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Sermon Details
- Pastor Name: Jonathan Cornell
- Date & Time: August 17, 2014 | 10:00am
As a child, growing up on Buckingham Drive, we lived in a neighborhood filled with young families. It was a dream setting for my brother and me. In fact, my mother says she chose the neighborhood because of the number of swing sets she counted in peoples’ backyards. Peter and I knew everyone in that neighborhood, and as you can imagine, some of the kids we knew were better influences than others.
At the center of our neighborhood was a playground with a ball field, and on the outskirts of this park was something that came to be known in our house as “the raspberry bush.” It really wasn’t a bush at all, but rather an overgrowth of low-lying trees and weeds and a well worn path to the middle. Once you went in, there was an open space sheltered from the outside where all sorts of mischief could take place—and it did. As you can imagine, this was the place in our neighborhood where lots of firsts took place, which is why my brother Peter and I were not allowed in the raspberry bush.
My parents knew that we were young and vulnerable and therefore needed guidance on how to navigate the raspberry bushes of life
Paul knew that like my brother and I, the Colossian Church was surrounded by competing voices and views that made them particularly vulnerable every wind of change and worldview. They were surrounded by varying viewpoints and competing voices. And Paul knew that in their youth, it was very possible for this group of new Christians to be drawn away from the center. He knew it was important for the Colossians to cultivate an instinct for the center.
So today we’re going to look at this question: How is it that God keeps our lives, and the lives of his people, rooted in the most important thing?
Download the entire transcript here: Colossians 2 6-23 Instinct for the Center
