Dear Brethren,

MEDITATION

6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it
is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth;
7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,
8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.

Colossians 1:6-8

OBSERVATION AND INTERPRETATION
1. The Gospel

a) There is but one gospel
b) It was proclaimed by the Lord Jesus first
c) It was then preached by the Apostles

i) It is grace
ii) It is truth

iii) It is centered in the Lord Jesus Christ

2. The fruit of the Gospel

a) Salvation
b) Many blessings from the Lord (Ephesians 1:3-14)
c) Fruit must result from being so blessed by God
d) The Colossians also saw fruit in their lives and in the Church

3. Commendation of Epaphras

a) As a dear fellow-servant
b) He is praised as a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ
c) Epaphras spoke to Paul about the love that was evidenced in the Colossians
d) This love was of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)

APPLICATION TO LIFE AND MINISTRY
1. The preaching of the Gospel

a) We must be committed to this work
b) There are wonderful fruits of the Gospel that can arise

2. The problems that we must confront

a) We do not take preaching the Gospel seriously enough
b) Thus, we see little fruit from our Gospel ministry

3. The pastoral ministry

a) Paul was a great pastor
b) Epaphras was a good pastor
c) We must ever seek to be the kind of pastor that God meant us to be

4. Our Personal life

a) We must be instructed as deeply as possible
b) We must be committed to improve in every way we can
c) We need to inspire others to live well for the Lord
d) The Spirit of God must be more involved in our life
e) Let us be deeply impacted each time we read the Scriptures

Prayerfully,
Pastor Charles Tan