INTRODUCTION
„X I hoped everyone enjoyed the display our young people put on for us last Sunday. I hope that everyone who attended enjoyed the performance of the youth from Lori Hallat¡¦s church last night!
„X One of the things I hope you realized as you watched the young people last week and last night is that it took a lot of work to make those events happen. It took a lot of people doing various things to get the programs ready.
„X It took a lot of people who were displaying their faith and love for Jesus by doing something for Him.
„X I want have a question for you to ponder; it is one I have asked you before. How is your faith? Is it exciting or boring? Weak or strong? Hot or lukewarm?
„X I have something to share with you this morning that will help you grow like never before if you will pay attention and put what I have to say into practice.
„X One of the things that hurt us more than almost anything else is when we have a faith that does not cause us to invest ourselves in the things of God.
„X I want you to think about an athletic team. There are those who are in the game and there are those who are sitting on the bench and there are those who are in the stands watching with various levels of interest concerning what is going on.
„X The ones who are in the game are the ones who have been working hard and who are getting the most out of what they are doing. Most of the ones on the bench are striving to get into the game by putting in the extra work they need in order to get better. The ones sitting in the stands are living through the ones who are playing.
„X We have sort of the same thing when it comes to serving Jesus. There are those who are in the game, those who are sort of in the game and others who are trying to live their faith in the stands watching everyone else serve.
„X SLIDE #1
„X Today want to encourage you to ¡§Get into The Game.¡¨ We are going to look at what it takes for us to get into the game and to be successful once we are on the field!
„X Let us turn to Colossians 3:1-4 together this morning.
„X SLIDE #2
„X READ Colossians 3:1-4
„X SLIDE #3
SERMON
Getting into the game requires:
I. A FOCUSED MISSION (VERSE 1)
„X Verse 1 takes us back to Colossians 2:12
„X SLIDE #4
„X Colossians 2:12 (NASB) 12having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
„X Paul is not questioning whether we have been raised with Christ He is trying to remind us that we HAVE been raised with Christ.
„X Those who have been raised with Christ have a different set of expectations.
„X Once we are raised with Christ, we begin the work of conformity to the life of Christ.
„X The word translated ¡§raised up¡¨ literally mean to be ¡§co-resurrected¡¨.
„X SLIDE #5
„X Romans 6:3 - 4 (NASB) 3Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
„X This verse reminds us that when we give our lives to Christ and are immersed into Christ, we are then commanded to walk in a newness of life!
„X We are told that SINCE we were raised with Christ, we are to KEEP SEEKING the things from above.
„X This means that we are to put in an strong effort, a persevering effort. We are called to be constantly seeking that which is from above.
„X Setting their ¡§hearts on things above¡¨ (3:1) meant ¡§striving¡¨ to put heaven¡¦s priorities into daily practice.
„X We are not seeking to just discover, it is seeking to obtain. The emphasis is not on the seeking but on the object being sought.
„X We need to realize that seeking the things from above is not chasing phantoms, but it is gathering treasures.
„X SLIDE #6
„X Romans 2:7 - 8 (GWT) 7He will give everlasting life to those who search for glory, honor, and immortality by persisting in doing what is good. But he will bring 8anger and fury on those who, in selfish pride, refuse to believe the truth and who follow what is wrong.
„X We are told in this verse what we are to focus on.
„X I would imagine that many of our faith struggles comes from the fact that we are not always in active pursuit of the things from above.
„X This verse is calling us to set our hearts on the things above.
„X Why are we to focus or set our hearts on seeking the things from above? It is because that is where Christ is seated.
„X I would imagine some of you here today are not too focused on what is happening in Iraq. I would imagine some of you are EXTREMELY focused on what is going on in Iraq.
„X Why? Some of you have loved ones and friends who are their trying to help bring freedom to that part of the world. You have interest because someone important to you is there.
