The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
For in him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.
Whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him.
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
And he is the head of the body, the church.
He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven,
by making peace through his blood shed on the cross.
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior,
but now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you wholly in his sight,
without blemish and free from accusation, if you continue in your faith, established and firm,
and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.
This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven,
and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you,
and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions,
for the sake of his body, which is the church.
I have become a servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness,
the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord's people.
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom,
so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.
To this end, I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea,
and for all who have not met me personally.
My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love,
so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding,
in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ,
in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments,
for though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit,
and delight to see how disciplined you are, and how firm your faith in Christ is.
And just continuing from verse 6, which is the passage I will be preaching from.
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,
continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him,
strengthened in the faith as you are taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,
which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world,
rather than on Christ.
For in Christ all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form,
and you have been given fullness in Christ,
who is the head over every power and authority.
In him you are also circumcised in the putting off of the sinful nature,
not with a circumcision done by the hands of men,
but with the circumcision done by Christ,
having been buried with him in baptism,
and raised with him through your faith in the power of God,
who raised him from the dead.
When you were dead in your sins,
and in your uncircumcision of your sinful nature,
God made you alive with Christ.
He forgave us all our sins,
having cancelled the written code with his regulations,
that was against us and that stood opposed to us.
He took it away, nailing it to the cross.
And having disarmed the powers and authorities,
he made a public spectacle of them,
triumphing over them by the cross.
Father, thank you that you have caused this letter to be written to the Colossians,
and passed down to us that we can read and learn so much of Jesus.
We thank you, Lord, indeed, that you are supreme over all things.
You have shown us that we were enemies in our minds
because of our sin, because of our evil behaviour,
and yet you have gloriously reconciled us to yourself on the cross.
We thank you that we have this opportunity of learning.
We thank you for Alan.
Thank you for bringing himself and Cassie and the family to Caragalline
to continue that teaching.
And I pray, indeed, as he opens up your word to teach,
that, indeed, he would be a workman approved unto you,
correctly handling the word of truth.
I pray, indeed, that our desire would be to know you more
through the words of Scripture,
that we'd be open to being corrected and rebuked and disciplined,
but also that we would grow,
that we would become more like our Saviour,
so we commit Alan to you as he preaches,
and our own hearts and minds as we listen.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.
Well, it was a night just like any other night
on the western shores of Britain
during the turn of the 5th century,
and the residents of the quiet village were sleeping soundly
as a ferocious, painted-up band of Irish pirates snuck ashore.
Before anyone really knew what had happened,
the pirates had ransacked the town.
They'd pillaged the people's treasures
and headed back to sea with a handful of hostages.
These hostages would soon be sold at a slave market,
where they would be put to work in the Irish countryside
as house servants or farmers or even shepherds.
Now, on this particular night in around 405 A.D.,
there was a 16-year-old named Sukkot,
the son of a wealthy British family who had been captured,
who was then sold into slavery,
who then became a Christian while he was a slave here in Ireland
and changed his name to Patrick.
And while we know many things about Patrick's life and ministry,
or I should say we think we know many things
about Patrick's life and ministry here in Ireland,
we don't often stop to think about
how he arrived here originally
as a captured hostage who was sold into slavery.
And when we think about it, we might think,
well, Patrick, that's so uncommon.
What happened to him.
But slavery was not uncommon in the Roman Empire.
It was not uncommon during Patrick's day.
It was certainly not uncommon during Paul's day.
In fact, the further you were
towards the edge of the Roman Empire,
the more likely it was that you would be captured by pirates
and sold into slavery.
And if you weren't near seas,
then you could be captured by brigands or land pirates.
They would steal you away in the middle of the night
and rush you to the slave market
where they would sell you into slavery.
And Colossae was at the edge of the Roman Empire,
much like Britain was during the 5th century.
In the 1st century, Colossae is at the northern edge
of the Roman Empire.
And it would be a very real threat
to have brigands come in in the middle of the night
and to ransack your town
and to take people as hostages
to sell them into slavery.
Like I said, slavery was very common
during the Roman Empire.
Most people estimate that somewhere between
20 to 25 percent of the population
were slaves in the Roman Empire.
Extremely common.
In fact, the 1st century proposal in the Senate
that slaves wear certain clothing was shot down.
It was voted against
because there was a fear that the slaves
might find out how numerous they were,
how much power they actually had
because of their sheer population within the empire.
