Christ In You

Well, good morning, Evangel. How we doing? Yes, the 8 a.m. is alive and well. I don't know if my car was correct, but it was like 30 degrees when I was driving here at 6.45 this morning, and I think that's a move of God in February, amen. Yes, he loves us so much. Well, welcome to service today. If we've not had the chance to meet, my name is Janae, and I get to serve alongside my amazing husband, Pastor Josh, here at Evangel. And the one bummer about the four services is we get a little less time for preaching, and so I might be flying today, but I say about five words to my husband's every one. So we're gonna do our best. But as Evangel News says, that this is Connect Launch, wow, Connect Group Launch Week, and I love that we call it our spring semester and that it actually kind of feels like spring today, but maybe you were here two weeks ago when Pastor Josh kicked off our Life on Purpose series with the introduction, and we have a lot of Life on Purpose groups that are launching this week and still open for you to join, and I just wanna encourage you, get in a group. My life changed through an amazing church in college, but it was truly transformed when I got in biblical community.

And I just wanna give you some direction, because sometimes it's not always clear, but if it's your first Connect Group that you're joining, I would highly, highly encourage you to join either a Life on Purpose group or ELFA is a great first step for a Connect Group. And if you've already been in a Connect Group, then again, Life on Purpose would be a great one, or Freedom, if you've already been in a Connect Group, Freedom is a great next step when it comes to Connect Groups for you. And so we're covering week one, so if you're in a Life on Purpose group, what I am teaching on should, and in the next seven weeks, what we teach on on Sunday is gonna be in correlation and in tandem with what you're learning and discussing in your groups that week. And it is just, we did it last year, the seed study, and it was so beautiful. And so I'm so excited to hear what God does through all the groups launching this week. And we say at the end of every service, go be the church. And I just wanna keep encouraging you that church happens in circles, it doesn't happen in rows. Service happens in rows. But true church, as Jesus intended it, the capital C Church, it's happening in circles of people. It's happening in groups of people. So when we say go be the church,

I'm saying go be in a group, go get in a group. I know it can be scary, but be brave. And I'm excited to dig into this topic of purpose. And really, it's not just a topical study. We are going through the book of Colossians over seven weeks, and maybe for some of you, you're gonna say, I mean, Colossians is not that long of a book in the Bible. Maybe you wanna read the whole book of Colossians every week and you'll read it seven times over the next seven weeks. That's a great action step. There's even cards at the back of the study that you can, that are perforated, that you can take out so you can memorize them as you go week by week through the study. And this topic of purpose matters because I don't know what person hasn't asked, what's the meaning of my life? What's the purpose of my life? And a lot of us in the world has been searching for our purpose or meaning in the wrong place. And we view it maybe as something to achieve or something that we accomplish. And we're just always one blank away. I'm one relationship away. I'm one promotion away. I'm one job away. I'm one degree away. I'm one child away. Whatever that would be.

Every one of us, you have that blank. I'm one blank away. But we can live our whole life. And Pastor Josh covered this amazing two weeks ago. So if you didn't, if you weren't here, go back and listen. But we can live our life with just, what's the next thing? What's the next thing? And then you take your last breath and you're like, okay, what was this all about? And our purpose and our meaning is discovered in not just asking ourself or staring at our belly button and just thinking inwardly or looking to the world, but it is discovered in seeking and asking the one who created you. And today I'm gonna talk about how it's continued in living in, our purpose is continued by living in the one who created you as well. And I'm guilty of this as well. I have to train myself to be in the moment, not be planning ahead and looking ahead to the next thing, but to be present in what God has for us. So we're gonna be in primarily Colossians 2. We're gonna turn there after I pray. So let's pray together this morning. Lord, we are here for you. We love you, Jesus. We thank you for your presence. We thank you for the body of Christ.

We thank you for your word that instructs us and that is alive and active, it's sharp. And Lord, we just open our hearts and our minds and our ears to hear from you, and we welcome you to cut away the parts of our life, the parts of our flesh, Lord, that are not in alignment with who you are, that are not in alignment with your kingdom. Shape us more into your likeness today by the power of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name I pray, amen, amen. All right, Colossians 2, starting in verse six. It's on the screen if you don't have a Bible with you. And now, this is Paul writing. Just as you accepted Christ as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. Don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is head over every ruler and authority. So there's a couple things we can observe here

