Colossians 2:6-15

Rooted And Established In Christ

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Pastor Massimo Gei

The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.

00:00 New Year to everyone. I hope you had a a great time during the
00:06 um holiday season. Slowly getting used to getting back into the grind of uh daily routine and uh writing the number
00:13 eight instead of seven. Um when you sign things, I still make mistakes when I when I write down dates. I always put
00:18 down 2017 and people think I'm living in last year. Um over the holiday seasons,
00:24 I have a question. Have any of you been able to go to the cinema? I've been uh
00:30 to the cinema quite a lot of times over the holiday season and there's particularly one thing that struck me
00:37 every single time I was in the movies. Um it's this. It's the um I am Morang
00:44 McD ad. Have you seen it? It's wonderful. Um when when I was
00:52 sitting there and and the ad goes on and then you you hear that crunch that they
00:57 put on with the side effects and uh the sound effects and after that you see people going like they're salivating
01:03 over it and they're licking their fingers trying to point to KFC that they're also fingerlicking good and then
01:09 they have this sound of like and then the spiciness comes in and it it's something that that when I looked at it
01:14 they did such a great job that as I kept on looking this ad as I watched in the cinema a couple of times I always fel
01:20 felt and I was like, I'm hungry. I I know it it's a terrible thing to
01:26 start a sermon with. Um, as you guys are probably now being hungry and want to get out of here and have some food. Um,
01:32 but it it it's amazing as I kept on looking upon this ad. It it did something in me that I continually
01:38 wanted to have the thing that I was looking at and I felt hungry and and I must tell you over time um over watching
01:45 the cinema a couple of times eventually I caved. Um, eventually I I I went and
01:51 and I went to McDonald's and I I got that chicken. Uh
01:56 um I'm not a hater. It was great. It did its job. I I I really enjoyed the
02:03 chicken, but but after I ate it, it just didn't hit the spot the way it's
02:09 supposed to. Uh it didn't completely satisfy. And I I I was left there
02:15 wanting more. uh I wanted more chicken uh or I wanted something more. It and
02:21 even though it was good for that moment, it didn't last. You know, the the taste didn't last. And at the end, to be
02:27 honest, I just felt guilty. Um I sat at home thinking, "Oh, I just ate something that's going to leave me malnutritioned
02:34 and obese. Uh it doesn't have any lasting values." Uh um and I kind of
02:40 felt a little bit empty. um I felt I wanted more of something and whatever I thought is going to give me
02:46 the joy didn't really satisfy me the way I wanted it to satisfy me. And that's
02:53 kind of what we want to look at today. Um we want to kind of look at three things this morning. We want to look at
02:59 how emptiness looks like where we look to to be filled and lastly
03:06 the one we have to gaze upon to be fully satisfied. These are three things we
03:12 want to look at this morning. And let me start in leading us in prayer.
03:21 Heavenly Father, we ask this morning that you may be with us. We give you
03:26 praise and thanks for your word that we can come here together and hear your
03:32 word. That your word may do its work in us this morning. We ask for your grace
03:40 that we may hear your word, Father. That I may speak your word clearly and boldly, Father. That your word may fill
03:46 us fully. That we may know you through your word, experience you and love you
03:54 and be filled by you. And we pray this in Jesus' name.
03:60 Amen. What emptiness looks like. I was um looking at some
04:06 counseling uh websites and one of the websites um gave some good insight and
04:12 it it talked about um things that we say to ourselves or things that we uh um
04:18 talk to others about or things that we think um a few phrases that are common
04:24 to people who feel empty. Have you ever thought about these things or have you ever said that to somebody? I feel
04:31 nothing. I'm detached from people and activities.
04:37 I'm an empty shell. I feel like I'm just going through the motions.
04:44 I don't know who I am anymore.
04:49 Nobody cares. Life is not worth living.
04:55 There is no hope. If we have ever thought these thoughts, we are probably familiar what it feels
05:02 like to be empty. When you feel empty, you you kind of
05:07 feel helpless. Like there's nothing you can do to get rid of this uncomfortable state.
05:13 It's hard for us to determine uh why we feel this way. And you may try to blame
05:19 external factors for your empty feeling. And this makes a lot of sense because we want relief from this uncomfortable
05:25 state of being. The truth is none of these external factors that we can think about are the cause of our emptiness.
