How To Be Fruitful
April 16, 2023 • Rev. Pete Nicholas • Colossians 1:1–14
The first sermon in the series, "Bearing Fruit in the City," with Rev. Pete Nicholas preaching.
Paul makes an amazing claim in Colossians 1:6 that ‘the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world’ (NIV). The fruitfulness that Paul is talking about is missional fruitfulness, as the Christians in Colossae came to faith in Christ Jesus. It is also pastoral fruitfulness, ‘bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God' (v10).
But what is this gospel that is so central, powerful, and fruitful? Paul writes, ‘He [Jesus Christ] is the one we proclaim’. In other words, the gospel is not an abstract set of doctrines (though it is doctrinal), nor is it merely a religious experience (though it is experiential). At its core, it is personal; it is about the person and work of Jesus Christ. To bear fruit, we need to know him and proclaim him.
This is what Colossians is about. Christ is all we need to be fruitful. He is the way into the Christian life, and he is the way on. Nothing more, nothing less; Christ is all we need.
