teaching/sermons/col-1-15-20/expansion/icoc_alpha_omega/clean/33-jesus-is-supreme-kyle-plum-icmc-2025-opening-night-sermon.md

Jesus is Supreme | Kyle Plum | ICMC 2025 Opening Night Sermon

Col 1:15-20 prep relevance: KEY

Why kept: The definitive ICMC sermon for Col 1:15-20. Plum preaches straight through the passage verse-by-verse — firstborn-as-rank (Ps 89:27), creator of thrones/dominions, in him all things hold together, supreme creator/sustainer/reconciler. Already mined into supremacy_session_quotes.md.

Key excerpts:

00:00:01 All right. >> What's going on? ICMC, [Applause] >> before we get started, we have a lost phone. >> Has anyone lost their phone? >> Here we go. >> One, two, three. That's you. All right.

00:00:36 >> Well, my name is Kyle Plum, and I hail from America's finest city, San Diego, California. And I am so honored and humbled to preach the word of God to you tonight. Before we get into the lesson, I have to show a quick picture of my family.

00:01:09 That is my beautiful wife, my more than suitable helper, Monnique Plum. That's my beautiful 5-year-old daughter, Kalia, my three-year-old, Alina, and my beast, Judah. I want to give a quick shout out to the SD campus ministry. [Applause]

00:01:39 >> God has done some amazing things in San Diego. I do I do have to give a a quick shout out to the love who lead the San Diego church. Thank you for all you have done for the church. I was asked to preach here tonight on Colossians 1. And I want to let you know that what you hear tonight is the result of months of prayer.

00:02:09 that I have been on my knees praying for your hearts. >> And as Jesus said, my father is always at work. >> And what that means in each and every one of you, regardless if you are hiding sin, regardless if you are doing great here in your walk with God or maybe this is your first time here, >> God is working in your hearts. >> And I have been praying for one goal. I have one goal tonight.

00:02:40 that you would walk away stunned at the supremacy of Christ, >> that you would walk away in awe of Jesus. >> I want you to walk away not talking about how fun it was to jump up and down, not talking about how great it is to be here. I want you to walk away

00:03:10 tonight boasting in Jesus, boasting in the cross. I want you to go back to your homes, your neighborhoods, your campuses, your family, and I want you to live in the light of the supremacy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I came here to preach tonight because I want you to do something amazing for Jesus.

00:03:42 I want this world to be rocked by your life. I want you to walk away from this time with the mentality of to live is Christ and to die is gain. Because the moment we die, we wake up with the supreme creator of the world. >> That if we die, our life only gets better. >> I came here tonight to do one thing.

00:04:13 I want to boast in Jesus Christ. >> And I want you to go home to your campuses and live in light of Jesus's supremacy. to live in a way where you cause atheists to question their unbelief and you cause lukewarm casual Christians to question their conversion that causes people in your church and uneasiness because Christ is supreme in your life rather than comfort and culture or your safety.

00:04:44 [Applause] I want you to walk away tonight on fire for the supremacy of Christ. And so what we're going to do here before we get into our lesson, we're going to go to the Lord in prayer. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come.

00:05:19 You are in this room. You are the God who created heaven and earth. You are the God who knit us together in our mother's wombs. You are the God who has set eternity on every heart here. You are the God that allows us to feel unsatisfied so we would find our satisfaction in you. Lord, you are supreme. You are the king and we are here for you.

00:05:51 We're not here for us. Lord Jesus, be pleased with our worship. Be pleased with me. Move me out of the way. I need your Holy Spirit to speak tonight. I am unworthy and unable to deliver this message. I need you to speak. Lord Jesus, do something tonight that we will remember for the rest of our lives. Cause us to dream for your supremacy amongst the nations.

00:06:21 In Jesus name we pray. Amen. >> As Kenny read, we're going through the book of Colossians. I'm going to give you a little context on Colossians. Paul writes to a relatively young church in Colasse from prison. He is addressing a problem that has risen up amongst the disciples there. The church had become distracted. The church had become distracted with false teachings, false teachers, and a

00:06:54 pursuit of things outside of Christ. The message of what was being preached by these false teachers could be summed up like this. Christ alone is not sufficient. You need Christ plus something else. You need Christ plus hidden wisdom. You need Christ plus this experience. You need Christ plus whatever it is. Paul wrote to a church that had become

00:07:24 distracted. This message is so appropriate to our generation, brothers and sisters. Because of all the generations that have ever existed in the history of the world, we are the most distracted. We are distracted by social media, podcast, different teachers and teachings. There's just so many voices. We are uncomfortable with silence. We are uncomfortable with boredom. We

00:07:55 constantly want to be distracted. Paul's cure for a distracted church was the supremacy of Christ. Because what doom scrolling says, what watching real after real says, you have lost touch with the divine purpose for why you are here. And that is what happened to the church in Colasse. And Paul called them back.

00:08:25 He said, "Of all the things that I could preach to you, that I could write to you about, here is the one thing that will focus you. And that is the supremacy of Christ. That we don't need Christ plus something. All we need is Jesus. He writes this to a church in Colasse and he writes it for us here today. So I want you to take this letter as we read this as if it is being written to you by

00:08:56 Jesus himself. That the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write this. And what he's done tonight is he through his inspired word and through the Holy Spirit, he wants you to hear something here tonight. Now, I know Kenny just read part of it, but I'm going to reread it. Just a few verses. I'm not going to reread the whole thing, but I want you to think about why Paul wrote this to focus the church. Colossians 1 verse1 15, >> it says he is the image of the invisible

00:09:28 God. It's talking about Jesus. the firstborn of all creation. For in him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things have been created through him and for him. And he is before all things. And in him all things hold

00:09:59 together. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself will come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. You know, we see first and foremost, Paul says that he, Jesus, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Let me give you a little layout about what's going to happen

00:10:29 here. I'm going to do a little teaching and then for about, you know, a good chunk of this, I'm just going to boast about how amazing Jesus is. And then I'm going to share a little about how Jesus's supremacy has changed my life in my entire eternity. And at the very end, I'm going to apply this to this room. Now, buckle your seat belts when I apply it to this room. Amen. >> It says he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. And it

00:10:59 goes on from there to say that he is creator. Now, when I hear firstborn, I think creation, not creator. So, let's clarify that for a moment. What does firstborn mean in the context of what Paul is saying here? Well, in Psalm 89 27 when talking about King David, God says, "I also shall make him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth."

00:11:32 God calls David his firstborn. Was David the first man ever created? No. That was Adam. Was David the first king in all of Israel? No, that was Saul. So what does God mean by I will make him my firstborn? He clarifies it there. He says the highest of the kings of the earth. So firstborn in the context of David and in the context of Jesus in Colossians 1

00:12:02 refers not to birth order and creation but to rank. David was the firstborn, the highest of all kings. Jesus is the firstborn, the highest over, not within, over all creation. He is not the firstborn within or under creation. He is the firstborn over all creation and outside of creation because

00:12:32 Jesus like his father is creator. Everything was created through him. He goes on to say here in verse 16, "For in him, Jesus, all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things have been created through him and for him." I want you to think about creation for a

00:13:04 moment. that Jesus Christ, the one who appeared in Nazareth, the one who appeared as a poor carpenter, the one who breathed and cried and felt joy just like you and me is the creator of all. In Psalm 33:6 it says, "By the word of the Lord or of Jesus, the heavens were made. Their starry host by the breath of his mouth."

00:13:35 Did you know that there are more stars in the universe than there are individual words that have ever been spoken in any language in the history of mankind? Not just English, not just Japanese or Chinese or Bessiah or Swahili. There are more stars in the sky than there are individual words that have ever been spoken in the history of mankind. One of these stars is called UY Scooty.

00:14:07 Sounds like a mumble rapper. It is 1,700 times bigger than our sun. If placed at the center of our solar system, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Jupiter would be consumed in their orbit. And look at what it says right there about Jesus in Psalm 33. It says that he breathed every one of these stars in existence. It says in other scriptures that he called them out by name.

00:14:38 That every night he calls them out by name. He forgets none of them. He breathed and there they were. You know God when addressing Job, he says, "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you know understanding. Who set its measurements? Since you know, or who stretched out the line on it, on what's bases sunk? Or who

00:15:09 laid the cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who enclosed the sea with doors when bursting forth? It went out from the womb when I made a cloud its garment and dense gloom its swaddling band. And I placed boundaries on it and set a bolt indoors. And I said, "Thus far you shall come, but no further, and here shall your proud waves stop.

00:15:39 He says, "Where were you when I built the earth? When I laid its cornerstone?" And I think God and Jesus would say that here tonight. Where were you when I created every molecule of every drop of water, of every river, of every lake, of every puddle, of every ocean that has ever been? Where were you when I set limits for the oceans, limits for the tsunamis, limits for the sharks and the alligators and the sea creatures? Where were you when I draped the sky and covered it like a

00:16:10 garment with clouds? It also says back in Colossians that he not only created all we see and feel, but all that is in the heavens and the spiritual realms that we do not see was also created by him. Jesus Christ our Lord formed the angels one by one. You think about one angel in the book of Isaiah wiped out 185 Assyrian soldiers

00:16:41 in one night and Jesus was there molding that angel forming that angel. When you read the book of Job and Satan wants to attack Job and he wants to tempt him. Satan had to go ask God permission before he did it. Because in spite of the fact that we have all these crazy horror movies and Satan is so scary, he trembles before Jesus.

00:17:11 He asks permission before he can do anything to any one of us. We see back in Colossians 1:16 that he is not only creator of the universe and all the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. He is also creator and establisher of the thrones of the dominions and the rulers and the authorities. Why is that so important? Because we live in the divided states of

00:17:41 America. And when someone gets elected, we act like God didn't cause it. Romans 13:1 says, "He has established every authority." Meaning, when Biden got elected, that was God. When Trump got elected, that was God. It doesn't mean they're good leaders. God raises up badly just for the judgment of a country. And if he doesn't judge America, he owes Sodom and

00:18:11 Gomorrah an apology. You know what all that means, brothers and sisters? Jesus Christ is supremely in control. >> If he calls out every star by name, you really think the events of your life are out of his control.

00:18:41 If he formed the angels, you don't think he formed you for a purpose. If he knows the amount of dust particles in the world, you don't think he knows exactly what you need to be close to him. >> He is supremely in control. He is our supreme creator. And what that should inspire is in us is supreme trust.

00:19:12 Every single leader that has ever been raised up, whether good or bad, whether pagan or Christian, whether emperor Nero or persecutor or protector, has been sovereignly ordained and established by Jesus. Every event in your life has either been caused or allowed by the sovereign supreme creator in the world. What that means is, brothers and sisters, as disciples, we never need to be afraid. We never need to fear. He is

00:19:42 supreme and in control. He is in control of this roof falling on us or not falling on us. He is supreme. You know, many nations across the globe refer to their leader as supreme leader. The leader of Iran refers to himself as Supreme Leader Ayatollah. The leader of North Korea refers to himself as Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. And when that Supreme Leader enters a

00:20:14 room, what do the citizens do to honor him? They all stand on their feet and they salute him. Correct? There is one supreme leader that if he walked in a room filled up with Muhammad and Buddha and Kim Jong-un and Ayatollah and Trump and Biden and all of these supreme leaders, they would not stand. They would fall at their knees in reverence. He is the supreme of all supreme leaders.

00:20:45 >> He controls the breath that we take. The only reason you wake up every morning is because God woke you up that morning. The only reason we can do anything, the only reason the the earth doesn't open up and swallow me is because there is a God who is supremely in control of our lives. In Revelation 4:9, it says, "When the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne, to him who lives forever and

00:21:16 ever." The 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and will worship him who lives forever and ever and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, "Worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and because of your will, they existed and were created." I'm waiting for a time at ICMC when we

00:21:46 don't jump up and down and we actually fall on our knees before the supreme God that we're worshiping. >> If we want our worship service to look like heaven, we're not going to be jumping around the throne. We will be on our knees before the Lord, before the one who is worthy of all glory and honor and wealth and wisdom and every scent of riches that we have. We will fall on our knees. We will

00:22:18 lower our heads. We will raise our hands because we are before the supreme power of the universe. >> Kim Jong-un will hit his knees. Putin will hit his knees. Zalinski will hit his knees. Osama bin Laden will hit his knees. Pharaoh from the time of Moses will hit his knees. Muhammad will hit his knees. Buddha will hit his knees. And they will put their hands on their head and say,

