Hold on a minute what’s this all about. Paul is in jail? What’s he doing worrying about other people when he is chained up in a stinking jail? There he is in the filth and disease that a jail of this would have had been, and he is saying, we always thank God for you in our prayers. Is this guy mad? I know what I would do. I would be moaning and groaning and writing letters saying get me out of here. I am pretty sure I would not be writing letters encouraging others and praying for them. But isn’t that just the way of our world today? At school, college and work, are we not looking out for what is our right? It does seem to me sometimes that I am more worried about what I deserve or what I have a right to, rather then being thankful for what I have. Come to think about I am not sure who is chained up the most Paul, in his physical chains, or me in my mental ones. Maybe a little more thanks for the blessing God has given me, and a little less moaning about what I don’t have, wouldn’t go amiss. Yep get me out of this chain gang, I’m going to be thankful rather then ungrateful. How about you?

Hold on a minute what’s this all about. Paul is in jail? What’s he doing worrying about other people when he is chained up in a stinking jail? There he is in the filth and disease that a jail of this would have had been, and he is saying, we always thank God for you in our prayers. Is this guy mad? I know what I would do. I would be moaning and groaning and writing letters saying get me out of here. I am pretty sure I would not be writing letters encouraging others and praying for them. But isn’t that just the way of our world today? At school, college and work, are we not looking out for what is our right? It does seem to me sometimes that I am more worried about what I deserve or what I have a right to, rather then being thankful for what I have. Come to think about I am not sure who is chained up the most Paul, in his physical chains, or me in my mental ones. Maybe a little more thanks for the blessing God has given me, and a little less moaning about what I don’t have, wouldn’t go amiss. Yep get me out of this chain gang, I’m going to be thankful rather then ungrateful. How about you?

Some people get really uptight about this passage in the Bible. But then some people get really upright about anything. We hear all sorts of claims that the Bible is saying that women are less important then men and that slavery is OK. Makes me want to shout from the rooftops, just read what it actually says. I wonder if you have ever had anyone say something about you that wasn’t true at school or college. How did it make you feel? Do you get angry, did you want to get back at the persons that had lied about you? Well the bad news is that the message from today’s reading might make you thing about what you would do again. We are told that wives should support their husbands, husbands support their wives, and so on. It is pretty straight forward really, what ever you do at school, college, work, home, church do it as though you were doing it for Jesus. Whoever you meet, treat them as though they were Jesus. By the way just because the message is straight forward, doesn’t mean it’s easy. Especially when the other person hasn’t worked out the same message yet.

Some people get really uptight about this passage in the Bible. But then some people get really upright about anything. We hear all sorts of claims that the Bible is saying that women are less important then men and that slavery is OK. Makes me want to shout from the rooftops, just read what it actually says. I wonder if you have ever had anyone say something about you that wasn’t true at school or college. How did it make you feel? Do you get angry, did you want to get back at the persons that had lied about you? Well the bad news is that the message from today’s reading might make you thing about what you would do again. We are told that wives should support their husbands, husbands support their wives, and so on. It is pretty straight forward really, what ever you do at school, college, work, home, church do it as though you were doing it for Jesus. Whoever you meet, treat them as though they were Jesus. By the way just because the message is straight forward, doesn’t mean it’s easy. Especially when the other person hasn’t worked out the same message yet.

Wow, Paul is reminding us that we are now new people because of what Jesus did for us. I don’t know about you but I find it hard to live up to the expectations Paul has laid out before us. I’m not so good at not getting angry. My thoughts are not always pure. And on the odd occasions words that come out of my mouth are not the words I would want my Mum to have heard. So it seems that I can not live a Jesus like life, how about you? Can you live that way at school or college? No didn’t think so. So do we just give up and go back to our old ways of living? Well you won’t be surprised to hear me say no. We are right, we can’t live the pure life on our own, but we can pray to God to help us. And every now and then when we are tempted we can use a very simple technique to help us. When a mate winds us up and we want to get angry, we can say to ourselves; “I know I can’t stay calm by myself, but if I could stay calm what’s the first thing I would do?” And then do it. It might be leave, it might be smile, but if we do it we’re on our way. When we want to take a swig of the booze that our mates are passing around, we can say to ourselves; “I know I want to take a swig, but if I didn’t, what’s the first thing I would do?” And then do it. It might be grab a coke, it might be go home. And if we can do all these things whilst praying to Jesus, then we will be living the pure life.

