I would like you to turn to Colossians, the book of Colossians. It's about halfway through the New Testament, starting a new series today. We're going to be in verses 1 through 14. Let me read this for you. 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. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for 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. Of this you have heard before in the word of truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing, as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth. Just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant, he's a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so as to walk in a manner worthy of the calling, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. So says Paul, the king of run-on sentences. The other thing I want to point out is, how come nobody names their kid Epaphras anymore? I mean, we've got all these trending names that pop up every 10 years or so. There's no Epaphras. Of course, there's no Judas either, so it's OK, I guess. Have you ever had a situation so overwhelming that you don't know how to pray for it? Have you ever been so deep in a situation that all you want to do is cry out to God, and you're praying for the Spirit to give you utterance, and there's all sorts of things going on, but you're not quite sure what to pray? I think we've all had a situation like that. I had a guy tell me this week, I don't know how to pray for this. The question we have before us is, what do we pray? That's what we're going to look at today. What do we pray for? Now the title of our new series is Set Your Mind on Things Above. So that'll kind of give you a hint as to what you can pray for. This is part one of that series. And I want to talk to you for just a few minutes about Colossians. The generally accepted perspective on Colossians is that Paul is addressing false teachers that are trying to invade the church. And we know that that's one of Paul's favorite themes. They're trying to lead the Colossian church astray. They're young and they're new. Now, Colossae was in the area we now call Asia Minor, would be northern Turkey. The New Testament, it shows up sometimes in the New Testament as Phrygia, with a P-H-R-Y. By the first century AD, the Diaspora, the scattered Jews, were a strong presence in this region. Now, these were Judaizers. Archaeological evidence indicates that they had begun to rise up and were quite influential in their communities. It's a really important point to remember because the Colossian church was young and it was new. They were living amongst Gentiles and Jews. They were a very small minority. We've seen this in some of Paul's other letters. By the time this book was written, it was probably sometime around 62 A.D., Paul was in prison in Rome. There was a very strong sentiment among the Jews that these new Christians had co-opted the Scriptures. They had kind of adopted the scriptures that the Jews had grown up with, but they were not adhering very closely enough to the scriptures, to the laws and the regulations to make their faith authentic. You hear what I said? The Judaizers thought that the new Christians didn't have an authentic faith. In other words, they thought Christianity was a weak substitute for true godliness. And a criticism of the new church was very open and was very aggressive. They were kind of getting hit from all sides. And the Jews were plugged into the community at Colossae. They had experience. They had influence. They had financial influence. They were prominent in business. And they could either be a huge help to the church or they could be a huge obstacle to them. So Paul wants them, and he writes this letter, to caution them to be careful what they absorb from these Judaizers. A lot of parallels between the Colossian church and the situation we have today. What they were experiencing then in their culture is kind of what we're experiencing here in our culture. these new young believers in Colossae were up against a seasoned group of veteran worshipers who were constantly pointing their fingers. Now see, this isn't quite going where you might have thought it would go, okay? Because had all these people pointed their fingers at him saying, you're not doing that right, you're not listening to the laws, You're not doing the regulations the way they're supposed to be. Who do you think you are? They say, you have it all wrong. And if you're not like us, your faith isn't real. Oh, do we see that in the church today? Why do we have so much division? Paul's letter is intended to encourage these people, to tell them to remember what they've been taught, what they've been equipped with, the truth of the Scriptures, that they should be walking in the truth that they've heard. He wants them to focus on the Word of God and not be distracted by the demands of men. These guys want the church to be more like them. In other words, Paul's desire for the church is for them to be the influencers in the world rather than the influenced. That works on so many different levels. Think about it. He also warns them not to adopt guidelines and dogmas that go beyond the Scriptures. He wants them to avoid becoming self-righteous legalists, like their accusers are. And in a very real way, Paul kind of says, there's an undercurrent here. See how it feels to have someone pointing their finger at you and telling you that you're doing everything wrong? See what happens when you allow matters of secondary importance to take the place of the gospel in the church's mission. Don't do that, he's saying. It's damaging. It's hurtful. It's divisive. It's not godly. And it takes you away from the very thing that you've been called to do. See, that's what happened to the Judaizers. They became so obsessed with the rules and the regulations that they got lost sight of the ruler and the regulator, their Father God in heaven. They became so convinced that they were right that they didn't realize that they were going about it all wrong. They