Written by: Paul Duncan - Agape

Colossians 1 v 28-29
So we continue to preach Christ to each person, using all wisdom to warn and to teach everyone, in order to bring each one into God’s presence as a mature person in Christ. To do this, I work and struggle, using Christ’s great strength that works so powerfully in me.

Notes
What picture does the word "preach" conjure up in your mind? Ned Flanders? Billy Graham? or someone who will quickly become "Billy-no-mates"? 
Do you say:
"It's definitely something I can't do !! "
"I'm definitely not gifted in that area (thankfully)."
Yet Paul who wrote this letter, also wrote this about himself "...I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling" 1 Corinthians (chapter 2 verses 1-5

Now this we can easily identify with.
As a schools worker, talking to a class of 30, 15 year old lads about Jesus is not something I would naturally choose to do, yet this and much more uncomfortable situations I put myself in every week. How do I do this? In the same way as Paul the Apostle, "...using Christ's great strength that works powerfully in me" Paul's objective was not just to tell people about Jesus but to see them mature in their faith in Christ. It was his great concern for people that drew him to a dependency on Christ.

Ask yourself does my life demonstrate a dependency on Christ?
Am I actively encouraging others to mature in their faith in Christ?

Colossians 2 v 1-5
I want you to know how hard I work for you, those in Laodicea, and others who have never seen me. I want them to be strengthened and joined together with love so that they may be rich in their understanding. This leads to their knowing fully God’s secret, that is, Christ himself. In him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are safely kept.
I say this so that no one can fool you by arguments that seem good, but are false. Though I am absent from you in my body, my heart is with you, and I am happy to see your good lives and your strong faith in Christ.

Notes
Paul certainly knows how to challenge people

" I want you to know how hard I work for you!!"

This doesn't seem very modest, but Paul isn't modest. He wrote ... Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ 1 Corinthians (chapter 11 verse 1) I urge you to imitate me (1 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 16) Join with others in following my example Philippians (chapter 3 verse 17)

How hard do we work at following Jesus?

When I was a student I used some of the summer holidays to work in a large bakery, during busy periods I did several 12 hour shifts. All I did was work sleep and smell of bread!
I couldn't keep up with the pace of 12 hour shifts I was shattered at the end of that time and I had only done it for a few weeks. Unlike me all of the men in the bakery, were fit and they were accustomed to the hard work and the long shifts.

The benefits of hard work in following Jesus last for eternity unlike the money I quickly spent from the bakery. Hardwork may not make you fashionable in the eyes of your friends, but the rewards in heaven are well worth it

Colossians 2 v 6-10
As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so continue to live in him. Keep your roots deep in him and have your lives built on him. Be strong in the faith, just as you were taught, and always be thankful.
Be sure that no one leads you away with false and empty teaching that is only human, which comes from the ruling spirits of this world, and not from Christ. All of God lives in Christ fully (even when Christ was on earth), and you have a full and true life in Christ, who is ruler over all rulers and powers.

Notes 
It's all about Him!

This phrase "in Him" is repeated by Paul 4 times in these 4 verses. Me thinks he is trying to tell me something. Its very easy to be so busy doing stuff for God that we don't have time for Him. There is a song by Michael Frye, which I find helpful

Jesus, be the centre
Be my source, be my light 
Jesus

Jesus be the centre
Be my hope, be my song
Jesus

Be the fire in my heart
be the wind in these sails
Be the reason that I Live
Jesus, Jesus

Jesus, be my vision
Be my path, be my guide
Jesus

How central is Jesus to my life?
Does he affect my work, play, speech?
Do I think about Jesus when I don't have to ( when I'm not in Church or meeting with Christians)?

Colossians 2 v 11-15
Also in Christ you had a different kind of circumcision, a circumcision not done by hands. It was through Christ’s circumcision, that is, his death, that you were made free from the power of your sinful self. When you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, and you were raised up with him through your faith in God’s power that was shown when he raised Christ from the dead. When you were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self, God made you alive with Christ, and he forgave all our sins. He canceled the debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow. He took away that record with its rules and nailed it to the cross. God stripped the spiritual rulers and powers of their authority. With the cross, he won the victory and showed the world that they were powerless.

