Colossians 4:2-6

Speaking to God and Others2 Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the message, to speak the mystery of the Messiah, for which I am in prison,4 so that I may reveal it as I am required to speak. 5 Act wise you should answerly toward outsiders, making the most of the time. 6 Your speech should always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.

Questions & Answers    
Q What does Paul mean when he says,”Stay alert in it with Thanksgiving.”   
A Paul means to keep praying. Pray for others, and thank the Lord for all the grace he has given you.    
Q What do you pray for on Thanksgiving?    
A?????

Summary,This passage focuses on making the most of your life by telling others about the gospel. When I read this passage I thought of this quote. I believe if you keep your faith, you keep your trust, you keep the right attitude, if you're grateful, you'll see God open up new doors. Paul also wants us to pray all the time. We need to do our part by teaching other people of our great and powerful God.   

 Prayer. Thank u for this day lord, thank u that Mr. Alfaro can lead us in FCA. Thank u for all the kids who came to FcA today.   We know that choosing to be positive and having a grateful attitude is going to determine how we're going to live our lives.  God we know that we should always be thankful of your son Jesus Christ who died for our sins.  God please bless the food that we have after this to our bodies.  Forgive of our sins look into our heart we make you our lord and savior.  And all gods people say amen.

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Colossians 3:18-4:1

Colossians 3:18-4:1Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Christ in Your Home

¹⁸ Wives, be submissive to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives and don’t be bitter toward them.
²⁰ Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
²¹ Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so they won’t become discouraged.
²² Slaves, obey your human masters in everything. Don’t work only while being watched, in order to please men, but work wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord.
²³ Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically,^[a] as something done for the Lord and not for men, ²⁴ knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ.²⁵ For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong he has done, and there is no favoritism.
4 Masters, supply your slaves with what is right and fair, since you know that you too have a Master in heaven.

Questions:

1.   What does it mean for a wife to be submissive to her husband?

A.   Being submissive doesn’t mean to follow orders/commands. It means to follow Christ in being the best helper for your husband.  It means to allow your husband to lead the family.  I means you will be a wife that builds up her husband to be the best Christian he can be.

2.   What does it mean for a husband to love his wife?

A.   It means to sacrificially serve her needs so that she can be the best wife Christ has made her to be.  It means to love her unconditionally.  It means to build her up to be the best Christian God has made her to be. 

3.   Why does obeying your parents please the Lord?

A.   God loves it when we love and respect our elders.  If we can love our elders we will be more likely to love our Ruler, Christ. 

4.   What does it look like to exasperate your children?

A.   It might look like you are nagging your kids, over working them, or continuously correcting their every move.  These are good things to help your kids learn, but too much can make them resent you or stray from you. 

5.   Why should you work whole heartedly even when no one is looking?

A.   Because it’s the right thing to do and God is always watching.

6.   Why should you do everything enthusiastically?

A.   Because you should act like you are doing it for the Lord.  

Colossians 3:12-17

Colossians 3:12-17Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

The Christian Life

¹² Therefore, God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, ¹³ accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive.¹⁴ Above all, put on love—the perfect bond of unity. ¹⁵ And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Questions:

1.   What does it mean to be God’s chosen ones, holy and loved?

A.   This means to be people that God has chosen, to be adopted into His family that He has set apart.  He sacrificially served us by giving His only Son, Jesus, to die for us.

2.   What does it mean to put on all these great traits Paul is telling us to be?

A.   This means to put off the old self and look for opportunities to be these thing, or do these things to others. 

3.   What does it look like to be thankful?

A.   Being thankful is saying thank you to God, and everyone.  Being thankful takes strength because life isn’t always easy.  We must find the good in everything because we grow during the hard times in our lives.  God is teaching us something and we need to be thankful for His lessons.

4.   What is the message about the Messiah?

A.   It is the good news that get to go to Heaven instead of where we should go, Hell.  He died for us, and took away our sins. This is the amazing message.

5.   What does it mean to do things in word, or deed?

A.   It means that whatever you do or say, do it all in representation of Jesus.  So, sometime we need to say things and let our words speak the truth, and sometimes we need to stop speaking and let our actions do the talking.     