00:22:48 "Oh my goodness, how wrong we were." You know in verse 17 it says, "And he is before all things and in him all things hold together." Jesus not only created all but he sustains all. What that it means is is if Jesus took the night off the entire world would descend into chaos. Every element on the periodic table,

00:23:19 every animal that walks on the earth, every continent and country and person and molecule and atom would evaporate and be crushed and swallowed by the earth. Hebrews 1:3 says, "He, Jesus, is the radiance of the glory and the exact representation of his nature and upholds all things by the word of his power. Unless Jesus declares it, it will all fall to the ground. Apart from Christ, reality as we know it

00:23:49 will warp and fall apart. Why have I taken time to go through all of this? Because we are here for Jesus. Correct? We're not here just to be hyped. We're not here just for the fellowship, though that's amazing. We're not here just to feel this emotional connection. We are here because Jesus is supreme. >> We are here because God has allowed you

00:24:21 to be here. >> There are brothers and sisters who wanted to be here and their flights got grounded. Why? Because Jesus is supreme. There is something that happened to you today that made you not want to be here. Jesus is supreme. >> Maybe you've been sinning. You've been struggling and you're here and you feel like I shouldn't be here. Let me tell you something. Jesus knows everything you're doing. He is supreme and he's allowed you to be here. >> The main thing I want to do is for you to stop thinking about yourself and to

00:24:52 think about the supreme God that we follow. >> I want you to raise your view of God so that we can serve him and worship him in light of who he is. Now that we've established this that Jesus is supreme, a question that I asked myself as I was praying through this and I was putting this together, why did Jesus create all that stuff?

00:25:22 I mean, he could have put us in a world that was black and white. It was ugly. We're just robots and we just do whatever he says. He could have created any world he wanted and he created it this way. And even more than that, here's an even greater question. Why did he create in all the creation, every star, every lion, every shark, every molecule, every wave, why did he create you and me? I was conceived on birth control. I'm

00:25:52 kind of an accident. That's what the joke in my family, right? Wasn't an accident in God's eyes. Amen. >> Why did God create me? Why did God create you? Look back at verse 16. >> All things, all things. Is that us? >> That includes you and me. All things have been created through him. What's that next part say? And for him. For your campus ministry? Nope.

00:26:24 For your parents? Nope. For your girlfriend? Nope. for you to follow your dreams and aspirations. Nope. >> You were created for Jesus. The God who created the universe by merely speaking and who breathed the stars into existence formed you in the womb. He created you and sewed you together.

00:26:56 He formed your mind and your emotions and your entire existence for one purpose, him. You were not created for anyone or anything except him. Here's the thing, though. In spite of the fact that you and I were created by God for God, a supreme God who reigns supreme, you just like me have sought supremacy in your own life.

00:27:28 >> I know for me, I grew up in this church. I'm what many of us call a kingdom kid. >> Amen. From the time I was young, I have been taught about Jesus. I knew all the stories and songs for church. I could answer most questions that people asked about the Bible. I was well informed. On top of that, my parents are not

00:27:58 hypocrites. My parents legitimately live out their disciplehip. >> And I saw this each and every day of my life. I saw their love for each other. I have never seen my mom disrespect my dad in front of me. And I have never seen my dad be harsh with my mom in front of me. Growing up, most people that lived in my neighborhood or grew up around me did not grow up in that type of home.

00:28:31 And so when things went bad for the people around me, oftentimes they would come and stay at my house with my family. But here's the thing. In spite of the fact that I grew up in church, in spite of the fact I knew the stories, I knew the songs, I had other things that ruled supreme in my heart besides Jesus. I knew all about Jesus. I did not know his supremacy. Football was supreme.

