Morning church. And good morning to our Florence city group downstairs. I think I heard a y'all down there.

What a blessing, the Lord’s Day, we have breath in our bodies, we're around brothers and sisters, we should rejoice in that. So, my name is Steve Di Iorio, I'm from Florence, Kentucky with my wife and eight children, and it's just a blessing to be able to preach today and finish up Colossians. We're going to be going through Colossians 4:2-18, and what we're going to see is an overarching message, really, of spiritual growth.

And maturity, we are going to see the importance of prayer and how to speak graciously seasoned with salt. And what's important too is when we get to the end of Colossians, a lot of people will view it as that's just the closing credits, but there's actually a lot more to it. So, we're going to be looking at all of this.

Paul concludes his letter with instructions that bring together his message. He encourages his readers to be unwavering in prayer. And I think that's something that we could all improve upon in our prayer life. He encourages them, personal discipline and having an attitude of humility. Being grateful, full of Thanksgiving, being alert and thankful.

Also, communication with those that are outside of the body of Christ and this farewell. And we're going to come across names that the last we heard, John Mark and Barnabas. There was a split. What has become of that? So, this is all what we're going to be focusing on here and how the gospel far supersedes any disagreement.

Let's pray. Lord, we come before you this morning with eager hearts. We just pray that the word is communicated properly. Lord, we just pray that you open our hearts to this message. Give us wisdom as we listen to this word in Jesus’ name. So, let's start by reading through Colossians 4:2-18. And then we will, we'll go from there.

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us that God may open to us a door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ on account of which I am in prison, that I may make it clear which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom towards outsiders, making the best use of time.

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts.

And with him, Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here. Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you. And Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, concerning whom you have received instructions, if he comes to you, And Jesus, who was called Justice.

These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the Kingdom of God. And they have been a comfort to me. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.

For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Heriopolis. Luke, the beloved physician, greets you, as does Demas. Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea and to Nympha and the church in her house. And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans and see that you have also read the letter from Laodicea.

And say to Archippus, see that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord. I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. That's the word of the Lord. So, we're going to start by looking at verses 2 through 4. And prayer, it's one of the most vital, crucial elements of the life of a Christian.

It's so basic, yet oftentimes it's so completely overlooked. It's necessary, yet sometimes completely terrifying if you're praying in public, corporate prayer. Christian comedian Michael Jr. joked about this, about feeling he was outprayed in church. He was paired up with someone and the man started praying and he quoted scripture and page numbers, and he started quoting commercials because he didn't want to be outprayed.

But it can be intimidating. Link Mature Christians can also fall into a trap. Prayer can sometimes for a mature Christian become basic and boring and routine. But we have to remember that our Lord Jesus needed prayer. Our Lord Jesus needed prayer in John 17. And if Jesus needs prayer, how much more do we need it?

Or are we just so self-reliant and focused on the world that we don't look to the cross first? Martin Luther once said to be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing. It's that important. So, in our text, Paul is circling back to the beginning of the letter with a focus on prayer.

In chapter 1, he describes a prayer of petition and praise. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints. Now we see a growth and maturity, as in verse 3, he says, At the same time, pray for us.

So, the same people that we've been praying for, we are now asking them to pray for us. It is very important, and this walk from milk to meat. And we can't fall into the trap of spending a life with just milk. If you've been a believer for many years, and you're still not praying for other people, but relying on them to just pray for you, there's a problem.

There's a problem, and that's where we need to focus our life on prayer. But oftentimes, we ask, how do I pray? How do I pray? What's the proper way? How This and that. Paul is going to break this down and we'll see in verse two, he says, continue steadfastly in prayer. Continue steadfastly in prayer. So, in the first place, we should be persistent in prayer.

This is not something that we would just do on Sunday during the service and then we go home. No, we should be persistent in prayer. It's present continuous tense for those that want that more detail there. But, and through various translations, we see it's continuous. It's really continuous to be persistent in prayer, the unending attention to prayer, Paul is encouraging these Colossians to be engaged and to devote a life in constant communion.

With our Lord. This is constant communion. This is not once in a while, and as someone that grew up in the Catholic faith, I can share with you that from what I was taught was no, the priest prays for you, and you just have repetitive prayer. But no, when the Lord lifted the veil from my eyes, I just saw there's deep communion.

There's a personal relationship with the Lord. And that's what prayer is. It doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be standing there with 45-minute prayers quoting every single line of scripture, but it is an issue of the heart, right? Because there's many times that we'll just pray just to get it done.

And we'll talk about that. It's a challenge because if we look at our heart, we see that sometimes we view prayer demanding. It's too demanding and it's hard on the flesh. Now, certainly there's nothing glamorous about it. We're not like the Pharisees who are at the corners and we're praying out loud for our own glory.

But in chapter four, verse two, the Greek word used here is proskaterio. It means devoted to. And it also means waiting before God. Waiting before God. This tells us prayer takes time, and the answers to our prayers are not always immediate. It's something that cannot be rushed. It requires disciplined waiting, but our modern culture is not.

Set up for that, right? We have phones where instantly we can ask Siri, we can ask Alexa. We can, if you're like me with Android, we have to still type it in, we can still find the answers right away. We don't have to reach out to someone, consult an encyclopedia, dictionary, remember those, we don't have to do these things anymore.

It's instant gratification. And what's dangerous about this? It's through instant gratification. We begin to feel that it's our timing, not the Lord's timing, that it's our timing, and that's very dangerous. We also see that prayer is oftentimes just used in times of an emergency or as a last resort. Now it's true.

God is our refuge and our strength. We see that in Psalm 46 at the very present help in times of trouble. He invites us in Psalm 50, call upon me in the day of trouble. So, we shouldn't feel bad when we do turn to the Lord in times of trouble and emergency, but it's equally clear that our prayer life should be throughout.

It should be continual, not just as a last resort and certainly not just when we want something, certainly not just when we want something. Our times are in his hands. Of course, with the Bible. We see pray without ceasing. Now, many people will look at that and say, that's hyperbole.

That's just a gross over exaggeration. I certainly can't pray without ceasing. I've talked about this multiple times already with cell phones. And I've seen my students with cell phone use. And I've said, you know what? Check your settings. Look at your phone usage and a lot of them will see eight plus hours a day on their phone.

They're on their phone without ceasing. But we should be praying without ceasing. And this may seem rudimentary, but picture it like a phone call. Picture it like a phone call, and I'm saying, don’t hang up the phone. Don't end the call. You're in communion with the Lord.

Don't end that call. Yes, sometimes it may just be, Lord, protect me. Lord, bless that person. Lord, I pray for this person. Lord, strengthen me. But don't end that call. Pray without ceasing. Don't end that call. Paul says in chapter 1, And so from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you. We have not ceased to pray for you.

Imagine if a brother in church approached you and said, my family and I just have not ceased to pray for you. Imagine what a blessing. Imagine the encouragement. The encouragement. The pastor at this church at Colossi Eris, the pastor who brought the gospel to Colossi, we see in chapter four, verse 12, I don't wanna jump around, but this fits in here.

Paul says, of Eris, he was always laboring. In prayer, Epaphras had come to Rome in part to serve Paul during his imprisonment, as we see in  Philemon 1:23, but also to confide in him regarding the dangerous teachings the Colossians were hearing. And Epaphras is constant in prayer, and it's not only suggesting, it's not only suggesting that it's laborious, but it's also, it's just, it's not a piece of cake.

All right, it's not just going to be the end. Simple prayer, the end. Real prayer will sometimes last a long time. We see our Lord Jesus praying throughout the night. Praying throughout the night. And the apostles fall asleep. So, prayer can be laborious and intense, but it's a matter of the heart. There is no time limit on it.

It's a matter of the heart, but through the society of instant gratification, we need to be watchful. We need to be watchful. And that's Paul's second directive here. Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it, being watchful in it. I said, it's so important here. Paul gives these instructions. It should be read through the Bible was not written with chapter breaks and verse breaks and everything like that.

Read it straight through and you'll see if there's one part that's confusing, continue on context is very important here. And if you're sitting there and you're wondering, how do I do this? Read on and we see watchful. I'm going to speak plainly here. There are times myself included, when we have no inclination to pray.

If we're truthful, there's times when we come home from work, we just want to rest. We just want to go on our phones. We don't want to do family devotional. Okay. We just, we say, I just need some time. I just need some time. You skip lunch. You're very hungry. You come home; you want to eat. The food is there, your family's there, you're about to eat.

