Good morning. Please turn with me to Colossians. We're reading from chapter 4 and verses 2 to the end of the chapter, verse 18.
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
At the same time, pray also for us that God may open to us the door for the word,
to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison, that I may make it clear which is how I ought to speak.
Walk in wisdom towards outsiders, making the best use of the time.
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Tychicus will tell you about all my activities.
He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord.
I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts.
And with him, Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you,
they will tell you of everything that has taken place here.
Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you.
And Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, concerning whom you have received instructions,
if he comes to you, welcome him.
And Jesus, who is called Justice.
These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God,
and they have been a comfort to me.
Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus,
greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers,
that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.
For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis.
Luke, the beloved physician, greets you, as does Demas.
Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea and to Nympha and the church in her house.
And when this letter has been read among you,
have it read in the church of the Laodiceans,
and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.
And say to Archippus,
see that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.
I, Paul, write these greetings with my own hand.
Remember my chains.
Grace be with you.
Well, we've been talking about fullness in Christ in the book of Colossians for nine weeks now.
We've come to the end of the letter.
This picture we've been using for a couple of weeks now of the internal bucket being full and overflowing.
We don't need to find ourselves.
We already are full in Christ and it's overflowing into every aspect of life.
But I want to ask, after all this talk of fullness,
is it just talk?
Like how full do you feel most of the time?
This week in particular as a church family,
with all the heartache,
in such pain,
does all this talk of fullness just evaporate?
Is it just talk?
Or maybe we compare ourselves to those who try and live apart from knowing Jesus.
They're pursuing a very different idea of fullness.
And we envy them.
Like Psalm 73 says,
we look and they seem healthy.
They seem strong.
They seem beautiful.
Their houses are big.
They occupy the important and influential places in society.
They've got all the friends.
They've got so much more time,
not having to come to church,
and so much more money to spend.
We can envy them.
Like Psalm 73,
the psalmist goes,
behold, look,
these are the wicked,
always at ease.
They increase in riches.
All in vain
have I kept my heart clean.
Now the psalmist doesn't stop there,
but we can even get to a place of
envying
people who don't know Jesus.
Or maybe,
if we compare ourselves to
other streams of Christianity,
other people who
probably
kind of
think
similar lines
to what the Colossians were hearing,
you can have
an extra experience of God.
Okay, yes,
trusting Jesus is good,
but if you really want to encounter God,
this kind of
being swept up
into a heavenly
experience with the angels,
this is how you do it.
You need something else
other than Jesus
to get there.
Maybe we compare
ourselves to that
kind of Christian thinking.
You can have
victory over
finances
and relationships
and health.
You can have
all those things.
And we can envy.
We can be tempted
to think that fullness
is found somewhere else.
So is all this
talk of fullness
just talk.
Because this is a battle
for our belief
over where fullness
can be found.
I think we could picture
Paul writing this letter,
dictating to his secretary,
just lying back
on a deck chair
by the pool
with a cool drink
by his side,
the sun setting,
like eye of everything
in Christ.
You could picture him
like that.
But he signs off
the letter
in the very last verse,
remember my chains.
Remember my chains.
Grace
be with you.
Now,
if someone from prison,
now he's under
house arrest,
but if someone from prison
wrote you a letter
saying,
here's how you should live,
here's the best life,
would you believe,
would you go,
yeah,
I'm going to work it out
myself,
thank you very much.
You've ended up
in the slammer,
I'm not sure
you can really speak to it.
This guy is in prison,
he knows,
he knows harsh treatment.
And he's urging them,
don't listen
to the false teachers
who can say
that there's something
else other than Christ.
Follow me
as I follow Christ.
Now,
I think
him saying,
remember my chains,
it could just be saying,
this is really hard,
please pray for me.
But I think
he's saying more than that,
like he said earlier
in the letter,
that I rejoice
in my sufferings
for your sake,
for your sake.
And in my flesh
I am filling up
what is lacking
in Christ's afflictions.
He's not ashamed
of his situation.
It's a reminder
that his imprisonment
is for their sake.
He's in prison
because he is speaking
the gospel clearly,
which means the Colossians
have come to know Jesus.
He is suffering
for their sake.
It's a reminder
that he's willing
to hurt,
willing to go through
great cost himself
so that they might have life,
they might have
the grace of God.
So Paul's,
even in prison,
even in this harsh treatment,
Paul's still got
the inner resources
to be,
this letter is full
of affection,
it's full of concern
for the Colossians.
Where do those resources
come from?
If he was just focused
on his own story
that he's in prison
under harsh treatment,
he might turn in on himself,
start self-pitying,
but he doesn't do that.
He might spiral down,
but he doesn't do that.
He has these resources
somewhere
that make him
affectionate for others
and still seeking
the salvation of others
and the growth of others.
Where do those resources
come from?
I think asking that question
helps us understand fullness.
That fullness isn't just
a feeling of happiness.
That's not how we should
measure fullness.
Fullness is having
the resources
to live well,
to live for Christ
and actually be
overflowing for concern
for others.
So who do we think
is more full?
The person in our society
who needs the house,
who needs the job,
who needs the relationships
and all their work
to be going well,
to feel good about themselves
and to feel satisfied.
If they lose it,
they must get it back.
If they have it,
they fear losing it.
They're always trying
to manipulate situations
to make themselves
feel satisfied.
And if they look
into their future,
it's a bleak future.
They've got to have it now.
Time is running out.
Is that person full?
Do they have the resources
to live well?
Or, like Paul,
someone who has
earthly things stripped away
and yet they still
have affection for people.
They still have concern
for other people's
well-being.
working hard
that they might receive life.
Fullness in Christ
doesn't look like
feeling happy
all the time.
It's through all emotions.
Fullness is having
inner resources
simply entrusting Jesus
to live well,
to be seeking
the good of others
in every moment,
even filled with thanksgiving,
no matter what's going on.
And where did Paul get
these inner resources from?
It's not his own making.
It's not like he's somehow
just stronger than us.
His resources
are our resources.
It's all in the gospel.
It's all what Christ has done.
Or to put it
a different way,
he knows that his life
is part of a bigger story.
His life is part
of a grand narrative.
This Paul,
who was once
seeking to prove himself
as a religious man,
that's not who he is anymore.
He came to see
that he can't give
the Lord
who created everything,
what can he do
to the Lord
who created everything?
What can he give him
to prove himself?
Nothing.
In fact,
he was shown
his debt of sin
that needed to be paid.
And now,
in knowing Jesus,
he has known
that all that debt,
that mountain
of trying to live
life without God
has been nailed
to the cross.
That full forgiveness,
that full acceptance,
not based on him
proving himself,
but based on
what Christ has done.
He now can call God
not a judge only,
but a father.
He is secure
in the Father's love.
He knows he is qualified
for the eternal inheritance
of the saints.
His future is full and bright,
which gives him strength
in every trial.
He is meaning
and purpose now
to represent
the King of Kings,
to be an agent,
to be an instrument
in the Redeemer's hands
to bring other people
into this new life.
It is in the Gospel
that we have
all the resources
to live well.
And we see that
in this passage today,
this passage seems to be
all about seeking fullness
for those who are empty.
To live well,
we are caught up
into Christ's story.
Christ's goal
is to reconcile
all people to himself.
His passion
is to see lost people
come into the family,
to see empty people
filled.
It's Christ's passion
that then fills us,
gives us the resources
to seek this as well.
So I'm going to go through
four things
that I think
this passage
shows us
we should be
overflowing
with Christ's passion
in
to see people
reconciled to himself.
So I think we see
that we've got to be
depending on his
sovereign grace
in prayer.
We need to be
holding the ropes
of prayer
for those
who are sent
to speak the Gospel.
We're told
to make the most
of the time
speaking graciously.
And I think we see
in all the final greetings
that we are to stand
shoulder to shoulder
with all Christ's people
to see the advance
of the Gospel.
So,
how will we
overflow
with Christ's passion
to fill
empty people?
First we see
in verse 2,
depending on
his sovereign grace
overflowing
with thanksgiving,
continue steadfastly
in prayer
being watchful
in it
with thanksgiving.
I think
we're being
called to
make a
lifestyle,
a habit,
a way of thinking.
That's
why
the book
Rory the Dinosaur,
it's just
being aware
that sovereign grace
is always
at work.
Prayer
is the natural
response to that.
If you think
you can do it
yourself,
we won't pray.
But if you think
I need grace
in this moment
and I have
grace in this
moment
because I
am in Christ,
prayer is just
the air we
breathe,
depending on
his sovereign
grace.
But we
shouldn't assume
this comes easy.
Throughout this
letter,
whenever Paul
speaks of someone,
often when Paul
speaks of someone
praying,
like we see
in verse 12
with Epaphras,
he's struggling
in prayer.
This is,
it's a hard
work thing.
Or like in
this verse,
being watchful
in it,
being alert.
Now it
could be,
I'm not sure,
but the phrase
being alert,
being awake
and praying,
that might be
an allusion
to Jesus
in the garden
of Gethsemane
when he
is being
tempted
to not go
through the
cross and he
tells his few
disciples,
watch and pray.
But they
can't do it.
They fall asleep
three times.
They can't do it.
He has to do
it for us.
Even our
prayers,
we need grace
to do it.
We can only
do it in Christ
can we do this.
I think sometimes
we think of prayer
as something
we have to
muster up,
but it's only
in Christ
that we can
do it.
And the reason
we need to be
alert is because
the temptation
to look away
from Christ
is constant.
We are
always being
tempted to
lust after
the things
of the world
or to despair
in the dark
seasons of life,
to follow
some other
idea of
fullness.
We need
his grace
all the time
and we have
it all the
time.
if we are
aware of
how dependent
we are
on his
constant
stream
of
grace,
then
we'll make
prayer just
the air we
breathe.
We'll make
prayer the
first port of
call we go
to,
not the
last resort.
I'm not
saying I do
this by the
way,
I think we're
called to
this,
to make
prayer the
first port of
call.
And that's
why Thanksgiving
is so appropriate
to us as
Christians,
because we
have constant
grace.
We have
constant grace
and so it's
appropriate that
all our prayers
just have the
aroma of
Thanksgiving as
well.
So we
need constant
grace to
live well in
life, to
represent Christ
well so that
we might be a
witness for
him.
So I think
the second
way that this
passage tells
us to overflow
with a passion
to see people
come to know
Jesus is in
verses 3 and
4.
That's what I've
called holding
the ropes of
prayer for those
who speak the
gospel.
So verses 3 and
4.
At the same
time pray also
for us, and
the us there
is Paul and
his team, so
to speak, of
gospel speakers,
pray for us
that God may
open to us a
door for his
word, to
declare the
mystery of
Christ on
account of
which I am
in prison,
that I may
make it clear
which is how
I ought to
speak.
So we've
already seen
what the
mystery of
Christ is in
chapters 1 and
2.
It's the
gospel, that
the Old
Testament was
preparing how
God would
save his
people.
And then
that has
been revealed,
that mystery
has been
revealed, it's
all in
Jesus, Paul
says.
That's the
mystery.
And although
all believers
are to
confess Christ,
that's just
what we do,
that's just
what a
Christian is,
a Christian
acknowledges
Christ.
So all
believers in
some sense are
to speak
Christ as
Lord, but
some are
gifted, some
are called,
some are
set apart to
speak and
teach and
evangelise.
But it's not
their responsibility
alone to do
that.
The whole
church, I
think we're
being called
in these
verses, pray
for us, that
God may open
to us a door
for his word
and that I
may make the
gospel clear.
The church
is to carry
the responsibility
of praying
for those
whose job
it is to
speak the
gospel.
