Grace & Peace: A Journey Through the Book of Colossians - Part 2: Jesus Reframed | Pastor Pablo Morales

Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is

an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,

with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.

We invite you to connect with us from wherever

you are through our website, ecb .asia, or our

mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed

by this week's sermon. We started the book of

Colossians last week. So if you missed the first

study, you can go back to our app or go to the

website and you can see the whole study there

as well. So today we'll be doing the second session

of the study. And it's going to take us all the

way through July and part of August as well.

Let's pray together. Hallelujah to the Lamb.

As we sang, Lord, just now. It's your kingdom,

not ours. Your glory. Your purpose. And I ask

that as we study your word today, our eyes will

be even more open to understand and see your

truth. So that we will experience the grace,

the peace that you came to give us. Unhindered.

In Jesus' name, I ask you, would you use me in

your power and in your grace? In the name of

our Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen. Okay, because

this is the second session of the study, I want

to start by doing a little review. And in the

review, what is different is that you give me

the answers. You see that? Okay, so let's see

how this goes. But the clicker is not working

for some reason. Can you just double check? System

is all proper? Okay, there. So, first question,

in what modern day nation is Colossae located?

Turkey, yeah, Turkey. And that area of Turkey

during the time of the apostles was known as

Asia Minor, right? Whole region. And the second

question, which epistles did Paul write from

prison, which are known as the Prison epistles.

You need to know at least two of them, because

we just studied them last week. Okay? Colossians,

Philemon, those two that were being sent together.

And what are the other two? Ephesians and? Philippians,

yeah, good. So Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians,

Philemon. And it was during the time in prison

that the apostle Paul hears about the church

of Colossae, which he had not planted. And this

guy that comes to tell him the report about it,

tell him everything that is happening. And that's

why Paul writes the letter to encourage that

church. And also he led Onesimus to Christ in

prison, who was the slave that escaped from Philemon.

Who was his friend. And now Paul writes to his

friend Philemon to welcome Onesimus back now

as a brother in Christ. So those were the two

letters that come together from prison right

there. Now the last question. What are the two

legs of the Christian walk that Paul wanted the

Colossians to experience? Grace and peace. And

grace and peace were the two things that were

being compromised because of the teaching of

the Judaizers as well as the pagan teaching that

was infiltrating the church. So the Apostle Paul

writes to the Colossians to make sure that they

experience grace and peace. I didn't let all

this false teaching change the truth and the

way they are experiencing the Lord. So are you

experiencing grace and peace? Some false teaching

has compromised your understanding of who God

is. And therefore there's no grace and there's

no peace. That's why this study is so significant

for all of us as we go through each week. It's

because the same thing the Apostle Paul wanted

the Colossians to experience is what God wants

you to experience. His grace, his peace, the

two legs of the Christian walk. That's why in

the first study what the Apostle Paul does is

that he tells the Colossians, look, let me explain

salvation to you. And he completely reframes

salvation in a very specific way. He says, you

will move from the kingdom of darkness now to

the kingdom of Jesus, the kingdom of light. And

before you were God's enemies, but now you've

been completely reconciled with God 100%. So

as he starts teaching them about what salvation

is, He wants them to understand the foundation

for grace and peace. But today, he is going to

now reframe Jesus for them. Because if they don't

understand who Jesus truly is, their ability

to experience God's grace and peace will be compromised

as well. And that is going to be the focus of

today's study. So I would like to start by asking

you a question. Who or what is the center of

your universe? You are living your life and there's

something at the center. What is it? Did I hear

somebody say my boyfriend? Okay. Yeah, that happens.

Oh, somebody else said what? Your children. Right.

Your children can be the center of your universe.

You live just for them. Or your parents. Yeah,

you are living just to please your parents, make

sure that they are happy with you and then caring

for them. Right. What else? Or your career. Right.

Your career can be the center of your universe.

You are living just to make sure that you retire

well with enough money so that when you get all

sick and have to go to the hospital and die there,

you have enough money to cover everything. Right?

