Colossians (2011)

The purpose of singing hymns is to teach and admonish one another. Does that answer give us a hint as to what kinds of hymns we sing with regard to the words and the music? Will a repeated chorus of “Do Lord” teach and admonish through the potency of the written Word which is alive and powerful? What are some practical ways for us to make certain the Word of God is in our minds and our memories? If the reason we sing is to express our joy and response to God, is singing an option in worship? Is singing a significant part of our spiritual life?

We come to know the will of God through the accumulated wisdom of His Word. God no longer gives special revelation and examples of our set of circumstances may not be in Scripture. Learn the different categories of God’s will with illustrations from Scripture. Peace in this verse is the vertical peace of reconciliation which brings the horizontal peace within the Body of Christ. The real question in every life is, “How can I best serve God with my life?” With that focus, prayer and trust, the will of God is no longer a guessing game.

How do we find God's will? Does God always have a specific will for each detail of our life, or, for the issues that don't involve morality or biblical commands? Or is the test of decision making more often related to the process of how we make the decision, than the specific decision itself? In this lesson Pastor Dean continues to answer these and other questions related to knowing God's will and making wise decisions.

There are many erroneous ways Christians have interpreted this verse to try to understand how they can know the will of God. This has led to ideas which don’t conform to an understanding of what Colossians 3:15 really means. How can we know what God’s will is for our lives? Is the peace of God a feeling that permeates every moment we are operating inside the will of God? How does this verse relate to the harmony we can find within the body of Christ?

Christians may misunderstand the meaning of inner peace, seeing it as a manifestation of understanding God’s will in their lives. What are the criteria for knowing God’s will for your life? How does peace relate to unity within the Body of Christ? Contrast inner peace with the mental state of Jesus in Gethsemane just prior to the crucifixion. Can a Christian experience deep anguish and still be within the will of God?

Pastor Dean gives us the history of Memorial Day and the importance of its observance.

We see the first of many reports on Pastor Dean’s trip to Israel, sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In an overview of the last half of Colossians 3 we understand that to live in the believer’s newness of life we are to live a certain way now that we are His. We learn that we teach and admonish one another through Psalms and hymns. We see how, as we grow, Christians serve in many capacities using spiritual gifts. Most importantly we learn that service to the Lord is what life is all about.