WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.719 Over the next few weeks, both in our Sunday morning services and in our city groups, we're 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:09.820 going to be focusing on discipleship. 00:00:09.820 --> 00:00:15.019 This is a crucial topic for us to think about as Christians. 00:00:15.019 --> 00:00:19.859 Often in church we can spend a lot of time highlighting the importance of becoming a 00:00:19.859 --> 00:00:25.179 Christian, and there's good reason for that because there is nothing, absolutely nothing 00:00:25.179 --> 00:00:31.960 more important for anyone than that you become a Christian. 00:00:31.960 --> 00:00:38.519 Everything else pales into insignificance when set against the question of how are you 00:00:38.519 --> 00:00:43.719 going to stand before God on the doorway to eternity? 00:00:43.719 --> 00:00:48.000 So that is the most important thing for us to think about, and for that reason we spend 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:55.079 a lot of time in church highlighting the fact that we need to come to Jesus and trust Him. 00:00:55.079 --> 00:01:02.479 But alongside that it is also incredibly important to think about not just becoming a Christian, 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:06.599 but then how we live our lives as Christians. 00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:10.599 And that's what we mean when we talk about discipleship. 00:01:10.599 --> 00:01:15.840 And often this can be an area that we neglect. 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:19.640 So we want to spend a bit of time over this month and next month looking together in more 00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:21.000 detail at discipleship. 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:27.359 And to do that we're going to use the image of a tree. 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:32.400 Derek introduced this topic last week and he focused on the wonderful words of Jeremiah 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:35.840 17, verses 7 and 8. 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:41.640 But as Derek showed us last week, this theme of a tree is an image that runs through the 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:47.599 whole of Scripture and it's helpful for us as we think about discipleship. 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:54.959 On the basis of this image of a tree we are identifying five key areas of discipleship. 00:01:54.959 --> 00:01:59.599 And you can see these on the card that's sitting on all of your seats. 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:04.399 Now I want to say that it wasn't me and Derek who chose these five things. 00:02:04.399 --> 00:02:09.000 Here in St. Columbus we have a team, an adult discipleship team, who have spent the past 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:11.759 year looking at this together. 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:19.759 And so we have, this team has identified these five key areas that all arise out of the tree 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:22.199 image. 00:02:22.199 --> 00:02:26.359 As disciples we are rooted and living in Christ. 00:02:26.359 --> 00:02:29.919 And the tree image portrays that really powerfully. 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:34.120 We have this beautiful image of a tree that Jenny Nicholson painted for us. 00:02:34.120 --> 00:02:39.120 And in many ways that's something we can really connect with that a tree has roots. 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:44.000 And from these roots it is alive. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:46.759 As disciples we want to be learning and growing together. 00:02:46.759 --> 00:02:52.920 You think about tree, its journey is one of growth, starts off small and gets bigger and 00:02:52.920 --> 00:02:54.439 bigger. 00:02:54.439 --> 00:02:58.120 We want to be serving in unity as disciples. 00:02:58.120 --> 00:03:00.560 When we're in a church together we all want to play our part. 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:04.960 And if you think about a tree every branch is different, it's unique, but they're all 00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:10.240 connected together, they all work and serve as one. 00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:13.960 As disciples we want to be loving and protecting one another. 00:03:13.960 --> 00:03:19.080 One of the great images associated with a tree is the idea of shelter, whereby you can 00:03:19.080 --> 00:03:21.840 come under that tree and be protected. 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:25.920 And that's a really important part of being disciples of Jesus. 00:03:25.920 --> 00:03:31.800 That we love one another, that we look after one another, that we protect one another. 00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:38.200 And then finally we want to say that as disciples we seek to be bearing fruit for others. 00:03:38.200 --> 00:03:43.040 That's the great goal of a tree, it grows up and then it bears fruit. 00:03:43.040 --> 00:03:49.160 And these fruit, they do two things, they can be seen by others, they're not hidden, 00:03:49.160 --> 00:03:53.200 they're outward and we want our fruit as disciples to be seen. 00:03:53.200 --> 00:03:56.640 But also fruit is something that other people benefit from. 00:03:56.639 --> 00:04:04.239 And the fruit of discipleship is a great quality of life whereby other people benefit 00:04:04.239 --> 00:04:09.559 from our kindness and our joy and our faithfulness and our patience and all of these things. 00:04:09.559 --> 00:04:16.120 So these are the five steps that we're going to go through together over the next five 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:21.639 Sunday mornings and at the same time at our city groups each week. 00:04:21.639 --> 00:04:29.319 This week we're focusing on the first step that as disciples we are rooted and living 00:04:29.319 --> 00:04:30.800 in Christ. 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:35.399 To do that please turn back to Colossians chapter 2 verses 6 and 7. 00:04:35.399 --> 00:04:40.879 Therefore, as you received Christ the Lord so walk in him, rooted and built up in him 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:48.439 and established in the faith just as you were taught abounding in thanksgiving. 00:04:48.439 --> 00:04:52.759 In many ways this phrase rooted and living in Christ is slightly different to the other 00:04:52.759 --> 00:04:56.439 four steps that we're going to be looking at and that's why when you look at the card 00:04:56.439 --> 00:04:58.480 it's the big one in the middle. 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:06.879 It has a kind of an overarching role because it is the main truth from which all the others 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:08.040 flow. 00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:13.439 So it's as those who are rooted and living in Christ then we learn, then we serve, we 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:16.360 protect, we love and we bear fruit. 00:05:16.360 --> 00:05:22.879 So really this concept of being rooted and living in Christ is of particular importance. 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:27.439 So as we look at it I want to start with a question. 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:33.680 When we talk about discipleship what's the first word that comes to mind when you think 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:37.319 about your own discipleship? 00:05:37.319 --> 00:05:40.040 What would that one word be? 00:05:40.040 --> 00:05:48.280 Well, I don't want to answer the question for you but I think that there's one word 00:05:48.280 --> 00:05:54.640 or one theme that would be the most common and it's certainly the word that comes to 00:05:54.640 --> 00:05:55.920 my mind. 00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:59.840 What's the first word we think of? 00:05:59.840 --> 00:06:06.960 Failure or something like that, something negative. 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:12.239 I tend to look at myself and think I am so far from where I want to be. 00:06:12.239 --> 00:06:17.799 And as a result of our sense of failure or our sense of awareness that we've got such 00:06:17.799 --> 00:06:27.159 a long way to go we can tend to identify many things that we need to try and do. 00:06:27.159 --> 00:06:31.159 So we can think, well we need to pray more, we need to read more, we need to focus more 00:06:31.159 --> 00:06:34.519 on our faith, we need to stop sinning, we need to strive to bear fruit. 00:06:34.519 --> 00:06:41.680 There's a lot that we need to do and often you will be told that there's a lot that 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:44.159 you need to do. 00:06:44.159 --> 00:06:49.439 So in seeking to understand discipleship we could come to a passage like Colossians chapter 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:55.319 2 and say you need to be rooted and living in Christ. 00:06:55.319 --> 00:07:00.639 As a Christian you need to connect your roots to Him, you need to live in Him more and more 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:07.879 and out of our failure we want to do what we need to do in order to get back on the 00:07:07.879 --> 00:07:10.680 path of discipleship. 00:07:10.680 --> 00:07:17.319 So I can stand here today and say you need to be rooted and living in Christ. 00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:25.759 And you could leave here today thinking as a Christian I need to be rooted and living 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:29.039 in Christ. 00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:40.520 And we would all be wrong because that's not what Paul is saying. 00:07:40.520 --> 00:07:46.040 And we need to look very closely at these verses to see exactly what we've been taught. 00:07:46.040 --> 00:07:48.320 So let's do it, let's look at it together. 00:07:48.320 --> 00:07:52.879 Verse 6 we are given a command which is the commandment and I shouldn't ask you these 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:53.920 questions but, 00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:58.280 you head answered which is the command, therefore as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord so walk 00:07:58.280 --> 00:08:01.080 in Him, that's the commandment. 00:08:01.080 --> 00:08:05.720 We are to walk in Him and that's the command to live out our lives as Christians in other 00:08:05.720 --> 00:08:08.720 words, it's an imperative to discipleship. 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:15.580 But then in verse 7 we are given some supplementary information related to that walking. 00:08:15.579 --> 00:08:25.879 We walk as those who are rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith. 00:08:25.879 --> 00:08:30.240 Now the grammar here is really important, now I don't want to bore you with grammar 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:34.919 but it's actually really quite exciting, well I think it is anyway. 00:08:34.919 --> 00:08:41.319 So rooted, built up and established, these words are all verbs as you all will know a 00:08:41.319 --> 00:08:45.240 verb is a doing word. 00:08:45.240 --> 00:08:49.980 But they are also all passive verbs. 00:08:49.980 --> 00:08:54.180 So with verbs you can get active verbs and you can get passive verbs. 00:08:54.180 --> 00:08:58.139 Active verbs is something you do, passive verb is something that's done to you. 00:08:58.139 --> 00:09:05.039 So active verb I kick, passive verb I get kicked. 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:10.039 Very good, you could have kicked harder if you wanted it. 00:09:10.039 --> 00:09:16.679 So these are all passive verbs, in the original New Testament it was written in Greek and 00:09:16.679 --> 00:09:22.039 an active verb and a passive verb are spelled differently so you can tell very easily what's 00:09:22.039 --> 00:09:23.319 what. 00:09:23.319 --> 00:09:29.799 And so that means that all those three things they are not things you do, they are things 00:09:29.799 --> 00:09:33.839 that are done to you. 00:09:33.839 --> 00:09:39.339 And then on top of that those three words the tense is different. 