Back to the Root Colossians 2:6-7

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Good morning to everyone We're glad for the regular and faithful to be here and we're glad to welcome any who are visiting today

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We hope you feel at home and welcome here today As I was thinking of just a word to encourage it.

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I was thinking of Psalm 34 and it says Oh Magnify the

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Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. I Thought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears

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They looked on him and were radiant and their faces were not ashamed

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And as I read thought Psalm 34 Do you ever feel like sometimes you?

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Want to know the Lord's there and you're just not sure it feels like your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling If you read on in that chapter in verses 17

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It says the righteous cry out and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles

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The Lord is near to those who have a broken and saves such as has a contrite heart

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And I think when I was a young man, I was a wise guy. Oh, you wouldn't believe that right?

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No, and I thought I knew everything And it was

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I was really a young adult before I realized I couldn't do anything of any

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Help to the Lord unless I had a broken heart and the Lord had to break me and a contrite heart

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Means it crushed, you know He saves such but he wants a person that comes to him with a broken heart and says

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Lord. You're everything and I'm nothing And then he can use you and he can use me

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So I pray today that as we come together and as it says we sought the Lord and he heard me

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We pray that this is the day that we all hear the word of the Lord and it's encouragement to each one of us

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Lift up your hearts with me as we pray to the Lord Heavenly Father we come before you today

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Thanking you for your blessings that you shower upon us continually Thank thankful Lord for the word that you give to us to tell us how that we can approach you and How you can use us and desire to use us

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We pray Heavenly Father to each one that we would realize that we need to be broken before we can be used and We would just thank you

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Lord for showing us that in your word We would pray for everyone that is here today

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Pray that you would give us open hearts and open ears to hear what you have for us And we look forward to a blessing from you we pray that you would be with the songs that we sing those that play the instruments pray that it might be a

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Sweet odor to you in heaven and we'll thank you and pray in Jesus name.

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Amen Jesus Christ is Lord Neither is there salvation in any other for there is done under none other name than Jesus Under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved

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Thank you, please be seated and pastor Iljin Please turn with me to the book of Colossians chapter 2

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Verses 6 through 7 Colossians 2 verses 6 through 7 as You therefore have received

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Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in him rooted and built up in him and Established in the faith as you have been taught

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Abounding in it with thanksgiving This is the word of the Lord Let us pray

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Father we thank you that Our foundation is in Christ and God we thank you that that foundation is immovable unchangeable firm

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Father we pray that your spirit would work in our hearts To Help us know

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What that means? To be rooted in Christ and may our actions and words and thoughts reflect

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Those who are rooted in Christ in Jesus name When I say the word tradition

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For some of us it leaves a bitter taste in our mouths This may be due to some

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Catholic influence in our lives Because they hold human tradition and scripture on the same level oftentimes human traditions trumping scripture

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Or it could be the Pharisees in the Gospels Who broke

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God's Word and held traditions of elders at the same level? or even higher

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However The importance of the correct tradition is highlighted here The tradition that the church received from Christ After all we are all standing on the shoulders of the previous

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Giants where would we be if the early church did not fight against the heretics and Clarify what it means to worship the triune

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God Where would we be if the early church did not fight off the

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Gnostics who said that Christ didn't come in the flesh? Where would we be if the fundamentalists and evangelicals of the 20th century did not debate the modernists

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Who believe that there were no miracles? Without them we would be worshiping a totally different God Without them we would have lost

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Jesus complete and sufficient work on the cross for our sin and without them we would be doubting every miracle from the

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Bible even the resurrection as Christians we are not against all traditions

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After all we have received Christ from scripture, which was passed down to us faithfully and accurately for millennia

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We are against traditions of men that contradict the tradition of Christ Hence as Christians we firmly hold to the tradition that has been passed down to us through scripture

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Scripture is the ultimate standard that we use to verify the historical doctrines and Positions held by the church

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Scripture is how we know that the gospel of Jesus is true for the

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Bible tells me so Scripture has been passed down to us faithfully for thousands of years and In the same way

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Paul urges the church in Colossae to hold on to Christ that they have received from the

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Apostles or people who know the Apostles Don't try to add anything else

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You don't need to add worship of angels. You don't need to add

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Certain foods you need to eat Certain drinks you have to drink certain days.

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You have to not work Or certain festivals you have to keep Don't add those things to Christ today

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The text moves from the introduction of Paul's interaction with introduction of Paul and his ministry to his interaction with the philosophy of the false teachers

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This is the beginning of his attack against the false teaching in Colossae Now before Paul deals with the false teachers he starts with an exhortation an encouragement he urges the church to continue with the traditional teaching that the church has received of Christ the one who rules supremely over creation and new creation and He's the revealed mystery of God for the redemptive plan

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The question that this text asks is how do we continue in our faith?

