Him We Proclaim!

Well, today is Anniversary Sunday.

We've been three years old as a church.

Three years ago, we, amen.

We had our first public service,

and to commemorate that,

we set aside every first Sunday of October to rejoice.

Well, it was the fall of 2012,

and I was at the tail end of an assessment

by the elders of Crossway Community Church.

Crossway is the church that planted Christ the King Church,

and I went through a year-long assessment

to see if I was fit to do this work,

and as part of that, in that fall,

I was asked to write a BHAG, B-H-A-G,

a big, hairy, audacious goal.

A God-sized goal.

And this is what I wrote.

We read this at every membership class.

The vision of Christ the King Church

is to see the gospel of Jesus Christ

transform every area of our personal lives,

our families, our church, our city, and our world.

It's 1020 a.m. one Sunday in the year 2033.

It's a red light.

As cars come to a stop at the intersection of Sheridan and 60th Street,

they hear the one voice of Christ the King Church

singing, Blessed Assurance,

through the open stained glass windows of their building.

Inside the building, almost all of the 1,000 seats are filled.

Remember, this is a vision.

Dreaming big.

They had to expand the capacity of their building in 2020.

The whole church is standing with hands raised.

There are dark chocolate hands raised.

There are also deeply tanned hands raised.

There are fair and freckled hands raised.

There are some nicely groomed hands that are raised.

There are a smattering of exotic fingernails.

Tattoos on hands are common.

Most of the hands are calloused, strong, and rough.

And as the people sing, standing,

tears gently stream down cheeks as with one voice.

Christ the King Church lifts her praise to God.

No one expected God to do what God has done.

The light turns green.

For the last 20 years,

there's been a pronounced and sustained outpouring of God's spirit

throughout Kenosha's downtown and surrounding neighborhoods.

God has spread the people of Christ the King like Levin

throughout the neighborhoods of Uptown, Harbor Park,

Sunnydale, Lincoln Park, Frank, Allendale, Wilson,

even out west of Green Bay Road.

The people of Christ the King Church

reach out with the gospel often and intentionally.

Evangelism usually involves a couple members of Christ the King

inviting some of their friends to come over for a meal

and eventually the topic turns to Jesus.

477 people have become Christians

and have been integrated into the life of the church

over the last two decades.

It was in 2018 that God finally opened a door

into the African American community.

Shawan Jackson was a co-worker of Mike Purgatelli.

They were on the same work crew for the city's water department

and Mike had been sharing the gospel with Shawan weekly

as they made runs in their blue dump truck.

Finally, God opened Shawan's eyes to see his need for Christ

and after coming to faith in Christ,

Mike brought Shawan to a small group.

They were studying Ephesians together

and that life group warmly welcomed Shawan.

They shared openly about their hardships,

fears, joys, and struggles with sin.

And after about 18 months,

Shawan was able to let down his guard

with people who were not black.

He experienced Christian fellowship with Anglos and Latinos.

He came to realize that he had more in common

with his Anglo and Latino,

these Anglo and Latino sinners saved by grace

than he did with his Frank neighborhood buddies.

Shawan started bringing his longtime friends

from Frank neighborhood to the Christ of King Church

of Sunday service.

Some were convicted of their sin.

They repented and put their trust in Christ.

But most did not.

Shawan continued to grow in the face

of being ridiculed for his devotion to Christ

and the people of Christ the King.

He married Manuela in 2023

and soon they had three beautiful boys.

Shawan never met his dad,

but God provided what he needed.

A handful of godly older men

had been mentoring Shawan since his conversion.

He's now a godly dad.

His boys feared the Lord.

And then from 2024 to 2027,

Shawan participated in Christ the King Church's

leadership development program.

And by the fall of 2028,

Shawan had been nominated to become an elder.

He's formally set in as an elder

of Christ the King Church January of 2029.

He's just started his second three-year term.

God continues to use Shawan

to evangelize the young men of Frank neighborhood.

In fact, he's mentoring three young men

from his neighborhood now.

2018 was a significant year in the life

of Christ the King Church.

Early in that spring,

Christ the King Church sent out

her first church plant to Waukegan,

El Rey de la Gracia.

Lou, give it to us.

Today, God has grown that church to 215 people.

They meet in Waukegan High School.

They joined the Crossway Association of Churches

in 2021.

Since 2016, Christ the King has been sending teams

across the globe to play a small role

in filling the Great Commission.

Every year since 2016,

Christ the King has sent out a multi-ethnic team

to visit, strengthen, and assist

the international mission partners of the church.

There are strong ties to partners in Myanmar,

Philippines, Brazil, Morocco, India, China,

Georgia, as in the Republic of Georgia,

though the state of Georgia needs missionaries too.

Somalia, France, Ethiopia, and Vietnam.

God has done a mighty work

in uniting the diverse people

of Christ the King Church

into a mature body

whose head is Jesus Christ.

No one spends a lot of time

thinking about what it means

to be ethnically diverse anymore.

Christ the King Church is ethnically

and socioeconomically diverse.

The church reflects the community it's in.

Every dimension of Christ the King Church

is experiencing the transforming

and unifying effect of the gospel.

The children's ministry volunteers

are ethnically diverse.

Worship team, ethnically diverse.

Greeting team, diverse.

Life group leaders and life groups

are ethnically diverse.

Deacons are ethnically diverse.

And of course, the elders of Christ the King Church

are ethnically and socioeconomically diverse.

The diversity is a sign of a greater reality.

The power of the gospel of Jesus Christ

radically changes individuals

as well as a people.

A diverse people living in downtown Kenosha

have been given new identities.

United in Christ,

resulting in a whole new people group.

We are Christ the King Church.

As we were,

the elders of our church

were seeing this day approaching,

we thought it would be good

to rally us around our mission

as a church.

to call to mind why we're here.

Why we do what we do.

And it's our third anniversary this morning.

So we want to refocus us as a church

on our mission as a church.

And to do that,

we're going to take a break from Matthew 6,

and we're going to plop down

right in the middle of Colossians.

Colossians 1, verses 28 and 29.

Colossians 1:28

And in these two verses,

the Apostle Paul gives a brief

but potent summary

of his gospel ministry.

It's all about Jesus.

It's all about Jesus.

So if you would open up your Bibles

to Colossians 1.

Hear the Word of God.

1, verses 28 and 29.

Him we proclaim.

Him we proclaim.

Warning everyone and teaching everyone

with all wisdom

that we may present everyone

mature in Christ.

For this I toil.

Struggling with all His energy

that He powerfully works within me.

So as we take our cues

from the Apostle Paul

and Jesus Himself,

we exist as a church

to make known the life-transforming power

of the gospel of Jesus Christ

to all people.

It's all about Jesus.

We're all about Jesus.

And so this morning,

to help you see that,

three points.

Our goal,

our method,

and our strength.

Our goal,

our method,

and our strength.

So let's look at first

our goal.

And you can see our goal

in the second half

of verse 28.

I'll just read verse 28 again.

Him we proclaim,

warning everyone

and teaching everyone

with all wisdom

that we may present

everyone mature

in Christ.

And so as we talk about our goal,

I want you to notice three words.

Mature,

everyone,

and present.

So let's look at this word mature.

The goal of Paul's ministry

was to present everyone

mature in Christ.

You see that little word that?

That,

we may present.

That word,

that,

signifies purpose.

Aim.

Goal.

And our goal

is the same as the Apostle Paul's.

To present

everyone

mature

in Christ.

Now that word mature

comes from a Greek word,

teleon,

which means complete,

fulfilled,

lacking nothing.

One commentator wrote

that this sense of maturity

is in someone

who is so wholeheartedly

devoted to Jesus

that their conduct

is blameless.

Wholehearted devotion.

It's not any kind of maturity

we're talking about here.

This is mature

in Christ.

The goal of Paul's ministry

was to present people

mature

in Christ.

And what that means

is to be Christ-like.

Would you hold your spot

in Colossians 1

and flip over a couple pages

to Ephesians chapter 4?

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

I want to see how

Paul talks about this

in another way.

Similar way.

In chapter 4,

verse 11,

we read,

and he gave the apostles,

the prophets,

the evangelists,

the shepherds,

and teachers

to equip the saints

for the work of ministry,

for building up the body.

So God gives leaders

to the church

to equip the church

to build up the church.

gospel ministry

takes place

among all of us.

All of us

are gospel ministers

building the church up.

And then look at verse 13.

Until we all attain

to the unity of the faith

and the knowledge

of the Son of God

to mature manhood.

Same word.

To mature manhood.

And then look at the next clause.

To the measure

of the stature

of the fullness

of Christ.

Our goal

is to present

everyone mature

in Christ

to be like Christ

in all that they are

in every area

of their lives.

It's all about Him.

Paul uses this

maturing Christ language

all throughout his epistles.

But when we turn

to the Gospels,

it's a different

kind of language.

And so instead of

talking about

someone mature in Christ,

the Gospels talk about

being disciples

of Jesus Christ.

Discipleship.

And so when we

talk about it this way,

the goal of our church

is to make

mature disciples

of Jesus.

You remember

Matthew 28.

Luke quoted it

when he was praying

and starting

our worship service.

Jesus commissions

all of His disciples

of all time.

He says,

go make disciples

of the nations.

Make disciples

of me,

Jesus,

of the nations.

Jesus Himself

has commanded us

to be about

this business

of making

mature disciples

of Jesus.

And a disciple

is someone

who is a lifelong

learner of Jesus

and His ways

and a lifelong

follower of Jesus

and His ways.

Not only do they

know who Jesus is

and what they taught,

they learn in order

to obey,

to observe all

that He commanded.

Now,

what does a mature

disciple of Jesus

Christ look like?

Well,

it has a variety

of appearances.

But you remember

we were preaching

through the Sermon

on the Mount.

We've been preaching

through the Sermon

on the Mount

and early in the summer

we were working

through the Beatitudes.

The Beatitudes

are just a wonderful

profile of a mature

follower of Jesus.

Do you remember

where they start?

Blessed are the poor

in spirit.

Humility is a hallmark

of a mature disciple.

It starts all there.

I know it's not

about me,

it's about Him.

Jesus radically

changes a sinner

to think less

of themselves

and more of Him,

more of God.

And so that's

where it all starts.

Poverty of spirit,

spirit,

that is the root

and then

it blossoms

into the beautiful

peacemakers

that we are to be.

Sharing the gospel,

helping people

be at peace with God

through the blood

of Jesus,

be at peace

with each other,

peace within ourselves.

But it doesn't

stop there.

Peacemaking isn't

the end.

Being persecuted

is.

Mature disciples

catch heat

for the name

of Jesus.

That's what we're

called to.

Making mature

disciples

of Jesus Christ.

Now did you notice

the word

everyone?

It's repeated

three times

in verse 28 alone.

So you see,

Him we proclaim

warning everyone

and teaching everyone

with all wisdom

that we may present

everyone

mature

in Christ Jesus.

Now,

when you hear

the word

everyone,

you might start

thinking,

whoa,

are we talking

like seven and a

half billion people

on the face

of the planet

right now?

And in one sense,

yes we are.

Jesus says,

go make disciples

of the nations,

all 7.5 billion

of them.

It's good we're

not in it alone.

God's worldwide

church is carrying

out His mission.

But the way

to think about this

too is to be

considering this.

everyone we come

into contact with

and is responsive

to the gospel,

everyone we present,

we want to present

mature in Christ.

Now,

I want to point out

something very

interesting about this.

Notice in verse 27,

to Him 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.

Gentiles.

What's that

a reference to?

Well,

a Gentile

is a non-Jew.

Remember,

back in the first century,

a Jew would think

of the world

in two categories,

Jews and everybody else.

Gentiles.

And what Paul

seems to be saying

here is that,

hey,

we proclaim Christ

to everyone,

Jew or Gentile.

we warn everyone,

we teach everyone

in order to present

everyone

mature in Christ.

Now,

let's dial that in

a little bit.

So for us

as a church,

do you know

what that means?

Here's what that means.

Regardless

of someone's ethnicity,

regardless

of someone's gender,

of their socioeconomic status,

of their age,

of their present

marital status,

or their past

marital status,

of their past history

with the law,

our aim

as a church

is to present

everyone

mature in Christ.

All are welcome.

All are welcome.

Everyone we come

into contact with

and is responsive

to the gospel,

we are to present

them mature

in Christ,

to help them

grow in Christ-likeness.

And of course,

there's that word

present.

Paul uses it earlier

in verses 21 and 22

of chapter 1.

He says,

and you who were

once alienated

and hostile in mind

doing evil deeds,

he is now reconciled

in his body of flesh

by his death

in order to present

you holy

and blameless

and above reproach

before him.

And so,

there is a direction

of that word present.

Think of it as

an aimed present,

aimed at God.

Our presenting

everyone mature

in Christ

is towards God.

We present them

to God.

So do you know

what that means?

Our ministry

is an act of worship.

Our proclaiming Christ

and presenting people,

everyone mature

in Christ,

it is worship

of the living God.

We are presenting

them to him.

our ministry

is Godward.

It's for his glory.

It's an act

of worship.

The goal of Paul's

ministry,

and therefore the goal

of our ministry,

is to present

to God

everyone,

everyone we encounter,

everyone who's

responsive to the gospel,

everyone mature

in Christ,

that they become

more and more

like Jesus.

it's all about

him.

That's the goal.

Now let's look

at the method.

Now you may be

asking yourself

the question,

okay,

the goal

is to present

everybody mature

in Jesus.

How do we do that?

How do you get

towards that end?

How does that

take place?

Well,

in the first part

of 28,

we have the answer.

him we proclaim.

Warning everyone

and teaching everyone

with all wisdom

that we may present

everyone mature

in Christ.

How do we present

people mature

in Christ?

We proclaim

Christ to them.

Him we proclaim.

Remember,

it's all about him.

In order for somebody

to become like Christ,

they've got to hear

Christ proclaimed

again and again

and again.

him we proclaim.

Now the one

great need

of everyone

on the planet

is Christ.

Him we proclaim

to everybody.

Think about it

this way.

Think about

a timeline

of a maturing

disciple

of Jesus Christ

Christ.

And it starts

with when

we were

non-Christians.

When we were

non-Christians,

we were dead

to God.

We were living

in darkness.

We had no hope

in the world.

We,

our hearts,

were devoted

to anything

and everything

but God.

That's what

we were living

for.

Do you know

what someone

who's living

in darkness

needs to hear?

They need

to hear

Christ

proclaim to

them.

Jesus is

the light

of the world.

He's the only

one that can

transform a

heart that

is living

for oneself,

transform that

heart to a

heart that is

empowered to

live for the

one true

God.

Only Jesus

can do that.

So what do we

proclaim?

Who do we

proclaim to

non-Christians?

Jesus.

Now let's

say a

non-Christian

hears the

gospel,

God gives

them ears

to hear,

and they

believe.

And at

that moment

their eternity

changes.

A radical

transformation

has taken

place in

one moment.

And now

we have

an immature

disciple of

Jesus.

He's a baby

Christian.

Christian.

What are we

going to

proclaim to

that baby

Christian?

You know,

what you

really want to

start doing

now is reading

every book of

the Bible

twice every

day.

You want to

pray every

minute of

every day,

and if you

do, here's a

list of 900

things to be

praying for.

Our

inclination is

to point people

who just become

Christians to

to-do lists.

You know what

we need to

point them to?

Him we

proclaim.

They need to

learn about

their master.

They learn to

know what he

taught, and

they need to

learn his ways,

and so we're

going to point

them to him

over and

over and

over again.