in this scripture, in these verses. And first of all is that Paul has an assumption. He is assuming that he is writing to those who are already a Christian, that already believe. And so he is assuming you've already accepted Christ. And so my message title today is Christ in You. So he has this assumption, I am writing to people who are already in Christ. And there are some of you that have been trying to live your life with purpose outside of Christ in you, or outside of Christ. And so for today, some of you, maybe it's a point of revelation, maybe it's just one step in the direction of truly seeing who Jesus is, the Christ, the Messiah, and coming to a point of revelation where you would surrender your heart to him as Lord and Savior of your life, because there is no Christ in you without acceptance and submission to him as Lord and Savior of our lives. And I say this almost every time I speak, it's real trendy to have him as Savior of your life, because I mean, hell insurance, that's nice. But Lord of your life is where a lot of Americans get tripped up, because that means you're not in control, it's not your life to live, it's your life to live submitted to his direction. And my prayer is that for those of you that have been trying and out of your own strength,

you're so tired, because you've been trying on your own to find meaning or purpose or significance, but Christ in you, it's all fulfilled, and it's all purpose. But we need to come to the point of revelation and acceptance. And this isn't an easy one, two, three, or some meticulously worded prayer, it is a life surrendered. It is a heart fully surrendered to Christ alone. And so Paul says, just as you have accepted him, you must continue to follow him. And so for those that have accepted Christ here today, Paul is urging you, it is direct, it is urgent, and it is not optional. When I say to my kids, you must unload the dishwasher, it's not a discussion, it's not, well, this is a suggestion for you, it is urgent, and it is directive from me. And he says, you must continue to follow him. And he's saying, just as you have Christ in you, you now must continue in Christ. And that's what we're gonna focus on today. How do we even do that? What does that even look like? And oftentimes in the Western church, in the American church, we want it to be this quick equation or just give us the three points or the three steps where I can continue in Christ, just make it easy, make it quick.

And maturing in Christ and growing in him and continuing to follow him, it is a lifelong journey. It is not something that you just quickly get over with, it is a lifelong journey that I hope when you leave today, you actually are excited about. And it's not something that feels burdensome or boring, but something that you look forward to. It makes me think of literally a conversation I just had with our youngest. She's five and we call her the cherry on top because you just gotta end with that cherry on top. She's just the sweetest. But we were sitting waiting to go into school and she said, mom, how do I talk to God? And I said, well, we pray, we pray to God. And that's honestly just talking with God. We sometimes talk, we sometimes pause and listen. And she goes, no, mom, I wanna talk to God. And I said, okay, well, his word, we read his word, the Bible, that's hearing from him. That's him talking to us. She goes, no, mom, I. want to talk to God. And I said, oh, do you want to talk to God where he says, Berkeley, do not hit your sibling. And she goes, yes, I wanna talk to God. I wanna hear God's voice. And I realized at that point, there was not much farther I could say, much more I could say.

But that's a perfect example that we say we want God and we want him the way we want it to work. And in our timing, but I know as I watch her grow, I get to watch her, I watch all my kids go from that point of like, why isn't it this way? To the point where now I've watched my oldest come to a midweek with me and say, I just wanna go off and I wanna be in God's presence. And he's starting to perceive what the Lord's saying. He's starting to hear the voice of God because it is a process. It is a process of maturing and a process of sanctification. And it can be a beautiful process that the Lord leads us on. And so I wanna challenge each one of us, even myself, maybe the preconceived notions that we've put up against how do we continue in Christ or what does it look like for Christ to be in me? And maybe the ways that we've set it up as a very nice black and white equation. I hope the Lord reveals something greater to you today. And I'm using an illustration from author and counselor and teacher, John Eldredge. And he, I think it was in 2020 I heard him teach on this and I've just never been the same and I've referenced it often. But he says there is a common, there are three common phases that we view as the Christian life,

particularly here in America. And you guys, I'm going old school. I know Josh uses the TV, but I'm a paper girl. And so anyone else? The first phase, which I'm gonna say these, when I lay them out, really they are phases of maturing in Christ. And it starts with, I have a new appreciation for teachers who talk and write at the same time after this. Encounter with God. So this looks like encounter with God. So this phase, no matter if you're 80 or if you are 18 or if you are eight, this season, this phase is so exciting. Because for the first time in your life, you're home. You're new, you're found. You've experienced the peace that you've never experienced before. This is when you open your heart to Christ. So maybe this was a Billy Graham crusade. Maybe this was service at Evangel. Maybe this was someone watching online. Maybe this was in a Bible study. Maybe this was a camp experience. Whatever it is, you encountered the living God. And you were never the same. And you have this revelation of who Jesus Christ is, your Lord and your Savior, that he's true, that he's real, that he is still alive.

