Thoughts about Colossians

I loved several things about the study of Colossians. I loved studying an entire book of the Bible as a whole and as a church. I loved knowing the prior week what we were going to be reading so I was able to read the passage throughout the week. That added so much depth. Is also helped during the discussion times, which I thought were great. There were just amazing insights from other people.

Colossians is a book that has so much encouragement and wisdom on life. It really helped me “re-center” and put things in perspective about how I treat people and how I live my life…constantly doing a gut check of “Is my life reflective of Christ in me?” And if my soul is in line with Jesus then my outward actions, attitudes and words will reflect that and if they don’t then I need to search deep within.

Hello All,
I’d have to say my favorite thing about us taking a whole month to read and discuss the book of Colossians was just that, “Taking the whole month”. I love reading scripture. I love reading scripture as a church. I want us to keep going and start another book. I missed all but one week of the discussion due to me being out of town. My wife Londa brought home and saved me every letter then went over each one with me. Talk about bringing a couple closer together, just think of the impact it made on our church as a whole. Who’s idea was this anyway? Kudos to them. This was a homerun in my book. Lets keep it going, dive deeper with more scripture and watch us grow together as a church, just watch and see. Awesome, just Awesome.

YBFAM
~Frank

I am enjoying the dialog and hearing other people’s perspectives. It reminds me a bit of an LTG where we get to share our thoughts but also hear new insights that others bring to the table. The teaching was great (from the front and from the floor).
I now have a better understanding of Paul and what he was conveying in the book of Colossians and how it is relevant to my life. I’m saving all my “letters”.

- This time was meaningful for me because it answered a question I’d been struggling with-
when you are cleaning the “junk” out of your life, what do you replace it with?

Still struggling but I feel like I have a direction to go in now.

My LTG group read into Chapter 4 - the part we’ll cover this Sunday .. and the opening line has bugged me all week. Colossians 4:2 says

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.

The “devote” yourself part alone is a challenge.. .not just pray a few times in the day.. but DEVOTE yourself - how do I do that more? But the part that has been on my mind this week is the “Alert” mind.
I’ve been trying to be “alert” to the needs of people around me. “alert” about my own heart / soul in response to people and situations. For me.. this alert-ness is not just negative stuff to be “alert” about - but some really positive stuff. I took my kids to the beach on Tuesday - spring break - and was “alert” about how special each of them was - literally being “alert” and thanking God for Joshua building a water system in the sand, and Nathan digging a cave into the side of a sand ridge - so big he could crawl into it - and Sarah - finding a friend within the first hour of being at the beach named Isabella - Sarah has the amazing ability to make friends. Which leads me to the Thankful heart part! My heart is filled with Thanks to God - I’ve been alert to what He is doing around me and in me.

- To pray with an alert mind for me means a few things. For one thing, I try to pray as if I’m talking to a friend who is actually in the room. Otherwise I would get distracted by stuff going on around me or stuff flying around my in my head and the next thing I know, I’m not talking to God anymore. How rude is that!!! Also, I try to keep in mind that He (God) might want to get a word in here or there, so I try to keep ALERT for his VOICE. That way, it’s a two way conversation, and not just me going on and on. I’m thankful that he listens to me and that my problems, which range from “I can’t find my keys, again!!!!!” to “Please just get me through this day without losing my mind!!!” or worse, are not too insignificant to Him. I also like the fact that when I’m done praying His presence stays with me, it dosen’t leave.