The Center Holds (Colossians 1:1-14)

The news cycle is moving faster and faster. Wars rage around the world. Our cultural fabric seems to be ripping at the seams. It feels as if the center cannot hold. As if the world is falling apart. Perhaps you’ve felt this way not just about the world around you but about your own life. The loss of a job or a loved one. The weight of an injustice levied against you. Illness and suffering. It can feel as if life is falling apart. But the letter to the Colossians argues that the center does hold. That Christ, the center, holds all things together. And the second half of letter invites us to consider what it looks like to live a life that is pulled into the orbit of Christ’s love. Paul’s encouragement to the first-century followers of Jesus in Colossae was that no matter what they were facing, they could hold onto the hope that Jesus was holding them fast.