Coney Hill Baptist Church
Demonstrating God’s Love Together
27th July 2008
Being A Jesus Church – High Level Living…
Colossians 3:1-17
Resurrection Living: :
The Principles… (v’s1-4)
Resurrection is not just a belief, or even an event, it’s a source of power, a window/doorway into heaven and a way of life.
The things above …..
What are these ‘things’ ? Golden pavements, fine sounding harps, all our dreams fulfilled? We’ll come onto that at the end, the very stuff of heaven, but at least it means raising our sights, not being satisfied with little, having big ambition.
Hearts….
Seeking with a passion…..
…and Minds …
…and a determined commitment.
The Practice …
The Low-Life… (v’s5-10)
Living by instinct, impulse … doing what you want, when you want, how you want. When we can’t, for any reason, we cry but I want too! I can’t help it! It’s the way I am!
Sometimes called freedom, in reality is a form of self-slavery. No-one pretends it’s easy to overcome, but it’s possible. Not by will-power alone but by the power of God, the renewal of our lives, from the inside out, the application of resurrection … being renewed! (v.10)
In this we are all alike, no-one is exempt, or beyond repair. (v.11)
The High-Life … (v’s12-17)
The defining characteristic of heaven, the pinnacle of fulfilment… community, relationship, fellowship, other-centeredness … all of the characteristics listed here are about our attitude to other people, that is the antidote to lust-fuelled selfishness … looking to the needs of others above you own desires.
The Means …
A Jesus focus to the whole of our lives. Worship as both a response to, and a means of receiving this power.
Office Address:
Coney Hill Road
West Wickham
Kent
BR4 9BU