Now granted, life as a slave could vary
from owner to owner.
Some slaves were high-ranking administrators
within a household or town.
Some would take care of people's finances.
Some had excellent lives,
but the reality was they were still slaves.
Some were scribes.
The Bibles we have,
the papyri that's come down to us,
was written by many slaves.
That was their job within a household,
was to copy Bible verses,
to copy records.
Some were cooks.
Some were skilled craftsmen.
Some were teachers.
Some were nannies.
Some worked in mines.
Some worked in fields.
Some were even sent into battle.
It was very common
that a quarter of a population of any town
would be slaves.
The legal status of a slave
was that of a thing.
Aristotle, the famed Aristotle,
defined slavery as living property.
He said that the slave is a living tool
and the tool is a lifeless slave.
A slave had no legal rights.
They were subject to the absolute power
of their master.
Even a slave woman who had a child,
that child would not belong to her.
It belonged to the owner.
And because slavery was so common,
and the life expectancy of a slave
in the Roman Empire was so short,
there were somewhere between 250,000 to 400,000 new slaves
needed every year in the Roman Empire.
A massive amount of people
being sold into slavery
or born into slavery.
Now, one of the top sources
for obtaining slaves during this time
was piracy and brigandage.
Stealing into towns.
Capturing people.
And selling them into slavery.
In fact, someone like Barabbas in John 18,
we read that Barabbas is let go instead of Jesus.
The shocking thing about that is
Barabbas was a brigand.
He was someone who would do this.
He would sneak into towns at night
and capture people
and sell them into slavery.
So that's a part of the shock
of why they would let this guy be released.
Now, normally the Romans relied upon
their local city governments
to police the rural areas
and keep them clear of brigands or pirates.
But the more remote areas
were less successful at this.
And since there was a very popular,
well-run, efficient slave market in Ephesus,
Colossian citizens were very much at risk
of being captured
and run down to Ephesus
and sold into slavery.
Now, why do we start with that topic?
You're probably wondering.
Well, something that Paul says here
in this passage caught my eye this week.
It kind of comes out of nowhere.
In verse 8.
In verse 8 he says,
See to it that no one takes you captive.
As I thought about,
what would that phrase mean
to a first century Colossian?
There's a lot of cultural
and historical differences
that have happened since then.
See to it would be,
Be on your guard.
Keep watch.
It's translated a lot of times
in the New Testament.
Even Jesus says,
Be on your guard.
See to it.
Keep watch.
I've seen several towers around Ireland.
They're looking out for something.
Paul says,
Be on your guard
that nobody takes you captive.
And being taken captive
during the first century,
especially in a town like Colossae,
literally meant for someone
to come in and steal you
and take you as a person
that would be sold back for ransom
or sold into slavery.
So if we're first century Colossians
listening to this letter,
we've heard Paul say
that we are God's people,
that Jesus is our Lord,
that He's creator of all things,
including new creation,
His body, the church,
that we are being matured
more and more into His likeness,
that in verses 6-7,
as we just saw,
we're having been rooted in Him,
we're being grown and strengthened,
and then out of nowhere,
Paul says,
Now, be on your guard
lest someone should capture you
and enslave you.
And we'd be thinking,
That's right, Paul.
Finally, it's time
to get practical here.
Brigands are an issue.
We need to do something
about the brigands.
We need to stop letting people
get captured and sold into slavery.
But Paul's not talking about brigands.
The danger that Paul's describing,
the thing he says
that the Christians in Colossae
need to be on the guard
and looking out for,
is not necessarily brigands,
but this thing called
the empty or hollow
and deceitful philosophy
that some are peddling
in Colossae.
And please note,
Paul is not being vague here.
He's used striking language
to grab their attention.
Be on your guard.
People are trying to capture you
and enslave you
using the hollow
and deceptive philosophy.
He's being very specific
to this church.
It's interesting,
historically,
we see that the region
where Colossae is,
the Lycus Valley it's called,
had once been destroyed
by an earthquake.
I don't know if you've seen
the earthquakes happening
where I'm from,
in California.
The whole state is about
to fall into the ocean,
I think,
which might not be
such a bad thing
for that state.
I hate to say it,
but that's true.
But a huge earthquake
had shaken Colossae
and the whole area
had been destroyed.
And Rome needed that area.
They needed the agriculture
and the wool from the sheep
that had come out of that area.
They had some special dyes
and a few products
that was good
for the Roman market.
