How to fulfill your calling – Colossians 4:7-18, Part 3

Editor’s Note: This week I welcome David Hundert on the blog. David is an MDiv student and member of Faith Church. He preaches for me 3-4 times each year when I am away, and this past week I was my denomination’s national conference. Thank you, David! Do you ever feel frustrated about how your lifeContinue reading “How to fulfill your calling – Colossians 4:7-18, Part 3”

How to encourage one another – Colossians 4:7-18, Part 1

Editor’s Note: This week I welcome David Hundert on the blog. David is an MDiv student and member of Faith Church. He preaches for me 3-4 times each year when I am away, and this past week I was my denomination’s national conference. Thank you, David! There is a story of a young man whoContinue reading “How to encourage one another – Colossians 4:7-18, Part 1”

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”

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 navigate the teen years (for parents and teens!) – Colossians 3:18-21, Part 4

I was a teenager in the 1990s, wonderful years filled with grunge rock (or for me U2, REM and Public Enemy), Michael Jordan, and Bill Clinton.  It seems like just a few years ago, but it was in fact 30 years ago. Those were coming of age years for me. On January 1, 1990 IContinue reading “How to navigate the teen years (for parents and teens!) – Colossians 3:18-21, Part 4”

What approach to marriage roles does God desire? – Colossians 3:18-21, Part 2

As we saw in the previous post, Paul wrote that it is fitting to the Lord that Christian wives and Christian husbands, when it comes to roles in marriage, were to practice “wives submit, husbands lead.” In that First-century Greco-Roman culture it just so happened that this dictum was in line with that society’s standardsContinue reading “What approach to marriage roles does God desire? – Colossians 3:18-21, Part 2”

Husbands who won’t lead and wives who won’t follow – Colossians 3:18-21, Part 1

When my wife, Michelle, and I were dating, we found a book in the in the library titled Husbands Who Won’t Lead And Wives Who Won’t Follow.  The book had a lot of good material in it, but the title alone illustrates that marriage relationships might not work out so smoothly all the time.  ThisContinue reading “Husbands who won’t lead and wives who won’t follow – Colossians 3:18-21, Part 1”

How are you using your 168 hours per week? – Colossians 3:18-21, Preview

How do you spend your time in an average week?  There are 168 hours in a week.  Let’s tally up how we use those hours.  I’m going to list averages, so you can adjust the numbers a bit to align with your life, as we humans have a lot of variety in our use ofContinue reading “How are you using your 168 hours per week? – Colossians 3:18-21, Preview”