Pssssttt? I HAVE A SECRET

Colossians 1:26-27 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. 27To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

It seems that everyone likes a good secret. Recently we have seen movie after movie about treasure hunters and ancient secrets being revealed. There have been books written about secret historical documents that hold the secrets for life and happiness. So everyone is looking to uncover the secret.  Like the romantic notion of the prince coming to the tower to save the princess from the dragon, we all have this deep longing to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Something that will be uncovered in our lifetime that will have a lasting impact.

As Christians we have already been a part of the greatest secret in human history. You see in the beginning man sinned against God in the garden of Eden and introduced humanity to the consequences of sin. At that moment God made a promise to bring about a redemption and escape for the sin of man. When God makes a promise, you can be assured that it will come to pass. The only thing about this promise was that there was no time line. No guarantee of when the fulfillment would be. A great mystery and secret.

For many years to come, God spoke through His prophets and dropped hints and reminded His people of this promise and its coming to pass.  People looked expectantly for this promise to be fulfilled.  Then it happened. It happened so unexpectantly that many people missed it all together.

Paul tells us in our text here that the mystery that was kept hidden and secret for ages and generations was finally revealed to the world. The great secret out of the bag. “CHRIST IN YOU THE HOPE OF GLORY” What a great secret revealed.

What is this saying. Well, Christ is the anointed one(not Jesus last name). In you means that you can have confidence of the anointed one in you. Hope is defined as a confident expectation and glory is the revealed/manifest presence of God. Put it all together reads like this: Christ, the Anointed one in me, gives me a confident expectation for the manifest/revealed presence of God.  That is incredible. That truly is a great secret revealed. No longer can you make excuses as to why you cant do whatever. Christ is in  you to give you the strength, courage, ability and faith to do anything.

Confession: Lord, thank you for revealing your mystery of Christ to me. Help me to recognize the enormous magnitude of this encounter with you. I declare today that because Christ is in me, I can do all things through Him because He gives me strength!

We had another great Sunday with times of connection as we came together as the church and family to approach the throne of grace together. Our corporate worship led us into a congregational time of consecration around the altar. Many people just came and laid it all at the altar and sought the face of God.  As you look throughout the Bible and see anytime where God was getting ready to do something big in the lives of His people, He always called them to prayer and consecration first. He needed His people to be sold out to what He was about to do.  We were reminded that we are not our own and that we were bought with a price and therefore we are to Glorify God with our life. We understand that God is doing great things through CLC and wants to do even bigger and greater things and we are overwhelmed by his goodness in our lives. In our own ability and strength we will not be able to complete all the things that God wants to do through us. So as we consecrate our lives to Him and examine our hearts, he is able to impart His vision, dreams, and anointing to get the job done. We need His spoken word for us to have impact and that is what consecration and prayer produce.

The ministered word was an encouraging reminder that we are more than conquerors. We have an enemy who wants to destroy our lives and he will use anything he can to do so. He will prey on our weakness and vulnerable times and attack at the most inopportune times. This is why the word of God challenges us to be awake, sober, and always vigilant and to be aware of Satan’s devices. He is at war with you whether you recognize it or not. The wonderful news is that Christ conquered Satan and we have that same victory if we will stand in Jesus’ victory. Don’t listen to what the devil may tell you or even what those around you may tell you, but get into the Word of God and see what He says about you.

You are more than a conquer through Him who loves you. Romans 8:37.

Our Impact Design project is coming along great. Monies are coming in every week to help us reach our goal to do some 15 year updates. July 12^th is the culmination of this project and we will be celebrating 15 years of ministry and casting a 5 year vision to impact our community with the gospel. Don’t ever forget that we are the hope of the world. “THE CHURCH” is the hope of the world.

Remember to stay connected with the many summer activities that are offered through the different ministries here at the church. Check out the Welcome center at the church and the website (clcbentonville.com) to get all of the updated events and areas to plug into. Our website offers plenty of resources to assist you in your spiritual growth and connection to the body of Christ.

In conclusion, I want to remind you that God has given you gifts and wants you to minister those gifts to others. It is not in your strength and ability that you are to perform these functions it is in his ability you are to serve with your gift so that God gets the glory.

I Peter 4:10-11 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. ¹¹If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

Have a great week!!

Pastor Nate Sweeney

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
      But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Fear? I thought the bible told us that God has not given me a spirit of fear but of power love and a sound mind. Is this a contradiction? I don’t understand?  I am glad you asked.

You are correct on what the fact that the bible makes both of these statements and that they are both true.  So many times while reading the scripture we don’t dive in deep enough to understand fully what is being said. The old Testament was written in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek and Arabic. We have to look closely at translation to get the full effect.

The passage in James is talking about fear in the traditional sense of terror and being scared. It is a horrifying fear.  In Proverbs we see the fear of the Lord as wisdom. The fear being discussed hear is defined as reverence, awe, admonition and respect. Fear here is not talking about terror or being scared. It is letting us know that we must have a healthy respect and reverence for God. He is truly worthy of all of our attention and awe. So many times we give human respect to great leaders and what they say or Hollywood elites and sports figures. We buy magazines that talk all about their lifestyles and what they say and do. We quote what they say to our peers and put them in a place of awe and respect. We in turn don’t give God the ruler over all the nations any respect at all. The bible reminds us that God is eternal and endures from generation to generation.  His words will remain forever. Not like a fad or ruler of an empire.

Remember today that to have wisdom means we must recognize God’s supreme authority and power and have respect and reverence for Him. 

Confession: Lord, I recognize you as supreme and ruler over all the earth. I choose right now to make you personal and stand in reverent respect and awe of you. Help me to be sensitive to your awesomeness and continually respect you and your word. I want to walk in your wisdom.