How big is your view of Jesus?

Well, great to see you this morning, folks.

Why don't you, if you've got your Bibles there, why don't you turn to Colossians chapter 1.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

This is where we're going to be over the next little while.

We're going to look at chapters 1 and 2 pre-Christmas.

Can you believe that Christmas is even a thought in our heads?

It's amazing, isn't it?

Pre-Christmas, and then we're going to look at chapters 3 and 4 after Christmas.

And it's a letter that has got so much to teach us about who our God is.

And it's my prayer that as we go through it together that we'll get a bigger sense of who he is

and what he's done for us and how glorious he is.

And that what we just sung there would not just be kind of rhetoric,

that it would be so true in our lives.

So I want to honor you with my whole life.

So why don't you turn to Colossians chapter 1 and let's still our hearts and pray together.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

And let's ask that God would be with us now as we turn to his word.

Psalm 119.

The psalmist writes,

Your word, Lord, is a lamp for my feet and it's a light for my path.

Father, thank you so much for your precious word.

Think of what we read in Isaiah there, that it's a word that you, through which, bring life.

And it's a word through which you accomplish your purposes.

And so, Father, we ask that your word would do its work in our hearts this morning.

And that you would transform us more into the people that you have called us to be.

And that your spirit would come and he would show us wondrous things in your word.

Wondrous things in your law.

And that he would make us more in love with your son, Jesus Christ.

In whose name we pray.

Amen.

So, I felt the world was just, there was just too much purpose.

Too much logic.

It was too beautiful to happen by accident.

There has to be somebody bigger than you.

And bigger than me.

Guys, can you click this on?

I don't know what's going on with that.

Just click it on.

These are the words of Gene Kernan, who flew to the moon on Apollo 17.

And what he's describing is what the experts call the overview effect.

I don't know if you've ever heard of the overview effect.

But apparently what happens a lot when astronauts go into space.

And it's the feeling of awe that you get when you encounter the bigness of something.

And how that encounter changes you.

And after that encounter, you're not the same.

It's called the overview effect.

And I guess I just want to say right at the start, as we journey into this letter,

as we step into this book of Colossians,

my prayer is that each of us would leave it with the overview effect.

So, here's the question that God is going to ask us as he speaks to us through his word.

And as we journey through this letter to the Colossians.

And here it is.

How big is your view of Jesus?

So, I was going to ask us as a community, how big is our view of Jesus?

But let me put it personally to you this morning.

How big is your view of Jesus?

Is he a Sunday school Jesus?

Is he meek and mild?

Is he unoffensive?

Does he make a little appearance at Christmas and Easter?

And if we're honest, we kind of prefer the Christmas Jesus.

And he's got very little relevance to my life.

Is that your view of Jesus this morning?

Is he the lucky charm Jesus?

Is he in, I'd rather have him on my side than not on my side?

And if honest, he should be grateful that I've picked him for my team and not the Dalai Lama.

Is that your view of Jesus?

Is he the 999 Jesus?

Is he in, I'll phone him up when I've got an emergency in my life and I need some religious input.

And I fully expect him to be there to answer my call when I call him.

Is he the role model Jesus?

Is he up there with the other good teachers in life who have got decent things to say about life that I can kind of cherry pick and I can use to help me navigate my way through this thing that I call life, that we call life.

Friends, how big is your view of Jesus?

Whoever you are here this morning, whatever's going on in your heart, let me ask you, how big is your view of Jesus?

Because this letter to the Colossians is going to radically stretch the contours of our understanding because it's going to present us with the real Jesus.

And the real Jesus is so much bigger than we think he is.

A Jesus who is master of history.

A Jesus who is Lord over every area of our existence.

A Jesus who is the sustainer of the stars and the planets.

Jesus who is the giver of every breath that we take.

A Jesus who is sovereign over every single government and political power.

A Jesus who is sufficient for every single area of our lives.

And a Jesus who is a wonderful saviour and a lover of souls.

This is the Jesus that Paul is going to present us with in Colossians.

So how big is your view of Jesus?

How big is he in your mind?

Because I guess the answer to that question, it really makes a difference, does it, in everyday life?

It really makes a difference.

It matters when disaster strikes.

When you get the news from the hospital.

When you get those results.

And it's not the results that you were hoping would come.

It matters when plans in your life fall through, doesn't it?

When that P45 comes through the door and life is all of a sudden up in the air.

When you didn't get that graduate job from university that you really, really wanted.

It matters when persecution comes in life.

I can make a little prediction for the future.

When things are going to get really, really tough to stand for this king.

It really matters who we think he is.

It matters when things go well in life, doesn't it?

You know that life itself, everything that we have, is a gift from this glorious Jesus.

So friends, let me ask you, how big is your view of Jesus?

How big is he?

It was A.W. Tozer, who was a theologian back in the day, who famously said,

that which comes to our minds when we first think about God is the most important thing about us.

What do you think of when you think of Jesus?

And it's my prayer that as we journey through this letter over the next weeks and months,

with the help of the Holy Spirit, that we would get a Colossian-sized view of Jesus.

Who he is, what he's done, what he's doing, who we are in him,

and that that would radically transform our individual and our corporate lives together as his people,

as we respond to who he is, as we pledge ourselves to live for his glory alone,

as we live by his word alone, and as we seek to make him known in our world.

This is Colossians, okay?

Are you excited as we get into this?

It's thrilled my heart, this book, as I've journeyed through it over the last couple of months,

but more than that, even over the last couple of years,

because this is one of the most Christ-saturated books in the New Testament,

in the whole Bible, in fact.

Wonderful.

Now, as we get into this letter this morning, okay,

let me just give you three Ps by way of background.

I like to alliterate.

You've probably picked that one up.

Three Ps as we get into Colossians.

Here's the first P.

Look, I don't even know what's going on here.

Paul.

Here's the first P.

Paul.

The man whose life has been turned upside down by Jesus Christ.

The man who once in his life was a persecutor of the church.

He encounters Jesus, and now he's a preacher about Jesus.

Quite incredible, isn't it?

Incredible the difference that Jesus has made in Paul's life.

And what Paul has been doing is he's been traveling around the east side of the Med,

as we would know it, and he's been teaching people about Jesus.

And on his travels, if we go to the next slide, he spent a good chunk of time in the city of Ephesus,

which is a city which is about 100 miles west of Colossae,

and that we read about in Acts 19.

If you want to go home in your own time and check that out.

And after some time in Ephesus,

a while later, Paul finds himself under house arrest in Rome.

And it's from Rome that Paul writes this letter to the church in Colossae.

Now get your head around this one, okay?

Amazingly, Paul has never met the people that he's writing to.

He's never met them.

Which raises the question, doesn't it?

Why would he bother writing a letter to them?

Well, here's the second P.

It's the planter.

Because when Paul was preaching in Ephesus,

it seems likely that a man called Epaphras,

who we'll come on to see a little later this morning,

he hears Paul's message about the risen Jesus,

and God opens his heart, and he becomes a Christian.

But the thing about Epaphras is he's not an Ephesus boy,

he's a Colossae boy.

So he goes back, what seems likely he goes back to his hometown,

and so good is this news that he just goes around telling people about Jesus.

I love that.

Do you know what?

Just tells people about Jesus.

So true in life, isn't it?

That nobody needs to tell us to talk about the things that really excite us.

Like, nobody taught me how to love Adrianian's football club, okay?

Nobody sent me on a course.

Nobody taught me how to tell people about them.

Nobody needs to remind me to check the score on Saturday.

No one needs to encourage me to wear the badge in public.

No one needs to tell me to tell people when they win,

which is why he didn't hear from me yesterday, okay?

But it's true in life, isn't it, that nobody needs to tell us

to tell the things that excite us.

This is Epaphras.

He's gone to his hometown,

and he's told them about the God who has saved him and transformed him,

and how he's done that through his son, Jesus Christ.

Because this news about Jesus is simply incredible.

And what seems to have happened is that the people who have heard in Colossae

about Jesus through Epaphras,

some of them have become Christians too.

And God has birthed this thing that I like to call Colossae Evangelical Church.

There it is on the map.

This little group of Christians meeting together

who've had their lives transformed by Jesus Christ.

And on the whole, as you read this letter,

you get the sense that things are going really well.

They are really going at it in their faith.

But, and here's the third P,

there's a problem.

And so dangerous is this problem to the very life of this church

that it's prompted Epaphras to travel all the way from Colossae

to find Paul in Rome to ask him for help.

Now that is a thousand mile plus trip

in the first century.

No easy jet direct flight.

Yeah?

No cross country train.

I don't know how he's got there,

but he's got there in the first century.

Now think about it.

How much does he really love these fellow brothers and sisters in this church?

To go all that way to find Paul.

And how concerned is he about their spiritual lives?

About Christ Jesus being the center of this church

and then pursuing him.

That he's gone all the way to find Paul so that he can help them.

Why has he done this?

Because certain people in the vicinity of this church

are promoting teachings

that are distracting from

and decentralizing Jesus.

