Colossians – Shema Part 2

Engage

Passage: Colossians 1:3-14

The Christian Prays for their Christian family 

• The first thing Paul speaks about is prayer, it is important
• We have a heart of thanks for our family:
  • Their Faith in God 
  • Their Love for all the saints
  • These come for the hope of heaven, because they heard the Gospel

We pray this for others but also for ourselves

 Shema – pay attention & do

Imagine The power of a Church that does this

The Christian Challenge

• Affirmation of the Gospel bearing fruit all over the world v6
  • Then and now

What about us as a church and individuals? v6

• Fruitfulness comes from living a life understanding ‘God’s Grace in all its truth’
• No place for a simple or unfruitful faith
• What are others saying about us? v8
  • ‘our love in the spirit’

The Christian Constantly Prays for their Christian family 

• To be Filled with:
  • Knowledge of God’s will
  • Spiritual wisdom and understanding

We pray this for others but also for ourselves 

Shema – pay attention & do

Imagine The power of a Church that does this

The Christian – Filled with Knowledge, wisdom & understanding 

• So we will v10
  • Walk in a manner worthy of God, fully pleasing God v10
    • Bear fruit in every good work
    • Increase in the knowledge of God 
  • Be strengthened with all power v11 
    • For great endurance
    • Patience with Joy

Shema – pay attention & do

Imagine The power of a Church that does this

The Christian – Filled with Knowledge, wisdom & understanding 

• So we will v10
  • Give thanks to God for his actions v12
    • Qualified to share inheritance in light
      • He delivered us from darkness v13
        • In Jesus we have redemption v14
      • He transferred us to the kingdom v13
        • In Jesus we have forgiveness v14

Shema – pay attention & do

Imagine The power of a Church that does this

Extend

Personal Discipleship Activity – Relationship Builder

This week, spend some time praying Paul’s prayer in vv 9-13 for yourself, taking time to stop at the terms and ideas in it, thinking them through or maybe putting them into other words, considering their specific relevance for you personally, just now.

So, your praying might become something like this:

I’m asking you, Father, to give me a wise mind and a spirit that’s attuned to what You want.

Help me to develop a thorough understanding of the ways in which You work. 

I pray that I’ll live well for You – my Master –  making You proud of me as I work in a way that produces real good. As I learn more and more how You work, help me to see how to do my work.

Give me strength to stick it out over the long haul – not the grim strength of gritting my teeth but the glory-strength you give – strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking You, who makes us strong enough to take part in all the good things You have for us.

Thank you that You’ve rescued me and given me freedom from darkness and set me up in the kingdom of the Son You love so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating.

Based on the wording of the Message paraphrase:

More detail relating to your own life could be added in on subsequent days.

Throughout this week, also pray along these lines for some other people you love and would like to see grow in their relationship with God. 

(Different parts of the prayer may resonate particularly strongly for different individuals. If that is so, you may like to pray in more detail about that specific area for the person concerned.)

Write down the names of the people you are going to pray for:

Let us commit to praying this prayer for others in our church, and seek the power and blessing that will come through it.

Shema – As you read through this passage think about what God wants you to pay attentions to and why? Then consider what you need to do in response to this.