Sermon Video: Our Obligation to family and in the workplace - Colossians 3:18-4:1

Having written concerning our obligations to the God who made us and redeemed us, Paul also expresses our obligations within our family structures (wives, husbands, children, parents) and within society as a whole focusing on the slave/master relationship (not of course equivalent to employee/employer, but with principles that can be applied to that modern relationship).  In each case, Paul emphasizes that how we act and interact in our relationships is a form of submission to the will of God, thus if we obey the Word of God in these areas we will do what is fitting/pleasing to the Lord.  There is also an emphasis on the need to be upright in our relationships at all times, not just when it is noticeable, knowing that God will later judge our actions.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

The upcoming election is NOT a referendum on Christianity

"This November 6 election is very much a referendum on not only me, it's a referendum on your religion, it's a referendum on free speech and the First Amendment. It's a referendum on so much," - President Donald Trump, speaking to an invited group of pastors and Christian leaders.

"You have to hopefully get out and get people to support us," Trump said. "If you don't, that will be the beginning of ending everything that you've gotten."

Trump warns evangelicals of 'violence' if GOP loses in the midterms - CNN

Here's the thing: No election will ever be a referendum on the Christian faith because no amount of earthly power (or lack thereof) has anything to do with the truth and power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  "Christian" kingdoms/countries/leaders could rule the world and it wouldn't make the claims of Christianity any more/less true, Christians could be a persecuted minority, bereft of power as they were before the conversion of Constantine in AD 312, and the truth of the Gospel would not be affected one iota by the powerlessness, in this world, of those who believe in what God has done for humanity in Jesus Christ.

Set aside the issue, thorny as it is, of the role of religion in politics in America (I've written about the danger of a cozy relationship may times already), and set aside one's opinion regarding the presidency of Donald Trump, and instead look at what is implied about Christianity, the Church, and the Gospel when a politician, any politician in any type of government, warns the Church that their legitimacy and/or survival depends upon victory in the pursuit of power in this world.  How weak, how fragile, how vulnerable, must Christianity be in the view of those who agree that the future of the entire religion hinges upon such a transitory and temporary allotment of earthly power?

There are major theological problems with viewing the success or failure of Christianity in political terms, not the least of which is the amazingly egocentric view that sees American Christianity as the harbinger of the health of the worldwide Church of Jesus Christ.  Should Christianity in America crumble and become a sad shell of what it once was, it would not call into question the truth of the Gospel or the power of God, for there are no political boundaries in the kingdom of God, if one portion of his Church struggles to fulfill its role in this world, for whatever reason, God will raise up another to take its place.  We have seen this phenomenon in action in our lifetimes, as the Church has lost adherents in Europe, and to a lesser extent in America, the Church has grown by leaps and bounds in Africa and Asia.  If the "center" of worldwide Christianity shifts from the West to the South and East, is that any concern of ours?  "Thy will be done," is something we've been taught to pray, do we really mean it, or are we adding silently, "as long as your will lines up with my preferences?"

Along similar lines, even if Christianity in America loses all semblance of political power, becomes a pariah in this culture, and perhaps even persecuted, who is to say that the Church itself will be unhealthier as a result?  Who is to say that the will of God is not for the people of God to experience hardship instead of generations of plenty?  Much of this false equivalence can be tied to the rise of the Prosperity Gospel, a false perversion of Christ's Gospel of servant-hood, but not all.  The bulk of Christianity in America deserves to shoulder a portion of the blame for our willingness to view success and failure through the eyes of man instead of the Word of God.  Perhaps we need a reminder of what the Word says regarding the power of the Gospel...

Matthew 16:18 New International Version (NIV)

18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

Romans 1:16 New International Version (NIV)

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

Philippians 2:10-11 New International Version (NIV)

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

1 John 5:4-5 New International Version (NIV)

4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

Revelation 21:6-7 New International Version (NIV)

6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

Is more needed?  Are we going to accept the testimony of the Word of God and stop depending upon the power of man?  If you are a Christian, do you really believe in the final victory of God through Jesus Christ over everything?  Is the Lord your shepherd?  Are you allowing him to lead you to quiet waters and green pastures, or has your devotion been split, do you follow the lead of another?

It doesn't matter which politician or political party we, as Christians and as a Church, choose to put our trust in, it doesn't matter what he/she/they advocate and stand for, if that allegiance receives our hope and trust, instead of the unalterable Word of God, instead of promises from God himself, we have become fools.  No election, in any country, in any year, no political power struggle, no control of earthly power, has anything to do with the validity of the Gospel.  Either it is the power of God to save the souls of mankind, and it will be victorious according to the Will of God, and for the glory of God, or it isn't, that's not something that hinges in any way upon a ballot box.

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!

To watch the video, click on the link below:

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.*

To watch the video, click on the link below:

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."