Complete in Christ
“MIRACLES AT
COLOSSAE”
Colossians 1:3-8
Complete in Christ
Colossians 1:3 We always
thank God, the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for
you.
1. ARE YOU A THANKER?
Complete in Christ
Colossians 1: 4 because we
have heard of your faith in
Christ Jesus and of the love you have
for all the saints.
2. THEY BELIEVED IN JESUS CHRIST
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• WE ARE NOT SAVED BY FAITH IN
FAITH.
• WE ARE NOT SAVED BY FAITH IN A
SET OF DOCTRINES.
• WE ARE SAVED BY FAITH IN JESUS
CHRIST.
Complete in Christ
Colossians 1: 4 because we have
heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and
of the love you have for all the
saints.
3. THEY LOVED THE CHURCH
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• Colossians 1:5-7…the faith and
love that spring from the hope that
is stored up for you in heaven and
that you have already heard about
in the word of truth, the gospel 6 that has come
to you. All over the world this gospel is
bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been
doing among you since the day you heard it
and understood God’s grace in all its truth. 7
You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow
servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on
our behalf…
4. THEY HEARD THE GOSPEL
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• Colossians 1:4 because we have heard
of your faith in Christ Jesus
I. THE GOSPEL IS CHRIST CENTRED
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• Colossians 1:5…you have already
heard about in the word of truth.
II. THE GOSPEL IS THE WORD OF
“TRUTH”
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• John 17:17 (NIV) …Your word is
truth.
• John 8:44 (NIV) You belong to your father, the
devil, and you want to carry out your father’s
desire. He was a murderer from the beginning,
not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in
him. When he lies, he speaks his native
language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
• John 14:6 (NIV) Jesus answered, “I am the way
and the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me.
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• Colossians 1:6 All over the world this
gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just
as it has been doing among you since
the day you heard it and understood
God’s grace in all its truth.
III. THE GOSPEL IS THE MESSAGE OF
GOD’S GRACE
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Two words in the Christian
vocabulary are often confused:
grace and mercy.
God in His grace gives me what I do not
deserve.
God in His mercy does not give me what I
do deserve.
Grace is God’s favour shown to
undeserving people.
Complete in Christ
• Colossians 1:6 …All over the world
this gospel is bearing fruit and
growing
IV. THE GOSPEL IS FOR THE WHOLE
WORLD
“If you were to give a gift that would be suitable
for the whole world, what would you give?”
• John 3:16 (NIV) “For God so loved the world that
he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
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• Colossians 1: 7 You learned
it from Epaphras, our dear
fellow servant.
5. THEY WERE DISCIPLED INTO
CHRIST
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• The word translated “learned” here is
related to the word disciple in the
Greek language. It is the same word
Jesus used: “Learn of Me” in
Matthew 11:29 or, in effect, “Become My disciple.”
• The word disciple is found more than 260 times in
the Gospels and Acts, and the verb translated, “to
learn as a disciple” is found 25 times in the New
Testament. In that day, a disciple was not simply a
person who sat and listened to a teacher. He was
someone who lived with the teacher and who
learned by listening, looking, and living.
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• Colossians 1:6 “All over the
world this Gospel is producing
fruit and growing.”
6. THEY BECAME FAITHFUL
DISCIPLES OF CHRIST
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• When God’s Word is planted and
cultivated, it produces fruit. Faith, hope,
and love are among the first-fruits in the
spiritual harvest (see Rom. 5:1–4; Eph.
1:13–15; 1 Thess. 1:3; Heb. 6:9–12; 1
Peter 1:3–9).
Complete in Christ
• Colossians 1:5…the faith and love that
spring from the hope that is stored up
for you in heaven and that you have
already heard about in the word of
truth, the gospel.
Complete in Christ
V5 FAITH
• Faith comes through the hearing of God’s
Word (Rom. 10:17).
• Our Christian lives start with saving faith;
but this is only the beginning.
• We learn to walk by faith (2 Cor. 5:7) and
Complete in Christ
V5 FAITH
• We work by faith (1 Thess. 1:3).
• It is faith that gives power to prayer (Luke 17:5–
6).
• Faith is a shield that protects us from Satan’s
fiery darts (Eph. 6:16).
Complete in Christ
• V5 FAITH
• V5 LOVE
• V5 HOPE
• 1 Peter 1:3 (NIV) Praise be to the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his
great mercy he has given us new birth into
a living hope through the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead,
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APPLICATION
1. Remember what it was like when you
first heard and believed the gospel?
FIRST LOVE
2. Is Jesus Lord of your life?
3. Are you basing your life on the
TRUTH?
Complete in Christ
APPLICATION
4. Never forget that the Gospel is Good
News!
•
•
Grace - getting what I don't deserve
Mercy - not getting what I do
deserve
5. Remember: the Gospel is for the
WHOLE WORLD!
Complete in Christ
APPLICATION
6. Christianity is a Relationship
not a set of beliefs - We believe
in Jesus. Have You?
7. Is your life marked by a growing Faith
& Love springing from the certain
Hope?
8. We are always learning Disciples?
Are you a disciple – a discipler, what
have you learnt?
Complete in Christ