Gospel Shaped Church

The scripture reading comes from Colossians chapter 3 verses 12 to 17.

Colossians 3:12–17

Please follow along in your bulletin or on the screen.

Put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

bearing with one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other,

as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

And above all this put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony,

and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.

And be thankful, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom,

singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,

giving thanks to God the Father through him.

This is the word of God.

Before I do that pastoral prayer and we kind of look at this passage,

I just want to say a massive thank you to you as a congregation.

Fiona and I and Etienne have just been so blessed by able to take some time away.

As you can see, we've had a little bit of transition in our family.

And during this time, we've been able to really spend a lot of time together as a family,

and particularly even in the UK.

Some of you know my dad had a stroke back in August,

and we were able to really spend a lot of time with him.

And just the physios who are looking after him just said,

your timing of coming has just been absolutely miraculous,

because it was the perfect time to come.

And as I was looking at my dad, who basically,

it was like having two kind of babies in the house.

I don't know if you know about strokes, but my dad's been stripped of everything.

He can almost, he's learning how to walk again.

He's learning how to dress himself again.

He's learning how to go to the toilet by himself.

And yet in the midst of all of this,

he said to me something just that really, really struck me.

He said, you know, I've been stripped of everything.

You know, when you're 76 years old, you've got a lot of life behind you.

And to be kind of back like a baby, it's very humbling.

But he said, I've been stripped of everything.

But in this place, I realize

that when you have nothing left,

Jesus is all that you need.

And as we kind of think about all that's going on at the moment,

I want us to pray just in the light of that

and to just ask God to come and be with us

and to work in our city.

So would you come and pray with me, the pastoral prayer?

And don't just listen to me praying.

Let's just pray this together and I'll lead you.

So please bow your heads and let's pray.

Father, we live in what seem to be very troubled times.

A lot of fear.

A lot of suspicion.

A lot of division.

A lot of criticism.

And yet this is the world that you came in.

Your son, Jesus Christ, came.

And you said and you called a group of people,

your disciples, a messy bunch of people.

And you said, my peace I give to you.

I don't give as the world gives.

I give as I give.

And Father, you gave Jesus to be our prince of peace.

We pray, Lord, that you would draw near to us today

as your people in all our anxieties,

in all our uncertainties, in all our failures.

Bring us your peace.

Because if we have you,

then we have everything that we need, Lord.

Lord, you're our refuge in the storm.

You're a firm foundation.

You're an anchor that is never swayed.

Forgive us, Father, where we have put our hopes

on shifting sands.

We have so much from you,

and yet we feel that our life

is more in the gifts you've given us

than in you, ourself.

We look to our stuff that we have,

the plans that we have,

the certainties that we have,

that you tell us that our life is in you.

Help us to believe that, Lord.

Help us to go deeper in our hearts, Lord.

Because you are rock solid.

Teach us to trust you,

the one who's the never failing rock of ages.

Drive the gospel deeper into our hearts.

So that even if everything is stripped away from us

and our city and all these other things,

if we have you, we have everything that we need.

Lord, we just completely pray for Wuhan

and for all those who are affected there by the virus.

We pray for our brothers and sisters,

particularly in that province.

Lord, I pray that you would be their confidence

at this time, that they would know

that their lives are utterly in your hands

and they are immortal until you decide

it is their time to go.

May they mirror your sacrificial love

for the people there

by not running away from people,

but running towards them with your love.

Protect them, we pray,

and even in this terrible situation,

would you use it for good?

Would you draw people to yourself through this?

We pray for the medical workers.

We pray for the government officials.

We pray that you protect them.

You give them wisdom.

You give them grace.

You keep their hearts from fear.

Just give them wisdom to know how to treat patients

and how to deal with the situation wisely, Lord.

And we pray, Lord, against fear

just further dividing our society.

Prince of peace, would you come?

And Lord, we also want to pray,

I want to pray for India too at this time, Lord.

It just, there's a country with so much beauty

but so much darkness, Lord.

