Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

Living as Those Made Alive in Christ 3  Since, then, you have been raised with Christ,  set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.   2  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.   3  For you died,  and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.   4  When Christ, who is your life,  appears,  then you also will appear with him in glory. I am very interested in this term our " life is now hidden with Christ ".  In what sense does Paul use this phrase.  I did a lot of research on it and to be honest, I still don't have a very good understanding of it. But I will take a shot at it nonetheless.   When we come to faith we become a new creation.  God sends his Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, to live in us.  Though the world cannot see the Holy Spirit in us per se, we have union with Christ and live in him.  Yet, we still live in the world and the world beckons us to live in it and keep living by its values.  But si

Colossians 2:6-10 " So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,  continue to live your lives in him,   7  rooted  and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught,  and overflowing with thankfulness.  8  See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,  which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world  rather than on Christ.  9  For in Christ all the fullness  of the Deity lives in bodily form,   10  and in Christ you have been brought to fullness." The false teachers were trying to persuade the Christians in Colossae to seek a philosophy the explains life's greatest mysteries. A commentator has this to say about what Paul meant by this,  " This  philosophy  that threatened the Colossian Christians was a strange ecclectic mix of early Gnosticism, Greek philosophy, local mystery religions, and Jewish mysticism. The philosophy threatening the Colossian Christians was so da

Colossians 1:15-20 -   The Supremacy of the Son of God 15  The Son is the image  of the invisible God,  the firstborn  over all creation.   16  For in him all things were created:  things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;  all things have been created through him and for him.   17  He is before all things,  and in him all things hold together.   18  And he is the head  of the body, the church;  he is the beginning and the firstborn  from among the dead,  so that in everything he might have the supremacy.   19  For God was pleased  to have all his fullness  dwell in him,   20  and through him to reconcile  to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven,  by making peace  through his blood,  shed on the cross. Today we begin Paul's letter to the church in Colossae.  It's location is modern day Turkey.  Paul had never visited the church, but had received a report from Ephaphras, a fellow wo

Philippians 4:12-13 " I   know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry,  whether living in plenty or in want.   I can do all this through him who gives me strength." As Paul closes out his letter to the Philippians, he thanks them for their gift to help him meet his financial needs.  Several times during Paul's missionary journeys in and around Macedonia where Philippi was located, the Philippians supplied for Paul's need.  They were one of the few churches that did this and Paul commends them for it.  It was one of the reasons why Paul was so fond of them.   Paul uses this situation to teach them the secret of contentment.  There have been times when he was well supplied and other times when he was in need and nowhere to turn.  Paul's secret was that he realized he could do all things through Christ.  He knew that as he obeyed God's

Philippians 3:4 If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more:   5  circumcised  on the eighth day, of the people of Israel,  of the tribe of Benjamin,  a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee;   6  as for zeal,  persecuting the church;  as for righteousness based on the law,  faultless.  7  But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss  for the sake of Christ.   8  What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing  Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ   9  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,  but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness  that comes from God on the basis of faith. Just as the Galatians were plagued by legalists, so the Philippians also had legalism slip into their ranks.  Like the church in Galatia, there were some who insisted that male

Philippians 2:3-6 " Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.  Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,   4  not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.   5  In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:  Who, being in very nature   God,  did not consider equality with God   something to be used to his own advantage;  rather, he made himself nothing  by taking the very nature [ b ]   of a servant,  being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man,  he humbled himself  by becoming obedient to death —  even death on a cross!" When I was younger I had several people I usually tried to imitate. Usually they were a pro athlete.  My family got to know one of the players on the Detroit Tigers, so when the Tigers got in town I got to meet him after the game and a bunch of the players. I was in heaven at that age.  I got their uniform t-shirts, hats and baseball cards. 

Add caption Philippians 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you.   4  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray  with joy   5  because of your partnership  in the gospel from the first day  until now,   6  being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion  until the day of Christ Jesus. 7  It is right  for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart  and, whether I am in chains  or defending  and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.   8  God can testify  how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus Paul had a brilliant theological mind like no other, but in this first chapter of his letter to the Philippians we see he is deeply relational as well.  We also see how committed to prayer he was.  He prayed for the Philippians often.  He prayed with joy because of their partnership with him in the gospel.  He prayed for ALL of them.  He obviously had spent a lot

The Armor of God 10  Finally, be strong in the Lord  and in his mighty power.   11  Put on the full armor of God,  so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.   12  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,  but against the rulers, against the authorities,  against the powers  of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.   13  Therefore put on the full armor of God,  so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.   14  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,  with the breastplate of righteousness in place,   15  and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.   16  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith,  with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.   17  Take the helmet of salvation  and the sword of the Spirit,  which is the word of God.   18  And