Introduction:
A Savior: He Gives Forgiveness (Colossians 2:8-15):
- I have been gifted with the Truth . (Col 2:8)
Colossians 2:2-3 - To reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden ALL the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
- I have been gifted with All That I Truly Need . (Col 2:9-10)
- I have been gifted with New and Everlasting Life . (Col 2:11-12)
- I have been gifted with Total Forgiven . (Col 2:13-14)
- I have been gifted with Victory Over My Spiritual Enemies . (Col 2:15)
1 Peter 5:8-9 - Be sober minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith.
In Christ...
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:00-00:04
Well, if you have your Bibles, you can turn to Colossians chapter 2.
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And as you turn, I want to tell you a quick story.
00:08-00:13
Several years ago, my wife Kate and I were eating outside the Five Guys in Cranberry.
00:13-00:18
And this was before we had kids, so it was actually nice, quiet, and peaceful.
00:18-00:20
I can barely remember what that feels like, right?
00:21-00:31
And right next to the Five Guys is Mathnasium, which specializes in tutoring kids in any level of math who are struggling.
00:31-00:41
And in the window of Mathnasium is a poster of problems by grade that you should be able to solve without issue.
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You're all kind of getting ahead of me, you all know where this is going.
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From first grade all the way through 12th grade.
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And Kate and I think, hey, wanna feel good about ourselves?
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Let's go through this list and see if we can get a 100% success rate.
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They get through the first problem, fine.
01:00-01:08
Second grade, third grade, fourth grade, fifth grade, sixth grade, and I tell her I don't want to do this anymore.
01:09-01:10
And I just throw in the towel.
01:11-01:12
Can I be honest with you this morning?
01:13-01:19
If you put a long division problem before me and say I can't use the calculator on my phone, I don't think I could do it anymore.
01:21-01:23
Oh, that feels so good to get that confession off my chest.
01:23-01:29
Some of you are judging me severely, I know that others of you are just like really feeling that in your hearts.
01:31-01:37
You know, someday my kids are gonna be really disappointed when they ask me to help them with their math homework.
01:37-01:40
There's gonna be a lot of blank stares and awkward stretches of silence.
01:41-01:49
You know, many of the mathematical basics that I learned over 20 years ago have slowly but surely faded over time.
01:51-02:05
when it comes to math or any other subject, skill, and activity, you have to constantly reinforce and remind yourself of the basics, or you will slip into a state of forgetfulness.
02:07-02:18
As December 25th quickly approaches, we can't afford to slip into this foggy state of forgetfulness and lose sight of what Christmas is actually about.
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we're taking a short break from the book of James to focus on the meaning of Christmas.
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To remind ourselves of why Jesus truly came 2,000 years ago.
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Instead of getting wrapped up in the physical presence, let us instead focus on the presence of our Lord and Savior.
02:44-02:55
So this morning we're gonna study Colossians chapter two, verses eight through 15 in which the Apostle Paul lays out the many gifts and blessings that belong to us in Christ.
02:56-03:00
And these gifts are way better than anything we will unwrap next week.
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Everything on our wish list will lose their luster very quickly and end up in a garbage dump someday.
03:09-03:17
But what God offers us, what God gives us truly lasts and satisfies for all of eternity.
03:18-03:29
So before we continue any further, I want you to take a moment to go to the Lord and ask him to push aside all of the distractions that are calling out for your attention right now.
03:30-03:38
Hectic schedule, shopping lists, travel plans, anxiety about being with that specific side of the family.
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Bring these things to the Lord Ask Him for an attentive mind, open ears, and a willing heart.
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Go to the Lord.
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Father, You are truly great.
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And You alone are worthy of our praise, our honor, our devotion.
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Lord, this time of year, it's so easy to lose sight of what Christmas is all about.
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Lord, this morning, I pray that You would hone in our attention upon Christ and what he has done for us.
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For those of us who do know you, may you restore to us the joy of your salvation.
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And for those of us in this room who don't know you and who mean to not know you, maybe for those who think they know you but actually don't, what I pray to use the preaching of your word to draw many to yourself, that many would look unto Jesus and be saved.
04:41-04:43
In Jesus' name, amen.