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despite the false teaching How do we continue in our faith despite the false teaching which leads to my main point as We have been first taught we walk rooted in Christ a bounding and thanksgiving as We have been first taught we walk rooted in Christ Abounding in thanksgiving

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First we walk in Christ as we received him as Lord We walk in Christ as we received him as Lord For the

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Colossian Church Paul encourages them to continue in their faith as how as how they've started in their faith

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When they received Christ as Lord Verse 6 as you therefore have received

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Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in him The word for receive here means the

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Colossian Church did not inherently did not in the beginning have Christ But someone introduced

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Christ to them by proclaiming the gospel Someone came and preached the gospel of Jesus to them

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The reality of Christ's work on the cross To purchase our forgiveness was delivered to them.

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They weren't born with this. They weren't born into this Christianity The Lord The word the

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Lord shows that Christ cannot be received any other way Christ is not some life coach

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To help you live successfully Christ is not your political activist whom you can refer to for your own agenda

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Well, Jesus would have voted this way Jesus would have supported this bill.

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This is on Christian No Christ is

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Lord Lord means master When you receive

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Christ you're no longer in charge But he is the ruler of your life

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Christ is Lord means Caesar is not Christ is

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Lord Means the government is not there is no other way to receive

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Christ Jesus other than as Lord if What Christ did is true on the cross and you and and believe and you believe the true

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Christ He reigns from the thrones of our hearts Even your minds and hearts belong under his authority

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We have to dethrone ourselves To make way for the true King We put off our wicked desires daily to put on Godly desires and surrender to Christ the

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King. We're no longer the king We forego our agenda we give up our agenda and pursue at full force our

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Lord's agenda We're no longer in charge, but Christ is

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So Paul urges them to continue walking in him as they have received Christ as Lord The metaphor of walking is the totality of our lives

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Reflecting and aligning God's will for us which we learn in Scripture When we walk in the

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Lord It is not some boring and lonely path But rather a delightful and relational experience with God the

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Living God You are doing what you are made to do

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You are with you're in a relationship with the ultimate being whom you were made for that's the fulfillment of your purpose and Hence for Christians, there is an utmost joy in living for Christ There's comfort

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Knowing that you're walking with God in Christ Here means the realm of Christ You're in Christ when we hear and believe the gospel of Jesus and we repent of our sinful ways

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God transfers us from the realm of darkness, which we're born into and into his beloved son's kingdom in Christ denotes our new identity our new allegiance to Christ the

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King our new kingdom as Citizens of Christ's kingdom.

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We naturally walk according to his will in Everything we do we seek to represent

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Christ. Well in Everything we say we desire to please

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Jesus in Every thought we meditate on what God Is pleased by the most

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Paul commends the church in Colossae to walk in Christ as they received

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Christ as Lord because the Colossian heresy threatened this

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Christian living The false teachers tried to sway the church away from Christ The church has begun with their faith in Christ, but the deceivers the false teachers

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They taught that they were not complete just with Christ They planted lies that Christ was insufficient.

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You need something else for Christ Christian living This is why

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Paul's exhortation Encouragement to the Colossian Church is to continue in Christ as they have since the beginning of their faith

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What does that look like It's the year AD 155

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Polycarp the Bishop of Smyrna, which is in modern -day, Turkey is

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Forcibly taken to a smaller town nearby to escape persecution

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Although he wished to remain in the city His followers urged him made him go to that small town now polycarp is 86 years old and he's a feeble old man and he and What special is he is one of the last disciples of the

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Apostle John the Apostle John? Who was at the feet of the cross?

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the Apostle John Who leaned against Christ? chest on the

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Last Supper the Apostle John who wrote the last gospel we have and Polycarp has taught and proclaimed the gospel of Christ faithfully all his life

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However when one of the slaves after being tortured Discloses where polycarp is

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The Roman government arrests him to take him to the sheriff

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He asked to pray for an hour and they actually allow it When he arrives the sheriff and others try to persuade him to recant to to say that Christ is

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Not God to deny Christ This is what they said now what harm is there in saying

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Lord Caesar and in offering incense and So on and thus saving yourself

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These people people who arrested him actually really want to keep this old man alive

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But his mouth is sealed after more persuasion he finally opens his mouth

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I Do not intend to do what you advise Then the impatient crowd gets more violent and they start threatening him to worship the

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Emperor of Rome and They take him to the stadium to execute him publicly the government officials at the stadium

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They even give him another chance Swear by the genius of Caesar or swear an oath to Caesar Swear, and I will release you curse the

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Christ then polycarp says Eighty and six years have

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I served him and he had done me no wrong How then can

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I bless theme my king who saved me? Then the official threatens to kill him with wild beasts and after a while he changes my his mind execution by fire then polycarp says

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You threaten the fire that burns for an hour and in a little while is quenched for you know not the fire of the judgment to come and The fire of the eternal punishment

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Reserved for the ungodly, but why are you delaying bring what you will?

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Polycarp is then burned to death polycarp is a great example of someone who received

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Christ Jesus as Lord and Continued to live his life even if it meant facing death by fire

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To him he has only one Lord To whom he will bow and worship

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And he'd rather burn to death than to add another Lord to the list

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To Christians there can be no other Lords beside Christ There is no other path that you follow other than Christ as Christians we only bow to Christ No other

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Lords for Christians There is always the temptation to seek practices and excitement apart from or in addition to Christ Maybe you have read the

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Bible from cover to cover already and you desire some higher level teaching maybe you have prayed every day for decades, and you want to spice up your spiritual life and You're itching to discover something more exciting something new about the faith that no one else in church history has ever held a

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Heavenly interaction with the angelic beings if you pray a certain way Prophetic words from God to tell you what will happen in the future when the judgment day is

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Who the main do who the man of lawlessness will be? There are many false teachers in the church putting so much extra demands on Christians already

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They claim if you don't speak in some gibberish tongue Angelic tongues you are not saved or are a lower level

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Christian Where do we see that in Scripture? It's been added by the conman of the past Paul tells us however

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Continue with Christ as you received him. This is how the church can prevent drifting into heresies

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We continue in Christ as we have received him since the beginning We continue with Christ proclaimed to us in Scripture Which has been faithfully and securely passed down to us

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How could we possibly? graduate from the gospel How could the good news of Christ loving sacrifice on the cross ever get boring?

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The gospel story is something even the angels in heaven marvel at Because it is so Incredible the

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God of the universe would become a man to die for sinners like us

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The perfect being would die for wicked folks like us

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For Christians, we must never lose the wonder of the cross We must never get tired of the old gospel story

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We must never drift from the starting point of our faith as we continue to walk in Christ How do we do that We walk in Christ steadfastly with thanks giving

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We walk in Christ steadfastly with thanksgiving Paul tells us four ways in which we walk in Christ as we received him and He emphasizes the steadfast nature of our faith using three different metaphors rooted and built up in him and Established in the faith as you have been taught

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The first metaphor that depicts our walk with Christ is being rooted

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Being rooted in Christ is a botanical metaphor. It's a plant metaphor

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Just as a plant is rooted in the soil Christians are rooted in Christ First the plants root the function is it holds the plant in place

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That's why you don't see trees moving around Second roots have another function.

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They bring nutrients and water from the soil So the plant gets all it needs

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From where it is rooted as a plant derives its nutrients and water from the soil

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Christ is the source of life for Christians In order for us to continue in the faith we must be rooted in Christ The second metaphor is architectural

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Christians are to be built up in Christ the architectural language points to the temple the most important architecture in the

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Old Testament The most important building perhaps even in the ancient world

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What does it mean for Christians to be built up in Christ It signifies that Christ Christians are the temple of God The temple is no longer in architecture, but the people of God in ancient times people met

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God in the temple on Special days after rigorous rituals and only for certain people

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But now God resides in his people

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Christians when we gather We encounter the Living God Christians when you read scripture you hear from the

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Living God You don't have to go to a temple to hear from God And in that same sense we are built up in Christ Christ is the foundation on which we're built up Christians grow on a solid foundation that does not shake

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This is very nicely captured in my hope is built on nothing less On Christ the solid rock

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I stand all other ground is sinking sand All other ground is sinking sand

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We cannot possibly be founded on anything but Christ he is the only solid rock we are built on as You can see the focus of remaining in the faith is

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Jesus Christ not us Not our experience not our emotional high

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Jesus Christ Whether we are rooted or built up we must start with Jesus and remain in Jesus Abide in him and if we start trying to root ourselves or build ourselves anywhere else

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We're built up in sinking sand We will be built only to be destroyed

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This means our daily life needs to reflect that a Plant doesn't decide to root itself on the day.

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It needs water But rather it is always rooted in the soil that provides water a

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Building isn't built in one day from scratch This means we must daily read the

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Bible as our source of sustenance Where we learn and encounter Christ?

