A Life with No Regrets | Colossians 1:24-2:5

Good morning, Watermark. How are we doing today? It's good to see you. I hope all is well. If this is your first time ever with us, thanks for trusting us with your Sunday morning. I hope this place feels like home very quickly. Every single Sunday, we take a moment right before we step into the Word of God to pray and ask God to speak to us. We believe God has gone to great lengths to get us his Word, and when we open it and study it we can hear from him.

So, I want to give you that chance right now. If you will, take a second and pray and just say, "God, would you speak clearly to me today?" Then I want to invite you to pray for the people around you, your friends, your family. Pray that God would speak clearly to them as well. Then would you pray for me that God would speak clearly through me to you?

Lord, give us eyes to see you, give us ears to hear from you, and give us hearts that are receptive to all that you want to say to us today. We need you. We love you. In Jesus' name, amen.

One of my favorite things in life right now, truly, is walking my first grader Jake to school. The reason it is truly one of my favorite things and I look forward to it, truly, is because he's still at a phase in life where he's willing to hold my hand in public. I love that. He's the third of my three boys, and he's the only one who is willing now to hold my hand in public.

Each time I walk him to school, I put my hand out, and there's always this fear inside of me. "Is this the moment that he's going to choose to not take it?" Fortunately, we haven't gotten to that point yet, because I just love it so much. We walk to school, and I tell him, "Jake, this is my favorite part of the day," because I just love feeling his hand in mine and us walking together.

Now, this past week, Jake came into my room early in the morning when I was prepping for a meeting. He came into my room on a day that I don't normally walk him to school. He came up to me and said, "Dad, are you going to take me to school today?" What he was showing me was he wanted me to take him to school that day, but I wasn't planning on taking him. I had a meeting I had already prepared for, but I was planning to do even more preparation.

So I told Jake, "Hey, dude. I can't take you today because I have to work. I have to prepare." Then he walked away, and this really weighty question hit my mind in what seemed like a really insignificant moment, but I'm going to share it with you. The thought I had in that moment was, "Twenty years from now, am I going to wish I had prepared more for a meeting that I was already prepared for or am I going to wish I had taken just one more opportunity to hold that sweet little hand and walk him to school?" It changed my whole morning. I got up, and we walked to school.

I think it's a clear sign that I'm getting older. I'm having more of those sentimental moments, like, "I just want to do the right thing. I'm going to long to have these days back." Those thoughts are going through my mind more and more. I'm realizing I only get to be in this season of life once. My freshman in high school is going to be a freshman at Texas A&M University in no time, Lord willing. If I brainwashed like I feel like God has called me to do, that will be true.

I'm only in this season once. The opportunity and privilege I've been given here at Watermark is so unique. It's so special. My body is on the descent of what it will be capable of doing. This is as good as it's going to be. So, I find myself more and more asking that question. "Twenty years from now, what will I look back and wish I had done?" That question is providing me with a lot more clarity when it comes to moment-to-moment decisions regarding "What do I do in this moment with Kat or with my kids or at work?"

Do you know why I think that question is surfacing in me? I think it's surfacing because something in me wants to live life now in a way that results in no regrets later. I know there will always be the potential for regret. Hindsight is always 20/20. We'll all be able to look back and say, "Oh man. If I could have a do-over there, I would take it." But something in me wants to live life now in a way that leads to no regrets later.

As we step back into the book of Colossians, what we're going to see in the longest section that we've studied up to this point is we're going to see the apostle Paul use the pronoun I nine different times, because this is a passage about his ministry. In this moment, what Paul is sharing with the Christians in Colossae are the things he is prioritizing in his life and in his ministry.

We're seeing the decisions he's making in this moment that are going to lead him a few years later, at the end of his life, to be able to say, "I've fought the good fight. I've finished the race. I've kept the faith." Paul is going to be able to say at the end of his life, "I look back and I declare I did it right. I lived it well. I ran the race in a way that I feel good about," because he made decisions to prioritize things that would lead to no regrets later.

So, as we step into Colossians 1:24-2:5, there are going to be three things we see Paul prioritize to live a life of no regrets. This is what he's going to encourage us toward. I'll give them to you now. The points today are straightforward. I don't want to use flowery language that might cause you to miss the point.

If you want to live a life now that leads to no regrets later, then I would encourage you to, first, joyfully share the gospel even if it costs you; secondly, live the life of a servant and a steward; and thirdly, flat-out make disciples. That's what we're going to see Paul prioritizing, and by looking at his ministry, we can conclude that this is what we should prioritize as well. So, if you want to live a life now that leads to no regrets later, I want to invite you to turn with me to Colossians 1:24. Let me read you verses 24-29. Paul says this.

