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22nd of August, 2023, is the day we started the Book of Colossians. Today, three months later, almost exactly three months later, and 13 sermons later, we come to the final sermon here.

So, we're looking at Farewell, Colossians. And let's look at these verses. I think we didn't manage to read verses 17 and 18, but let's look at all these verses. Just advance caveat or warning. Please don't complain that the words are too small. I know they are very small, but no choice. I want to fit 12 verses in one slide. It has to be like this. So, this is, don't complain, alright, we'll magnify them in a while. We will do so. But these are the words we'll look at today. And just to be clear, what this whole chunk of Scripture is about, it's about Paul giving his final farewell, and he sends greetings on behalf of people and to people.

So just to be easier for you to digest, he begins with two names. Like I said, I will magnify them. But, by the way, if you have real difficulty at the back seeing these words, I recommend next time, come sit in front. It will solve the problem, alright.

But we begin with two names, Tychicus and Onesimus. And these two names are people that Paul will send to the Colossians to tell the Colossians about what's happening to Paul. The next six names are Aristarchus, Mark, Jesus, who is called Justus, so not Jesus Christ, of course, Epaphras, Luke, and Demas. These are people who Paul sends greetings on behalf of to the Colossians, Aristarchus, Jesus, and so on.

The last group of names or people are the brothers at Laodicea, Nympha and the church in her house, and Archippus. These are the people Paul sends greetings to and speak to.

So let's eliminate some of the words in between. We're looking at Tychicus, Onesimus, the next group of six, and then the final Nympha, Laodiceans, and Archippus. So, putting it all, now magnify already, don't complain. I hope it's clear. Ah, these twelve verses, really, are about three groups of people. The first people Paul will send to the Colossians personally, the second, the people who wants to send greetings also to the Colossians, and the third, the people Paul sends greetings to.

Now, how shall we approach this sermon? One way is to go one by one by one by one by one and tell you everything we can learn about Tychicus and Onesimus and so on and so forth. But I think that would be quite difficult. In fact, I think you would protest and say, wah, this is so boring. You may find a lot of information about these men. There are other passages that speak about them.

But I don't think, number one, Paul is trying to give a biography about each one. So that would not be what we would do. But perhaps it would be helpful for us to take a step back, see why this is written by Paul and learn lessons about the Gospel ministry as a result of this passage.

1. Gospel Partnership

So this is what I propose. We'll learn simple observations and therefore principles of Gospel ministry from a list like this. The first thing I'd like us to take note of is that Paul believes in Gospel partnership. That's the obvious implication. He speaks about these men because these are co-laborers, fellow servants together with Paul. He believes in Gospel partnership, that the advancement of the Gospel is not something for anyone to do on his own alone, but it requires a team.

Paul is a very uniquely gifted man. I think he is a top star in the Christian realm. Very gifted, very capable, super smart. But Paul, though very gifted and capable, did not operate as a lone ranger. He recognized the need for others. He depended on others, he gave thanks for others.

He acknowledged that they are his fellow laborers. He says, Tychicus, fellow servant in the Lord, Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, probably thrown into prison together with Paul because of the ministry together. Jesus, among my fellow workers for the Kingdom of God, and Epaphras, who is one of you a servant of Christ.

So he considers them all fellow workers together with him. Not only that, we read of how Paul, because he is in prison, is unable to get to the Colossians so he trusted and depended on people like Tychicus and Onesimus to do what he cannot do. I need them to come and tell you what's happening. And of course, he also mentioned how Aristarchus and Mark and Jesus have been a comfort to Paul. He needed them.

It was a particularly difficult time for him in prison and these brothers were a source of comfort to him. Paul is someone, though extremely gifted and capable, who believed in Gospel partnership. And I think we will be wise to understand and to believe in the importance of Gospel partnership.

Maybe in your care group, you want to share the Gospel with someone and, and you feel that you need someone to come alongside you. You need someone to guide you. That's what a care group, that's what community is for. We can help one another. There's someone in difficulty in your care group, that's where all of us can pitch in to help, that's Gospel partnership.

But this phrase holds special meaning for me as well. In 2013, that's almost exactly 10 years ago, I was somehow, I think, very interestingly as I look back, having that sense that maybe God would want us to do more than what we have been doing. I mean, we were just a simple church, really, and actually, till today, we are quite a simple church, straightforward church. But even then, I felt maybe God wants us to do something more. And the, we recognised that in order for us to kick the ministry up a notch, we require a lot of teamwork together.

Uh, and so, for Leaders Forum, there was an annual gathering that started then, 2013. Leaders Forum 2013, the first Leaders Forum we held, in a sense, was in a restaurant in Turf City, a Korean restaurant in Turf City called Hansang. Some of you are smiling. Can I know how many of you were with us in 2013 at the restaurant in Hansang, uh, Turf City? Can I see by a show of hands, how many of you were there? Hah, one ah ? All, all the rest died in the wilderness, is it? How many of you went to the restaurant 2013, uh Turf City?

Can I see by a show of hands? One, two, three, four. Wah, wah. This is a whole new generation. Uh, well, the theme for Leaders Forum then was this theme, teamwork makes the dream work. That was what we were saying, that was what we were talking about. Now, now this is very old, because you can see our logo, it's the Pomfret fish logo, the Cheong-he, G-L-C-C, you know, G-L-C-C, that's why the fish logo.

Now, now, today, our logo is different, it's modernised as we, as we come to Punggol, but, yep, this is 2013. I was looking back at the slides, and I realised 2013 was when we had this uh Leaders Forum, and it was also 2013, I think later on the year, if I'm not mistaken, that we were told that a piece of land was available for church site in Punggol.

Now, as it turned out, there were some twists and turns. We, we went for the bid, but we lost the bid. We thought that the Punggol dream was over, who knows, God will give us this piece of land here, and here we are 10 years later. So it was momentous for me, that we recognised that as God may lead us to a new realm of ministry, it requires teamwork, and I'm really thankful for every single one who pitched in, who served to make this whole transition to Punggol possible.

But we recognised that the Gospel ministry is not a ministry for any one man. It is teamwork. The teamwork begins every Sunday, even before the preaching begins, we've people who ensure that there is a positive, welcoming, Christ-like, God-honouring Sunday experience. People who are at the gates, at the doors, welcoming people, people ushering, the people who are leading us in songs and praise, the preachers who preach God's Word, and besides what happens on Sundays, it's also what happens on the weekdays in our care groups, small groups, Bible discip.., Bible study groups, we have our youth ministry. I don't know who this is. Looks weird to me. Why is this guy, this kind of hairstyle? But anyway, that's Pastor Yufei a long time ago, alright, 10 years ago.

And then we have our Chinese congregation, our children's ministry. So cute ah. We have the Bahasa ministry, dialect ministry, Filipino ministry, and we recognise it takes everyone working together to advance the Gospel. Teamwork is what is needed to make the dream work.

Now, we celebrated teamwork during those days. We still need to celebrate teamwork today. Ten years on, it's still the same. But today I'm going to celebrate that team dynamics in the church in a different way. Instead of looking to all our wonderful ministry workers, volunteers serving behind the scenes, I think it's appropriate for us to start from the top as well.

Because as many of you come in, I realise many of you do not know who the leaders of the church are. So it takes a whole team, from the leadership all the way to the volunteers and likewise the other way around. I want to ask you, who is the leader of this church? Wah, so smart ah you all.

Aiyah, first service, they're still ee ah oh oh, ee ah oh oh not very sure know, but second service, wah a lot more enlightened I see, and will not fall for, for my trick question. Yes, the leader of the church is not any of the pastors here, but Jesus Himself.

The Bible makes it clear, Jesus is the head of the church. No competition allowed. But after the Lord Jesus and under the Lord Jesus, we have what we call the Board of Elders.

Uh, this consists of seven men and we are responsible for the overall direction and spiritual health of the church here and also in the ministries overseas. So it's the highest accountable body. I will share with you who they are in a while. And under the Board of Elders, we would have three major departments.

So that's all the flowchart or the hierarchical chart I will show because if it goes further down, it's quite complicated. But I think it suffices for you to recognise that this is a church that is led by a plurality of elders and we are not just looking into ministry here in Singapore but also overseas.

And a very important arm of the church is church committee, that is responsible for the governmental regulatory rules, practices. We want to be a church that is blameless and beyond reproach, providing things honest not just before God but before men. And so this is a very important part of our ministry.

So let me share with you some of the elders. Uh, some of you may be wondering who are our elders, who are the seven? If I ask you today, can you name the seven? You may name seven dwarfs of Snow White better than the seven members of the Board of Elders. That's what I'm afraid of.

