Pray for the Church

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you...

Colossians 1:9

Paul hadn't planted the church at Colossae. He had never even been to this church as far as we know. And Paul had plenty of other churches that he was responsible for. He had more than enough on his prayer list. Yet… when Paul heard about this church's faith in Jesus and their love in the Spirit he made time to pray for the church in little Colossae. And he didn't pray for them just once or twice. He says, “we have not stopped praying for you.” In other words, Paul prayed without ceasing for the church at Colossae.

Do you pray for the church? Do you pray for your church… for its staff, its deacons, its teachers and volunteers? Do you pray for its business meetings and committee meetings? Do you pray that God would protect it from the attacks of the enemy... that the devil wouldn’t get a foothold in your church? Do you prau that gossip and slander and division wouldn’t take hold there? Do you pray for those in your church who are struggling with doubts, or those who are battling sin, or those who are trying to keep their marriage and family together? Do you pray for your church?

You might think. “Well, Paul was an apostle. He had a special duty to pray for the church.” But you’re a Christian! And, you have a special duty to pray for other believers and especially those in your church. Your church needs your prayers. Other churches need your prayers. So... pray for the church!

Good Seed

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.

Colossians 1:6

Paul points out that the gospel had the same affect in Colossae that it has had all over the world. The gospel bears fruit and grows everywhere it goes! It has softened the hardest souls and brought the most wretched of sinners to salvation for more than 2 millennia. The gospel is good seed!

This is an important truth that we need to pay attention to. Satan will try to convince you that the gospel doesn’t work anymore… that it won’t work on your friends or your family. But that’s just a lie designed to get you to stop sowing gospel seeds. Don’t believe it!

Plant! Sow! Scatter! The gospel is good seed! It grows all on it’s own and it still has the power to save souls.

This reminds me of a little tradition my family and I have fallen into. Every fall we place pumpkins on our front porch and when the season is over, we smash those pumpkins in our back yard. The first year, we did it for fun because we thought the kids would enjoy smashing the pumpkins. But then some of the seeds took root and grew on their own. Now, we do it every year. I have a pumpkin plant growing out of my brush pile in the back yard right now. It’s a pain to mow around. It’s only there because the seed was good. I didn’t cultivate it. I didn’t fertilize it or weed it or water it. The seed fell and it just grew on its own.

That’s what the gospel is like. It’s powerful! It produces fruit in people’s lives all on its own. All you have to do is scatter the seed.. So, share the gospel! Talk to people about Jesus. It may take weeks or months or years for you to see the fruit, but the gospel is good seed... it will produce fruit if you will only plant the seed.

Grace & Peace

Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

Colossians 1:2b

We believe that Paul wrote at least thirteen letters in the New Testament. The greetings in those letters vary, but every one of the thirteen extends grace and peace to the church. Why? I’m convinced that Paul does this because grace and peace are two of our most fundamental spiritual needs.

You need God’s grace! You've disobeyed God and broken His commands. That makes you a sinner bound for Hell. Apart from God’s grace (His undeserved favor) you have no hope. But “God so Loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him might not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) God extended His grace to you through His Son Jesus Christ who died on the cross so that you might have access to the forgiveness you didn’t deserve. This grace is yours as a Christian.

And those who believe on Jesus are saved and are ushered into a new and profound peace with God and with our fellow man. Colossians 1:20 & 21 tell us that “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior” but Jesus “made peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

You see, Jesus died as a propitiation for your sins. That means that He took God’s wrath for your sins on Himself. His death allows you to go from being an enemy of God who was under God's wrath to a son of God who is at peace with the Father. And that same salvation also puts you at peace with your fellow believers, your brothers and sisters in Christ.

So, what we have in these two words, grace and peace, is really a summary of the gospel itself and a representation of our greatest spiritual needs that are met in Christ. And where do we find this grace and peace? Who or what is their ultimate source? Paul tells us that this comes “from God our Father.” 

Sinful man has searched the whole world over and has created countless counterfeits trying to provide the grace and peace that we so desperately need… and every single one of them disappoints. If you try to base your peace on anything else, your life will be full of conflict and striving. If you try to find grace for your failures in any other source, sooner or later, you will be ostracized and condemned. There is no other source of true grace for your sin and true peace for your life than in the salvation that is offered to you by your Heavenly Father. Look to Him alone for grace and peace.

Before You Begin... (W.o.W. Rewind)

Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

John 1:32-34

Certain things in life are prerequisite to the journey ahead. You don't begin a road trip without first checking to make sure you have enough gas in the tank, air in the tires, and oil in the engine. Neither do you start a hiking trip wearing only your PJs and house shoes. It's the same with our Christian walk. Before you begin any undertaking for the Lord you should make sure you have what is necessary.

In today's passage we find Jesus about to embark on His public ministry, but before He begins, one thing is necessary. Jesus gets baptized and at His baptism the Spirit descends on Him like a dove and remains on Him. That last point always escaped my notice, but it is important. You see the Spirit's lighting on Jesus is not merely a sign to identify Him as the Messiah. It is much more than that. The Spirit resting on Him is both a symbol of His kingship (kings in the O.T. were often anointed with oil as a symbol of God's Spirit) and an important empowering preparation for His ministry. This is Jesus' Day of Pentecost. He is being filled with the Spirit and empowered to go out and perform His ministry.

If it was necessary and fitting for Jesus' ministry to begin with a Holy Spirit anointing, then how much more is it necessary for us? Notice that none of the gospels record Jesus having a single convert or performing a single miracle before His anointing with the Spirit. Therefore, we must be careful to remember that we are not called to do anything for God, as though we were capable of accomplishing anything of substance without Him. Rather we are called to do great things with God...good works He has prepared in advance for us to do (Eph. 2:10). 

How does one get the Spirit? The passage says that it is Jesus who baptizes us in the Holy Spirit. Every Christian at their salvation is filled with the Spirit. It is given to all believers to empower and guide them along their journey, but we must learn to walk and minister in it. So before you begin making your own plans today, be sure to ask for God's guidance and blessing through His powerful Spirit.

For further reading...

• Matthew 4:1-11- Several of the gospels follow Jesus' baptism with the Spirit immediately leading him into the desert to face temptation.
• Romans 8- Life through the Spirit.
• I John 4- How to recognize the Spirit of God.