Speaker 1: 0:00

God's Word to God's people. But it is especially an honor to preach to you this morning, in some ways a closing of two chapters, a closing of a chapter in the book of Colossians as we finish up our series through this book. And how fitting and kind of Royce and Ricky to ask me to preach this sermon as a closing to this series, which is also a closing of a chapter of our family's presence here on the ground in ministry in the Bay Area, and so I'll say more about that, as I think it actually dovetails quite nicely into the way that this letter ends speaking of partnerships. But it has been an unbelievable honor and joy to be a part of this local church family as long as we have been able. We know that part of our ministry here among you and in the Bay Area, as I jokingly refer to it, as I've been a bit of a free agent, traveling around, visiting other churches in the Bay Area, helping try to establish the church in San Jose, working with church planters, some of who were mentioned and prayed for. But our sweetest Sundays have been here with you, and so we're grateful for the opportunity to be here with you this morning. I ask you now to take your Bible and go to Colossians, chapter 4. I'll be reading Colossians, chapter 4, 4, verses 2, through the end of the chapter, and we are entitling this sermon at this close of this letter the priority of prayer, proclamation and partnership for maturity and mission in the church. Let us hear God's word, continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it, with thanksgiving At the same time. Pray also for us that God may open to us a door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison, that I may make it clear which is how I ought to speak, walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Speaker 1: 2:33

Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I have sent him to you for this very purpose that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts and with him, onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place. Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, concerning whom you've received instructions. If he comes to you, welcome him. And Jesus, who is called Justice. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God, for I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis. Luke, the beloved physician, greets you, as does Demas. Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea and to Nympha and the church in her house and, when this letter has been read, among you. As does Demas, fill the ministry that you have received in the Lord. I, paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. This is the word of the Lord. May he add his blessing to his reading and preaching by the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.

Speaker 1: 4:20

Isn't it true that when you're saying goodbye to someone, typically the last things you say to them are kind of a concise form of the most important things you want to say to them Parting words, the close of a letter or an email, or even a long text message. There are some long text messengers out there. You know who. You are all right. When you come to a close of a phone call, usually the last things you say to them are typically a summary of the thoughts, the ideas, the sentiments that are most important to you and what you want to communicate. I mean, think about how some of us, as parents, have our goodnight rituals with our children and we still do some of the very same things with our adult children that we did with them when they were young children. There are certain things we say to our kids, or even there are certain things we say to our loved ones when we say goodbye to them or goodnight to them. What's the last thing I want my kids to hear from me before they go to bed?

Speaker 1: 5:25

You might be surprised by this, but it's not fly eagles, fly. It's not. May the force be with you. It's not. May the odds be ever in your favor. It's some version of I love you. God bless you and I can't wait to see you in the morning. God bless you and I can't wait to see you in the morning. I love you, god bless you and I can't wait to see you in the morning. I mean, the same translates into my relationship with my wife when we part ways in the morning to go to work. I love you, god bless, you can't wait to see you later.

Speaker 1: 6:02

When we have friends over for dinner, when we've sat around the table, we've enjoyed a good meal and we've encouraged each other, we've fellowshiped together, we've caught up on life, maybe we've prayed for each other. And we do that awkward movement towards the front door where sometimes a whole other conversation takes place before the friends leave. You know what I'm talking about, right? But what do we say as they're walking out the door? Something along the lines of we love you, god bless, you Cannot wait till we get to do this again. In those moments we don't say everything that we could say. We don't say everything we want to say. We simply say a summary of the most important things. We prioritize the big things, the irreducible minimum of what matters most and what we want remembered most. I love you, god bless, you Cannot wait to see you again.

Speaker 1: 7:02

This is Paul's custom at the end of every one of his letters a formal goodbye, a formal set of last words, and Paul's goodbye in this letter is meant to have that kind of impact. These words communicate the irreducible minimum, if you will, of what matters most in his relationship to them as apostle and them as church. His words are meant to highlight what must be a priority for this church in relationship to everything he's just written, that you've been hearing Pastor Royce, pastor Ricky and Daniel preach. In essence, here's what Paul is saying these three things out of everything else I've said. Don't forget these things Don't stop praying, keep proclaiming the gospel and don't forget how much you need partnership in the mission of the gospel. Don't stop praying, keep proclaiming the good news and recognize how much you need partnership in the mission of the gospel. Those are the three things here in this final closing section of Paul's letter Don't stop praying, keep on proclaiming and recognize how much you need partnership in the mission of the gospel. In other words, if your local church is going to continue to live and mature and live the resurrected life in Christ, if your church is going to continue to have impact in the cause of Jesus and the advance of the gospel and the expansion of the kingdom on earth, then don't stop praying, keep on proclaiming the gospel and realize how much you need other churches and other leaders to get this done. And what's encapsulated in these farewell words are not only for the church in Colossae, they're for us.

