Sermons on Colossians (Page 2)

Colossians 3:5-11 In his 1977 album, “The Rambler”, legendary singer-songwriter Johnny Cash criticized a certain attitude he witnessed in the Church: “You’re shining your light and shine it you should / But you’re so heavenly minded, you’re no earthly good”. Perhaps we understand his point — but is it true? Is it possible to be “so heavenly minded” that we become “no earthly good”? Join us this Sunday as we see how being “heavenly minded” can actually give us the freedom to become who we were always meant to be — and to be truly good for the world.

Colossians 3:1-4 It’s been said that “metaphor is the language of faith” — it’s hard to imagine how could we speak of divine, transcendent realities without using metaphors! But does that mean that everything we read in the Bible is a metaphor? When the Apostle Paul wrote that we “have been raised with Christ”, was that just a metaphor? Or was it a literal promise waiting to be fulfilled? And if it is a literal promise, what difference does that make in our lives? Join us this Sunday as we sort the literal from the metaphor and rediscover another corner piece truth from the Letter to the Colossians.

Colossians 3:1-4 It’s the new year…isn’t it? Or, a few days in, has the newness already worn off? The way life comes at us these days, it wouldn’t be surprising if that were the case for many of us. For many of us, it hasn’t taken long for the “new” year to fill the tables of our lives with puzzles to solve. And the question is: Where do we begin? How do we bring the pieces of our lives together, to make it all fit? Join us this Sunday as we return to the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Colossians and set our minds on God’s corner piece truths.

Col 2:16-23 “No one,” said Jesus, “puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins — and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.” You don’t have to be a winemaker to appreciate the wisdom of Christ’s reminder: Just as new wine can burst old wineskins, so the Way of Christ was never meant to be bound by tradition. Yet, there is a place for the old as much as there is for the new — both belong to Christ! Come join us this Sunday as we explore the right — and wrong — ways we often use tradition as travelers on the ever-new, ever-reforming, ever-reconstructing Way of Christ.

Col 2:6-8, 13-15 It is often suggested that in order to win in the various arenas of life — whether martial, social, or political — we must be willing to play by the same rules as our competitors, to stoop down to their level, to get into the mud with them. Christ achieved total victory over His enemies in a wholly different way — and only by His upside-down victory will the world be turned right-side-up. Come join us on Sunday as we look into Christ’s cross-shaped path to victory and rediscover our own triumph.

Col 2:6-12 God’s love and salvation comes to us unconditionally – but our experience of His love and salvation require our engagement: We must say Yes, not just at the altar call but in our day-to-day lives; not just to the Gospel pitch but to Gospel obedience over the course of this sojourn called Life. Join us this Sunday as we return to the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Colossians and hear about “The Purpose of Christ”.

Col 1:25-27; 2:1-3 In the film “Interstellar”, director Christopher Nolan suggests that love is as powerful a force in our lives as gravity. As Christians, we know this to be more than a mere suggestion — it is the truth we experience for ourselves, as outsiders who are being drawn to God by the love of Christ. Come join us this Sunday to hear more about “the Mystery of Christ” as we return to Colossians 1:25-27; 2:1-3.

Colossians 1:24-2:5 We live in a world of influencers and platforms; a world of content creators and followers; a world that poses some interesting challenges to following the Way of Christ. And that is the overall focus of this series of sermons in Colossians; as people seeking to be “Centered on Christ”, how do we follow the Way of Christ? It turns out that continuing on the Way of Christ requires us to be thoughtful about who we listen to, whose opinions we value, whose influence we embrace. Let’s unpack this thought this Sunday as we take our first look into Colossians 1:24-2:5.

Col 1:21-23 God’s love and salvation comes to us unconditionally – but our experience of His love and salvation require our engagement: We must say Yes, not just at the altar call but in our day-to-day lives; not just to the Gospel pitch but to Gospel obedience over the course of this sojourn called Life. Join us this Sunday as we return to the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Colossians and hear about “The Purpose of Christ”.

Col 1:15-17 What do chiastic poetic structures, the Early Church, and a middle-aged Italian plumber in a land of sentient mushrooms have in common? They all point to the ultimate reality of the Lord Jesus Christ! Join us this Sunday in finding out how as we take a look at Colossians 1:15-17 — and gaze more deeply into the glory of God in Christ.

Col 1:9-14 A month ago, at the height of Christmas shopping, many of us were asking, “What do you give the person who has everything?” When we think about the Colossian Christians’ faith, hope, and love, we might wonder something similar: What do you pray for the person who already has these things? The Apostle Paul would have answered, “More of the same!” Come find out why in the third sermon of our series in the Letter to the Colossians — as we look at Colossians 1:9-14, perhaps we will see why consistency is key when it comes to faith, hope, and love.

Col 1:3-8 What do Christ and a 66 million-year-old, dinosaur-killing asteroid have in common? More than you might think! The astrophysics continues into the second week of our study of Paul’s letter to the Colossians as we take a look at Colossians 1:3-8 and consider “the Impact of Christ”. Massive things make an impact; what impact does Christ make on our lives?