They're born

again.

They want to

live for Jesus,

right?

And they're

looking at

their lives,

and they're

seeing, oh

man, where

do I start

with Jesus?

Him we

proclaim.

How about

someone who

is no longer

an immature

disciple, but

is a maturing

disciple?

These are the

kind of people

who they have

a split devotion

from time to

time.

There are

significant areas

of their life

that still need

to come under

the lordship of

Jesus.

What are we

going to tell

them?

What are we

going to

proclaim to

them?

Him we

proclaim.

We call them

to Jesus.

We point them

again and

again to

him.

Who he is,

his ways,

and see over

time him do

a work where

every area of

their life comes

under his

reign.

How about a

mature disciple,

a brother or

sister who has

a wholehearted

devotion that

results in a

blameless life?

What do we

proclaim to

them?

Jesus!

Now, a

wholehearted, a

mature disciple,

just to clarify,

they're not

sinless.

Perfection hasn't

reached this

person.

In fact, they

would probably

say something

like this,

you know what,

I am more

aware of God's

holiness than I

ever have been,

and as a result,

I am more aware

of my sinfulness.

It's not the

blatant sins

I did when I

was a little

baby Christian.

These are the

more refined

sins that I

do now, but I

see them as

even more

grievous in

God's sight,

so they're more

aware of their

sin, yet they

would also say,

and I'm more

aware of what

Christ has done

for me.

One of the

distinctive marks

of a mature

Christian is not

that they're just

dwelling on who

Jesus is a lot

of the time.

They are seeking

to make disciples

of Jesus as

well.

They're seeking

to proclaim Him

to others, to

help present

others mature in

Christ.

This book is

Christ revealed.

He reveals Himself

to us through this

book.

It's a living

book.

And so we

help people follow

Jesus by showing

them Jesus through

the book, showing

Him His ways

through the book.

So here's what I'm

trying to tell you.

No matter where

you're at on the

timeline of a

maturing Christian,

whether you're not

a Christian yet, or

you're a mature

Christian, do you

know what you need

to hear most, and

most often?

Christ for you.

That's what you

need to hear.

He's for you.

He loves you.

He died for you.

He was raised for

you.

He's interceding for

you, and He's

coming back in order

to bring you to

Himself so you can

see each other face

to face.

If you just look at

the first chapter of

the book of

Colossians, do you

know what Paul does

with these Christian

Colossians?

He preaches Christ

to them.

Take a look at

verse 15.

Talking about the

preeminence of

Christ.

He is the image of

the invisible God,

the firstborn of all

creation, for by Him,

Jesus, all things were

created in heaven and

earth, visible and

invisible, whether

thrones or dominions or

rulers or authorities,

all things were created

through Jesus and for

Jesus.

And He's before all

things, and in Jesus

all things hold

together.

You know what Paul's

doing?

Hey, Colossian

Christians, here is

your Savior, Lord of

creation.

And He doesn't

stop there.

Look more.

He goes into verse

18, and He is the

head of the body, the

church.

He's the beginning, the

firstborn from the dead,

that in everything He

might be preeminent.

For in Him, Jesus, all

the fullness of God was

pleased to dwell, and

through Him, Jesus, to

reconcile to Himself all

things, whether on earth

or in heaven, making

peace by the blood of His,

Jesus' cross.

And so not only does He

proclaim Jesus as Lord

over creation to these

Colossian Christians, He

doesn't stop there.

He goes, He's Lord of

redemption, Lord of the

church.

He's Lord of it all.

So here we see in the

book of Colossians, Paul

proclaiming Christ to

Christians.

This is who your Savior

is.

And if that weren't

enough, in verses 21

through 23, Jesus, Paul

takes, okay, here's Jesus,

Lord of all, and he goes

very personally, he says,

He's your Lord.

Look at verse 21.

And you, who once were

alienated and hostile in

mind, doing evil deeds,

He has now reconciled in

His body of flesh by His

blood in order to present

you holy and blameless,

above reproach before Him.

