Latest / Redeemer Students Podcast / Colossians 1:1-8 | Jesus, Our Gospel | November 1st, 2026

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Colossians 1:1-8 | Jesus, Our Gospel | November 1st, 2026 · Redeemer Students Podcast

0:07
SPEAKER_00: Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother, to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossa.
0:16
SPEAKER_00: Thank grace to you and peace from God our Father.
0:19
SPEAKER_00: Thanksgiving and prayer.
0:20
SPEAKER_00: We always thank God, the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray to you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.
0:32
SPEAKER_00: Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world is bearing fruit and increasing, as it also does among you since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God and truth.
0:51
SPEAKER_00: Just as you learned it from Ephraim, our beloved fellow servant.
0:56
SPEAKER_00: He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love and the spirit.
1:03
SPEAKER_00: The word of the Lord.
1:05
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: Dear God, thank you so much just for youth and um for this ministry.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: I pray that tonight that we will just fall deeper into your grace, into your love for us, and you will speak through Keel, and that his words will fall away, and that you will speak to all of our hearts.
1:18
SPEAKER_00: And we love you so much.
1:19
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
1:38
SPEAKER_01: It's good to be back.
1:38
SPEAKER_01: I feel like it's been a minute.
1:40
SPEAKER_01: Um so far in the semester, we have been studying the Sermon on the Mount.
1:46
SPEAKER_01: And so we finished that up a few weeks ago.
1:48
SPEAKER_01: And so we're going to um start a new series that I'm I'm pretty excited about, um, as you can see, going through the book of Colossians.
1:54
SPEAKER_01: But we're actually gonna be slowly working the next four weeks through the first chapter of Colossians, okay?
2:00
SPEAKER_01: And so maybe you're like, okay, one full month for one chapter, that seems aggressive, but we're gonna do it.
2:05
SPEAKER_01: Uh, because I think there's a lot of beauty and value in in covering a lot of grounds to make sure that we read the Bible widely, that we read the Bible completely.
2:14
SPEAKER_01: Um, but there's also deep value in slowing down and taking time to work through a passage of scripture carefully and slowly, looking closely at each word and each phrase, which we can't really do if we're going fast.
2:25
SPEAKER_01: So I just it felt like the right time.
2:27
SPEAKER_01: And um I know it might sound crazy, but as we said, our final night in this chapter will be November 29th, which is which is our Advent Youth.
2:34
SPEAKER_01: Advent Youth is in November this year.
2:36
SPEAKER_01: Um and so what Advent Youth is, if you if you don't know about it, it's a night where we start, and in this case, Advent Youth will be on the first night of Advent, which is part of the church calendar.
2:46
SPEAKER_01: It's the church calendar season of anticipation for Christmas, the four weeks leading up to Christmas.
2:52
SPEAKER_01: And so our Advent Youth will be a night where we follow the church calendar and follow what we'll be doing as a church at Redeemer as well, of slowing down and focusing our eyes to the coming Christmas season.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: The season of anticipation, of hope as we look forward to the day that we celebrate the birth of Jesus.
3:11
SPEAKER_01: And so on the 29th, we'll spend a night like we normally do here.
3:14
SPEAKER_01: We'll be here to do all the normal things.
3:15
SPEAKER_01: We'll have a special emphasis on that anticipation, on that hope.
3:18
SPEAKER_01: There'll be a time of reflection, of prayer.
3:21
SPEAKER_01: Um, we'll have a little fire outside.
3:22
SPEAKER_01: If you've been here before, it's a really special night.
3:24
SPEAKER_01: But with Advent on the Minds and jumping into Colossians kind of as an Advent appetizer, it begs the question: who is this Jesus that we are celebrating in the Advent season?
3:36
SPEAKER_01: Maybe that seems like a basic question, but who is this Jesus?
3:39
SPEAKER_01: Who are we anticipating?
3:41
SPEAKER_01: Who do we put our hope in?
3:42
SPEAKER_01: See, I was at a pastor's conference a few weeks ago, and I had the chance to meet um kind of a hero of faith of mine.
3:48
SPEAKER_01: His name is Ray Orland.
3:49
SPEAKER_01: I've talked about him a lot.
3:50
SPEAKER_01: Ray is an author and a pastor.
3:51
SPEAKER_01: He's the father of Dane Ortlands, um, who wrote books like Deeper and Gentle and Lowly.
3:55
SPEAKER_01: So this is just a family of faithfulness, a family that I love a lot.
