11/06/22

And the Holy Spirit buried in the likeness of his death and raised to walk in newness of life [Applause] well let's pray and then we will start out with an Operation Christmas Child video father we thank you so much for this great day we thank you for this wonderful celebration of new birth and new life thank you for Wes and his leadership over his family thank you for Maggie in her constant prayers for her sons thank you for East and in his profession of faith of trusting in you as Lord and Savior God I pray that this would spark more conversations about what it means to follow Christ God we just pray that today that you would be glorified as we not only celebrate New Life and baptism but we also celebrate what you're doing around the world through Operation Christmas Child and the many things that we're doing thank you Father for your mercy and your kindness in Jesus name amen [Music] thank you [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] good morning church how was everyone today hope you're well if you're new here I'd like to personally welcome you my name is Nicholas denim I'm the director of Children and Family Ministries and a little bit about our church our mission is to love God love the world love the community and love each other that video we just watched was for Operation Christmas Child you have until November 13th to get those boxes so if you haven't got a box you have one more week you can get them out here in the old Fellowship Hall and I believe you can just drop them off right here the finished ones with all the

Others three announcements today we have a business meeting tonight starting at 5 30 we have a potluck in the gym for to get us to get there to get to the business meeting and then 30 minutes after that at six o'clock we're staying in the gym for the business meeting to talk about the ministry investment plan and some other important things going on in our church tomorrow more not tomorrow morning tomorrow at noon we have a women on missions is sponsoring the international study for the Philippines tomorrow Monday November 7th at noon in the gym and they are also having a potluck the missionaries Steven Gin Hagan or IMB missionaries and they're going to be sharing a little bit about what they're doing and on Tuesday Tuesday night there is going to be another meal in the gym for we care we care is having their Thanksgiving dinner and everyone is invited not just the families that they minister to but I've been told everyone is invited to come and see what they've been doing and the families they're impacting sorry I was slow getting up here part of our Baptist faith and message this morning God's purpose of election part one election is the gracious purpose of God According to which he regenerates justifies sanctifies and glorifies sinners it is consistent with the free agency of man and comprehends all the means in connection with the end it is the Glorious display of God's Sovereign goodness and is infinitely wise holy and unchangeable it excludes boasting and promotes humility Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1 through 10. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of this world following the prince of the power of the air the spirit that is now at work in the sons of Disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh

Carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and we're by Nature children of Wrath like the rest of mankind but God being rich in Mercy because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ by Grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable immeasurable Riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus for by Grace you have been saved through faith and that is this is not your own doing it is the gift of God not a result of works so that no one may boast for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them well now the time has come for us to prepare our hearts and our minds for worship this has been something that we've been doing for the last several months and that we've seen be effective not just for our congregation but for Cody and for myself as well just taking a moment before we start to really identify what it is we're doing here so I'd invite you now to Bow your heads and close your eyes with me as we join in preparing our hearts for worship maybe this morning was just a tough morning for you despite the extra hour of sleep maybe this morning you woke up on the wrong side of the bed maybe it's as simple as that ask God to help you to set your mood right to fill you with the knowledge and the power of the grace that he's shown you maybe on the way into church you were arguing with a spouse or a child maybe it was just tough to get here take this time to ask God to remind you that he called you here that he called you here to worship Him in spirit and in truth in one heart and one voice with

His body the body of Christ and so Lord we do ask you together now to remind us of your grace remind us of your goodness that shows itself day by day by day even in our rising up and are going to sleep Lord you are sovereign Lord remind us that our whole lives rest in your gracious and good hands Lord help us to put aside those those issues with the people that may be around us right now help us to not be bitter to not be angry but Lord to recognize that you the same Grace that you have shown us we can show to others God help us to worship you in everything that we say and do and think help us to take this time to Worship You intently help us to recognize that you have called us here that your son has saved us and that your Holy Spirit enables us praise your name it's in Jesus name we pray amen I'd invite you now to stand with us as we join in singing A Mighty Fortress Is Our God a bulwark never failing foreign [Music] would be losing [Music] the man of God [Music] to reach the same [Applause] [Music] should threatened to unto us history [Music] though is to be sure [Applause] [Music] amen foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music]

