We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
Comment: Apparently Paul had never been in the city of Colossae, but had been in the region and had struck up a friendship with one Epaphras who came from the town and had shared with Paul the story of what had been happening there since they had heard the gospel message. Epaphras had been one of those taking the gospel to Colossae. Not everyone who hears the gospel believes it – in Colossae some had responded to hearing with faith. Their faith was associated with love and hope – love in the here and now and hope for the afterlife. Paul is obviously thrilled at the news and his response is to pray for and encourage the newly established body of believers – the church in Colossae. They probably didn’t have a church building but they were the living church on the spot there.
Prayer: And we thank you,God, that there are still new churches spreading up around the world as people hear and believe.
As I read it! 
Thank you Barry for your comments. Epaphras was a faithful minister of the Gospel. Thank God for many other faithful ministers of the Gospel over the years, and in the world today. I remember a Pastor saying once, “God hasn’t called us to be successful, just faithful.” I’m sure that this is still true today. Being faithful is more important than being successful, in God’s eyes. God bless you.
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