00:09:39.340 --> 00:09:43.100 So the first two are both present tense. 00:09:43.100 --> 00:09:46.240 So sorry, the second two are both present tense. 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:54.440 So we are being built up, we are being established, it's something that's ongoing in the present. 00:09:54.440 --> 00:09:58.759 The word rooted is read because it's different. 00:09:58.759 --> 00:10:03.960 It's not in the present tense, it's in what's called the perfect tense. 00:10:03.960 --> 00:10:10.000 And the perfect tense basically means that it's something that happened in the past and 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:16.240 has an ongoing permanent effect into the present and beyond. 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:22.160 And that's not brought out quite so clearly in the ESV that we use but the New American 00:10:22.160 --> 00:10:24.200 Standard version captures it really well. 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:33.879 It says walk in him having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him and established 00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:34.879 in your faith. 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:37.279 Do you see the difference? 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:42.379 And it's really important to see that difference because it's crucial. 00:10:42.379 --> 00:10:50.080 It all means that rooted is not something that needs to happen to you as a Christian. 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:53.559 It's something that has happened. 00:10:53.559 --> 00:10:59.440 And rooted, built up and established are not things that you do, they are things that 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:01.519 are done to you. 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:10.759 These are all verbs but the doer of the doing verbs is not you, it's God. 00:11:10.759 --> 00:11:13.480 And the same applies to the word living. 00:11:13.480 --> 00:11:17.439 We look at verse 13, you who are dead in your trespasses and sins and the uncircumstition 00:11:17.439 --> 00:11:26.740 of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses 00:11:26.740 --> 00:11:30.600 by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. 00:11:30.600 --> 00:11:34.480 This he set aside nailing it to the cross. 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:41.560 The made alive part of your Christian faith is something that God has done to you by uniting 00:11:41.560 --> 00:11:44.080 you to Jesus Christ. 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:49.600 So the key point is that Paul is not saying as a Christian you need to be rooted and living 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:50.600 in Christ. 00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:58.879 He is saying as a Christian you are rooted and living in Christ. 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:04.439 And it's crucial that we recognize this because I think that step one of discipleship is not 00:12:04.439 --> 00:12:08.159 to focus on what you need to be. 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:14.279 Step one is to recognize what you already are. 00:12:14.279 --> 00:12:21.960 When it comes to discipleship, it's incredibly easy to be demanding and to be elitist. 00:12:21.960 --> 00:12:25.120 We can go up to people and say you need to do this, you need to do that and then you'll 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:27.559 be more and more rooted in Christ. 00:12:27.559 --> 00:12:31.679 You'll be more and more a proper disciple and often there's a kind of implied like me 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:34.799 behind all of that. 00:12:34.799 --> 00:12:38.119 It's just not true. 00:12:38.119 --> 00:12:42.719 If you are a Christian you do not need to become rooted and living in Christ. 00:12:42.719 --> 00:12:48.599 You are rooted and living in him because that's precisely what a Christian is. 00:12:48.599 --> 00:12:52.359 You cannot be a Christian without being rooted and living in Christ. 00:12:52.359 --> 00:12:53.359 It's impossible. 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:59.080 A Christian is someone who has new life, they've been born again, they are no longer spiritually 00:12:59.080 --> 00:13:01.200 dead, they have eternal life. 00:13:01.200 --> 00:13:02.399 Where does that life come from? 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:07.320 It doesn't come from you and from your efforts it comes from Jesus. 00:13:07.320 --> 00:13:14.240 And we get it only because we are united to him by faith. 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:21.759 Just as a tree gets life because it's rooted to the ground, so too we are living because 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:25.879 we are rooted to Jesus. 00:13:25.879 --> 00:13:31.799 And I want to emphasize this because it's an important thing for us to recognize. 00:13:31.799 --> 00:13:39.360 Sometimes in fact I think almost all the time we base our theology of discipleship on how 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:42.559 we feel. 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:44.840 So in order to do this I've got a wee picture. 00:13:44.840 --> 00:13:47.600 Please, please don't judge me for the terribleness of these drawings. 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:50.080 But here's a picture, okay? 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:55.120 So this is how we tend to feel, okay? 00:13:55.120 --> 00:14:01.040 We tend to feel we're here on our walk and Jesus is way up there in heaven. 00:14:01.040 --> 00:14:06.240 And somewhere in the middle the Holy Spirit is kind of floating about and occasionally 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:12.200 it maybe just comes down, He just comes down and reaches us. 00:14:12.200 --> 00:14:17.320 But for us to be what we should be as disciples we face a huge uphill task. 00:14:17.320 --> 00:14:21.760 And we think of all these people who are so much better and godlier and wiser and stronger 00:14:21.760 --> 00:14:22.760 than we are. 00:14:22.760 --> 00:14:26.200 They're way up there at the top of that purple line where we should be. 00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:30.400 We're just down here, Jesus is miles away, Holy Spirit is nearly as far away. 00:14:30.400 --> 00:14:38.040 And it just seems like it's a massive task for us to get anywhere as disciples. 