Day 2 

Lisa Scheffler, author

Read

Colossians 1:3–5 (NIV)

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people—5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel

Study

o Notice that Paul is thanking God for the faith and love demonstrated by the Colossian Christians. Go to Biblia.com. In the Faithlife Study Bible, what do you learn about the word faith (Greek, pistis) and the word love (Greek, agape)? (For full instructions on how to access the free Faithlife Study Bible , click here.)

o If you haven’t had time yet, get an overview of Colossians by watching this 9-minute video from Bible Project.

Think about

o How should greater faith in Christ give us greater love for all people?

o The Faithlife Study Bible note on 1:5 defines “hope” as “confident expectation, not wishful thinking.” How is that different from the way we often think of hope in modern English? In your experience, how do faith and love spring from gospel hope?

o How often do you thank God for the faith, love, and hope that your brothers and sisters in Christ demonstrate? Why not do so now? This could be a great prayer habit for us to get into!

Pray

In your prayer time, thank God for the love that he has poured out on you through Christ. Praise him for your faith and for the opportunity to share his love with others and give them hope for their future. Pray for specific people that you’d like to have meaningful conversations with about Jesus.

Talk about

Have a meaningful conversation about this passage with one of your CF Encouragers, your small group, or join us virtually in Faithlife Community. (Search groups for Engage God Daily. For full instructions, click here.)

In our time, the word “gospel” is almost exclusively associated with Christianity. That wasn’t true in the ancient world where “gospel” was a common word that was often used of royal decrees that came from Caesar. The gospel that Paul and the other apostles preached announced that Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, is the reigning Savior and Lord. Through his sacrificial death, miraculous resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of God, Jesus has redeemed all those who put their faith in him and reconciled them to God. Paul cites the gospel message as the source for our hope. Discuss your understanding of the gospel. Talk about how it gives hope for what the world is going through right now.

To listen to last week’s message go to cfhome.org/messages