Acts 17:11
Consider this
This dance between men and women is most vividly on display in marriage, and in the ensuing makeup of the home. You may find it a relief to learn that even in the first century Mediterranean world, even in Paul’s little churches, men and women needed lots of advice for how to make marriages, and the household relationships that ensued, work.
Our goal - individually and corporately - is to grow spiritually into the character and likeness of Jesus. This is the work he began in us. This is the work he will see to completion (Philippians 1:6). To accomplish this goal, we are going to focus on four words or phrases in this text. Judge, disqualify, hold fast and grow…
As we continue our summer series in Paul’s letter to the Colossians, we have the opportunity to pause on one of the strangest and more confusing verses in the New Testament. And as initially shocking as this verse is, when we truly understand it, what God is saying through Paul can send our own spiritual lives to another level…
In recent decades a trend has developed toward restoring environmental areas to their original habitat. One aspect of this involves introducing plants that at one point were native to the area. A plant that is re-introduced not only should grow well, but also gives life to the larger eco-system—by enriching soil, attracting insects and animals, its fragrance, and so on.
“For this I toil,” Paul says in Colossians 1:29, “struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” Paul’s paradox of strenuously contending or striving for the faith, and yet fully relying on Christ to supply the power to contend, is at the heart of this song.
In the same breath that Paul tells the Colossians to let the Word of Christ dwell in them richly, he tells the Colossians to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (3:16). Consider the endless source of songwriting material that will never be extinguished!