4:00
SPEAKER_01: And so we were on break for dinner at this conference, and Ray was sitting by himself, and so I was like, uh, can I sit with you?
4:06
SPEAKER_01: And he was like, sure.
4:07
SPEAKER_01: Um and this guy like is pretty introverted and wasn't really interested in small talking.
4:12
SPEAKER_01: So I was like, do I just kind of try to talk to this guy who's literally kind of one of my heroes?
4:17
SPEAKER_01: And it was a funny experience getting to meet him.
4:19
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you've had this experience because when I was trying to small talk with him, I didn't really know what to ask because honestly, I knew a lot about him, right?
4:27
SPEAKER_01: I've listened to a lot of hours of him talking about life, about faith.
4:32
SPEAKER_01: I've read a lot of his books.
4:33
SPEAKER_01: I know a lot about his life, but he had no idea who I was, right?
4:38
SPEAKER_01: I was a complete stranger to him, but I was asking questions that you normally ask small talk, like, oh, where are you from?
4:43
SPEAKER_01: Or you know, do you have a family and this?
4:44
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, I know all the answers to those questions.
4:46
SPEAKER_01: So I didn't really know what to do.
4:48
SPEAKER_01: And maybe you you've had an experience like this meeting someone that you follow online, or someone famous, or someone you're a fan of, and it's like, I know way more about you than you do about me.
4:58
SPEAKER_01: But the reality is in those moments you realize you don't actually know that person.
5:03
SPEAKER_01: In reality, I didn't and still don't really know Ray Ortlet.
5:08
SPEAKER_01: I know about him.
5:09
SPEAKER_01: I'm familiar with certain things about him, but I don't have a friendship or a relationship with him as a person.
5:14
SPEAKER_01: And the Christian life, a life following Jesus is not about knowing about him simply.
5:21
SPEAKER_01: We are called deeper into a relationship with him.
5:24
SPEAKER_01: So when we talk about anticipating the celebration of Jesus coming down to earth, we're talking about not just being familiar with things about him, but knowing that person.
5:35
SPEAKER_01: Certainly we have to study Jesus, we have to learn about him, we have theology and study for these reasons, but that knowledge is supposed to press us deeper into relationship with him, to point us to the person that we know.
5:47
SPEAKER_01: Christianity is different than any other religion in the world for the reason that we get to know and live with the person who we worship.
5:55
SPEAKER_01: We get to know him.
5:57
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus is calling us into that relationship to know the person, not just be familiar about him, not just know facts about him, but to know him personally.
6:06
SPEAKER_01: And your familiarity with Jesus may vary depending on how you grew up or how new to church you are, how many times you've been to youth group or how long you've been going to church.
6:15
SPEAKER_01: You may be familiar and know your Bible well.
6:18
SPEAKER_01: You may know all the stories, or maybe you don't really even know the story of Jesus at all.
6:22
SPEAKER_01: But whatever your familiarity is, it's not enough what Paul's getting at here, what we'll see.
6:28
SPEAKER_01: It's not enough to just say, I believe in Jesus.
6:31
SPEAKER_01: Because who that Jesus is that you believe might not actually be the Jesus of the Bible.
6:38
SPEAKER_01: So we can't just say, Oh, I believe in Jesus, or I know or believe in God.
6:42
SPEAKER_01: We're saying, I believe in the Jesus, the human of the scriptures of the Bible, God and the flesh who came down from heaven into our lives.
6:53
SPEAKER_01: And I don't say that to strike doubt in your heart or make you question, but I want you and invite you to think deeply and specifically about the person and work of Jesus.
7:03
SPEAKER_01: It's why God gave us his word.
7:05
SPEAKER_01: Ask those questions.
7:06
SPEAKER_01: Who is the Jesus that I believe in?
7:09
SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna walk through Colossians 1 to kind of whet our appetites for Advent as we move into that season.
7:14
SPEAKER_01: And specifically over the next few weeks, we're gonna see four things.
7:17
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna see how this Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible, is our gospel tonight, how he is our King, how he is our God, and how he is our reconciler.
7:27
SPEAKER_01: That's kind of the direction we're going for the rest of the semester.
7:30
SPEAKER_01: So let's start in Colossians 1, verse 1 and 2.
7:34
SPEAKER_01: Paul writes, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God and Timothy our brother, to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae, grace to you and peace from God our Father.
7:45
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you've read New Testament letters before, you're probably familiar with these opening verses, right?
7:50
SPEAKER_01: And it's really easy to skip over them, and honestly, I do it too, because they're almost all of Paul's greetings are the same.
7:58
SPEAKER_01: And there might not be too much in here, but I think there are some essential truths that we learn.
8:02
SPEAKER_01: One is that Paul wrote this letter, right, as he introduces himself, which is important.
8:07
SPEAKER_01: But he's writing to faithful Christians in the city of Colossae, as he says.
8:12
SPEAKER_01: Right?
8:13
SPEAKER_01: And you notice the word that he uses there?
8:15
SPEAKER_01: What does he call them?
8:16
SPEAKER_01: He calls them saints.
8:18
SPEAKER_01: To the saints.
8:19
SPEAKER_01: Not this, you know, if if you know anything about the Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic Church, they have the saints and this office of sainthood, which means that when there's a Christian or a person who has achieved or done great things and they've performed miracles, the church says, okay, that is a saint.
8:35
SPEAKER_01: That is a super Christian.
8:38
SPEAKER_01: But here, Paul's saying all the faithful brothers and sisters of Christ are saints.
8:44
SPEAKER_01: If you're in Christ, you're a saint.
8:47
SPEAKER_01: It's not something you have to attain.
8:49
SPEAKER_01: And I think it's important to see that is how he's greeting us today.
8:53
SPEAKER_01: Secure in your sainthood and Jesus.
8:57
SPEAKER_01: And also we see that this is Paul's one of his friendly letters, we could say.
9:03
SPEAKER_01: I've seen a funny and sometimes unhelpful, but funny trend on Instagram where if there's a video of like a church service that is wild with some kind of wild theatrics or wild stunts, people will comment like greetings from Paul.
9:15
SPEAKER_01: Have y'all seen that before?
9:16
SPEAKER_01: Just like saying, like, okay, if Paul is alive, like he would write a letter to your church.
9:20
SPEAKER_01: And it's it's funny and mostly harmless, um, but it does assume two things.
9:24
SPEAKER_01: It assumes that Paul's letters are always mean and corrective, and that Paul's letters in the New Testament don't have application to the church today.
9:34
SPEAKER_01: It assumes that they're always mean, and it assumes that we actually need new letters from Paul to correct the church.
9:39
SPEAKER_01: But what we see here is all of Paul's letters are written in love with deep care for the churches that he's writing to.
9:47
SPEAKER_01: He loves the people he's writing to, and he loves us today.
9:51
SPEAKER_01: He loves the church, and he's writing with care for them in love and truth.
9:55
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes they're strong.
9:58
SPEAKER_01: But not all of Paul's letters are written to lovingly correct a church because they're doing something wrong.
10:02
SPEAKER_01: In the case of the Colossians, Paul's writing mainly to encourage them.
10:06
SPEAKER_01: He wants to encourage them in what they're doing to keep being faithful.
10:09
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 3 and 5, 3 through 5.
10:11
SPEAKER_01: We always thank God, the Father for Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.
10:16
SPEAKER_01: Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel.
10:28
SPEAKER_01: He's saying, We we've heard your love for Jesus, and he wants to encourage, put wind in their sails in this letter.
10:36
SPEAKER_01: But what we see, just because these are faithful brothers and sisters, these are saints in Christ, it doesn't mean that they're immune from certain dangers that lurk in the church.
10:46
SPEAKER_01: That's where I want to start tonight with our first point is that we never need more than the simple gospel of Jesus.
10:53
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna see that this is Paul's main thrust in his letter.
10:57
SPEAKER_01: We never need more than the simple gospel of Jesus.
11:01
SPEAKER_01: Throughout many of his letters, Paul warns the church that he's writing to of false teachers.
11:07
SPEAKER_01: False teachers coming into the church, and it's not different here in the Colossians.
11:11
SPEAKER_01: Although believers are strong and faithful, they're not immune to falling victim of false teaching.
11:17
SPEAKER_01: And we don't know a ton of specifics of what these teachers were teaching, but we do know that it probably wouldn't have been something blatantly obvious.
11:24
SPEAKER_01: We need to think about that.
11:26
SPEAKER_01: False teachings wouldn't have much influence if they were blatantly obvious, would they?
11:32
SPEAKER_01: If teachers came in and said, you know what, all that stuff that Paul said about Jesus, it was just a lie.
11:37
SPEAKER_01: I don't think the church would have listened.
11:41
SPEAKER_01: See, there's an enemy that is working against your spiritual well-being.
11:47
SPEAKER_01: There's an enemy who is actively working against God's plan for your spiritual prospering as a child of God.