We all have a center of our universe. And what

we're going to learn today is that Jesus wants

to be the center of your universe. And if he

is not the center of your universe, your ability

to experience his grace and his peace is going

to be compromised. But in order to have Jesus

as the center of our universe, we have to understand

who Jesus is. And any misconception about Jesus

can indeed compromise your ability to experience

his grace and peace. Let me put it this way.

Imagine that the next flight you take, no matter

where in the world you're going to be flying,

as you are getting ready to take off, you hear

the flight attendant saying, Dear passengers,

today is a special day. I want you to join me

in welcoming our new pilot. Please, clap with

us. This is his first flight ever, and he just

graduated from school. So, everybody happy? And

let me just tell you, as a joke, you are his

guinea pigs. And now you take off. And now you're

flying. And now there's a little turbulence.

How would you feel? What would you be thinking?

I hope he knows what he's doing. I'm going to

crash. You're going to start feeling all anxious

because you think that this pilot is not good

enough. He doesn't have enough experience. But

now let's change the picture. Start the flight.

The flight attendant says, you have no idea how

privileged you are to be in this flight today

because the creator and designer of this airplane,

who is the person who helped us design this route,

is the pilot of this airplane. He has thousands

and thousands of flight hours and he has experienced

any potential scenario ever to exist in the flying

world. Please join me in welcoming our guest

pilot and everybody clapping now, right? Now

you're flying, there's a little bit of turbulence.

How do you feel? Ah, just turbulence. He knows

what he's doing. It's going to be okay. Fine.

Same plane, same turbulence, same passengers.

But what changed, Was the perception of the pilot.

If your perception of the pilot. Is that he's

not good enough. You're not going to experience

peace. You're going to have fear. And the same

thing will happen. In your life. There's a pilot.

In your airplane. And you better get to know

him. For who he truly is. Because if you don't.

Instead of peace. You will have fear. Instead

of grace. You will have shame. That's why it

is so important that the Apostle Paul writes

to the Colossians these words to make sure that

they understand who Jesus is because the teaching

that has been infiltrating the church has started

to distort the true identity of Jesus. So that's

why you can hear the tone of the Apostle Paul

in some of these sections because at the core,

What's happening is that all of these teachings

from the Judaizers as well as the pagans, they're

saying, yeah, Jesus is all good, but Jesus plus

obeying the law. Jesus plus circumcision. Jesus

plus doing this and that. Jesus plus worshiping

these idols. Jesus plus everything was Jesus

is not enough. You need Jesus plus these other

things. And Paul says, no. True Christianity

is Jesus period. Jesus is sufficient. It's enough.

Why? Well, let me tell you who Jesus is. And

as they understand who Jesus is, they will be

able to understand why Jesus period is the right

perspective. Now that you understand this, pay

attention. To the words that he says in chapter

1 as well as in chapter 2. In this selection

for you to get the idea of what he's doing. I

want you to know how much I have agonized for

you and for the church of Laodicea. And for many

other believers who have never met me personally.

By the way, this is how we know that he did not

plant those churches. See? And he continues,

I want them to be encouraged and knit together

by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete

confidence that they understand God's mysterious

plan, which is Christ himself. I want them to

understand Christ himself, this mystery, with

full confidence in him. Like hidden all the treasures

of wisdom and knowledge. You don't need another

source. And now, just as you accepted Christ

Jesus as your Lord. You must continue to follow

him. Let your roots grow down into him. And let

your lives be built on him. Let him be the foundation

of your life. then your faith will grow strong

in the truth you were taught and you will overflow

in thankfulness. You're going to have joy, peace.

The way you experience life is going to be with

this sense of confidence that is coming from

the understanding of that root who is Jesus.

And then he says, don't let... Anyone captures

you with empty philosophies and high -sounding

nonsense that comes from human thinking and from

the spiritual powers of this world rather than

from Christ. Watch out what YouTube videos you

are watching. Watch out what are the podcasts

you are listening to and what books you are reading.

