Sermon Notes: Sunday 2/22/15Love you all more everyday!The Word For The Year –“hope” (part 8)Colossians 3:1–11 [NIV]1. Intro: Being at a conference this week and forgetting my clothes. It didn’t stop me because my calling was greater than my failure!a. Living in the “hope” of JESUS means “hearts” drive us action! (v. 1)i. “set” / “keep seeking” = “to seek in order to find” (not giving up!)1. “To seek, in the sense of to endeavor, to try” ii. When we “set” our “hearts on things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” means…1. First meaning, “things” mean we are about GOD’s “business!” Luke 2:49 [***New King James Version]And He said to them, "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?"a. “Why is it you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in my Father’s house?” [NASB] = “and [occupied] about My Father’s business?” [Amplified Bible]b. We are consumed about what GOD is doing! We can’t do anything else!c. These are the “things above” (The idea of “Thy will be done on earth….”i. “hope” “is the atmosphere that faith grows in.” (Bill Johnson)ii. “Any area of my life that has no ‘hope’ is under the influence of a life…. Bringing it right back to the cross, right back to the King of Glory…start praying… ‘kingdom come’…[GOD] can take forty years of no and one day turn it into a yes.” (Johnson)2 Corinthians 1:20For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.d. This means our lives are not a waste! Our “hearts” are connected and moved by what moves JESUS! (No matter what people say!)Mark 5:35–3635 While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher any more?" 36 Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe." 2. Second meaning, we are closer to JESUS! The closer we are to HIS presence, the greater HIS power on and in us!John 5:19 [***New American Standard Bible]Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.3. Release the presence of JESUS by the HOLY SPIRIT!b. Second key to the “hope” that comes from JESUS, our “minds” are fixed on JESUS and HIS “kingdom.” (v. 2)i. “Set” = “side with him” Colossians 3:2–3 [***Amplified Bible]2 And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth. 3 For [as far as this world is concerned] you have died, and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God. ii. “your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God.” “John and Paul…216 times.” John 5:4–5 [***NIV]4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 1. “…all the blessings of salvation are accomplished in Christ. The Bible locates each of the four perspectives of salvation—eternal, historical, experiential, and eschatological—within HIM.” (Ibid.)a. “…from the eternal perspective, we were elected in Christ.” (Ibid., 689)Ephesians 1:42 Timothy 1:9i. “How could God call us before we ever existed? Paul supplies the answer: we were elected in Christ Jesus. GOD elected HIS own Son, who is our representative, and we find our election in HIM!” (Ibid.)b. “…from the historical perspective, we were represented as united to Christ in HIS life, death, burial, and resurrection.” (Ibid.)Ephesians 1:4, 6–7 i. “Believers have considered by GOD to have died with JESUS (Col. 3:3–4) and to be buried with HIM (Rom. 6:2–4). …when JESUS rose from the dead, the FATHER viewed us rising with HIM positionally (Rom. 6:5–8).” (Ibid.)c. “…from the present [‘experiential’] perspective, we are united with CHRIST the moment we trust HIM for salvation, and we enjoy all the present benefits of salvation in HIM.” (Ibid., 690)Ephesians 1:13; 2:2–3Gal. 2:202. Application: v. 3–11 a. There is no life in anything else for us!b. Since we are “hidden with Christ in God” we must stop expecting the world to see us!i. We are invisible! “known yet unknown”