I remember a lecture given by a guy named Tommy Amaker. Most likely you have never heard of him. Currently men’s basketball coach at Harvard. At the time of the Lecture I attended he was playing for Duke University.
Tommy was an exceptional basketball player. He was sharing how he achieved his skill. How did he become great? Time in the gym.
He said, “When everyone was at the Friday night football game in High School, he was in the gym playing basketball: dribbling, shooting, running.”
In his words, “It is what you do when no one is watching.”
How would you define being great? Is it something you think about?
Philosophically Plato defined being a great person as not being driven by personal desires but by a love for what is just and good.
Socrates defined it as the cultivation of virtue through wisdom and self-knowledge.
Descartes, the highest form of human greatness is a virtue he calls generosity
How about more recently, Jordan Peterson said greatness is a combination of disciplined, voluntary sacrifice, pursuing what is meaningful, that looks out for the moral good of self and society.
Even though I would consider only one of these I have quoted is an actual Christ follower, there are bits and pieces of truth in all of these ideas.
Jesus, with authority, said it best. “Whoever wants to be great must be a servant. . .just as I have come not to be served but to serve and give my life for many” Matthew 20
It is the call of the Christ follower to see Christ’s example and copy it.
Many years ago we had these bracelets that were popular that had WWJD What Would Jesus Do. It was a fashion statement but even more, it is the beginning of being great.
This is how you grow into greatness. Stop and consider, what would Jesus do.
S.D.G.
Date: October 26, 2025 Lord’s Day: 43
Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ Title: Peace Rule and the Word Dwells
Text: Colossians 3:15-17, Luke 8:26-36
Church, what is sanctification?
Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.
Colossians 3:15-17
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Luke 8:26-3627 When Jesus[d] had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” 29 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) 30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. 32 Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.
34 When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 36 And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed.
Through the years I have had the pleasure of taking most all of my family to an Ohio State game. So much has changed with the game and it is not the same, but the experience has remained the same.
The experience is most likely the one thing that has kept me interested in college football. When it gets to this time of year, the smell in the air, even when it is still warm, it ignites memories.
It takes me back to the very first time I was able to go into Ohio Stadium. It was the mid-1990’s and Ohio State was playing Bowling Green on a September Saturday. I was able to get a ticket for $19. This was when the track was still around the field.
The sound of the band and the drums as they echo in the rotunda before they go on to the field.
Then you go to your seat. When you come out of the tunnel and see that electric green grass on the field, oh, it just takes your breath away. I am certain every fan of something like this. (Cricket, baseball, rugby, soccer)
I wanted to share this with family and friends. Through the years, I have been able to take almost every family member to a game. I took my father to see Ohio State play Marshall University.
I recall on that one praying the night before the game, “Please Lord, don’t put anyone around us that swears a lot.” My father would have said something . . . I would have been the one having to defend it cause he was frail.
Anyway, one of the games that I took my son Hunter to was very special. Before coming here to Donnels Creek, I was a chaplain and one person that I knew there where I worked was an Ohio State 1. alumni 2. band member AND3. “I” dotter.
He had gotten to a place where he could not go to the alumni games and he would give me the tickets every year. The first year I decided to take Hunter.
The process of getting the tickets is not as cut and dry and paying for them and they mail them to you. You actually had to meet someone and because of traffic (I had planned for traffic but this was different) we missed the pick up.
Various people tried to help us. They made calls and sent us here and then there but ultimately, there was no way for us to retrieve the tickets.
I was very disappointed and brought Hunter up to speed and he was very gracious. Told him that we would have to try again in the future and he accepted that.
We were making our way back to where we parked and we were going a little slow now and just taking in the scenes. Out of a crowd of people a man emerged and he said, “You father and son?” I said, “Yes”
He said, “You have tickets?” I nodded no and was beginning to give a very short version of what happened but he quickly said, “Here are two tickets. A father and son should experience at least one game.” I told him I did not have enough $ to pay him and he was like, they are free. We had these given to us, I am giving them to you.