were so insistent on uniting everyone. to their way of thinking that they forgot their calling to be a blessing to the world, and they became divisive and angry. They were isolating themselves. What were they isolating themselves from? I mean, what was the original calling to the Jews? To be that blessing to the world. By the time Jesus gets to Jerusalem, they've shut off the temple. The Gentiles can't come in. Everybody's angry at everybody else for not getting things right, and they've isolated themselves from their mission field rather than evangelizing. They were dividing over points of law rather than celebrating God's grace, and they were being dogmatic over details rather than compassionate and caring. So I think the modern church faces some of the same type of challenges today. Paul's remedy to all this is to remind the Colossians and remind us of what the church is and what they're called to do, who its people are, and not just that, but how they can walk it out while avoiding the pitfalls of self-righteousness and pride. So to accomplish this, Paul rolls his letter out in four themes. We'll see all of these pop up. The supremacy of Christ, the sufficiency of Christ, the security of believers, and the sanctification of believers. We'll see all those things in this letter. So to get us anchored in the book, we're going to start with the introduction. That was a long introduction, I know, but you people are patient. Thank you. He begins his letter, and there are two primary elements in these verses that we just read. We're going to see Paul's praise in verses 1 through 8, and then we'll see Paul's prayer in verses 9 through 14. Let's take a look at Paul's praise for the church, starting in verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother. Now, this is late in Paul's career. We know what's going on. He's in Rome. He's in prison. And he's kind of softened his insistence on asserting his apostolic authority. I mean, early on, he's like, I, Paul, an apostle, just like all the other apostles. And by now, he's kind of getting to, OK, I'm an apostle. And eventually, we'll see Paul get to, I, Paul, the chief of all sinners. But he's unafraid of writing, amid all that, he's unafraid of writing with apostolic authority. So while he's in Rome, and he probably has several supporters around him, but he brings young Timothy to the forefront. He kind of presents Timothy. And in doing this, Paul confers authority on Timothy. Saying, in effect, this letter comes from both of us. Really, it comes from all of us that are here in Rome. We are of like mind in the content of this letter. And I've chosen, and I want to bless Timothy in particular. Now, that doesn't mean that Paul's other associates are inconsequential, but it does show the approval, the apostolic approval of Timothy and serves to establish Timothy as a minister who bears Paul's authority and respect. And we know that the reason he's doing this is because he's going to leave some of the ministry to Timothy after he goes. He wants everybody to know that Timothy's the guy. you know, Paul's just kind of setting things up because he's going to be gone soon. He knows it. Verse 2, he says, to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ that call us, grace to you and peace from God our Father. It's a standard greeting, but it lands with this apostolic impact, with this apostolic authority that Paul has. It serves as a reminder of God's grace, which has saved them, and which will sustain them as they go forward, individually and corporately. He wants them to be thinking about God's grace. And this young church is struggling. They're in a combative environment. Everybody's kind of against him. God's peace. He prays upon them as well. He wants them to remember to embrace God's grace and God's peace, that they can enjoy both of those, even in the middle of tension. There's a concept that we need to embrace. So after his heartfelt greeting, Paul goes on to praise and encourage this group of young believers in three areas, their faith, their love, and their hope. He says in verse three, we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. Now, I want you to look at two words here, always. And when? And if you look at that, like always, when they pray, they always, when they pray, look at the third word, we. Now, Paul may be using a royal we here, talking about all of us, but again, he's putting Timothy out there in front, who's not the only one helping him write his letter, we'll find that out later on, but he was featuring Timothy and he's saying, the letter comes from all of us. And the idea is that Paul and his entire crew, whoever's with him, pray for the church at Colossae, and they give thanks for the new church. And look at what they give thanks for. This is interesting. Verse four, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus. They give thanks for their faith. The apostle Paul is thankful that they are faithful. A lot tied up in a word there. There are huge implications. They need to give thanks that they trust in God, that they have embraced God's Word. They listen to the teaching of God's Word, and they believe it to be true. And then they do the best they can to walk it out. They may be a young church, but their faith is out there. It's on display. And the implication is not just that Paul has seen their faith, but he keeps hearing about their faith. In other words, their faith is put on display for everybody to see. And as they practice their faith, look what comes along with it, and the love that you have for all the saints. I love this. They have love. Who do they have love for? Oh, we have love for the Colossian church. I don't know about those other churches. They do things differently than we do. We love our congregation. No, they got love for all the saints. Oh, things were different back then. Everything was small. No, by this time, by the second half of the first century, the church was diverse. There were churches with a lot of Jews in them. There were churches with a lot of Gentiles in them. There were churches that practiced circumcision. There were churches that abhorred it. There were churches that spoke in tongues. At least the Corinthian church did, right? And there were churches that forbade it. There were young churches. There were old churches. There were churches in Rome. There were churches in Jerusalem. There were churches all the way in between. Early years of the body of Christ, there was already a huge variety of churches and worship and study styles, and the church at Colossae was praying for all of them. Everyone. They were praying in faith and love. They weren't praying, God show them our doctrines right. They loved the body of Christ, the whole church, and instead of insisting that theirs was the only way, they prayed for everyone who called upon the Lord as Savior. And they did it, in verse 5, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Now, the you is plural there. They did it because of the promise, the promise that came down from a trustworthy and steadfast God. that they all would come together as one in heaven, maybe not down here. You know, that's okay. They're not saying everything goes here. All they're saying is there are some people that do things differently. It's all right. We're probably not going to unite with them. We're probably not going to have them over for dinner, but they're okay. They're brothers and sisters in the Lord, and it's all based on the hope that they've been given in the gospel of Jesus Christ. One of the things we do really well as the church universal is we lengthen that list of essentials. Oh, you've got to be baptized this way. And if you're not, we'll take care of you. Oh, you've got to worship this way. You've got to have this style of music. You've got to have this doctrine. You've got to have this liturgy and everything. Brothers and sisters, one of the foundational tenets we have here is if we look at a church that's in town and they're preaching the same gospel we do, that we can love them. We don't have to be like them and we don't need them to be like us. We get it all worked out in heaven. Some people are a little uncomfortable with that. I had to tell somebody this week, I have a sneaky suspicion that when we get to heaven, we're all going to get together and giggle over how wrong we were. All of us. That didn't amuse him. And maybe we're not going to come together down here. It's all right. The Colossian church functioned with an eye on eternity and not just the hope of salvation, but looking at a time when all differences would be laid aside and they would stand as one man before the Lord as they stood before Nehemiah. And the unifying element to all this, of this you have heard, second half of verse five, before in the word of truth, the gospel. Salvation in and through Christ alone, by faith alone, by grace alone. Ponder that one for a while. Colossians received it. They believe it. And because of their faith, love, and hope, there is fruit. There is fruit. Look at verse 6, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing. This is happening in the world, it's happening in the Colossian church, as it also does among you since the day you've heard it and understood the grace of God in truth. Just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant, he is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. The gospel came through the preaching of a man called Epaphras. We don't know a whole lot about him. But what a legacy he has. Look at this, right in the middle of Paul's letters. An impact on this church, an impact on this region. Those people in the church heard, they believed, they repented, and they received. And now, now it's bearing fruit. It's impacting the lives of the people around them. Hearts are being changed. And as our faith, hope, and love spread the good news, then those people whose hearts are changed are changing the hearts of people around them. So these are the things Paul's seen and heard about the church at Colossae. Paul wants them to know that he knows about them. So he praises them. This is amazing. He prays them for their belief in God's work and their work in spreading the gospel. Why don't you think about that for a while? We'll get back to it a little later. Let's take a look at Paul's prayer, verse nine. And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you. Now, based on what Paul knows about their faith, what he's heard about their faith, their love, and their hope, even though many of them are probably new believers, look at what Paul prays for them. Now, this gets down to the nitty gritty of how do we pray for folks? Second half of verse 9, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. He wants them to be filled. And the word here means to be supplied fully with. There's a connotation of abundance. He wants them to be filled with what? Oh, he wants them to be filled with money. He wants their pews to be filled. He wants more and more people coming. He wants a bigger church, a bigger building, more programs. He wants them all to be healthy. And if they're not, maybe there's something wrong with their faith. Is that what it says here? He wants them to be filled with the knowledge of God's will, the knowledge of God's purpose, the knowledge of God's calling, and to have this in abundance in spiritual wisdom, not worldly wisdom. He wants them to know God. And the verb here denotes a process. ongoing actions to be filled with and continue to be filled with. Clearly, Paul is talking about spiritual growth here. We're not going to get anchored in one facet of the gospel. We're not going to emphasize one attribute of God and ignore the rest. We're going to take the whole thing. We're going to look at every aspect of the gospel, every attribute of God, and we are going to embrace it. Well, that's a pretty heady prayer, isn't it? That's what he wants for the Colossian church. They're in trouble, they're struggling, new in their faith, and he's saying, okay, let me