[Applause] [Music] forever it's forever and ever [Music] amen foreign [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the king of glory forever forever [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you he is A Mighty Fortress amen today and every day he is our only hope in this world and as we pass from this world Christ Alone is the hope of the believer [Music] what is Our Hope in life and death Christ Alone Christ Alone what is our only confidence [Music] foreign [Music] thank you what truth can cause the trouble Soul God is good where is his grace and goodness [Music] [Applause] [Music] our hopes brings Eternal oh yeah [Music] unto the grave what will we see Christ it is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh see hallelujah our hopes please [Music]

[Applause] [Music] oh Singh [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] Christ's Our Hope and life and death [Music] in that third verse that last song can you pull that up Preston I just love this line which is why I'm making you listen to it again [Music] foreign [Music] there it is it's in the second verse the end of the second verse who sends the waves that bring us nigh unto the shore the rock of Christ it's taken from a quote by Charles Spurgeon you know we will suffer trials in this life that's something that we believe it's something we're really promised promised by none other than Jesus trials will come and those trials inevitably for the believer they point us to the nature of God they point us to the grace that he gives they point us to Christ every single time so if that's you this morning and I mean statistics alone say there's someone in here that's going through something today if that's you we you can take solace in that knowing that the trials point you to the grace of Christ this next song actually I'm sorry you guys can have a seat this next song is called my worth is not in what I own this may be a new song for some of you maybe an old song for someone I don't know but the whole point but this first line my worth is not in what I own not in the strength of Flesh and Bone but in the costly wounds of Love At The Cross

Foreign my worth is found in Christ and In Christ Alone amen can you say the same Christian despite the trials despite the suffering our worth is found in Christ [Music] not in the strength of fashion glow but in the costly ones of love [Music] my worth is not in skill or name [Music] but in the blood of Christ [Music] to cross I rejoice [Music] my summer flowers we fade and die thank you thank you glory bye but life [Music] at the cross I Rejoice I rejoice in my Redeemer [Music] demons [Music] my worth and my unworthiness [Music] my value fixed my Ransom page [Music] [Applause] I rejoice in my reading the greatest treasure Whispering of my soul I will trust in him [Music] can we sing that one more time I rejoice in my Redeemer I rejoice [Music] I'm invite you to stand with me again is Jesus My Redeemer there is no more for heaven now to give he is my joy my righteousness and freedom my steadfast love my deep and boundless peace to this I hold my hope is of me Jesus [Music] oh how strange and divine I can see all

Is mine [Music] through Christ in me [Music] the night is dark but I am not forsaken for by my side the Savior he will stay I labor off in weakness and rejoice for in my knees his power is displayed to this I hold my shepherd will defend me [Music] oh the night has been won and I Shall Overcome [Music] through Christ in me [Music] the price it has been paid for Jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] and day by day I know he will renew me until I stand with joy before [Music] when my race is [Music] [Applause] [Music] my hope is holy Jesus Christ [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] through Christ in me yet not I put through Christ [Music] Lord we know that you are God that you are in control Lord we ask that day by day you would renew us because Lord we cannot do it on our own we need you but Lord the price has been paid it is finished Lord we ask that you would remind us that it is not us but it's Christ in us

That does this good work it's in Jesus name we pray amen we just need to give an invitation right now you know what I'm saying amen it's good to see each and every single one of you here this morning if you have your Bible and I hope that you do please turn with me to Colossians chapter 3. My Hope Is that you can sing that song loud yet not I but through Christ to me we were talking about that in my community group this morning and if you're not in a community group guys I'm telling you need to get in there it's such a blessing even I don't even I don't lead to our community group right and it's just such a way for me to just have my cup filled through the encouragement of other believers and so find one get in one talk to someone here get into it because man it is good Colossians chapter 3 we're going to be in verses 12 through 17 this morning this will be my last sermon for a couple of weeks and so we've got my wife and I and the kids we're going to go down to Texas and spend Thanksgiving down there for a couple of weeks and so we're gonna have a great time next week Austin he'll be preaching and then Jim pacetti he'll be preaching the week after that and so just looking forward to joining you guys online but also we'll find a local church down there where we can worship that as well Lord willing I'll be back that first Sunday in Advent we're going to be doing a series called looking for the Savior and looking at the lives of those who were looking for the Christ child to be born and how we should live in light of that before we dive in though I really do want to take a moment and just thank you Church from the bottom of my heart for the many prayers cards of