04:44-04:51
So as I already said, this sermon is all about who we are in Christ and what has been given to us in Christ.
04:51-04:59
Let's start off with the first gift and blessing that Paul lays out in Colossians chapter two, verses eight through 15.
05:00-05:04
So firstly, in Christ, I have been gifted with the truth.
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I have been gifted with the truth.
05:10-05:11
Let's read verse eight.
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Paul writes this.
05:13-05:37
"See to it that no one takes you captive "by philosophy and empty deceit, "according to the human tradition, "according to the elemental spirits of the world, "and not according to Christ." So Paul warns the Colossians, not be taken captive or held hostage by lies and deceitful doctrine that will hurt, that will enslave them.
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At the time Paul wrote this letter, There is a false teaching circulating around the Colossian church.
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We aren't given a lot of details about what this false teaching is.
05:49-05:59
It looks to be a mixture, a hybrid of Jewish legalism and pagan philosophy, but I don't want to spend any time speculating because Paul doesn't tell us.
05:59-06:05
What he does tell us is that this false teaching is empty and deceitful.
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Have you ever been hungry and went to your pantry and you grab the new bag of chips, and then you pop the seal and you look inside, and half the bag is filled with chips, and the other half is just filled with artificial air.
06:19-06:20
I hate when that happens.
06:21-06:27
This false teaching, making the rounds of Colossae, is very similar to a disappointing bag of chips.
06:27-06:39
On the outside, it looks so good, it looks so full of goodness, but on the inside, it is a hollow disappointment, with no substance, with no spiritual nourishment.
06:39-06:50
Paul says that this teaching isn't divine in origin, but instead comes from the mind of sinful men who have no idea what they are talking about.
06:50-07:04
He says it is according to the elemental spirits of the world, which could refer to its demonic roots, but Paul is most likely saying that this teaching is childish and immature.
07:04-07:12
It is stupid, and any thinking Christian should be able to spot it from a mile away and steer clear.
07:14-07:25
And I love how he says, "See to it "that no one takes you captive." Don't be gullible, don't let this false teaching just wash over you passively.
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Be active in defending yourselves.
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You know the truth, don't be deceived.
07:33-07:37
In Christ, you have been gifted with the truth.
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And I'm not talking about a subjective truth, what's true for you isn't true for other people.
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I am saying that you have become a person of the truth which is found in Jesus Christ and him alone.
07:53-08:01
No other philosophy, no other worldview, no other religion has the answers that Christ offers.
08:03-08:21
Paul tells the Colossians earlier in this chapter that it is his hope for them that they will reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
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All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Christ.
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Not some, not many, not most, all.
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In Christ, your spiritual eyes have been opened to the truths of this book.
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You no longer need to be deceived because you can now be discerning.
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You can spot truth from error.
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What is unbiblical from what is biblical.
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What is wise from what is unwise.
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What is godly from that which is demonic.
09:01-09:06
But like the Colossians, you must constantly see to it that no one takes you captive.
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You must see to it that no one pulls the wool over your eyes.
09:10-09:16
You must filter every single idea and teaching through the word of God.
09:16-09:26
Not the filter of your own wants and preferences, not the filter of your feelings and emotions, not the filter of what's popular right now.
09:27-09:37
All of those filters are subjective and prone to error, while the filter of God's word is objective and perfect in every single way.
09:39-09:55
When you hear someone say that God told them to do something and that you need to wait on a word from God before you do anything, remind yourself that you don't need to wait on a word from God because you've already been gifted with the word of God.
09:56-09:59
God has perfectly revealed himself in this book.
09:59-10:02
You don't need to look for new revelation.
10:04-10:18
As our culture and many within the church seek to attack and pick apart the first three chapters of Genesis, don't fall prey to their faulty arguments that sound spiritual, scientific, and intellectual.
10:20-10:31
Hold fast to the realities that our God created this world in the time frame that he clearly lays out in his word, and he made us male and female in his image.
10:33-10:54
When someone tries to recommend you the latest Christian book, that is climbing the New York Times bestseller list with a self-help title and the author's picture on the cover, that's always a warning sign, by the way, your spiritual antenna should spring into action, and you should remind yourself that calling something Christian doesn't make it Christian.