He's seated on the throne. And you accept him as your Lord and Savior. So the seed of truth is planted in the soil of your life. And new life springs forth. New life comes from it. And the second phase, and I mean, I'm a notetaker and encourager, so while I'm writing, why don't you write too? But you take a step towards obedience. So this looks like, did I spell that right? Obedience, well, if I didn't, forgive me. You start to read the word of God. You have this encounter with him. You wanna get to know the God that you now are serving. You want to walk in alignment with God's vision for your life. And so it looks like you start reading the Bible and you get to the part where it says, repent and you'll be baptized. And you're like, oh, yeah, okay, I wanna take that step of obedience. That is how the disciples are directed, disciples of Jesus Christ. You prioritize time with God. You prioritize time in the word. And you get to, in Proverbs, where it says that there is life or death in the tongue. And it's no longer words on a page. It then carries the authority and dictates to your mouth. And it changes the course of your life.

It changes what you choose to participate in and it changes where you show up. It changes maybe even your friend group. Here at Evangel, that can look like, I just think we finished a round of heart and soul. And for so many people, that was a step of obedience. I'm looking for my husband. Josh, can you bring me a water, please? I usually don't, because I make a mess, but. So in this phase of maturing, we're taking steps towards obedience because we want to be in alignment. and in the vision God has for our lives. And so if phase one is when the seed is planted and new life comes, then this phase two of maturing, you start to bear some fruit. You start to bear the fruit of the Spirit and what the Word of God says. And so the third phase is when you go into active participation. Wow, that's a long word, oh my goodness, okay. Active participation. I love this phase of maturing because people go from a consumer to a contributor. You get out of being a constipated Christian that just consumes, consumes, consumes, and you got nothing coming out of you. You don't serve another person. You're not active in the body of Christ. And the body of Christ is at a disadvantage

when you are not activated in the part you are designed to be. You are not activated in the part you are designed and created with purpose and meaning to be in. And this is a beautiful part of maturing. And so if this is the seed is planted and then we start to bear fruit, this is when you get to start sharing that fruit with other people in the body of Christ and outside of it. It's when we start serving and giving and we're on mission with Jesus. We are part of his mission and we're linked on with other believers and we're taking these steps forward and we're pushing back the darkness. It's exciting. It's so much fun. And the unfortunate part is that in America, we kind of sum it up to this. And we say, this is the steps. These are the steps of maturity and this is what it looks like to be in Christ, to continue to follow him, which yes, they are valid and these are the steps of maturing. But Jesus died for so much more than this. And servanthood and obedience to Christ, that is beautiful. But he has something else that he wants with you that he offers to each one of us. And we see in John 15, it's the night before Jesus is crucified,

he's with his disciples. They're sharing a last meal together and Jesus is just getting done saying, I'm the vine, you're the branches. Don't depart from me. Remain in me and I remain in you. One of the most beautiful pieces of scripture. But he says in verse 14, you are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves because a master doesn't confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends since I have told you everything the father told me. And so the fourth, I would say, phase, season of maturing in Christ that often many people who claim to be Christian never reach, never, I would not even, it's not even about reaching. It's not this ladder to climb. It's some, it's a part of serving Jesus to discover. It's a beautiful journey of discovery, but it's friendship with God. And I would even say friendship and union with God. I use the short with, you know, well, goodbye. Friendship and union with God. Jesus calls you friend. He wants to be your friend. And without this phase of maturing, and often, honestly, I have a theory that this is where we see this movement of ex-evangelicals.

We see this movement of people who are nuns, N-O-N-E-S. They want nothing to do with organized religion, or the duns, they're done with organized religion. And honestly, I think they were raised, and this is it, this is it. Just keep working, obeying, serving, and they never were taught. There is a friendship waiting for you, and it's the perfect friendship. There is a union. That Jesus, he has a sense of humor. Did you know that? He wants to laugh with you. He wants to go on that run with you. He wants to hunt with you. Men, I know there's women who hunt too. He wants to hunt with you. He wants to do that hobby with you. He wants to enjoy the kids you have, or the grandkids you have, playing with them, or instructing them. He wants to learn something new with you. He wants to brainstorm ways to love your neighbor. He wants to play the board game with your family, with you. And without this phase and season of maturing, this is where people reach a plateau, or a frustration with God. This is where the excitement dies out. This is where it says, I'm so burned out. Because the friendship and union with God

