Preeminent: Part Eight

Speaker: Pastor Lee Cummings
Date: June 19, 2021

PREEMINENT: Hope For A Confused World From Colossians

Paul's letter to the Colossians boldly declares how we should see, feel, and think about Jesus. Jesus is supreme over all! Existence itself was created by Him and for Him. Who He is and what He has done liberates us to live every day by His power and in His presence.

We are called to walk in the GRACE OF GOD! In part eight of this series, Pastor Lee dives into what it means to have God’s Grace in your life and what we can do to protect and grow in it. Don’t miss this powerful sermon on Father’s day!

Focus Scripture

Colossians 2:16-23 (ESV)

“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”

Sermon Highlights

• Paul’s greatest concern for Christians is that they would CONTINUE in the Grace of God

• TWO ENEMIES TO GOD’S GRACE IN YOUR LIFE:

• 1. LEGALISM = NEGATING GRACE
  Keeping the Law of God as a means of CONTINUING to be righteous before God

• 2. ANTINOMIANISM = HYPER GRACE
  Takes a biblical truth to an unbiblical conclusion

• We are not “under” the Old Testament Laws of Moses, We are liberated by Grace to live “out” the Laws of Christ

• THREE TRUTHS THAT GUARD AGAINST MAN-CENTERED FAITH:

• 1. In Christ, your IDENTITY is determined by the finished work of Christ and not the ongoing struggle with the flesh

• 2. In Christ, your SECURITY is found in steadfast dependence on the Christ, not by fearful submission to the demands of Human wisdom

• 3. In Christ, COMMUNITY found within the CHURCH, the Body of Christ, is where we grow in the GRACE OF GOD