So what they did
is they imported
about 2,000 Jewish families
to the area.
So roughly 10,000 Jewish people
were imported to the area.
They were mixed
with Greco-Roman citizens.
And in three big towns,
Colossae being one of them,
you had about a third
to a half of the population
was Jewish.
The rest were kind of Greco-Roman.
And what happened
over the years,
about 100 years
before Paul's writing
this letter,
is that all of their
religious stuff
had started to mix together.
And so we have
this crazy mixture
of religion
that's there
when Christianity arrives.
And this mixture
is what's called
the philosophy.
It's what Paul's speaking to.
And it's deceitful
and hollow, he says.
It's got Jewish tradition
mixed with pagan magic,
mixed with kind of
this Greek cultic
religious ideas,
and then Roman
empirical deism.
That is to worship
the Roman emperor.
So we've got this
unbelievable mixture
of all these religious ideas
poured into one town,
and then Christianity
comes in.
And before Christianity
gets there,
it's amazing.
We can read the papyri,
we can look at the inscriptions,
there's magical chants
to angels.
Some of those angels
are in the Old Testament.
Michael and Gabriel.
There's amulets
that are being made
with inscriptions on them
calling for those angels
to help them.
There's all these traditions
that have been stacked
one on top of another.
And then Christianity
comes in.
And the Roman Empire,
it's interesting to note,
they were rigidly traditional
with their religion.
Rigidly traditional.
But ironically,
open to new innovation.
So as long as you kept
the same traditions
that were proven over time,
you could add new stuff
if it worked.
And that's what happened
when Christianity came.
All these old traditions
had to stay.
All these old chants
had to remain.
These amulets
had to still have some power.
And then we could add Christianity
as long as it worked.
And Paul says,
that's complete nonsense.
It's empty
and it's deceitful.
But if you were a Christian
in Colossae,
you've got to really think
about this.
If you're a Christian
in Colossae,
it'd be very tempting,
especially if something
started to go wrong,
not to start
to second guess.
your life in Christ.
See,
all these magical chants
and these amulets
and these things
that have come together,
they're for success.
So if you're a Christian
and your crops
aren't doing as well
as your neighbor's crops,
maybe he's got a tradition
or a superstition
or a chant
or an amulet
that maybe I should have that
even though I'm a Christian.
Or if you need protection,
there's all these chants.
There's all these little things
I can do
to just get a little bit
of protection.
Safety for my loved ones.
There's a ton
of archaeological evidence
for getting someone
to fall in love with you.
Oh,
if I could only have,
and it's crazy to read them,
nothing's really changed
over time.
If I could only have
this woman,
if I could only have
this guy see me
and fall in love with me,
and then you do these chants
and you call on these angels
and you write it all out,
and can I still do that
if I'm a Christian?
This would be very tempting
for the Colossians,
citizen.
It would be very hard
not to add some of this
back in to your Christianity.
But Paul says,
it's empty and deceitful.
And he uses strong language
to say,
that stuff will capture you
and it will put you
into slavery.
He says,
it's empty.
It has no real value.
But it pretends that it does.
And what we'll call
all that stuff,
we'll just refer to it today
as human tradition
and magical superstition.
That's really,
we can put it all
into those words.
Paul says,
the human tradition
and the magical superstition
that people are peddling
to you Christians
is emptiness
compared to Christ
who is fullness.
And that's what he does
in verses 9 through 12
is he starts to compare
the fullness of Christ
to the emptiness
of these other things.
He says in verse 9,
for in Christ
all the fullness
of the deity
lives in bodily form.
And in Christ
you have been brought
to fullness.
And then he goes on
to say in a very
Old Testament sort of way,
in a Jewish sort of way,
that Christ has made us,
that is Christians,
his people.
And that's what he's doing
when he talks about
circumcision and baptism.
Circumcision was a sign
that you were
a Jewish person.
That you were one
of God's people
who belonged
to the nation of Israel.
And under the new covenant
that's changed to baptism.
So he says,
those who have been
baptized in Christ
are God's people.
Because baptism
has replaced circumcision.
It's an outward sign
of the resurrection
we have in Christ.
And that's why
Christians baptize.
It's a new covenant sign
which signifies
what has happened to us
because of our faith.
We've been buried
with Christ.
So when someone goes
into the water,
they've been buried
with Christ.
A very pictorial,
visual image
of what's happened
when Christ went
into the grave.
