CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY
OPENING TEXT:
“I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:24-27).
• What does it mean that Christ is in us, the hope of glory?
• If we really believed this truth – how could it transform our lives and our community?
• Where is your God located? For many people, He is the God “out there.”
OVERVIEW OF THE OLD TESTAMENT:
• Creation – in Genesis 1-2, God created everything that exists, and it was good.
• Mankind – God’s masterpiece was mankind, created in His image.
• The Fall – Adam and Eve disobeyed God when they gave in to the devil’s temptation.
• The Curse – for centuries, mankind lived in darkness and godlessness.
• Then throughout the rest of the Old Testament, God began revealing Himself to mankind through the law and the prophets, until we come to the New Testament.
• The Incarnation – then Jesus came on the scene to reveal God to us.
THE LIFE OF JESUS:
• Jesus’ inaugural address: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed.” (Luke 4:18).
• The people’s response: “All who were there spoke well of him and were amazed by the gracious words that fell from his lips.” (Luke 4:22, NLT).
• An overview of His ministry: Quote Acts 10:38.
• Jesus said, “I didn’t come to be served, but to serve.” Everywhere He went, He asked people, “Is there anything that I can do for you?” (see Matt. 20:32 & Luke 18:41)
• God was revealing to people what God was like – “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.” But it was almost too good to be true!
• Jesus’ most shocking statement: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away…” (John 16:7a).
• What did Jesus mean by that? “…for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7b).
• However, after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the disciples were in hiding for 50 days! Nothing had changed yet. But something was about to change all of that…
THE BOOK OF ACTS:
“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord* in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4).
• This is what Jesus had been talking about – God came to live inside of them!
• In the Old Testament, God was ‘the God out there.’
• When Jesus walked the Earth, He was Emmanuel, ‘God with us.’
• NOW: ‘Christ is IN YOU, the hope of glory!’
THREE POINTS FROM PETER’S SERMON:
1. THE COMMUNITY OF PROPHETS:
“’And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.” (Acts 2:17).
• Peter quoted the prophet Joel and said that God was raising up a community of prophets
• Young and old, male and female, all would be prophetic. What does that mean?
• Prophetic = simply means someone who sees, hears and speaks from God’s perspective.
• To be filled with the Holy Spirit, and ready to meet the needs of those around you.
2. TROUBLED SIGNS IN THE WORLD:
“I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.” (Acts 2:19).
• This describes the systems, economies and governments of the world falling apart.
• These are the signs of the last days, and it is the world we’re living in today!
3. WHOEVER CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED:
“Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:21).
• When will people call on the name of the Lord?
• When the world is in chaos and their lives are falling apart.
• This is why we’re on the Earth today – why we have Christ in us, the hope of glory!
• People in the world are hurting, lost, lonely and broken. We have the answer!
• This might happen when you’re in the workplace, going on a coffee break, and a co-worker starts sharing their problems with you. What do you do? You can’t whip out a tract or tell them to call your pastor. No! Ask the Jesus question: “Is there anything that I can do for you?” You are filled with the presence of Christ – He is there with you!
PERSONAL STORIES:
• Friday at church, a hitchhiking traveler from Alberta came in looking for food and lodging. What did I do? Gave him money for food, and set him up at the hotel.
• Tell personal stories of times that I ministered to people by simply asking ’the Jesus question’.
QUOTE: “When love, acceptance and forgiveness prevail, the church of Jesus Christ becomes what Jesus was in the world: a center of love designed for the healing of broken people, and a force for God.” (Jerry Cook, Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness).
CLOSING ILLUSTRATION:
One day St. Francis of Assisi, invited a young monk to join him on a trip into town to preach. The young monk was so honored that he quickly accepted. All day long they walked through the streets, and rubbed shoulders and visited with hundreds of people.
At the end of the day, they headed back home, however, not even once had St. Francis talked to anyone about the gospel. The young monk was disappointed, and said to St. Francis, “I thought we were going into town to preach?" St. Francis responded, "My son, we have preached. We were preaching while we were walking. We were seen by many and our behavior was closely watched. It is of no use to walk anywhere to preach unless we preach everywhere as we walk!”
St. Francis also said, “Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, sometimes use words.”
QUOTE: “You are called not so much to do great things, as to be a great person--and that person is Jesus Christ. The church of Jesus Christ is the resident presence of Jesus in the world. That’s a foundational principle of incarnational Christianity: It doesn’t aim to get people to God; it brings Jesus to them. As God’s redeemed people, filled with his Spirit, we are people of destiny, purposely placed by God deep inside our culture.” (Jerry Cook, The Monday Morning Church).
CHALLENGE: Too many people have it backwards in the church and think it’s all about me being blessed. We are blessed to be a blessing, freely we’ve received, let’s freely give!
• Let’s be the prophetic community that takes Jesus to our world!
CLOSING: Do you have Christ in you? (Altar call for salvation)
NOTE: This message was inspired in part by a message Jerry Cook preached at the 2008 Canadian Foursquare Pastor’s Conference entitled, “Why I’m Pentecostal.”
Beausejour Community Church Website: www.beausejourchurch.ca
Pastor Chris Jordan’s Blog: http://thelandofpromise.blogspot.com/
