The Cross As a Pattern for Community – Colossians 3:1-14
July 19, 2015Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Speaker: Jerry Cisar
Can you clearly articulate what distinguishes the church as a community from the broader community in which we live? What is the rule of life, or philosophy, that ought to distinguish God’s people from the world?
In this series, The Cross as a Pattern for Living, we are learning how the Cross sets the standard by which we are to live. It is the rubric or paradigm by which we are to pattern our lives. The Gospel calls us to live by a different worldview, a different philosophy; to live life through another way of thinking… the wisdom of the Cross.
When we, the church, rid ourselves of the world’s self-oriented values as a pattern for living and start embracing the Cross as a pattern for living, we will demonstrate the power of the message we proclaim…even in our weakness. In Colossians 3:1-11, Paul makes a radical appeal for us to completely alter our lifestyle, and then in 3:12-15 he paints a vision for a new way of living. This vision runs right through the cross.