Message Notes for March 2, 2025

Series: Colossians – The Power of Christ in You

Title: Our Future is Forward

God has a plan for our lives that empowers us to a transformed life on this earth and an eternal inheritance in heaven. 

Our future in Christ Jesus is not just wishful hope, but rather a hope grounded in actions and realities that are already put in place.

Colossians 1:1-14 ESV Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, ² To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:  Grace to you and peace from God our Father. ³ We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴ since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, ⁵ because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, ⁶ which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, ⁷ just as you learned it from Epaphras our   beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf ⁸ and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. ⁹ And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ¹¹ being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. ¹³ He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Family/Group Study Notes for the week of March 2, 2025

Series: The Power of Christ in You

Title: Our Future is Forward

• Share with your family or group where you have seen the move of God lately in your life.
• As you begin this study of Colossians, how does Paul introduce himself, and why might that be significant? Why has God called you to live in this time and in the place that you are?
• What does it mean to be “faithful brothers and sisters” in Christ? How does Paul emphasize the identity of the Colossians in Christ? How can you live “in Christ” and in this world at the same time? 
• What three key elements of the Colossians’ faith does Paul commend in verses 4-5? Why are faith, love, and hope significant in the Christian life? How does hope affect faith and love? 
• How does Paul describe the spread of the Gospel? What role does Epaphras play in the Colossians’ spiritual growth?  Discuss the significance of your outreach to the people you know.
• What does it mean that the Gospel “is bearing fruit and growing”?  What does that look like in your life?
• What specific things does Paul pray for on behalf of the Colossians? (See verses 9-11). How does this prayer reflect Paul’s desire for their maturity in Christ?
• What does Paul mean by “knowledge of His will” and “spiritual wisdom and understanding” (v. 9)? How do these relate to living a life that pleases God? Where do we get this knowledge? 
• What is the relationship between being “filled with the knowledge of God’s will” and living a worthy life (v. 10)? How does knowledge translate into action?
• What does it mean that God “has rescued us from the dominion of darkness” (v. 13)? How does this contrast with our new position in the “kingdom of the Son”?
• What is the significance of the phrase “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins”   (v. 14)? How do these two aspects of salvation—redemption and forgiveness—affect your identity as a Christian?
• How can we apply the traits Paul praises in the Colossians (faith, love, hope) in our own lives?
• What might it look like for you to live in a way that is “worthy of the Lord” (v. 10)? How can you grow in your knowledge of God’s will and live out that knowledge?
• Gather in prayer for each other to grow mature in Christ and in the character of His will.