11:56
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says in John 10, that the thief, the enemy comes to steal and kill, and destroy.
12:04
SPEAKER_01: But I, Jesus, came that you may have life and have it abundantly.
12:09
SPEAKER_01: And the way that God wants your prospering and spiritual well-being, there's an enemy who wants the opposite.
12:15
SPEAKER_01: But the enemy is crafty.
12:18
SPEAKER_01: Do you remember how the serpents tempted Adam and Eve in the garden?
12:21
SPEAKER_01: Remember that story?
12:22
SPEAKER_01: He didn't come and say, That God guy who, you know, just built the world and created it and breathed life into your lungs, that God's not real.
12:32
SPEAKER_01: No.
12:33
SPEAKER_01: He didn't say that.
12:36
SPEAKER_01: Adam just witnessed God breathing life into his lungs and birthing Eve from his rib.
12:43
SPEAKER_01: Adam and Eve were standing in the temple, the garden temple of God, in the full presence of God's glory.
12:50
SPEAKER_01: So the serpent had no chance with a blatant lie.
12:52
SPEAKER_01: The serpent had to do something crafty.
12:53
SPEAKER_01: Look at this.
12:55
SPEAKER_01: Genesis three, one through six.
12:57
SPEAKER_01: Now the serpent, the enemy, was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
13:03
SPEAKER_01: He said to the woman, Did God actually say, You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?
13:10
SPEAKER_01: And the woman, Eve, said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it lest you die.
13:20
SPEAKER_01: But the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die.
13:25
SPEAKER_01: For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
13:32
SPEAKER_01: So then the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruits and ate.
13:40
SPEAKER_01: And she gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
13:46
SPEAKER_01: With one small nudge of the enemy, not a big blatant lie, not a big deceit, one small nudge, the human experience was fractured.
13:56
SPEAKER_01: Sin entered the world with this one small lie, this one seed of doubt.
14:01
SPEAKER_01: And all it took was the enemy asking them, Are you sure there isn't more for you?
14:07
SPEAKER_01: Are you sure God's not holding something back from you?
14:11
SPEAKER_01: Did God actually say that?
14:12
SPEAKER_01: Are you sure that God just doesn't want you to be like him?
14:16
SPEAKER_01: Just the seed of doubt.
14:18
SPEAKER_01: What we see here is that the enemy's schemes and methods are no different today, and they weren't different in 60 AD when Paul wrote this letter.
14:26
SPEAKER_01: Sure, the enemy does not, he doesn't want people to worship God, it's his least favorite thing.
14:30
SPEAKER_01: And he distracts and convinces them otherwise.
14:32
SPEAKER_01: But for those who already know God, those who have received this letter, those who are in Christ, like Adam and Eve, like me and like some of you today, the enemy knows it'll take something different.
14:44
SPEAKER_01: So what he does is the enemy wants you to doubt and question the fullness of the gospel in front of you and ask you, are you sure there's not something more?
14:55
SPEAKER_01: More experience to be had, more joy to be had, a higher spiritual high.
15:03
SPEAKER_01: In his book, The Screwtape Letters, C.
15:05
SPEAKER_01: S.
15:05
SPEAKER_01: Lewis writes it, it's kind of a Christian fiction book.
15:08
SPEAKER_01: And C.
15:08
SPEAKER_01: S.
15:08
SPEAKER_01: Lewis writes, in the perspective of the enemy writing to his disciples on how to tempt Christians.
15:16
SPEAKER_01: And here's what he says in one of the chapters.
15:19
SPEAKER_01: He says, What we want, right?
15:20
SPEAKER_01: This is the mind of the enemy.
15:21
SPEAKER_01: What we want, if men become Christians at all, is to keep them in the state of mind I call Christianity and.
15:29
SPEAKER_01: You know, Christianity in the crisis, Christianity in the new psychology, Christianity in the new order, Christianity in faith healing, Christianity in uh psychological psychological research, Christianity in vegetarianism, Christianity in the spelling reform, Christianity and something else.
15:45
SPEAKER_01: If they must be Christians, let them be Christians with a difference.
15:49
SPEAKER_01: Substitute the faith, substitute for the faith itself some fashion with a Christian coloring.
15:55
SPEAKER_01: Work on their horror of the same old thing.
16:00
SPEAKER_01: And so maybe these examples don't resonate with you, but I want you to think about how sobering that is.
16:06
SPEAKER_01: That the enemy is working to distract you and make you question do I have everything that I need?
16:13
SPEAKER_01: Is the gospel enough for me?
16:17
SPEAKER_01: And what the Colossian church is experiencing, even in their faithfulness, was a whispering of a Christianity and gospel.
16:27
SPEAKER_01: Another author puts it this way.
16:29
SPEAKER_01: This is what the false teachers always do.
16:33
SPEAKER_01: They say, What you have is quite alright and a good foundation for faith.
16:37
SPEAKER_01: That's good.
16:38
SPEAKER_01: Now let us just finish it off for you.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: Then you will really be Christians.
16:44
SPEAKER_01: Christianity and.
16:45
SPEAKER_01: How sneaky is that?
16:48
SPEAKER_01: What Paul is reminding the Colossians and us today is that you have the fullness of truth in the gospel of Jesus, and there is nothing that needs to be added.
16:57
SPEAKER_01: You have all that you need.
17:01
SPEAKER_01: He says in verse 5, of this you have heard before in the word of truth the gospel.
17:05
SPEAKER_01: You've already heard it before.
17:06
SPEAKER_01: You have it.
17:10
SPEAKER_01: It's why when Paul wrote his encouragement to the pastor in training Timothy, this is this is the encouragement he gives Timothy.
17:17
SPEAKER_01: Listen to this.
17:18
SPEAKER_01: He says, Preach the word, right?
17:20
SPEAKER_01: Preach the gospel you have.
17:21
SPEAKER_01: Be ready in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and teaching.
17:27
SPEAKER_01: Listen to this, for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching.
17:31
SPEAKER_01: But having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
17:44
SPEAKER_01: These false teachers, this false gospel, this Christianity and knows that we're prone to wonder.
17:51
SPEAKER_01: And just as teachers are guilty of adding to the gospel, we are guilty of listening to them.
17:59
SPEAKER_01: What are the ands that we're prone to listening to?
18:03
SPEAKER_01: Have you slowly, maybe without knowing it, with some wandering, come to believe that you're more of a Christian, a better Christian if you have a perfect quiet time and never miss a day?
18:15
SPEAKER_01: That you're more of a Christian if you're on a ministry leadership team, or if you really feel it during worship, or if you don't have any questions, or if you don't have any doubts, or if you always have the answers.
18:26
SPEAKER_01: The security in ourselves are these things that we add to the gospel, or the ones that we listen to.
18:35
SPEAKER_01: When these things are are when these things get treated as signs of a deeper, more real Christianity that we want to experience so that they can distract us from the simple gospel of Jesus' unconditional love for you.
18:49
SPEAKER_01: And that's where Paul's arguments going here at the end of our passage.
18:53
SPEAKER_01: Verses 5 through 8.
18:56
SPEAKER_01: Of this you have heard before in the word of truth the gospel which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world.
19:02
SPEAKER_01: It is bearing fruit and increasing, as it also does among you since the day you heard and understood the grace of God and truth.
19:12
SPEAKER_01: Just as you learned from Epaphras, our fellow servants, he is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love and spirit.
19:20
SPEAKER_01: And our second and final point tonight the gospel of Jesus works.
19:27
SPEAKER_01: It's simple, but it works.
19:30
SPEAKER_01: In the beginning of his letter, Paul is overflowing with thanksgiving.
19:34
SPEAKER_01: Why?
19:36
SPEAKER_01: Because Paul has seen and heard of the fruits in the lives of the Colossians.
19:41
SPEAKER_01: It's been working.
19:45
SPEAKER_01: As he says, which has come to you indeed the whole world, it's bearing fruit and increasing.
19:51
SPEAKER_01: And you notice the flow of that argument there.
19:53
SPEAKER_01: They have heard the gospel and they have understood the grace of God, and therefore they increase in fruit.
19:58
SPEAKER_01: But a false gospel, one that Paul is preaching against, and one that we should be careful not to listen to, a false gospel will say, more fruit leads to more of God's grace for you.
20:08
SPEAKER_01: The more fruit you have, the more that you are loved, the more fruit you have, the more secure you are, the deeper your Christian experience.
20:16
SPEAKER_01: But Paul and the scriptures stand firm in saying that we have everything we need in Christ, and there's nothing to be added.
20:25
SPEAKER_01: The gospel leads to transformation, the radical change of hearts.
20:30
SPEAKER_01: The gospel works.
20:31
SPEAKER_01: I've seen it in your lives, you've seen it in others, you've seen it in yourself.
20:35
SPEAKER_01: Beware of any false gospel that preaches transformation and leaves behind Jesus.
20:41
SPEAKER_01: Remember his words in John 15.
20:45
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, I am the vine, you are the branches.
20:48
SPEAKER_01: Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing.
20:57
SPEAKER_01: We can do nothing apart from him, and we can do everything and have everything in him.
21:03
SPEAKER_01: Remember how Paul refers to the Colossians in verse 2?
21:07
SPEAKER_01: To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae.
21:11
SPEAKER_01: He calls them saints.
21:14
SPEAKER_01: Don't discount your standing with Jesus.
21:17
SPEAKER_01: Don't think that there's more relationship to be chased.
21:20
SPEAKER_01: You have full unity and oneness with him.
21:23
SPEAKER_01: You have all that you need in Jesus.
21:26
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing else to be added.
21:41
SPEAKER_01: That you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
21:46
SPEAKER_01: That is already true about you.
21:48
SPEAKER_01: It's not something that you have to work for or earn for or prove yourself for.
21:53
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to put faith in anything else besides that this is enough for you if you believe that Jesus.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: Is enough for you.
22:04
SPEAKER_01: See, we all we all want to grow.
22:07
SPEAKER_01: We all have doubts and questions the of the assurance of God's love for us.
22:13
SPEAKER_01: And it's easy to fall into the trap and think I have to keep doing more and keep doing more and keep proving myself and proving myself.
22:20
SPEAKER_01: But this is already true.
22:22
SPEAKER_01: Growing just means believing this more.
22:27
SPEAKER_01: So if you ask the question, okay, what makes a genuine Christian then?
22:32
SPEAKER_01: We look again to Paul's words.
22:36
SPEAKER_01: And there's three qualities that stick out in his words to the church.
22:42
SPEAKER_01: Look at it in verse 4.
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SPEAKER_01: Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, and the faith you have in Christ Jesus.
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SPEAKER_01: Faith, hope, and love.
22:57
SPEAKER_01: Faith, hope, and love.
22:59
SPEAKER_01: That's all that Paul is requiring in saying that this makes you a Christian.
23:03
SPEAKER_01: Faith, hope, and love.
23:05
SPEAKER_01: There's not more to prove.
23:06
SPEAKER_01: So the question I ask is, what is your faith in?
23:11
SPEAKER_01: Have you been placing your faith in yourself, in your circumstances, in the world around you, and your performance?
23:18
SPEAKER_01: Or is your faith in Jesus and that Jesus is enough for you, that he is your gospel and your good news?
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SPEAKER_01: When you ask that question, okay, am I saved?
23:28
SPEAKER_01: My faith doesn't feel very strong.
23:29
SPEAKER_01: I don't know, I have doubts.
23:30
SPEAKER_01: Be reminded that Jesus is the one that's enough.
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SPEAKER_01: It's the object of your faith, not the strength of it.
23:39
SPEAKER_01: You are a saint, secure and prized in Jesus, with a home waiting for you in heaven.
23:44
SPEAKER_01: That is our hope.
23:47
SPEAKER_01: I want to close with Jesus' words to his disciples in John 14.
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SPEAKER_01: I want us to think about this as a promise and a reality that is already true.
24:00
SPEAKER_01: In my Father's house are many rooms.
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SPEAKER_01: If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
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SPEAKER_01: And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
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SPEAKER_01: By faith you are united to this Jesus.
24:18
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing else you need.
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SPEAKER_01: Your hope, therefore, is not in yourself or the world, but it's in that Jesus.
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SPEAKER_01: It's in the hope that is waiting for you in heaven, the room and place in his house.
24:32
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray together.
24:35
SPEAKER_01: Father, I thank you for your gospel, the simple gospel of Jesus, that we have we don't have to add anything to it.
24:45
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I pray now as we sing a few more songs that you would search our hearts and Lord, reveal the ways that we've been placing faith and hope in other places.
24:58
SPEAKER_01: Lord, that we have faith in ourselves, that we have faith in our own strength, we have faith in ourselves to figure it out and to get it together.
25:05
SPEAKER_01: And Lord, we ask that you would remind us in your grace that you are not demanding that we do get it together, but that we just come back to you.
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SPEAKER_01: Lord, your gospel is enough and your gospel works.
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SPEAKER_01: Guard us from the schemes of the enemy, guard us from the false teachings that want to add to the gifts we already have in Jesus.
25:25
SPEAKER_01: We thank you for your word.
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SPEAKER_01: I pray that it would continue to work in our hearts.
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SPEAKER_01: We pray all this in your name.
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SPEAKER_01: Amen.