Wow, Paul is reminding us that we are now new people because of what Jesus did for us. I don’t know about you but I find it hard to live up to the expectations Paul has laid out before us. I’m not so good at not getting angry. My thoughts are not always pure. And on the odd occasions words that come out of my mouth are not the words I would want my Mum to have heard. So it seems that I can not live a Jesus like life, how about you? Can you live that way at school or college? No didn’t think so. So do we just give up and go back to our old ways of living? Well you won’t be surprised to hear me say no. We are right, we can’t live the pure life on our own, but we can pray to God to help us. And every now and then when we are tempted we can use a very simple technique to help us. When a mate winds us up and we want to get angry, we can say to ourselves; “I know I can’t stay calm by myself, but if I could stay calm what’s the first thing I would do?” And then do it. It might be leave, it might be smile, but if we do it we’re on our way. When we want to take a swig of the booze that our mates are passing around, we can say to ourselves; “I know I want to take a swig, but if I didn’t, what’s the first thing I would do?” And then do it. It might be grab a coke, it might be go home. And if we can do all these things whilst praying to Jesus, then we will be living the pure life.

I go to a Church where we like to think that the children’s and youth works top notch. I think secretly we sit there sometimes and think, our youth work is better then that other church. Now that can’t be right can it? I’ve seen other Churches who have excellent musicians and think that God accepts their worship because it’s cool. Now I’m pretty sure that God accepts all our worship, as long as we are focussed on him. Finally I have been to other Churches that do things in strict order. Stand this way, kneel that way, say these words in this order, stand on one leg. OK maybe they don’t stand on one leg but worshipping our God isn’t about rules. You and I following Jesus isn’t about doing youth work in a certain way, doing worship in a certain way or any other set of rules, it’s about following Jesus. Jesus accepts your worship as you sing to him or speak to him on your way to school, there’s no need for a Church building. God loves for you to pray to him for help, when you’re sitting at your desk, he doesn’t only listen when you are on your knees. Adults may have put lots of rules around these things but as we can see from this passage, it’s not about the rules, it’s all about following Jesus and making him part of your life at school and college.

I go to a Church where we like to think that the children’s and youth works top notch. I think secretly we sit there sometimes and think, our youth work is better then that other church. Now that can’t be right can it? I’ve seen other Churches who have excellent musicians and think that God accepts their worship because it’s cool. Now I’m pretty sure that God accepts all our worship, as long as we are focussed on him. Finally I have been to other Churches that do things in strict order. Stand this way, kneel that way, say these words in this order, stand on one leg. OK maybe they don’t stand on one leg but worshipping our God isn’t about rules. You and I following Jesus isn’t about doing youth work in a certain way, doing worship in a certain way or any other set of rules, it’s about following Jesus. Jesus accepts your worship as you sing to him or speak to him on your way to school, there’s no need for a Church building. God loves for you to pray to him for help, when you’re sitting at your desk, he doesn’t only listen when you are on your knees. Adults may have put lots of rules around these things but as we can see from this passage, it’s not about the rules, it’s all about following Jesus and making him part of your life at school and college.

So many adults need to hear Paul’s words from today’s passage. I’m not being mean because I need to hear them as well, and so do you. I love the way that this translation tells us Schools Out now’s the time for living what you have been taught. You study at school or college, but for what? You study so that you can use that knowledge in your future life. There is no point in studying Law at college, if you intend on becoming a plumber, you will never use the knowledge you gained at college. What’s the point of practicing your guitar for hours on end if you never intend on playing it once you have learnt the basics. Goes without saying really doesn’t it, but many adults do take that attitude towards Jesus. They study Jesus, go to every seminar about him, read hundreds of books on the way he lived his life. And then what do they do? They walk past someone on the street that needs help. They gossip about people at work. They completely miss the point; they don’t use the knowledge they have. So we can sit here all pompous like and say “yer that’s right adults are like that.” Except for one thing, often we are like that too, aren’t we? So let’s make a decision today to not only learn what Jesus wants us to do, but to actually do it in our daily lives at school and college. Let’s continue to study Gods word, but let’s start taking more action to make a difference in others lives using the knowledge that we have been given from our God.

So many adults need to hear Paul’s words from today’s passage. I’m not being mean because I need to hear them as well, and so do you. I love the way that this translation tells us Schools Out now’s the time for living what you have been taught. You study at school or college, but for what? You study so that you can use that knowledge in your future life. There is no point in studying Law at college, if you intend on becoming a plumber, you will never use the knowledge you gained at college. What’s the point of practicing your guitar for hours on end if you never intend on playing it once you have learnt the basics. Goes without saying really doesn’t it, but many adults do take that attitude towards Jesus. They study Jesus, go to every seminar about him, read hundreds of books on the way he lived his life. And then what do they do? They walk past someone on the street that needs help. They gossip about people at work. They completely miss the point; they don’t use the knowledge they have. So we can sit here all pompous like and say “yer that’s right adults are like that.” Except for one thing, often we are like that too, aren’t we? So let’s make a decision today to not only learn what Jesus wants us to do, but to actually do it in our daily lives at school and college. Let’s continue to study Gods word, but let’s start taking more action to make a difference in others lives using the knowledge that we have been given from our God.

