If only there were easy answers to give us meaning and purpose in life. Unfortunately, as the wise Preacher has proven, however hard we try so much of life is as substantial and reliable as the morning mist. Jesus offers an alternative: if you want to really live, you first need to die.

Wisdom helps us learn how to live well in the world that God has created, but we need to be careful we don't observe the creation apart from a right relationship with the Creator. What's more, the gospel actually supercharges our search for wisdom by showing us the path to the best life there is: a life which continues in Christ forever.

Training session for small group and youth leaders, for teaching Ecclesiastes with our sermon series from April to June 2022.

Easter Friday, 15 April 2022, 8.30am.

We sometimes wonder why church, small groups and our personal Bible readings don't do much for us. Maybe it feels like trying to start a cold engine. The solution could be to reconsider the Bible's encouragement to 'prepare' ourselves to worship God, warming up our hearts by reflecting on who God is, how we have been saved, and where we are heading.

Paul's imprisonment presents a vital backdrop to this whole letter, even though it's shoved fairly far into the background. His 'time on the inside' shows us two things: that when it comes to the gospel, circumstances aren't problems but opportunities, and that it takes a team to change the world.

The gospel has the power to completely transform the society we live in. Often though, we expect that to only be done in big, noticeable ways. Here in Colossians, we're shown that the power of the gospel to transform society actually happens at the grassroots level, between individual, ordinary Christians living out what it means to be 'in Christ'.