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{\b\fs48 Episode 1560: Image of the Invisible\b0}

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{\b\cf1 Scott Maderer:\b0}

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{ Thanks }

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{for joining me on episode 1,560 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. }

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{\b\cf3 Walt Shelton:\b0}

{ I'm Walt Shelton. I challenge you to invest in and take care of yourself, invest in and care for others. Develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talent, and your treasures to live out your calling.}

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{Sense of vocation. Practicing daily preparatory routines for your faith journey is key. One way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this The Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my friend Scott Maderer.}

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{ Pleased by you. Pleased by me. }

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{ God was pleased. And those moments of gratitude, that's the ordinary days and attention that we have to cultivate. That's the magic to recognizing God is here, there, and everywhere. Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling.}

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{In the inspired Stewardship podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself. Invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.}

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{In today's spiritual foundation episode, I talk about Colossians chapter one, verses 15 through 28. I share how we are }

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{ called to be amazed by the eternal and the ordinary. And I also talk about the way this passage calls for us to recognize gratitude. Colossians chapter one, verses 15 through 28, says, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.}

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{For in Him, all things in heaven and on earth were created things visible and invisible. Whether thrones or dominions, or rulers, or powers, all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church, he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead so that he might come to have first place in everything.}

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{For in him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him, God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven by making peace through the blood of his cross. }

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{ And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind doing evil deeds. He has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death so as to present you wholly and blameless and irreproachable before him.}

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{Provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in faith without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul became a minister of this gospel. I'm now rejoicing in my suffering for your sake and in my flesh.}

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{I'm completing what is lacking in Christ afflictions for the sake of his body. That is the church I became its minister according to God's commission that was given to me. For you to make the word of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints, to them, God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is }

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{ Christ and you, the hope of glory.}

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{It is he who we proclaim warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.}

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{Paul May not have written as many hymns as Charles Wesley and others, but he was a writer or maybe a quota of. Ologies or hymns that were being used there, there is debate about that. Did Paul write things or did he weave them into his writing and quote a song or message that was popular at the time, but whether he wrote the words or chose them to make his point, it's still true that here, Paul is giving us parts of a hymn of praise to Christ in the early parts of this letter to the Colossians.}

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{Jesus is the }

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{ he referred to in verse 15, if that's not already obvious, where it says he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, that he is Jesus. It starts with that Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Perhaps these words inspired John to later open his gospel with.}

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{A similar message. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to being through him. These messages of praise sound similar, and it goes on from this declaration to begin to describe the place, the status, the power of Christ.}

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{It begins to make the idea of the trinity become clear for in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell }

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{ all the fullness. True God of true God. Begotten not made of one being with the Father and the Trinity is one of those things that if you really ever try to think about it and comprehend it it makes your head spin.}

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{And maybe that's part of the purpose of it to make us. Think a little different to get a little head spinny. Not to confuse us, but to open us up to the fact that the wonder that is being proclaimed here, the power of God, the wonder of Christ. It's not something ordinary. It's not something typical. God chose to do this, to put on flesh and walk among us and to enter into our reality, our brokenness.}

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{So that we would know that God understands us, so that we would know that God feels our pain and knows our weakness. We would know that God is not some distant force or intimate }

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{ inanimate presence, but rather an intimate presence right here, low. I am with you always to the end of the aid. This is.}

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{Present in everything. It's how God is present in the extraordinary. But what about the ordinary? What about the every day? Those moments that pass by with almost no notice at all, unless we force ourselves to make up and pay attention. The moments of the breath, the each encounter of the day, the light of the sunrise, the light of the sunset, all of those moments that pass our eyes in moment and moment, and yet we don't pay attention.}

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{How we often don't stop to acknowledge those that we love in front of us. The ones who make our hearts pound, even if we forget to pay attention to the }

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{ pounding from time to time. How do we grab those moments and grasp those even when we can't see it because we're ignorant to it? How do we hang onto those moments long enough to let all of those around us know who they are?}

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{Because we're blessed and they are blessed, and they have come to bless us, to shape us, to love us even when we're unlovable. We miss those moments. They pass by too quickly. They disappear, and we don't even pay attention to 'em. They're gone before we even know that we missed a chance. How do we wake up to the ordinary?}

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{We use magic, ordinary magic. That's the image of the invisible, not magic like sleight of hand or those things, but rather that }

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{ connection that exists between us, around us, and before us. Always. As a Star Wars fan, I immediately think of the force. It's there, air. We would remember those things. Think about those moments as a kid when we're reminded to say Please, and thank you.}

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{Why? Remember those moments where we're told to pay attention to the ordinary moments of time and recognize them with gratitude? Gratitude is that moment that reminds us of our connection, our reliance on others, and that connection is what gives our lives meaning. When we recognize to say, thank you for loving me, even when I'm not lovable.}

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{Thank you for feeding me even when I don't deserve it. Thank you for clothing me, even when I don't deserve it. }

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{ Thank you for making me laugh and for holding me while I cry. Thank you for being there and thank you for even wanting to, that is the message here. Paul's hymn is one of where we are amazed at the wonder of who Christ is, but we're also amazed that this is about God in Christ.}

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{This whole wonderful, amazing head spinning thing was so that you and I could find our way home to the arms of God. Through him, God was pleased to reconcile himself. All things, and that includes you and me, to himself, to God we're brought into relationship and he was pleased to do it. He was pleased to open his arms and welcome us home.}

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{God was pleased to open }

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{ the door for us is to stand watch at the end of the lane so that when we find our way and stumble our way through the dark, he could run and greet us. And put a ring upon our finger and a robe around our shoulders. We are brought home and welcomed into the loving arms of our father, nurtured by our mother, because God was pleased to do pleased by us. Pleased by you. Pleased by me. God was pleased. And those moments of gratitude, that's the ordinary days and attention that we have to cultivate. That's the magic to recognizing God is here, there, and everywhere. Thanks for listening.}

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{Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship }

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{ Podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode, do me a favor. Go over to facebook.com/inspired.}

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{Stewardship and like our Facebook page and market that you'd like to get notifications from us so that we can connect with you on Facebook and make sure that we're serving you to the best of our abilities with time and tips there. Until next time, invest your time. Your talent and your treasures.}

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{Develop your influence and impact the world.}

}