10:56-10:58
I was texting Pastor Jeff yesterday.
10:58-11:07
I was looking through a Christian Instagram page and watching reel after reel of churches doing the most foolish things.
11:08-11:12
A pastor bringing a pornographic magazine on stage and laughing about it.
11:13-11:18
Setting up a baptismal and having people jump in and just swim and laugh hysterically.
11:20-11:25
There are so many lies that our enemy wants to feed to us right now.
11:26-11:30
See to it that no one takes you captive.
11:30-11:35
Guard the gift of the truth that has been given to you in Christ.
11:36-11:41
Do not sacrifice the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that are found in Christ.
11:43-11:48
Do not sacrifice these things for the trinkets and foolish lies of this world.
11:50-11:55
Secondly, in Christ, I have been gifted with all that I truly need.
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I have been gifted with all that I truly need.
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Let's read verses nine through 10.
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Paul writes, "For in him, in Christ, "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, "and you have been filled in him "who is the head of all rule and authority." So according to Paul, all the fullness of deity dwells bodily in Christ, which is just a complex way of communicating a very simple truth.
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Jesus is God in the flesh.
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He isn't just God-like.
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He isn't just God's favorite in all creation.
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Jesus is God.
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Paul says that he is the head of all rule and authority.
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He owns everything that you can see and everything that you cannot see.
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Nothing and no one escapes his divine sight and oversight.
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And Paul just lays an awesome truth before us in verse 10 that should blow us away.
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And you, he's talking about believers, have been filled in him.
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"The one who is full of all divine power and authority "has filled you with himself." Isn't that awesome?
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You may be thinking, Taylor, that does sound awesome, but what in the world does that actually mean?
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Well, another way to translate this verse is, "And you are complete in him." You're no longer defined by your brokenness.
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You are no longer a lost soul, but a found friend of God.
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You are a whole and complete person in Christ.
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I've already said the phrase in Christ several times in this message, and the similar phrases of in him and with him are used seven times in this passage.
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This phrase in Christ is the most important phrase in the entire New Testament when it comes to your salvation, your relationship with Christ, and who you are as a person.
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Yes, we can say we're Christians.
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We can say that we are believers.
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But the best description of who we are is that we are in Christ.
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And the best way to explain being filled and complete in Christ is to point you back to the best day of my entire life.
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On July 26, 2014, I married my wife and her life was joined together with mine.
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On that day, we became one flesh.
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After the wedding, we moved into the same house.
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She took my last name.
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We share the same bank account and assets.
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All that she has is now mine, and all that I have is now hers.
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I am united to her, and she is united to me.
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Marriage is a God-given relationship that points us to a greater and more long-lasting union, our union with Christ.
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To be in Christ is to be united to him, an unbreakable fellowship for all of eternity.
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I am one with Christ.
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He will never leave or forsake me, and nothing can separate me from him.
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I now share in all of his saving benefits, and I enjoy every spiritual blessing.
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I share in his perfect righteousness.
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I have been given unlimited access to God the Father in prayer.
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I bear his name to a watching world.
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I have been given the mission of spreading the gospel across the face of this planet.
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While my marriage to my wife will end the second one of us passes on, my union with Christ will never ever come to an end.
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I am united to Christ both now and forever.
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And the same is true for you, if you have placed your faith and trust in Him.
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In Christ, you have been filled to the brim with all that you could ever possibly need.
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In Christ, you have been shown unbelievable grace and mercy that you do not deserve.
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In Christ, you are guaranteed a place in heaven.
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In Christ, you are given all these awesome blessings that are beyond comprehension.
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In Christ, you are no longer like that empty bag of chips that I talked about earlier.
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In Christ, you are full, you are complete, you are lacking in nothing.
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Sounds great, doesn't it?
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But do you actually believe that?
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Do you actually believe that this morning?
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Are you focusing on all that you've been given in Christ?
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Are you obsessing over all the things that you do not have?
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As I said earlier, we all have Christmas wish lists on our mind right now.
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Maybe for others or for ourselves.
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Maybe this year you want a new iPad, AirPods, golf clubs, Hoka tennis shoes, I heard those are popular, a Lululemon crossbody, and yes, I know what that is.