Speaker 1: 9:14

Paul makes it clear that this letter ought to be circulated to other churches, because what's true for them is true for the churches. This is in verse 16. In fact, this would be a nice little side note. This would probably be something that Daniel would love to preach all by himself. How this kind of like makes a great argument for the canon of the New Testament, and how letters that were written to particular churches were identified and recognized by the apostles as being worthy of being circulated to all the churches and they were therefore used as scripture. That'd be a fun topic to dig into, but that's not my point this morning. But that's what's happening here. What's good for the church in Colossae is good for the church in Laodicea, and what's good for the church in Laodicea is good for the church in Colossae.

Speaker 1: 10:03

And pass these letters around and read them, because, even though I've just addressed you, believers in Colossae, this is true for all the church, if you want to mature, if you want to keep going forward on mission with the gospel. Don't stop praying, keep proclaiming the gospel and recognize how much you need each other to get it done. These final words are meant to highlight not only what must be a priority for the church in Colossae. These final words are meant to highlight what must be a priority for Redeemer Church. This is what's necessary in order for you to continue to mature in living the resurrected life and to continue to participate in the ongoing mission of the gospel. Don't stop praying, keep on proclaiming the gospel and recognize how much you need the broader body of Christ to get it done. That's the big idea we want to consider this morning from these closing words of this letter.

Speaker 1: 11:15

A maturing church must prioritize prayer, proclamation and partnership in the mission of the gospel. A maturing church will not advance the good news of Jesus without prayer. A maturing church will not advance the good news of Jesus without proclamation. And a maturing church will not advance the good news of Jesus without partnership. A maturing church must prioritize prayer, proclamation and partnership in the ministry of the gospel. So there is our outline this morning. We're going to look at it in three parts. The priority of prayer verses 2 through 3. The priority of proclamation verses 3 through 6. And then, finally, the priority of partnership verses 7 through 18.

Speaker 1: 12:09

First, the priority of prayer. Our conversations with God matter. Our conversations with God together significantly matter. Your conversations with God and the people in this room are a significant part of how God will continue to mature this church and use you to have continued impact for the sake of the gospel. How do we know this? Look at verse 2. To have continued impact for the sake of the gospel. How do we know this? Look at verse 2. Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving At the same time. Pray also for us. Sometimes, not all the times.

Speaker 1: 13:00

Sometimes it's helpful to parse out the grammar of the original language to truly understand and be impacted by an exhortation like this. I believe this is one of those type of moments. This phrase continue steadfastly in prayer. Continue steadfastly is actually all one word in the original Greek. It's in the imperative mood, which means it has the force of a command. You must continue steadfastly in prayer. This is a matter of obedience. You do this, you're obeying God. You don't do this, you're disobeying God. It's imperative. You must continue steadfastly in prayer. It's also in the present active voice, which means that this is a continuous action, meaning you must continuously continue steadfastly in prayer. It's an action that's to be repeated over and over again.

Speaker 1: 13:57

Another aspect of the grammar here that's important to point out is that it's the second person plural. We have a tendency to take these letters of the New Testament and too quickly individualize them and personalize them to our private Christian life and private Christian practice. Now, certainly there are implications for our private, personal, individual relationships with God as we apply the word of God to our lives. I mean, we wouldn't encourage private devotional life and private prayer life and personal Bible reading if we did not believe that the commands and implications of New Testament scripture weren't for us individually. However, where do we start? We start with y'all. We start with y'all. We start with youse guys, as we would say in Philly. We start with us. That's where this command starts. Second personal plural, which means that this is something that the church collectively must keep on participating in together.

Speaker 1: 15:07

The overall sense of this command is that the church is being exhorted by the apostle to be devoted to regular and consistent prayer together. Prayer ought to be a consistent part of the church's gathered life. It's part of the liturgy, if you will, praying together. In other words, in order for a church to mature in living the resurrected life, in order for a church to see the gospel go forward in faithfulness and fruitfulness, the church must be, not should be, not ought to be. The church must be devoted to talking to God together. Now I have the privilege of being in this position, having prayed about this and done my own repentance before I'm preaching it. You might be sitting there and feeling this. We must be continually praying together. Do we do that?

