We continue to explore the New Testament book of Colossians together. This morning I want to speak on this subject, “How Do I Make a Difference?”. You can find a link to our sermon notes in the chat and a communication card. If you’re new with us, please take a moment by telling us a little about yourself – communication card. For children’s resources, please visit our churchonline page at our website. Stay tuned to the end of the service as I’ll have news about reopening our building.
For nearly 4 millions high school seniors around our nation, your last day of school turned out to be just another average day. Who knew you’re last day in the school building March 6? You did NOT have an opportunity to say goodbye. You were not able to go through the rituals you of some many before you and after you. You have missed opportunities such as the prom, senior trips, and your last season in band and in sports. This isn’t the worst things about our pandemic as people have lost their lives, yet we are sorry for you. But, now your focus has to be going forward.
The average life span for an American in recent years is just a little over 78 years. If you’re average, high school seniors have 60 more years to live – if you’re average! Think of this way: you’ve completed your first quarter. While some of you are in life’s first quarter, most of you are living somewhere between the second quarter of life. You are between twenty and forty years of age; you haven’t reached halftime just yet. You are in the second quarter of life. Some of you are between forty and sixty and you’re in the third quarter of life. Some of you and I love the ones who are here, you are between sixty - eighty – you are in the fourth quarter. Truthfully, some of you are living in sudden death overtime! No matter what stage of life, there’s an urgency to life.
I have in my hand an hourglass. Your life works like this hourglass – there’s a time when all your time is gone. Unlike this hourglass, you cannot simply flip it over and redo life. You get only one life and the clock is ticking. Jesus said on one occasion, “night is coming, when no one can work” (John 9:4b).
Today’s Scripture (Passage Read Before Sermon)
“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me” (Colossians 1:21-29).
To Make a Difference You Must…
1) Realize Someone Made the Difference for YOU
If you want to really make a difference in life then you need to meet the Author of life. I don’t need just any Savior who hears my problems and rushes off to the library in hopes of fixing me. I need someone who can instruct me and isn’t guessing. I need someone who doesn’t need to read a book to help me because He is the book! That’s who I need – I need someone who is the library.
Look at the words of verse 22 with me: “he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him…” (Colossians 1:22).
Jesus died to reconcile you to God. Jesus died for those with a GED and for those with a Ph.D. — all could come to experience eternal life. Some of you are so used to hearing the words, “Jesus died for you,” that you have failed to be awed by this.
If you had grown up in ancient Greece, you would have been tutored in the religion of the twelve deities whose home was Mount Olympus. You know some of their names even now, gods such as Athena, Poseidon, Zeus, and Aphrodite to name a few. But Greek and Roman gods did not gives laws because they do not live by any moral code. They did whatever they pleased and they did NOT care about humans.
Get this: The Greek god, Zeus was the son of another Greek god, Cronus. Cronus was a terrible Creator god who ate his children because he feared they would overthrow him. It was believed that Zeus (Greece’s #1 god) made women as a punishment for men! The people who first read this letter, they were astounded that God cared for them enough to send His Son to die for them. Are you astounded that the real God cares for you?
“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds…” (Colossians 1:21).
Jesus died for anyone who is “doing evil deeds.” There’s great hope for you because no matter what you’ve done and who you are, your life can experience life-altering meaning. I am so glad God did not shelter in place but He came to us on the cross.
“he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him…” (Colossians 1:22).
As we socially distance to keep one another safe, you need to know that God’s holiness is far worse than the Coronavirus. There’s no way you can come anywhere close to God’s holiness. God is lethal to us because He is so pure. Outside of Christ, you must socially distance from the holiness of God.
Christ died to reconcile you to. Christ died to remove the “social distance” between God and you. Again, why did Jesus die? Christ died “he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him…” (Colossians 1:22).
Christ died for you to make you “blameless.” Christ died for you to make you “holy.” Christ died for you so that you would be “above reproach before him.”
Leave your dark past sins behind, my dear Christian friends. Reach out to the light of Christ and live in the light – pursue that which is good and holy. The homosexual, the transsexual, and the heterosexual can all come to faith in Christ and leave their sinful pasts behind. The bank robber, the white-collar criminal, and the greedy miser both come embrace Christ by faith. Leave your dark past behind and reach out to the life. It’s not about the amount of sin you’ve done in your past that matters.
Again, this morning I want to speak on this subject, “How Do I Make a Difference?”.
Let’s us never grow weary of the change Jesus makes in a life: “…where sin increased, grace multiplied all the more” (Romans 5:20b). Yes, every Christian will sin at one time or another. But a Christian will repent of his sins.
Many of you who are listening to me have smoked your first marijuana joint this past week. You don’t have to become addicted. That’s enough! Friend, repent in the name of Jesus right now. Some of you have slept with an unmarried man or woman for the first time this week – that’s enough! Turn around right now! Come back home to your Father now. One of you has gotten drunk for the first time this weekend. That’s enough! Turn around now. God has sent me to tell you, “Turn around right now.”
The gospel has more than enough power to change your life. No matter what quarter of life you’re in today, why don’t you come to embrace Christ today?
1) Realize Someone Made the Difference for YOU
To Make a Difference You Must…
2) Anticipate Difficulties For Your Faith
Paul says he’s happy to suffer for their sake: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church…” (Colossians 1:24).
Paul says, “I am happy I am suffering for you.” Remember Paul is writing this letter from prison (Colossians 4:3). He’s in prison because he will not be silent about the gospel and Jesus’ death. Jesus Himself pronounced a blessing on those who rejoice for righteousness sake (Matthew 5:10-12).
To live for Christ is not easy. There are real obstacles in living for Christ at every stage of life.
Don’t be surprised to know you will suffer for following Christ: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:12-13).
Yes, there is tremendous comfort in following Christ but hardships always been with the people of God.
2.1 Ratings Creep
You and I are living in a time when our the moral culture has drastically changed. A 2004 study from the Harvard School of Public Health has shown a ratings creep has occurred over the last decade. This was their conclusion: “Today's movies contain significantly more violence, sex, and profanity on average than movies of the same rating a decade ago.” Again, they call it “rating creep.” Today’s PG-13 rated movies was yesterday’s R rated movie.
Whether it’s movies or the environment, Christians have a moral standard. I challenge and encourage you to adopt strong moral principles for your life.
There should be some things you should NOT watch. There should be some clothes you do NOT wear. There is some websites you do NOT visit. There should be music you do NOT listen to. And there should be places you do NOT go.
2.2 Fill Up What’s Lacking
“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church…” (Colossians 1:24).
There is no other statement like this in all of your New Testament. It’s truly one of the most bewildering, baffling statements in our Bibles. Everyone needs to know there is a difference between Christ’s sufferings and His followers suffering. Christ’s suffering on the cross brings our salvation, our redemption. Nothing else needs to be done to save you, my friend. You don’t need to suffer anything to secure your salvation. Jesus Himself said on the cross, “It is finished!” (John 19:30).
Christ’s death alone is fully capable of taking care of all your needs. It’s really difficult to know exactly what verse 24 is saying here. Most feel it’s pointing to a time before Christ returns. The Bible teaches before the Second Coming, things will get worse. Just before Jesus comes again, the Bible says life will be hard for believers.
2.3 The Future
Let me swerve out of Colossians for just a moment and tell you something the Bible warns us about. As verse 24 is preparing us for the return of Christ, I remind you of John’s warning. John calls for us to understand “the number of the beast” in Revelation 13:18. The mark of 666 is the number of the beast. The beast is probably a reference to governing authorities from the Old Testament book of Daniel.
Listen to John’s words, “so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name” (Revelation 13:17). The Bible predicts a day in the future when unnamed governing powers will compel its people to wear a brand to “buy or sell” (Revelation 13:17). This maybe a tattoo or a chip or something else – yet, it will be real. I know wild theories abound about the mark of the beast. I don’t want to spend time in silly speculation but I don’t want to ignore the Bible’s teaching either. Whatever form this brand may look like when it appears, the mark of the beast is important because it recognizes a reality that exists right now – some of you are believers and some of you don’t believe. The work of the antichrist will make life hard on believers. The Bible says before Christ returns, you can anticipate difficulties for your faith.
Satan is alive and well and he is doing everything possible to oppose Jesus Christ: “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour” (1 John 2:18). The Bible warns us that all those who follow Christ will reject the antichrist and we will suffer. This may limit our ability to even buy and sell. You need to know that living for Christ will have its obstacles but IT WILL BE WORTH EVERY CHALLENGE!
To Make a Difference You Must…
3) Share Christ Every Chance You Get
“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ” (Colossians 1:28).
For 2020, I want to challenge you and to empower you to be a life-changer and difference-maker. All this year, we are challenging you to have a conversation focused on the gospel – a gospel conversation. The gospel is too valuable to keep to myself.
In 1988, professional golfer, Curtis Strange hit a “hole in one” on hole number twelve at The Masters. He walked over to the green on that par three hole, and picked up the ball, looked at for a moment and then threw it into Rae’s Creek. Media had frenzy with this. They interrogated him with questions. “Why would you, after making a hole in one at the Masters just throw the ball in the water?” “What do you want me to do with it?,” Strange replied. “You could give it to your grandchildren!” To which he said, “I hope I leave my grandchildren something more than a golf ball!”
“…I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known” (Colossians 1:25).
Who’s Your One? Didn’t somebody tell you about Jesus? Didn’t somebody bring the gospel to you? The gospel is too valuable to keep to myself.
To Make a Difference You Must…
4) Make Your Faith Last a Lifetime
“if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard…” (Colossians 1:23a).
Christians, pursue the Lord your whole life! Chase after godliness every minute of the day, every day of the year, and every season of your life. Continue in your faith.
Some of you treat Christianity as if it’s a seasonal thing. You try Jesus in the Fall but He’s not in fashion in the Spring and Summer! It’s like Christianity is fashion to wear for part of your life like a “Members Only” jacket from the 1980s. No, make your faith last a lifetime.
“For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me” (Colossians 1:29).
God supplies supernatural power for living the Christian life. What are you going to do with your life?
Conclusion
Albert Einstein, the well-known Physicists, got onto a train going from Princeton, NJ to Boston. Soon after he got on the train, he began searching for his ticket. When the conductor arrived at Einstein’s seat the conductor said, “Mr. Einstein, I, and everyone else on this train know who you are and I am sure you have a ticket, rest assured that you have a seat on this train.” Einstein was relieved momentarily but then continued to frantically look for his ticket. When the conductor had finished checking everyone’s ticket, he noticed Einstein still trying to find the lost ticket. The conductor walked down the aisle and tapped Einstein on the shoulder and said, “Dear sir, I have total faith and confidence that you have a ticket. Please take your seat and be sure you can ride this train.” To which Einstein replied, “Thank you again, kind sir, but I need to locate that train ticket to find out where I am going!” Do you know where you are going in life?
