The scripture reading comes from Colossians chapter 3 verses 12 to 17.
Please follow along in your bulletin or on the screen.
Put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
bearing with one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other,
as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
And above all this put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony,
and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.
And be thankful, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom,
singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.
This is the word of God.
Before I do that pastoral prayer and we kind of look at this passage,
I just want to say a massive thank you to you as a congregation.
Fiona and I and Etienne have just been so blessed by able to take some time away.
As you can see, we've had a little bit of transition in our family.
And during this time, we've been able to really spend a lot of time together as a family,
and particularly even in the UK.
Some of you know my dad had a stroke back in August,
and we were able to really spend a lot of time with him.
And just the physios who are looking after him just said,
your timing of coming has just been absolutely miraculous,
because it was the perfect time to come.
And as I was looking at my dad, who basically,
it was like having two kind of babies in the house.
I don't know if you know about strokes, but my dad's been stripped of everything.
He can almost, he's learning how to walk again.
He's learning how to dress himself again.
He's learning how to go to the toilet by himself.
And yet in the midst of all of this,
he said to me something just that really, really struck me.
He said, you know, I've been stripped of everything.
You know, when you're 76 years old, you've got a lot of life behind you.
And to be kind of back like a baby, it's very humbling.
But he said, I've been stripped of everything.
But in this place, I realize
that when you have nothing left,
Jesus is all that you need.
And as we kind of think about all that's going on at the moment,
I want us to pray just in the light of that
and to just ask God to come and be with us
and to work in our city.
So would you come and pray with me, the pastoral prayer?
And don't just listen to me praying.
Let's just pray this together and I'll lead you.
So please bow your heads and let's pray.
Father, we live in what seem to be very troubled times.
A lot of fear.
A lot of suspicion.
A lot of division.
A lot of criticism.
And yet this is the world that you came in.
Your son, Jesus Christ, came.
And you said and you called a group of people,
your disciples, a messy bunch of people.
And you said, my peace I give to you.
I don't give as the world gives.
I give as I give.
And Father, you gave Jesus to be our prince of peace.
We pray, Lord, that you would draw near to us today
as your people in all our anxieties,
in all our uncertainties, in all our failures.
Bring us your peace.
Because if we have you,
then we have everything that we need, Lord.
Lord, you're our refuge in the storm.
You're a firm foundation.
You're an anchor that is never swayed.
Forgive us, Father, where we have put our hopes
on shifting sands.
We have so much from you,
and yet we feel that our life
is more in the gifts you've given us
than in you, ourself.
We look to our stuff that we have,
the plans that we have,
the certainties that we have,
that you tell us that our life is in you.
Help us to believe that, Lord.
Help us to go deeper in our hearts, Lord.
Because you are rock solid.
Teach us to trust you,
the one who's the never failing rock of ages.
Drive the gospel deeper into our hearts.
So that even if everything is stripped away from us
and our city and all these other things,
if we have you, we have everything that we need.
Lord, we just completely pray for Wuhan
and for all those who are affected there by the virus.
We pray for our brothers and sisters,
particularly in that province.
Lord, I pray that you would be their confidence
at this time, that they would know
that their lives are utterly in your hands
and they are immortal until you decide
it is their time to go.
May they mirror your sacrificial love
for the people there
by not running away from people,
but running towards them with your love.
Protect them, we pray,
and even in this terrible situation,
would you use it for good?
Would you draw people to yourself through this?
We pray for the medical workers.
We pray for the government officials.
We pray that you protect them.
You give them wisdom.
You give them grace.
You keep their hearts from fear.
Just give them wisdom to know how to treat patients
and how to deal with the situation wisely, Lord.
And we pray, Lord, against fear
just further dividing our society.
Prince of peace, would you come?
And Lord, we also want to pray,
I want to pray for India too at this time, Lord.
It just, there's a country with so much beauty
but so much darkness, Lord.
Just even this last week
with the hostage taking of 20 children,
the beating of a man's wife to death,
the persecution of believers,
the protests of a religious freedom,
we just pray for our partners in the church in Delhi,
for Akshay and Shruti there.
We just pray, would you give their church
boldness and confidence to witness to you
in the midst of all of this situation.
Use them to release many from darkness into your light.
