Lesson 8: The Preeminence of Christ (Colossians 1:13-19)

Put on your “memory cap” to recall our first two lessons in this series. We studied the introductions to both Philippians and Colossians. Recall that Paul started his letter to the Philippians by humbly saying that he was a servant. He sounded quite different to the Colossians by describing himself as an apostle. We decided that, unlike his letter to the Philippians, Paul wanted to present himself to the Colossians as an authority. Why? He had some serious instructions for them about light and darkness. These instructions have to do with the nature of Jesus. Let’s continue our study of Colossians to learn more about Jesus!

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The Current Quarter’s Bible Studies on Philippians and Colossians.

Lesson 7
A Heavenly Citizenship
(Philippians 3:17-4:23)
This week I read an astonishing statistic. Over 50% of a certain population in the United States admits to having a mental illness. When compared to earlier reports, this seems to be part of the same ...
Lesson 6
Confidence Only in Christ
(Philippians 3:1-16)
Does the concept of righteousness by faith seem logical or natural to you? It doesn’t to me. Leaving aside my belief in God’s blessings, I have spent my life believing—and experiencing—that if...
Lesson 5
Shining as Lights in the Nigh
(Philippians 2:12-30)
Have you ever interacted with a stranger and thought, "This person must be a Christian?" On the other hand, have you worked with someone who showed no sign of being a Christian but you later found out...
Lesson 4
Unity Through Humility
(Philippians 2:1-11)
It was about thirty years ago that I started hearing a new idea about something called "diversity." Part of the concept was already clear to me because I received my undergraduate degree from Andre...
Lesson 3
Life and Death
(Philippians 1:19-30)
Have you wondered why some Christians fight death when life becomes painful due to disease? Why not welcome death and heaven? Do you think about your own death? This is the beginning of a new year ...
Lesson 2
Reasons for Thanksgiving and
(Philippians 1, Colossians 1)
How is your prayer life? Are you satisfied with it, or do you think it could use some improvement? One of my co-workers is an advocate of "contemplative prayer." He puts a sign on the door to his o...
Lesson 1
Persecuted But Not Forsaken
(Philippians 1, Colossians 1, Acts 16)
We begin a new series of studies about the New Testament books of Philippians and Colossians. Have you ever been arrested and put in jail or prison? I have not. But it is something that I think abo...

Emotional Intelligence

Can the Bible help you get promoted at work? Can the Bible increase your pay? Can the Bible help you keep your job? Improve your marriage? The answer is “Yes!” The Bible teaches principles of “emotional intelligence” that can actually help you to be smarter and get along better. Bruce Cameron, the writer of these Bible studies and a law professor, has published a paper written for lawyers which presents 17 Bible-based rules of emotional intelligence which God gave us to improve our lives. Best of all, Professor Cameron’s paper is free and you do not have to be a lawyer to understand it. To get your free copy, first click on this link. Second, when you see the title of the paper (EI, EI, Oh What an Employee), click on the “One-Click Download” and the paper will download to your computer as a PDF. If you have friends who want to read the paper, have them go to the website and download it as well.