Better Together | Colossians 4:7-18

Good morning, Watermark. How are we doing today? Hey, it's good to see you. If this is your first time ever with us on a Sunday, thanks for trusting us with your Sunday morning. I hope this place feels like home very quickly. Before we jump into the message, there are two things I want to make sure you are in the know on. We don't usually give time right before the message to announcements, but these two things are so important in the life of our church.

First, some of you have wondered, "Hey, is Watermark going to do anything at Christmastime to help us help others? Is there any way for us to help those in need this Christmas?" Well, we actually have a ton of opportunities for the people of Watermark to engage. I want to strongly encourage you, your roommates, you and your spouse, or you and your kids to go to watermark.org/loveourcity.

There are several different opportunities, whether it's helping provide Christmas for someone else or helping those who are desperate and in need this Christmas. That's how we're helping. Make sure you go to "View all," and you'll see a long list of ways you can jump in this Christmas.

The second thing I want to make sure you know is on January 1 we are starting what is called Year of the Word. Now, every year is a year of the Word here at Watermark, but 2025 is even more the year of the Word, because we've decided… It's the twentieth anniversary of Join the Journey, which is our Bible reading plan, so 2025 is the year we want every member of Watermark to read through the entire Bible together.

We think it is a huge miss that so many people go their entire lives without ever reading the entire Bible. So, at the end of 2025, you are going to be able to say, "I have read through the entire Bible." And not just that you've read through it, but you understand it more than you've ever understood it, and you enjoy it more than you've ever enjoyed it. That's the goal for 2025. I'm telling you now so you can begin to prepare yourself for it. You can gear up for it. You can begin to tell yourself, "Okay. We're going for it. In 2025, we're going to read the Bible as a church family."

We want to help you prepare even before then. For example, December 7, which is a Saturday morning, we're hosting a Training Day. Training Day and Join the Journey are coming together, and it's going to be an opportunity… If you want to get your bearings more with the Scripture, if you want to understand how to think about it, how to understand it, especially when it comes to the Old Testament… If you want to get your arms around it, you should come to that Training Day. You should totally come, because it will lay the foundation as you prepare to jump into 2025.

Then, starting December 1, we're going to be selling these boxes of cards. This is incredible. We have such a great team here at the church that does great work. These are specially for families. The goal is for you and your kids to read through the Bible together. One side of these cards has a memory verse for you and your roommates or you and your kids to go through, and then on the back there are discussion questions so you and your kids can sit at the dinner table and talk about the Word. We just want to help you along the way. These are going to be for sale starting December 1.

I'm telling you all that now, because we want 2025 to be a year you never forget when it comes to your engagement with the Word of God. Okay? Are y'all with me? Okay. Let's pray. I want to give you an opportunity right now. We're going to jump into the Word of God. Even right now, I want to invite you to pray and say, "God, would you speak to me clearly today through your Word?" Then I want to invite you to pray for the people around you. Just say, "God, would you speak to them as well?" Then would you pray for me and ask God to speak clearly through me to you?

Lord, we praise you and thank you that you have given us your Word. How kind that you've gone to great lengths to speak to us and you've given us your Spirit, and your Spirit leads and guides us into all truth, Lord. I pray that this would not be a moment that anyone tunes out. God, would you draw us into you to be near to you? Would you give us eyes to see you and ears to hear from you? I pray that our hearts would be receptive to all you want to say. We need you right now, and we give this time to you. In Jesus' name, amen.

Starting in college, God really began to put a message on repeat in my life. The message is "Life is better together." Intimacy is so much better than isolation. If you don't know what I mean when I say intimacy, I'm just talking about deep, meaningful, honest, sharpening, Christ-focused relationships. Going through life experiencing intimacy instead of isolation is just so much better. Intimacy is so much better than isolation.

In college, God brought me together with what would become lifelong friends. These were the guys I had a lot of fun with. We went to football games together. We took random road trips together. We had prank wars with each other. This morning, I was thinking about my friend and me crushing up laxative pills and putting them in another guy's workout supplement.

Then there was that one time one of our roommates in our apartment was having a conversation with a girl in which he was getting his feelings for her out on the table. They were taking laps around the apartment complex parking lot. We thought we would set the mood for him, so we opened up our windows, put speakers in the windows, and began to blast the "Wedding March." It turns out we read the situation wrong and their relationship was heading more toward a friend thing than a romance thing. We were really good friends to each other.

But more than the prank wars, more than the football games, these are the guys who have journeyed with me through the highs and lows. These were the people God used to help piece my life back together after it hit rock bottom due to sin. These were the guys I gathered together with to cry with when one of our friends passed away serving our country in Iraq. These were the guys I called when we were considering moving from Waco to College Station, then College Station to Dallas.

These guys have been with me through the highs and lows, challenging me, encouraging me to be a more faithful follower of Jesus, a more faithful husband, and a more faithful dad. We've met weekly. Now, Tuesday mornings for breakfast we get together just to challenge each other. See, life is better together. That's what God has been instilling in me since college. Intimacy is so much better than isolation.

That's why we love being here at Watermark Community Church. This is a church that from the beginning has believed with a deep sense of conviction that life is better together. That's why community is the middle name of this church. We believe everyone deserves to be fully known and fully loved, that it would be a miss for you to go through life without deep, meaningful, honest, sharpening, Christ-focused relationships.

We believe in community so much we require every member at this church to be in a Community Group. We don't ask that of you to be a burden on you; we do it so you can experience the blessing and the joy that comes from life together. So, that's a joy I get to experience now, not just from the guys God has put in my life since college, but my wife and I get to experience that in our Community Group. It's such a joy to gather with our group every Tuesday to be encouraged by them, to pray with them, and to be sharpened by them.

The reality is Kat and I need that in our lives. If we're not careful, we will allow busyness to lead us to believe it's just one more commitment, but it's not. It is a gift from God to be in relationship in such a meaningful way that we are known and loved, and we get to do that for others as well. I hope that's true of your Community Group, and if it's not, I want to help with that today. My hope is that every group of this church would flourish.

What I want to do today is get very practical and very clear so you can leave here today and be a great Community Group member to your group and your group can take some steps so you might experience more traction with one another. I'm going to encourage you today with some practical steps, and I'm going to get them from the end of the book of Colossians.

Today is a big day, because we are coming to the end of the book of Colossians. We're finishing it today. I'll just say this. I have loved preaching through the book of Colossians. It has been so good for my soul for us to be anchored in a book of the Bible, walking verse by verse through it. I hope it has been meaningful to you as well.

Here's what I want you to know. The section of Colossians we're looking at is the section so many people skip right over, because it's just the final greetings. It's where Paul is mentioning random names. In this passage, he mentions nine different random names. People's tendency is to skip over them. We're actually going to believe that all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, so we're not going to skip these verses. We're going to learn from them.

Now, here's what you need to know. Each one of these nine different people played some role in Paul's life or in the life of the church in Colossae. While these nine people weren't in a Community Group together, we can look at their contribution in Paul's life or in the life of the church, and we can draw some applications for our Community Groups. So, that's where we're going today. Let's jump in. We're looking at Colossians 4:7-18.

What you need to know is Paul is going to start his final greetings by talking about the couriers of his letter. Remember, Colossians is a book to us, but it was a letter to the church in Colossae. There were real people who took the letter from Paul to the church in Colossae, and they would read the letter. They wouldn't just read it; they would elaborate upon it, and they would seek to encourage the church with what Paul had just written.

We find out that one of the couriers was a guy named Tychicus. Here's what Paul says about Tychicus. Look with me in verse 7. "Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord." There's that phrase. Everyone, look at me. In the Lord. Would y'all visualize what I would do so I don't have to do it with the tubs? If you're a visitor, like, "I don't know what he's talking about," just go watch one of the last five messages where I did the same thing over and over and over. In the Lord.

Let's be clear. We're not in Christ individually; we are in Christ collectively. That's such a beautiful reality. Christ hasn't just saved us from our sin; he has saved us into the family of God. We are in Christ together. So, when Paul refers to Tychicus, I want you to see that he is viewing Tychicus through the lens of his spiritual status. He says, "He's my beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord."

Can you hear the affection Paul has for Tychicus when he says, "He is my beloved brother"? See, if you're in Christ, we're already brothers and sisters. The real question is…Are we beloved brothers and sisters? Paul looks at Tychicus, and he's like, "He's my beloved brother." Paul speaks of him in such a way that they are on a God-given, eternally significant mission together. They're in the family and they're on mission.

It shows us that the gospel is an invitation to intimacy with God and his people, which is incredible news. Don't miss this. The way Paul talks about Tychicus shows a depth of relationship that is only possible in Christ. Jesus qualifies us for relationships like this, where you know others and others know you in a way that you can refer to them and they can refer to you as a beloved brother or sister and a fellow servant in the Lord.

So, here's my question for you: Are your group members beloved brothers and sisters? Are you a beloved brother or sister to them? Is there that depth of relationship? How do you become a beloved brother or sister? Well, just break down the word beloved. You allow yourself to be loved in the context of community.

Just imagine. When everyone in the group is equally committed to opening up their lives, allowing themselves to be loved, and then those people seek to actively engage with love, something really beautiful and supernatural happens. This is what has been purchased by Christ on the cross for us: a level of intimacy in the family of God where we get to call each other beloved brothers and sisters in Christ and fellow servants. We get to be in the family and be on mission together.

Do you remember what God said was not good in the garden of Eden? Go all the way back to the beginning. In chapter 1, you see seven different times God sees what he makes and declares, "It's good. It's good. It's good. It's very good." Then you get to chapter 2, and what's the one thing that's not good? "It is not good for man to be alone." The one thing that was not good was Adam's isolation.

See, from the very beginning, God has wired us for deep, meaningful relationships, and when we live life in deep relationships, we are reflecting God who himself is a perfect community as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Yet here is what is so perplexing. From the beginning of the Bible, page 2, God says, "Hey, it's not good for man to be alone," yet people are leaving the church.

I'm not talking specifically about Watermark. They're leaving the idea of belonging to a local church at all, because they buy the lie that their spirituality is just between them and God. Other people never abandon the church, but they abandon commitment to community. You allow busyness to steal from you in such a way that you settle for superficial relationships where no one really knows you.

Let's be clear. Love of God always results in a love of neighbor. It's not optional. To be in Christ is to be with Christ's people, God's family. To be in Christ is to be in a position where you have access to something that unbelievers don't. You have access to the family of God where you can be fully known and fully loved. You can be referred to as Paul refers to Tychicus.

So, here's my question for you. If you're tuned out, I need you to hear this. Just answer for yourself right now. Who really knows you in this world? Not the carefully manufactured version of you but you. Who in your life can celebrate your strengths because they know them but can also press in on your insecurities, your sinful tendencies, and your weaknesses? They love you enough to wound you. Do you have anyone like that in your life? Is there anyone in your life whom you've actually given permission to wound you with the truth?

Who in your life feels so responsible for your faith that if you were struggling, they would jump in immediately? For whom do you feel the same level of responsibility? Is there anyone in your life who you know so well that you're like, "Man, I'm responsible for this person"? Is there anyone in your life that it is okay to not be okay, but it's not okay to stay there? They will push you toward Jesus. If no one comes to mind, you are settling for a level of isolation God never intended for you to experience.

I want to be clear. I'm not asking you if you have friends who are Christians. I'm not even asking you if you technically belong to a Community Group. What I'm asking you is if you have allowed yourself to be loved. Do you have a community of people with whom you are fully known and fully loved? Christ came to save you from your sin, but he also came to save you into a family so you could be known and know others as a beloved brother or sister and as a faithful servant of Christ.

Let me illustrate it this way. A few weeks ago, I opened up my Chick-fil-A mobile app and found that out of the blue, for no reason, Chick-fil-A had rewarded me with a free Chick-fil-A sandwich. Every good and perfect gift comes from above. I could just hear them sing, "It's our pleasure to give you this reward." It's always their pleasure.

