Growing in the Word

Today we'll focus once again on the first chapter of Colossians, this time in verses fifteen through twenty. Remember that this letter from Paul was written to a group of believers, the Colossians, who had been deceived by false teachers. In the verses we'll study today, Paul goes about setting the record straight on exactly who Jesus Christ is.

We're currently studying the book of Colossians, and today we'll bring you the second half of a study Jim began last time, dealing with chapter one, verses nine through fourteen. One mistake many people make is believing that you can have a halfway relationship with God. Can you believe in Him, and serve Him, and still walk in the darkness of the world?

Today on Growing in the Word, we're going to once again see the folly of such an attitude. Colossians chapter one points us toward our inheritance in heaven...an inheritance that no amount of money can buy! If you had to choose between riches on earth and riches in heaven, what would be your "final answer"?

When you think about the great men of the Bible, one name that is near the top of everyone's list is the Apostle Paul. One of his greatest qualities was his selflessness. Today as we continue studying Colossians chapter one, we see this trait quite clearly. Paul is in jail in Rome, and yet his concern is for his brothers in the Colossian church. They've been deceived and taken in by some false doctrine, and Paul writes this little letter to help get them back on course.

Today on Growing in the Word as we continue our new series in Colossians, we'll see that this is the very situation Paul finds himself in. His brothers in the Colossians church had allowed some false teaching to creep into their doctrine. As he always does, Paul comes up with some wonderful advice for the Colossians, and our teacher, Jim Jarrett, will take us through them today.

As Jim has mentioned, this letter to the little church in Colossi was written by Paul, while he was imprisoned. Was he angry at being in jail? No. Was he throwing a pity party? No. He was concerned enough for the Colossians that he sent this powerful letter to them to remind them of the supremacy of Jesus and the need to discern false doctrine from true.

Pastor Jim has just begin a new series going through Colossians, one of the letters the Apostle Paul wrote from a jail cell. He didn't spend any time feeling sorry for himself in this four chapter letter. As a matter of fact if you didn't know he was in prison, you would never guess that is where he wrote Colossians. Paul's message here is simple - Christ is supreme over everything in the universe, and so He should be worshipped and followed.

If you're looking for practical ways to live the Christian life, then Paul's epistle to the Colossians is a good place to go. We'll start with the first three verses of chapter one. As we all know, a relationship with Jesus begins with a changed heart and a reborn life. There is no better example of what the Holy Spirit can do in a life than the Apostle Paul.

Today on Growing in the Word, pastor Jim Jarrett brings to a close his series in Genesis. We look back all those thousands of years to the time right after the flood, and we see that not much has changed. Technologically we're very advanced, but sin-wise, we're still stuck in the mud from the flood!

Pastor Jim begins our final look at the first part of the book of Genesis today, in chapter eleven. It's here we see a familiar scene – the building of the tower of Babel. The world was a very different place back then, of course, but in some ways, things haven't changed much. You'll see what I mean as pastor Jim takes us through today's study.