Speaker 1: 16:29

Charles Spurgeon went so far to say this. This needs to be blunted, but let me just let you hear what he said. The Prince of Preachers said it this way A church without a prayer meeting is like a body without a pulse, right? In other words, forget the concept of a formal prayer meeting on the church calendar, although arguments can be made for that. Spurgeon is arguing a church that doesn't pray together is lifeless. I think he's right.

Speaker 1: 17:07

Prayer is the pulse of the church, because prayer is talking to God together, about our life together, about our mission together, about everything together. It is that moment in the church's liturgy, it's that moment in a relationship together where we bring God actively into the equation when we remember, as Christians, we're not deists, we don't believe that God simply wound up the clock and is stepping back and just everything is kind of just unfolding. No, god is actively involved in the world, actively involved in his church, actively involved in the world, actively involved in his church, actively involved in our lives. And so when we pray together, what are we doing? We're not just declaring our dependence, we're declaring God is here, he's with us. This isn't a chore. This is a blessing Church. We are not alone. This is a blessing Church. We are not alone. The call to be a church that prays together is a call to acknowledge that the one who made us and redeemed us is among us, and that's encouraging.

Speaker 1: 18:27

Douglas Moo, new Testament scholar, in his commentary on Colossians, makes the following in his notes on this text we're in this morning, he says. Paul highlights the need not only to pray, but catch this, but to make prayer a standard feature of the Christian life. Devote yourselves to prayer. The point, then, is not that believers should pray with intensity when they pray, but that they should pray habitually and with perseverance. So you want to grow in maturity, redeem a church, you want to make impact on Christian mission in the Bay Area. You want to see Union City become more and more aware of the theme of our liturgy, that Jesus is alive and he reigns, and he's powerful and he's present and he saves and he changes and he heals, and he changes and he heals and he gives hope. You want Union City to be more aware of that, do you? Good, I don't have to be the only one who talks, then pray, pray, pray together. Notice, I love this.

Speaker 1: 19:54

The reason why we pray. One of the reasons why we pray is because I think Paul is setting us up for this reality God listens and he answers. Prayer is not therapeutic, although it does have a soothing result on the human soul. Prayer is not simply therapeutic. Prayer is an actual conversation with the God in heaven who hears and answers. You say where's that in the text?

Speaker 1: 20:34

Paul says after continue steadfastly in prayer, he says being watchful and thankful. I don't think he's switching subjects here. He's not saying continue steadfastly in prayer. And here's another thought be watchful, oh. And here's another thought be watchful, oh. And here's another thought be thankful. I think he's saying this be steadfast in prayer, being watchful and thankful in prayer. And I don't think the watchful is talking about? Well, stay awake while you pray, although there was a time when Jesus said watch and pray. You're sleeping, stay awake. But I don't think that's what's happening here.

Speaker 1: 21:15

The word watchful means to be alert, combined with being thankful. I believe this gives the sense that we are supposed to keep our eyes open and be on the alert for God to answer our prayers, to be on the lookout for God to move through our prayers. And when you see those prayers being answered, what do you do? You express gratitude, continue steadfastly in prayer, keep your eyes open for the God who hears and answers. And when you see God come through, praise him. Praise him, church, we pray together. We not only pray together, we pray together in hope. We pray together in faith. We pray together in anticipation that the God we pray to hears. And he not only hears, he answers, and in his time and in his way. We should not be surprised when we see with our very own eyes God doing what we've asked him to do.

Speaker 1: 22:27

Paul's a big believer in prayer. How do we know this? Look at the beginning of verse 3. Paul says and at the same time, pray for us also While you're praying together, would you mind. Sometimes, while you're praying, praying for us, paul says keep on praying, keep your eyes open, expect God to work, be grateful and, while you're at it, pray for us. While you're at it, pray for us. While you're at it, pray for us.

Speaker 1: 22:50

Paul believes that God works through the prayers of the church. Ready, do you? Paul believes that God works through the prayers of the church? Do you? And don't be so quick to say yes, because I'm convinced and we want to say yes. Part of the exhortation here is for us to reflect and say yes, yes, god works through the prayers of his church. But as our yes becomes like a capital Y with an exclamation point, yes, here's what happens. Ready, we'll pray more. If we really believe that God works through our prayers, that he listens, he's attentive and he answers, that our prayers matter, your prayers matter, our collective prayers matter, then you know what we'll do more. We'll pray more and we'll ask each other to pray for one another more, won't we? He's not here this morning because he's sick, but one of the things I do appreciate about our brother Glenn he asked for prayer a lot, doesn't he? Roy Cerchi, like he has a text thread that he sends to the leaders of the church and it's pretty regular hey, pray for my coworker, pray for my mom, pray for my brother. When you believe that God works through prayer, you're not only going to want to pray more with God's people, you're going to ask God's people to pray for you. It's an expression of faith and the power of prayer.

