reading guide
Colossians
Our normal rhythm of preaching at Redeemer is to preach through entire books of the Bible, passage by passage. This helps to safeguard us, on the one hand, from only talking about our pet issues all the time; on the other hand, it forces us to examine what God’s word has to say about things we might not be inclined to talk about if we didn’t come across it in the course of letting a whole book of the Bible speak for itself.
From now until Advent, our plan is to preach through the entirety of Paul’s epistle to the Colossians. We intend to go slow and dig deep, letting the Holy Spirit speak to us through Paul’s argument. Below you will find a reading guide to help you prepare for each Sunday’s sermon throughout the week leading up to it. Pray that God will use the preaching and hearing of this book to reveal himself to us and transform us as a people.
How to Use This Reading Plan
This reading plan includes five readings for each week, drawing from texts related to our Colossians sermon series. Our hope is that reading the actual sermon text and related scripture passages during the week will help you to engage with the Bible, prepare for the sermon on Sunday, and add to your overall understanding.
Remember that the Bible is essentially a story about how God loves and pursues his people. Its pages tell of one story, where God is the main character and Jesus’ work on the cross is the climax. Everything either looks forward to that central event or applies its having taken place.
Step 1: Locate the Scripture for the day on the chart.
Step 2: Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand the passage.
Step 3: As you are reading the passage, make a note of things that jump out to you, circle key words or phrases, and write your thoughts down in a journal or in your Bible. Here are some ways to organize your thoughts.
- Summarize the main idea of the passage in a short phrase.
- Write down the main highlighted verse or portion of verse.
- Write what you notice about the passage.
- Ask, “What does this passage say about Jesus or how does it point to him?”
- Write down the implications of that truth(s) about Jesus.
- Describe what you will do or how your heart needs to change based on what God has shown you.
- Write out a prayer expressing your need for God’s help.
See the reading guide below, or download it here.
