Fellowship Bible Church, Tacoma - Weekly Sermon

Church is a place of suffering, service, and toil. Paul doesn't downplay this reality. In Colossians 1:24-29, he leans into it, describing clearly the cost of his commitment to the church of Jesus. But he also shows us the glory. If you're a person who's getting burned out on church, or even considering giving up church altogether due to discouragement, or hurt, or whatever - this is the passage for you. Because in this passage we see the motivation to stay committed to church even when it's hard. Not because the church is so great, but because Jesus is, and he's the one who suffers, and serves, and toils for us.

There's one clear theme for today's section in the Colossians: the unrivaled supremacy of Jesus. In Colossians 1:15-20, Paul shows how Jesus is Lord of Creation and New Creation and everything in between. But this isn't just abstract theology. It's exultation. It's poetry. And Paul's hope is that by seeing the glory of Jesus, we'll be spurred on to deeper devotion and abiding joy as we look forward to the day when Jesus himself will make all things new.

What does the flourishing Christian life look like? And where does it come from? In Colossians 1:9-14, we get to hear Paul's prayer for the Christian community in Colossae. Along the way, we'll get some healthy reorientation regarding what "our best life" looks like and discover how the basis of our ongoing wellbeing is found in knowing God.

In this kickoff to our Colossians series, we take a close look at Paul's opening word of the letter. In them, we find not just valuable info regarding the context (setting, history, purpose, geography, etc.) - we also find valuable info about ourselves. Who does God say we are as followers of Jesus? What does it mean to be a community of "saints"? And "brothers"? As we explore this, we begin to get a glimpse of the profound new identity given to those who belong to Jesus.

In Joshua 23, we listen in on part one of Joshua's farewell speech to the leaders of Israel. His main point? Same as what we hear from the Apostle John fourteen centuries later: "Little children, guard yourselves from idols." We'll hear both the warning and the exhortation from Joshua to back up this command, and then we'll consider how God uses suffering in our lives to expose our idols and help us find our rest in Him.

What happens as we come to see God as fully trustworthy? Not just "trustworthy" as an idea, but as an abiding, bedrock conviction of the heart? Joshua 21 gives one of scripture's clearest declarations of God's trustworthiness. In the sermon today, we'll see God's how God's trustworthiness is demonstrated in the text, then we'll reflect on how this truth shapes our response to idolatry, mission, and suffering.

In these instructions regarding cities of refuge, we see a reflection of God's heart for both justice and mercy. This text serves as a helpful corrective, since we often struggle to consider what is truly fair and right in any given situation - and likewise also tend to evaluate justice and mercy by the wrong criteria. Ultimately, these instructions point us to the fullest expression of both God's justice and mercy in the person and work of Jesus Christ, to whom any sinner can flee and find refuge.

How can we know that God is for us? In Joshua 11:1-12:24, we see the spectacular results when God fights for his people. We also get a preview of the assurance we can find in Jesus our Servant, Jesus our Warrior, and Jesus our Sacrifice - who himself is the ultimate proof that God is for us.

Is anything too hard for God? This is the question raised by our extraordinary passage here, where God not only defeats a massive coalition of enemy armies - but stops the sun and moon in the process. We'll consider how the doctrine of God's omnipotence provides the basis for mighty acts like this, and then reflect on how the knowledge of God's power leads us to worship, prayer, and trust in Jesus.

How can God command the Israelites to kill entire groups of people - including women and children? This question has troubled many modern readers of the Book of Joshua. In this sermon, we won't try to explain these passages away. Rather, we will try to understand these commands within the larger biblical context so we can hear God's word and heed it - to our benefit.

There's one clear main point to this passage: Jesus is not guilty. So why do we need to see this? What would we miss if this passage was missing from our Bibles? By the end, we'll observe four reasons why we can't understand the message of the cross unless we first see Jesus's innocence. And how, for all of us who ARE guilty, the message of the cross is very, very good news.

We are drawing into one of the darkest sections of the story of Jesus. In Luke 22:54-62, we see one of Jesus's top disciples (arguably THE top disciple) desert Jesus in his time of greatest need. So what can we learn from Peter's example? We learn plenty about temptation, tests, and how to fail. But even more importantly, against the dark backdrop of Peter's faceplant, we see the faithfulness, power, and grace of Jesus shine out all the brighter, even for failures like us.