Continuing The Journey!

SERMON OUTLINE:

(1). We received Him as…

• Christ (vs 6a).

• Jesus (vs 6b).

• Lord (vs 6c).

(2). We continue in Him by being...

• Rooted in Him (vs 7a).

• Built up in Him (vs 7b).

• Established in the faith (vs 7c).

• Overflowing with gratitude (vs 7d).

SERMON BODY:

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

ill:

• 800,000 words in the English language.

• 300,000 are technical terms.

• Average person knows about 10,000 words;

• And on average uses about 5,000 words.

• The oldest word in the English language is "town"

• "I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.

• The only 15-letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is:

• "Uncopyrightable."

• The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."

• Uses every letter in the alphabet;

• And was developed by Western Union to test telex/twx communications

• No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, and purple.

• "I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.

• TRANSITION: Now it’s easy to misunderstand some words:

• Years ago a colleague of mine Bob Telford was running a tent mission,

• After school they ran a children’s club and in the evenings a meeting for adults.

• The last children’s meeting finished Friday night;

• But they continued meetings for adults over the weekend.

• In those days Bob used to use Saturday mornings as a response time;

• A counselling time.

• And he said to the children on the Thursday and Friday evenings;

• “If you want to receive Christ, if you want to become a Christian,

• Then come along on Saturday morning”

• Saturday came around and one little boy turned up and said;

• “I am here for communion”

• Bob said; “We don’t do communion, you’ve got that wrong”

• But the boy insisted; “No! You said, come along to communion on Saturday!”

• Then Bob realised the misunderstanding;

• For a catholic “to receive Christ” means to take communion.

• TRANSITION: some words can have various meanings;

• Depending on your background or the context in which you use them.

• When the apostle Paul uses that expression; “Received Christ”,

• He is not talking about taking communion,

• Rather he is talking about the time these people were converted, came to faith.

The word “received” means “to receive as transmitted” from someone else (i.e. teachers).

Ill #1:

• The apostle Paul who wrote this letter was once a hater of Christians;

• He loathed them, he was angry with them.

• i.e. Rabbis joke.

• One day on the road to Damascus;

• He encountered the risen Christ,

• And the persecutor became a preacher.

Ill #2:

• He then preached it and taught it and passed it on to others,

• Such as Epaphras who you meet in chapter 1 of this letter.

• (Colossians chapter 1 verse 7),

• The apostle Paul had never visited Colossi (chapter 2 verse 1).

• But he did spend three years working 100 miles away in Ephesus.

• Acts chapter 19 verse 10 tells us that; People from all over Asia visited that city;

• They heard the gospel, got converted & returned home with the message

• One of those visitors to Ephesus who was converted;

• Was a man named ‘Epaphras’

• Ephaphras was a citizen of Colossi,

• And when he returned home he shared the gospel with his relatives and friends.

Ill #3:

• Many of the friends and relatives of Ephaphras;

• Also came to faith, they were converted and as a result a church was planted.

• TRANSITION: This “receiving” was more than a message,

• It involved a person – Jesus Christ!

• These Christians were those who had received him!

(1). We received Him as…

• Notice: The order of the name, ‘Christ Jesus the Lord’ is significant;

• I am told by those in the know, that:

• The exact Greek sequence of names and articles is unique here in the New Testament,

• So we will look at them in the order given.

(A). We received Him as the Christ.

Ill:

• Most people think ‘Christ’ is the surname of Jesus.

• But it is not so much a proper name as it is a title.

• “Christ” is a Greek word and Messiah is a Hebrew word;

• They both mean exactly the same meaning “anointed” or “anointed one.”

• TRANSITION:

• So it is not a surname but rather it is a title.