Citizenship, Slavery, and Kingdom Confusion - Colissians 2:6-15

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

For in him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.

Whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him.

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

And he is the head of the body, the church.

He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,

and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven,

by making peace through his blood shed on the cross.

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior,

but now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you wholly in his sight,

without blemish and free from accusation, if you continue in your faith, established and firm,

and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.

This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven,

and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you,

and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions,

for the sake of his body, which is the church.

I have become a servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness,

the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord's people.

To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery,

which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom,

so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.

To this end, I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.

I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea,

and for all who have not met me personally.

My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love,

so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding,

in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ,

in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments,

for though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit,

and delight to see how disciplined you are, and how firm your faith in Christ is.

And just continuing from verse 6, which is the passage I will be preaching from.

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,

continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him,

strengthened in the faith as you are taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,

which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world,

rather than on Christ.

For in Christ all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form,

and you have been given fullness in Christ,

who is the head over every power and authority.

In him you are also circumcised in the putting off of the sinful nature,

not with a circumcision done by the hands of men,

but with the circumcision done by Christ,

having been buried with him in baptism,

and raised with him through your faith in the power of God,

who raised him from the dead.

When you were dead in your sins,

and in your uncircumcision of your sinful nature,

God made you alive with Christ.

He forgave us all our sins,

having cancelled the written code with his regulations,

that was against us and that stood opposed to us.

He took it away, nailing it to the cross.

And having disarmed the powers and authorities,

he made a public spectacle of them,

triumphing over them by the cross.

Father, thank you that you have caused this letter to be written to the Colossians,

and passed down to us that we can read and learn so much of Jesus.

We thank you, Lord, indeed, that you are supreme over all things.

You have shown us that we were enemies in our minds

because of our sin, because of our evil behaviour,

and yet you have gloriously reconciled us to yourself on the cross.

We thank you that we have this opportunity of learning.

We thank you for Alan.

Thank you for bringing himself and Cassie and the family to Caragalline

to continue that teaching.

And I pray, indeed, as he opens up your word to teach,

that, indeed, he would be a workman approved unto you,

correctly handling the word of truth.

I pray, indeed, that our desire would be to know you more

through the words of Scripture,

that we'd be open to being corrected and rebuked and disciplined,

but also that we would grow,

that we would become more like our Saviour,

so we commit Alan to you as he preaches,

and our own hearts and minds as we listen.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.

Well, it was a night just like any other night

on the western shores of Britain

during the turn of the 5th century,

and the residents of the quiet village were sleeping soundly

as a ferocious, painted-up band of Irish pirates snuck ashore.

Before anyone really knew what had happened,

the pirates had ransacked the town.

They'd pillaged the people's treasures

and headed back to sea with a handful of hostages.

These hostages would soon be sold at a slave market,

where they would be put to work in the Irish countryside

as house servants or farmers or even shepherds.

Now, on this particular night in around 405 A.D.,

there was a 16-year-old named Sukkot,

the son of a wealthy British family who had been captured,

who was then sold into slavery,

who then became a Christian while he was a slave here in Ireland

and changed his name to Patrick.

And while we know many things about Patrick's life and ministry,

or I should say we think we know many things

about Patrick's life and ministry here in Ireland,

we don't often stop to think about

how he arrived here originally

as a captured hostage who was sold into slavery.

And when we think about it, we might think,

well, Patrick, that's so uncommon.

What happened to him.

But slavery was not uncommon in the Roman Empire.

It was not uncommon during Patrick's day.

It was certainly not uncommon during Paul's day.

In fact, the further you were

towards the edge of the Roman Empire,

the more likely it was that you would be captured by pirates

and sold into slavery.

And if you weren't near seas,

then you could be captured by brigands or land pirates.

They would steal you away in the middle of the night

and rush you to the slave market

where they would sell you into slavery.

And Colossae was at the edge of the Roman Empire,

much like Britain was during the 5th century.

In the 1st century, Colossae is at the northern edge

of the Roman Empire.

And it would be a very real threat

to have brigands come in in the middle of the night

and to ransack your town

and to take people as hostages

to sell them into slavery.

Like I said, slavery was very common

during the Roman Empire.

Most people estimate that somewhere between

20 to 25 percent of the population

were slaves in the Roman Empire.

Extremely common.

In fact, the 1st century proposal in the Senate

that slaves wear certain clothing was shot down.

It was voted against

because there was a fear that the slaves

might find out how numerous they were,

how much power they actually had

because of their sheer population within the empire.

Now granted, life as a slave could vary

from owner to owner.

Some slaves were high-ranking administrators

within a household or town.

Some would take care of people's finances.

Some had excellent lives,

but the reality was they were still slaves.

Some were scribes.

The Bibles we have,

the papyri that's come down to us,

was written by many slaves.

That was their job within a household,

was to copy Bible verses,

to copy records.

Some were cooks.

Some were skilled craftsmen.

Some were teachers.

Some were nannies.

Some worked in mines.

Some worked in fields.

Some were even sent into battle.

It was very common

that a quarter of a population of any town

would be slaves.

The legal status of a slave

was that of a thing.

Aristotle, the famed Aristotle,

defined slavery as living property.

He said that the slave is a living tool

and the tool is a lifeless slave.

A slave had no legal rights.

They were subject to the absolute power

of their master.

Even a slave woman who had a child,

that child would not belong to her.

It belonged to the owner.

And because slavery was so common,

and the life expectancy of a slave

in the Roman Empire was so short,

there were somewhere between 250,000 to 400,000 new slaves

needed every year in the Roman Empire.

A massive amount of people

being sold into slavery

or born into slavery.

Now, one of the top sources

for obtaining slaves during this time

was piracy and brigandage.

Stealing into towns.

Capturing people.

And selling them into slavery.

In fact, someone like Barabbas in John 18,

we read that Barabbas is let go instead of Jesus.

The shocking thing about that is

Barabbas was a brigand.

He was someone who would do this.

He would sneak into towns at night

and capture people

and sell them into slavery.

So that's a part of the shock

of why they would let this guy be released.

Now, normally the Romans relied upon

their local city governments

to police the rural areas

and keep them clear of brigands or pirates.

But the more remote areas

were less successful at this.

And since there was a very popular,

well-run, efficient slave market in Ephesus,

Colossian citizens were very much at risk

of being captured

and run down to Ephesus

and sold into slavery.

Now, why do we start with that topic?

You're probably wondering.

Well, something that Paul says here

in this passage caught my eye this week.

It kind of comes out of nowhere.

In verse 8.

In verse 8 he says,

See to it that no one takes you captive.

As I thought about,

what would that phrase mean

to a first century Colossian?

There's a lot of cultural

and historical differences

that have happened since then.

See to it would be,

Be on your guard.

Keep watch.

It's translated a lot of times

in the New Testament.

Even Jesus says,

Be on your guard.

See to it.

Keep watch.

I've seen several towers around Ireland.

They're looking out for something.

Paul says,

Be on your guard

that nobody takes you captive.

And being taken captive

during the first century,

especially in a town like Colossae,

literally meant for someone

to come in and steal you

and take you as a person

that would be sold back for ransom

or sold into slavery.

So if we're first century Colossians

listening to this letter,

we've heard Paul say

that we are God's people,

that Jesus is our Lord,

that He's creator of all things,

including new creation,

His body, the church,

that we are being matured

more and more into His likeness,

that in verses 6-7,

as we just saw,

we're having been rooted in Him,

we're being grown and strengthened,

and then out of nowhere,

Paul says,

Now, be on your guard

lest someone should capture you

and enslave you.

And we'd be thinking,

That's right, Paul.

Finally, it's time

to get practical here.

Brigands are an issue.

We need to do something

about the brigands.

We need to stop letting people

get captured and sold into slavery.

But Paul's not talking about brigands.

The danger that Paul's describing,

the thing he says

that the Christians in Colossae

need to be on the guard

and looking out for,

is not necessarily brigands,

but this thing called

the empty or hollow

and deceitful philosophy

that some are peddling

in Colossae.

And please note,

Paul is not being vague here.

He's used striking language

to grab their attention.

Be on your guard.

People are trying to capture you

and enslave you

using the hollow

and deceptive philosophy.

He's being very specific

to this church.

It's interesting,

historically,

we see that the region

where Colossae is,

the Lycus Valley it's called,

had once been destroyed

by an earthquake.

I don't know if you've seen

the earthquakes happening

where I'm from,

in California.

The whole state is about

to fall into the ocean,

I think,

which might not be

such a bad thing

for that state.

I hate to say it,

but that's true.

But a huge earthquake

had shaken Colossae

and the whole area

had been destroyed.

And Rome needed that area.

They needed the agriculture

and the wool from the sheep

that had come out of that area.

They had some special dyes

and a few products

that was good

for the Roman market.

So what they did

is they imported

about 2,000 Jewish families

to the area.

So roughly 10,000 Jewish people

were imported to the area.

They were mixed

with Greco-Roman citizens.

And in three big towns,

Colossae being one of them,

you had about a third

to a half of the population

was Jewish.

The rest were kind of Greco-Roman.

And what happened

over the years,

about 100 years

before Paul's writing

this letter,

is that all of their

religious stuff

had started to mix together.

And so we have

this crazy mixture

of religion

that's there

when Christianity arrives.

And this mixture

is what's called

the philosophy.

It's what Paul's speaking to.

And it's deceitful

and hollow, he says.

It's got Jewish tradition

mixed with pagan magic,

mixed with kind of

this Greek cultic

religious ideas,

and then Roman

empirical deism.

That is to worship

the Roman emperor.

So we've got this

unbelievable mixture

of all these religious ideas

poured into one town,

and then Christianity

comes in.

And before Christianity

gets there,

it's amazing.

We can read the papyri,

we can look at the inscriptions,

there's magical chants

to angels.

Some of those angels

are in the Old Testament.

Michael and Gabriel.

There's amulets

that are being made

with inscriptions on them

calling for those angels

to help them.

There's all these traditions

that have been stacked

one on top of another.

And then Christianity

comes in.

And the Roman Empire,

it's interesting to note,

they were rigidly traditional

with their religion.

Rigidly traditional.

But ironically,

open to new innovation.

So as long as you kept

the same traditions

that were proven over time,

you could add new stuff

if it worked.

And that's what happened

when Christianity came.

All these old traditions

had to stay.

All these old chants

had to remain.

These amulets

had to still have some power.

And then we could add Christianity

as long as it worked.

And Paul says,

that's complete nonsense.

It's empty

and it's deceitful.

But if you were a Christian

in Colossae,

you've got to really think

about this.

If you're a Christian

in Colossae,

it'd be very tempting,

especially if something

started to go wrong,

not to start

to second guess.

your life in Christ.

See,

all these magical chants

and these amulets

and these things

that have come together,

they're for success.

So if you're a Christian

and your crops

aren't doing as well

as your neighbor's crops,

maybe he's got a tradition

or a superstition

or a chant

or an amulet

that maybe I should have that

even though I'm a Christian.

Or if you need protection,

there's all these chants.

There's all these little things

I can do

to just get a little bit

of protection.

Safety for my loved ones.

There's a ton

of archaeological evidence

for getting someone

to fall in love with you.

Oh,

if I could only have,

and it's crazy to read them,

nothing's really changed

over time.

If I could only have

this woman,

if I could only have

this guy see me

and fall in love with me,

and then you do these chants

and you call on these angels

and you write it all out,

and can I still do that

if I'm a Christian?

This would be very tempting

for the Colossians,

citizen.

It would be very hard

not to add some of this

back in to your Christianity.

But Paul says,

it's empty and deceitful.

And he uses strong language

to say,

that stuff will capture you

and it will put you

into slavery.

He says,

it's empty.

It has no real value.

But it pretends that it does.

And what we'll call

all that stuff,

we'll just refer to it today

as human tradition

and magical superstition.

That's really,

we can put it all

into those words.

Paul says,

the human tradition

and the magical superstition

that people are peddling

to you Christians

is emptiness

compared to Christ

who is fullness.

And that's what he does

in verses 9 through 12

is he starts to compare

the fullness of Christ

to the emptiness

of these other things.

He says in verse 9,

for in Christ

all the fullness

of the deity

lives in bodily form.

And in Christ

you have been brought

to fullness.

And then he goes on

to say in a very

Old Testament sort of way,

in a Jewish sort of way,

that Christ has made us,

that is Christians,

his people.

And that's what he's doing

when he talks about

circumcision and baptism.

Circumcision was a sign

that you were

a Jewish person.

That you were one

of God's people

who belonged

to the nation of Israel.

And under the new covenant

that's changed to baptism.

So he says,

those who have been

baptized in Christ

are God's people.

Because baptism

has replaced circumcision.

It's an outward sign

of the resurrection

we have in Christ.

And that's why

Christians baptize.

It's a new covenant sign

which signifies

what has happened to us

because of our faith.

We've been buried

with Christ.

So when someone goes

into the water,

they've been buried

with Christ.

A very pictorial,

visual image

of what's happened

when Christ went

into the grave.

So too,

the old self

goes into the water.

When we come up

out of the water,

it's the visual imagery

of being resurrected

into new life,

a new creation.

As well as it looks forward

to our final resurrection

and glorification

when Christ returns.

That even those of us

who fall asleep,

as Paul says,

that those of us

who are put into the ground

before Christ returns,

we look forward

to being raised

from the ground

the same way Christ was.

And Paul's using

circumcision and baptism

to say,

we are,

as Christians,

God's people.

And again,

this concept to a Colossian

is very important,

especially when compared

to that of slavery.

He says,

God's people

are citizens

of the kingdom of heaven.

And citizenship

in the Roman Empire

is the absolute

opposite of slavery.

Citizenship

in the Roman Empire

was everything

you longed for.

It was everything

you wanted to be.

Where a slave

had no rights,

a citizen had

every right.

Where a slave

couldn't even go

where they wanted to go,

a citizen could move

anywhere they wanted to

freely within the empire.

A slave could be grabbed

and searched

and seized

for any reason.

You could not do that

to a citizen.

A slave didn't even

have the right

to have their own

legal representation.

A citizen,

as we see with Paul

in Acts,

has the right

to say,

I want to see

the emperor.

I want to be tried

in front of the emperor

himself.

And so Paul

used this language

to set up

the difference

between slavery

and citizenship.

And he said,

the Christians

in Colossae,

they are citizens

of the kingdom of heaven.

That that's been

marked by baptism,

that they are

Christ's people.

Therefore,

be on your guard

because since

you are citizens

of the kingdom

of heaven,

this empty,

deceitful philosophy

wants to come

and grab you

and re-enslave you

to its kingdoms

of human tradition

and magical superstition.

And Paul says,

what those kingdoms

do

is they deceive you.

They ignore

who we are

as citizens

of God's kingdom.

And they pretend

to be able to do

something that they

cannot do.

And Paul lays this out

in verses 13-14.

First he says,

when you were

dead in your sins

and in the uncircumcision

of your flesh.

He's using

slave language again.

Many times he says

we were slaves to sin.

Here he says,

you're dead to sin.

God made you alive

with Christ.

He forgave us

all our sins

having canceled

the charge

of our legal

indebtedness

which stood

against us

and condemned us.

He has taken it away

nailing it

to the cross.

Now,

the cultural difference

is important again

because if you were

a slave

your freedom

could be purchased.

And if your freedom

was purchased

whether somehow

you saved up

enough money

or someone came in

to redeem you

to ransom you

they would take

the fact

that you had been

set free

and they would

literally nail that

to the temple door

in the city

where your freedom

was bought.

It would be

announced publicly.

Alan Giles

is free.

No longer a slave.

And then it would be

written in the

temple book

of life

that you were

no longer

a slave

in that city

or in the Roman Empire

in general.

So look at what Paul says

that our legal

indebtedness

was nailed

to the cross.

the record

of our being

set free

from the slavery

of human tradition

and magical superstition

was literally

nailed to the cross

and announced

for all

of the empire

to see

these people

God's people

have been

set free.

They are citizens

of the kingdom

of heaven

and Paul says

with that in mind

why would we

ever want to go

back into slavery

of a subpar kingdom?

When it's public record

that we are citizens

of God's kingdom

which is the kingdom

that is greater

than all kingdoms

why would we

ever

want to be

sold as slaves

to a subpar kingdom

or give ourselves

freely to that kingdom?

It's interesting

we even

have records

in the first century

of court cases

where citizens

were captured

and sold

at a slave market.

One court case

caught my eye

that a few men

were captured

they were sold

into slavery

and when they get

to their new place

they make a big deal

you cannot enslave us

because we are

Roman citizens.

And the governor

sends for the records

from their hometown

and sure enough

the temple records

reveal

in the temple

book of life

and freedom

that they were

citizens.

And so those

captors

those brigands

were executed

for empty

and deceitful

enslavement

because you cannot

take a citizen

and sell them

into slavery.

So not only

does the philosophy

in Colossae

ignore

who the Colossians

are as God's

kingdom people

but they also

pretend to be able

to do something

they cannot

actually do.

Verse 15

Paul spells

that out.

He says

Christ has

taken the

enslaver's

weapons

he has shamed

them publicly

and triumphed

over them

on the cross.

And when you

triumphed over

somebody

in the Roman

times

you literally

shamed them

publicly.

You took

their weapons

you put them

in line behind

you and you

marched through

town

you received

a celebration

and everybody

booed

and jeered

them

they were

publicly

shamed

and everybody

knew

that's the

losing side

right there.

Paul says

Christ disarmed

all the other

kingdoms

all the other

authorities

all the other

powers

Christ disarmed

them

he made a

public spectacle

of them

on the cross

he put them

behind him

in the resurrection

he marched

them through

the streets

and put them

to shame

showing everybody

that they had

no power

over him.

See that tends

to happen

when someone

rises from

the dead.

That anybody

who's killed

you is now

put to shame

when you rise

from the dead

and you march

through cities

and you let

people see

who you are

everything that

ever stood

against you

has been

disarmed

and put to

shame

and if you

belong to

that king

if you're

a citizen

of that

kingdom

well now

you're really

something

aren't you?

Because you

belong to the

true king

the king

of kings.

Paul says

anything other

anything other

than Christianity

whether it's

human tradition

or magical

superstition

it's powerless

it's empty

it's deceitful

it's time

has passed

it's authority

has been revoked

it's power

has been

removed.

That's what he's

saying right there.

I was thinking

what would that

be like

if we were

to sell

ourselves

to the

Roman Empire

again?

We get

some crazy

things to

vote on

in California

I don't know

politics very

well in Ireland

but I know

in California

stuff shows up

on the ballot

and some of it

I read it

and I think

how on earth

did this make

it to a ballot?

Why are we

voting on this?

But I was

thinking

I can't

imagine

I cannot

imagine

if something

showed up

on the ballot

should America

sell themselves

into slavery

to the Roman Empire

again?

I would be

shocked

if someone

wanted to

vote yes

on that.

I would

think the

same in

Ireland

if it

showed up

on the ballot

should we

sell our

whole country

into slavery

to the

Roman Empire

I would

think

somebody

would say

the Roman

Empire

doesn't exist

anymore

what are you

talking about

it's

no

and someone

could say

well Rome

is still

there

yeah but

the Empire

has got

no weapons

the Empire's

time has

passed

the Empire's

been put

to shame

why would

we sell

ourselves

to the

Roman Empire

and Paul

says

in the same

way

that it

would be

utter

insanity

for any

of today's

nations

to sell

themselves

into slavery

to an

empire

whose time

has passed

so too

would be

absolutely

crazy

for a

Christian

to sell

themselves

into the

slavery

of the

kingdoms

of this

world

why would

we willingly

go back

to that

life

now I'm

going to

guess

that for

most

Christians

the reality

is we

don't

we don't

willingly

go back

into

slavery

I doubt

I highly

doubt anybody

woke up

any day

this week

and said

I think

I would

like to

sell

myself

to the

kingdoms

of human

tradition

and magical

superstition

today

I highly

doubt you

have that

thought

but the

reality is

we slip

into it

don't we

reality is

things happen

in life

and before

we know

it

we find

ourselves

a bit

enslaved

we find

that we've

been captured

by something

other than

Christ

and I

thought a lot

about that

this week

how does

that happen

how do

God's

people

citizens

of God's

kingdoms

how do

we find

ourselves

enslaved

to the

things of

this world

and what I

would say

is we

find ourselves

in a place

of what I

just call

kingdom

confusion

we forget

who we

are in

Christ

we forget

that the

world around

us has

no power

or authority

our eyes

kind of come

off of

Jesus

and they go

towards the

things of

this world

we get

confused

about what's

up what's

down what's

left what's

right

we start to

compare our

lives to

others

right like

the Colossians

maybe we look

at somebody

else's crops

and we go

what are they

doing better

than me

or we look

at somebody

else's healthy

family and

we say

what's going

on there

that I

don't have

and we

lose sight

of the

kingdom

and we

get this

kingdom

confusion

that things

that shouldn't

have priority

start to

take priority

in our

lives

and I

think the

best remedy

for that is

just what we

will call

kingdom

immersion

if we

flip over

to Psalm

73

it's the

best illustration

I can ever

find in

scripture

we won't

go through

the whole

thing but

I would

encourage you

to at some

point this

week just

read through

Asaph's

Psalm here

in Psalm

73

because what

happens in

verses 1 and

2 and if

you have a

red bible

it's page

586

page 586

in verses

1 and 2

of Psalm

73

the author

just says

surely God

is good to

Israel

that's God's

people in

this time

to those

who are

pure in

heart

but as

for me

my feet

had almost

slipped

I had

nearly lost

my foothold

and what

he's describing

here is

the beginning

of what we

just said

kingdom

confusion

and in

verses 3

through 15

he's really

starting to look

at the world

around him

and say

what's going

on

why are

the wicked

people

prospering

have you ever

thought that

I guarantee

you've probably

worked with

somebody and

thought that

person is so

terrible

and everything

goes their

way

what's going

on

and he's

starting to

look at that

and he's

going

how come

they don't

have as many

physical

struggles

as God's

people have

how can they

have such

evil

imaginations

and that's

okay

how can they

threaten

others

and that's

okay

how can they

say such

terrible

things

and store

up so much

pride for

themselves

how can they

speak so

plainly against

God

and nothing

happens

and in

verse 13

and 14

he even

starts to

question

I've kept

my heart

pure

but has

that been

in vain

have I

washed my

hands in

innocence

and he

starts to

look at his

life

and go

I get

afflicted

all these

terrible

things

happen to

me

that's

just

kingdom

confusion

is what

we can

call that

and it

happens so

subtly

and it

happens so

quickly

it's like

those thieves

in the

night

it's like

those pirates

coming in

it's like

those brigands

sneaking in

and before we

know it

we've been

completely

confused

and we're

focusing on

our status

in the wrong

kingdom

and we

become

enslaved

the remedy

for that

we see it

happen in

psalm 73

Psalms 73:16

verses

16 and

17

he just

says

when I

tried to

understand

all this

it

troubled me

deeply

until I

entered the

sanctuary

of God

then I

understood

their final

destiny

and I

just call

that kingdom

immersion

he says

all these

things

they

troubled

me

essentially

he says

I became

so confused

when I

stepped out

of the

kingdoms

of man

and I

stepped

into

God's

sanctuary

and it

all started

to make

sense

again

he starts

to remember

here's who

I am

as God's

person

here's who

I am

as a

member

of God's

household

here's who

I am

as a

citizen

of God's

kingdom

we don't

have the

literal temple

anymore

but it's

far better

we have

God's

spirit

within us

we have

God's

word

in front

of us

we have

God's

people

surrounding

us

we become

God's

holy temple

right here

as a

church

and we

can

literally

be

immersed

in

God's

kingdom

culture

together

and remind

each other

who we

are in

Christ

what we

were

bought

out

from

I think

we're

saying

bought

with the

precious

blood

of the

cross

that

the

debt

that we

owed

was literally

nailed to

the cross

that our

freedom's

been publicly

declared

and we

continue to

remind each

of this

and keep

each other

immersed

in kingdom

culture

together

I've

got

on the

back

of your

sheet

here

just

some

thoughts

on

kingdom

immersion

these

are

just

starting

thoughts

I'd say

kingdom

life happens

formally

and informally

right a church

on Sunday

it's a great

spot you

probably feel

when you leave

Sunday

more like a

part of

God's

kingdom

that's

that's

by design

that's

how God's

designed

his church

to gather

on Sundays

we have

midweek

gatherings

we'll talk

like we

said

this week

we'll go

through

the problem

of evil

how do we

share the

gospel with

people when

they ask

the number

one question

that anybody

asks about

God

which is

if God's

so good

how does

evil exist

what do we

say to that

and if you

have that

question

and you're

not a

Christian

I invite

you to

come

we'll

answer the

question

right there

with you

it's fine

it's a

very valid

question

but we

gather

together

throughout

the week

and we

study

God's

word

and we

talk about

God's

kingdom

we remind

each other

of who

we are

in God's

kingdom

and the

church

has several

ministries

too

always

good to

be a part

of at least

one church

ministry

during the

week

because not

only are you

serving other

people but

you're serving

as God's

people

immersed in

God's

kingdom

family

worship

church

family

meals

I would

encourage

you

some of

the best

things you

can do

as a

member

of a

local

church

have a

meal

ready

on Sunday

afternoon

and if

you see

anybody

new

or visiting

or hasn't

been here

in a while

just invite

them over

to your

home

right after

the service

it's hard

for them

to say

no

you put

them right

there on

the spot

so they

feel like

they have

to so you

get them

in your

house

and you

just love

on them

you give

them food

and you

love on

them

and you

laugh

with them

and you

just let

them experience

kingdom

life

your worship

music

reading

God's

word

podcast

these are

some of

my

favorites

reading

good

books

jep

jep

yes

jep

jep

yeah

bye