What are you carrying right now that you've been trying to get out from under, rather than asking what God might do through it?

Paul is in prison, and he uses the word *rejoice.* Not *endure.* Not *accept.* Rejoice. And then he says something that has puzzled readers for two thousand years — that he is "filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions." He is not saying the cross came up short. Kent was careful about this on Sunday, and it's worth being careful about: *Jesus' suffering accomplished our salvation, period.* Nothing was missing from it. What Paul is filling up is not the payment for sin — it's the cost of getting the news to people who haven't heard it. Somebody has to carry it. Carrying it costs something. Viktor Frankl survived Auschwitz and came out with a sentence that has outlived him: a person can endure almost any *what* as long as they have a *why.* Paul had a why. His chains were the rea

Where have you been looking for hope outside yourself this week — and what changes if the hope is already within you, in the person of Christ?

For most of human history, this was a secret. Not a puzzle to be solved by the clever — a *mystery*, in the New Testament sense: something no amount of searching could have uncovered, because it had to be told. Hidden for ages and generations, Paul says. And then God told it. Here is the astonishing part. When God finally reveals the thing he kept back through all those centuries, it isn't a doctrine. It isn't a system. It's four words. *Christ in you.* Not Christ above you, keeping score. Not Christ behind you, disappointed. Not Christ ahead of you, waiting to see whether you'll make it. In you. The same Jesus who walked out of the tomb has taken up residence in ordinary people who lose their tempers and forget to pray and wonder most days whether any of it is working. And that indwe

Who in your life is standing outside the door asking "what do I bring?" — and when will you tell them they don't need to bring anything?

*Him* we proclaim. Not *it.* Not a better set of values, not a healthier way to live, not a moral framework that produces good citizens — though following Jesus does tend to produce those things. The message of the church has always been a Person. Kent told a story on Sunday about inviting a friend to his daughter's baptism. She had likely never been inside a church service in her life, and her first reaction wasn't joy — it was panic. *What do I wear? What should I bring? Should I bring something?* His answer: relax. You don't need to bring anything. We don't care what you wear. Just come. That, he said, is the gospel. It doesn't matter what you're wearing. You don't bring anything. Just come. We get this backwards constantly. We assume there's a threshold — a level of cleaned-up-nes

Are you trying to grow in Christ mostly alone? What would it take to be genuinely knit together with a few others this fall?

Paul is writing to people he has never met. He says so a verse earlier — the Colossians, the Laodiceans, and "all who have not seen me face to face." He is struggling on behalf of strangers. And what he wants for them is oddly specific: encouraged hearts, knit together in love, and full assurance of understanding. Notice he does not separate those. In Paul's mind you don't get the understanding alone, off in a corner with a book. Hearts get encouraged *as* they are knit together. The knowing happens in the company of others. Kent said something on Sunday that lands here: there are insights you only get while you're on the path. You can't get them online. You can't get them from a lecture or a podcast. Some things are only learned in the walking. And where does the walking lead? To Chri

Looking back over this week: which direction were you actually facing? What is one small course correction for the week ahead?

Paul has just said the goal: to present everyone mature in Christ. Now he tells us what reaching that goal actually feels like from the inside. *Toil.* *Struggling.* These are not gentle words. The Greek behind "struggling" is where we get *agonize.* This is not a man coasting. And yet — "with all his energy that he powerfully works within me." The effort is real and it is not self-generated. Paul is working hard with strength that isn't his own. Both halves are true at once, and most of us collapse one into the other. Either we grit our teeth and call it faithfulness, or we go slack and call it grace. Kent said Sunday that verses 28 and 29 have been his compass for decades — the words that told him which way was true north when everything else was noise. Here's what a compass does: it

What stood out to you in Kent's message? Was there a moment that landed differently than you expected?

Which way is true north? Pastor Kent Keller asks a room full of people to point — and gets a scattering of opinions. In Colossians 1:24-2:5, Paul hands us a compass: Christ in you, the hope of glory…

Paul says "I rejoice in my sufferings" from a prison cell (v24). What is the difference between rejoicing in suffering and pretending it doesn't hurt? Where have you seen someone do the first without doing the second?

Which way is true north? Pastor Kent Keller asks a room full of people to point — and gets a scattering of opinions. In Colossians 1:24-2:5, Paul hands us a compass: Christ in you, the hope of glory…

Kent was careful to say that Jesus' suffering accomplished our salvation, period — nothing was missing. So what is Paul "filling up"? Talk through the difference between the payment for sin, which is finished, and the cost of carrying that news, which is still being paid.

Which way is true north? Pastor Kent Keller asks a room full of people to point — and gets a scattering of opinions. In Colossians 1:24-2:5, Paul hands us a compass: Christ in you, the hope of glory…

Like on YouTube Subscribe on YouTube

Greater Than (Week 3)

Greater Than Our Suffering · Resources

Colossians 1:24-2:5

Kent Keller Sunday, July 26, 2026

Watch & Listen

Summary

Kent Keller opens Colossians 1:24-2:5, a passage that has been his own compass for decades, and asks what points you to true north. Paul does not enjoy his sufferings — he rejoices in them, because he can see what God is doing through them. And the goal was never a better ethical system. It is Christ himself, and people made complete in him.

Sermon Outline

1

Be Still and Know ▶ 0:00

The service opens with a word to anyone rushing from one thing to the next: slow down, and let your soul find rest.
2

Point to True North ▶ 2:30

Everyone closes their eyes and points the way they think north is. The hands go everywhere, which is rather the point.
3

The Bible Is a Compass ▶ 4:04

Before phones told us everything, a compass told you which way you were heading and whether you were off course. Scripture does that.
4

Reading: Colossians 1:24-2:5 ▶ 5:01

Paul rejoicing in his sufferings, the mystery that is Christ in you, and the labor of presenting everyone complete in Christ.
5

What Is Your Compass? ▶ 8:01

Some insights only come while you are actually walking the path — not from a book, a lecture or a podcast.
6

A Great Paradox: Rejoicing in Suffering ▶ 10:19

Paul is no masochist. Five times thirty-nine lashes, three beatings with rods, a stoning, shipwrecks — and Viktor Frankl on why a man with a why can endure almost any what.
7

Filling Up What Is Lacking ▶ 13:40

Not that Christ's death was insufficient — it is finished. Jesus so identifies with his church that on the Damascus road he asks Saul why he is persecuting him.
8

A Great Proclamation: We Proclaim Him ▶ 18:09

Even Richard Dawkins wants to live in a Christian society, and Jefferson cut the sayings of Jesus out of his own Bible. But our message is not a value system. It is Jesus himself.
9

Just Come ▶ 22:40

A friend invited to a baptism panics about what to wear and what to bring. She did not need to bring anything. Neither do you.
10

A Great Process: Admonishing and Teaching ▶ 23:54

The hard half of the good news, honestly told, and a story about three junior tempters — the third of whom only had to say there is no hurry.
11

A Great Purpose: Complete in Christ ▶ 29:59

There are no insignificant children and no insignificant teachers, and the aim of all of it is people who are more like Jesus than they were yesterday.
12

A Great Power: We Agonize, God Works ▶ 32:21

The Greek word is agonizomai — the weightlifter, the sprinter straining for the tape. We get the strain. God supplies the power.

Key Points

Scripture is a compass. It tells you which way north is, which way you are heading, and whether you are off course.
Paul never says he enjoyed his sufferings. He says he can rejoice in them, because he can see God's higher purpose in them.
Paul is not saying Christ's suffering was inadequate. He is saying Jesus identifies with his church so completely that when we suffer, he suffers.
Our message is not that Christianity is a better system of ethics — though it is. Our message is Jesus himself, and that is exactly where people stumble.
The gospel asks you to bring nothing, because you have nothing to bring. That is the whole point of it.
Being complete in Christ is not finished until we see him. Until then the question is direction, not arrival.
We get the striving and the straining. The power that does the work is God's.

Quotable Moments

“The Bible, God's Word, is a light unto our path, a lamp unto our feet, and it is a compass that points us to true north.” ▶ 4:23

“Man can survive almost any what as long as he has a why.” ▶ 12:31

“when we suffer, he suffers. When we cry, he tastes the salt of our tears.” ▶ 14:36

“That's the gospel. Doesn't matter what you're wearing. You don't bring anything. Just come. Just come.” ▶ 23:37

“We clean up well on Sundays, but we're all struggling, all of us, including me.” ▶ 31:42

Scripture

Colossians 1:24-29 (ESV)

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now 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 Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Colossians 2:1-5 (ESV)

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Take It With You

Name your compass. Whatever sets your true north is setting everything else.
When you suffer, you are not suffering alone. Jesus takes it personally.
You do not have to bring anything. Just come.
Are you further along toward Christ than you were yesterday? That is discipleship.

Related Resources

Downloads

The study guide above (summary, outline, key points, quotes, questions) was generated from the sermon transcript with AI and reviewed by our team. Spot something off? Let us know.

Subscribe to the podcast

Every Sunday sermon, in whatever app you already use.

YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify RSS

See all our podcasts →

Take a Next Step

Plan a Visit Sundays at 11 AM in Kendall. Connect Card Tell us about your visit or ask a question. 2026 Bible Reading Plan A scripture-a-day journey through the Bible. Find a Community Group Where the church becomes a family.

Greater Than Our Suffering · Resources

Colossians 1:24-2:5

Watch & Listen

Summary

Sermon Outline

Key Points

Quotable Moments

Scripture

Take It With You

Related Resources

Downloads

Related Reading

It All Begins with God: Genesis 1 and the Creator Who Sustains You

Jesus Plus Nothing: The Math I Keep Doing on My Own Salvation

Greater Than All: What Colossians 1:15–20 Says About Who Jesus Really Is

Subscribe to the podcast

Take a Next Step