This sermon focuses on the concept of being 'according to God's power' as highlighted in Colossians chapter 1. It emphasizes the transformation from being in accord with the devil to being united with God's power and love. The speaker urges the audience to be rooted in God's love, strive to be in one accord with His power, and be willing to suffer for the gospel. The message concludes with a message of hope for exponential growth and the infinite power of God at work within believers.

Praise God for what we've heard. I want to speak from Colossians chapter 1, one little phrase, according to God's power. It's an according to his might, according. It says in verse 11, strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might. Then in verse 29, again, he says, according to his power, I strive, I labor, which mightily works within me. That's this little phrase, according, is what I want to share how the Lord has opened my eyes a little bit to it. That word, according, kind of blew open a little bit when I understood according to be related with the word accord, to be of one accord, to be united with, to be one with. And it says in Colossians chapter 3, sorry, Colossians 1 verse 13, he rescued us from the domain of darkness. There was a time, it says in Ephesians, I'm just going to share a few verses as I kind of go through this. When we began the Christian life, we were according to a different spirit, according to a different power. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 2, it says that we were walking according to the prince of the power of this earth. We were with one accord with the devil. All of us, if we're not given our hearts and lives to Christ, are walking in one accord with the devil. We may not feel that way. We may have a lot of good works. The devil has a lot of Bible knowledge. The devil has more Bible knowledge than all of us, but he's not in God's presence at all. He's suffering the consequences of separation from God for all eternity. Even though I might do a lot of things that may be good, I may appear as an angel of light, I'm according to the prince of this earth. I was in a kingdom of darkness, and God rescues me to be according to the kingdom of his son, to be in one accord, to be completely one with, united with. And I wanted to share with you from where I saw that word according to, to share with you just a few simple ways in which we have to strive to be in one accord with, to be fully united with God according to his power. In Ephesians chapter 3, this is a passage we memorized. It says, for this reason I bow my knees so that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power. So there's an according to the power. So to be one accord with the power of God. We're all looking for the Holy Spirit, we're looking for the power of God to come upon us. If you want to be in one accord with the power of God, what it should produce in you, Ephesians chapter 3, that passage that we memorized, Lord I want you to be filled with your Holy Spirit so that I can be in one accord with your power, so that you may be rooted and grounded in love. That is the proof of being filled with the Holy Spirit. That is the first proof that we are in one accord with God's power. Don't think about God's power being required to heal the sick or to raise the dead or so that you can walk on water, over life situations in a very simple way. It starts with being immersed in the love of God. That is according to the power. Are you in one accord with the power of God? That means you should be in one accord with the great love of God that he has for you. Are you constantly drained as we heard? You need to rest. You need to be rooted and grounded. Don't move, don't do stuff. Root and grounded in the love of God. I was blessed when I heard what we heard from Wenhai that God has written it in his book how marvelous he thinks of us that we're in his and even the demons can read it. The demons read all of God's word and they tremble but they don't believe. They don't believe it. Demons know it, have been reading it, have been knowing this for 6,000 years at least but don't believe it. We too have heard it and heard it and heard it. We see pictures that try to tell us we're deeply loved but to believe it is to live according to it, to change our lives according to it, to become one with it. Do you want to be in one accord with God's power? Change your point of view. What do you think God's power looks like? God's power first is trying to tell you you're deeply loved and God wants you to be rooted in it according to his power, the riches of his glory so that you be strengthened with all power. We need to be in one accord with that. It is out of that deep unity with the love of God that we can do other things. Then turn with me to 2nd Timothy chapter 1. It says that we may know verse 7. Verse 6 it says, kindle afresh the love, the gift of God. Verse 6, 2nd Timothy chapter 1 verse 6 it says, kindle afresh the gift of God. Because God has not given you a spirit of timidity. Again it's the Holy Spirit. We're talking about dynamite power. We're talking about explosive power, the Spirit of God coming upon us. Therefore do not be ashamed of our Lord but join me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God. Again here, to be united with the power of God for suffering for the gospel. Have a mind that is to suffer. Colossians chapter 1 we memorize this passage where it says, filling up that which is lacking in Christ's afflictions. If you see that in the context which he's talking about, he's talking about an affliction of the church. We can never make up any afflictions to make us worthy to enter God's kingdom for ourselves. That is all on Christ's righteousness. But where God does ask us, do you want to partner with me? Is in being a minister as it comes to the church. Suffer. Suffer for the gospel. Prioritize those tasks, so to speak, as we heard. Make priority to those tasks. To say, Lord, what activity do I keep needing to do? Do I need to do this? Do I need to do that? Lord, how can I suffer to build up the body? How can I suffer to spend a little time in prayer? How can I suffer to send a little email? How can I suffer to not think about my own interests but to think about other people and what their needs may be spiritually? According to the power. To be one accord with the power of God. First it is for the love of God. To be one with it. To be rooted and grounded. But then to say, Lord, I want to take up a heart that wants to suffer. To build up other people. And we come into the church and we say, Lord, I don't need other people to comfort, feed me. I'm going to help feed others. You feed me, I'll feed others. Again, Colossians 1, verse 29, it says, For this purpose I labor. It's not a life of ease. If we want to live the Christian life, we must fall into the ground and die. I labor and I strive. Again, that's similar to suffering. Which mightily works within it. And as we heard in verse 28 from George, we proclaim him. Verse 29, Paul says, I strive and I labor. But when I talk, I'm talking to all of you and I say we, that includes all of us. It's a group effort. So Paul is saying, I'll do my part to strive. But the point is that we must proclaim him. So you too must strive. I can't speak to you if you're laboring and striving, but the goal is that we can all proclaim him. We all have an opportunity or we all have that need to proclaim him because we may present every man complete. Can we have this picture that the brother and the sister who's sitting next to you or in front of you, you can see the back of the head maybe, or if it's your wife, can you have this picture of the judgment seat of Christ and you presenting this brother complete? Whose job is that? The elders? Jesus Christ? Read verse 28, Colossians chapter 1 verse 28. We proclaim him, admonishing, teaching, so that we, why does it not include you? Why can it not include you? Does this make you some great teacher and some great expert? No. We know how Jesus presents us complete. He takes out a bucket of water and a towel and he washes our feet. He washes us in his blood. In his suffering, he washes us. That's how he presented us complete. That's how we will help present other people complete. By laboring and striving to get under people and lift them up and get in between the toes and root out all the dirt gently because it's sensitive. People are sensitive, but we proclaim him because we want to present every man complete. So we labor and strive. Finally, a word of hope. As we close on 2016, some of you may not have had the experience that we heard about where you grew sevenfold. But I genuinely believe that God wants that to be true in 2017. It's not excluded from anybody. And it's not about, as we heard, it's not about the exact number. Is it seven or 10 or two? It doesn't really matter. But God wants explosive growth. God wants supernatural, one with the Holy Spirit power. According to the power of God. He wants to strengthen you, to be rooted and grounded in love. According to the power of God. He wants you to become somebody who builds up the body of Christ and can suffer for the gospel according in one accord with God's supernatural explosive power. He wants you to labor to make others complete. He wants to do that. He wants to give you that supernatural dynamic dynamo, dynamite power. He wants you to be one with that. Colossians 1.9, as we heard J.B. Phillips, I hope that you will see things from God's point of view. Step out of all your mess. Step out of all your track record. Step out of the troubles that you've had. Step out of all the limitations and the handicaps you've got that feel that you do it. Elevate yourself, so to speak, from God's point of view and see it. See the inheritance and the saints that God has for you. He sees you as precious. It is the Father's good pleasure. It is not the Father's pleasure. It's the Father's good pleasure. Ephesians 3.20, I'll end with that. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly. 7x, 10x, 100x, think of a number far more abundantly beyond all that we ask and think according to the power that works within you. There's nothing my God cannot do. Nothing. But he's waiting for me and for you. He's waiting. His power is infinite. He's waiting to say, will you be different than the demons who hear all these truths but don't believe? Will it be true that we're very different? That we grab a hold of it and say, God, far more abundantly than what you've ever, what I could ever dream or think about, you will do it in 2017. That's my hope. I've got a far way long to go. I've got, I need a lot more time before the Lord comes if I'm going to be able to myself be complete in him. And I want to spend more of my time, more of my energy seeking to labor and strive to proclaim Christ and to make others complete. Christ did everything for me. Least I can do is to do something for the rest of his children. He can do it, brothers and sisters. He will do it according to his power that works within us. So may we have hearts full of faith as we look to the new year. May God help us.