2. Colossians: It's All About Jesus Unchained

3. Does Jesus care About the homeless?

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

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

6. Does Jesus care About the spiritually homeless?

7. Does Jesus care About the spiritually homeless? Why?

8. "I am the church…" Made for Community

9. Connect unconnected people - With Jesus - With Community

10. Engage, Represent, Belong

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

12. 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

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

14. Characteristics of Jacked-up Community

15. 1- Pressure to follow our standards rather than called to Follow Jesus based on the Scriptures

16. 2- You started with grace through faith. Now…grow and earn God's acceptance by discarding grace through faith…

17. 3- Pressure, manipulate and coerce Behavior Modification rather than directing to Jesus who alone can change hearts

18. 4-Intimidation to follow based on education, experience, visions or position Instead of humbly walking together toward Jesus

19. 5- Unity enforced by uniformity Rather than common focus On Jesus

20. 6- Looking good on the outside Is what matters Even if there's rottenness and Corruption inside

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

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

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

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

25. 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

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

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

28. 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

29. 1- "Pressure to follow Our standards…" Krino- judgment, separate acceptable from unacceptable

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

31. 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

32. 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

33. All heresy begins with this: Jesus isn't enough

34. 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

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

36. 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

37. 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

38. 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

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

40. 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

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

42. Disqualify? Depriving you of your Rightful prize or reward

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

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

45. 2- "Your growth comes from something other than grace through faith" Self-effort…enjoy false humility Idolatry…worship angels

46. 3- "Pressure, manipulate and coerce Behavior Modification" If you are forced into it Then it's not God You're following

47. 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

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

49. Today?

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

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

52. 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

53. …insisting on asceticism and worship of angels

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

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

56. 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…

57. 4- Intimidation to follow based on education, experience, visions or position Instead of humbly walking Together toward Jesus

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

59. 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…

60. 5- Unity enforced by uniformity Rather than common focus On Jesus

61. …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

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

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

64. 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…

65. “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?

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

67. 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

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

69. 6- Looking good on the outside Is what matters Even if there's rottenness and Corruption inside

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

71. 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

72. Coffee in public with women 2 huge falls

73. What would God call us to?

74. 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

75. 1- Point each other to Jesus And the scriptures rather than Pressure to follow our standards Restoration-oriented

76. 2- Grace-driven effort We work from acceptance Not for it

77. 3- Jesus alone changes hearts So there's humility and gratitude Rather than entitlement And "haves" vs. "have nots"

78. 4- We walk together Toward Jesus None of us are greater than the Rest of us. We simply have Roles in the Community

79. 5- Unity is not uniformity Or unanimity We focus on Jesus And respect differences

80. 6- We don't get to hide Jesus calls us to a safe place Where gossip and Judgmentalism is confronted And called sin

81. 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

82. Questions, Comments Disagreements

83. Pray