Encouragement gifts for pastor appreciation month it was just a blessing to me and I know that even the staff got some of that you know overflow of that love and so thank you guys so much it's just a blessing and it's my honor and my privilege to be your pastor and Shepherd this flock so from my heart from my wife's heart thank you guys now we're in the series raised to Life As We explore Colossians chapter 3 today we're going to be looking at four truths to examine if you are a worshiper and so we are going to be studying looking at this through the lens of worship last week we talked about how we are to live redeemed lives and Crush personal sin in our own lives and to preach the Gospel to our own Hearts this week is more of a how-to on what the redeemed life looks like and so if you would stand with me in honor of God's word as we read Colossians chapter 3 verses 12 through 17. God's word says this put on then as God's chosen ones holy and beloved compassionate Hearts kindness humility meekness and patience bearing with one another and if one has a complaint against another forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you so you must also forgive and above all these put on love which binds everything together in Perfect Harmony and Let the Peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful let the word of Christ dwell in you richly teaching and admonishing one another and all wisdom singing Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God and whatever you do in word or deed do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through him let's pray and so God we do thank you for your word as we talk about worship this morning God we've been able to participate in a

Couple of different aspects through the observation of baptism and the celebration of it through prayer and through making your name famous and loud thank you for unified hearts and one body doing that Lord as we're just one aspect of one little church body here in Camdenton Lord there are many other little church bodies that are gathered this morning we pray that you would bless them with your spirit that you would bless us with your presence this morning as well and that this word that is preached this morning would fall on Open Hearts that are ready to have an encounter with you this morning we love you in Jesus precious name amen all right well if you weren't with us last week in Colossians chapter 3 verse 5 it tells us to put to death Earthly things that might tempt us to send and in verse 8 it tells us to put away various sins that we may hold to but here Paul he's going to put things in more positive terms on things that which we are to put on June 13 2000 I got to marry my wife Amber and I didn't know this story until after probably after the honeymoon but she woke up really early that morning because she had gone to seamstress and you know had gotten everything make sure that the dress fit and everything and all of a sudden it just hit her early in the morning that they forgot to sew the halter part back onto the dress and so the dress was totally incomplete she wasn't she wasn't ready this is the day of the wedding and so at like 5 a.m they are up and they are talking to people trying to get a hold of the seamstress so that way they can put all of that stuff back together and everything came together praise the Lord I would have even known about it but you know in that same way how it all worked out and

She was very diligent about her dress when she came to that realization that this was something that had to be taken care of she did everything and her family did everything in their power to make sure that it all worked out and in that same way you and I we are called to be diligent about the things that we are to put on and before Paul tells us what we are to put on he gives us the reasoning and if you look at the passage with me go there in your Bibles look at look at the passage it says as God's chosen ones now this is the doctrine of election We've read about it in Baptist faith and message of 2000 I'm constantly just surprised at how God orchestrates everything it causes many Christians to Grumble rather than to Delight because God chose you he elected you didn't earn it by choosing him the Scripture says that we love him because he first loved us quite simply God saved you by his own free will and therefore you are expected to put on these things but Paul he still doesn't tell us what it is that we are supposed to put on he reminds us firstly of our status as God's chosen once but also he points us to the fact that we are pardoned if you're taking notes write that down that we are to live lives of pardon Paul he doesn't use that phraseology he calls us holy and beloved and so I want you to stop there just think about this because he's told us that we are to put to death sexual immorality impurity passion evil desire covetousness which is idolatry you can read about that in the verses just before where we're at he's also told us to put away things like anger and wrath malice slander and I'm seeing talk from your mouth along with lying why is that because we have been pardoned and we have been made holy that's why what does it mean to be holy

