Is Jesus Making A Difference In Your Life? Colossians 1:1-8 Adapted from a Jeffery Anselmi sermon http://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp?
May 11, 2015
Is Jesus MakingA Difference In Your
Life?
Colossians 1:1-8
Adapted from a Jeffery Anselmi sermonhttp://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp?ContributorID=&SermonID=90953
Today we are going to examine an important question. Is Jesus making a
difference in your life? The answer to this question is important because the
answer will tell you where you are at with Jesus and just how important He really is to you. This message is not intended to
beat anyone down; it is meant to challenge us to soar to greater heights
with our great God.
How many times have we seen a person in athletics not reach their potential, how many times have we seen students go
through their schooling never reaching their potential? It is a sad sight to see isn’t it. People around them whisper about what a waste of talent and
potential they see.
I believe the church is at a crossroads, this church is at a crossroads. Individually, we must all decide how much we are going to let Jesus be our
Lord, we all have to determine if we are going to totally give
ourselves over to Him or are we going to just scratch the
surface and be happy with that.
Where we are at with Jesus is where the church will be at with Jesus. Are we going to be a
church that is sold out to Jesus or are we going to be a church that is happy with scratching the surface of what God can do? I hope that as we start to go through the book of Colossians we will learn some things that will help to challenge us to go deeper with Jesus.
Paul is writing this letter to a church that is struggling with some false teachings that were prevalent at the time. This letter is written with three major purposes in mind; those
purposes are still valid today.
1. To encourage the readers not to go back to their former way of life.
2. To direct the people’s attention to Jesus and to get them to fully trust and worship Him and to fully recognize who He is.
3. To emphasize the virtue of forgiveness and kindness.
Today we are going to look at four indicators that will tell us if we are letting Jesus make a difference in our lives.
Colossians 1:1 ESV Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and
growing—
as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your
behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
Is Jesus The CenterOf Your Faith?
4a …we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus…I love the way this letter starts out. It starts with Paul in verse 2 saying that he is writing
to the FAITHFUL brothers in Christ at Colossae. Then he moves to telling the
readers he is thankful for them and that he is praying for them always.
Then he moves to what he is thankful for. He is thankful that he has heard of their faith in
Jesus.
When you think about it, this is an impressive statement. The faith of the Church at Colossae is so great that it is known all
around. Notice too that their faith is in Jesus; it is centered and based on Him. Their faith in
Jesus made such an impact on the lives of those in the church that they gained a reputation for
their faith.
I wonder what people would say about the church as they walked around Colossae? I wonder what people say about the Lindley Christian Church when the subject comes
up? What are we known for?If Jesus is making a difference in our lives, we will be known for our faith in
Jesus. The only way that Jesus will make a difference in our lives is if we have an
undying faith in Him.
I have seen too many people over the years play the church game. We can get so caught up in things to the point that Jesus is not really the center of our faith. For many the center of
their faith is the status quo, it is their jobs, family or entertainment.
Paul was not thankful for the church at Colossae because they had a nice building? He was not thankful because they sang a certain type of music or had a certain order of service, he was thankful for them in part because of their faith in Jesus!
Faith means in part to trust. Who do you trust? Whose hands do you really put your salvation? Who do you turn to in times of trouble? Who do you give the glory to when things go well? If Jesus is the center of your faith, your life will be
different. I hope that our church is known for our faith.
That will never be unless two things happen.
First, our faith has to be evident in our lives and secondly we need to be involved in the lives of other people so they can see
our faith in action.
Is Your Love For The Brethren Evident?
4b …we heard…of the love that you have for all the saints, The second thing Paul is thankful for is the love the church had for the brethren, all the Saints (Christians)!Is Jesus making a difference in your life? If He is, He will be the center of your faith. The fact will manifest itself in how much love you have for your brothers and
sisters in Christ.
We have talked a lot about love in the past and we will continue to do it in the future. This is an important issue. IF you cannot love the most unlovely of us, then Jesus in not making a difference in your life. Jesus loved Judas? He had plenty of reasons not to, but He did? What is your excuse? We cannot ask lost people to come in and love those we will not love. If Jesus is making a difference in your life, it will show by how
you are able to love the brethren!
1 John 2:9 ESV Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10
Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But
whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
We can say how much we love Jesus all we want, we can tell Him how sold out we are to Him all we want, but if we do not love one another, they are just empty statements. If Jesus is making a difference on our life, we will love the brethren!
Does Your Faith Rest In Your Hope In Heaven?
5a because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.
In verse 5 we find out why and how the Christians at Colossae had such a great faith. Their hope was focused on what was laid out
for them in heaven.If Jesus is making a difference in your life, you will be able to realize there is a big
picture. You will not want to get even or take vengeance on every injustice done to you.
Paul is thankful for their hope; faith and hope are always tied together. Faith is based in hope. There has to be a pot of gold, if
you will, at the end of the rainbow.Look at how Peter ties faith &
hope to our heavenly inheritance. (pot of gold)
1 Peter 1:3 ESV Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and
unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded
through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Jesus taught our treasure (pot of gold) depends on what is most important to us.Matthew 6:19 ESV "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where
moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also.
If we have no hope of heaven, then we will not be able to persevere
when we need to. The things of the world will look too attractive to pass up if our faith does not rest in hope.
One of the blessings of hope is it allows us to sacrifice the present on
the altar of the future. (John MacArthur Jr.)
That runs contrary to human nature. Young children, for example, have a difficult time waiting for something they want. The world wants it and
wants it now.
The Christian has a different perspective. He is willing to forsake the present glory, comfort, and satisfaction of this present world for the future
glory that is his in Christ.In contrast to the “buy now—pay later” attitude prevalent in the world, the Christian is willing to pay now and
receive it later. What makes Christians willing to make such sacrifices? Hope, based on faith that the future holds something far better than the present.
Romans 8:18 ESV For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to
us.
If Jesus is making a difference in your life, your hope in the future will allow you to sacrifice some of the present things for the future
gain of heaven!
Is God’s Word Penetrating Your Life?
Where did they get this hope, faith, and love? Look at verse 5b Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,They did not get their faith, hope, and love from a cereal box; they believed it because
they heard the word of God!Romans 10:17 ESV So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of
Christ.
CONSTANTLY BEARINGFRUIT
6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,Wherever the gospel seed is sown,
fruit grows. If the gospel has penetrated your life, your life will be fruitful for God. The fruit production
will never stop.
Who doesn’t love strawberries? Did you ever have strawberry plants and get so many strawberries off them throughout the season you would get sick of them.
Like so many other plants, the strawberry plant comes to a season when it does not produce fruit. For the one who has had the gospel penetrate their life, they will produce fruit in every
season of life.
Paul says for those at Colossae, that the Word has been bearing fruit from the day they heard and understood the Word!
Maybe some are not producing fruit because they do not
understand the Word. The more you read it, the more
understandable it becomes!
Constantly Increasing
Not only will our lives produce fruit, but it will be in the increase all the time! As you grow and
mature, you WILL produce more and more fruit for God! The
spiritual growth of individuals will lead to new converts being won to Christ. That was the pattern of the
early church.
Acts 9:31 ESV So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And
walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.You do not need some fancy program in order to grow; you need Jesus to make a difference in the lives of each one of
us in the church!
Part of the reason a church stops’ growing is because individuals within that church stop growing!If Jesus is making a difference in your life, the Word of God will be penetrating your life and you will produce fruit for Him. Are you withering on the vine or are you feeding yourself with the Word
daily?
Are You An Epaphras?
We do not know a lot about Epaphras except for the couple of times Paul mentions him in this letter and once in Philemon. He is called a fellow servant who is a faithful minister.
(servant) He was most likely an evangelist.
7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a
faithful minister of Christ on your behalfNotice in verse 7 we are told they learned
the gospel from Epaphras! He was producing fruit. He was not going to
leave it to someone else to teach people. You cannot teach what you do not know and you cannot know what you do not
study!
Colossians 4:12 ESV Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of
God. We are told in Colossians 4:12 that he was one who labored hard for Jesus. If you were mentioned in one of Paul’s letters, what would he say about you?
I hope we could all strive to be like Epaphras. He was most likely nothing special; he was just willing to let God use him! If Jesus is making a difference
in your life, you will be a changed person!
Conclusion
As we explore the book of Colossians together, I hope that we will all examine
our hearts to see where we are with Jesus.
Isn’t it about time for some of us to go out into the deeper water?
Is Jesus making a difference in your life? If He is not, I challenge you to start letting Him do His work in you and through you!