I recently heard a story from a Mennonite pastor in my local ministerium. Nearly 25 years ago, his wife tragically passed away. One year before she passed away, she made the decision to discontinue wearing the traditional Mennonite head covering for women. After she died, he got lots of support, but he also got twoContinue reading “How to speak graciously [even when you don’t want to] – Colossians 4:2-6, Part 5”
Monthly Archives: May 2021
What to pray for yourself and others – Colossians 4:2-6, Part 4
Think about the content of your prayer requests. Often the prayer requests in my church family are health-related. There’s nothing wrong with asking God to heal us. But I do get concerned when it seems we have a fixation on health. While it is okay to pray for health-related concerns, that should not be ourContinue reading “What to pray for yourself and others – Colossians 4:2-6, Part 4”
The transforming power of gratitude – Colossians 4:2-6, Part 3
Do you ever feel like, as a parent, you are running your own private family Uber? The kids call or text, and you pick them up from practice. You drive them to events, to their friends’ houses, and all over. Or did you ever get a call like this: “Dad, practice finished early, so canContinue reading “The transforming power of gratitude – Colossians 4:2-6, Part 3”
How to hear from God (aka Practicing Watchful Prayer) – Colossians 4:2-6, Part 2
I once had a friend who talked a lot. I don’t know if it was because the person looked at me as a pastor, and thus assumed, wrongly, that it was my job to just listen to them express their struggles all the time. We would meet, sometimes for an hour or an hour andContinue reading “How to hear from God (aka Practicing Watchful Prayer) – Colossians 4:2-6, Part 2”
Two Marks of a Healthy Church – Colossians 4:2-6, Part 1
What is a healthy church? What is a dead church? What is a failing church? How do we measure the success of a church? As we continue our series studying the New Testament letter, Colossians, Paul shares two practices that mark a healthy church. Turn to Colossians 4:2. We are reading verses 2-6. Pause thisContinue reading “Two Marks of a Healthy Church – Colossians 4:2-6, Part 1”
A new scorecard for the church – Colossians 4:2-6, Preview
How do you measure the health of a church family? I’m not talking about medical health. I’m talking about our discipleship to Jesus. When it comes to our belief about and practice of discipleship to Jesus, are we healthy? I know Faith Church isn’t perfect. No church is perfect. Because of that we don’t wantContinue reading “A new scorecard for the church – Colossians 4:2-6, Preview”
How to live your retirement years “as unto the Lord” – Colossians 3:22-4:1, Part 5
Christian…how are you thinking about your retirement years? The principle we’ve been studying this week, “work unto the Lord,” holds for retirement, even though in retirement you are no longer working a job. This principle can guide you as you retire if you answer the question: What is a distinctly Christian view of retirement? HowContinue reading “How to live your retirement years “as unto the Lord” – Colossians 3:22-4:1, Part 5″
4 ways to have a Kingdom mindset about work – Colossians 3:22-4:1
What will help both students and teachers, workers and bosses, retirees, volunteers and leaders to “work as unto the Lord,” is to have a Kingdom mindset about work. There are at least four ways to view your time at work, and this goes for the students at school, as well as for the retired personsContinue reading “4 ways to have a Kingdom mindset about work – Colossians 3:22-4:1”
4 Faulty Viewpoints About Work – Colossians 3:22-4:1, Part 3
Each follower of Jesus, no matter their station in life, is called to work as unto the Lord. Working unto the Lord means that we will avoid a faulty view of work. There are at least four faulty views to avoid. The first faulty viewpoint is when people think “working as unto the Lord” is justContinue reading “4 Faulty Viewpoints About Work – Colossians 3:22-4:1, Part 3”
The 80% rule about work (school and retirement) – Colossians 3:22-4:1
I once heard that if you are working a job that you enjoy 80% of the time, you’ve hit the employment jackpot. Most people work jobs that don’t get close to that 80% satisfaction level, meaning that they are dissatisfied with their job more than 20% of the time. That might sound frustrating, to thinkContinue reading “The 80% rule about work (school and retirement) – Colossians 3:22-4:1”
Let's Talk About Sunday 