It means to be cut in Hebrew it means to be separated it means to be consecrated set apart for our holy use the Greek it's the word hagios hagios that literally means consecrated or pure and the fact is that because we have been pardoned we are made pure we are indeed holy now not only are we now called holy we are also referred to as being beloved or beloved this means that we are the object of God's affection that he Delights in you Christian he Delights in you he loves you so much that he calls you his beloved and so because we Are Holy know that you are also beloved I remember I had a friend of mine who was raised in a Godly home she entered into those later teenage years and she really got into a rebellious state of mind she really just got into promiscuity Rebellion sneaking out of the house all sorts of different things it was breaking the family's heart and what crushed them the most was when she ran away from home and the family was just absolutely devastating these were godly people that loved the Lord and as a result of that Rebellion she just went down a really rough path for several weeks even months and one day she showed back up she showed back up at her home and she was just very repentant I'm so sorry Mom and Dad I've just messed up a lot of things in my life can y'all forgive me do you think that they were harsh towards her in that moment not a good parent a good parent wouldn't say well you shouldn't have run off no they delighted in the fact that their daughter had returned why they loved her right they loved her an overwhelming never giving up always wanting the best for their child kind of love

And if Earthly parents can have that kind of attitude towards their child that's walking in Rebellion what do you think is God's attitude toward you do you think that he views you as an object of his Wrath or does he love you Christian remind yourself that in Christ you are beloved it's a great place to say Amen right and these are characteristics of redeemed people you see these statuses that he reminds us of righteousness we have a status of affection because of what he has done in our lives and so Paul he continues that we Are Holy and beloved we are to clothe ourselves and put on compassionate hearts kindness humility meekness and patience bearing with one another and if one has a complaint against another forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you so you must also forgive and that's a lot of things all of a sudden for us to put on right and so we're going to break them break them down right now compassionate Hearts what does it mean to have a Compassionate Heart it literally means to feel within your gut okay that's the seat of the emotions in Hebrew terms and to feel in your gut mercy and strong and overwhelming compassion for others you know I saw a quote that you know if a backslider comes into church and all he can think about is what you've what they've done then you should be the one down here at the altar asking the Lord to forgive you to have compassion that's a characteristic of who Christ is of what Christ did in Matthew chapter 9 verse 36 this is a characteristic of Jesus what does it say when he saw the crowds he had compassion on them that's that Greek word splagnitzomai it's a ugh guttural feeling he was moved with compassion in his whole being

Because they were harassed and they were helpless like sheep without a Shepherd that is the attitude that the Lord has towards his people towards those who need a shepherd He has a deep guttural sense of Love towards them kindness kindness It's understood in the Greek to be Humane to be very gentle it means to be considerate of others it's the ability to see the image of God in humans regardless of their race their their gender their political leanings their their their sexuality all that kind of stuff in spite of all of those things to see their intrinsic value because they are created in the image of God humility is the next one that we see there humility it's it's to be small it's it's smallness it's to be modest it's to be humble I remember there was a family they were instrumental in leading me to the Lord it was the Berks and Miss Burke she was writing down a devotional one day and how she understood humility was in reference to her dogs and she had this real big dog that was an outside dog he was a big black dog and he was just rude and obnoxious and you know just all I mean like he would Barrel over men women and children in order to get to whatever he wanted to do right that was the kind of dog that he was and so as a result of that you know he didn't get as much affection or love from that family they also had another dog a little Jack Russell terrier and you know he was he was very well behaved mild-mannered didn't bark a lot unless it was a problem love snuggling stayed out of your way all that kind of stuff and why is it that one got a lot of attention and the other didn't the size right they were one was big and boorish and wanted its own way and the other one was kind of small and humble and so her prayer was Lord teach me Teach Me smallness teach me how to be humble teach me to be like this and that's the prayer of John the Baptist wasn't it and the Book of John he prays he talking about Jesus must increase and I must decrease moving on meekness this is one that maybe men struggle with a little bit here because you know we oftentimes equate meekness and weakness and that's not the case when we talk about meekness it means to be gentle it means to have a right view of oneself Christ he said that he's gentle and lowly and he invites us to come to him because he is gentle because he is lowly in Matthew chapter 11 verses 28 through 30 it says this come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light and so that invitation is to take that heaviness of everything burdensome and to bring it to Christ for rest and he will take it he promises that he will but we are to exchange his yoke for hours and so there's this Great Exchange where he invites us to take our shame our burdens our fears all these different things and to come to Christ and he goes I will take that for you I will take that for you take my burden and my yoke is easy and my burden is light and we are free to walk because of what Jesus did on the cross but remember that we are to put these things on because not just arbitrary characteristics that Paul's just writing down to fill up the scroll there it's because these are things that we see in the life of Jesus Christ and we can't we can't put these things

On in our own power we can't say well I'm just going to be more kind remember that Proverbs Chapter 12 tells us that compassion of the wicked is evil in other words no matter what we do that's Proverbs 12 10. No matter what we do okay if we aren't doing it in the strength and the power of the Lord it's just going to fall short so we have to do it in the power and strength of the Lord Jesus Christ so that invitation to take heaviness and everything burdens them and to come to Christ for rest although Christ is Meek he is not weak because he tells us that if we come to him with our burdens he will take them and he will give us rest patience is the next thing that we are to put on because of our pardon patient you ever prayed for patience before that's that's a Rookie's mistake isn't it you pray for patience God's going to put you in situations where you got to be patient being patient means to be calm to endure to endure in the presence of pain and unhappiness that's what peace literally means it means or patience means it means love for the Long Haul when we look at First Corinthians chapter 13 that's like the very first characteristic love is patient long-suffering that your Bible might say many times we're we're patient with those that we're really close to aren't like we've got family members that have these really weird personality quirks right those those personality quirks probably grind on the nerves of other people around right but not in the family because that's just who they are and I would argue that it is incumbent upon Believers to extend that same kind

Of Grace that we might have towards our blood relatives to our church relatives as well to overlook those offenses and say yeah okay they might have some sassiness they might sit there like a bump on the log and never say a word they might they might speak very directly a matter of factly they might speak before thinking and so it's just word vomit and they say I shouldn't have said that and in the same way that we Overlook those offenses for people that we love in our lives we should have that same attitude towards your neighbor that's right next to you in the chairs amen because I need that kind of that kind of Grace and love and you do as well and Christ did it with Peter didn't he how many times did Peter fly off the handle and or maybe just say something without talking how many times did Peter take out his well once but he took out his sword and that's enough right and yet Christ called him to be like you know like the leader of the early Church in an early Church Father even in spite of all of his character flaws and Christ did it with you too and we talked about it last week look at look at Colossians chapter three verse five it talks about sexual immorality impurity passion the evil desire covetousness idolatry talks about lying it talks about anger wrath malice slander obscene talk all of these different things those things are true of me those things are true of you and in spite of those characteristics guess what it didn't scare Jesus away from you in his love for you amen there's also this wonderful teaching about forgiveness it says if you have a complaint against someone

Okay or if it says bearing with one another and if one has a complaint against another forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you did you know that it is a sin could to complain to others about someone than before you go and talk to that person about it you can go and you can get wisdom from people but we should not be complaining to others when a brother or sister has sinned against us when we talk about forgiveness that forgiving word here is charizomai it's where we get our word charity from and so just as a charity is supposed to give away things for free that's exactly how we are to forgive others so freely and so lavishly seeking to restore those kind of relationships and it's one that Paul says that we must do it's an imperative word this is something that we are called to do and the reason that we are able to live to forgive generously is because we have been forgiven generously by the Lord it was a preacher who was preaching a Sunday sermon in the title of that sermon was forgiving your enemies and so he's preaching for an hour and he says now how many of you forgive your enemies and he called for a show of handsome about half of the congregation raised their hands and so he kept on preaching and he said you know I want every single person to raise their hand and say I forgive my enemies and so I preaches for another 20 minutes and it's past lunch now people are starving it's about 80 percent raise their hand at that point they're just that they're getting hungry and finally he preaches for another 10 minutes and he calls for a show of hands and every single person is raising their hands except for one little old lady her name is Mrs Jones he says Mrs Jones do you not forgive your enemies she said well Pastor I