And your wife reminds you to pray, and you roll your eyes. Guess what? Your children just saw that. Your children just saw you roll your eyes. They are so perceptive. It is amazing what my children tell me, and I'm just, how did you pick up on this? How did you pick up on this? And the problem is that your children might, one day when they're told to pray, roll their eyes.

They might roll their eyes as well. But life is full of this, and we have to be watchful for it. Okay, we have to be watchful. It's a rough day and the kids have fallen apart. You have just gone to someone's house, you brought the family, they're falling apart, they're crying on the way home, they are just crying on the way home, and you bring them in, and you're frustrated, your wife is frustrated, you're putting them into pajamas, don't brush your teeth, forget it, we just need to get you in bed, and it's I need to pray, and it's here's my prayer, sleep in the name of Jesus, sleep in the name of Jesus, sleep in the, That's what you feel like doing, right?

But we can't because that's when we need the Lord the most. That's when we need the Lord the most is during those times of struggle. And you really have to be careful with that. You have to be careful with the distractions. With the distractions. Because we do not give the devil any credit whatsoever. We just think, oh, it's just fiction.

There's nothing that, that, no. There's temptations out there. He is, he is prowling, looking to devour. And, you know what? We don't pray with our family. He has won the day. And we have all these. Distractions. So, when you do find time to pray, you sit down, someone knocks on the door, then your phone vibrates.

You have a notification. So, you're like, you know what? I am going to put my phone on airplane mode, but now you're frustrated. You put it on airplane mode and you're ready to pray. And now it's like the faucet was turned on, right? Your thoughts, they just come pouring in about what your boss said to you about your coworker, about what a family member did about the bill that's due at the end of the month.

And it's just, I can't turn off the faucet. And it's just distractions after distractions, and we need to be on guard because the devil will do all he can to disrupt the thoughts in our mind. Don't be foolish to think he doesn't exist. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

1 Peter 5:3. He can keep us off our knees and from not praying and in a prayerless state, then he has won the day. We need to be persistent. We need to be diligent, and we need to be watchful. We need to be watchful of this. To be honest with you, we also need discipline and practice. Men in the church, if your wife and children do not see you leading them in prayer, their prayer life suffers.

If your wife has to be the one to pray and teach your children the Bible, you are forcing her to take a role that is yours. You are forcing her to take a role that is yours. If she is the one disciplining, she is the one praying. You're abdicating everything to her and that's not the Lord's design. It's not the Lord's design.

And we are the Kings and Queen of excuses, right? There's always an excuse. There's always going to be something you say. You know what? I don't want to force it. I don't want to make this routine. I don't want to be legalistic. No. Lead your family in prayer. Lead your family in prayer. It's as simple as that.

And I am just as guilty as anyone in this room of wallowing in myself pity and grumbling about finances. No. Lead your family in prayer. Don't exhale strongly. Don't roll your eyes, don't give a halfhearted smile. Children are more perceptive. Everything else can wait. Take your phone, put it aside. Throw your phone, whatever it needs to be done.

Get rid of it. And we need to pray. And we need to, the third directive here leads right in, continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it, with what? With thanksgiving.

We need to be thankful. It's so much more than what we perceive. Luke 17:11-19. Luke 17 verses 11 to 19. We read of an occasion where Jesus heals 10 lepers while he was traveling from Samaria to Galilee. And as they went, they were cleansed, starting in verse 15. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice.

And he fell on his face at Jesus feet, giving him thanks. Now, he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? Only one of the ten came back. Now, if you look at this, there's a real problem here that we take God's blessings for granted.

How many times do we pray for something and then when the Lord grants it, we forget? To be full of Thanksgiving. We're like, you know what? We deserve this. We're entitled to this. John Calvin says we have short memories and magnifying God's grace. Every blessing that God confers upon us perishes through our carelessness.

If we are not prompt and active in giving thanks, it's much more than a polite formality. That's how we originally learn it, but it's so much more. It's an expression of faith. It's an expression of humility. I did not do this myself. Thank you, Lord. It's trusting in God's sovereignty, God's grace, and God's timing.

