I invite you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Colossians, Colossians chapter 3. If you're using the Pew Bible, that can be found on page 1169, 1169. We pick up where we left off in this book a few months ago. It's been a few months since we've been in this book. We're going to pick up at verse 9, and we're going to consider tonight from 9 down to verse 17, but we're going to begin our reading at verse 5 for context. So Colossians chapter 3, beginning at verse 5. Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you. Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. In these, you too once walked when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, scathian, slave-free, but Christ is all and in all. Put on, then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. and let the peace of christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful that 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 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. What comes to mind when I say to you the Contreras? Maybe you don't know the Contreras enough to be able to answer a question like that. But the question itself kind of brings to mind maybe certain character traits that maybe the Contreras share. All families have such traits and qualities to them, don't they? I'm sure your family has such quality traits, characteristics. Children, if you don't know what those characteristics and traits are, ask your mother and father later tonight, what does it mean to be a member of your family? Well, what about the family of God? what are the characteristics and traits typical of those who are considered children of god what comes to mind when i say christian christian i believe the main characteristic and trait typical of those in christ is really what paul says here at the end of verse 11 christ being made all and in all and really that's what Paul is highlighting in this text before us tonight he highlights the character trait of those within the family of God and he really does that by emphasizing that the new life in Christ is first a life of fellowship a life of fellowship and second is a life of the fruit of love and thankfulness and so those will serve as our two points tonight fellowship and the fruit fellowship and the fruit well as i said it's been a few months since we've been in this book and so i thought it might be helpful to just briefly sketch where we've been in this book if you recall paul is writing to christians at colossi and in this church were teachers who were attempting to add to the message of christianity they were teaching christ plus philosophy and wisdom christ plus religious practices of circumcision festivals special days christ plus regulations and asceticism and then christ plus visions and mysticism mysticism and to all of that, Paul says over and over again, everything hinges upon Jesus Christ and him alone. And so it's no surprise that Paul, when speaking of the new life in Christ, he points out again, everything hinges upon Christ. The new life is about making Christ all and in all. And so we turn to our first point tonight how does paul emphasize that through fellowship fellowship well paul begins in verse nine by saying do not lie to one another and with this little phrase one another he emphasizes a crucial aspect of our life in christ it's a life of fellowship he emphasizes this fellowship by repeating this phrase, one another. He does so three times. Verse 9, as we just read. Verse 13, bear with one another. Verse 16, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another. And then he also speaks of forgiving one another. He speaks of us being called to be one body in Christ. All of this to say that our new life in Christ is indeed a life of being together. A life of being with other Christians. It's a life of fellowship. And this is a point that we have to always remind ourselves about. We're called to a new life in Christ, to make Christ all in all, and we do that through a fellowship. That fellowship is part and parcel of our new life in Christ. You see, we're not called to be individual Christians set apart unto ourselves. No, God calls us out of the world. He calls us to himself with his own plan and purposes, and part of his plan and purpose is to bring us into fellowship with other Christians, to bring us into a community, a body, as he says. We're individual Christians who are united to each other via Christ. That's what Paul is saying here. We use the term fellowship often, don't we? We use it whenever we get together as Christians. We describe the time that we have together as good fellowship. And rightly so, because we are a fellowship and we do have good fellowship together. But what holds this fellowship together that we enjoy? See, there are many fellowships besides Christian fellowship, isn't there? There are a number of things that people get together and enjoy each other's company around. We're all familiar with the trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, right? If you're familiar with that trilogy, then you know that the first book in that series is called The Fellowship of the Ring. And if or why is it called The Fellowship of the Ring? It is because it's a story of a group of characters who gather together around a shared mission and purpose which they all agree upon to pursue collectively and together. They were a fellowship with the single focus and purpose to destroy the ring of power. And they were at various times in that fellowship, each of them called to sacrifice themselves for that single purpose. As Christians, we too are a fellowship. And we too have a single purpose, single focus that binds us and brings us together. Christ being all and in all. Everything else must be secondary to that single focus and purpose. In fact, that's really the point of the book of Colossians. It's to make Christ all and in all this really goes back to the beginning of the book if you remember back in chapter 1 verse 15 where paul spends time developing this beautiful christological hymn where he he develops the preeminence of christ preeminence of christ and then paul goes along this book and he drops hint after hint throughout this book to say that everything is about christ chapter 1 verse 24 Christ is the reason that Paul can suffer chapter 1 verse 28 Christ is what Paul preaches and proclaims chapter 2 verse 3 Christ is the one in whom is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge chapter 2 verse 6 it is Christ whom we are called to walk in being rooted and built up and established in the faith and so you see now here in regards to the new life that we have in Christ. Paul is simply applying these truths to us in a practical way. What does it mean to seek the things that are above where Christ is seated? It means to make the most of Christ. What does it mean to put to death what is earthly in us? It means to make Christ all in all. What does it mean to take off the old and put on the new, renewed in the image of its creator? It means to make Christ all and all it's all about christ that's the focus that's the purpose of our fellowship and what this means for us is that we need to make sure as new creation christians that that is indeed what is the focus of our fellowship here at escondido urc that christ is indeed our focus he is indeed our purpose see again as i said there are a number of things that people can make a fellowship over and we too can mistakenly make our fellowship here at escondido about such things but if we did that that would be detrimental to the true fellowship that we can have here in jesus christ anything that we mistakenly or unintentionally replace christ-centered fellowship with will destroy the fellowship that we have in christ imagine with me if you would the fellowship of the rings imagine if one of the characters in that story took it upon himself and inserted his own agenda his own plan his own purpose what do you think would happen well you probably know what happened right because you know that happened in the story one of those characters did that he was tricked by the ring and even though he was as sincere as he could possibly be he thought he was doing the right thing he nearly destroyed the fellowship that same thing can happen within christian fellowship when we interject our own plans and purposes, our own agendas, however much we may intend it to be good. Listen to how Diedrich Bonhoeffer puts it together in life together. He says, every human wish and dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial brothers and sisters we must must guard that primary focus of making christ all in all among us that's why paul says here in verse 11 in christ there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, scathian, slave, or free. Paul speaks of four divisions here, divisions along the lines that people divide themselves along. The first one is that of ethnic distinctions, an ethnic division. Paul says in Christ there is not Greek and Jew. Ethnic distinctions are huge today, are they not? The world loves to divide themselves along those lines black folks tend to stay with black folks latino folks tend to stay with latino folks asian folks with asian folks and white folks with white folks and why why because for them what is primary is ethnicity that's what they center themselves around that's what they put out as a priority for them. But you see, the fellowship in Jesus Christ is not an ethnocentric fellowship. It's a Christ-centered fellowship. It's Christ-centered. Now, there's a lot of anxiety today over ethnicity and racial issues. We're all aware of that. I think one way that we can temper that anxiety is by making christ all in all among us make christ our priority see our distinctions as distant second third and fourth to what we have together collectively in christ well the second distinction that paul brings up here is circumcision and uncircumcision this here is a reference to religious requirements and aesthetic practices remember circumcision and other religious rituals and observances were something that the false teachers were imposing upon the christians there at colossi they were trying to add these requirements and teach that these christians in order for them to have the fullest christian life that they could have they needed to engage in these things but the life in christ is not centered around such things and this should stand to remind us to be careful not to divide ourselves along such lines see in the areas that we might differ in terms of religious practices and non-essential beliefs we should always be charitable to each other charitable the christian motto on unity should be employed in essentials unity and non-essentials liberty in all things charity let me say that again in essentials unity and non-essentials liberty in all things charity should be a charitable group not imposing our beliefs our ideas upon each other not binding the consciences of each other in areas that are not essential the third distinction is that of barbarian and scathian these are references to social cultural distinctions the title barbarian was a reference to an uncivilized person in the greek or roman greco world while scathians were were thought to be violent uneducated people of the north the point is this such distinctions are obliterated when it comes to the fellowship in jesus christ social structures and perceived differences along these lines should be set apart nothing obliterated in christ and finally paul brings up that last distinction slave or free an obvious distinction one that our country has a a history with and one that paul speaks of and references in the book of philemon doesn't he where he writes to the man philemon about his runaway slave onesimus it's beautiful what paul tells philemon he tells him to no longer consider onesimus as a slave but consider him so much more a brother in christ christian fellowship is one that exists along family lines this family and these family ties supersede even distinctions between slaves and masters those who are free and those are enslaved what is the point that paul is impressing with these distinctions he's impressing that we are all one in christ we're all part of a fellowship one to another just as he says in ephesians 4 we are all members of one another again what is it that holds us together, making Christ all and in all. Sadly, such divisions are still real temptations for us today as Christians. There are many things that still divide us, and I think it's my responsibility to point out some of those things that I've noticed over the years as a minister that can divide a church. Issues that we should be careful with, who we should be sensitive towards, and we should not find ourselves identifying with other christians within the church and creating little subcultures and sub groups within the church things like school choice whether you homeschool or send your kids to christian school or public school things like where we are in life whether we're a young adult a young person single married married with children married with teens married without children empty nesters senior members we set these things up and then we begin to hang out with those that we perceive to be just like us in these regards all to the exclusion of others and that