05:33 Emptiness is connected to our internal, emotional, spiritual world. Emptiness is not a
05:41 feeling that's easy for us to get rid of. We feel empty when we compare ourselves
05:47 to others who seem to have it all. And we then are left with feeling of despair.
05:53 And for all we know, the person that we're looking at might be feeling empty himself.
05:58 A feeling of emptiness can happen to any kind of person. If you're here and and you're a Christian, you can feel empty.
06:06 Paul is talking to Christians here and he's asking for the fullness of Christ to be in them. In Ephesians, Paul is
06:14 talking and praying and he's praying that they will experience the fullness
06:19 of Christ. Um many people experience um kind of
06:26 emptiness um at some point in their lives. The feeling can be triggered by
06:31 different kind of events such as loss of relationships, um a death of a loved one. For some people, emptiness becomes
06:38 like a a chronic feeling. They're detached from their lives and uh they just can't shake the sense that
06:44 something is missing. This can happen to even people who seem to have everything together, who have a healthy family, who
06:51 have a good job, they have a rocking body. Um it is not exclusive to people
06:57 who are missing this life achievements. Just because emptiness does not come from the outside. As I said, it comes
07:02 from the internal state. Um that being said, even though it comes from the eternal state, it affects all of our
07:09 lives. It affects every area of our lives. Some people when they say how does
07:16 emptiness feel like they they report that emptiness is like a physical sensation in their bodies. It may be an
07:23 empty feeling in your chest. You may feel tired. You might feel lethargic.
07:28 Other people report that emotionally they emotionally feel that sensation. You might be feeling bored all the time.
07:35 You're on your couch watching show after show after show. Um you think that
07:40 nothing u matters. You have that sort of kind of emotional numbness. You may feel a sense of despair that you
07:48 can't explain or seem to shake. Just a little bit more about emptiness.
07:55 Just explore this emptiness a bit more fully. Um you may start to recognize your empty feeling when you notice parts
08:01 of your life not going according to plan. You're suddenly underperforming at work.
08:07 You notice that you're maybe losing friends. your intimate relationships, including family ones, are suffering.
08:14 Maybe you're putting on weight or maybe you're losing weight because you're feeling hopeless and think things like,
08:22 "What's the point? Why should I try? Why should I eat?" Um, we may ask ourselves
08:27 this question, why do I feel so empty?
08:32 It's entirely possible that our emptiness may come from something that is missing in our lives.
08:39 Maybe you had certain ideas about where you would be at this point of life and you aren't quite there yet. That's why
08:45 you feel empty. Your life goals include relationships with friends, with family, career goals, um health and fitness
08:51 goals. Maybe you plan to have a family by now, but you're not even dating anyone. That may leave you feeling
08:57 empty. Maybe it's your job that's leaving you feel unsatisfied and unfulfilled.
09:04 You may have what other considered a a good job and you're making plenty of money to support your lifestyle.
09:11 Either way, you can feel discontented because we spend so much time at work
09:17 and unsatisfying work life can take a toll over the overall satisfaction of
09:24 our life. Another possibility is that you just don't have the body image and the health
09:31 that you want. And it might be because of a chronic sickness. It might be because of disease. It might be that you're trying to shed that weight and it
09:37 just doesn't go away. Um or health issues that can't just be fixed. The
09:43 truth is, as we just looked at it, there's so many reasons that there could be for us to feel empty. But truth be
09:51 told, they are merely symptoms of a bigger root problem. And it's important
09:60 for us to understand where this feeling of emptiness
10:05 ultimately comes from. What is that thing that we long for? What is that thing that we hope that will come into
10:12 our lives and and truly fill us? What will take away that void? And to quote
10:19 James Macdonald, um he said this that the Greeks when they looked at that
10:24 thing that would fill us, they called it the unknown.
10:30 Rudolph Otto called it the numinous, the the supernatural.
10:35 Aldis Huxley called it the mysterium tremendum, the the terrible mystery.
10:41 Paul Tillik called it the ground of all being.
10:47 Very often people at the end of their ropes call it the higher power.
10:53 Transcendence is what it's called in the abstract.
10:59 But manifest presence, something that manifests and something we can feel in the presence is what it's called
11:05 experience. If you don't know what it is, you might
11:10 give it a lot of names. But if you know what it is, you call it
11:16 glory. See, feeling empty isn't caused by a lack of money, romance, or success.
11:25 It's the lack of glory in our lives. You see, we were created
11:32 to be in the presence of glory. And as we were created, God made a plan
11:39 for us on on how we should live our lives in his presence and live out that glorious plan he had for us. But we
11:46 departed from that plan. That departation is what we call sin. And because of our sin, we are we are no
11:53 longer with God. We've been separated from God. We've been separated from
11:59 glory. And now our hearts are empty. And we yearn for it. We long for it. And
12:05 that's the the the emptiness that we cannot shake away. that the emptiness that we try to fill with so many things
12:11 in our lives.
12:17 So this is what emptiness looks like. It's that hole that we have in our lives
12:24 because we've been separated from glory.
12:30 So where do we look to to be filled? Well, in our lives there there are so
12:36 many areas that we we look to. And in this passage today, uh Paul writes that
12:43 see to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition or according to the
12:50 elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ. It is strange though that when we feel this emptiness,
12:57 these are exactly the things we look to. We look to the things that ultimately
13:02 hold us captive. Now depending what culture you live in, what time age we live in, what kind of person you are,
13:09 you might look to different things. They might be defined differently in your
13:14 culture. Uh it might be defined differently in in history. But ultimately all these things whether they
13:20 are human tradition or their elemental spirits or their philosophies, the things that we usually look to can
13:27 be defined in three things. And the first thing that we usually look to to fill that void of glory is carnal
13:34 desires. It it it is things that gives us instant
13:40 gratification. Usually look like this. They are usually
13:45 sex. They are food. They are that I am meoring.
13:51 Um they are material possessions. Some of us go to drugs.
13:58 because they sometimes give us this this this instant fullness. We we just take a
14:04 bite. We just have a touch. We have a sensation and immediately we feel full. And though it might be temporary, we we
14:11 go to it because it's so easily achieved. And depending of where our hearts are
14:18 rooted, what carnal desires take root in our lives, these are the ones that we
14:24 usually go to. the first. So things that make us feel good.
14:33 When we feel empty, some of us go shopping, may feel emptier, when we craving love. Some of us have sex.
14:41 Some of us go and take that bowl of ice cream. And some of us just try to numb that
14:46 pain by using drugs. Now the second thing that we go to
14:52 usually are things that build us up. Things that make us feel good about
14:58 ourselves so we can hug ourselves, right? Things that make us feel good about ourselves. Like whatever the
15:06 philosophy of that day, whatever the human tradition of the day, whatever um society is saying right now makes you a
15:13 success. And when you achieve it by your own works, you feel good about yourself. We go there. Whatever self-help books
15:20 try to tell you that you must do so that you have a happy life. These are other
15:26 things that we go through, anything that that builds us up. Usually, it's our work accomplishments. Uh maybe we we're
15:32 getting that other degree, that next PhD, or or maybe we we have that other business or we do really well in our
15:39 work. So, when we look in the mirror, we say, "Yes, well done, Masimo." Things that make us feel good about ourselves.
15:45 Because when we feel good about ourselves when you look into the mirror, we don't feel that empty anymore, at
15:51 least for that moment of time. For some of us, it might be fitness goals, right?
15:56 We go and we we we work out and uh we have that self glory that we look at.
16:02 For some of us, it might be family. Uh we go to our family. Uh and um and all
16:07 these things I'm mentioning in itself, some of them are not bad things. Some of them are are are good things. But when
16:14 these good things become ultimate things in our lives, become the idols that we worship and they by things that actually
16:22 ultimately leave us feeling more empty.
16:27 So things that that give us instant gratification, things that make us feel good about
16:34 ourselves when we look upon ourselves. And the last thing is things that
16:41 establish us and give us praise and applause in this world. Um they are very
16:46 similar to to things that that make us feel good about ourselves. The difference is uh when we feel good about
16:52 ourselves the the ultimate goal is for us to to like ourselves. Well here the
16:58 ultimate goal is for other people to like us. Things that establish us in
17:05 society. Now the word establish is an interesting word. Um it it kind of means like a a a
17:13 guarantee or a business deal. But when when when when we look at the word established, we're very familiar with
17:19 this because especially us here who who live in the city, people who move in the city are all about establishing
17:26 themselves. I mean whoever lives in in in the Kongs or in the villages, why do they move to the city? They move to the
17:32 city so that they can establish themselves in their business, in their careers. And establishing yourself is
17:38 ultimately about making your name known. Um, if you want to go to an established
17:44 accounting firm, you probably go to one of the big fours, right? Because they're established and their name is known.
