Read Together: Colossians 2:6–15

The apostle Paul uses a short phrase in this passage and throughout his letters that is loaded with meaning. It is the phrase “in/with him (Jesus).” This simple (often overlooked) phrase presents to us important truths about our experience as Christians. All of our Christian life can be summed up in this phrase: in Christ. The Christian life is a life of union with Christ.

In Jesus, we are made complete (v. 10). In our union with him, we have died to our sinful self and have found new life in him (vv. 11–13). Baptism is a picture of our spiritual union with Jesus in his death, burial, and resurrection. We are bound to Christ. Our “life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3). And so we are called to walk in Christ, to be rooted and built up in him (vv. 6–7). Jesus is our life (Col 3:4), and union with Christ is the source of all the blessings of the Christian life (Eph 1:3).

Discussion Questions

1.    Notice all the cases of “in/with him” in this text: what do these teach us about the Christian life?

2.    What does baptism picture?

3.    What are some ways we can actively “walk in Christ” this week?

Ideas for Younger Kids

·      Read “Paul, Purple Goods, and a Prison Quake” in The Biggest Story Bible Storybook (pages 476–79). Discuss with your children the pattern here of belief in Jesus and then baptism.

·      Learn the following catechism question with your children (Q119 in A Catechism for Boys and Girls):

o   Q. What is baptism?

o   A. The dipping of believers into water, as a sign of their union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection.

Memorization: “having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” (Colossians 2:12)

Song: Listen to “Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me” (CityAlight).

Pray Together

Focus your prayer time together on the following areas:

• Praise the Lord for all the blessings that are ours through our union with Christ.
• Confess before God the times when we have sought to live in a way contrary to our union with Christ and our confession of faith in him.
• Pray that God would help us live everyday as those united with Christ, rooted and built up in him.

Go Together

• Spend some time remembering and reflecting together on your baptism (for those who have been baptized). Tell each other your story of coming to know Jesus and identifying and picturing your union with him in baptism. For those who have not yet been baptized, consider whether you have trusted in Jesus and are, thus, ready for this next step.
• Continue to discuss together Question 3 above: what are some practical ways you can live this week as someone who is united with Christ? What are some sins you need to confess and cut out of your life? What are some ways you can love others as Christ has loved you? Where do you need to stand strong for Jesus in the midst of the onslaught of worldly philosophies?