pray for your spiritual health and growth. And undoubtedly, they hear that and they go, oh, thanks. And some of them are thinking, don't you know we need a new roof on the building? Don't you know that we need another million dollars to finish our preservation project? Could you pray for money to come to us? Not a bad prayer. I pray it. But my prayer for you, and I hope that your prayer for me, is that we will grow in our faith and knowledge of the Lord. He'll take care of the rest. 20 some odd years that I've been standing here, I've watched him do it over and over and over again. You've seen him. Turn our focus on him, and amazing things start to happen. We turn our focus on our situations and what's going on around us, and we begin to flounder. He's not praying this so that the Colossians can have health and wealth. He's praying this, verse 10, listen carefully. so as they as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God." Paul prays for spiritual growth, spiritual strength, so that they can walk in a worthy manner. Now, the word walk is kind of interesting. because that was a primary tenet of Jewish rabbi teaching ever since it showed up from God's interaction with Abraham. God's first command to Abraham in Genesis 17 is to walk before me and be blameless. From that time on, the image of walking became an image of being obedient to God and what he commands us to do. He pulls out praying for them to be intellectually superior. His prayer is not for academic prowess amongst his people. It's not for theological excellence. All that stuff will come along. When Paul prays for obedience, he's praying for ethical superiority. He's praying for ethically pure behavior. He's praying for piety, for righteousness, for purity to rise up among them, for them to be blameless before God. so that they will lead a life pleasing to the Father and continue on in their blessing. How are they going to please God? I mean, Scripture says we can't please God, doesn't it? What do we do with this? Well, it explains how to be pleasing to God by bearing fruit, the fruit of the gospel, and doing that in good works by going down on Main Street and giving away cookies and water and saying, God loves you. See, it's that simple. This is not complicated. And as we do that, we increase in the knowledge of ... Are we looking for more knowledge about ourselves? I've heard people say, oh, it's all about finding your identity in Christ. No, it's not. Are we looking for more knowledge of the world? Oh, you've got to do this to attract more people. Oh, to attract more people, you should give them money when they come in. I mean, they'll be lined up by increasing in their knowledge of God and His Word. That's the spiritual growth Paul's praying for. And He not only prays for that process to continue inside them, He prays for the particular results in their lives. He wants to see them, verse 11, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might for all endurance and patience with joy. I just want you to linger on that for just a second. Being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might. I love that phrase. I just want to go, oh, I have the power of God. I like it. It's a promise. Oh, wait a minute, there's a comma. For all endurance and patience with joy. Paul wants them to live in the power of the Spirit. He wants them to live in divine power. And we know this because he prays, the power he prays for is according to his God's glorious might. So why does Paul want them to have the power? So that they might endure in patience. I don't know if I like that power as much. And the power is about me wielding thunderbolts, lightning. I like that. I don't know if I like the power to endure and be patient, but I know that there are times in my life when I need that more than I need anything else. How many of us need that prayer right now? The prayer to endure with patience whatever God has put us on our plate. You know, I don't know about you. I don't like being patient. I pray for patience frequently, and I want it right now. Yeah. God's got a great sense of humor. He goes, oh, really? But I find myself in these situations where things pop up in front of me, and I want to get in and fix it. I want to do something. I want to tell other people they need to do something. The last thing I want to do is endure the situation, and the very last way I want to endure it is with patience. You see what Paul's praying for the Colossian church? I know you're having a rough time. I know this is hard. I know there are people trying to lead you astray. I know you're getting a lot of input from a lot of people. You're being told you need to do things, you're doing things wrong, and you want to do them right. So don't get in there and fix it. Hold on to the truth that you've been given. Embrace the Word of God. Embrace the power of the Spirit and endure this with patience. Just keep doing what you have been taught to do. You embrace the truth. It's changing you. Your heart is changing. You're growing in the Lord. Keep doing that and let God work out the details. You don't have to fix it. All you have to do is rest in Him. That's a challenge for me. Not only are we supposed to do that, we're supposed to do that, verse 12, giving thanks to the Father. We're not giving thanks for a bad situation. Oh, thank you, God, that this is so hard. Thank you that this turmoil is going on. We give thanks to God that there's a way through it. We give thanks to our Father in heaven that he's equipping us so that not only can we survive this, but we can point towards him and say, God got me through. Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Look at this. Verse 13, He has delivered us from the domain of darkness. You're not stuck in the darkness. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Sacrifice that His Son made on the cross. We're thankful for the sacrifice that brings us into the kingdom and into his presence forever. Paul's prayer for spiritual growth is there so that we can get through every trial and every trouble in our life and arrive in glory to be with him forever. Really an incredible prayer. So we saw Paul's praise. You know, the Colossian church must have been a great blessing to Paul. Here's a church that was getting it right. He doesn't have to write them a corrective like he did the Corinthian church or the Galatian church. They heard the truth, they're living it out. So Paul encourages them. Do you think that got their attention? Do you think that they read those opening lines? Do you think there was anybody in that congregation that went, oh, here goes Paul again. He's going to tell us everything we're doing wrong. Do you think anybody checked out over that? Or do you think everybody just leaned forward a little bit more, like some of you are doing right now? Do you think that they listened more carefully? You think they were eager to hear what Paul had to say to them? What would happen if we began every conversation, in particular on a political scene? Listen to me. What would happen if we started every conversation, every posting on social media with a note of encouragement? Oh my, now give me some endurance and patience. Paul's prayer. I mean, he starts with encouragement, then he lays out this prayer. And he prays for spiritual things, not material things. Just listen to me carefully. He prays for growth in the wisdom and knowledge of God. What if we prayed that prayer for everybody that doesn't think like we do? Not just other people in the church, but the people that don't know Christ. What if instead of fighting with the world around us, we prayed that they would come to know Christ and grow in his knowledge and wisdom? See, that's how a small group of people changed the world. That's how 12 people walked out of the upper room, and that thing spread like wildfire. Oh, there were trials. God used the trials to spread the gospel. Stephen gets killed, everybody runs. What do they take with them? The truth of God. What do they share when they land? You know, they didn't sit down and, oh, wait till you hear what happened in Jerusalem, we got to do something about this. What are you doing here? Well, let me tell you how I got here. The Lord brought me here. He's got a message for you. How the Colossian Church started. Caphras shows up, shares the truth with him, encourages him. Paul comes behind and encourages him and prays this incredible prayer for spiritual growth. He doesn't ask for worldly blessings. He doesn't ask for a remedy to every earthly problem. He asks for growth in the knowledge of God. What do you do when you don't know how to pray? The best prayer you can pray is you want to thank for that person for whatever they may have brought into your life, and one that they might grow in wisdom and knowledge, the Lord and the Word. Think about that for just a few minutes. Because it has power. It has true power, and it can change the world. And you know what? I'll make you a promise. It might not change the world. Things might go on the same way they're going right now, but it will change you. It'll change your heart. And you know how it will change your heart? You will find that you have endurance and patience, the endurance and patience to get through. With your eyes set on glory, not on your circumstances. I'm going to ask the worship team to come forward. We're going to prepare our hearts for communion. We're going to keep this simple. When we come together for communion, several things happen. But here's what I want you to think about today. Communion is multipurpose. It causes us to look back and see what God has done. It causes us to look around us and see what God is doing. But if we understand what he's done and what he's doing, then communion should cause us to look forward and see what he has promised to do. So our look back tells us how he has fulfilled all the promises. A look around us tells us how he is fulfilling the promises. And it gives us the faith and the confidence to look forward and see that he will fulfill his promises. So we see sacrifice on the cross, which will usher us into his presence for all eternity. I'd like the deacons to come forward. We're going to hand out the elements. Listen to the words of this song. Spend some time asking the Lord to direct you. We'll take the bread together and then we'll take the juice together. When I fall on my knees With my face to the rising sun Oh, Lord have mercy on me Let us drink wine together on our knees. Let us drink. When I fall on my knees, give my praise to the rising sun, O Lord, have mercy on me. Let us praise God together on our knees Let us praise God together on our knees Jesus broke the bread. So this is my body which is broken for you to take and eat. He picked up the cup. He said, this is my blood which is shed for you. Take a drink. Father, we give thanks for the faith, the hope, and the love that we have in your son. And we pray, Father, as we leave this place, Father, that we leave in safety. but with the security of knowing that we can be those people of faith, love, and hope by your power, by your presence. We pray that you would pour through us into the world around us, that we might be salt and light in a world that needs it so desperately. And we thank you that you gave your only son, that we might be able to not just have this moment together, but be those billboards that put you on display. And we pray this in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Thank you for tuning in with us, those of you that are online. Hey, I'd like everybody to stand, and if you can, come forward. We'll sing the doxology. We want to greet the folks that are watching us. We have several families that can't join us physically, so they tune in on Sunday morning. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures dearly low. Praise Him, all lovely heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. Thank you. We'll be back next week for part two. Anybody who'd like to talk to me, I'll be right over here.