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It's okay to want these things as gifts, but you have to realize you don't need any of these things.
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They won't make your life even a tiny bit better.
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What's exciting on Christmas Day isn't that exciting on Christmas night.
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Ask yourself an important question this Christmas season.
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What do I actually need that has not already been provided for me in Christ?
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You may not feel it to be true right now, but the answer is nothing.
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Nothing.
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Nothing that Christ gives to you can be stripped away.
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Nothing that Christ gives to you can be outmatched by the things of this world.
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Jesus Christ is a one-stop shop for all that you truly need in this life and the next.
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Thirdly, in Christ, I have been gifted with new and everlasting life.
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and have been gifted with new and everlasting life.
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And Paul goes in a somewhat unexpected direction in verse 11.
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In Christ also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ.
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I know what some of you are thinking.
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Taylor, this is a lot of talk of circumcision for a Christmas time message.
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And I get it, but it's what the text says, so we're going to talk about it.
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If you don't know what circumcision is, just turn to your neighbor, and I'm sure they'd love to explain it to you.
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I don't wanna talk about the biology of circumcision today, but I do wanna talk about the symbolism of circumcision.
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In the Old Testament, every Jewish boy was expected to be circumcised on the eighth day following his birth, to stand apart from the pagan nations around Israel and to communicate physically a deep spiritual reality that we are horribly sinful and we need cleansing at the deepest level of who we are.
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Sadly, many Jews went the legalistic route with circumcision and viewed it as a part of salvation.
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The Pharisees and religious leaders in Jesus' day believed that a man cannot possibly be right with God apart from physical circumcision.
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But physical circumcision cannot change a man's heart.
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it cannot change his deepest problem, which is his inner brokenness and slavery to sin.
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So Paul delivers this awesome news that everyone who is in Christ, male or female, has been circumcised with a circumcision made without hands.
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In other words, this is a spiritual circumcision.
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This is a spiritual change and transformation.
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Instead of cutting our physical bodies, Christ has cut us loose from slavery to our fallen and sinful flesh.
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We used to be dominated and controlled by our sinful wants and desires, but we have been set free in Christ, who is our masterful spiritual surgeon.
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Other parts of scripture say that we have been given new hearts, hearts that desire to obey and please the Lord.
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In Christ, you can say no to sin and yes to righteousness.
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You no longer have to be controlled by your sinful flesh, those desires that you have.
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And Paul keeps on rolling with the good news in verse 12.
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He writes, "And having been buried with him, "with Christ in baptism, in which you were also raised "with him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead.
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In Christ, our old and sinful selves are dead and buried.
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The old you is in the tomb, and a new you has been raised with Christ.
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And this reality is pictured in baptism.
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Baptism is the ultimate symbol of our union with Christ.
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It displays that you identify with and share in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.
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As you were lowered into the water, that is a symbol of your death and burial.
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That's the old you.
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As you were raised out of the water, that is a symbol of your new, resurrected life in Christ.
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Baptism does not lead to salvation, but it is an awesome reminder of our salvation and the transformation that God has made happen within us.
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In Christ, you are a new creation, and you are expected and commanded to act like one.
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Going back to your old ways and habits cannot be an option, because that's not who you are anymore.
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Using and abusing the grace of God as a hall pass to do whatever you want should be unthinkable, because that's not what you do anymore.
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Covering up your sin and justifying it It can't be your knee-jerk reaction any longer because that's not what Christ set you free to do.
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Live into who you already are in Christ instead of backsliding into who you used to be.
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Fourthly, in Christ, I have been gifted with total forgiveness.
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In Christ, I have been gifted with total forgiveness.
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So after talking about our resurrection to new life, Paul rewinds the tape a bit to remind us yet again of our desperate situation before Christ.
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He writes at the beginning of verse 13, "And you who were dead in your trespasses "in the uncircumcision of your flesh." All right, let's stop there for a second.
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As a reminder, before Christ, what were you?
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That was pretty dead.
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Let's yell it out.
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You were what?
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Dead.
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You weren't just a bad person.
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You weren't just a spiritually sick person.
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You were a dead person.
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You were a spiritual corpse with no pulse and no hope.
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You know, as a pastor, I hear so many people say, you know, I've always been a Christian.