So let's look at the seven elders. They are all taken from our website. And if you cannot see their faces properly, next time sit in front. And number two, you can access their, the webpage on our website and read about who they are. So the seven elders in the Board of Elders are as follows.

Now there are more than seven elders, pastors in Gospel Light. But for the purpose of making executive decisions, we think it would not be so necessary and indeed helpful to have everyone part of the Board of Elders. Then decision-making would be very laborious and cumbersome. So we have decided that, yup, we would have a smaller group. We are accountable to the decisions of the church, and these are the BOE members.

I think we are in a sense of who comes in first. Of course, our founding pastor, Pastor Paul, is the first elder there, and then it will be Pastor Vic, Elder Leong, and so on and so forth.

The next category of leaders will be what we call shepherds. What are shepherds? Well, actually, shepherds are, are people who are directly serving and leading a particular people group. So some of our BOE members are not actively involved in such leadership functions with people groups. Shepherds will be.

So the shepherds are as follows. Some of the guys and ladies here, I think they are serving in Philippines. Wah you all got to see that, I can't see properly. Ah, again, can check out the website, Children Ministry, Filipino, Chinese, English, Varsity, and so on and so forth.

Then we have other pastors and elders who are not directly involved in shepherding roles in larger people groups, but they are instrumental in serving in other ministry areas, counseling, visitation, and so on and so forth. But most of all, all pastors and elders are ordained to be examples to the flock. I think that's what the Bible tells us to do.

So the rest of the elders, they serve in Filipino ministry, support youth ministry, counseling, and so on. These are our elders, and of course, next Sunday we will add to this Brother John Chng.

Besides the elders of the church, there are two officers in the church, elders, pastors, bishops. Uh, these are synonyms. The second category will be called deacons. So we also want to share with you who our deacons are. What are our deacons in charge of particularly? Well, we follow the model in the book of Acts. The apostles, they devote themselves to the ministry of the Word and prayer. The deacons would be to serve tables.

What do you mean by serve tables? Are they the ones cooking downstairs and laying out? No, that's not what we mean. The, the word serve tables would mean that they serve God's people by meeting needs in a practical way. So in our church, our deacons are responsible for mercy ministry.

In other words, there may be those who are struggling in life, physically, financially, in other practical areas. Our deacons are our go-to people to help support members' needs, just like how the seven men in Acts 6 were chosen to meet the needs of the widows in the times of famine.

So the deacons are as follows. They are, are 10 of them here. We're thankful for their ministry amongst the needy. We thank God in our church we have wonderful unity. The elders, the deacons, we work well together. I've been in this church for 20 over years. I must say we have had a harmonious ministry experience.

I, I say that because I also hear that in other churches, deacons can be a very difficult bunch. In fact, they don't call them the board of deacons, they call them the board of demons. Uh, but that, that's not true at all in our church, we are super thankful, alright?

Now besides the elders and the deacons, as I've mentioned, we are thankful for our church committee. Now, this one, I don't have all their photos. I couldn't gather them in time this week, so I decided not to. Their photos are also not in the website. But I would love for you to know who they are, and they are as follows.

Elder Fred leads in our church committee, ably supported. Or not this Joseph Ho. The Joseph Ho who is the secretary is a different, is Joseph here, first service or, alright. Not this Joseph Ho, alright. I almost say Heng ah, but ah. Well we have good people in our church committee, we are thankful for them.

And under the church committee, there will be other sub-committees. So this is, you know we are registered as a society, you need these roles to be filled up. But I would say, they are not just names put up, they do actual real hard work and we are thankful for each one, alright. Things that I'm totally lost in, but they are superb at this, and we appreciate their ministry.

Besides that, under the church comm, they will also look at other necessary areas, like building, finance, governance, the various leaders. You could see some of them here. If you know their names, you will know them, and I hope you will be thankful for them and encourage them as they serve. Besides this, we have IT, HR, and our internal auditors. So all this again, available, I just plucked them from our website, that's all.

Now, besides church comm, I would say there is also local church. This is where you're most familiar with. It can get quite complicated, but I'll just say, under the local church, every Monday morning I meet up with the heads of department, and there are in total eight of them, eight of us, uh and we have shepherds, Christian education, connections.

Connections, you say what is this, it's what happens on Sunday. From the gate to the time you leave, this whole Sunday experience is under Melvin. We have comms, you see in our Facebook videos, you ask who is it from, or who is the leader of it, it's Ee Kwang, and pastoral care, comm engagement, it's reaching out to the people, and so on and so forth. So these are the people we serve with.

Now, I would have shared more with missions if not for sensitivity issues, I'd just like to let you know that there is an extensive missions outreach in our church beyond the four.. beyond the shores of Singapore, and in recent days, Pastor Paul has also invested himself heavily in APIIS, which is an online seminary that is absolutely free of charge for those who want to know the Bible.

But we have extensive works in other lands, Indonesia, uh, used to be in China, Philippines of course, and Central Asia, many parts of the world.

Now, besides our leaders, and our various departments, again, I think it will not be off, for us to appreciate many of you. I, I think this is a wonderful church where many people serve. Some of you serve real hard, involved in many ministries, and we are thankful for that, but most of all, we, we know you do this because you love the Lord, and you love the Lord because you know the Lord loves you, and He gave His Son for you.

So we are thankful for people serving, traffic marshals. I always like this picture, I always feel, wow, he's so stylo ah. He's traffic marshalling like dancing one ah, yup, that's Gospel ministry. Well, he's not preaching, he's not teaching, but he's part of the team that allows people to know the Gospel and to draw near to God. It's part of the teamwork.

Not all of us will be direct, Word-based leaders, but all of us can do a part for the sake of the Gospel. We can be the friendly face that smiles, that welcomes, that creates that Christ-like warmth and ambience for others. We have people who lead us in songs, we have people who facilitate the audiovisual inputs and outputs so that you all can benefit from the teaching, preaching, and hearing of the words sung in songs.
We have people who are serving others downstairs after the service is over. To us, the church does not end with the amen here. The church continues downstairs, indeed, for the rest of the week. We have wonderful, servant-hearted men and women who prepare food for us. Jui kueh here, I do not know what's the menu for today, but I'm sure there'll be wonderful refreshments provided so that God's people can love on one another, interact and fellowship one with another.

We're thankful for the many people who serve in our children's ministry. It's a very labor-intensive ministry, and it takes a team, a team that is made up of many teams, to serve the children effectively. And then we have our youth ministry, our varsity ministry, our Chinese ministry, our Filipino ministry. We have our care groups and discipleship groups and Bible study groups taking place throughout the week in members' homes and in this building.

We have people who go out into the community, knocking on doors to tell them about the church, about the message of the Bible. We have people who set up booths during Religious Harmony Carnival. We have people weekly going out to St. Luke's Elder Care to conduct worship services and to preach the Gospel.

Why do we do all these things? Because we believe God's mission for our church is to be leading generations into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. And all of us can be a part of this ministry. All of us can be part of the Fellowship of the mat, four friends who carried the man who is paralyzed to Jesus. That's our job.

Some of us will carry this corner, preaching. Some of us will carry the other corner, welcoming. Some of us may carry another corner to greet and to direct the traffic. But all of us are intentional in bringing people to Jesus Christ. That's what we do.

The Gospel requires partnership, because together, everyone achieves more, T-E-A-M. But I want to say that partnership in the Gospel is not, I hope, limited to the church or to one local church alone. I'd like to share with you that I think God desires that churches would partner together for the advancement of the Gospel, too.

Now, we, as a church, are quite careful about what associations we would join, because I think the testimony and the messaging has to be consistent. We do not just want to join with others simply because we want to be part of a bigger group. Because the representation may not be faithful to the Gospel, but the desire to connect with other churches is real.

Over the past, I think, four or five years, I have personally been involving myself in a fellowship of pastors. They are pastors of different churches, and they are pastors with actually very different practices from us. I wouldn't say we are all exactly the same. I don't think there's a church that is exactly the same. But there's one thing that unifies us, and that is all these churches and all these pastors, though we practice baptism differently, our worship style is different, the Bible version we use is different, we all aim to be more and more centered in the Gospel. That's that unifying mark.

So I have been having the privilege of getting to know some of these men. In the past, we have called ourselves City to City Singapore. You can actually Google this network up online. Now, don't key in CTC Singapore, because it will lead you to a travel agency. You've got to be harder, more hardworking in writing City to City Singapore, then you'll find our website.

But the news is that we are going to change the name and everything in the new year, because we will not be under Redeemer Presbyterian Church as City to City, Tim Keller's outfit in the new year. It's going to be a kind of a separate thing, but the essence and the fellowship remains the same.