So too,
the old self
goes into the water.
When we come up
out of the water,
it's the visual imagery
of being resurrected
into new life,
a new creation.
As well as it looks forward
to our final resurrection
and glorification
when Christ returns.
That even those of us
who fall asleep,
as Paul says,
that those of us
who are put into the ground
before Christ returns,
we look forward
to being raised
from the ground
the same way Christ was.
And Paul's using
circumcision and baptism
to say,
we are,
as Christians,
God's people.
And again,
this concept to a Colossian
is very important,
especially when compared
to that of slavery.
He says,
God's people
are citizens
of the kingdom of heaven.
And citizenship
in the Roman Empire
is the absolute
opposite of slavery.
Citizenship
in the Roman Empire
was everything
you longed for.
It was everything
you wanted to be.
Where a slave
had no rights,
a citizen had
every right.
Where a slave
couldn't even go
where they wanted to go,
a citizen could move
anywhere they wanted to
freely within the empire.
A slave could be grabbed
and searched
and seized
for any reason.
You could not do that
to a citizen.
A slave didn't even
have the right
to have their own
legal representation.
A citizen,
as we see with Paul
in Acts,
has the right
to say,
I want to see
the emperor.
I want to be tried
in front of the emperor
himself.
And so Paul
used this language
to set up
the difference
between slavery
and citizenship.
And he said,
the Christians
in Colossae,
they are citizens
of the kingdom of heaven.
That that's been
marked by baptism,
that they are
Christ's people.
Therefore,
be on your guard
because since
you are citizens
of the kingdom
of heaven,
this empty,
deceitful philosophy
wants to come
and grab you
and re-enslave you
to its kingdoms
of human tradition
and magical superstition.
And Paul says,
what those kingdoms
do
is they deceive you.
They ignore
who we are
as citizens
of God's kingdom.
And they pretend
to be able to do
something that they
cannot do.
And Paul lays this out
in verses 13-14.
First he says,
when you were
dead in your sins
and in the uncircumcision
of your flesh.
He's using
slave language again.
Many times he says
we were slaves to sin.
Here he says,
you're dead to sin.
God made you alive
with Christ.
He forgave us
all our sins
having canceled
the charge
of our legal
indebtedness
which stood
against us
and condemned us.
He has taken it away
nailing it
to the cross.
Now,
the cultural difference
is important again
because if you were
a slave
your freedom
could be purchased.
And if your freedom
was purchased
whether somehow
you saved up
enough money
or someone came in
to redeem you
to ransom you
they would take
the fact
that you had been
set free
and they would
literally nail that
to the temple door
in the city
where your freedom
was bought.
It would be
announced publicly.
Alan Giles
is free.
No longer a slave.
And then it would be
written in the
temple book
of life
that you were
no longer
a slave
in that city
or in the Roman Empire
in general.
So look at what Paul says
that our legal
indebtedness
was nailed
to the cross.
the record
of our being
set free
from the slavery
of human tradition
and magical superstition
was literally
nailed to the cross
and announced
for all
of the empire
to see
these people
God's people
have been
set free.
They are citizens
of the kingdom
of heaven
and Paul says
with that in mind
why would we
ever want to go
back into slavery
of a subpar kingdom?
When it's public record
that we are citizens
of God's kingdom
which is the kingdom
that is greater
than all kingdoms
why would we
ever
want to be
sold as slaves
to a subpar kingdom
or give ourselves
freely to that kingdom?
It's interesting
we even
have records
in the first century
of court cases
where citizens
were captured
and sold
at a slave market.
One court case
caught my eye
that a few men
were captured
they were sold
into slavery
and when they get
to their new place
they make a big deal
you cannot enslave us
because we are
Roman citizens.
And the governor
sends for the records
from their hometown
and sure enough
the temple records
reveal
in the temple
book of life
and freedom
that they were
citizens.
And so those
captors
those brigands
were executed
for empty
and deceitful
enslavement
because you cannot
take a citizen
and sell them
into slavery.
So not only
does the philosophy
in Colossae
ignore
who the Colossians
are as God's
kingdom people
but they also
pretend to be able
to do something
they cannot
actually do.
Verse 15
Paul spells
that out.
He says
Christ has
taken the
enslaver's
weapons
he has shamed
them publicly
and triumphed
over them
on the cross.
And when you
triumphed over
somebody
in the Roman
times
you literally
shamed them
publicly.