00:14:38.039 --> 00:14:51.000 And that's a picture of how I feel more or less every day, and maybe you're the same. 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:57.360 It is absolute theological rubbish. 00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:00.319 Because the biblical truth is not that. 00:15:00.319 --> 00:15:03.240 The biblical truth is that a Christian is not that. 00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:12.000 The biblical truth is a Christian is this, standing absolutely rooted into Jesus. 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:15.399 And the Holy Spirit is not wafting above you in the middle of nowhere. 00:15:15.399 --> 00:15:20.740 The Holy Spirit is a powerhouse of life right in your heart. 00:15:20.740 --> 00:15:27.200 And on that basis and in that power we go on living our Christian lives as disciples 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:29.000 of Jesus. 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:33.799 And the absolute vital truth that I want you to remember is that if you are a Christian 00:15:33.799 --> 00:15:40.919 or if you become one, you are never that ever. 00:15:40.919 --> 00:15:46.960 From the moment you are saved, forevermore you are that. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:51.799 You are rooted and living in Christ. 00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:57.159 That's why the command you must be rooted and living in Christ is not a command to the 00:15:57.159 --> 00:16:03.519 disciple, it's a command to the unbeliever. 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:09.539 It's what you need to become if you're not yet a disciple. 00:16:09.539 --> 00:16:16.679 So Paul is making this great point that as a Christian or if you become one, you are 00:16:16.679 --> 00:16:19.879 rooted and living in Christ. 00:16:19.879 --> 00:16:23.519 And that has very important implications for us. 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:27.960 And I want us to look at that together for the last few minutes because it can help us 00:16:27.960 --> 00:16:31.519 correct misunderstandings in our faith. 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:36.720 And I think that often one of the biggest hindrances, often many of the biggest struggles 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:41.439 we face as disciples come from misunderstanding things. 00:16:41.439 --> 00:16:47.079 And it's important that we are ready to listen to the corrections that God's Word can give 00:16:47.079 --> 00:16:49.360 us in regard to this. 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:54.480 I think there's four things that we can misunderstand in terms of our discipleship. 00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:58.440 The first thing that we can misunderstand is grace. 00:16:58.440 --> 00:17:02.639 At the heart of the Christian faith is grace. 00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:09.559 God's favor and kindness and love towards us, which we do not deserve. 00:17:09.559 --> 00:17:16.240 The Christian salvation offered in Jesus is not something that we ever earn. 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:19.880 It's a gift. 00:17:19.880 --> 00:17:26.839 Sometimes though, we can think of grace as a free plane ticket. 00:17:26.839 --> 00:17:30.799 So we can think of it as getting given a ticket for free. 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:33.359 And so we have this free ticket for heaven. 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:37.640 And we think, okay, I need to then, okay, I've got this ticket. 00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:38.640 Brilliant. 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:40.799 Now I need to travel on life's journey. 00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:44.480 I need to press on with this ticket. 00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:47.559 And good disciples will travel really well. 00:17:47.559 --> 00:17:49.079 Rubbish ones will struggle along. 00:17:49.079 --> 00:17:50.960 But we have this free ticket now. 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:52.440 Now we need to get in the queue. 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:53.880 Now we need to get on board. 00:17:53.880 --> 00:17:58.039 Now we need to get to the gate of heaven for departure. 00:17:58.039 --> 00:18:00.079 And that's how we can think of grace. 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:04.920 And that's perhaps a tiny bit true. 00:18:04.920 --> 00:18:12.640 But I don't think it's a really accurate illustration of grace because grace is not really getting 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:19.800 given a free plane ticket that you have to then get on board in order to depart. 00:18:19.800 --> 00:18:26.160 Grace is more like a Chinook helicopter landing beside you and picking you up and carrying 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:31.240 you out of enemy territory and bringing you home. 00:18:31.240 --> 00:18:38.440 Grace picks you up out of a broken world and it plunks you down in a whole new realm as 00:18:38.440 --> 00:18:42.040 a permanent citizen of the kingdom of God. 00:18:42.039 --> 00:18:45.240 It's not simply a ticket to a better life. 00:18:45.240 --> 00:18:52.480 It's a wholesale, colossal, complete rescue mission on the part of God. 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:55.680 That's why all the verbs are passive. 00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:58.240 That's why rooted is in the perfect tense. 00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:05.759 It's a completed, permanent, unchangeable act that God does to you and for you. 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:12.720 And nothing can stop him. 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:21.240 And nothing, not even your own failings, weaknesses, failures and insecurities. 00:19:21.240 --> 00:19:25.960 Nothing can undo it. 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:33.640 Grace is just massive and brilliant. 00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:38.759 We can also misunderstand how we compare to other people. 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:42.840 One of the biggest difficulties we face as Christian disciples and thinking about this 00:19:42.840 --> 00:19:54.160 whole issue of discipleship is kind of struggling with the trap of elitism. 00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:58.560 And it's incredibly easy to think that discipleship is for the good Christians, the ones that 00:19:58.560 --> 00:20:00.560 are getting on really well. 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:06.079 And it's easy to think, well, everybody else is way more rooted in living in Christ than 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:07.440 I am. 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:09.960 Everyone else is at a level that I'm not at. 00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:13.319 And it's so easy to think that, well, I'm just not going to be at that level. 00:20:13.319 --> 00:20:14.559 I'm not going to be able to do that. 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:18.759 And I'm just different from everybody else. 00:20:18.759 --> 00:20:21.359 I'm not what I should be. 00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:25.480 And so when we think of this topic of being rooted and living in Christ, we can think 00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:27.659 in terms of a hierarchy. 00:20:27.660 --> 00:20:32.400 So we think there's those who are really rooted and living in Christ. 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:37.759 Then there's those who are fairly rooted and living in Christ. 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:44.800 And then thirdly, there's those who are barely rooted and living in Christ. 00:20:44.800 --> 00:20:52.120 As a Christian, and in all of this, for those of you who are Christians, as a Christian, 00:20:52.120 --> 00:20:54.480 which one are you? 00:20:54.480 --> 00:21:00.200 Well, I can tell you which one you are. 00:21:00.200 --> 00:21:08.599 You're the top one because the other two do not exist. 00:21:08.599 --> 00:21:13.880 This whole idea of elitism is unbiblical in terms of your preciousness in the eyes of 00:21:13.880 --> 00:21:19.759 Jesus, in terms of your rootedness to Him as your Savior, in terms of your status as 00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:26.799 a beloved child of God made alive through union with Christ, we are all the same. 00:21:26.799 --> 00:21:32.920 That's why in these ways, the Christian church is a realm of absolute, beautiful, glorious 00:21:32.920 --> 00:21:36.279 equality. 00:21:36.279 --> 00:21:41.720 And I think one of the places where you see that so powerfully emphasized is in the parable 00:21:41.720 --> 00:21:43.279 of the prodigal son. 00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:47.160 It's so easy to feel in terms of our failures that we're not like others, we're not properly 00:21:47.160 --> 00:21:50.000 rooted, we're not completely part of God's family. 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:51.279 That was how the prodigal son felt. 00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:55.200 He felt he was in a total mess and he was like, well, I'm not really properly part of 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:57.200 my family anymore. 00:21:57.200 --> 00:22:03.680 So I will go back and I'll maybe ask if I can be a slave because I am no longer at the 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:06.480 level of a son. 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:11.240 And the astounding thing is that when he comes back and meets his father, yes, he's broken, 00:22:11.240 --> 00:22:17.000 yes, he's dirty, he probably smelled bad, his life was in a complete mess, but his father 00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:28.359 says, get a robe, get a ring because one thing's for sure, this boy is 100% part of my family. 00:22:28.359 --> 00:22:34.440 And for every Christian, no matter how smut we struggle or stumble, that is true of us 00:22:34.440 --> 00:22:39.000 all. 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:45.519 Thirdly we can misunderstand our own brokenness. 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:52.359 Our equality in terms of our status in Christ doesn't mean that we're identical, we're all 00:22:52.359 --> 00:22:53.359 different. 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:58.000 We've got different gifts, we've got different weaknesses and we're all at different stages 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:00.920 of maturity as well. 00:23:00.920 --> 00:23:05.759 And there is a growing process that comes after the rootedness and we're at different 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:07.359 stages in that. 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:13.839 But in terms of our brokenness, we're all broken in different ways as disciples. 00:23:13.839 --> 00:23:17.199 It's really important to remember that when we talk about discipleship, we're not talking 00:23:17.199 --> 00:23:19.240 about perfectionism. 00:23:19.240 --> 00:23:23.399 We're not saying this is what you need to do to become perfect Christians like we are. 00:23:23.399 --> 00:23:24.399 That's not true. 00:23:24.399 --> 00:23:28.439 We are all so broken, every one of us. 00:23:28.439 --> 00:23:32.919 And we all make mistakes and we'll go on making mistakes. 00:23:32.919 --> 00:23:37.679 And I remember before I became a minister, I was an engineer and you start off and you 00:23:37.679 --> 00:23:40.480 make lots of mistakes and you break lots of things. 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:44.839 But you then realize that even as you go on, you carry on making mistakes. 00:23:44.839 --> 00:23:45.839 You carry on breaking things. 