As the people of God we are chosen by Him, holy to Him, and we are dearly loved by God. We are also commanded to clothe ourselves with 5 Christian virtues. Today, we'll talk about those 5 virtures.

Last week we saw the importance of seeking things above. We also saw that we belong to Christ and that we have His return to look forward to. In light of these truths, as beleivers we need not only think about things above, but we need to consider the things of this earth that would lead us to sin. Paul uses two pictures of dealing wit sin. Considering ourselves dead to the sins of the flesh, and taking off the old clothes of sin and putting on the new clothes of godliness.

Almost a quarter of traffic accidents involve people texting while driving. Factor in other distractions, like spilled coffee or something on the side of the road, and the statistics go up. Why? Because people take their eyes off the road. If you aren't focused on where you're headed, you easily go in the wrong direction or miss a hazard right in front of you. That's very much like what happens with our spiritual lives when we take our focus off Jesus. Eventually, our spiritual lives crash!

We have been delivered from sin! Jesus paid the price - He took it away by mailing it to the cross. And God has made us alive through being with (in) Christ. Apart from Jesus, there is no spiritual life. He is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life - no one comes to the Father except through Him."

In our world, there are many who feel that simple faith in Jesus is unsophisticated and superstitious. We are in hostile territory and our belief system is going to come under assault. So how do we avoid the pitfalls of many around us who would pressure us to abandon our faith? We must be careful to fix our eyes on Jesus in order to avoid becoming captives to the empty and deceitful philosophy of the world around us.

This morning we are going to be looking at the importance of living out the faith we have in Christ. If we have received Him, we need to live as those who have. We'll also see the importance of developing our walk with Christ through being grounded in Him, by growing in Him as we are strengthened in our faith, and by expresing gratitude and overflowing in that expression - so that we all may continue to live in Christ just as we received Him.

Paul writes to encourage the Colossians to be united in love and to stay true to the Good News of Jesus Christ - they are to invest in Christ.

Paul's commitment to Christ's church was because of a commission given to him by God to present His Word. Paul's response to his suffering throughout his ministry was - JOY! The idea Paul shares is this- the church is profoundly important to Jesus Christ, so I will suffer or do whatever I need to do to serve His church, placing the needs of the church above my own. Many in our culture have lost perspective on this. We have a consumer mentality that looks at the church and asks "What's in it for me?"

The truth about our reconciliation with God: it isn't something we've earned or can even try to earn. God did the work of reconciliation for us through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. It is now our responsibillity to be established and firm in our faith, to stand strong on a foundation of faith that holds to the gospel, and to proclaim the gospel to others.

The clear teaching of scripture is that Jesus is more than man - He is God and He should be magnified as our God. As God, He is the creator!