Christ Above All  Unshakable: Finding Total Completeness in Jesus  Colossians 1:24-2:7 

Because Jesus, God’s complete fullness, lives inside you, you never have to look anywhere else for spiritual life, strength, or security. 

 Because Jesus is God's complete fullness living inside me, I will: 

1. _______________ my calling to sacrifice and serve (1:24-27) 

• Understanding _______________ (24) 

Christ’s afflictions lack nothing in their atoning power, but they lack geographical presentation to people who haven't heard the news yet. Jesus confirmed His message by suffering on the cross; now His church advances His message through sacrificial love and service. 

• Gospel _______________ (25) 

The gospel doesn't produce celebrities; it produces servants and stewards. 

• The Unveiled _______________ (26-27) 

Catch the wonder of this: the God of the universe didn't just offer non-Jewish people an external pardon. He placed the living, resurrected Messiah inside you by His Spirit! Right now, if you belong to Jesus, the sovereign Lord of creation lives in you! 

2. _______________ on God's power to build mature disciples (1:28-2:3) 

• The scope of _______________ (28) 

Notice how Paul repeats the phrase “everyone” three times in a single verse. 

The word for mature doesn't mean sinless perfectionism where you never make a mistake again. It means wholehearted, undivided devotion. It means being spiritually grown-up and complete in Christ. 

• Discipleship is _________________________ (29) 

Paul uses two intense athletic words here: toil and struggling. 

He isn't burning out on the treadmill of human willpower. He is working strenuously, but he's doing it fueled by Christ’s supernatural energy working within him. 

  3. ______________ intense spiritual struggle (2:1-3) 

Caring deeply about the faith and perseverance of believers outside one’s immediate circle is an essential indicator of spiritual maturity and a heart becoming like Jesus. 

• Strengthened _______________ 

• Corporate _______________ Marked by Love 

• Settled _______________ 

• The Storehouse of Wisdom and Knowledge _________ 

  4. __________ my daily walk firmly in Christ (2:4-7) 

• Beware of _______________ (4-5)  Two Military Terms to Describe Their Health: 

1. _______________: An army drawn up in proper, disciplined battle formation. 

2. ______________: A solid, impenetrable defensive wall standing shoulder-to-shoulder against an attack. 

• The Summary _______________ (6) 

You came to Jesus empty-handed by grace alone, through faith alone, surrendering to Jesus as Lord. Paul says: That is exactly how you keep going! You don't start with Jesus by faith and then graduate into human self-reliance, legalism, or modern philosophical trends. 

• Four Markers of Spiritual Growth (7): 

1. _______________: A once-for-all planting by God where your spiritual taproot sinks deep into the soil of Christ. 

2. _______________: An ongoing daily construction project where your life is continually built on the foundation of Jesus. 

3. _______________: Being confirmed, verified, and solidly grounded in sound apostolic doctrine. 

4. Overflowing with _______________: A continuous, visible spilling over of gratitude like a river bursting its banks. 

  Personal Application — Is Christ Enough? 

Because Jesus is God's complete fullness living in me, I will:  1. Stop looking elsewhere for what only Jesus can provide. Where am I tempted to look for identity, security, wisdom, strength, or satisfaction apart from Christ? What am I asking to do for me what only Jesus can do?  2. Move from being served to serving. Who am I intentionally serving because Jesus lives in me?  3. Invest in someone else's spiritual growth. Who am I helping take their next step with Jesus?  4. Stop trying to live the Christian life in my own strength. Where am I exhausted because I'm trying to do in my strength what God intends me to do in His?  “Depending on Christ doesn't mean I work less faithfully; it means I stop pretending the power comes from me.”  5. Identify where I am spiritually vulnerable to deception. What voice is shaping my thinking more than Jesus and His Word?  6. Overflow with Gratitude. Is thankfulness increasingly becoming the natural response of my life?  7. Keep walking the same way I started. 

“You never graduate from grace. The way you begin with Jesus is the way you continue with Jesus by trusting Him.” 

  “But perhaps the most important question today isn't whether Christ is enough. The question is: Is Christ in you?” 

  Ready to take your Next Step? 

• Go by the Next Steps area today after the service  • Use your phone and the tap card on the seat back in front of you to go to the Next Steps tab  • Fill out a Connect Card and drop it in the offering box  • Go to FBCFM.COM and click “Next Steps.”