Preparing for Worship – 9/1/2019

This Sunday is the 11th Sunday after Trinity. What does that mean? It means we are almost halfway through the season of Trinity. The season of Trinity is sometimes also called Common Time in other denominations. Essentially, this is the time of the year where the various assigned readings for Sunday morning focus on the life and mission of the church.

At ORLC, we’ve been methodically working our way through the book of Colossians. And this Sunday, we will be finishing the book. The sermon text this Sunday is Colossians 4:2-6.

I know, I know. You’re thinking, doesn’t Colossians 4 go through verse 18?

You are right. It does. Additionally, the content of verses 7-18 are very informative. However, the is not an abundance of theological content. So, in order to do justice to the whole book, I want to point out a few things for you.

  1. Though Paul was imprisoned, he was able to freely communicate and interact with fellow Christians. Tychius, in verse 7, is clearly an example.
  2. We see the appearance of Onesimus, for whom Paul pleas for grace and mercy to Philemon. Onesimus was a slave who was parted from his master, Philemon, and ran into Paul during his imprisonment. Through this encounter, Onesimus heard the Gospel and was born again.
  3. The appearance of Aristarchus helps us date the letter of Colossians because we know in the book of Acts that he first appeared with Paul in Ephesus during a riot. This means Colossians was written after Paul and Barnabas had split ways.
  4. We learn that Epaphras, the founding missionary of the church in Colossae, was not returning to Colossae immediately but staying with Paul.
  5. We learn that this letter was also intended for the church in Laodicea.
  6. Lastly, we see that Paul ends this letter just as he started it, with a word of Grace for the people who read it.