We were so thankful – he was just trying to hurry to get to his seat. But problem solved right? It was terrific. Hunter and I got to enjoy the game after all for which we were so grateful.
But these events, the people get so worked up. You even have fans who have season tickets, who also go to every away game and they wear the same out fit. They end up on TV and end up signing autographs. They are no athletes – but what they are known for is being a fan. They are paid to go to events, “You can see Buckeye man”.
Fans of every sport get so worked up painting their bodies. My son-in-law is a chiefs fan, he grew up in Missouri. Even though he lives in Grove City, he works in Missouri in the family business.
The chiefs are a pretty good ball team. He is a fan. He went to one of the playoff games one year and it was some crazy temperature. It gets to the third QTR and he takes his shirt off.
He is a seminary student at Westminster Theological Seminary – he is taking his shirt off for the team when it is single digit cold with wind. He is taking pictures and sending it to family.
People do this. People go wild and crazy and support their team. Painting faces, wearing jersey’s and yelling to give the home field advantage.
We are so excited to be a part of things we don’t want to miss. We are so excited. We mark it on our calendar; I do not want to miss this and we go.
It leads me to ask this question that I want you to really think about. Do not answer it out loud, you can just answer it rhetorically.
How do you view the time here with your Church family? Are you coming here because you can’t live without it or because it is a habit or obligation?
This is not about, do you like me or the other members here. This is about if this is an event that you can’t miss. I am not trying to guilt you into it. Honesty is needed here because it directly relates to our text in Colossians 3:16.
Last week we were in 3:15 “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” That word there for rule is the same word that means umpire, judge or arbiter. It was an official position in the Olympic games.
Let the peace of Christ be the umpire in your hearts. Let the peace of Christ call the balls and the strikes. That is the picture Paul is painting here in this letter.
The peace of Christ should be the moderator in our hearts. The peace of Christ should be overseer in our hearts.
This really changes how we process decisions. We are at peace. The reason we are at peace is Christ for us. Now that we are at peace through Christ, let him oversee us.
How do we do that? This is where we pick up today.
The peace of Christ rules, the word of Christ dwells. 3:16
It takes up residence in our heart. This is a sanctification passage. It is a beautiful sanctification passage and one that will introduce an idea which we have not considered yet. We will get to that in a moment.
I would like us to consider our friend that Jesus met at the tombs. He was not at peace. He was not at peace with God, he was not at peace with the people in the town where he lived and he absolutely was not at peace with himself.
Can you imagine living like this? He wore no clothes. He was a wild man and not in a good way. He had not lived in a house. He was out of THE town at the tombs.
He was supernatural in a bad way. So, it appears they tried to put shackles and chains on him and he would break them. He was a prisoner and would have these fits and break off the chains and break free and go to the desert.
He was possessed by a demon(s) and when they saw Jesus, just the sight of him, they come in order. “Please, do not destroy us. Do not send us into the abyss.”
“What is your name?” Jesus asked. “Legion, for we are many.”
The legion was a Roman military unit (1,000 soldiers). SO the answer was, there are tons of us in here.
Jesus sent them into the pigs and notice what happened.
“The people went out to see what had happened and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how the demon possessed man had been healed.” Luke 8:35-36
Peace. Clothed and healed, sitting at the feet of Jesus
For the first time in only God knows how long, this man had peace.
He was not in the jail curious, when will the next episode hit? I hate being like this and there is uncertainty when it will happen again.” He was at peace. The peace of Christ was ruling . . . and it ruled the demonic right out of this man’s life.
How about us? Our cosmic war. Our cosmic treason. How quickly we forget.
We get distracted by all those things in our lives. The very things that threaten to take away our peace (remember the rocks). Distract us.
We forget that the war is over. We are at peace. This man is forever changed. He will never be the same.
This is what fuels me. It really is. I can not express enough how grateful I am Jesus for completely changing my life. It is bittersweet for on the one hand I was not ignorant of the Scriptures.
I knew them in my head – I did not know them in my heart. Scriptures were handy when needed but I could not let them get in the way of what I truly loved: myself, the world.