I saw that reward, and I saw there was an expiration date. I didn't really pay attention to it. I was like, "You know what? I'll use it eventually." Then eventually came, and I decided, "Now is the time I want to use that reward." I looked, and it was no longer there. It had expired. I think the church should put me under discipline for that. That is such a poor stewardship of that. Community can be the same way. Do you know what was happening in that moment? Here's the reality. That was a specific period of time when I took for granted what I had until it was too late.

That's what we're doing when we fight sin on our own and let our marriages burn to the ground on our own and suffer through pain and heartache on our own. When we do that, we are living in specific periods of time where we are taking for granted what we have in Christ until it's too late. So many of us suffer all alone until we get to a place where it's going to take major work to undo what could have been undone with some really healthy interactions with people who truly love us. So, the first step I want to encourage you to take if you want to know the joy of life together is…

1. Go all in with your Community Group. Look. You're going to have to make some choices on what you go all in on, because you can't go all in on everything you want to go all in on. You can't go all in on all of the different extracurricular things you want to be a part of and go all in on work and go all in on traveling. You have to make some hard choices, but I'm telling you, you have been made for deep relationship. Go all in.

Let's be clear. Community isn't something that's found; it's something that's forged. It takes effort. It takes courage to be vulnerable. It's going to take work. You're not just going to magically click with each other, but it's worth it. My question to you when it comes to being all in is…Are you pursuing the people in your group, and are you opening up your life to them or are you a little bit standoffish?

Our Community Group… This past summer, we all looked at each other, and we were like, "Man, we love each other, but we have to make a decision." We looked back over the past semester, and we were like, "We all collectively agree there's more depth we could be experiencing, but if we're going to experience it, we're going to have to go all in. So let's just make a decision now. We can either high-five and say, 'Hey, love you guys. It's been fun. Be blessed,' or we can say, 'You know what? It's going to be hard…'"

We live in different parts of the city, so for us to rally every single week is difficult, but we all said, "It's worth it. Let's do it." We've been going for it for the last semester, and it has been so sweet. We can look at each other and say, "It feels like we're taking ground." We're praying together. We're applying God's Word together. We're pressing in to one another. This is a privilege that has been purchased for us by Christ.

Let me just say this. If you're kind of half in and half out, make a choice. Are you going to be in or out with your group? If you call Watermark your home, but it has been now four, five, six, seven, or eight months since you've been in a Community Group, and you have staff members from Watermark calling you, and you're ghosting them, it's time to take a step. So go all in.

2. Speak and receive truth in your group. What I'm talking about, specifically, is the role of the Scriptures in our Community Groups. Look. Paul goes on talking about Tychicus. He says in verse 8, "I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts…"

Now, think about what Paul is saying. The heart in Scripture is considered the control center of a person's being. It refers to the intellect, but not just that; it refers to people's convictions, passions, and emotions. It's the control center of their being. So, Paul is saying, "I am sending him to you with a letter from me." That letter has become what we now know as the Word of God, but Paul was sending Tychicus with truth in hopes of Tychicus encouraging their hearts, speaking truth to them, helping them apply truth in such a way that they were radically transformed and conformed more to the likeness of Jesus Christ.

See, that's the privilege we have in our groups. We have the privilege of speaking truth to one another with the Word of God in hopes that we see radical transformation by the power of the Spirit in one another. If we're not committed to that, what's the point of gathering? Then it's just a supper club. If your Community Group is a supper club, that's fine. Just call it what it is. Don't call it a Community Group; call it a supper club. If you're just reading through popular books, fine, but call it a book club. Don't call it a Community Group; call it a book club.

If it's going to be a Community Group, you're saying, "We are committed to one another. We're here to gather. We have the Word of God in our hands. We can encourage one another. We can speak truth to each other in hopes that this truth, by the power of the Spirit, would be implanted onto your heart and would bring about Christlikeness in your life." That's what we're talking about. That's what we have the privilege of doing.

Don't just ask the three questions to ask the three questions. Here's the goal: "God, what are you wanting to say to us? What do you want me to say to my group member? What do you want this group member to say to me? Would you change us through the truth of your Word?" What does this look like? Well, here's my encouragement to you. Anytime your group meets, make sure you open up the Word of God together. Don't let any group gathering go by without opening up the Word of God.

If you're not in the Word of God, it's just an opinion group. Like, "Well, you know what my opinion is on that?" That's great. Your opinion is cute, but why would you rest on your opinions when you have God's Word? Open up the Word of God together. I know so many of you are already, on a daily basis, texting back and forth from your own personal quiet times, sharing with each other, like, "Here's what God is teaching me." You should totally do that, because when you do that, you're speaking the truth, and you're saying, "This is how it's changing me," and it might be an encouragement to someone in your group.

Here's what I would encourage you to try. As people are sharing openly and honestly, they're going to need counsel. We want to be people who counsel biblically. So, to the best of your ability, here's what I want to challenge you to do. As much as possible, when you're offering counsel to someone, try to attach Scripture to it if you can. If you can't, it's okay to say, "Hey, before I answer, I would love to spend a little bit of time praying and asking the Lord if there is anything in his Word he would want to guide my counsel to you."

You can actually go do searches on the Internet. If you're looking for something specific, you can go and search for it. It is so helpful when you're able to speak truth to someone and they know this isn't just an opinion but this is actually grounded in the Word of God. But I want to make sure you see that Paul was sending Tychicus to encourage the church in Colossae. He didn't say, "I'm sending him to you so he can beat you over the head with truth."

We have to make sure our Community Groups don't become only admonishment where we're just consistently showing people where they're wrong. That's an aspect of sharpening one another, but we have to encourage each other with the truth. The truth is encouraging as well. Before we move on from this point, Paul actually shows us a specific way we can share the truth with one another by talking about the second courier, Onesimus.

Look at what he says in verse 9. "…and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here." This is pretty cool. Don't miss it. Do you know who Onesimus was? Onesimus was a former slave of a guy named Philemon. There's actually a book of the Bible named Philemon. When Tychicus and Onesimus are bringing the letter of Colossians, they're also carrying the letter of Philemon.

Philemon was a guy in the church at Colossae. Onesimus was a slave who ran away from Philemon. Most likely, he went to Rome to hide and, while he was in Rome, heard Paul preach the gospel and gave his life to Christ. Now Paul is sending him back to Colossae, back to Philemon. But do you see how Paul refers to Onesimus? He says, "…and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother…" This is so great, because Paul's wording is so precise.

Did you see how he referred to Tychicus? He referred to him as a beloved brother, but then he also referred to him as a faithful servant, but when it comes to Onesimus, he's like, "I'm not even going to use that word, because I don't want there to be any confusion. I want the church in Colossae, and specifically Philemon, to regard Onesimus not by his social status but by his spiritual status. He's now in the family of God. He's one of us. He's one of our brothers. God has done a radical work in his life."

This is the beauty. Paul is saying, "Hey, make sure when Onesimus shows up that you see him for his God-given, Christ-purchased identity." In community, we get to help each other live out our true, biblical, Christ-purchased identities. We need that, because we have an enemy who's consistently tempting us to live according to a different status and a different identity. It shows up in two ways: insecurity and shame.

Insecurity is rooted in the question, "Am I enough?" Shame is rooted in the conviction "I'm not enough." So many of us are driven by insecurity. It's the question, "Am I enough?" So we live according to the wrong identity. We believe our identity is what our job is, so we feel so much insecurity. We're asking the question, "Am I enough?" That's why we become workaholics, because we're trying to answer a question that has already been answered by Christ himself.

Christ went to the cross to put the label "Enough" on our lives. Second Corinthians 5:21: "…he [God] made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." That is God himself saying, "You weren't enough, and now I've made you enough because Christ is enough."

Yet what we have freely in Christ doesn't move the needle for us, so we're running out into the world asking, "Am I enough? Relationally, am I enough for you? Am I attractive enough for you? Am I high-capacity enough for you? Am I strategic enough for you? Am I successful enough for you?" In community, we can say, "Look. You're living according to the wrong identity. Christ is enough, and he has made you enough. Stop asking the question Christ has already answered."

