Colossians 4:2-6

In these verses Paul gives us practical teaching on how to share the gospel and here are five steps that Paul gives for how to share the gospel:

1. Allow the Holy Spirit to help us to pray
   • Colossians 4:2
   • If we want to be fruitful in evangelism, then we need the Holy Spirit to help us to pray determinately for those that don’t know Jesus.
2. We are to ask God to open doors of opportunity
   • Colossians 4:3
   • Paul was in prison but he was still asking for opportunities to tell people about Jesus.
   • We can feel weak and inadequate when it comes to sharing Jesus, but we’re to pray for opportunities.
   • Let’s pray this week for doors of opportunity to share Jesus and see what happens.
3. Paul asks God to help us speak clearly
   • Colossians 4:4
   • Successful evangelism doesn’t restrict the list of people we tell about Jesus.
   • We think God can only use us to speak to close friends, family etc. but Jesus taught us to scatter the seed widely.
   • We should be praying persistently for key people in our life, but the main prayer for ourselves should be that God would give us clarity to share the gospel to everyone at anytime.
4. Share the gospel at any and every opportunity, we should be wise in the way we act towards those that don’t know Jesus
   • Colossians 4:5
   • It’s true that a lot of people respond better to the gospel from people who they already know, but we shouldn’t limit God, we don’t have to build a friendship first before we share Jesus.
   • Jesus is to be shared at every opportunity.
5. How we share the gospel is as important as what we say
   • Colossians 4:6
   • Paul tells us to speak gracefully and attractively, so let’s be gracious in our responses.
   • We’re to share in a manner that shows we are clothed in the Holy Spirit, full of patience, kindness, self-control etc.
   • Most of us are naturally scared or nervous to share the gospel, so we need the Holy Spirit’s help. We have everything we need from God to share about him.

In Colossians 4:7-18 Paul gives a final greeting to the church and it’s warning for them not to drift:

5. • We don’t know how the Colossae church responded to Paul’s letter, but in verses 15-16 Paul mentions the church in Laodicea and we know how this church responded. .
   • In Revelation 3:14-22 a letter is written to Laodicea and it warns them of the lukewarmness of their church, they hadn’t listened to Paul’s letter.
   • In Colossians 4:17 Paul is saying live out what you have, live out your identity of being complete in Jesus and clothe yourself with power on high.
   • Don’t be like the Laodicea church who heard the teachings from Paul’s letter and didn’t act on it, let’s live out who we are in Christ Jesus.