Not a List
Read: Colossians 4:7-18 Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. (v. 7) Fred Craddock once preached a sermon titled “When the Roll Is Called Down Here” on Romans 16. There at the end Paul greeted by name a very long list of people in Rome. But, Craddock said, don’t dare call those verses only […]
Seasoned Speech
Read: Colossians 4:2-6 Let your speech always be gracious. (v. 6) “Just two final things before I sign off,” Paul said. “First, keep praying for us so that we can keep preaching, especially since I’m in prison and that makes it tough to get around. Second, behave well toward people not in the church and […]
No Partiality
Read: Colossians 3:23–4:1 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. (v. 25) We pondered yesterday how to make sense of Paul’s apparent acceptance of slavery. But Paul was not quite finished with that topic. In fact, what he says next may mean that for […]
House Rules
Read: Colossians 3:18-24 You are serving the Lord Christ. (v. 24) Yesterday we noted Paul’s claim that Christian living involves everything. Next Paul said that this most certainly includes what goes on within our homes. It would be easy to get distracted by two things here: first, the call for wives to be submissive, and […]
Everything
Read: Colossians 3:12-17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (v. 17) Verse 17 caps off this remarkable set of verses we have spent the last four days savoring. After going through that whole wardrobe of Christ […]
Richly Dwelling
Read: Colossians 3:15-16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. (v. 16) The Gospel of John tells us that Jesus was originally “the Word” who had been with God in the beginning. That Word was made flesh, lived among us, and then spoke many more words of life. Paul now told the Colossians […]
Peace
Read: Colossians 3:15-16 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. (v. 15) The Hebrew word shalom often gets translated as “peace.” But if we think of this “peace” only as a lack of conflict—a time without war or “peace and quiet” at home—then we are missing the richness of what God desires. […]
A Gentle Ensemble
Read: Colossians 3:12-14 Put on then . . . compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. (v. 12) We have all seen enough paintings of Jesus as to think we know what Jesus looked like. We picture him as having wavy hair, a nicely trimmed beard, and wearing a white tunic. That may or may […]
New Clothes
Read: Colossians 3:12-14 And above all these put on love. (v. 14) Colossians 3:12-16 is the very heart of this letter. That’s why we will be spending four days unpacking the riches Paul managed to tamp down into these five verses. We could actually spend much longer savoring this passage! Paul began by introducing a […]