Paul is preaching Christ to

these Colossians, Colossian

Christians.

He's telling them who Jesus

is and what He has done for

them.

Do you know that goes by

another word?

Do you know what it is?

The gospel.

He's proclaiming the gospel

to these Christians.

Him we proclaim, a.k.a.

the gospel.

It's the good news.

And we never outgrow the

gospel.

We never outgrow the good

news about Jesus.

It is the old, old story that

never gets old.

It's new today as it was

yesterday.

This past week I had lunch

with a brother from the

church and he is a mature

brother.

I touched base with him this

morning.

I'm like, how?

He's been a Christian for over

40 years.

That's a long time of walking

with Jesus.

And so here we are having lunch

together.

And we reach a point where

we're kind of both reflecting on

past mistakes and past

hardships.

And it was kind of like out of

nowhere.

He said something to the effect

of, and I am so grateful that

God has borne all the wrath for

my sin in Christ Jesus.

Here he is, 40 years in the

faith, reveling in the gospel

work of Jesus.

Jesus at lunch.

40 years in the faith, we never

outgrow the work of Jesus at the

cross.

We never do.

He's 40 years in the faith and it

happened, he's talking about like

it happened yesterday.

We never outgrow the good news of

who Jesus is and what he has done

for us, what he's done for you,

what he's done for me.

Him we proclaim to both

non-Christians and Christians.

It's all about him.

It's all about who he is and what

he's done.

That verb translated proclaim, it's

in the present tense.

And so we're to keep on

proclaiming.

Him we proclaim and then

proclaim again.

We proclaim, proclaim, and

proclaim.

And this proclamation of Christ

involves both warning and

teaching.

Did you notice that?

Him we proclaim, warning everyone.

That Greek word translated

warn literally means to place

something into someone's brain.

It's a word of admonishment.

It works kind of like this.

Hey man, in light of who Jesus is,

in light of what he's done,

really you don't want to reject him.

We're proclaiming Christ and

warning everyone.

In light of who Jesus is and what

he's done, don't stray from him,

sister.

In light of who Jesus is and what

he has done for you, brother,

don't grow cold in your

devotion to him.

A word of warning as we

proclaim him.

It's part of the proclamation

of Christ.

And by the way, that word

warning is a present tense

verb as well.

We're to continue warning.

It's part of our life together

as a church.

Part of our love for together

as a church.

Helping each other.

But in addition to warning,

we also see there's an ongoing

teaching as part of our

proclamation of Christ.

Christ.

That's what we see Paul doing

in Colossians 1.

Constantly teaching who Jesus is.

Lord of creation.

Lord of our redemption.

Lord of all.

Constantly teaching what he has

done.

He shed his blood on the cross

in order to make peace between

a holy God and sinful man.

You.

Constantly teaching what he is

doing.

Did you know right now

that Jesus is interceding for you

at the right hand of God?

Constantly teaching what he will

do.

He's coming back.

And we see throughout the New

Testament in both Paul and in

James that the promise of his

return is to encourage us.

Constantly teaching that his bride,

the church,

the church,

who we are.

We are he,

the apple of his eye,

the blood-bought people.

And we're to proclaim him to

everybody.

Would you look at Colossians 3,

16?

This is a command to the

Colossian church.

We read,

let the word of Christ,

the gospel,

dwell in you richly.

Teaching and admonishing,

warning one another in all

wisdom.

Singing psalms and hymns and

spiritual songs with

thanksgiving,

thankfulness in your heart.

We preach Christ to each other

in a variety of ways.

We're to teach them to observe

all that he has commanded.

So,

warning everyone and teaching

everyone both have important

and vital roles in our

proclaiming Christ to everyone.

God uses it all to bring about

maturity in his disciples.

Do you know what we do on

Sunday mornings at our

breakfast that we reach out

to the community?

Do you know what we do there?

We preach Christ.

Do you know what we do here

Sunday mornings when we gather

as a church?

We preach Christ from the

Bible.