„X Are you lacking focus in your life? Seek; set your heart on the things from above. Make heaven be the aim of the practical pursuit of your life.
„X We have already received new life from God through the power of the Holy Spirit. We do not need to struggle and work to attain that life. What remains is to work out its implications in daily life. Because we had been raised, we have a clear responsibility to Christ, who had raised us.
„X SLIDE #7
Getting into the game requires:
II. A FOCUSED MIND (2)
„X The second thing that needs to happen with us is we need to have a focused mind.
„X There is a subtle difference between this verse and the thought in verse one.
„X The first verses deals with ¡§seeking heaven¡¨, whereas this passage deals with thinking heaven.
„X This deals with the inner disposition.
„X Seeking with the heart is cultivating a desire for heaven and thinking about heaven devises the ways in which we will go after it.
„X A focused mind will ponder and yearn for heaven. We are called to give a large place in our thought life to heaven.
„X Setting our minds on things above meant ¡§concentrating¡¨ on the eternal rather than the temporal, letting our thoughts dwell in the realm of Christ. We are to focus on the Lord Jesus. Thoughts can influence actions, so if Christians would place their thoughts above and not on the earth, their actions would please God.
„X Our mind set will determine our actions.
„X WE are called to see everything in the light of eternity.
„X How can we do this?
„X We must work on eliminating the distractions that keep our focus off of God.
„X SLIDE #8
„X Philippians 4:8 (NASB) 8Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
„X When we loose focus, we loose ground. When my girls on the softball team come to a game with their minds not focused on the task at hand, they play poorly.
„X When our minds are not focused on heaven, our lives will reflect it. WE will live our a faith with no heart, no passion, no sense of purpose, and no direction.
„X SLIDE #9
„X James 4:4 (GWT) 4You unfaithful people! Don¡¦t you know that love for this evil world is hatred toward God? Whoever wants to be a friend of this world is an enemy of God.
„X It is really hard to keep the distractions to a minimum.
„X We struggle a lot because our minds are not set on heaven. It is like driving down the highway as you look at the ditch. If you focus on the ditch too long, you will end up in it.
„X When our mind is focused too much on the world, then we will end up living as the world does.
„X If you want to grow and have an exciting faith, set your mind on the things above!
„X SLIDE #10
Getting into the game requires:
III. STAYING FOCUSED ON YOUR TEAM (3-4)
„X It is so important to remember whose team you are on.
„X WE need to realize that when we are immersed into Christ, when we cloth ourselves with Christ, that we are on His team.
„X Verse three reminds us that we died with Jesus and our life is hidden in Him.
„X SLIDE #11
„X Romans 6:11 (NASB) 11Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
„X Someone who is dead has no worries, no stresses, no love or hate. They are stone cold and motionless concerning all the things of this life.
„X We are on God¡¦s team and we need to make sure that we keep focused on that fact.
„X This is our motive for getting into the game.
„X Our life is belongs to Him!
„X SLIDE #12
„X Galatians 2:20 (NASB) 20¡§I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
„X Our life should reflect His life.
„X We cannot serve God on the sidelines, we MUST get into the game!
„X WE have a wonderful promise from Jesus, it is one we used during VBS. It is found in John 14:19
„X SLIDE #13
„X John 14:19 (NASB) 19¡§After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.
„X I love verse four, it says that when Christ, who is our life is revealed¡K
„X That what it is all about. Jesus who is our life.
„X When Jesus is our life, our life will change, our life will be different, our faith will have meaning and our lives will have purpose!
„X When we focus on the team, we are all winners. When we stay focused on the team, we will do things we sometimes do not like because we know whose team we are on.
CONCLUSION
„X Do you want to have an exciting faith? You need to get into the game!
„X WE need to have a focused mission, a focused mind, and we need to stay focused on the team we are on.
„X If we can implement these things into our lives, we will have what we have been looking for in Christ!
„X Do not stay on the sidelines, get into the game!