And Father, finally, we just want to pray
also for the students here.
Lord, even in the disruption of their classes
and kids not being able to go to school,
we pray in the midst of this turmoil
that they would just have, again,
this courage and this confidence
that even when it feels like there's so little time
and there's so much pressure on,
that they can know that you've got this one.
That their life, their grades,
their future is utterly in your hands
and they can trust you.
Thank you that you are our Prince of Peace.
You are our Rock of Ages.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Great.
So if you have your bulletin open,
we're going to be looking through at this passage.
And we're really following on from the series
that we've started, the Watermark Essentials.
And if you haven't been here, like me,
you can listen back to some of the previous sermons.
And we're going through the three core values
that we have as a church,
which are...
Very good.
Okay.
A few of you.
Okay.
The rest of you can just look on the banner and cheat.
But what, as Kevin said earlier,
there is a virus which is infecting us.
There's a virus which is destroying
and devastating relationships, communities,
individuals' lives throughout this city.
And it's a virus which is more significant
than the coronavirus.
And that is sin.
And as Kevin said earlier,
sin is not just what the Bible says,
sin is not just doing bad stuff.
It's a heart that wants to go our own way,
wants to rely on ourselves,
wants to live life in our timing,
in our way,
in the way that we think things should happen
and rejects the way God has designed us
and called us into relationship with himself.
And we've seen over the last few weeks
that in the gospel message,
the gospel message is not good advice
to try and self-cure yourself
because the disease is too deadly
for your little bit of moral improvement
to fix you.
But the gospel is this good news
that Jesus Christ,
he lived the life that you and I couldn't live
free from this virus.
And he died the death that you and I should have died
so that we could have this restored,
healed relationship with him
and with each other.
And as we believe and trust
in this gospel message in Christ,
that gospel then is not just the entrance point
into the community of faith,
it's also the power to transform our lives.
And that's what we've been looking at.
And the power to make us more and more like Jesus.
And so I want to show today,
we've been looking at gospel,
how that gospel message then flows into our life
as a church in the community.
So I'm going to look at three things, okay?
It's a classic sermon with three points.
So you're not going to be too confused.
The first one,
a chosen people formed by the gospel,
a messy people,
a sinful people changed by the gospel,
and then a word-filled people speaking the gospel.
Okay?
So have your passage open
and we're going to have a look through.
So a chosen people.
Just some background.
The book of Colossians
is written by Paul
to a small house church
in a place in Turkey,
which some of us have been very close to,
called Colossae.
And this church is probably a mix
of Jews and non-Jews, Gentiles,
in the midst of the pagan Roman Empire.
And Paul has spent three chapters,
as Kevin said last week,
telling the Colossians
that Jesus is so much better
than all the philosophies
that are going around.
These were philosophies
which told you
if you just rely on yourself,
if you just get a bit of self-improvement,
you can make your life
a better you.
And they had these things
that if you're keeping the rules,
then you're kind of in,
in the in crowd.
And if you're breaking the rules,
then you're out.
And the Jews had certain rules,
like don't eat pork,
circumcise,
keep the Sabbath.
And the non-Jews
had certain rules,
like eat pork,
don't restrict my diet,
like don't impose on my freedom,
worship all these other gods,
don't kind of restrict yourself
down to one.
The Jewish people
had a license to performance
of everything that they wanted
to do through the rules.
Some people wanted to do everything
breaking the rules.
And the clash of cultures and rules
often resulted in division
and separation.
But Paul has been saying
that now in the gospel,
Jesus who's the supreme Lord
of all creation,
he's the ruler and sustainer
of everything,
through his death,
he has brought together
these people who are totally divided,
and he's brought them together
in one radically different community.
Not based on a performance
to a whole lot of rules,
not based on a license to sin
and do whatever you want,
but based on the gospel,
and this is what we call church.
So,
if I were to ask you,
what is church?
What would you normally say?
Anyone?
Sorry.
You're whispering very loudly.
Sorry?
A community of believers?
Where you get baptized?
Yes.
We have all kinds of definitions of church.
Some of us think it's a building,
some of us actually think
it's a meeting place.
Many of us will say,
oh,
it's a community of believers,
but functionally,
we treat it as something different.