Do not let false teaching That sounds all wise

and cool. But it's nonsense. Deceive you. And

this is why he's going to start telling them.

All of this information about who Jesus is. Because

he says look. If you want to experience life

as God intended. Where you're going to have his

peace. His grace. You're going to have good fruit.

Of your service to the Lord. Then you have to

pay attention to your roots. Your roots must

be firmly established in who truly Jesus is.

Because if your roots are shallow, rather than

being a strong tree that lasts through generations,

you are going to instead be a weak tree that

any strong wind comes out like that. What kind

of tree do you want to be? The one that grows

strong and mature and gives fruit? Or the one

that gets pushed and flop? Like that. Which kind

of tree do you want to be? I know the answer.

No one wants to be the tree that falls with the

wind. You want to be the strong tree. Fruitful.

Stable. But that is the outcome of your root.

And the root must be the true identity of who

Jesus is. I remember listening to the story of

Micah who grew up being taught that Jesus was

one of God's children because God, known as Elohim,

was a human like you and I that became advanced

and eventually he had many wives. And through

those many wives, in time past, he conceived

many children. And one of those children was

Jesus. And another of the children of God that

he conceived was Satan. So Jesus and Satan was

brothers. That's what this guy was being taught.

And before... The world was created when God,

the Father, with all his children, including

Satan and Jesus, were there planning to create

the world and how they were going to save it.

Satan wanted to be one of the saviors, but no,

they were not happy with it. Jesus says, okay,

I can be the savior. And then God was happy with

Jesus, but then Satan rebelled, and therefore

he was sent into the world like that. And eventually,

this Jesus became the savior of the world, but

it was Jesus plus, not Jesus period. So for Micah,

he thought, okay, I need to believe in Jesus,

but I also have to do all this work and all of

these things. Do you know what kind of doctrine

this is called? This is called the doctrine of

the Mormon church. The Mormon church believes

that Jesus was a created being. So Micah grew

up in that context, believing until one day as

he was reading the Bible, because the Mormon

church has the Bible and also the Book of Mormon

and another book in addition to that. But what

they were doing was, as he started reading the

Bible, he started seeing a picture of a different

Jesus. And salvation being by grace through faith.

And when he believed in Jesus for the first time,

And he gave his life to the Lord. He says, I

realized that I had spent all of my life trying

to earn that which Jesus had already paid for.

And that realization is what opened the door

for Micah to be able to experience the grace

and the peace of the true Jesus. Not the distorted

Jesus that he had come to believe. Do you understand

what difference it makes? So the Apostle Paul

is trying to encourage Christians and you and

me to make sure that we know who Jesus truly

is so that we will be not that tree that will

fall with the wind of deception, but that will

be the strong, stable one. And for that, we have

to understand something. That summarizes pretty

much the historical distortions of Jesus. What

I want to do in these next few minutes is to

give you just a big picture. And then we will

go back to Colossians to see what the Apostle

Paul masterfully wrote about the identity of

who Jesus truly is. And from there we will go

into the implications of that. But let me tell

you a little bit about this. Historical background.

One of the first distortions historically that

appeared about who Jesus was, was called Docetism.

And Docetism taught that Jesus was really not

human. Because they thought the body is bad,

the material world is bad, it's just... It's

imperfect, but the spiritual world is perfect.

So how could a spiritual being become a human?

No, that cannot be. So they thought that Jesus

only appeared to be human, but he wasn't really

a human like you and me. Eventually, there was

another distortion that started appearing that

was taught by Gnosticism. Gnosticism were a group

of people that would claim, and we still have

Gnostics today, by the way, that they received

special revelation from God by their spirit guides.

And the spirit guides tell them really what is

really true. Nobody else knows, but I do because

I received it. And Gnosticism taught that Jesus

was just an enlightened man. He was a man, the

man Jesus. Who at some point, probably during

his baptism, he became indwelled by this divine

being of the Messiah. And this divine being,

the Christ, came to live in Jesus at that moment.