You took
their weapons
you put them
in line behind
you and you
marched through
town
you received
a celebration
and everybody
booed
and jeered
them
they were
publicly
shamed
and everybody
knew
that's the
losing side
right there.
Paul says
Christ disarmed
all the other
kingdoms
all the other
authorities
all the other
powers
Christ disarmed
them
he made a
public spectacle
of them
on the cross
he put them
behind him
in the resurrection
he marched
them through
the streets
and put them
to shame
showing everybody
that they had
no power
over him.
See that tends
to happen
when someone
rises from
the dead.
That anybody
who's killed
you is now
put to shame
when you rise
from the dead
and you march
through cities
and you let
people see
who you are
everything that
ever stood
against you
has been
disarmed
and put to
shame
and if you
belong to
that king
if you're
a citizen
of that
kingdom
well now
you're really
something
aren't you?
Because you
belong to the
true king
the king
of kings.
Paul says
anything other
than Christianity
whether it's
human tradition
or magical
superstition
it's powerless
it's empty
it's deceitful
it's time
has passed
it's authority
has been revoked
it's power
has been
removed.
That's what he's
saying right there.
I was thinking
what would that
be like
if we were
to sell
ourselves
to the
Roman Empire
again?
We get
some crazy
things to
vote on
in California
I don't know
politics very
well in Ireland
but I know
in California
stuff shows up
on the ballot
and some of it
I read it
and I think
how on earth
did this make
it to a ballot?
Why are we
voting on this?
But I was
thinking
I can't
imagine
I cannot
imagine
if something
showed up
on the ballot
should America
sell themselves
into slavery
to the Roman Empire
again?
I would be
shocked
if someone
wanted to
vote yes
on that.
I would
think the
same in
Ireland
if it
showed up
on the ballot
should we
sell our
whole country
into slavery
to the
Roman Empire
I would
think
somebody
would say
the Roman
Empire
doesn't exist
anymore
what are you
talking about
it's
no
and someone
could say
well Rome
is still
there
yeah but
the Empire
has got
no weapons
the Empire's
time has
passed
the Empire's
been put
to shame
why would
we sell
ourselves
to the
Roman Empire
and Paul
says
in the same
way
that it
would be
utter
insanity
for any
of today's
nations
to sell
themselves
into slavery
to an
empire
whose time
has passed
so too
would be
absolutely
crazy
for a
Christian
to sell
themselves
into the
slavery
of the
kingdoms
of this
world
why would
we willingly
go back
to that
life
now I'm
going to
guess
that for
most
Christians
the reality
is we
don't
we don't
willingly
go back
into
slavery
I doubt
I highly
doubt anybody
woke up
any day
this week
and said
I think
I would
like to
sell
myself
to the
kingdoms
of human
tradition
and magical
superstition
today
I highly
doubt you
have that
thought
but the
reality is
we slip
into it
don't we
reality is
things happen
in life
and before
we know
it
we find
ourselves
a bit
enslaved
we find
that we've
been captured
by something
other than
Christ
and I
thought a lot
about that
this week
how does
that happen
how do
God's
people
citizens
of God's
kingdoms
how do
we find
ourselves
enslaved
to the
things of
this world
and what I
would say
is we
find ourselves
in a place
of what I
just call
kingdom
confusion
we forget
who we
are in
Christ
we forget
that the
world around
us has
no power
or authority
our eyes
kind of come
off of
Jesus
and they go
towards the
things of
this world
we get
confused
about what's
up what's
down what's
left what's
right
we start to
compare our
lives to
others
right like
the Colossians
maybe we look
at somebody
else's crops
and we go
what are they
doing better
than me
or we look
at somebody
else's healthy
family and
we say
what's going
on there
that I
don't have
and we
lose sight
of the
kingdom
and we
get this
kingdom
confusion
that things
that shouldn't
have priority
start to
take priority
in our
lives
and I
think the
best remedy
for that is
just what we
will call
kingdom
immersion
if we
flip over
to Psalm
73
it's the
best illustration
I can ever
find in
scripture
we won't
go through
the whole
thing but
I would
encourage you
to at some
point this
week just
read through
Asaph's
Psalm here
in Psalm
73
because what
happens in
verses 1 and
2 and if
you have a
red bible
it's page
586
page 586
in verses
1 and 2
of Psalm
73
the author
just says
surely God
is good to
Israel
that's God's
people in
this time
to those