That's insecurity, but then there's shame. Shame is where we have come to the conclusion we are, in fact, not enough. Another way of saying it is "I'm a failure." Does anyone live under that banner? You don't have to raise your hand, but does anyone live with that message on repeat? "You're a failure. You're not enough. You're not enough as a mom. You're not enough as a husband. You're not enough as a follower of Christ. You're a failure. Just think about who you thought you'd be by this age, and you're nowhere close."

Romans 8:1: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Sometimes you need people who love you enough to look you in the eye and say, "You've bought a lie. You've been made new. You're a child of God. That's your identity." Now Paul shifts from talking about the couriers to talking about those who are actually with him, staying with him. They're either in prison by him or they're coming to visit him. Here's what he says. Verse 10:

"Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him), and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me."

Paul talks about three men here. I wish we could go and unpack this even more. I just want to focus for a minute on Mark. Do you know who Mark was? Don't miss this. Mark was a guy who joined Paul (you can read about this in the book of Acts) on his first missionary journey, but then Mark bailed on the journey. He just straight-up left in the middle of the trip. It was so significant it caused division between Paul and Barnabas, who was Mark's cousin. So, this conflict is formed, and it's so significant that Paul goes in a different direction than Barnabas and Mark.

But now here in Colossians, what do we see? Mark is back with Paul. Why? Because the gospel reconciles. The gospel makes peace. The gospel makes peace between us and God. You need to know if you're here this morning and don't have a relationship with Jesus, you're at war with God, and you don't even know it. Jesus has gone to war on your behalf on the cross, and he has won. He has beaten Satan, sin, and death to make you right with God. He has brought peace between you and God, but the gospel is so great it also brings peace between you and God's family members.

3. Forgive and seek forgiveness, because the gospel brings peace. Forgiven people forgive people. See, conflict doesn't have to end our commitment to one another. Conflict doesn't compromise commitment. In our Community Groups, we can actually express the gospel to one another by fighting for peace.

Let me just say this. If there's any conflict in your Community Group, if y'all have gotten to the point where it almost feels like y'all are frenemies, run at that. Don't talk about it; talk to it. Hit it head-on. Don't let the weeds of bitterness grow. Don't ignore it. Run at it. Talk it out. Ask God this question: "God, what's my part in it? Would you show that to me?"

I won't make you practice it now, because I made you do it two or three weeks ago, but it is really healthy in our Community Groups when we are saying the words, "Will you forgive me?" and "I forgive you." You're going to have to say those words at some point if you're going to do community in a way that's truly deep where you're fully known and fully loved. So forgive each other. Maybe this week you need to have some conversations.

4. Pray and receive prayer in your group. Look, guys. I'm not telling you anything earth shattering now. I just said, "Pray and receive prayer." Hopefully you're like, "Yeah. I kind of get that." That's fine. Are you doing it? Pray and receive prayer. Verse 12: "Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis."

Do you remember who Epaphras was? Epaphras was the guy who started the church. He was the guy who traveled a hundred miles to Ephesus, heard Paul preach the gospel, was transformed by Christ, came back to his hometown, and started preaching the gospel. The gospel caught fire, and the church was birthed. Epaphras started the church in Colossae.

Paul is like, "Man, y'all know Epaphras. You know how much that dude loves you guys. Y'all should see the way he prays for y'all. If you know Epaphras, you already know." He says, "He's always struggling on your behalf." That word struggle is an athletic term. "He is going to battle for you in his prayer life. He feels this urgency to battle for you in prayer." Why? "…that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God."

Why? Because there's this false teaching threatening the church that "If you're really going to be spiritually mature, then you're going to need more than Jesus." Paul, the whole book of Colossians, is like, "You don't need more than Jesus; you need more of Jesus. You don't outgrow Jesus; you grow in Jesus. All of life is found in Christ."