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I get what they mean, but I want to lovingly say, no, you haven't.
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There was a point in your personal history when you were dead, you had no spiritual life, but God made you alive together with Christ.
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How did he do this?
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Well, Paul tells us.
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God made us alive together with him, having forgiven us all of our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.
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This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
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There is so much to unpack here that kind of fries my preacher brain a little bit.
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I could do a whole sermon series on this, but don't worry, I won't.
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We'll do it very quickly.
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First and foremost, if you are in Christ, all of your sins have been forgiven.
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Past, present, and future.
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From those things that seem small but actually aren't, all the way to the thing that you regret the most in life, All of these things have been covered by the blood of Christ.
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Secondly, your debt to God has been completely taken care of.
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The picture that came to my mind when I studied this verse was the US National Debt Clock in New York.
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Who's ever seen that in person?
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In real time, this clock is being updated with how deep in the hole we are as a country.
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And you may be looking at that and thinking it's not that bad.
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It's actually much worse.
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This is an old, outdated picture.
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I think it's more than double that at this point.
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With each passing second, our nation's debt is ticking up higher and higher and higher.
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In a much worse way, with every sinful thought, word, action, reaction, and inaction, your sinful debt to God was getting larger and larger and larger, ticking up and up and up.
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But God, in a generous act of mercy and grace, decided to cancel the debt that stood against you.
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Another way to translate this is wiped away.
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It's like God took his divine hand and wiped the existence of your sin off the heavenly record.
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He took the eraser and cleared the chalkboard.
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To add even more finality to this, Paul adds that our record of debt has been nailed to the cross.
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Three nails have been driven into the coffin that holds the power and penalty of our sin.
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Even though we know this truth in our minds, it is so hard to actually feel it in our hearts.
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It is so hard to live in light of it.
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As forgiven people, we can struggle with thinking that God is still mad at us over something we did years ago.
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When we give in to temptation now and do something that we know we shouldn't do, we often run away from God instead of to God because we think he wants nothing to do with us.
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We think that he is disgusted with us.
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We can still feel like our record of debt is alive and well instead of dead and buried.
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You know, during my early years of seminary, I shared that I worked as a debt collector for libraries.
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And yes, it was as glamorous as it sounds.
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It's awesome being the worst call of someone's month and being verbally berated night after night after night after night.
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But over the course of my time as a debt collector, I looked at hundreds, maybe thousands of records of debt that stood against men and women across this country.
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And I never thought I would be on the receiving end of one of these debt collection notices until in 2015 my wife was sent one from our alma mater, Geneva College.
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And I say, did you want me to read it to you?
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Warning, your time has run out!
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With two exclamation points 'cause one apparently wasn't enough.
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We have asked you to call if there was a problem.
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You have not done so.
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We never were told about this debt or told to call.
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We have asked you to pay the amount due.
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You have not done so.
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I didn't know there was an amount due.
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We gave you the opportunity to file for either a student or hardship deferment.
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You have not done so.
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We wrote you attempting to reach a satisfactory settlement for your account.
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We fully expected your cooperation.
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Since we've had no response from you, we have no choice but to initiate serious action to collect your account.
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Whether we transfer your account to an outside collection agency or attorney for immediate litigation is entirely up to you.
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That just sounds jerky, doesn't it?
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I assume that's how it was written.
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We were just so confused.
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We didn't know there was a record of debt against us.
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We didn't know that we owed anything.
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So we called Geneva, but actually before that, look at the bottom of this.
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Go to the next slide, please.
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You'll see the total that was actually due.
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What does that say?
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Zero dollars and zero cents.
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Wow, should I pay it off in a lump sum or do that monthly?
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That's quite the bill.
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We call Geneva and they apologize profusely and said, don't worry about it.
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This bill has obviously been taken care of in the past.
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And every single time I read this passage in Colossians, I think about my record of debt to Geneva being $0.00.
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And even better than that, in Christ, Your record of debt is now and forever $0.00.
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There is nothing you can do to get yourself into further debt, and there is no need to try to pay off what has already been fully taken care of.
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When you sin, you can honestly bring it to the Lord, confess it, repent of it, and move forward.
