WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.379 Morning, my name's Archie. I'm the pastor in training here. I also work part-time for a church 00:00:05.379 --> 00:00:09.919 down in Peebles. My wife and I, you'll hear a little bit more about this as I go through, 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:15.580 but we're sort of on our way down there at the moment to be there full-time eventually. 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:20.480 And we're going to be thinking about fellowship this morning. And I wonder as we do that, 00:00:20.660 --> 00:00:27.460 if you could just think, when was the last time you joined a club? And maybe you're a university 00:00:27.460 --> 00:00:32.340 student, and maybe you're one of those, I guess we're almost a month in now, and maybe you're one 00:00:32.340 --> 00:00:37.679 of those who's already a member of like 20 different societies. And maybe you knew before you came to 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:43.480 university exactly what club you were going to join, and you're all in already. If you're in either of 00:00:43.480 --> 00:00:50.359 those categories, you're totally bucking the trend. Because you know in the UK, membership of all sorts 00:00:50.359 --> 00:01:00.060 of clubs has been on the decline for decades now. I was at a wedding a couple of weeks ago. It was my 00:01:00.060 --> 00:01:04.620 cousin's wedding. And I was there at my cousin's wedding. I was speaking to my uncle, and he had 00:01:04.620 --> 00:01:10.539 played at the same rugby club as me back in the 80s, Edinburgh Ackies. And I joined there five years ago. 00:01:10.540 --> 00:01:18.560 And we had three teams every single week, no problem at all. And now five years later, and every single 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:24.760 week, we're messaging guys on a Friday night trying to persuade them to play for our third 15, having to 00:01:24.760 --> 00:01:29.420 cancel games because sometimes we can't field a team. I told my uncle that, and he couldn't believe it. 00:01:29.460 --> 00:01:35.700 When he was there in the 80s, he'd played for the sixth 15. You know, I don't think there's a single 00:01:35.700 --> 00:01:41.859 rugby club in Scotland now that has six teams. And that's not just true in rugby, but it is true 00:01:41.859 --> 00:01:48.600 across the board. Golf clubs, social clubs, school councils, political parties, workers unions, all of 00:01:48.600 --> 00:01:55.659 them report a massive fall in membership. And that seems to have been accelerated by COVID, but the 00:01:55.659 --> 00:02:00.579 trend was already there. And we've seen 40 years of declining membership all over the place. 00:02:01.460 --> 00:02:05.200 And that's a really strange thing, because social connection is so important. 00:02:05.700 --> 00:02:10.939 Right? That's what made COVID hard, especially, right, for those who were isolated and lonely. 00:02:11.099 --> 00:02:16.780 Social connection is really important. And we all desire it, don't we? We all want good community, 00:02:17.420 --> 00:02:22.080 somewhere to belong. And yet we seem to be running away from it, 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:26.259 retreating into our homes and into our Netflix subscriptions. 00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:32.280 And it's really strange, because being part of something bigger is also, 00:02:32.280 --> 00:02:35.860 it's not just something we want, it is objectively good for us. 00:02:37.020 --> 00:02:41.460 Whether that's a sports club or a book club or a political party or a society at university, 00:02:41.460 --> 00:02:47.080 there are kind of obvious tangible benefits to all of those, whether that's learning new skills or 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:53.479 participating in something, making friends. But most fundamentally, according to psychologist 00:02:53.479 --> 00:03:00.080 Samantha Stein, club societies and communities are so important because a sense of belonging is actually 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:06.640 vital to our psychological well-being. And that is no less true with church. 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:12.200 In fact, there's really good evidence to suggest that belonging to a church is especially good for you. 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:16.820 Do you know, people who regularly attend church apparently live longer, 00:03:17.640 --> 00:03:22.120 are happier, are healthier, are less likely to suffer from depression, 00:03:22.360 --> 00:03:27.360 less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol, more likely to volunteer in their local communities, 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:34.120 and more generous with their money? Belonging to a church is just good for you. It just is. 00:03:36.060 --> 00:03:40.480 But it is a much deeper thing than belonging to any old club or society. 00:03:41.500 --> 00:03:45.220 And we're in this series, we've talked about it a bit already, we've called it DNA, 00:03:45.920 --> 00:03:50.160 and this week thinking about fellowship, which, let's be honest, that's a slightly strange word, 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:56.379 not a word that you'd use outside of church, maybe at all, if ever. But it is part of our DNA 00:03:56.379 --> 00:04:01.560 here at Brunsfield. And if you've been here over the last couple of weeks, we've talked about prayer, 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:07.199 we've looked at God's word, this week fellowship. And we read Colossians chapter 3 just now. Thanks, 00:04:07.340 --> 00:04:12.180 Tasha, for reading that so brilliantly for us. And we're going to dip in and out of that passage a bit. 00:04:12.180 --> 00:04:17.019 It is worth keeping it open in front of you. But we're going to focus especially on this concept of 00:04:17.019 --> 00:04:22.720 fellowship. We're really not going to do Colossians chapter 3 justice this week. And just to say, 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:27.480 if you're new here, what we've done over the last three weeks, maybe especially if all you've seen 00:04:27.480 --> 00:04:33.399 of us is the last three weeks, and this isn't our normal practice on a Sunday morning. Most of the 00:04:33.399 --> 00:04:38.139 time we just systematically take books of the Bible and preach through those. But we just wanted to 00:04:38.139 --> 00:04:43.539 take these three weeks to spend some time thinking about who we are as a church and these three 00:04:43.539 --> 00:04:48.719 kind of core elements of prayer, God's word and fellowship. And quite soon we'll be back to what 00:04:48.719 --> 00:04:54.479 we do ordinarily. And with all of that said, why don't we just come before the Lord in prayer one 00:04:54.479 --> 00:05:05.659 last time and before we get stuck into this topic together. Heavenly Father, I pray that as I speak 00:05:05.660 --> 00:05:13.660 this morning, you would be at work in amongst us and in each of us by your Holy Spirit, helping us to 00:05:13.660 --> 00:05:23.320 come together as your people, encouraging those of us who call this church home to go deeper into 00:05:23.320 --> 00:05:30.040 fellowship with one another as we understand more the fellowship that we have with you through your 00:05:30.040 --> 00:05:34.480 son. We pray in his precious name. Amen. 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:44.280 So you know, those three topics, and I think we probably could have done a series on each of them, 00:05:44.439 --> 00:05:49.960 actually, and quite easily. There's lots to learn about prayer and God's word and fellowship and how 00:05:49.960 --> 00:05:54.800 each of those is the heartbeat of the church. But just to see how central this concept of fellowship 00:05:54.800 --> 00:06:01.280 was to the early church's understanding of itself, right? As the church was born in the wake of 00:06:01.280 --> 00:06:07.759 Pentecost, as the Holy Spirit came on the church in Acts chapter 2, there Luke describes what life was 00:06:07.759 --> 00:06:13.879 like together for the early church. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, 00:06:14.680 --> 00:06:21.420 to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Now the word translated fellowship there is the Greek word 00:06:21.420 --> 00:06:28.280 koinonia. And it is a much, much richer word than the English word fellowship does justice to. We're 00:06:28.280 --> 00:06:33.259 going to come back to that. But just for now, just see that right at the heart of the early church, 00:06:33.340 --> 00:06:40.600 right there as the church began, that concept of koinonia, of common sharing, of life lived together, 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:48.060 it was right there at the start. And before we come back to that, we generally think of fellowship as 00:06:48.060 --> 00:06:52.800 our relationship to each other, don't we, as a church. That might be how you've heard the word 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:59.019 used before. And it is that. But before we have fellowship with each other, we have fellowship 00:06:59.019 --> 00:07:05.720 with God. And I really want to start there because it's so important. Let me illustrate. This is a 00:07:05.720 --> 00:07:12.100 familiar story to almost all of us, I'm sure, as Kate Middleton. And as she rocks up at university in 00:07:12.100 --> 00:07:17.620 St. Andrew, she was a fairly normal fresher back in 2001. She'd had quite a privileged upbringing. 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:23.500 She wasn't an aristocrat or anything like that. No family lands or titles, no connections to the 00:07:23.500 --> 00:07:29.079 royal family. And so when she got to university, especially in a place like St. Andrew's, she was 00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:35.920 really quite an ordinary first year. But then she met William. And William could not have been less 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:43.300 ordinary, not only a royal, but a prince. And third in line to the throne. All being well, he was due to be 00:07:43.300 --> 00:07:47.759 king one day. And of course, we know the story. They met, they fell in love. Imagine what that must 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:54.319 have been like for Kate. Imagine meeting her new boyfriend's dad for the first time. 00:07:55.259 --> 00:08:01.319 And learning all the little bits of etiquette that the royal family kind of followed. But not being an 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:08.220 insider, not being part of the family. And then of course, that all changed when Will and Kate got 00:08:08.220 --> 