Colossians: It's All About Jesus Unchained

Does Jesus care About the homeless?

Does Jesus care About the homeless? Why? So we do, too

To the degree that we Walk with God His heart for this world Becomes ours

Does Jesus care About the spiritually homeless?

Does Jesus care About the spiritually homeless? Why?

"I am the church…" Made for Community

Connect unconnected people - With Jesus - With Community

Engage, Represent, Belong

Know and be known Authentic, transparent Open to being encouraged Looking to encourage

Jesus calls us to a Community That will never be perfect In which grace is messy And we walk together in spite of And because of

What happens when Community becomes toxic? Manipulators and False Teachers The self-important are Accepted into the Community?

Characteristics of Jacked-up Community

1- Pressure to follow our standards rather than called to Follow Jesus based on the Scriptures

2- You started with grace through faith. Now…grow and earn God's acceptance by discarding grace through faith…

3- Pressure, manipulate and coerce Behavior Modification rather than directing to Jesus who alone can change hearts

4-Intimidation to follow based on education, experience, visions or position Instead of humbly walking together toward Jesus

5- Unity enforced by uniformity Rather than common focus On Jesus

6- Looking good on the outside Is what matters Even if there's rottenness and Corruption inside

Therefore let no one pass judgment… You were spiritually dead You were without Covenant And outside God's people

Therefore… God made you alive with him Forgave all your sin- blotted out Canceled the record of debt Disarmed the Enemy

Therefore… You have been set free From sin, death and hell You are not bound by the rules And regulations of man's religion

Therefore… You are under a New Covenant Jesus is enough Nothing else you need To walk with Jesus

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath

A proto-gnostic and a Jew Walk into a bar…

Proto-Gnostics: - Flesh is evil - Jesus wasn't flesh - Jesus' cross wasn't enough - Worship angels/abstain from…

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath

1- "Pressure to follow Our standards…" Krino- judgment, separate acceptable from unacceptable

But they have verses, right? Heavy Metal Tacos Most well-meaning Religious folks will…

Unless you know Who you are in Christ And that Christ is enough You can be swayed to give up What Christ died to give you

If the person speaking into your Life is more interested in making You a religious clone than Encouraging you toward Jesus Consider closing that door

All heresy begins with this: Jesus isn't enough

Jesus calls us to a Community That will never be perfect In which grace is messy And we walk together in spite of And because of

These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ They pointed to Jesus and are Fulfilled in him

Jesus is the unblemished Lamb He's the unleavened bread The wine is the NC in his blood He's our Sabbath rest He's the fulfillment of all of this

The moment I make it about The rules, I miss the Savior Who fulfilled all of them And simply calls me to Live for him

In him all the fullness of deity dwells…and you have been filled in him Before you ever took a step In your Christian life

So it's never about earning But living it out To God's glory

Jesus calls us to a Community That will never be perfect In which grace is messy And we walk together in spite of And because of

Let no one pass judgment on you Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels

Disqualify? Depriving you of your Rightful prize or reward

Disqualify… Walking in freedom and Experiencing God's Spirit Empowering, directing, Refreshing your soul

…insisting on asceticism and worship of angels - Self-effort - Idolatry

2- "Your growth comes from something other than grace through faith" Self-effort…enjoy false humility Idolatry…worship angels

3- "Pressure, manipulate and coerce Behavior Modification" If you are forced into it Then it's not God You're following

At best, I can change my Behavior in order to be accepted But if it doesn't change my heart It's just hypocrisy and bowing To the pressure of religion

Proto-gnostics: The material world is evil - Asceticism- stay away from - Hedonism- go for because it doesn't matter

Today?

Today? Hedonism Religious response: Coerce right behavior Rather than see hearts changed

In Community: Unless Jesus changes hearts Grace will be supplanted with Intimidation, rejection, fear and Following men rather than God

Jesus calls us to a Community That will never be perfect In which grace is messy And we walk together in spite of And because of

…insisting on asceticism and worship of angels

…if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all - Galatians 5:2

And Jesus loves you too much To let you go back to something That will enslave you Without warning you

Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind…

4- Intimidation to follow based on education, experience, visions or position Instead of humbly walking Together toward Jesus

The moment someone says, "Follow me because I…" Consider the next words Carefully

Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind…

5- Unity enforced by uniformity Rather than common focus On Jesus

…and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God

Jesus alone nourishes Jesus alone unifies Jesus alone provides growth It's all Jesus Not some RockStar Teacher

When Christians leave Jesus To seek "deeper growth" Even in the Name of Christianity: Malnourished, Divided Immature yet deceived

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations…

“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)- according to human precepts and teachings?

The moment we rely on rules Rather than on Jesus We set ourselves up to fall

It's good to put up a wall Against temptation But the wall won't stop a fall Only the power of Jesus in you Can keep you from falling

These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body

6- Looking good on the outside Is what matters Even if there's rottenness and Corruption inside

…but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh - Col. 2:6-23

Jesus calls us to a Community That will never be perfect In which grace is messy And we walk together in spite of And because of

Coffee in public with women 2 huge falls

What would God call us to?

Engage: Know and be known Over time as we walk together Fellowship: We train disciples… So that God will be glorified And people become whole

1- Point each other to Jesus And the scriptures rather than Pressure to follow our standards Restoration-oriented

2- Grace-driven effort We work from acceptance Not for it

3- Jesus alone changes hearts So there's humility and gratitude Rather than entitlement And "haves" vs. "have nots"

4- We walk together Toward Jesus None of us are greater than the Rest of us. We simply have Roles in the Community

5- Unity is not uniformity Or unanimity We focus on Jesus And respect differences

6- We don't get to hide Jesus calls us to a safe place Where gossip and Judgmentalism is confronted And called sin

Jesus calls us to a Community That will never be perfect In which grace is messy And we walk together in spite of And because of

Questions, Comments Disagreements

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