Most often, I write the “Songs for Sunday” post on late Friday night or early Saturday mornings because that’s when I get to shift gears in my brain from the weights of the work week to rest and reset on the weekend. That shift helps me get my focus and my priorities back in their proper places. It also serves as a good reminder that Sunday morning worship does not begin on Sunday morning but in the days, and especially the night, before. This week, however, I find myself with surplus time on Friday and a muse to motivate me earlier.
Friday mornings are my favorites of the week because I GET to start with student-led Bible study at school in our FCA/FCS (Fellowship of Christian Athletes/Students). These kids are on fire for Jesus and show it by getting up week after week and sharing testimonies, passages of Scripture, devotions, and sometimes sermons. They challenge me because they are braver than I am. It’s easy to stand up in church and proclaim the Word. It’s a whole other thing to stand up in front of 40-50 peers at school and share your faith. The teachers and staff who show up are superfluous other than getting to silently witness them share their faith. And share their faith they do, compelled to do so by the love of Christ they have experienced and want others to be able to experience, too (2 Corinthians 5:14).
This morning’s devotion stood out to me on two accounts. First, the young lady boldly shared what God had brought her through and the assurance she had in His Word that He would continue to bring her through and would bring others through. Second, she talked about how spending time with God in His Word was a necessity — as vital to maintaining eternal life as oxygen is to life in general. To illustrate that importance she used Colossians 3:16:
“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
This is the verse that stays at the forefront of my mind in praying through and planning the Scriptures and songs we will use in our worship gatherings. I have written on it often in these “Songs for Sunday” devotionals. But it hit freshly this morning, and I rejoice in that because I — like we all do — need to be reminded again and again of the grace God gives us.
On Sunday mornings, it is not enough to use the bible, to mention it from time to time, and merely have songs based on it. No, we need it to “dwell in [us] richly”, being the substance of our teaching, our admonishing, and our singing. This is not just for Sunday morning, though. We need to have the Word dwell richly in us throughout the week — Sunday worship spurring us on to continue throughout the week.
We want our songs to be filled with the Word. Psalms meaning that we sing directly from Scripture; hymns meaning we sing and expound the great doctrines found in the Word; and spiritual songs that share our mutual testimony as those who were dead in their trespasses but have been made alive together in Christ.
And we want it — no, we need it to be like that every other day, too.
I am thankful to have been reminded of this today. Rather than singing a refrain of George Jones’s “Finally Friday” like I normally do, I find myself singing “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”, thinking about the good news that He has come and looking forward to Him coming again to receive us to Himself.
What about you?
I hope as you have read this you have been encouraged to get into the Word — to have it dwell in you richly and to impact your life and faith. I hope it motivates you to make plans to gather with other believers on Sunday morning as believers have done since the stone was rolled aside from Jesus’s empty tomb.
If you do not have a church home and are in the Grenada, MS area, we would love to have you at Christ Community. John will open the Word to feed us what God has for us. The praise team will lead us in singing and reading from the Word. And the choir, the congregation, will lift praise and worship to an audience of one — the One who died for us and rose again — the One who lives and cares for us even now — the One who has come and is coming again.
15And I (Paul) said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
50I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
At Christ Community Church, we are blessed to have John Goldwater, LG Schmitz, and Burt Schmitz as three of our pastors. These men love Jesus and work hard to serve Him and point us to Him. A lot they do never gets noticed, but whether we see it or not, Jesus does.
I’m thankful for John’s handling of the Word. He preaches tirelessly, every opportunity he gets. He preaches the gospel weekly at Christ Community, The Foundry, Jesus Saves Bro, Kirk Chevy, and Burger King. Throughout each month, you can find him preaching at the Carroll County Jail, the Emmaus camp, and anywhere else that will listen to him preach Jesus! In addition to all that preaching, he ministers to people in ways that are too numerous to mention.
I’m thankful for LG’s heart for Jesus and passion to let people know that Jesus has a plan for their life. A lot of times, folks in their 80s slow down and lose some of what can be called youthful vigor, but LG still preaches when called on and serves to encourage and disciple folks as often as he can. He serves Christ Community on our Finance Team and gives more encouragement behind the scenes than I could begin to describe or enumerate.
I’m thankful for Burt’s many hats. Burt keeps our media and sound going (which is difficult because tech and equipment glitches are a way of life in church life). He also teaches our kiddos the Word on Sunday mornings and Wednesdays. I love hearing Xander come home talking about what Mr. Burt taught him from the Bible. Furthermore, nothing tops his Wednesday boot camps in the eyes or our kiddos where he weaves fun games and Bible study together seamlessly. He even manages to find time to text our Bible verses and encouragement to many people every day.
If you are reading this and have a pastor, reach out to them and thank them for their service to the Lord and shepherding of you and yours. Be specific in your encouragement!
Lord, thank you for the pastors you have give us at Christ Community and the Foundry. Bless them and keep them. Help us to appreciate them and follow their example and teaching. Amen.
All through the month of November, our Christ Community Church family is focusing on what we are thankful for and expressing our thanks to our “great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us” (Titus 2:13-14).
This, like the #DailyWisdomChallenge we went through in October, is a challenge from our pastor John Goldwater — the #GRATITUDEandHOPEchallenge — where we have the opportunity to post Bible passages that move us to thanksgiving or in which we find hope. May this lead you to be grateful and find your hope in Jesus!
I don’t know about y’all, but I can’t wait because I need it.
I need to be reminded fresh that we gather in remembrance of Jesus’s resurrection (Luke 24:1-6). The reason we gather on the first day of the week is because that is when the stone was rolled away from the tomb, and Jesus, the Man of Sorrows (Isaiah 53:3), rose from the dead by His own divine power (John 10:17-18, John 2:19-21). He fulfilled His promises to return, and His body just stopped being dead (Matthew 28:5-6, Romans 6:9). As Peter put it, “God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it” (Acts 2:24).
I need to be reminded that I am not the only one struggling with sin and this fallen world (Romans 7:18-25). Part of gathering together is reminding each other that the God who saves and raised from the dead — who promised that He would save, die for our sins, and rise from the grave — is faithful to keep His promises (2 Corinthians 1:20, John 10:28-29, Hebrews 10:23). Part of gathering together is having my brothers and sisters “stir me up” to love and good works (Hebrews 10:24-25). I need to be stirred up or else I will get stuck like a noodle to a hot pot, so I need my faith family to stir me — to lift me — up (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, Galatians 6:2).
