Series: Jesus Manifesto
Message: Getting a Little Help from My Friends
Preacher: J. Murdock
Reflection: Japhet De Oliveira
Live Wonder: Zan Long
Live Adventure: Zan Long
Live Beyond: J. Murdock
Live Purpose: Lydia Svoboda
Editor: Becky De Oliveira
Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.
Read: Colossians 4:2-4:18 in the English Standard Version (ESV). Note 1–3 insights or questions.
Reflect: What is the will of God? How do you know if you have heard the voice of the Holy Spirit in your life? How can you be certain that you are reflecting who Jesus is to others? When do you know if the door is open or shut and you actually forced your way through? Is it God’s will when everything falls into place or only God’s will when a set of extraordinary steps occur to make something happen? When sharing the Gospel, how do you know if it is actually getting through or if it is effectively falling on deaf ears? Do you look at the Parable of the Sower scattering seed and believe that if we have a 25% success rate for those accepting the Gospel that we have uncovered a healthy metric for sharing it?
Paul’s counsel after his breath-taking cosmic picture of Jesus Christ is to ask us to engage in prayer. This is not a little fairytale we share with our kids before they go to bed. This is not a story we hope is covered by a single tweet. This is the story of our lives in continual motion, a motion that is causing us to grow and develop. A motion that challenges the very core of our being. It gives us the why of our existence, and reveals the blessing that we can be to others now and in the future. This is re-discovered through prayer.
Many years ago, John Ortberg released a resource called An Ordinary Day with Jesus. It was an eight-session small group study. In one of those guides, Ortberg suggested that when you go to bed at night you review the day with God. Fall asleep effectively talking to God about your day. Based on the First Testament principle that the day starts at sunset, let God work on the first part of your day which is while you sleep. When you wake up, your first thoughts will be to return to prayer and reconnect with God. There is something incredibly simple and yet diligent about this process of prayer. Why not try that tonight? If you celebrate Sabbath, as I do, fall asleep tonight talking to God about your day and wake up tomorrow having the double blessing of God starting everything for the remainder of your Sabbath before you even began.
Recalibrate: How would you explain the strength and simplicity of prayer to a six-year-old child?
Respond: Share a prayer of thanks for the blessing of Sabbath tonight.
Research: Read one of the suggested commentaries on this passage.
Remember: “Continue praying and keep alert. And when you pray, always thank God” (Colossians 4:2, ICB).
Japhet De Oliveira is administrative director for the Center for Mission and Culture at Adventist Health in Roseville, California.
With your little one, experiment with being gentle. Show them how to gently touch you or to gently pat a pet. Show them how to gently carry an egg, and if you have them in the garden, to gently blow at a dandelion. Use your words to encourage them to be gentle with each other and their things. In a world that is so rushed, let’s show our children that we can gently go through the day without being rough or hurting anyone else. To live love wherever we are shows that we belong to the family of God. Living in love with the unlovely—this is what Jesus asks us to do. Is this easy? Plug into the power of prayer to change your heart to love like Jesus does. Live love and love the unlovely in Jesus’ name.
I think Paul was a “no matter what” kind of guy. Do you know what no matter what means? It means that whoever is saying those words is determined to do what it is they said they would do. Paul was determined to always share the message of Jesus’ love for the world, no matter what. When Paul wrote the book of Colossians, he was in jail. He had chains around his feet and his wrists. These chains were heavy and they hurt. Even in chains, Paul chose to encourage others to let their love of Jesus shine in the dark places just like he was doing. The last thing Paul writes is his hope that God’s grace will be with us. Grace is the kind of love that loves no matter what. God is a “no matter what” kind of God. No matter what, He loves us. God is looking for people who want to live love no matter what. I'm going to need help to live that kind of love—how about you? I will pray for you and you can pray for me that we will live love no matter what, in Jesus name.
Back in Paul’s day, letters weren’t connected to Amazon Prime where you could have them delivered the same day or expedited overnight. Also, due to the dangers of traveling such long distances, there was no insurance you could purchase to make sure your letter was ever delivered at all. On top of all of that, letters were handwritten and could only be copied if someone else decided they were going to handwrite another one. If these challenges weren’t enough, Paul was getting old and was likely going to die soon (either from old age, or from the strain of all of the punishment he endured in prison). In all likelihood, Paul was only going to get one shot at reaching out to the people in Colossae, and one shot only.
In the very last line of his letters to the Colossians Paul writes, “Remember my chains. Grace be with you.”
There is only one letter we know of that was written by Paul to the Colossians. And after all he did to reach out to them in order to help them understand God’s will for their lives, he wanted them to do one thing for him; remember his chains. And if there is one thing he wanted to leave them with, it was grace.
Paul suffered a whole lot working in ministry to make sure Jesus was known to the people who needed to hear about His love for them. Surely he must have been tired, but his hope for the people was that they would have grace in their lives. Even while shackled to a wall in a prison cell, he boasted of grace above anger, jealousy, or hatred. Paul’s legacy is one of endurance and goodwill above all else.
What do you hope will be your legacy? What are you doing today that will help pave the way for people to remember you for the things you stand for?
“He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured” (Colossians 4:12). Pray for each other and ask others to pray for you. His presence is already there and His strength is promised. You never have reason to fear. Pray and ask for power to encourage others and to stand firm in His will. He will never fail to “supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
Zan Long is GRC director for faith development for ages 0-17. She lives in Sydney, Australia, and serves at her local church in nearby Kellyville.
J. Murdock is associate pastor at Boulder Adventist Church in Boulder, Colorado, where he focuses on youth and young adult ministry.
Lydia Svoboda is a junior theology major at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska.