paul’s letter to the colossians calls us to live christ · paul’s letter to the colossians...

Paul’s letter to the Colossians calls us to live Christ-‐focused lives! These

devotions will help you as you and your youth group journeys through

Focus: A 6 Lesson Study on the Book of Colossians.

• For each lesson you’ll find two short devotions. Do these each week.

• Read the passage, read the devotion, then use the questions as a way of

applying the truth of the passage to your life.

• On the days you do not have a devotion Memorize the verse for each lesson and do the extra reading to help you understand the context of the verse.

• Also, Spend time each week in Prayer. You will have a place to write prayer requests from your Small Group each week. Consider using Colossians 1:9-12 as a guide:

1. Pray for their growth of understanding God’s Word so they can know what God’s will is for them each day. (v.9).

2. Pray for their growth in how they live so that they will do what is right each day and not give into temptation. (v.10).

3. Pray for their life to become more like Christ each day in their desires, attitude, and thoughts. (v.11-12).

Memory Verse for Lesson 1:

FOCUS Lesson 1 Devotion, Part 1:

Read: Colossians 1:3-6

“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all

the saints—the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in

heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that

has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as

it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s

grace in all its truth.”

Extra: Read Colossians 1:1-8 The word hope gets thrown around a lot. We hope our favorite team wins the big

game. We hope the tickets for the concert don’t sell out. We hope the cafeteria food

isn’t nasty today. When we use the word hope like this, we’re really just waiting to

see how things turn out. We really don’t have a say on whether or not the teams

does well, who gets ahead of us to buy tickets, or what kind of mood the lunch lady

is in. In this passage Paul let us know that our faith and love are birthed out of the hope

we have in Jesus Christ. This isn’t a hope that waits to see how things shake out.

It’s a hope that’s firmly set on the reality of what Christ has done for us. This hope

is set on the good news of Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and offer of salvation

to all who believe. Our hope doesn’t rest on what may or may not happen in the

future. It rests on what Christ has already done. And because of this hope, we’re

able to live full of faith and love.

• When do you find yourself needing hope in your life?

• How does knowing that God is in control of all things give you hope?



“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the

kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of

sins.”

Extra: Read Colossians 1:9-14 Imagine a person who’s been imprisoned for the majority of her life. Bondage is

pretty much all she’s known. She gave hoping for freedom a long time ago. Then

imagine that all of a sudden, one day she’s released. But she isn’t just let go to fend

for herself. She’s taken to the White House and given a room, a new wardrobe, and

a seat at the President’s table. She’s given a place of honor for as long as she lives.

How do you think this lady would feel? As hard as it is for us to grasp, spiritually this is exactly what happens to us when

we receive Christ as Savior. The favor God shows us is totally undeserved! Because

of our sin we deserve bondage and separation from God. But we’re set free because

of His great love for us. We go from guilty to blameless. From bondage to freedom.

From hopeless to a child of the King in an instant! And it’s all because of grace.

This is incredible news, and it’s our motivation to love and follow Jesus Christ.

• Who in your life needs to know the freedom that faith in Christ brings?

• What is keeping you from sharing with them?

Prayer Request from Small Group: Lesson 1

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“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of

the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead,

so that in everything he might have the supremacy.”

Extra: Read Colossians 1:15-23 Have you ever felt used in a friendship? Have you ever had someone who only

wanted to be your friend or give you call when it was convenient for them? That

stinks, and it isn’t true friendship. The sad thing is that this is exactly how many

of us try and treat Jesus. We act as if He’s a buddy that we can call on in a pinch but

ignore the rest of the time. The problem with this perspective is that Jesus isn’t

some cast‐off friend to be used when it’s convenient. He’s the Lord over all

creation. Paul made clear in this passage that Jesus existed before anything else did. This

means that He’s fully God. We’re told that He holds everything together, meaning

He’s sustaining our life at this very moment. Paul said that He’s the head of the

church, which means that if we call ourselves Christ-followers, we’re under His

authority. Lastly, we’re told that He’s to be supreme in all areas of our lives. If we

try to just use Him when it’s convenient, we aren’t really grasping who Jesus is.

He’s fully God. And this means we’re to follow Him and obey Him with

everything we’ve got at all times—convenient and inconvenient.

• Take some time to get things right in your relationship with Jesus. Pray to Him and allow Him to work in your heart to put things in the right perspective in your relationship.



“Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still

lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the

church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to

you the word of God in its fullness the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages

and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to

make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is

Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching

everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To

this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.”

Extra: Read Colossian 1:15-29 Have you ever loaded up on caffeine and sugar to make it through a long night of

studying or something boring? It usually starts out all right while you’re pounding

coffee, soft drinks and anything else you can get your hands on just to make it

through. You’re able to stay awake for a while. But what always happens after

something like this? After a while the sugar and caffeine wear off, and you hit rock

bottom. In this passage, Paul wrote that he was fighting to teach people the message of

Christ. He said that he labored and struggled for this goal. The awesome thing is

that he wasn’t depending on some outside energy source. He said that he had the

energy of Christ! When we try to live the life of a Christ‐follower in our own

strength, a crash is inevitable. Our strength and our motivation must come from

Christ alone. It won’t be easy, and there will be plenty of struggles, but we know

that He’ll never leave us. God will always provide the strength we need.

