Colossians: Intro to the Letters
Colossians Bible Study • Sermon • Submitted
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Introductory Information
Introductory Information
Introduction of myself personally and professionally:
Personal:
family
B/cs
golf, reading
Professionally:
MDiv
DMin
Wesleyan Accountability
Biblical Studies
Class format:
You have what the sessions are probably going to be like. I will take questions in each session but we will probably spend time each session doing that.
Online: Register your attendance by saying you watched and with who. If you will ask questions in the session I may carry them into next session or save them for a live Q and A session near the end.
Look at handout:
Mainly, I want to say this up front.... There is probably some work we need to do to introduce the NT letters. My hope is to give you tools for your tool box to help you study scripture on your own. I know I will give you a lot of information and if you feel like it is too much, hang in there. We will get more practical.
Last week is open…we may do something with it.
Sources:
The Bible Project, Scholarship of Tim Mackie
Recommendation to you....
The Epistles, The Letters
The Epistles, The Letters
The New Testament contains 27 literary works and almost half are letters. They are not generalized theological essays on Christian ethics, which we often try to make them that. The letters all contain background information that is not explicitly mentioned.
Example: hearing one side of a conversation. You can put some things together about what might be happening on the other end but you wont know fully what is going on with out some more digging into context.
Letter:
Josh in the room and take a volunteer.
Volunteer is trusted deliverer. You will deliver and perform the letter. You will hand it to Josh and then Josh will hand this back for you to read it.
To Josh:
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Peace be with you, Hannah, and your children. I give thanks to God for you every day and I am praying that Hannah will continue in good health and your youngest would be safe in the coming weeks. Receive this messenger, (name), he/she is a trusted friend and messenger of the good news.
As I leave now for lakeview, know that I cannot wait to get back to you and the others. Remember what we discussed about choosing the best music for our house of worship. Music that is a pleasing offering to God that remembers the covenant, proclaims salvation, and looks forward in hope for what is to come. We must not settle for meaningless song that is only pleasing to the individual. Worship is for the community of God and the salvation preached is for the whole cosmos.
Pertaining to the most recent struggle in our worship, my hope is that we are able to continue without shields so that the glare is not unbearable. Also, take heed the advice and restrain from donuts in the early morning.
When I return, we will enjoy a mother clucker together. Send my best to Joe, Amy, Diane, and Cyndi. Oh and to Rocky...tell him I am praying for him and his church.
John Wayne McMann, a follower of Jesus
Ask:
Josh, did you understand everything here?
Say, Volunteer....what we couldnt do was to train you to deliver this.
Think about some scriptures that we love:
(Talk about these and the way they can preach)
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
We like these verses because they are something that we can pull out and immediately apply.
In contrast, though. Considering the following:
Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not;
Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him,
Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says.
Context is Everything
Context is Everything
Not theological essays
“They are not written to you, written for you”
Context is everything when it comes to this work. Tim Mackie from Bible Project gives a helpful framework for what is important about context:
Where do these letters fit in the broader storyline of the Bible?
What is the original Jewish, Greek, or Roman cultural context?
What is the situational context that prompted this letter?
What is the unified message of the letter as a whole?
We will work through these over the next couple of weeks, but for now the first point is important.
The old testament, the place of the letters in cosmic narrative:
“Understanding how the letters fit in has immense potential for the followers of Jesus today—because this isn’t just about theology and ethics, this is about a cosmic story. It’s about getting people to elevate their allegiance to Jesus over their socio-economic, national, ethnic, gender boundary lines. I cannot imagine a more important message. And we lose all of that when we don’t honor the original context.” - Tim Mackie
Preach this out....
Good creation
humanity the pinnacle
fall of humanity
Abraham
Moses
Kings
Prophets
Gospels
Another way to think about it....Biblical narrative an another class that I have taught
Storyboard: 6 Act Play
Storyboard: 6 Act Play
Nt Wright has another way of thinking about this.... great book called The Drama of Scripture by Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen
Act 1: God establishes his kingdom… Creation
Act 2: Rebellion in the Kingdom…Fall
Act 3: The King Chooses Israel…Redemption Initiated
Scene 1: A People for the King
Scene 2: A Land for His People
Act 4: The Coming of the King…Redemption Accomplished
Act 5: Spreading the News of the King…The Mission of the Church
Scene 1: From Jerusalem to Rome
Scene 2: And into All the World (Our part)
Acts 6: The Return of the King…Redemption Completed
I think the following points are important about letters in context....
Letters in context:
The Gospel is for all Nations: The Bible gives a clear vision for God using the family of Israel to bring blessing to all nations through a promised descendant.
NT Letters are continuing this promise: The apostles saw themselves as the continuation of these promises to restore God’s blessing to all nations through the good news about Jesus.
Focus on issues: The New Testament authors focused on many of the cultural and social issues of their day because they wanted their audiences to see themselves as members of the same family of God.
Closing thoughts:
Closing thoughts:
In some ways we can jump right into a letter and appreciate information easily. Not as foreign as other parts of the bible
Letters are written to someone....is Paul talking to us? “I” tell “you” to do this and that
Letters written to teach How to live as a follower....this is what we are supposed to do, why cant we just adopt the letter for our context?
As we saw there are really good passages that we can grab a hold of which is a temptation to miss bigger story
Church is perhaps perpetuated this. Example about preaching planning.
The letters are meant to be read (or taught) in their entirety
Questions/Comments?
Questions/Comments?
