Saints Bearing Fruit

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Sunday Scripture Reading: Colossians 1:1-8 (NRSV)

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2 To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father. Read more…

Looking to Sunday: Preparing to Hear From God

by Elaine Poproski

Sunday marks the beginning of a new series of sermons. Beginning this week, we’re going to be delving into Colossians. It’s a short letter attributed to the Apostle Paul and to Timothy, Paul’s protégé. As letters go, this one shares a lot in common with Ephesians. To be honest, when I first started considering preaching through Colossians, it was mostly because I’m still enamoured by Ephesians and didn’t want to be done with it yet. But Colossians is a deeply meaningful letter in its own right. It has one of the most beautiful, poetic descriptions of Jesus in the whole New Testament (Colossians 1:15-20). It is a celebration of our freedom in Christ and reminds us what a high calling it is to be a follower of Jesus.

The last two Sundays, Heather preached from Ephesians 4:11–13. The key phrase both those weeks was this: equipping the saints for the work of ministry. This phrase captured the imaginations of the Future-of-Walmer committee last spring and again in December when we picked up our work of imagining and planning for Walmer’s future. It’s a phrase you’re going to hear a lot over the coming months. It’s a phrase I hope you think about, pray about, and talk about with others. And it’s the phrase that inspired this next sermon series in Colossians.

So, as you prepare for Sunday, I invite you to read this short letter. (It’s only 4 chapters!) As you read it, make note of the questions and the ideas that occur to you. Keep those notes somewhere accessible. Listen for the answers as we engage with this letter together. And when we’ve come to the end of the letter, bring your questions to church so we can talk further about anything we missed.