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:47.799 It's so easy to break a drill bit. 00:23:47.799 --> 00:23:51.160 It's so easy to break a tap if you're cutting a thread. 00:23:51.160 --> 00:23:54.400 And it's only once you've broken it, you realize that you've broken it. 00:23:54.400 --> 00:23:58.880 I know that's obvious, but it's only then it's too late. 00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:02.519 And I realize that a good engineer is not an engineer who never makes mistakes. 00:24:02.519 --> 00:24:06.839 A good engineer is one who reacts well to his mistakes. 00:24:06.839 --> 00:24:11.279 And I think that principle applies to us as Christians. 00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:16.959 We will all make mistakes, but we have to be careful that we don't misunderstand our 00:24:16.959 --> 00:24:19.839 own brokenness. 00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:23.559 So the path of discipleship is a path full of failings and mistakes. 00:24:23.559 --> 00:24:25.599 We all say silly things. 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:27.959 We all do daft things. 00:24:27.959 --> 00:24:33.759 And these things can pile up on us and they can wear us down. 00:24:33.759 --> 00:24:40.879 And the result is that we can look at ourselves and think, I am fundamentally broken. 00:24:40.879 --> 00:24:48.440 As a Christian, I'm just fundamentally broken and I'm a failure. 00:24:48.440 --> 00:24:54.319 And that kind of feeling can be overwhelming. 00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:56.039 And it can lead us to stop trying. 00:24:56.039 --> 00:24:59.720 And so we think, well, I don't think I can carry on. 00:24:59.720 --> 00:25:01.519 It can lead us to feel we want to give up. 00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:08.960 It can make us lose any confidence that we maybe once had in terms of following Jesus. 00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:15.720 But what I want to emphasize is that this concept of being rooted and living in Christ 00:25:15.720 --> 00:25:22.400 and the truth set before us in Colossians chapter 2 is that if you are a Christian, 00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:26.879 you are not fundamentally broken. 00:25:26.879 --> 00:25:31.240 You are fundamentally fixed. 00:25:31.240 --> 00:25:38.680 That's what Paul means when he says you're a new creation, something radical and fundamental 00:25:38.680 --> 00:25:42.000 has changed in you forever. 00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:46.279 You are now rooted and living in Christ. 00:25:46.279 --> 00:25:50.200 And it's important that we recognize that and we remember that. 00:25:50.200 --> 00:25:53.640 As disciples, we are going to face a lot of challenges. 00:25:53.640 --> 00:25:55.120 That's true. 00:25:55.120 --> 00:25:59.839 So we're going to face weeds around us, things in our lives that shouldn't be there, things 00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:04.480 that we have to try and root out and remove because they're damaging to us. 00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:09.000 As disciples, as a kind of young tea kind to grow, we'll face harsh conditions. 00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:13.359 You can think of a tea that gets battered by the wind and the rain and we can be exactly 00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:14.359 the same. 00:26:14.359 --> 00:26:20.759 We get, we go out into work or home or school or society and even maybe in our own hearts 00:26:20.759 --> 00:26:25.359 and thoughts, we can be pounded by harsh conditions. 00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:30.319 As a result, we get knocked, we can get bruised, we can get scarred. 00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:36.319 As disciples, we can also face the challenge of being pruned, which is the sometimes painful 00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:47.439 process whereby growth and maturity comes through a cutting back and having to experience 00:26:47.439 --> 00:26:49.159 the pain of that. 00:26:49.159 --> 00:26:52.839 It's a means that in the long term, that in the short term is hard, but in the long term 00:26:52.839 --> 00:26:53.839 is fruitful. 00:26:53.839 --> 00:26:59.000 At the beginning, Jesus said, I need to prune my people to help them to bear fruit. 00:26:59.000 --> 00:27:02.000 All of these things are hard and they challenge us. 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:05.599 We face these challenges every day. 00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:09.639 And yes, as disciples, there is plenty that's wrong with us. 00:27:09.639 --> 00:27:22.759 But as a Christian, there is nothing wrong with your roots and there never will be. 00:27:22.759 --> 00:27:30.920 With all the weeds and struggles and storms of life, there are absolutely solid, vibrant, 00:27:30.920 --> 00:27:33.839 strong, secure living roots. 00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:36.599 Now you may be sitting there thinking, Thomas, it doesn't feel like that. 00:27:36.599 --> 00:27:42.200 I actually don't care what it feels like because this is theological truth. 00:27:42.200 --> 00:27:48.039 And feelings have got nothing to do with that. 00:27:48.039 --> 00:27:52.039 And maybe our biggest problem is just that we forget that these roots are there. 00:27:52.039 --> 00:27:55.879 So tomorrow morning, when you go to work with a million and one things to do and pressure 00:27:55.879 --> 00:28:02.720 put on you, you go there totally rooted in Jesus Christ. 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:09.359 When you drop off your kids at school tomorrow, you do so totally rooted in Jesus Christ. 00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:13.440 When you go to the doctor, not really sure what he's going to say to you, you go there 00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:18.240 totally rooted in Christ. 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:29.359 But even if life is battering you right now, nothing can touch your roots. 00:28:29.359 --> 00:28:31.640 So we can misunderstand grace. 00:28:31.640 --> 00:28:33.839 We can misunderstand how we relate to others. 