Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Welcome to Coffee and devotions, just finished making sure everybody's able to join us live. And I'm going to start off saying this. I need your help. As the year has gone on, I've realized I'm not going to be able to make it all the way to the book of Philippians. I bit off more than I could chew. I thought I'd paced myself out. But as I've been rustling over the counter, there are times where there's presbyteries that come up and extra reading that happens and family members who come in we have to pick them up. Just things like yesterday was normally Monday's, my day off, but I like coming in here and doing coffee devotions. So but some Mondays, I just can't. So what's happened is I'm behind and I need your help. I really have a couple options. Either we can shrink the amount of time and get to the book of Philippians. Even while I'm on vacation, there's going to be a short amount of time there that I'm not going to be able to do coffee and devotions while we are on the road on vacation in November, end of November, December timeframe. And so I need your help. Right we got two options. Please please answer down in the comments. I really need your help deciding this either option number one, we can just speed things up. And we can move through entire chapters, sometimes a chapter and a half to try to get through all of the book of Acts to the Book of Five Lehman or we can slow it down and continue kind of at the pace we've been going and then just maybe next year pick up from filing and onwards. Let me know please, I need your help down in the comments. I'm going to make this decision by tomorrow morning, because I need to figure out what I'm doing tomorrow. So today we're going to be in Colossians chapter one verses one through eight Colossians chapter one verses one through eight. And whoever I hear back from in the morning, I'm just going to take it from you all would you rather go more quickly? Or would you rather stay at a slow steady pace and work our way through it? Let me know down in the comments. Send me a text message shoot me an email. I need to know by tomorrow morning when I come in here to do coffee and devotions. What do we want to do? I don't if we want to get to the book of fine Lehman. I'm gonna have to speed it up. Or we could slow it down or we could stay at the same pace or even slow it down. And just maybe get through something like Second Thessalonians and then pick up in the pastoral epistles and do the 23 I don't know. Let me know down in the comments. I want to do coffee and devotions that's most helpful to you. And so I'm torn either way here. I don't want to push through with a goal to only lose people and not actually be having our souls that well. With that being said, let's have some coffee. Let's pray and we'll get into God's word. Father, we thank you so much for this day. What a blessing it is to get to read your word. What a blessing it is. To get to come before you to sit at your feet. Lord, we pray that you would teach us we pray that you would watch over us
Father, we need your wisdom in Jesus's name, Amen. Here we are at Colossians chapter one. verses one through eight please let me know down in the comments how you want to go for later. Paul and apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Timothy our brother to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colossae Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ praying always for you. Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints, because of the hope which is laid up for you in Heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you as it has also in all the world and is bringing forth fruits, as it also as it is also among us since the day you heard and knew the grace of God and truth as you also learn from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant who has a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf who also declared to us your love in the spirit, well, we need to ask ourselves a What's this about? Be what's the best verses summarize this and see, what are we called to do in response to these words? So first a What's this about? Well, Paul is writing to the church and Colossi This is in modern day Turkey. Further towards the coast on the west, it is inland from Ephesus, and here we meet our friend Epaphras. Right so there's there's some familiar names here. We know Paul, we know Timothy and now we have a path for us and the book of Philippians. His name, the longer form of Pafford, itis was named. And so this is area forgive. And we talked about that in the book of of Acts where Paul went on his missionary journeys there. And so he's telling them his apostolic introduction to start with, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ, who are in Colossi. So at one time, 500 BCE to 200 BC, a pretty prominent city in Asia Minor, that the Roman province of Asia Minor, once Laodicea was made decreased, it's important but as actually one archaeological journal was saying, the colossal city wasn't actually so colossal. By the time of the New Testament, it's a normal town still got some trade is still along. A major route, but not so much prominent anymore. And what is he saying? Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord? Jesus Christ, right. This is how he opens this letter. There's grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is how they are addressed. This is how they have relationship with one another. This is how they have a both vertical and horizontal connection. And so he says to them, his prayer we also we give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. And so he now he's going to say, why he prays for them, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints.
What an encouraging letter to start to receive to start off with, isn't it? We've heard about how much you love people. And so we thank God for it. We heard of your faith in Christ Jesus. Why did they love people because they have faith in Christ Jesus. And why are both of those true verse five because of the hope which is laid up for you in Heaven, of which you heard before in the word of truth of the gospel, they have this Sure hope and the things yet to come, that in heaven, they have eternal life, a king who rules the universe, which has come to you as it is also in all the world and is bringing forth fruit. The fruit of the gospel is being seen all over the world. Everybody all over the Roman Empire is starting to learn about Jesus Christ, that from all the way in the backwoods of Jerusalem, now into even Colossi forgive Ephesus, it's moving out, it's going all throughout the world. And it's bearing fruit. People are repenting of sins, turning to Jesus Christ worshipping the one true living God. And he says as as it is also among us since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth, at the good fruit is being born in their lives because they heard the grace of God in truth and their lives. are being changed. They're loving others. And as you also learned from a path for us, our dear fellow servant, who was a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, this is a path for us who's shared the gospel with so many and Colossi. Epaphroditus shores shared the glories of Jesus Christ and of His kingdom with people in Colossae. And it says, and he's come to us and he's told us about your love. That's a Verse eight says, who also declared to us your love in the spirit Paul says, I'm thinking God, thanking God because you believed the gospel. I'm thanking God because you have hope that's in heaven. I'm thanking God. That you don't just have a face that dies but you have a face that is bearing fruit. This is putting those right back to Jesus's parable right there. They're bearing fruit 30 fold, 60 fold 100 fold. They're loving one another. They're, they're loving God and He says, I gotta thank God for you. Right when I remember what's going on there. I am thankful to God for what's going on there. Well, what's the best first to summarize this section this Thanksgiving? I would underline probably verse two, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in a colossal Grace To You MPs from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And I this is hard, right? How do you underline this? What looks like in the right minds a New King James Version? This looks like a paragraph. But in all reality, verses three through eight is one sentence. How do you how do you split up a sentence to the best part of it? Well, I'd probably say verse three, because that's where he's actually saying what he's doing. He's giving thanks. And then I might say, first, six, seven and eight. I don't how do you underline how do you break up one sentence into the best part? He's giving things to them? Because of their love for God and their love for others the fruit they're bearing in keeping with repentance? Well see calling what are we called to do in response to this? You are saints if you believe in Jesus Christ, you are consecrated ones you are holy ones of God. He's declared this. He's made you that way. He's given you his spirit to cry out Abba Father, you're one of his own. And so if you have faith in Jesus Christ, the apostolic greeting to you is grace and peace. Grace, the unmerited favor of God, peace that surpasses all understanding because we're in Christ Jesus and Christ is in us and aware to give things give thanks for what God has done in your art give thanks for what God is doing. In your life. I want you to give things
for the good things that God is doing in your local church. I'm amazed by the stuff that he's doing here in our church. The problems every church has got problems. Paul is going to talk about some of the problems and collages and and philosophy but he gives thanks for them. They're believing the Gospel. That's a miracle of God. They're loving God and loving each other. Some of them got some issues and he's going to try to correct some of those issues. But there's much to give thanks for when you hear about something going well at another church do you give things I'm about to go to our presbytery meeting here this week. And as I think about this, presbytery, meeting, reading through all these different reports about what God is doing in churches throughout the Midwest, I'm just thinking, Lord, you're still building your kingdom. Thank you, God for what you're doing. In the different churches. Do you give thinks that the kingdom is advancing? Do you give thanks for what God is doing in your church? I don't care how small your church is, if you have one person who believes and there's a second person who joins them and you got a third person there and the three of you are worshiping God alone. Together. Are you given things that God's done three miracles in your midst, saving your heart and saving your two friends lives? Give thanks to God for the miracle that he would save anyone and give us His grace and peace. May we never become tired of thanking him for the salvation he has given us and the salvation he's given others. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the work that you have done in our lives. Thank you for showing us grace and peace in Jesus Christ. Thank you that you have done a miracle in our hearts, taking us out of the kingdom of darkness and transferring us into your marvelous kingdom of light. Lord, we thank you that you are not done working. And your gospel is going all throughout the world. And you're saving people, Lord, you're amazing. Thank you for all you have done and all you are doing in Jesus's name, Amen. Well, please let me know down in the comments how you would like to proceed forward from your whether you would like to slow thing or slow things down or speed things up. Do you want to get through filing or do you want to slow things down? Just let me know. But for now, maybe create some peace of Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you. And I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai