read aloud as the basis for the sure and certain living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in Heaven for you,
the main passage read through in full and expounded as the conclusion of the book of Colossians
2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving;
3 praying together for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds;
4 that I may reveal it as I ought to speak.
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
7 All my affairs will be made known to you by Tychicus, the beloved brother, faithful servant, and fellow bondservant in the Lord.
8 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts,
9 together with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you everything that is going on here.
10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you received commandments, “if he comes to you, receive him”),
11 and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my only fellow workers for God’s Kingdom who are of the circumcision, men who have been a comfort to me.
12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
13 For I testify about him, that he has great zeal for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis.
14 Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you.
15 Greet the brothers who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the assembly that is in his house.
16 When this letter has been read among you, cause it to be read also in the assembly of the Laodiceans; and that you also read the letter from Laodicea.
17 Tell Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfill it.”
18 The salutation of me, Paul, with my own hand: remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen.
quoted to describe God's kind of wisdom: pure, peace loving, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good deeds, not showing favoritism, sincere
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This was a Monday-night study wrapping up the book of Colossians, with Pastor Carl leading First Baptist Jackson through chapter four. The passage covers Paul's call to devoted prayer, his instructions for engaging unbelievers wisely, and his long closing list of greetings to friends and coworkers. College House, visiting from Columbus, Georgia, joined the congregation for the evening.
What was said
Pastor Carl opened by playing a short video summary of Colossians as a whole, which argued that no part of human existence remains untouched by the loving and liberating rule of Jesus. That line became the frame for everything that followed. The risen Jesus, the video explained, was already reshaping the most basic structures of Roman household life in Paul's day, and his letter closes by pressing that same claim all the way to its edges, most visibly in the story of Onesimus, a runaway slave whom Paul asks the church to receive as a beloved brother.
Verses two through four drew Pastor Carl's attention first. Paul, writing from prison, does not ask the church to pray for his release. Instead, he asks for more opportunities to share the gospel clearly. Pastor Carl sat with that for a moment, noting that for most people the first prayer in that situation would be "God, get me out of here," and that Paul's request points to something different, a faith that sees even chains as a place where the good news can travel.
Verses five and six shifted the focus outward. The literal sense of the Greek, Pastor Carl noted, is "in wisdom, walk toward those on the outside, redeeming the time." He connected that to a passage from James describing God's kind of wisdom as pure, peace-loving, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy, free of favoritism, and sincere. That is the posture Paul is asking for when engaging people who do not yet know Jesus. And the conversation itself, verse six says, should be full of grace and seasoned with salt, meaning attractive and preserving rather than harsh.
The long list of names in verses seven through eighteen came next. Pastor Carl read through them and named what each person represented: Tychicus the faithful helper, Aristarchus the prison companion, John Mark who had abandoned Paul but was later welcomed back, Epaphras the earnest prayer, Luke the doctor, Demas who deserted Paul but was still addressed with love, Nympha who hosted a house church. Pastor Carl pointed out that these are real people Paul did life and faith with, and that writing to them is not unlike writing a letter and sending love to Ray, Blake, Florine, and the rest of the people in the room by name.
That list became an encouragement to the congregation and to College House to keep building the same kind of friendships. These relationships, Pastor Carl said, are not accidental. God puts people in the same room on purpose, not only so the gospel advances but so that people enjoy doing life and faith together. They get messy, Paul and Barnabas had a sharp disagreement, but the answer to that is the same word Paul uses to open and close every letter: grace, God's kindness and favor leaning toward people with a desire to bless.
The congregation then shared their own responses. Several people picked up the salt metaphor from verse six and explored how grace in conversation flavors an interaction without overwhelming it. One man spoke about retirement giving him time to slow down, look around, and notice hurting people, including a young man he kept running into over the summer whose car eventually broke down near his house. A younger member reflected on a random encounter at a Home Depot that could have been an opening to show grace and almost slipped past unnoticed. The shared thread across all of it was the practical weight of "make the most of every opportunity."
