Complicating Simplicity [10-25-26]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjthNi8BJK4?is=5zbVKMYjHcRWlPI3

October 25, 2026

Colossians 1:1-2

“Complicating Simplicity”

I wish I had a dash cam in the Impala I drive so you could experience the wonder of what happened one day last month.

As I left for lunch one day, I was cogitating on our upcoming series on Paul’s letter to the Colossians. I was thinking that, while it is only four chapters, it has deep and rich content, so {I kid you not} the exact thought, “We need to hit the ground running,” popped into my wee little brain.

Here’s where the dash cam comes in. I climb into the Impala, buckle the seatbelt, and push start. I head out for the portico and Milwaukee Road. Now…I am not making this up…as I pass the covered picnic area, a squirrel pops out from behind the first flower pot in front of the doors. As he starts scampering parallel to me, running down the walk toward Milwaukee Road…and I can’t emphasize enough I am not making this up… simultaneously to the little guy’s appearance, “Born to be Wild” by Steppenwolf comes on the radio.

Some of you are probably singing it in your heads right now:

Get your motor runnin'

Head out on the highway

Looking for adventure

In whatever comes our way

Life is funny that way. It was perfect timing. That’s right where my mind was. Hit the ground running. Head out on the highway to the church at Colossae. First thing to do is gather up some background information. Radar set for adventure.

First up, who is writing the letter? And where is it written from?

Paul is writing to the church at Colossae from a Roman prison. As he

concludes in 4:18:

“I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.”

Paul dictates the letter, but he wants to write the farewell in his own hand. It is done to make a connection both of authenticity and affection.

This was a common way Paul corresponded with individuals and churches. Here’s some insight from the last chapter of Romans. It was written from Corinth sometime in the late 50s. Listen for some common themes which will show up a few years later in the letter to the Colossians {and still ring true today, I might add}:

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. The God of

peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord

Jesus Christ be with you.

Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.

I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith - to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

It’s beautiful how that works. Paul, faithful apostle. Tertius, faithful scribe. God’s sovereign purpose accomplished through two ordinary men.

Colossians is written during the first of Paul’s three times of imprisonment.

Paul was most likely executed, by beheading, under the Christian

persecutions begun by Nero in 67 A.D.

Now on to a thing or two about the city of Colossae. It was about 120 miles east of Ephesus. An important economic hub, it was the most important city in the region of Phrygia. While most inhabitants were Gentiles, the Jewish population was big enough to provide a foothold for God to expand the church out from Jerusalem. There’s an abundance of archeological evidence which shows people in the area worshiped deities including:

Artemis of Ephesus

Zeus

Men of Phrygia {ancient lunar god}

Athena

Demeter

Isis

Serapis

And many more

After a severe earthquake in the region, around four years after Paul wrote

this letter, Colossae was abandoned. But up until that calamity, Colossae was a bustling economic and cultural hub.

Up next for our consideration – who planted the church in Colossae?

It wasn’t Paul. While he was the one called by God to provide leadership for these churches, it was Epaphras who founded the church in Colossae.

Epaphras most likely came to Christ during Paul’s ministry in Ephesus. He then brought the gospel to his hometown of Colossae. That’s important to remember. Here is Epaphras, living in a city saturated with pagan and heathen beliefs and practices, who gives his life to Jesus Christ and shares that truth with others. At one point, Epaphras traveled to visit Paul in Rome. While there, he gave Paul an update on the spiritual progress of the Colossian believers. Hence, as we’ll see, Paul sent guidance concerning false teachings threatening the church. The more things change, right?

With that background in mind, here’s Colossians 1:1-8:

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy

our brother,

To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing - as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

As Paul lays things out, here’s the ground we’re going to cover. These are some of the key themes we’ll be looking at.

First, false teachers were saying that Christ, and Christ alone, was not

sufficient for salvation. They added burdens. Here’s something you might

want to write down:

TRUST IN CHRIST, AND CHRIST ALONE.

It’s not Jesus plus dietary laws. Or Jesus plus certain rituals. Or Jesus plus where you worship. Or Jesus plus observance of specific holy days. Or Jesus plus how you dress. Or Jesus plus circumcision. You see how it goes on-and-on. False teachers added so many burdens.

Here’s something else you might want to write down:

JESUS + NOTHING = EVERYTHING

Next, we’re going to explore how our saving relationship with Jesus Christ is everything we need. Make no mistake. People are always looking for answers to life’s problems and challenges. What can bring happiness? What can make for better relationships? How can I be prosperous? How can I raise my family? How do I navigate a wicked culture? People want to know what works. We hear the question, “Does it work?” Is it practical? Is it productive? Will it get results? Show me something that works.

As we’ll see, Christ and Christ alone is all-sufficient. Only Jesus can change

us. Only Jesus can make us holy. We need no other outside philosophy or influence. Have you noticed how often in our culture people go after the latest shiny new thing? Like snake oil salesmen of old, while packaged and marketed in different ways, the charm is still there. Authors and speakers and influencers are slick in their presentations, but all they’re doing is tickling ears. All we need to hear is what Paul says in Colossians 2:6-7:

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

How firm a foundation? What a wonderful affirmation. We are rooted and built up in Christ. If you think something is missing in your life, your thinking is messed up. If you are rooted in Christ, you are lacking for nothing. Here’s something we might want to affirm together:

WE ARE COMPLETE IN JESUS CHRIST.

And don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise. If they do, then they are itching for a fight. Do you know what works? The gospel. And that’s where Paul is going to go in all four chapters of Colossians.

The last theme we’ll look at today is Paul’s presentation of an ageless, timeless, eternal Christ. That is such a glorious expression here in Colossians. Jesus Christ is the solution to every dilemma we face. As Paul will remind us, Jesus is the architect, Creator, and sustainer of the universe. Jesus is the One True Head of the One True Church. Jesus is our all-sufficient Savior. Jesus is the only authority…Jesus is the image of the invisible God. Jesus pre-existed with the Father. Jesus is the source of all knowledge and wisdom. Jesus can change lives. Jesus gives joy and peace and forgiveness and every other good thing that is in the will of the Father to give. Jesus builds families and marriages and friendships. Jesus is the only source of true love and understanding.

More than anything else, we are going to hear the lofty, Biblically-based description, praise, and adoration of our Savior. That is the only way to keep false teaching from the church. The only way. The only way to push back against paganism is through the description, praise, and adoration of our Savior. The only way to defend ourselves against the wickedness of this present age is through the description, praise, and adoration of our Savior. Amen?

We’ll close with an affirmation and then a classic hymn.

First, the affirmation. From Colossians 3:11:

Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

“Christ is all, and in all.” Jesus is the most important part of our lives. No matter what our background or experience, Jesus Christ is in us as we are in Christ. Jesus is all we need. Our true identity is in Christ, and in Christ alone.

I love the way this hymn by Charles Wesley captures it:

Thou, O Christ, art all I want;

More than all in Thee I find:

Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,

Heal the sick and lead the blind.

Just and holy is Thy name,

I am all unrighteousness;

False and full of sin I am,

Thou art full of truth and grace.

Plenteous grace with Thee is found,

Grace to cover all my sin;

Let the healing streams abound;

Make and keep me pure within.

Thou of life the fountain art,

Freely let me take of Thee;

Spring Thou up within my heart,

Rise to all eternity. Amen

Jesus Christ is all-sufficient. And together, the joyful people of Covenant Church say:

SOLI DEO GLORIA…

TO THE GLORY OF GOD ALONE