In giving thanks to God, we're actually confessing that we are not entitled to this. God is not obligated to give us anything except our punishment, which is hell. But we oftentimes include grumbling in our prayers. Do we not? How many times have we said to the Lord, now keep in mind, this is communion with him.

We didn't hang up the phone. We didn't end that call. And we say, Lord, this isn't fair. You're praying to the Lord saying, I know better than you. I know better than you, Lord, this isn't fair. We're, we should be dependent upon the Lord for everything, God's grace for salvation. By grace, you've been saved through faith.

And it's not of your own doing. And I know that's difficult because a lot of us come from churches where it's works based, and we live in a society and have jobs that are merit based. But that's not salvation. That's not salvation. Prayers of thanksgiving will honor this grace. Recognizing that salvation is solely a gift from God.

We didn't do anything. We didn't earn anything. So, let's move forward here. Now, we're praying for an open door. So, we have our prayers and we're continuing for an open door. He prays for an open door of opportunity to preach the gospel, and he prays for an open mouth of ability to preach the gospel. An open door and an open mouth.

In John 8, Jesus says, I am the light of the world. In Matthew 5:14, Jesus says, you are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Which is it? The answer is we are ambassadors for Christ. People should see Christ through us, God, through the spirit to spread the gospel. Our light comes from Christ.

It doesn't come from us. It doesn't come from our good deeds. It comes from Christ and people should look at us and see Christ. And that is an amazing responsibility. Isn't it an amazing responsibility? I bet there's a lot of people in this room that you feel that you are the only Christian at your job, that you're the only Christian in your extended family, the only Christian family in that larger extended family.

Do you feel maybe a weight on your shoulders? I was a public-school teacher in New Jersey for 15 years and I felt I was known as the Christian teacher. I ran the Christian club there and I felt like I was being watched. And sometimes I felt pressure because I'm known as the Christian teacher, and it was great when people cursed, and they apologized.

I love that part. But at the same time, I felt every word out of my mouth would have been scrutinized every action if I snapped or yelled at my students or said something out of anger and frustration, I just felt this enormous amount of pressure, right? And I'm sure you do as well, wherever you are.

Cause a lot of you are nodding your head. So, at your job or clients, wherever you are, you feel this, that maybe you're going to give Christianity a black eye. If you falter. But you know what? It's a blessing. And if you falter, you apologize and you ask for forgiveness. That actually goes so far with your children.

You say something out of anger, and you say, you know what? I'm sorry that I hurt you. That was wrong. Will you please forgive me? And it's, they just look at you like, why are you apologizing to me? Why are you asking for forgiveness from me? And it's just that shows Christ so much more than just saying I was justified in this.

No, it's a blessing to be a representative of Christ. It's a blessing. Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father. Who's in heaven. We glorify. Him, not ourselves. We glorify Him, all glory to Him, but oftentimes we glorify ourselves. Oftentimes I sit there and it's, it's Sunday and I'm with the family and I'm doing devotion.

And it's like my Redskins for the first time in 30 years are winning. And it's I want to do this. And it's no, I'm going to glorify them. I'm going to glorify whatever they're called now, but it's am I going to glorify them? And it's just not want to glorify the Lord. And it doesn't mean that you can't watch football, or you can't do anything like that, but who are we glorifying with our actions, with our deeds, with our words, with our obsessions.

If it's just, it's so important that we give the glory to God and that we act as these ambassadors to Christ as these representatives, it's a blessing. It's an honor. It really is. And we need to look for that opportunity. Look for the opportunity at work, look for the opportunity at school, look for an opportunity with your family to share the gospel, but be wise.

There is a proper time and place. But don't withhold the truth. Don't withhold the truth. You're going to speak the truth in love, but you're not going to withhold the truth. 1 Corinthians 16, Paul says in verse 8, But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

2 Corinthians 2:12 When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, a door was opened for me in the Lord. Revelation 3:8 Jesus said to the church of Philadelphia, Behold, I have set before you an open door which no one is able to shut. Look for the open door. To declare, verse 3, To declare the mystery of Christ.

for which Paul is in prison, okay? Jesus, fully God, fully man, died for our sins. Christ in you, the hope of the world. of all glory. Paul mentions this in Ephesians 3:6. This mystery that is through the gospel. The Gentiles are heirs together with Israel. Members together of one body and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

And this is the cause of his own imprisonment. And he has to make it clear. We're going step by step in this scripture, it has to be clear. Paul will pray that he can communicate the gospel in a way that is understandable and impactful. He wants words of truth to the outside, to the Gentiles. Showing them, who Jesus is and what he has done.

We need to do this in a way that's fully understandable. Not confusing, not complicated, simple, direct, powerful. Speak plainly. If I'm coming across someone that is new to the faith or someone that is not a believer, I'm not going to open with terminology like, Biblical hermeneutics, and then ask what their eschatological view is.

That's just not what we start with. Okay. We have progressive sanctification. So, we have our walk through life. We can learn these things. We can turn to meat, but we're not going to start off with things that are so incredibly complicated. People say, what are you talking about? The clarity in the message.

It's not just human effort. It's the spirit's power. It's the Holy Spirit that regenerates the heart, not us. Don't underestimate the prayers of the righteous. We need prayer warriors. We need people in church that say, I want to pray for you. I'm going to pray for you. But what does society say? Society will say, you know what?

That's the weakest thing that you can do for me. I want tangible action. But you know what? It's actually the strongest. It's the strongest. And Pastor Wade was up here a couple months back, and he was saying that prayer is stronger than any politician, than any earthly authority. God is sovereign over all.

So, we have this open door. We have prayer, we have this open door. Now, how do we speak? Let's go to Colossians 4:5-6.

Walk in wisdom towards outsiders, making the best use of time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. So, let's start with wisdom. Let's start with wisdom. We see this. In scripture, James one, five. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

So, what do we do? Pray for wisdom. We pray for wisdom. We find it in scripture. Psalm 19:7, the testimony of the Lord is sure. Making wise the simple we pray. We look through scripture. And we need sound counselors. We need sound counselors. We know bad company corrupts good morals. Okay. Proverbs 11:14, where there is no guidance of people falls, but in an abundance of counselors, there's safety.

Proverbs 15:22 without counsel plans fail. But with many advisors, they succeed. You have brothers and sisters right here. Look to your right and your left. These are brothers and sisters in Christ. You could ask for prayer. You should ask for prayer. Hey, I'm going through this situation. We have amazing elders at this church.

We have amazing elders. They. They're within reach. This is one of the things that I always tell people about Christ, the King, our elders. And I thank Mike Gresh for this because he said this, I'm going to steal it from him. He said, they smell like their flock. The elders smell like sheep. And it's so important because you've been to many churches where you just never talked to the pastor.

It's more like a celebrity pastor, but no, the elders here smell like their flock. So, ask for wisdom. Priority two, walk in wisdom towards outsiders. Now we're moving to the next step, walking wisdom towards outsiders. Who are these outsiders? We can look at the Greek word, tun ektos, which means those who walk outside.

That doesn't help us at all so I'm looking at that, I'm like, should I put that in there? But the word refers to those that are outside the body of Christ. They're unbelievers. The secular world looks at us like we're outsiders. People are surprised that you don't indulge in the flesh. They look at you strangely when you don't curse.

When you pray before a meal, you ever pray in public with your family? You go out to eat or something and you're just joining hands and praying, and people look at you like what are they doing? When you read scripture, when you stay loyal to your spouse, when you stay loyal and faithful, when you have children and teach those children and you have family devotion, they look at you like you're an outsider, but you're in Christ, you're in Christ.

The secular world is not. So, when encountering those outside Christ, we need to make the best use of time. We need to realize we have a limited amount of time to share the gospel. We have a limited amount of time at work. On vacation at school with our family, especially during the holiday season, right?

We're going to be seeing them. Thanksgiving, Christmas, we're going to be seeing them, but we like to think we have all the time in the world. There's a danger in that there's two dangers because that speaks of laziness, and it can speak of fear. Laziness. I don't want to have the uncomfortable conversation and fear.

Of persecution. When I say, when I share the gospel fear that they will mock me, make fun of me, that I may lose my job, that I may lose my friend, lose that promotion. We have a limited time to bear witness though. We can't put off the uncomfortable conversations. Now, of course we need wisdom in this, but that person struggling on the street, you may only see them for one minute in your whole entire life.