Epaphras is like, "God, I pray that my friends in Colossae would be clear they don't need more than you; they need more of you. They don't outgrow you; they grow in you. God, would you birth something in them that they really believe you are before all things and in you all things hold together, that all of life is found in you, that they would put off the flesh and put on Christ, they would love each other and be humble, and they would care for one another in a truly biblical, Christ-honoring way." He's going to war in his prayers for them.

You know what? It's simple to say it, but don't miss the privilege of having people talk to the God of the universe on your behalf. Don't miss the privilege of getting to talk to the God of the universe for other people. This week, I was reading Psalm 65, and God kind of slapped me on the face with it in the best of ways. It was one of those things where it was just a few words, but it caused me to stop.

David says in Psalm 65, "O you who hear prayer…" For some reason, that lit me up this week. Here's the thought I had: "If God hears prayer, we should totally pray." Right? If the God of the universe hears prayer, if this is true, "O you who hear prayer…" If he hears prayer, you should totally pray. If he doesn't hear prayer, don't waste your time, but you either believe he hears or he doesn't. If you believe he hears, you should totally pray.

We should pray for each other about job changes and health issues and fears and anxieties and insecurities and financial troubles or whether to expand your family through trying to get pregnant or adopting. We should pray for each other's sinful tendencies and the shame we are battling and so much more.

It has been such a joy in our Community Group when people in the group have given one another the opportunity to fast and pray on their behalf. Like last week, we spent the majority of our group time praying, which I would imagine several of you did as well. It was refreshing to seek God together in prayer. So take a step this week. Pray and receive prayer.

5. Know and be known in your group. Verse 14: "Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas." What does any of that have to do with knowing and being known in your group? Well, it has everything to do with Demas. I have thought off and on about Demas for about 20 years, because I will never forget being in Reed Arena at Texas A&M University at Breakaway Ministries when Gregg Matte said, "Don't be a Demas."

Where did he get that from? He got it from 2 Timothy 4:10, which Paul writes just three to four years after he writes the book of Colossians. Listen to what he says about Demas in 2 Timothy 4:10. "For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica." See, at some point, Demas detached. At some point, his affections were stirred for the things of the world. He detached, and then he deserted.

I'm just telling you, you have an enemy who wants to wreck your faith, and the best way for him to wreck your faith is to isolate you. Let me explain it this way. A long time ago, I watched two YouTube videos on the same day. I know that doesn't sound impressive, but I just want to tell you what I saw. The first video I saw was from the TV show Planet Earth, and it was all of this drone footage of this herd of caribou that were out on an open plain, and there were a few wolves that were in pursuit of their next meal.

So, the drone footage shows these wolves separate out, and they begin to pursue the herd. The herd begins to take off, and the herd splinters, and one of the wolves isolates this baby caribou. The drone footage zeroes in on the distance between that one wolf and that one baby caribou that has been isolated. Over time, you watch this slow yet kind of fast pursuit of the wolf where he closes the gap, and it's game over for that caribou that had become isolated.

The second video I watched was called Battle at Kruger. I don't know if you're one of the 92 million people who saw Battle at Kruger. If you haven't seen it, I don't know what you're doing with your life. I mean, it was 17 years ago. This guy on his camcorder on a safari captures this video footage of this pride of lions that comes upon a herd of water buffalo. I don't know if you know this, but in the wild, those two animals don't get along.

This pride of lions attacks the herd of water buffalo, and this lion gets hold of this baby water buffalo and drags him into the water. From far away, all you see in the shot is the back of this… You can't see the water buffalo, but you just see this lion going after it. You feel like he's on the appetizer and is about to move on to the main course.

Then the camera zooms out, and you see the whole herd of water buffalo. They're shuffling. They're like, "Safety in numbers." It's like women going to the bathroom together. They're just like, "We're all going. We're all going. You need to go? I'll go too. Everybody go." They're like, "We're just going together."

It's this amazing shot where this lion has no clue what's going on, because he's focused, to the point where the water buffalo are completely surrounding him. Then one of them just jacks the lion, and the water buffalo goes free. My point to you is…Which video are you? Are you the isolated caribou or are you the water buffalo that has a herd that has your back? Who are the water buffalo in your life? Who has your back? Because you have an enemy who is after you.