Don't have any enemies and so he said well that's just amazing how old are you Mrs Jones well I'm 93 years old well would you come down and please just share with us kind of that secret to not making enemies or not having enemies and so she comes down the aisle and she turns around she says she turns to the congregation and she says well I just outlived all the old hacks foreign now we'll look at that and obviously that's not forgiveness obviously it's not you know just holding on to it until someone dies is not the way to handle things in Christ or I'm just going to bottle this up until and I'm going to dig it deep down put it down until I can pull it out later that's not forgiveness either is it thank you forgiveness is forgiveness from the heart it's where we don't hold that record wrong against our neighbors that we are called to love our brothers and sisters that we enjoy a United fellowship with Matthew 18 you know we read this in verses 21-25 Peter came up to him and said Lord how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him as many as seven times Jesus said unto him I do not say to you seven times but 77 times or some of your translations might say 70 times seven times it means completely holy and then he tells a story therefore the Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a King who wished to settle accounts with his servants when he began to settle one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents that's ten thousand talents of gold roughly about 10 billion dollars okay it's a lot of debt and since he could not pay his master ordered him to be sold his with his wife and children and all that he had and payment be made and the servant fell

On his knees imploring him have patience with me and I will pay you everything and out of pity for him the master of that servant released him and forgave the debt 10 billion dollar debt gone but when that servant went out some translations here say immediately he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred Denarius which is roughly about ten thousand dollars and seizing him he began to choke him and saying pay what you owe so his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him have patience with me and I will pay you and he refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt when his fellow servants saw what had taken place they were greatly distressed and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place then his master summoned him and said you Wicked servant I forgave you all the debt because you pleaded with me should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you and in Anger his master delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his debt so also my heavenly father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart you see the ability and the willingness to forgive is not found in ourselves but rather it's in us because of God's forgiveness toward us and if we're not willing or able to forgive then it should cause us to stop and to examine whether or not we have been forgiven ourselves the second way that we can show that we are our worship I promise you these next few points are going to go a little quicker but the second way that we can show that we are a worshiper is by living a life of Peace a life of Peace look at verses 14 and 15. And above all these put on love which binds everything together in Perfect Harmony and Let the Peace of Christ rule

In your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful so above all the premier most important thing for us is to put on Agape it's not Agape it's a noun form of Agape kind of love which is that Christ-like self-sacrificial love and Paul this whole passage he's been describing putting on these characteristics just like clothing and love is that belt or the sash or whatever it is that kind of completes the whole ensemble that brings everything together and ties it all together and Paul says that it is love that binds the Christian life together and if there's an area of your life where love is not a primary characteristic then it is incumbent upon you as one who is Holy and beloved to bring that area under the submission in the lordship of God and to grow in Biblical love in that area because love is what brings everything together in Perfect Harmony you look at that phrase there in Colossians chapter three Perfect Harmony it's one word in the Greek and it's a very similar to Jesus's last phrase on the cross to tell us die it is finished it's very similar to that and oh where was it I'll find it's teleactos which means complete maturity it means perfection that's how everything gets tied together is through love which makes perfect and complete as a result of this Biblical love we see peace as a result and we must allow for that to rule our hearts and peace it is directly tied to the rule and the authority of Christ peace is not the absence of War at least not in a believer's life because we know that being a Christian is a life of warfare especially within ourselves we talked about that last week

How we are to put to death those things that are bad that doesn't sound like a lot of peace right but here we are taught to have peace and that Christ offers peace because peace is not the absence of War being a Christian filled with peace means being in a place of faith and obedience to God's will that's what peace means being in a place of faith and obedience to God's will when the disciples they were on the boat with their Savior and they are on those waves and the waves are crashing all around them their peace was taken away because they weren't looking at the Savior they were looking at the waves they were watching the wind just blow everything in they weren't in the middle of Christ's will and God's will when Christ died on the cross what did he do he tore that temple veil into and he actually accomplished reconciliation for every single person that would turn to God in faith and that goes for you too do you ever feel like you're at war with God you ever feel like that remember that God is not at war with you what I mean by that is that he loves you and he sent his son Jesus Christ to rescue you and so if there's anyone at War it's you with God and so he commands all men all women everywhere to repent of that and to trust in him and to come to him by the means that he's provided through his son Jesus Christ to turn to him and to trust in him and to know the peace that God offers to you the peace that God offers it should be very real in a church too you look at First Corinthians chapter 12 it talks about how it uses the body metaphors and how we are all part of one body and here he uses that same verbiage about being