I need to be reminded that none of this is all about me. Jesus is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11). Jesus is God (John 1:1-3). All that there is belongs to Him (Colossians 1:16-17, Psalm 24:1). In fact, I belong to Him (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). But rather than be humbled to despondency or insignificance, I get reminded that the King of kings and Lord of lords, God Most High, set His affections on me and saved me because He loves me (Deuteronomy 7:7-8, Ephesians 2:4-5). We all get reminded that He looks upon the weak and lowly with compassion and saves all who call upon the name of the Lord (Psalm 34:18, Romans 10:13).
I need to be reminded that all of this — my life and this world and everything in between — belongs to Jesus (Colossians 1:16-17, Psalm 24:1). I need that specific time set apart specially to worship and focus on Jesus to remind me that all my times should be so set apart (Psalm 46:10, Colossians 3:1-2). I need my focus reoriented. I need my eyes lifted up from the mire and the weights of this world and set on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2, Psalm 121:1-2). I need this reorientation turning my life back toward Him like a compass to the north (Psalm 25:4-5, Isaiah 26:3).
Simply put, I need Jesus, and my brothers and sisters in Him need Jesus, too.
Tomorrow, at Christ Community Church, that is what our focus and effort will be aiming at: pointing people, pointing each other, to Jesus.
Our songs will be focused on seeing Jesus as the Bible presents Him. We will see Him as God and be overwhelmed by His magnitude and magnificence (Colossians 1:15-17, Hebrews 1:3). We will see Him as the prophesied man of sorrows who bore our sin and shame to give us life (Isaiah 53:3-5, 1 Peter 2:24). We will see Him as the reigning King who promised to return to rescue us in power and finality (Revelation 19:11-16, Matthew 24:30). We will Him lifting us up and fighting our battles (Romans 8:37). We will see that He has a frightening level of power that humbles us and moves us to worship Him all the more, in awe of what He has done, can do, and will do (Job 26:14, Revelation 5:12-13).
Our time in the Word will see our pastor, John Goldwater, open God’s Word and point us to Jesus.
Our time spent in worship together will remind us of the solidarity that comes from being in a family — dysfunctional as we be — who is bound together by love and common-purpose. I cannot wait to stand to raise my voice in the crowd and hear my brothers and sisters singing to Jesus and proclaim His gospel to me.
What about you?
What are your plans for the LORD’s day?
If you are in or around Grenada, MS, we at Christ Community would to invite you to gather with us and allow us to introduce you to King Jesus.
9 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, 10 so 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; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For He grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
For the month of October, we are answering the challenge John Goldwater, pastor of Christ Community Church in Grenada, MS, laid out — the #DailyWisdomChallenge. Each day, we are going to read through a chapter of Proverbs corresponding to the day of the month.
This fits with what we have studied in Colossians, specifically Colossians 3:1-2, namely that we should seek “the things that are above, where Christ is” and set our minds like a thermostat “on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”. Imagine what a month meditating on God’s Word daily can do for us.
Won’t you join us on this #DailyWisdomChallenge and set your minds on Christ?
Outside of God saving me, the single greatest blessing in my life is God allowing me to be married to Candice. It does not take much thought or thinking through our relationship over the last twenty-three years to confirm that she is definitely my “good thing” and an example of God’s grace and “favor” in my life. And none who know or care for me would disagree.
But Proverbs 18:22 is not just about me and Candice. It, like so many other proverbs, finds its meaning not only in its own words but in contrast to others. As we looked at when discussing the “forbidden woman” v. the wife of one’s youth in Proverb 5, there is a contrast between the life that God prescribes and the paths that forge on their own. In the coming chapters of Proverbs (21:19 and 25:24), there is a contrast between wives who seek to be something other than a good thing or godly favor but to drive their husbands to be better off living “in a desert land” (Proverbs 21:19) or on “a corner of the housetop than in a house” (Proverbs 25:24).
Proverbs 18:22 represents living according to God’s wisdom in contrast to the anti-wisdom of the temptations of the forbidden woman or the plight of a quarrelsome marriage. God has a specific design for marriage and, as He Himself invented marriage, His design works best.
God’s design for marriage began when He remarked in the Garden of Eden that it was “not good” that Adam “should be alone” and decided to “make him a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:18). God performed the first surgery and the first marriage in quick succession. He created Eve from Adam’s rib and joined them together as man and wife. Their union was to be the example for those marriages moving forward — in intimacy as well as how it was set apart (Genesis 2:23-25).
Many try and abuse God’s design for marriage by citing the term “helper” (Genesis 2:18) and the call to submission in Ephesians 5:22, but those picture something different for marriage — something better. You see, God did not create marriage for a man’s benefit but also for women.
While it is “favor from the Lord” for man to find a wife, it is not a curse for the wife. The husband is to love and care for his wife “as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25). Marriage is to be a picture of the gospel (Ephesians 5:32).
To find God’s purpose for your life is a good thing. If it is singleness, that is a good and godly pursuit. If it is marriage, that is a good and godly pursuit. But both should be sought as God prescribes.
Marriage works best the way God intended with husbands caring for and loving their wives and wives caring for and loving their husbands. When I think specifically of how God has blessed me and shown favor to me in my wife, I think of the rib He used to make Eve (Genesis 2:21). God did not just design marriage; He also designed the human body. He made the rib cage to protect the most vital human organs like the heart and lungs. My wife is small, but she is fiercely protective of those she loves. She is protective of me even when I think I do not need protection. She looks to care for me even when I think I am the only one doing the caring and providing.
She has also taught me what it is to be a “helper” in the Genesis 2:18 sense. Everything that I do is enhanced because God has put her in my life. He has changed and grown me immensely over the years by His indwelling Spirit, and He has given me a desire to change, grown, and be better for the wife He has given me.
If you are reading this and married, take time and thank God for the spouse He has given you. Then, talk to your spouse and tell them you are thankful for them. Know that God has a plan for your marriage as surely as He has a plan for you (Ephesians 2:10), and see to it that you represent God’s favor to your spouse rather than husband-ing or wife-ing in such a way that they are headed for the desert or the roof! As Martin Luther said centuries ago, “Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave.”
Thank you, Lord, for the gift of marriage. Thank you for the way that Your relationship with Your church gives us the perfect example of love and a high standard to live up to — a standard worth striving for. Thank you for Candice and make me a man worth being married to!
