Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude! Colossians 3:15-17 Jim Jeffery BBC Chapel, March 2, 2009.

Cultivate a

GratitudeAttitude!

Colossians 3:15-17

Jim Jeffery BBC Chapel, March 2, 2009

1:1-2 Opening Greetings1:3-14 Praying Completely in Christ

1:15-23 Praising Completely in Christ1:24-2:5 Serving Completely in Christ

2:6-7 Walking Completely in Christ2:8-23 Defending Completely in Christ

3:1-14 Transforming Completely in Christ3:15-4:6 Relating Completely in Christ

4:7-18 Closing Greetings

Colossians: Living Completely in Christ

Living Completely in Christ in the Community of the Grateful

Col. 3:9 Col. 3:11-14Col. 3:15-16

Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude

Colossians 3:15-17

By letting Christ’s peace rule! (15)

Peace with God – Justification (Rom. 5:1)Peace from God – Trust (Phil. 4:6-7; Jn.

14:27; Isa. 26:3-4)Peace with One Another – Relationships in

Body

Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude

Colossians 3:15-17

By letting Christ’s peace rule! (15)

Rule: to judge or umpire an athletic contest directing the game and deciding the

winners.

Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude

Colossians 3:15-17

By letting Christ’s Word indwell! (16)

Word of Christ – the written Word about the Living Word

Christ is the focus of Scripture

Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude

Colossians 3:15-17

By letting Christ’s Word indwell! (16)

Dwell – to be at home, inhabit, reside, “have the run of the house”

Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude

Colossians 3:15-17

By letting Christ’s Word indwell! (16)

Richly – to overflow, like David’s cup in Ps. 23

Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude

Colossians 3:15-17

By letting Christ’s Word indwell! (16)

Richly – to overflow, like David’s cup in Ps. 23

Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude

Colossians 3:15-17

By letting Christ’s Word indwell! (16)

The Scriptures are full of Christ, so to be complete in Christ, we need to be

saturated with Scripture. The Word must permeate our minds, hearts and lives.

Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude

Colossians 3:15-17

By letting Christ’s Word indwell! (16)

Parallel to Eph. 5:18 “Be filled with the Spirit”

Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude

Colossians 3:15-17

By letting Christ’s Word indwell! (16)

“All Word and no Spirit we dry up,all Spirit and no Word we blow up,both Word and Spirit we grow up.”

(David Watson; I believe in the Church)

Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude

Colossians 3:15-17

By letting Christ’s Word indwell! (16)

With all wisdom (from the Word)Teaching one another

Admonishing one another

Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude

Colossians 3:15-17

By letting Christ’s Word indwell! (16)

Psalms – OT Psalms and Psalm-like expressions, “To pluck or play with

stringed instrument.”

Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude

Colossians 3:15-17

By letting Christ’s Word indwell! (16)

Hymns – NT expressions of worship rooted in Scripture and doctrine

(Col. 1:15-20; Phil. 2:6-11; 1 Tim. 3:16; 2 Tim. 2:11-13)

Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude

Colossians 3:15-17

By letting Christ’s Word indwell! (16)

Spiritual Songs – expressions of affection for God and relationship with one another, songs of testimony and

exhortation.

Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude

Colossians 3:15-17

Pliny, the Roman governor of Bithynia, wrote to the Emperor Trajan of the

early Christians “They met at dawn to sing a hymn to Christ as God.”

Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude

Colossians 3:15-17

• By letting Christ’s peace rule! (15)● By letting Christ’s Word indwell! (16)● By letting Christ’s name dominate! (17)

Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude

Colossians 3:15-17

By letting Christ’s name dominate! (17)

Christ’s name speaks of His: Identity

Authority

Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude

Colossians 3:15-17

By letting Christ’s name dominate! (17)

Whatever you do – all encompassingSpeech – what you say

Deed – what you do

Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude

Colossians 3:15-17

By letting Christ’s name dominate! (17)

Col. 3:23 “Whatever you do ..heartily for the Lord rather than for men”

1 Cor. 1:31 “…eat or drink, whatever you do, do all for the glory of God”

Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude

Colossians 3:15-17

By letting Christ’s name dominate! (17)

Rom. 11:36 “...from Him, through Him,

and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”

Cultivate a Gratitude Attitude

Colossians 3:15-17

Cultivate a

GratitudeAttitude!

Colossians 3:15-17

Jim Jeffery BBC Chapel, March 2, 2009