Now it's hard to nail it down exactly.

It's most likely a mixture of Jewish teachings

and pagan cult teachings

that are distracting from Jesus.

But the crux of it is that

while Jesus is a good start in life,

that there's more to experience

and there's more to know beyond him.

And the danger is if that is swallowed,

then Jesus moves from being a big deal

at the center of their lives

to a small deal at the periphery.

And so the thrust of this letter is

keep going with Jesus.

Have him blow your minds.

Why would you move on for him?

We've got everything that we need in him.

Let me just show you a few of these in the letter

to show you how this works.

Maybe just put them up on the screen.

If you look at 123,

Paul writes,

if you continue in your faith,

established and firm

and do not move from the hope

held out in the gospel,

keep going with Jesus.

2.6

Which I think is the real heart of this letter.

So then,

just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,

continue to live your lives in him,

rooted,

which is where we got the idea for this series from,

rooted and built up in him.

Keep going with Jesus.

Keep going with Jesus.

Don't take your eyes off him.

Fix your eyes on him.

Set your hearts on him.

Let a big vision of him

and who he is

dominate your horizons

and make it your life ambition

to get to know him better.

Because we have a big Jesus.

One who is so much bigger

than we think he is.

So Paul says,

keep going for him.

Keep your eyes on him.

And in verses this morning,

Paul wants these Colossian Christians

who he knows are perhaps confused

by the stuff that they're hearing.

he wants them to know two things.

Okay, here's the first one.

He wants them to know

that they are the real deal.

So writing to people,

remember,

he's never met.

Verse 3,

we always thank God,

the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

when we pray for you.

So Paul is praying, isn't he?

He's praying,

he's thrilled

when he hears about these Christians,

as he hears Epaphras speak

about what God has done.

He's absolutely thrilled.

And his heart

is filled with thankfulness

as he hears

how God's transforming grace

has been at work in their lives.

Have you ever felt that?

As you've heard about

how God has been at work

in someone's life.

You're just thrilled.

Right?

We had a wonderful time together

last Sunday,

did we not?

Absolutely incredible

to hear the stories

of Sabina and Zoe

in their own ways

about how God has been

at work in their lives

and why they wanted

to take that step

of baptism,

to tell the world

that they follow Jesus.

It was great, wasn't it?

We had a little three-year-old

this week

when we bathed her.

She was asking

if we were baptizing her.

It was funny.

She was clearly watching.

But wasn't it brilliant

to be reminded

just how good our God is?

But I wonder

if you felt that

in your own heart

and in your soul.

Because see if

Sabina had got up

and said,

guys,

I just really want you

to know that I've joined the gym.

Okay?

And then Zoe

had come up after that

and said,

guys,

I just really want you

to know that I've joined

the book club

and I love it.

Friends,

I would not have been

moved to tears over that.

I just wouldn't.

I mean,

I love reading.

I love the gym.

But I just would not

have been moved to tears

on that.

But see,

even the two of them

stood up and said,

Jesus Christ

is everything in my life.

I once was dead.

He's made me alive.

I once was going to hell

because of my sin.

He's given me heaven.

When they told us that,

friends,

my soul was filled

with thankfulness.

That's what Paul's saying here.

When I hear about how God

has been at work in your lives,

my heart is just filled

with thankfulness.

And do you see the evidences

of God's grace

that Paul hears

in their lives?

Do you see them

in those opening verses there?

The three of them?

Faith,

love,

and hope.

Faith,

love,

and hope.

The distinct marks

of the Christian community.

Faith,

their faith in Jesus Christ,

their devotion to him,

their love for him,

their trust in him,

their service of him,

and their love

for who?

Do you notice it?

Verse 3,

all of God's people.

So they love those

in their church family,

but do you see

how it doesn't just stop there?

How they love

all the Christians

who they come in contact with

throughout the world,

their neighbors

living in the different cities

round about them?

Here is a love

that is not determined

by age,

or interest,

or gender,

or nationality,

or race,

but here is a love

that is the natural overflow

of our oneness

in Jesus Christ.

And it is a wonderful thing.

And if you've ever had

that experience

when you meet Christians

who you've never met before

and instantly you have

that love and connection

with them.

Remember when Alex and I

went to Malawi,

first went to church there,

that wonderful feeling

of being somewhere

completely different,

having a different skin color

to many people,

speaking a different language

to many people,

wearing different clothes,

but walking into that church

and being lovingly greeted

by brothers and sisters

in Christ

who we instantly

had the biggest thing

in common with

in our lives.

It's an incredible feeling,

isn't it?

This is the love

that Paul is talking about here.

The genuine concern,

the genuine appreciation,

the genuine love

for brothers and sisters

around the world.

It's why it's such a privilege,

is it not,

to pray for brothers and sisters

around the world

who we've never met.

And our love for one another

and overflow

of our oneness in Christ,

friends,

it's one of the best apologetics

that we can offer

to a fractured

and to a divided

and a confused

watching world.

As they look in

and they see this

and they think,

how on earth

does that happen?

Our government

is spending millions

of pounds every year

trying to make it happen

and yet here it is.

Our love for one another,

our love for God's people,

friends,

it's such a beautiful thing.

So let me ask you,

just while we're there,

let me ask you,

are you making every effort

in your life

to love your brothers

and sisters in Christ?

Are you really making

every effort?

What opportunities

are ahead of you this week

where you could demonstrate that?

Who could you text?

Who could you hug?

Okay, we're Scottish

but we do like hugging, okay?

Who can you pray for?

Who can you visit?

Who can you welcome?

Who can you visibly

show love to?

You know,

I find it one of the most

amazing things here

when I hear people come,

visitors who've never been

and they say to me

at the door on the way out

that we just felt

so welcomed here.

It's wonderful to hear that.

This is a faith

and a love to see

in the text

that springs from the hope

that is stored up

for them in heaven.

Love that phrase,

stored up.

It's a word

that is used to,

the countries are,

in our minds,

is it something

that is securely

fixed and placed,

i.e.

nobody is going to

take this from you.

Nobody can rob you

of this.

This is kind of

Fort Knox

type security.

What assurance

about the future.

is it not wonderful

to think as we celebrate

a dear sister

who's going to be

with the Lord

that this was true for her?

That we are not

a people who are

marked by no hope.

We are a people

marked by hope.

And this truth

is that yes,

while we know

life with God now,

our best life

is yet to come.

And our present experience

is but a foretaste

of the blessings

that will be ours

because of Christ

one day in heaven.

Friends,

we are a community

that should be marked

by hope.

Jonathan Edwards,

to go to heaven

fully and to enjoy God

is infinitely better

than the most pleasant

accommodations here.

These are the marks

of this Christian community

that helps Paul see

that God has really

been at work

in their lives

because this is a community

that's been marked

by faith,

that is marked by faith,

by love,

and by hope.

And so the natural question

that comes to us

this morning

as we see this

is to think about

whether we are a community

who are marked

by faith,

by love,

and by hope.

I wonder whether

these false teachers,

whether they were looking

down on these believers

because of the simplicity

and the unimpressiveness

of their lives

following Jesus.

I wonder whether

these Colossians

are thinking to themselves,

maybe we're not

the real deal.

Maybe there is

more to know

and experience

beyond Jesus.

Paul says,

nope.

Here is the fruit

that shows me

that you

are the real deal.

And the second thing

he wants them to know

really quickly

is that this message

is a big deal.

What is it?

It's a true message.

Do you see it in the text?

Presumably to differentiate

it from the false one

that they are hearing

from these teachers.

The message

of God's outrageous grace,

the great love

that he has shown

us in sending

his son

who paid

our debt

of sin

on the cross,

reconciled us

to our maker,

and to prove

that it is

the real deal

and a big deal

message,

I want you

to know,

says Paul,

this word,

this message

has not just

impacted your postcode.

Do you see?

It is impacting

the whole world.

Verse 6.

In the same way

the gospel

is bearing fruit

and growing

throughout the whole world.

This letter

probably written

somewhere like

30 years roughly

after Jesus

had ascended

and here it is

impacting

the world

and it's still

happening today.

I don't know about you

but so often

what I do

is I take

how I perceive

things

as I see them here

which is relatively

slow growth

and I project

that onto the world

and I kid myself

thinking that

what's happening here

is happening

all over the world.

Friends,

that is just

not true.

I looked it up

an Operation World

website this week

which gives you

statistics

about the worldwide church.

Let me just give you

three to encourage you

this morning

that this is true.

In Sudan,

one of the hardest places

to be a Christian,

the church has increased

tenfold over the last

40 years.

Tenfold.

In 1949 in China

it's estimated

that there were

1.2 million Christians

and today

even under such

severe persecution

it's estimated

that there are

over 100 million Christians

and even that figure

is probably too low

because we don't know

much about the

underground church.

And here's my favourite

okay,

in 1989

on Mongolia

if you know where

that is on the map

of Mongolia

do you know how many

Christians there were?

1989

four.

Yeah?

Four Christians

today

over 20,000

and you hear reports

of people

who have spent

time with them

and who have come back

and they will tell you

that these Christians

in Mongolia

are some of the most

humble

and some of the most

evangelistically hungry

Christians that you're

likely to ever meet.

And if you think about

where Mongolia is

on the map

with Russia to the north

and China to the south

you can praise God

how he is strategically

at work all over the world.

It's a thrill of hearts

how God is at work.

In the same way

the gospel is bearing fruit

and growing

throughout the whole world.

And it's not just

a global thing

you see

just as it has been

doing among you

since the day

you heard it

and truly understood

God's grace.

So the gospel

has been impacting

and is impacted

and is impacting

this little city

of Colossae.

And think about

how it started

through this man

called

Epaphras.

This is how God

works through the

ordinary

unspectacular

lives of faithful

and daring people

who are willing

to speak about

Jesus.

Should make a difference

doesn't it?

Those conversations

we have in the office

about Jesus

are not insignificant.

The conversations

we have with our family

the way that we pray

for them and love them

that is not insignificant.

Here is God moving

in the ordinary means.

Love it.

What does it say?

These believers

learned it from Epaphras.

That word learned

in the original

is suggestive

of more than

he just spoke words

to them.

Epaphras taught them

and he helped them

see how the gospel

should impact

every area

of their lives

and he showed them

how this message

should change them

as he lived

his life

alongside them.

Is that not a

wonderful example

of what it means

to be a disciple

who makes disciples

of Jesus Christ?

Sharing word and heart

with people

passing on gospel

and life

modeling to others

what it looks like

to worship Jesus

with our whole

lives.

you know Alex

and I often

ask ourselves

that question

in relation to

the girls

we think to ourselves

what are they

learning from us?

What are they

hearing from us?

What are they

seeing in us?

Because that's the

truth of it isn't it?

As we

grow up in this

world

as they grow up

in this world

either that we'll

be discipling them

or the world

will be discipling

them.

And the best thing

that we can give

them

is not a good

school

it's not to

settle them

into a good

neighborhood

but rather

it's to do

everything that

we can

to live out

in front of

them

a living

and an

active

and a joyful

relationship

with Jesus

Christ

to admit

our failures

to say sorry

when we got it

wrong

to demonstrate

that we live

by grace

and seeking

to introduce

them to this

good God

who has saved

us

that is the

best thing

that we can

give people

here's what I

want to challenge

us with today

friends

who are you

modeling this

to?

Who is

learning the

Christian life

from you?

who is watching

you?

Who could you

get alongside?

Who could you

ask to get

alongside you?

We pray for

opportunities to

share Jesus

with others

see these

Colossian

Christians

they learned

it from

Epaphras

and Paul

wants them

to know

that he

is a dear

fellow servant

and a

faithful minister

here is a

man full of

faith

of love

and of hope

and Paul is

writing here to

say listen

you can trust

this guy

and you

can trust

his message

and Epaphras

he is working

he is

this is one of

my heroes

of the New

Testament

this man

Epaphras

cannot wait

to meet him

in glory

Epaphras is

working so hard

for them

because he

loves them

so much

he's serving

them

he's making

himself nothing

for the sake

of these

Christians

because he

knows that

the gospel

is a big

deal

the song

that we

sometimes

sing here

Jesus

is Lord

whose voice

sustains

the stars

and planets

yet in his

wisdom laid

aside his

crown

Jesus

the man

who washed

our feet

who bore

our suffering

became a

curse to

bring salvation's

plan

friends as we

close this

morning let me

ask you how

big is your

view of Jesus

have it in your

mind as we

journey through

this series

together is he

the Sunday

school Jesus

is he the

lucky charm

Jesus

is he a

role model

Jesus

is he a

999

Jesus

or

will we

make it our

prayer

that God

through his

word would

help us see

that we have

a big

Jesus

you know

Charlie Duke

was an

astronaut who

flew on

board

Apollo 16

and after his

time in space

after a little

while he

became a

Christian

and somebody

asked him

about the

overview

effect

and he

said now

that I'm a

believer

in my

mind I

can see

that sight

and proclaim

as the

psalmist

did that

the heavens

declare the

glory of

God and

the sky

proclaims the

work of his

hands

Psalm 19

friends how

big is your

view of

Jesus

because

Colossians

presents us

with a big

Jesus and

he's a

Jesus who

is so much

bigger than

we think

he is

why don't

we pray

maybe just

as we

before we

move on

this morning

let's just

pause

and let's

just take

time to

consider

what we've

heard and

sung and

read this

morning and

ask that God

would be at

work in our

hearts

thanks for

we've

made it

to