Archive for the ‘demons’ tag
Colossians #6: Dominating
Last Updated 9/14/08
Colossians #6: Dominating the Dominion – 9/28/08
Key Passages: Colossians 1:13-14; 2:13-15; 3:1-4
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
We have been rescued and brought into safety! What does that mean?
1. Brought from death to live (resurrection of Jesus is important!)
2. Brought into the Kingdom
3. Given forgiveness
4. Had canceled the whole way of works righteousness
5. Disarmed the powers
Focus will be on Jesus disarming the powers against us – spiritual powers and the power of the Law (and all law) to condemn us. (John 12:31-32; cf. Eph 2:1-10)
Focus of Daybreak will be on the power of Jesus to defeat the dark forces of Satan that stand against us. The center of this is the cross.
A. Communion Focus on the Victory Power of the cross
That’s the Power of the Cross
In Christ Alone
Mighty is the Power of the Cross
B. Time in the Word Focuses on “the powers” and Jesus power for us (e.g., John 12:31-32; Ephesians 2:1; 6:10-18; 1 John 4:4; cf. Acts 26:18; )
Our fascination and yet denial of the powers in popular culture — books, art, movies
The incredible victory Jesus won over the powers (Ephesians) & systems of laws (Galatians) that bound us and condemned us
Our opportunity to participate in Jesus’ victory over the powers & systems of laws that bound us and condemned us
Focus at Refresh will be similar, but done by Curt Cloniger through drama. We could get a couple of pieces of Cross-focused backgrounds to use for our Communion Time interspersed with some Scripture references to contextualize them.
Sundown focuses on the meaning of salvation – what Jesus has done for us: rescued, transferred, redeemed, forgave, made alive, qualified … that we find in Colossians. What do these mean? Mark 5 could be used to remind us of Satan’s desire to harm us and God’s power at work in us.
LIFE Group Questions (supplement the above Scripture readings with Ephesians 6:10-19 and Acts 19:13-30 and Mark 5 for the following discussions)
Why do you think we are fascinated with spiritual powers, but seem so reluctant to discuss them and our response to them in our spiritual discussions at church?
Are these evil forces real, or are they products of our own mistakes and fears?
As believers in Jesus, what answers do we have to the threat of spiritual attack from evil forces? What resources do we have to fight these spiritual forces?
How is a reliance on keeping Law a destructive spiritual power without grace? (cf. Romans 7:14-25)
Should we fear the spiritual powers?