00:28:33.839 --> 00:28:36.880 We can misunderstand our own brokenness. 00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:41.359 Lastly we can also misunderstand our needs. 00:28:41.359 --> 00:28:45.559 When it comes to discipleship, we all quickly realize that there's a lot of, we have a lot 00:28:45.559 --> 00:28:46.559 of needs. 00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:51.480 We want to change, we want to grow, we want to be more like Jesus this week than we were 00:28:51.480 --> 00:28:53.440 last week. 00:28:53.440 --> 00:29:00.480 And so although we're equally rooted and living in Christ and that's unchanging, above the 00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:07.200 soil there's still a lot of growing that needs to take place. 00:29:07.200 --> 00:29:13.480 And in thinking about all those needs, it's easy to misunderstand how those needs are going 00:29:13.480 --> 00:29:15.879 to be met. 00:29:15.880 --> 00:29:25.760 Because often we can think that in order to grow we need to deposit into ourselves spiritually. 00:29:25.760 --> 00:29:30.520 So we can think in terms of investment and in terms of depositing. 00:29:30.520 --> 00:29:36.240 And we can think, okay, if I read my Bible, if I pray, if I serve, then I am depositing 00:29:36.240 --> 00:29:41.520 into my relationship with Jesus and that is going to help me grow. 00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:52.319 Now that sounds very good and in some ways it is, but I don't think it's 100% true. 00:29:52.319 --> 00:30:01.799 Should you be trying to deposit into your rootedness in Jesus in order to meet your needs? 00:30:01.799 --> 00:30:04.639 The answer is no. 00:30:04.639 --> 00:30:11.240 In order to meet your needs, you do not need to deposit. 00:30:11.240 --> 00:30:15.279 You need to withdraw. 00:30:15.279 --> 00:30:23.519 Because if you look at a tree, life and growth doesn't come from depositing into the roots. 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:29.279 Life and growth comes by withdrawing from those roots. 00:30:29.279 --> 00:30:36.400 Life goes that way, if you like, from the roots, through the branches, through the fruit, 00:30:36.400 --> 00:30:38.640 and outward. 00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:43.600 And so when you read and pray and come to church, which you must do, but when you're 00:30:43.600 --> 00:30:48.880 doing these things, you're not banking a deposit of good Christian stuff that's going 00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:51.160 to make you more favorable in the eyes of Jesus. 00:30:51.160 --> 00:30:52.640 You're not depositing. 00:30:52.640 --> 00:30:55.440 You are withdrawing. 00:30:55.440 --> 00:31:00.160 When you come to church and read and sing and pray, when you do that with friends or 00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:05.600 on your own, when you spend time together in fellowship as Christians, you are not depositing. 00:31:05.600 --> 00:31:06.759 You are withdrawing. 00:31:06.759 --> 00:31:13.119 You are withdrawing from Jesus, from His resources, His strength, His nourishment, His presence, 00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:14.759 His goodness. 00:31:14.759 --> 00:31:19.839 That is how our needs are going to be met. 00:31:19.839 --> 00:31:25.640 Every day in everything that you do, you need to keep coming back to your rootedness in 00:31:25.640 --> 00:31:32.200 Christ to withdraw the strength and help that you need. 00:31:32.200 --> 00:31:36.119 And the amazing thing is that you can do that anytime. 00:31:36.119 --> 00:31:39.439 So you go to work tomorrow morning and you're confronted by an email or a colleague or a 00:31:39.439 --> 00:31:42.639 circumstance and you think, oh my goodness, what am I going to do? 00:31:42.639 --> 00:31:47.119 You can withdraw from your rootedness to Jesus. 00:31:47.119 --> 00:31:51.119 You battle on through school this week or through your uni work and by Friday night, 00:31:51.119 --> 00:31:52.719 you're exhausted. 00:31:52.719 --> 00:31:59.599 In all that tiredness, you can withdraw from the resources that you have in Jesus. 00:31:59.599 --> 00:32:04.819 When you face temptation to sin, which every single one of us is going to face this week, 00:32:04.819 --> 00:32:10.720 we can withdraw from the resources we have in Jesus to help us to turn away from that 00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:12.159 temptation. 00:32:12.159 --> 00:32:16.839 In all of these things, we need to withdraw. 00:32:16.839 --> 00:32:23.799 And all of this should guard us against the two great dangers that we face as disciples. 00:32:23.799 --> 00:32:24.799 What are they? 00:32:24.799 --> 00:32:28.119 Well, the two great dangers are legalism and antinomianism. 00:32:28.119 --> 00:32:32.079 And I'd love to look at this in more detail, but time has gone. 00:32:32.079 --> 00:32:37.000 Antinomianism is basically the idea that we have to do stuff in order to establish our 00:32:37.000 --> 00:32:41.639 relationship with God or to earn his favor and earn his blessings. 00:32:41.639 --> 00:32:44.279 Antinomianism is the opposite that says, oh, well, I'm saved. 00:32:44.279 --> 00:32:48.559 I can do whatever I like and you just go and you live like the rest of the culture around 00:32:48.559 --> 00:32:49.559 you. 00:32:49.559 --> 00:32:52.199 These are the two dangers that we face as disciples. 00:32:52.199 --> 00:32:55.599 And Paul addresses both of them in Colossians. 00:32:55.599 --> 00:32:59.799 The background to this letter was a false teaching that was telling people, you have 00:32:59.799 --> 00:33:02.720 to do this, do that, do the next thing. 00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:03.720 Stop eating this. 00:33:03.720 --> 00:33:04.960 Observe this day. 00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:07.039 Go here, go there, do this, do that. 00:33:07.039 --> 00:33:11.359 And Paul, as we read, is saying none of these things are beneficial. 