The Phil Files

Last Update 10.21.2008

“In Christ Alone” Colossians 2:6-15 for 10/26

Simple and well known songs and hymns about Jesus would be great for this day!
The formula for this Sunday is simple:  X + n < X  [How many good in Algebra? Math majors?]

Adding other religions or other religious agendas to Jesus only dilutes, poisons, or pollutes the simple message of Jesus. Anything added to Christ is really less than Christ! [Kinda like seeing a car with a dream catcher on the rear view mirror and an “in case of rapture” bumper sticker] But it isn’t just other religions that can pollute the pure message of Christ, it’s also making a religion out of following Jesus – loading it down with all sorts of stuff that Jesus never established! {We’re talking about syncretism and legalism as two different ditches we’re prone to fall into.}

Jesus Christ must be at the core of who we are so we will keep reminding folks to be in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus is our basis of salvation and our lives must be rooted in him. Call for us to keep our focus in the story of Jesus. Nothing can be added to this simple message – Galatians 1:3-9. If we add things, then the Gospel is less than the Gospel we substitute our “man made up” philosophies for God’s grace and what saves us.

While there is an element of exclusiveness that we need to emphasize here (remember the goal is for “everyone” used 3x in 1:28 and cf. Acts 4:12; John 14:6), there is also an element of liberation – we don’t need a bunch of other stuff, or teaching, or religion, just Christ.

We don’t have to be constantly looking to add some new religious practice or rite to the list of things to make us righteous, holy, and acceptable to God (we will cover more on this next week). Instead, we need to settle ourselves down into Christ and be rooted and connected to him – remember the Vine and the Branches in John 15 where Jesus says things like: “remain in me and I will remain in you” (v. 4) … “apart from me you can do nothing” (v. 5). Also see John 14:15-23, where Jesus promises to come and live inside us through the Comforter, make His home with us, and reveal Himself to us. This is where fullness of life (cf. John 10:10 and Colossians 2:9-10) will be found!

I would love to have a video of one of our math professors/teachers doing algebraic equations and then they come up with the formula X + n < X

Preaching Ideas

Why isn’t Jesus enough? What makes us want to add more?

Peter said, “There is no other name given unto us by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
Paul said, “I preach Christ and Him crucified …” (1 Corinthians 1)
Paul emphasized that the Gospel by which we are saved is simply this: Jesus who was died according to the Scriptures, buried and raised from the dead (1 Corinthians 15; cf. Romans 6:1-6)
Paul strongly warned against any other gospel or adding to the Gospel (Galatians 1:5-9).
Paul declared Christ in us to be God’s mystery, our hope of glory (Colossians 1:27-2:3).
Hebrews insisted that Jesus is God’s fullest and clearest message (Hebrews 1:1-3).
John reminded us that no one as ever seen God, but that Jesus has made him known (John 1:1-18).

So Jesus must be our focus, our salvation, our message, and our hope. So we need to live with Jesus as our Lord and not add anything to that simple message. Jesus is more than enough!

Daybreak

The focus will be on why Jesus isn’t enough. This Heartlight.org article summarizes is very well, Isn’t Jesus Enough? There will be a chorus or repeated phrase, “Jesus is enough” as we try to go over and over again the central core message, Jesus plus anything is less than Jesus!
The three points or commands that come out of Colossians 2:6-11 will be given as the final call of the message:

1. Sink the roots of our hearts down deep into Jesus as Lord! Are you reading the Gospels?
2. Let our hearts overflow with thanksgiving for what the Lord has done for us! [Offering]
3. Let’s not let anyone take us captive by their newfangled religious experiences or their old demands of traditions and rules.  [Video on X + n < X – Christ plus anything is less than Christ!]

Refresh

We will be doing cardboard testimonies at Refresh, so we will focus on the same message as Daybreak, but make it a bit more succinct and emphasize that the change, the transformation, the redemption we need in our lives is not going to come from religion, but from Jesus and our whole worship experience that follows, Cardboard Testimonies, Communion, Commitment to serve others, is a celebration and reminder of that. Point 1 will be driven home. Then we will respond to point 2 with the offerings. Point 3 will be driven home by the video which will lead us into the rest of the Refresh time.

Sundown

What I was hoping we could cover would be the exclusive claim of Jesus on our lives as Lord. It comes, of course, out of Colossians 2:6-10.
I believe going to Galatians 1:5-9 and emphasizing that we can’t add stuff to that Gospel or leave that Gospel is crucial. Paul describes that Gospel in clear and dramatic forms in 1 Corinthians 15:1-6 and I always love to emphasize how this is directly reflected in Romans 6:1-14, esp. vs. 3-7. Paul says pretty much the same thing in Galatians 2:20 & 6:14.

LIFE Questions

Why is it so hard to believe that Jesus is not only enough for us, but that all fullness in life is found in Him?

What are the key points of Colossians 2:6 that you think could bless you most in your walk with Christ?

How can we live our lives in Christ, rooted and built up in Him?

Notice that we are commanded to “continue” (or “walk”) in Christ, but that as we do, our faith strengthened. How are we strengthened? (cf. 1:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18)

Why is thankfulness so important to us in this context?

How do we avoid what Paul warns us about in Colossians 2:7?