It's a network of churches that seek to grow in Gospel centrality. You can read more in the church. Again, I say the words are really small, I understand, but please don't scold me, it's what the website gives. Uh, but the idea is that we want to help another in multiplying healthy Gospel-centered churches for the good of the city.

Some of the churches in this network are as follows. I think I didn't include Bukit Arang Bethesda Church. It's a, it's a church that is also part of this group, but we fellowship together. We learn together, we grow together, we want to help one another in Gospel centrality.

So, the Apostle Paul was someone who is extremely capable, but he's also someone who believes in Gospel partnership. I think that is what I need to learn, and we all need to learn. We are not here for a local church. We are here for the Gospel. The local church is simply a vehicle to advance the Gospel.

So, I hope that we will not see one another and other churches as competition or as competitors. We are not team Gospel Light versus team Cornerstone or whatever, but we are team Jesus. And all of us, if we are marching towards the Gospel as our center, should labor together because Gospel partnership is where, together, everyone achieves more.

2. Gospel Partners

This text also gives us, secondly, the insight as to the Gospel partners involved in this partnership. I think what Paul is doing in these last 12 verses is to tell the Colossians, don't follow the false teachers who are teaching you legalism in chapter 2. The, the Colossians will say, then who should we learn from since, Paul, you are in prison?

Paul says, let me give you a list of the people you can learn from. Tychicus, Onesimus, Epaphras, Luke, Demas. These are the people, these are the partners that I trust. These are the partners who are proven. These are the partners who are faithful.

So, I think that's why he wrote this, but at the same time, we get the privilege to have a glimpse of the kind of people Paul works with. What is unique about these men and women? Well, there's one quality I want to highlight, probably you can pick a few, but one quality that is pretty consistent is the quality of faithfulness.

Tychicus, a beloved brother and a faithful minister. Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother. And then Epaphras, who is always struggling on your behalf in his prayers. I remember Paul and what he wrote in 1 Corinthians 4, that it is required, what is required amongst the stewards, the servants of God? Well, he says, faithfulness. Moreover, it is required amongst stewards that a man be found faithful.

Faithfulness, faithfulness first to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And I think faithfulness also in a sense of being reliable, dependable. Not someone who is MIA, or someone who drops a ball. Faithfulness, these men are faithful, they are consistent in their lives. Are you someone like that? Well, I think this is an important attribute.

I, I've said this illustration a few times, but I'll say it again. There's this well-known economist named Kenneth Galbraith. He served under one of the presidents of the United States. And this is a story he wrote about his domestic helper, or, well, his helper at home. He wrote, it had been a wearying day, and I asked Emily to hold all telephone calls while I had a nap.

Shortly thereafter, the phone rang. Lyndon Johnson, the President of the United States at that time, was calling from the White House, saying to Emily, get me Ken Galbraith, this is Lyndon Johnson. He is sleeping, Mr. President. He said not to disturb him. Got guts, ah? Well, wake him up. I want to talk to him. I'm the President of the United States. No, Mr. President, I work for him, not you. When I called the president back, Kenneth Galbraith, he said, he could scarcely control his pleasure. Tell that woman I want her here in the White House.

What is the most important quality of a servant? Faithfulness. Loyalty to the master. And I think Tychicus, Onesimus, and so on, they were people who demonstrated the quality of faithfulness. In our church, I hope in every church, we will not be looking to men or women who are smart but unreliable. Rich but undependable. Capable but not sticking to the Gospel. But above all, faithfulness. Loyalty to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Reliability in service towards Him.

A second thing I think we can learn about the Gospel partners is that there was a sense of equality amongst them. You must understand that Onesimus, if we study about Philemon in a few weeks' time, was a slave, and indeed a runaway slave. But the Apostle Paul didn't say, Onesimus, that runaway slave. There was forgiveness.

And by the way, when we talk about forgiveness, Mark, Mark was someone who deserted Paul in Acts 15. But Paul says, Mark is part of my co-laborer too. There is forgiveness. But most of all, I want to talk about the equality there because Paul could have said, Onesimus, the slave, but Paul said, Onesimus, our beloved brother and faithful servant.
There is no class divide.

In this group, you have Jews. Aristarchus, Mark, Jesus, they were Jews. But you have Gentiles, you have Epaphras, and Luke, and Demas, but there is no Jew or Gentile divide. They all serve Jesus together. And then you have male and female. You have bond and free. So, there is a beautiful equality in Paul's team.

And I hope none of you today would say, Oh, I can't serve God because my skin color is different. I can't serve God because my socioeconomic status is not so good. Oh, I can't serve God because I'm not so educated. It has very little to do with ministry. There is no such divide in Paul's team.

And I hope as a church, we will be color blind, status blind, education blind in a sense. These are not things that are so important. But unity in the Gospel, faithfulness to Jesus is what matters.

Finally, I want to see, I hope you will see that there is a great diversity with the things they do. Epaphras is that stellar prayer warrior, always struggling in prayer. Then you have Nympha, her job, her role is to be a wonderful hostess. The church gathers in a home. Then you have Mark and Luke, who subsequently, we believe, became the authors of the New Testament books of Mark and Luke. And God use all of them, I think, in different ways.

God can use you to serve Him in different ways. Not all of you will be preachers. If all of you are preachers, then I'll preach once in, I don't know, 10 years. But all of us can serve in our different ways. And that's the beauty of it all.

3 Gospel Priority

Now, my time is almost up. But in this passage, I learned about Gospel partnership. I have a glimpse about the Gospel partners, what's really important. And finally, I want to share with you about Gospel priority. What do you mean by this?

Well, let's look at the final words of Paul in his letter. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, remember my chains. Paul is in prison, remember my chains. But you realize that he doesn't speak a lot or write a lot about himself. He doesn't write about, oh, how I'm suffering here, how I'm pitiful, how I'm desperate. He says, if you want to find out anything about my condition, I don't need to write this, just go and talk to Tychicus, he will tell you, or Onesimus.

But what I really want you to know is what I've written in this letter, and make sure this letter is not only read among you, but have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans. I see this, as Paul saying, let's not talk about me. If you really want to talk about me, know about me, go find out from Tychicus. But what is really important is what I've written here, and please read this, and please get this read in Laodicea, so that you all would know about Jesus and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You all will be warned against the dangers of false teachings, and you all may pursue things above. This is what is really important, Paul says. Not me. Not me. Not me.

This is so remarkable, especially in our culture today, where it's all about me. You go to social media, it's all about me. What I eat, what I dress, where I go, where's my holiday, it's all about me. Please know about me. Paul didn't want that. It's all about Jesus, and what He has done for you, and all about Jesus, and how we can worship Him. That's the priority in Paul's mind.

So as we end, whilst we know Paul is in prison, I don't think Paul wants us to focus on that. He wants us to know what this whole book is all about. So I end with how I started. I end with an overview. Trust me, not going to be long. I'm not going to drag this out.

But Paul wrote Colossians to a people he has never met. This is not the church he planted. He did not start the Gospel ministry there. It was Epaphras who did it. So he writes to them to encourage them. I mean, he's so wise. I've never met you before. You may not really know who I am, but I'm writing this to you to encourage you in the Gospel. How did he seek to encourage them? He started by praising God for their lives. He praised God for the faith and the love because of the hope of the Gospel that he hears about in the Colossians.

I remember telling you about my wife's friend who came from the United States, spent four days in Singapore. Half of the four days was spent in gardens by the bay. I mean, so many things to see, meh? That was what I thought, but she really loved the plants. To her, that is absolute beauty. So she gladly spent half of the time looking at the beautiful botany.

But I say, also in that sermon in the beginning of this series, I see beauty in all of you. Not all. Okay, let's be clear. I see the beauty. Okay, I'm not, not, not. Okay, that did not come across quite right, but. I, I, I, I don't assume every one of you is a Christian. Uh, but I see amongst God's people, a beauty. A beauty of faith and love, because of the hope. And I don't have to go to gardens by the bay. I see beauty in the gathered church of Jesus Christ on a weekly basis.

Paul rejoices in that, praises the Colossians, praises God's work amongst the Colossians, encouraging them. He then talks about how he prays for them. He said, since I've heard of your faith and love, I have not ceased, we have not ceased to pray for you. He prays, he's so encouraging. He says, we pray for you that you may walk worthy of the Lord. Fruitful in every good work. Increasing in the knowledge of God. Having that endurance and patience with joy and thanksgiving through your trials. I'm praying for you for these things.

And then he breaks out into a song. He launches a poem about the supremacy of Christ. How Jesus is supreme in all creation and Jesus is supreme in the new creation. That, I think, lays the groundwork for him to say later on, you do not need to follow the legalistic rules that the false teachers are throwing at you because in Jesus, you have everything. He's the supreme One who has secured your salvation. He encourages them.

And then Paul, in the first segment, talks about the tremendous privilege he has as a minister and he says, all my sufferings, all my labor is for you. He's so encouraging as an apostle here.

The main bulk of the book of Colossians would be how he then seeks to edify them. The word edification means to build up. How is he building up the faith of the Colossians? He begins very clearly by warning them against the false teachings. He tells them to avoid legalism. We have nailed, we have identified, crystallized the false teachings swirling in those days in Colossae and maybe in Laodicea and Hierapolis to be that of legalism.

What is legalism? Legalism is trying to earn God's favor with my own works. Jesus is enough. It's not about you. So in order for them to be rooted and grounded in Jesus, Paul warns them against legalism.

And then in chapter 3, he calls them to aspire to seek things above because they have been united with Jesus. They are raised with Jesus. They are to seek the things above. And it involves five things.

Purity in your life, unity in the church, order in the family, faithfulness in prayer, and last week, Gospel light shine. That's what it means to have Christ-centered lives. You do not depend on your own works for justification before God, and you are giving yourselves to these areas that demonstrate obedience to Jesus.

And then finally, we come to the endorsements. Guys, you don't have to follow the Judaizers or the false teachers. Follow Tychicus, Onesimus, Epaphras, who is your pastor, Mark, Luke, Aristarchus, so on and so forth. This is what Paul wants the church to remember.

What a remarkable man, and what a wonderful letter. I've learned a lot in this letter, actually. I've benefited from it. 14 weeks, I hope it has been a blessing to you. But just as we are about to go, I end with this last observation. I don't think I've read this in any other author. I've read this only in Piper.

And he said, in chapter 1, verse 2, Paul began by saying, grace to you. And then at the end of the letter, he says, grace be with you. Just a neat little observation. Almost saying, as you begin to read this book, may God's grace come to you. And as you finish this book, grace has come to you, and may grace continue to remain with you. As you realize God's work in your life, as you avoid legalism, and as you walk in Jesus, seeking things above, may God's grace be with you always.

And in these 14 weeks, I hope the lessons Paul has given us will remain with you, and his grace will remain with you. Thank you for journeying with me in Colossians. I look forward to seeing you in a month's time. We'll look at Philemon. And then we have Christmas, New Year's messages, and in the New Year, we'll be looking forward to? Leviticus, alright? Let's bow for a word of prayer together.

The Apostle Paul was a man who was not wrapped up about himself. He really means it, I think, when he said in 1 Corinthians, I determine to know nothing among you except Jesus and Him crucified. And the whole book of Colossians is really about Jesus and Him crucified, and how Jesus died so that we may have forgiveness of sins, how our sins are blotted out. It's nailed to the cross. We are forgiven because Jesus died and paid for our sins.

If you're here today, you're not a Christian, you're a seeker, I want to encourage you today by saying the central message of the Bible is Jesus paid it all. It's not a religion that says try harder, do more, deserve God's love. The message of the Bible is you can never do that. You can never be good enough. You can never deserve God's love by yourself.

But what is even more astounding is that we have a God in the Bible who loves us in spite of who we are. And this generous, magnanimous God, showed His love in that while we were yet sinners, He sent His Son Jesus to die for us and pay for our sins when we don't deserve it at all.

So He's calling you today to turn from your sin. Stop rebelling against God. And if you should ask, what happens then to all my sins? He says to you, I've given My Son to die for you on the cross. Turn from your sin, Believe Jesus paid it all. Come home to Me. This is what the Good News is all about. That you can turn from sin and return to God who made you because Jesus paid it all. I pray today you will repent of your sin and believe in Jesus Christ.

Now I say to Gospeliters, my dear brothers and sisters, I thank God for your lives. You have been an encouragement to me. I've seen such beauty and faith and love and resilience as you go through ministry and as you go through hardship. I see your love for my Lord. I see your love for our Saviour. I praise God for you. And I urge you together with Paul, stay away from false teachings. Pursue the things that are above. May Christ be supreme in your life. Kill sin, fight for holiness. Seek to live out and to give out the Gospel. May God's grace to you stay with you.

So Father, thank You for this time. May we know Your Son. May we draw near to Him. May You bless Your Church for Your own Namesake. Thank You. We ask this in Jesus' Name. Amen.



 
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