INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• Expectations. Life is full of them.
• We have expectations for what school would be like, then college, then work, marriage, and eventually retirement!
• The thing about expectations is sometimes expectations are met, sometimes they are exceeded and other times expectations are missed big time!
• When you think of expectations for a moment, what were your expectations for your walk with Jesus?
• When you were immersed into Jesus, what were your expectations concerning your new life?
• Have those expectations been met, exceeded, or are you struggling with disappointment over how thing how developed?
• I a bit of good news and a bit of bad news.
• The bad first. If your expectations of how it would be to walk with Jesus have been exceeded or met, you will still need to tune in to the message today because whether YOUR expectations concerning your walk have been met or exceeded, there is still MORE!
• I pray that today can help you achieve an even more fulfilling walk with Jesus.
• The good news for those whose expectations have not been met is this, it can CHANGE!
• I want to tread compassionately with this statement. The reason things can change is the issue is not with God, it is with us!
• God wants you to enjoy a fulfilling walk with Him, so He has given us what we need. Today we will focus on some issues that can help us achieve what God desires for us!
• Let’s turn to Colossians 2:6-7 together to see what the Word says.
• SLIDE #2
• Colossians 2:6–7 (ESV) Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
Developing a fulfilling faith requires one to…
I. Endeavor to be rooted in Christ.
• Before we dissect the passage in order to gain a deeper understanding, we need to cover something that opens verse 6 and is the bones for the rest of the thoughts from verses 6-7 to hang on.
• We are told that as we received Christ, we are to walk in Him.
• The word WALK is a metaphor for living for Jesus, or living the life that Jesus has called us to live.
• Our journey is called a WALK, not a SPRINT or a RUN.
• A WALK implies moving forward at a steady pace.
• When I was in school and had to run a mile, I would start out WAY too fast and then I would burn out quickly because I did not have the talent or stamina to run at full speed for very long.
• We received Jesus with joy and excitement. We are called to live our lives for him in the same manner!
• Step by step, day by day, moment by moment we are to conduct ourselves in conscious submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior!
• Life is a journey and we are called to make steady progress.
• Life is too difficult to try to sprint through it.
• On a moment by moment basis we are called to walk in Christ. We are literally called to ask WWJD! We are called to do the BEST we can to live life in that manner!
• Living for Jesus will bring such fulfillment and purpose in your life. Once you start on the path, you will never want to turn back!
• Being able to live for Jesus does not happen by accident, it takes love, drive, determination and effort to make this happen.
• For a Christian, living for Jesus is not about some super natural feeling, it is about lovingly following the guidance of the Holy Spirit within us. Just as love is a verb, so is the word WALK!
• Now let’s dig deep to see how we can develop a fulfilling faith!
• Paul uses several metaphors in these two verses as he tries to convey to us what God’s will on this subject is for us.
• IF we are going to have a fulfilling walk, a successful walk with the Lord it begins with endeavoring to be rooted in Him.
• The word “rooted” is an agricultural term. It is also used in such a way as to tell us that the “rooting” a present state from a past action.
• This rooting takes place when we give our lives to Christ.
• But from that initial rooting, we have to continue to be ROOTED in Christ everyday.
• Our survival as a Christian depends on it.
• Just as plants draw nourishment from the soil through their roots, so the believers should draw life-giving strength from Christ.
• This plant will die unless it has something in which its roots can dig into and draw nourishment and stability from.
• Too many Christians are trying to live life without being rooted in Christ, they allow themselves to be uprooted by the world and the world’s way of thinking thereby cutting themselves off from nourishment Jesus offers!
• In the parable of the sower Jesus talks about spreading the seeds of the gospel to people and He said that some of them would fall away from the word when times got tough because they had no root.
• SLIDE #4
• Matthew 13:5–6 (ESV) Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.
• Being rooted in Jesus means that we are allowing our root system to grow deep into Christ. We are connected to Jesus and we are drawing constant nourishment from Him.
• Our live is derived from inward contact with Jesus. The foundation of our character is built from our relationship with Him.
• Our struggle to live for Jesus is at times difficult because we do not allow ourselves to be rooted in Him.
