“All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”
Daily Scripture
Colossians 2:2-9
2 My goal is that their hearts would be encouraged and united together in love so that they might have all the riches of assurance that come with understanding, so that they might have the knowledge of the secret plan [or mystery] of God, namely Christ. 3 All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in him. 4 I’m telling you this so that no one deceives you with convincing arguments, 5 because even though I am absent physically, I’m with you in spirit. I’m happy to see the discipline and stability of your faith in Christ.
6 So live in Christ Jesus the Lord in the same way as you received him. 7 Be rooted and built up in him, be established in faith, and overflow with thanksgiving just as you were taught. 8 See to it that nobody enslaves you with philosophy and foolish deception, which conform to human traditions and the way the world thinks and acts rather than Christ. 9 All the fullness of deity lives in Christ’s body.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
We can’t fully celebrate our senior pastor’s 60th birthday without grasping what has made his 60 years of life so powerfully impactful. Pastor Hamilton lives out and shares what the apostle Paul called God’s “secret plan” (or “mystery”). That, above all else, is what he’s guided Resurrection toward, what he most wants us to build our lives and our church’s life on. “Jesus the Messiah, the king, the ‘Christ’, is the heart of God’s secret plan. Nobody, no matter how learned or devout they had been before, could have guessed that, when the one true God unveiled his blueprint for bringing the whole world under his sovereign and saving rule, that blueprint would consist of a man suffering the cruel punishment that the Romans used for rebel slaves and revolutionary leaders – and then rising from the dead three days later…. Christianity, says the old slogan, is Christ. Put him in the middle of your picture of the world, and the world will stop spinning in incomprehensible circles and begin to make sense. Find him, and you’ve got the treasure.” *
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In the Roman Empire, the word “Lord” was in no way harmless or casual. To claim Jesus Christ “as Lord” meant denying the Empire’s religious as well as political claim that Caesar was “Lord.” To invite people to “live in Christ Jesus the Lord” was to invite them to risk their social standing, and sometimes their very life, by trusting Jesus as the supreme ruler in their life. Both Rome and Christians knew that in any kingdom, there can only be one Lord. The same is true today, though claims to be the true “Lord” are more numerous and varied than in Roman times. Yet Paul urged his readers to “overflow with thanksgiving.” Why? “Verse 9 is perhaps the sharpest and clearest statement in all his writings of his belief that Jesus quite literally embodies the one true God, God in all his fullness.” ** If you have Jesus, you have the central reason for giving thanks. How can you “overflow with thanksgiving” in any and all circumstances?
Prayer
King Jesus, come and rule every part of my mind, my heart, my life. Keep showing me the corners where I hold back, wanting to choose my will over yours. Amen.
GPS Insights
Nick Kaufmann Mamisashvili
Nick Kaufmann Mamisashvili serves as the Connection & Care Pastor at Resurrection's Downtown location. He’s also their Director of Student Ministries. Pastor Nick is gardening, coaching soccer, playing music, and tinkering in his workshop when he’s not working. He and his wife, Ani, love hosting friends and family at their home for dinner and laughter.
“You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” Have you heard that quote? It’s from the The Dark Knight, a Batman movie released in 2008. I have an uncanny ability to recall quotes from movies seen and heard across my lifetime. I often insert these quotes in my conversations with others. (I do this with music lyrics, too). In fact, I can’t often help it. I haven’t used this particular quote in a conversation yet, but I accept the challenge to try! I have lots of movie quotes (and song lyrics) floating around the ether of my head because I spent a large portion of my free time as a child and teenager watching movies on TV, VHS, and DVD. My vocabulary, morals, sense of romanticism, fashion, and social interests are all largely influenced by the media I consumed between 1990 and 2010.
Do you know what else continues to influence me today? My experience of Church. I grew up in a United Methodist Church in West Omaha, Nebraska. It’s there that I learned to shake a hand with conviction, to be honest, to be vulnerable, to talk to strangers, to harmonize, to build things, to bury my friends with dignity, to celebrate the love of my family, to lead others before I felt prepared, to behave, to forgive, to be forgiven, to gather hope, to garden, to feed the hungry, and to read my Bible. For some of you, Resurrection has taught you those things and SO MANY MORE! Praise God for giving a man named Adam a dream and for surrounding him with people who would help grow that dream into something he could never have fathomed or imagined. We are all beneficiaries and participants in Pastor Adam’s calling to start and lead Resurrection.
Even though Resurrection – A United Methodist Church was founded the same year I was born… I didn’t know it existed until 2014. In Omaha, at least, it didn’t have the same reach that it had in Kansas back in the day. However, ever since my first visit to Resurrection’s Leadership Institute in 2014, my vocabulary has overwhelmingly become a Resurrection vocabulary. We are an Easter people. The worst thing is not the last thing. We’re building Christian community where non-religious and nominally religious people are becoming deeply committed Christians. Sound familiar? What pieces of the Resurrection vernacular are top of mind for you? It feels easy to share about what my Church stands for and what it means to me as one of its pastors. We try to include all people. We demonstrate ridiculous generosity. We show up to serve in ways that bless our community even when it’s inconvenient. We are all part of an incredible Church doing incredible things making a noticeable difference in building God’s Kingdom on Earth. How blessed are we!?
So, as you reflect on your life to this point and the impact Church makes in your life and the lives of your family members, I pray your hearts will be light. I pray your troubles become opportunities for you to thank God for the gift of life that is here today and gone tomorrow. Lastly, blessings upon you as you do your best to live a Resurrection life and invite others to do the same.
© 2024 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Wright, N. T., Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon (The New Testament for Everyone) (pp. 161-162). Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle Edition.
** Ibid., p. 167.