00:08:14.540 married and her identity was completely transformed. She's now part of the royal family. I mean, just 00:08:14.540 --> 00:08:19.700 look at her. She couldn't look more like a queen if she tried. Her name changed. She's now Catherine, 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:26.660 her royal highness, the Duchess of Cambridge. One day she really will be our queen. This is who she is now. 00:08:26.660 --> 00:08:37.500 And so all those strange bits of etiquette, they're now hers. She belongs because of her relationship to 00:08:37.500 --> 00:08:43.540 Prince William. Because of one identity-shifting relationship, she now belongs in a whole new 00:08:43.540 --> 00:08:50.360 family. And you see, for us, before we have fellowship with each other, before Kate was part of the royal 00:08:50.360 --> 00:08:57.500 family, we have fellowship with God. She had to marry Will. And that's precisely the kind of shape 00:08:57.500 --> 00:09:02.980 of Colossians chapter 3 this morning. And it starts here. Paul wants to make it very clear, if you're a 00:09:02.980 --> 00:09:09.700 Christian, then who you are has been totally transformed because you have fellowship with God. 00:09:10.840 --> 00:09:15.340 So have a look again at the first few verses of Colossians chapter 3 with me. See who the Christian 00:09:15.340 --> 00:09:23.420 has become in fellowship with God. First of all, see how your past has been forgiven. Paul says, verse 3, 00:09:23.920 --> 00:09:33.700 you have died. That is, the old you died with Jesus on the cross. We read in Colossians chapter 2 that your 00:09:33.700 --> 00:09:42.519 sin was nailed there with him. You have been forgiven. Christian, all the guilt and shame of sin have been 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:50.960 done away with. And so this is who you are now. Your past has been forgiven. Your present reality 00:09:50.960 --> 00:10:02.579 has been elevated. Verse 1, you have been raised with Christ. In his resurrection from death to life, 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:07.659 in his ascension, as he is now seated at the right hand of the Father, reigning in heaven, 00:10:07.659 --> 00:10:14.199 Paul says, you too are raised with him. You have been raised to new life. And more than that, 00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:20.159 you're seated there in the throne room of heaven with him. Of course, there is a sense in which that 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:26.419 is a hidden reality. Paul acknowledges that in verse 3. Life doesn't always feel heavenly, does it? It can 00:10:26.419 --> 00:10:35.039 look very earthly. But this is a spiritual reality. It's a substantial truth that this is where you are if 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:43.719 you're a Christian. And where you are is who you are. Your present reality has been elevated and 00:10:43.719 --> 00:10:51.679 wonderfully your future has been transformed. Verse 4, when Christ, who is your life, appears, 00:10:52.039 --> 00:11:00.379 then you also will appear with him in glory. One day Jesus will return. And for the Christian, 00:11:00.379 --> 00:11:06.100 the promise is that on that day, you will be transformed. You will become like him as you 00:11:06.100 --> 00:11:11.879 see him as he is. A glorious new body. All the aches and pains of this life gone forever. 00:11:13.620 --> 00:11:19.580 Paul says, this is who you are. Your future has been transformed. And all of this is rooted in that 00:11:19.580 --> 00:11:27.100 fellowship with God. And this is how Paul starts this chapter. Because fellowship with God, 00:11:27.100 --> 00:11:32.680 who we are in him is foundational for all of those instructions about fellowship with each other 00:11:32.680 --> 00:11:38.259 that are going to follow it. And we'll come back to those. But before we continue in chapter 3, 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:44.500 I just wanted to take a quick excursus to think about this word koinonia. Because as we said, 00:11:44.560 --> 00:11:50.460 it's a rich concept. And as we'll see, what we're talking about this morning, our ideas of fellowship 00:11:50.460 --> 00:11:55.920 just don't really do it justice. In fact, it isn't always translated as fellowship in the New 00:11:55.919 --> 00:12:02.719 Testament. It might be translated depending on the context, like sharing or community or participation, 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:11.000 partnership, contribution, generosity, communion. It's this incredibly rich concept. And you might 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:17.500 have noticed in all of those words that I've just used, it kind of has this root of sharing in common. 00:12:18.599 --> 00:12:21.740 And so we're going to spend a bit of time thinking about how the various, 00:12:21.740 --> 00:12:26.919 how the New Testament writers use this word. Again, we won't do it justice, but hopefully just a helpful 00:12:26.919 --> 00:12:32.480 sidebar before we come back to Colossians chapter 3 and really apply it to our life together as a 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:40.299 church. We're just going to look at two key examples of the koinonia concept. The first is really sharing. 00:12:40.860 --> 00:12:46.460 So in Philippians chapter 1, in chapter 4, verse 15, sorry, Paul says, 00:12:46.460 --> 00:12:53.960 not one church shared, that is the word koinonia, with me in the matter of giving and receiving except 00:12:53.960 --> 00:13:01.000 you only. So there, Paul is encouraging the church in Philippi, encouraging them for their generosity, 00:13:01.660 --> 00:13:07.360 for their financial giving, for the sake of other churches who were in need. There's a very similar 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:15.759 idea in Romans chapter 13, verse 13, where Paul, he exhorts the Christians to share koinonia with the 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:22.679 Lord's people who are in need. So it can have this significantly material and financial aspect to 00:13:22.679 --> 00:13:29.559 it, a contribution in that sense. And there is a clear implication for us in this as we think of 00:13:29.559 --> 00:13:36.220 our Christian fellowship. Part of that, part of our koinonia is going to include a material sharing with 00:13:36.220 --> 00:13:44.899 one another, a generosity. That might be just offering your spare bedroom to a visiting missionary or to a 00:13:44.899 --> 00:13:50.620 student who doesn't have a flat through the summer, maybe a ministry trainee here at church who needs a 00:13:50.620 --> 00:13:57.360 room. It might just be buying biscuits or baking something for church lunch. It might be giving to 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:03.079 another ministry or to another church because you know they're in need. But for most of us and for 00:14:03.079 --> 00:14:08.500 members here at Brunsfield, it will simply be giving financially to the church to allow us to do all of 00:14:08.500 --> 00:14:14.460 those things together. Maybe if I can speak just directly to the students for a second, because 00:14:14.460 --> 00:14:20.980 I remember as a student thinking that I just simply could not afford to do that, that I was kind of 00:14:20.980 --> 00:14:27.279 exempt from giving to church because I didn't have enough money. And you might be in that position and 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:34.320 that's totally okay. But I wonder if you could consider just even the price of a coffee a month, just to 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:40.660 start a habit, simply then committing to increasing that habit whenever your salary increases. So if 00:14:40.660 --> 00:14:45.160 you don't start doing that now, it's only going to get harder as life goes on, as responsibilities 00:14:45.160 --> 00:14:51.560 increase. No matter how much more money you start getting into your bank account, it continues to just 00:14:51.560 --> 00:14:57.520 flow out and it'll be easier if you start now. But if you really can't afford it, and to anyone here, 00:14:57.580 --> 00:15:04.000 if you find yourself in real hardship, one of the reasons we do this, this koinonia with money 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:09.860 like this is to be able to help one another. And we actually have a specific fund, the hardship fund. 00:15:10.279 --> 00:15:15.460 If you need access to that, we would genuinely love you to use it. And there's more info about that 00:15:15.460 --> 00:15:19.899 in the foyer. I can direct you to that afterwards. You can speak to me and I'll point you in the right 00:15:19.899 --> 00:15:26.720 direction. But first, see in koinonia this financial and material sharing. And then secondly, 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:35.220 see this partnership language. Again in Philippians, in chapter 1 verse 5, Paul is praying for the church 00:15:35.220 --> 00:15:40.580 in Philippi and he says, in all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your 00:15:40.580 --> 00:15:49.800 partnership, koinonia, in the gospel from the first day until now. Here it's almost like being business 00:15:49.800 --> 00:15:55.860 partners, being on the same team with a kind of common mission. And Paul later in chapter 1 says, 00:15:55.860 --> 00:16:03.060 striving side by side for the sake of the gospel. It's like a military image. On mission together 00:16:03.060 --> 00:16:09.360 to share the gospel. And again, this connects in lots of different ways for us. We partner with one 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:14.720 another as we equip each other and spur one another on to stand firm in our daily context, whatever they 00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:20.399 are. We facilitate evenings like 3-2-1 this evening. You'll hear more about that at the end of our 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:26.600 service. But that's to help us do exactly that. We partner as a church together in that way. We also 00:16:26.600 --> 00:16:33.500 partner with missionaries like Danny and the Galitos. That's a financial partnership as we give to them 00:16:33.500 --> 00:16:39.379 to enable them to do the gospel work that they do overseas. But it's also pastoral and prayerful 00:16:39.379 --> 00:16:44.759 as we share lives with them, as we care for them, as we give them respite when they're at home. 00:16:44.759 --> 00:16:50.980 Similarly with Ferrywell, right? We've just heard from Pete about Ferrywell as we pray for them. But also 00:16:50.980 --> 00:16:56.360 as some of our members go and actually get stuck into that ministry, giving their time and their energy 00:16:56.360 --> 00:17:02.779 and their gifts. All of that is us as a church partnering together in the gospel. We partner with 00:17:02.779 --> 00:17:09.039 other churches. I was at an evangelism conference on Friday down at Charlotte Chapel and there were folk 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:15.799 there from all over the city. Lots of different sorts of churches, but all there to get excited and equipped 00:17:15.799 --> 00:17:22.980 to go and share the gospel. We also partner with specific churches like, I said, People's Evangelical Church. 