Pastor Carl closed the study by returning to where the video began: no part of human existence remains untouched by the loving and liberating rule of Jesus. Colossians traces that claim from the supremacy of Christ down into daily relationships with unbelievers and with one another inside the church. Both kinds of relationships, Pastor Carl said, require grace, and that is how he wants the congregation to move forward, leaving room for God's kindness in every direction.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Paul asks the Colossians to pray for more opportunities to share the gospel rather than praying for his release from prison. What does that tell us about how he understood his circumstances, and how does it challenge the way you typically pray when life is hard?
Pastor Carl walked through the kind of wisdom James describes as 'pure, peace loving, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good deeds, not showing favoritism, and sincere.' Which of those qualities feels most natural to you when you are with people who don't yet know Jesus, and which feels hardest?
Alright. Good evening, everybody. How are you? It is good to have a full house on this Monday night. And a big thank you to Tanya and Ivy Kate for the hot dog bar and pie, and it was so good.
Thank you, guys. I know they couldn't hear me, but they I did tell them thankful thank you for all from all of us. And a big welcome to College House. Whoo. Whoo.
Visiting all the way from? Columbus, Georgia. And you'd started traveling this morning. And so you're so tired. So we fed you.
We turned the lights down. And it's hot in here, and now we're gonna say stay awake. And leading college house, we have Mike, and he's joining us on the drums. And his wife Tammy. Tammy.
Tammy. Tammy.
Tammy and her husband. Come on. There you go.
That's right. That's the right way to say it. That's That's it. It. That's That's the the right right way way to to say say it.
It. Thanks, Ray. You're always bailing me out. So on Monday nights, we've been studying the book of Colossians. We're wrapping up the book tonight.
So we're in the fourth chapter of Colossians. It's really good, and it's also conversation style. So if you would, take a little mental note of a verse or a word of encouragement, or even if there's a a a one minute testimony from something that's related in that book of Colossians during that conversation time, love to hear from you at the end. Okay? So keep that in mind.
But before we get there, what do you say we worship in song together? Yeah. Let's stand to sing. This is one of my favorite verses. It's true then and it's true today.
Jesus says, my father is always at work to this very day, and I too am working. And so we'll sing, even when I don't see it, you're working. Even when I don't feel it, you're working. But you never stop, and and that's what's true about God. He is at work in us.
He he's at work in us. God, thank you for making a way when there seems to be no way sometimes. And yet you're you're making all things work together for good, for those who love you, and are called according to your purpose. God, that we would be in your will in your will, knowing what your purpose is. It's tough to discern sometimes, God, but that we would be yielding to you day by day.
You are a living hope. Thank you. Not so good. Let me just read this from first Peter because this is this is what's true, and this is what we just sang. It's praise be to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In his great mercy, he's given us he not giving us what we do deserve. That's mercy. He's given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. That is our sure and certain hope. Not like the hope where we go, oh, hope you come on over.
Hope this happens. But, no, like, sure and certain it is going to be. Thank you God for the sure and certain hope that we have. Thank you God for your goodness. We sing of it.
Amen. You can have a seat for a minute. I got just a little video. If it shows up, we'll see.
And he shows the Colossians what this new humanity might look like in a first century Roman household, which was a highly authoritarian institution where the male patriarch held the power of life and death over his wife, children, and slaves, not so in a Christian household. Here, the risen Jesus is the true lord. And so in the Lord, the wife allows her husband to become responsible for her and the husband is subject to Jesus by loving his wife and placing her well-being above his own. In a home where Jesus is lord, children are not objects but are called to maturity and to respect and parents are to raise their children with patience and understanding. Christians who are slaves are to honor their human masters precisely because they're not the real master.
Jesus is. And Christians who have slaves are to understand that this slave is not their property, but rather a fellow member of Jesus' body to be honored and embraced in love. Paul's walking a very fine line here. He is reshaping the most basic Roman institution around Jesus who rules by his self giving love. And so while he doesn't abolish the household structure outright, the exalted Messiah demands that it be transformed almost beyond the point of recognition for any Roman living in Colossae.
You can see this most clearly in the letter's conclusion. After a request for prayer, Paul applies these instructions about Christian slaves and masters. And we discover that Tychicus is the one carrying and reading this letter to the Colossians, and he's accompanied by a certain Onesimus who was a former slave to a Colossian Christian named Philemon. And we discover from another letter addressed to Philemon that Onesimus had escaped from his master. It was a crime worthy of imprisonment.
But Paul asks the whole church to greet Onesimus as a faithful and beloved brother in the Lord. And then in the letter to Philemon, Paul says that he should receive Onesimus no longer as a slave but as a brother. Talk about ending the letter with a punch. So, in the letter to the Colossians, Paul is inviting us to see that no part of human existence remains untouched by the loving and liberating rule of the risen Jesus. Our suffering, our temptation to compromise, our moral character, the power dynamics in our homes, all of it must be reexamined and transformed.
We are invited to live in the present as if the new creation really arrived when Jesus rose from the dead. And that's what the letter to the Colossians is all about.
So that little video right there is just a summary of what we're reading tonight because you're like, what's with the video, Carl? That is just a summary of the conclusion of Colossians. And and I think that Tim said it really well when he said this, that no part of human existence remains untouched by the loving and liberating rule of Jesus. That as we live in Jesus and yield to his rule and his reign over our lives, it impacts everything. It impacts everyday life.
The way we think, the way we act we the way we act, the way we interact with with one another. Specifically, in this chapter, it's affecting the way that we interact with unbelievers, those who do not yet know Jesus, and then our friendships within the church. That's what's chapter four is covering. So, tonight is this right. Let's see if I can get it up here.
Nope. Tonight is an encouragement for prayer and Paul's final instruction and greeting. So we're in chapter four verses two through 18, and I'm just gonna go ahead and read it through. Okay? And then we'll go back, and we'll just work our way through it.
And, again, if there is a verse or just a word of encouragement, please take note of it so that we can share. That's been some of the richest part of Monday night is to be able to hear from one another and encourage one another. So the words are on the screen. Blake will track with me, and here's what it says. Verse two, devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.
And pray for us too that God would give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That's why I'm here in chains. That's Paul speaking. Verse four, pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. Live wisely among those who are not believers and make the most of every opportunity.
Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you'll have the right response for everyone. Tychicus will give you a full report about how I'm getting along. He's a beloved brother and a faithful helper who serves with me in the Lord's work. I've sent him to you for this very purpose to let you know how we're doing and to encourage you. Verse nine.
I'm also sending Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, one of your own people. He and Tychicus will tell you everything that's happening here. Aristarchus, who's in prison with me, sends you his greetings. So does Mark, Barnabas' cousin. As you were instructed before, make Mark welcome if he comes your way.
Jesus, the one we call justice, also sends his greetings. These are the only Jewish believers among my coworkers. They are working with me here for the kingdom of God, and what a comfort they have been. Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God.
Verse 13. I can assure you that he prays hard for you and also for the believers in Laodicea and Hierapolis. Luke, the beloved doctor, sends his greetings and so does Demas. Verse 15. Please give my greetings to our brothers and sisters at Laodicea and to Nymphah and the church that meets in her house.
After you've read this letter, pass it on to the church at Laodicea so they can read it too. And you should read the letter I wrote to them and say to Archippus, be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you. Here's my greeting in my own handwriting, Paul. Remember my chains. May God's grace be with you.
So there ends the book of Colossians. I'm gonna share a few thoughts. I'd like to hear yours yours as well, but I'd love to to pray first on what we just read. Lord, thank you for this letter to Colossians and to us as we read it and how your rule and your reign impacts everyday life. That in Christ, we have a new nature.
We're a new creation. We put on new clothes like mercy and kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, love, peace, thankfulness. God, would you remind us every day who we are in you. In Jesus' name, amen. So here it is again, friends.
Blake, man, mind if I just give you one of these? Little finger pistol. And then you can click it. Thank you. An encouragement for prayer and and Paul's final instructions and greetings.
So the encouragement for prayer comes from verses two through six. Let's just read it again. Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. So I feel like this is a huge word of encouragement right here. So in light of the false teaching there in in that church at the time, they're adding and they're taking away from Jesus' message.
Paul says, friends, church, be prayerful. Be aware. Consider what is true about Jesus and what is not true about him. They had the message about Jesus. They had the Holy Spirit.
To today, let's translate. We have the message about Jesus. We have the Holy Spirit. And so I wanna encourage us, church, as Paul did, to be prayerful, to be alert, and to be thankful. So I'm gonna just pray my way through these, if that's okay, through these verses.
God, may that be us prayerful, always keeping that line of communication open with you. Alert, being watchful and vigilant, led by your Holy Spirit to discern what is true, what is not, and thankful. God, would you keep us in that that place of gratitude for the good news of your love and forgiveness that we rest in it. Be grateful for it. Jesus name.
Amen. Here we go again. Verse three and four and pray for us too that God would give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That's why I'm here in change. So consider this prayer request that he just made for a second.
Okay? So I could tell you how I would be praying in Paul's. How about you? So for me, God, get me out of here. Get me out of this prison.
Right? Does Paul say that? He didn't say that. Instead, he says, would you pray for even more opportunities to share this good news? Isn't that amazing?
And you better believe those prison guards, they heard the good news of the gospel, and some came to faith. So I wanna pray and just pause on that on that verse as well, God, for the good news of the gospel, your love and forgiveness that brings life and freedom. God, we pray for more opportunities to share in word and deed the hope that we have, the sure and certain hope that we have in you. And also to be able to share it with clarity and conviction. And sometimes, God, that testimony is gonna be short.
It could be as short as Jesus, man. Jesus. In our homes, in our workplaces, in our school, where you've put us, would you help us to be your representatives? In Jesus' name. Amen.
So in that same breath, I believe verses five and six show how we're to share with others. So verse five, here it is. Live let's let's say it together. Live wisely among those who are not believers and make the most of every opportunity. So the literal translation is, in wisdom, walk toward those on the outside, redeeming the time.
I like that. I like that. Walk toward unbelievers, making the most of the time. And as we're walking toward them, not away, live wisely. And you know what caught my attention?
It was this right here in James, God's kind of wisdom. Let's live wisely with God's kind of wisdom. And what is that? Wisdom that is pure and peace loving. It's gentle.
It's willing to yield to others. It's full of mercy and good deeds. It doesn't show favoritism, and it's always sincere. He's saying with that kind of wisdom, walk toward those who do not yet know Jesus, making the most of the time that we have. Isn't that good?
That's the that's God's kind of wisdom right there. So I'd like to pray on that as well. God, may that be us in wisdom, in your brand of wisdom that's pure and peace loving, gentle, willing to yield to others, full of mercy and good deeds, not showing favoritism, wisdom that's sincere, would you help us to live wisely among those who have not yet heard the good news of your love and forgiveness that we would make the most of the opportunities that we have? Why? Because we want the world to know you.
Would you use us as imperfect and broken as we are, but that we would humble ourselves before you and before others to say, I'm not perfect, but I know the one who is. He can save. He can redeem. He loves you. In Jesus name, amen.
Verse six, here it is. Let your conversations be gracious and attractive so that you'll have the right response for everyone. NIV says, let your conversation always be full of grace, seasoned with salt so that you may know how to answer everyone. This is so good and so important. Let your conversation be full of grace.
What is grace? Grace is God's favor. It is his kindness leaning toward us. To bless us. K.
So it's saying, let your conversations be full of that. God's kindness, God's favor, the desire to lean in and bless others. Let your conversations be full of that. So let me pray. God, may that be us showing your kindness, your favor, that desire to bless others, extending the grace that you have given us to the world around us.
Freely, you've given us this grace. God, may we freely give it to others. Amen. And then we're getting close to the end here, friends. Seven through 18 end with Paul's final instructions and greetings.
So I'm not gonna go into a lot of detail about these, but what stood out to me most is this right here, the long list of brothers and sisters in Christ that Paul mentions. So just you know this already, but let me remind us. These are real people. These are real friends. These are friends that Paul did life and faith with.
So Tychicus, faithful helper. He served with Paul. Ode to have good friends to serve with. It makes all the difference in the world. Justice.
Right? I love you, Blake. A coworker who encouraged Paul. Onesimus, a runaway slave. He robs his master Philemon, but then he later becomes a believer, and Paul says, hey, Philemon, invite him in.
Don't hold the grudge. He's one of yours now. Treat him well. Yeah. Aristarchus, he was in prison with Paul.
He had a prison buddy, a good friend to just be there in prison. John Mark, he wrote the gospel of Mark. Do you know that he abandoned Paul at one time? And you know what? Later, they came back together.
