There are times in your life when you are not going to feel the presence of God. You are going to wonder where God is and how God can be active in such a situation. Jesus himself faced this and was on the cross surrounded by people saying, "Where is God now?" It was the same for Abraham, Joseph, Job, David, and John the Baptist. It will not be so different for us. But as Martin Luther pointed out, the resurrection vindicates our struggling faithfully and vindicates the hope we have that is beyond experience.

In this passage Paul moves from thanksgiving to intercession for the Colossian believers. He asks God to reveal His will to them so that they would know how to please Him. He gives four ways that they (and we) can please God.

As we kick off this series on Paul's letter to the Colossian church, we will look at the background of this letter, than we will focus on verses 1-8 of the first chapter. In looking at the background, we will seek to answer four questions: "Who?", "Where?", "When?", & "Why?".