Sermon Video: Everything in the name of the Lord Jesus - Colossians 3:15-17

Culminating a section where he described what it means to be alive with Christ as a people of God whose hearts are set upon things above, Paul calls for the peace of Christ to rule in our hearts, for the message (Word) of Christ to dwell among us richly, emphasizing the role of music in both teaching and worship, and finishes with a rousing reminder that everything we do needs to be done "in the name of the Lord Jesus", all of it done with gratitude in our hearts toward God.  What an amazing call, what a challenge!

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Sermon Video: God's Chosen People: Bound together in love - Colossians 3:11-14

Having already told the people of the church at Colossae of the need to "put to death" their earthly nature with all of its vices, now Paul advocates for the virtues that the people of God must embrace as they disavow vice: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  As a precursor to this list, Paul reminds the church that "here", that is, in Christ, all of the distinctions and categories by which people divide themselves into subgroups no longer apply, for "Christ is all, and is in all."
In addition to the need to develop and employ the virtues listed by Paul, a significant challenge, but one God's people can achieve through the Spirit, we are also told of the need to pursue these virtues while at the same time forgiving each other when we fail.  Lastly, and most importantly, is the need to "put on" love over all of these efforts, binding them together and leading to harmony.

*As a bonus, this sermon begins with an illustration about brotherly love drawn from the experience of the 9 members of the Fellowship in Tolkien's LOTR.*

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If you have a problem with Christians who don't look like you...

"Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised,barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all." - Colossians 3:11

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." - Galatians 3:28

During her television program on Wednesday night, Fox News host Laura Ingraham said the following: "The America we know and love doesn't exist anymore,massive demographic changes have been foisted on the American people, and they are changes that none of us ever voted for, and most of us don't like."  Ingraham said "this is related to both illegal and legal immigration."

Putting the politics of legal and illegal immigration aside, the comments by Laura Ingraham are said to be resonating with many Americans who self-identify as Christians, but they shouldn't be.  The vast majority of those coming to America from Latin or South America are in fact Christians, many of them more devout and committed to their faith than those living prosperously in America.  In that case, they are brothers and sisters in Christ of those who claim to be his followers.  It should not matter, at all, to a Christian what race or ethnicity a fellow Christian belongs to, what language he/she speaks, or what nation he/she was born in, for the shared bond of brotherhood is a spiritual one and a mutual experience of forgiveness of sins through the grace of God.  

In the end, those who claim to follow Christ, and yet look upon fellow Christians, who happen to look different than we do, as an "other" who are a "plague" of "vermin" threatening to "infest" America (and yes, such language is far to commonplace, and becoming more mainstream), have a far bigger problem than their politics.  For those who judge others based upon their outside appearance are rejecting the explicit teaching of the Gospel, rejecting the Lordship of Jesus Christ over the whole earth (and not just one nation or ethnic group), and allowing hatred to have a place in their hearts.  In other words, they are in rebellion against God.  Racism among Christians, or those claiming to be Christians, is a cancer, and a deadly one at that.  There is no need to sugarcoat this, it is a sin for any Christian to reject a fellow Christian because they don't look like them (or talk like them).  I have no idea if Laura Ingraham is a true follower of Jesus Christ (not my place to sit in judgment on that question), but I do know that those who applaud her fear of Christians (many of them asylum seekers or refugees) who don't look like "us", relegating these human being created in the image of God and for whom Christ died upon the cross, to the category of "them" and styling "them" as a threat, will answer to God one day for rejecting the teaching of the Word of God, "Christ is all, and is in all."

Sermon Video: Put to death your earthly nature - Colossians 3:5-10

Having told the people of the church at Colossae that following Jesus Christ necessitates setting their hearts and minds on "things above", Paul then proceeds in strong terms to emphasize the need to "put to death" the earthly nature that Christians retain (despite their salvation and the receiving of the Holy Spirit).  After listing some manifestations of our "earthly nature" (sexual immorality, lust, evil desires, greed, anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language); all of which must be eradicated, not simply controlled, Paul then adds one further warning to those who follow Christ, we must not lie to each other.  In the end, in Christ we have put on the new self, we have been transformed by the Holy Spirit, and we therefore must abandon the attitudes and actions of our former fallen nature.

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Sermon Video: Set your hearts on things above - Colossians 3:1-4

Having refuted legalism and asceticism as being illegitimate paths to piety for disciples of Jesus Christ, Paul turns his focus upon the appropriate direction for God's people, that is, their need to set their hearts and minds on "things above".  Instead of spelling individual things out, Paul focuses upon the direction and focus of the passions and thought processes of those who know that they will one day appear, with Christ, when he returns in glory.

What does it mean to have your heart or mind set upon things above? For the Christian, this means living here and now as a citizen of heaven.  Having the perspective of someone who knows the future and lives today in light of it.  It means having a spiritual perspective as well, one that sees beyond the material and one that invests in eternity (though self-sacrifice today).

To watch the video, click on the link below: