Get Into The Game! Colossians 3:1-4

Adapted from a Jeffery Anselmi sermonhttp://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp?ContributorID=&SermonID=93553

Here are some very important questions.

How is your faith?

Is it exciting or boring?

Weak or strong?

Hot or lukewarm?

Colossians 3:1-4 will help us grow like never before if we will pay attention and put what these Scriptures say into practice.

One of the things that hurt us more than almost anything else is when we have a faith that does not cause us to invest ourselves in the things

of God.

I want you to think about an athletic team.

There are those who are in the game and there are those who are sitting on the bench and there are those

who are in the stands watching with various levels of interest

concerning what is going on.

The ones who are in the game are the ones who have been working hard and who are getting the most out of what

they are doing.Most of the ones on the bench are

striving to get into the game by putting in the extra work they need in order to

get better.The ones sitting in the stands are living

through the ones who are playing.

We have sort of the same thing when it comes to serving Jesus.

There are those who are in the game, those who are sort of in the game and others who are trying to

live their faith in the stands watching everyone else serve.

Today I want to encourage you to

“Get Into The Game.”

We are going to look at what it takes for us to get into the game and to be successful once we are on the field!

Colossians 3:1 ESV If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated

at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with

him in glory.

A Focused Mission

Getting into the game requires:

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where

Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Verse 1 takes us back toColossians 2:12

Colossians 2:12 ESV having been buried with him in baptism, in which

you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful

working of God, who raised him from the dead.

Paul is not questioning whether we have been raised with Christ He is trying to remind us that we HAVE

been raised with Christ.

Those who have been raised with Christ have a different set of

expectations.

Once we are raised with Christ, we begin the work of conformity to the

life of Christ.

Having been buried with him in baptism, we have been “co-

resurrected” with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who

raised him from the dead.

Romans 6:3 ESV Do you not know that all of us who have been

baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were

buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

This verse reminds us that when we give our lives to Christ and are

immersed into Christ, we are then commanded to walk in a newness of

life!

We are told that SINCE we were raised with Christ, we are to KEEP SEEKING the things from above.

This means that we are to put in a strong effort, a persevering effort.

We are called to be constantly seeking that which is from above.

1b seek the things that are above

This means striving to put heaven’s priorities into daily practice.

We are not seeking to just discover, we are seeking to obtain.

The emphasis is not on the seeking but on the object being sought.

We need to realize that seeking the things from above is not chasing

phantoms, but it is gathering treasures.

Romans 2:6 ESV He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-

doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey

unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.

We are told in this verse what we are to focus on.

I would imagine that many of our faith struggles comes from the fact

that we are not always in active pursuit of the things from above.

This verse is calling us to set our hearts on the things above.

Why are we to focus or set our hearts on seeking the things from

above?

It is because that is where Christ is seated.

I would imagine some of us are not too focused on what is happening in

the Middle East.Some are EXTREMELY focused on

what is going on there.Why? Some have loved ones and

friends who are there trying to help bring freedom to that part of the

world.

You have interest because someone important to you is there.

Are you lacking focus in your life? Seek; set your heart on, the things

that are above.

Make heaven be the aim of the practical pursuit of your life.

Matthew 6:19 ESV "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where

moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay

up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is,

there your heart will be also.

Jesus sums it up later in Matthew 6 by telling us how we can have

everything we need. Matthew 6:33 ESV But seek first the

kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things

will be added to you.

We have already received new life from God through the power of the Holy Spirit.We do not need to struggle and work to

attain that life.What remains is to work out its

implications in daily life.Because we were also raised with him, we have a clear responsibility to Christ, who

had raised us.

Getting into the game requires:

A Focused Mind

2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

The second thing that needs to happen with us is we need to have a

focused mind.There is a subtle difference between

this verse and the thought in verse 1.

The 1st verse deals with seeking heaven, whereas this passage deals

with thinking heaven.This deals with the inner

disposition.Seeking with the heart is cultivating

a desire for heaven and thinking about heaven devises the ways in

which we will go after it.

A focused mind will ponder and yearn for heaven.

We are called to give a large place in our thought life to heaven.

Setting our minds on things above meant concentrating on the eternal rather than the temporal, letting our

thoughts dwell in the realm of Christ.

We are to focus on the Lord Jesus.

Thoughts can influence actions, so if Christians would place their thoughts above and not on the

earth, their actions would please God.

Our mind set will determine our actions.

We are called to see everything in the light of eternity.

How can we do this?We must work on eliminating the

distractions that keep our focus off of God.

Philippians 4:8 ESV Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever

is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there

is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think

about these things.

When we lose focus,we lose ground.

When our minds are not focused on heaven, our lives will reflect it.

WE will live our a faith with no heart, no passion, no sense of purpose,

and no direction.

James 4:4 ESV You adulterous people! Do you not know that

friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever

wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

It is really hard to keep the distractions to a minimum.

We struggle a lot because our minds are not set on heaven.

It is like driving down the highway and you start looking at the ditch. If you focus on the ditch too long, you will

end up in it.

Jesus doesn’t want us to take our focus off Him.

Luke 9:61 ESV Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home." 62 Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

Paul kept his focus on the goal of heaven, where Jesus is.

Philippians 3:13 ESV Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting

what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on

toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

When our mind is focused too much on the world, then we will end up

living as the world does.

If you want to grow and have an exciting faith, set your mind on the

things above!

Getting into the game requires:

Staying FocusedOn Your Team

3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

It is so important to remember whose team you are on.

We need to realize that when we are immersed into Christ, when we

cloth ourselves with Christ, that we are on His team.

Verse three reminds us that we died with Jesus and our life is hidden in

Him.

Romans 6:11 ESV So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and

alive to God in Christ Jesus.Someone who is dead has no

worries, no stresses, no love or hate.

They are stone cold and motionless concerning all the things of this life.

We are on God’s team and we need to make sure that we keep focused

on that fact.

This is our motive for getting into the game.

Our life belongs to Him!

Galatians 2:20 ESV I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Our life should reflect His life.

We cannot serve God on the sidelines, we MUST get into the

game!

Look at a promise Jesus makes in John 14:19.

John 14:19 ESV Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you

also will live.

4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear

with him in glory.

I love verse four, it says that When Christ who is your life appears.

That’s what it is all about.Jesus who is your life.

When Jesus is your life, your life will change, your life will be different, your faith will have

meaning and your life will have purpose!

When we focus on the team, we are all winners.

When we stay focused on the team, we will do things sometimes out of our comfort zone because we know

whose team we are on.

ConclusionDo you want to have an exciting faith?

You need to

Get Into The Game!

We need to have a focused mission, a focused mind, and we need to stay

focused on the team we are on.

If we can implement these things into our lives, we will have what we

have been looking for in Christ!

Do not stay on the sidelines,

Get Into The Game!