Key Truth: The goal of our service as the Church should be the maturation of the saints in encouragement, unity, and assurance in union with Christ.

Introduction:

Q: Who has most encouraged you in your Christian walk in union with Christ?

Paul’s Joy in Suffering: The Maturity of the Saints in Christ:

Colossians 1:24-29

“For it is precisely by teaching the Word of God that the church of God is to be served. It is by the truth of the gospel that the church is formed, sustained and equipped.”
Dick Lucas, The Message of Colossians & Philemon

Q: What are some ways in which you have matured in Christ through the ministry of the Word over the last year?

Paul’s Struggle: The Encouragement, Unity, and Assurance in Christ:

Colossians 2:1-5

“Paul emphasizes that the revelation of God cannot be properly known apart from the cultivation of brotherly love within the Christian community.”
F.F. Bruce, Colossians and Philemon: The Supremacy of Christ

Q: What encourages your heart? What helps you to grow closer to other Christians in love? What serves to grow your understanding and knowledge of your assurance in Christ? What are some ways in which you are cultivating these things with the means of grace at your disposal?

Colossians 1:24-2:5 teaches us that Paul’s example in ministry is:

- to take joy in the suffering that helps mature the saints in union with Christ

- to struggle to encourage, unify, and assure the saints in their union with Christ

“As Paul served others with dedication and sacrifice, so churches today should take seriously their servant role in the world. Churches are not here to serve themselves or even simply to serve Christ. They are to serve like Christ as instruments of God’s reconciliation.”
David E. Garland,
The NIV Application Commentary: Colossians/Philemon