Colossians 1:1–8 (ESV)
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 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, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

I want you to see the stark contrast by which Paul begins his letter to the church at Colossae and to the churches in Galatia.

Colossians 1:3
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

Galatians 1:6
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel…

Paul was the founder of the churches in Galatia and they knew him personally. Plus, they were already falling into heresy and faulty theology, so he became very direct very quickly.

The Colossians had never met Paul and so Paul begins with a preparatory section of compliments in his letter in order to prepare their hearts. He does this so that the warning that follows will be fully effective, and so that the life which is the best practical answer to the error the Colossians are facing will be eagerly lived by them. The church had not yet fallen into the trap of heresy, but there was potential for it.

Once again, notice what Paul says in verse 3.

“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,”

Wouldn’t it be great if every time someone thought of you, they always had a thankful prayer to God for you because of who you are and because of how you are living? That’s how the Apostle Paul felt about the church of Colossae.

Paul says that every time he remembers them in prayer, his prayer begins with Thanksgiving for them. We never pray without having a cause for thankfulness, and we never give thanks but we have cause to pray.

To Paul, this church had a noble reputation. This church was apparently well known, famous if you please, for how they lived.

From what Paul says about this church, we can answer the question:
WHAT SHOULD A CHURCH BE FAMOUS FOR?

A church should be famous:
for its faith
for its love
for its hope
and for its fruit produced by the Gospel.

We will explore these over the rest of the week.