"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.

To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me."

1. Joyfully sharing the gospel even if it costs you. That's what I want to encourage you to do: joyfully share the gospel even if it costs you. Where do we see this in the text? Well, Paul starts out and says, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh…" Watch the wording, because this is the most confusing and difficult verse in the entire book of Colossians. He says, "…and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church…"

The reason this is the toughest verse in the book is that, at least for a minute, it kind of looks like Paul is saying something heretical. It's like Jesus got to the register in heaven and made payment for our sins by sacrificing himself on the cross, yet it proves to be insufficient funds, and Paul is the guy who comes up behind him in line and is like, "Hey, let me help you with that. Let me kind of fill up what you're lacking."

But we know that's not what Paul is saying, because Paul just went off in verses 15-23 about how Christ is the one who's supreme over not just creation but salvation and Christ through his blood has reconciled us to God. So, Paul is not saying Jesus' sacrifice on the cross was insufficient so he has to do some work to make up where Christ's afflictions are lacking.

If you're visiting church this morning, if you're on a search for truth, let me just tell you the reason we make so much of the cross of Jesus Christ, the reason we will sing about it, the reason we will point to it and teach it every single week is it is only through Christ's payment on the cross we can be completely forgiven of all of our sins before a perfect and holy God.

We firmly believe we cannot earn our way into heaven. We believe that getting to be with God for all eternity is not just about finding our spirituality or being better to ourselves and better to others. It is solely through the provision of Christ that our sin has been taken care of, and we can stand before God holy, blameless, and above reproach because Christ has satisfied the wrath of God through his payment by his blood.

So, what Paul is getting at here… Follow me on this, because it's really beautiful what he's saying. When Paul talks about filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions, when he talks about rejoicing in his sufferings, here's what he's talking about. When Jesus was on earth, he advanced his message through suffering. On the cross, he confirmed his message through suffering. Now the way his message will be advanced to the world is through suffering.

For example, in the life of Paul… Do you remember what God said about Paul on the day that Saul, who became Paul, was saved? In Acts 9:15-16, God says, "Go, for he [Paul] is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."

What we see in the life of Paul is that God has called him to carry the message of Jesus to the Gentiles, to kings, and to the nation of Israel. How is he going to do it? He's going to do it through suffering. Revelation, chapter 6, is really helpful when it comes to understanding this idea of Paul filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions. Watch the wording in Revelation 6. John gets a vision, and here's what he sees.

"When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, 'O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?' Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been."

This is really interesting. One commentator went so far as to say there is a quota to the suffering of the people of God, which is weird language, honestly, but the point he's making is that Christ advanced his message through suffering in his ministry, Jesus confirmed his message through suffering, and now the way his message will be advanced throughout the world will be through suffering, but there is a limit to the amount of suffering that will be experienced by God's people for the sake of his gospel.

So, when Paul joyfully suffers to advance the gospel, and when we joyfully suffer to advance the gospel, two things are happening. Don't miss these two things. When we joyfully suffer to advance the gospel, the first thing that happens is we draw one day closer to God's purposes on the earth being completed, but secondly, we are one day closer to the suffering of God's people being complete as well.

So, remember what the point is. The point is to joyfully share the gospel even if it costs you. The second-century church father Tertullian is known for saying, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." What's his point in saying that? When people are willing to suffer for the sake of the gospel, they're willing to take it to people and places where it has yet to take root. So, suffering leads to seeds of the gospel being planted that spring up to salvation.

Now, I want you to notice the wording of the point. The point is to joyfully share the gospel even if it costs you. The reason I say that is when you joyfully suffer in sharing the gospel, do you realize you are actually giving a display to unbelievers of Jesus Christ, who for the joy set before him endured the cross?

This is what Christ has invited us into. He gave his life, and in turn we give our lives. He advanced and confirmed his message through suffering; therefore, the church advances the mission and message of God through suffering. That looks different based on where you are in the world. I think about the example of Richard Wurmbrand who in his book Tortured for Christ… Just think about that title. Is anyone here writing a book by that title?

He shares in his book what it was like to stand up to Romanian Communism when thousands of pastors believed the lie that Christianity and Communism could coexist. It was so interesting to read. They were watching all of these pastors just default, and his wife nudged him and was like, "You need to stand up and stand for Christ." He was like, "If I do, you will lose your husband," and she was like, "I'd rather that than to be married to a coward." So he stood up and stood for Jesus, and it landed him in prison.

