Colossians 101
“…that in everything he (Christ) might be preeminent…” (Colossians 1:18)
*NOTE: At the bottom of this post there’s an important update about how we will send out church announcements moving forward*
This week we begin our new study in Paul’s letter to the Colossians! We’ll spend January through the beginning of May as a church in this short, yet rich, epistle. I can’t wait to dig into it together! So, to help us prepare, consider this a “Colossians 101” crash course in this wonderful book of the bible.
The Basics
Christopher Beetham describes the book of Colossians like this:
“Paul’s letter to the Colossians is a jewel of Christian Scripture. Only four chapters long, it is easy to read through in one sitting, yet it provides stunning vistas of the perfections of Christ that few other New Testament documents can match in such short space. Its majestic hymn of Christ in Colossians 1:15–20 is rivaled only by that of Philippians 2:5–11. The letter therefore provides a feast for the theologian to digest. Yet Colossians also pulsates with a message that, despite the limits of the situation for which it was originally written, remains as relevant and significant as ever.”
Here’s a short video by Paul Tripp about how Colossians keeps Christ at the center of everything:
And here’s a helpful video summary/visual overview of Colossians:
Outline
Here’s a visual outline of the book from Patrick Schreiner (from his excellent book, The Visual Word):
Scriptural Saturation
We don’t just want to get our feet wet in the bible, we want our lives to be saturated by it! Here’s a few ideas for how to saturate our hearts and minds with Colossians over the next few months:
Colossians In A Week
Here’s a breakdown for how to read through the book of Colossians for a week. Imagine the impact of reading through this whole book each and every week, paired with preaching through it on Sundays? What an opportunity!
Day 1: Colossians 1:1-14
Day 2: Colossians 1:15-23
Day 3: Colossians 1:24-2:5
Day 4: Colossians 2:6-23
Day 5: Colossians 3:1-17
Day 6: Colossians 3:18-4:1
Day 7: Colossians 4:2-18
Colossians In A Day
If you want to go even deeper, you can read through whole book of Colossians in one sitting. I would encourage each of us to do this at least once, but again, imagine the impact of reading through all of Colossians every single day for a few months! It only takes about 13 minutes to read all four chapters start to finish…I think that’s 13 minutes well spent!
Praying Through Colossians
Paul gives us a wonderful prayer in Colossians 1:9-14. It’s such a rich practice to use the Spirit-inspired words of the bible as fuel for our prayers. As Don Whitney says in his excellent book, Praying the Bible: “To pray the Bible, you simply go through the passage line by line, talking to God about whatever comes to mind as you read the text”. (You can hear him talk about this more in this 15 minute video). Our prayer life will be enriched as we take Paul’s prayer in Colossians 1 and make it our own prayer.
This Colossians Prayer Guide will help you pray through Paul’s prayer over 5 days!
Resources
The only resource we ever endorse 100% is the Bible. These resources will help you dig deeper and, like everything, should be used with discernment.
Online Study Helps
Knowing the Bible: Colossians and Philemon (Online Course through TGC)
Book of Colossians: Key Information and Helpful Resources (Bible Project)
Colossians - Online Commentary (Alistair Wilson)
Look at the Book - Colossians (Short Bible Study Videos by John Piper)
Podcasts/Sermons
Greg Beale on How to Teach Colossians (Podcast - G.K. Beale & Nancie Guthrie)
Life: The Message of Colossians (Sermon by Mark Dever)
Books/Commentaries
Colossians & Philemon For You (Mark Meynell)
Hidden with Christ in God: A Theology of Colossians and Philemon (Kevin McFadden)
Captivated by Christ (Richard Chin)
Top 5 Commentaries on the Book of Colossians (Keith Mathison / Ligonier)
May God richly bless us as we behold the glory of Christ in Colossians together!
“…we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…” (Colossians 1:9-10)
*NOTE: This blog will continue as a way for me to share biblical encouragement with you all on a regular basis, but the announcements section will now be sent out each week as it’s own separate newsletter, managed by our Administrative Assistant (similar to the “Life on the ROCC” emails for those who came from River Oaks). If you’re a member or regular attender at Clover Hill, you will be automatically enrolled in these weekly emails. If you’d like to opt out, you’re free to do so (but be aware that it will be the best way to stay up to date with life in the body at Clover Hill!). If you’re not getting the emails, please contact Mary Bergquist: mary@riveroakscloverhill.com *
Thanks Mitchell! I love all the resources you provided.