Sometimes our impulse as humans is to add something to Jesus and the Gospel. Rules. Regulations. Angelic revelations. Our own moral striving. But Paul reminds the early church that the fullness of God is in Jesus and the fullness of Jesus is now available to us. We have everything we need: an inner fullness and blessing in Him, power over the demonic, power over sin and the flesh, and hope beyond death. 

Paul urges the Colossians not to be "taken captive" by hollow and empty philosophy - which in this case was internal threats from the religious culture of his day. But how are these original internal threats similar to the conspiracy theories of our day, and what do youtube prophets have to do with first century synagogues? 

Paul shares openly with the Colossians that he suffers for the sake of the body, and that he contends with all the power and energy God has given him for their fullness and maturity. Paul longs for a local body where people are encouraged in heart, united in love, and encountering Jesus in a deep and meaningful way. 

We all know that something is wrong in our world, but what's the solution? Paul says that we must be reborn, and that in Christ we have been made holy and blameless by the "Passover Lamb." 

The most important thing about you is not your race, your ethnicity, your gender, your family of origin, the possessions you own, or the number in your bank account. The most important thing about you is what you think about when you think about God. 

The story of humanity is a tragic but hopeful one. Caught on the wrong side of a war, the Kingdom of God comes to us as a liberating message, and those who respond to it move from the dominion of darkness into the Kingdom of the Son He loves. From here forward, we face a real enemy, but he no longer has authority over us. 

After giving thanks for what has already taken root in the life of the Colossians, Paul prays for what is yet to come: fullness in Christ. Join us as we explore four marks of fullness and what it looks like to grow in Jesus in the context of God's grace. 

As Paul writes with gratitude for the Colossians, he reminds them for the reason they've been so fruitful: a true understanding of God's grace. But as Christians we often struggle with this very thing. Too often we enter the family of God by grace and then depart from that grace after we enter. Too often we live with a sense of inadequacy, legalism, and shame. Where do we start in grasping the true nature of God's grace? 

As we see faith in Jesus explode across the non-Western world, we rejoice not just in the facts and figures, but in global brothers and sisters who we are in unique relationship with. Join us as we celebrate our friends in the Philippines and the incredible fruit that the Gospel is bearing among them. 

It's so easy to blow past the intro, but the first two verses do more than introduce the writer and his audience, they set the stage for all that follows. Central to the life of discipleship are these simple concepts: grace and peace.