primary focus and purpose of making christ all in all falls by the wayside finally there's the issue of shared interests and hobbies you can imagine how we identify with each other along these lines got to be careful with these things they might not be evil in and of themselves but if we're gathering together and creating subgroups along these issues we need to be aware of that we need to be careful with that you see it's natural for us as people to gravitate to those who we perceive to be like ourselves but the christian life is not the natural life it's the new life in christ where we're called to take off the old put on the new which is being renewed as paul says here in knowledge after the image of its creator. Who is that? Christ. Our new life in Christ is all about Christ. Now let me ask you, how did Christ relate to different people within His day? How did He relate to prostitutes and tax collectors, Gentiles, Jews, women and children? How did He relate to those who were perceived to be in the upper echelon of the community and those who were thought to be in the lower standings? How did he relate to sinners? To those who were so obviously different than he was? If there was ever anyone who could say, I'm sorry, I don't have anything in common with you, it would have been Jesus Christ. Righteous man. The only perfectly righteous man to ever exist. And yet, how did He relate to sinners? I'll tell you. He became incarnate. Took on flesh. Lived among those people who themselves would never interact with each other apart from Him living and dying and bringing them into a fellowship in Him. Fellowship of Him who gave Himself up to death, even death upon a cross. And so with this knowledge of our Savior's way of relating to others, how do you think we're called now to relate to those that we perceive to be different than us? We're to take off those divisions. Again, make much of Christ. And so I encourage you, in light of what Christ has done for you, put off that old mentality, those old divisions that so easily divide us. Live out your new life in Christian fellowship with the sole purpose of making Christ all and in all. Well, if our new life is a fellowship in Christ with a focus being on Christ, well, the fruit of that new life is what Paul turns to next in this text. Now, Paul has much to say in these last few verses, but he really emphasizes the fruit of love and thankfulness. Paul says in verse 12, put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved. That's Old Testament language if you didn't know that. Holy, beloved, chosen. Along the lines of what Peter says in 1 Peter 2, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God's own possession. And such thoughts come from passages like Deuteronomy 7, Deuteronomy 10, 14, 26, where it said of God's people, you are a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord has chosen you to be a people of His prized possession out of all the people on the face of the earth. And God didn't just choose His people to be the recipients of His blessings and His love and His grace. He chose His people to be His own possession so that they might reflect the blessings of God to those around them god's people weren't just to be recipients they themselves were supposed to reflect god's goodness just as paul calls the colossian christians to do here as he says you're chosen holy and beloved and then what does he do he names off a number of qualities and characteristics which god's people should reflect because they themselves have been recipients of such qualities from God. Paul mentions compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience. Let me ask you, has God been kind to you? Has he been compassionate to you? Has he been meek towards you? Has he shown you humility in Jesus Christ? has he been patient with you he most certainly has hasn't he remember what God said to Moses he says the Lord the Lord a God merciful and gracious slow to anger abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness keeping steadfast love for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin who will by no means clear the guilty God is certainly a just God but he's also a compassionate God. Kind, gentle, meek, patient. And where do we see these qualities expressed so perfectly? Where are they displayed so perfectly but in Jesus Christ, in his life for us? So as his people, as his children, as those who have been granted a new life in Christ, he calls us to reflect those characteristics, to show ourselves to be a part of the family of God by expressing and displaying the character traits of that family now this isn't easy is it that's reality when sinners are called into a fellowship together there is opportunity for conflict and strife isn't there if you've been in the church long enough you know that is the case you know that experientially see we are indeed a family the family of god and yet we shouldn't have an overly romantic view of the family we're not glorified yet on this side of heaven we will still have strife and difficulty all families do every family has strife and difficulty god's family has it as well and because of that Paul in a very realistic sense here says bear with one another as you are expressing these character traits of kindness and meekness and humility bear with one another because it's going to be difficult to do so the picture that Paul presents here is one that is enduring insult, injury, sin, and wrong against them by another within the fellowship. Oh, how difficult that is, isn't it? See, we expect the world to be difficult. We expect the world to be hard on us. But not our brothers and sisters in Christ. Not those in the fellowship with us. Not those who have a shared focus of making christ all in all and yet we find that that still happens and it hurts all the more when it does that's why paul calls us to first look to the lord and his forbearance towards us before calling us to bear with one another you see there's never a time that the lord looking at us when we sin against Him, does He ever say, that's it. That was the last straw. I'm sorry, you continue to do the same thing over and over and over again. I'm done with you. Never does He say that to us, does He? He's patient. He leads us to a place of confession and repentance. And when we come to our senses and that we see that we've sinned against Him, what does He do? He's there to forgive us. As a gracious Heavenly Father, He forgives us. That's why Paul adds here, forgive each other. As the Lord has forgiven you, you must forgive. You must forgive. If you have been forgiven, you must be a people who forgive. If you've been on either side