Paul's Letter to the Colossians is the subject of our mission.
Commercial centers give jobs to their residents as cities grow.The ancient city of Colossae was built on a major trade route in the Roman province of Asia Minor.The city became famous because of the beautiful dark red wool cloth manufactured there.The importance of Colossae as a business center waned around 100 BC when Laodicea was founded as an active and commercially aggressive competitor.The two towns, along with Hierapolis, were destroyed by earthquakes in AD 17 and 60.Colossae was rebuilt after each earthquake, but by 400 the city no longer existed.
In Acts 19:10, we learn that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord after two years of planting a church in Ephesus.It is likely that the Colossian church was founded by Epaphras.
Philemon was an upright leader in the church.He was a slaveholder who had escaped, had encountered the Apostle Paul, and had responded to the message about Jesus.Paul addresses how our relationship to God through Jesus Christ affects us in the workplace in his letter to the Colossians.He wrote about how slaves are to do their work for their masters.Our understanding of Paul's command in Colossians 4:1 has been extended by a short personal letter to Philemon.
The letters to the Colossians and Philemon are believed to have been written by Paul from prison.Nero, the cruel and insane emperor of the Roman Empire, was able to ignore the claims of Paul's Roman citizenship.
The Colossian Christians, who had at one time been strong in their faith, were now vulnerable to deception.The Colossians were tempted to embrace theological errors.Readers are taken far beyond these issues of deception by the letters.All of his readers understood the context of their lives within God's story, and what that looks like in their relationships on the job.
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Bill Heatley was adopted by the Theology of Work Project Board.The image was used under a license from Veer.
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