For the month of October, we are answering the challenge John Goldwater, pastor of Christ Community Church in Grenada, MS, laid out — the #DailyWisdomChallenge. Each day, we are going to read through a chapter of Proverbs corresponding to the day of the month.
This fits with what we have studied in Colossians, specifically Colossians 3:1-2, namely that we should seek “the things that are above, where Christ is” and set our minds like a thermostat “on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”. Imagine what a month meditating on God’s Word daily can do for us.
Won’t you join us on this #DailyWisdomChallenge and set your minds on Christ?
Today’s proverb is such a beautiful picture of what what Paul describes as being found in Christ, “not having a righteousness of [our] own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Philippians 3:9).
So often, talk of the righteousness and wickedness fuels complaints about religious people thinking they are better than others or even fuels the self-righteousness of some church folks. I wish I could say this never has applied to me, but as I wrote in the #DailyWisdomChallenge post for Proverb 11, it is too easy to forget we are all sinners — all wicked, as many of the Proverbs say.
If it were not for Jesus saving me, I would have no righteousness to speak of (Romans 3:10); all I would have is my sin and the death that my sin has earned (Romans 6:23). To clarify, I am not a righteous man. My heart is wicked. And, well, not to be a downer, but yours is too. All of us sin and “fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). He is righteous. He is perfect. He is sinless. The rest of us are not.
There will come a day when I will stand before this righteous, perfect, sinless God and be faced with my wickedness and sin. Everything I have ever done will be evidence of that. Everything I have ever said will make the case for my guilt. The Bible tells us that Satan is the Accuser — one who accuses us day and night “before our God” (Revelation 12:10). He is bringing to God’s attention, and not having to lie despite his great knack for deception, our sin and failures. And, scarier still, none of this is news to God, because He knew all that we would do and all that we would say before the foundation of the world.
For those who have been saved, however, a “guilt offering” has been made on our behalf. Those who confess Jesus as Lord and believe in His resurrection are saved (Romans 10:9), and God places our sin and guilt on Jesus, His sinless Son, in order that we can be made righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus paid our sin debt “by cancelling the record…that stood against us with its legal demands” by “nailing it to the cross” — by allowing the sinless Savior to be nailed to the cross that we deserved (Colossians 2:14).
That’s good news!
What’s more is that God did not merely satisfy some legal demand. He did not issue some writ or declaration that can be passed to the accuser who is trying to prosecute us and shame God with our failures. No, the Bible tells us that we have an “advocate” who has taken our case, and his name and credentials are “Jesus Christ the Righteous” (1 John 2:1)! Think of every dramatic courtroom drama you have ever watched or read about, and know that they pale in comparison to the rich finality with which Jesus handles the case of those He has saved. When the accuser taunts and mocks, reminding us of sin and failure, Jesus answers with His own righteousness! He declares that by His blood and sacrifice — and the fact that He died and is now living and interceding on our behalf (Hebrews 7:25, Romans 8:34) — our sin has been removed “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12) and “cast…into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19)!
Before the Accuser can plead his case any further, God smacks the gavel with finality and declares innocent based on the righteousness of Christ!
Proverbs say that fools “mock the guilt offering”. One thing I can surely testify to here today is that I “enjoy” God’s “acceptance” BECAUSE I know how serious my sin is and how eternally grateful I am that He would save a wretch such as me.
How about you?
Do you see Jesus’s death and resurrection as necessary, or do you find it silly and unnecessary?
Do you think you will stand before God and have acceptance through any other means — wealth, prosperity, good works?
Let me plead with you today to look to Jesus to save you!
And, if you have, rejoice in the acceptance that will never be taken away, and do not fear the accuser. He knows “his time is short” and is lashing out in anger, trying to hurt those God has saved and thereby hurt Him (Revelation 12:12). Be encouraged and fear not, because the same proclamation that brings news of the accuser also proclaims God’s victory and Satan’s doom:
“Now the salvation and the power and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers HAS BEEN THROWN DOWN, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have CONQUERED him BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB and the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” (Revelation 12:10-11)
For the month of October, we are answering the challenge John Goldwater, pastor of Christ Community Church in Grenada, MS, laid out — the #DailyWisdomChallenge. Each day, we are going to read through a chapter of Proverbs corresponding to the day of the month.
This fits with what we have studied in Colossians, specifically Colossians 3:1-2, namely that we should seek “the things that are above, where Christ is” and set our minds like a thermostat “on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”. Imagine what a month meditating on God’s Word daily can do for us.
Won’t you join us on this #DailyWisdomChallenge and set your minds on Christ?
Our verse today presents us with two scenarios that involve reproving – or correcting – someone. One goes well, and the other, well, doesn’t.
The first category we see in Proverbs 9:8 is the “scoffer”. This word is most often translated as “scoffer” (Psalm 1:1; Proverbs 1:22, 9:7, 13:1, 14:6, 15:12, 19:25, 19:29, 21:11, 21:24, 22:10, 24:9; Isaiah 29:20), but it is also translated as “mocker” (Proverbs 20:1) and “scorners” (Proverbs 3:34). Even though “scoffer” is an English word, it is not one that is used often, so we need a little help (along with what “mocker” and “scorners” gives us) understanding what exactly a scoffer is and does. This is someone who makes rude or mocking comments loudly, someone who treats people with contempt or calls people out rudely because of dislike or hatred.[1]
The second category is the “wise man”. And since we are studying taking the #DailyWisdomChallenge by seeking God’s wisdom through the Proverbs, this is the one we should imitate in our lives – the way God intends for us to live according to His wisdom.
The whole section of Proverbs 9:7-12 deals with these two people. When a “scoffer” is corrected, he or she abuses the one trying to help them (Proverbs 9:7) and bear the consequences of the sin alone – those same sins that someone who loved them tried to help them correct (Proverbs 8:12). The “wise ” gets wiser when corrected and increases in his or her knowledge of the Lord (Proverbs 9:9, also Colossians 1:9). This wise person’s wisdom and knowledge is rooted in the “fear of the LORD” and learns and gains “insight” from “the knowledge of the Holy One” (Proverbs 9:10). The willful ignorance of the scoffer is rooted in his or her desire to do and say what they want as a means of satisfying their own wicked desires. One comes from God and serves Him; the other comes from wicked hearts and serves themselves.