Speaker 1: 24:40

I could stay here for the rest of the sermon church and we'd probably just close now and just start praying together. But my assignment's broader than this one point. But my assignment's broader than this one point. A maturing church, in summary, must prioritize prayer and the mission of the church. So this is my last sermon for a while until I come back and visit. Let me just say this Find time to pray more together. Find time to I know church. I know that the hearts of your leaders are to see this city become more and more gracefully confronted with the realities of Jesus and see more and more people from the community in these seats, and to see more and more churches planted. As we're praying for more churches to be planted. But I got to say this it's one thing to want the work to get done. It's one thing to have dreams and visions for the church to grow and mature. It's another thing to come to the one who actually has the ability to get it done, it's our God Church.

Speaker 1: 25:53

Pray, pray, pray. Notice next the priority of proclamation. This is verses three through six. Look at the latter half of verse three. Paul says pray for us For what that God may open to us a door for the word, only highlighting the priority of prayer and not only to be on the lookout for how God works through our prayers. He's also committed to making a priority to work beyond prayers, to not just pray and step back and say, okay, god, he prays and then he also positions himself to be the means through which God answers those prayers.

Speaker 1: 26:47

Paul tethers our work of praying with our work of proclaiming the gospel. He doesn't just say pray for people to believe. He says pray that I will make it clear to those in unbelief the good news or the mystery of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, paul asked for prayer that God would literally I love this imagery open doors to declare the mystery of Christ. That's another way of saying praying for opportunities to share the gospel. He asked for prayer to detect when God is making it clear that this is a moment when I should speak up and talk about Jesus. He asked for prayer to proclaim the good news of the crucified and resurrected Christ and I love this and he asked for prayer to make it clear this is Paul, this is the apostle Paul. Listen, if the apostle Paul needed God's help to detect when he should bring up the gospel and when he does bring up the gospel, to make it clear, if Paul needs that kind of discernment, if Paul needs that kind of help, what about you? What about me? We need to be asking God to open doors and we need to ask God to help us open our mouths for Christ. Now I got to be.

Speaker 1: 28:19

I'll confess something here when I was a new Christian, I didn't pray this way. I was one of those cage fighter Christians. When I first got saved, I was not praying for open doors, I was knocking down doors and telling people about Jesus, and I wasn't. I was, rather than good news coming out of my mouth, I was often having to put my foot in my mouth because of the way I was trying to share the gospel of Jesus. I meant well, I was a new Christian. I was so grateful to be saved. I was so grateful to be forgiven. I was so grateful to be rescued from God's judgment. I was so grateful to be born again. I just wanted to tell other people about it, but I was knocking down doors rather than praying for open doors and this came to bear.

Speaker 1: 29:04

For those of you who don't know my background, I'm the oldest of six boys from a really rough around the edges inner city family in Philadelphia. And, man, when I got Jesus, I wanted them to get Jesus too, and if they didn't want it, I was going to give it to them anyway. And I still remember, oh man, I still remember one time, sitting on the front stoop of our, of our row home in Philly, having this conversation with my mom and trying to share, share the gospel with her and she we were raised Catholic and she, even as a Catholic woman, had a hard time just dealing with original sin. And she said hey, listen, man, anybody who would birth six boys and have to deal with the six of you, I think God's going to give me a pass. That's what my mom would say. And in my foolishness of trying to convince my mom that she was a sinner in need of a Savior, I brought up something I should not have brought up. I did not see an open door. I knocked on the door and I said, mom, but you and dad had me at a wedlock. Let me tell you something church, that's not the way to get to the heart of your mother with the good news of Jesus. Okay, let me just tell you something I the heart of your mother with the good news of Jesus. Okay, let me just tell you something, that that I was 15 years old when I shared that with my mom, and my mom, to the day she died, did not let me forget it. That was not an open door, I was knocking down a door.

Speaker 1: 30:24

But here's Paul's point we do need to know when is the right time and when is the right way to witness to the good news of Jesus and to proclaim the gospel. We need God to open doors and open our mouths to communicate the gospel in a way, according to Paul, that is clear and compelling, which means we can do this in an unhelpful way that is clunky and unhelpful. Paul knows that the priority of prayer is accompanied by the priority of proclaiming the gospel. God works both through our praying and through our proclaiming, through our intercession and through our evangelism. And you say, okay, wait a minute, ian. I feel like you've moved too quickly from Paul asking for prayer to proclaim the gospel to us proclaiming the gospel. I mean, he's an apostle and that's his job, not mine. Okay, but look at how Paul then goes from asking for prayer for himself to the way he exhorts the church in verses five and 6.

Speaker 1: 31:32

Look at these words. Walk in wisdom. This is for everybody. Walk in wisdom towards outsiders. Making the best use of the time, let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Look at the text again in verse 5. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders.

Speaker 1: 32:02

Let me highlight a few things that Paul is getting at. First, outsiders. Outsiders is talking about those outside the church and outside of faith in Christ, so this is talking about unbelievers. Second, the word walk. Here this is a really awesome word. In the original language, peripeteo, it means not just the actual act of walking, but it's talking about the way that you conduct yourself on a daily life, your daily walk. You've probably heard that kind of idiomatic phrase before, so this is talking about your daily walk. You've probably heard that kind of idiomatic phrase before, so this is talking about your daily lifestyle.

Speaker 1: 32:35

So he's basically saying that as you walk, as you go about your daily life, as you do the things you do and go the places that you go and bump into the people that you bump into at work, at school, in neighborhood, at the church, as you go along your way in your daily life, you are going to engage with outsiders, those who are not Christians. So here's what you need you need wisdom. Wisdom is another way for saying skill, knowledge applied or knowledge that translates into skill or the right kinds of actions. We can want to do the right thing and not necessarily translate in doing thing in the best possible way. And so Paul is saying you need wisdom to know how to engage throughout your daily.

Speaker 1: 33:34

And he says here, fourth, this phrase, making the best use of time, meaning that as you go around your daily life and you're engaging with people who are outside the church and who are outside of Christ, you need to make good use of time. And I think what he's getting at here is don't beat around the bush about being a Christian. Don't beat around the bush about people needing Christ. Now he also combines that exhortation with make sure your speech is always with grace, seasoned with salt. In other words, even though there's a sense of urgency to this, because, let's be honest, we need to be reminded of this those who are outside of Christ, those who are outside of Christ, those who are outside of the church, the moment that their earthly life ends, this is not good news.

Speaker 1: 34:28

Church, there is hell to pay for our sins against our holy God, and those who reject God's grace will face God's wrath. There is an eternal judgment. The good news is there is a way to be saved, like the Philippian jailer we read about this morning that Deanna read from Acts, chapter 16. When we think things are hopeless, when we think life's not worth living, there is always better news. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and was raised from the dead. He is exalted, he's above, he lives, he reigns, he will come back, he will make all things new. There is good news Sins can be forgiven, shame can be covered, guilt can be removed. We can be saved. Church and people who are outsiders, using Paul's language here, they need to know what the Philippian jailer learned that night when he thought life was not worth living. He needs to know, metaphorically speaking, there are people all around us that need to know. Put down your sword. There's a reason to live. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, right? And we need to know how to not waste time but be careful and gracious and winsome in communicating this to those who need Jesus.

Speaker 1: 36:10

I love this phrase seasoned with salt. There's a big difference between something being seasoned with salt and coated with salt. Ask my family. I love to cook, I love to barbecue, I love to smoke meat, but let me tell you something They've had to endure multiple times me over-seasoning some really good meat, right, yes, now, that's not always the case, right, okay, thanks, thanks, thanks. I just want to make that clear. But when you bite into a smoked piece of meat and the first thing you taste is a shocking blast of salt to the system. Blast of salt to the system, you're not thinking about anything but the salt. You're being assaulted by the salt, and I think what Paul's getting at here is that we can be unskillful, we can lack grace with the gospel and all people get is a mouthful of salt, versus our words seasoning, highlighting, making more palatable, how good the good news is.

Speaker 1: 37:32

I mean, I saw a direct line from the way that Daniel led us in our confession to this part of my sermon and I thought to myself I'm going to bring this up even though I wasn't planning on it. We can really really do damage with people who are outside the church, by the way, that we are either flimsy with the gospel, meaning we distort it, we downplay it, we make it less good news than it really is because we don't want to talk about the bad news, we can dilute the gospel. We can be flimsy with the gospel and that doesn't help. Or we can also we can be vicious with the gospel. We can be nasty with the gospel. We can be even sometimes when we mean well. We can be unhelpful in the way that we communicate the gospel, like I did with my mom on the front stoop when I was 15 years old.

