Christ in Our Homes
Read: Colossians 3:18-4:1 These past few weeks have been so full! Can anyone relate? Work has been crazy; Jerry has been traveling; school is back in session, and on and on it goes. Just when I think I can’t do one more thing, ten more end up on my plate. That is how I was feeling about the Meditation for Preparation this week. I told Jerry I am dried up; I have nothing to write. To which he responded, “Didn’t you write an entire study?” Oh yeah, I did! So I started out by thinking I would tweak a
Colossians and Forgiveness
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms,
Camp, A New You, And A New Way
Read Colossians 3:1-11 When I was a child, it seemed like every kid that went to summer camp came back different. It was a rite of passage. It wasn’t until college that I got away for an extended amount of time with other kids my age, but I always envied the other kids who went. Summer camp seemed to do something to kids, to enliven them with a special glow that only the shared camp experience could imbue. For just one week or one month or whatever short amount of time in the summer or fall, camp is this
Saying No Is Never Enough
Fighting Sin With a Better Pleasure Article by Matt Bradner in Desiring God. The northeast portion of the United States went eerily dark on the evening of August 14, 2003. When lights should have been on, there were none to be seen. Instead, all was dark, and movement was at a standstill. There was no power. What became known as the “Northeast blackout of 2003” resulted in nearly a sixth of the United States without power. In the days that followed, a satellite image began circulating due to its shocking appearance. Whether the photo is real or manufactured has little relevance
Colossians Resources
As we make our way through the book of Colossians on Sunday mornings, here are some resources that I am finding helpful. Best All Around If you want to get just one resource on Colossians, I would grab this book by pastor Sam Storms.  It combines good study with pastoral concern: The Hope of Glory Sam Storms — this is the same basic content for free on his website! Background To get a review of how things fit together, here are some resources to help: The Bible Project — a great short video summary of the book Colossians in 5
The Necessity of Deep Roots
Do you remember getting a driver’s license and how nervous you were during the driving test? If you were like me, the learning had just begun. The rules of the road and the car’s behavior were all theoretical items on a written test until I had experience driving. Some of those safety fundamentals didn’t sink in until I hydroplaned on an Interstate highway in a rainstorm. Everything I had learned about choosing a reliable car, keeping the interior cool, and what colors had the best resale value were useless information compared to the safety of my daughter and
A Good Argument
Read: Colossians 1:24-2:5 I love a good argument. Not so much a confrontational argument, but a well laid out and developed argument of reason that shows why a person believes, thinks, or acts in a particular way even if that way is contrary to my own beliefs. Pauline letters were always hard for me until I began to understand that Paul is building arguments. They are arguments with the longest sentences I have ever seen but arguments nonetheless! For example, if we picked up with just these few verses from our passage this week where Paul talks about what
A Love Poem
Read: Colossians 1:15-23 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Love Is An Ability
Read Colossians 1:9-14 In the movie Dan in Real Life (a personal favorite), the main character Dan is a columnist who writes about childrearing and other family-related musings. He is thunderstruck when his 15-year-old daughter “falls in love” with a boy she’s only known for three days. The boy shows up at their family vacation home and Dan finds the two teens snogging by the beach, so naturally, he sends the boy home. Dan tells the boy there’s no possible way the teens feel love for one another when they’ve only known each other for three days. The boy’s
Loving People You’ve Never Met
Read: Colossians 1:1-8 In the summer of 1996 I went on my first international mission trip to a small town in the heart of Poland. I went with about 60 of my closest friends and our mission was to help a small Baptist church reach out to their community by helping them run their vacation Bible school in the mornings and then performing concerts in public squares and auditoriums during the afternoons. I had never met or spoken to any of the people of Tarnow Baptist Church, but by the end of that week, I had formed lifelong friendships.