I just want to invite you to think about this. Ten years from now, do you still think you'll be walking with Jesus? Just think. Ten years from now, will your marriage still be intact? Ten years from now, if you're still single, will you be found faithful in your singleness? You might hear that, and your instant answer is like, "Of course. Yeah." You just need to know you have an enemy who has a very different answer than you for that question, and he is going to seek to isolate you, distract you, and entice you to the point that you are so in love with the things of this world that you head to Thessalonica, just like Demas.

So, we need to know each other. We need to be known. Think about this. What do you feel like is off limits for you to share with your group? What's the thing that you're like, "Man, I don't think I'll ever share that. It's none of their business"? Whatever that thing is, don't be surprised if that's the thing the Evil One attacks most.

6. Sharpen and be sharpened in your group. Verse 16: "And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. And say to Archippus, 'See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.'"

I love this. Remember, this is a letter. It's being read to the whole church, and in his letter, Paul is like, "Yeah, and I've got a word for Archippus." Can you imagine being Archippus? Like, "What? Oh, geez. Um…" Can you imagine? All of the eyes, like, "Archippus, what did you do now?" Paul says, "See that you fulfill the ministry you have received from the Lord."

Can you imagine getting called out in front of the church from a letter? It's like, "Dude, you'd better get after it. I don't know what your ministry is, but you'd better do it, because Paul is after you about it." That's why we need each other in life to sharpen each other and to be sharpened. Everyone has a ministry, but if you're not careful, you'll spend your whole life spinning your wheels on things that are urgent but not important.

So, we need to remind each other, "Hey, fulfill your ministry. Do what God has called you to do." Maybe you're going to have to be reminded your ministry is your marriage. Your kids are your ministry. Your pain is your ministry. Use it. Your singleness right now is your ministry. Use it. We might have to remind each other of our ministries.

It's time to bring Colossians to a close. Here are Paul's final words: "I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you." Paul ends the book the same way he started: with grace. The church at Colossae and Watermark Community Church must be founded upon grace. What's grace? It's God's unearned, undeserved favor. It is getting what you don't deserve.

If you're here this morning, and you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ, you just heard a talk about Christian community, but Christian community isn't going to make sense if you're not a Christian. It makes no sense to talk about enjoying the family of God if you're not in the family of God. You need to know that on the table for you this morning is grace, God giving you what you don't deserve, just as he gave us what we don't deserve, which is life, eternal life with him, salvation from our sin, salvation into his family.

Jesus Christ lived perfectly, died sacrificially, and rose victoriously so that when you give your life to him you can experience hope for eternal life one day and life now with him in his family. I'll close by sharing this. This weekend, we watched our first Christmas movie of the season. I don't know how you feel about that, because it's before Thanksgiving, but we chose to watch The Grinch, the cartoon one, the new one.

I was blown away by the ending. I've seen it multiple times now, but this time it really hit me. Go back and watch it. There's a visual where the Grinch's heart comes to life, and then there's that moment where Cindy-Lou Who comes to his door to invite him to Christmas dinner. He says, "But I stole your Christmas." She says, "Yeah, I know." He says, "Then why?" What's her response? "You've been alone long enough."

Maybe the God of the universe is looking at you today, saying, "You've been alone long enough. You have done life without me long enough." He is inviting you to come to his table, to dine with him, to be with him. But you know what? At that table are his people. It's his family. It's his community, and you're welcomed in. You're invited in if you will turn from your sin and put your trust in him. Let's pray together.

Lord, if there's anyone in this room who doesn't know you, I pray that even right now they would turn to you and put their trust in you. God, I pray for all of the Community Groups represented in this room and just want to ask and pray that you would breathe life into them, that community wouldn't be an obligation, wouldn't be a burden, but would be a blessing where we can be fully known and fully loved. We can be loved. Would you just do a work in our church and in every person? I pray that as we step into Thanksgiving we would find gratitude in our hearts for the people you have put in our lives. We need you. We love you. Amen.