You may be doing a ride share. You're riding in an Uber and you're talking to someone. That may be the only time you have to see that person and share the gospel. There is a time to keep silent. And a time to speak. We obviously need wisdom. You're not going to see your family for Christmas and walk in and say, hi, how are you?

Give them a hug and kiss and ask them if they repented of their sins and put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Probably not the best way to walk in the door. They may just walk you out the door. Okay, but we do need to speak the truth, right? We speak the truth in love, but we do need to speak the truth.

We don't regenerate the heart. It's the Holy Spirit. But I would feel really guilty. And I pray about this often. It's what if this family member is gone and I didn't share the gospel? The Lord is sovereign, need to look for that opportunity and we need to act.

Scripture says we will be persecuted. That's a fact. That's a guarantee. We will be persecuted. But that's why we have this support. That's why we have scripture. That's why we have prayer. That's why we have each other. Don't just come into the service, listen to the word, and then leave afterwards. Talk to each other.

Hi, my name is so, and I know it seems basic, but it's important to have a body of believers, brothers and sisters. That's why we call each other brothers and sisters in Christ, right? I often say, because we have it in scripture. It's so important. You could just call someone brother or just call someone's sister.

You have to use their real name. It actually helps if you don't know people's names, but still it's just so important because you're reminded of the fact that this is my brother in Christ. This is my sister in Christ. We can't forget that there needs to be an understanding of when to depart. Acts chapter 19 verse eight, Acts chapter 19 starting in verse eight, Paul entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. This continued for two years, so all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

There is a time that we should not throw pearls at swine. Our job is not to force conversions or cram the gospel down people's throat. Jesus instructs his apostles on how to handle rejection. Simply go somewhere else. There's other, there are other people that need to hear the gospel, and they are ready to hear it.

However, we never stopped praying for those that reject, right? We never stopped praying for them. That's why it's important to have a prayer journal. Keep that list. I have my opportunity. I have my time. I'm right in front of the person. My heart is racing. And verse six, let your speech be gracious season with salt.

So, you may know how you ought to answer each person, gracious speech to speak with grace, what is spiritual, wholesome, sensitive, kind, purposeful, gentle, truthful, loving, thoughtful. The best example I can think of is last week, pastor Michael gave this amazing sermon, and it was baby dedication. And there were lots of family members that came that are not part of the church.

Some are not believers, and he spoke the truth, and he could have hammered at home, but he spoke it with gentleness, and I spoke with one person that was outside the faith and that person told me while they disagreed. They loved that it was spoken in gentleness. So, they listened. They listened. I think of the outreach here Ask a Christian a question and get a hot dog people are watching People will ask questions people are listening.

They're observing. Why are you doing this? Why are you doing this? Those especially in whom the lord is working in are going to ask you a question and scripture says, let your speech be gracious so that you may know how to answer each person. First Peter 3:13 is very important for this. First Peter 3:13.

Now, who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. But in your hearts, honor Christ, the Lord, as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

Yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. It's better to suffer for doing good if that should be God's will than for doing evil. Put it all away. Anger, malice, obscene talk from your mouth.

This does not mean that we bow down to those who persecute us. This does not mean that we become a pushover and never speak up. But to speak plainly, if you're a jerk, no one wants to hear what you have to say. No one wants your Jesus. No one wants to hear what you have to say. That's why I said, this is a heart issue.

Cause if we are repaying evil with evil, that's a problem. But if we are speaking the truth boldly that's in scripture. We speak it boldly, but if we're repaying evil with evil because of the way they're talking to us, we start mocking and making fun. There is a problem there, but it comes down to the heart.

And this is the thing. We don't know the heart. Christ knows the heart, okay? We don't repay evil with evil, and we have it all through scripture. We don't want to be a repellent. We don't want to be a repellent. Our words can't save, and we can't thwart God's plan. This goes back to the point earlier. We are ambassadors for Christ.

We proclaim with our words and with our walk, with our words and with our walk, we speak the truth in love, but sometimes it does need to be intense. We do need to call out sin. We do need to tell the truth that this is an abomination, that This is so ridiculous. This is crazy. We do need to do that.

We do need to warn. We can't just be silent and say, you know what? I'm just going to say, Hey, that's not for me. No, we do need to be bold in our speech, but it's a matter of the heart. It's a matter of the heart. The tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things from the same mouth comes blessings and curses.