00:29:02 Sex was supreme. Earning respect was supreme. Proving myself was supreme. Power was supreme. I was supreme in my own life. I lived in light of what I believed was supreme. This informed every decision I made and everything I did. And that led me to live a very sinful life. Now, I like to tell people that I was extra evil cuz I didn't grow up in a house like my friends did. My friend's

00:29:34 dads were jumping them into gangs. My friend's dads were teaching them how to rob. My friend's dads weren't in the picture. Their moms were on drugs or alcoholics or all over the neighborhood doing stuff in the street. I didn't have parents like that. And yet I rebelled worse than my friends that grew up in an environment like that. I was extra evil. lying, robbing, stealing, fighting, sleeping around, kicking indoors, doing

00:30:04 all sorts of illegal things. I remember being so filled with this feeling of darkness that I felt like Satan himself was in the room with me at night when I went to bed. I remember feeling like the devil himself was next to me when I laid my head down for sleep. I was unable to control myself. Unable to harness my anger or my desire for pleasure. I was lost. I was in darkness. I had no power to bring myself out of

00:30:36 it. After graduating from high school, by God's grace, I was able to go play college football. And I left earlier in the summer and I started training with the team. And here's the thing. I felt like in spite of all the bad things I had done, I made it. I'm playing D1 football. I'm playing pretty well. There are women all around me. There are parties all around me. There are drinks all around me. I'm popular. I'm respected. I'm

00:31:06 feared. I thought I had everything that I ever wanted. But I remember in spite of the fact that I thought I earned what I had longed for, I was still miserable. In my first month of being on the football team at Colorado State, I got in so many fights in practice that my coach who recruited me pulled me aside and said, "Look, man, you can't bring where you're from here. If you don't pull it together, we're going to send you home."

00:31:36 I remember I couldn't stop drinking because I didn't want to be aware to myself and who I was. I couldn't wait to go to sleep at night because I was just miserable. I was angry. I thought I had everything I wanted and I found out there was nothing in all of that. That it was just one pleasure to the next and then I felt empty. One hookup to the next and then I felt empty. One catch to the next and then I got to do it all again. It was all failing.

00:32:06 Nothing satisfied me. And I remember telling God, "If this is it, if this is all there is in my life, just kill me. Bring me to hell. I know I deserve it. But get it done now cuz I don't want to be alive anymore. I was 19 when all that happened. I wonder if there's people in there in here in a similar situation. Then there was this one day

00:32:38 and I had been seeking after God for about a month and a half. I didn't tell anybody. I remember telling girls, "Hey, I can't do what I'm doing anymore." And they said, "Why? I I'm trying to get closer to God. I didn't call anyone in the church. I didn't call my mom and dad." And what I did every single waking moment of the day for a month and a half was I got on my knees and I begged God, "Help me. I have no power to bring myself out of this. I know I'm a piece of crap. I know

00:33:08 that I've known about you my entire life and I have nothing to change the way I'm living. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm lost. I need you. I did that for a month and a half and I felt nothing. And then I remember this one afternoon I was walking back to my dorm room at Parmaly Hall. That's where all the athletes stayed. And I remember it hit me like a ton of bricks. I had been seeking God for a

00:33:39 month and a half and I felt nothing. And all of a sudden I was standing in front of my dorm door. I can vividly see it. And I felt this overwhelming feeling that in spite of the fact that God was huge and supreme and creator of all things, he knew me and he loved me. I grew up my whole life. People told me, "Jesus loves you. Jesus loves you. Jesus love you. For the first time in my life, I felt like Jesus loved me.

00:34:13 And I remember thinking, this is what I've been looking for. This is the supreme love above everything I thought was supreme. The supreme pleasure among every pleasure I had been pursuing. The supreme drink that I was born to drink. The supreme bread I was born to eat. The supreme treasure I was born to find. I found it. >> Amen. >> For the first time in my life, I saw a God in his supremacy. And I was loved by a God who could crush me. A God who was supreme above all, created me, formed

00:34:44 me, and I rebelled. And yet, he loved me as if I hadn't done any of those things. I remember thinking to myself, I'll quit everything for this. I'll quit football tonight. I've worked for this my entire life. In high school, I was up at 5:00 a.m. working out for this. There's not a lot of 510 white dudes that play division one football. You know what I mean? I had to work extra hard. And I was like, in one moment, that's nothing to me. >> I'll quit this tonight.

00:35:16 >> I remember telling God, "If you never want me to be with another woman again, I will be single for the rest of my life." >> Now, praise the Lord. That was not his plan for me. I love me some Mon'nique, man. I I got my wife. We're good. I remember picking up the Bible and thinking, I don't really care what's in this. I'll do whatever it says. If you want me to cut off my arm today,

00:35:46 I'll cut my arm off. I'm ready to go. I have found what I've been looking for. >> I went home that winter break. I studied the Bible for 10 days and was baptized on January 19th, 2014. [Applause] What changed for me? I had heard of Jesus all my life and then all of a sudden I'm 19 years old and I'm all in.