But,
here's Paul's definition of church,
or one of his.
He says,
verse 12,
put on then,
as God's chosen people,
holy and beloved,
or dearly loved.
God's chosen people,
holy and beloved.
And what he's doing,
he's taking a title from the Old Testament
for Israel.
People who were chosen out of many nations
to know and be in this covenant relationship
with the living God.
They had to be given his word and his promises,
and then to live,
they were called to then live a distinctive lifestyle
among the nations,
so that other people would know that he truly is God.
And what he does,
what Paul does,
is he takes this same title,
and now he says to this little group of believers in Turkey,
and he says,
just as God chose Israel to be his special people,
so God has chosen you.
He's chosen you
to be his people.
You know,
when I was growing up,
and I'm sure you do this in Hong Kong as well,
but we used to play football in the playground.
And so whenever we'd start playing football,
people would pick teams.
And you know,
there was always one kid who was left at the end
who nobody wanted
because he was useless at football.
And everyone would be going,
oh, you have him.
You have him.
No, no, I don't want him.
You have him.
And the thing is,
what God comes along,
and he says,
you are like that kid.
That kid is you and me.
Because your performance
really doesn't stand up to anything.
But I'll have you.
I'll have you for my team.
Not based on anything that you have done.
Not based on anything of how great you are,
but based on something of how great I am.
And how great my love is for you.
You know,
the Israelites,
in the book of Deuteronomy,
God says to them,
I didn't choose you
because you're more numerous,
because you are amazing.
I chose you because I loved you.
I chose you because I loved you
to show my power and my glory
to people around.
Which means this.
Church is not my idea or your idea.
It's God's idea.
And church is not just a place you go to.
It's an identity.
It's a people you belong to.
Jesus didn't save us
to go to a meeting once a week.
Did you know that?
He saved us
to be part of his people.
random selfish individuals
brought together
to be his family for his glory.
It's his choice.
His initiative.
And it's not just an identity
initiated by God.
He then says,
your chosen people,
holy.
Do you know what holy means?
Holy means set apart
for God.
Belonging to him.
We're his.
You know,
in the Old Testament,
there's Moses.
When he sees this burning bush,
he comes and approaches
the burning bush.
And God says to him,
take off your sandals
because you are standing
on holy ground.
Why is it holy?
It's holy
because God's presence is there.
It's reserved for God.
If you are a Christian,
you and I are reserved for God.
Did you know that?
His church is reserved for God.
That is an incredible privilege.
You know,
when I married my wife,
I became set apart for her.
I'm hers and she's mine.
Now the thing is,
that cannot just be an idea in my head.
That shapes me.
I can no longer do everything I could do
when I was single.
If I try,
things won't go well.
Because I've got a new identity.
I'm not my own,
Paul says.
I was bought at a price.
Which when we're talking about church,
means this.
If we're holy to God,
it means this is God's church.
It's not my church.
It's not Kevin's church.
It's not the elder's church.
It's his church.
Which means something
even more uncomfortable.
It means,
if this is truly his church,
then there should always be something in church
which will make you uncomfortable.
Do you know why?
Because if everything's comfortable
for a sinful person like me,
I've probably made it into my church,
not God's church.
Right?
Because I want it the way I want it,
not the way God wants it.
And so like,
we come along on a Sunday morning
and we go,
I wonder if the sermon's gonna be good today.
Or you're in your CG
and you're like,
I just don't click with my CG leader.
I think I'd like to go and join another CG.
Rather than going,
God, this is about you.
So how can I worship you
and serve you
and love the people around me?
How can I love even these people
I don't always get on with?
Well,
because we're holy people.
We belong to him.
We're his.
We're chosen.
And also,
thirdly,
he says here,
we're beloved.
We're dearly loved.
Do you know Jesus loves this church?
Oscar knows it.
Just look around you, okay?
Look around you
at the motley crew
that is around you right now
and say to the person next to you,
God says you are part of
his chosen,
holy,
dearly loved people.
And,
God says you are part of
your kingdom.
He's chosen.
Now,
I know somebody,
I know somebody
who is considering
donating their kidney
for their brother
to save his life
because
even though the operation
is very dangerous
and could have consequences
for him,
he loves his brother
that much
that he's willing to do it.