Just even this last week

with the hostage taking of 20 children,

the beating of a man's wife to death,

the persecution of believers,

the protests of a religious freedom,

we just pray for our partners in the church in Delhi,

for Akshay and Shruti there.

We just pray, would you give their church

boldness and confidence to witness to you

in the midst of all of this situation.

Use them to release many from darkness into your light.

And Father, finally, we just want to pray

also for the students here.

Lord, even in the disruption of their classes

and kids not being able to go to school,

we pray in the midst of this turmoil

that they would just have, again,

this courage and this confidence

that even when it feels like there's so little time

and there's so much pressure on,

that they can know that you've got this one.

That their life, their grades,

their future is utterly in your hands

and they can trust you.

Thank you that you are our Prince of Peace.

You are our Rock of Ages.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Great.

So if you have your bulletin open,

we're going to be looking through at this passage.

And we're really following on from the series

that we've started, the Watermark Essentials.

And if you haven't been here, like me,

you can listen back to some of the previous sermons.

And we're going through the three core values

that we have as a church,

which are...

Very good.

Okay.

A few of you.

Okay.

The rest of you can just look on the banner and cheat.

But what, as Kevin said earlier,

there is a virus which is infecting us.

There's a virus which is destroying

and devastating relationships, communities,

individuals' lives throughout this city.

And it's a virus which is more significant

than the coronavirus.

And that is sin.

And as Kevin said earlier,

sin is not just what the Bible says,

sin is not just doing bad stuff.

It's a heart that wants to go our own way,

wants to rely on ourselves,

wants to live life in our timing,

in our way,

in the way that we think things should happen

and rejects the way God has designed us

and called us into relationship with himself.

And we've seen over the last few weeks

that in the gospel message,

the gospel message is not good advice

to try and self-cure yourself

because the disease is too deadly

for your little bit of moral improvement

to fix you.

But the gospel is this good news

that Jesus Christ,

he lived the life that you and I couldn't live

free from this virus.

And he died the death that you and I should have died

so that we could have this restored,

healed relationship with him

and with each other.

And as we believe and trust

in this gospel message in Christ,

that gospel then is not just the entrance point

into the community of faith,

it's also the power to transform our lives.

And that's what we've been looking at.

And the power to make us more and more like Jesus.

And so I want to show today,

we've been looking at gospel,

how that gospel message then flows into our life

as a church in the community.

So I'm going to look at three things, okay?

It's a classic sermon with three points.

So you're not going to be too confused.

The first one,

a chosen people formed by the gospel,

a messy people,

a sinful people changed by the gospel,

and then a word-filled people speaking the gospel.

Okay?

So have your passage open

and we're going to have a look through.

So a chosen people.

Just some background.

The book of Colossians

is written by Paul

to a small house church

in a place in Turkey,

which some of us have been very close to,

called Colossae.

And this church is probably a mix

of Jews and non-Jews, Gentiles,

in the midst of the pagan Roman Empire.

And Paul has spent three chapters,

as Kevin said last week,

telling the Colossians

that Jesus is so much better

than all the philosophies

that are going around.

These were philosophies

which told you

if you just rely on yourself,

if you just get a bit of self-improvement,

you can make your life

a better you.

And they had these things

that if you're keeping the rules,

then you're kind of in,

in the in crowd.

And if you're breaking the rules,

then you're out.

And the Jews had certain rules,

like don't eat pork,

circumcise,

keep the Sabbath.

And the non-Jews

had certain rules,

like eat pork,

don't restrict my diet,

like don't impose on my freedom,

worship all these other gods,

don't kind of restrict yourself

down to one.

The Jewish people

had a license to performance

of everything that they wanted

to do through the rules.

Some people wanted to do everything

breaking the rules.

And the clash of cultures and rules

often resulted in division

and separation.

But Paul has been saying

that now in the gospel,

Jesus who's the supreme Lord

of all creation,

he's the ruler and sustainer

of everything,

through his death,

he has brought together

these people who are totally divided,

and he's brought them together

in one radically different community.

Not based on a performance

to a whole lot of rules,

not based on a license to sin

and do whatever you want,

but based on the gospel,

and this is what we call church.

So,

if I were to ask you,

what is church?

What would you normally say?

Anyone?

Sorry.

You're whispering very loudly.

Sorry?

A community of believers?

Where you get baptized?

Yes.

We have all kinds of definitions of church.

Some of us think it's a building,

some of us actually think

it's a meeting place.

Many of us will say,

oh,

it's a community of believers,

but functionally,

we treat it as something different.

But,

here's Paul's definition of church,

or one of his.

He says,

verse 12,

put on then,

as God's chosen people,

holy and beloved,

or dearly loved.

God's chosen people,

holy and beloved.

And what he's doing,

he's taking a title from the Old Testament

for Israel.

People who were chosen out of many nations

to know and be in this covenant relationship

with the living God.

They had to be given his word and his promises,

and then to live,

they were called to then live a distinctive lifestyle

among the nations,

so that other people would know that he truly is God.

And what he does,

what Paul does,

is he takes this same title,

and now he says to this little group of believers in Turkey,

and he says,

just as God chose Israel to be his special people,

so God has chosen you.

He's chosen you

to be his people.

You know,

when I was growing up,

and I'm sure you do this in Hong Kong as well,

but we used to play football in the playground.

And so whenever we'd start playing football,

people would pick teams.

And you know,

there was always one kid who was left at the end

who nobody wanted

because he was useless at football.

And everyone would be going,

oh, you have him.

You have him.

No, no, I don't want him.

You have him.

And the thing is,

what God comes along,

and he says,

you are like that kid.

That kid is you and me.

Because your performance

really doesn't stand up to anything.

But I'll have you.

I'll have you for my team.

Not based on anything that you have done.

Not based on anything of how great you are,

but based on something of how great I am.

And how great my love is for you.

You know,

the Israelites,

in the book of Deuteronomy,

God says to them,

I didn't choose you

because you're more numerous,

because you are amazing.

I chose you because I loved you.

I chose you because I loved you

to show my power and my glory

to people around.

Which means this.

Church is not my idea or your idea.

It's God's idea.

And church is not just a place you go to.

It's an identity.

It's a people you belong to.

Jesus didn't save us

to go to a meeting once a week.

Did you know that?

He saved us

to be part of his people.

random selfish individuals

brought together

to be his family for his glory.

It's his choice.

His initiative.

And it's not just an identity

initiated by God.

He then says,

your chosen people,

holy.

Do you know what holy means?

Holy means set apart

for God.

Belonging to him.

We're his.

You know,

in the Old Testament,

there's Moses.

When he sees this burning bush,

he comes and approaches

the burning bush.

And God says to him,

take off your sandals

because you are standing

on holy ground.

Why is it holy?

It's holy

because God's presence is there.

It's reserved for God.

If you are a Christian,

you and I are reserved for God.

Did you know that?

His church is reserved for God.

That is an incredible privilege.

You know,

when I married my wife,

I became set apart for her.

I'm hers and she's mine.

Now the thing is,

that cannot just be an idea in my head.

That shapes me.

I can no longer do everything I could do

when I was single.

If I try,

things won't go well.

Because I've got a new identity.

I'm not my own,

Paul says.

I was bought at a price.

Which when we're talking about church,

means this.

If we're holy to God,

it means this is God's church.

It's not my church.

It's not Kevin's church.

It's not the elder's church.

It's his church.

Which means something

even more uncomfortable.

It means,

if this is truly his church,

then there should always be something in church

which will make you uncomfortable.

Do you know why?

Because if everything's comfortable

for a sinful person like me,

I've probably made it into my church,

not God's church.

Right?

Because I want it the way I want it,

not the way God wants it.

And so like,

we come along on a Sunday morning

and we go,

I wonder if the sermon's gonna be good today.

Or you're in your CG

and you're like,

I just don't click with my CG leader.

I think I'd like to go and join another CG.

Rather than going,

God, this is about you.

So how can I worship you

and serve you

and love the people around me?

How can I love even these people

I don't always get on with?

Well,

because we're holy people.

We belong to him.

We're his.

We're chosen.

And also,

thirdly,

he says here,

we're beloved.

We're dearly loved.

Do you know Jesus loves this church?

Oscar knows it.

Just look around you, okay?

Look around you

at the motley crew

that is around you right now

and say to the person next to you,

God says you are part of

his chosen,

holy,

dearly loved people.

And,

God says you are part of

your kingdom.

He's chosen.

He's chosen.

He's chosen.

He's chosen.

He's chosen.

He's chosen.

He's chosen.

He's chosen.

He's chosen.

He's chosen.

Now,

I know somebody,

I know somebody

who is considering

donating their kidney

for their brother

to save his life

because

even though the operation

is very dangerous

and could have consequences

for him,

he loves his brother

that much

that he's willing to do it.

Do you know,

Jesus didn't just give a kidney

for us,

for his church.

He gave his life for us.

That's how much he loves

and delights in the church.

And he doesn't delight in it

just worldwide,

although that's true.

He delights in a specific

individual church.

Regardless of your sin,

regardless of your past,

regardless of anything

you have done before,

his love is upon us

if you are a believer in him.

He died

so that the person

sitting next to you

could be sitting next to you

here right now

because he wanted them

in this church.

Did you know that?

You might not want them

in this church.

You might be wishing

they were in another church,

but Jesus wanted them here.

And it's his church.

It's not our church.

And so the question is,

if I love Jesus,

I'm called to love

those he loves.

So do I love them?

Do I see them as his family?

How does the gospel

help us to become better lovers

of those God loves?

Let's have a look at that.

We said the gospel

is what creates this community.

We're chosen,

we're holy,

we're dearly loved.

We're people from many,

many different backgrounds.

And second point,

we're sinful people

changed by the gospel.

You know,

Kevin said last week

that it's easy

for people to believe

we become a Christian

through just believing

this gospel message

and then we kind of move on

to like a whole load

of working hard

spiritual practices,

pray hard,

do a lot of good

moral behavior.

And it's very easy

in the same way

to do that.

When we join the church,

we come to join the church

through believing the gospel

and then we think

that actually we kind of

carry on as church

through being very moral

and good

and behaving well.

That's why some non-believers

have said to me,

I don't want to come to church

because I'm not good enough.

You ever had people say that?

Do you know,

church should be the very place

that messed up people

feel most welcome.

Right?

Why?

Well,

let's have a look at this.

Paul knows this.

He says,

verse 12,

put on then

as God's chosen,

holy and beloved.

Put on.

You know,

when you get up in the morning,

you're going to look

in your wardrobe

and you decide

what you're going to wear.

Right?

You have to put something on.

What Paul is saying is,

every morning,

you have to decide

what are you going to put on,

what attitude

you're going to dress yourself in.

Am I going to dress myself

in what Christ has done

for my identity in the gospel

or just in my own selfish ways?

So he says,

put on then,

what does he say

you've got to put on?

Compassionate hearts,

kindness,

humility,

meekness,

patience,

bearing with one another.

And if one has a complaint

against another,

forgiving each other

as the Lord has forgiven you,

so also you must forgive.

If you have a look

at that list of qualities,

how many of you would like

to have those qualities

in your relationships?

Okay,

good number.

Well,

just think about it.

Why do you need

to have compassionate hearts?

Because people

that you come into,

even today,

are more broken

than you realize.

Why do you need kindness?

Because there's going to be

a whole lot of times

when you're tempted

to be harsh and judgmental.

Why do you need meekness?

Because you're going

to be tempted

to try and push

your own way forward

all the time.

Paul says,

bear with one another

in love.

That means be in the long

haul with people.

Don't just tolerate them.

Keep persevering

in loving them.

Don't back out.

Now,

why do you need

to command someone

to bear with people?

Because sometimes

people can be unbearable,

right?

Especially Christians.

Right?

You see,

living out

what God has called us to

is hard work.

It's messy

because we're a bunch

of sinners.

And if you put

one sinner

and another sinner

together

in the same room,

it's like putting

stones together.

