Demonstrating Your Thankfulness

Demonstrating your Thankfulness

Colossians 4:1-6

Introduction

If you are taking notes, there will be lots of bible references this morning …

Background on our passage this morning:

- Paul writes to the city of Colosse in about 60 AD

- Colosse was located in Asia Minor, which is now modern day Turkey

- This city is located near Laodicea (for personal reading see Rev Ch. 3)

- This church was filled with Gentile converts; established by Epaphras

- Colosse was en route of a major trade route and made it very well traveled

- It was best known for its sales in wool; so many knew of its existence

- This week, our hearts turn towards the celebration of Thanksgiving

- It is a time when we gather together to laugh, to love, perhaps to cry

- But when it comes to demonstrating our thankfulness it shouldn’t need a holiday

- There is never a better time to show how thankful we are than right now

- This morning, I wonder if we could examine our lives and see how we might be encouraged to display more thankfulness every day - verses one day a year

- God’s entire Word challenges us daily to look deeper into our lives in 2 ways

-- To listen and hear the voice of the Lord calling to us for repentance; and

-- To desire to draw closer to Him through the celebration of Christ’s love in us

- This morning, I pray that we would accept this challenge, and seek after Him

- Stand and read Colossians 4:1-6 / Pray

Point 1 – Remember who we belong to (v1-2)

- Verse 1 gives us clear instruction to understand that we are to be servants

- We are never to withhold anything from those who work for us

- If we do, we could very well be asking our Father in heaven to withhold

- Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

- We seek after the Lord on a daily basis to have him pour into our lives

- And thus, Paul reminds those who are ‘in charge of others’ to do this also

- In the Greek the word “render” literally means “afford”; that is, as the slaves owe their duties to you, so you equally owe to them your duties as masters

- It is a direct challenge to those who know what they should do, but don’t

- Paul tells us that we must live with three things in mind:

1. Devote ourselves to prayer

How much time do we spend in prayer per day? (Come back to this …)

-- 1 Thess 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing”

-- 1 Tim 4:13 says, “Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching”

-- Ephesians 5:16 reminds us to “redeem the time, for the days are evil”

- APP: If we are not devoted to prayer we are not living the life God calls us to

2. Be watchful in everything that we do

- Will we live lives that obey what the Lord has commanded that we be do?

-- 2 Corinthians 2:9 “Another reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.”

But, we cannot live blindly and so we must ensure we are following Christ

-- 2 Corinthians 11:14 “… Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.”

-- 1 John 4:1 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

- APP: We must live for Christ; but ensure that we check our motives, examine our purpose, and ensure we are following Jesus Christ and His direction

3. Be thankful

- Do we have thankfulness on our faces? Is it on our lips? Is it in our hearts?

-- 1 Thess 5:18 “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”

-- What’s God’s will? Remember in Eph 5:10, “… and find out what pleases the Lord.”

- We must spend our days seeking to show others who Jesus is in our lives

We will never (say never) win anyone to Christ with a sour puss on our faces

- APP: Thankfulness requires a heart change; it requires obedience immediately

- Paul asks this church to pray for “us” (verse 3) – this is for Paul and Timothy

- Paul again confesses that he lives his life as a prisoner of Christ

- This life must be something we strive for daily as well; to be captivated …