GBU Central: Christ est TOUT!

I did a study at GBU Central with TWELVE students!! Ahhh!!

But lets not talk about me so much... I want to talk about God and how amazing HE is right here because I had a big old lesson in humility. I found out the Tuesday before that I would be doing the study the following Wednesday (like 8 days later). Left it until Saturday to look at the passage as I had lots of other things to do, generally thinking....ahh it'll be fine, I've done TWO studies in French now... yeah... no worries.

What do I find when I eventually turn to the passage?

"Filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions..." (Col 1:24)

Hmm..

And that despite my own best efforts, I just completely didn't understand what the point of the passage was...

Cue hours of highlighting and annotating in coloured pens, post-it notes, commentaries, John Piper sermons and finally... the help of lovely Lucy who came round, prayed with me, gave me her notes from Relay last year and sat next to me for about four hours whilst we discussed the study, wrote questions and looked up words in French.

Then at the study, half of the students turned up late, and all at once, so having psyched myself up for the study with 6 or 7 students, suddenly there were 13 of us. I can't emphasise enough how I just totally couldn't have prepared the study without God's help, and Lucy's help, let alone lead it and make it in any way coherent to 12 other people, the majority of whose first language is not English.

This verse comes back to me again and again and makes me so happy:

"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

The best thing was when, during the study, it really like REALLY 'frapped' me...the point of the passage, and the point of Colossians as a whole I guess. The Colossians' problem was that they were being tempted to add to the Gospel of Christ, and to think that they needed something more, that to grow in their faith they had to add rules and regulations... that Jesus wasn't enough.

But in this passage Paul says no, "My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments." (Col 2:2-4)

Wow! It was like... what is Paul saying here? And what should our response be when tempted to believe that there is something else we need, something to add to the Gospel.

Christ est tout!
Christ is everything!

It's the point Paul hammers home in every passage... the supremacy of Christ, the mystery of Christ,

"Christ in you, the hope of glory!" (Col 1:27)