SCRIPTURE
Colossians 1: 1-14
1
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2
To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae: Grace to
you and peace from God our Father. 3 In our prayers for you we always
thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 for we have heard
of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5
because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope
before in the word of the truth, the gospel 6 that has come to you.
Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been
bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended
the grace of God. 7 This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved
fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8
and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit. 9 For this
reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking
that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom
and understanding, 10 so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord,
fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in
the knowledge of God. 11 May you be made strong with all the strength
that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything
with patience, while joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has
enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13
He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom
of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of
sins.