Knit Together in Love — Rome International Church

This week's reading has us in Colossians, which is FULL of great faith-building, Jesus-exalting passages. In addition, Colossians contains brief but profound truths about the work of Christ for you and what it means to be in him. Take a look:

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 1:13-14

“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” 1:13-14
“To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” 1:27
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” 2:6
“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” 2:13-14
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” 3:1

If you want to enjoy and live in the truths of these passages, some knitting must be done. Never have I been invited to join a local knitting club. However, I cannot knit, nor have I attempted, although I was once the proud owner of a sizeable knitted blanket. Paul describes the growth trajectory of believers in a church by using the figurative language of being knit together in love (2:2). Paul wants his struggle on behalf of the believers in Colossae to have a uniting, binding, interweaving effect on them. This interweaving of love drives them to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery. He says this mystery is Christ.

So, maybe the church is a knitting club? You are invited. All are invited. Even as we admit that knitting hearts together in love is hard, especially when the day comes when God calls us to a new community where we have to begin again. But you know what? The force of pattern evidenced throughout Church History is that those redeemed by Christ gravitate toward one another, even as they are sent to share that gospel.

Let's knit!

Loren