• Can you think of a time when you felt God give you the strength you

needed in a certain situation? Describe it.

• How does this memory give you strength for the future?

2011, Youth Ministry 360


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“I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea,

and for all who have not met me personally. My purpose is that they may be

encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of

complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely,

Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you

this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. For though I am

absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how

orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.” No matter where you look, advertising is always out there for “secret” ways to

accomplish things. Whether its get-rich‐quick schemes or a plan for how to lose

weight while sitting on your couch eating chips, someone is always telling the

world they’ve found shortcuts to big results. And no matter how dumb these things

sound, there’s always a sucker out there that bites. Paul was dealing with a similar situation as he wrote this letter. He wasn’t dealing

with weight loss plans or money-making schemes; he was dealing with people

trying to deceive Christ-followers with ideas and philosophies that contradict their

faith. It’s easy to be taken captive by people who talk smoothly or sound

intelligent. But we can’t just take words at face value. Paul reminded his readers

that while some arguments might sound good on the surface, true wisdom and

knowledge are found in Christ alone. Just as in Paul’s day, a lot of things out there

sound good initially, but when the layers are peeled back it’s nothing more than

empty talk. Anything that isn’t rooted and grounded in Jesus isn’t truth, and it isn’t

wise.

• What do you hear people saying about religion or about God that you

know isn’t true?

• Why do you think some people have such untrue thoughts about God?



“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in

him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were

taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

Extra: Colossians 2:1-8 Have you ever seen an umbrella taken by the wind go flying down the beach? This

is usually funny to those who get to watch the people scramble to make the

recovery, but not so funny to those who are chasing their umbrella. The problem is

that the umbrella wasn’t grounded by something greater than the wind that picked

it up. The umbrella needed to be placed in an anchor or a deeper hole. It was no

match for the strength of the wind. The same is true for us. We aren’t strong enough on our own to deal with all the

things we face on a daily basis. Unless we’re rooted and grounded in Christ, we’ll

be tossed around by the things the world throws at us. To be rooted in Christ means

that He’s our foundation; He’s our anchor. It means that our strength, our

perspective, our satisfaction and our fulfillment are all found in Christ. When this is

true, we aren’t blown away when the world hits us with something we didn’t

expect. Instead, we’re grounded in Christ. Like the passage says, we overflow with

thankfulness and are witnesses to a watching world.

• Think back on your life. How has being grounded in Christ helped you

make it through a rough time?

2011, youthministry360


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Read: Colossians 2:8

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive

philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this

world rather than on Christ.”

Extra: Colossians 2:8-15 Little kids all have the same favorite question: “Why?” When they see something

happen, they want to know why it happened that way. When their parents tell them

to do something, they want to know why they have to do it. They want to know the

“why” for everything. It’s natural; humans generally want to know the reasons

behind things. We want to know why things work the way they do, why things

happen the way they do, why we have to do the things we do. The problem is that

our need for an answer to life’s “why” or “how” questions can lead us to accept

some pretty bogus answers. In this passage, Paul was warning his readers not to accept answers or solutions

just because they sounded good. Just because an idea or an explanation sounds

smooth, smart, or sophisticated, that doesn’t make it right. Paul made it clear

throughout the Book of Colossians that this world was created by and for Jesus

Christ; it was created so that He may be glorified. Any philosophy or theory that

contradicts that truth is nothing more than empty talk.

• How does knowing Christ and having Him as the FOCUS of our life make it easy not to fall for faulty explanations and solutions?



“Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to

a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a

shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.”

Extra: Colossians 2:16-23 No matter where we go it seems like there are always rules to follow. There are

rules at your house, at school, at practice, on the roads . . . they’re literally

everywhere. So it makes sense that we’re programmed to think everything involves

following rules. This is especially true when it comes to our spiritual lives. The

human struggle seems to be about trying to figure out what we have to do, or what

rule or set of rules we have to follow, to make God happy. This is what Paul was

addressing in this passage. People were casting judgment on others about whether

they followed certain rituals. Paul reminded his readers that it isn’t the ritual that’s

important; it’s the heart behind it. The crazy thing is that God repeatedly tells us in His Word that it isn’t the

rules He’s interested in. He’s interested in our hearts. He wants us to love Him; He

wants us to have a relationship with Him. Think about most of the rules you follow.

Do you really want to follow them all? Do you love following them? No, of course

not. Anyone can follow a rule without their heart being in it. This is worthless to

God. Does He have rules and commands to obey? For sure. But He wants us to

follow them because we love Him, not because we think we’re earning His favor.

• What motivates your behavior? A set of do’s and don’ts? Or a desire to

please God born out of your love for Him?

• How can you adjust your attitude accordingly?



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“Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices

and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image

of its Creator.”

Extra: Colossians 3:1-11

Think about the dirtiest, sweatiest, and just plain most gross you’ve ever been. It

may have been after your parents had you work in the yard in the middle of the

summer, or maybe it was after the longest, hardest practice of the year. Whatever

the situation, your clothes were probably filthy and smelled absolutely awful.

There’s no better feeling in that situation than getting a nice shower and putting on

clean clothes. It’s just flat out refreshing. The old self Paul’s way of talking about a life before Christ is like those filthy

clothes. You don’t go out on a date in the clothes you wore to work in the yard.

You don’t get in bed after practice without showering and changing. (OK, some of

you might and that’s just plain foul.) In the same way, once you have a relationship

with Christ, you don’t keep living the same way. You get rid of the old way of

doing things and the old way of thinking about things. Your new approach and

mindset are centered on Christ. This is a process though; it doesn’t happen all at

once. Day by day we grow closer to Christ and become more and more like Him.

Our mindset, actions, and way of life are renewed each and every day.

• What in your life is a holdout from your “old self”? What habits, friends or thoughts that you need to let go of are weighing down your life with Christ?


Read: Colossians 3:15‐17

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you

were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly

as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms,

hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you

do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks

to God the Father through him.”

Extra: Colossians 3:1-17 Have you ever thought about going to school in the name of Christ and giving thanks to the Father while you do it? “Wait, what?” Hang on just a second; it

makes sense if you think about it. School, extra‐curricular activities, homework, friends, computer, video games, TV

. . . these are the main components of most teenagers’ days. These things can

become so routine that it’s easy to get stuck in a rut. We do the same things over

and over to the point that we do them without even thinking. Too often Jesus gets

left out of the equation. Our personal relationship with Him gets put on the

backburner. We lose sight of how we’re called to encourage and build up those

around us, and we just go through the motions of the day. Paul realized our tendency to lose sight of these things and focus on ourselves and

our fleshly desires. So, he reminded us that Jesus is supposed to rule in our hearts.

Everything we do every little thing is to be done in the name of Christ. This

involves how we interact with others, how we build one another up, how we

glorify the Lord in our schools, at practice, and at home. If all we do is go through

the motions, how are we telling the world that Christ has a better way for them to

live?

• Think about every aspect of your day, down to the smallest detail. How can you bring glory to the Father through the things you do each day?



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Read: Colossians 3:18-4:1

“Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your

wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything,

for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will

become discouraged. Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it,

not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of

heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,

as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an

inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.

Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that

you also have a Master in heaven.” Our culture teaches us to get ahead without worrying too much about how we treat

others in the process. It teaches us to be our own boss. It teaches us to look out for

number one. Words like submit and obey don’t really go along with that mindset.

What was it that Paul was teaching here? What type of relationships was he

promoting? We must stop thinking with a me‐first mentality and start thinking with a Christ-

like one. If we look at how Christ interacted with people, Paul’s words begin to

make more sense. Paul was encouraging his readers to be respectful and kind to

those around them, particularly those they had close relationships with. After all,

what shows more Christlikeness than serving those close to us with a humble

attitude? Paul even addressed slaves, and while he didn’t condone the system of

slavery, he reminded them that they could be a witness by having a humble,

Christ-like attitude toward their masters. That’s serious about being Christ-like

in the face of difficult circumstances! The important thing is for us to care about

Christlikeness and humility more than we care about what’s best for us.

• What can you do today or tomorrow to put the needs of someone you love

ahead of your own?


Read: Colossians 4:2‐6

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too,

that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery

of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I

should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every

opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so

that you may know how to answer everyone.”

Extra: Colossians 4:2-18 Sharing the gospel isn’t something that comes easily to most people. It’s something

that we don’t think about most of the time, and when we do think about it, we worry

about how we’re going to do it. We worry about how we’re supposed to start

conversations, if people will think we’re weird, and if we’ll be able to answer the

questions that might get thrown at us. This is probably the biggest problem we face

. . . we overthink it! As Paul was wrapping up his letter to the Colossians, he gave some great advice on

how to approach people and be a strong witness for the gospel. First, in verses 2

through 4 he gave some advice that could easily go unnoticed. He told us to pray

for open doors to share the gospel. How often do we sit down and pray for

ourselves and our friends to have open doors to share the good news of Christ?

Second, he told us to be wise and full of grace in the way we treat non-believers.

Won’t people be a lot more likely to listen to what we have to say if we have a

history of treating them well? This isn’t exactly rocket science. Pray for

opportunities and treat those around you as Christ would. If you do these two

things, you’ll have more opportunities to share the gospel than you can imagine.

All you’ll have to do is open your mouth and talk about what Christ has done in

your life.

• Are you willing to pray that you’ll have opportunities to share with your

friends how Christ has impacted your life?

• What are some of the factors that lead you to not sharing your faith?2011, youthministry360


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paul’s letter to the colossians calls us to live christ · paul’s letter to the colossians...

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