This should not be. So, Jesus called the Pharisees whitewashed tombs and hypocrites. But he knew the heart. He knew the heart. We do not think back to your before-Christ-self. Were we any better than those hypocrites? We think back salty has a much different meaning in today's society than it did back then.

So, we were in our city groups and I'm like, Oh you're a very salty person. And it's everyone started laughing. I was like, Oh yeah. But no, it doesn't mean what it means today to be angry and not polite. That's not the meaning here. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt.

The primary use of salt for people in Jesus's day was to prevent decay. When Jesus says you're the salt of the earth, he's not making a statement about you as a Christian, but also about the world around you. The world is in moral decay. He is the way, the truth, he is the light. Think about it for a moment.

How can you develop the ability to speak about Christ with an appetizing flavor to it? An appetizing flavor to it. Mind you, this is not rhetorical persuasion designed to convince someone to come to Christ. Using emotional appeals, pathos, different things like that. This is not manipulation. Because all that does is it makes false converts.

Altar calls and the lights dim, and the music comes up and everyone's, no, that's just appeal to your emotion. Faith comes from hearing. Regeneration is through the spirit. But we have another danger. We have another danger. Some of us who have been Christians for a long time begin to neglect enjoying Christ.

Our city groups are going through the Sermon on the Mount. I would be remiss to say that a thought didn't enter my mind For, and I'll say it out loud that it was, oh, I've been through this so much. And that's not proper. We should be thirsting for this. Yes, this is amazing. This is a blessing, but we have these thoughts.

We have this. And how can we sit there and spread the gospel when we are complacent? My friend gave his first sermon. He talked about this, about complacency with the gospel. And he said that our own taste buds may have grown dull. It's hard to salt your speech when you've lost your hunger for the word.

You need prayer. You need counselors. There needs to be accountability. There needs to be accountability. Don't just, the only time that you're in Christ is Sunday, and then you go back into the world. Because, you may sit there and say, greater is he who's in us than he who's in the world. But what you're really saying, I'm strong enough on my own.

That's what you're really saying. 7:18. This reminds me of movie credits, right? So, unless you're watching a comedy from the 1980s or something, most of the time you just skip moving credits. And nowadays they have credits, mid scene pictures, different things like that. But we usually skip this. We think it's just administrative.

It's just, thanking. And we may recognize Luke and Mark and we're like, oh, I know this person. It's Oh, I've heard of this person, but there's a lot of meat on this bone here. There really is. Especially when looking at the overarching theme about spiritual growth here, nothing in scripture is without purpose.

Okay, like 1st Timothy says, all scripture instructs and guides. Paul doesn't end with just himself. He gives non apostolic, regular, normal examples of people and the help that they gave. These are living pictures of the book of Colossians and what it talks about. Paul's not doing this alone. And we have some updates on growth and maturity.

For purposes of time, I'd like to highlight just a couple of them, but I would encourage you to go further in this. To start off, we see, was likely a courier who brought the epistle to the Colossians. Okay. Many commentators feel he also carried letters to the Ephesians and to Philemon as well. He was regarded as a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord.

He's described in Ephesians six, Colossians four, second Timothy, and Titus as one who Paul sent to work among the believers in other places. But he has someone with him. Verse 9, And with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here.

He's not only bringing a letter, he's bringing a runaway bondservant of Philemon with him, part of the Colossian church, which met at Philemon's house. We see Paul's thoughts in Philemon as he says, Receive him back as your brother. Not a bond servant. Charge it to my account. He's vouching for Onesimus.

The gospel changes everything. It's showing the transforming power of the gospel in relationships. We are new creations. We should not hold guilt from the past because we are new creations, but our past oftentimes holds us back. We're not worthy. We're not good enough. Look at what I did. The Lord can't forgive such a sin, but all we're really doing is saying our sin is too great for the Lord that he's not sovereign, but that's not the only relationship mended here.

We see something else here. Verse 10, Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas concerning whom you have received instructions. If he comes to you, welcome him. So, the question here lies with the instruction to welcome Mark. Why would Paul say to welcome Mark? This is like pastor Michael.