Epaphras, he's in Rome with Paul when Paul wrote Colossians, a writing buddy. Luke, he's the doctor who wrote the book of Luke. Demas, he deserted Paul. And then Paul still loves him, invites him back. Nympha hosted the house church.
That is not a small deal to host a church in your home. You know, you what goes along with that is probably the serving and entertaining and feeding and all those things. Arkippus, he's a member of Philemon's family. Again, these are real people. They're real friends of Paul's that he shared life and faith with.
So it'd be like me writing a letter saying, hey. Send my love to Ray and Ryan and Florine and Blake and Nick and Diane. You know? Knowing these are my good friends. I see these guys often throughout the week.
We do life and ministry together. We serve together. It is very, very meaningful. That that was one of my big takeaways. I thought this he's talking to his family, and it'd be like me talking to mine and going.
I say this to encourage us to keep building those friendships. We got a big group here together, and you're here for, like, what? It's a week together? That's a while, guys. It is.
But these friendships that you make are so valuable, and they become lifelong friendships in many times. God puts us together on purpose. He puts us together in the same room on purpose. Not just so the gospel would advance, but so that we would enjoy doing life and faith together. Yes.
It gets messy sometimes, and we know that. Right? We get in each other's nerves. We say things that hurt one another. Paul and Barnabas, they had a sharp disagreement.
But I wanna show you this slide right here. What does Paul always begin and end with? Grace. May God and a father give you grace and peace. Chapter four.
May God's grace be with you. May God's favor be with you. May God's kindness be with you. May God bless you. I'm leaning in with a desire to bless.
That's what grace is. And that's how I wanna encourage us doing life and faith together. It can be really, really great and can be really, really difficult at the same time. That's okay. That's the way it's meant to be.
But let's leave room for grace. Let's leave room for God's favor. Let's leave room for God's kindness. Let's lean in with the desire to bless one another. That was one of my greatest takeaways from chapter four for me for me.
Maybe it'd be different for you. But every single one of these people that Paul writes about, they're brothers, they're sisters, they're coworkers in the kingdom. And that's what I consider you. We're brothers. We're sisters.
We're coworkers in the kingdom. Why? To make Jesus known. That's why. Plain and simple.
To make Jesus known. Because he's good. He's good. Going full circle. One more slide here.
No part of human existence remains untouched by the loving and liberating rule of Jesus. Colossians shows us the supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus that he rules and he reigns. And as he rules and reigns in our lives, it affects everything. It really does. It ought to.
We're a work in progress. There are some areas, yeah, it's lacking. Haven't given over. Right? But God's rule and reign affects every part of our existence.
Like what? Like our relationships with unbelievers. It should. It should. And our relationships with believers right here, the family of God, right here in the room.
So key takeaway is they require grace. Every one of those relationships that we talked about tonight, they require grace. And that's how I wanna encourage us to leave room for God's grace. We're the family of God. Christ is ahead.
We're a work in progress. What do you think of Colossians, guys? It's a good book. I wish you were here for chapter three, College House. That was my that that's my favorite chapter.
But I love the ending here, ending with grace. And Philippians is gonna be my next favorite book when we study that. So I'd like to pray once again, and then I'd like to open it up for conversation. So mental note, if there's anything, a verse, a word of encouragement from there, please feel feel like you can share it here in this room. God, thank you for this book.
I need to hear this book. We need to hear this book. God, we're a family, and life sometimes gets messy. But, God, would we leave room for grace, your kindness, your favor, the desire to lean in and bless one another as we clothe ourselves in love? Your self giving, others focused love.
That's your brand of love that gives ourselves away, and it binds us together in perfect harmony. God, that we would let this message of Colossians in all its richness about Jesus fill our lives, and then it would overflow. God, that's my prayer for us in this room. Would the message that we that we're reading right here in Colossians hit us hard, but then overflow overflow into the relationships around us. In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Alright. So I'm gonna open it up. And, don't feel like you have to. If the room went completely silent, it's alright. I'll take that silence on for a minute, and we'll sing a song.
But if there was a verse from Colossians four tonight, little word of encouragement, even a little testimony of how it's maybe impacted your life, I'd love love to hear it, love to share. And we even have a microphone for you.
So when I stick the microphone in your face, don't be shy. But I'll start off. You said college house. I wish you were here for chapter three. Chapter three is probably my favorite verse or chapter in the whole Bible.
