Sunday School Notes, August 8, 2010

Crossroads Bible Church Sr. High Student Ministry
Sunday School Class Notes
August 8, 2010: Overview of Colossians.

Discussion Starter: Two quotes from “Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church” by Kenda Creasy Dean.

“The most likely explanation for Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is simply that we reap what we sow. We have received from teenagers exactly what we have asked them for: assent, not conviction. Compliance, not faith. Young people invest in religion precisely what they think it is worth—and if they think the church is worthy of benign whatever-ism and no more, then the indictment falls not on them, but on us.”
*Do you think this accurately reflects the reality of churches in our area? Why/not? Give examples.

“The fruit of a consequential Christian faith is holiness, not niceness, which is not a course for the faint of heart. If the Bible is any indication, holy people make us uncomfortable. They take sacrificial risks on behalf of others; they are disarmingly wise and often, disconcertingly weird. They expose us with their honesty. Teenagers on this trajectory find ninety-five things wrong with the church, nail the list to the door, and call the press. Yet in their faith is the passion of God, who empowers them for mission and calls them out of their comfort zones so they can call us out of ours.”
*Do you think this kind of faith is realistic? What would the “costs” be to you personally if you were to move from “nice” to “holy?” What would the benefits to our local church be?

Study:

In 1:9, what does Paul ask for the church at Colossae to be filled with?
In 1:10-12 there are 7 reasons WHY he wants this. List them.
In 2:6, what is the cause/effect statement?
In 2:7, there are 4 characteristics of what that “looks like.” List them.
In 2:8, what are we to guard against?
In 3: 12-17, what are we to “put on?” What are we to “let” happen? If we “let” these things transpire, what will the result be?
In 4: 2-6, what are we to do that will help our relationship to God (v.2)? What are we to do regarding our relationship to others (v.5 & 6)




Applications to our lives: