Colossians 2023

Turning your bibles to colossians. That's in the new testament. Colossians chapter 2. And we're carrying on our series in this, this little letter that Paul wrote to, the churches in Colosse, and, Leah Garcia.

And, he's been telling them about the greatness of Jesus and don't lose sight of Jesus. And there are all kinds of other teachers coming in to get their attention and he he's saying, look, look, I'm contending. For you is that you'll you'll hear and you'll keep listening to the message of Jesus. The gloss is chapter 2 verse 1. I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Leodicea, and for all who have not met me personally, My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding in order that they may know the mystery of god namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures.

Of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no 1 may deceive you by fine sounding arguments For though I am absent with you in the body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is. So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as lord, continue to live your lives in him rooted built up in him strengthened in the faith as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness See to it that no 1 takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophies, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ, all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form. And in Christ, you have been brought to fullness.

He is the head over every power and authority. Tom's gonna come and open that passage up to us now. Alright. Good morning, everybody, and, welcome to Cornerstone this morning. If we haven't met, my name is Tom, and I'm 1 of the pastors here, and, it's lovely to see you.

And if you're tuning in online still, then, then welcome to you as well. Steven, I wonder if it's just possible to go back to the guest who's the guest who's coming to lunch slide. Because when it was up, you may have noticed right at the bottom of the slide, there was a there was a hashtag. There it is, share your photos, Cornerstone guess who. And so if you are, either hosting a small group this afternoon or if you are visiting somebody else's house and you remember might be having such a good time that you don't remember, but if you remember, you could take a a a, a photo and share it on social media with that hashtag.

And the idea is just that a few of us can get a sense of who else and where else people are. And, it would be nice for us as a staff team to be able to collate some of those images. And to use them in the future. So if you get round to it, if you remember, then you can do that a little bit later on. Well, we've got colossians 2 1 10, to look at this morning.

And so do keep that open in front of you. And, as we, as we come to these words, let's, let's bow our heads and let's seek the lord's let's seek the lord's help together. Your statutes are wonderful, therefore I obey them. The unfolding of your words gives light. It gives understanding to the simple.

I open my mouth and pant longing for your commands. Father forgive us that often we don't have that that longing for your word. We couldn't honestly say of ourselves that we hunger for it and we pant for the truth of the scriptures. More than anything else. And, yet these are the words of life.

The unfolding of these words gives light and it gives understanding. And they make us wise for salvation in Christ Jesus, and they have everything that we need for all of life and godliness. And they will help us to navigate all of the different challenges of life, and they will put to death our sin and they will steer us a right in difficult times. These are the words that give life to us. And we pray father that you would please speak to every single 1 of us here this morning.

May each 1 of us have a sense that you are speaking to us through your words and may each of us as your words is unraveled this morning find light and truth, and we pray in Jesus name. Oh, men. Oh, men. Well, if you've, spent any time, online, which most of you, of course will have, you will know the phrasal. You may have at least come across the phrase.

Click bait. Click bait. Okay. This is a, a phrase or a word or an image, which grabs your attention and really forces you to click on it. It's a title that is just irresistible.

It must be followed. It's something you need to know. So here's a few examples, and you'll probably if not recognize these titles, at least something like them. 50 photos, you won't believe are not photoshopped. Ever seen anything like that.

You won't believe what this celebrity did on holiday, shocked emoji. The 1 thing that you need to guarantee success at work, know really in brackets. This weird trick will get rid of mold forever. Yeah. That's that's that's that's that's sort of thing a clickbait title is.

Now, often, to be honest, those titles are are sensational, and misleading and often just downright ridiculous, to be honest. But all the data says they really work because it's the sort of title that you just have to follow. You need to know about it. You need to investigate what's behind the link. I mean, how could anyone living in sort of cold humid, humid, humid Britain not want to know a weird trick that will get rid of mold forever?

I mean, we all want that. Don't we? You've it's the sort of link that you have to follow. Yeah? That's click bait.

You must know about it. And you might be interested to know that clickbait is also alive and well in the Christian ministry and in the life of the pastor. Okay? So I I'm gonna share this with you. This is a little bit embarrassing for me.

But this is a, a clickbait, which to me was irresistible. And I was willing to part with money in order to follow it and to discover its secrets. Okay? Here's the, here here it is, 8 hours or less, writing faithful sermons faster. Okay?

