Introduction to Colossians

This morning, we’ll be starting a new Sunday evening series through a part of the Bible called Colossians. The book of Colossians was written after the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ, after his death on the cross for our sins, after his resurrection. And so by this point, Jesus had already sent out his disciples to spread the good news – that He’s made a way for our corruption to be cleansed, for our estrangement from God to be ended, and for eternal life to be opened to us.

And one of the men that Jesus uniquely called to carry this message, was a man named Paul. Paul had been given an important role. He was a special type of ambassador for Jesus called an apostle. And Paul labored for years, explaining God’s good news, and assembling Christians in churches, where they would live out their faith together, in regular worship and fellowship.

And one of the key ways that Paul supported these early Christians in their churches – is he would write letters to them, like this letter to the Colossians. But keep in mind, these letters weren’t just from Paul. But given Paul’s role as an apostle, he actually wrote on behalf of God. The ultimate author working through Paul was God himself. And God’s purpose in this letter to the Colossians wasn’t just to help Christians who lived in Paul’s time, 2,000 years ago. But through Paul, God also intended this letter for you and me. The ideas and instructions laid out here are given for our good, so that we’d be rooted in Christ and built up in his truth.

And as we work through this letter, we’ll see a variety of ways that God supports and encourages the vitality of our faith. So if you haven’t done so already, please turn with me to Colossians, Chapter 1. I’ll be reading from Colossians 1, starting at the beginning, verses 1 through 8. But before I read our text, let’s ask for God’s help tonight (Prayer).

Bible Passage:

Colossians 1:1-8 (ESV) – “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.”

Fellowship Reformed Church is a Bible-believing Church in Mt Pleasant, MI. For the rest of the sermon, please listen to the audio file linked above.