Rooted in Christ, the Way, the Truth, the Life

In one paragraph

This message worked through the closing chapter of Colossians as a way of pulling the whole letter together, tracing the grounding that chapters one and two provide for everything the letter asks of its readers. The preacher moved from a quick review of Colossians one through three to the final greetings of chapter four, treating those greetings not as filler but as the letter's themes showing up...

Read together

1. Colossians 1 reviewed as grounding for the whole letter
2. Colossians 2 grounding for instructions; fullness of deity dwells in Christ
3. Colossians 3:1-17 walk in holiness; put on compassion, kindness, humility, etc.
4. Colossians 3:12-17 put on heart of compassion, forgiveness, love, unity, word of Christ
5. Colossians 4 closing of the letter; prayer, wisdom toward outsiders, greetings
6. Ephesians cited to confirm salvation is not by works
7. Ephesians just as God in Christ has forgiven you, so forgive others
8. John 1:1 in the beginning was the Word; Jesus as agent of creation, before Genesis 1:1
9. Romans 3:23 we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God
10. Romans 5:8 while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, demonstrating God's love
11. Philippians 1:6 he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus
12. Philippians the whole Praetorian guard knows about Paul because of his imprisonment
13. 2 Timothy 4:9-11 Demas having loved the present world deserted Paul; Mark is useful for ministry

What was said

• Set aside time each day this week to pray, and after you have said what is on your mind, stay quiet long enough to listen for what God might be saying back.
• Find someone you have a complaint or grievance against and extend forgiveness to them, even if they have not asked for it.
• Look for one opportunity this week to talk about your faith with someone outside the church, and lead with grace rather than argument.
• Get together with one or two other people to talk through what Colossians actually means for how you live, the way the original hearers would have discussed the letter after it was read aloud.
• Think of someone who has failed or walked away and do something concrete to welcome them back rather than keeping them at a distance.

Talk about it

1. The preacher said that Colossians 3:1-17 requires the grounding of chapters one and two to really land. What does it look like in your own life when you try to live out those instructions without that foundation underneath them?
2. Paul prays that the Colossians would be filled with the knowledge of God's will so they could walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. Where in your life right now do you feel the gap most between what you know and how you are actually walking?
3. The preacher described the mystery of Christ as grace making a way where there did not have to be one, and said that Paul's whole understanding of the Old Testament snapped into focus when he met Jesus. Has there been a moment in your own faith where something you thought you understood completely changed when you saw it through Christ?
4. Onesimus was a runaway slave heading back toward people who had every legal right to harm him, and Paul called him a faithful and beloved brother and sent him anyway. What does that kind of restoration cost the people involved, and what would it look like in your own relationships to extend that same welcome?
5. The preacher closed by saying we are all flawed people and pointed to Mark, Onesimus, and Demas as reminders not to shoot the wounded. Is there someone in your life, or in this church, who needs to be welcomed back rather than written off, and what is making that hard?