Do you know what the King's

kids are doing right now as

they're gathered together?

We're preaching Christ to them.

Do you know what?

It's going to happen in our

life groups.

Preach Christ to one another.

In our men's and women's

Bible studies,

we preach Christ to one

another.

Do you know what Billy does

through the Gospel of John

at our Thursday evening

youth meetings?

He preaches Christ to our

young people.

As we show acts of mercy,

we're looking to proclaim

Him.

Him we proclaim.

It's all about Him.

Our goal?

Present everyone mature in

Christ.

Our glorious method is the

Gospel.

To preach Christ to everyone,

both non-believers and

believers.

And on a final note,

let's look at our strength.

Our strength is Christ

Himself.

Christ provides the power

to be faithful.

In verse 29,

for this I toil,

struggling with all His energy

that He powerfully works

within me.

The work of proclaiming

Jesus,

this proclaiming Christ to

everyone,

warning everyone,

teaching everyone,

it is not easy work.

Making disciples of people

is not easy.

It's hard work.

In fact,

if you look up at verse 24,

Paul writes,

now I rejoice in my

sufferings for your sake.

And in my flesh,

I'm filling up what is

lacking in Christ's

afflictions.

Hard work.

Look at verse down

at 29 again.

For this I toil.

It's a word that means

to work to exhaustion.

And then the next word,

struggling with all His energy

that powerfully works

within me.

And then in verse 1,

for I want you to know

how great a struggle.

Those words struggling

and struggle,

they come from the Greek word

that we get the word

agony from.

Agony.

The work of advancing

the gospel,

of proclaiming Christ

is hard work.

Rejection.

Alienation.

People questioning

our motives.

Charges of intolerance.

Getting labeled

narrow-minded.

Not being taken seriously.

Being put on the fringe

of your family.

Putting on the fringe

of your workplace.

The proclamation of Christ

can be offensive to people.

And then we can be

assumed upon.

Taken advantage of.

And then there's the whole

part of change

comes so slow

and it can be so

discouraging.

And then when you're

laboring in a church

and you're serving

in a church

and no one seems

to notice,

feel underappreciated,

taken for granted,

it can be hard work.

Not to mention the fact

that the goal

of our labor

to present everyone

mature in Christ

is humanly impossible.

What's going to get us through?

Where do we go?

Well, if you don't know

this already,

you're going to need

to learn it.

And that is only God

can change a person's heart.

Only God gives the increase.

Only God brings about

Christlikeness.

It's His work

and it's His power

that brings it about.

Our mission as a church

is humanly impossible.

We can't in and of ourselves

change people's hearts.

Only He can radically

change a sinner's heart.

But praise be to God.

Jesus provides the power

we need to be faithful

to proclaiming Him to all.

Christ is in us

to empower us

in order to present

everyone mature in Him.

In verse 29,

there's a pile up

of power words.

For this I toil,

struggling with all His energy

that He powerfully

works within me.

You could translate it,

struggling with all His power

that He so powerfully

empowers in me.

It reminds us of

our great need

for His strength

in this work

He's called us to.

We labor

by the strength

that He provides.

Remember John 15?

Jesus is the vine.

We are the branches.

Apart from Him

we can do nothing

but if we abide in Him

wholeheartedly

trusting in Him

He will bear fruit

in and through us.

He's our confidence.

He's our strength

in this mission

He has called us to.

We cannot afford

to trust ourselves.

It's His power in us.

It's Him dwelling in us.

Our goal

present everyone

mature in Christ.

Our method

proclaiming

gospel Christ

to everyone

and our strength

is Christ Himself.

On this anniversary Sunday

I just want to remind you

it's all

about

Him.

God

thank You so much

for Colossians 1

28 and 29

thank You so much

for three years

as a church

and God

if Jesus should tarry

God would You give us

many more years

of being

a gospel witness

to the non-believers

and believers

here in the city

of Kenosha

would You make much

of Yourself

in and through us

Jesus

You are our strength

it's Your name we pray

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

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Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen