ADVENT BEGINS WITH HOPE A Christian’s definition of hope is far superior to that of the world. Instead of wishing or hoping for something to happen, a believer knows that their hope is solid, concrete evidence because it is grounded in the Word of God and we know that God cannot lie (Heb 6:18; Num 23:19). The Christian has a hope that is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb 11:1). It is a hope that is like faith…a faith that cannot be moved by circumstances or what the eyes see because an unseen God is seen in His faithfulness.

It all comes down to this! There is a key, to living the Christian life, to being the church that Jesus called us to be! In this final part of our series we take a really close look to see what that key is and how we can use it to open the door to being the church we were called to be!

What Christ did on the cross, if we accept it, changes us, we take off the old cloak of sin and self, and put on the new cloak of righteousness and love, so how is we keep wanting to put on our old dirty clothes instead of wearing our brand new clean ones?

If we are in Christ then we have died with Him and we are raised with Him, He lives in us and we take Him with us everywhere we go and He is with us in everything we do. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me to will and to do His good pleasure. So then why do we get bogged down with the rules and regulations that the world tries to shackle us with?

There was a time when spiritually earnest people were told to justify themselves by charitable works, pilgrimages, and all kinds of religious performances and devotions. They were encouraged to acquire this “merit,” which was at the disposal of the church, by purchasing certificates of indulgence. This was the context that prompted Luther’s desire to refocus the church on salvation by grace through faith on account of Christ by imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us. To those spiritually oppressed by indulgences and not given assurance of God’s grace, Luther proclaimed free grace to God’s true saints

God wants established Christians, solid, deep rooted, strong, who don't get pushed around by false information. And here's how. Get the Word in your mind. Scripture Tells us "In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" Start out by feeding on the Word, let it produce activity. That activity will give you settled conviction, the conviction will be that Christ is who He claimed, and then you can claim all of His promises and begin to walk step by step like He walked, and that's where your life will come from and as you walk in Him you'll be built up, and you'll even be more established in the faith!

There’s a lot of disenchantment for the church these days there’s a lot of disgruntled people who look at the church as irrelevant, a waste of time, and a useless endeavor. A lot of Christians seem to have forgotten the value of the church. For some it is nothing – a place one could go to. Some have lost the meaning, the purpose, and the joy of church. The church is, at it's core, Christ body here on earth, all serving under the headship of Jesus!

In the first chapter of Colossians Paul includes a hymn, whether it is one Paul wrote himself or one that was being used in the first century church is unimportant, what is important is that this hymn is used to remind us of who Christ is and what He has done for us!

The church of Jesus Christ exist for a reason, and it is when we forget the purpose of the church that Jesus bought with His own blood, that the church goes astray, it amazing how much of what the Colossians were facing we are facing in the church today! in this message we continue our study

The church at Colosse had established a good reputation among the Christian community of the first century, perhaps that is why Paul went to such lengths to remind them of that in his letter to them, to help combat the heresy that was making it's way into the church by reminding them of what they had first learned!