The reason I picked Proverbs 9:8 specifically is the difference in the responses to the correction given. The important thing to remember is that correction is a good thing – when done correct, when done biblically. We are supposed to “speak the truth in love” to brothers and sisters in Christ (Ephesians 4:15) and put away “falsehood” by letting each of us “speak the truth with [our] neighbor” (Ephesians 4:25). It is part of Jesus’s intentions for His body gathering together; we should “consider how to stir up one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24). And, as Proverbs 9:8 tells us, the wise person who fears the LORD will love you for it. This doesn’t mean the correction is enjoyable, but it means that the person filled with the wisdom of the LORD and His Spirit will appreciate that someone cared enough about them to protect them from their sin.
The scoffer in Proverbs 9:8 is a whole different scenario. They won’t love you for correcting them. They will hate you. In the context of Proverbs 9:7-12, the scoffer does not appear to be a brother or sister (or neighbor in that sense). This reminds me of something we say often at Christ Community. We do not try to teach people how to act but rather preach the gospel and point people to Jesus (who by His Spirit changes people’s lives after He saves them). If we teach people how to act, they may act saved, fooling themselves and others into thinking they are safe from the wrath of God due their sin. So, rather than heaping condemnation on a “scoffer” who will stand before Jesus and making him or her hate you, point them to Jesus – the God who saves and loves them, and let Him change their lives!
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. —
22 Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. 4:1Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.[1]
📖 Revelation 3:7–13We’re back!After a few months off, The King is Coming returns in 2026 with one of the most encouraging letters in Revelation — Jesus’s message to the faithful church in Philadelphia. In a world filled with opposition and weakness, Jesus opens a door no one can shut.In this episode, Keith Harris and Jamie Harrison explore:✔️ Jesus’s identity as the Holy One, the True One — God Himself✔️ What the “key of David” means and how Jesus alone opens and shuts✔️ The debated phrase “I will keep you from the hour of trial” — and how to read it biblically✔️ Why “little power” doesn’t disqualify faithfulness✔️ How being kept through the trial glorifies Christ’s strength in us✔️ What it means to be a pillar in God’s presence foreverThis church had no rebuke — only encouragement. And Jesus’s call still stands today: “Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” (Revelation 3:11, ESV)🔗 Missed earlier episodes in the series? You can click here to catch up and listen from the beginning.✍️ If you’d like to see a written version of this podcast, complete with footnotes and cross-references, you can find it here.
Today’s Bible study has put me through the wringer. As I have said many times over, these Bible studies are not just for you but that they work on me first. It hit me as I type this final version that there is a great irony to how it has taken me so long to finish this Bible study. This Bible study is on what it means to be adorned with Christ in our vocations, and one of my vocations being an English teacher, one would think that the irony of me being unable to find the time to serve the Lord in writing this Bible study is because I have been working much more than usual. More than realizing the irony, though, is me sitting here and pondering whether my hard work of the last month or so has been “as for the Lord” or “for men” (Colossians 3:23).
For me, work has always been an easy idol. I like to work. I thrive when I get to multitask (with a reasonable number of tasks). I like the feeling of accomplishment I get when a task is complete, or a project goes well. Both of my vocations stem from God’s calling on my life and involve helping people in various capacities. Getting to see people receive needed help, whether it be the lightbulb clicking on when a student learns something or helping someone seek Christ, gives me an indescribable feeling. But, if I am not careful, I will take on more and more and more until I lose myself in the work.
I need accountability in this area, and I have people who are committed to helping me strike a correct balance in this area of my life so that I do not overindulge. I know I am a workaholic. I must be careful because I am a teetotaler and will add and add and add until I burn myself out. I know this because I have been there, having burned out and swapped careers just before my 30th birthday. It is part of the reason that I believe the Lord has allowed me to slowly ease back into pastoral ministry. I had to divorce my identity from my work and let Him define me in light of who He has made, is making, and will make me to be.
So, to answer my earlier question – and unfortunately confess to y’all, dear Sojourners: I have leaned more toward working for man than God as of late. Knowing that is, as they say, half the battle. Now, is the time for repentance.
Lest you think I am exaggerating because work is a good thing invented by God, too much of it or having it out of the balance of rest that exhibits faith in Jesus’s strength over my own reveals that I am not bearing fruit accordingly, namely the self-control that comes from being in Christ (Galatians 5:22-23). Look at a few passages of Scripture that illustrate this:
Proverb 25:16 – If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit.
1 Corinthians 9:25 – Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
Titus 2:11-12 – For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.
We will revisit these later on as we seek to apply our passage today, but it should be clear here that too much of a good thing can be bad – and yes, God invented work, so it is (or at least it was meant to be) good when done according to His Word and will.
In Genesis 2:15, we see that God put Adam into “the garden of Eden to work it and keep it”. This is not so much a mandate as it is a role or calling for Adam, and as his descendants, we have roles and callings as well. Initially, this work was easy for Adam as he was tasked with naming the animals in Eden and later his wife. God gave Adam the task of being “fruitful” and multiplying in order that the earth would be filled in Genesis 1:28, which the Bible describes as a part of God blessing them. These tasks were good and enjoyable – and probably much less of the toil we associate with work because, at the time, there was no sin in the world, no death (Genesis 1:31, Romans 5:12). Once the Fall occurred when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:6), death and sin began to reign in the earth (Romans 5:17), and God cursed the ground, the very same ground that Adam had been tasked to keep and work (Genesis 3:17-19). Adam’s sin took that good and fruitful work and turned it to toil with the addition of pain and thorns and thistles and sweat and dust (Genesis 3:17-19). Work went from something that was good and revolved around the role God assigned and calling He gave as a blessing and introduced the toil and fruitless labor that we know all too well.
This is why we need Colossians 3:22-4:1. Because of the Fall, the image of God in us has been marred by sin, but God, when He saves us, begins conforming us to the image of His Son Jesus rather than the world around us (Romans 8:29, 12:1-2). We saw this earlier in Colossians 3:9-10 when Paul told the Colossian church (and us) that we are to be putting “off the old self with its practices” and putting “on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator”. We need Colossians 3:22-4:1 to see what we need to take off and what we need to put on. We need to understand that God has placed us in our vocations as His ambassadors and missionaries (2 Corinthians 5:19-20) and ask the Lord to let our work be adorned with Christ rather than conformed to this fallen world.
Bondservants, Obey in Everything Those Who are Your Earthly Masters (vv. 3:22-25)
On the surface, this passage is about slaves obeying their masters. That is what it is about.
