Our life of discipleship is grounded in wisdom

Beloved of God,

    I have a real soft spot for Thanksgiving, and as it approaches I want to make sure you are aware of an opportunity to celebrate together. Many of you will be traveling or spending the day with family, but for those who are not, we will have our annual Thanksgiving Potluck in the great room at 1:30 pm. There is a signup in the info center if you’d like to help us plan around the dishes that will be present, but you can surprise us if you like or even just come along at the last minute. There is always plenty to eat, and we’d love to have you with us. 
    We have some matters of housekeeping that I hope you’ll note:

• We are still taking nominations for council members. Nominations from the congregation have been scarce, and we will do well to hear from you. Nominations from the membership can be made until Saturday. Please email the council if you would like to make a nomination. 
  
• I hope members of this church will plan to join us at our congregational meeting this Sunday, and make plans to be with us for our final meeting of the year on December 18th. We benefit greatly from the collective wisdom of the gathered body as we reason together and listen for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 
  

    Our Scripture reading for Sunday is Colossians 1:9-20. Usually when I read through this part of Scripture, I get swept up in the grand description of Christ, the Firstborn of creation, the One who holds everything together, and the One who reconciles all things to Himself through the Cross. It’s hard not to want to move right there. It’s such an image of grandeur and power that Christ the King holds in his hands. 
    But this time around I found myself pondering the first part of this passage, those verses from Colossians 1:9-14. If Christ is King, what does that mean for us in the day-to-day, humdrum of our ordinary lives? I think Paul offers three things, deeply connected truths, that shape our lives under the reign of King Jesus. 

1. Our life of discipleship is grounded in wisdom. It’s not wisdom proper to ourselves. Spiritual wisdom isn’t native to us in that way. It’s a grace, a gift of the Spirit, and discipleship that follows faithfully is grounded in the wisdom of the Spirit.
   
   
2. God gives us power and might, not to wield like a weapon, but so that we might become patient and enduring. This is the third part of a list of things Paul has been praying for the church at Colossae. Starting from verse 10, he prays that the Colossians will bear fruit, that they’ll grow in knowledge, and that they will be strengthened in all power and might for the sake of  (literally into) endurance and patience itself. 
   
3. Christ allows us to move out of the dominion of darkness, and take up residence in the kingdom of light. We can plant our lives in different soil, a kingdom ruled by the Son of God whom He loves, and live there instead. We can leave behind our squalid lives of sin, shame, and death, and make a home in a land where we have an inheritance instead.
   

The worth of a king can be measured by the well-being of his people. And thanks be to God, our King has won a life of peace, wisdom, fruitfulness, and endurance through his own blood. Our King has won boundless goodness for us, and that’s a King worthy of loyalty, honor, and praise. 

Please join me this week in praying for:

• Those among us who are facing big adjustments and life changes.
  
• Those who are coming into a long holiday season next week that will be marked by the absence of a loved one.
• Children who are sick or recovering from sickness and their parents.
• Children who are pondering faith, salvation, and discipleship in new and powerful ways.
• Those in positions of public trust at the federal, state, and local levels.
• Those who have recently been elected to public service.
• Those who respond to emergencies on our highways, in our wildlands, in our communities, and even in our homes.
• Family members and friends who after withdrawing from faith feel a pull toward discipleship once more.
• Family members and friends who have never received salvation or taken up discipleship at all.
• Each other (please contact [email protected] if you’d like to be added to our prayer list)

You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world;

Marshall