Anniversary Service 2026

Let us turn to where we read from in God's word, Paul's epistle to the Colossians. Colossians chapter two and verses six and seven. Colossians chapter two and verses six and seven. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him, rooted and built up in him, established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Colossians chapter 2, verses 6 and 7. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, So walk ye in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

Now on an anniversary occasion, it is often a time where we look back to a year that has passed by We look back at what the Lord has done, his goodness and mercy, the way we have walked. But it should also be a time where we naturally look forward to. If by God's grace, we are spared to live another year, what any of us will see and know, we do not know, but the Lord knows.

And Paul's desire for the people at Colossae was this, which should be the desire of all of God's churches throughout the world. As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. Rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as you have been taught. abounding therein with thanksgiving. So Paul in writing to the church here at Colossae was doing so while he was imprisoned.

And yet we see throughout this book, thankfulness. Starts, doesn't it? After the introduction in chapter one, we give thanks. to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have to all the saints. Is not this the foundation of the Church of God? A thankful heart, prayer, faith in Christ Jesus, love to all the saints.

But where does this flow from? Does it not flow from the truth that He then sets before us in verses 13 and 14, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. So He sets before the people a precious Christ, a Christ that has redeemed them, a Christ that is unchanging, a Christ that is worthy of honour and glory. And then he says to these dear people, as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.

And is that our prayer? That throughout this next 12-month period, there may be a walking in Him, there may be a deeper union with our Saviour, that we may enter more fully into that glorious ending of verse 27 in chapter 1, Christ in you. the hope of glory. So may the Lord help us this evening just to simply look through these two verses, six and seven.

To consider under these three headings, walking in Christ, so walk ye in him. And secondly, rooted and built up in Christ. And then lastly, established and thankful in Christ. Walking in Christ. But who is this to firstly? As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord. This is to those who, through the precious gift of faith, have received the merits of Christ Jesus the Lord. And then they are instructed, so walk ye in him. There's only one way for the Lord's people to walk, in the same Christ. There's no new gospel. in this next year. There's no new revelation. There is to be a continuing in the same pathway.

There are many that will try and delve into deep mysteries. There are many today that are enamored with the Bible because of the various things that you can read in it and prophecies and visions and what may yet unfold in the end times. But for those that know and love the Lord, is it not this, that in all things, He might have the preeminence? And yes, it is right that we read and value the whole Word of God, but is Christ in us the hope of glory? As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.

There's no other way. This is where churches drift, when they move away from the simplicity that is to be found in Christ. the simplicity of the preached word, the simplicity of the means of grace that God has given to his people. But it may be simple. But to those that know these truths, there is no end to the depths of them, is there? So walk ye in him.

It was that same warning that Paul wrote to the church at Galatia, wasn't it? In chapter one and verse eight. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. It's the same old gospel. It's the same truths. And what a privilege it is when we see Another year go by, and another soul brought out of darkness into the glorious light of the gospel. It's the same Christ. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. Because Jesus Christ is what? The same. Yesterday, today, and forever. So, walk. It's the same Christ, but it is a walk. A daily walk. And we may say about people, mightn't we, they can talk the talk, but they don't walk the walk. Do we? Do we walk a life that shows that we have received Christ Jesus the Lord? Are we a right witness in all we say and all we do? Do we show in our daily conduct a dependence upon our Christ, a perseverance in our Saviour? Because Christianity is continual communion. It's not occasional religion. It's not just coming here on a Sunday. Or if you're really good, coming to the weeknight service as well. No, it's walking in the way of the Lord. It's the way it must be. It's the way it always has been. and the way it always will be for the Lord's people.

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, Paul wrote elsewhere, beseech you, what? That you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. And how is that walk to be walked? With all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Why?

Because there is one body and one spirit as you are called in one hope of your calling. My dear friends, if we truly believe that, it will be seen in the way we walk with our fellow brethren and sisters in Christ. When one of them is damaged, we are damaged. When one of them is joyful, we are joyful because we are one.

And this is what the world sees today, where we see more and more of a fracturing in our society, where we see more and more of a selfish attitude in, generally speaking, a me culture. This is the walk that is seen, a sacrificial walk, a Christ-like walk. But as I said earlier, this walk is a daily walk.

And as the children of Israel had to gather the manna daily, they could not store up that which they could then use to feed themselves for the next day. They had to depend daily. Yesterday's manner would not do for today. And my dear friends, may we not say, oh, well, we've ticked the box this week.

We can do what we want. So walk in Christ. But before we move on to our second point, we are walking under Christ Jesus the Lord. Christ is not merely received as we have in this sixth verse, but he is to be obeyed too. And the church must submit to his authority. And when times may become tough, it is Christ's word, God's word that we submit to, not the rules of man. we are to stay steadfast to our Lord. Jesus said, didn't he, said to one, why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say. If we are those to be found in this sixth verse of Colossians chapter two, walking in him, they'll be walking in obedience to his commands, walking in loving submission to his word, and walking exuding the fruit of the Spirit by God's grace in all we say and do. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. But secondly, this evening in verse seven, Paul uses two pictures to illustrate this.

Rooted and built up in him. Rooted, like a tree. We all know, don't we? Some of us more than others. How deep or how widespread the roots of a tree can be. You may have seen someone trying to remove a tree stump and a great hole that may have to be dug to try and haul that root ball out of the ground. And that tree may have stood in that place for many centuries, stood fast through many storms. And why? Because it was rooted. Rooted. Have we got deep roots in Christ? Have we got deep roots in his word? Or are we those that are easily blown about with every wind of doctrine? We sway this way and that way. Have we got those roots that have truly gone down?

Think of that beautiful first psalm. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. He shall be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. Yes, are we like that tree with those roots that have gone down to the water source?

But we're all different. Like all trees are different. And we shouldn't compare ourselves too much with one another. Some trees survive with very shallow roots. but those roots still draw water. Some trees have to put their roots down very, very deep and they find that source of water. But with all those trees, whatever type they may be, what is the distinguishing mark that it is a healthy tree?

It brings forth fruit in his season. No roots, no fruits. My dear friends, is it seen in us that we are rooted in Him? If we are rooted or we could say united to Christ our vine, is there a Christ-like spirit? Christ-like fruit? Yes, deep roots in Christ and his word sustain the church. But he uses another picture too, doesn't he? Not only rooted and built up in him.

Like a building. I'm sure we've all gone past building sites at various times. Maybe not so much with a house building site, but if there's a big construction of a large building or a stadium or something like that, you may drive past it for months and months and months.

You think nothing's really happening. What's going on? Well, what's going on is what's going on in the ground. There's a foundation being put in. There is all sorts of services being put in. and before anything is really seen above ground, there is an immense amount that goes on underground.

So it is with the soul. There is much that goes on underground as we could say in our souls that sometimes we are really unaware of. We do not really see what is going on. But then we may look on one another and may see some form of spiritual structure, trying not to stretch the analogy too much, being built up. There is something being formed. There is something seen. But it's rooted and built up in Him. And much of God's work is a quiet and a steady work. A work that continues, a work that goes on. And we may not see much as we go past that site week by week, but you leave it a year, something has changed. My dear friends, where are we? It's searching, isn't it? If we look back on our building of the past year, has there been any building up? Or has there been decay? Well, what's the deciding factor? in him. Rooted and built up in him.

Paul speaks so much on so many of these themes and it's nice and easy when you can just stay in the epistles but there is so much teaching in them isn't there? Now therefore, in Ephesians 2, 19 and 20, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, and are built up upon what? Upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief. Cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Built up. And those great buildings that we see may drive over the bridge that goes over the River Thames, the Dartford Bridge, and you may look across to the right to the City of London and see all those great buildings. Those foundations have gone down deep. Deep foundations before there's visible beauty. Yes, are we building up.

Rooted and built up in Him. Christ is not merely the beginning, but the source of all growth. It's in Him, in Him, in Him. Rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith. Brings us on to our third point this evening. Established and thankful in Christ. Established in the faith as ye have been taught abounding therein with thanksgiving. So what are we to be established in?

In the faith or we could say in truth. There is this stability. in doctrine, not being carried about by changing ideas. And that doesn't mean that we do not need to adapt with the era we live in, in various ways. That doesn't mean that we are blinkered to any change whatsoever. But what it means is not a change of what we do, but we mustn't change what we teach.

We teach and we preach Christ and him crucified. This is the only way that an unworthy wretch like you and me by nature can be made fit for heaven. It is through him. There's no other way. For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. That perfecting or that equipping, that establishing can only be through Him.

You think of a ship on a stormy sea. You cannot imagine it today in a lovely summer's day. But those ships, they need ballast. They need some form of weight to embed them into the sea. Those ships go about completely empty, those great container ships with nothing in them. They are not in the water. I have not got that friction and that up push from the water upon them, and they'll be all over the place. But they are down in the water.

They are established. They are settled. And then they can move safely and navigate through the stormy seas. And it's no different for us. We need that ballast. We need that sound doctrine. We need that sound teaching. We need the word of God faithfully expounded.

As Paul said to Timothy, but continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. Yes, it's that continuing in the things which thou has learned. Established in the faith as ye have been taught. There's no other way. There's no shortcut.