What This Does NOT Mean
As we covered in our study of Philemon, the God of the Bible is not associated with the slavery that comes to mind from colonial America or present-day human trafficking. You can look back at the Appendices from that Bible study and see God’s stance on the treatment of slaves and on the ungodly horrors visited on people in chattel slavery and around the world today; He is against such things. When the Holy Spirit breathed this out and had Paul to write it down, He was not condoning chattel slavery or human trafficking – plain and simple (see Appendix III — Bible Passages Condemning Practices Related to Chattel Slavery and Modern-Day Slavery/Human Trafficking). So, operating under the presupposition that what Paul is talking about here is not that[2], let’s dive in and see what He does mean here.
What Does It Mean, Then?
The word translated “bondservant” in the ESV is the Greek word doulos. It can – and probably should – be simply translated as slave, but there is a connotation[3] in the present that is wrapped up in the sinful atrocities of chattel slavery as well as in the continued sinful treatment of African Americans in the century plus following the Civil War in the Deep South. Bondservant does not really have a connotation and allows for the denotation, or definition, of what God has for us here. That word doulos refered to a slave, “one who is in a permanent relation of servitude to another” where their will is “altogether consumed in the will of the other”, and it references one being “bound to serve”.[4] It is closer to the modern understanding of an indentured servant than it is to modern understanding of slavery.
It would be a cop-out and over-generalization to say that this is all that there was, especially throughout the Roman empire and around the world at that time. There were wicked masters, and when they were bad, they were terrible. Some slaves were severely mistreated. But there were those who served out their debt and returned to regular life. There were even some who would seek to remain in the service of their master after their debt was paid. Roman slavery was associated with vocation. These bondservants could be teachers or builders or whatever skills they had that could generate enough revenue to pay off their debt. In some cases, it was quite like work releases for people who are incarcerated today – or even in the way trustees are given responsibility or management oversight.
The emphasis here is less about the way they were taught and more about how those who found themselves bonded to a master and have confessed Jesus as Lord will serve. The emphasis is on their service rather than the quality of their master. Their service is to be marked by obedience “in everything” (Colossians 3:22). Their service is to flow out of sincere hearts and their fear of the Lord rather than “by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers” (Colossians 3:22). Whatever was required of them was a call to “work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” because they were “serving the Lord Christ” and receiving the only reward that mattered from Him (Colossians 3:23-24). Those who are saved have submitted themselves to Jesus as Lord – as kurios, the Greek word for the master of a doulos. And this is what their heavenly Lord and Master required of them – what He requires of us.
Now, did this mean that they refused to be paid or for their debt to be worked off? Absolutely not. What it meant was, if they were in Christ, the fruit borne by their lives reflected an inheritance greater than any paycheck and that their redemption by the blood of Jesus meant more than being redeemed from earthly servitude. This also does not mean that they are above punishment if they did wrong because, with God, “there is no partiality” and “the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done” (Colossians 3:25). This would also cover if an earthly master required a sinful act from their slave or bondservant. Just like we looked at in the relationships of fathers to children and husbands to wives, being in service to God above all means that we refuse to bow to the call of the world and sin even and especially if it means punishment or persecution (1 Peter 2:20-23). To clarify, this would not include the way a wicked master would punish but is meant to help us understand that, even for saved people, there are consequences for sin.
To be adorned in Christ as one works and serves means that they are serving the Lord above all, no matter their vocation. It means that Jesus has a plan for your vocation that goes beyond what you can see (Ephesians 2:10)! It means your quality of work matters, not because of your earthly masters or bosses but because you belong to Jesus and He has set you apart to shine His “marvelous light” in your workplace and find opportunity to “proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness” (1 Peter 2:9).
Masters, Treat Your Bondservants Justly and Fairly (v. 4:1)
Since slavery was an integrated part of the Roman Empire and the Colossian church clearly had masters in her members, like Philemon, it is important for God to set a standard for how those masters would operate. This extends to those in both vocational authority and other areas of oversight or administration.
What Does It Mean, Then, to Be a Master Who is Just and Fair?
The way that Paul wrote it here is pretty clear who is in charge: “knowing you also have a Master in heaven” (Colossians 4:1). Earthly masters who are saved imitate their heavenly Master, their Lord Jesus Christ. I do not want to oversimplify this, but it means you are going to be different than most masters, the vast majority of bosses.
In the case of Roman slavery, it could have been a call for them to lose revenue by not having debts paid back because their Lord was calling them to free slaves – completely contrary to the culture around them (see Appendix II — Bible Passages Discussing the Release of Slaves). In the case of vocational authority today – being a boss or having oversight/authority over people, it means that you are called to bear fruit of God’s Spirit being in you. Earthly leaders and bosses like to lead with intimidation, but Jesus was a servant leader. He did not hesitate to humble Himself and wash His disciples feet. Saved bosses can lead by serving and humility as well. Earthly bosses can threaten and demoralize, but Jesus lifts up the lowly. Saved bosses can do the same.
Now, does this mean that a boss or leader who is saved is a pushover and allows their employees to run rough-shod over them? Absolutely not! Jesus holds people accountable for their actions. Jesus is a Master who has expectations for His people, but Jesus is consistent with who He is as He disciplines and corrects. So, if you are an earthly boss and Jesus is Lord, you do not conform to the ways of this world for material or vocational gain; no, you allow who His Spirit has transformed and is transforming you into – how He is conforming you back to the image of God in Christ – set the course for how you deal with people.
In a sense, those bosses who are saved and adorned in Christ function in regard to Christ as Paul describes a bondservant to serve. Saved bosses have a “sincerity of heart” stemming from their fear of the Lord (Colossians 3:22). They “work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord [they] will receive the inheritance as [their] reward (Colossians 3:23). They serve the “Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:24).
The remainder of Colossians 4:1 highlights what that looks like as Paul tells the masters that they should treat their bondservants “justly and fairly”. This is where the tough part of leadership comes in. If an employee has committed some sort of infraction that necessitates firing them, a godly master fires them. If there is a process that is to be followed to do so, the process is followed. This would prohibit office politics and replace it with a yearning to be just and fair as Jesus has been just and fair with them. In some cases, where grace and mercy can be shown, this calls for that, too – all in balance with how the Word teaches us and the Spirit of God leads, and all contrary to the way that this fallen world operates.