It's so interesting, because he talks about sharing his faith in prison in the midst of Communism. Listen to what he says. Remember the point: joyfully share the gospel even if it costs you. Listen to how he explains it. He says, "It was understood that whoever was caught [sharing the gospel in prison] would receive a severe beating. A number of us decided to pay the price for the privilege of preaching, so we accepted their terms. It was a deal: we preached, and they beat us. We were happy preaching; they were happy beating us, so everyone was happy.

The following scene happened more times than I can remember. A brother was preaching to the other prisoners when the guards suddenly burst in, surprising him halfway through a phrase. They hauled him down the corridor to their 'beating room.' After what seemed like an endless beating, they brought him back and threw him—bloody and bruised—on the prison floor. Slowly he picked his battered body up, painfully straightened his clothing and said, 'Now, brethren, where did I leave off when I was interrupted?' He continued his gospel message." And prisoners and Communist soldiers came to Christ.

Isn't that amazing? That's how the message of the gospel is going to be advanced: by believers joyfully sharing the gospel even if it costs us something. Now, what does that look like for us right here in Dallas, Texas? Maybe it looks like us being willing to initiate with a neighbor or a coworker to just share a meal to get to know them.

Maybe it looks like us pushing through what feels like awkwardness to have a spiritual conversation with someone, just to be able to say to someone in our sphere of influence, "Hey, could I share with you about how Jesus changed my life?" or "Hey, I don't want to make things awkward at our lunch right now, but do you have a faith?" Maybe it just looks like that. Maybe this week we push through some of that awkwardness and embrace what could be a conversation that strains the relationship for the sake of the gospel.

For others, it's faithfully enduring the jokes and condescending comments that coworkers or family members make about your faith. I hope for some people, right here at Watermark, God is stirring in your heart to potentially leave the comforts of Dallas to take the gospel to a place in this world where the gospel is not welcome.

In 20 years, I don't want to look back and wish I had been more willing to take a risk for the sake of the gospel. So, here's what I want to ask. I want to ask everyone who calls this place their church home to pray that God would give you an opportunity this week to have a spiritual conversation with someone in your life.

I want to invite everyone who calls this place their church home to identify five people in your life, five people who don't know the Lord, and to begin praying for them and pursuing them, not as a project but just in love, to share with them the hope you have in Christ. That's a first step if we want to live lives now that result in no regrets later.

2. Live the life of a servant and a steward. He goes on in verse 25, and listen to what he says. "I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known…" What's interesting is the Greek word diakonos, which has been translated in our English text as minister, also carries the idea of servant.

Think about what Paul is saying. He's saying, "I became a servant." Servant of whom? Of the King, of Jesus Christ. It is pretty encouraging that Paul is considering himself a servant, because if you know anything about Paul, he was an apostle, which made him a member of this small fraternity of guys who helped found the church and its doctrine.

Paul is writing letters that people are reading and ordering their lives around. Talk about an influencer. Paul is it. If anyone could have considered themselves a Christian celebrity, it was Paul. But here's the thing. The gospel doesn't produce celebrities; the gospel produces servants. So, Paul is sitting there, saying, "Look. I'm a servant. I serve at the pleasure of the King." And what has he given his life to serve? Those in the world who do not yet know Jesus Christ.

That's why the encouragement is to live the life of a servant and a steward. What's a steward? A steward is someone who has been trusted with something that ultimately isn't theirs, but they have a responsibility to do something with it on behalf of the one it truly belongs to. See, Paul served at the pleasure of the King to advance the good news of the King.

I love his wording in 1 Corinthians 4:1. Paul says, "This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." If that's what Paul was, a servant of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God, then that's what we must be as well. See, your job title might be CEO, but your mentality must be servant and steward. You have been entrusted with something that ultimately belongs to someone else…the gospel.

That's why Paul says, "I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints." Paul is saying, "Look. I'm a servant, and I've been given a stewardship. The responsibility I have is to communicate the mystery of God to an unbelieving world."

Well, what's the mystery? What was the mystery of Christianity? It was who the Messiah would be. In the Old Testament, that's the question: "Who's the Messiah?" I guarantee you no one was like, "I'll bet you $20 he'll be a homeless carpenter. Just watch. If I'm right, he's going to be a homeless carpenter." It turns out a homeless carpenter ended up being the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That's a mystery that has been revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.

That's the mystery: salvation has come through the Messiah who is Christ Jesus our Lord. But that's not the full extent of the mystery Paul was entrusted with. He goes on in verse 27 and says, "To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." This is fascinating, and this is where we're brought in if we're not of Jewish descent.

Paul says, "Do you want to know the extent of the mystery? That homeless carpenter who turned out to be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords came to bring salvation not just to the Jews but to all nations, every tribe, tongue, people, and nation." See, in the Old Testament, there are these hints that salvation is for the nations.

God comes to Abraham in Genesis 12 at the beginning of the Bible, and he's like, "In you all of the families of the earth are going to be blessed." But no one knows how that's actually going to be fleshed out. Jesus Christ comes, conquers death, gathers his friends after his resurrection, and says, "Go and make disciples of all nations." All nations. Then God interrupts Paul's life of persecuting him and calls him to take the message to the Roman Empire.

This is why Paul… And I love Paul's wording, because he's not concise. Verses 24-29 are just one sentence. One sentence! He's not concise. He's like, "To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." He's trying to communicate, "This is how extravagant, how gloriously rich the gospel truly is. Jesus Christ moves past national borders and breaks through ethnic boundaries."

And what does he do? He has come to save all who would put their trust in him. The gospel is for all people of all times in all places. That is why Paul goes on in verse 28 and says (watch the word that is repeated three different times), "Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ." God wants people from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation to experience the extravagant riches of knowing Jesus Christ. How will an unbelieving world experience the extravagant riches of knowing Jesus Christ? By servants like you and me stewarding the gospel.

Awhile back, Kat and I got a text message from her brother letting us know about this website that I'm sure many of you have discovered. It's a legitimate site where you can go to the website and see if you have any unclaimed property in the state of Texas. I don't know if you've discovered this. It's not a scam. It's a real deal. You can go in, you can put in your details, and you might be surprised that you have some money sitting out there somewhere that you didn't even know existed, but it actually belongs to you.

So, he texts us, and he's like, "Hey, I think you guys have some money that is unclaimed." So I get on there, and sure enough, there are a few hundred dollars just floating out in the universe that actually belong to Timothy and Kathryn Ateek, but I had no clue about it. It's funny. When I looked and was like, "There are a few hundred dollars," it was like it was starting to change my life. I was like, "Do you know what we could do with these few hundred dollars?"

I was like, "What could we buy? Where could we go?" Nowhere far, but that's how my mind was going. Like, "My life has already been changed, and I haven't even claimed it yet." What's funny is the hoops you have to go through just to get it, the amount of proof of purchase and all that… I don't even have it. I can't find it, so I haven't claimed it.

I tell you that just to say Paul is sitting there saying, "The riches of heaven in the person of Jesus Christ are available to all," but there are actually three billion people in our world who have never even heard the name of Jesus. They have riches that have been unclaimed. They just need someone to text them and say, "You know this might be waiting for you."

Unlike me trying to get my money back from the state, all who call upon the name of the Lord through faith and repentance shall be saved. There are no hoops. It's just coming to a place where you realize there is a God and you're not him. Apart from the perfect Son of God living the life you couldn't, dying the death you and I deserve to die, and then conquering your life of sin through his resurrection… Apart from giving your life to him, there's no hope.

Paul is saying that those are the riches available. It's the hope of glory that both Jew and Gentile, through faith in Christ, can live with significant confidence that this is the closest we'll get to hell. You can live with hope of glory, that you and I, both Jew and Gentile, will enjoy eternity with God through faith in Jesus. The question is…Will you be a servant who stewards the gospel?

A good place to start is right here. Be a servant here at your home church. Here's the reality. I'm just going to be honest as one of your pastors. This is deeply saddening to me. We have a lot of members who call this place home who aren't serving at all in this church. You come week after week after week. You attend and you take, but you never give. You never give of your time to serve, to steward the riches of heaven in the person of Jesus Christ.

If that's you, I'm not trying to shame you, but I do want to point out… Be careful, because it shows us that the gospel might be short-circuiting in your life, because the gospel produces servants and stewards. When we serve, we show that we know the one who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

When we serve, we are doing nothing out of selfishness or vain conceit, but in humility we're considering others more important than ourselves. We're looking not only to our own interests but also to the interests of others. We're having the same attitude Christ Jesus had when he who was God took on the very nature of a servant.

So, I just want to encourage you. When you serve here at Watermark, you're helping children and adults become aware of the riches waiting for them. That's you texting, in a sense, saying, "Look. You have a bunch of unclaimed wealth in Jesus." Before I move on to the final priority, I want you to see something else in the text. We haven't read this yet, but look at chapter 2. Paul says this.

"For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

He's using similar language to what we've already seen him use. The reason Paul is writing to the Christians in Colossae is he wants them to tap into the riches that are only found in the treasure that is Jesus Christ. The thing I think is so interesting is Paul has never met the Christians in Colossae. He has never met the Christians in Laodicea, yet he cares deeply about their growth in Christ.

That signals to me that one indicator of spiritual maturity is you have a deep care for people's growth in Christ whom you've never even met. Isn't that interesting? When I tell you that three billion people in the world have yet to hear the name of Jesus…they have little to no access to the gospel…does something in you say, "That's a problem"? Or does that statistic never translate into real people, just like you and me, who wake up every single day, who desperately need hope and healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ?

Let me invite you to lift your eyes up and even out of Dallas and to begin to look to the nations and to begin to care, to allow your heart to be cultivated for people in this world whom you've never seen and never met, yet who desperately need Jesus. In our family, we don't do this every day, but we have an app called Unreached of the Day. Every day, it shows one people group in the world that has little to no access to Jesus.

So, our family periodically will pray for the unreached people group of the day. I love that my kids… When we go around and ask, "Hey, who do you want to pray for?" someone usually will be like, "I want to pray for the unreached people group." Why? Because even from a young age, I want my kids to grow up with an understanding that the gospel doesn't just need to reach Dallas. The gospel needs to go to the ends of the earth. Why? Because that's God's heart.

God's heart is for the gospel to be advanced to the nations. How is that going to happen? It's going to happen by you and me saying, "Look. Twenty years from now, I don't want to look back and say, 'I was so willing to spend my time taking, but I wasn't willing to give.' I don't want to look back with regret and say, 'What was I doing serving myself but not serving the world with the stewardship I've been entrusted with, which is the mystery of God, the treasures that are only found in Jesus Christ?'"

I still remember a friend of mine, early in his 20s, articulating that life isn't a race to the top; it's a race to the bottom. It's a life of humble service and stewarding the gospel. May we get now, what a guy in his early 20s discovered.

3. Make disciples. We talked about this a few weeks ago when we unpacked a vision for the church. Abiding in Jesus, we're making disciples together. That's what we're about here. We want to be a people that is about making disciples. Where do we see that in the text? Verse 28. It's my favorite verse on discipleship in the Bible.

Paul says, "Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ." Paul's goal isn't just for people to convert to Christianity; his goal is for people to grow up into maturity in Christ. Verse 29: "For this I toil…" That word toil carries the idea of working to the point of exhaustion. Paul is saying, "Look. This is what I'm leveraging my life for. All of my time, all of my energy, all of my attention, and all of my affection are going to presenting people mature in Christ."

"For this I toil, struggling…" That word struggling in the Greek carries an athletic tone to it. It's like competing in the CrossFit Games. Paul is like, "It's that kind of situation where I'm striving and I'm working and I'm competing with a high level of intensity for the gospel to take root, and not just take root but to produce beautiful fruit among the people of God."

What's so great is he has used a word that indicates working toward exhaustion, yet he says, "For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me." See, he would be working to exhaustion if it wasn't for the inexhaustible resources that are supplying his work. This is where I want to invite us, in our tendency to lean toward doing things for Jesus, to tap into the joy of Jesus doing things through us.

This is the goal of our lives. It's to proclaim Christ. It's to warn and to teach with the goal of people growing up in their faith. That word that's translated mature is the Greek word telos. Telos carries the idea of someone being so wholehearted in their devotion to the Lord that it could be said of them that they are blameless in their conduct. That's what we're trying to produce.

Do you know what's so encouraging? There are so many people at our church who already get this, who are giving their lives to making disciples. I think about just this past week, Wednesday night. I took my middle schooler to Braum's because there are four young adults here in our church who are giving of their time to invest in the lives of seventh graders. Why? Because they want to see the gospel take root at a young age and blossom into a fruitful life.

Do you know what's great? As I walked into Braum's to drop off my seventh grader, I saw Preston Johns, who's a Watermark member, sitting there. He has three kids of his own at home, yet he's sitting there with two high school kids, talking to them about Jesus. Then I went to Women's Bible Study this Wednesday. They asked me to share a devotional. There were a couple hundred women who have made the decision, "If I'm going to leverage my life, I want to teach other women how to study God's Word and to dive deep into the Scriptures."

I think about my friends Kyle and Lucina Thompson. When I mention their names, there are thousands of people in this room who know exactly what I'm talking about. Kyle was an elder here for 17 years. Do you know what's interesting? This is a church of thousands of people, yet it feels like everyone seems to know the Thompsons, everyone seems to have been impacted by them, and everyone seems to want to be like them. Why? Because they made a decision that their lives will be about making disciples.

So, you might say, "Man, I want to be like the Thompsons." Okay. That's great. The Thompsons are just aiming to model their lives after Christ because they've been transformed by Christ, but if you want to learn from them… If you want to live a life that one day leads to no regrets, choose today to make disciples.

Remember the Great Commission from Jesus is "Make disciples." I'm telling you, friends, this is where a massive amount of joy is waiting for you. Twenty years from now, I don't want to look back and think, "Why did I ever allow myself to be too busy to make disciples?" If you're too busy to make disciples, you're too busy.

So, I just want to invite you. I want to invite you this week. I want to beg every person who calls this place home. I'm asking you with everything in me to sit with the Lord this week and ask him, "God, who do you want me to invest my life into? Who do you want me to disciple? It's not an option. Who do you want me to give my life toward to help them grow up in their faith?"

Parents, I'll tell you this. It starts with us discipling our kids. It's not the church's job to disciple your kids. It's your job to disciple your kids. We'll help you along the way. If you're not discipling your kids, they're not getting discipled. That's our responsibility. Then I want to take a moment and encourage the older generation in this room. I want to encourage you with the words Paul uses to close out this passage in verses 4 and 5.

He says, "I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ." Paul is ultimately writing because he's nervous that the Christians in Colossae will be stolen away by spiritual arguments that sound good or right.

I tell you that because one thing I've heard recently, and I think the election cycle has surfaced some of it… What I've seen is a good concern in the older generation for the younger generation. I love that, but let me encourage you. One of the best ways to do something with your concern is to disciple the next generation. We have thousands of young adults in our church who would give anything to be able to sit down with an older man or an older woman in the faith.

So, let me encourage you if you're part of the older generation. Have the courage to go out into the Town Center to look around for young adults and to go up to them, to introduce yourself, to invite them to lunch, to strike up a relationship, and to begin to disciple them. If you want to see the next generation grow up in their faith and walk according to the ways of the Lord, it's going to take you partnering with us to raise up the next generation. So, take your concern and funnel it into disciple-making relationships.

I'll close by saying this. I want you to think about this. There are about 3,000 people in the room right now. I want you to imagine what would be true if all 3,000 people took this message completely to heart. Like, no one is half in and half out. Everyone leaves here with an urgency. Imagine what would be true. The gospel would be joyfully shared thousands of times this week because there's no fear.

The church staff would be overwhelmed in the best of ways by members reaching out, saying, "I haven't been serving, but I want to. I want to put myself in a place at my church where I can help people access the riches that are found only in Jesus." The nations would be prayed for. Every person in here would have an answer to the question, "Who are you discipling?" Every person would be able to say, "I'm going to invest my life in this person, this person, and this person. I'm going to help them grow up in their faith."

I want to take you back to Jake coming into my room early that morning to ask me if I was going to take him to school. What was my initial answer to him? "No." Why? Because I believed I couldn't when I actually could. So, when it comes to joyfully sharing the gospel even if it costs you, when it comes to living the life of a servant and a steward this week, when it comes to making disciples, what will be behind your "No" this week? What will be the reason you believe you can't when you actually can?

Jesus has come not to just save us from our sin but to put his Spirit in us to empower us to live a life where we reflect him to an unbelieving world, where we know him and make him known. May we be a church this week that joyfully shares the gospel, where we are people who live as servants and stewards, and where we are people who make disciples. May we live lives now that lead to lives of no regret later. Let's pray together.

Lord, if there's anyone here today who has never surrendered their life to you, said yes to you, asked you to be their Lord and Savior… If there's anyone in here who has never asked you to forgive them of all of their sins, I pray right now in this moment there would be people who trust in you.

Lord, to think that a couple thousand of us might leave here and do nothing different this week is so concerning and defeating. I pray that by the power of your Spirit every one of us in here would leave with an urgency, a fire in our bones, to live our lives, to leverage our lives for the sake of the gospel. I pray that you would use us. I pray that you would do a great work through us. We need you. In Jesus' name, amen.