Now I was
convicted by
this time,
Emma and I
support this
missionary that
we know, this
friend of ours,
and he came
home from the
field and he
wanted to meet
up with us
and he was
telling me all
about it and
at the end of
the conversation
I said, to
my shame,
I said, so
something to
the effect
of, do
you need
more money?
And he
was like, no,
that's not
why I'm
having this
conversation.
I want you
to care about
the people
I'm encountering.
I want you
to be praying.
So I was
a bit
convicted, I
was very
convicted by
that.
The main
way we
are to be
supporting
gospel workers
is by
caring and
praying or
as
William
Carey.
He's the
guy from,
he's kind
of known
as the
missionary who
kind of
founded,
not founded,
sorry, I'm
trying to find
the word here.
He's the
father of
modern missionary
movement.
Obviously
missionary work
has been going
on since
Christ.
But the
modern push
to go into
other cultures,
he's one of
the first to
go and he
went to
India.
And he
told his
friend and
fellow Christian
brother, Andrew
Fuller, I
will go down
into the
pit if you
will hold
the ropes.
Do you
get the
image?
He's saying
this is a
dangerous
calling.
People do
not want to
hear the
gospel.
They're going
to be
close to
it.
I'm going
to have
no effect
whatsoever if
God's grace
does not
open the
door for
effectiveness.
You better
hold the
ropes or I'm
going to
fall.
That's the
picture he's
using.
I think it's
a call on
us as the
church.
Hold the
ropes.
Pray for
an open
door for
the word
and the
message to
be clear.
I think the
door for
the word
isn't just
opportunity.
It is
opportunity but
like in
Acts 14
27, Paul
and Barnabas
report the
missionary
journey and
they say
they went
around to
all these
Gentile regions
and they
declared all
that God
had done
with them
and how
he had
opened a
door of
faith to
the Gentiles.
So this is
praying that
not just
opportunity for
the gospel but
that the
gospel would
break through
hearts and
open a
door of
faith, a
faith response.
So it's
praying for
the gospel to
be effective
and it's
praying for
the message to
be spoken
clearly.
Now this
might sound
like a human
responsibility to
speak clearly,
which it is.
It's how I
ought to speak.
But they
need sovereign
grace to do
it.
They can't do
it on their
own.
To grasp the
meaning of
scripture, to
understand people
who you're
talking to so
that you can
make the
gospel as
clear as
possible to
their culture
and what
they're thinking,
that needs
sovereign grace
to do that.
For the
gospel worker to
have the
motivations right,
not to do it
for their own
reputation, but
to do it for
Christ's glory and
people's salvation,
that you need
sovereign grace for
for our gospel
workers.
So how are we
holding the
ropes of prayer
as a church?
Is that a
culture in our
church to hold
the ropes of
prayer?
It is, isn't it?
Our gospel
partners, they're a
permanent feature
in our
bulletin.
We pray
weekly for
that.
But I
wonder, as we
send those
newsletters
around, when
we get them
and email them
on, is there
a part of you
that just
thinks, this
is just a
useless
activity?
I'm not
sure, am I
the only one
who is
struggling with
that temptation?
Shouldn't we
get on with
things we can
do?
Do we see
prayer as the
power of God
to break through
hearts?
When we get
those newsletters
sent around,
let's take time
to pray.
Can I urge us,
let's make a
plan to pray.
I think if we
don't make a
plan, we don't
really do it.
If we can make
a habit of it.
I know some
people use a
prayer app,
because there's
so many people
to pray for.
Sometimes there's
a prayer app
where you can
say how often
you want to
pray for someone
and it just
comes up.
If you want to
pray every three
days, it will
come up every
three days.
There's plenty
of resources
out there.
Recently, I've
made Friday
mornings, the
mornings where I
pray for those
newsletters, because
they just became
overwhelming.
I'm just like,
Fridays will be
it.
I'm just giving
concrete examples.
You don't have
to do that, but
let's make a
plan to pray so
that we actually
hold the ropes
for people.