Wrapping Up
So, what does that look like? If you are like me, you look at some of this and it seems like this is a good way to get taken advantage of or to sign up to get a lot of extra junk to put up with at work. It is important to remember that our work is not our identity. Jesus gives us an identity in Him by redeeming us from the power of sin and death, rescuing us from the wrath of God, and eternally adopting us into His family. And we get to be adorned with Him and bear His family name into whatever vocation He has for us.
Here are some principles to consider:
Do everything for the Lord (v. 3:17). Whatever your job and whatever your task, work as if Jesus Himself had tasked you with it. This gives work meaning and views it in light of the Kingdom of God and not in whatever earthly kingdom you are employed at.
Work with sincerity and integrity (v. 3:22). Employees should not work merely for status and approval but should consistently act with the understanding that their ultimate accountability is to God.
Work heartily and diligently (v. 3:23). Workers should put their best effort into their work, recognizing that this is part of the calling of their Lord Jesus Christ. This calls for a strong work ethic – not a calling for workaholism – because the work is as to the Lord not men.
Focus on eternal rewards rather than temporal ones (v. 3:24). Earthly compensation matters. It does. It is a big reason why we have and need jobs. The Bible is not against us earning wages and even says if you do not work, you do not eat. But there is more to working than a paycheck. There is an inheritance from the Father for those who serve Him. This mindset helps maintain perspective, especially if your work environment is challenging or worse. If you work for a paycheck or merely for retirement, there are limits to your service. If you work for the One who has made a place for you in heaven (and based on His merit, not yours), your perspective changes.
Be accountable for what you do wrong (v. 3:25). Remember, God is a just God and is pro-discipline. An earmark of being in Christ is repentance. One of the best ways you can exhibit what Jesus has done in you through His salvation is by repenting when you have messed up. This is not a popular viewpoint, but even if your wrongdoing costs you your job, your standing with Jesus is based on His righteousness not your own — which is good news: God is pro-grace!
If you have authority over employees, treat them justly and fairly(v. 4:1). Treat employees as Jesus treats you. It really is that simple. No amount of earthly success or status is worth conforming to the world when Jesus has transformed you into something better.
Realize you are accountable to God (v. 4:1). This is true for believers whether you are a boss or an employee. If you have confessed Jesus as Lord, He is your master. He calls the shots. What He says goes. And serving Him even at the expense of losing a job is worth it. He will still be here when all of this passes away.
Do not let work become an idol (Proverb 25:16, 1 Corinthians 9:25, Titus 2:11-12). It is easy to get into the mindset that because you work as unto the Lord that you cannot quit or stop. The God who ordained work also ordained rest. He did not bring us from death to life in Him for our lives to be wrapped up in our vocations. Jesus gives us wisdom and self-control. While He may call some people to a single vocation and calling for their whole lives, He does not do that with everyone. Follow Him and be willing to change or quit if that is what He has for you. At the same token, be willing to dig in where you are if that is what He has for you.
This has not been my favorite Bible study. I have had to take a step back and realize that I am susceptible to getting my work life out of whack, even when I thought I had it all worked out. The good news is Jesus is the God who saves and a Lord who is active in the lives of His servants. No matter how many times I mess up, I can approach His throne and receive grace and mercy, which He has in an inexhaustible supply.
What about you? I do not mean to meddle, but I exhort you, dear Sojourner, to look at your life and your work and test it according to the Word of God. How can you apply this and shine more brightly His marvelous light rather than working in such a way that you hide the light of Christ.
Know this: I am praying for you and asking God to work in and through your work.
Sunday’s coming, and we GET to gather with our faith family and worship our resurrected King, “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:14)!
I had started writing this but something changed. It sounded, well, less than genuine. The truth is I am not always excited or upbeat (crazy, I know). This extends to looking forward to gatherings, even gatherings with my faith family. I imagine you identify with that idea, that sometimes you are weary or anxious or depressed. Sometimes we grieve. Sometimes we just feel melancholy and gloomy.
But that melancholy does not extinguish the JOY that comes from being in Christ. The good news of the gospel is still good when the bad news or tough realities of the world set in. You see, all things bad have a gospel expiration date because one day, as the Jesus Storybook Bible puts it, all the sad things will come untrue.
Isn’t that a beautiful thought? The sad and bad of this world will simply end when we find ourselves dwelling with God as His people and Him with us as our God (Revelation 21:3)! The last tear on our face will be wiped by His nail-scarred hand, and mourning, crying, pain, and death will be done with forever and ever (Revelation 21:4)!
For now, though, tears exist. Mourning exists. Pain exists. Death exists. But GOD….
There are two passages on my heart that hold promises that carry me when that melancholy sets in.
I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
This is part of Jesus’s last conversation with His disciples on the night before He was crucified. He told them that the time He had prophesied — the time of His death — was at hand. He promised them the Holy Spirit would come and comfort them. He told them of the tribulation and hatred the world would bring upon His people because of Him. He told them one of them would betray Him and that another would deny Him. He washed their feet, ate with them, and prayed for them. In the context of John 16:33, He had just told them that all of the sorrow that was coming in the next twenty-four hours and for the rest of their lives (and ours until He returns) would turn to joy.
Jesus promises two things in John 16:33. The first promise is tribulation. As the disciples noted in John 16:29, Jesus was no longer using any “figurative speech” with them but telling them straight up: “you will have tribulation”. No one wants that, but that terror comes untrue in the second promise: those who are His can “have peace” — they can “take heart” because He has already “overcome the world”!
Trouble comes. Trials come. Tribulation is a reality for His people. But Jesus had already overcome the world before He even died on the cross! Now, He has died and has risen, just as He promised.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Jesus told His disciples to “take heart” on the night before His crucifixion. Here, we can see our resurrected Lord tell us to “take heart” in a different way. He has ascended and is on His throne, but He has not left us alone — lo, He is with us always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20)!
When troubles come and trials abound, even when melancholy clouds our joy, we can approach Jesus’s throne with the confidence that He has the grace we need — timely grace — and will mercifully help us in our time of need. We can run to Him with the same confidence of a little child scared in the night can approach their parents’ bed. No other king or leader is that approachable, but our King is!
So, even though my excitement wanes, my joy does not. My mood and my circumstances change, but my God does not (James 1:17)! The realities of the bad make the good news that much better.
We just have to remember in the midst of that that He who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:23)!
That’s who we will be singing about and to this Sunday at Christ Community. We will have the opportunity to read from His Word and have His Word preached to us. We will GET to gather and hear our brothers and sisters lift their voices — not all happy but joyful nonetheless — and be lifted up and reminded of that glorious day when we stand before our King — our “great God and Savior Jesus Christ”, our “blessed hope” who “gave Himself for us to redeem us” (Titus 2:13-14)!.
And if we need to approach the throne of grace in prayer, there is time for that, too, and brothers or sisters who will approach with you because you are not alone!
15For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might 20that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
1O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens. 2Out of the mouth of babies and infants, You have established strength because of Your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.
3When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, 4what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
5Yet You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6You have given him dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, 7all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!
Have you ever heard someone ask: Do you want the good news or the bad news? Most of us have.
Sometimes people ask this question because there is simply just some good news and some bad news, and they want to offer folks the opportunity to choose which one they hear first. Most of the time, it offers the view that the good news could potentially cover up the bad news, almost like the perspective from the good news can lift us up from the bad news.
The news that “Sunday’s coming!” is kind of like that. We know that at the very least we are announcing that the day of the week when Jesus’s church gathers to celebrate His resurrection and worship Him, but part of that day of worship, part of meeting and worshiping together is to acknowledge that “the Day [of Jesus’s return is] drawing near” (Hebrews 10:25)! So, “Sunday’s coming!” for Christians is really an announcement that JESUS is COMING!
So, do you want the good news or the bad news?
This question has jogged my memory all the way back to when I was in third grade (an undisclosed amount of time ago). I, being the quirky and nerdy, geeky sort of guy that I am was of a similar sort back then, and it got me a certain amount of attention from larger stronger folks who thought that was weird. There was a certain amount of glasses-breaking beat-down sort of attention that happened fairly regularly, especially on the school bus. This garnered the attention of my principal at the time.
I remember one particular day after a rough and painful bus ride to school where I got called to the principal’s office. Naive as I was, I thought I was being called in to be given some relief — either to make the guys chill out on the beat downs for a while or to maybe at least put some distance between us for a beat down vacation. This wasn’t that. He wanted to know what I was doing to make these guys beat me down and wasn’t buying the story that my mere existence made them angry or that they found it entertaining to beat up on the littler guy.
He gave me a classic good news/bad news situation. He told me that he had called my daddy and that he was coming. It came as bad news that day because Daddy was working night shift and was not to be woken during the day. Waking him would surely mean trouble, especially since, as the principal told me, he had been called because he was sure I was stirring up trouble.
I remember being so scared that Daddy was currently on his way to the school. As the principal kept pressing for what he felt was the real untold story, he kept saying, “Your daddy is coming.” I was reminded of all of Daddy’s promises that getting in trouble at school would mean getting the same or worse trouble at home. I was reminded of all of the lessons on how to act and how to carry myself at school. My daddy loved me, and I had just about been convinced that his showing up at school that day was about the worst news I had heard at that point in my life.
Eventually, there was a knock on the office door, and the secretary ushered Daddy in. His facial expression was perturbed to say the least. He sat in the chair next to mine and the principal began his presentation of the facts as had been presented to me up to a point. Then, something unexpected happened. Daddy held up his hand, motioning for the principal to pause his tirade, and leaned over to me telling me, “Son, you can go back to class.”
That was unexpected. This wasn’t Daddy’s meeting. He had nearly absolute authority over me, but how would that work at school? Rather than waiting to find out, I swallowed the lump in my throat from fear and anxiety and walked out of the office into the hall and back toward class.
What happened next is seared into my memory — a core memory, if you will.
I heard my daddy’s characteristic whistle to get my attention. He was standing at the office door. He winked at me and waved.
You see, a wink was our thing. That wink came to mean many things over the years. It could be as simple as I-see-you or kind of an endearing look or, as it was in this case, everything’s going to be fine because daddy’s got you.
The bad news came untrue because “Your daddy’s coming!” (with the connotation of he’s going to get you) had turned to Daddy is here and he’s got you.
For some, JESUS is COMING could produce fear because they do not know Him. For those who are opposed to Him, the image is that of Revelation 19:11-21 — the rider on the white horse with a sword in His mouth ready to “tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty” (Revelation 19:15). He is coming in the full authority of “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16) and in power and judgment will defeat those who “gathered to make war against Him who was sitting on the horse and against His army” (Revelation 19:19). Those enemies are to be “slain by the sword that came from the mouth of Him who was sitting on the horse” (Revelation 19:21), or as Martin Luther put it in the hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”, felled with one “little word”.
That’s bad news.
It’s bad news unless you belong to Him, unless you are saved and given eternal life in Him (Romans 10:9-13, John 3:16, Ephesians 2:4-5). To face down the Lamb, Jesus Christ, the rider on the white horse — King of kings and Lord of lords — is a fearful thing. No one in His army will have to fight, Himself included. When He says, “It is done!” (Revelation 21:6), it is simply that — done. None can stay His hand. None can war against Him. None can flaunt His authority.
That’s good news.
It’s good news if you are with Him.
So, do you want the good news or the bad news?
The good news is that Jesus has made a way for us (John 14:6). The King of kings has left His throne and come to earth — to dwell among us (John 1:14), living the life we cannot live while dying the death we deserve (2 Corinthians 5:21). He left the glory of heaven to come to earth and deliver “us from the domain of darkness” and transfer us to His Kingdom by redeeming us and forgiving our sins (Colossians 1:13-14). For those who see Him as King, confess Him as Lord, believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead shall be saved (Romans 10:9-10). Again, that’s good news!
For those whom He has saved, “Sunday’s coming!” means that He has come and is coming again! It is a celebration because not even death could stop Him, that when He promises everlasting life He can give it because He is the Life (John 14:6).
For those whom He has saved, it is better than a wink and a wave telling us everything will be okay — Jesus lives tells us that we can “take heart” because He has already “overcome the world” — everything is already okay because He has already won (John 16:33)!
And that’s what we will be singing about Sunday at Christ Community — that’s WHO we will be singing TO: Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords! The songs we sing and Scriptures we will read will be pointing us to Him and praising Him for who He is and all He has done, is doing, and will do. John will preach to us from God’s Word and preach Jesus!
13He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Sunday’s coming, and I look forward, Lord willing, to gathering with my faith family at Christ Community Church!
I guess you could say that I have been feeling a bit nostalgic lately, but throughout the day today, I have found one particular memory has been vividly on my mind. Maybe it is because the last Refresh & Restore Bible study was on the relationship between parents and children or just thinking about the way that my kids seem to be growing years and inches before my very eyes. Either way, I want to share this memory with you today.
