1 Thessalonians 1 - To the church of the
Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace to you.
We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our
prayers. We remember before our God and
Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your
endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he
has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not
simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep
conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord,
for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy
given by the Holy Spirit. And so, you
became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and
Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out
from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known
everywhere. Therefore, we do not need to say anything about it, for they
themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned
to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son
from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming
wrath.
We move from James, the earliest of the New Testament letters,
to 1 Thessalonians, the earliest of the Apostle Paul’s letters. He writes approx.. 52-53 AD to the church in
Thessalonica, a church that he and Silas started and a church that grew quickly
in the short time they were there. The
new church drew suspicion from the local authorities and a persecution by those
authorities intensified to the point that Paul and Silas had to leave. This first letter from Paul is his attempt to
reconnect with a church he loved dearly.
The church has actually thrived under the persecution and in
the opening passage above, Paul celebrates the community’s inspiring
faith. Paul lets them know that as he
visits other Christian communities, before he can brag on the faith of the
church in Thessalonica, people tell him how much they have already heard about
the extraordinary faith of the Thessalonians.
They have not only survived the intense persecution; they thrive because
of it. Even though this is only about
twenty years after Jesus’s resurrection, this has proven to a trustworthy
principle; persecute the church and you can expect it to only grow in numbers
and strength.
What’s truly inspiring about this strength is that Paul was
only in Thessalonica for less than a month.
They largely develop this strength after he has left. This is why Paul says “our gospel came to you
not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep
conviction.” Paul is in awe of their
faith because he knows that it because of what God did, not what he did. Not only Paul admires their faith; their
faith has inspired faith in other communities throughout Macedonia and Achaia.
This first section in the letter is about faith; the next
two will be about love and hope. Where
have we heard those three pillars of Christianity before. Oh wait . . .Paul talks about those same
three in his letter to the church at Corinth.
Maybe this could be a theme for Paul?
We’ll see. In the meantime, let’s
review what Paul says about faith here:
1)
Faith thrives under pressure
2)
It is more about what God does than what we do.
3)
Faith in action inspires more faith.
Questions: Thinking
about your own faith: How has it grown through adversity? How has it been more of a gift of God than a
personal accomplishment? Do others have faith because of your faith?
Prayer: Lord, grow
our faith in this time of great adversity.
You can do anything. Be glorified in us in a way that helps others to
have faith in you. Amen
Prayer Focus: Pray
for the growth of your church.
Song: Paul Baloche -
We Will Hold On
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