18] But seriously though, there are times you might hear a famous writer or a famous theologian or pastor and they're preaching and you hear something and you're like, yeah, that's true.

[33:32] That's true. I don't know what you meant when you said that and it just really bugs you, right? That's discernment right there. Or sometimes you just, you feel moved by the spirit to talk to someone about your relationship in the Lord.

[33:46] I know I've told you guys about the homeless man in the city of Fullerton when I didn't respond and how that made an impact on my life.

[33:56] Even to this day, what if I actually had talked to that man? I felt this pull to share in the gospel message with him, but I didn't have enough time and oh, I regret that.

[34:10] I regret that. But going back to this, the ability to discern right from wrong, this can be supported when Paul is speaking of spiritual wisdom and understanding.

[34:22] And by praying for this, Paul is asking that this church will continue again in its trajectory and following in the footsteps of Christ, following God's will and God's way for this church.

[34:35] Do you realize that God has a purpose for your life? Do you realize that you're made in the image of God and that God loves you? God has a plan for you and a divine purpose for you in the same way.

[34:50] God has a plan and a purpose for each and every church. And part of that plan, of course, is to preach and teach from the word and stay true to that.

[35:02] But sometimes you find specializations, right? Some things that certain ministries that churches are more focused on than others. It just really depends on what God has planned for this specific church.

[35:16] God wants for the church to focus on truth, right? To have people come to believe in him, but also that there will be disciples, people that have this curiosity, right?

[35:29] Just like how the word disciple means to be a student. To be a lifelong student of the word. That's very good to baptize believers and to remain faithful in him.

[35:42] And as I've mentioned before, it is about the ability. You're going to hear this from me all the time standing on the truth, standing in truth and dealing in love.

[35:56] And so Paul is saying that he is praying for this church that it will be pleasing to the Lord. I hope that you all desire to have a life that is pleasing for the Lord.

[36:06] And I also hope that what we do here in this church is pleasing to the Lord and that we collectively will walk in a way that is worthy of the Lord in the walking.

[36:22] There is the following following Christ, right? Just as Christ went up to Matthew, the tax collector and said, follow me, right?

[36:33] Are we following the Lord in his calling in the walking with him? There is the doing much like how the word of God says we need to be hearers of the word and doers of the word.

[36:45] Believe first, be saved and upon that salvation do. In the words, indeed, Paul is praying that the church in Colossae will bear fruit in every good work and increase in the knowledge of God.

[37:00] I want to know more about my Bible. I want to know more about the Lord. You know, I feel like the more that I learn about scripture, the more I realize I don't know.

[37:10] And that's okay because that's part of learning. It's part of knowing the Lord is knowing that you don't know everything. But that's why there's this lifelong process.

[37:23] And I can tell you when I go to heaven, I have a lot of questions to ask the Lord. And I'm sure all of you will do, right? But Paul is praying that this church will bear fruit in the things that they do.

[37:37] Let us not be a church that just hears the word of God and goes home. Instead, when we receive salvation, when we receive more knowledge, when we're filled with the knowledge of the word of God, the knowledge of truth, that we will be moved to act and to live out a life that is pleasing to the Lord.

[37:59] Let us remember we are saved by grace through faith so that we can come to know the Lord, grow in him and do good in the name of Christ.

[38:10] And just as the apostle Paul says that this church will bear fruit in every good work and increase, we should pray that we will do the same. We should pray that we as the church will increase in the knowledge of God so that we can go out and do.

[38:27] We should have the ability to discern right from wrong. We should be moved to act and share in the gospel message with other people. We should be moved to serve this community and make a difference in the name of Christ.

[38:42] That's an encouragement for us. And in verse 11, Paul goes on to say that in burying good fruit and increasing in the knowledge of God, they will be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for all endurance and patience with joy.

[38:58] And this part of the prayer Paul is saying that in the good and the increasing in the knowledge, he is praying that the church listen to this. Paul is praying that the church will be strengthened with all of the power that comes from the Lord, that this church will live out the will of God and that they will be strengthened to be able to endure and be patient with joy.

[39:23] Isn't that good? I'm not patient. And how often are we not patient, right? Are we patient with joy? That's a good gift.

[39:33] I'd like to be able to increase in, right? And this is not only an encouragement for the church in Colossae, but it's an encouragement for us, my friends, that we grow by knowing the word of God, that we should be encouraged to do good in the name of Christ.

[39:53] And we should pray that our church will be protected by infiltration, but also that we will be strengthened with the power that comes from God, that we can follow God's will and God's way for our own individual lives, but also for us as the church.

[40:11] Let us pray for the trajectory of this church that we can influence the community and that we can endure and be patient with joy.

[40:23] That strength comes from the Lord. This leads us to verse 12, give thanks and share. Verse 12, we finish off where Paul is saying he's giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

[40:40] Paul is talking about bearing fruit, increasing your knowledge, being strengthened, right? With the power to do good, following his will, his way. And in all of these things, we give thanks to God.

[40:55] We give thanks to the Lord. And is God who has qualified them to share in the inheritance in light. In other words, when you come to know the Lord, you're qualified to share in the gospel message.

[41:09] We should thank God for everything that he has given to us in our lives, that the blessings of our friends and our families, the blessings of this life, we should be thankful and thank God.

[41:23] You know, I always find it a discouragement. When I hear about a church that is focused on the things that divide them rather than the things that bring them together.

[41:35] Of course, we stand firm in truth and we don't waver in that. Jesus Christ did die on the cross. He was buried and on the third day he rose again.

[41:45] We don't waver in that. But so often it's such a discouragement when a church is focused on another gospel or the things of man. It is always unfortunate when we hear about a church that shuts down, that was once faithful to God or a church that has turned away from its love for others.

[42:06] But you know what's a great encouragement though is when we hear about a church or we become a church where we focus our lives and we focus on Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life.

[42:23] And in doing this, we should give thanks to our Lord and our God who has qualified us through salvation, qualified us so that we can share in this gospel message.

[42:36] And God will continue to qualify us as we grow in this faith, right? It's like ongoing training, so to speak, your ability to discern no right from wrong and to follow him.

[42:49] As we are growing in our faith, building upon that salvation that exists in Christ, the church in Colossae is a church that we can learn from and we can apply to our lives today.

[43:04] Let us be a church that is focused on Christ. Let us be a church that is faithful to him and let us be a church that deals in love.

[43:16] Amen. Let's pray together. And Father God, as we close this time as we're going through the book of Colossians, we pray that we may be able to apply the truths of your word into our lives.

[43:29] We pray that we as the body of Christ, we as the believers, the people as the church, we can be faithful to you and that we can exhibit that love of Christ to others.

[43:43] May we be, may we learn from this church in Colossae, a small church in a small area. May we be faithful to you.

[43:54] May we stand on the truth. May we deal in love. Let us take to heart that in believing in you, we have that hope that comes from you. We have this assurance of salvation and the promise of eternal life.

[44:08] We pray that the seeds of truth, this gospel can be planted in our minds and hearts. May we grow upon that salvation on that foundation that exists in you.

[44:21] And may we all bear fruit, good fruit in our lives. And as we sing this last song, may we lift up a shot of praise and never stop thanking you, never stop praising you.

[44:35] And may we live and love like you, for we thank you, God, for all that you have done and all that you continue to do.

[44:47] We thank you so much. It is in Jesus' name that we pray and we all say together, amen. Thank you for tuning in to the Ontario Community Church sermon podcast.

[44:58] For more about our church and how you can get involved or support our mission, please visit ontariocommunitychurch.org. May God's blessings be with you.