Well, today we begin a study of the New Testament book of Colossians. The book of Colossians is attributed to the Apostle Paul and was likely written while he was in prison perhaps in Rome. Now the city of Colassic was a city in southern Asia Minor in what today we would call middle of the first century AD, Colassi was a small city overshadowed by its larger, more prosperous neighbors Higheropouloolis and Leodysia. Now the church in Colasse appears to have been founded by a man named Epipris who was a native of Colasse and a c-orker of the apostle Paul's at the time of the writing of the letter to the church. What was the message?
Colossians 1:1-14 NIV
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters[a] in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father. 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. 9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,[e] 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, 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, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[f] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Charities
Ross Jutsum State of the Heart – An inter-denominational ministry of music and worship.
New Life for Haiti New Life for Haiti - Home
Bengali Evangelistic Association Bengali Evangelical Association (bengalimission.org)
Bible Gateway BibleGateway.com: A searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages.
GCI Grace Communion International (gci.org)