God establishes churches through preaching and the word. This is the ordinary means of grace that God has used for his church and will continue to use till the end of time. Why Almighty God has chosen foolish men like myself to stand and proclaim the word of God, we will never know, but we know this. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

My dear friends, it's through the preaching and teaching of God's word that we are to be established. Established in the faith as ye have been taught. I could spend all evening giving you anecdotes and stories, and it may amuse you, it may occupy you, it may stop you falling asleep, but is it going to establish you in the faith? Me telling you about what I have done, is that going to teach you what God has done? Yes, it may illustrate a point from time to time, but what we need is that establishing in the faith. that true teaching of God's word.

And if we're not being taught, if we're not being instructed, something's going wrong. And if you're not being taught and instructed tonight about God's word, something has gone wrong. And please don't invite me again. But dear friends, is this what we desire? the pure, unadulterated truth of God's Word, applied with power by the Holy Spirit to enable us to honour and glorify our God and to be settled in Him, to be assured of His work, to be comforted by our Father's love, to know the power and unction of the Spirit within, rooted and built up in Him. and established in the faith as ye have been taught.

Truth must be passed on to the next generation, and to the next generation, and to the next generation. From the early church until now, what has happened? They've been taught. They've been established in the faith. They brought glory to God. And how are we to do that? Abounding therein with thanksgiving. Gratitude flows from remembering what God has done. And gratitude flows from naturally looking back to God's providential dealings with us through the past year. And we should abound therein with thanksgiving.

You say, but you don't know my pathway in the last year. No, I probably don't. But I do know you've got far more than you deserve. I do know that the Lord has been slow to anger and plenteous in mercy, that he has not cut you off, that he has sustained you, kept you, helped you, been with you. And if we have been established in the faith and not overcome with unbelief, there should be that thanksgiving.

The Lord sustains his people through many changes and trials. He sustains his people through many temptations and besetting sins. But there's only one thing that truly sustains, knowing Christ Jesus, the Lord. knowing that what he wills for us is for our best, knowing that his promises change not. As we said earlier, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

And when we know that, we can come in with the psalmist in Psalm 103, can't we? And we can say, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed. Like the eagles, yes, the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. And if we have in this past year received Christ Jesus the Lord and walked in him and been rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as we have been taught, are we then abounding therein with thanksgiving. We for sure, all of us, I'm sure we admit in this way.

But why frequently is that? Because we still hold to a works-based religion. We still think that God is gracious to us because of what we are. God is gracious to us because he has loved us with an everlasting love. And therefore, with loving kindness, he has drawn us. He knows that we have no power or might in and of ourselves, and all that he gives us is from him.

My dear friends, may we be made more dependent May we be made those that are true followers of our Saviour. May we be those like the church at Colossae, who Paul has heard of. He rejoiced over them, knowing that they have faith in Christ Jesus. They had love to all the saints. through the word of the truth of the gospel.

So may we each walk worthy of the Lord and to all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to his glorious power and be found through another year of our short lives, whatever may take place. knowing what it is to have received Christ Jesus the Lord in fresh measure and fresh strength, daily walking in him.

Amen. service this evening. There is some light refreshments in the Sunday school. I'm closing him this evening from him to worship is 139. May the mind of Christ my saviour live in me from day to day by his love and power controlling all I do and say may the word of God dwell richly in my heart from hour to hour But as all who may see, I triumph only through His power. Hymns 139. all I do and say. Dwell richly in my heart from now to ever, so that all may see I triumph hardly through His path. Peace of God, my Father, rule my life in everything. that I may become to comfort sick and sorrowing.

My love of Jesus fill me, as the waters fill the sea. Him exalting, self-abasing, this is victory. All me strong and brave to face the fire, Looking only unto Jesus as I onward go. May his beauty rest upon me, as I seek the lost to win, and may they forget the channels seeing only him.

Most Holy and Almighty God, we thank Thee for Thy Word, which changes not in a changing world. We thank Thee for our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, that is the same yesterday, today and forever. And may it be the desire of our brother here, the pastor, and all the church and congregation to be growing in Thy Word. And may, as we have just been singing, may they forget the channel, seeing only Him. Lord, it is not us. It is Thee that we seek to preach and lay before the people.

And in all things, may Christ have the preeminence. So may we be deeply rooted. May there be those strong foundations. May we be established. May we be more fruitful. May we be more full of praise. And may we be more overcome with our triune God. So do forgive all and everything that has been wrong in our worship here this evening, but that which has been of Thee do own and bless and seal by the power of Thy dear Spirit. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

Anniversary Service 2026

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Anniversary Service 2026

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