Thursday · Jan 1
The Churches in Philippi and Colossae
Read Philippians 1:1–3 and Colossians 1:1, 2 . What does the Bible tell us about the churches in Philippi and Colossae? Why is this information so important?
In his letters, Paul often greets Christians as saints. That’s because they were baptized into the church. Baptism showed that they separated from their old way of life to become God’s special people. In the Old Testament, God chose the Israelites to be His special people, too. God commanded the Israelite males to be circumcised as a sign. Circumcised means that the skin on the tip of the male sex part is cut off. This sign showed that the Israelites were separate from other people groups and belonged to God. God made Israel the same as His special treasure. God wanted the Israelites to be holy ( Exodus 19:5, 6; compare 1 Peter 2:9, 10 ). In the same way, God wants Christians to be holy, too. Baptism shows that we belong to God.
Let’s compare Paul’s greetings in his letters to the Christians in Philippi and in Colossae. Paul writes to the “leaders and the deacons [helpers] in the church” in Philippi ( Philippians 1:1 , EASY). Paul also writes to “the holy and faithful [obedient to God] brothers in Christ” who live in Colossae ( Colossians 1:2 , ICB). When the New Testament talks about “faithful brothers,” we understand that these men do special work for God in the church (read Ephesians 6:21; Colossians 4:7; and 1 Peter 5:12 ). So, Paul is talking to both church members and church leaders in Philippi and Colossae. In other parts of the Bible, we learn about the work for God that these leaders do in the church (read 1 Timothy 3:1–12 and Titus 1:5–9 ). These different jobs help us understand that leadership was important to God’s church right from the start.
Paul trained Timothy, Epaphras, and other Christians to become leaders of local churches. Paul thought that training leaders was very important work. These leaders helped Paul share the Good News in the cities. Paul had a plan for sharing the Good News and for church leadership. Our Seventh-day Adventist pioneers also followed this plan. Many years before Paul wrote to the churches in Philippi and Colossae, the church in Jerusalem followed this plan, too (read Acts 6:1–6 and Acts 11:30 ). The Jerusalem church “was a model of leadership for other churches to copy.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, page 91, adapted.