In 2015, I quit ministry for what I thought was going to be forever, or at least a very long time. I had burned out. I needed a break. I needed to remember the love I had for Jesus — no, more than that, the love He had for me — and “repent, and do the works [I] did at first” (Revelation 2:4-5). It was hard though for many reasons, not the least of which was having to learn a new vocation and living with my parents until we could finish work on our house.
This particular memory was on a Wednesday. Xander was not quite a year old and was sick. Candice was exhausted from work and working on our house, too — honestly more so than me. And Keri would not drop the subject of whether or not we were going to church that night.
I had informed Candice and Keri as we left the school in Winona that we would not be returning for church that night because “Daddy needs a break”. With Xander being sick, one of us would have to stay with him, and we could just use the time for family. I can remember Candice silently taking it all in but watching me carefully and a little concerned.
Keri asked again if we were going, almost as if she didn’t understand what I thought I had communicated more than clearly enough. I told her to be quiet, which honestly is hard for five-year-olds under the best of circumstances. We picked Xander up from my in-laws and were headed home when Keri picked up the conversation again, this time getting louder. So I got louder as a response. “Daddy. Needs. A break.” I enunciated this time. And what Keri did next hit me like a ton of bricks.
Keri raised her voice: “You’re my daddy! You’re supposed to want to take me to church!”
I was embarrassed.
I was angry.
I looked over toward Candice to get some support — support for a break from the woman who had been caring for our sick baby before and after work — from the one who would be at my parents’ caring for him if I were to take Keri back to Winona for church (the one needing a break herself). She offered no support and only asked me what I was planning on doing now.
I sped to my parents’ house to drop off Candi and Xander, sped to Winona and walked Keri into the children’s class — late of all things. I crept around the building to slink in the front, hoping not to draw attention to myself and still more than a little bit angry and embarrassed by Keri’s question. As I opened the double doors to enter the worship center, Dr. Tim Mims was praying — more than that was praying for me (even though he didn’t know it at the time).
“Lord, I feel it in my spirit that you want me to pray for someone who just wants to give up — to quit. Lord, help this person….”
He continued to pray. I eased the door shut and crawled quietly up the stairs to the balcony, weeping. I spent the rest of that prayer meeting lying on my face and listening to the Word of God preached, listening to my pastor continuing to pray for myself and others. And all because my baby girl had not been willing to let me be anything other than what I had taught her daddies were supposed to be.
I had let church become a job — become an event. Now, gathering with my faith family was to regain the right place in my life. It would be where I GOT to go instead of something I had to do. The church did not need me, but rather, I needed it — and we need Jesus together!
There’s a verse that I mention in the “Songs for Sunday” posts often that is appropriate here:
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:23-25)
As Sunday approaches, I ask you to consider your plans — whether you plan to gather with your faith family or not. This is not an effort to guilt or convince. This is a pastoral effort to have you consider some things (like I did all those years ago and again today).
What is the confession of your hope? Is it “Jesus is Lord” (Romans 10:9)?
How does it affect your life to know that “He who promised is faithful” — whether or not we are ourselves?
What does it mean to neglect meeting together “as is the habit of some”?
For me, I had lost sight of the confession of my hope and was more worried that the promises I had made to the Lord had fallen by the wayside. I was saying that it was only going to be one little Wednesday night — not even a Sunday, mind you, but honestly, I wanted out and away as much or as often as I could. You see, I was lying because I was blinded to the promises and plan of God — of His faithfulness despite my bout of faithlessness (2 Timothy 2:13).
Maybe you need to be reminded that we gather not to check off some religious box or to get anything out of it. No, we gather to worship Jesus. We gather to remember what He has done and all He has promised. We gather because He is risen! And we get to stir one another up to love and good works as we do.
I doubt I am as convincing as my five-year-old baby girl yelling from the back seat, but the Holy Spirit is closer than that.
Daddies, yes, you are supposed to want to take your babies to church, but more than that you get to. Mommies, yes, it’s the same. But hear me on this: there is grace for those who have faltered and lost sight. There is grace for those who have missed. There is grace.
So, I ask you as you read this — as an effort to stir you up to love and good works rather than mere church attendance — will you gather?
This Sunday at Christ Community Church, we are going to make much of Jesus. We are going to read about Him from His Word. We are going to sing about Him and to Him. John is going to preach to us from His Word — we get to hear from Jesus by the preaching of His Word and the power of His Spirit!
Won’t you gather with us?
Everyone is welcome!
Here are our Scriptures & songs:
Scripture | Lamentations 3:16-24 —
16He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; 17my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; 18so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD.
19Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! 20My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. 21But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
22The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; 23they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 24“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”
Song | Grace Wins — Scripture Inspiration: Romans 3:23, Romans 5:6-8, Romans 5:16-18, Romans 8:1, 1 Timothy 1:13-14, Ephesians 1:6-7, 2 Corinthians 9:8, John 1:16, Ephesians 2:7, Ezekiel 36:26, 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, Luke 15:11-32, John 4, Matthew 9:27-31, John 9, Luke 16:19-31
Song | His Mercy is More — Scripture Inspiration: Lamentations 3:22-23, James 2:13, Romans 5:20, Hebrews 8:12, Isaiah 40:28, Hebrews 4:13, 1 John 3:20, Micah 7:18-19, Exodus 34:6, Psalm 145:8-9, 1 Timothy 1:15, Luke 14:21, 2 Corinthians 8:9, Colossians 2:13-14, Psalm 107:9, Ephesians 3:20, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Galatians 2:20-21
Scripture | Romans 6:4-8 —
4We were buried therefore with Him in baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. 6We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.
Song | Death Was Arrested — Scripture Inspiration: Ephesians 2:1-5, Romans 5:6-8, Revelation 20:14, Revelation 21:1-5, Galatians 2:19-20, 1 Peter 3:18, Romans 5:1-8, Romans 6:15-23, Colossians 2:13-14, John 19:28-30, 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, Revelation 1:18, Luke 15:11-32
Song | Ain’t No Grave — Scripture Inspiration: John 8:34, Romans 6:6, 1 John 4:8, 1 Chronicles 28:20, 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 1 Corinthians 15:50-56, John 8:44, 1 Peter 5:8, Revelation 12:9, Genesis 3:15, Ephesians 6:11-18, Isaiah 25:8, Hosea 13:14, 2 Timothy 1:10, Hebrews 2:14, Revelation 5:5, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
Just Keith Harris 