Northview Women Summer Study 2017 Philippians & Colossians Hello and welcome to the second month of Summer Study, with Northview Women Summer Study! Our goals for this study are: To provide you with a weekly focus as you read your bible. Summer is a perfect time for slowing down and meditating, so we ll walk slowly and thoughtfully through each 4 chapter book. It won t take long to do the homework but you will absorb more if ponder what you are reading and its implications. To give you an opportunity to meet with other women over the summer. To help you develop an easy template for bible reading which you can apply to any book of the bible you encounter, so that you can develop confidence in your own ability to read and understand God s word. It s helpful to approach different types of biblical books (letters, stories, poetry) in different ways. This summer we are focussing on New Testament letters and our template is. Investigate the recipients - Spend 1 week reading it and noting what the book tells you about the people receiving the letter. Who are they? What are their names? Do their names come up in the Bible in other places & if so where? How does the author of the letter describe them? What issues or concerns does he identify. Investigate the author - Spend 1 week reading and noting what the book tells you about the person writing the letter (often Paul, but sometimes Peter or John or others). What does the author tell you about himself and his situation? How does he describe his relationship with God? What are his priorities? Why is he writing the letter? Investigate the theology - Spend 1 week reading and noting what the book tells you about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. How are they described? What are their characteristics? How do they interact with people? Investigate the teaching - Spend 1 week reading and noting the main ideas and instructions in the book. What words or ideas are repeated? What does the author want the recipients to do, and why? How this study will work: Each week we will post your instructions for the week on Facebook (Northview Women), our Website, and our weekly newsletter. Please email women@northview.org if you d like to be added to the weekly newsletter. At 7:00 pm on Thursday August 24 we will have a get-together at the Abbotsford Campus of Northview church for whoever wants to come join in. Please RSVP so that we know how many people are coming, and set up in a room which matches the number of participants. If you want to follow along with the reading but not attend the get-togethers, that s totally fine. No pressure - only opportunity :-). Happy studying! Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. (Psalm 34:8) Any questions? Feel free to send them to women@northview.org. 1
Northview Summer Study 2017 Colossians - Week 1 (The Recipients of the Letter) The book of Colossians is a letter written by the apostle Paul (one of the early Christian leaders) to a church in a city named Colossae. As he writes this letter, Paul is in jail for preaching about Christianity. He uses his jail time to send letters of correction and encouragement to people and to churches. His words were written 2000 years ago, but they are so applicable to us. In every century, people are the same and God is the same! As I have read this book repeatedly this past month, I have learned so much from Paul about God and about myself, and about what it means to be a Christian. I have been challenged and have been encouraged. I trust you will have a similar experience. Day 1 - What can we learn from the history books about the people Paul is writing to? Before you read a New Testament letter, it s a good idea to find out a bit about the history of Paul s relationship with the people he is writing to. Most of these history pieces are found in the book of Acts so this is USUALLY a good place to start (as it was when we studied Philippians) BUT the book of Colossians shows us that this isn t always helpful! Why not? Read the verses below and find out. Read Colossians 2:1. What do we learn here about Paul s relationship with the church in Colossae? Read Colossians 1:3-4. How does Paul know about the church in Colossae? Read Colossians 1:7-8. Who preached the gospel to the people in Colossae? How is this person described? How is this same person described in Colossians 4:12-13? How is this same person described in Philemon 1:23 So - to summarize! It s generally helpful to go to Bible Gateway.com and search for the name of the city which is being addressed in the letter (eg. Ephesus, Thessalonica, etc) so that you can find out a bit more of the history of this church. BUT if this search comes up empty there may be a reason. Read through the book itself to figure out why it might not be mentioned in the history books like Acts. 2
Days 2 to 7 - What can we learn from the letter itself about the people Paul is writing to? All we want to do for the rest of the week is to read the book of Colossians (it is only 4 chapters) and observe everything Paul says about the people he is writing to. It may be helpful to highlight every reference to the letter s recipients with a certain color pen as you read the book, so that you can easily find every time they are referenced. Study Tip: Write down the chapter and verse in which you discover a detail so that you can easily find it again when you want to. I ve put one example for each chapter below; see what else you can discover. The People of Colossae Chapter 1 Paul calls them faithful brothers and sisters in Christ (1:2) Chapter 2 They have not met Paul personally (2:1) They may be in danger - what kind? (2:8) Chapter 3 They have been raised with Christ (3:1) What types of people are in their congregation? (3:18-4:1) Chapter 4 List the names of the people Paul mentions here & search your bible to see what else you can find out about each of them! That s it for this week! One Final question to ponder: What can you Praise God for? Confess to God? Or ask God for, based on what you read? 3
Northview Summer Study 2017 Colossians - Week 2 (The Author of the Letter) Last week we focussed on the people Paul was writing to. This week we will focus on what we learn about Paul himself. In many New Testament letters, Paul and the other early Christian leaders encourage us to imitate them, as they seek to imitate Christ. We can learn a lot about how we should think and act as Christians by looking at the example of Paul. All we want to do this week is to read the book of Colossians and observe everything Paul says about himself. It may be helpful to highlight every reference to Paul with a certain color pen as you read the book, so that you can easily find every time Paul is referenced. Again, you can read the whole book every day (it only takes about 10 minutes to read through) and then keep adding to this list throughout the week, OR You can read one chapter per day and write down what you observe. I ve put examples below; see what else you can discover. Chapter 1 Paul is a an apostle of Christ by the will of God (1:1) He thanks God for the Colossians (1:3) He has not stopped praying for the Colossians since he heard about them (1:9) Chapter 2 He is contending for the Colossians and for the people at Laodicea (what does that mean?) (2:1) 4
Chapter 3 He wants them to set their heard on things above (3:1) Chapter 4 Asks them to pray that God would open a door for the gospel message (4:3) He is in chains (4:3) That s it for this week! One Final question to ponder: What can you Praise God for? Confess to God? Or ask God for, based on what you read? 5
Northview Summer Study 2017 Colossians - Week 3 (The Theology of the Letter) For the last 2 weeks we have focussed on the people attached to this letter. This week we want to focus on the letter s theology - what it teaches us about God. Theo is the greek word for God, and therefore theology is defined simply as the study of God. As you observe and write down everything which Paul teaches in this book about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, you will be learning theology. I promise that you will know more about God at the end of this week than you do right now! Instead of breaking up your observations by chapters this week, let s take notes on what Paul teaches us God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. All we want to do this week is to read the book of Colossians and observe everything Paul says about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It may be helpful to highlight every reference to each person with a different color pen as you read the book, so that you can easily find every time each is referenced. Again, you can read the whole book every day (it only takes about 10 minutes to read through) and then keep adding to this list throughout the week, OR You can read one chapter per day and write down what you observe. After you have made observations spend time thinking about what you wrote down. If God is described this way, what does that tell us about his character, and how he interacts with us? I ve put examples below; see what else you can discover. God : (Who is he, what does he do, what are his priorities? etc.) God willed that Paul should be an apostle (1:1) He is our father (1:2) (is God my father? Do I believe his is my father? If I really did, how might I think or feel differently? God is the Father of the Lord Jesus (1:3) ( what does this mean for us - how are we Jesus s siblings? ) God can fill us with the knowledge of his will (1:9) 6
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Jesus (mark references to Jesus and the Lord ) (Who is he, what does he do, what are his priorities? etc.) Paul is an apostle of Jesus (1:1) The faithful brothers and sisters are in Christ (1:2) (what does this mean?) Jesus Christ is the Lord (1:2). (Is he my Lord? If so, how should I live?) Concentrate on verses 1:15-22 and 2:9-15 - these are amazing verses! Holy Spirit (mark references to the Spirit ) (Who is he, what does he do, what are his priorities? etc.) The Holy Spirit gives wisdom and understanding (1:9) That s it for this week! One Final question to ponder: What can you Praise God for? Confess to God? Or ask God for, based on what you read? 8
Northview Summer Study 2017 Colossians - Week 4 (The Teaching of the Letter) Over the last 3 weeks we have learned a lot about the recipients of the letter (the Colossian people), the author of the letter (Paul) and the theology of the letter (what it teaches about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit). In this final week, we will focus on the teaching of this letter. What issues are present in the Colossian church, and what does Paul want them to do to correct or address these issues? All we want to do this week is to read the book of Colossians and think about the issues that Paul is addressing. We will do this in two stages: First we will look for words and ideas which come up repeatedly in the book, and then we will look for specific instructions which Paul gives to this church. It may be helpful to highlight words which repeat and also to highlight instructions you come across as you are reading them. Again, you can read the whole book every day (it only takes about 10 minutes to read through) and then keep adding to this list throughout the week, OR You can read one chapter per day and write down what you observe. I ve put examples below; see what else you can discover. 1. Repeated words: What words come up repeatedly in this letter? Write down the words that you see several times. All of us repeat ourselves when we want people to understand something. Recognizing the words which Paul is repeating helps us see what is important to him. Gospel - Note all references & what is said about it. Qualified & Disqualified. This is a big idea in Colossians! How are the Colossian people (and us) qualified to be in God s presence? How could they be disqualified? What does this mean? Love - Note all references & what is said about it. Prayer - Note all references & what is said about it. 9
2. Specific Instructions List every instruction or command you discover in the text. (I have give you a few examples below). If Paul has to tell them to live this way, what underlying problem he is addressing? (eg. If you have to tell someone to clean their room, the underlying problem is that their room is messy & they aren t doing anything about it :-)). Paul s Instruction Continue to live your lives in Christ Jesus See to it that no one takes you captive by hollow and deceptive philosophy (2:8) The Underlying Problem They may be in danger of turning away (see (1:23, and 2:2-4as well) There may be in danger of being deceived Which of these instructions poke you? How do you think Paul would challenge or encourage you personally, or our church, in light of what he wrote to the Colossian church? That s it for this week! One Final question to ponder: What can you Praise God for? Confess to God? Or ask God for, based on what you read? 10