Introduction

• Read God’s word every day!
• If you rush past the ruler to get to the rules, you may not assess them correctly. The Bible is a Jesus book!

Nehemiah

• Overview
  • Laments the sins of the people – Nehemiah 1:3-7
  • Travels far to go and help them – Nehemiah 2:4-11
  • Teaches repentance and renewal – Nehemiah 2:13-18
  • Motivates them to work together – Nehemiah 3
  • Stands against outside opposition – Nehemiah 4:8-16
  • Calls for unity, peace, and love – Nehemiah 5:1-13
  • Faces threat of death by enemies – Nehemiah 6:1-10
  • Finishes the work he sets out to do – Nehemiah 6:15-16
  • Becomes a leader for years to come – Nehemiah 5:14
  • Calls for continual faithfulness – Nehemiah 10:28-39
• Would you have listened to Nehemiah?
• Nehemiah was a shadow of a great leader: Jesus

Jesus

• Overview
  • Laments the sins of the people
  • Travels far to go and help them – Philippians 2
  • Teaches repentance and renewal
  • Motivates them to work together
  • Stands against outside opposition
  • Calls for unity, peace, and love
  • Faces threat of death by enemies
  • Finishes the work he sets out to do – Hebrews 12
  • Becomes a leader for years to come
  • Calls for continual faithfulness
• Is His passion enough for you? Or do you have to wait until it is your own idea?
• Will you allow Jesus to call you to repent? To demand change?
• Can He pull you into communal service, to church involvement?
• Is He worth overcoming external and internal pressures to quit?
• Is past involvement enough? Or can He call you in for more?

A call to service

• Elders – I Timothy 3:10, 1
• Deacons
• Teachers
• Evangelists
• Hosts
• Givers
• Workers
• Encouragers
• Romans 12:1-8 – Don’t wait to feel the call. Hear the call!
• Ephesians 4:11-16
• When you get lazy and lethargic, you get mean and blame others. This doesn’t happen if you use your hands for good.

Conclusion

• Matthew 16:24
• Are you a 90 or a 52?

Introduction

• Acts 2

Colossians 3

• Colossians 3:1-4
  • Think and live for Christ and Heaven’s glory.
  • Keep buried the life that was exposed to Satan.
  • Anticipate His return and the glory that is to come.
• If Jesus is real to you, the main way people will see that is in your relationships with other people.

Relationships

Matthew 5:13-48

• Be a good influence (Matthew 5:13-16)
  • You cannot out-worship a bad attitude.
• Do not mistreat believers (Matthew 5:21-26)
• Do not lust for another (Matthew 5:27-30)
  • Loving others properly can help with lust.
• Do not divorce your spouse (Matthew 5:31-32)
• Be a person of integrity (Matthew 5:33-37)
• Do not return evil for evil (Matthew 5:38-42)
• Love even your enemies (Matthew 5:43-48)

Ephesians 4:1-3

Colossians 3:5-4:6

• Avoid sexual immorality (Colossians 3:3-7)
  • A sin against God and others
• Treat Christians properly (Colossians 3:8-16)
  • Not with anger and meanness
  • But with compassion and love
  • Encouraging with thankfulness
    • Ephesians 4:29
• Honor your family (Colossians 3:18-21)
  • Loving them and the Lord
• Respect authority roles (Colossians 3:22-4:1)
  • Loving them and the Lord
• Influence people everywhere (Colossians 4:2-6)
  • With wisdom and grace

Matthew 7:13-14, 12

• The context here is the golden rule!
• Treat others well!

Colossians 2

• Colossians 2:1-3
• Colossians 2:10-15 – Notice the repeating phrases “in Him,” “with Him,” and “through Him.”
• Colossians 2:4 – Watch out for slight distortions in the scriptures. It’s possible to be wrong by being either too loose or too tight with the scripture.

Philosophical reasoning (Colossians 2:8)

• Man’s logic
• I Corinthians 1:18-21, 23-25 – God will thwart the “wisdom” of the world.
• I Corinthians 6:18
• The result of philosophy is that we end up doing what we think is right.

Mystical spiritualism (Colossians 2:18-19)

• Galatians 1:6-9 – If it was not taught by Jesus, it is not the truth.

Sectarian legalism (Colossians 2:16-17)

• Or, “we decide”
• If we become a thing and try to decide who’s in or out, we are going beyond Jesus.
• Matthew 15:1-6

Extreme conservatism (Colossians 2:20-23)

• Conservatism for the sake of conservatism is not the gospel.
• Just saying “no” to everything doesn’t make you more holy.

Introduction

• Why are you here right now?
• Ephesians 1:3-8; 4:1 – You can not walk any stronger than your understanding of how worthy your walk is.
• I Corinthians 1:2-9 – The church in Corinth had a lot of problems, but Paul started by reminding them about Jesus.
• God provides our fuel!

Colossians 1

Colossians 1:1-8 – “because of the HOPE”

• “faith in Christ” – Colossians 1:4
• “love for saints” – Colossians 1:4
• “bearing fruit” – Colossians 1:6
• I Peter 1:3-7 – We should be rejoicing in our faith!
• Romans 5:1-5
• Hebrews 6:19-20 – Hope anchors our soul.

Colossians 1:9-12 – “filled with the KNOWLEDGE”

• “walk … worthy” – Colossians 1:10
• “please God in all” – Colossians 1:11
• “steadfast and patient” – Colossians 1:11
• Colossians 1:26-27

Colossians 1:13-22

• Jesus is …
  • Rescuer – Colossians 1:13
  • Redeemer – Colossians 1:14
  • Eternal God – Colossians 1:15
  • Creator – Colossians 1:15
  • Sustainer – Colossians 1:17
  • Head of the body – Colossians 1:18
  • Risen from the dead – Colossians 1:18
  • Peacemaker – Colossians 1:20
  • Reconciler – Colossians 1:22

The story of Job

• Holy and blameless
  • Job 1:1-5
• Blessed and secure
• Targeted by Satan
  • Job 1:8-12
• Suffered great loss
  • Job 1:13-19
  • Job 2:4
  • Job 3:1-3
• Cried out to God
  • Job 1:20-21
  • Job 13:15 – Compare Isaiah 53
  • Job 19:25-26
• Restored after trials
  • Job 42:10-17
• Intercessor for everyone
  • Job 42:7-9 – Job prayed for his friends

This is also the story of Jesus

• Holy and blameless
  • Philippians 2:5-7
  • Revelation 12:1-6
• Intercessor for everyone
  • Hebrews 2:17
  • What does it mean to you that Jesus went through all this for you?
  • Hebrews 7:23-27
  • Romans 8:31-34

Who are you in the book of Job?

• We are Job’s friends, who Job had to pray for when it was all over.