In one body this is very real and it's very real in a true sense that we have peace with God through Christ and we have peace with each other by exhibiting the same Christ-like characteristics of compassionate Hearts kindness humility meekness patience long-suffering forgiveness and love this Union with Christ and with one another should ultimately result in us being thankful that's not just a an add-on there by Paul like and be thankful that's what the end result is that through humility and gratitude to God for our Salvation it will ultimately have an effect on each other in the relationships that are around us and our relationship ultimately with God an attitude of gratitude and there I did it's Thanksgiving season so verse 16 it says give us the third it gives us the third truth to examine if you're a worshiper it's living a life of Praise look at verse 16. It says let the word of Christ dwell in you richly teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom singing Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God now these different verbs that we read about right there those might be the things that you think of when you think about worship like teaching what's happening right there right right now admonishment that's kind of that corrective teaching it's kind of the negative side of that you know when someone warns you of the dangers that are maybe in the lifestyle or a habit that you're in you might think of singing Psalms and hymns and in spiritual songs and those might be what you think of as worship but those are actually the byproduct of a life of worship you see Paul he is providing lifelong instruction in that worship through teaching

Correction singing and all that kind of stuff are all a result of Salvation and growth and faith and when we allow the rule of Christ to grow deeper into our hearts and overflow into the relationships around us it naturally results in Praise in the ways that are listed here and some things that you may be more comfortable with you might be more comfortable with sitting and listening to teaching you know I know I led worship with Austin and the praise team many times and you know I see a lot of men kind of doing this little number okay the worship is the natural overflow of being engaged with God of being in tune with him and saying God I am a sinner thank you for saving a Wretch like Me you might be more comfortable with the admonishment and receiving that negative teaching either way we see Psalms here we see Psalms these are the Old Testament songs that we see there those are those have a place in our liturgies hymns those are songs of praise and spiritual songs that word spiritual it's not just an abstract word okay it's actually very specific and it means maturity as we have songs that move us toward maturity that like the songs that we sang today yet not I but through Christ and me how rich are those lyrics for our souls amen I mean I'm I'm sitting there and I'm I'm it's just ministering to my heart and that's kind of what worship is supposed to do it ministers to our hearts collectively and it functions as a testimony for maybe people that are struggling they hear the whole congregation singing those songs professing faith in God not fearing the devil and his the way that he wants to thwart the kingdom of God when the people of God sing those

Songs with conviction it builds up people and it's good and it's right to do and verse 17 look at this and whatever you do indeed in word or indeed do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through him that last Truth for us to examine whether or not you're a worshiper is living a life of purpose what is the purpose of your existence why are you here at all listen you are called to glorify the Lord in everything that you do through the things that you say how you say them those hidden attitudes that are in the heart you and I are called and placed here to live for the glory of God quite literally this is just a rule of thumb for Christian Living when oftentimes at dinner my family and I we quote First Corinthians 10 31. It says whether therefore you eat or drink or whatever you do all to the glory of God that's Christianity 101 that's what we are here on Earth to do now when we talk about purpose I think oftentimes of this piece of artwork it's by a guy named Michelangelo you may have heard of him this is this is not the turtle that would be way more impressive this is a picture of it's just simply Moses and everything that Michelangelo did is I mean you look at it and it's a masterpiece you look at that and it's just absolutely beautiful now what is unique to this particular statue right here is that little muscle right there that is let me see if I can't get this right extensor digitize minimi it's a it's just a little muscle that actually happens when you flex your pinky finger and you can't really see it in this picture but he is indeed flexing that pinky finger yeah you can kind of see it holding that robe