Speaker 1: 38:28

We can mean well, but this is all fitting into the whole emphasis of this text, where we need to pray and ask God for help, to identify open doors and to speak clearly, compellingly, compassionately, not as those who are right, but as those who have been rescued, and that's how we share the good news of Jesus. So, even though the gospel is based on objective theological facts tethered to the significance of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus that are objectively true and unbudgeable in their content. Nonetheless, we should be praying. God, help me to know how to share the gospel with this neighbor, with this coworker, with this classmate, with this person who's been coming to the church now for months and I don't think they believe yet. Lord, the truth of the gospel doesn't change, but the way that I bring that gospel and contextualize that gospel to each person, paul says, can be based upon what we know about that person and what their objections may be to the gospel, what their spiritual, religious background may be. And we bring the gospel carefully, winsomely, compellingly, to the person, where they are, without diluting the gospel. So you know your neighbors, you know your co-workers, you know your classmates, you know your children, you know the people who are a part of your life, your daily walk. Let's look for doors to be opened to proclaim the good news of Jesus and trust God for the results. Amen. A maturing church must prioritize proclamation in the mission of the gospel. Finally, the priority of partnership.

Speaker 1: 40:34

At first glance, it might look like all that we have here is a list of names of people who are trying to pass on their greeting through the Apostle Paul. We all kind of do stuff like this, like when my wife is on the phone and she's talking for a while, I'll be like who are you talking to? And she'll either show me the phone or mouth the name. I'm like, oh, tell them. I said hi, right, have you ever done that before? Or am I the only one? You've done this? Right, you've done this. You might think, okay, that's kind of what's going on here. Paul's writing a letter to the church at Colossae. Aristarchus is there. He's like, hey, tell them. I said hi, you know, onesimus is there and Tychicus is there. Oh, okay, tell them. I said hi, tell them that we're going to be the ones who deliver the letter.

Speaker 1: 41:17

There's more going on than just a passing on of greetings here. There's so much more to this list. I think this list exemplifies how the maturity of the church and the mission of the church is served by robust partnership. No single church is capable of carrying out the whole mission of Christ alone. I think we see it here. I think we see a case for the interconnectivity of the church. We need partnership, and this church valued partnership. How so? Well, there was partnership within and from the local church in Colossae, people who were coming to them to serve them, people who were being sent out from them. This local church valued both sending and receiving servants of the gospel for the sake of their maturity and for the sake of the mission. So they're receiving partners, they are sending partners. All these people in this final greeting are all followers of Jesus who are known by this local church in Colossae. They are known because they are either from the church and have been sent out to serve the broader church, or they are from outside their local church and have been sent to serve them and their local kingdom efforts. I mean, just look at the list here there's Tychicus in verse 7, who is being sent by the Apostle Paul to give an update on the broader apostolic mission of the church. The idea here is in verse 8 is that when the local church, when a local church, hears a report of what's going on out in the world, beyond their walls, it will encourage them. He uses that word. It will put courage in their souls when they are thinking, when they hear about what's happening among other churches, among other believers, among other missional efforts, and they hear it within the confines of their local church. Then what happens is courage gets put in their soul for what they're doing, for where they are, for what they're up to, for their local mission.

Speaker 1: 43:35

Verse 9 references Onesimus, who is from Colossae, we're told, but is presently serving with Paul and Tychicus to bring this mission update. Now, this is a whole other. This could be a whole other tangent here, but if you're familiar with the letter to Philemon, here's what's happening here. Onesimus was the servant of a Christian couple from Colossae, philemon and Athea, and he runs away and when he runs away, he has a providential encounter with the apostle Paul. He hears the gospel and he's born again and Paul is sending him back with this other letter which is in Philemon, but also for the church to say you mean, onesimus is a Christian now. This is incredible. And he's serving with Paul. We didn't even get to meet Paul yet and Onesimus is like on Paul's team. This is incredible. So this is a deeply encouraging experience for the church.

Speaker 1: 44:36

Verses 10 and 11 reference Aristarchus and Mark and Justice. These are all the people. Their names are sprinkled all throughout the book of Acts. These are people who traveled with the Apostle Paul and were a part of his apostolic band and were a part of the church planning efforts in the first century. And so when Paul says back in verse 3, pray for us, these guys are among the us. Paul is traveling with Aristarchus and Mark and Justice. Aristarchus got stuck in prison with Paul at this time. Mark and Justice are free. Mark may come by. I mean, you've got to understand. There's this inner connection between the servants of Christ and, through the local churches that's so apparent in this greeting.