00:17:23.220 --> 00:17:29.500 One of our members, Erin Lockhart, is actually preaching there right now. And as Katie and I prepare to move 00:17:29.500 --> 00:17:34.299 down there, we really appreciate all of your prayers and your interest in that. We'd actually love you to come 00:17:34.299 --> 00:17:41.659 and visit. It was wonderful earlier this year for these guys and Brooke and for Johan to come down to 00:17:41.659 --> 00:17:45.960 People's with me one Sunday and just come and check it out. You'd be more than welcome to do that. 00:17:46.339 --> 00:17:49.879 And I'm going to be preaching there next Sunday if you want to come with me. That would be great. 00:17:50.659 --> 00:17:54.980 In fact, if you'd fancy moving there, if you've ever thought about moving out of Edinburgh, 00:17:55.159 --> 00:17:58.259 People's is a lovely town and we really do need people to come and get stuck in. 00:17:58.259 --> 00:18:05.539 There are two key broad brushstrokes on koinonia, on sharing and on partnership, just to give us a 00:18:05.539 --> 00:18:11.940 richer flavor of this concept. And notice in each of those that there is always a sense of the vertical 00:18:11.940 --> 00:18:17.200 koinonia, of fellowship with God, that kind of roots the horizontal fellowship with one another. 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:24.279 Those actually come together really well in 1 John 1, verse 3. John says there, 00:18:24.279 --> 00:18:32.099 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard so that you may also have fellowship, koinonia, 00:18:32.519 --> 00:18:39.980 with us. And our fellowship, koinonia again, is with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:46.500 There is a horizontal fellowship there between believers, but notice how it actually flows from 00:18:46.500 --> 00:18:53.720 the vertical, from fellowship with God. And like I said, that is exactly the shape of Colossians chapter 3. 00:18:53.720 --> 00:19:00.559 We thought earlier about Kate Middleton, about how who she was has completely changed as a result of 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:06.680 her marrying into the royal family. And flowing from that identity is a whole new way of living. 00:19:07.900 --> 00:19:13.140 And if you've seen The Crown, that Netflix series about the royal family, there's this scene where 00:19:13.140 --> 00:19:19.079 one of the senior royals is talking to one of the children. I think it was George VI, so the late 00:19:19.079 --> 00:19:24.240 queen's father, speaking to her when she was a child. And the young royal was misbehaving. I mean, 00:19:24.259 --> 00:19:28.439 they weren't really misbehaving. And you know the royals have all these rules that they live by, 00:19:28.539 --> 00:19:32.740 so they've got extremely high standards of etiquette. She probably had elbows on the table or something 00:19:32.740 --> 00:19:39.480 like that. Anyway, the king says to her, Dear girl, remember who you are. 00:19:39.480 --> 00:19:46.960 In other words, you are a royal. You're part of this family. You're an heir to the throne. That's who 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:52.220 you are. Remember who you are. And then you can behave like the royal that you are. 00:19:53.799 --> 00:20:01.099 For us, the horizontal fellowship, how we live in relation to one another, it is informed and shaped 00:20:01.099 --> 00:20:06.460 by the transformation that has already taken place because of who we are in relation to God, 00:20:06.460 --> 00:20:12.380 that vertical fellowship. See, how we think about who we are is really important. It actually shapes 00:20:12.380 --> 00:20:18.140 what we do and how we live. I think that's quite counterintuitive. Actually, we tend to fall into 00:20:18.140 --> 00:20:24.180 a pattern of thinking that says that what we do is who we are. Really, the Bible would say that the 00:20:24.180 --> 00:20:32.259 opposite is true, that who we are actually shapes what we do. And that's precisely the shape of 00:20:32.259 --> 00:20:37.299 Colossians chapter 3 as we return to it. As Paul begins with those first four verses, establishing 00:20:37.299 --> 00:20:42.220 Christian identity. He says your past, your present, your future, they've all been totally transformed 00:20:42.220 --> 00:20:49.019 in fellowship with God. And so now flowing from that and the rest of the chapter explains the joys 00:20:49.019 --> 00:20:52.640 and of course the challenges of now living in fellowship with one another. 00:20:52.640 --> 00:21:00.820 Paul begins with a list there of kind of do nots, doesn't he? Of things in verse 5 that the Christian 00:21:00.820 --> 00:21:09.280 is to put to death. Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:16.880 Verse 8, anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language. Verse 9, do not lie to each other. 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:25.960 Paul says put these things to death. Let me say that lots of us looking at those lists will have 00:21:25.960 --> 00:21:33.160 made peace with some of these sins in our lives. Maybe we've bought the lie that whatever sin it is 00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:40.840 is tied to our identity in some way. Maybe we've battled with them for so long that we've given up and let 00:21:40.839 --> 00:21:48.899 them win. But Paul says here that we are to put that to death. He later says that we can take those 00:21:48.899 --> 00:21:57.759 things off. The implication is that it is possible in him to grow in this way. In other words, because 00:21:57.759 --> 00:22:04.139 of who you are now, dear Christian, remember who you are because of the transformation of verses 1 to 4. 00:22:04.140 --> 00:22:09.600 Paul, this is not who you are anymore. You can put it to death. You can take it off. 00:22:11.420 --> 00:22:19.920 And notice how significantly relational all of those things are. Paul isn't just randomly naming 00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:25.640 a bunch of different sins here. He's not simply saying that you have a new identity, you have 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:30.180 fellowship with God, and so now in a general and complete sense, go and live like it. But his 00:22:30.180 --> 00:22:36.980 instructions here are wrapped up in how the Colossian church relate to one another. It's why in verse 11, 00:22:37.080 --> 00:22:41.820 and this verse would be incredibly random in the context if it wasn't relational, he says there is 00:22:41.820 --> 00:22:47.900 no Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all 00:22:47.900 --> 00:22:56.240 and is in all. It's because all of those barriers to koinonia, to fellowship with one another. See, for the 00:22:56.240 --> 00:23:01.720 Colossian church, they're significantly ethnic and socioeconomic in that verse, and Paul says those 00:23:01.720 --> 00:23:09.960 barriers have been torn down because Christ is all and is in all. See, in Christ, you have koinonia, 00:23:10.180 --> 00:23:17.900 fellowship with God, and in Christ, you have koinonia with one another. So you can put to death 00:23:17.900 --> 00:23:25.220 all of these practices that are just so clearly relationally damaging. You can tear down those 00:23:25.220 --> 00:23:34.540 barriers. Indeed, they have been torn down for you by him. But it's not simply a put off. See verses 00:23:34.540 --> 00:23:41.360 9 and 10. He says, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new 00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:48.199 self. And David Nixon, who's one of the pastors at our friendly church down the road, Corubbers, 00:23:48.500 --> 00:23:54.539 recently made the helpful observation that if we take off without putting on, then we're naked. 00:23:55.699 --> 00:24:00.099 Right? So what is the new self? What is it that we're putting on? Well, again, notice how relational 00:24:00.099 --> 00:24:07.759 this is in verse 12. He says, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:16.980 and patience. Wouldn't we love to live in a community like that? I mean, seriously, a community 00:24:16.980 --> 00:24:22.519 that is willing to enter into one another's lives, the trials and the sufferings, to journey through 00:24:22.519 --> 00:24:31.740 that together with compassion, to listen to one another kindly, to offer help with humility and 00:24:31.740 --> 00:24:38.819 gentleness and to stay on that road for however long it takes with patience. Paul goes on, it will 00:24:38.819 --> 00:24:44.700 require patience. He says, bear with each other and forgive one another. If any of you have has a 00:24:44.700 --> 00:24:50.579 grievance against someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you. This is a key distinctive of Christian 00:24:50.579 --> 00:24:58.559 community, of koinonia. And C.S. Lewis puts it like this. He says, to be a Christian means to forgive 00:24:58.559 --> 00:25:06.099 the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you. I find that really challenging. 00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:10.139 It strikes me that that could be challenging in, well, lots of different ways. But here are two ways 00:25:10.139 --> 00:25:15.200 that it might be. It might be that we don't know one another well enough yet to have got there. 00:25:17.059 --> 00:25:22.240 Maybe you're new here. Or maybe you've been here for a really long time and you just haven't quite 00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:26.659 made that step. Maybe you haven't put the time in. You might just find it really difficult. But 00:25:26.660 --> 00:25:30.080 whatever it is, you haven't got beyond the superficial with people in this room. 00:25:31.500 --> 00:25:38.120 These verses imply that we would know someone well enough to have seen their sin. And I'm 00:25:38.120 --> 00:25:42.700 increasingly convinced that the best way to do that in church is to make time to see one another 00:25:42.700 --> 00:25:50.660 outside of the set piece things. Maybe you see one another on a Sunday at church and then again at 00:25:50.660 --> 00:25:56.060 small group or at a women's Bible study. But I really think if you're going to go beyond the 00:25:56.059 --> 00:26:00.099 superficial, it's going to be really important to spend time with one another outside of those 00:26:00.099 --> 00:26:05.539 things. And of course, look at how many people there are in the room. And we're not even all 00:26:05.539 --> 00:26:10.440 here this morning. You're not going to be able to do that with everyone. You just need to make 00:26:10.440 --> 00:26:16.940 peace with that right now. We're too big of a church to be able to do that. But you can invest 00:26:16.940 --> 00:26:24.039 really seriously and properly invest and do life with a handful of people here. That's what we would 00:26:24.039 --> 00:26:31.319 love to see happen. But as you do that, it just is true that the more you get to know someone, 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:36.559 the more sinful you're going to realize that they are. If you're still under the delusion that anyone 00:26:36.559 --> 00:26:40.839 here is anything other than that, then you need to spend more time with them. And it's really good 00:26:40.839 --> 00:26:46.980 for us to start to see that in each other. Because it teaches us to practice grace and forgiveness 00:26:46.980 --> 00:26:52.480 towards each other. We grow as that happens. It teaches us to consistently point one another to 00:26:52.480 --> 00:26:57.819 the grace that's available for us in Jesus. And it gives us opportunities to sharpen one another. 00:26:58.180 --> 00:27:04.680 See in verse 16, the command to let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and 00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:11.059 admonish one another. Part of koinonia is helping one another grow, helping one another take off the 00:27:11.059 --> 00:27:16.799 old self and put on the new. Maybe that's your challenge. Maybe it's the other side of the coin. 00:27:16.799 --> 00:27:21.940 Maybe you've become too familiar with the sins of your brothers and sisters in Christ. 00:27:22.720 --> 00:27:28.819 Maybe you've become embittered by it. No longer willing to bear with one another and forgive. 00:27:30.119 --> 00:27:33.879 Just think to yourself, is there someone else in this room that you just can't bring yourself to 00:27:33.879 --> 00:27:42.839 talk to anymore? No longer willing to compromise and put others first? If that's you, can I ask you 00:27:42.839 --> 00:27:48.179 even just right now to say a prayer in your heart that the Spirit would work in you towards forgiveness, 00:27:49.179 --> 00:27:53.099 towards compassion and kindness and humility and gentleness? 00:27:55.799 --> 00:27:59.679 You know, however this fellowship stuff is challenging us this morning, this is key, 00:28:00.220 --> 00:28:05.619 that we know that we can't do this in our own strength. We need the transformation of verses 00:28:05.619 --> 00:28:10.559 one to four to take hold in our lives, to get anywhere with this stuff. And we need the Holy Spirit 00:28:10.559 --> 00:28:13.559 to be continually at work in us. 00:28:16.599 --> 00:28:21.179 Notice, and as we come to a conclusion, just notice the one another language here. 00:28:21.740 --> 00:28:26.039 And it's repeated in Colossians chapter three, and it's actually all over Paul's letters. Whenever 00:28:26.039 --> 00:28:32.279 he writes to any church, he uses this phrase, one another. And the implication is that there is a 00:28:32.279 --> 00:28:37.259 group of people to whom he is writing who are significantly committed to one another in some way. 00:28:37.259 --> 00:28:42.579 It's one of the functions of membership here, making that commitment to one another, saying, 00:28:42.700 --> 00:28:46.759 I can't do this on my own. You know, there's no such thing as a solo Christian. 00:28:48.140 --> 00:28:52.819 And I just really encourage you, and maybe you're new, maybe you've been here for a while, 00:28:53.119 --> 00:28:55.980 maybe you know that you're only going to be here for quite a short time. 00:28:56.640 --> 00:29:00.720 I'd still really encourage you to think about making the step to becoming a member here. 00:29:00.720 --> 00:29:06.740 It's just a way of saying, I commit to these people, to saying that I'm going to love them 00:29:06.740 --> 00:29:11.420 and bear with them and forgive them, and to work together with them for the sake of God's 00:29:11.420 --> 00:29:14.779 glory in the gospel. It's a wonderful thing to do. 00:29:16.319 --> 00:29:20.440 You know, I heard this brilliant story on a podcast this week, and I think it's a great 00:29:20.440 --> 00:29:26.400 picture of koinonia, of one another, of church. This church, we're debating whether or not 00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:31.720 to get an organ. I think it was probably quite a long time ago. But it was the sort of church 00:29:31.720 --> 00:29:36.720 where they had only ever had music led by an a cappella choir. And there was a serious division 00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:41.759 over this question. One group, including most of their elders, were in favor of getting an organ. 00:29:41.940 --> 00:29:47.220 They argued that it would supplement their sung worship really well. But there was another group, 00:29:47.280 --> 00:29:52.320 led by one especially outspoken elder, who were very much against the organ. They argued that 00:29:52.319 --> 00:29:58.859 worshiping God with an instrument would be unbiblical. And ultimately, the group in favor 00:29:58.859 --> 00:30:04.659 of the organ won the day, and the church started raising money to fund the thing. And so the elders 00:30:04.659 --> 00:30:09.939 literally went around church members specifically asking people to give towards this new venture. 