Welcome to Friday’s Podcast.

Our reading today is 1 Timothy 1: 18-20 but today I will focus on verse 18:

Timothy my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well.

If you remember on Monday I mentioned a prize for the person who shares the most podcast. People thought I was joking! I’m delighted to announce there’s a winner and they will receive their prize on Sunday.

REFLECTION

When I was about 17, I was taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold award expedition in the Lake District. I remember very well climbing to the top of a very big hill when the weather changed quite dramatically. As if out of nowhere it became very, very foggy.

We couldn’t see a way ahead because we couldn’t see the path we were following. It had become very unclear. In these moments you have to rely on your compass. The compass keeps you on track – you really have to make sure you’ve read the map properly and then trust that the compass is showing the right direction.

That experience has stayed with me because it reminds me of the feeling you have when you step out in faith – it can feel like stepping out into fresh air.

Stepping out in faith isn’t always plain sailing. It can often feel a bit of a battle.

When you’re in a battle – it can seem hard to get your bearings; you can feel pulled all over the place.

We all face battles.

The Apostle Paul’s words in today’s passage are coming from his heart as Timothy’s spiritual father because he knows Timothy is going to do battle. Timothy has a tough job on his hands. He’s stepping into leadership and he’s going to have to bring a challenge to people.

There’s no spinning the reality of the situation. It will be a battle.

Paul’s commission to Timothy is this: ‘I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you might fight the battle well…’

I have come to take Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 5: 20 really seriously: ‘Do not treat prophecies with contempt, but test them all;’ Last Sunday evening at STC our leader Mick Woodhead spoke on spiritual gifts – find it on our website. Prophecy is a spiritual gift and it’s for the building up and encouragement of each other – it’s to give us courage, to help us stand firm – to remind us that God is speaking directly into our lives.

Prophetic words often fall into two categories: foretelling – a sense that the Lord may be saying something to someone about their future – or forth-telling where someone senses God reminding us of our identity in him.

For example, before our family returned to STC – even after we’d made the decision, I went through periods of doubt. Had we made the right decision? I prayed asking the Lord for confirmation. I remember receiving a message from someone who didn’t know anything about our situation or that we were even thinking of moving back to Sheffield to say she’d had a dream and in that dream we were at STC. I received that as a prophetic word.

We have to weigh prophetic words. Primarily against the scriptures – sometimes people are right and sometimes it’s just downright odd. Like the time a man told me I was going to move to America and have a ministry with computers. It didn’t take long to weigh, as I’m the least competent person with IT I know!

Paul is urging Timothy to call to mind, to remember, those prophetic words that have been spoken over his life. To hold onto them. To celebrate them and allow them to sink in and build faith.

My experience has been prophetic words are a bit like the compass on that Lake District mountain. You’re not always sure what’s going on but you know God is with you, he has spoken over you – remember what he’s said about you. And it gives you courage to step out!

I have a big yellow book – I call it my book of Kairos.

Welcome to Thursday’s Podcast.

Our reading today is 1 Timothy 1: 12-17. Today I will focus on verses 13.

Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.

REFLECTION

Here at STC over the past few years we have used the Alpha film Series at our Alpha Courses. I personally think the film series is fantastic.

On aspect of the Alpha film series I personally enjoy is the stories of people who have been changed by God.

One such significant story, in my view, is the story of Shane Taylor. Known as one of the most serious offenders in the prison system, the Home Office labelled him as very ‘dangerous’. Starting as a boy, his life of crime escalated through his teens and by the time he was 19 he was in prison for a string of serious violent offences including attempted murder. In prison, he decided to ‘fight the system’ and seriously assaulted a Prison Officer who ‘disrespected him’. Considered too dangerous for most ‘normal’ prisons, he was moved 13 times to various maximum security prisons over a 5 year period.

In the midst of all that he ended up on an Alpha Course.

This is Shane’s story in his own words:-

Some time later, while I was attending another lesson on the Alpha course, Eddie Baker came to me and told me he had never done this before for anyone, but God had spoken to him and told him to get me to return that afternoon on my own. I remember hoping deep within me that there was something, but not accepting or thinking that anything would happen to me.

I went back in the afternoon that day and walked into the church with Eddie Baker, the prison chaplain. We sat down together, he picked up the Bible and read several verses about why Jesus died on the cross for me.

