HOMESICK FOR CHRIST’S CHURCH
Colossians 2:1-8
Greenmount and O’Leary Churches of Christ
November 20, 2016
Audio link to an mp3 recording of this message: http://chirb.it/sg5042
INTRODUCTION:
1.) The definition for homesick is: to be sad because you are away from your family and home;
2.) Today we are going to look a man who was very homesick for his church family.
I) ATTITUDE FOR ACTION.
• Colossians 2:1
1.) He struggled for those he knew in the church.
A.) Paul always had great love and concern for the church.
B.) Paul was particularly struggling at this time for the churches.
ba.) As Paul was writing to the church it was sometime around A.D. 60-61 during Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome.
bb.) Even though a prisoner, and imprisoned in Rome, Paul had a certain amount of freedom during those two years he was there.
bba.) Acts 28:30-31
.01) While there Paul boldly preached the kingdom of God, and instructed people about the Lord Jesus Christ.
.02) He was still not able to go in person to visit with the churches of Colossae, or Laodicea, or some of the other congregations he had been involved with.
.03) Paul was really homesick for these churches.
C.) Paul’s only option was to struggle for the churches while imprisoned.
ca.) Paul was ministering to these congregations to the best of his ability, but that only through letter and through his time with God in prayer.
cb.) This was a very difficult time for Paul; He had many friends and loved ones whose face he could see in his mind and in his heart
who were very dear to his heart.
cba.) It was not just for those whom Paul knew in those churches.
2.) He struggled for those he had never met in the church.
A.) These churches had grown and continue to prosper.
B.) So as Paul was writing to the churches there were many people whom he had never met.
ba.) Even thought there were many Christians that Paul had not yet personally met, he knew they were brothers and sisters in Christ.
baa.) Even though many of these folks were strangers to the great Apostle, he had developed a love for these people because like him they were children of God redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ.
bab.) Like himself, these strangers were fellow human beings who had been overcome by sin, but had now experienced salvation in
Jesus Christ.
.01) That in itself was enough for Paul to have a great love for these people.
3.) He struggled that they would be encouraged in heart.
• Colossians 2:2
A.) This was not an easy time to be a Christian.
aa.) Paul himself was in prison because of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
ab.) Many of these Christians Paul was writing to were even then experiencing the challenge of living for Christ in the Roman Empire.
ac.) With Nero on the throne as Emperor, it took everything within you to be a child of God.
aca.) At such a terrible time to live as a saint, these Christians needed all the encouragement they could get to live the Christian life.
acb.) Paul struggled to do all that he could do to give encouragement to the body of Christ during such a difficult time.
B.) It doesn’t come out in this letter, but another reason this church may have been in great need of encouragement was an earthquake.
ba.) We do not know if the earthquake was before or after Paul had written this letter but the cities of Colossae and Laodicea were severely damaged by a bad earthquake in A.D. 60.
bb.) This was right around the same period of time when Paul was writing this letter to the church.
4.) He struggled that they would be united in heart and love. (Ever have a fight with your brother or sister?).
• Colossians 2:2
A.) One of the problems that has always been present in the body of Christ is the tendency for division and strife to happen in the church.
aa.) Jesus prayed against this, that the church would be united as one.
aaa.) John 17:20-23
ab.) Nearly thirty years after Jesus had prayed that prayer, Paul himself was struggling with the same thing in prayer to encourage the church.
B.) Perhaps that should not be a surprise because we all have sin, and that tends to make its way into all human relationships including the church.
II) ABSENCE MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER.
1.) Paul’s absence from them gave them fear that someone would deceive them. (You don’t like it when someone lies to you do you?)
• Colossians 2:4,8
A.) As a spiritual shepherd, and an Apostle of Christ, Paul wanted the best for this church in their spiritual journey.
B.) One of the drawbacks of Paul’s imprisonment was that he could not be there to give guidance to the church if they needed it.
ba.) The last thing Paul wanted to see was someone come into the church and to deceive them with false and unbiblical doctrines.
2.) Paul was absent in body but present in spirit.
• Colossians 2:5
A.) We will often hear somebody say today “I am not able to be there with you, but I will be there in spirit.”
B.) Sometimes that statement can be a genuine statement, but I have found many times it is today a copout statement.
ba.) Many times today when someone makes that statement, what they are really saying is “I do not consider this to be a priority and have better things to do.”
bb.) When Paul made this statement he was not copping out but genuinely wanted to be there and to see the church.
bba.) Paul with everything in his heart wanted to be there, but as a prisoner over 2,300 kilometers away, Paul could not come and see them in person.
bbb.) The best Paul could do was to send a letter to them, and to keep them in his prayers.
.01) Limited as he was, Paul did what he could do and sent them a letter of encouragement.
.02) His letter of encouragement we will elaborate more on in a minute, but as a summary of that letter my third point is to:
III) ALWAYS ABIDE IN CHRIST.
1.) Continue to live in Him.
A.) Paul was in prison.
B.) Paul had experienced a great deal of difficulties and challenges in life.
C.) Paul had experienced an awful lot because of his faith in Christ.
ca.) There were many people who had failed Paul. His Jewish brothers had tried to kill him; He had been beaten, imprisoned, ship-wrecked, stoned, and many other things.
cb.) Through everything he had experienced, Paul had learned that the only thing that was unchanging, and that would not fail him
was Jesus Christ.
cba.) As Paul wrote to these Christians and the many challenges they were facing, Paul told them the same lesson he had himself
learned: Jesus is the only one who will not fail, therefore abide in Him.
2.) Rooted in Christ.
A.) Roots are integral to a plant.
aa.) It is the root system that holds it into the ground.
aaa.) The height of a tree is equal to the width of its roots.
ab.) It is the root system that feeds and nurtures the plant.
ac.) It is the root system that gives life to a tree.
3.) Built up in Christ.
A.) Lumber does not just become a house.
aa.) It must be built up into that structure.
B.) Just as lumber does not automatically become a house so also we do not just naturally become built up in Christ.
ba.) It takes effort.
bb.) We have to read the Bible.
bc.) We have to pray.
bd.) We have to do what we can to become like Christ.
4.) Strengthened in the faith as they had been taught.
A.) Sometime it is just taking what we have already learned, and growing in that.