Do you know,
Jesus didn't just give a kidney
for us,
for his church.
He gave his life for us.
That's how much he loves
and delights in the church.
And he doesn't delight in it
just worldwide,
although that's true.
He delights in a specific
individual church.
Regardless of your sin,
regardless of your past,
regardless of anything
you have done before,
his love is upon us
if you are a believer in him.
He died
so that the person
sitting next to you
could be sitting next to you
here right now
because he wanted them
in this church.
Did you know that?
You might not want them
in this church.
You might be wishing
they were in another church,
but Jesus wanted them here.
And it's his church.
It's not our church.
And so the question is,
if I love Jesus,
I'm called to love
those he loves.
So do I love them?
Do I see them as his family?
How does the gospel
help us to become better lovers
of those God loves?
Let's have a look at that.
We said the gospel
is what creates this community.
We're chosen,
we're holy,
we're dearly loved.
We're people from many,
many different backgrounds.
And second point,
we're sinful people
changed by the gospel.
You know,
Kevin said last week
that it's easy
for people to believe
we become a Christian
through just believing
this gospel message
and then we kind of move on
to like a whole load
of working hard
spiritual practices,
pray hard,
do a lot of good
moral behavior.
And it's very easy
in the same way
to do that.
When we join the church,
we come to join the church
through believing the gospel
and then we think
that actually we kind of
carry on as church
through being very moral
and good
and behaving well.
That's why some non-believers
have said to me,
I don't want to come to church
because I'm not good enough.
You ever had people say that?
Do you know,
church should be the very place
that messed up people
feel most welcome.
Right?
Why?
Well,
let's have a look at this.
Paul knows this.
He says,
verse 12,
put on then
as God's chosen,
holy and beloved.
Put on.
You know,
when you get up in the morning,
you're going to look
in your wardrobe
and you decide
what you're going to wear.
Right?
You have to put something on.
What Paul is saying is,
every morning,
you have to decide
what are you going to put on,
what attitude
you're going to dress yourself in.
Am I going to dress myself
in what Christ has done
for my identity in the gospel
or just in my own selfish ways?
So he says,
put on then,
what does he say
you've got to put on?
Compassionate hearts,
kindness,
humility,
meekness,
patience,
bearing with one another.
And if one has a complaint
against another,
forgiving each other
as the Lord has forgiven you,
so also you must forgive.
If you have a look
at that list of qualities,
how many of you would like
to have those qualities
in your relationships?
Okay,
good number.
Well,
just think about it.
Why do you need
to have compassionate hearts?
Because people
that you come into,
even today,
are more broken
than you realize.
Why do you need kindness?
Because there's going to be
a whole lot of times
when you're tempted
to be harsh and judgmental.
Why do you need meekness?
Because you're going
to be tempted
to try and push
your own way forward
all the time.
Paul says,
bear with one another
in love.
That means be in the long
haul with people.
Don't just tolerate them.
Keep persevering
in loving them.
Don't back out.
Now,
why do you need
to command someone
to bear with people?
Because sometimes
people can be unbearable,
right?
Especially Christians.
Right?
You see,
living out
what God has called us to
is hard work.
It's messy
because we're a bunch
of sinners.
And if you put
one sinner
and another sinner
together
in the same room,
it's like putting
stones together.
And you rub them
long enough,
what do you get?
Sparks or fireworks,
right?
Right?
And in one sense,
what Paul knows
is the reality
that actually,
if you are in church
long enough,
there will be conflict.
There will be times
it rubs up against you.
And if you never
have conflict
in your CGs,
your community groups,
then that's a clear
sign to you
that you're simply
either not close enough
to each other
or not honest enough
with each other.
because at Watermark,
we've really tried
to build a stronger
sense of community.
And I don't know
about you,
but community is
such a blessing
to us.
Like,
while we've been away,
just guys have been
amazing.
But there is a danger
for us,
and the danger is
that we surround
ourselves with people
we like and people
who are like us,
and we call it
Christian community.
Church the way
we want it.
You know,
you go to community
lunch,
and who do you
sit with?
You just sit with
the people
who are just like you.
But you have to think
what Paul is saying.
Has that displayed
the gospel
where Jew
and non-Jew,
where rich and poor,
where single and married
are brought together
in Jesus?
