“Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas and the church that is in his house.”
Now we come to the salutation of the epistle to the Colossians (
Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea
Laodicea was located near Colosse. Paul sends salutations to them as well.
and Nymphas
Paul names Nymphas as an outstanding Christian. He/she was outstanding because he/she held an upstanding reputation. It is possible to translate this sentence “Nympha, and the church which is in her house.” If so, she is the only woman mentioned in this chapter. She opened her home to hold a church there. No church can operate very long without women.
and the church that is in his house
Christians were forced to worship in houses since public worship was dangerous (
Jn 20:19 ; cf.Acts 28:23,30 ). It may be that the church at Laodicea met in Nymphas’ house. Meeting in houses was the common practice (Acts 12:12; 16:40 ;Rom 16:5 ;I Cor. 16:19 ;Philemon 2 ). Church buildings came later.The church met in homes while the heathens met in temples. There were no church edifices before the third century. Christians met in homes for the first 250 years of the church’s existence. Some churches met in gravel pits, caves, fields or forests.
Principle:
All God expects of us is to do what we can with what we have.
Application:
Nympha may not have been able to preach, sing or play, but she could open her house to be used of God. She did what she could with what she had. This is all God expects of us.
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