Here are my notes from my talk on 10th July which began our look at Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Rebecca

Introduction

• next few weeks be looking at Paul’s letter to the Colossians in our services
  amazing letter
  prob most Christ-centred book in Bible

• encourage you to read it all the way through in the next day of so
  It will make more sense if you see Paul’s argument
  only 3 pages long in my Bible
  In NT – about 2/3rds through
  look it up in the index or I will put it on church website later today if you find that easier
  how you choose to do it doesn’t matter but do try to find the 15mins max to read the whole thing.
  encourage you to read it in a modern translation – it will make more sense – promise!

• some background facts
  Paul wrote letter from prison in Rome prob cAD62
  wrote it to saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae

• Col =
  large and busy city in modern day Turkey
  declined in sig by time Paul wrote to them because trade route moved and a giant earthquake
  still an import trading centre
  diverse population of native Phrygians, Greek settlers and Jewish families
  church mainly made up of Gentiles
• Paul
  not been to Col – church in Col established by Epaphras who converted by Paul in Ephesus and took message home
  concerned that church threatened by dangerous teaching by those trying to incorporate local folk beliefs into Christianity
  writes to encourage the Cols to remain faithful to the gospel and to continue growing as disciples of Christ.

• today – opening section of the letter
  insight into Paul’s prayers
  think about what his prayer teaches us as seek to be faithful followers of Christ

1. Paul thanks God for the Colossians

• Paul writing not to Colossians in general but to saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ living there
  Paul giving thanks to God for the dedicated followers of Christ in the city
  their commitment
  heard about their commitment from Epaphras who in Rome (poss in jail with Paul)
  commitment strong enough that people are talking about it
  double commitment – to Jesus – to each other

• ‘for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints’ (v4)
  Parable of Good Samaritan (Gospel reading)
  Law contains double commitment – to love God and love our neighbour
  cp Judaism, Christianity has two sets of relationships at its heart
  vertical one – called to love God with all our heart and soul and strength and mind – Paul giving thanks that believers in Col have put their trust in Jesus – they believe he is the Son of God and Saviour of the World – they are seeking to follow him which means first and foremost loving God
  horizontal dimension – because we love God we should love our neighbour – Paul give thanks that the believers in Col are loving each other – loving each other not because trying to earn their salvation – can’t – that is a gift from God that cannot be earned – loving each other because they have understood that God loves them and has given them hope of a future life – loving each other is a by-product of their new life in Christ – a fruit of their relationship with Christ and the Holy Spirit

2. Paul prays for the Colossians

• because of what he has heard, Paul’s constant prayer for the Cols is

‘that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding’ (v9)

• Paul wants them to grow as Christians and lead fruitful lives that will please God so prays that they
  will know God’s will
  that God will give them the strength the live it out
  as followers of Christ our desire should be to do his will
  Lord’s prayer – thy will be done
  too often our prayers are more along lines of God please do our will
• need to discover what God’s will is if we are to do it
  prayer
  Bible study
  help us get to know God better
  help us get to know how God wants us to live our lives
  Gospel reading Good Samaritan shows us who our neighbour is and that loving them is going to be practical and costly having discovered what his will is – need the strength to do it
• HS will give us the understanding of what God’s will means in our lives and strength to follow through with it
  loving our neighbour is not always easy – need HS to help us to love them patiently and joyfully and keep on loving them even when we don’t feel like it
  Good Samaritan not stop with binding the man’s wounds and taking him to inn on his donkey – effectively gave innkeeper blank cheque for man’s care and promised to return to pay his bill. His love for the injured man inconvenienced him and was a longer term commitment than he might initially have thought.

3. Paul prays that the Colossians would be thankful for what God done for them

• having prayed that they will know God’s will and do it Paul returns to thankfulness
  Paul’s prayer is full of thankfulness – for faith and witness of the believers in Col – for what Christ has done by rescuing us from sin and enabling us to be children of God again
• Paul writing to saints in Col because they are hearing some teaching that faith in Christ is not enough for them
  writes to counter this dangerous idea
  reminds them that Christ is Lord of all creation and therefore our lives must be centred around him
  reminds them that they are saved through the blood of Christ and not anything they have done
  reminds them not to accept substitutes or additions – Christ is sufficient for them – Christ is sufficient for us
  so he prays that they will be faithful to Christ and give thanks for all he has done for them
  so he reminds us that we too should be faithful and thankful that we have received God’s Amazing Grace.

Conclusion

Opening of Paul’s letter to the Cols reminds us that our faith is not just a set of things we believe. It is an active thing and like the Cols, we need to grow in our knowledge of God’s will for our lives and ask the Holy Spirit to enable us to live lives that glorify our heavenly Father. We have received so much from God and we have so much to be thankful for. Above all, he has given us the priceless gift of salvation in Christ. He has said that we can be free from our sins and have the hope of eternal life with him. So let’s give thanks to God and pray ‘thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth – in the Itchen Valley – in our lives – as it is in heaven’. Amen.