What are you carrying right now that you've been trying to get out from under, rather than asking what God might do through it?

Paul is in prison, and he uses the word *rejoice.* Not *endure.* Not *accept.* Rejoice. And then he says something that has puzzled readers for two thousand years — that he is "filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions." He is not saying the cross came up short. Kent was careful about this on Sunday, and it's worth being careful about: *Jesus' suffering accomplished our salvation, period.* Nothing was missing from it. What Paul is filling up is not the payment for sin — it's the cost of getting the news to people who haven't heard it. Somebody has to carry it. Carrying it costs something. Viktor Frankl survived Auschwitz and came out with a sentence that has outlived him: a person can endure almost any *what* as long as they have a *why.* Paul had a why. His chains were the rea

Where have you been looking for hope outside yourself this week — and what changes if the hope is already within you, in the person of Christ?

For most of human history, this was a secret. Not a puzzle to be solved by the clever — a *mystery*, in the New Testament sense: something no amount of searching could have uncovered, because it had to be told. Hidden for ages and generations, Paul says. And then God told it. Here is the astonishing part. When God finally reveals the thing he kept back through all those centuries, it isn't a doctrine. It isn't a system. It's four words. *Christ in you.* Not Christ above you, keeping score. Not Christ behind you, disappointed. Not Christ ahead of you, waiting to see whether you'll make it. In you. The same Jesus who walked out of the tomb has taken up residence in ordinary people who lose their tempers and forget to pray and wonder most days whether any of it is working. And that indwe

Who in your life is standing outside the door asking "what do I bring?" — and when will you tell them they don't need to bring anything?

*Him* we proclaim. Not *it.* Not a better set of values, not a healthier way to live, not a moral framework that produces good citizens — though following Jesus does tend to produce those things. The message of the church has always been a Person. Kent told a story on Sunday about inviting a friend to his daughter's baptism. She had likely never been inside a church service in her life, and her first reaction wasn't joy — it was panic. *What do I wear? What should I bring? Should I bring something?* His answer: relax. You don't need to bring anything. We don't care what you wear. Just come. That, he said, is the gospel. It doesn't matter what you're wearing. You don't bring anything. Just come. We get this backwards constantly. We assume there's a threshold — a level of cleaned-up-nes

Are you trying to grow in Christ mostly alone? What would it take to be genuinely knit together with a few others this fall?

Paul is writing to people he has never met. He says so a verse earlier — the Colossians, the Laodiceans, and "all who have not seen me face to face." He is struggling on behalf of strangers. And what he wants for them is oddly specific: encouraged hearts, knit together in love, and full assurance of understanding. Notice he does not separate those. In Paul's mind you don't get the understanding alone, off in a corner with a book. Hearts get encouraged *as* they are knit together. The knowing happens in the company of others. Kent said something on Sunday that lands here: there are insights you only get while you're on the path. You can't get them online. You can't get them from a lecture or a podcast. Some things are only learned in the walking. And where does the walking lead? To Chri

Looking back over this week: which direction were you actually facing? What is one small course correction for the week ahead?

Paul has just said the goal: to present everyone mature in Christ. Now he tells us what reaching that goal actually feels like from the inside. *Toil.* *Struggling.* These are not gentle words. The Greek behind "struggling" is where we get *agonize.* This is not a man coasting. And yet — "with all his energy that he powerfully works within me." The effort is real and it is not self-generated. Paul is working hard with strength that isn't his own. Both halves are true at once, and most of us collapse one into the other. Either we grit our teeth and call it faithfulness, or we go slack and call it grace. Kent said Sunday that verses 28 and 29 have been his compass for decades — the words that told him which way was true north when everything else was noise. Here's what a compass does: it

What stood out to you in Kent's message? Was there a moment that landed differently than you expected?

Which way is true north? Pastor Kent Keller asks a room full of people to point — and gets a scattering of opinions. In Colossians 1:24-2:5, Paul hands us a compass: Christ in you, the hope of glory…

Paul says "I rejoice in my sufferings" from a prison cell (v24). What is the difference between rejoicing in suffering and pretending it doesn't hurt? Where have you seen someone do the first without doing the second?

Which way is true north? Pastor Kent Keller asks a room full of people to point — and gets a scattering of opinions. In Colossians 1:24-2:5, Paul hands us a compass: Christ in you, the hope of glory…

Kent was careful to say that Jesus' suffering accomplished our salvation, period — nothing was missing. So what is Paul "filling up"? Talk through the difference between the payment for sin, which is finished, and the cost of carrying that news, which is still being paid.

Which way is true north? Pastor Kent Keller asks a room full of people to point — and gets a scattering of opinions. In Colossians 1:24-2:5, Paul hands us a compass: Christ in you, the hope of glory…

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Greater Than (Week 3)

Greater Than Our Suffering

Colossians 1:24-2:5

Kent Keller Sunday, July 26, 2026

Icebreaker

Without checking a phone: point to true north. Compare answers around the room. Then talk about a time you were genuinely lost — on a trail, in a city, or in a season of life. What finally got you oriented again?

Colossians 1:24-2:5

Colossians 1:24-29

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 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. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Discussion Questions

1
What stood out to you in Kent's message? Was there a moment that landed differently than you expected?
2
Paul says "I rejoice in my sufferings" from a prison cell (v24). What is the difference between rejoicing in suffering and pretending it doesn't hurt? Where have you seen someone do the first without doing the second?
3
Kent was careful to say that Jesus' suffering accomplished our salvation, period — nothing was missing. So what is Paul "filling up"? Talk through the difference between the payment for sin, which is finished, and the cost of carrying that news, which is still being paid.
4
For ages this was hidden, and now it is announced — and it turns out to be four words: "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (v27). What changes in a hard week if the hope is already inside you rather than out ahead of you, waiting on better circumstances?
5
Verse 29 holds two things at once: real striving (agonizomai — the weightlifter under the bar) and strength that is not our own. Most of us collapse one into the other — grit our teeth and call it faithfulness, or go slack and call it grace. Which way do you lean? Name one concrete thing you will do differently this week.

Closing Prayer

Pray for the hardest thing someone in the group is carrying — by name, if they are willing. Ask God not first to remove it, but to show what He is doing through it. Then pray for one person each of you could say "just come" to this week.

Leader Notes

This passage can go wrong in two directions. Some groups will rush to explain why a person's suffering happened, which Scripture generally declines to do — resist it. Others will treat "rejoice in suffering" as a command to perform cheerfulness; make room for people who are not there and are not pretending. Question 3 is the theological hinge: if anyone hears "filling up what is lacking" as the cross being insufficient, slow down and settle it before moving on. And if someone in the room is in the middle of real grief right now, consider going straight to question 4 — the point of the passage is a Person present with them, not an argument to win.