Sermon Ideas in Colossians Part 2

Sermons in Colossians based on observation notes

Day #2 Sermon Starters – Questions on the Text

Purpose:  On the second day of the study of Colossians, we have provided you with 15 questions that would be sufficient for at least a dozen sermons in the book of Colossians.  The reason for these questions were to help me understand, analyze, and summarize major thoughts in the epistle to the Colossians.  They will form the basis for other studies, including the yet future “30 Facts About Christ in Colossians”.

May the LORD see fit to use these questions to help you in your studies:

Questions on Colossians:

1.      What does the epistle teach about Christ?

2.      Why was the epistle written?

3.      To whom was the epistle written to?

4.      Do a word study on the concept of “stablished” (for instance, established in the faith)

5.      Do a word study on the word ‘walk’.  [Hint, Day 1 of Colossians included this outline.  You may make note to the hearers that the word walk appears once in every chapter of the letter to the Colossians.]

6.      Do a word study on the word ‘faith’.

7.      Do a word study on the concept “In Christ” or “In Him”

8.      Do a word study on the word “peace”.

9.      Do a word study on the word “thankful” or its derivatives.

10.  Do a phrase study on the concept “whatever you do, do to God’s glory.”

11.  Do a phrase/word study on the idea of the “will of God”.

12.  Do a word study on the concept of ‘love’.

13.  Do a character study on the person named “Epaphras”.

14.  Do a concept study on the idea of ‘prayer’ or praying.

15.  Do a study of forgiveness in Colossians.

B.     Bonus Material:  Subject Study on the idea of being taken away from Christ by worldliness and sin.  [Majority of verses on this subject seem to appear in chapter 2 and early in chapter 3, indicating a specific problem Paul wanted to deal with for these faithful disciples of the Lord:  getting easily beguiled by those who didn’t want them looking at Christ.]

a.       Colossians 2:4, “And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.”

 

b.      Colossians 2:8, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

c.       Colossians 2:16-23, verse 20, “Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,”

d.      Colossians 3:2, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”

Hint:  While taking verses that all deal on the same topic and stringing them together is helpful, it is even more helpful to see verses in the same epistle or book.  However, such valuable wisdom is only useful as you immerse yourself in the message of the epistle you are studying.  In this way, when you quote these verses at the appropriate time in your sermon, the Holy Spirit will bring back to your memory the context and arguments being used in the book or epistle so you do not un-necessarily misconstrue the Bible.  Trust that the Holy Spirit can use the background information you have studied to properly position topical verses to the needs of people today.  God Bless you.

Sermon ideas in Colossians Part 1

Sermons in Colossians based on observation notes

Day #1 Sermon Starter

Purpose:  These are personal notes on the book of Colossians, based on observations in the text.  This is definitely a sermon starter; there is not a specific coherent theme for these ideas and outlines presented.  Instead, there are many observations on the text of the Epistle.  Do the very best you can to carefully study Colossians along with these observations; put together sermons based on the book and be sure give credit to the Holy Spirit for the awesome study you will put together!

Initial Preliminary Observations from a first reading of Colossians:

1.      Like Ephesians, the term “in Christ” is used in Colossians

2.      The central person of the epistle is Christ; notice that in each of the first four verses alone, the name of Jesus Christ is mentioned.

3.      Christ’s life in us, His commands, and His many blessings are shown forth in this book.

4.      Possible Theme developing – Our fullness and completeness in the Lord Jesus Christ.

a.       1:19 – All fullness in Christ

b.      2:9 – In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily

c.       2:10 – Ye are complete in Him

d.      3:3 – Your life is hid in Christ in God

e.       3:4 – Christ is our life

5.      Also note the number of times “walk” is used in the book.

a.       Walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing – 1:10

b.      As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him – 2:6

c.       In the which ye also walked sometime, when ye lived in them.  3:7

d.      Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.  4:5

6.      Also, three phrases are used in Colossians to describe Jesus:  a) Christ is our life b) Complete in Him c) Christ is All. 

The Man (Woman) Who Loves God - Sermons in the Psalms Series

Sermons in the Psalms Series

Scripture:  Psalms 1:1-6
Topic:  The man who loves God

Introduction:  The godly man fails from the earth.  It is difficult to find Christians committed to the Lord.  It is easy to find confessors, but hard to find those who put feet to their action, those who live and believe the Scriptures.  What do the real men, women, boys, and girls who are godly look like?  Psalms 1 gives us the outline.

Psalms 1:1-6

v. 1 - 2 – Definition of a godly man

v. 3- 4 – Direction of a godly man

v. 5 – 6 – Destination of a godly man.

A.    Definition of a godly man (v.1 -2). 

a.       Negative:  This section deals with various postures of the body and what they might represent in the believer’s life.  One who walks is moving forward, one who stands is being firm in his present condition, and one who is sitting is resting for a time.  On the negative side, the Christian does not walk in ungodly counsel, stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of men who scorn and bring derision.

b.      Positive:  His delight is in the law of Lord and he meditates in the Bible day and night.  Instead of walking in bad advice, standing in the path of a sinful lifestyle, or gossiping endlessly about his or her’s brothers and sisters – He is about the Father’s business as found in the Word of God.

B.     Direction of a godly man (v. 3-4)

a.       Godly:  He is in a state of spiritual growth; he brings forth his fruit in his season, his leaf shall not whither.  He prospers.  The direction of the godly man is upward in growth.

b.      The ungodly:  During the harvest of the Jews, a person separates the chaff from the wheat.  The wheat is throw in the air by a rake; the simple air separates the wheat and chaff.  The chaff is so light, so fluffy, and so weightless – the air easily carries it away. So too, the ungodly are simply thrown in the air and is driven away easily by any passing wind.

C.    Destination of a godly man.  (v. 5-6)

a.       Ungodly:  He shall not stand in the judgment of rewards for the righteous, nor will they hang out in the congregation of the righteous in the end.

b.      Godly:  The Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.  (compare to 2 Timothy 2:19)  God knows perfectly the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.  The Lord see everything the righteous does; He knows who is His and He is the one who judges the hearts and motives of us all.  Commit yourself to God.

Observations:

·         Notice no where in Psalm 1 is ‘good works’ or ‘being godly’ a path to salvation.  Instead, it is the evidence that salvation is or is not present.  The ungodly simply follow the path of ungodliness, the godly simply follow the path of godliness.  No works-salvation is implied in this section.

·         When preaching the section, be careful not to infer that God does not love those who are struggling in sin.  Nothing is further from the truth.  Instead, preach that the Christian walks in the path of holiness because of the nail print in Jesus’ hands; they are grateful to Him and, in the realization of what Christ did for them, gladly turn their lives over to Him.

Conclusion.

Feet in the Bible – Topical Bible Study

Introduction:  Feet is what helps make man mobile; even the fanciest cars require the use of feet.  All throughout the Bible, feet are carrying man somewhere either physically or metaphorically.  The term “put feet to your actions” implies that the act of moving, going, and progressing are all pictured by our feet. 

What do humans do with their feet?

·         Scheming evil.  ”For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.” – Proverbs 1:16

·         Anointing Jesus.  “Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.” – John 12:3

What should humans do with their feet?

·        Shaking off the dust.  “And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.”  Mark 6:11

·        Feet prepared to move for the gospel’s sake.  “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;”  Ephesians 6:15 [One might argue our legs have been given to us so that we can carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.]

