“Greet the brothers who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the assembly that is in his house.”

Paul asks that the Christians in Colosse also reach out and greet the brothers and sister in Laodicea, in his name. These two churches were sister churches and had fellowship together and much in common. They were both facing the onslaught of the effects of this fallen world on the minds of the believers and the attendant temptations to embrace the culture of the age. Laodicea is mentioned in Revelation chapter three and is a church that has become complacent and taken up with this world’s goods and not the spiritual ways of the Lord. The letter to the Colossians is applicable to the Laodiceans also, and to us a well. Paul would not have known the full effect of his godly words on the readers, including us, but his words are the very Word of God. 

Someone called Nymphas is singled out for mention, as the church also meets in his house. The believers met together often for fellowship, Bible sharing, sharing these letters of Paul, and prayer and singing. They could not long stay away from each other and were very close in their relationships with the Lord and each other. People opened up their homes for the spread of the gospel and Christian fellowship. 

We don’t know if the church actual met in the home of Nymphas, or small groups met there, or another smaller fellowship in another part of town. We know that the believers had all thing common and shared with each other in warm and loving ways, and part of that was homes open to the work of the Lord. 

Perhaps it was a large godly family who met together and operated like a church in their street… Perhaps this is how they did their outreach- families operating to the glory of God and sharing the gospel openly with all around them. Fuctional witnesses to the grace of God and bearing the likeness of Christ, and showing His character to a lost world. 

Whatever the actual circumstances, the culture was one of openness, sharing and warmth, and not just meeting to listen to preaching once a week in a building that was hardly used… it was a far cry from some of the situations that exist today.