I might want to put
to you that maybe
that isn't gospel
created community.
Sometimes we may be
creating our own
community,
and just avoiding
the rub,
the awkwardness,
the challenge
of Christ-centered
community.
Because we're
a bunch of sinners.
But,
God's chosen people,
if I left you with that,
that would just
depress you.
But God's chosen people
are his means
to take the gospel
deeper into your heart.
Tim Keller,
and I know we've said
this a number of times,
so I think it's just
helpful,
summarizes the gospel
as you're more sinful
than you dare believe,
and you're more loved
than you dare hope.
Right?
The gospel tells us
that we're sinners.
You need a grace.
But actually,
I think in practice,
most of us don't really
think we're that sinful.
Or,
we actually don't
really believe
that other people
in the church
are that sinful
until you experience it.
until you experience
something of the difference
of them.
And it brings out
your own sin.
And sometimes,
it's not even their own sin,
it's sometimes the fact
that they're just
different from you.
But you see,
your heart gets exposed.
You know,
I don't think
I'm that judgmental.
But I was once asked
to usher
at a wedding
of some Nigerian
Christian friends
of a friend
who had very little money.
And so I agreed
to help out.
And so the wedding
was 11,
I arrived at 10,
there was no one.
10.15,
10.30,
10.45,
10.50,
no one turned up.
About 10.50,
the groom arrived.
And then,
there was kind of
this slow trickle
of people
suddenly started arriving.
About 11.15,
things started kicking off
a little bit.
So I decided to go down
five minutes down the road
to the reception venue
just to see
what was going on.
I walked into the hall.
There was nothing.
There were tables
just kind of
up at the side
and there was no one.
And I thought,
man,
the reception's starting
in like an hour.
And so I just started
taking down the tables,
putting up the tables
and started putting them out.
And then at about 12 o'clock,
some ladies came in.
And they came in with food
and they came in
with some tablecloths.
And I thought,
great,
now they're going to
kind of come and help.
So they put everything
down on the table
and then they started
doing their hair
for the next half an hour.
And so I'm taking everything.
There's 150 people at this.
I'm taking all the cutlery around.
I'm putting it all up
on there.
And people are going,
okay,
they're coming in like
five minutes.
And I'm rushing to and from.
And I ask one of them,
hey,
could you help me?
And she kind of
takes down one plate,
puts one plate down
and carries on doing her hair.
And while I'm doing this,
I get to the end of it
and finally I just put down
the last kind of set,
the last table
and then the bride and groom
and the other people
walked in.
And here I am like
collapsed on the floor
and everyone else is happy.
But I was furious.
Someone said to me,
oh,
thank you very much
for helping.
And I'm like,
that's not what I need.
And you see,
in my heart,
I was judging
and I'm just being honest,
I was judging
every Nigerian at that point.
But let me tell you,
in what seemed to me
as a British guy,
disorganization
and just cultural difference,
for me was actually
a gospel moment
because it started exposing
something in my own heart.
Because when people
don't perform
up to the expectations
you have,
maybe they're good,
maybe they're bad expectations,
when someone even
sins against you,
and it wasn't really
sin against me,
even then,
doesn't their sin
or their difference
start provoking your own?
And you slide off
what Kevin called
that gospel horse
that he talked about
last week,
where you slide
either into performance
or into license.
When you go into performance,
you just start judging people
and condemning them
for their behavior,
don't you?
Telling everyone else
about them.
or then we slide
the other way,
justifying the reason
why I'm angry
because it's righteous anger.
Don't we?
And when we're doing that,
what happens
in that moment,
I'm pressing
what I call
a gospel delete button.
Because at that moment,
if I allow
those things
to carry on
in my heart,
what happens
is my spiritual veins
begin to harden.
My love for Jesus
gets infected
by that sin virus.
And what happens
is it begins
to destroy
not only my joy
in Christ,
but it also destroys
the community around.
And Paul here
says,
if any of you
has a complaint,
what do you do?
Forgive one another.
And he knows
this is really hard.
So what he says,
he says it again.
As the Lord
has forgiven you,
so you also
must forgive.
Because when we get
offended,
when anger happens,
when complaining
arises in my heart
and I allow it
to fester,
do you know
that reveals to me
that I've lost
sight of the gospel?
people.
But Paul says,
forgive as the Lord
has forgiven you.
How did the Lord
forgive me?
When I was at my best
or when I was at my worst?
Right?
And if we don't get this,
have a look at this
whole list.
Compassion,
kindness,
humility,
meekness,
patience,
bearing with one
another,
forgiveness.
Do you know
that every single
one of those
are the characteristics
of how God in Christ
has treated us?
I mean,
let me just take
like one verse
which shows you this.
Romans 2 verse 4.
Do you presume,
this is Paul talking,
on the riches
of God's kindness
and forbearance
and patience,
not knowing
that God's kindness
is meant to lead you
to repentance?
I wonder,
do you know
the kindness
of God towards you?
Do you know
the patience
of God towards you?
Before he chose you,
he knew how impatient
you could be.
He knew how unkind
you could be.
He knew
that you can be
unbearable at times.
And if you're married
and you don't believe me,
just ask your spouse.
What?
God,
in his great mercy,
because he's rich
in love
and compassion,
he still died
to bring people
like you and me,
he still chose you
and me
to be part of his family.
So when we're impatient,
when we're unkind,
when we won't forgive,
it's a sign
that we've lost sight
of the immense
nature of his kindness
and patience
and forgiveness
towards us.
Let me just make that
personal.
Some of you here
have had issues
with people in the church,
maybe even your family,
maybe your spouses.
Some of you
have had needs
which you felt
were unmet.
Some of you
have felt
that people just
were judgmental
or too harsh
or they didn't care enough.
There were things
which was left said
or that you wish
had been said,
things that were unsaid
that you wish
hadn't been said.
And what God
wants to bring to you
is first of all,
he wants to bring
the gospel
of his kindness
to you.
He wants to tell you
first of all
that his arms
are open wide
for you.
And in these moments
what he's trying
to do
is he wants you
to run to him,
to be honest
with him,
to allow him
to come
and expose
your heart
and as you preach
the promises
of God
that you are
chosen by him,
dearly loved
by him,
he begins
to expose you
so that you
begin to see
that as you dwell
on his glory
of his forgiveness
and grace,
it begins to melt
your heart.
Because it's only
as I see
that I'm more sinful
than I dare believe
and yet I'm more loved
than I could ever
possibly imagine
that I can begin
to extend that
to other people
who I think
are far more sinful
than I dare believe
but are also
far more loved
than I could ever
possibly imagine.
And as we do that
it teaches us
not to wash
our hands
of people
but to show
grace,
kindness,
compassion,
persistent grace
to people.
You know,
there's never been
a person
who when there's
been a conflict
or an issue
who has run away
from that
or withdrawn
from that
and withdrawn
from community
who has ever
fallen more in love
with Jesus
because of that
decision.
And there has
never been a person
who experiences
the pain of community
and yet runs
to Jesus
in the midst
of it
in desperation
seeking him
who through
that experience
as they've
allowed the gospel
to deepen their heart
go in their hearts
and lead them
to seek to love others
who has not gone
deeper in the gospel
and has not seen
the love of Jesus
more beautiful
than they realized
it was before.
Because you know
if you have a conflict
with someone
and you work through it
what happens
to that relationship?
Doesn't it go deeper?
And so
this is what God
wants to do with us
in community.
He wants to both
take his love
deeper into us
through each other
through our messiness
to show you
his grace
in multi-color
and then to share
that with each other.
But how does that
not lead us
to what we called
license to sin
before?
Like
you know
someone comes to you
and says
hey I didn't tell you
I wasn't turning up
to help with kids
ministry today
because I thought
you could learn
patience.
Don't go there
okay?
That's not the gospel.
But we come to the
how do we stop
just sliding into
well you just
got to forgive people
and let them
let them off
everything.
How do we stop
that becoming
licensed to sin?
The third thing
the final thing
we're not just
a chosen
holy
dearly loved
people
we're not just
a sinful people
that God wants
to change
through even
the rub of each
other
we're also people
who speak the gospel
to each other.
Let me ask you
what's the difference
between doing
Airbnb
and dwelling
in a place?
You can answer.
Sorry.
Yeah one's permanent
the other one's temporary.