00:36:16 What changed? Here's the thing. I can't remember the first time I heard the gospel. I can't remember the first time I saw the cross and Jesus's love. I can't remember the first time I heard about Jesus. But I remember the first time I saw the supremacy of Jesus. >> I remember the first time the scales fell and I saw the glory of the one who created me. >> What changed in my life was not all that

00:36:46 I knew about Jesus. It was not whether I went to church or didn't go to church. It was about the fact that I saw Christ supreme. Colossians 1:12 says, "God rescued us from the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the son of his love, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Skip down to verse 20. And through him, Jesus, to reconcile all things to

00:37:18 himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross, through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, and although you were formerly alienated and enemies in mind and in evil deeds, but now he reconciled you in the body of his flesh through death, in order to present you before him, holy and blameless and beyond reproach. Christ the supreme creator. Christ the supreme sustainer. Christ the supreme

00:37:50 reconciler reconciled me and rescued me from the authority of darkness. An authority I could not rescue myself from. A darkness that I was dead in. A darkness that I threw myself at willingly. If Jesus would have gave me what I deserve, he would have sent me to hell in a second. He would have been more than justified to send me to hell. And yet here is the supreme joy of my life. The one who directs the events of the world and who's never sinned once and

00:38:22 who has all power and all the knowledge and all the goodness and all the glory became a man and made peace for me through his blood on the cross. The supreme star breather breathed his last on the cross to rescue me. The supreme creator was killed by his creation on the cross to reconcile me. The supreme son became my sin so that I could become a son of God.

00:38:52 >> That is the Jesus we proclaim. >> From creator to rescuer. He should be the supreme message that is on our lips. Whether you want to jump up and down or not, I'm not judging you at all. It better be because Christ is supreme, not because you're hyped by what everyone else is doing. >> The message of the campus ministry in America should not be, "Welcome to my awesome campus." It should be, "Let me show you about the supreme king of the

00:39:23 world that died on the cross for you and for me." [Applause] Let me ask us here tonight. We're going to do a little application now. >> I'm going to go over my time. >> Christ is supreme. He made it happen. I want to ask us here tonight, I need

00:39:55 everyone's eyes. >> I want to ask you here tonight, the supremacy of Christ, >> is that the message you are proclaiming in your life? >> Or are we proclaiming something else? >> I think we talk a good game sometimes. I think we preach a good game.

00:40:25 But if you took a look at my life or someone took a look at your life, not your words, we all can say anything. >> But if we looked at your life is the supreme message of your life that you are proclaiming in action and deed and word is it Christ is supreme? Or would people see a person distracted by things that the world is distracted by

00:40:59 >> or valuing certain things? Maybe we never claim it's above Jesus, but by our life it's at least equal with them. >> What message are you proclaiming? And it what message is our campus ministry in America proclaiming? Here are the messages that I see. Now, none of us would ever say that Jesus is not supreme. We would never say that Jesus is not Lord. But here's what I see in the campus

00:41:29 ministries. >> Most of the way we view Jesus and faith nowadays in the West and in America and in our campus ministries is through the lens of self. Even in our church, we constantly preach self-love, self-care, self-confidence, self-esteem. >> I can't find any of that in the Bible. >> I see Jesus coming onto the scene

00:42:00 saying, "Repent and believe. The kingdom of God is at hand." >> Not, "Hey, come follow me. I'll give you, you know, you feel good about yourself. The church of God, Jesus Christ, the one who died for the church, has become a circus >> where if you're not entertained, you'll go on the internet and just find another church that you can be entertained by.

00:42:30 >> Jesus didn't die on the cross for your entertainment. >> He died on the cross for your soul. He died on the cross for your salvation. He died on the cross that you would carry your cross and die to yourself and live a life that counted. [Applause] >> People will move across the country for a job, but not to plant a church.

00:43:01 >> They'll go overseas on a military deployment, but they won't be a foreign missionary in the Middle East. They will rearrange their whole schedule for a good paying career but not to meet with the body of Christ on Sunday morning. >> They will suffer physically for a sport, a job, a family member. But the moment we start getting persecuted, we say, "Well, let's relax a little bit. >> Let's calm down a little bit."