of forgiveness, you know what a wonderful thing it could be. Christian, you've been the recipient of divine forgiveness, full and free. The Lord extends it to you over and over and over because of Jesus Christ. Why then should we not be those who reflect such forgiveness, such grace to our brothers and sisters in Christ? And when we do that, we'll be expressing the love of the brethren. Which is what Paul says here, binds all of this together. Verse 14, put on love which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Each of these characteristics here is an expression of love. What is love? It's a question that I often ask a young couple preparing for marriage. What is love? This is love, right? not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and gave His Son as a propitiation for our sins. Love is a self-sacrificing action of God for our ultimate good. And so our love for each other should be along those lines. Self-sacrificing action for the good, the ultimate good of our brother and sister in Christ. And this means that our love should be along the lines of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience with each other. Out of love, we should bear with one another, seeking and extending forgiveness at various times and at all times. We do that because of the love that our Heavenly Father has so wonderfully lavished upon us. You see, this is genuine love. This is not the kind of love that Disney movies are based on, right? This is love modeled and motivated by the love of God towards us. God has loved us with a perfect love. The love of giving His Son for us and for our salvation so that we might not perish, but have eternal life with Him. That's what ought to motivate the fruit of our new life in Christ. Love. Well, let me ask you, in light of God's love to you, are you loving your brother and sister in Christ? Are you showing that love through humble compassion, meekness, patience with each other, bearing with one another, and if one has something against another, forgiving each other? I pray that we are. Because when that kind of love is displayed, the world takes notice. the world notes those people really do love each other. Even among all the strife that they go through, they're forgiving each other. They bear with one another. It's a testimony to the wonders of God's grace among us. Well, the next thing that Paul emphasizes here in regards to the new life is the fruit of thankfulness. Paul says in verse 15, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body. There's a fellowship reference again. And be thankful. Now just like when referencing fellowship, he emphasizes it over and over. Paul does that same thing here with thankfulness. He repeats it in verse 15 and then in verse 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with what? Thankfulness in your hearts to God. And then again in verse 17. Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Just as love binds everything we do together, so thankfulness is the motivating factor of all that we do in the Christian life. It's both the fruit and the function of that life we have in Christ. You see, when you're truly, truly thankful, it's difficult not to express that thankfulness, isn't it? Children, that's why mom and dad, when you open up a gift, they expect you to say to the gift giver, whoever that is, thank you. Because mom and dad realize that when you are thankful, it should be expressed. I was at a doctor's appointment recently. I had an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. Some of you know that I've had three knee surgeries on the same knee. And after a number of doctor's appointments and MRI and physical therapy, my orthopedic doctor tells me that I have to have a fourth surgery. A fourth surgery. So discouraging. Four surgeries before I'm 45. Well, I went to this orthopedic surgeon thinking that it was something of a pre-surgery consultation, but then to my surprise, this surgeon tells me he's not of the opinion that I need a surgery. My initial reaction was shock. I was shocked. But then once that shock went away, I was flooded with thankfulness, as you can imagine. And how do you think I responded? Do you think I simply said, thank you doctor absolutely not i told the man i wanted to hug him now my wife was there and she said that would not be appropriate she's always the more level-headed of us but uh i was thankful and i couldn't help but express it i was thankful when you're thankful you can't help but express it express it in the fellowship that we have the peace that we have together as one body as paul says here. Or thankfulness expressed as the Word dwells in us richly as we teach and admonish and sing songs of praise to God. Or expressed, as Paul says here, in everything that we do. Everything. We're called to be a thankful people. See, brothers and sisters, this is our life in Christ. This is what we're called to a new life where we make much of christ where we make everything about christ where we realize that we are bound together in fellowship around that shared purpose and focus where we express the fruit of love bearing with one another being compassionate and kind and forgiving all the well expressing our thanks to god for what he has done for us in jesus christ and so i ask you tonight are you pursuing this christian life are you pursuing this christian life this christian life doesn't just happen sure it's yours in christ but the fact that paul calls us to here to to be involved in this reminds us that this is something that we actively put on he says we take off the old we put on the new are we pursuing this are we pursuing this collectively as brothers and sisters in christ here at escondido urc new life in christ it's beautiful it's wonderful it's where we have the opportunity to share fellowship together around christ may we do that may the world take note when they see us doing that and may christ receive all the praise and all the glory let's pray lord we indeed thank you thank you for the salvation that you've given to us in jesus christ but we also thank you lord that by your spirit you have engrafted us into Christ and that we have a new life in Him. We have new character traits to follow, Lord. And You enable us to live out those qualities and characteristics. Lord, we need Your help. We realize, we acknowledge tonight, we're so weak. We're so weak in these areas. Remind us, Lord, of all that You have done for us. And through that knowledge, Lord, renew our hearts. Continue to bind us together in the peace that Christ has established. And may we indeed be one people here at Escondido URC. We pray this all in Christ's name. Amen.