Signs of a Healthy Church

Well, good evening folks, as has been mentioned, my name is Alistair, the privilege of being the assistant pastor here at Brunsfield and this evening it is my joy to be leading us through the first installment of 2nd Thessalonians.

I have had a wonderful week in this text and I hope that as we study it together, you will be blessed as well.

Now, according to the World Health Organization, an organization we've got to know a little bit more over the last few years, the official definition of health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being.

Now, maybe when you heard that, you thought, yeah, that's not me at all.

Health isn't always easy to gauge, is it?

And by such a broad definition, it's actually really hard and it's really difficult to gauge our own health as people who maybe aren't medically trained.

And so the website Business Insider spoke to doctors and dieticians and asked them what are some of the general signs to indicate someone is in good health.

Here are just a couple of the things they came up with.

Number one, you eat when you're hungry and you stop when you're full.

Number two, you can make it up two flights of stairs and feel pretty good.

Three, you embrace your full range of emotions.

Four, you can wake up without an alarm clock.

And five, you have all the energy to do all the things you want to do.

Now, if you're like me, you look at that list and you laugh.

But joking aside, we can tell, generally speaking, can't we, when our bodies aren't healthy.

We can feel when things aren't right and we see markers of when we need to think about going to the doctor.

There are signs of what a healthy body looks like.

Well, the same is true for the church, which is described in the Bible as the body of Christ, the body of believers.

So while the church is different from a physical body, in many ways, there are some similarities.

The body has many parts that each work in unison to help you walk and talk and go about your day-to-day lives.

Each part has its role to play.

And the same is true for the church, isn't it?

Each member of the global and local body of Christ has their own part to play and their own gifts given to them by God.

And like our bodies, there are signs of what a healthy church looks like.

In our passage this evening, that's what we're coming to.

We see four different signs of a healthy church.

As we go through this passage together, I want us to think about whether this is the kind of local church we are striving to be.

And whether this is the kind of church culture that we are trying to cultivate as individual members of this church.

But before we dive into the specifics of the first five verses of 2 Thessalonians,

we need to take a bit of a step back and think about the context of this book.

So whenever you come to any book of the Bible, we need to ask ourselves at least three questions.

Who wrote the book?

Who was it written to?

And what was the context of the first audience?

So if you have 2 Thessalonians open in front of you, you'll see from verse 1 that the authors of this letter are Paul, Silas and Timothy.

Paul being the main author.

And they're writing this letter to the Christians in Thessalonica, just at the top left of that map on the screen.

This was one of the largest cities in the northern part of modern day Greece, Macedonia at the time.

And we get to know the context of Thessalonica from Acts chapter 17.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

Now you don't need to turn there, but I'll read a few verses.

Paul and Silas were there and they had quite a successful time.

Acts 17 verses 2 to 4 say this.

Acts 17:2–4

As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue.

And on three Sabbath days, he reasoned with them from the scriptures,

explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead.

This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah, he said.

Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.

So Paul goes into Thessalonica and preaches Jesus in that city for three weeks.

And within three weeks, a Christian community comes together, both Jews and Gentiles.

People from different backgrounds, different worldviews, different cultures, different social classes,

gathered as one community, united in their love for Jesus and their hope in the gospel.

But a group of Jews were furious at the message of Jesus.

And so they formed a mob and Paul with his companions were forced to leave Thessalonica.

But you can take Paul out of Thessalonica, but you can't take the Thessalonians out of his heart.

See, Paul longs to hear how this church is doing.

And so he sends Timothy to them.

We read about that in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3.

1 Thessalonians 3 · chapter mention

Then he sends the letter of 1 Thessalonians, followed shortly after by 2 Thessalonians.

So it was written by Paul.

It was written to the Thessalonians.

But why?

Well, because this church was being attacked on two sides.

One attack was coming from outside.

These Christians were being persecuted by the world around them.

It had become worse since Paul's first letter to them, just potentially as few as a few months earlier.

Now they weren't just being shunned by society.

They weren't just being looked at with suspicion.

The world around them was looking for ways to physically harm them.

The persecution had amped up.

Paul saw a glimpse of that himself in Acts 17, but it had only gotten worse.

So that's one attack against them.

But the second war front that they had was more subtle, but more dangerous.

And it was coming from within.

There were people in this church who were teaching lies about the second coming of Jesus

and the timing of when and how it would all happen.

These false teachers were making people doubt the truth,

casting doubt on Paul's teaching and contradicting what he said.