00:43:33 >> Don't you remember all the apostles got slaughtered for this? They will sell all they have in order to start a business but will not sell house, car, and clothes for church planning. They will call boundaries in their dating relationship legalistic and old school while the whole time they have boundaries all over their relationship with God.

00:44:07 They'll talk to their girlfriend day and night, but they won't stay up late to pray to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. [Applause] They'll give their boyfriend or girlfriend a ride to work in the morning, but you can't wake up when your alarm goes off to study the Bible. They can't get deep with God. But you can't stop getting deep with your girlfriend.

00:44:45 >> They'll introduce their boyfriend or girlfriend to their family, but are too scared to evangelize their family. [Applause] what all of this says, brothers and sisters. >> I think we're proclaiming a message other than the supremacy of Christ. >> It seems that our well-being and our comfort and our lives have become supreme.

00:45:15 I was watching Rocky 3 the other day >> and Mickey's telling Rocky, he says, 'The worst thing in the world has happened to you as a fighter. He said, 'What? He said, 'You became civilized. Our Christianity looks a little civilized. >> Jesus is supreme only as long as I can keep living my life. Jesus is supreme only as long as I don't have to suffer. Jesus is supreme only as long as that means I don't have to be too extreme.

00:45:50 I want to skip down here. We're going to close out here. Look down there. Verse 24. Look at what Paul says here. This is what the supremacy of Christ did for Paul. Verse 24. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake and I fill up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions in my flesh on behalf of his body which is the church. So what we see here is that it seems like Christ was not only destined to

00:46:20 suffer suffer physically but also to suffer through his body which is the church. And Paul is saying that what Christ suffered, he too is suffering on his behalf. Think about Paul for a minute. He was flogged 195 times. He was stoned. He was beaten with rods. He was abandoned by the very churches that he planted. He went through suffering and suffering and suffering.

00:46:54 And yet he found his supreme joy and his supreme message in the supremity of Christ. In spite of the fact that he was in prison as he wrote this, the supremacy of Christ reminded him that there was purpose in all of his suffering. That the only reason he was suffering as he was was because there was a God who loved him and saved him and was allowing for him to do so. Think about where the supremacy of Christ led the first century church.

00:47:26 Steven as he was being stoned to death shined like an angel in heaven. The light of the supremacy of co God could not be overcome by the darkness of his persecutors. Peter was crucified upside down. Paul was stoned and dragged out of the town. And then he got back up and went back to preach in the town. James was beheaded. Matter of fact, all the apostles were slaughtered for the message of Christ's supremacy.

00:47:57 What is the message that their suffering proclaimed? Jesus is supreme over my comfort. Jesus is greater than life itself. When we live a life where we are allergic to suffering, where we separate suffering from carrying our cross, the world looks at our message and you know what they say? Jesus just ain't worth it. He ain't worth it to his followers. He's definitely not going to be worth it to me.

00:48:30 Jesus is supreme over our circumstances. Jesus is supreme over my stuff and the things that I hold valuable. And until we are willing to suffer for the gospel and lose all for the gospel, the supremacy of Christ will not be proclaimed in our lives. We will live a suburban safe first world faith and we will have a suburban safe first world message. Brothers and sisters, Jesus is worthy of more than that.

00:49:00 Our lives, your life should point the world to his supremacy. that if he calls me to go to Afghanistan to win Muslims for Jesus, I go. That if he calls me to quit the ministry and go plant a church with no money, no housing, no nothing, I go. >> That if he calls me to sell all I have and give it to the poor, then I do it. That if he calls me to fill up in my body what is lacking in regards and his suffering, then I suffer. Suffering for Christ is what changed the world. Not

00:49:31 jumping up and down at worship nights, not doing freeze dance. We are here to change the world. We are here to proclaim a message that is eternal. About a God who is sovereign about Jesus Christ that is supreme. He is the alpha, the omega, the king of kings and the lord of lords. Is the message of supremacy proclaimed in your life? Or are we proclaiming something else? Brothers and sisters, let us leave here today, back to our campuses, back to our

00:50:03 neighborhood with one message, one thing that we want people to walk away when they look at their life. We want people to be stunned by the supremacy of Jesus.