There came a time when all that changed. This is in my life peace with Christ.
Can you remember a time in your life when you had no peace with God? Compare that to now.
This man in the tombs, can you picture yourself there? You were not demon possessed, this much is true. But you were in a baren deserted place and you had no peace. I was right beside you.
This man would be forever changed. Nothing else needed to be written of his story, we know how it ends.
We should be just like him. Forever changed. Yet this is NOT the experience for most Christians.
Now that the peace of Christ rules in us we also see that the word of Christ should dwell. Teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms, and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
The word of Christ dwelling in us is sanctification. The process of growing more holy.
We have discussed this sanctification in this sermon series in Colossians. Some months back we looked at the fact that sanctification is something that is instant and also something that is ongoing in the believer.
We are to be growing in holiness. This is a “set apart for holy use.” This is what it means. We are to, as long as we have air in our lungs, forever to be growing in holiness.
Is the word of Christ dwelling in you?
That word for dwell is oikos. Sound familiar? It is not in reference to the Greek Yogurt. Let the word of Christ be like Greek Yogurt? No. Oikos means dwell, inhabit to take heart.
How much time do you spend in this word?
Some may say, “Pastor I read through the Bible a time or two. Is there anything else for me to learn?” Another may say, “well we are not a teacher in the church and we are not a pastor, you are calling us to read this like you.”
Dear friends, if I lived 500 years and read through this Bible every year twice- I would never plumb the depths of this word. I am serious. I am not just saying this.
There is nothing like God’s word.
Let me ask the question again: How do you view the time here with your Church family? Are you coming here because you can’t live without it or because it is a habit or obligation?
I am certain the man who left completely free of a demon was motivated NOT by obligation but passion.
Often the world has more passion for the things that it loves than we do for Christ and His church. They show love for teams and musicians and concerts and actors. Even though there is nothing wrong with supporting your team, those in the world know more fully how to show love with all their heart.
That same passion that causes the men who are fans of teams to take their shirts off when it is 9 degrees. That is passion. There is nothing wrong with liking your team. Support the team. Support the TEAM.
But find a passion for Christ! Find a passion for HIS church. We have the OUTSIDE stuff down pat.
THE OUTSIDE STUFF IS WHAT THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS IN JESUS DAY HAD PERFECTED.
Over the past few weeks a repeated though which is repeated in Dt 11:18 “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.”
This is God’s advising them with a picture. By the time of Jesus in the Gospels, these frontlets were small boxes tied to the head. Small passages were placed in these boxes.
What good does that do? Is this how God was leading these people? Is this the expectation?
It is insane. Yet that was the religious peer pressure of Jesus’ day. Put the passages in the little box.
God was saying, “My word is so important, so life giving, so needed, so saving, so wise, so perfect, you need to put this word in you.” He says this painting a picture as if the word was tied to their head. Know the word like this. Have the word in you like this! Plumb the depths of my word. Let me lead you.
And the Apostle Paul here was encouraging the people of the church in Colossae to know the word of Christ and to encourage sanctification.
LET THE WORD OF CHRIST DWELL IN YOU RICHLY. Teach and admonish one another with Psalms and hymns and Spiritual songs, singing and making melody with all your heart.
Have this in your heart. Dwell (OIKOS) on it. Then share it. Share it with each other.
God has sanctified you in Christ at salvation – You are continually growing IN Christ – and as a body of believers, this church is a part of your sanctification.
We are to be teaching and admonishing. It is my job as a pastor, to shepherd this church and grow it, but I am not the only one. You are here for each other.
What do you know with all your heart? Do you know Jesus with all your heart?
Dear friends, I do not want you hear if you are here because you feel obligated. (checking the box) I want you hear because you want to love Jesus more. I want you here because you can’t find anywhere else what you can find here.
I want you here because you want to help me grow. You and I have the peace of Christ ruling in our heart, and we want the word of Christ to dwell within our hearts.
Our praises will change. The way we praise WILL change.