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We rely on the Word of God to sustain us It is price precisely

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Christ's Word that protects us from inching away into the heresy land

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Whether you have read the Bible 30 times or three times

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It is vital that we see Christ in his word daily until we see him face to face

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Even Jesus chose God's Word over bread After fasting for 40 days.

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He did not eat anything for 40 days Satan tempts him and tells him turn the stone into bread so you may eat

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But what does Jesus say? It is written Man shall not live on bread alone, but On every word that comes from the mouth of God Jesus is saying that food alone is not sufficient to live on But we absolutely need the

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Word of God There's one pastor who tweeted this a few years ago if you must choose between Bible and breakfast choose

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Bible Then and grab an energy bar

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Then plan better Men shall not live by bread alone Consider the

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Word of God more important than your first meal of the day hunger

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For scripture more than for food the third metaphor that Paul uses

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To describe the reality of our faith is a legal metaphor Established in the faith as you have been taught

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We're confirmed in the faith that we received from the Apostles through scripture

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We are set on what scripture teaches us about God and his nature and we do not stray from it

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It is official like a court document Just a few years ago

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There was a series of lawsuits revolving around one man named Jack Phillips a

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Christian baker in Colorado He's been serving his in his community since 1993

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It's before I was born however in 2012 a

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Gay couple asked Jack to design their wedding cake Because of his

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Christian faith and what scripture taught him he refused to do so But offered any other baked goods in the shop but the couple

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Wanted him to bake them a wedding cake But he's firmly stood his ground

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Because scripture told him homosexuality Homosexual relationship are sinful

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Soon Jack started receiving threats via phone calls Even the

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Colorado State Government charged him with Discrimination even though he only refused one type of service based upon his religious conviction

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He was more than happy to serve them in any other way he just could not go against the

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Word of God which clearly says that homosexuality is an abomination and marriages between one man and one woman

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The state ordered Jack to Re -educate his staff for being wrong and stop baking wedding cakes for straight couples

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Which would drastically cut his business? However Jack was firmly established in his faith and After every threatening phone call he prayed for the caller and did not cave

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Because he was strengthened established in the faith That he was taught

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How firmly established are you in the faith? When your friends disrespect

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God in the Bible Will you stand your ground? even at the cost of ridicule and isolation

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If your family criticizes you for your allegiance to Christ Will you try will you choose

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Christ over your family? When it becomes socially unacceptable to gather on Sunday mornings as church

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What are you willing to give up to be with the body of Christ? Considering where this culture is headed

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Will you stand your ground on how the Bible defines marriage? gender and life

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To stand strongly with Christ instead of the culture Paul tells us today to stay rooted in Christ and Christ does not move

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Neither should you Lastly Paul tells us we must be overflowing with thankfulness

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Paul reminds us that in order to continue in the faith as we walk in Christ is thanksgiving

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This is similar to his previous exhortation of giving thanks in chapter 1 and The repetition would tell us how important it is for Christians to be thankful to God First being thankful shows that we did not earn what

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Christ did on the cross for us It was purely by grace

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That's because we cannot be overflowing with thanksgiving for something we have earned

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Second the word overflowing really shows the abundance of thankfulness

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This means gratitude characterizes Christian life It is not about what we have done for God But what

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God has done for us It is the constant continual acknowledgement of God's gracious and merciful role in our daily lives for everything and We also acknowledge that God is the one holding us firmly in the faith

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We are rooted we are built up in Christ we're established in the faith because God is

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The one who is working in us If it were up to my strength alone to remain in the faith

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I Would have left the faith a long time ago But thanks be to God That he is the one who holds me fast

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When you come to our corporate prayer meeting 6 p .m.

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On Sundays You'll notice that we start with praises and Thanksgiving This is because when we start our prayers with Thanksgiving it places us in the right mindset and posture before God Thanksgiving prayer is a

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Calibrating prayer to set our wandering minds to the reality of approaching an

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Omnipotent and merciful God When we give thanks to God our hearts are warmed by the by acknowledging how much

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God has done in our lives our ministry and In our family already before we even ask a thing

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When we are abounding in thanksgiving to God our hearts are stirred By the fact that God has been so graciously providing for us

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Even when we did not ask for it We give thanks to God because he

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Often keeps us out of sin And because God has established us in Christ We walk in him

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Overflowing with thanksgiving Let us pray Father we are so thankful that you are our father and we are your children

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It is not That anything we've done That you adopted us, but purely by your grace and mercy that you would

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Pick us to be your sons and daughters in Christ And that you would keep us that way