This passage here has been one of the most formative when thinking about a model for pastoral ministry for myself. In these verses, we see Paul is not telling us as readers that we need to do something. He is not prescribing any specific action. Instead, he is describing his ministry to the Colossians and the Laodiceans. In this description, I think we are given a model for faithful ministry for what the local Church should look like. And as you consider me to be your pastor, I thought it would be helpful for you to hear how I think about ministry. And hear my heartbeat and philosophy, both of which are formed and borrowed from the Apostle Paul as he writes here. Paul's heart for the Colossians was for them to hold firm in the faith. And this is my hope for you, to hold firm in the faith. Another way to say this is that we minister for a steadfast faith. And that is our big idea. We minister for a steadfast faith. And ministry for a steadfast faith is rooted in three truths. As Paul outlines here, ministry for a steadfast faith is rooted firstly in rejoicing and suffering, making Christ known in the world and striving thirdly for maturity among the saints. That is what Paul tells us here. And that will serve as our outline this morning. So our first point is to have a ministry for steadfast faith. We are to rejoice in suffering. Paul here is in prison, writing to the church. He was jailed for his proclamation of Christ. And in this he is facing a form of suffering that few of us know or will know. But Paul saw his suffering in accord with his call to ministry. This was something that affirmed his qualification as he participates in Christ's suffering. He says he is filling up what is lacking in Christ's affliction. And as I say that, this phraseology might make the keen reader wonder, is Paul saying that Christ's suffering and atonement was somehow not sufficient. And that's simply not the case. Paul earlier in this letter and later in this letter makes clear of the sufficiency and supremacy of Christ in salvation. He is saying here that his suffering, Paul's suffering for Christ, is still lacking. It is still in the process of being fulfilled or filled up. In the conversion of Paul and his commission in Acts 9, the risen Christ says that Paul must suffer much for Christ's namesake. This suffering was measured and meant to benefit both Paul and the church. It was meant to benefit Paul as he is being conformed to the image of Christ. And it was meant to benefit the church as he took on affliction so that others would not need to. This is why Paul could rejoice. He knew that there was purpose to his suffering, that God was using it for good in his life and the life of the church more broadly. Though this point is rather specific to Paul and his call to ministry, we can apply this principle to our theology of suffering. Affliction in this life will be many, but it is not without purpose. Whether it is moving or mourning, whether it is heartache or bodyache, whether it is emotional or physical, there are plenty of scriptures like this one that make clear that God is benefiting his saints in the midst of trial. Think of the words from Romans 8:28. I will read them for us now. It is both to conform us to Christ and to help us to be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. Our suffering, like Paul's, is not without purpose. It is both to conform us to Christ and to help us bless others. And it is because of that that we can rejoice in our sufferings. In 1848, the Pictou-native John Getty and his wife Charlotte arrived on the shores of the New Hebrides, known now as the island of Vatu. It was said of Getty and his wife when they landed in 1848, there were no Christian here. When he left in 1872, it is said that there were no heathen. Though Getty's ministry was increasingly fruitful, it was still immensely difficult. Over the years, the hardships and tragedies had a wearying effect on the Gettys. Of the eight missionaries serving with them from Nova Scotia, five had died. Of their eight children, only five survived adulthood. The harsh climate, constant threats, perpetual rebuilding and the backlash of the island towards the missionaries left the Gettys broken down. Though their faith prevailed, John's health did not. At the port in Halifax in 1846, before they set sail 26 years before his death, John said this, I know that suffering awaits me. But to bear the redeemer's yoke is an honor to the one who has felt the redeemer's love. Our sufferings are ever deep and difficult, but God's purposes are greater. This is why we can rejoice in our sufferings. In that suffering, we have a wealth for ministry. It's like a bank account that we can take from and minister to others from. Though it feels like a loss, you've accrued great wealth. Though our suffering might not be for the church like Paul or the Gettys, it can still be a blessing to those around us. Rejoicing and suffering contributes to a steadfast faith in the church. It is a lived form of discipleship that is more so caught than it is taught. It is more so emulated than it is educated. The truth that we should know as a church is that the servant is not greater than his master. Meaning this, our Savior suffered. And so will we. But just as Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, and we too, knowing there's life in and through and after. Just as Paul says elsewhere, for this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us a weight of glory beyond all comparison. As we look not to the things that are seen, but the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. We can rejoice in our suffering today because what we labor for is greater than what we see today. A steadfast faith for us and our church. And so we minister for a steadfast faith by rejoicing and suffering, but also by making Christ known in the world, which is our second point. Paul was made a minister by God to make God's word fully known, not just for Jews, but also among the Gentiles. To minister, the word means to be a servant. And ministry, by virtue of that definition, means to provide a service. We have government ministry officials. We call them ministers. Maybe they have a specific portfolio like academic development. And what we believe by that is that that is their service and they are a servant of said ministry. But as a minister of the church, Paul's call was to serve the body of Christ. And his portfolio, if we're to use that language, was shepherding, feeding the flock, making the word of God fully known to the saints, those who already know Christ, and the Gentiles, those who are not ethnically Jewish. The Greek word there for Gentiles is the word ethnos, is where we get the English word ethnicities. This word is often translated also as nations. And so ministry is marked by suffering, but its substance was making Christ known from his word to all people. The Colossian church is similar to our own. They were a community wrapped in Jewish and secular myths. They're surrounded with these people saying that they're secret knowledge or mysterious wisdom that is not of Christ. And we in a society in Bedford or in Canada, we are still surrounded by those who think that they can know something or understand the mysteries of life somehow apart from God and apart from his word. And so you'll see throughout this letter, Paul uses the word the mystery of God or the mystery of Christ to speak of the gospel and of Christ bringing God's people together. Paul makes clear that God's mystery is revealed to us in Christ. It is Christ himself. You look at chapter 2, verse 2 of Colossians, you see that the mystery of God is Christ. And it is my job as a minister to make Christ known from all of Scripture, emulating what Paul articulates as a minister of God. Following Paul's example and doing the same to preach Christ from every book of the Bible that we may see that all of Scripture points to his person and work of making a people for himself from every tribe, tongue and nation. That his death, burial and resurrection is not just a gateway to eternal life, but it is victory over death, Satan and the world. That God sent his son to save, to bring life not just to Jews, but to the world. That God's spirit would come and live in you and me, that we would know the hope of glory. I know you know this, but know this truth. These are not just New Testament truths. They are promises found in the Old Testament revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ. I'm not a puzzler, but some of you might be. I know a few. And what I've learned from them is that they work from the edges. They find the edge pieces and use it as a foundation as they work towards the picture on the box. Once they have those pieces set up on the edges, they sort of work on getting the center in place. And at that midway point, they start to see the picture that's on the box. And it's when they get there, they start to realize that they are missing some pieces. Maybe you've felt that way as you've puzzled. You can somehow sort of make out the picture, but you know there's something essentially wrong with where you're at, and you need something to help you. And so maybe you start trying to wet another puzzle piece and shove it in, but it will not work. This is a picture of where the church finds themselves in redemptive history. The Jews had the edges. They had some sort of foundation of what God was doing in the scriptures to save his people. They had some understanding of redemption, but they did not know the whole. And Christ comes not only as this missing puzzle piece, but to make this picture clear. In many ways, he takes the existing puzzle and himself and reorients the pieces to a clear picture of what God is doing to save his people. To some of you, you neither know there is a puzzle in the Bible or that there is a Christ. And my hope for you is that you'd come to see your need for a Savior, that you would know that there is a God and that he has made a way for you to know him through the person and work of Jesus Christ. If you need help with some of those pieces of the puzzle, and you're questioning and you're wondering, I ask you, even at the end of this service, I know some people want to just get to know me for me, but if you are struggling with the gospel, come speak with me after this service. Others of you, this is not just a work for uppercase M ministers. It is also for lowercase M ministers like yourselves. God has called you and sent you into the world to reflect his glory and tell others of his majesty. There are many ways that Bedford Presbyterian Church does this, such as English as an alternative language ministry or ISMC. But even outside of that, we can make Christ known by telling our neighbors, our friends and our family members about the glorious mystery that is Christ. And as we do so, many will come to see the wisdom and knowledge of God revealed throughout all of scripture as we show them Christ. May we do this. May we do this by his strength for his glory. So we minister for a steadfast faith that is rooted in rejoicing and suffering, making Christ known. And lastly, it is rooted in striving for maturity among the saints. Presriving for maturity among the saints. You can see this in verses 28 onward. Paul's ministry was marked by suffering. His work was making Christ known and his goal, as we see in this point and in these verses, is maturity in Christ. Paul's labor in preaching was not for intellectual assent, not for people to know a bunch of facts. It was for experiential depth, that people would be in mature relationship with their God, with Christ. This is why he preached. Warning and teaching that the church would not just know about Jesus, but they would know Jesus. Being made complete in him and by him. This is not a preferentry, shallow understanding of God and sin and the world, but a robust Christian faith and worldview. That the eyes that you see through, that the heart that you feel with, the mind that you think by are captured by Christ. That is what Paul labored for in Colossae and what I labor for if you so call me in Bedford. That when I would rebuke or warn you, it is because the Scriptures say so. That I would teach with all wisdom and proclaim him that you would hear Christ. Christ is what we need. To hear him, to know him and to grow in him. Paul here is writing to people that he hasn't met. Just like I haven't met many of you. As I preach this message, I don't want you to hear that somehow I think you're immature. But the reality is none of us have totally arrived. And my job is to aid you in that process of becoming more like Christ and increasing in your assurance and love and understanding of Jesus. So that you and I would have a steadfast faith. Paul's toiling and struggling in the task, in this task, is empowered by Christ in him. You can see that in verse 29. The source of his ability to rejoice in suffering, to make Christ known and to aim for maturity is something that he did not do on his own. It was Christ in him and leading him. And so must it be for us. Without the work of the spirit, we are inefficient and useless. We might get some information in our own strength, but we will not have transformation. That is the work of the spirit. And may God work in and through me and in and through you by a spirit that we would know him, love him and mature in him. That we would have a steadfast faith. This whole message I said that Paul is ministering for a firm faith or steadfast faith. But I didn't define that in any way. It can be defined by what Paul says in chapter two of our passage. Colossians chapter two verses two to five. That their hearts may be encouraged. Some translations say strengthened. That their hearts may be strengthened. That they may be knit together in love. That they may reach the fullness of assurance and understanding of Christ. So that they would not be diluted by false teaching. So that you and I would not be diluted by the lies of this world. And that is my hope for you. That you would have strengthened hearts, grow in love and have rich assurance and knowledge of Christ. This model of ministry, I'd have a small part to play if you chose me as your next pastor. God uses men, yes, to aid in steadfast faith. But the reality is, you do not need me. You need Christ. And that is what Paul's point here is. Christ is the one who will keep you and lead you. Christ is the one that you must know. Christ is the one that will mature you from the inside out, making you a man or woman with a strengthened heart. With an interconnected love. With full assurance and understanding of who he is. That is the work of Christ in you. And may he do it. Let us pray.