It kinda breaks it down on how to be a Christian. It tells you the things to do and the things to stop doing. And I think sometimes where we get lost as Christians too is that we know what to do, but then we try and tell other people what to do too. And I like how chapter four, that verse seven, where you said the NIV, which is usually what what my jam is. It's like, your conversations towards be full of grace towards outsiders.
Seasoned with salt, meant to preserve. The salt is meant to preserve. That God's grace is meant to go on forever and preserve. And let your conversations be seasoned with grace, seasoned with salt to go on. And so we can chapter three tells us how to live as Christians and the things not to do, the things to do, be washed in the blood, and we're putting on new clothes.
But I really like that verse. Sex, let your conversations be full of grace towards outside outsiders. Seasons with salt. So you know how to answer everybody. Three tells us how to act inwardly.
Chapter four tells us how to act outwardly, and I really like it a lot. Anybody else has a microphone? Don't be shy.
For sharing that. I agree, man. It's good.
I start walking towards people that I that I know have something to say.
Oh, I love Monday nights.
Mhmm.
Monday nights is a good place where we can gather and strengthen our faith and have such a beautiful fellowship like this.
It's good to have you, college house. It really is. You you just lighten up the room. Love it.
Praise the Lord. Amen. I love the whole book, obviously, but, in light of the tonight's text, number 12, I really love verse 12. A member of your own fellowship and the servant of Christ, Jesus, send you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you.
I love that. Yeah. You might not be able to speak in public. You might you might be shy or something. You might not be able to play an instrument or something.
It doesn't matter, but you can always pray for one another. Amen? And it's a very important ministry that we can all of us can do. Oh, I pray for pastor Carl, pastor Ray, absolutely every single day. That God will strengthen them with opportunities in, in whatever the ministry here in our community that God will put the right people in their, in their path.
And that's a very important ministry that we can pray for one another or for different stuff that the Lord, the Holy Spirit puts in your heart. And I like that Paul Paul goes a little bit more than that says, okay, he always pray earnestly for you asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. And then he says, I can assure you that he prays hard for you and also for the believers in Laodicea and and the other church. May the Lord bless us and strengthen us, and may we be aware of the importance of praying for one another and keep our eyes on each other because God sees us as a family, a body of Christ. Amen.
Amen. And I feel those prayers. Thank you so much. And right back at you too. Yep.
Anybody else? Little word of encouragement. Verse. Favorite verse. Hey, Chipper.
Never walked past the mic. Right? Hey, Zoe. It's good to be back, Carl.
Good to have you, too.
So I went to church here for twenty years, but back here for the next couple of weeks. Yes, we studied Colossians this winter at my home church, and it's just really interesting. And I think something that's really stuck in my mind, especially this last summer is, you constantly or I constantly when I'm working all the time, when I used to work here for the Forest Service before I retired, your your head's down. Right? Your head's down.
You're at work, and that's what's important. And someone says, Carl comes up, Carl's got a problem. He's like, yeah, that's tough times, Carl. You know, good good luck. You know, good I mean, because I can't help him.
I can't do nothing about it anyway. Right? You know, I'll pray for you, Carl. But I think it changed since I retired and I'm back home working for myself. I have so much more time.
You know, you get in the line and everybody's in a hurry to get their coffee. It's like, hey, man. I got do the rest of my life, you know, go ahead. But, what I've noticed is, when you have time and you just start looking around, there's hurting people everywhere. And it's just a you know, you just say, hey, how are you how are you doing?
And if someone's this kid at the fair a couple two weeks ago, he's like, just trying to figure out my life. It's like, okay. You know, I took took time to talk to him. And then and and you do what you can for those who are in need. Another kid, I saw him three times this summer, cleaning up sticks and burning slash piles in the cemetery at seven in the morning at our church.
And here's some kid, he's I suppose he works night shift. And, I mean, who hangs on the cemetery. Right? And it just you know, this kid, his name's Kyle. And I just said hi to you know, just you just say hi to him and you take the time.
I think that's if I can only say one thing, take the time to talk to people. And maybe it's not right then you can do something, but then see them a few weeks later at the bakery. And then and then last week, right before I come out here, kids got a you know, his car's broken down like half mile from my house and so I well, wonder who this is. Bummer for him. He broke car broke down.
So, you stop though. And it's like because I remember where's Mike? Dimitri. He oh, okay. Remember you said six seconds.
Right? You decide whether you stop or not? And that's what went through your mind. Remember Mike saying, hey, you either didn't you're either gonna decide to stop in six seconds and do something about it or or or you just put blinders on. And it's easy to put blinders on.
But, know, I stopped and here's Kyle again. You know, and when you think back, it's not by chance. It's by God's grace. Something's going on there, you know. And the neat thing is, you don't know when the change will take place.
You don't know when this person is gonna, you know, because you're, hey, come come to Stansfield, come to our church. But it'll happen, you know, be because the door is like it's it's just right there. Those people are everywhere. So I think it's taking the time to be observant and do what you can.
Yep. Yep. Full grace season of salt. Taking the time. I like it, Chip.
Thank you. Yep. Any other any other thoughts from Colossians? Claire, have you got a thought? Thank you.
Okay. I'm gonna share something about this line, which partly because well, I heard another sermon actually about this line, and I thought it was it it made a really good point that stuck with me. Yep. And I and I liked it. This oh, let your conversations be always full of grace and seasoned with salt so that you may know how to answer everyone.
He talked about the fact that salt preserves. Mhmm. At different at different levels, salt does different things. You dump it on something, it's just gonna destroy it. It preserves at a good amount, and actually just a little bit will just flavor, right?
Which is he's talking seasoning. But seasoning a message with grace is going to just give it a little bit of
a Pizzazz.
A lovely flavor, right? And if you're talking to somebody who's, I would think, seasoning their conversation and sort of every little thing that they do with just a little bit of grace, isn't that gonna be just that little bit more delightfully flavorful? Just kind of just I I just that stuck with me, I thought that was beautiful.
Yep. Yep. Amen. Thank you. Yeah.
Thank you.
Since grace is unmerited favor, it's like it's leaning towards is the way you put it. A leaning towards with unmerited favor. If you start from the position of we're equals, then, okay, that's fine. We're equals. But if you start from the position that they don't need to do anything to deserve more than half of this interaction, right?
I I can lean towards them. I can carry this if I need to, especially when somebody's struggling and they're not able to carry their own weight. They're not able to. If you can lift them up and carry them for a while. It's an incredibly attractive thing and you know, going back to Jesus saying, if someone requires of you to carry his pack, a Roman soldier could require them to carry your pack a mile.
And they had mile markers so that you'd know how far it had been. But if you went beyond that mile and you took it too when you didn't have to and you're having a conversation that season with grace the whole time, it's pretty good.
It's a game changer.
It's a game changer.
It's a game changer. It's a head turner too.
Yeah. For sure.
But it's turning heads in the direction of of Jesus when we can do that. Yep. Being channels, being instruments.
Anybody else? Yeah. It's not over just because I said something. Yeah.
Okay. Here we go. So I like the the verse before that, verse five where it says to be wise in the way that you act toward outsiders and to make the most of every opportunity. I feel like even just like this past week, I had an a moment with a friend of mine who just got a new house and we're going to Home Depot. He's getting paint and this lady just like starts rambling about like all kinds of crazy stuff and just like starts talking to us.
And I think it's really easy to like overlook like these very random interactions where people just like either in a simple way or in a deep way, like, pour out, like, way more information than you were, like, looking to get out of them. Mhmm. And I think sometimes it's easy to, like, just look over that there was an opportunity to, like, to be able to share the gospel or just to be able to, like, show grace to other people or to, like, be encouraging to others. Mhmm. And so I don't know.
I I just think it's a good word to be aware of that as well. I agree. Yeah.
It is. Mhmm. Guys, thanks for sharing. Appreciate it. Love I love the the conversation.
Love to hear how how God's word hits you. That that's really good. So what do you say we sing one more song? It's a creed. A creed.
Maybe maybe you grew up in a in a church that was credo where you said creeds. Maybe not. But we can sing this one. Sometimes that's even easier to learn a creed is to sing it together. Got a little Benny for you.
You ready? This one's from Colossians three. Above all, clothe yourselves with, let's say it, love, which binds us together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body, we're called to live in peace and always be thankful.