Right there and our art critics are just absolutely astonished that he gets every single little minute detail any applies it into this piece of stone but I don't want you to forget that this is just simply a piece of stone you see Michelangelo for him being a quote-unquote master of the Arts which he is we cannot forget that Michelangelo was simply copying the design of the true artist the true creator God Michelangelo himself was formed and fashioned and even that little muscle that makes that statue so famous was just a copy of what God had made so when it's all said and done Michelangelo's creation was still and is still just a piece of stone lifelike yeah absolutely but still just Stone designed with a purpose to bring glory to its creator and Michelangelo he crafted many pieces from Stone make many beautiful words of art all that kind of stuff the Lord he crafts masterpieces of Flesh and Bone of heart and of soul and we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them excuse me so then as God's chosen Children You Are Holy and beloved and now because of that you should live your life in the identity that God has given to you by living a life of Pardon by living a life of peace and praise and purpose and when we do that not only will God be most glorified but we will see the peace of God and the power of God very richly in our personal life in the life of our church as well head hand heart head write this down I want you to know that the purpose of

Being in Christ is to glorify God that's the whole purpose we just covered a lot of that but it's still something that I think that we all need to leave here knowing and understanding so as you face situations people challenges challenging people remember to seek to glorify the Lord in the midst of it and I want you to grow in that daily habit of forgiving others grow in that daily habit of forgiving others when we forgive it makes us just that much more like Christ and it is from love that we are able to forgive and Overlook offenses and so let us seek to grow in these areas that we might live at peace with others in heart I want you to believe that is because of God's working in our hearts that we have pardoned peace praise and purpose so this should lead us to humility and thankfulness and never Pride or boasting so let's pray God we do love you we thank you for this day we thank you for the calling that you placed on us to live lives that are raised with Christ and as your people we want to live pleasing lives to you so Lord give us that will to make the changes that we need to make let us leave here knowing what you've called us to do with an excitement Lord that you are at work in our lives seeking to live the life that glorifies you as we all stand together and we worship you God may you be pleased this morning with our praise in Jesus name amen not I but the Christ [Music] what gift of Grace is Jesus My Redeemer there is no more for heaven now to give he is my joy my righteousness and free my steadfast love my deep and boundless peace

To this I hold my hope is only Jesus us for my life is Holy bound to him how strange evine I can see all is mine yet not I but through Christ it be [Music] the night is dark but I am not forsaken for by my side the Savior he will stay I labor on in weakness and rejoicing foreign [Music] to the deepest valley he will lead oh the night has been won and I shall overcome yet not I but through Christ [Music] I know I am forgiven the future sure the price it has been paid for Jesus bled and suffered for my pardon and he was raised to overthrow the grave to this I hold my sin has been defeated Jesus now and ever is [Music] yet not I but through Christ in me with every breath free breath I hung to follow Jesus for he has said that he will bring me home and day by day I know he will renew until I stand with joy Before the Throne to this I hold my hope is only Jesus [Music] is complete still my lips shall repeat yet not I but through Christ in me amen Church hey if y'all could just maybe have a quick seat I've got a friend that I want to introduce y'all to brother and Lord Mike why don't you come up here and he's been a part of our church family just you know right after the pandemic he started attending right and so he said you know I've been here long enough I think this is the family the faith family that I want to join and so if y'all would just celebrate that and receive

Him into the fellowship would you say Amen praise the Lord hey be sure to come up and shake his hand hug his neck he's he's plugged into Forever Young he's in the Forever Young community group and so he's plugged in there and so if you're part of that community group come up hug his neck say hey I'm so thankful that you're joining our church and he has completed our new members class and so we're very thankful for that as well so let's all stand together now and let's pray and celebrate what the Lord's doing so God we do thank you just for what you're doing in our lives thank you for baptism thank you for church membership thank you for your word thank you for the love that you've given to us through your son Jesus Christ and if there's anyone here that maybe they're you know kind of wondering gosh I wonder if I wonder if I'm saved Lord let them snag maybe a friend or myself and just say can we talk about that what does it mean to be saved God let us all leave here bring us back safe and sound until next week or when we Fellowship together we love you in Jesus name amen