So we
overflow with
Christ's passion
through dependent
prayer for
ourselves and
holding the
ropes for those
who speak the
gospel.
And then in
verses five and
six, we have a
very broad
command to
make the most
of the time.
Always seeking
to live and
speak a
counterculture of
grace.
Walk in
wisdom towards
outsiders, that
is those outside
Christ's family,
making the best
use of the time.
And how do we do
that?
I think verse six
tells us the
primary way we do
that.
Let your speech
always be gracious,
seasoned with salt,
so that you may
know how you ought
to answer each
person.
When are you
witnessing to the
gospel?
Is it only when
the topic turns to
God or Jesus
religion?
Is that when
you're witnessing
for the gospel?
Because these
verses, they put a
high calling on us
to be witnessing
for the gospel in
everything.
Walk is just a
description of every
choice you make in
life.
Walk in wisdom as
you live in this
world, making the
best use of the
time.
Let all your
speech, let your
speech always be
gracious, whatever
the topic of
conversation.
I think to
understand what it
means to be making
the best use of the
time is an
orientation thing.
time is urgent.
It's
realising what
time in history
we're in.
That time is
urgent.
We're not to
panic, but it's
urgent.
Christ could come
any day.
We are in the
last days.
We are in the
days of salvation
between Christ's
first and second
coming.
So things are
urgent, make the
most of every
opportunity.
There is no
hobby or interest
or possession that
we can shut off
from Christ and
say this is ours.
We're being called
here to walk in
wisdom in everything
we do so that
people might just
get a sense that
we are full of
grace, that we are
living differently or
the changing power of
the gospel.
In all we say,
we're being called
that grace is what
people sense in us.
I think Ephesians
4.29 helps us
understand this.
I don't think it's
saying we have to
have nice words all
the time.
Grace can be pointed
words sometimes.
But Ephesians 4.29 I
think helps us
understand what our
speech being filled
with grace means.
Let no corrupting
talk come out of
your mouths, but only
such as is good for
building up as fits
the occasion that it
may give grace to
those who hear.
I found that verse
really helpful.
It's fitting to the
occasion.
You're conscious of
what does this person
need in this moment?
How can I build them
up?
It's an orientation
thing.
It's not the tone of
your voice necessarily.
It's not the specific
words necessarily.
It's what's your goal.
Is it to build that
person up who's
listening?
Now these are broad
commands, so can I
just narrow in on
social media?
We don't talk about
technology and social
media much.
Is your words online
filled with grace,
wanting to build up
those who are
listening?
I stumbled on a
video this week.
It had Steve
Wozniak in the
video.
He, with Steve
Jobs, helped invent
the first computer,
the Macintosh.
I was really
surprised because the
guy was praising
Steve going, wow,
you changed the
world.
He made this
comment, I kind of
regret what I did.
Imagine that.
He has changed the
world as we know
it.
And this guy,
I kind of regret
because of how the
tech companies are
using it to
manipulate people.
And I think what he
meant by that was
there's a guy called
Tristan Harris.
He used to work for
Google and now he's
really passionate about
trying to change how
the technology industry
operates.
And he uses this
phrase that the
technology is hacking
human vulnerabilities.
hacking human
vulnerabilities.
So an example of
this, like the list
in chapter three,
like all the things
we're meant to be
putting to death,
all the anger and
the greed, all that
self-interest.
The technology is
actually hacking that
to bring, draw that
out of us.
So for instance, the
social media
algorithms.
I found out recently
that the things that
spread more, the
posts that spread
more, they're not the
balanced comments of
like giving nuance,
it's the outrage.
It's like if someone in
politics says something
putting down the other
side, that is the thing
that will spread.
The algorithms play on
our desire to be full
of malice and anger.
Or for instance, the
addiction of social
acceptance.
You can post something
and potentially have
dozens or hundred
people validate you
instantly.
That is addictive and
the tech people know it.
So that's what he's
meaning, that kind of
thing, by hacking our
vulnerabilities.
Like do you go back
and check your online
posts to see how many
people liked it?
