KEEPING JESUS CHRIST FIRST IN YOUR LIFE
Pastor Dennis Clanton
Woodland Church
Sunday, July 27, 2025
(Colossians 1:15-23a, NLT) “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see- such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So He is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.
1. Finances
“Right now we have the power to do great good for others. So I ask you to begin giving and to continue as you began. I think you’ll find in the end that you got far more than you ever had and did more good than you ever dreamed.” –Stephen King
(Luke 6:38, NLT) “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full-pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”
2. Interests
(Psalm 37:4, NLT) “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires.”
3. Relationships
“Look again at the cross, my friend. Take another survey. Examine it again with greater depth and profundity and, having seen the grace and the mercy and the compassion and the kindness of God, look again and this is what you will see. You will see the righteousness of God. You will see the justice of God and his holiness. It is the place of all places in the universe where these attributes of God can be seen most plainly.” -Martyn Lloyd-Jones
(John 14:6, NLT) “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
(Proverbs 3:3-4, NLT) “Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation.”
4. Schedule
(Ephesians 5:10,15-20, NLT) “Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
5. Troubles
(Jonah 2:2, NLT) “I cried out to the LORD in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and LORD, you heard me!”
GROWTHWORK
(1 Thessalonians 2:12, GW) “You should live in a way that proves you belong to the God who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”
- Believe the truth about Jesus
- Thank Him for your salvation daily
- Trust Him with your future