Colossians 1
Faithful and Not Forgotten
August 12, 2018
This letter is full of epic and evocative language and is one of Paul’s shortest.
Have you ever felt overlooked?
Have you ever felt like you were doing the right thing, but other people seemed to get noticed?
Have you ever felt like quitting because you were discouraged?
Colossians was written to a young church in the city of Colossae, which is in modern-day Turkey.
The church in Colossae was not a remarkable church, in fact, most people would have said its best days were gone.
The city of Colossae was once great, but other cities were growing faster, and Colossae was not.
The tiny church in this declining city was surprised one day when the great apostle of their time sent them a letter.
Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter. He had been stripped of all his freedoms and felt very much alone.
Colossians 1:3-6, 9-11 NIV
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel 6 that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth.
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience …”
Any person who wishes to do anything great for God must endure long seasons of anonymity.
Moses had a wilderness
David had a wilderness
Jesus had a wilderness
Faithfulness seldom gets the attention of people, but God always notices.
How do we live when we feel ignored, left out or alone?
Look again at v.6, v.9 and v.11
v.6 – All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing …
v.9 “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you …”
Pray for a faithful person each day and then tell them!
v.11 “so that you may have great endurance and patience …”
“Endurance”
“Patience”
Story of Billy Graham and Charles Templeton
Keep going and trust God is at work.
The Table:
Psalm 33:4
“For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.”