So now I saw that advertised and I thought I'd I have to I have to have a look at that. Okay? Now the joke at this point which you might already be thinking is I'm amazed it takes you even 8 hours to prepare a sermon. Yours sound like they've taken more like 1 hour, you know, and that would be very funny, of course. But Most pastors, I think would agree that it takes it takes a fair amount more than 8 hours per week in order to prepare a sermon.

So you see, 8 hours or less. You just think, and it's the subtitle, I think, which really got me, writing faithful sermons faster because I can see how I could write an unfaithful sermon faster, but a faithful sermon faster. Just think of all the time that I would have, you know, for myself. Basically, if I could just get it done in 8 hours or less, right? And you know that that's the sort of thing.

That's what clickbait is appealing to. And if you are involved in preaching or any kind of word ministry here, you know, and you wanna come and find out about the contents of this book. It didn't work for me. Okay? I have to say, but it might work for you.

But you know, that's how clickbait goes, isn't it? You know, we think we're really busy. This thing will save me time. I fear I'm missing life. This will help me to maximize it.

I don't wanna be ordinary. This will make me stand out. And to be honest, I think the reason that lots of this clickbait is so successful, if you drill down into it, is a tenth commandment issue. Coverting is what makes clickbait successful, very often. We basically just want better or more or faster than we've already got and we believe it's out there.

And if we just follow the link or click the image, then we might discover this thing that will give me more or better or faster than what I've already got. Those algorithms that create these titles are not are not stupid. They know what Satan has always known which is that envy is a money making vice, isn't it? Envy is a money making vice. If you can get someone to desire more than what they've got, you can get them to park with their money and you can get them to follow it.

So that's that's clickbait. And really, it's because we haven't changed in the last 2000 years that Paul wrote this letter. Because the temptation to get more than we've got, the temptation to click the link and follow for a fuller life has has always been there. Just have a look down with me at verse 8. See to it that no 1 takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy.

Now the ESV, which is a a bit more of a literal translation, puts it this way. See to it that no 1 takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit. Now I'm told, I I think reliably, that in the original language, there's actually a definite article before the word philosophy there. So if you reread it, you'll see what I mean. See to it that no 1 takes you captive by the philosophy.

By the philosophy. So apparently, and Pete was saying this just a moment ago, the false teaching or the false churches that had come into the church. They had a package of teaching, some new knowledge, and some new experience which could be summarized as the philosophy. We are bringing you the philosophy. When you imagine seeing that online, yeah?

That's an irresistible clickbait, isn't it? Here we've got not just a philosophy, here we've got v philosophy, subtitle, a fruitful life faster. How how could you not click that link? How could you not want to discover what's in that book? Your mouse would be hovering over it and the envy blood would be coursing through your vape.

You just have to know about it. The philosophy. But Paul is saying brothers and sisters be very, very, very slow. To follow that link. And that is not because Christians are afraid of philosophy.

Or because they're afraid of critical thinking. In fact, true Christians always love to wrestle with the ideas of history and to wrestle with the ideas of culture and to subject their thinking to critical analysis and to ask tough questions about what we believe. That's always been a Christian thing to do. Because we're interested in the mind, but look at the warning. Here's here's the problem and it's in verse 8.

See to it that no 1 takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition. And the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. It's not the philosophy so much that is a problem. It's what it depends on and what it doesn't depend on. You see, the truth is some clickbait is is actually pretty harmless.

This weird trick will get rid of mold forever. It's quite a harmless link to investigate, but there are other types of clickbait which are not so harmless. Congratulations. You are a thousandth customer to visit this website. Click the link, give your details and receive your prize.

That's the kind of clickbait which is gonna rob you, and it's gonna empty you, and it's gonna ruin you, and it's gonna plunder you. There's nothing harmless about it. It's deceptive in all in all the wrong ways. That's the stuff in verse 8, isn't it? See to it that no 1 takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy.

Now that word captive is an old military word, and it means to plunder you've got the idea of an opposing army, busting into, a town demolishing its walls, taking its people away, and plundering all of its goods, taking its goods and bringing them back to their home country. It's that kind of military plundering, capturing image. That Paul is using here. And so this is what he's saying to the colossians. A Christeless way of viewing the world and a reason which is void of Christ is always going to be a form of slavery.

And captivity. And therefore, a good question to ask both then at the time and now was what does this teaching really depend on? What does this teaching really depend on? Does it find it's source and its completion from the historical Christ of the Bible, or does it in reality depend more upon the traditions and the experiences of men. What does it depend on?

You see, if you were to ask a Jehovah's Witness about the history of the Jehovah's Witnesses, In the end, it is gonna go back to the writings of a man. A man called Charles Russell, and his teaching called the millennial dawn, which he wrote and came up with and then still spreads today through the Watchtower magazine. If you ask a Mormon about the history, it'll in the end go back to 18 60 and to the teachings and the experience of a man, a man called Joseph Smith and what he was led to do and led to discover. If you ask a scientist about the history. It will go back to a man called El Ron Hubbard and his combination of religious ideas and strange science fiction ideas and quite an invasive form of therapy is his teachings and his ideas.

Or if you ask a Christian scientist about the history, it'll in the end go back to a woman named Mary Baker Eddie and her book science and health with the key to the scriptures because she claimed that she had discovered in the Bible the laws of spiritual healing and then she spread her teachings. Now, you know, it's true to say that if you speak to any 1 of those people. They will of course talk about a a a divine origin, but when you really dig down into the history, when you really ask the questions about it, it all depends on human understanding and human reason and human philosophy and human experiences rather than on fully and finally the the Christ, the lord Jesus Christ. Of the Bible. And you know, this is not just a religious danger that we need to look out for.

Some of you may have started watching the the latest planet earth series, planet earth threes on Sunday, early evening, and, we we we quite like it, and we tuned in to the to the first episode of it a few weeks ago. And, I I know you hear this stuff all the time, but it it was just it was just startling again to hear David Attenborough who, you know, he's he's 97 now, and he he's still out there, and so this may well be. This is probably going to be his last, you know, big planet earth series. And the very first work, the very first words of the new planet earth 3 series is him standing out in a in a field somewhere, and this is what he says. Nearly 200 years ago, Charles Darwin developed his groundbreaking ideas about evolution, casting a new light on the natural world and opening our eyes to its true wonder.

So you get this, right? Here's the question. Who who has opened our eyes to the wonder of creation? Who has done that? It's a man and his theory.

So here's colossians 1 verse 16. For in Christ, all things were created, Things in heaven and on earth visible and invisible, where the thrones or powers or rulers or authorities all things have been created through him and for him, but now on prime time television and a new earlier time so that more kids can watch it, the 1 who created all things, and the 1 for whom everything exists has no part to play at all in our understanding of it and is not to be worshiped for it. That glory, and that understanding goes where? It goes to human tradition. And to human wisdom.

Now I know that if there was a list of national treasures, David Attenborough would be very near the top. And there was a campaign a few years ago that he ought to be prime minister than what you think of that. But come on, that's the worst sort of blasphemy, isn't it? And this is the issue in verse 8, isn't it? When you disconnect human learning, which is good, and human investigation which is proper when you disconnect that from Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures learning and wisdom and experience and knowledge.

It is empty and it's deceitful and that sort of clickbait really is is captivity, and Paul's strategy in this letter is is masterful. Because on the 1 hand, he wants these Christians to know who these clickbait charlatans are. And he exposes them for what they believe and what they say, but he also says to the Christians brothers and sisters, you you actually have no reason to click it in the first place. Because in Christ Jesus, you can see this verse 9, in Christ Jesus, you have been brought to fullness. You see, 1 strategy is to bring the law you know, don't click it, don't cover it, don't follow it, or they'll or they'll be judgment.

But the gospel says, yeah, we we you do need to hear that, but why shouldn't you click it be because all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are already yours. On the other side of that link, which looks so appealing, is nothing at all. It's just a a broken page. It's just corruption. It's empty.

There's nothing there. Why would you click it when Christ is yours and all is yours and fullness is yours forever in Christ? See how he helps them. Exposes the lie, but then says, you've got it. Why would you click it?

You've got it all already in Christ. And so that brings us to our text today. That was a very long introduction, but don't worry. That would probably over half the talk. Okay?

So let's come to verse 6 now, and we're just gonna in the few minutes we've got left, just set up base here. Verse 6, and this is a summary, really of the whole letter under that whole introduction verse 6. So then, just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord. Continue to live your lives in him. What we have received, Christ Jesus the lord by faith is all that we will ever need to be right with God and he is all that we will ever need to become more like God.

The lord Jesus Christ is all that we will ever need for our justification, and he is all that we will ever need for our sanctification. Because the very same Christ who saved us is the Christ who perfects us. And so in 1 sentence, Paul is saying, In order to grow, you must just stick with what you know. In order to grow, you must just stick with what you know. The desire to grow, you see, is not the problem, is it.