Notes
I'm sure that you have heard people say
I wish I was ..... 
· taller
· stronger
· smaller 
· older 
· 21 again 
· blond 
or ......... 
· somewhere else

There are many things in life we wish we could change, from our looks, to our parents, dress sense (or lack of it?!)
On New years eve many people make resolutions
"I'm going to change"
"I'm giving up smoking"
"I want to get fitter"
or "I will be more patient"
Some of these things we actually manage to do, but real change real power to change from the inside from death to life is beyond us. This passage talks about the enormous power of God
"you were spiritually dead.....God made you alive"
This is mind blowing! Have you ever thought about just how powerful God is?
Just stop now for a moment and think about how amazing He is.

He uses His power for us!!
You and I are significant to God

Colossians 2 v 16-19
So do not let anyone make rules for you about eating and drinking or about a religious feast, a New Moon Festival, or a Sabbath day. These things were like a shadow of what was to come. But what is true and real has come and is found in Christ. Do not let anyone disqualify you by making you humiliate yourself and worship angels. Such people enter into visions, which fill them with foolish pride because of their human way of thinking. They do not hold tightly to Christ, the head. It is from him that all the parts of the body are cared for and held together. So it grows in the way God wants it to grow.

Notes 
Have you ever started to do something and then wished you hadn't started!
I was having some work done on the roof of my house, an old high Victorian terraced house.
So I decided to climb up the ladder to see how the work was going.
I started of confidently but as I got higher, the ladder started to move more and more.
I was climbing up an old aluminium ladder which seemed to have a large amount of give in it when I was three quarters of the way up I knew I had made a mistake in attempting such a foolish thing 
I don't really like heights!
When I made it up to the scaffolding at the top of the house, the workman said he was impressed and that his work mates didn't like using his ladder as it wobbled around too much
"Thanks for telling me now", I said!
Even though the ladder was tied to the scaffolding and the top of the ladder was held by someone else, I felt very insecure.
The higher I got the tighter I held on to the ladder
At the top of the ladder my knuckles were white!!
When I made it down to earth I still had "action man gripping hands"

Can you think of a time you have held on to something for dear life?

How tightly are you holding on to Christ right at this moment?
He is the only secure person in the whole world, we can trust him,
He won’t move. He's promised never to leave us or forsake us.

Colossians 2 v 20-23
Since you died with Christ and were made free from the ruling spirits of the world, why do you act as if you still belong to this world by following rules like these: “Don’t eat this,” “Don’t taste that,” “Don’t even touch that thing”? These rules refer to earthly things that are gone as soon as they are used. They are only man-made commands and teachings. They seem to be wise, but they are only part of a man-made religion. They make people pretend not to be proud and make them punish their bodies, but they do not really control the evil desires of the sinful self.

Notes
One of the things I enjoy watching are films & TV series about science fiction especially ones with aliens in.
From "Farscape" to "The Invaders" I have watched some dire make up effects.
For me one of the most interesting story lines is when the aliens try to take over the world by infiltrating the human race, but they never quite manage to fit in no matter how hard they try
Either its their crocked little finger
or the fact they eat live rats!! that gives away the secret that they are aliens.
Aliens have a choice they can either try to be human and fail or just accept the fact they are aliens
The Bible says that we are aliens (1 Peter chapter 2 verse 11)
Yet some times we act like the people in this passage
"..you act as if you still belong to this world by..."
Some people try really hard to fit in and be accepted but often feel guilty about not living up to God's standards.
Others just try to keep out of sight and hope no-one will notice anything strange
How are you doing?
Do your friends notice that you don't fit in?
Or are you no different to them?
Don't try to fit in.
Be proud to be an alien.

Colossians 3 v 1-4
Since you were raised from the dead with Christ, aim at what is in heaven, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Think only about the things in heaven, not the things on earth. Your old sinful self has died, and your new life is kept with Christ in God. Christ is our life, and when he comes again, you will share in his glory.

Notes
There is an old saying that if you aim at nothing you are guaranteed to hit it!
So its important that we aim at something and make our life count.
So what is this passage talking about when it says, "aim at what is in heaven"
Obviously Belinda Carlisle was wrong when she sang "heaven is a place on earth" and so are OPM who think, "heaven is a half pipe"
One criticism of Christians has been that they are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly use!
In fact the opposite should be true, we can be useful on the earth because we are heavenly minded.
Our security is not based on what we have here on earth, or what our friends think of us.
We are free to serve other people and not get caught up in the rat race, because we are not at home our home is in heaven. That feeling of being at home is only a taster, a pale shadow of the feeling we will have when we really are at home in heaven.
Do your thoughts ever drift to thinking about heaven?
What will it be like?
What questions will you ask when you get there?
Take a few moments to stop and review your heart.
Are you aiming at heaven?

word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes