Colossians 1:3-8 - What you Already have in Christ

We'd love to hear from you. Message us here.“Jesus is good, but you need more.” That idea sounds harmless until you see what it does to a church, and to your own heart. We open Colossians chapter 1 with the backstory: Paul writes from house arrest after Epaphras reports a dangerous drift in Colossae. Some voices are pushing Greek philosophy and “secret” spiritual knowledge. Others are pushing religious legalism and Jewish traditions. Different packaging, same hook: Jesus plus something else.We slow down in Colossians 1:3-8 and focus on what God has already produced in these believers: faith in Christ, love for all the saints, and hope laid up in heaven. We talk about what real faith looks like when it changes the way you live, why agape love is truly supernatural, and how Christian hope is confidence about what’s ahead, not an “I wish” feeling. If you feel like you are always shopping for the next thing to fix you, Paul’s reminder lands like a reset button: you may not be lacking, you may be forgetting.Then we follow Paul’s logic to the source of fruit: the truth of the gospel. The good news of Jesus is not a slogan, it is a living seed that brings new birth and real spiritual growth. We also get painfully practical about what stunts that growth, using Matthew 13 and the parable of the sower: the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches can choke the Word until it becomes unfruitful. We round it out with Galatians 5, contrasting the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit, and we end with a prayer for soft hearts and lasting change.If this helped you re-center on Jesus, subscribe for more Bible study through Colossians, share this with a friend who feels stuck, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What’s the biggest “Jesus plus” pressure you’ve felt lately?https://www.facebook.com/ablossombiblechurch