Like why would you go
back and check?
I think it boils down
to this.
Do we let social media
control our sense of
self, trying to fill up
our self by our online
presence?
Or are we so full of
Christ that we control
our social media?
That we are using it to
benefit and build up
anyone who reads it?
That's the question.
Are we using it?
Are we being used by it
to fill our bucket, to
use that analogy?
Or are we so full of
Christ we use it as a
good tool to give grace
to those who hear us?
In all we do, not just
social media, but all our
choices, in all we say, we
want people to just get a
taste of grace as they
encounter us.
The fourth and final thing I
think we see in this passage
is in verses 7 to 17.
Now, all these final
greetings and greet this
person and all these things,
that's a long list.
I look through the other
letters and that's quite
unusual for Paul to have
such an extended list of
this person greets you and
this person greets you.
The only other one is the
book of Romans.
I'm wondering why.
Like, we could be tempted to
just chop this off.
It's pretty useless for today.
Let's not chop it off.
Let's trust that God has it
here for our benefit.
Why might the Colossians have
benefited from all these
greetings?
And therefore, why might we?
Let me just quickly survey
what's in here.
It seems to be four sections.
Verses 7 to 9 is about the
person delivering the letter.
Tychicus, I don't know if that's
how you pronounce his name or
not.
He's going to expand on that
letter.
Anything that Paul meant, he
will be able to teach further.
And then you've got one
simmius.
He's a runaway slave, but he's
to be treated as who he is, a
beloved brother.
So you've got verses 7 to 9.
You've got the letter carriers.
Then verses 10 to 11, you've got
three Jewish gospel workers with
Paul.
Then 12 to 14, you've got three
Gentile gospel workers with
Paul.
Especially Epaphras, who is
struggling in prayer for them,
filled with concern for them.
And then, verses 15 to 17, the
Colossians are told to greet the
church at Nympha's house.
They exchange letters with
Laodicea.
In other words, sit under the
authority of Paul's teaching and
for Archippus to fulfill his
ministry.
Okay, so that's just a quick
survey.
I think two things stand out in
this section.
The first is just the affection
that the gospel creates.
When Paul earlier said that Jew and
Gentile, there is no Jew and
Gentile.
Christ is all and in all.
He means it.
They are striving shoulder to
shoulder for the gospel.
There is such affection.
My beloved brother, faithful
minister, fellow servant.
This is full of affection and
unity.
It breaks down social and racial
divides.
There is affection.
And the second thing is it's
affection with a common purpose, the
advance of the word of Christ, both
in believers and in people coming to
be saved.
I think the Colossians are being
reminded that they are part of a
much broader household of faith than
just themselves and just their local
church.
Such a, which is filled with mutual
concern and affection and all striving to
see God's word bearing fruit.
This could encourage them because as they
stand apart from the false teachers, they
might feel quite alone.
They are not alone.
They are part of a wide family of faith.
The fruit of the cross puts us in a story
that's much bigger than your individual
story.
It's even bigger than grace
evangelical.
We have a broader story.
We have a wider family of faith.
And it crosses all human divides.
We can have deep affection and partnership in
real time and space.
I think we can express this reality.
We already did it, didn't we?
The Hunter Gospel Ministries conferences.
Isn't there something deeply encouraging about
meeting other people who believe the same
gospel, different faces, different names,
same gospel?
Somehow you just, even if you can't speak the
same language, sometimes you can just, you
have the same, I don't know what to call it,
spirit, let's call it spirit, Holy Spirit.
There's just this affection that you can have that
crosses cultures.
When we pray for people, we can express this.
I think when we visit places on holidays and we go to a
different church, we can express this same gospel, just
different places, different faces.
As we're called into the mission of Christ, his passion to
save people, we have to have broader horizons than just
grace evangelical church.
We are part of his global family of faith.
So let's be spurred on by that.
Whenever we're feeling alone as the only ones trying to be
faithful or when we get too narrow-minded, we need to
remember we're part of a much bigger family of faith.