00:33:11.359 --> 00:33:13.159 You do not need to do them. 00:33:13.159 --> 00:33:16.599 Christ has done everything that you need. 00:33:16.599 --> 00:33:20.079 But then in the very next chapter, you can read it when you go home in chapter 3, Paul 00:33:20.079 --> 00:33:26.279 also says, but don't, in abandoning legalism, don't go to the other extreme of becoming 00:33:26.279 --> 00:33:28.519 an antinomian and thinking you can do whatever you like. 00:33:28.519 --> 00:33:30.639 And he says, you know, watch what you do. 00:33:30.639 --> 00:33:35.119 Put away anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk from your mouth. 00:33:35.119 --> 00:33:37.400 We have to avoid both of these things. 00:33:37.400 --> 00:33:43.359 We must never think I'm rooted in Christ, but I have to add to that. 00:33:43.359 --> 00:33:47.799 Because that's effectively saying that Jesus didn't do enough. 00:33:47.799 --> 00:33:51.879 But nor must we ever think I'm rooted in Christ, I can do what I like, because that's effectively 00:33:51.879 --> 00:33:57.400 saying Jesus didn't do very much because sin's not that serious. 00:33:57.400 --> 00:34:06.840 Instead, I hope that you will go away thinking I am rooted and living in Christ. 00:34:06.840 --> 00:34:10.320 And as a result, I want to learn and grow. 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:12.480 I want to serve alongside others. 00:34:12.480 --> 00:34:15.599 I want to love and protect everyone around me. 00:34:15.599 --> 00:34:23.240 And I want to bear fruit for the benefit of others. 00:34:23.239 --> 00:34:27.679 We've got one minute left because I've run out of time. 00:34:27.679 --> 00:34:36.000 All of this is just an amazing reminder that Jesus works with broken people and he fixes 00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:37.399 them. 00:34:37.399 --> 00:34:40.239 So often we look at ourselves and we think I don't know enough. 00:34:40.239 --> 00:34:41.359 I'm not strong enough. 00:34:41.359 --> 00:34:42.679 I failed so many times. 00:34:42.679 --> 00:34:44.559 I'm not confident. 00:34:44.559 --> 00:34:49.919 And what do you think Jesus says in response to all of that? 00:34:49.919 --> 00:34:51.519 When you stand and say, I'm just no use. 00:34:51.519 --> 00:34:52.519 I can't do this. 00:34:52.519 --> 00:34:53.519 I can't do that. 00:34:53.519 --> 00:34:55.199 What do you think Jesus says in response to that? 00:34:55.199 --> 00:35:04.400 Well, I honestly think that Jesus' instinctive reply to all of that would be no problem. 00:35:04.400 --> 00:35:07.639 Because it's not a problem to him. 00:35:07.639 --> 00:35:13.440 Jesus fixes people and he does that by rooting it to himself. 00:35:13.440 --> 00:35:19.519 I remember hearing a great story which I've never forgotten. 00:35:19.519 --> 00:35:24.679 Some of you might remember in the news about four or five years ago an oil rig washed ashore 00:35:24.679 --> 00:35:25.679 on the Western Isles. 00:35:25.679 --> 00:35:30.519 It was being towed down the Atlantic and there was a freak storm in August and the line broke 00:35:30.519 --> 00:35:32.199 and the oil rig washed ashore. 00:35:32.199 --> 00:35:34.960 It actually washed ashore in Carlyway, which is where I used to be the minister. 00:35:34.960 --> 00:35:37.920 So we woke up this morning and there was this massive oil rig down at the beach. 00:35:37.920 --> 00:35:41.119 It was very cool, I have to say. 00:35:41.119 --> 00:35:46.800 So this enormous oil rig was perched on the cliffs and they brought in a salvage team 00:35:46.800 --> 00:35:47.800 to deal with it. 00:35:47.800 --> 00:35:53.160 They had a public meeting and there was a woman there who was the leader of the salvage team 00:35:53.160 --> 00:35:57.519 and she gave a presentation as to what they were going to do in order to get this oil 00:35:57.519 --> 00:35:59.840 rig off the rocks. 00:35:59.840 --> 00:36:01.280 And they had a plan. 00:36:01.280 --> 00:36:05.160 It basically involved sealing up the holes, pumping the thing full of air and lifting 00:36:05.160 --> 00:36:07.960 it afloat when the tide came in. 00:36:07.960 --> 00:36:15.720 And somebody, there was a question time, somebody put up their hand afterwards and said, what's 00:36:15.719 --> 00:36:19.719 your plan B if that doesn't work? 00:36:19.719 --> 00:36:23.959 And she said, there's no plan B, this is what we're going to do. 00:36:23.959 --> 00:36:27.000 And the questioner said, but what if it doesn't work? 00:36:27.000 --> 00:36:28.559 What's your plan B? 00:36:28.559 --> 00:36:32.879 And the woman said, this will work. 00:36:32.879 --> 00:36:34.439 This is what we do. 00:36:34.439 --> 00:36:42.639 There is no plan B. And I think in exactly the same way Jesus says, you are rooted in 00:36:42.639 --> 00:36:43.799 me. 00:36:43.799 --> 00:36:45.419 You are my disciple. 00:36:45.420 --> 00:36:47.200 This is what I do. 00:36:47.200 --> 00:36:49.559 This is the kind of people I work with. 00:36:49.559 --> 00:36:50.680 You are mine. 00:36:50.680 --> 00:36:54.920 You are rooted, firm, stable, secure and precious. 00:36:54.920 --> 00:37:00.119 And I have begun a good work in you and I will bring it to completion. 00:37:00.119 --> 00:37:05.559 There is no plan B because that is what I do. 00:37:05.559 --> 00:37:12.280 And I find it such an incredible encouragement in my own weak and stumbling journey of discipleship 00:37:12.280 --> 00:37:15.280 to realize that that's how Jesus works. 00:37:15.280 --> 00:37:22.200 I and you, we are utterly rooted in Him. 00:37:22.200 --> 00:37:24.720 That's amazing. 00:37:24.720 --> 00:37:27.040 Let's pray. 00:37:27.040 --> 00:37:38.360 Lord Jesus, we just thank you so much for what you do for all who come to you. 00:37:38.360 --> 00:37:42.920 Come to you those who are weak and broken and yet you do far more than we could ever 00:37:42.920 --> 00:37:43.920 ask or think. 00:37:43.920 --> 00:37:51.320 We thank you for the incredible blessing of being rooted and being living in you. 00:37:51.320 --> 00:37:54.119 Forgive us for all the times we've forgotten that. 00:37:54.119 --> 00:38:00.280 We pray that this truth would be written on our hearts today and for the rest of our lives. 00:38:00.280 --> 00:38:06.480 And for any of us here who are maybe not sure where we stand before you or who are maybe 00:38:06.480 --> 00:38:09.960 quite clear in their minds that they're not yet a Christian, please just draw them to 00:38:09.960 --> 00:38:17.360 you and help them to see how simple, beautiful and amazing the gospel is. 00:38:17.360 --> 00:38:43.559 Amen.