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To be clear, I'm not saying that you shouldn't feel any negative emotions about your sin.
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As Pastor Jeff taught us last week, you need to mourn over your sin if you want to move forward.
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A sense of godly guilt is essential because that leads to repentance and change.
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But just sitting in your shame, refusing to do anything about it and feeling sorry for yourself only leads to cover up in isolation.
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Forgiven people deal with their sin in a healthy and biblical way because they know their sinful bill has already been settled at the cross.
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You know, some of you in this room are not believers in Christ, and you don't really sense a need for that.
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You feel like you're a good person.
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You don't sense the need that you owe the Lord anything.
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Others of you know how sinful you are.
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And you're thinking, Taylor, you just don't get it.
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You don't know all the things that I've done.
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You don't know the people that I've hurt.
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I've crossed the line too many times.
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God could never love and forgive someone like me.
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You just don't know what I've done.
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And you're right, I don't know what you've done.
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But I know the one who does, God does.
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And he offers you forgiveness anyway.
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You could take me aside for service today and list out all your deepest, darkest sins and I would have the same exact response no matter what you share with me.
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The blood of Christ is more than enough to cover that.
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As a pastor from several hundred years ago once said, there is more mercy in Christ than sin in you.
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It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done, you will be fully forgiven today if you place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation.
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It's that simple, but this requires humility.
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You must humbly acknowledge that you are hopeless and helpless apart from Christ.
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That you were unable to pay this massive debt, but Jesus is infinitely able to pay it off in an instant.
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The gift of forgiveness is offered to you right now, but you must reach out by faith to accept it or you will never actually receive it.
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Will you accept this gift of forgiveness or will you once again push it away?
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Will you just wallow in your sin and your shame or will you turn to Christ for salvation and eternal life?
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I so wish I could make that choice for you, but I can't.
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The choice is yours.
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Finally this morning, in Christ, I have been gifted with victory over my spiritual enemies.
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I have been gifted with victory over my spiritual enemies.
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So Paul ends this section of Colossians with an amazing victory lap that highlights the utter inability and weakness of our enemy in comparison to our Savior.
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He writes this, "God disarmed the rulers and the authorities "and put them to open shame by triumphing over them "in Him, in Christ." You know, on top of not being a great mathlete, I'm also a pretty lousy athlete.
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From sixth through 12th grade, I played basketball for Eden Christian Academy, and during that time, I experienced a decent number of wins, but a lot of losses.
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I didn't really care that much.
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I didn't take it that much to heart because I wasn't that great.
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A lot of my friends were devastated and I'm like, I wonder what's for dinner.
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I just never really took it to heart that much.
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But there was one particular game during my sophomore year that I'll never forget as long as I live because it was so embarrassing.
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I wish I could say that we played well during this game of shame and that we left it all out on the court.
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But I'm pretty sure the only thing we left on the court was our dignity.
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The other team out hustled and outplayed us the entire game.
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And I'll never forget the scoreboard at the end of the game 'cause those red numbers are burned into my brain.
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87 to 20.
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We lost by over 60 points.
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There was no question of who was the dominant team that night.
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No one walked away from that game thinking, Yeah, sure, Eden lost, but the rest really robbed them of that victory and they really deserved to win.
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No one thought, you know, that game was so back and forth, it could have gone either way.
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Nah, this was a total open and shut case of annihilating victory.
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The other team totally triumphed over us and we were put to open shame for all of our friends and family to witness.
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In a much greater way, The devil and his demons were completely smacked down at the cross of Christ and delivered a killing blow for all of eternity.
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Paul said that they were disarmed, which also can be translated as stripped.
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Satan and his demonic goons were publicly stripped of their power and totally humiliated.
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Now they're just trying to cause as much damage as possible until Jesus Christ returns to finalize the victory that he has already purchased on our behalf.
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If you are in Christ, Satan has no power over you.
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His accusations of you before God are pointless and fall on deaf ears.
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His threat of death holds no sway over you because Christ has had victory over the grave and you have been given eternal life.
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Satan can't make you do anything.
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Yes, you should wisely be wary of him and his schemes, but you should not obsess over him.
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So many Christians live in bondage of fear of the devil.
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Do not live in fear of him any longer.
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You don't have to follow his lead.
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You don't have to take the temptations that he throws before you.
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When he casts that shameful accusation before you, you don't have to bite the hook.
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All Satan can do now is wave a bill for zero dollars and zero cents in your face.
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That's all he can do.
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In those moments of doubt and fear, preach the truth of the word of God to yourself instead of listening to the horrible advice of Satan, your flesh, and this world.
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Again, be active instead of passive.
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Be proactive instead of reactive.
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Peter talks about this in his first epistle.
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Be sober-minded, be watchful.
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Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
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Resist him, firm in your faith.
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Does that sound familiar?
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It really should because Pastor Jeff talked about it last week.
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We don't rebuke the devil.
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I can't say it in the voice you did it last week.
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We can't rebuke the devil, but we must resist the devil.
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Is that pretty good?
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We resist him and we stand firm.
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View Satan for what he really is, a wounded and cornered animal who's taking desperate swipes until he is put down for good.
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His ultimate destination is the lake of fire, while yours is the presence of God.
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He is the biggest loser imaginable, while you serve the greatest winner imaginable.
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You share in the victory of your savior, and don't let your enemy rob you of any of the joy that has been given to you in Christ.
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You know, this has been less of a, you need to do this kind of sermon, and more of a Christ has done all of this for you kind of message.
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This time of year, we are so busy hustling and bustling that we need to be sat down and reminded of who we are and whose we are.
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You'll often hear people telling you at this time of year, Get into the Christmas spirit.
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Who has said that or heard someone say that?
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Okay, come on, it has to be way more than that.
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We've all heard it or said it, right?
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If by get into the Christmas spirit, you mean I need to watch all those old claymation movies, deck out my house like Christmas Vacation, or blast Jingle Bell Rock on my way to work, I'm pretty confident I should not be expected to do any of those things.
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But if I get into the Christmas spirit, you mean that I need to wholly focus my mind, my attention, my heart, my affections upon the incarnation of my Savior, who came to this earth, took on a human form to die for me.
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Then I wholeheartedly agree with you.
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Let's get in the Christmas spirit.
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The flashy ornaments that we hang on this holiday are fun, yet not essential.
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Let us never lose sight of what this holiday is actually about, which is Christ and Christ alone.
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You must never lose sight of who you are in him.
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In Christ, you no longer need to be deceived because you've been gifted with the truth.
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In Christ, you no longer need to feel empty because you are full in him.
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In Christ, you no longer need to go back to who you used to be because you've been gifted with new and everlasting life.
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In Christ, you don't need to wallow in your sin and your shame any longer because you have been gifted with the full weight of God's forgiveness in Christ.
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You don't need to live in fear because you have been gifted with victory over your spiritual enemies.
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Hallelujah, what a Savior.
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What a friend we have in Jesus.
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Let's pray.
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Father, I pray that we would never be able to hear this gospel news and sit back and yawn and be bored by it.
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Lord, this is inexhaustibly good news.
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Lord, this is news that we need to hear even if we've believed it for decades.
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Father, for those of us in this room who know and love you, but that love has grown cold as of late, I pray that your Holy Spirit would stoke the affections, stoke the fire in our hearts for you.
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That we would be restored with the joy of our salvation.
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and we would remember how awesome Christ truly is.
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And Lord, for those of us who do not know you, Lord, may you use the preaching of your word to pierce them to the heart, to convict them of their sin, but to point them to the solution, which is Christ, and what he accomplished on the cross.
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Lord, I pray this message wouldn't just stay here in this room, but it would go with us this week and into Christmas.
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And we would tell everyone that we know and love what this season is actually about.
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That we would focus on Christ and lift him up in every single way.
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In Jesus' name, amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Colossians 2:8-15
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
When it comes to this time of year, why is it so easy to slip into a state of forgetfulness regarding the true focus and meaning of Christmas?
What does it mean to be “in Christ” and “complete in Him”? What blessings and gifts do we receive in Him?
What specific errors and false teachings do we need to be on guard against right now? How can we prepare to stand against false teaching and “see to it that no one takes you captive”?
How does the forgiveness of Christ change how you view your sin? How should it fuel your fight against sin?
Breakout
Pray for one another.