And you rub them

long enough,

what do you get?

Sparks or fireworks,

right?

Right?

And in one sense,

what Paul knows

is the reality

that actually,

if you are in church

long enough,

there will be conflict.

There will be times

it rubs up against you.

And if you never

have conflict

in your CGs,

your community groups,

then that's a clear

sign to you

that you're simply

either not close enough

to each other

or not honest enough

with each other.

because at Watermark,

we've really tried

to build a stronger

sense of community.

And I don't know

about you,

but community is

such a blessing

to us.

Like,

while we've been away,

just guys have been

amazing.

But there is a danger

for us,

and the danger is

that we surround

ourselves with people

we like and people

who are like us,

and we call it

Christian community.

Church the way

we want it.

You know,

you go to community

lunch,

and who do you

sit with?

You just sit with

the people

who are just like you.

But you have to think

what Paul is saying.

Has that displayed

the gospel

where Jew

and non-Jew,

where rich and poor,

where single and married

are brought together

in Jesus?

I might want to put

to you that maybe

that isn't gospel

created community.

Sometimes we may be

creating our own

community,

and just avoiding

the rub,

the awkwardness,

the challenge

of Christ-centered

community.

Because we're

a bunch of sinners.

But,

God's chosen people,

if I left you with that,

that would just

depress you.

But God's chosen people

are his means

to take the gospel

deeper into your heart.

Tim Keller,

and I know we've said

this a number of times,

so I think it's just

helpful,

summarizes the gospel

as you're more sinful

than you dare believe,

and you're more loved

than you dare hope.

Right?

The gospel tells us

that we're sinners.

You need a grace.

But actually,

I think in practice,

most of us don't really

think we're that sinful.

Or,

we actually don't

really believe

that other people

in the church

are that sinful

until you experience it.

until you experience

something of the difference

of them.

And it brings out

your own sin.

And sometimes,

it's not even their own sin,

it's sometimes the fact

that they're just

different from you.

But you see,

your heart gets exposed.

You know,

I don't think

I'm that judgmental.

But I was once asked

to usher

at a wedding

of some Nigerian

Christian friends

of a friend

who had very little money.

And so I agreed

to help out.

And so the wedding

was 11,

I arrived at 10,

there was no one.

10.15,

10.30,

10.45,

10.50,

no one turned up.

About 10.50,

the groom arrived.

And then,

there was kind of

this slow trickle

of people

suddenly started arriving.

About 11.15,

things started kicking off

a little bit.

So I decided to go down

five minutes down the road

to the reception venue

just to see

what was going on.

I walked into the hall.

There was nothing.

There were tables

just kind of

up at the side

and there was no one.

And I thought,

man,

the reception's starting

in like an hour.

And so I just started

taking down the tables,

putting up the tables

and started putting them out.

And then at about 12 o'clock,

some ladies came in.

And they came in with food

and they came in

with some tablecloths.

And I thought,

great,

now they're going to

kind of come and help.

So they put everything

down on the table

and then they started

doing their hair

for the next half an hour.

And so I'm taking everything.

There's 150 people at this.

I'm taking all the cutlery around.

I'm putting it all up

on there.

And people are going,

okay,

they're coming in like

five minutes.

And I'm rushing to and from.

And I ask one of them,

hey,

could you help me?

And she kind of

takes down one plate,

puts one plate down

and carries on doing her hair.

And while I'm doing this,

I get to the end of it

and finally I just put down

the last kind of set,

the last table

and then the bride and groom

and the other people

walked in.

And here I am like

collapsed on the floor

and everyone else is happy.

But I was furious.

Someone said to me,

oh,

thank you very much

for helping.

And I'm like,

that's not what I need.

And you see,

in my heart,

I was judging

and I'm just being honest,

I was judging

every Nigerian at that point.

But let me tell you,

in what seemed to me

as a British guy,

disorganization

and just cultural difference,

for me was actually

a gospel moment

because it started exposing

something in my own heart.

Because when people

don't perform

up to the expectations

you have,

maybe they're good,

maybe they're bad expectations,

when someone even

sins against you,

and it wasn't really

sin against me,

even then,

doesn't their sin

or their difference

start provoking your own?

And you slide off

what Kevin called

that gospel horse

that he talked about

last week,

where you slide

either into performance

or into license.

When you go into performance,

you just start judging people

and condemning them

for their behavior,

don't you?

Telling everyone else

about them.

or then we slide

the other way,

justifying the reason

why I'm angry

because it's righteous anger.

Don't we?

And when we're doing that,

what happens

in that moment,

I'm pressing

what I call

a gospel delete button.

Because at that moment,

if I allow

those things

to carry on

in my heart,

what happens

is my spiritual veins

begin to harden.

My love for Jesus

gets infected

by that sin virus.

And what happens

is it begins

to destroy

not only my joy

in Christ,

but it also destroys

the community around.

And Paul here

says,

if any of you

has a complaint,

what do you do?

Forgive one another.

And he knows

this is really hard.

So what he says,

he says it again.

As the Lord

has forgiven you,

so you also

must forgive.

Because when we get

offended,

when anger happens,

when complaining

arises in my heart

and I allow it

to fester,

do you know

that reveals to me

that I've lost

sight of the gospel?

people.

But Paul says,

forgive as the Lord

has forgiven you.

How did the Lord

forgive me?

When I was at my best

or when I was at my worst?

Right?

And if we don't get this,

have a look at this

whole list.

Compassion,

kindness,

humility,

meekness,

patience,

bearing with one

another,

forgiveness.

Do you know

that every single

one of those

are the characteristics

of how God in Christ

has treated us?

I mean,

let me just take

like one verse

which shows you this.

Romans 2 verse 4.

Romans 2:4

Do you presume,

this is Paul talking,

on the riches

of God's kindness

and forbearance

and patience,

not knowing

that God's kindness

is meant to lead you

to repentance?

I wonder,

do you know

the kindness

of God towards you?

Do you know

the patience

of God towards you?

Before he chose you,

he knew how impatient

you could be.

He knew how unkind

you could be.

He knew

that you can be

unbearable at times.

And if you're married

and you don't believe me,

just ask your spouse.

What?

God,

God,

in his great mercy,

because he's rich

in love

and compassion,

he still died

to bring people

like you and me,

he still chose you

and me

to be part of his family.

So when we're impatient,

when we're unkind,

when we won't forgive,

it's a sign

that we've lost sight

of the immense

nature of his kindness

and patience

and forgiveness

towards us.

Let me just make that

personal.

Some of you here

have had issues

with people in the church,

maybe even your family,

maybe your spouses.

Some of you

have had needs

which you felt

were unmet.

Some of you

have felt

that people just

were judgmental

or too harsh

or they didn't care enough.

There were things

which was left said

or that you wish

had been said,

things that were unsaid

that you wish

hadn't been said.

And what God

wants to bring to you

is first of all,

he wants to bring

the gospel

of his kindness

to you.

He wants to tell you

first of all

that his arms

are open wide

for you.

And in these moments

what he's trying

to do

is he wants you

to run to him,

to be honest

with him,

to allow him

to come

and expose

your heart

and as you preach

the promises

of God

that you are

chosen by him,

dearly loved

by him,

he begins

to expose you

so that you

begin to see

that as you dwell

on his glory

of his forgiveness

and grace,

it begins to melt

your heart.

Because it's only

as I see

that I'm more sinful

than I dare believe

and yet I'm more loved

than I could ever

possibly imagine

that I can begin

to extend that

to other people

who I think

are far more sinful

than I dare believe

but are also

far more loved

than I could ever

possibly imagine.

And as we do that

it teaches us

not to wash

our hands

of people

but to show

grace,

kindness,

compassion,

persistent grace

to people.

You know,

there's never been

a person

who when there's

been a conflict

or an issue

who has run away

from that

or withdrawn

from that

and withdrawn

from community

who has ever

fallen more in love

with Jesus

because of that

decision.

