As much as I loathed the idea of starting a new school year - the one thing I looked forward to every year was buying new school supplies.  There was nothing more satisfying than the crispness of a new notebook with the freshness of each blank page.  The clean white pages signified a new start with new opportunities and boundless possibilities. 

Whether it’s a new notebook, a clean canvas, or a blank journal - we love the idea of fresh starts.  The New Year creates that type of openness and opportunity to start afresh.  And  usually at the start of every year we spend time re-evaluating and re-prioritizing.  Often you hear many share a similar sentiment…I need to make God #1 this year.

The sentiment is genuine for sure and the desire is commendable.  Certainly Jesus must be number one.  But the Bible helps us to see that Jesus isn’t simply the first on a priority list of many important things…Jesus encompasses the entire thing.  The book of Colossians tells us that Jesus is before all things and holds all things together.

Colossians is thoroughly Christ-centered, and our lives should be as well.  Jesus is not something we simply attend to at the start of our day but rather he’s the image of the invisible God that holds our entire day together.  He is the object of our faith, the creator of all things, the triumphant victor, the Lord of glory, the unifier and reconciler of all things.

As we spend the next six weeks in the book of Colossians let us pray together for what the Lord would have for us personally.  This series is going to push on our congregation in ways that I think will make a lasting impact not only for the year to come but for many to follow.  Our elders believe that God is going to use his Word to challenge people off the sidelines, call people into saving faith, and move people forward in their sanctification journey.  Pray with us as we anticipate what God can and might do through this new series.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.  For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. - Colossians 1:15-20

Pastor Jeremy