Return to Christ
Colossians 1:15-23
My job is not an easy one.
As the spiritual leader of this congregation, my job is to
Preach, teach and equip you for the work of the Lord.
My job is to encourage, to motivate, to inspire and help you grow in your personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
There are great spiritual benefits in my job but there are also some severe consequences for failure.
One passage of scripture that has always loomed large in my memory is James 3:1 “Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church for we who teach will be judged by God with greater strictness.”
Now being judged is something we cannot avoid but when you add to that judgment, “a greater strictness,”
That makes it even more concerning.
Know that I take what I do very seriously and if I come across to you as unpleasant or angry it is not my intention. My intention is help you see the importance of being connected to Jesus, who is the head of the body of which we are a part.
We’ve all heard the expression, “don’t lose your head.”
And we know that it is just a saying, that we don’t mean it literally.
I know and you know that we cannot live without our heads. But suppose for an instant we could live without our heads.
We would not have eyes to see.
A nose to smell..
Ears to hear…
No tongue to taste …
No voice to be heard…
No brain to guide us..
No face to recognize. Which is the key to our identity..
If the head of our physical bodies is the center of our physical life—think how much more vital is the head of the body of Christian believers which is the church.
The key message of Colossians is that Christ and Christ alone is the head of the church.
He is the first in everything (1:18.
Those of us who are Christians, and members of the church need to understand that CHRIST IS OUR HEAD!
He is our spiritual source of life! He is our guide and counselor!
He is our spiritual identity!
The Christians at Colosse had begun to debate this very important truth. And had started to sample other things just as many Christians are doing today.
Some began to worship angels, others focused on rituals, and still others blended Jewish, Greek, Eastern religions.
Other beliefs began to mix with Christianity watering down the gospel and confusing new converts.
Drifting away from Christ the head , the Colossians lost their identity with Him. They could easily fit into today’s society.
At one point and time we accepted Christ.
We were joyful and excited.
But the excitement has given way to Materialism—self-centeredness—or preoccupation.
Our greatest desire is no longer to please God-it is to please ourselves.
We have drifted away from the Godhead and are relying on our own human wisdom and ability to get us through this life.
1. We seek after the things that bring us pleasure.
2. We’re preoccupied with our own interests and desires.
3. We have become spiritually complacent and Christ is no longer important.
Christ is not merely an important part of our new life, he is our new life, the reason for all we do (3:11).Christ is all that matters and he lives in all of us.
When Christ is truly our head, others recognize us as Christians.
Paul told the Colossians, “If you have received Christ then walk with Him and be rooted in Him by knowing His word and obeying it (2:6-7). Listen (Read from NLT)
The only way this will happen is if God’s word is constantly alive you (3:16). “Let the Words of Christ, in all their richness live in your hearts and make you wise. Use His Words to teach and counsel each other.”
To become a Christian is to take on a new life in Christ, dropping the old life.
If the old sinful way of life dies, then your desire to sin should die, too.
Christians are endangered today, not from without as much as from within.
Having acknowledged Christ and then given in to materialism, self centeredness, or preoccupation with other things, we have lost the spiritual sensitivity to our head, Jesus Christ.
To be truly Christian, we must let the Word of God dwell richly in us, allowing Christ to be most important in our lives.
If we want to have a vibrant spiritual life we must first have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ!
Think about this for a moment.
Paul wrote this letter while he was imprisoned in Rome.
How does a man whose very life hangs by the threads, continue serving God faithfully and obediently?
It is plain and simple, Jesus was the center of Paul’s life!
Paul had a personal relationship with the Head of all creation and because of this he was able to focus on the things that please God rather than be consumed and concerned about his own physical condition or surroundings.
When we drift away from the Head, Jesus Christ, we begin weaving these little security blankets around ourselves and think we are safe, and then something comes along and starts to tear them apart and we panic and start scrambling in every direction without any real sense as to what is really important.
It takes a lot of faith to live an obedient Christian life today. Repeat!!!!
It takes a lot of faith to begin a project or start a out on a journey trusting in the Holy Spirit to be there when we need Him to show us the way.
But that is exactly what we are called to do.
God gives us resources to use in ministry and many times he only gives us enough to start –not to finish.
But as we step out in Faith—
believing what we need will be provided when we need it—
It always arrives on time if we are operating within will of God!
Last week our Finance Committee and Church Council met to discuss the affairs of our church
It turns out that we are almost 14,0000 behind in our bills.
We talked about what we could do catch up and get out of the red.
The first thing suggested was to let the congregation know just how bad our financial situation has become in case anyone doesn’t know..
There were other suggestions mentioned, such as stop paying our apportionments, (which by the way, I strongly disagree with), cut back on expenses, maybe cut out some programs etc.
As I was listening to the discussion, I noticed all the solutions were directed at stopping the things the church is doing to promote Christ but nothing was said about cutting out some of personal things we spend money and giving more to the church so we wouldn’t have to cut our ministries.
Nothing was said about cutting out a pleasure trip and donating the cost of that trip to the church.
Nothing was said about giving up a night out on the town and donating the cost of that to the church.
Nothing was said about foregoing some of the material pleasures we seek after and increasing our offering.
All the solutions involved the church making sacrifices but not us personally making any.
It is very discouraging when our discussions at meetings are always about what we can do as a church to cut cost and expenses—instead of what we can do to increase and enhance our presence in this community..
You know what makes me sad?
God is blessing us with many opportunities to serve this community and we are missing many of them because our time is used in focusing on how we are going to pay the bills.
When if the truth be known, if everyone here were tithing and giving back to God as God has so graciously given to us—our Treasurer would have the easiest job in the church.
A church that tithes never has fundraisers or financial campaigns. They devote their time to ministry.
We need to really take a good look at Today’s text because it gives us a much needed perspective as we look at ourselves, as we look at our Lord, and as we look at the work God has given us to do in the world.
It gives us a look at the kind of relationship we are to have with Christ—the Head of the church.
If we believe that Christ is the center and He alone holds all things together –then our vision for the future and our expectations of what we can accomplish takes on a whole new and brighter outlook.
I believe as Paul did, that Jesus is at the center of all things, and he stands with us, within us and all around us – holding all things together.
But if we don’t believe it, and don’t repent and turn back to Christ, then we will continue to slowly drift away and Christ the Head, will have no real impact on how we live our lives.
God makes a lot of promises to us in the Bible.
All of those promises are going to be fulfilled through the One we call Jesus!.
I believe with all my heart that God wants to use this church to ignite a fire for the Kingdom in this community.
I believe there is a spiritual awakening on the horizon and it is going to start right here in Fowlerville.
I believe that the gifts and talents in this church are so numerous until anything we set out to do there is someone here who is able lead us and guide us in the right direction.
But I also believe, like the people in Colossae, we have drifted away from Christ. We have become Spiritually complacent.
I believe we have drifted away from the Word.
We have lost contact with the source that gives our lives meaning and direction and power.
A huge problem in our churches today is the need for integrity of membership. If there is no submission to the Lordship of Christ there can be no unity in the congregation that calls itself his people.
When Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, he said, “ I beseech you by the name of Christ that you be of one mind and that there be no divisions among you.”
So if Christ is not the center, how can there be unity?
The body cannot function without the Head.
Without the head, we cannot see where we are going or what we are doing.
We can’t hear the cries of the needy.
We can’t minister to the sick, and elderly,
We can’t see to read God’s Word.
Without the head we are lost!
Doomed to wander around blindly without direction.
The good news is it is not too late to turn around.
It is not too late to come home to Jesus.
It is not too late to move Christ back into the Center where he belongs.
Once we do that, Once Christ is the Center we will find the Unity and cooperation we need to move forward.
Christian Faith involves more that standards and doctrines, it requires a ready and willing attitude to join together in Unity to achieve God’s purpose.
I close with this.
While Dr. Howard Thermann was the pastor at Howard University Rainken Chapel, in Washington DC, he preached on Fellowship one morning.
As he stood greeting those who were in worship, one young man lingered behind because he wanted to talk with Dr. Thermann about one part of the sermon.
As he shook Dr. Thurman’s hand, He said, “Dr Thermann, you talked about fellowship this morning. But tell me just how far would you go with that fellowship knowing that you are a black man in a white man’s world?”
Dr. Thermann with the very easing smile of his was still holding the young man’s hand when he looked him square in the eye and said, “ How far would I go? I would go all the way. And I wouldn’t have any escape clauses written on a piece of paper hidden away in my back pocket.”
How far will you go to create unity in the church?
When Christ is the center and we understand his position in the church, there is nothing that we will allow to divide us from one another.
It is not about me. It is not about you. It is about loving Christ enough to see Him at the Center of everything we set out to do.
How far will you go?
If you have drifted away from the Head..
If you feel you have strayed and want to asks God’s forgiveness…
If you something is toughing at you now and you wan to recommit your life to Christ.
If you are willing join in prayer with thousands of other Christians all over this country, who are praying for a Revival…
I invite you to come to the altar now.
Come to the altar and fall on your Knees and repent and return to Jesus. Please come now.
Jesus is so willing to forgive and forget. Amen