Colossians 3:1-11

Colossians 3:1-11Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

The Life of the New Man

3 So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth. ³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God. ⁴ When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

⁵ Therefore, put to death what belongs to your worldly nature:^[b] sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry.⁶ Because of these, God’s wrath comes on the disobedient,^[c] 7 and you once walked in these things when you were living in them. ⁸ But now you must also put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. ⁹ Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self^[d] with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator. ¹¹ In Christ^[f] there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian,^[g] slave and free; but Christ is all and in all.

Questions:

1.       What does living a new life mean to you?

A.      ???? Look at verse 1-4

2.      Who is the Messiah and what does it mean?

A.     The anointed one, Christ.  This title carried overtones of political power. Only after the resurrection did the disciples see how Jesus was truly a royal Messiah.

3.      What does it mean to be seated at the right hand of God, and to seek it?

A.     It means to look for what is Holy from above, to not waste time on Earthly things.

4.     What does it mean to put away all the yucky stuff?

A.     It mean that you need to be renewed in the knowledge according to your Creator, God. We need to put away the old self and put on the new self.

5.      What does this mean to put off your old self and put on the new self?

A.     It means we have to leave our life of sin and put on a new life of righteousness.  We need to do this daily.  It’s not a one-time thing.  All day every day, 24-7, even holidays. We need to die to sin and renew our life with Christ.  It’s not easy. 

6.     Don’t live a life that no longer fits you.  The world is always trying to tempt you, to change your behavior.  Don’t let Satan take control.  You are a new creation.  Follow Christ with every decision you make.  

Colossians 2:8-23

Colossians 2:8-23Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

⁸ Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elemental forces of the world, and not based on Christ. ⁹ For the entire fullness of God’s nature^[a]dwells bodily^[b] in Christ, ¹⁰ and you have been filled by Him, who is the head over every ruler and authority. ¹¹ You were also circumcised in Him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of the Messiah. ¹² Having been buried with Him in baptism, you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. ¹³ And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him and forgave us all our trespasses. ¹⁴ He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; He triumphed over them by Him.^[d]

¹⁶ Therefore, don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. ¹⁷ These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is^[f] the Messiah. ¹⁸ Let no one disqualify you,^[g] insisting on ascetic practices and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm and inflated without cause by his unspiritual^[h] mind. ¹⁹ He doesn’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, develops with growth from God.

²⁰ If you died with the Messiah to the elemental forces of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: ²¹ “Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch”? ²² All these regulations refer to what is destroyed by being used up; they are commands and doctrines of men. ²³ Although these have a reputation of wisdom by promoting ascetic practices, humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.

Questions:

1.        What does Paul mean when he says, “Don’t be captivated by hollow and deceptive philosophies?

A.     Don’t trade your rich belief in Christ for an empty substance.  He is all that matters, not random traditions.

2.      What does it mean to forgive our trespasses, to erase our debt, and nailed it to the cross?

A.     It means that God took away everyone’s sin, He took away our shame, He dead on the cross while taking on our sins, so we can have eternal life with Him. 

3.      What does verse 16 through 19 mean?

A.     ???

4.     What is verses 20 through 23 saying?

A.      ???

Summary

        Paul starts off by telling us to let no one in this world take you captive of your beliefs.  What he means by that is no matter if it’s popular or not, you should not change your strong relationship with God.  Don’t get stuck in the crowd be who you are.  Paul is stating that this is our bible we are what it says we are,  we can do what it says we can do, don’t let anyone change your thoughts or beliefs in christ Jesus.  Paul also wants us to know that , faith activates God and fear activates the enemy.  What this means is when we trust in Christ Jesus he will be with us and will help us through our journey in life with him, when we are scared and don’t believe in him our fear will activate the enemy.

   

Prayer

Dear Lord,

    Please help us with our day. Please help us do well on our test today. I pray that we are safe and we beat the Mountain View Bears. Thank you for all of the servicemen that have served our country, and please help our servicemen stay safe. I pray that if we have problems with our families you will help us get through these tough times.  Please help us to always put you first above all else. We know that with you all things are possible. And all God’s people say

                                   Amen.

Colossians 2:1-7Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

2 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me in person. ² I want their hearts to be encouraged and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery—Christ.^[a] 3 All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Him.

Christ versus the Colossian Heresy

⁴ I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive arguments. ⁵ For I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ.

⁶ Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him,⁷ rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, overflowing with gratitude.

Questions:

1.       Paul says he is struggling with not being there for the people of Colossi and Laodicea, what does it mean, Paul struggling?

A.     Paul is probably mad, or upset because he wants to be there for the Church.  He understands that they are being influenced by outside people.  Paul wants to encourage them, he wants to almost protect them.  He wants them to succeed and spread the word with confidence.

2.      What does Paul mean by saying, “I want their hearts to be encouraged and joined in love?”

A.     Paul wants them to have all the riches of assured understanding, that means knowing Christ, and having Knowledge of Christ, and what He did on the cross of them. 

3.      Has there ever been a time when someone tried to get you to do something you didn’t want to do?

4.      Did you do it? Or, did you say no and walk away?

5.      People will try and persuade you to do anything, Paul is letting the church know that this is a big deal. We must be well ordered and have great faith in Christ to avoid being confused by fails teachers. 

6.      What does it mean to walk in Christ?

A.     To walk with Christ is to follow His way.  To follow His ways we needs to follow His word.  We need to read the Bible and understand what He is telling us.  So no one can lead us away from Him.  

Colossians 1:24-29Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Paul’s Ministry

²⁴ Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for His body, that is, the church. ²⁵ I have become its servant, according to God’s administration that was given to me for you, to make God’s message fully known, ²⁶ the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints.²⁷ God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. ²⁸ We proclaim Him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. ²⁹ I labor for this, striving with His strength that works powerfully in me.

Questions:

1.   How is Paul suffering?

A.   Paul is suffering because he is arrested for being a Christian and has lost his freedom as he awaits his trial from Cesar. 

2.   What does it mean to suffer with Christ?

A.   When we become a Christian, Jesus tells us that we will suffer with Him.  That can look different in so many ways.  We might be made fun of, we might be accused of doing something wrong.  If you are a believer and are doing what is right for Christ, you will suffer for Kingdom work. 

3.   What is this Mystery that was hidden for the ages and generations?

A.   In the Old Testament everyone was waiting for the Messiah.  The Messiah has come, Jesus, and He came for everyone.  Jews and Gentiles.  All of us.  He is the mystery that has been reviled to all people. 

4.   Paul says, “Christ in you the hope of glory.” What do you think this means?

A.   Paul means that Jesus Christ takes up residence inside Christians through the Holy Spirit and allows us to looks forward to eternal life with God. 

5.   Who does Paul spend all his energy talking to people about?

A.   Paul spends his energy talking about Jesus Christ, he writes letter to the churches he planted, and encourages them to keep teaching God’s word.  

Colossians 1:15-23Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

The Centrality of Christ

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.^[a]
16 For everything was created by Him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through Him and for Him.
¹⁷ He is before all things,
and by Him all things hold together.
¹⁸ He is also the head of the body, the church;
He is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
so that He might come to have
first place in everything.
¹⁹ For God was pleased to have
all His fullness dwell in Him,
²⁰ and through Him to reconcile
everything to Himself
by making peace
through the blood of His cross^[b]—
whether things on earth or things in heaven.

²¹ Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. ²² But now He has reconciled you by His physical body^[c]through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him— ²³ if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.

Questions:

1.   What does verse 15 mean?

A.   He being Jesus Christ, is God’s son, the first born, our Salvation. 

2.   What does it mean when Paul says He is the head of the body, the Church?

A.   Christ is the head of the church, we are the body of Christ.  We listen to His word, the Bible, and do His will.  We follow his headship.

3.   What does it mean to reconcile through His blood on the cross?

A.   When Christ died, He died for ALL man’s sins, for everyone, living or dead.  He took on ALL our sins, so that He would become our Savior.  He is the living peace giver.  The best word in this sentence is the word Everything.  Which means everyone. 

4.   If you aren’t a believer in Christ you are hostile and alienated from Him.  Which means you are separated from God.  But, if you believe that He is your savior you are reconciled with God, through His Son Christ Jesus.  Christ is where our faith needs to be. 

5.   What happens when an enemy of God when they out their faith in Jesus according to verse 22?

A.   When we put our faith in Jesus His righteousness gets put on us and we get the credit for His deeds.