• How long do you think this plant will live without being rooted into the ground?
• If you want to successfully live for Jesus, make sure you are feeding on the Word of God and that you are surrounding yourself with His Word though books, and other media.
• SLIDE #5
Developing a fulfilling faith requires one to…
II. Allow yourself to experience the joy of being built up in Christ.
• It starts with being rooted, and then the building up can begin. This is where we get to experience a lot of joy!
• The word translated “built up” is an architectural term that speaks of the process of putting up a building.
• SO we go from being rooted to being built up. A building will only be as strong as the foundation it rests upon.
• The building up is a continual process, we are to never stop being built up in Christ.
• We have to resist the temptation of thinking that once we are rooted in Christ after we are immersed into Him that we will just grow because of time.
• Being built up is what the Christian life is about. When we come to Christ, we are like an old building that needed to be demolished.
• Once the old building is demolished, it is time to be built up in Him and by Him.
• Living for Jesus can and will be a struggle if we do not allow ourselves to experience the joy of being built up in Him.
• Many will be immersed into Christ, they become a new creation, but instead of being built up in Christ, they allow the rubble from the past life lay all over them, making it impossible to be built up.
• A local construction company is not only tearing down the old Ivy’s but they are removing the rubble so something else can be built in its’ place.
• They will not take the old windows or doors out of Ivy’s and put them in the new building.
• Many of us are empty lots of rubble. Some of us try to take the rubble of our old life and try to build ourselves up with the old material by doing the same things, going to the same places, feeding our minds with the same material, and spending time with the same people.
• Then we wonder why our walk is empty.
• SLIDE #6
• Ephesians 2:19–20 (ESV) So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
• We are built up by absorbing God’s Word, by being with other Christians. We are built up by spending time with God!
• SLIDE #7
• Acts 20:32 (ESV) And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
• God has a purpose for us, there is a reason we are to let God work on building us up!
• SLIDE #8
• 1 Peter 2:5 (ESV) you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
• SLIDE #9
Developing a fulfilling faith requires one to…
III. Focus on establishing your faith in Christ.
• We move from an agricultural term (rooted) to an architectural term (built up) to a legal term (established).
• The term “established” is a legal term that deals with the guarantee of a contract. If you have a contract, you can be sure that you will receive with it stated in the contract.
• As we are being built up in Christ, we start to realize that God actually delivers on His promises, both positive and negative.
• If our faith is weak, we will never be able to withstand the difficulties in life because we will not trust God.
• SLIDE #10
• James 1:5–8 (ESV) If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
• When we lack trust in God, we become double-minded, and when we are in that state our faith will be sorely lacking.
• God will help establish us!
• SLIDE #11
• 2 Corinthians 1:21–22 (ESV) And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
• SLIDE #12
• Let’s finish with this thought.
Developing a fulfilling faith requires one to…
IV. Live life with gratitude toward Christ.
• Overflowing with gratitude is the appropriate response to being rooted, built, and established in Christ.
• When we are truly grateful to someone, being with them, working for them and with them is not a burden.
• I get such a charge out of seeing people who loves Jesus so much, who appreciate their salvation so much that you when you see them serve God, you can see the joy at which they serve.
• Gratitude is a continual active response to what God has done for us.
• SLIDE #13
• Hebrews 13:15 (ESV) Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
• John MacArthur Jr states the following concerning gratitude:
• Praise completes the circle in which the blessings that flow to us from God return to Him in the form of our praise and adoration.
• By taking in the truth of the Word, believers get a strong mind. By living out those truths, they receive full assurance that Christ is who He claimed to be. Assured of that, they can appropriate the riches that are His legacy to believers, and walk in Him.
• As they walk in Him, they will grow in Him and become established in their faith. As a result, they will give praise to God.
CONCLUSION
• You can have the life that God wants you to have. You can have the life in Christ you desire to have also.
• You will not grow and mature be accident; it takes time, prayer and allowing God to work in your life.
• Many times we struggle in part because we do not do our part and we do not allow God to do His part.
• Do not cheat yourself out of a wonderfully rewarding life in Christ. Make sure you are rooted in Him, built up in Him.
• Let that establish your faith and live for Jesus with gratefulness!
