Band of Brothers & Sisters

Good morning and happy Thanksgiving.

If you have little ones who are in the service because it's a family Sunday and just make

sure you know that at the back there's a table with some things for them to amuse themselves

with.

Maybe that's not the right word.

If they would like to find other things to do with their hands while they're listening,

there are opportunities in the back.

So just wanted to make sure we pointed those out to you.

I'm a great fan of Kenneth Branagh and his, not all of his movies, mind you, but his

Shakespeare reproductions.

And one of my favorites is Henry V.

And if you have not seen it, you ought to.

It is not easy because it's Shakespearean English.

And so sometimes the subtitles are helpful.

Sometimes even that only gets you so far.

But it is a great story.

If you don't know the story of Henry V, Henry V is the story of Henry the Playboy Prince

from Henry IV, if you go back and read the other ones, who has now become at a young age the

king of England.

And he has been taunted and mocked by the king of France.

And his holdings have been threatened.

And he has roused himself to show that he, though young and though he did not show promise

in being a great leader, would actually be so for the nation of England.

And so he raises an army and sails across the channel to invade northern France, which at

that time was, according to law and right, at least in his mind, the property of England.

And so, and the movie is about this long slog.

Much of it's about this long slog of his army and about the growing leadership of Henry V.

And finally, they come to the climactic battle at the end.

It's a famous battle in military history, the Battle of Agincourt, where a small band of,

a small army of English soldiers outnumbered five to one, at least according to Shakespeare,

defeated a superior and fresh army of the French using new military tactics, which is really cool,

but a whole separate sermon and message and point.

But as they stand on the edge of this battlefield, counting the numbers and realizing how badly

they're outnumbered, one of his men wishes that maybe there would be more men from England

who would be with them.

And Henry V speaks to his men and he says, do you really wish there were more?

In fact, what we have here is enough.

And he goes on to talk about the glorious opportunity that they have to enter into this battle together.

And if you'll give me a minute, I want to read part of this speech to you to get us started this morning.

He's talking about the men who, having fought at this battle and having gone back home,

will remember the day, the day of St. Crispin.

It's St. Crispin's day, the feast of St. Crispin.

And so these men will say, then he will strip his sleeves and show his scars and say,

these wounds I had on Crispin's day.

Old men forget, yet all shall be forgot.

But he'll remember with advantages what feats he did that day.

And then our names, familiar in his mouth as household words.

Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter, Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester.

Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered.

This story shall the good man teach his son.

And Crispin shall ne'er go by from this day to the ending of the world.

But we in it shall be remembered.

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.

For he who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.

Be he ne'er so vile.

This day shall gentle his condition be.

And gentlemen now in England, now abed,

shall think themselves accursed that they were not here.

If you're not used to Shakespearean English, what was he saying?

He was saying, I fought that day with those men.

And we had such honor of fighting together.

And he, the king, is saying to his men,

You are not soldiers under me for me to throw away carelessly.

But you are partners with me in this battle that stands before us.

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.

And if you know anything about English society and the hierarchy and the lords of Gloucester and Essex and Salisbury and the others that he mentioned, right?

They fought alongside common men.

But there was a huge hierarchy of it.

And Harry that day said, we are in this together.

No matter what background you have,

if you fight this battle with me today, you are my brother.

I read this because I believe it taps into something that God created us for.

God created us to be in a community of people together with a mission to build his kingdom on this earth.

We all have a longing to belong, to feel like we have a tribe and a place, a band of brothers that we are a part of.

And we all long for a mission that's worth investing ourselves in.

And we may fill these desires with many things, some better and some worse.

But God's design for humanity is that we would be a people to pursue his kingdom for his glory.

With a common foundation laid in Jesus Christ.

And a common mission to make Christ known to the world.

And that we would do this mission together.

It is a global mission as the church continues to expand.

So that God might be worshipped among every tribe and tongue and nation in the world.

And it is a local mission that we here at Trinity are one expression of.

One place where God calls us to band together as brothers and sisters in God's purpose.

For us in this world.

What does it look like for us to do that?

Well, we're going to look at the end of Colossians today.

If you want to turn there, it's page 926.

926 in your new pew Bibles.

If you didn't notice, they're new.

They fit, which is really cool.

So, we're going to look at chapter 4.

We're going to look at the end of it.

Chapter 7 to the end.

And as we look at that, we're going to look at a few characteristics.

This section is Paul in his final greetings and words to the Colossian church.

And it might be easy to read this and think, okay, this is nice.

It's very easy to skim over these parts of the letters and to think, oh, okay.

Keep going.

I hope that you will see, however, that God included these sections in his word with a purpose.

To encourage us, to strengthen us, to help us see.

And here, I think, it's encouraging us by giving us a view of what it looked like for Paul

and his friends, his fellow workers, those around him to pick up the call

that God has put on his church.

So, let's read this together and then let's pray and then we'll look at it together.

Tychicus will tell you all about my activities.

He is a beloved brother and a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord.

I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are

and that he may encourage your hearts.

And with him, Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you.

They will tell you of everything that has taken place here.

Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas,

concerning whom you have received instructions.

If he comes to you, welcome him.

And Jesus, who is called Justice.

These are the only men in the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God.

They have been a comfort to me.

Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you,

always struggling on your behalf in his prayers,

that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.

For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

Luke, the beloved physician, greets you as does Demas.

Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea and to Nympha and to the church in her house.

And when this letter has been read among you,

have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans

and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.

And say to Archippus,

see that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.

I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand.

Remember my chains.

Grace be with you.

Let's pray.

Lord, we pray this morning as we look at this word that you will help us.

Lord, bring it to life in our minds and in our imaginations.

Help it pierce to the depths of our hearts.

Lord, we'll, by your spirit, Lord, your word work in us.

Lord, so that we may hear all that you have to say to us.

And Lord, that we may respond.

Respond in faith.

Respond in humble obedience.

Respond in worship and joy.

Lord, respond in all the ways that you would have us respond this morning to your word.

Lord, I pray for your help this morning.

We pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

So as we break down this passage, we see a bit of a snapshot of Paul's community and the way that his community has picked up this mission that God has called his church to.

And so we're going to look at it.

Verses 7 through 9 looks at the representatives, those carrying the letters, this letter of Colossians to the Colossian church.

Then verses 10 through 15 is the fellow companions, those who are with Paul, who are sending greetings to the church.

And then verses, oh, sorry, that's 10 through 14.

And then 15 through 18 are the final Paul's personal notes to them.

So we're going to just break it down and look at that and try to pull out something from each of these sections that we think will help us see how it is that Paul thought about what this church mission that he was on and that he was involved in in terms of a community of others.

What does that look like?

So the first thing is when you look at verses 7 through 9, Paul introduces the courier, basically.

This is my friend Tychicus.

You've heard of him.

He's often mentioned in the New Testament as a companion of Paul's.

And so we see that this is an ongoing part of Tychicus' life and ministry.

And that one of the things that he does is he goes from Paul to other places to communicate, hey, this is what's going on in Paul's life and Paul's ministry.

And when Paul says that, it's very easy to think, oh, well, Paul's pretty self-centered, isn't he?

Hey, I'm going to send my friend to tell you all about the things that I'm doing.

Don't you think I'm great?

But I think instead that when you look carefully at Paul's ministry and the way that he thought about it, instead, that's shorthand for Paul saying, I want you to see what God is doing.

I want you to know how we're doing because we have a real relationship.

And I care about you and I hope you care about me.

And there is a personal nature to it.

But there is underneath that a much deeper sense that Paul's life has been committed to the advancing of the kingdom of God.

And so when he talks about reporting on what he's up to, underlying that and the content of that is going to be primarily what is God up to?

Through the preaching of God's word, through the planting of churches.

As you see in the book of Acts, the extension of the church from Jerusalem to Asia to the known world at that time.

Part of what we see as well is how we see Paul views his others in his community, how he sees Tychicus.

Look at me again in verse 7.

Three descriptors, right?

He calls him a beloved brother.

For Paul, the church and ministry is not a task to be accomplished simply.

But it is a family to be engaged with.

Paul looks at this friend, this brother, and he says, you are beloved to me.

And he commends them to the Colossians.

This is a brother with you too.

This is a brother who has been joined to the family of God by Jesus Christ.

But Paul doesn't only see him as a brother, a beloved brother, but he also sees him as a faithful minister.

Tychicus is one who has partnered with Paul seeing clearly we are here to minister to others.

That is to bring the word of God to others, to bring the help of God to others, to bring fundamentally, given the book of Colossians, the message of Jesus Christ to others.

And not only has Tychicus done it, but he has done it faithfully.

Faithfully means he has both shown steadfast perseverance and not falling away or getting distracted.

But also faithfully in that he has been one who has walked with God and believed that God is at work in this.

He knows that a faithful minister is not one who is trying to build his own kingdom.

But one who is in faith working as God builds his kingdom.

And finally, Tychicus is seen as a fellow servant.

Now this is remarkable in two fronts.

First of all, because he calls Tychicus a fellow, which means he's an equal with me.

Now look, if you were Paul and you had the ability to start the churches the way you did,

if you had the role that he seemed to have in the early church,

how easy would it be for you to start thinking about yourself as pretty special?

As the top of the food chain, the CEO, the commander-in-chief, the however you think of it.

One who is distinct from the others who labor in the church.

But Paul didn't do that, did he?

Paul said, no, he is my fellow servant.

He is my equal.

We share together in this ministry because we are servants.

That is, this isn't about us, but we are under another authority.

The head is Jesus Christ and we are all serving him.

And so as Paul recommends Tychicus, he says, look, receive this man for all that he is.

For together we are in this.

And I send him to you with this purpose that he may encourage you.

I want you to look back really quickly with me.

Colossians chapter 2, verses 1 through 3.

Colossians 2:1–3

Just so you can hear Paul's hearts again.

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face.

That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love,

to reach all the riches of the 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.

So when Paul says, I want him to encourage you,

I want to fill that in with all that Paul has said in chapter 2 about what being encouraged in their hearts would mean.

Their encouragement isn't just, hang in there, good job, it'll get better.

It gets dark, you know, it's darkest before the dawn and the sun will come up and it'll,

it's not just helpful platitudes.

But encouragement that Christ is fully sufficient for everything that they need for their spiritual lives

and that they would grow in knowing him more and more.

So what do you take away from Tychicus?

Paul, in this we see Paul engaging with Tychicus in a growing ministry of the gospel.

It is expanding geographically.

It is also multiplying in terms of the people involved.

The church is not meant to be centered on one human being ever,

but it's meant to be an ever-growing organism,

an ever-growing community of people

where one person reaches out to another person,

reaches out to another person.

And there isn't a node in the center.

The only center is Jesus Christ.

And as we gather here locally,

God has brought us together

to be not just a bounded community,

but a growing community of people who are reaching out

with the good news of Jesus Christ.

This is the cause that he's called us to.

This is the hope that he has called us to.

And we have this incredible privilege,

incredible privilege of together thinking about

how we might trumpet the cause of Christ.

Not just the cause of Christ,

but even more so, the person of Christ.

Friends, I want you to see that this vision

of how Paul related to Tychicus

and how he saw this impacting the Colossian community

is the very opposite of what I think we can fall into today,

which is a very selfish spirituality,

a very selfish church attendance.

We come thinking,

well, this is for me.

What am I getting out of this?

Why, how is everyone else serving me?

Friends, I want to tell you that in the New Testament,

the vision of the church

is something much greater than that.

God has called you to be a part of a bigger thing.

Now look, here's the thing.

We come to the church needy.

We all do.

Because we're all sinners in need of God's grace.

And we're all weak and need the encouragement

and support of one another.

So it's not our neediness that disqualifies us.

It's our selfishness that causes us to make this about us.

Rather than coming and finding that as God catches up

in this greater purpose,

this greater mission of making Christ known,

and that as we do that together as a community,

we also support and encourage one another

as we do that.

And that's what God has called us to.

So I want to leave you with a question.

How have you lost sight of the greater vision

of your participation in church?

Are you just checking the box, making time?

Are you a player or a spectator

in what God has called his church to do?

Maybe you're here this morning

and you don't know where you stand with Christ

or you're figuring out what Christianity is.

Maybe God's drawn you here

because you've sensed a hunger

that we talked about at the beginning,

a hunger to be a part of something bigger

and something greater.

I hope you'll keep coming back

and finding out who Christ is

and seeing that in him,

you will find the greatest mission

and the greatest community.

Not a perfect community.

I want to warn you,

we're not perfect around here.

But a great community of people

who, led by Christ,

actually, in that you will actually find

the thing that your heart is most longing for.

This passage goes on.

There's more to the shape of gospel ministry

than this.

As we look at verses 10 through 14,

look with me again.

There are a number of things

I want to point out in this section

and then I'm going to focus quickly

on Epiphras for a minute.

But quickly,

one of the things we see in this community

is that there's a diversity.

One of the things that isn't obvious

from the surface

is that three of the men that he mentioned

are Jewish

and three of them are Gentile.

He does say explicitly in verse 11

that these are the only men

of the circumcision,

which I think means

these are the men who come from

Jewish racial and religious background

who are converts to Christ.

And therefore,

Paul is living out

what he preached back in chapter 3,

verses 10 and 11.

Do you remember what he said there?

He says that Christians are those

who have put on the new self

which is being renewed

in the knowledge

after the image of its creator.

Here there is no Greek and Jew,

circumcised and uncircumcised,

barbarian, Scythian, slave-free,

but Christ is all and in all.

Paul didn't just say that

as a nice ideal.

He lived it

with a community of people

where people who had no business together

came together for the cause of Christ

because of Christ.

Not only was this diversity there,

we see it also with Onesimus.

I skipped over him

in the verses 7 through 10,

but Onesimus was a runaway slave,

it seems,

who then came to faith in Jesus Christ

and was going back to his hometown.

You've got to read the book of Philemon.

That's another sermon

to figure out his whole story.

But Paul commends him

as a fellow brother

and a beloved one.

He also is clear

to point out

in verse 15,

he spends a special greeting

to Nympha.

We might think,

well, he's only talking to men here

because all of his companions

seem to be men.

Well, no, it's not true.

Here we see

that the diversity

of the community

being formed

and called by God

in Christ

involves everyone.

And this woman, Nympha,

was not only just

someone to greet,

but she was a major player.

She was hosting a house church.

She was involved

in the ministry with them.

Paul saw himself

in this ministry together

of this diverse band of people.

slaves and free,

Jew and Gentile,

men and women together,

equally serving

because of Christ.

And some of them

may have been great

in the history of the church.

It's possible

that Luke and Mark

were actually

the writers of the gospel

of Mark and Luke.

It was likely.

It's hard to say,

you know,

but it's highly possible.

And interestingly, too,

to see that his community

is not one of perfection,

but that some

had a checkered past.

If this is the Mark

we think it is,

it is John Mark,

who at one point

Paul had a whole conflict with

because he

flaked out on ministry

at just the wrong time

and disappointed Paul.

And Paul didn't want to have

anything to do with him

for a while.

But Barnabas came along,

took him under his wing,

and seemed to encourage him,

and now he's a partner

back together with him.

If we put the,

if we reconstruct

the timeline right.

So Mark is a restored brother

with a checkered past.

And then he also mentions

a Demas.

And if you go to 1 Timothy,

you hear about Demas later,

and it seems that Demas

will depart from the faith.

Again, if it's the same Demas.

For he departed from Paul

because he loved

the things of the world.

So Paul has a,

this very rich view

of his community.

And as he's,

he's simply recounting,

hey, all these people

want to say hi to you.

They love you.

They care about you.

They want to say hi to you.

But in doing so,

he gives a snapshot

and a picture

of what kind of community

Paul was involved in

and what kind of community

the church is called to be.

Two other people

want to point out?

Verse 10,

Aristarchus.

Aristarchus is a fellow prisoner.

I want that to sink in

because not only

does he mention it

for Aristarchus,

who was probably

literally imprisoned

with Paul

in chains,

but to recognize

that all of these other people

who are with him

are connected

with this convicted prisoner,

this man who has been

arrested and condemned

by the authorities.

all of them have identified

in a way

publicly

by their participation

in the church

and in the ministry

that Paul is involved in.

It is sometimes

embarrassing

to connect with other believers,

isn't it?

it is sometimes

something you wish

people didn't know

about you.

Where do you go to church?

I go to

Trinity Baptist Church.

Oh, what's that?

Trinity Baptist Church.

Trinity Baptist Church.

Trinity Baptist Church.

There's a lot to be said there

about the wisdom

of how we present ourselves.

Paul became all things

to all men

so that he might win some.

There is wisdom

in not having to tell

everything all the time.

But at core,

part of what I want you to see

is that

for Paul

and for his companions,

they were willing

to say,

yes,

my identification

with this community

and my commitment

to this cause

is so great

that if I go to jail

for it,

so be it.

I will identify

with those

and I will count the cost

and find Christ

worth it

and find the church

worth my identification

with it

even though

it might cost me

a lot.

Finally,

Epaphras,

look at me,

look with me

in verse 12

for a second.

Epaphras was mentioned

earlier in the letter

if you remember

in chapter 1

we see that

as Paul

is giving thanks

for the Colossian church

and how the gospel

came to them

and was growing in them

and bearing fruit in them,

it says in verse 7,

just as you learned it

from Epaphras,

our fellow,

our beloved fellow servant,

he is a faithful minister

of Christ

on your behalf

and is made known

to us

your love

in the spirit.

It is almost

certain

that Epaphras

was the one

who first planted

the church

in Colossae.

He was the one

who brought the gospel there.

He was the one

who proclaimed it

and started

the church there

and here we have

a greeting from them

and Paul expands

on his heart

for them

and his mission.

He says,

if you look again,

struggling on your behalf

that you may stand

mature

and fully assured

in all the will

of God.

And again,

part of what I want

to remind you here

is that

this is not only

Epaphras' heart

but this is exactly

what Paul has been saying.

As we've read

the book of Colossians

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

chapters 2,

6 and 7

are the core

of this book.

Therefore,

as you have received

Christ Jesus,

the Lord,

so walk in him,

rooted and built up

in him

and established

in the faith

just as you were taught

abounding in thanksgiving.

That you may

reach the end,

the goal

for which God

has saved you.

That you may find

the fullness

of all

that his salvation

brings to you.

Epaphras is one

who loves

the Colossian church

and he works hard.

And one of the ways

that he works hard

is in prayer.

He prays for them.

His desire for them

is that they may grow

in Christ

more and more

towards what God

has called them to.

So what's our

takeaway from this?

Well,

first of all,

we praise God

regularly

for the diversity

of this church.

We are not as diverse

as we could be

in the world,

but thankfully

God has brought

a number of

different people,

ones of you

from different backgrounds,

from literally

all over the world,

from literally

all over the city,

from the region.

And you gather here

and we are thankful

for that.

And it's something

that we count

as a treasure

and a stewardship,

as a privilege

to be that kind

of church.

It is something

that we want

to continue

to do.

And we know

it's hard sometimes.

We know it's hard

to connect with people

that you have less

human,

normal connections with,

that you don't share

hobbies with,

or even communities with.

But we are thankful

for the witness

that we gather together

because of Christ.

We pray that we will

do more.

We will continue

to value this

and to seek out

connecting with one another

in this space

and in other spaces

in the name of Christ.

Second thing here

is that for Paul,

the whole goal

of the church

is to reach

this maturity,

this end,

this place

of being

full of Christ

in all that he has

for us.

What I want to ask you

is just a few questions

about that this morning.

How much does this

shape your approach

to others?

Do you ask God

how he might want

to use you

to encourage others

towards Christ?

Do you believe

you need others

in your pursuit

of Christ?

Do you think

that there might be

among here

someone like Luke

or Mark

who might shape

the church

in the coming generation?

Not to build them up,

but to love them

and encourage them.

Do you think

there's someone

who like Demas

might be in danger

of falling away

because they love

the world so much?

Do you recognize

that they need you

today

to encourage them?

Friends,

do you pray

for one another?

CCB creates

an opportunity,

our online community

creates an opportunity

for you to know

what kind of church

community you're a part

of.

Michelle,

on a semi-regular

basis,

prints out

a photo directory,

which not all of you

are in

because you don't

all submit photos,

but if you were,

it's an opportunity

for you

to have a list

of people

to pray for.

There are lots

of ways

for you to pray

for one another.

Pray for one another

in a small group.

Pray for the people

that you meet

because the reality

is that

we need

one another

and we need

our help.

God has called

us to be a band

of sisters

and brothers

in this city

and in this world.

The final

observation,

verses 15 through 18,

we'll do this briefly.

As Paul greets

the church

himself personally,

you see in verse 18,

he says,

I write this greeting.

It's probably just

verse 18.

Typically,

Paul would dictate this.

Someone else

would be writing it

and here in verse 18,

he picks up his own hand,

his own pen

and he says,

I write this greeting

to you with my own hand.

Remember my chains.

Grace be with you.

So this is a personal set

but what you see

back in 15

is as he's writing

these letters,

Paul is very self-conscious

of what he is doing.

He is writing

these letters

to encourage

the church

in Colossae.

He's not just writing

it for them though,

is he?

Because you see

it's very clear

that his purpose

is that this letter

wouldn't only be read there

but then it would be

passed along

and that there's

another letter out there

that had gone to Laodicea

or that was going

to Laodicea

that ought to be

then passed along,

maybe copied

or maybe just physically transmitted

passed along

to the church

in Colossae.

There's lots of ink

spilled in the commentaries

about what the letter

to the Laodiceans is.

Some people

think that it might be

the letter of the Ephesians

because the letter

of Ephesians

was known

to be a circular letter

written to multiple churches.

It's a possibility.

I'm not going to die

in that hill

and the fact is

we just don't know.

We just don't know

what that letter is

but what we do know

is that Paul's intent

and purpose

in writing these letters

was both personal

and occasional

but also more than that.

By that I mean personal.