who are
pure in
heart
but as
for me
my feet
had almost
slipped
I had
nearly lost
my foothold
and what
he's describing
here is
the beginning
of what we
just said
kingdom
confusion
and in
verses 3
through 15
he's really
starting to look
at the world
around him
and say
what's going
on
why are
the wicked
people
prospering
have you ever
thought that
I guarantee
you've probably
worked with
somebody and
thought that
person is so
terrible
and everything
goes their
way
what's going
on
and he's
starting to
look at that
and he's
going
how come
they don't
have as many
physical
struggles
as God's
people have
how can they
have such
evil
imaginations
and that's
okay
how can they
threaten
others
and that's
okay
how can they
say such
terrible
things
and store
up so much
pride for
themselves
how can they
speak so
plainly against
God
and nothing
happens
and in
verse 13
and 14
he even
starts to
question
I've kept
my heart
pure
but has
that been
in vain
have I
washed my
hands in
innocence
and he
starts to
look at his
life
and go
I get
afflicted
all these
terrible
things
happen to
me
that's
just
kingdom
confusion
is what
we can
call that
and it
happens so
subtly
and it
happens so
quickly
it's like
those thieves
in the
night
it's like
those pirates
coming in
it's like
those brigands
sneaking in
and before we
know it
we've been
completely
confused
and we're
focusing on
our status
in the wrong
kingdom
and we
become
enslaved
the remedy
for that
we see it
happen in
psalm 73
verses
16 and
17
he just
says
when I
tried to
understand
all this
it
troubled me
deeply
until I
entered the
sanctuary
of God
then I
understood
their final
destiny
and I
just call
that kingdom
immersion
he says
all these
things
they
troubled
me
essentially
he says
I became
so confused
when I
stepped out
of the
kingdoms
of man
and I
stepped
into
God's
sanctuary
and it
all started
to make
sense
again
he starts
to remember
here's who
I am
as God's
person
here's who
I am
as a
member
of God's
household
here's who
I am
as a
citizen
of God's
kingdom
we don't
have the
literal temple
anymore
but it's
far better
we have
God's
spirit
within us
we have
God's
word
in front
of us
we have
God's
people
surrounding
us
we become
God's
holy temple
right here
as a
church
and we
can
literally
be
immersed
in
God's
kingdom
culture
together
and remind
each other
who we
are in
Christ
what we
were
bought
out
from
I think
we're
saying
bought
with the
precious
blood
of the
cross
that
the
debt
that we
owed
was literally
nailed to
the cross
that our
freedom's
been publicly
declared
and we
continue to
remind each
of this
and keep
each other
immersed
in kingdom
culture
together
I've
got
on the
back
of your
sheet
here
just
some
thoughts
on
kingdom
immersion
these
are
just
starting
thoughts
I'd say
kingdom
life happens
formally
and informally
right a church
on Sunday
it's a great
spot you
probably feel
when you leave
Sunday
more like a
part of
God's
kingdom
that's
by design
that's
how God's
designed
his church
to gather
on Sundays
we have
midweek
gatherings
we'll talk
like we
said
this week
we'll go
through
the problem
of evil
how do we
share the
gospel with
people when
they ask
the number
one question
that anybody
asks about
God
which is
if God's
so good
how does
evil exist
what do we
say to that
and if you
have that
question
and you're
not a
Christian
I invite
you to
come
we'll
answer the
question
right there
with you
it's fine
it's a
very valid
question
but we
gather
together
throughout
the week
and we
study
God's
word
and we
talk about
God's
kingdom
we remind
each other
of who
we are
in God's
kingdom
and the
church
has several
ministries
too
always
good to
be a part
of at least
one church
ministry
during the
week
because not
only are you
serving other
people but
you're serving
as God's
people
immersed in
God's
kingdom
family
worship
church
family
meals
I would
encourage
you
some of
the best
things you
can do
as a
member
of a
local
church
have a
meal
ready
on Sunday
afternoon
and if
you see
anybody
new
or visiting
or hasn't
been here
in a while
just invite
them over
to your
home
right after
the service
it's hard
for them
to say
no
you put
them right
there on
the spot
so they
feel like
they have
to so you
get them
in your
house
and you
just love
on them
you give
them food
and you
love on
them
and you
laugh
with them
and you
just let
them experience
kingdom
life
your worship
music
reading
God's
word
podcast
these are
some of
my
favorites
reading
good
books
jep
yes
jep
yeah
bye