He goes away and he has a guest speaker, and he tells the people at Christ the king to welcome. The guest speaker, that should be pretty obvious, right? Why would you have to say to welcome him? This is Mark. This is John Mark, the author of the gospel of Mark. We meet him in the book of acts as a companion of Paul and Barnabas.

So, if you go to acts 15 verse 37, Barnabas wanted to take with them, John called Mark, but Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them and Pamphylia. And had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.

Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Caecilia, strengthening the churches. So, there was a split there. Barnabas wanted to give his cousin another shot. Paul did not. It must've been bad because they parted ways. But Mark is mentioned in Colossians four as being a partner of Paul.

Welcome him. Something transpired, some maturity and forgiveness. In second Timothy, Paul calls for Mark as he is useful for the ministry. Here's the crux of the point. If Epaphras is going to report all the frontline news, the churches were aware of this split. They were aware of what happened. Paul's happy with this maturation and he says, welcome him as a brother.

Welcome them. What can we glean from that? Labeling. We lock people into certain labels, and we feel that they will never change. That they're too far gone for the Holy Spirit. And that's not the case. We are new creations, and we have spiritual gifts, but I want you to think back. Some of you have been Christians for a long time.

Some of you relatively new. But think back before the Lord lifted the veil from your eyes, what labels did you have? What labels did you have? And I can list them. I can list my own. But we had some pretty harsh labels, right? What if we still had those labels today? I'm a new creation. I don't do those things anymore.

Imagine if people viewed you with your past labels, we shouldn't attach something to it. We could see someone like Saul who was persecuting the Christians. Being used to spread the gospel. We could see someone like Mark who Paul said, absolutely not. And now he's a brother. We could see Onesimus who ran away and now it's greeted him as a brother.

Charge it to my account. Don't give up on people. Pray for them. This is all connected here. Pray for them. They can go from stone to flesh. The Lord can save them. He saved us. Didn't he? Sometimes we need encouragement. We need someone to vouch for us. Paul vouches for Mark. Paul's been vouched for in the past as well.

It's encouraging when someone vouches for you. I've seen many examples in this church. Vouching for someone for a job. For a relationship. I've seen that. And now Paul was vouched for Acts nine. He attempted to join the disciples in Jerusalem. They were all afraid of him, but Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared that how on the road he had seen the Lord he had preached in the name of Jesus.

They were afraid, but Barnabas vouched for him. His name does mean son of encouragement and there's encouragement when someone vouches for you. And Paul closes, remember his chains. This is not pity. It's not saying feel sorry for me. This is reality. We will face persecution. Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

But don't succumb. Like Tom mentioned in the prayer, take away anxiety and fear. It's so true. Don't succumb to anxiety and fear. Keep going. Spread the gospel. Know that there will be persecution but remain steadfast. Know that you have your brothers and sisters reach out to them. Join a city group, join the men's chat or the ladies’ chat.

It's very important. Pray for each other. Encourage each other. Be the body of Christ, be the body of Christ and speak the truth in love. Fulfill your ministry. The Lord's not done with you yet. The Lord's not done with you yet. Don't give up, speak the truth in love. And I'm going to end with this story. For 20 years, a well-known atheist walked the same path to work every day.

He would always walk by a shop owned by an older Christian couple. After 20 years, the man finally decided to stop in the store. He found the store owner and said, you must not be a Christian. The owner replied, I assure you, sir, I am. The next day, the man stopped in the store a second time and said, if you're a Christian, you must not believe in hell.

The owner replied, of course I believe in hell. On the third day, the owner waited outside and stopped the man and said, why do you ask me such questions? The atheist man replied, for 20 years you have seen me walk by your store. For 20 years you never told me about the gospel. For 20 years you never warned me that those who were not in Christ cannot have eternal life.

Brothers and sisters, I pray that we are not like the shopkeeper. Let's pray. Lord, I thank you for this time. I thank you for these words of encouragement. For each brother and sister in this room, I just pray, Lord, that our prayer lives will just be enhanced. They will be filled with scripture. And Lord, however we speak to people, let it be gracious and guard our hearts, Lord, with love.

That we speak the truth in love. You know our hearts, Lord, protect us from repaying evil from evil. For those that are not in the faith, or we just pray that you just save them and that they cry out to you for repentance. Give us wisdom and guidance and strength in Jesus’ name.