Airbnb you're there
for one, two, three days
maybe a week
but you dwell in the place
you unpack your bags
you settle in
you're just camped out there.
It's home.
Here's what Paul says
in verse 16.
Let the word of Christ
Airbnb in you.
Doesn't say that.
Let the word of Christ
dwell in you
richly.
What is he saying?
He's saying
this church
Airbnb
is like
okay
God's word Sunday
and then maybe
I'll do midweek
once
you know
once or twice.
No he's saying
no no no
it's got to dwell
so that your community
is so camped out
in God's words
that it's filling
your WhatsApp
that it's filling
your prayers
that it's filling
your community life
together.
It cannot be
Sunday
Airbnb only.
How does it dwell
with us?
He says
through teaching
admonishing
and singing.
That's why we sing
together
so that Christ
may dwell in our hearts.
Who does he say
the word of Christ
should dwell in?
you.
You there
is plural.
So he's not
talking
to the pastor
of Colossian
Watermark Church.
Who is he talking
saying it's the
responsibility
of mine
to help
the gospel
be taught
and admonished?
Whose responsibility
is that?
After me say
mine.
Mine.
whose responsibility
is it?
Okay.
Good.
It's my
responsibility.
Why is it
all of our
responsibilities?
Because I have
a gospel delete
button
and so do you.
Every day
it resets
again and again.
Sin is
this virus
is deceitful
because
every single
day I am
tempted to forget
the mercies
the patience
the kindness
of God
to me.
You've got
work deadlines
and a boss
who is breathing
fire and you're
tempted to fear
and believe that
your boss
determines your
life.
You look over
your peers
how their kids
are doing
and you're
tempted to feel
like oh
I'm behind
my kids
are behind
I've got to
prove myself
we've got to
somehow do
something to
catch up.
It doesn't
matter how long
you've been a
Christian
today
tomorrow
and every
day this week
there's going
to be moments
which are going
to come
and the gospel
in those moments
flies out of the
window and fear
flies in
unforgiveness
flies in
anger flies in
insecurity
flies in
unforgiveness
flies in
and the heart
can begin to
harden
and you know
what I lose
joy
I lose
peace
I lose
confidence
in Christ
and what
do I need
I need a
group of
people
a chosen
holy
dearly loved
group of
people
who are going
to come to
me and
remind me
of the
incredible
kindness
and grace
and patience
of God
himself
who come
to me and
bring the
gospel to
bear saying
Chris don't
fear
doesn't matter
what people
say about
you
your identity
is secure
you're chosen
you're holy
you're dearly
loved
so don't
let Satan
walk all
over you
this week
rise up
overcome
in him
because in
Christ you
are more
than a
conqueror
because he
has done
everything
for you
don't we
need that
so let me
ask you
who are you
doing that
with
who are you
encouraging
in the
gospel
daily
things I'm
just really
encouraging our
community
I just see
that happening
in just so
many different
ways and I
want to
encourage us
as a church
just to keep
going with
that
do you
know
who you
are called
to gospel
to bring the
gospel to
bear
are you doing
it
because our
brothers and
sisters we
need it
it's the only
way this
community can
flourish
but let me
finish with
there's one of
those things
that it says
the word of
Christ dwells in
us which is
maybe a little
more challenging
Paul says
admonish one
another
do you know
what to
admonish means
it means to
correct
to bring
someone back
to the right
path
you know
some people
think Christians
should be
nice to each
other
we think
that niceness
is like a
like a
Christian
virtue
I'm British
the British
invented
niceness
that's why we
say sorry
all the time
only Canadians
say sorry
more
and yet
niceness
is not
a fruit of
the spirit
love
joy
peace
patience
niceness
it's not
there
because
sometimes
niceness
can actually
mask our
lack of
love for
our
brothers
and sisters
and I'm
guilty of
this as
anyone
you know
Fiona and
I we try
and involve
other people
in our
lives
and
and one
of the
things that
has happened
in the
past is
people are
involved in
their lives
they see
Fiona and
myself
fighting
and I'm
generally
trying to
hide it
away
Fiona's
like out
and proud
like
no we're
we're gonna
do it
if we're gonna
do it
in front
of
everyone
which is
good
I mean
because
I remember
one partway
through one
fight
and you know
I'd gone
off and
you know
we separated
and
and one of
the people
who was
with us
came up
to me
and said
hey Chris
you know
I've just
