Hi everyone!
Allow me to wish you a blessed and God-guided 2013. The schools have re-opened and it is time to re-start our EmmDevs! It's my prayer that our weekly Tue-Fri email contacts will be a helpful "tank-filler" on the journey...
For the next couple of weeks we're going to look at some highlights from Paul's letter to the Colossians.
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Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse: Colossians1:1-2
Many people suffer from small town blues. When a bustling mini-metropolis shrinks down and slows down it can be very depressing. People say: "Make sure you don't blink when you drive through this or that town - or you will miss it!"
Colosse was a town like that. It was a town that once had military and commercial significance but was now winding down... Within a century or two it would disappear completely.
But the Apostle Paul wrote a letter to a small church in Colosse!
Now let's see... Paul wrote to:
* Rome - A church in the capital of the Empire
* Corinth - A church in a powerful and wealthy harbour town
* Galatia - The church that looked after him while he was sick
* Ephesus - A church in a very influential harbour city.
* Philippi - A church in a city of retired Roman army officers.
* Thessalonica - A church in a prosperous, Greek cultured, free city.
Colosse is probably the least important of all the churches Paul wrote to!
Paul had never been to Colosse - the church was started by a man named Epaphras who had been in under Paul's teaching during the three years he taught at Ephesus.
But the church was going through a tough time - false teachers were confusing them and when Paul heard about it, he decided to write to this small country church.
The letter is a real gem - a blend of pastoral comfort and good theology.
Does small matter? Does God care about the "backroom boys" and "wallflower girls"??? The letter to the Colossians is proof that He does.
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