In fact, that's actually a very good thing about the Coalition church. Wanting to know more of God and wanting to enjoy more victory of over sin and wanting to enjoy a richer experience of Christ. Well, that's not a problem. That's a sign that you're alive. That's a good thing to desire growth.

But where does that growth come from? Paul says it's from the same Christ you trusted in the beginning and has never left you. He is all that you need for your first salvation and for every other part of the Christian life. All is yours. And he is yours.

And so verse 6, so then just as you received Christ Jesus as lord, continue to live your lives in him rooted and built up in him. And to help us get that core truth, There are 3 brief images that I wanna share with you from the verse. There are the roots which go down into Christ. There is the building which goes up on top of Christ, and there is the fountain which runs over with Thanksgiving to Christ. There's the roots which go down.

There's the building which goes up and there's the fountain which runs over. And so you can see firstly, there are the roots which go down. And look, I guess, you know, almost every 1 of us here has some experience with, with weeding. And, if you've ever had a go at 1 of those weeds, with with 1 of those long single tap routes, that you find, or or a network of kind of fibrous roots that is growing underground. You will know that they can be incredibly stubborn to remove.

And when you pull up the weeds, you're trying to apply, you know, firmness and gentleness at the re you pull it up and you feel the things snap away and you look up at the root and you think, I've I've got it. And then you look down into the little hole in the soil, and there's a sort of broken root smiling up at you, you know, right saying you, you've got nowhere you've got nowhere near me. You must have all had that expect. They can be very, very difficult, can't they? And this is what he's saying.

The the smallest plant can have such stability because of its roots. Same thing with a tooth. You know, apparently 2 thirds of the tooth is the root. 2 thirds of the tooth is the root. And if you've ever had to have a tooth removed under anesthetic, the the tugging that is required to get 1 of those things out.

I mean, the All of that says to you, this thing is not meant to come out yet that it's it's a picture of stability. It's meant to stay there. And this is what Paul is saying to the Christians. You ought to be stabilized in Christ. You ought to have roots like that in Christ.

And according to verse 6, this is what god has done for us in the lord Jesus. The commentaries, tell us that this word rooted is, is like a past tense, completed, completed action. And that's important because it tells us that this is a thing that has been done by god for us. In other words, this is less about you making sure you grow your roots and you making sure you go deeper with Christ. And you make sure you extend your network of roots in Christ.

And it's more about how god in his grace has already stabilized you in Christ He he's rooted you in Christ. Of course, you want your roots to grow, but the emphasis of the word is on what he has done for you. He rooted you in Christ. And so if you are a Christian here this morning, you are to think of yourself as a stubborn weed. Yeah?

So next time you're out in the garden and you're having a look around, don't compare yourself to the flowers Don't compare yourself to the fruit. Don't compare yourself to any nice thing. You you look at the stubborn nasty weed, and you think there I am. That's me. That's me.

I'm there. God's done that for me. He's rooted me. He's tapped me into into Christ. And it's so wonderful that when you just play around with the image because if your roots are in Christ, that means when the storms come above ground.

And when your branches are broken and when your leaves are eaten and when you feel the pain of the frost, winter after winter after winter, the main part of your life is still warm and safe under the ground. And even if everything about you above ground gets a battering by the storms of this life, you you will grow again. Because the root, the main part of your life, the root is safe underground away from the elements and by grace and given time, it is go it will grow again. It is gonna grow again. This is what Paul wants us to know.

There are these roots which go down into Christ. It's all from Christ, and it's what God has done for you if you're following Jesus. So there's the roots which go down. Secondly though, there's the building which goes up. There's the roots which go down, and there's the building which goes up.

And that makes sense. Doesn't it? That order if you think about it because a a a root or a foundation can stand for a long time without a building on top of it a building can survive almost no time without a foundation under it. See that? Found you dig a foundation, lay the foundation.

Paul that can stay there for a very long time. Doesn't need a building on top, but it can just stay there. But you try and put up a building without any foundation where that thing's coming down. And so he says, you need your roots in Christ. And from there, from those foundations, you will then build on on Christ.

And so verse 6, you can see. He says, so then, just as you received Christ Jesus as lord, continue to live your lives in him rooted in him and built up in him. Apparently, the deepest foundations in the world are these these ones on the screen. They're the, foundations of the Petronus towers in Malaysia, which, extend down nearly 400 feet into the ground. And then on top that, there is 1500 feet of glass and concrete and and steel.

And it's obvious really, isn't it? But in order to accommodate those kinds of heights, you need very, very deep foundations. If you're gonna have a lifetime of growing up higher and higher and higher, you need to have the sort of stability, which is gonna allow for that, that growth. And that was the problem, wasn't it, in the parable of the sower, which Jesus tells. If you know that parable, he talks about the seed that was sown on the rocky soil and it was able to perhaps have the the beginnings or the first buds of roots, but when the son of persecution came and when the difficulties came, it withered up dried and died.

Why Jesus says because it had no root. Had no root. Had no roots. His roots weren't in the word of god or the son of god. And therefore the growth was never able to come forth.

But what he's saying here is that you have got deeper than 400 foot. You are you are plumbed in to the Christ of Scriptures, miles deep into the gospel. And from there, you can have all kinds week by week month by month steady, steady growth in Christ, all upon that foundation. And you know, it's interesting because I think we we sort of miss this really in the in the in verse 6 in in our bibles, but what Paul wants us to see here is that this building up on Christ really is a church wide project. It's a church project.

So have a look with me at verse 6. Just to try and show you what I mean. He says so then just as you, but that is not a singular you. It's a you all. So when you look at it, it's a it's a plural you.

We don't really have a word for this in English, but the Americans have Yarl. You know, that's the that's what he means. So then just as Yarl received, Christ Jesus says, lord, you all, that really is what it what it's saying. Continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him. Strengthened in the faith as here it is again.

It's a plural as you all were taught. As you all were taught, you all must build up together. Building up on the foundations is a church. It's a community project. And when you follow that thread through the scriptures, you see that that's absolutely everywhere.

So have a look with me at June 19 up on the screen. These are the people who divide you who follow me a natural instincts and do not have the spirit. So there's the false teachers again, but you dear friends by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in god's love as you wait for the mercy of our lord Jesus Christ to bring you into eternal life. If you've ever worried about falling out of the love of god, he's saying you come to church and you keep yourself, you keep each other in the love of god.

Or 1 Corinthians 14 similar idea. What then shall we say brothers and sisters when you come together each of you has a hymn or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Everything must be done. And this is 1 of those verses that you can just lift out of its immediate context, and it means the same thing both in context and out of context, I think. Everything must be done.

So that the church may be built up. So very practically, how can I stop myself being like 1 of those building projects that runs out of money halfway through? See those? The developers go bus like Garla Bingo at the end of Camry Park Road, you know. All the money's gone in.

It was so promising, wasn't it? And it just stops the workmen are off-site, tools are down. And they disappear. They run out of money halfway through. How do I stop myself being like that when it comes to being a Christian?

By gathering with you. And as you use your gifts of service and music and words and encouragement and hospitality, I I will be built up. I will be built up as you use your gifts and as I use mine. That's the beautiful theology behind our logo, isn't it, brother? It is.

Yeah. Our logo, which I I I thought in my mind, I thought it was gonna be here. I didn't put a picture on it, but this is kind of what it's like. If you've seen our logo, the idea is you've got Christ Jesus, the Cornerstone, and you've got all these stones coming being built together and we we build each other up around Christ and we grow to be a holy temple in the lord. The way that we build up on the foundations of Christ is by gathering and by being built up by 1 another.

Oh, there it is. Fantastic. Well done. Look, there we go. See?

And it's it's sort of it could either be coming in or going out, couldn't it? I remember you saying that. So we've got the stones being gathered around Christ, but then the stones also going out to bring others in. It's fantastic, isn't it? That's that's a great that's a great vision of what the church is meant to be.

1 last illustration. Last last Easter, we, under this point. Anyway, last Easter, we, we, we visited this, this this tree. Oh, there we go. This is a this is in Saint Mary's Church yard on, in Hayling Island.

And, this this yew tree they reckon is about 2000 years old. Let's just think about that. It's a this is a 2000 year old tree, and I I love it. And I I, you know, 2000 years of growth it's enjoyed, but what does it need now? In order to facilitate more growth.

It needs the help of those supports. It needs other things around it to nudge it in the right direction, to keep it growing upwards, to keep it safe, to keep it from falling over. It needs the support of other things around it so that it can grow or build maybe for another 2 thou another 2000 years. That's the church. There's the roots which go down into Christ, and there's the church which builds up on Christ.

And that's a group project. We need each other for that. And so thirdly and lastly, then there's the, the cup or the fountain which runs over. 1 down, 1 up, 1 over. Verse 7 strengthened in the faith as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness.

You know, it really struck me this week that false teaching can never really produce abundant overflowing, thankfulness. And the reason for that is because with false teaching, there's always more for me to do. I can't just rest and enjoy and be thankful because there's a whole load of work before me. And Paul says this, if you haven't looked down in your bibles, it's not on the screen, I'm afraid. But chapter 2 verse 20, He says, since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why as though you still belong to the world do you submit to its rules?

Do not handle the rule. Do not taste. There's another rule. Do not touch. There's another rule.

These rules, which have to do with things that are destined to perish with use, are based on, what are they based on? Nearly human commands and teachings. You see that? In order to be spiritual, there's so much left for me to do. Can't touch this mustn't go there.

Shouldn't eat this. Must never drink this. How can I possibly be thankful when there's so much left ahead of me to do? I can't. It's like the difference between 1 of those, if you ever ordered those, kind of cook your own ingredients parcels you know, you go online and you have about 8 to 10 ingredients, and it turns up at the door.

And, there it is. It's all ready for you to cook and prepare a meal. Well, when you've done that, there is something satisfying about it. You feel quite pleased with yourself that you've put this thing together. But in the end, you're the 1 who paid for it and you're the 1 who's gotta make it.

And so although it might produce satisfaction, it's not the same as being delivered a home cooked warm, ready to go meal from a person who loves you. 1 of those turns up at your door and you just feel overflowing with faithfulness. It's all prepared. It's all ready and it's ready to eat. I just gotta sit down and be thankful.

1 of those well, it's nice, but I've gotta cook it. I've bought it. And so there might be some satisfaction, but there was quite a lot left for me to do. That's that's that's the difference I think. Overflowing thankfulness is only possible when you're rooted in Christ and you know that everything has already been done, and you can be thankful, and you can rest in him.

Nothing kills clickbait like Thanksgiving. It's a clickbait killer Thanksgiving. Because what what are you gonna click? What do you need? Where are you gonna click?

If you've got everything, And everything is yours, well, you can just shut the computer and sing your heart out. Got you? This is all yours. You can just be thankful. And again, the more that we grasp that, the the freer we will be in our life together, because if I'm marked by overflowing thankfulness, I don't have to compete with you anymore.

That's so good, isn't it? I mean, you have a look at verse 18. The the the boasting when you've got false teaching, the boasting that goes with it. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person goes into great detail, mind numbing detail about what they have seen They are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind.

They have lost connection with the head. From whom the whole body supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews grows as god causes it to grow. They lose connection with the head and so they lose connection with the body and so they don't build each other up, they boast over them. That's how it goes. But if all has been done, And if the meal has been delivered to your door, I'm glad that you're more experienced or you're wiser or you're better than I am because I I'm I'm just thankful I'm in Christ and you're in Christ and we're in Christ together and so we can enjoy each other and use our gifts to build each other up and not to boast not to boast over 1 another.

You need the gospel for a life of overflowing. Thanks. And so you see there's 1 image that goes down, that's the root. There's 1 image that goes up. That's the building.

There's 1 that runs over. That's the fountain. And from first to last, it's all verse 6 in him. Verse 7 in him, verse 7 in the faith. The desire to grow is not just a good thing It is a sign that you are alive, but where do you satisfy that desire?

You satisfy it here together on Christ and in Christ. And it seems to me that in this clickbait world of false promises and clever philosophy and lifestyle gurus and YouTube life hacks, That is just so good. That's so good, isn't it? Should we pray? Heavenly father, we thank you so much for the lord Jesus Christ and that all those in this room who have trusted in him are lacking nothing for justification lacking nothing for sanctification.

That we have been brought to fullness in Christ. We thank you lord that all that's left for us to do is to be so thankful to be overflowing with thanks for what you have done. And then we can come together and we can use our gift and we can build each other up, and we thank you that the foundations into Christ go so deep that there is no telling how high we can build because there is so much fullness and stability and richness in him. We pray father that this knowledge of Christ would be the clickbait killer in our lives that we would not go searching for more or better or faster or clever or deeper than what we've already got for it doesn't exist anywhere. All is ours.

In Christ. Keep our eyes on him. We pray in Jesus' name. Our man.