noticed
that
sometimes
you struggle
with really
listening and
trying to
understand
Fiona's
perspective
I think
you should
actually
stop
thinking
about
yourself
and start
trying to
think about
your wife
here
obviously
my response
was filled
with kind
of thank
you
every
defensive
bone in
my body
was kind
of raised
but you
know
that person
loved me
because
that person
loved me
enough
to not
let the
sin virus
harden my
heart
and break
into my
relationship
with my
wife
and as I
went away
and thought
about it
I realized
she had
loved me
more than
all the
people who
stayed silent
about my
sin
and that
caused me
to turn
back to
Jesus
and say
God
forgive me
and as
I saw
that I'm
more sinful
than I
realized
I also
realized
but God
still loves
me
he still
accepts
me
and as I
could go
and apologize
to my
wife
do you see
the gospel
had begun
to go
work deeper
in my
heart
and actually
work deeper
into our
relationship
you see
that's it
he agrees
you see
this is
what it is
to be
church
some of
us here
we need
to repent
of our
niceness
we need
to repent
that we've
not allowed
the gospel
to give
us courage
in a
loving
relationship
and I'm
not talking
about being
harsh
I'm talking
about being
kind
but we
need to
have people
that love
us enough
to bear
with us
and forgive
us
to keep
sharing
the gospel
with us
to admonish
one another
without it
being harsh
without it
being judgmental
and this
is the
community
that Jesus
died for
that is
more precious
than a
thousand
of the
greatest
sermons
you could
ever listen
to
this is
the church
Jesus
died for
a sinful
messy
bunch
of people
but who
through
his power
and his
power
alone
can begin
to change
and we
are instruments
in each
other's lives
to enable
that to
happen
and Jesus
gets the
glory
because nobody's
going to look
at us
and say
wow
you're
amazing
but they'll
look at him
and say
Jesus
it says
here
whatever you
do
in word
or do
everything
in the name
of the
Lord
Jesus
giving
thanks
to God
the
father
through
him
that's
what
church
is about
the glory
of God
through a
broken
messy
people
like us
let's
just pray
actually on
the screen
there's a few
questions
here
and I want
you to
think about
these questions
in the light
of the grace
of God
I want you
to take
just a minute
to allow
God just
to speak
to your
heart
do you
see
the immensity
of what
Christ has
done to
bring you
into his
people
and do you
see how he
wants to
use you
and he
wants to
work
in his
people
and I
want to
give you
just a
minute
to just
do business
with God
right now
some of you
have
unforgiveness
in your
hearts
God wants
you to run
to him
today
not to
let that
go
another
day
where you
just
kind of
put that
off
and brush
it under
the carpet
some of
you have
got hurts
some of
you realize
you'd be
more wrapped
up in
yourself
than really
thinking about
anybody else
some of
you just
feel
there have
been things
in church
which have
hurt you
and just
wonder whether
God really
loves you
through
because you've
seen his
people hurt
you but
actually God
wants to
bring healing
to you
today
spend time
with him
right now
to
you
Amen.
Father, I just want to thank you.
That you would actually choose to choose us.
Thank you for your love.
Because without it, Lord, we would just be lost in.
And bitterness and harshness and judgmentalism.
A whole load of things which just tear people apart.
But because of what you have done.
Because of your great love for us.
We are not consumed, but you bring us the power to change.
The power to live life.
With a new perspective.
I pray, Father, for those of us who actually struggle with what it really means to be this people.
We struggle with the people in our community groups.
We struggle with things not being the way we want them to be.
I pray, come and minister.
And show, Lord, that you are everything that we need.
I pray for those of us, Lord, who are sometimes cowardly.
When we see things in other people's lives, we either respond with harshness or respond with silence.
But I pray, teach us to know how to love with such great compassion.
That we have such great boldness.
Because we have such a great savior.
That our identity is not at stake.
When we come and share just how to point each other back to you.
Make us a people who are willing to be courageous with the gospel.
Give us your power.
Work in this church, Father, that your name might be glorified.
Thank you for your goodness.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.