peace to live by

Holding in Mind the Close By Church (TMF:2920)

Friday, July 17, 2026
Peace to Live By: Holding in Mind the Close By Church (TMF:2920) - Daniel Litton
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       The reason Paul could tell the Colossians to give his greetings to the church members in Laodicea was because the city of Laodicea was close by, a neighboring city around nine miles from the city of Colossae. As Paul will say in the next verse, there is a reason for this. Nonetheless, it appears also that in addition to the church in Laodicea that there was another church close by—likely not a competitor, or another denomination as might think today. Perhaps a church more in the countryside? That seems reasonable, and it could also explain the obviously lower numbers of attendees considering the believers met in the house of a woman named Nympha. Unfortunately, we don’t know anything about Nympha other than that they were an off-shoot of the Colossae church which met in her house. Probably good times being so close-knit. It doesn’t seem reasonable, in our context of this Letter from Paul to the Colossians, to suggest that Nympha was the leader, or head pastor of the church.