He's engaging

with a community of people

in its context.

Occasional

in its context.

He's addressing

the issues

that he knows

are appropriate

for this particular

group of people

and yet

he's also teaching

in those contexts

timeless truths.

He's teaching them

about Jesus Christ

and about the kingdom of God

and about what it means

to know him

and he's writing it

in ways that are

applicable along the way

and so we too

here today

are actually fulfilling this

by reading this letter

as we seek to encourage

one another.

We are reading his letter now

as an extension

of what Paul's intent

was for these letters

as he wrote them.

He wrote them

with a sense of authority

because he felt

that God had called him.

Do you remember

chapter 1

verse 27?

God had given him

a stewardship of ministry

to the Gentiles

to them

God chose

to make known

how great

among the Gentiles

are the riches

of the glory

of this mystery

which is

Christ in you

the hope of glory

him we proclaim

warning everyone

and teaching everyone

with all wisdom

that we may present

everyone

mature in Christ.

This is the centerpiece

of Christ

of Paul's letters.

This is the point

of everything

that he does

in his ministry.

Friends,

this is why

scripture is read

at the beginning

of the service

and between the songs

and at the time

of the assurance

of pardon

and why we spend

as much time

as we do

in our sermons

because we think

that God's word

is God's means

to instruct us

and teach us

and it is the baseline

the foundation

from which then

we are able

to encourage

one another

and live out

this ministry.

What great joy

it is that we

don't have to

figure out

or make up

what it is

that we have

to say about God

but that God

has revealed himself

to us

and given us

these letters

so that we might

know him.

and Paul was aware

I don't know

if Paul was aware

that he was writing

eternally inspired scripture

that's a whole other

that's a whole other

conversation

that I'm not going

to address

this morning

if Paul was

but he wrote

with authority

about the reality

of Christ

what he had received

he was passing on

and friends

we as a church

pick up that stewardship

and we're called

to do the same thing

to pass on

the message

of the riches

of Christ

for this is what

the book of Colossians

has been all about

hasn't it

Christ is enough

for you

Christ who is

the sovereign one

over all creation

by whom all things

were made

by whom all things

are sustained

and for whom

all things were created

Christ is enough

in that his work

of his life

and death

and resurrection

for us

and for our salvation

has completely

and sufficiently

dealt with

the problem of sin

in our lives

so that all

who are joined

by him

in faith

die to sin

and are made new

in Christ

Christ is enough

for us

to pursue

a life of godliness

in him

a transformed life

whereby the life

of Christ

is increasingly

manifested

and takes hold

of us

and makes us

like Christ

in the individual

ways that all of us

will express it

but all of us

living out this life

that God has called us

to

and not just

for us then

but that it might

overflow

to the world

that we would

take this mission

and this calling

of proclaiming

and making known

the good news

of Jesus Christ

this is Paul's heart

and his message

this is what he's

called us to be

as a church

Trinity

will you

will you join

with us

in this

will you be

a part of it

I hope you don't

come here

and think

gosh I'm glad

those guys up front

I'm glad they're

doing what they're

doing so I don't

have to do that

that's not how

we think about

church around here

I have a role

to preach

on Sunday mornings

every third week

but we have a

calling to make

Christ known

and to make him

great

we have a calling

to encourage one

another

to strengthen one

another

God has called

us as a community

to pick up the

cause of making

Christ known

my prayer is that

you will pick

it up

many of you know

we're embarking

on this building

campaign

it's going to be

very easy for us

to be distracted

by brick and mortar

in the next two

years

but that's just

a tool

it's just a

context

whereby we

might do

more

of what we're

already doing

which is this

being this kind

of community

and reaching out

to our community

with this message

of the good news

of Jesus Christ

I pray

and hope

that we will

make that

our primary

focus

that we will

hear the call

we few

we happy few

we band

of sisters

and brothers

together

called

to what God

has for this

church

at this

time

in this

place

knowing that

whatever it

looks like

at its

center

it will be

exalting

and lifting

up

and proclaiming

Jesus Christ

let's pray

Lord thank you

for this word

Lord thank you

even more so

for the call

that you have

put on our

church

and the call

that you have

put on

the church

worldwide

Lord we pray

that you might

strengthen us

enable us

Lord that you

would help us

to see the

great calling

to which

we've been

called

and that we

would take

it up

Lord that we

would

Lord pray

and work

and labor

and suffer

out of love

for one another

and for the

sake of Christ

in this world

and pray this

in Jesus name

Amen

Amen

Thank you.