is the source that then fuels us to the purpose and meaning and calling that he has for us. It is like this spring that bubbles up within us. And I hope to speak practically to this because I think a lot of people never discover this in their walk with Jesus because it's like, that's really undefined. That's really ambiguous. This is like pretty measurable. We're all about, ugh, measurable goals. And this, how do you measure a friendship? In connection, in time, in openness. I mean, my goodness, if our friendship with God just looks like this, we're like the Eeyore. That's just like, hi, I'm here again. Just working hard for you, Lord. No one likes that friend. Only comes to you when they need something or comes to just prove something to you. A friendship is both ways. And Jesus is the perfect friend and he's offering perfect friendship. And I just think of the definition of communion because we're meant to have communion with God. I think even just when you discover that the Bible is one big story of how God wants to be with his people and how much he loves you and he wants to commune with us, the definition of communion, the word communion, is the sharing or exchanging

of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially when the exchange is on a mental or spiritual level. And I think so often in serving Jesus, you can just view communion as something you take in service but communion is something that you are to have with your perfect, loving, heavenly Father. And he wants communion with you. I just think in any marriage, you've probably experienced this if you're married. You have a marriage covenant, just like we're in covenant with Jesus, those who are in Christ. And I have a marriage covenant with Josh. And we have had seasons where I'm like, yeah, we're in covenant, I'm in committed covenant, but there, no, there's not much friendship right now. There's not much laughter. Or because we lead together, I do unity checks, or like, whether it's like a decision, like how would you make this decision? I'm like, okay, that's what I would have done. We're in unity, okay. Or there's, you don't feel like there's much unity. You're in covenant, but there's not much friendship or union. Are you guys tracking with me how that can look in our walk with the Lord? And I think as we were brainstorming about this message and Pastor Dylan was with us,

I was like, I think, like a real revealing way, we love this show, Alone. And it's the most real reality show you've ever seen. I don't know how someone hasn't died. But when you see a true believer come on that show, which I think I've only seen one in the history of all the seasons, you know. And we saw this one contestant, and it was like, he has friendship with God. He's completely alone. People go nuts. They literally tap out, because they go, they cannot be left alone with their thoughts. And he didn't have a Bible with him. It was stored in his heart. And he had friendship and union with God. And it was just so evident. And I think if we get put on a desert island, it would test real quick, if we've gotten caught up in doing work for God rather than being with God. And enjoying his presence, and enjoying his attributes and characteristics. And I just think of, what does this practically look like? And I hope I can give some practical application, because for some of you, this might seem pretty, yeah, like I said, ambiguous. But this is why for people who have union and friendship with God,

it doesn't matter if the worship team is good. You don't need that. I can face a wall and have an intimate experience with the Lord, because it is fostered friendship. There is union. I can be driving in the car and I have an experience with the Lord. And honestly, when you don't get to this phase, you're stuck searching encounter, searching encounter. I need to rev myself up. I need a new experience. I need to go to a conference. I need that worship team to just bring it. Because I'm dependent on encounter, because I don't have union and friendship. And I've been so emotional about this message, because it grieves my heart. That, yeah, maybe you'll make it to heaven. Maybe you'll arrive, but it'll seem so foreign. And you could have gotten tastes of it on earth. Because by God's spirit, he enables us to have tastes of his presence and worship with him and these intimate moments with him. And I just think of one moment when I was washing dishes, the most mundane thing I do every day. But, and for some, and I can't remember what it was. My heart was grieved about something. And I was just washing dishes. And I had this just clarifying encounter with the Lord where he was my friend.

And it was like I could almost, just like a friend would. If my best friend. Leah was at my house and she knew I was having a rough time and I was washing dishes, she would come and just put her arm around me. Or she'd come up next to me and start washing dishes with me. And that's what Jesus did in that moment. And I literally, I mean, there was like soap everywhere, but I just hit my knees. And you can't, you can't like conjure that up. Like it's authentic, it's real. And it's what Jesus has for you. And here, continuing in Colossians two, or as we read in verses nine, it says, for in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. Praise God. You are complete through your union with Christ. Every part of you, body, soul, and spirit is meant to live in a united existence with him, one heart with him, one purpose with him, one life with him. And I think, it's like, how is that done, Janae? You know, I'm trying my best to explain that. But it's like if I looked at two people, who do I know here? If I looked at Amber and Christina,