And then you fast forward a few years and now

Jesus is on the cross. And at that moment on

the cross, this spirit of Christ leaves him.

And now the human Jesus dies. So really, the

Messiah didn't die because he is perfect. He's

a spirit. So Jesus was just an enlightened man

who didn't really die for our sins. Jesus died,

but Christ didn't. Wow, it gets weird, doesn't

it? And then, later, another teaching that started

infiltrating the church, was called Arianism.

Arian thought that Jesus was not God. He was

a human, but he was not God. He would say there

was a point in history in which Jesus was not.

And if there was a time in which Jesus was not,

it means that Jesus is not eternal, and if he

was created, then he's a creature. And therefore,

the different teachings about Jesus being created

come from this root of Aaronism. And we are talking

about the early church, 1st century, 2nd century,

all the way to 4th century. Just at the very

beginning of the church, all of these distortions

started happening already. You can see how some

of the distortions still remain today. As I said

for Micah, he was taught that Jesus was a created

being. There's another group that is very well

known in different countries. It's called the

Jehovah Witnesses. Jehovah Witnesses also teach

that Jesus was a created being. In fact, they

teach that Jesus was their archangel Michael,

who became incarnated and is Jesus. All of these

different teachings have invaded the church throughout

the centuries. And Christian leaders, especially

at the beginning of the church, they engaged

to talk about all of these things to be able

to ensure that they were thinking through these

things biblically because the word of God, the

Bible, is the source of truth. And as they engaged

throughout these first centuries in going through

these things, something emerged that was very

clear. Look at the book of Hebrews, for instance,

where it's discussing the humanity of Jesus.

Listen to what it says. Because God's children

are human beings made of flesh and blood, the

son also became flesh and blood. For only as

a human being could he die. And only by dying

could he break the power of the devil who had

the power of death. Only in this way could he

set free all who have lived their lives as slaves

to their fear of dying. We also know that this

son did not come to help angels. He came to help

the descendants of Abraham. Therefore, it was

necessary for him to be made in every respect

like us. his brothers and sisters, so that he

could be our merciful and faithful high priest

before God, then he could offer a sacrifice that

would take away the sins of the people. As you

see here, he concludes saying, since he himself

has gone through suffering and testing, he is

able to help us when we are being tested. Did

you pay attention to what the Bible says about

the humanity of Jesus? Is Jesus a human? Yes.

So the idea that Jesus was not really a human

doesn't fly. The Bible says no. He had to be

like us in every way except for sin. So that

he could then break the power of Satan that he

had over humanity. So he went from within. and

destroy that power. Very interesting. That's

why one of the first efforts to try to eliminate

this false teaching from infiltrating the church

came through lots of meetings and writings, and

one of the famous Christian leaders from that

first generation of Christians after the apostles,

Irenaeus, He summarized the core of this concept

by saying this, Jesus Christ became what we are,

humans, that he might make us what he himself

is. Like the Apostle John says, we will be like

he is. We will experience the glorification of

our bodies. We will experience resurrection.

All of these things because of what Jesus has

done. So you can see that at the very beginning,

the first Christian leaders really addressed

this distortion and said, no, no, no. Jesus is

human. He has to be. Otherwise, he could not

be the Savior. To be Savior, he has to be human.

But then, the other problem was, well, what if

Jesus is human, but he is not God? And that is

where the Scriptures also have spoken through

that, particularly, In the book of Isaiah. Isaiah

said this. There is no other God. This is God

talking. There is no other God. There never has

been. And there never will be. I. Yes. I am the

Lord. And there is no other. What? Savior. There

is no other Savior. But me. And there's only

one God. In the past and the future. That will

never change. And that's me. So wait. Therefore

if only God can save. It means that Jesus. Cannot

be just human. Because he's just human. He cannot

be savior. He also has to be God. Because only

God is savior. And you must remember. That when

Jesus. performs this miracle and says to the

paralytic man, your sins are forgiven, the Pharisees

listening to him say, who can, what does he think

he is? Only God can forgive sins. Precisely.

