Pursuing Godly Living Series

INTRODUCTION

A. Our Journey of Life

-An infant begins an exciting journey to experience Life –(sights, sounds, touch, even dependency on parents)

- In growing, He works to excel in this new Journey

- As he grows into maturity & others notice

- Responsibilities and Opportunities … to Maturity

B.Epaphras also has a life of growth – but a different kind of growth

- Paul leads him to Christ

- In His faith (life), he becomes stronger and stronger

- He becomes grounded as he grows into maturity

- His love takes on a new definition – others attach

- A Church is Born (in 3 cities) in a house

Our life should be the same …

C. Distractions Come

- Paul has already heard of them

- He’s been praying for them because he knows the dangers

- Paul has seen this before (in Corinth, Galatia, & Philippi)

- He writes a letter to help (he doesn’t wait for Epaphras to recover from the long trip to Rome, but urgently sends a letter back to the church)

D. Text: Colossians 1:6b-14

- Describes his prayer

- Encourages them to grow and walk in a way that seek God’s way

- Reminds them of the REASON for PURSUING GODLY LIVING

- TEXT COLOSSIANS 1.6-14

I. THE GOSPEL IS BEARING FRUIT AND GROWING

READ VERSES 6b

‘gospel is bearing fruit and growing all over the world’

-being preached adding God’s blessing all throughout the Roman Empire

-God desires to use all believers to bear fruit allowing Him to bless that seed!

-BUT IS IT? Did the gospel bear fruit because of your effort this past week?

READ VERSES 7-8

‘you learned it from Epaphras’ – 7

-Epaphras does the same as Paul did for him (he spread the seed)

-The beauty of passion begins with one and spreads (as God promised)

-Discipleship as God intended

ILLUSTRATION: DISCIPLESHIP

-Begins one at a time - Not class at a time

-Question is whether you want to be used

-Ask God to use you to touch one person each day

-Look for opportunities to be used

‘a fellow servant’ ‘faithful minister’

-Testimony of Epaphras should rub off on all of us

-As it did this church - ‘love in the spirit’

-We are all called to be a faithful minister

-We are all called to be a fellow servant

Does the gospel bear fruit based on your life? Do you even consider the need? Or do you just go through life living one day at a time?

II. KNOWLEDGE REQUIRES WISDOM

As we will see throughout the book many in the church had the knowledge of the Word. In fact, it was a group considered in the know that was causing this problem. They were missing a very important element of Christian faith.

READ VERSES 9

‘for this reason…’ (all the above)

- Paul knew what was at stake

- How dangerous worldly vices could be a distraction

2 General Areas of Prayer

1. ‘fill you with the knowledge of His will’

-Filled with a hunger for God’s Word

I don’t know if we haven’t reached a stagnant time almost as though we feel we are all filled up. What about YOU? Do you still have a hunger for HIS WORD?

READ 2 Tim. 4.3

2. ‘through all spiritual wisdom and understanding’

-Knowledge does NO GOOD w/o the wisdom to put it to use

READ HEBREWS 5.11-14

QUOTE: APPLYING THE BIBLE said this of KNOWLEDGE

“Knowledge is impossible apart from commitment, involvement, and action”! (it’s not enough to know – it won’t hold without the rest – commitment, involvement, & action – I can read it, even enjoy it, but without the understanding of how to apply it, there is no strength.

Knowledge of Godly living is great – IF we put it into practice through Godly training.

III. 4 CHARECTERISTICS OF GODLY LIVING

What does it mean to have the knowledge of God’s will –spiritual wisdom and understanding. Let’s get specific!

READ 10a ‘live a life worthy…’

‘worthy’ describes something of equal weight

- Believers are to be equal to the Lord’s standards

- He loves me so I love you

- He forgives me so I forgive you

- Because He is holy, I strive to be holy

1 Peter 1.15-16

- A transformed character – Godly justice

GERMAN PROVERB “Where might is master, justice is servant”

God’s power, God’s might, living within the life of the believer displays Godly servant hood that none can fault as Paul described in Ephesians.

4 Characteristics of Godly Living

READ VERSE 10b-12

1.‘bearing fruit in every good work’ (goes back to verse 6) - 10

-Jesus Christ – The believers VINE

-As one receives the gospel seed, he becomes a branch of the VINE

-As a Branches bear fruit, so do we as his seed.