I said, you guys would be great friends. You should be friends. You'd be so good for each other. Like, you'd be such good friends. Can I make that happen? No. They would have to choose to maybe spend time together, grab a coffee, get to know one another. I can know that that friendship is gonna be so life-giving for them. Might be the best thing for them. Sharpen them, encourage them. But I can't make it happen for them. And that's, I feel like what I'm saying today is like, this is available to every person who is in Christ and wants to continue in him, because it is a process of maturing. And I think there's some people that, whoa, wanna skip the obedience and just have the friendship. There's no friendship. Don't wanna obey. Nope, nope. But it is a process of maturing. And as you mature and grow, then it is a very maturing friendship. And so much of the New Testament is about you maturing in Christ and you maturing with others in the body of Christ. God cares about your maturity. And the best way I can illustrate it is,

I think a lot of us, we have us in Jesus or us in God, however you view it. And maybe you come up to him on Sundays or with your life or you come up to him in portions or maybe when it's really hard, you draw really, really close and Jesus is saying, I don't just want to be referenced, I want you to be rooted, which means that there's gonna need to be an intertwining. There's gonna need to be an enmeshment. And this is what our life with Christ is meant to look like, not just up next to him, not just good at referencing him, but allowing him in. And it might look like this at first. You let him into one area or you've sectioned off your life and you're like, this is me in Jesus here, this is me in Jesus here. And no, it's one life with one living risen savior intertwined in every aspect and area of our lives. That's union. When I approach the Lord and I say, I'll restore my union with you, I'm not out of Christ, Christ is in me. I'm saying, Lord, I got impatient with my kids today, there's a lot running through my newsfeed, there's all these things that are trying to kind of pull me away from you, distract my mind, pull my heart, anxiety, depression, all these things and Lord, restore my union with you. I just love the illustration of roots

where Paul says, be rooted in him, let your roots grow down deep in him and let your life be built on him. And a root system, if you've ever, I'm not a plant person, I kill like every plant that I have, but I've tried to transfer a plant once and I was like, I'll just kind of like help the roots. No, and I like, I killed the plant because the roots were so entangled and intertwined and enmeshed with one another, it was like, you don't know where one starts and one ends and that is what your life in Christ is meant to look like. You can't tell where he starts and stops and that is my hope is that our lives look so entangled in Christ, in friendship, in our hobbies, in our struggles. Because sometimes you're like, I want friendship with God or I wanna invite him in, but you're doing things that a holy God cannot inhabit. And that is why when we have encounter with him and he comes to live inside of us and by the power of his Holy Spirit, he gives us the only control we're given, which is self-control and then we start walking in obedience and he starts shaping our lives and we are activated into the kingdom and things will change and that friendship and union will be pure, it will be life-giving. And I want to be so entangled. in him and with him. I think of this term enmeshment in the world today.

It's used in counseling circles. It's used in a toxic way in relationships. If you're enmeshed with someone, it's usually a codependent, not good thing. But the safest place to be enmeshed is with Christ, where you can be fully enmeshed, that he's fully allowed into the depths of your heart and your life. To be in Christ, write this down. I mean, this is what you should remember. To be in Christ is more than a religious formality. It's more than a box you check. To be in Christ is to make the conscious decision to begin each day inviting his presence to impact every area of our lives. Even the areas that you might be ashamed of. Even the areas that you feel like you got, you're good. We tend to only invite Jesus into the messy, broken places, but in the friendship, he wants to be invited into every place. And so across this room, would you just close your eyes? And why we do that is I just wanna center you on the Lord. And what he's speaking to you or how he's prompting your heart. And in this room, I think there's two categories of people. I think for some of you, your step today is to be in Christ, is to accept him because he came, God in the flesh, lived a sinless life on earth, died a sinner's death on the cross, was buried and three days later rose again.

He's seated at the right hand of the Father. And when you accept him, his Holy Spirit comes to live in you and leads and guides you through your life. And for some of you, if the first group is those that need to be in Christ and make that decision, or maybe you're returning to him, the second group is there's some in the room that need to be in Christ and make that decision. And the third group is there's some of those in here that need to continue in Christ. Holy Spirit, I trust you to reveal, even in this process of maturity, where did anyone stop? Where did we say that's enough? I've arrived at all the purpose God has for me, but you have something deeper and you've called us to friendship and union, Lord. You've called us to something that maybe makes us feel uncomfortable, Lord. But it's the safest place to be, is intertwined with you, is rooted in you. And so if anyone resonates with either of those categories, would you just stand with me? If that's the cry or desire of your heart, I want friendship with God, I want that union with him, would you stand? And Lord, you see our hearts, you see our lives. And so as you respond to him, and even scripture says, as you have acknowledged him, he will acknowledge you in front of your heavenly Father.

And so however your heart is responding, let's just worship and let's draw near to him today.