You want to see the gospel spread.
So we can be joined to Christ's mission to fill empty
people as we struggle to rely on his grace, as we hold the
ropes of prayer for those who speak, as we make the most of
the time, as we strive shoulder to shoulder with other
gospel churches in Newcastle and others, we have the privilege
of meeting.
We can strive and show a counterculture.
So let me just briefly finish by asking our usual question.
What will keep us from seeking fullness for those who are
empty?
What will get in the road of passion for Christ's mission to
reconcile empty people to himself?
We could talk about a lot of things, but I just want to pick one.
And the reason I've picked this is because it's just a constant
theme in this letter.
It just keeps coming up again and again and again.
And that is thankfulness.
I think our passion for the grace of Christ reaching more and more
people will depend on how thankful we are for the grace that is
ours.
If our lips say that Christ is our life, he is so good, and yet our
hearts aren't full of thankfulness, why would we expect others to
believe us?
There's an inconsistency there.
That's a negative way of putting it.
But the positive way of putting it is God is calling us to fight the
fight of joy, of thankfulness for all the grace that is ours.
For people to encounter in us something just different, thankfulness in
any situation is, especially in the hard situations, is strange in this
world.
It's so easy to complain and seek your own interests, but thankfulness for grace all
the time will both motivate mission because we'll realise the grace we have and it will
stand apart from this world.
It will show that we have a fullness that isn't dependent on our circumstances.
So I just want to finish up by reminding us of all we've got to be thankful for, for the
grace that is ours in this letter.
So I'm just going to jump to four verses.
The first is chapter 1, verse 13.
Verse 12, sorry.
12 and 13.
We're to be giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance
of the saints in light.
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved
son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
I don't know what's going on in your life, but you can always be thankful for that.
You are qualified for the inheritance, that eternal new creation.
It started in your heart and it's going to finish up the whole world, your body as well.
We can always be thankful for that.
We can be jumping to chapter 3, verse 17.
Our calling.
We have the highest meaning and purpose in Christ now.
Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.
We're always representing him.
Giving thanks to God the Father through him.
We are an ambassador of grace now.
We have, I don't know what menial, difficult thing you're going through.
That is an opportunity to be an ambassador of grace.
Giving thanks to God the Father through Jesus.
We have the highest meaning and purpose.
And we're not alone in trying to do that like we've seen in chapter 4, verse 2 today.
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
We have constant, present grace.
Power.
To live well.
We are in Christ who is seated at God's right hand.
We have sovereign grace all the time.
Whatever we're going through.
Isn't that reason to be thankful?
And to finish, as Paul started this letter in chapter 1, verse 3, we can be thankful.
Paul says, he starts by praising God.
I always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus.
And their love and their hope.
So, as we see others growing in their faith, as we see people coming to faith, that should just produce thankfulness in us.
Thankfulness to the Father that his grace is at work.
So, I think, will we be a culture of thankfulness in this church?
Remembering God's grace will empower us to want grace to go to others.
And having that thankful spirit will just show how full we are in a world that desperately needs it.
Will you pray with me?
Let's pray.
Lord Jesus, we praise you as the one who created all things, whether things in heaven or things on earth.
You created us.
All things are created by you and for you.
We praise you that despite all our attempts to be sovereign ourselves and to live apart from you, that you opened the door of faith in our own hearts.
That you persevered and pursued us.
And that you have reconciled us to yourself through your blood, making peace.
Lord, thank you for qualifying us for the inheritance that is surely coming, that we've got the first fruits of already.
Lord, please continually refresh our hearts in this grace.
Help keep us from being self-pitying.
Keep us from being complaining.
Please help us to be people who are full of thanks, even and especially in the hard times.
Lord, we pray this so that we might give you the response of gratitude that you deserve.
But we also pray this so that we might be just an aroma of life to those who are trying to find life in all the wrong places.
So please be using us as a church for your glory and the salvation of many.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.
We pray this so that you are in your heart.
Amen.
É.
Amen.