Sermon
A Chain Reaction
Mercy Hill Church - Cincinnati
Speaker: Ernie Bonnoitt
August 25, 2025 · 42 min
Summary
Paul opens Colossians by describing the gospel as unstoppable and ever-expanding despite persecution, comparing it to mint that grows stronger when cut back. He addresses the Colossian church's identity in Christ, emphasizing that salvation comes through faith in Jesus alone—not works—and that this transformation produces love for others and participation in God's global redemptive work.
Highlights
The gospel isn't believing that Jesus is a person. The gospel is trusting in what happened 2000 years ago on the cross—that a perfect person who lived the perfect life was put up on the cross and all the sins of humanity were placed upon him.
Christian, do you know what it means that your sin is as far from you as the East is from the West? The thing you can't forget, God can't remember. The sin that is in your past that you dwell over, over and over again—if you found forgiveness in Christ, he can't remember it because it's already been paid for in the person of Jesus.
Loving one another is not something we do to become Christians, but it's something that Christians do because they are Christians. It's a natural response of healthy believers.