And so this whole letter is from the Apostle Paul, who loves these people dearly.

And he's writing to encourage them, to remind them of truth,

and to spur them on to continue growing in light of the return of Jesus Christ, their Lord and Savior.

So that's the letter as a whole.

Why then does Paul start with four signs of a healthy church?

Well, he is encouraging them that this is already happening amongst them,

and he's helping them see that God is at work in their lives,

even in all the difficulties they face.

And so from these verses, we'll see what a healthy church looks like,

and in turn, we should see the kind of church we should be striving to be at Brunsfield Evangelical.

So the first mark of a healthy church is growing faith.

Do you see that in verses one to three?

Growing faith.

Now Thessalonica was a strategically important city for the Roman Empire.

It had a port on the Aegean Sea, and it was located on the Ignatian Road,

a road that stretched just under 700 miles,

connecting tons of little cities across the Roman Empire.

So thousands, if not tens of thousands of sailors, travelers, immigrants,

were making their way in and out of Thessalonica on a regular basis.

Therefore, Thessalonica was a strategic place for gospel growth.

And I think Paul and Silas and Timothy knew that if the gospel took root in that city,

the potential for gospel growth would be amazing.

And so Acts 17 happened.

But then we turn to Paul's second letter to this church,

and look how it begins with me in verse one.

Paul, Silas, and Timothy,

to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now we can often skip over these initial verses of New Testament letters,

but Paul starts by focusing on God.

He's highlighting their connection as fellow believers who all have the shared privilege of calling God their Father.

And he sends them a greeting with grace and peace.

Grace given by God.

That grace results in their relationship with God through Jesus,

and peace is a result of that grace.

Peace with God.

This means that all Christians have been granted access into the family of God,

his church.

And as a family,

we have one Father.

The one who loves us,

who brings us together,

and encourages us to gather with one another and worship Jesus.

Now if we miss this point,

that the whole focus of this letter is God,

and Jesus,

and the gospel,

then we miss the whole letter.

Because this is the foundation.

This is the wonderful union between God and his people through Jesus Christ.

That is the focus.

And from there,

Paul goes on to encourage the church,

doesn't he?

In verse 3,

read that with me.

We ought always to thank God for you,

brothers and sisters,

and rightly so,

because your faith is growing more and more.

Now at first glance,

it seems that Paul is saying

that he feels obliged to give thanks for the Thessalonians.

But you get a sense that

after all Paul has seen,

he just can't help but thank God for them.

It's like he's saying,

I've heard the stories of the oppression you face.

I know the things you go through every single day,

and I cannot help but thank God

because you are growing every single day.

Imagine what an encouragement that would be to this church.

Constantly coming under fire,

being persecuted left, right and centre,

probably wrestling with their doubts,

maybe even thinking,

is this really worth it?

With temptations around every corner,

constant pressures,

doubting whether they could carry on,

Paul says,

we thank God because despite all of that,

you are continuing to grow.

And the growth isn't small either.

They aren't like a flower that you've planted in the spring

and you're unsure whether it's actually growing or not.

Something often grows so slow

that maybe if you're like me,

you're either googling whether you've killed it

or you're taking pictures to see

if it's actually growing at all.

But the ESV translates verse 3,

it translates it a little bit better

and says that the church's faith is growing abundantly.

Their growth is like that of a little child.

One day it's born tiny and defenceless.

It can do nothing by itself.

And yet within the blink of an eye,

that wee boy or wee girl is running around like mad.

Come into church after a Sunday morning service

and you'll see kids running around playing together.

It's wonderful to see and it's crazy

because some of them weren't even born

when we first came to this church five years ago.

And now they're proper little children.

That's like the faith of these Thessalonians.

Despite their circumstances,

they were growing in their faith.

And Paul is recognizing that God is at work

in the lives of these Christians.

Their growth isn't down to Paul.

It isn't down to anything that he has done specially,

but it is down to God and his work.

One mark of a healthy church

is the growing of their faith.

Can we say that about our church?

Can we say that about ourselves as individuals?

It's often really hard to see growth in the moment.

But I would encourage each of you

to think this evening when you get home,

look back over the last three years of your lives.

Do you notice a difference in your knowledge of God?

In your love for him?

In your trust and dependence on him every single day?

Our desire as Christians should be to grow,

to become more like Jesus every day.

That is the work of the Spirit in our lives.

But there are also things that we can do

to help grow our faith.

We can do simple things like reading our Bibles every day.

Actually wrestling with the text,

not just treating it like a tick box exercise

or the daily reading plan done for the day.

Reading God's word and trying to dive deep

and understand more of what he wants to communicate to us.

And marvel at the creator we have and how good he is.

We can gather with our brothers and sisters at church,

yes, on Sunday, but also throughout the week

to read the Bible together and encourage one another.

We can read good Christian materials

that help us grow in our knowledge of God and the Bible.

Now let me challenge us as a church and as individuals.

Are we taking steps of faith?

Trusting in God that he will provide everything we need?

Are we growing in our faith or are we trusting in ourselves?

Relying on God and trusting in his provision on a daily basis

will help grow our faith.

Now these are practical things that we can do to grow our faith,

but the primary way our faith grows

is that we run to God in utter dependence

and ask for him to constantly do a work in our lives.

Our prayers should be that Jesus becomes more precious to us day by day

and that we grow in his likeness

and that the Holy Spirit would transform our hearts.

So the first sign of a healthy church

is that they have growing faith.

The second sign of a healthy church

is increasing love in verse 3.

Increasing love.

Now put yourself in the situation of this church.

Surrounded by danger, attacks coming from outside and within,

where would you find comfort?

Yes, you find comfort in the gospel,

the knowledge that Jesus lived the perfect life,

that he died the death that we deserve on the cross,

and that one day he's coming back.

That is the knowledge that spurs them on and grows their faith.

But they would also want comfort on the day-to-day

as they gather with one another, wouldn't they?

As they express their love for one another in church,

they increase in their love for one another.

Now maybe you've heard it said before

that the church is a hospital for sinners,

not a museum for saints.

When you're ill,

when you have wounds that need tending to,

you go to the hospital,

you go to a doctor,

the people who are medically trained to care for your body.

But where do you go when you're emotionally ruined?

Who are the people you turn to

when you're spiritually struggling?

Who are the people you run to

when you're at your wits end

and you just need comfort?

The answer, I hope,

is the Lord's people.

The church should be

a loving community of believers

who gather around you and care for you

as they point you to Christ.

Look at verse 3.

We ought always to thank God

for you, brothers and sisters,

and rightly so,

because your faith is growing more and more

and the love all of you have

for one another is increasing.

Now this was a church community

who were different from each other,

different backgrounds,

different cultures,

different day-to-day lives.

And yet as they gathered together

to celebrate the Lord,

they grew in their love for one another.

They grew in their care for one another.

Now why is this love

that we have for each other

so vital for the health of a local church?

Well this is what Jesus says about love

in John 13, 34-35.

A new command I give you,

love one another.

As I have loved you,

so you must love one another.

By this everyone will know

that you are my disciples

if you love one another.

Jesus shows us how faith and love work together.

Faith is our response to the gospel,

our response to Jesus' invitation

to become his disciples

and to follow him.

And love is the proof that our faith is real.

Love is faith worked out

in the day-to-day of the Christian life.

Now I don't think it's a coincidence

that so many people have been drawn

to see the good news of Jesus

as beautiful and true

because they've seen disciples

loving one another.

Or they've been recipients

of the sacrificial love of people

born out of their faith in Christ.

An example of this is Rosaria Butterfield.

She's a well-known Christian writer

and speaks a lot about Jesus today.

But she was previously lost

and tangled up in all the things

that this world has to offer.

And the thing that started her journey of faith

was simply that an older Christian couple

invited her round for dinner.

They showed her consistent love

and started reading the Bible

with her after meals

and answering questions.

What changes the lives

of so many broken, hurting people today

as they walk through the doors of churches

and as they walk into homes of Christians?

Well, it's the fact that they receive

a loving, warm welcome

and that they are pointed to the only place

where true and lasting hope is found

in Jesus Christ.

Is that the kind of church that we are?

We are constantly increasing

in our love for one another.

Now, I must say

that a lot of this does happen

and often it goes on behind the scenes.

Sabina and I have personally experienced

the love of this church,

which is one of the reasons

we're finding it so hard

that we're leaving in a couple of months.

When one of the...

We can't become comfortable

where we are in our love.

We need to constantly grow.

We should be striving to increase

our love for one another.

So let me challenge us.

What does this look like

on a Sunday morning?

Are we the people who sit in the pew

expecting to be part of a loving family

but arrive late and leave early?

Or we maybe only come to church

every couple of months

when it's convenient.

Also think about how active you are

in increasing your love

for the whole church.