He then placed his hand on my head and told me to pray, but to genuinely pray, to mean it from the heart.

On previous occasions, my “prayers” had been only to save myself from prison, or when I was down and feeling sorry for my plight when I had been in prisons before.

This time it was totally different. I asked God to reveal himself to me if indeed he was real.

When I stopped praying we started to talk. Suddenly a bubbly energy seemed to start within me. It rose up from deep within my belly, moved up my body and through my chest. My emotions opened up and I found myself crying.

The more I tried to control the crying, the more I was unable to do so. I had not cried about anything for many years and it was totally out of character for me.

As I cried I felt as though tons of invisible bricks were falling away from me and I was shedding the weight of them, leaving me feeling lighter and more able to see things clearly.

At that moment I knew God had touched me, he’d heard my prayers and with sure certainty he was real.

All the hate, anger and resentment seeped away as I cried, leaving me feeling lifted. Yet I can remember asking Eddie Baker not to tell anyone I’d been crying. He replied that he wouldn’t need to because I would tell them myself.

My prison life changed overnight literally.

Many years later, Shane is now married with four children and serving his local church and working in prisons sharing Jesus.

I could listen to him share his story over and over again. It’s so powerful – Jesus can change lives. Even some of the toughest hearts!

The Apostle Paul, or Saul as he was known, led a very different life before encountering Jesus. He was one of the most prolific persecutors of the church. Certainly present at Stephen the martyr’s death. He went house-to-house searching out Christians. If there was anyone who wanted to stamp out Christianity – it was Saul. He did it with precision and ruthlessness.

Paul says in Galatians 1:13,

Welcome to Wednesday’s Podcast.

Our reading today is 1 Timothy 1: 8-11 – today I will focus on verse 8.

‘We know that the law is good if one uses it properly’.

Today we continue thinking about Paul’s charge to Timothy: to challenge the false teachers influencing the Ephesian Church.

REFLECTION

Have you ever been caught speeding?  I have.  Four years ago this summer driving late one Saturday evening back into Cambridge (where we lived) I came to a dual carriage way and in a moment of absent mindedness increased my speed.  As the car filled with three flashes I knew I’d been had! Was I really speeding? I was doing at least 35 in a 30 – surely they’d be lenient and let me off?

A week later a letter arrived. Pay a fine and get three points or attend a speed awareness course.

I chose the latter.

The speed awareness course was a bizarre experience. People from all walks of life. From the hyperactive 17 year old on my table – cap on backwards – who continually drummed the table with his pen, to a wonderful 86 year old man who seemed genuinely surprised that his forty year old Rover could actually achieve the speeds he was caught doing. There were people from different parts of the world too.

We had one thing in common. We were all caught!

There were two speed awareness instructors. One a lovely cuddly Northern Irish grandfather figure and the other an aggressive – must have been former drill sergeant turned gym instructor from Essex whose opening line was this: ‘you’ve all broken the law…’ to which one man pointed out that he was only doing 71 and thought that the law allowed for a 10% excess. To which the former drill sergeant turned gym instructor now speed awareness operative replied: ‘still broke the law though didn’t ya…’

In today’s passage the apostle affirms that the law is good if it’s used properly.

Why does he say that and what does that mean?

Paul is talking about the Mosaic Law – the Torah. When we hear ‘law’ we can think of courts, barristers or Police. Another way of looking at it is like this – The Mosaic law which shaped the Jewish people, their culture and how they live was a vision of what God’s people should look like and how they should behave. From the famous 10 commandments to other details on how a man should style his facial hair – it pretty much left no stone unturned on how Jewish people should live.

While Paul affirms the law and says it’s a good thing, we also know that in other letters – for example if you’re part of STC you’ll know we’re working through Galatians which contains a lot from Paul about how as Christians we are free from the law – so why then does Paul say the law is a good thing if as Christians we are free from it?

My old Youth Leader Rob used to remind us of these words from Paul from Romans 3:23: ‘For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.’

It’s true. Take my speeding story. All of us – whether you’ve been a Christian 40 years or 4 minutes – we’re all like those speeders I sat with on autumnal Monday morning.

The law is a bit like the speed camera – it catches us in the act. The gospel of grace, the good news, is that we don’t earn our salvation by trying harder and making sure our speedo never goes over 30 in a 30 zone.

We accept Jesus’ gift of salvation – it’s a free gift.

The Law reminds us that we’re a sinner – we’re speeders. And do you know, it’s helpful to be reminded of that – not to feel bad about us; to feel better about the fact that despite that, Jesus has reached out to us and forgiven us! We recognise we’re sinful but celebrate our forgiveness.

So, if you’re driving to work right now – just check your speed!

PRAYER

Jesus we thank you for your glorious grace. We were once far from you but you have welcomed us home in your son. We celebrate that today. Amen.

READING: 1 TIMOTHY 1:8-11

Welcome to Tuesday’s Podcast.

Our reading today is 1 Timothy 1: 1-7 but today I will focus on verses 3-4:

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer 4 or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith.

Yesterday we finished Paul’s letter to the Colossian Church. Today we start First Timothy. A few things about we should know about Timothy: 1) Timothy was from a mixed heritage family: half Greek and half Jewish. Because of this he was considered illegitimate. Because of Timothy’s background, Paul thinks of Timothy like a son. He led him to Christ and discipled him – they are very close. 2) Timothy is not a super-duper Christian leader. He’s a naturally shy, nervous character so needs encouragement from Paul, his spiritual father to ‘stand firm’. 3) He has physical issues – on-going illnesses which are a struggle for him – but Paul encourages him not to be defined by them but to walk in God’s grace and faith. 4) Although most probably in his mid thirties, he’s still considered a ‘young leader’ in his culture.

Today and tomorrow we’re going to think about Timothy’s first big challenge: dealing with false teachers.

REFLECTION

Most mornings I have the privilege of walking my daughter to school. The conversations can be mixed, varied and downright random. Last week we had a conversation about someone in her class who had been saying silly things to her and her friends. It really bothered her and so I tried to offer some advice on how to approach it. I told her to ‘just ignore him’. She exclaimed that she couldn’t just ignore what this boy was saying. As we talked further it became clear to me that she felt that she had to reply to this boy. She had to defend herself, her friends, and point out the error in his arguments (she takes after her mother).

When I said you don’t have to answer him back or engage in the conversation; by engaging in this conversation you are drawn in. She remembered the phrase ‘talk to the hand… the face ain’t listening’. Said with a little bit of six-year-old-girl sass, she’ll be fine and this boy won’t know what’s hit him.

Timothy is told to challenge the ‘false teachers’.

How do you spot those teachers?

Their fruit is confusion, leaving people divided, in disunity and with a feeling of being undermined.

False teaching may masquerade as healthy intellectual enquiry – wrestling with big theological questions – but if it causes people to be unsure, if it’s done without love or care, then it’s not helpful or Godly.

Who do you listen to? Do you have a favourite YouTube speaker you like listening to because they ask those ‘big no-one-else-dares-ask questions?’

Let me ask you this: do they lead churches, or are they professional questioners? What’s the fruit of their teaching? People lovingly discipled? Do they love the church of Jesus or want to tear it down?

We may have met people who love a good theological wrestle. I’m all for some theological chat but if we are wise to recognise Paul’s advice avoid teaching or conversations that promote controversial speculation – that just draws us away from the kingdom stuff we’re called to get on with.

Speculation can become about us: Our own intellectual enquiry.

We are not to be drawn into fruitless discussions. Our call is to build up the kingdom, not tear down.

If you’re having conversations which aren’t helpful that in reality are robbing you of faith – then politely walk away. Do what my daughter does in the playground – gently, raise a hand.

PRAYER

Thank you Jesus for your grace to us. I pray that we may be built up through helpful and solid teaching.

Amen

READING: 1 TIMOTHY 1:1-7

Paul,

Welcome to Monday’s podcast.

My name is Tom Finnemore and I’m part of the team here at STC. I will be taking us through this week’s podcasts. If you’re joining us as part of the STC Lent Project and this is your first time then special hello and welcome! And if you enjoy them then please do pass onto a friend. There’s a prize for the person who shares the most podcasts! More about that later in the week.

REFLECTION

Our reading today is Colossians 4:10-18 and I will focus on verse 12:

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.

A thought for the day:

We are now coming to the very end of St Paul’s letter to the Colossian Church. These are his final words, and his greetings.

On Friday my colleague Liam spoke about prayer from Colossians 4:2 – today I want to continue thinking about prayer – I want to think about verse 12 and what it means to ‘wrestle in prayer.’

I recently read a story about prayer that stirred me deeply. Let me offer a condensed version of that story:-

In November 1949 two elderly sisters (one of them blind) aged 84 and 82 both shared a deep concern. Not a single young person attended their local church. They felt so stirred, so moved that they began to pray. These weren’t just arrow prayers – this was the kind of wrestling prayer St Paul is talking about in verse 12. Their prayer meetings began at 10pm and finished at 3 or 4am. Both sisters on their knees calling out to God.

During one of the prayer meetings one of the sisters had a vision – it was the local church packed full of young people and a person she didn’t recognise in the pulpit. They shared this with the local minister and he and all his elders began to pray too. This lasted for about 6 weeks.

This happened on a small the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides and this outpouring of God’s power is known as the Hebridean Revival.

6 weeks after one of the sisters had a vision of strange man standing in a pulpit, Duncan Campbell, a well known Scottish Minister, visited the island. He was tired having just got off the boat – He never made it his accommodation that night; instead he was taken to the local church where he preached a very short simple message. God did the rest. The church was packed with 300 people. Some kneeling, singing and turned their lives to Jesus. As he walked outside the church a further 600 people were worshipping and kneeling in the churchyard.

Campbell said it was like nothing he’d seen before. It was a powerful move of God. When people credited him for ‘bringing the revival’ he would challenge them. He said it started when two elderly sisters decided to do something. They chose to pray – they chose to wrestle with God in prayer.

I love that story. It inspires and challenges in equal measure.

What would it look like for a move of God like that in Sheffield? It’s happened before. What would it look like for the pubs to empty and people to flock to churches? At all times of the night…

What about our universities?

What I love about the story of the Hebridean reivival was it two elderly ladies who said ‘enough is enough’. And began to pray!

When we look at the world what stirs us?

Is it human trafficking? Is it mental health? Is it teenagers? Is it university students? Is it the loneliness epidemic among the elderly? Is it family breakdown?

What is it?

We’re told in Paul’s closing remarks that Epaphras is ‘always wrestling in prayer for you…’

He’s adopting a Jewish style of prayer – it’s where we get our understanding on ‘intercession’ from – to petition God in prayer: He’s most probably standing – looking to heaven speaking out, calling out to His heavenly father to intervene. He’s the founding pastor of the Colossian Church.

Hello. It’s Friday – the weekend is nearly here! We pray that God has been speaking to you this week through the podcast as we look at the Bible together. If you’ve been finding these reflections helpful, why not tell a friend about them?

REFLECTION

This week, we’ve been digging into Colossians. On Monday, we were reminded that as we look to Jesus we remember that he calls us to live a different life, a better life, a changed life. A life that it’s only possible to live through his resurrection power. Over the past couple of days, we’ve been looking at some of the hallmarks of the new life we have in Christ. On Wednesday, we focused on the word ‘love’; yesterday was centred around our ‘relationships’. Today, it’s prayer.

Today’s passage is Colossians 4:2-9. Here’s verse 2 (taken from the ESV version):

‘Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving’.

We’ve just had a prayer day here at STC. Lots of our church family gathered here over the the course of the day; many were also praying online. These are really great days. It’s such a powerful thing when we gather as a whole church community to pray and to worship. Why? Because it’s the church doing what it’s called to do…and that’s to pray. That is one of the central hallmarks of the new life we find in Christ and it’s right at the heart of the communities we are seeking to build here at STC.

We see in today’s passage, which you can hear read in full at the end, that this is nothing new. It was right at the heart of the early church, these households of faith. Paul instructs the believers to: ‘Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving’.

If prayer is something that’s important for both our own personal walk with God and right at the heart of our church communities, then today’s passage starts to give us an idea of what prayer should look like.

Paul writes ‘continue steadfastly’ in prayer. Our prayer life is to be constant.

One of the most powerful things about the prayer day we’ve just had is that whether it was a handful of folk or a crowd of 150 that gathered throughout the day– someone was praying! It was constant prayer.

A few years ago, I was part of STC College, our discipleship year here, and one of the most important things I learned during that year was how to pray, and in particular the discipline of prayer. We prayed with the staff team at 9am and 3pm. We prayed before lunch. And often we prayed during sessions. I’d only been a Christian a couple of years and I couldn’t get over how much praying we were doing. Sometimes I felt like it; sometimes I didn’t. Sometimes I felt in the zone; other times I was thinking about which sandwich I’d be having for lunch (in fact I often did that).. But, regardless of how I felt, we prayed. And I carried that over in to my life outside the college. As a teacher, I found myself offering up prayers throughout the day – for children, for the lesson I had coming up, for a staff member who was struggling.

So, Paul is saying here that prayer is something we have to persevere in. It’s something we have to keep pressing into. That’s why prayer in community is so important. Sometimes we’ll feel like it; other times we won’t. Sometimes we’ll feel like everything is just in the right place and we’re in the zone and ready to go; other times we’ll feel like we’d rather do anything else. But as we gather together, regardless of how we feel, we spur one another on to pray. We help each other stand firm in prayer, remembering that our God is faithful.

‘Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving’.

Thankfulness is something we’ve heard lots about recently on the podcast. Mick shared a great thought on this last week – do check it out. Our prayer is to be thankful. Thanksgiving is so important when we pray. We often start our collective times of prayer here at STC with giving thanks.

Hello and welcome to Thursday’s podcast.

This week, we’ve been asking the question – what does it mean to follow to Jesus? To throw off the old self (as we read on Tuesday) and put on the new self (as we looked at yesterday).

REFLECTION

We’ve been going through Paul’s letter to the Colossians and today we reach the end of Chapter Three. Let’s look at today’s passage taken from the Message translation and in particular let’s focus on this section: ‘Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ’.

In this section of his letter to the Colossians, Paul gives instructions for various members of a Christian household in terms of how they are to conduct themselves. What Paul sets out here, as he does in some of his other letters, is challenging. It would have been challenging for the believers living in first century Colassae and it’s just as challenging for us now, as disciples living in 21st century Britain. And whilst it is important to take into account the historical context and the cultural norms of which Paul was writing this letter into, what we’re presented with here is just as relevant now as it was back then.

So what are we presented with? Well this passage is an incredibly practical one. It’s centred around the relationships people have within a household and reads almost like a code of conduct. It’s important to remember that as we read this passage and when we talk about a household, we’re talking about the ‘oikos’ to use the Greek term. The oikos was bigger than just the nuclear family and also included extended family, servants, business associates and friends. They all gathered in the ‘oikos’. They were a community. And Paul takes each of the different relationships represented in the household, the community and gives instructions for how each group are to conduct themselves. You can hear them read out at the end of this podcast.

But what’s noticeable is that there’s a pattern. In the Message version, which we’re using today, we keep seeing the phrase ‘the Master’ repeated. In the NIV version, each of Paul’s instructions are rooted in the term, ‘The Lord’ or an equivalent term. The reason Paul is doing this is he wants to point something out to us.

We read in today’s passage: ‘Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ’.

We serve Christ. That through the cross, Christ died so that we might have this new life, this new self, the new identity he gives us as children of God. But there’s a sense in which that each day we’re faced with a choice –Are we going to serve Jesus? Are we going to put on the new self? Are we going to live that new life Jesus offers us?

And it goes back to what James talked about two weeks ago – it’s all about grace. We read in Ephesians Two – For it is by grace that you have been saved. And this is not your own doing. It’s a gift from God. That through Jesus, and what he did for us on the cross, we are put right with God. Our previously broken relationship with our heavenly father is completely restored. We are rescued, saved and set free. It’s something we could never do or earn for ourselves. But through God’s great love for us, through Jesus, we can!

And so Paul is saying, ‘Keep in mind Christ’ and remember that ultimately, in everything we do, in all of our earthly relationships, we are serving Jesus. That we are to be people who seek to be right with others, to have right relationships with others knowing that we do so because of God’s grace in our lives. Because through Jesus, we have been made right with God.

‘Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ’, Paul writes

Whether you’re a husband, a wife, a parent, a child, a servant –these are al the groups Paul mentions today, keep in mind that ultimately you’re serving Christ – the servant king. The one who washed his disciples’ feet and then said go and do likewise.

Hello, and welcome to Wednesday’s Podcast. Hope you’re having a good week so far.

At the start of the week, we were reminded that we are to look to Jesus. We are to fix our eyes on him and remember that he has for us a new life, a changed life. On Tuesday, we considered how through faith in Jesus, we die to our old self and put on the new. Through the power of his Spirit at work within us, we are free to live the new life Jesus calls us to.

REFLECTION

Yesterday’s passage was examples of the old self that we, as believers, are to throw off, to do away with. Today’s passage, which you can hear in full at the end of the podcast, gives us this wonderful description of what the new life in Christ looks like. Using that analogy of clothing we read about yesterday, Paul writes that the Colossians are to clothe themselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. That they are to be people who are quick to forgive. People who are overflowing with thanksgiving (see last Wednesday’s podcast for a great thought from Mick on that aspect). To be people who live at peace with each other. People who take to heart the words we read written in the Bible and live them out. People who spur one another on.

What an incredible community we read about here! This is what the church, the people of God, should live like.

In Verse 15 of today’s passage we read this: ‘And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity’.

Above all else, Paul is saying to the Colossians, you’re called to love each other. That new self you put on, all of those hallmarks of the new life in Christ that we see listed in today’s passage, it’s all wrapped up in this one word: love. As we are made in alive in Christ, we discover what it is to love others. A love that we are to model within our own community and extend to those beyond that.

As part of my role as Youth Church leader here at STC, I regularly go into our local secondary schools and offer support. One school I go into has perhaps the best waiting area ever! It’s not that it’s super comfy or spacious. Or that the reception team are really polite and efficient (although they absolutely are!). It’s a sign that they display just inside the front door for everyone to see. Written on it are Jesus’s words to his followers which we read in John’s Gospel: ‘By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another ’(John 13:35). What a great message to see in a school! What a wonderful thing to want to your students and staff to be known for!

By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. This is the heart of today’s passage. Indeed, it’s at the very core of what it means to be a disciple. What it means to live this new life we are called to. It’s a life of love.

In Matthew 26, when asked which is the greatest commandment in the law. Jesus replied: ‘Love God and Love your neighbour.’ All of the law and the Prophets, Jesus said, it’s all summarised as this – Loving God and Loving Others. That’s what it means to be a disciple. To live the Jesus life. As I’ve heard it said before, the Jesus life is so simple to explain but so hard to put into practise.

Love God. Love Others. It’s what we, as Paul writes in today’s passage, as God’s chosen people, are called to. We are called to a life of love.

What is a life of love all about? I’ve heard love described in lots of different ways. Each of those virtues we see listed here in today’s passage, they are all descriptions of what it means to love others. But the best I’ve heard it put is this…to love is to give others your best.

The Bible tells us that we love because God first loved us. God gives us his best! John 3:16 is a verse we’re focusing on here at STC during Lent. For God so loved the world that He gave his only one and only Son,

Welcome to Tuesday’s Foundation Podcast. It’s great to be looking at the Bible with you again today.

Each day this week, as we look at Paul’s letter to the Colossians, we are asking ourselves the question: what does this new life that Jesus has won for us look like? For the central message of Colossians is this: that through Jesus death and resurrection we die to our old life and are raised to a new one with Him. Yesterday, we were reminded that we are to ‘set our hearts on the things above’, and that as we look to Jesus, we remember he has a new life for us. It’s Him we serve. It’s Jesus we follow. It’s the Jesus life we seek to live out each and every day.

REFLECTION

Today’s passage is chapter 3:5-11. Let’s look at verse 9 and 10 together:

Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

If yesterday was about being reminded of who we follow, who is the source of this new life, today and indeed the rest of the week is saying in practical terms – what does living this new life look like?

In chapter 3, Paul presents to the Colossians a new way of living. The examples he cites in the first part of the chapter (you can hear read out at the end) are what Paul terms ‘old life’ – Check out Tom Finnemore’s podcast from 18th January (see the STC website for the archives) for a helpful reflection on this old life/new life idea that Paul also talks about in his letter to the Ephesians.

So if that’s the old life, how are we to live this new life that Jesus calls us into? Or as Paul puts it, how are we to put on this ‘new self’? The answer, it would seem, lies in the fifth verse of today’s passage where Paul tells the Colossians that they are to ‘put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature’.

It takes us back to the image of the cross again. The crucified Jesus. In that moment, which looks like utter defeat: to sin, to all the things that are wrong with this world, the things that have power over us and separate us from our creator, it’s actually the point of THE great victory won for us.

How can we live differently? We live differently because of Christ’s power at work within us. He has won! When Paul says ‘put to death our earthly nature’, he knows full well that on our own it’s impossible to live that different life. Our ‘earthly nature’ is to sometimes lie, to get angry, to want things others have got, to desire others, to speak badly of others…the list goes on. We can’t change that on our own, we can’t live a totally different life to that purely in our strength, through sheer will power and discipline.

But through the power of Christ at work within us…we can.

When Jesus died, as Paul writes in chapter two, he nailed the old life to the cross and said, ‘It is finished.’ This old way of living is not for you anymore. And he rose to win for us the new life. The new self. The new identity we have as a child of God.

I like this metaphor that Paul uses here of putting on the new self like you put on new clothing. When you buy a new piece of clothing, a new set of shoes and wear them out, others notice. ’That looks good on you,’ ‘These are great’ or as my two year old daughter would say…‘So nice!’

Our vision this year is to ask others to join us in building communities that bring about God change in our society. Every time we put on the new self, every time we choose to follow Jesus, to live in the opposite spirit to the examples Paul cites in today’s passage. Each time we speak highly of someone else, we are patient, we tell the truth in a gracious way, we are pure in the way we think, talk and act – it’s attractive. And do you know what, even though many people might not say it, there are some who are thinking – ‘That way of doing things..it looks good on you.

Hello, and welcome to a new week of Foundations Daily. My name is Liam and I’m part of the staff team here at STC. It is an absolute privilege to get to share a short thought from the Bible with you each day. As a team, we really hope these podcasts are encouraging you to live out the Jesus life.

We are currently looking at St Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Two weeks ago, my colleague James reminded us again of that fundamental truth that it’s all about grace. We receive God’s unmerited favour. We can’t earn it, we don’t deserve it but despite all that, God’s love for us is constant and unchanging. Last week, Mick then spoke about change. Is it possible to change? Yes, because Jesus is the change agent! His Spirit at work within us changes us from the inside out and it has the power to bring about Godly change in our communities and in our society.

And so to this week and the next part of Paul’s letter to the Colossians. I have loved digging into Colossians. It’s a wonderful letter, packed full of amazing truths about Christ. The central message being this – that when we receive Christ into our lives and decide to follow him, we throw off our old self and put on our new self. That through faith in Jesus, we die to our old life and rise to the new life he has for us.

With all this mind, this week we ask the question what does this changed life, this new life, that Jesus offers us, look like? What are some of the hallmarks of a life changed by Jesus and what does it look like to live that out each day?

REFLECTION

Today’s passage is Colossians Ch 2:20- 3:4. Let’s look at verse 1 together.

‘Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.’

The context behind today’s focus verse is that the believers in Colassae had begun to stop living the new life Christ had won for them and moved towards living a life that was centred on something else. Paul writes in verse 20: ‘Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules.’ The church in Colassae had gone a bit off track. People were teaching that you had to worship angels in order to protect yourself from evil spirits and that you had to adopt all manner of strict disciplines. All of which weren’t the Gospel and all of which meant the believers weren’t living in the fullness of this new life that God had for them.

And so Paul reiterates the call for the people of Colossae to again look to Jesus – and to set their hearts on things above where Christ is.

Why? Because when you look to where Christ is, Paul is saying, you remember that it’s through Christ that you have a new life, that you’re a new creation. And that the old way of doing things, has gone. Paul writes in verse 1 that Christ is seated at the right hand of God. It’s a picture of Jesus having complete authority over all things. That he died so that you might be free.

Paul says to the Colossians: Look to Jesus. Look to the source of the new life! Look to the one who has complete authority. The old way of doing things no longer has any power over you. You can’t earn your salvation with God, Paul says, by eating the right foods, by observing particular festivals or earn protection through praying to certain angels. It’s all about grace. It’s all about Jesus. And when you look to him, Paul says, when you ‘set your heart on the things above’ – you are reminded again that you are to live a new life, a changed life.

The challenge to the Colossians, is in essence the same challenge to us today – Look to Jesus!

I’ve heard it put like this, that we as believers, are to walk into this new day with our heads held high and our eyes fixed on Jesus and not down at our bootstraps.

What a great reminder for us all at the start of this new week that whatever it holds – ...