And there has

never been a person

who experiences

the pain of community

and yet runs

to Jesus

in the midst

of it

in desperation

seeking him

who through

that experience

as they've

allowed the gospel

to deepen their heart

go in their hearts

and lead them

to seek to love others

who has not gone

deeper in the gospel

and has not seen

the love of Jesus

more beautiful

than they realized

it was before.

Because you know

if you have a conflict

with someone

and you work through it

what happens

to that relationship?

Doesn't it go deeper?

Doesn't it go deeper?

And so

this is what God

wants to do with us

in community.

He wants to both

take his love

deeper into us

through each other

through our messiness

to show you

his grace

in multi-color

and then to share

that with each other.

But how does that

not lead us

to what we called

license to sin

before?

Like

you know

someone comes to you

and says

hey I didn't tell you

I wasn't turning up

to help with kids

ministry today

because I thought

you could learn

patience.

Don't go there

okay?

That's not the gospel.

But we come to the

how do we stop

just sliding into

well you just

got to forgive people

and let them

let them off

everything.

How do we stop

that becoming

licensed to sin?

The third thing

the final thing

we're not just

a chosen

holy

dearly loved

people

we're not just

a sinful people

that God wants

to change

through even

the rub of each

other

we're also people

who speak the gospel

to each other.

Let me ask you

what's the difference

between doing

Airbnb

and dwelling

in a place?

You can answer.

Sorry.

Yeah one's permanent

the other one's temporary.

Airbnb you're there

for one, two, three days

maybe a week

but you dwell in the place

you unpack your bags

you settle in

you're just camped out there.

It's home.

Here's what Paul says

in verse 16.

Let the word of Christ

Airbnb in you.

Doesn't say that.

Let the word of Christ

dwell in you

richly.

What is he saying?

He's saying

this church

Airbnb

is like

okay

God's word Sunday

and then maybe

I'll do midweek

once

you know

once or twice.

No he's saying

no no no

it's got to dwell

so that your community

is so camped out

in God's words

that it's filling

your WhatsApp

that it's filling

your prayers

that it's filling

your community life

together.

It cannot be

Sunday

Airbnb only.

How does it dwell

with us?

He says

through teaching

admonishing

and singing.

That's why we sing

together

so that Christ

may dwell in our hearts.

Who does he say

the word of Christ

should dwell in?

you.

You there

is plural.

So he's not

talking

to the pastor

of Colossian

Watermark Church.

Who is he talking

saying it's the

responsibility

of mine

to help

the gospel

be taught

and admonished?

Whose responsibility

is that?

After me say

mine.

Mine.

whose responsibility

is it?

Okay.

Good.

It's my

responsibility.

Why is it

all of our

responsibilities?

Because I have

a gospel delete

button

and so do you.

Every day

it resets

again and again.

Sin is

this virus

is deceitful

because

every single

day I am

tempted to forget

the mercies

the patience

the kindness

of God

to me.

You've got

work deadlines

and a boss

who is breathing

fire and you're

tempted to fear

and believe that

your boss

determines your

life.

You look over

your peers

how their kids

are doing

and you're

tempted to feel

like oh

I'm behind

my kids

are behind

I've got to

prove myself

we've got to

somehow do

something to

catch up.

It doesn't

matter how long

you've been a

Christian

today

tomorrow

and every

day this week

there's going

to be moments

which are going

to come

and the gospel

in those moments

flies out of the

window and fear

flies in

unforgiveness

flies in

anger flies in

insecurity

flies in

unforgiveness

flies in

and the heart

can begin to

harden

and you know

what I lose

joy

I lose

peace

I lose

confidence

in Christ

and what

do I need

I need a

group of

people

a chosen

holy

dearly loved

group of

people

who are going

to come to

me and

remind me

of the

incredible

kindness

and grace

and patience

of God

himself

who come

to me and

bring the

gospel to

bear saying

Chris don't

fear

doesn't matter

what people

say about

you

your identity

is secure

you're chosen

you're holy

you're dearly

loved

so don't

let Satan

walk all

over you

this week

rise up

overcome

in him

because in

Christ you

are more

than a

conqueror

because he

has done

everything

for you

don't we

need that

so let me

ask you

who are you

doing that

with

who are you

encouraging

in the

gospel

daily

things I'm

just really

encouraging our

community

I just see

that happening

in just so

many different

ways and I

want to

encourage us

as a church

just to keep

going with

that

do you

know

who you

are called

to gospel

to bring the

gospel to

bear

are you doing

it

because our

brothers and

sisters we

need it

it's the only

way this

community can

flourish

but let me

finish with

there's one of

those things

that it says

the word of

Christ dwells in

us which is

maybe a little

more challenging

Paul says

admonish one

another

do you know

what to

admonish means

it means to

correct

to bring

someone back

to the right

path

you know

some people

think Christians

should be

nice to each

other

we think

that niceness

is like a

like a

Christian

virtue

I'm British

the British

invented

niceness

that's why we

say sorry

all the time

only Canadians

say sorry

more

and yet

niceness

is not

a fruit of

the spirit

love

joy

peace

patience

niceness

it's not

there

because

sometimes

niceness

can actually

mask our

lack of

love for

our

brothers

and sisters

and I'm

guilty of

this as

anyone

you know

Fiona and

I we try

and involve

other people

in our

lives

and

and one

of the

things that

has happened

in the

past is

people are

involved in

their lives

they see

Fiona and

myself

fighting

and I'm

generally

trying to

hide it

away

Fiona's

like out

and proud

like

no we're

we're gonna

do it

if we're gonna

do it

do it

in front

of

everyone

which is

good

I mean

because

I remember

one partway

through one

fight

and you know

I'd gone

off and

you know

we separated

and

and one of

the people

who was

who was

with us

came up

to me

and said

hey Chris

you know

I've just

noticed

that

sometimes

you struggle

with really

listening and

trying to

understand

Fiona's

perspective

I think

you should

actually

stop

thinking

about

yourself

and start

trying to

think about

your wife

here

obviously

my response

was filled

with kind

of thank

you

every

defensive

bone in

my body

was kind

of raised

but you

know

that person

loved me

because

that person

loved me

enough

to not

let the

sin virus

harden my

heart

and break

into my

relationship

with my

wife

and as I

went away

and thought

about it

I realized

she had

loved me

more than

all the

people who

stayed silent

about my

sin

and that

caused me

to turn

back to

Jesus

and say

God

forgive me

and as

I saw

that I'm

more sinful

than I

realized

I also

realized

but God

still loves

me

he still

accepts

me

and as I

could go

and apologize

to my

wife

do you see

the gospel

had begun

to go

work deeper

in my

heart

and actually

work deeper

into our

relationship

you see

you see

that's it

he agrees

you see

this is

what it is

to be

church

some of

us here

we need

to repent

of our

niceness

we need

to repent

that we've

not allowed

the gospel

to give

us courage

in a

loving

relationship

and I'm

not talking

about being

harsh

I'm talking

about being

kind

but we

need to

have people

that love

us enough

to bear

with us

and forgive

us

to keep

sharing

the gospel

with us

to admonish

one another

without it

being harsh

without it

being judgmental

and this

is the

community

that Jesus

died for

that is

more precious

than a

thousand

of the

greatest

sermons

you could

ever listen

to

this is

the church

Jesus

died for

a sinful

messy

bunch

of people

but who

through

his power

and his

power

alone

can begin

to change

and we

are instruments

in each

other's lives

to enable

that to

happen

and Jesus

gets the

glory

because nobody's

going to look

at us

and say

wow

you're

amazing

but they'll

look at him

and say

Jesus

it says

here

whatever you

do

in word

or do

everything

in the name

of the

Lord

Jesus

giving

thanks

to God

the

father

through

him

that's

what

church

is about

the glory

of God

through a

broken

messy

people

like us

let's

just pray

actually on

the screen

there's a few

questions

here

and I want

you to

think about

these questions

in the light

of the grace

of God

I want you

to take

just a minute

to allow

God just

to speak

to your

heart

do you

see