Colossians: Setting Our Sights on Jesus

Colossians 4:2-18

Trish Haq

August 27, 2023

With a friend, your family or in your small group, discuss the following questions:

1. Question of Conviction: What aspects of the sermon resonated with you the most? How does the concept of sin contradict the idea of living as "the light of the world"? 
2. Accountability and Community: The sermon discussed the dangers of sin and how it can isolate us. How important is it to have accountability within a community of believers? What practical steps can we take to foster accountability and transparency among ourselves?
3. Restoration and Healing: The message emphasized confession as a means to experience forgiveness and restoration. How have you seen confession and seeking forgiveness impact someone's life positively? How can we create a safe environment within our small group where people can openly confess and find healing?
4. Grace: How does the gospel message offer a path to restoration and healing for those who have struggled with hidden sins or brokenness? Can you share examples from your own life or experiences where embracing the gospel led to restoration and transformation?
5. In Colossians 4:3-4, Paul asks the Colossians to pray for him. It requires humility and vulnerability to ask others to pray for you. It requires us to acknowledge our need for others, and our need for God’s help. Do you ever ask others to pray for you? If so, what has your experience of this been like? If not, what holds you back from asking for others to pray for you?
6. Paul asks the Colossians specifically to pray that God would open a door for him to share the gospel. This shows an understanding that in order for the good news of Jesus to go out into the world and be received, we need a work of God’s Spirit to open people’s minds and hearts to be transformed by the message. As you think about your own context, is there anyone you could be praying for in this? (Pastors, Missionaries, or others who are in unique positions to share the message of Jesus with the world?)
7. Paul also challenges the Colossians to make the most of every opportunity in their own contexts. They, too, are called to share the message of Jesus with the world. What open doors can you be watching and praying for, that would provide you with the opportunity to be salt and light to those around you? Who can you ask to be praying for you in this?
8. Paul and his companions modelled a willingness to give over their very lives for the sake of the gospel, and Paul used the imagery of slavery to capture this idea that believers are called to give their whole selves over to participate in God’s mission of redemption for the world. In what ways are you answering this call to serve? In what areas do you find you hold back from serving God wholeheartedly? What tensions do you experience between the culture we live in, and this call to love and follow Jesus? What things do you sometimes put your trust in, rather than fully relying on Christ’s sufficiency in all things?
9. As you think about the themes found through this final chapter of Colossians, is there anything you are perceiving that God is inviting you to do in the season ahead? What step might you take to further participate in the mission of bringing God’s Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven?

Prayer and Action Item

Pray for one another out of the key points that were discussed. As you pray, take time to be attentive to your unique context, and ask God how He wants to work in it. Pray for God to open doors and pray for the courage to make the most of every opportunity that is given. Pray with thanksgiving, not only for what God has done in the past, but also for what God will do.