Do you know guys who do drugs? What are they looking for? What about people that sleep around, what are they searching for? How about the people that are trying desperately to be famous in sport or music, what are they searching for? There seems to be some drive in almost all the people I know. Young and old alike, people seem to be searching for something. You must know adults that pride themselves on the house and car they have, what is that saying about them? You know mates whose sole purpose in life is to get as popular as possible. What are they up to? Drug addicts, hard driven business people, film stars, promiscuous teenagers, they all search for one thing. But we can call it many things, we can call it a search for meaning, acceptance, purpose, or fulfilment. Whatever we call it is irrelevant, it is actually a search for Jesus. We are told it plain and simple in this passage, we were all created to glory Jesus and our purpose is in him. Some people describe it as a God shaped hole in our heart that we will never fill with booze, sex or ambition. I’m not so sure that is a good picture as it brings it back to what we need. The truth is that if we focus on Jesus, accept him into our lives, live a life that he would want us to live, then what we need is part of the package. So next time you seek to find your purpose in something other than Jesus, just remember, it’s only temporary, because there is only one cure to that ache in your heart. Seek Jesus instead.

Do you know guys who do drugs? What are they looking for? What about people that sleep around, what are they searching for? How about the people that are trying desperately to be famous in sport or music, what are they searching for? There seems to be some drive in almost all the people I know. Young and old alike, people seem to be searching for something. You must know adults that pride themselves on the house and car they have, what is that saying about them? You know mates whose sole purpose in life is to get as popular as possible. What are they up to? Drug addicts, hard driven business people, film stars, promiscuous teenagers, they all search for one thing. But we can call it many things, we can call it a search for meaning, acceptance, purpose, or fulfilment. Whatever we call it is irrelevant, it is actually a search for Jesus. We are told it plain and simple in this passage, we were all created to glory Jesus and our purpose is in him. Some people describe it as a God shaped hole in our heart that we will never fill with booze, sex or ambition. I’m not so sure that is a good picture as it brings it back to what we need. The truth is that if we focus on Jesus, accept him into our lives, live a life that he would want us to live, then what we need is part of the package. So next time you seek to find your purpose in something other than Jesus, just remember, it’s only temporary, because there is only one cure to that ache in your heart. Seek Jesus instead.

In this book of the Bible is Paul writing a letter to his mates at Colosse. I guess if Paul was alive today, he would probably have emailed what he had to say. It wouldn’t have taken months to get there; it would have been there in a second. Notice how Paul starts his letter. He is overflowing with praise for his mates. He says things like “I have heard great stuff about you, you are the people of Christ.” He goes on, “I am always praying for you dudes.” What a way to greet people. Do we greet the people we know in the same way? How do you encourage your youth leader, your pastor, your parents, your mates? I love to joke and so often greet people with words like “Hello Muppet” and whilst that’s often not a problem, words do have an impact. The Bible describes our tongues like a sword. Do you greet your mates with words like “hello dumbo” or “hello fat boy?” You’ll probably get away with it most of the time, but what about that day when they have just had everything go wrong? Would it be better for us to lift their spirits? Maybe words like “Hi my man” followed by, what great things you’ve have been hearing about them, would be better. Maybe Paul’s right, maybe the first words out of mouths to people we know should make them feel better and not worse. It’s almost like God would want it that way!

In this book of the Bible is Paul writing a letter to his mates at Colosse. I guess if Paul was alive today, he would probably have emailed what he had to say. It wouldn’t have taken months to get there; it would have been there in a second. Notice how Paul starts his letter. He is overflowing with praise for his mates. He says things like “I have heard great stuff about you, you are the people of Christ.” He goes on, “I am always praying for you dudes.” What a way to greet people. Do we greet the people we know in the same way? How do you encourage your youth leader, your pastor, your parents, your mates? I love to joke and so often greet people with words like “Hello Muppet” and whilst that’s often not a problem, words do have an impact. The Bible describes our tongues like a sword. Do you greet your mates with words like “hello dumbo” or “hello fat boy?” You’ll probably get away with it most of the time, but what about that day when they have just had everything go wrong? Would it be better for us to lift their spirits? Maybe words like “Hi my man” followed by, what great things you’ve have been hearing about them, would be better. Maybe Paul’s right, maybe the first words out of mouths to people we know should make them feel better and not worse. It’s almost like God would want it that way!