On a Sunday,

it's so easy to sit in the pew

and do nothing,

speak to no one.

Expect others to come to us

instead of us going to them.

And think about who we speak to on Sundays.

Do we go towards those

who are only like us

or do we go to everyone?

We should be intentionally

approaching people

of different ages and stages

as an expression of our love

for the whole church family.

That is how we grow,

we increase in our love

for one another.

And I think we need to think honestly.

How confident are we

that as a church family,

if someone were in trouble

or if they were stuck

in a situation,

how comfortable would they be

to approach us as a church

and ask for help?

How do we react

to those who come to us

who are struggling in life?

To be a church

that is increasing in love,

we need to pray more

for the people of our church.

Invest time in getting

to know those around us,

having people around for meals,

helping those who struggle,

praying for those who are hurting,

being a shoulder

to cry on on a Sunday

when people are hurting,

being support in times

that are hard

and being a companion

in both good and bad.

All of that will produce in us

a deeper love for one another.

And it will be a witness

to those around us as well

because we're different.

Why else would we all be

in this room tonight?

Different backgrounds,

different cultures,

different languages,

different social classes,

and yet united and bound together

in Jesus

and increasing in love

for one another.

That is the second sign

of a healthy church.

And the third sign

of a healthy church

is perseverance in trials

in verse 4.

Read verse 4 with me.

Therefore,

Paul says,

among God's churches,

we boast about your perseverance

and faith

in all the persecutions

and trials

you are enduring.

So a growing faith

will produce

an increasing love

for those around you

and it will produce

in you

an internal hope

and trust in God

that will help you

stand firm

in the face

of persecutions

and trials.

Paul says

that this church

is an example

of what it means

to persevere

under persecutions

and so he's boasting

about them

to other churches,

using them

as an example,

not boasting

in a negative sense

but giving them credit

where credit is due.

The word used

for persecutions

is quite specific

and it means

that there were people

actively trying

to harm

the Christians.

And the word

for trials

is more general.

It includes

different kinds

of sufferings

and it obviously

includes persecutions

as well.

Now these persecutions

and trials

were producing

in them

more faith

and perseverance.

I remember reading

a few years ago

the story of

Richard Wurmbrand

in a book

called

Tortured for Christ.

If you want a copy

speak to me afterwards.

Richard was a pastor

in Romania

under communist rule.

He was arrested

for preaching

the gospel,

beaten and tortured

for his faith

and yet he refused

to stop preaching

the gospel

to the other prisoners.

So they put him

in isolation

because they couldn't

shut him up.

But even there

prisoners remarked

how he would simply

shout his appeals

for people

to put their trust

in Jesus

from a distance.

Even there

people could hear

him sing songs

of God's goodness

and God's majesty

and they kept

having to change

the prison gods

because they all

wanted to know

more about this

man Jesus.

How could the

Thessalonians

endure such

persecution?

How could

Wurmbrand stand

firm in the face

of torture?

Well they stood

firm because they

viewed their

sufferings in light

of the eternal

hope that they

have in Christ.

Paul knew this

to be true

himself as he

writes in 2

Corinthians 12

9-10

he says

I will boast

all the more

gladly about

my weaknesses

so that Christ's

power may rest

on me.

That is why

for Christ's

sake I delight

in weaknesses

in insults

in hardships

in persecutions

in difficulties

for when I

am weak

then I am

strong.

this is an

attitude that

sees the

persecution and

trials not

simply as

things to

patiently endure

but as

opportunities to

grow in our

trust and love

for Jesus.

One final

example of this

is the

persecution of

the early

church.

In the

second century

killing Christians

had become a

bit of a sport.

A spectacle for

all to see

branding Christians

as criminals to

be hated

but it wasn't

working.

In fact it was

actually having

the opposite

effect of what

Rome wanted.

People weren't

growing in their

hatred for

Christians but

they were joining

them instead.

Here's what

Tertullian an

early church

father said

We are not a

new philosophy

but a divine

revelation.

That's why you

can't just

exterminate us.

The more you

kill us the

more we are.

The blood of

martyrs is the

seed of the

church because

those who see

us die wonder

why we do.

For we die

like the men

you revere not

like slaves or

criminals and

when they find

out they join

us.

This church is

surrounded by a

storm of

persecution but

instead of being

blown away they

are strengthened by

Christ their

anchor who holds

them firm in

him.

Now are we a

church who

perseveres in

trials?

Suffering

persecution and

trials is never

easy.

The Bible is

clear on that.

We don't make

light of

suffering but

how we respond

matters.

We can either

run away from

suffering and

seek to live a

life of peace

and comfort.

a life where

we don't speak

up for or

about Jesus

or we can

see our

trials in

light of

eternity and

use them to

help us grow

in Christ

likeness.

We may not

be suffering

the blows of

persecution like

other of our

brothers and

sisters are

around the

world but we

are suffering.

we are facing

trials nonetheless

and in those

trials in

whatever form

they come we

must stand firm

in our faith.

See our

trials from an

eternal perspective

and remember that

we have an

anchor and a

hope that is

safe and

secure and his

name is Jesus.

a healthy

church perseveres

in trials.

And the

final sign of

a healthy

church is that

they are counted

worthy in

verse 5.

Read verse 5

with me.

All this Paul

says is evidence

that God's

judgment is

right and as a

result you will

be counted worthy

of the kingdom of

God for which you

are suffering.

Now we have

difficulty today

understanding why

God uses

sufferings and

trials and

pain to

accomplish his

greater purposes.

We look at

suffering mostly

from an earthly

perspective rather

than an eternal

one.

But God can

often use pain

and suffering,

trials and

hardships for us

to grow and

to prepare us

for an eternal

glory and to

produce in us

something that is

far more wonderful

than we can see

in this life.

Paul is reminding

this suffering

church that

their suffering

is under the

hand of a

good God and

that it can be

used as a tool

to push them

into further

dependence on

him.

It's not that

their suffering

makes them worthy

of the kingdom

of God, only

Jesus can make

that possible,

but they are

counted worthy

for the kingdom

of God because

they are persevering

in their sufferings

for the name

of Jesus.

All the

sufferings that

these Christians

were enduring

is evidence

to the watching

world that they

live for something

else, that they

live for someone

else and therefore

as they suffer

and endure,

their faith in

Jesus shines all

the brighter.

Ultimately,

Paul is saying

that all the

suffering you're

going through

right now,

all the suffering

that you're

facing because

of your faith

in Jesus is

producing in

you more

faith and

dependence on

Jesus which

will result in

you arriving

in glory and

hearing those

life-giving words

well done,

good and

faithful servant.

It's similar

to what Paul

said to the

Romans in

Romans 5,

3-5.

But we also

glory in our

sufferings because

we know that

suffering produces

perseverance.

Perseverance

character and

character hope

and hope does

not put us to

shame because

God's love has

been poured into

our hearts through

the Holy Spirit

who has been

given to us.

From the moment

we become

Christians, God

begins a work in

us by God the

Spirit of shaping

and molding us to

become more like

Jesus and

oftentimes God

can use suffering

to do that.

every Christian

can be certain

that the

suffering they

are going

through for

their faith is

not meaningless

but it is

producing in

them something

far greater and

preparing them for

the eternal glory

that awaits them

in Jesus.

Friends, as you

go through this

life, endure all

things with the

knowledge that you

have a future that

is secure in

Jesus.

Nothing can take

that away.

That through his

death and his

resurrection you

have been reconciled

to God and that

even the sufferings

of living in a

world that hates

God and hates

his people are

preparing you for

the day where you

will meet him face

to face in the

glorious new

creation.

The sign of a

healthy church is

that they are

counted worthy of

suffering for the

name of Jesus.

Jesus.

I think back to

where we started

off with some

doctors and

dieticians who've

come up with

different signs that

point to the

general health of

an individual.

The Bible, in the

Bible we see signs of

what a healthy church

looks like and that

is a picture we

should be striving

for as a local

church family.

We should be

looking to see

these signs in our

own lives as

individuals too.

Let us strive to

be a church and

a Christian who

is growing in

faith, who is

increasing in

love, who is

persevering in

trials and who

will one day be

counted worthy as

they, as we enter

into eternity with

God our Father.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we

thank you for this

letter of 2nd

Thessalonians.

Thank you for all

the things that it

will teach us, for

all the challenges

that it will bring.

And Father, I pray

that as we go

through this series

that you would be

lifted up, that you

would get all the

glory and that it

would help us to be

better disciples and

a better church that

constantly points

people to you.

Jesus, would you

help our faith grow?

Would you help us

love one another more?

Would you help us

persevere in trials?

And would you give

us hope, certain

definite hope, that

on that day we will

see you and we will

be counted as worthy

because you have kept

us by your

faithfulness.

We pray this for the

upbuilding of your

kingdom and in the name

of our Lord Jesus

Christ.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.