Struggling With A Smile

·34 min·3 clips

A pastor asks his teenage daughter about the phrase 'the struggle is real' and uses it to frame a sermon on Colossians.

The struggle is real. The preacher starts with a joke about a phrase that may have had its day, then lets the joke do some real work. The question underneath is plain: what is all this effort for? Comfort, personal glory, or something that lasts? Colossians carries the sermon from the end of chapter 1 into the start of chapter 2, with gospel ministry at the center. Paul is not pictured as suffering for suffering's sake. He is laboring for people who need to receive the gospel, live it, and proclaim it. The sermon also cleans up the word mystery. Some religious systems keep truth tucked away for insiders; Christianity, as presented here, makes a public claim about Jesus: he lived, proclaimed the gospel, died, rose, appeared, and ascended openly. Christ is not secret knowledge. In Colossians, the revealed mystery is Christ in the saints, the hope of glory. Hope keeps showing up: hope laid up in heaven, hope of the gospel, hope of glory. All of it points to Christ. And it has an aim. God reveals his Son to mature his people, not to give them an idea to admire from a distance. The pastoral edge is direct without feeling cold. Look at what your struggle is serving. Joy does not cancel toil; it gives the work a reason, because God is at work and grown-up faith is worth the strain.

As heard by us

A Colossians sermon reframes everyday struggle around Christ, maturity, and the hope of glory.

Northwest Gospel Church's sermon on Colossians 1 and the start of Colossians 2 takes "the struggle is real" past its comic shorthand and into heavier ground: funerals, serious diagnoses, and the daily strain of gospel ministry.

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Why you'd press play

When your struggle feels trivial, heavy, or spiritually directionless, this Colossians sermon points you toward an eternal aim.

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