As in most of his letters Paul begins by giving more reasons why he thanks God for the people he is writing to. Today we tend to separate theologians and pastors and evangelists, but Paul was all three, and they fed each other. His evangelistic and pastoral work were motivated and under-girded by his understanding of the gospel. His work with people helped him to understand the gospel better. His love for God and knowing Christ was central to everything he did.
His prayers of thanksgiving were motivated by the faith and love that the Colossians had. This faith and love were motivated by the hope stored up in heaven. Now this does not mean "pie in the sky when we die". For sure, there will be marvellous things after we die (or Christ's return), but what Paul means is that there are things stored up for us in God's kingdom. We will receive the fullness of this only after Christ's return, but we begin to receive it now. The gospel declares the good things that God has for us.
The gospel is bearing fruit all over the world. Human ideologies have spread throughout the earth for a time, eg communism, but they bring oppression and violence. The gospel brings peace and righteousness.
Epaphras was probably the one who founded the church in Colossae, and brought news to Paul of the recent controversies in the church.
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