·        Wash one another’s feet.  “12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? 13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. 16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”  John 13:12-17   [Three errors are usually made on this point:  1.  Is to dismiss the notion that this could be an optional ordinance of foot washing.  As long as the church understands the symbolic act here given, there is nothing wrong with performing it. It is such a submissive act, however, that women should wash women’s feet and men should wash men’s feet or a married couple should wash one another’s feet.  2.  Missing the point that this is not just about physically washing one another’s feet; it is about serving one another with the love of God in humility.  Instead of arguing with one another, wash one another’s feet – and so the giving of love is greatly enhanced.  3.  A third error is believing one can find something else in modern society equivalent to this foot washing.  The stooping down, the placing of oneself underneath another person without being crass, and the washing off the dirt of the world is such a humble act – no other act is like unto it – washing of feet.]

Jesus and feet

·        Jesus washing feet.  John 13:5, “After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.”

·        Jesus crucified.  John 19 – Jesus was crucified; however, be careful with this one as there is no specific mention of Jesus’ feet being crucified in the gospels. There is probably nothing here.

·        Jesus Glorified. Revelation 1:15, “And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.”

[This sermon starter needs to be heavily edited and possibly split into more than one sermon; the theme of feet in the Bible by itself does not illicit any particular cohesive theme by itself.  Study these verses carefully before presenting this information as just an academic exercise in topical studies.  Like a bread starter where you have only the dough that must be formed and manipulated, take this sermon starter and mold it as God sees fit.]

 

Make a U-Turn Before It's Too Late

Sermon Starter:  Make a U-Turn Before It's Too Late
Text:  Jeremiah 18:11, 18:15
Purpose:  To show Christians the progression of sin's deceit and encourage believers to turn back to the Lord.

Introduction.

I.  The Progression of Sin  [c.f., Jeremiah 2:32; 3:21; 6:16; Malachi 2:8]

All sin goes through a progression; as we continually give in to our habits, our vices, our wrong desires, our evil ways, our hidden faults - sin begins to entangle itself around our heart.  Every sin has the potential to poison us.  If we continue to go down the dark path of our own devices, we will find our heart growing colder and colder toward Jesus.  Here is the progression:  Jeremiah 18:15-16

     A. Forsaking or forgetting God.  All sin begins with the basic step of forsaking His ways and His laws.  The people of Israel had decided to forsake the Lord; they forgot Him in their daily walk and they forgot to meet with Him and get to know Him.  Once we forget God, we move on to ...

     B.  Worshipping something else.  Sin is not committed only once; its purpose is to change our hearts so that sin is committed again and again.  What happens as we habitually revisit the same sins perpetually?  We are worshipping at the altar of our man made idol.  Once we have fallen in love with an idol, we may ...

     C.  Cause others to stumble.  Sin does not just affect me; the secret sins are the worst.  We work all the time to hide them, but all the while - we are leading ourselves and others away from the Lord.  Even if we don't deliberately tell someone to watch a bad movie, the bad movie may affect us so much that people can no longer see Christ in us.  Many other examples could be cited. 

     D.  Walk continually in the wrong way. Just because something is new doesn't make it bad; however, the best kept truths are ones that have existed for thousands of  years as revealed to us in the Holy Bible.   It is these truths that Satan will attack and that false idols will keep us away from. 

     E.  Desolation.  Desolation is always the end of sin; often times, God doesn't have to do anything.  Our sin destroys us, brings us enormous guilt, and causes us to hate the very thing that we have done.  In fact, a part of us may die.  (2 Samuel 13:15) 

In other instances, such as Jeremiah 18:16, we will find ourselves outside the protection of God as a laughing stock amongst others.  This sin could literally kill us; make a U-turn!  Turn back to the Lord.


II. The Promise of God.  Jeremiah 18:7-8.  [c.f., Ezekiel 33:14]

While it is true that this portion of scripture is speaking primarily of the ways of God among the Jews or among other nations, nations are made up of individuals.  Surely in many ways, the way He deals with nations is similar to the way He deals with people.

God proclaims that if He has decided to destroy a nation, His anger can be reversed through one step:  a.  Turn from their evil.  This means, to turn not only our hearts, love, and affection away, but to turn our lives away.  We shall no longer look at sin, consider sin, entertain sin, love sin, or do sin. 

Conclusion.