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"Off with the OLD - On with the NEW" - December 27, 2015 - Pastor Bil Hood

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St. Paul's Lutheran Church Orange, CA

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grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Savior Jesus Christ I'm in only heard it said quite a bit lately it's the most wonderful time of the year today we are still in the glow of Christmas and it really fits well that today's letter from Paul we get to hear the great truth of the Christmas message you are God's chosen people holy and dearly loved it's the Heart of Christmas and it's not just a message from Paul to the Colossians he writes to the church in thessalonica also he says but we should always give thanks to God for you brother and beloved by the hard because God has chosen you from the beginning for our Salvation through sanctification by the spirit  any rights to Timothy in the second letter he for this reason I Endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen that they also May obtain the Salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory and it's not just a message for the church John 3:16 Says the God so loved the world that he sent his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but will have everlasting life  you are gone chosen people holy and dearly loved Joy to the World Peace on Earth  no somebody go to the watch and get me the boxes because I want to pack up Christmas  No More Tears I am so ready to put away the lights and the decorations send the tree as soon as December 26th hits I'm ready to change the radio station in the car I'm ready to have my living room back play for the lines at the stores to be gone  I'm done with Christmas and if our letter from Paul was simply you are God's chosen people holy and really loved and then that was all will being done with Christmas until next year would probably be just fine but that's not where Paul ends his letter  A really that's where Paul kicks it into the next gear if we keep reading it goes like this you are God's chosen people holy and dearly Love Therefore  you are God's chosen people holy and dearly loved now there is something that you need do in response to that love you are God's chosen people holy and dearly loved therefore put on is where he excess and when we read put on in the Greek if the verb and Duo and it means to to put on to clothe oneself sink into  and this is important  because you're commanded to do this to put on to close your with the new self Paul moves into talking about how we appear to other people  he begins to tell us what we are to wear in N really why is that why is Paul telling us what to wear I find that looking at the nativity scene can help us say on this take a look at some of these images and tell me who's here do we know who this is this is Mary I think it's pretty obvious with the blue and the baby how about Swan let's add a person to the scene  this one's may be a little tougher but it could be a couple of guys I think proximity to marry would have us believe it might be Joseph if we start to continue to populate the scene who's up next well this helps us understand the guy especially if we put his sheep in front of him here we have a chef added to the scene  these next ones are easy crowns fancy robes presents these are the wise men  how about add another character to the scene you know you look at the same Moses Moses doesn't belong here we can tell by looking how long is here in the point I want to make here is that how we present ourselves says a lot about us before we ever get a chance to say sing  you are a culture that's built on these types of cues uniforms and work clothes suits dresses Sports flip flops casual dressy casual business casual business formal festive attire semi formal creative Black Tie black tie and white tie  we tell each other so much about who we are and what we do before we ever say anything  and that's what Paul is getting at when he pays off the big there for you are gods chosen people holy and dearly loved their for present yourself like that and Paul is pretty blunt with the Colossians in his letter in the message translation of the Bible its it says it this way so if you are serious about living this new life with Christ act like it we have a problem in church today the surveys among non-believers they say that they can't tell the difference between 1st and non-believers  that's an indictment against us  the statistics show that our behavior is as bad as the rest of the Worlds in a Christmas we have to wonder what Jesus approve Paul is pointing a finger at us in this letter  if we are chosen people holy and dearly loved we need to put off the old and put on the new and we need to act like it those around us should recognize the change that Christ makes in our life they should see a difference because of the encounter that we have with them Christmas should be the start of something new it does not just get packed away until next year it impacts us in a way we are changed  we get up each day and we put on compassion kindness humility gentleness patience above all love  and this list is not an exhaustive list its representative of those virtues that speak of your skip to others  we should not be a known for our aloofness and distance for our Greed for our greatness our anger our pride because we are loved by God chosen people holy we should live hives that are closed in love it should be something that people know about us before we ever get a chance to say a word  because God's chosen people holy and dearly loved respond to God's graciousness by putting on love which is the perfect Bond of unity love is supreme above all the qualities before mentioned love is the Fulfillment of all those qualities  you love because God first loves you love comes from God and filters through you to others and love is something that you put on  so if you're serious about living this new Resurrection Life with Christ act like it not only do we act in a new way we react in a new way one translation puts it this way bear with one another giving one another  we bear with one another into bear with one another means to endure to stand up under to be tolerant of and not always approving of and we forgive one another and not just forgive but forgive as Jesus for review  Jesus is the standard of forgiveness Jesus taught us to pray father forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors he said to forgive Seventy Times Seven  forgiveness is a Christian trait because it is a guy play traits  and forgiveness comes easier from a heart of compassion and kindness forgiveness is truer when humility gentleness adornit  forgiveness is Holy when you forgive in the name of Jesus the one who has forgiven you forgiveness comes easier when your heart is filled with compassion kindness humility gentleness and patience you have one last thought for you when it comes to this idea of putting on things that Greek word that Paul used and Duo it's a verb is an action  it is our action  want to think of it it reminded me a little bit of school uniforms can I remember many mornings when my kids were in grade school and they did not want to put on the uniform that morning they just weren't feeling it I'm sure kids in our school feel the same way on some days but they put it on anyway  they put it on because they're Panthers  it lets people at the store where those kids belong it lets people who pass them as they walk down the street to Chapel know where they belong  compare kindness humility gentleness patience love forgiveness they can be the same way when we get up good morning we choose what we're going to put on will it be bitterness Envy greed anger selfishness sometimes these are much easier to put on  sometimes we encounter unlovely people in love is the last thing we want to put on but we need to remember that the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases his Mercy never comes to an end it is new every morning  every morning we can be motivated by the love of God shown to us at Christmas to put on love and in doing so we can Shine the Light of Christ through our lives and maybe those that we come in contact with will see that the love of God in us and find themselves called into a life where they put off the old and put on a new  you are gods who people holy and dearly loved  therefore  and so be it I'll men

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"Off with the OLD - On with the NEW" - December 27, 2015 - Pastor Bil Hood

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