A Praying and Prepared Church
Notes
Transcript
“A Praying and Prepared Church is a Powerful Church”
Colossians 4:2-6
Introduction
Reece Howell
· Christian in his small community
· There was a man who didn’t like him at all, once cursed him out
· However, Reece didn’t retaliate but prayed often for him to come to faith and be saved
· He said to God, “I will do any and everything you ask for him to be saved”
· One day this man came to Reece informing him of his financial problems – If he didn’t get money he needed his family would be homeless
· Reece went upstairs and got half the money the man needed
· As he was going downstairs, he heard God say, “I thought you said you would do anything for him to be saved”
· He went back upstairs and got all the money he needed and gave it to him
· As a result this man came to faith in Jesus – in fact many others in the community came to faith as well
· This illustrates both the power of prayer and the results of being obedient to God as he shared the Gospel by representing Jesus in his generosity
· This is what we will be looking at today – Prayer and evangelism
Main Text
Colossians 4:2-6
2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 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— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.
5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
· Paul is giving his last exhortations to the church before his final greetings
Exegesis
VS 4:2-4 are exhortations for prayer
2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
· Paul knows that a praying church is a powerful church
· Tells us when, how, and the attitude of prayer
When: Continue steadfastly – means to earnestly persevere in our prayers – A lifestyle of prayer
o To be in constant communication with God every day - “Pray without ceasing”
o God communicates to us primarily through the Bible and we communicate with Him through prayer
· God redeemed us and we are in a right relationship with Him through Jesus so that we may have fellowship with God
1 John 1:3
Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ
How: Being watchful means mentally and spiritually alert and vigilant
o Watchful – Some scholars see this as ready for the imminent return of Christ – doing God’s work
o Since prayer is constant communication with God it can be tiresome
o So other scholars think this is what Paul is referring to, why we must be alert in prayer
o Regardless, we must always be ready for action doing God’s work
Attitude: With a thankful heart for all God has done, is doing, and will do for us
· Thankfulness that God answers prayer
· Thankful that we can trust that if we don’t get the answer we want, God has something better for us in mind
A Praying Church is a Powerful Church
VS 3-4
3 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 - 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.
· Paul asks for prayer for him and others who travel sharing the Gospel and establishing new churches
· Focus here is on evangelism
· Prayer for Paul to proclaim Gospel boldly
· They’ve already seen that Paul prays earnestly and without ceasing in:
VS 1:9
9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you
· Prayer that God may open to us a door for the Word – The Gospel he calls the mystery of Christ
o “Open a door for the Word”= To be presented with opportunities to share Gospel
o “Mystery” – Paul used mystery earlier in letter to mean Christ and the Gospel message
o “In chains” = He has suffered persecution for sharing the Gospel
Make it clear, which is how I ought to speak
· It’s much easier for unbelievers to respond to Gospel message when our words are clear, simple, and understandable
· It takes the focus away from us and onto the One whom we are sharing – Jesus
1 Corinthians 2:1-5
2 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
· There is a deeper interpretation here: Paul is actually asking them to pray for God’s Words be given to him when sharing Gospel
Jesus says in Matt 10:20
20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you
· Paul knows he doesn’t have the right words according to his own intellect
A Praying Church is a Powerful Church
VS 5-6 talks about Godly living toward unbelievers
A Prepared Church is a Powerful Church
5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
· “Walk” refers to our whole way of life – Like walk worthy of Christ
o Only through God’s wisdom – not own
· “Making best use of time” = Best use of our time through living Godly toward outsiders is:
o Representing Jesus in all our actions and words
o Also taking advantage of every opportunity to share
· “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt”
o As Christians, we must have love and compassion for unbelievers wanting them to be saved
o But too many Christians isolate themselves from the outside world
o Too many are judgmental toward outsiders and have a “better than” attitude
o This results in a hatred for Christians and being disgusted with Christianity
· “You may know how you ought to answer each person”
1 Peter 3:15
15 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
“A prepared church is a powerful church”
2 things here:
1st
· Be ready to give an answer when people ask you about your life and your faith – how it is different than others
· Like, “How can you…when this is happening”
· “Why don’t you…” or “Why do you…”
2nd
· We must also know the entire Gospel message to share it to unbelievers
· We also must know it well enough to answer any questions regarding the Gospel
So what do we need to do?
· Pray multiple times a day – Not only for ourselves but to others as well
· Let’s put away all distractions in our personal lives and what’s going on around us as best we can
· Instead let’s focus on Jesus so we can be in constant communication with God
o Requires establishing a Gospel mindset
o For me, I establish this mindset starting my day with prayer and studying Scripture
· We must live out our faith with Godly living in every aspect of our life through words and actions
· Let’s have a heart for unbelievers
· Let’s pray for ourselves and others to take every opportunity to share the Gospel
· We need to make sure we fully understand the Gospel message to adequately share with unbelievers
· Take the time to develop our own personal way of sharing the Gospel and practice it
o We are then prepared when opportunity comes up
o It can also help get rid of the fear and replace it with boldness to share Gospel
· Take time to read the Scripture references in the bulletin
Remember: A praying and prepared church is a powerful church
Prayer