Look Up" | Brent Brunson | January 18, 2026

Because of Christ’s resurrection and present reign, believers are summoned to “look up” and reorder life around the realities of God’s kingdom. Grounded in Colossians 3, the call is practical and urgent: seek the things above, set the mind on heavenly things, and live from the identity given in Christ. When the kingdom is prioritized, daily priorities rearrange, perspective widens, and a present positional shift is felt—Christ is already seated at God’s right hand and believers share in that royal identity now. That reorientation produces a renewed mind: Christians are to filter decisions, relationships, and pain through the mind of Christ so thought patterns conform to heaven’s logic rather than the world’s.

The text then confronts the everyday work of holiness. Fleshly tendencies—sexual sin, impurity, passion, covetousness (an insatiable “have-and-more” desire), anger, slander, and obscene speech—must be actively put to death. Those tendencies undermine witness and fracture community; their removal is not optional for a church that intends to advance. At the same time Paul pictures a positive formation: put on the new self. The marks of that life are compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience—virtues meant to be patterned after Jesus and visible in ordinary settings, from grocery lines to workplaces.

Love is presented as the binding garment that holds all other virtues together. When love governs action, gifts, doctrine, and discipline cohere into a single witness that the world can recognize. The call to unity—“there is not Greek and Jew”—reminds the congregation that ethnic, social, and cultural barriers must give way to Christ’s all-encompassing lordship. Practical illustrations—compassion ministries, hospitality, sacrificial generosity, and gospel-centered outreach—demonstrate how theological conviction translates into neighborhood impact.

Finally, the passage issues an invitation: those who have not yet embraced this kingdom reality are urged to step forward, claim the new identity in Christ, and take next steps toward discipleship. The advancing church is made not by programs alone but by transformed hearts that look up, think upward, put the flesh to death, pattern life after Jesus, and practice a love that binds all things in harmony.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Prioritize the kingdom above all [12:18] Seeking what is above rearranges earthly calendars, ambitions, and anxieties. Prioritizing the kingdom forces a reordering: some pursuits must lose first place so Christ’s purposes can gain it. This is not escapism but a strategic alignment that changes how ordinary decisions are made and how suffering is interpreted. When kingdom priorities lead, the church advances with clarity and power. [12:18]
• 2. Pursue the mind of Christ [23:30] Renewing the mind means adopting Christ’s perspective as the primary interpretive lens for life. It requires disciplined meditation, intentional filtering of events, and refusing simplistic cultural narratives. This pursuit reshapes judgments, softens reactivity, and cultivates wisdom for complex moral choices. Thinking like Jesus produces behavior like Jesus. [23:30]
• 3. Put the flesh to death [26:43] Holiness is active, not passive: sinful patterns must be identified, confronted, and mortified. Covetousness—the insatiable drive for “have and more”—is an idol that quietly displaces God and skews vocation, family, and generosity. Anger, slander, and obscene speech corrode community and testimony; removing them clears space for gospel witness. Mortification restores integrity and communal health. [26:43]
• 4. Passionately pattern life after Jesus [38:10] Imitation of Christ is concrete: compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience are not abstract virtues but daily habits. These traits form a countercultural posture that witnesses to God’s kingdom in grocery lines, workplaces, and homes. Patterning after Jesus reshapes identity from performance to formation. Consistent imitation shapes churches that draw people, not repel them. [38:10]
• 5. Practice love that binds together [47:10] Love is the integrative virtue that holds moral effort, doctrinal conviction, and social unity in harmony. When love governs disagreement and outreach, divisions based on race, class, or custom are overcome by shared allegiance to Christ. A church known for love becomes the world’s plausible gospel. This binding love turns internal holiness into outward mission. [47:10]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:19] - Testimony and Invitation to Serve
• [02:27] - Turn to Colossians
• [03:33] - Reading: Colossians 3
• [06:24] - Background: Colossae and Context
• [11:35] - Look Up: Prioritize the Kingdom
• [23:30] - Pursue the Mind of Christ
• [26:43] - Put the Flesh to Death
• [38:10] - Pattern Lives After Jesus
• [47:10] - Practice Love and Unity
• [54:41] - Call to Respond / Altar Time
• [57:06] - Closing Prayer and Blessing

Bible Reading

Colossians 3:1–14 (ESV)
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you will also appear with him in glory.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all, and in all.

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Observation questions

1. According to verses 1 and 2, what are the two specific actions believers are commanded to take regarding "things that are above"?
2. In verse 5, Paul lists several earthly things to put to death, ending with covetousness. How was covetousness defined in the message, and what does the text equate it with? [28:14]
3. The text provides a list of virtues we are to "put on" as God's chosen ones in verses 12-13. What are these virtues, and which specific virtue is described in verse 14 as the one that binds them all together?
4. Towards the end of the passage (verse 11), Paul lists various groups such as Greek, Jew, barbarian, and Scythian. What is the reason given for why these distinctions no longer divide believers? [01:00:49]

Interpretation questions

1. Paul writes that believers have "died" and their lives are now "hidden with Christ" (v. 3). How does this "position shift"—knowing that we are already seated with Christ—change the way a Christian interprets earthly disappointments or offenses? [14:45]
2. The passage lists sins like anger, wrath, and slander right alongside sexual immorality. Why is it often easier for people in the church to condemn the "first list" of sins while tolerating the "second list" of relational sins, and why is it urgent that both be put to death? [32:27]
3. Love is described as an outer garment that binds all other virtues together in perfect harmony. How does love prevent virtues like knowledge, doctrine, or even moral effort from becoming harsh or ineffective? [47:10]

Application questions

1. Prioritizing the kingdom often requires "un-prioritizing" other things because we simply cannot do it all. What is one specific earthly pursuit, worry, or activity that is currently taking up too much space in your life, and what would it look like to displace that with a kingdom focus this week? [13:14]
2. Covetousness is the insatiable desire to "have and more"—whether it is money, followers, or even collecting material items. When you take an honest inventory of your heart, is there an area where you feel a constant drive for "more" that might be displacing your contentment in Christ? [28:14]
3. We are called to put away "simmering anger" and "lightning bolt wrath," as well as slander. Think about your recent interactions—perhaps in traffic or at home. Is there a pattern of reactive anger or loose speech that you need to confess and "put to death" today? [33:12]
4. "Patterning our lives after Jesus" means showing kindness in ordinary places, like the grocery store or the self-checkout line. What is one specific, practical way you can demonstrate kindness or patience to a stranger or a family member this week, especially in a stressful moment? [42:38]
5. We are commanded to forgive others "as the Lord has forgiven you." Is there a "complaint" or grudge you are holding against someone right now? What is the first step toward releasing that debt, knowing that Christ has already released yours? [45:31]
6. The gospel breaks down barriers between different types of people, yet we often stick to those who are just like us. Who is someone in your sphere of influence—perhaps someone from a different background, culture, or social status—that you can intentionally move toward with the love of Christ this week? [01:02:51]