Pastor’s Page |October 1
Sermon Prep (Read Col 1:1-9)
I want you to imagine you are at a church potluck. Aunt Julie has told you that she has made the most amazing casserole dish that will forever change your life. You hear her words, but you want to experience it for yourself. You grab a bite, and all at once you hear angels singing and see the glory of a new sunrise. You have never tasted anything quite like this. This dish is life changing. You hear that others have tasted it and they are having the same reaction. This is no casserole. This is a heavenly casserole. Yet as you are enjoying this heavenly casserole, Uncle Charlie comes by and tells you that you can’t enjoy this casserole without his mustard and bologna salad. So, he scoops a big heaping helping right on top of your heavenly casserole and says, “Yummy, now taste how good it is.” As you start to take a bite, some grumpy old lady in the church comes by and says, “Why didn’t you try my ramen noodle salad? (you know, the one with cat hair in it and that smells like wet dog). So, she scoops her salad on top of the bologna salad, which is on top of your heavenly casserole. As you look at it in disgust, you hear your neighbor come by and say, “Don’t forget to try my shoe fly pie. It’s made with real shoe and real flies.” Now you look at your plate, and the once delicious, life changing, heavenly casserole is now this unappetizing heap of a mess that makes you sick just thinking about it. What happened to the casserole? It is still good, but people kept adding their own spin to it. The goodness of the casserole got lost in all the other junk.
How do you fix this? Take all the other junk off and get back to the simplicity of the heavenly casserole. Paul knew the goodness of the Gospel. He knew the power of the Gospel and how the people in the Colossian church had received it with joy, but since they had received it others had come along and were trying to add their own spin to it. They had a good strong church, but they lived in a hot bed of false teachings, namely Gnosticism, and the threat to the church it appears was that there were some who were trying to get the Christians there to tone down their view of Jesus. It was okay to think He was good, but He just can’t be that good and He can’t be the only good one to follow. Plus, simply following the Gospel wasn’t sufficient. You had to torture yourself and make your life miserable, or worship in an ecstatic way. The Gospel wasn’t enough. So, what does Paul do? He puts the focus back on Jesus.
From now until Advent, we will be camping out in the book of Colossians. I want to encourage you to read through this book and get a greater picture of the greatness of Jesus, the simplicity and power of the Gospel, and the many ways people take away the joy of the Gospel by making our relationship with Christ into a religion about Christ. Some things to keep in mind as you read through this letter: Notice how many times the emphasis is on who Jesus is and what He has done. Where do we tend to put our focus? On our accomplishment or on His? Also, see how our identity is “In Him”. What does it mean to be “In Christ” and how does this impact our lives? Our Hope? Our Love and Faith? Next, think about the modern ways that people try to change the Good News of Jesus for us. I look forward to going through this series with you. We will have a devotional out next week for everyone to follow along with.
October Sermon Series
Jesus is Lord: A Study of Colossians
10/4 The Hope of the Gospel Col 1:3-9
10/11 Praying for you Col 1:10-14
10/18 The Greatness of Jesus Col 1:15-20
10/25 The Greatness of What He has done Col 1:21-23
Updates, Thoughts and More
All Saint’s Day Service. On November 1st we will be having a special service to honor the memory of our loved ones and church family who have gone to be with Jesus in the previous year and to celebrate our hope in Jesus Christ and His resurrection. If you have a loved one who passed away this previous year and would like to have a candle lit in their memory and have their name mentioned during the service, please email me or contact the church office.
Mexican Fiesta! Are you ready for some wonderful tamales, enchilada, bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers and more? Our annual Mexican Fiesta is just around the corner, and we always have a blast. Larry and Suzy Stewart will be hosting the Fiesta at their house once again. You can purchase tickets in the CLC on Sunday. Also, if you would like to ride the bus to and from the Fiesta to the church, please call the church office to get your name on the list. Space is limited, so make sure to get your place reserved.
Grief Group. Over the past few weeks, we have had so many people struggling with different events in their life that no one should have to go through alone. Talking with others and the Stephen Ministry, we have a huge need for a grief support group in our church. If you are interested in helping to get this ministry going, please let me know.
BIG BLUE MADNESS! Just to let you know, Big Blue Madness is this week. This is the official start to the Kentucky Basketball season. This is the day when practices can begin and so it is a huge celebration. In Kentucky, it is considered a holiday of sorts. So if you hear me hootin’ and hollerin’, this is why. I am preparing for National Championship #9!
Football picks.
Last week was a great week for college football. My beloved Wildcats are 3-1 (we really should be 4-0 but those nasty Bama players…ugh). This week we are playing South Carolina who is in a downward spiral and I expect their coach to be fired either midseason or at the end of the season. Yet, here is what scares me. South Carolina always tends to play spoiler to our seasons. The past few years, we have had promise of a good year until we played SC and then “blam!”, we get beat and then we take a nosedive. Yet, this is a new season with a new coach. I think Kentucky improves to 4-1.
In other SEC games, the game of the week will be Mississippi State and Alabama. People are sleeping on State. They have a great team and their QB might be the best in the conference (Sorry, Archie fans). I think Bama will win, but it will be a close game. The other game to watch is Florida and Mizzou. Florida is coming off the high last week of defeating Ole Miss. I think they will come out flat the first half and come back and win by a field goal in the closing moments of the game. Aggie fans, you will get back on the winning side because Arkansas is just a mess.
In the NFL, the game to watch will be the Patriots and Bills. Josh Allen is my favorite player to watch now and the Patriots is my son-in-law’s favorite team. Yet, the Patriots have stunk these first few games. I think the Bills win, but I see it as a close game. The Bengals and Jaguars will be a good game. Trevor Lawrence and Joe Burrow are both great quarterbacks. I think the Bengals win after that disappointing loss to the Steelers and Grandpa Rogers. The Cowboys will once again make a mistake in the end, and the Texans will get their first win of the season. The Raiders will keep on the winning side and upset the Chiefs.
So let it be written, so let it be done.
What’s Going On This Week
Sunday (10/4)
Worship Services 9 & 10:30 am
Monday (10/5)
Alzheimer’s Support Group 10 am
Stitching Angels 1:30 pm
Tuesday (10/6)
Men’s Bible Study and Breakfast 7:30 am
Trish Bassett’s Bible Study 10 am
Wednesday (10/7)
Prayer Warriors 9 am
Sip And Share 10 am
Table Talk (C.S. Lewis Study “The Screwtape Letters”) 5 pm
JAM Youth 5 pm
Bell Choir 6 pm
Choir Practice 7 pm
Thursday (10/8)
Davelyn Hays Wisdom of Solomon 9 am
Saturday (10/10)
Mexican Fiesta 6 pm
Important Upcoming Dates
10/31 — Fall Festival
11/01 — All Saint’s Day Service
11/14 — Lord’s Acre
Joke of the Week
A church was trying to raise money for a new building. The pastor announced to the congregation that whoever gave the most money to the building fund would be able to pick out three hymns for the Sunday service. A week later, the pastor announced the results of the fundraising campaign. “I am happy to announce that we have raised enough money for the new building,” he said. “And I want to thank the person who gave the most money, Mrs. Johnson. Now, Mrs. Johnson, please come forward and pick out your three hymns.” Mrs. Johnson walked to the front of the church and looked out at the congregation. “I’ll take him, him, and him,” she said, pointing to three young men in the front row.
Memory Verse of the Week
Colossians 1:3–5 (NIV84)
“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel…”
Quote of the Week
“We live in a mall culture. Just as we mix and match our wardrobe items and our culinary tastes at the mall, so also we find it increasingly unproblematic to combine beliefs from various religious traditions into one faith. But what are we to make of a text like Colossians that seems to strenuously close down choice in its attack on any kind of syncretism?
- Brian J. Walsh
