Background on the letter to the Colossians #2

     As we begin our time in Colossians, stop and consider some background on this letter.
    

    The town of Colossae was located in the hinterland region of Asia. It was on a rocky ridge that overlooked the valley of the Lycus River. It was a good-sized city, but it was decadent. It was located on a mountain pass on the road from Ephesus to the east. It was once known for its glossy black wool.

      Possibly the location was evangelized by Timothy or Epaphras.[1] Paul's references in his letter point to the fact that he had never been there himself.[2] The church was probably started during Paul’s third missionary journey while he spent three years in Ephesus.[3]

     It appears as if Epaphras’ visit and report on what was happening at Colossae was the stimulus for this letter from Paul. Although they had not yet become a part of an encroaching heresy, Paul writes to stem the movement within the chiefly Gentile Church.

     The heresy, which evoked this letter, was a blasé form of intellectualism. This intellectualism was only interested in mysteries, secret knowledge and wisdom. It may have combined elements of Greek Gnosticism, Jewish legalism, and oriental mysticism. This in turn caused them to discount Christ as a false philosophy. Paul did not spend his time in idle theories. To him, the gospel had clear ethical consequences. To Paul, Jesus Christ was first in all things.[4]

Prayer: Heresy still abounds today. Spirit of Truth, help us to discern what is truth and what are the lies of the enemy. Strengthen my ability to see and walk in the way of Jesus. Amen.

_________________________________________

[1] Harold Willmington. Willminton’s Guide to the Bible. (Wheaton, Il:Tyndale House Publishers, 1983) Pg. 474.
[2] See Colossians 2:1
[3] See further Acts 19:10; 20:31
[4] Thomas Marshall. A Student’s New Testament Survey. (Mustang, OK: Tate Publishing & Enterprises, 2007) Pp. 91 -92.

Background on the letter to the Colossians

Join me in a verse by verse look at the Book of Colossians in the New Testament. Over the coming days, let us glean from this letter written to give a view of the centrality of Jesus Christ.

The letters of Ephesians and Colossians are really twins. They belong together to complete each other. Where the letter to Ephesus deals with the body of Christ -- the church, the letter to Colossae deals with the head of the church -- Christ. The view that the letter to the Colossians was written by Paul is virtually unquestioned. Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon make up the four letters called the “Prison Letters.” These were written during the time period when Paul was under arrest and imprisoned at Rome.

Three messengers had come to Paul in his imprisonment in Rome – Tychicus, Epaphroditus, and Epaphras. Paul in his time at Rome also came in contact with Onesimus, a run-away slave that Paul was able to lead to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. These four messengers left Paul’s presence with the four letters that we call the “Prison Epistles” today.

Tomorrow, we will consider the town of Colossae. 

Prayer: Holy Father, open our minds and hearts to this letter preserved for us in Your Holy Word. Amen.

READ YOUR BIBLE

The Bible...IT IS PROFITABLE TO: 

     A. Change you. 

a. The story is told of a South Sea Islander who proudly displayed his Bible to a G.I. during WW II. He had received it as a present from a missionary some time before. The soldier said, “O, we’ve outgrown that sort of thing.” The native smiled back and said, “Well, it’s a good thing we haven’t, because if it weren’t for this book, you would be our evening meal.”

b. DL Moody said: “The scriptures were not given for our information but our transformation.”

c. Every person who receives Jesus Christ as their Savior is changed. Changed from walking the road to Hell to riding the cross to Heaven.

B. Convict you. 

a. Mark Twain, not exactly a die-hard Christian, wrote these words: “Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me most are those I do understand.”

b. If you read the Bible, you WILL be convicted. We are all sinners – right up to the day we die. And the Bible will help us see where we are at odds with the Father.

d. The real question then becomes – What will you do with this conviction?

C. Correct you

a. How to get it right

b. One Sunday morning during announcements, the preacher said, "I need to make a correction to an announcement from last week’s bulletin. It read: The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment, and gracious hostility. It should have read: The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment, and gracious hospitality. Sorry, folks, we are a loving church, not a hostile one. We love hurting people." 

d. Often when we try to correct things ourselves, we just make them worse.

e. Using God’s Word – correctly – we can correct those areas of our lives that our not right.

D. Coach you…how to keep it right

a. Albert Einstein was on a train when the conductor came through collecting tickets. Einstein couldn’t find his ticket and became rather distraught. The conductor tried to console him by saying, "Mr. Einstein, don’t worry. When you find your ticket, just mail it in. We trust you." Einstein responded in frustration, "My dear man, that’s not my problem. I need my ticket to tell me where I’m going."

e. The Bible is our ticket to help us know where we are going and how to get there.

f. It will keep us on the right track and in the right way.

E. The Bible is profitable to change, convict, correct and coach us.

This year, commit with me to read through the Bible. Begin today, and spend time with God in His Word. Let Him talk to you and change, convict, correct and coach you in this year.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, speak to my heart today from Your Word. Let me make not a resolution, but a commitment to spend time with You in Your Word each day. Amen.

Acts of Love and Service in Fort McMurray Canada

What would cause 14 men and women, trained and certified in Disaster Relief to leave their home, travel about 25 hours to a small place just about 250 miles south of the Arctic Circle? The love of Christ, and a Servant's heart. 

   

In the early hours of Thursday, June 9, groups of North Carolina Baptist Men and Women began their trek to Alberta Canada. Arriving in Fort McMurray around 11 pm they settled in with a team from Oklahoma. God had called the 14 men and women to assist with the return of the people of the region. The region had evacuated over 90,000 people in the face of the devastating fires. Many homes and businesses were destroyed, leaving the people to face a challenging future - the majority of them have no understanding of God or Jesus Christ. From North Carolina to just below the Arctic Circle, the hands, feet, and heart of Christ would make an impact.

    

The team under the leadership of Bill Martin, consisted of a Chaplaincy team under the coordination of "Doc" Marshall and a Feeding/Recovery team. The work consisted in sifting the ashes of the homes looking for any recoverable items, and bringing hope to a situation that looked totally hopeless.

    

Working and listening to the various accounts from the victims, we heard of the frightening evacuation to the airport and other locations down the highway with flames on both sides of the road. People left hurriedly with no concept of what they would find when they could finally return.

     

As the return began in earnest Saturday, standing in the YMM (Fort McMurray) airport, we had the opportunity to see the vacant looks, the deep sorrow and concern etched upon their tired and weary faces. Speaking with one young lady, she told her story of leaving with her husband and three young children through the fires. She and her husband had left their three children (one under a year of age) to come back for one day to handle the paperwork. She was struggling with a myriad of emotions, but God allowed us to pray and encourage her.

    

On Sunday, the team traveled about an hour up the road to a Cree Reservation called Fort McKay (pronounced Mc-Kii). The village had one Catholic Church where a priest came about once a month when he could. Four of the local Cree women joined us. We  able to encourage and pray with them. A Ft. McMurray pastor, Clay Hilton of the Native American Fellowship led the service. It is his prayer for a work to start there. One of the women that we talked and prayed with was 95-year-old Flora Grandjambe. We were able to follow up over the next few days with these ladies.

    

The recovery team worked on sifting the ash in many of the homes. They were able to minister to the family members during this procedure. The workers had to dress in haz-mat type suits to work in the basements of these homes. One home, as they related, they were finding nothing. They stopped and prayed with the homeowners, and when they went back they began to discover a number of the families articles. The family was overwhelmed that their prayers were answered so quickly. At another home they worked at, the owner had lost a large coin collection. As they sifted they began to discover coin after coin. As they would discover the coins, the homeowners would vocally express their excitement.

    

Over the 10 days of deployment, we had the privilege of interacting with many varied individuals. This region of Canada has a very post-modern worldview when it comes to religion. They see all faiths as equal, and believe and teach in many of their churches that God is the same in Christian, Islam, Buddhism, and many other faith beliefs. Because of this many do not see the need or importance of a true faith in Jesus Christ. As the team would talk with men and women, they would ask if people would like them to pray for them. Some said yes and stopped to be prayed with, but many would say yes and move quickly away. "It is alright to pray for me, not with me." Bill Martin said that he was reminded how important having Christian values were.

    

A firefighter who had been working on the front line told of how one day as they were bulldozing a firebreak around a group of homes, the wind suddenly shifted and the fire began moving rapidly toward them. They quickly began to move backwards when they became aware that the fire was coming from that direction. They immediately stopped working and left the area. That evening he prayed all night for the homes in that location. When he returned in the morning, he was surprised to see most were unharmed. He began to feel that they would have "a victory over the fire."

    

The members of the team expressed their feelings about being a part of what God was doing in this area. Daniel Gillahan expressed that he saw this as an opportunity to be able to share the Gospel through acts of service and love to lost people in this area. Bruce Button shared that this is an opportunity to give some hope to those who have little left, while Emily Creech saw it as an opportunity to give a cup of water in Jesus' name. Nancy Jones spoke about the blessing that one receives by being His hands and feet. Carey Fleming gave a good summary that a trip like this helps us to see what missionaries go through. We were 14 missionaries serving Jesus Christ.

     

Memorial Day thougths

Greetings:

It's Memorial Day – too many people see it as a great three-day weekend. A time for the beach, to grill out and picnic, a time to kick back and relax. And while it is in a way all of those things, it has a much deeper meaning. It is in reality, a time of recalling the sacrifices (for many the ultimate sacrifice of their lives) who have defended our most precious freedoms we enjoy today. It is a day that we should pause and reflect upon those who did this to help attain peace for us to enjoy, however, it is also important to think about how our longing for permanent peace -- unattainable in this world -- points us toward a world in which it is possible.

The great Christian apologist/philosopher C. S. Lewis came to a fascinating conclusion in relation to this desire. He realized that if our deepest desires cannot be satisfied in this world, then we must have been made for another world. This truth was one of the factors that ultimately led to Lewis's conversion to Christianity. The Scriptures confirm that we are designed for a different world, and they urge us to focus on the world that is yet to come. As Paul advised those in Colossae, "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth" (Col. 3:2). That is where we find the ultimate permanent peace – peace with God. There will come the day, which the prophet Isaiah wrote about, the day when men will "turn their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nations will not take up the sword against other nations, and they will never again train for war.” (Isa. 2:4b)

Until then, however, we honor those who fought our wars and sacrificed for a peace that is transitory, but it is also a time for reflection about the peace that is to come.

Have a blessed Memorial Day.