Cross City Church

Having covered Colossians 1-3 over the past 6 months, we have found an astonishing amount of things taught to us by Christ through this book. It is time to regain our bearing after all we have heard before we move into the specific applications found in this book.

Every piece of life is the Lord’s and we are called to do all of it as Christ would, in his honor, in his name, as an extension of Him as if you were Him… because He is in you.. and you are being changed into his image. This happens as we ensure that the message of Christ dwells richly in and between us and we respond in singing together to our great God.

The new man rightfully places his mind on things above, which includes a loving and peace seeking heart for God’s children here who are hidden with him in Christ. And together they carefully watch for Christ in all and all He does with thanksgiving.

Regardless or our natural inclination with God’s faulty and failing children, God has asked, called each of us to specifically deal with his Children with gentleness and patience and compassion. And when they fail and sin against you, do to them what your amazing Christ has done to you time and again… forgive them.

Here Paul calls believers to put off that which will kill us; the things that Christ came to die for and the things that God says he will punish. By God’s grace and his Spirit we are able to put these things away as we walk with him.

You have a true life. It is not in your physical possession right now, but Christ promises it soon will be and worth investing any and everything. And my brothers and sisters, when He appears again, the true you will be seen… and the world has never seen anything like it…. Has never seen anything like you in your full glory. This is where we are called to set our minds rather than this world and t...

As we close out chapter 2, Paul comes against the false teachers in the Colossian church, and reminds us all to stay vigilant to not fall prey to their false, anti-gospel teaching. Anything added to the gospel takes away from the gospel.

Are we free enough? Christ makes his people free and wants us to walk in that freedom. The false teachers were aiming to rob the believers of the freedom that Christ had purchased for them. But the pure gospel sustains and frees the people of God.

Because Christ has brought about the end of the internal rule of our sin nature and the external rule of spiritual authorities of darkness in our lives, we can live fully for him and with him through this life and beyond.

The indwelling Christ is our developed and protected lens by which to know and value all things and the supreme Lord over all.

Paul reminds the Colossians that they were once enemies and aliens of the Father, but Christ has brought them home. And because of that, he is the only source we need for life and freedom.

It is the heart of the Father that each of us be brought to maturity in Christ  through teaching and shepherding so that we might do the same to many other children of God.

Brothers and sisters.. you fully belong to the Father.  You have full rights and privileges of being close to him as your Father.  And you have Christ in you right now… which is your God-given confidence of all the glory you will share with him in the future.

The Apostle Paul was an amazing minister of the gospel. His life and ministry were marked by joyful suffering and deep love for the Church, a pattern he learned from the ultimate gospel minister, Jesus Christ.

Our natural state as humans is to be enemies and aliens of God, cut off from him until Christ reconciles us back to God by his life, death, and resurrection. Paul then encourages the Colossians to endure in the faith that was taught to them by continuing to trust in Christ by faith and not moving into the performative religion of the false teachers. 

Jesus is so much more than simply our King and Savior… so much more. Rejoice in Jesus for his Saving. Rejoice in Jesus for his amazing leading. Now learn to Rejoice in Jesus for his nature and glory.

Our Father, the creator of the universe, has given to us a great treasure in his holy, living word. In this lesson starting in 2 Timothy 3:16 we look at why we should trust God’s word, why we should delight in God’s word, and why we should cherish God’s word.

Our amazing, adopting Father is continuing his saving work. He has children scattered abroad. That is his mission.. and therefore.. that is ours.

In week 2 of our Vision series, we look at how, because of the gospel, God adopts us into his family. We now seek to live life together in light of the reality that God has provided for us as we walk in our new identity as his children.

The Gospel brings us to a new worldview. There is power and joy and peace found as we begin to see things as they are by the light of the gospel.

The eternal plan was for the Messiah to use his suffering to accomplish forgiveness and righteousness for all who would follow Him in order to bring them to Himself to experience and be part of the satisfaction of Christ.

In this second week of our Advent series, we look at how the promise of the messiah has been unfolding since the beginning of history and how Jesus was the perfect completion and fulfillment of all the promises of God.

We are all deeply in need of a Savior, Someone who will deal with our sin problem and restore us to fellowship with the Father. Jesus came to meet our deepest needs.

The salvation of God is far more extreme than we first thought. The darkness we were rescued from and the goodness of life under Jesus’ loving kingship are both far more significant than we first understand them to be. The depths of darkness and the heights of light make us appreciate and understand more of why only the blood of Christ could ever save us and did so powerfully.