00:30:11.099 --> 00:30:15.599 And one day, the elder who had led the charge for buying the organ bumped into the man who had 00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:21.759 opposed it in the street. And the man in opposition asked this. He said, you know, you're raising funds 00:30:21.759 --> 00:30:27.379 for the new organ. Why haven't you asked me for my contribution yet? Well, the other replied, 00:30:27.519 --> 00:30:32.379 I just, I knew how strongly you were against it. So I didn't want to ask you to help. 00:30:33.400 --> 00:30:37.519 Here how he responded, the man in opposition, this is really helpful for us. He said, we, 00:30:37.980 --> 00:30:44.379 as a body, we made a decision. I can put my personal feelings aside and support the purchase as much as 00:30:44.380 --> 00:30:52.320 anyone else. And I think that is a wonderful example of fellowship, of what it's like to do 00:30:52.320 --> 00:30:56.920 church with one another, to say, I don't want this wretched organ, but I am willing to compromise and 00:30:56.920 --> 00:31:03.940 put others first, to bear with them, to forgive, to be compassionate and kind and humble, and above all, 00:31:03.940 --> 00:31:11.420 verse 14, to love my fellow church members for the sake of God's glory in the gospel. 00:31:13.840 --> 00:31:19.820 We began by thinking about Kate Middleton and how her relationship with Prince William shifted her identity 00:31:19.820 --> 00:31:25.500 and gave her a new family, a picture of how our fellowship with God leads to fellowship with each other. 00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:32.779 And last year, Kate, she'd been married to Will for more than 10 years, and she was asked in an interview 00:31:32.779 --> 00:31:40.579 about what it was like being royal, and she said this, I'm still learning. It's a struggle to know 00:31:40.579 --> 00:31:49.700 that you can be accepted and fit in, and you are still learning every day. The truth is, none of us 00:31:49.700 --> 00:31:55.539 are going to get this fellowship thing right. And before we win it, before we finish, I have to say 00:31:55.539 --> 00:32:01.379 that we could easily beat ourselves up about this, and we can always do it better, but I actually just 00:32:01.380 --> 00:32:06.180 want to encourage you, and let me particularly encourage you, if you've been here for a while, 00:32:06.520 --> 00:32:12.080 for a long time, if you've seen this church grow and change over the years, let me encourage you, 00:32:12.120 --> 00:32:18.500 because in our time here, there are just so many wonderful examples of you being exactly this for one 00:32:18.500 --> 00:32:30.240 another, of compromise, and of humility, and of patience. This is not a perfect church, not by any stretch, 00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:38.079 but for Katie and I, you've been exactly this for us. We felt very loved here. You've really helped us grow, 00:32:38.460 --> 00:32:44.460 and above all, you've been consistently pointing us to Jesus and who we are in him, and that's exactly 00:32:44.460 --> 00:32:51.539 what church fellowship is all about. And the key for us, for all of us in this, is to remember who we are 00:32:51.539 --> 00:32:58.400 in him. Remember the fellowship with God that has been one for us. If you're a Christian here today, 00:32:58.460 --> 00:33:04.640 you belong to his family. There's nothing you can do to change that. Your failures will never outstrip 00:33:04.640 --> 00:33:12.759 his grace to you. And so as we muddle through in fellowship with one another, that will be a 00:33:12.759 --> 00:33:18.759 lifelong struggle, just like for Kate, to know that you can be accepted and fit into God's family. 00:33:19.280 --> 00:33:27.200 A lifelong struggle, and you will be learning every day, but it is a wonderful thing. It's a wonderful 00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:31.900 thing to enjoy fellowship with God, and it's a wonderful thing to have fellowship with one another 00:33:31.900 --> 00:33:37.800 as a result. So let's lean into it, and let me pray as we finish. 00:33:40.180 --> 00:33:44.080 Heavenly Father, I thank you for all that you have done for us in Jesus. 00:33:46.540 --> 00:33:53.940 Lord, I thank you that we can be forgiven, given a whole new identity, that our present reality 00:33:53.940 --> 00:34:02.100 is now elevated with him, that we can look forward to a glorious future. 00:34:03.640 --> 00:34:07.340 Lord, I thank you so much for the fellowship that we have with you. 00:34:10.200 --> 00:34:14.980 And Lord, I pray that as we take full advantage of that, we would do so together, 00:34:14.980 --> 00:34:19.940 that you would, by your spirit, be building your church, 00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:28.039 that you would be growing in each of us, a desire to love one another, 00:34:28.760 --> 00:34:35.760 and that you would be helping us to muddle through in all the challenges of relational strife. 00:34:37.760 --> 00:34:41.960 Lord, help us to love one another really well, even as you have loved us. 00:34:41.960 --> 00:34:46.179 Lord, help us to love one another, in Jesus' name, and for your glory. Amen.