17:51 So we go and we try to do everything so that our name may be known so that
17:59 people can give us praise because as Tolken said the praise of the
18:04 praiseworthy is above all reward. Whenever who we think is worthy of all
18:11 praise uh praises us. Whoever we hold in high esteem, whoever we value um praises
18:17 us. Now that's above all reward. That's something that we really want that gives us that temporary feeling of glory. This
18:25 problem is not a new problem that is here in this world. I'm just in this modern age. It was the problem of the
18:31 world since the tower of babel. In the tower of babel in Babel, what did the people say? Come let us build a tower so
18:39 that we can make our name great. People until today build buildings to make
18:47 their name great. We have a new building in town, Tun Razak Exchange.
18:55 Somebody's trying to make his name great. Um, people build buildings all the time. And whoever gets that contract to build
19:03 that building, whoever is doing that right now, that person who's building that great building, well, that person's company is going to have a great name.
19:10 And all the subcontractors who are able to do this are going to have a great name. And whoever gets to have an office
19:16 in that building is that company is going to have a great name. And then whoever gets to work in that office is
19:23 somebody who's trying to establish himself and get a great name. And then come the bottom feeders who try to
19:29 service the clients who have offices in there trying to get their name made
19:35 great. We want to have a great name because we want the praise of the
19:41 praiseworthy. We want to be established. But where are we establishing in I just
19:46 gave business examples here. We might be different kind of people and we we're trying to establish ourselves uh in in
19:52 different areas in our lives because we're different kind of people. Usually what we try to do, we try to establish
19:59 ourselves in the areas that we value most.
20:08 Because we think that when we achieve that status, when we have success in
20:15 getting that thing that we value most, when we have our name great, when we
20:20 have that success, we will have reached glory. We think the bridge to glory is
20:28 success. And because we have experienced it in our lives so often, every time we do well, people applaud. when we get
20:34 great A's, uh uh our parents are happy about ourselves, uh we whenever we have
20:40 that success, we get that reward. Now my question to you is um where are you
20:45 trying to establish yourself in? And usually we try to establish ourselves in
20:50 the areas that we high have highest value, the thing that we treasure the
20:56 most that's most important to us. These are the areas that we are going to try
21:01 to make ourselves feel good in. These are try the areas we're trying to get satisfaction from. These are try the areas where we going to make our name
21:08 great. And many of us let's let's look at our lives right now. Um where have we
21:13 been spending time to try to establish and build our lives upon?
21:18 You see there's a good litmus test for us to figure out what we truly treasure, what we truly value in our lives. You
21:25 see it it works like this. Our actions, our words,
21:32 our thoughts, our deeds are all controlled by a
21:38 control center. And that control center is our heart. Um, scripture says that
21:45 guard your heart upon with all vigilance. Why? Because from it flows the wellspring of life. So our heart is
21:51 kind of the control center of all of life. So when we look what we do with all our lives, what we say, what we
21:59 think, what we do, the conversations that we have with people, we can figure
22:04 out where our heart is because our activities
22:11 are signals and signs of what the control center is trying to do.
22:19 But guess what? There is something that controls your control center
22:28 and that is the thing that you value, the thing that you treasure.
22:34 Scripture says where you lay your treasure there your heart is also.
22:40 So whatever you treasure controls your heart
22:46 which controls all your life. So let's let's be real about it. We we
22:51 live in a day and age where we value authenticity, where we don't like hypocrites, where we want to be real.
22:57 Just just for yourself right now, reflect back over the last one or two months and see where have you been
23:05 spending your time on, what conversations did you have?
23:10 Where are you trying to establish yourself in? Where are your desires rooted in?
23:17 And when you look at all the activities and all that you have said and all that you have done, you'll probably figure
23:23 out what you treasure, what your treasure is in life.
23:31 And sadly to say, most of our treasures are not things that last.
23:39 Most our treasures are things that fade and perish.
23:45 And all our lives is like a quest to to find that treasure. And when we don't
23:51 find it, we feel empty. And when we find it and we open it and
23:57 we taste it and we see it, we realize it doesn't fully satisfy.
24:03 We want another treasure. We want more. Rockefeller at his height
24:11 when he had everything in life when he had the most money that anybody had ever had at a point of time. People asked him
24:17 and says, "How much more money do you need?" He said, "Just a little bit more."
24:23 It didn't fully satisfy.
24:32 What we look to usually fades away. What we look to usually can get stolen. What
24:38 we look to, what we treasure usually perishes.
24:44 When we don't have it, we feel empty. When we find it and have it, it leaves
24:49 us unsatisfied. So then the question is who do we have or what
24:58 do we have to look to to be eternally fully
25:05 satisfied? Well, it must be something that changes
25:11 our desires that doesn't focus on just instant gratification but then lets us focus our
25:18 desires on eternal value. It must be something that is not based
25:25 upon our own accomplishments because they are perishable and they are
25:31 fade and they don't have eternal value. It must be something upon somebody else's accomplishment and somebody
25:38 else's works. Not something that we have built but something somebody else has
25:43 built. It must be something that doesn't establish us in this city,
25:50 but something that establishes in the city to come. Something that keeps us established for
25:57 eternity. Not in this kingdom,
26:02 but in the kingdom to come. That's why we must look to the one. We must uh go
26:11 to the one we have to gaze upon to be fully satisfied and that person is Jesus
26:19 Christ. We must go to Jesus. He is the only one
26:24 who can fully satisfy. Here in his word it says this for in him the whole
26:32 fullness of deity dwells bodily.
26:39 all the glory, all the fullness, all that we have been looking for, the only
26:45 thing that can truly satisfy is pleased to dwell in him. In Colossians um
26:52 earlier on in chapter 1:15, it says that he is the image of the invisible God. He is the firstborn of all creation. For by
27:00 him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
27:06 whether thrones or dominion, or rulers or authorities. All things were created through him and for him. He is before
27:13 all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning,
27:20 the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeeminent. For
27:26 in him all the fullness of God was pleased was pleased to dwell and through him
27:36 to reconcile to himself all things whether on earth or in heaven making peace by the blood of the cross. Paul
27:46 when he says that we must be filled with Christ says that not because when we are
27:52 filled with Christ we are going to be rooted in him. We're going to build our lives upon him. We're going to be
27:58 established in him. And how do we do that? By looking upon Christ and his
28:03 finished work. And Paul for the next couple of verses just keeps on hammering home what Jesus has done. He says here
28:12 that in him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands.
28:17 By putting off the body of flesh by a circumcision of Christ, he gives us a
28:22 new heart. He gives us new desires. He He changes our heart. Therefore, our
28:30 hearts are no longer rooted in our carnal desires. Our hearts are now rooted in him. Having been buried within
28:38 in baptism, which you were also raised with him through faith in the power working of God, who raised him from the
28:44 dead. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we die to our old selves. We
28:49 drive to all the old things that we used to doing about being ourselves and trusting in our own works and we being
28:55 raised in him and we are being made alive to this new person who is Christ and and in him we then have life and you
29:05 were dead in our your trespasses and uncircumcision of your flesh. God made alive together with him, having forgiven
29:12 us all our trespasses by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us
29:17 with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. We must
29:24 put our faith in Jesus. Now, you must be sitting here and says, "Master, I I I
29:29 know this. I I I know the gospel. I go to church every week. I know the good news and I have put my faith in Jesus,
29:37 but I still feel empty.
29:43 It still doesn't change me. I mean, now that I'm a Christian, I notice I'm
29:49 supposed to feel full. And maybe you're here and you never heard this good news. Well, yes, you have to look upon the
29:55 cross. You have to gaze upon Jesus and his beauty. And then you will receive him and you be filled. But if you're
30:01 here and you're a Christian, what do you do? Well, in the opening verses
30:08 of this passage, Paul said this, "Therefore, as you
30:14 received Christ the Lord, so walk in him."
30:20 So in the same way that you received him by by gazing upon the gospel by by
30:26 looking upon his beauty and his manage uh his majesty by looking upon everything that he has done for you in
30:33 the same way that you have been saved in the same way you walk in the same way
30:39 you get filled. You see, many of us, we we know where KLCC is, right? Uh we know
30:47 that that KCC exists, right? We we we've been there before. We
30:53 know it's there. We know it's downtown. Uh we know the map. We know how to get there.
30:59 Knowing that KLC to see exists and standing at the foot of the building
31:08 and looking upon it and gazing upon its majesty and its beauty is a completely
31:14 different thing. Just that we know that it exists doesn't
31:19 it leaves us keeps us filled with nothing. It keeps us empty. It doesn't
31:25 fill any void knowing that it exists. But when we go downtown and we stand at
31:31 that fountain full of colors and when we gaze upon that that that building, we
31:38 stand there at the foot of the building and we stand with awe because we have experienced a little bit a glimpse of
31:45 the glory of that building. How much more
31:51 when we gaze upon Jesus, we must continuously look and gaze upon
31:58 his beauty and his majesty or his finished work. We must gaze upon the
32:05 cross because on the cross he who had
32:12 everything. See Jesus had all the glory. He had all the fullness.
32:19 But he who had equality with God didn't find equality with God something to be
32:25 grasped. But what did he do? He emptied himself.
32:32 He emptied himself for us. In Isaiah, we read that there was no majesty, no
32:37 beauty. There was nothing that was desired when we looked upon him. He
32:42 emptied himself of all these things so that we
32:48 could be filled. He was obedient in everything that we were not obedient
32:55 in. Where we failed, he succeeded. He was obedient when he took on human flesh. He
33:02 was obedient even onto the cross and unto death.
33:09 But know this, when on the cross the authorities of
33:14 that time and the principalities and the powers of that time thought that they had victory, they did not. And he put
33:21 them to shame because three days later he rose again. And when he rose again, scripture tells
33:28 us that he was given the name above every name. It says that every knee will
33:35 bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
33:44 He has the name that is most praiseworthy.
33:50 He has given full glory. And guess what? The praise of the praiseworthy is above
33:56 all reward. He said, "Well, the most praiseworthy
34:01 did not just praise you. He laid down his life for you."
34:10 And when we look upon that, when we see that majesty,
34:19 when we reflect and gaze upon Jesus, we will realize
34:26 that he's like a pearl. That when we see it, we want nothing
34:32 else. And we will sell everything just to own that pearl.
34:39 When we gaze upon Jesus, we realize that he's just like a treasure.
34:46 He's a treasure that when we find it, we will bury it back into the land that we had and we'll sell everything we have
34:53 just to purchase that land so that we can own that treasure.
35:04 A famous hymn said this,
35:12 "Oh soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in a darkness you see. There's
35:18 light for a look at the Savior and life more abundant and free.
35:25 Through death into life everlasting, he passed and we follow him there. Or error
35:31 us in sin more hath dominion. For more than conquerors we are.
35:37 His word shall not fail you. His promised he promised. Believe him and
35:43 all will be well. Then go to a world that is dying. His perfect salvation to
35:49 tell. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. look full in his wonderful face and the
35:57 things of the earth will go strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.
36:06 The path to glory isn't success.
36:12 The path to glory is grace. And when we learn to treasure it and
36:18 treasure Jesus and everything he has done in our lives, we our lives will be changed
36:25 because he has grafted us into the plant. We will be deeply rooted in him.
36:32 He has become the cornerstone upon we build our lives.
36:38 And that foundation will never shake. Whatever wind will come, whatever storms
36:43 will come, whatever troubles will come in our lives. No, it will hold,
36:48 it will fully establish us in the kingdom to come
36:55 because we take on his name. We will have the name above all name. We
37:01 are his family. We share in his inter his inheritance. We share in his glory.
37:08 And that frees us. It frees us now no longer to be about
37:14 making our name known. But it frees us to be about making his
37:20 name known. It frees us
37:26 to live our lives for him to be about his glory.
37:36 Do we treasure Christ? Let us pray.
37:52 Father, we bow our knees before you from whom every family in heaven and on earth
37:59 is named. that according to the riches of your glory, you may grant us to be
38:05 strengthened with your power in your spirit and your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through
38:11 faith. that we being rooted and grounded in love may have strength to comprehend
38:18 with all the saints what is the breadth, the length, the height and depth and to
38:26 know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge that you may be that we may be filled
38:35 with all the fullness of God. Father, when we look upon that treasure,
38:44 we will be full every time.
38:51 We will be satisfied. Help us
38:58 to build our lives upon your love
39:06 for only you are worthy. Amen.