Ever wondered how to navigate life's various roles with a sense of divine purpose? Join me, Pastor Brandon, for a powerful conclusion to our Colossians series on the Bible Breakdown Podcast. We wrap things up with chapter four, where I unpack Apostle Paul's heartfelt words of wisdom for living a Christ-centered life, even in the most ordinary of circumstances. From the boardroom to the living room, Paul's call for justice, prayer, and clarity in our mission resonates with a timeless echo, underscoring the importance of each conversation and interaction. Discover how these ancient letters still speak volumes about the heart of Christian ministry and community.
As we bid farewell to the profound teachings of Colossians, I share my personal reflections on the journey we've taken together. Moving forward, we anticipate the rich history and life lessons awaiting us in Chronicles, but not before we take a moment to soak in gratitude for the growth we've experienced. I remind us to set our sights on what's above and to embrace our current season, whatever that may be. It's not just a goodbye to Colossians – it's an invitation to live out its teachings, to infuse love and purpose into every corner of our lives, and to trust in the unfolding of God's perfect plan.
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The More You Dig. The More You Find.
Ever wondered how to navigate life's various roles with a sense of divine purpose? Join me, Pastor Brandon, for a powerful conclusion to our Colossians series on the Bible Breakdown Podcast. We wrap things up with chapter four, where I unpack Apostle Paul's heartfelt words of wisdom for living a Christ-centered life, even in the most ordinary of circumstances. From the boardroom to the living room, Paul's call for justice, prayer, and clarity in our mission resonates with a timeless echo, underscoring the importance of each conversation and interaction. Discover how these ancient letters still speak volumes about the heart of Christian ministry and community.
As we bid farewell to the profound teachings of Colossians, I share my personal reflections on the journey we've taken together. Moving forward, we anticipate the rich history and life lessons awaiting us in Chronicles, but not before we take a moment to soak in gratitude for the growth we've experienced. I remind us to set our sights on what's above and to embrace our current season, whatever that may be. It's not just a goodbye to Colossians – it's an invitation to live out its teachings, to infuse love and purpose into every corner of our lives, and to trust in the unfolding of God's perfect plan.
SOAP Bible Study Method- https://www.brandoncannon.com/soap/
Bible reading plan- http://www.experiencerlc.com/the-bible/
Free weekly newsletter- https://www.brandoncannon.com/
Social:
Facebook: https://facebook.com/thebrandoncannon
Instagram: https://instagram.com/brandoncannon
Twitter: https://twitter.com/brandoncannon
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theBrandonCannon
The More You Dig. The More You Find.
Well, hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today, colossians, chapter four, and we're gonna be finishing it up today with a wonderful verse that I can't wait to share with you. But the title is Don't Give Up. We're gonna get into that in just a moment. But, as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share and subscribe and comment to the YouTube videos. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast and then, as always, where we all gather together, the Bible Breakdown discussion and man, the more we dig, the more we find. Also, you can go to brandincannoncom and subscribe to a weekly newsletter, email newsletter that I send out, and it is just my breakdown of the week, my favorite devotion of the week, things I'm finding in my journey, as I'm just trying to become a Christ follower myself, and I'd love to share them with you at the Bible excuse me, not the Bible Breakdown, brandincannoncom. We'll get there eventually. Speaking of that, if you want to open up your Bibles to Colossians, chapter four, we're gonna finish up Colossians today, and that's interesting, right when we're going through one of those long Old Testament books, it takes us weeks. This one, just four chapters but in it has been just a powerful, amazing group of just just amazing text, because, if you remember, this was written to the Church of Colossae under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, because there have been some false teachings that come through about Jesus and the Apostle Paul is just letting us know that man, jesus, is Lord of all. He's the visible representation of the invisible God and I love just this idea of God is for us in more ways than we can imagine. And as we're finishing up this letter, we're gonna see how Paul is just encouraging them and asking them to pray for one another, to pray for him, and I love a verse that's tucked in here at the very end, and it's almost like Paul just kind of has a moment where he talks to one guy in particular and I wonder if it will bless your heart the way it does mine. So let's read this together and we're gonna finish up. He's gonna start off with a verse where he's finishing off from yesterday and, if you remember, at the end of yesterday's text he was talking about how? About slaves, which today we would call them employees. You know, be good to those you work for and remember that you're working for the Lord, not just for them. But then today he's going to finish off with saying hey, you employers, you don't get off easy either. Then he's going to go from there. So verse one says this Masters just are, be just fair. Let me try that again Masters, be just and fair to your slaves, your employees. Remember that you also have a master in heaven. So the answer for that is is hey, listen, don't take advantage of your employees just because they're Christians. Don't do that, but rather realize that just like they're working for the Lord, you're working for the Lord as well.
