Paul’s Thanksgiving
Paul is thankful for the Church in Colossae and for the way God has worked in the lives of the Colossians.
We are thankful for the Redeemer Day School and the way God is working in the lives of all the people associated with the school (students, parents, faculty, staff, and friends of the school).
Colossians 1:3-8 NLT
Paul’s Thanksgiving
3 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.
6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.
7 You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf. 8 He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.
Examine the Scriptures:
Colossians 1:3-8 NLT
Note: These six verses are all one sentence in the Greek text.
Paul’s Thanksgiving
3 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God,
We refers to Paul and Timothy.
“Thanks” is an important theme in the book of Colossians. (Verse 1:3, 1:12, 2:7, 3:15-17, 4:2)
- Paul not only teaches but he also prays regularly and gives thanks to God for those he shepherds.
- Scripture tells us to be persistent in our prayers for all believers everywhere.
Ephesians 6:18 NLT
18 … Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
How can you apply this to your life?
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is the Father of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the Son of God.
Jesus is Lord.
- Paul emphasizes the lordship of Jesus Christ in his letter to the Colossians.
In verses 15-23 we’ll learn about the preeminence of Christ.
Paul talks about the deity of Christ in chapter 2.
Colossians 2:9 NLT
9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.
John 14:6 NLT
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people,
Your faith in Christ Jesus.
Faith is directed vertically, toward Christ.
Your love for all of God’s people.
Love is horizontal, toward others.
God’s people, Christians, Saints, people who have been set apart by God as His own holy people.
Colossians 3:12 NLT
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves,
- Paul thanks God for the Colossians spiritual growth, their faith in Christ Jesus and their love for all of God’s people.
Bottom line:
We all want all of our students to have a growing faith in Jesus and a love for others.
5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven.
Faith in Christ Jesus and love for all of God’s people, comes from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven.
- Reflecting on the hope of an eternal inheritance awaiting believers can inspire faithfulness and love in our daily lives.
Your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. An eternal inheritance awaiting believers not yet fully revealed.
1 John 2:25 NIV
25 And this is what he promised us—eternal life.
Hebrews 10:23 NLT
23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.
Our hope is not just wishful thinking but a firm assurance of something that will happen.
- Three great Christian virtues, faith, hope, and love are foundational to the Christian life.
1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT
13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
1 Thessalonians 1:3 NLT
3 As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:8 NLT
8 But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.
Hebrews 10:22-24 NLT
22 let us go right into the presence of Go with sincere hearts fully trusting (faith) him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.
Faith is the soul looking upward to God,
Love looks outward to others,
And hope looks forward to the future.
Faith rests on the past work of Christ,
Love works in the present, and
Hope anticipates the future. (Bible Knowledge Commentary)
You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.
The confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven.
The hope of heaven should inspire faithfulness and love in our daily lives.
6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world.
Refer to a Bible map. (This is primarily the area around the Mediteranea Sea.)
Romans 1:8 NLT
8 Let me say first that I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith in him is being talked about all over the world.
Within three decades of Pentecost.
It (the Gospel) is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives,
See verse 10
10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.
- Lives are transformed by the dynamic power of the Gospel.
Romans 1:16 NLT
16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.
The gospel’s impact is both personal and communal.
We are a part of this global movement of the gospel, both by living transformed lives and by sharing the message.
Think about the lives of your students being changed by the dynamic power of the Gospel.
7 You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf.
Paul did not start the church at Colossae. The people heard the gospel from Epaphras, a fellow Colossian. (Colossians 4:12)
Note: You are God’s faithful servant, sharing the Good News with your students.
8 He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.
The Holy Spirit is the source of all Christian love.
This love is a divine gift, reflecting the Spirit’s work in their lives. It serves as evidence of their genuine faith and connection to God.
1 John 4:7, 11, 19 NLT
7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.
11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
19 We love because he first loved us.
- The love we have for others comes from God.
- We are commanded to love each other.
John 13:34-35 NLT
34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
Romans 13:8 NLT
8 Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.
