After the Gift

Nolan Berista at Target

Back story to Colossians

Epaphras (the church planter) who is reporting the amazing work happening in the area.

He is commending them on their development and growth direction. -Positive words of affirmation... We all know Negative people that only have negative things to say.

9 For this reason?? also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,

10 so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and 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, joyfully

12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.

13 He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.

14 In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Col 1:3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints

Rom 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.

You learned this from Epaphras....

4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling for you in his prayers, so that you can stand mature and fully assured in everything God wills.

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints 5 because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the word of truth, the gospel 6 that has come to you. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and came to truly appreciate God’s grace., 7 You learned this from Epaphras, our dearly loved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 and he has told us about your love in the Spirit.

We haven’t stopped praying for you

For this reason… Whatever the reasons are he is saying they are evidence that something special and right is happening with yall.

Their faith in Jesus

Faith without works is dead, Their have been plenty of oppertunities to turn to their old ways and they continued to move forward in Jesus. This is one major reason to keep praying because life will give you many reasons to turn down your faith in Jesus.

Paul is celebrating them because they face real faith destroying challenges.

What type of things challege our faith in Jesus.

Their love for all the saints

Paul says we are praying for you because you still love all the saints...

(1:2 saints The Greek word used here, hagioi,often translated “saints” or “holy ones,” refers to those who are set apart or who belong to God.) God seems to enjoy putting a name and sometimes on people an

Loving some of the saints is hard.

Especily the libral, conservitive left wing right wing, non expresive chari-costal, bapti-methodist

****All the saints,

Love in the Spirit

Rom 8:9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

John 13:34 “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

He gives us a command and the (Power) Fluk compassitor “This is what makes time travel possible”

The Spirit makes all this possable

Do it like Jesus.... Jesus super low key, extra right (Patrick Swayze) Road House

13:34–35. The 11 disciples would survive in His absence by obeying His example of love. The command is new in that it is a special love for other believers based on the sacrificial love of Jesus: As I have loved you, so you must love one another. Christians’ love and support for one another enable them to survive in a hostile world. As Jesus was the embodiment of God’s love, so now each disciple should embody Christ’s love. This love is a sign to the world as well as to every believer (1 John 3:14).

Closing

Col 4:17 ....Pay attention to the ministry you have received in the Lord, so that you can accomplish it.