Speaker 1:All right, verse two devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Pray for us to that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. I pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. Live wisely among those who are not believers and make the most of every opportunity and let your conversations be gracious and attractive, so that you will have the right response for everyone.
Speaker 1:I want to pause for a moment and say, first of all notice how Paul is in. He's in prison, and you know what he doesn't say. He doesn't say pray that they will let me out of the slammer as fast as possible. I'm so sick of these people. That's not what he's saying. Instead, he's saying pray that when I have an opportunity that I'll speak well of Christ, that I will be as clear as possible. I love that. He's saying hey, this is where God has me, so while he has me here, help me to make the most of it. Can I say that if I'm your pastor, I would ask you to pray this for me. I don't feel like I'm in prison. Don't go there with that. I'm saying I love this prayer and I think this is the prayer of every pastor.
Speaker 1:Verse four says pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should Every time I get up on stage on Sunday morning or if I'm talking to someone in a coffee shop or whatever. My prayer is always God, help me be clear. I never want to try to be impressive and ever want to try to be edgy, none of that kind of stuff. I just want to paint a picture of Christ that's so very simple and clear that you may not choose to follow Christ, but you're gonna know who he is by the time we're finished talking. So can I ask you, when you pray today, pray for me, pray for Pastor Brandon, that God will Always help me. To be clear, that's what I want, so let's move on from here.
Speaker 1:Verse 7 says this ticacus which, by the way, if you're expecting a child soon, there's a Bible name for you ticacus let's, let's have that happen. Let's bring that name back right. Ticacus just wanted to say it three times in a row will give you a full report of how I am getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful helper who serves with me in the Lord's work. I have sent him to you for this very purpose to let you know how I am doing and to encourage you. I am also sending onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, one of your own people. He and ticacus will tell you everything that's happening here.
Speaker 1:Aristicus, who is in prison with me, sends you his greeting, and so does Mark, barnabas's cousin. As you were instructed before, make Mark welcome if he comes your way. By the way, this is possibly the very same mark who wrote the gospel of Mark, so isn't that cool how that kind of works together. Number 11 Jesus, the one who we call justice, also sends his greetings. These are the only Jewish believers among my coworkers and they are working with me here for the kingdom of God, and what a comfort they have been.
Speaker 1:Epaphorus, a member of your own fellowship, and also probably the pastor and the church planter. So E pap Epaphorus, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. And what I love about this, by the way, is this is most likely also the guy who is reading this letter, because these were all these letters written by Paul. They were written in order to be read in front of the congregation. So I can see him. You're reading this and they go in. What's up? So he sends you his greetings. Hi, he always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, Fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. I can assure you that he prays hard for you and also for the believers and leotacea and Hermopolis. Luke the beloved doctor, by the way, also the guy who wrote the gospel of Luke. He was also a traveling companion of Paul's, which makes a lot of sense because he was a doctor and Poor Paul always needed a doctor's joke, getting beat half to death everywhere he goes. Verse 14. Luke, the beloved doctor, sends his greetings, and so does Demas. Please give my greetings to our brothers and sisters at leotacea and Nympha and the church that meets in her house. After you have read this letter, pass it to the church at leotacea so they can read it too, and you should read the letter that I wrote to them. Pause.
Speaker 1:As you know, there were different letters that Paul wrote, but not all of them were inspired of the Holy Spirit. Only select few we have now, and so they're lost to time. But what I love about what they would do is Is what they would do is the church of Colossae would send these letters to then leotacea and they would write a copy of it and send it back, and they would write a copy of it. That's what they would do and what the genius of God is. That also Ensured that we wouldn't lose God's word, because every time it would go to someone else's hands, they would take a few days and they would write it out again. Write it out again, and so it didn't matter if this copy or that copy was lost almost instantly. You had several copies that would then survive and thrive. That's why we have like 5,500 copies of the Greek New Testament all the way back from the earliest times, because they were copied so many times so often. It ensured that we would have God's word turns out.
Speaker 1:God knows what he's doing right. Here's the verse I wanted to read to you today verse 17. And say this to Archipelago Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you. We'll come back to that in a moment. Verse 18, here is my greeting in my own handwriting Paul Remember my chains. May God's peace be with you. Now two things. Verse 18, if you're looking at your Bible while we're reading this together, notice that in many translations it'll have an all-caps. Here is my greeting with my own handwriting, paul.
Speaker 1:There's a couple of reasons why Paul would do this. Number one is Paul would often have because he's in prison right In many of these prisons. It's dark in there. It's not like we have today. It's almost like a cave they would build. There'd be a lot of times just one window that would see outside, and that's where Paul likely would be yelling out to these people that were writing this down, and so what he would have to do is kind of stick his hand out the window or do whatever and just write his name. So he had what they would call an eminuensis, someone who would dictate as he's dictating, or writing it down, and so Paul would then write his name so that they knew okay, this is from Paul, because that's his handwriting, that's his signature, because that's the only time he would get to that and be able or the only way he could get to that and write that part of it. So that's the reason why he would do that.
Speaker 1:Second thing is, as we finish our time is notice how he's shouting out these different people and whatever. But then he stops. He has a specific message to this guy named Archipus and he says be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you. That's powerful. I don't know what happened in Archipus life. We don't know anything about him other than maybe some legends, but we have no way of knowing. But the Holy Spirit made sure to stop Paul as he's about to say goodbye, he's almost done. It's like pause. Paul say this hey, archipus, I still see you, I still know you. And just before we end, hey, be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you. And my imagination just goes crazy when I read this, because I wonder what happened in Archipus life. Oh, arch, what happened?
Speaker 1:Why did he need to be reminded to not give up on the ministry that the Lord had given him? So I want to break this down. Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you. Be sure, hey, arch, don't forget, don't, don't give up, keep going. What does he need to? Keep going and keep doing. Don't give up, be sure to carry out the ministry. Well, what is ministry? Ministry is anytime we serve God by serving others. So, hey, arch, don't give up serving others. Why? Because the Lord gave you. Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you, arch, don't give up serving others, because God has given you that opportunity. How many of us need to be reminded about that from time to time. As I was preparing this, I felt really, really strongly that I wanted to just pause on it. Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you.
Speaker 1:You know, there's many, many reasons why we need to be reminded to not give up, but not to give up on just anything. There's a lot of things to not give up on but to not give up on serving the Lord by serving others. One of the reasons why is because of pain. We get hurt, we get hurt. There's nothing like the hurt that happens in church. We have this idea that church people are supposed to be better than everybody else because they're supposed to know Jesus, they're supposed to be growing. But remember, everybody's on a different growth rate and hurting people hurt people, even in church. And so sometimes we get hurt. And because we get hurt, we just say you know what, I'm going to love Jesus but I'm not going to love his people because we're hurt. And that's okay that we're hurt. But you know what God's word is to us. Be sure to not give up but to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you. Another reason is because of seasons of life.
Speaker 1:In seasons of life, our ministries change. When you're a mom with small kids, you know what your primary ministry is To raise your kids to remember that you are still somebody. Your identity is not the nose wiper, you know, or the diaper changer. Your ministry, your identity, is still a precious princess in the eyes of God and you're doing the most amazing ministry ever. You have no idea what God's going to cause your kids to do and to become, and you know why they're going to do and become those wonderful things. It's because of the investment you're making right now, and so that may be your ministry right now, dad. Your ministry may be to work that second job so you can support your family. Your job might be to work at a—or your ministry may be to work at that job you don't want right now, but because there's people there that God trusts that you will tell about him. He's got you there Not because you need that job, but because he needs you at that job for that season.
Speaker 1:Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you. I could tell you stories of younger in my life when I would work in places I didn't want to be at, but when somebody else would remind me of that, I would plug myself in and try to do the best I could to honor God. After I'd honored God and shared Christ with people, god would move me to another place. I'm telling you about stuff I know what about ministering to elderly family members, ministering to people that don't love you back. You know all these different things.
Speaker 1:Always be sure to carry out the ministry if I could say it like this that God has given you in this season of life. It may not be where you want to be, but it's where God has you right now. And I can tell you if there's one thing that's constant about this life and that it's that seasons change. So if you're in a season you don't like, it's okay. Serve God faithfully where you are right now, because your seasons will change. And if you're exactly where you want to be right now, enjoy it, soak it up, take every moment out of it you can, because your season will change. And then we'll go through. You'll go through difficult seasons again, but you'll go with other good seasons again, because all of those things have value. And just trust the Lord. So I want to say this too is we get in our time together. Be sure, just like arch need to be reminded to carry out the ministry the Lord has given you in this season, because God has purpose for you right now.
Speaker 1:Let's pray together, god. Thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that you're with us more than we can imagine. And God, as we finish our time in Colossians, we're so sorry and sad to see it go, but we know you have many more adventures planned for us, but I pray that you will continue your work as you've begun. And, lord, I just speak this over everybody who's listening to this when it comes out. But then for who knows how long that this will be out there?
Speaker 1:Help us, lord, to be sure to carry out the ministry that you've given us in this season. Thank you, god, for always being in control and for always being for us in every way. We celebrate you today In Jesus' name. We pray Amen and amen. Well, man, I'm going to be so sad to see Colossians go, but I can't wait to get into the next one, but one more time. Colossians 3, verse 1 says since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for 1 Chronicles, chapter 1.