Sermon Cloud

Jesus > Church Politics

Colossians 1:13-18

I was recently listening to a interview with two church leaders talking about how they ended up in ministry. One was the son of Charles Stanley, Andy Stanley, and the other was Louie Giglio who is the founder of Passion Worship Conferences.

-          1^st Baptist Church Atlanta, GA

• Charles Stanley – Associate Pastor
  • Other suitors for Sr. Pastor role didn’t match the mold set by him
• The Church decided to vote him out as Associate Pastor
  • The meeting blew up and they ended up voting him in as Senior pastor
    • Walk-Outs
    • Punching
    • 3,000 à 300

-          It is this kind of political posturing and action that the world sees and says “I want no part of that!”

-          Rewind 1960 +- years and you have a church being torn apart by the political posturing of some false teachers trying to prove that their knowledge of God was better than that being preached by the faithful Gospel preachers of that day.

-          The Apostle Paul writes this church a letter for the purpose of elevating the person of Jesus to his rightful place of ULTIMATE PREEMINENCE.

-          Today we will look at one of the ultimate examples of that in

Colossians 1:13-18

-          WE ARE REDEEMED… vs. 13, 14

• Paul points this church to the finished work of Jesus to point them in the direction of governmental flow within the church
• Too often in churches we think that Jesus is out to lunch and it is up to us to carry the load of leading the church.
• As Paul works to show the Church at Colossae who the leader of the church is he starts out by showing them that they were redeemed
  • Heralds the person and work of Jesus
  • Declares us as members of the Kingdom of the Son of His love
    • Enjoying the benefits
  • Points us to Jesus’ blood as the source of our redemption
    • And gets specific about what that redemption is
      • The forgiveness of sins
        • Not a higher knowledge
        • Not a more complete revelation
        • Rather having the slate wiped clean and inheriting the rights of heirs in a kingdom

-          BY THE ULTIMATE CAUSE… vs. 15-17

• This sermon came together with points that form a sentence each piece reveals a little bit more about the ultimate truth being communicated
• First we see that we have been purchased by the blood of Jesus out of darkness in to the love of the father.
  • God is the one taking steps to reveal himself to us we are not the ones seeking to find God
• Second we see that this redemption is a result of work on our behalf by “the ultimate cause”
  • This cause is Jesus Christ
    • He is the one who has the preeminent rank over all of creation
    • The one through whom creation came into existence and to whom creation defers and sings praise
      • Pointing to him as preeminent
      • And by whom all things hold together
        • Before all things as in not an emanation of God rather the physical incarnation of the Character of God
  • 2 Reasons why this is important
    • The security of our salvation rests securely in the finished work of the one who is the Primal Cause… OF THE UNIVERSE!
      • We cannot add to it or take away from it one iota of significance or effectiveness
      • The one who created all things and has lived in community with God for all of eternity is supremely qualified to tell us about who God is and what he is like
        • No deeper understanding needed

-          WHOM WE FOLLOW vs. 18

• This preeminent all powerful Jesus continues to be the leader of the church
  • Not the agendas of man
  • Not the false teachings of those claiming to have a more full word
  • Not the presuppositions of how it used to be or the way things were
• Jesus continues to lead HIS church
• Jesus continues to build HIS church
• Jesus continues to  expand the reach of HIS church

In the interview I referenced earlier there was a point where Andy Stanley who was a young boy – a teenager during the time that all of the political mess was going on, said that to avoid church politics and stagnation the churches focus must remain “up and out not down and in.” That resonated with me.

Our current situation as a church.