Speaker 1: 45:20

Verses 12 and 13 reference the ministry of Epaphras, who was referenced in the opening of this letter in chapter 1. He was actually a leader from the church in Colossae and after serving there locally for a while, he was sent out to serve in two nearby cities like Hierapolis and Laodicea, which were about 12 miles and 15 miles in different directions from Colossae. I mean this is not completely apples to apples, but I mean, think about this in terms of like. Let's just say Epaphras was here serving in Union City and then he's moved on from here. We sent him out from here and now he's in Newark or he's working in Fremont. Maybe he's making his work on his way down to San Jose.

Speaker 1: 46:03

The idea is, here's a guy who was a pastor, one of the leaders in this local church, who, after serving there for a time, is now being sent out from this church, probably at great sacrifice, with great sadness. But for the sake of a mission, for the sake of partnership, they're releasing him and sending him out with the gospel, but he never gets over his heart for the church in Colossae. He's praying for them. He wants to see them mature and thrive Again.

Speaker 1: 46:26

All of this just highlights not just a final greeting here are a bunch of people who said hi. It's highlighting the incredible interconnectivity of the church in the first century. I mean, the list goes on with Luke, who's the doctor, who at that point in time probably had already did his version of the gospel. So Luke's gospel is probably already in circulation. He's probably at this time still working on the book of Acts. They came together but I believe that they were released at different times.

Speaker 1: 46:54

There's Demas, who we don't know a ton about except for later on. He deserts Paul. There's a woman here named Nympha, who's probably a woman of means, who has a lot of money, who's using her house to host a church. I mean this is so much going on, so many people, so many servants coming and going, those who stay, those who are sent, those who come in. This is the beautiful, bustling experience of the church in the first century.

Speaker 1: 47:27

And did you notice that Paul uses the following words to describe all these kinds of people Fellow servants in verse 7. Fellow prisoners in verse 10. Fellow workers for the kingdom of God in verse 7. Fellow prisoners in verse 10. Fellow workers for the kingdom of God in verse 11. Each of those words begins with the prefix sun, which means together. So, whether they are in the local church, from the local church, sent to them from the broader church, they're being led by the apostle Paul to see in these final words and to feel this greatly that they are together with the churches, they are together with the leaders in the mission of the gospel.

Speaker 1: 48:07

So what this means theologically, let me give a theological thought and a practical thought as I bring this to a close. What this means theologically and I know this might ruffle some feathers what this means theologically is that there's no such thing as an independent church. No such thing as an independent church. Local churches may be self-governing by their elders and their congregational family, and there may be certain different accents the elders do more, the congregation does more, or there's a symmetry between the two. There's different ways in which a local church experiences its autonomy, its self-governance, but in no shape or form is that church ever isolated, disconnected, independent from the broader church, because the church is a spiritual reality in Jesus. There's no such thing as an independent church in the New Testament. It's a modern invention, I would even argue it's a Western invention. It's an American invention.

Speaker 1: 49:19

Every local church is connected spiritually to the whole church of Christ, the true church, the real church, the gospel-believing church. Now, what this means practically is that that spiritual interconnectivity of the whole church should be leaned into in some tangible form by each local church for its maturity, for its mission and, quite honestly, for its accountability and safety. No single church is capable of carrying out the whole mission of Christ alone, but together with partners, we can make disciples of the nations until Christ returns and makes all things new. Together, in partnership, we can remain faithful to the integrity of the gospel by protecting and preserving sound doctrine. Together we can supplementally support one another wherever there is need.

Speaker 1: 50:19

Churches need partnership. Redeemer needs partnership. Redeemer needs to serve partners, and you are and you are. But let me say this it costs you something.

Speaker 1: 50:42

Partnership requires sacrifice. It's a felt honor and joy to receive when God sends servants, when God sends partners, but there's also a felt sadness to send. It was wonderful to have the choice back from India for as long as they were here, wasn't it? What a joy to have them around here in the life of the church. What a joy to have them here and to hear of what they're doing the Lord's doing through them in India. But they're not here anymore, are they? They've been sent back as of Easter Sunday. That brings some sadness. So partnership requires sacrifice. It was wonderful to have the praise here from Philly for three years, wasn't it? But now they're being sent and they're on their way to North Carolina. I know it's how you will feel about sending the Bixbys on to their next assignment this summer.

Speaker 1: 51:41

Partnership requires the sacrifice of sending and when you send you feel the sacrifice of it. This is why we also come alongside others in gospel ministry and help them and supplement them. This is why we're praying this morning for Andrew and Courtney Woods, the church plant in Watsonville. This is why it was highlighted this morning that we're going to have Chris and Jess Burke here next week for Pentecost Sunday who are part of the church planting leadership team for Redeemer in Castro Valley. This is why we're praying for Enrique and Wendy Ramos, who we were partnering with to plant a church down in Hollister. This is why Bayseed, the Bayseed Collective, was even was built out is because we believe that if the Bay Area is going to be penetrated with the life-changing power of the gospel and churches are going to be planted, it requires partnership and that partnership costs.

Speaker 1: 52:41

Partnership is a give and take relationship and there are seasons where it feels like we're receiving more than we're giving and then there are seasons where it feels like we're giving more than we're getting. And let me just again personal, direct word to you Redeemer Church, you may be entering, you are entering into a season where you are probably going to be feeling like you're giving more than you're getting. There's been a season to receive. Three years ago we got here. The praise got here. We got here, the Praise got here. Kevin got here. Eleven years ago, the Blahas got here, the Bixbys got here. There's a Scott's got here. There's a lot. There are a lot of times in the life of the church where you receive the blessing, the influx of receiving servants of Christ, but then there's also seasons where we see them going back out and you're preparing for that and I want to encourage you. There's sadness in that, but it's worth it because Jesus is worth it, and this is how the mission goes forward through the sacrifice of partnership.

Speaker 1: 54:10

Now, speaking of partnership, let me just take a moment to make this a little personal as we come to a close here. I'm so glad, so grateful that God has had our family here these last three years. It's been a privilege to partner with you. It was especially a privilege to be sent and to partner with you and the Scotts and Fred and Brian and Kevin to work towards the and Jordan to work towards the church planting efforts in San Jose. It was an incredible privilege and continues to be an incredible privilege to work with the church planters I just named a few moments ago, as I work with the church planting leaders in Castro Valley and even as we begin to come alongside of Enrique as he gets ready to plant in Hollister, and to continue to come alongside and help and serve with Andrew Woods in Watsonville. It's been an incredible privilege, filled with lots of ups and downs and things that were messy, things that were magnificent, and as we are preparing to now be sent back out after a time with you, I just want to let you know that we are grateful and I am full of faith for what God is going to do in this church and through this church for the sake of the gospel.

Speaker 1: 55:33

Now I'm not Paul having the opportunity to commend Epaphras, but let me do this. I must do this. Let me commend to you your pastors, royce and Ricky. It is in this text where it says Epaphras worked hard for them and for the sake of the gospel. Dear church, know this. Your pastors work hard for you and for the sake of the gospel in the Bay Area and they are worthy, by the grace of God, to serve in the office of pastor or elder, and I'm so grateful that they've become some of my dearest friends and most precious co-laborers in the gospel, and I am just so grateful to know that you will continue to be loved and cared for by them and shepherded by them and equipped by them and led on mission by them. And they are very involved and interact with a lot of things that are going on in the Bay Area. You might not know this because they can't say this about themselves, but they are highly esteemed and respected leaders in the Bay Area, and so I commend them.

Speaker 1: 56:47

I commend your intern, your leader in training I don't know what you call Daniel, we have different words that we use to describe interns but, man, what a blessing to see a church of this size, with this kind of leadership, with this kind of potential, with this kind of sending, with this kind of receiving. You just need to know that. It's a grace from God. That's not always felt when there are occasionally Sundays when there are more empty chairs than you want there to be. God is doing good work here, and so keep on praying, don't stop proclaiming the gospel and recognize how much you need partnership to keep doing what God has called you to do Redeemer Church.

Speaker 1: 57:41

Don't forget that a maturing church must prioritize prayer, proclamation and partnership in the mission of the gospel. And so I love you, god bless you, and I cannot wait to have the opportunity to be here with you behind this pulpit again. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we come to you this morning and help us, by the power of your Holy Spirit, to receive these words from this text in a way that lands on us like it was meant to land on the church that first received it. We want to live our lives maturing in Jesus, and we want to live our lives together on mission for Jesus. And so help us, father, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Help Redeemer Church, father, in the name of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to not stop praying, to keep on proclaiming the good news of the gospel and to continue to lean into the give and take of partnership for the sake of the mission. We pray this together in Jesus' name, amen.