What Power Is This? // Heartbeat of HOPE // Colossians 1:16-17 // Roger Ellis // 09.27.26

What Power Is This? // Heartbeat of HOPE // Colossians 1:16-17 // Roger Ellis // 09.27.26

This week we heard a little about the life and work of the fifth century Irish missionary and bishop  Saint Patrick.  Kidnapped and taken into slavery as a teenager for 6 years, he eventually escapes and enters into a life of ministry. After a powerful encounter with God, he returns to the people who enslaved him, and changes the nation and helps shape the future of christianity.  We asked the important question, “What kind of power is this?” that can chart the course of one person’s life in a way that alters history for the better.

We pondered how this “cruciform” power was like the power of the empire of that time, but different.  This power “under” vs. power “over” that we are familiar with here at Hope Church,  is what gave the early church and us, a new identity in a new tribe, where all bets are off.  Where Jew and Gentiles, slaves and barbarians exist together, where diversity is not eradicated but unified in Christ.  Where power is made perfect in suffering and breaks the chains of sin and death.