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Published October 13, 2015

Who Is Jesus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMzKHFnD29E

Who is Jesus? As you just saw, you can find a wide variety of answers to that question. We talked two weeks ago about counterfeits and how tragic it is when people get duped – not just out of their hard-earned money – but in matters of eternal consequences. And judging by the wide variety of responses in this video, it’s clear that many people are getting duped about Jesus Christ. They’ve been deceived about who He really is.

And that’s not just in the secular world. If I were to ask that same question – “Who is Jesus” to a room full of people who have gone to church for years, there would probably be many people who could not give a full and accurate answer of who Jesus is and what He’s done.

And this was the exact problem that the church in Colosse was facing in 60 AD. There were people in the church who were being confused and deceived about who Jesus Christ is. False teachers were spreading counterfeit beliefs about Jesus. And so that’s one of the main reasons that Paul writes this letter (what we call the book of Colossians) to the church in Colosse. To address this issue, Paul’s gives them – what I’ve called Christianity in a Nutshell – and he spells out for them in this book, in no uncertain terms, the truth about Jesus Christ.

And so that’s exactly what we want to look at today, because quite frankly, I don’t want to get duped. I don’t know about you, but I want to know the truth – especially when my eternal future is on the line. What does the Bible say? Who is Jesus Christ? And what difference, if any, does He make to my life today? So that’s what we’re going to look at this morning.

We want to pick up today where we left off last Sunday – Colossians chapter 1, today starting at verse 15.

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

Colossians 1:15

I think we’ve got to stop right there. That is a profound statement. Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

Throughout the Old Testament, the Israelites had not visibly seen God. Because God is spirit, they were not able to physically see him. However, the Israelites had certainly experienced his presence. God was not hiding from them. He had revealed His presence on many occasions. One of the most vivid times when God made his presence known was on Mount Sinai – just before he gave the law to Moses. Let’s take a look at that passage for a minute. 

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Published September 10, 2012

What if the Bible is True?

What if the Bible is True?

What if the Bible is true? That might seem like an odd sort of question to ask a room full of people sitting in church on a Sunday morning, but that’s exactly the question that I want to ask today. What if the Bible is true?

Last Sunday we began a new fall focus entitled “Your Spiritual Journey.” And as we’ve noted in your bulletin, if you missed last Sunday, please go online to davetrenholm.com and you can either read the message from last week or download it and listen to it as an mp3.

But just to refresh your memory – we talked about how everyone of us is on a spiritual journey, no matter what our beliefs. We’re always headed in some direction – either towards God or away from Him. There is no standing still. We’re always moving in some direction. We’re on a spiritual journey.

And of course, as in any journey – it’s important to know where you, where you’re going, and how you’re going to get there.

So one of the first things we did last week, was to spend some time trying to figure out where each of us are in our own, personal spiritual journey. We used this little handout to help us. Your Spiritual Journey Handout Inside it has seven different phases of a typical spiritual journey. Of course, everyone’s journey is unique, but this booklet gives us some good general guidelines. And if you happened to have missed last week, I’d encourage you to grab one of these booklets from the back before you leave today.

But using this book, last Sunday everyone here tried to figure out where they were in their spiritual journey. Were they “not interested” in a relationship with God? Were they “curiously seeking? Were they “searching assertively, making a faith commitment, experiencing new life, growing in community, or making disciples.”

Well, we all tried our best to figure out were we fit in our own personal journey. Then I collected up everyone’s answers anonymously, and on Tuesday I read through them all, and do you know what I found? I found this a little surprising.

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Published February 15, 2008

Eatin’ That “Christian Food”

This devotional is a rehash of an earlier post, Livin’ on Strained Carrots. That devotional was written for grades 7 thru 12 and this is a re-write for grades 1 thru 6.

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Today I want to teach you guys something very important. The thing I want to teach you is pretty easy to do, but there are lots of grown-ups that still don’t know how to do it. In fact, the thing that I’m going to teach you is so important, that if you learn how to do it today, and you start doing it – you will never be the same! Do you want to know what I’m going to teach you? I’m going to teach you how to feed yourself.
Before you tell me that you already know how, I want to play a little game.

Game:

Three contestants blindfolded, guess what object they hold. If they are right, they win the object.(Pop, Smarties, and baby food)

Imagine that it’s Christmas time. Christmas day, actually. All of your relatives have arrived and it’s time for the feast. There’s a big turkey (or ham or whatever your family usually eats complete with all the trimmings. Name a few of the things you would have at your Christmas meal…
So there’s all this food just waiting to be eaten, someone asks the blessing on the food and everyone digs in – except you. For you, your mom or your dad opens a jar of baby food and starts feeding you that stuff.
How would you like that? No way! That would be gross. And besides, you’re not a baby anymore! You don’t need your parents to feed you – you can feed yourself!
But you know… you couldn’t always feed yourself, could you? When you were a baby, you had to be fed by your parents. You had no teeth and all you could eat was baby food. But aren’t you glad you grew up and learned how to eat regular food all by yourself?
Today, I want to show you how you can grow up as a Christian and feed yourself spiritually. If you don’t know what that means, that basically means that I want to show you how to be really good friends with God.

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Published February 10, 2008

Living on Strained Carrots

A jar of baby foodRecently I spoke at the chapel time for a Christian High School. It’s a little long for a devotional, but it can easily be chewed down to size. So without further ado, here is “Living on Strained Carrots”.

Game: Double or Nothing

Three contestants are blindfolded, and they try to guess what object they hold. If they are right, they win the object. Then if they correctly answer the bonus question about that object, they will double their prize. (Pop, Doritos, and a jar of baby food – for the bonus: What flavor?)

Imagine that it’s Christmas time. Christmas day, actually. All of your relatives have arrived and it’s time for the feast. There’s a big turkey (or ham or whatever your family usually eats complete with all the trimmings. There’s all this food just waiting to be consumed, some one asks the blessing on the food and everyone digs in – except you. For you, your mom or your dad cracks open a jar of Gerber’s “Broccoli, Potato, and Cheese Casserole” and start shoveling it in.

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Published December 1, 2007

The Creation of the World

This is the first in a series of Bible studies that gives a brief chronological overview of the entire Bible – from Creation to the imminent return of Christ.

Discussion Groups

Break everyone into three groups and give them the instructions as listed below:

Group 1

Read Genesis 1:1-8 and discuss the following questions:

  • Verse 3 says that God created light on the first day, but later we read in verses 14-16 that God created the sun, moon, and stars on the fourth day. What, then, was the “light” that He created on day 1?
  • When God separated the light from the dark, calling the light “day” and the dark “night” – thus making up one day, was this the first rotation of the earth or is it talking about something else?
  • What water is God separating in verses 6-8? Where is the water above the sky?
    Continue Reading This ArticleThe Creation of the World
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