Olde Centre Church, Jesus the Good Shepherd
Yesterday I published Pt. 1 of last Sunday’s sermon at Cornerstone Church, “He Completes Me”. If you missed that you can catch up by going to http://wp.me/p39vIx-IQ.
Now today’s submission begins:
“You are complete in him” now those are powerful words; At least they made me sit up and take notice. Christian are you complete in him? Do you feel complete in Him?
“He completes me”…that is a statement we usually reserve for the deepest of romantic statements. In fact “You complete me” is right up there with the very cheesiest of romantic sentiments…like
” Once in awhile,
Right in the middle of an ordinary life,
Love gives us a fairy tale.”
Unknown
Or
” Love is like a butterfly, it settles upon you when you least expect it.”
Anonymous
Or
” if I could rearrange the letters of the ABC’s I would put U and I together and next to each other forever….”
Anonymous
Yet God uses this statement to speak of our relationship to Him. He says in Colossians 2:10 “You are complete in Him.”
Let’s explore that thought a bit:
The word “complete” is actually the Greek word “pleroo” which means “filled to the brim.” If you are a follower, a disciple of Jesus, according to the Book of Ephesians chapter 1 He has sent his Holy Spirit to dwell inside of you and you are full to the brim with God. If you have not yet made a decision to give your life to Jesus you do not have God living in you or with you but you could have. All you need to do is ask Jesus to take control of your life and you can begin a relationship with Him as your God.
Let’s pray together- Dear Lord Jesus I realize I want you to be my God and king this day. I invite you to come into my life and take charge of it. You be my God and I will be your servant. Please forgive me for every wrong thing I have done which has set me at odds with you. By your cross Jesus I ask you to make peace between me and the Father God. I thank you that is now done. I believe it and I receive it by faith now. Thank you for filling me up to the brim with your Spirit. Amen!
So tell me what do you think it means to be complete in Jesus?
Lillie-Put 
Jesus’ message is that the kingdom of god is within each of us. In that we are complete.
Yes it is true. Believers are imbued with an incredible presence of the living God. What do you think is the biggest hindrance to walking with that presence?
You’ve certainly opened a massive can of worms…
Well, if that presence is within us it’s not too big for our britches – the humility of Christ. I don’t know if I’d say hindrance so much as a growing process and that’s not bad. Everyone’s got to grow up but in this it happens at all ages, which can be problematic for some. I’ve gone through it with teaching adult students, depending on the culture, who’s dominant – in classes at businesses that include ‘the boss” – no, not Bruce Springsteen” – it’s assumed she or he has superior knowledge, which they don’t. The boss doesn’t want to be on the same level with his workers. How does s/he maintain authority yet share in the class? Why is that a problem? That answer is complex. The way the-kingdom-of-God-is-within-you is presented is another factor. So many want to be the bicep and fist in that giant arm, maybe ignoring or at least pretending they don’t know the point, so they can inflict justice, payback, pass judgment. That’s not to mean we should be wishy-washy – we have an example of a crucified Jesus – that’s not wishy-washy. The problem is we can handle a lot, and some days that just doesn’t sit. What surges within us is a very deafening “I don’t like this” or better yet, “no I won’t do it” similar to when a woman is in labor and decides she doesn’t like her labor pains and she’s not going through that – a classic psychological reaction to big pain, unless you’re like my sister-in-law who gets a slight twinge in her lower back “oh… I think the baby’s coming”. I could just … it’s so easy to hate her. After it’s over it becomes part of your “war stories” you share with others who’ve had children. Now you’re connected to a bigger picture. You’re not alone. I guess I could let my sister-in-law into that club too. She’s so annoying. ☺
There are so many reasons, as many as there are people. A big part of the problem is we can’t be grouped, which really makes it hard work, but not for God. It’s a good thing he’s Love. No one gets arrogant over the kingdom of Love is within you. For whatever reason for many God means power and conquest. Jesus came to change things from the Old Testament but we love all that fighting and death – sure showed those guys. After all, warrior God is on our side! But he’s on everyone’s side.
Perception? Could we say perception is a hindrance but if we’re growing up in knowing the kingdom of God is within us, at what age (stage?) are we condemned for perception? A flood of things just came to mind. I could go on about dictators. When I was first in Istanbul and a cabbie was trying to abduct me I wasn’t thinking “I love you, I love you” I was watching every move he made, I was alert and appreciative of the advice given me by the women in my classes – implementing the Turkish woman attitude confused him. Having been there only a couple of months, I quite obviously wasn’t a Turkish woman. In Madrid Franco’s way of thinking is still fresh. He’s not dead all that long and folks can’t just walk out of that way of thinking. There’s so much good in that very fascist place but I’ll tell you with everyone trying to rule the world that is me (I lived there 13 months) it got exhausting. I have no clue how Jesus managed what He did.
This world, our world is our hindrance. We are influenced when we don’t want to be, damaged by things even though we’re tough, so much becomes a part of us positive and negative as we, hopefully most times, strive to take that negative and make something positive out of it. It’s with us one way or another. We’re in it together but our languages have been confused to help protect us from thinking we can outthink God. To keep us busy we figure out how to communicate, to do business together, in a nutshell to get to know each other … it’s a big nutshell.
Wow! You certainly have had quite the life experience! There are many hindrances in this world to walking in our completeness in Christ. Your experiences have shown you some of the more uniquely terrible hindrances. Thank you for sharing.
🙂 !
Pastor J, I’m always so glad when you post your Sunday sermon because, undoubtedly, there is something I missed the first time through. Jesus completes me because of His love. When I fall short of His glory Jesus equips me to love as He would including loving my enemies and that in itself amazes me. The amazing part about that is my heart is truly changed from dislike to loving them through Christ. You, see, I grew up in a family that likes to hold grudges and forgiveness is hard to come by. I have come to know in my heart of hearts that all I truly need is Him to be complete for if I lost all today my heart would still be filled with His love!
Wow this is a powerful realization Deb! You can have all this world just give me Jesus!
An almost unanswerable question . . .
I say I am complete in Christ simply because He is the Answer to each and every need I have or will ever have. Since He is the Answer and He delights to BE my Answer, I am complete. That is my position in Christ. However, if I do not avail myself of Him in any situation . . . well . . .
It is a large an very open ended question. I am not necessarily looking for the complet answer from one person but the piece that the Holy Spirit has asked each of us to focus on. He is our everything. Today He is my complete freedom from fear and my ability to keep going. Lately I have questioned my ability to keep pace and He is my assurance that I can go beyond the limits of what I see and do His work in His strength.