How can we be confident, competent people during an increasingly anxious day?
Continuing in our collection, Above All Earthly Powers, Ben Stuart teaches us the importance of having a firm foundation that’s rooted and established in Christ and how that will help us navigate a chaotic world.
Key Takeaway
Paul is encouraging the church to be a competent and confident community full of courageous people. This community is informed, so they are stable, which appeals to a chaotic world. Everything we need we have in Christ and people take notice.
The key text is Colossians 2:1-12.
- Struggle. Colossians 2:1-3
- The Greek word for struggle is agon, which is where we get the word agony. Paul is conveying that he is toiling and contending for them. These are the things he is fighting for them on...
- to encourage their hearts
- to be in the community and knit together. If you want to be a courageous person, you need to be in the community.
- to reach full knowledge and be competent.
- Paul is trying to create a competent and confident community that encourages courageous people. They are stable because they are informed.
- What people long for is hidden and rooted in Christ. The fullness of wisdom and knowledge is in Him.
- Strategy. Colossians 2:4-7
- How do we have a competent community in Christ? Paul says to walk in Him. How do we walk in Him? By receiving Him. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 talks about receiving the Gospel.
- 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 talks about communion and how Jesus's body is broken and His blood is poured out for us, and we receive it. So the same way you received Him, walk in Him. You choose to walk in Him. We received Him as Lord, and we walk with Him as Lord. Being Lord is a very big deal. He always gets your "yes". Saying "No, Lord." is an oxymoron. If I claim to have access to the Lord Almighty, it should impact my life. The world expects to see this.
- The word "walk" means to "walk around in Him," meaning He is with you at all times. You can't leave Him behind wherever you don't want to abide by Him.
- In Chapter 1, Paul prayed for the outcomes. In Chapter 2, He preaches the inputs. He is praying that you bear fruit, but you have to be rooted. There are things we have no control over, the fruit is of the Lord, but we have to choose to be rooted. Colossians 2:7 gives us four ways to walk in Him.
- Rooted- get solid fundamentals of the faith, choose to be in the Word, and let it change your life. Know the ins and outs of Jesus, His life, death, burial, and resurrection.
- Built up in Him- solid, reinforced
- Established in the faith- add knowledge and understanding. You don't get a base in Christ and then go somewhere else for your sexual ethic, finances, or worth and value.
- Abounding in thankfulness- you're so filled up in Him that it changes the way you interact with others
- Seduction is all around us. Colossians 2:8
- People and things are constantly trying to knock you off base. We are longing for fulfillment, and Paul is warning them not to look anywhere else. In Him, the fullness of the Deity is in Jesus, and we are in Him. That's where we are going to be full as well. There's nothing over your life that He is not over.
Quote
"Whatever you need, you already have in Jesus."
Ben Stuart
Discussion Questions
Message Topics
Scripture References
- Colossians 2:1-12
- 1 John 4
- 1 Corinthians 11:23-24
- 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
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Ben Stuart Ben Stuart is the pastor of Passion City Church D.C. Prior to joining Passion City Church, Ben served as the executive director of Breakaway Ministries on the campus of Texas A&M. He also earned a master’s degree in historical theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Donna, live to inspire and equip people to walk with God for a lifetime.
