This Sunday we will finish our study of Colossians by looking at Colossians 4:7-18.  The message is entitled “Family Pictures.”

At the end of most of his letters, the Apostle Paul will mention by name various individuals who are with him and who send their greetings, as well as some of the individuals in the church he is writing to.  Colossians is no exception.  In fact, Colossians has one of the longer sections in which Paul mentions people by name.

What is really wonderful about these sections is that you get a snapshot of the family of God.  These are brothers and sisters in Christ Paul is mentioning, each of them making a unique contribution to the Body of Christ.  So we’ll see some fascinating things this Sunday as we look at the stories behind the names. 

The next Sunday, August 16^th, we’ll begin a short series on Philemon.  The letter to Philemon was written at the same time as Colossians, and delivered along with Colossians, but Philemon is a personal letter to a man in the Colossian church.  It is not only personal, but powerful.  So we’ll spend a couple of weeks looking at that after we finish Colossians.

This past Sunday, we talked quite a bit about evangelism.  Each of us who follows Jesus is called to reach out to other people and help them know about Jesus and follow Him.  As our Lord said, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men" (Mark 1:17).  One of the really simple and effective first steps you can take in doing that is to invite friends to meet you at church for worship.  Here, every Sunday, you can count on the fact that they will hear the good news of Jesus, and they will be greeted warmly by our people.  That includes this Sunday.  See you then.

By His Grace, For His Glory, To The Nations,

Dr. Thurman Hayes, Jr.