And that's why this teaching that Jesus was an

enlightened human or that the divine being of

Christ came into this human Jesus or that Jesus

was a created being rather than creator, could

not fly. And these distortions therefore become

completely addressed early in the history of

Christianity. And one of the famous writers during

this time that was able to summarize these arguments,

building on the previous centuries, was Athanasius.

And he summarized this by saying, if the world

were a creature, he could not have created us.

And if he is not God, he could not have remade

us. And that's how he summarizes the two sides

of who Jesus is. He is human like us because

only by being a human like us, he could destroy

the power of Satan. But only God can save. There's

no other Savior but God. Therefore, he has to

be God in order to save. And that is where you

have these things. That's why you have to be

very careful. Not everybody that says, oh, I'm

a Christian, is really a Christian. Because the

distortions of who Jesus is are plenty. And there

are many groups throughout church history that

have abandoned the truth of the scriptures. And

they have created their own versions of who Jesus

is. That's why the Apostle Paul will write this

foundation in the book of Colossians chapter

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

1. And this passage of Colossians chapter 1 is

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

one of the classic, most elaborate descriptions

of who Jesus is in addition. To John chapter

John 1 · chapter mention

1. Let's see what the apostle Paul tells them.

First thing. He says Jesus is God. He doesn't

just appear to be God. He is. And he starts by

simply saying this. Christ is the visible image

of the invisible God. Because with the pagan

teaching. They were undermining the identity

of who Jesus was. With the spirit world, the

spirit worship, all of these things. And he says,

no, no. Jesus is a very visible image of the

invisible God. Do you remember when Jesus is

with the apostles and Philip says, Jesus, show

us the Father? And Jesus turns to him and says,

Philip, I've been with you all this time and

you asked me that question? Did you understand

that if you have seen me, you have seen the Father?

Paul says Jesus is the very image of God. And

then he says the second thing. Jesus is the creator.

And he's going to say it this way. He, meaning

Jesus, existed before anything was created. And

is supreme over all creation. any demonic spirit

that rebelled against God, even Satan, who is

one of the authorities, who created these spirits?

Oh, Paul says, Jesus created all of these things,

the things we can see, the ones that we cannot

see, including thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and

authorities in the unseen world. Jesus and Satan

are not brothers. Jesus created all these beings.

He existed before anything else. And he holds

all creation together. This is one of the things

that physicists can only see but they cannot

explain. What is the force, the atomic force

that keeps all the atoms and cells together?

Without that force, everything would disintegrate.

They know that. They just do not know what causes

this power to bring everything together and hold

it. And Paul says, Jesus existed before anything

else and he holds all creation together. It's

his power. And in that section, he basically

says, When you think of Jesus, you have to think

of Jesus as the designer of the airplane. He

designed it. He built it. He designed flying.

He is the mastermind. He is not just a pilot.

And when you understand that, something happens

in your life because now you are able to follow

Jesus with so much more confidence. He is not

just your Savior, but He is your Creator. He

holds you together. Now, there's something that

you must know. And this is because I'm trying

to equip you with understanding through the study

of Colossians. This passage that we just read,

verse 15, He exists before anything was created

and is supreme over all creation. That highlighted

word supreme is a specific Greek word. Let me

read it from here because I cannot see that far.

Prototokos. The word prototokos is the word that

is translated as firstborn. Firstborn. In the

Jewish culture, the first child, the first son

that was born had special privileges and rights

compared to the other children. And that's why

this word, prototokos, became a word that was

also the meaning of supremacy. You are supreme

over the others. But this is where Jehovah's

Witnesses say, oh no, no, he was the first person

to be born in all creation. That's why Jesus

is created. But what they don't understand, linguistically

and contextually, is that this word means supremacy.

And there's another word that exists in the Greek

language that specifically means the first created,

and that is protoktistos. Protoktistos is a specific

word that he could have used to say, oh, he was

the first created being, if that's what he meant.

And it's not that I'm trying to do gymnastics

here with the text. We do the same thing with

English. We use the word first, right? Who arrived

first? Meaning, who was the first person that

came? Chronology, right? First come, first served.

The first person that arrived. Chronology. First

place, second place. First, okay. Now we're talking

about supremacy. But wait. What do we call the

president's wife? The first lady. Was she the

first lady ever to exist? Was she the first created

woman in the history of the country? No, of course

not. It means a position of supremacy because

she is the wife of the president who has the

most power of all the citizens of this country.

So we use the word first as supremacy and Paul

is doing exactly the same thing because the use

of that word has that meaning as well. That's

why the reading that he is supreme over all creation

is the only reading and any translation that

says something different is doing gymnastics

with the text. And I wanted you to know that.

So that you understand these things. Perhaps

your translation says he is the firstborn over

all creation, and that's a legit translation.

But that means he's supreme over all creation.

And then the next thing that the Apostle Paul

says is that Jesus is Lord, not just creator,

and created everything that exists, and he existed

before anything was created, but he is Lord of

all. And he's going to say it like this. Christ

is also the head of the church, which is his

body. Who is the supreme authority over the church?

Christ. One of the funny things that people ask

me when they know that I'm a pastor. They say,

so how big is your church? All the time. That's

one of the typical questions that people ask.

How big is your church? And I think. It's not

my church. It's Jesus' church. And who cares

the size of the church? We are all sheep. So

one sheep or a thousand sheep are all equally

important. But the apostle Paul says, look, Jesus

is the Lord of the church. He is the beginning.

Supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he

is first in everything. He brought the resurrection

of the dead. That we will experience as the new

humanity. He is supreme. He is Lord over his

church. This new humanity. That he has enabled.

Because as the man God. Jesus. Who died on the

cross for our sins. He was able to break the

power of Satan. And then. The apostle Paul says,

Jesus is the true savior. For God in all his

fullness was pleased to live in Christ. And through

him, God reconciled everything to himself. Everything.

He made peace with everything in heaven and on

earth by means of Christ's blood on the cross.

Jesus really died. It was truly his flesh and

blood. And because he truly died for your sins.

He has reconciled you to God. And now you are

able to experience his grace 100%. And his peace

100%. Because he is the true savior. And this

is what Paul tells the Colossians. If you don't

understand who the pilot of your airplane is,

you will not experience grace and peace. But

once you understand that the pilot of your life

is God, He created you, He is Lord over everything,

and He is your absolute Savior, then you will

be able to start experiencing grace rather than

shame, and peace rather than fear. Because this

Jesus is the one that holds you. This is the

one that guides you. This is the one that's already

in your future. So you can live with complete

confidence rooted in Christ and become that solid

tree that has nothing to fear. This changes everything.

Because the center of my universe is not the

boyfriend or the children or the parents of my

career. It's Jesus. He is the one that I live

for. That's what the Apostle Paul said to the

Christians of the first century. Whether by living

or dying, our goal is to please Him. Is Jesus

the center of your universe? Or you don't realize

who Jesus truly is. Therefore, you have all the

things that are the center of your universe.

Everything changes when Jesus is who he truly

is. And he belongs in the right place of supremacy

in our lives. So let me conclude the study with

these three implications. And these implications

come also from Christians that have walked this

journey before us. And they are no longer here

walking on earth because they are already with

their Savior, Creator, Redeemer, Lord. The first

implication is that if Jesus is not your Savior,

then you need to seek Jesus. Perhaps you are

listening to this study today and you are a person

who is just wondering more about God. There's

a hunger you have and you are exploring and you

want to know, is this Jesus thing true? Is the

Bible true? What is this whole Christian thing

about? If you are in that journey, let me share

with you this quote from Blaise Pascal, who was

a French scientist. Who was able to put into

words that experience that you are in. He says

there is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of

each man. Which cannot be satisfied by any created

thing. But only by God the creator may known

through Jesus Christ. That emptiness, that lack

of peace. That lack of grace that you have in

your life is simply because there's a vacuum,

an emptiness there that only Jesus, your creator

and savior, can fill. And until you surrender

to him and you start following him, you will

continue to have that emptiness and it doesn't

matter what you try to fill it with, it will

never be filled. That is why Jesus came. So that

he can be your savior. And you can experience

his grace and his peace 100%. Seek Jesus. And

if today is the day for you to come to God and

say, Lord Jesus, would you save me? Now is the

day to do it. As we close in worship later today.

As we have time to pray for each other. If you

are seeking Jesus and you have not yet made that

commitment with him, today is the day. Secondly,

love Jesus. If you are following Jesus and you

think he is the center of your universe and you

are serving Jesus in different things, I want

to share this with you who is either a missionary,

a pastor, a person serving in some kind of ministry

capacity. It is very easy for people in this

context to confuse God's kingdom with their own.

And before you know it, that which you are building

has become your kingdom, your territory, your

ministry. And when people ask you, how big is

your church? You don't even think twice about

how wrong that question is. You immediately answer

it because you want people to know, yeah, this

is my church and I'm a successful pastor because

my church is big. If you're in that space, watch

out. Because one of the things that we learn

in following Jesus is that you can start doing

things for Jesus while you're no longer loving

him because you're loving just yourself. And

that It's going to bring anger. It's going to

bring stress. And you're going to become controlling

because this is your ministry, your position,

your church, your baby. That's why I love this

quote from Oswald Chambers, who was a Scottish

minister and teacher. He says, the greatest competitor

of devotion to Jesus is the service we do for

him. It's not your kingdom. It's his. It's not

your glory. It's his. It's not your power. It's

his. Love Jesus. And if it's time to let go of

the things that he had entrusted you. Then let

go. You are giving it back to where it belongs.

His hands. And it's going to be okay. But finally.

Rest in Jesus. If you are going through a time

of turbulence in your airplane, don't freak out.

Jesus is the pilot. And one of the things that

you will discover is that in the most difficult

circumstances, when your worst fears become true,

there's a person there with you that is bigger

and deeper than your fears. And his name is Jesus.

That's why I love this quote from Corey. Ten.

Boom. She survived the holocaust. And after suffering

so much. She wrote these words. You may never

know that Jesus is all you need. Until Jesus

is all you have. And I know that the time will

come. In which you will be in that bed. At the

hospital in your home. Away just. Very short

time from the Lord. Because the Lord will be

calling you home. And at that moment. It doesn't

matter how much money you had. How successful

you were in your life. The only thing that matters

is. Do you know Jesus? And if you know Jesus.

And Jesus is all you have. Then Jesus is all

you need. Because Paul just told us in Colossians.

It's not Jesus plus. It's Jesus. Period. So when

you are in that moment, remember that it's not

your good works, your efforts, your accomplishments.

It's Jesus. Creator. Jesus. Savior. Jesus. Lord.

Jesus. God. He is the one that has you. So you

will be okay. This. It's what the Apostle Paul

wrote in Colossians. And this is why this matters.

Do you know Jesus? Do you have a truthful picture

of who Jesus is? And is Jesus the center of your

universe? If he's not the center of your universe,

then who or what is? Is that bringing you peace

or stress? God wants you. To experience his grace

and his peace. And you will not experience it.

Until Jesus is the true center of your universe.

That's why if this picture. Captures more how

you are feeling. Then it's time. That you turn

to Jesus. Lord. If you do not become one like

us. And if you do not leave your throne. To become

one like us. We will not be standing here. In

your presence today. We will be lost. In our

sins. But you have invited us. To experience.

Your peace and your grace. And am I asking you

Lord. As we worship you. And declare this truth.

Will you encounter us in this space. So that

the shame. And the fear. That has hold us back.

The deception that has distorted who you are

will be broken once and for all in your presence.

In Jesus' name. If you are looking for community

or are in need of prayer, we welcome you to engage

by sending us an email to office at ecb .asia.

If God is calling you to support our ministries,

you will find giving options on our website.

And remember to join us next week. God bless

you.