1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Father, your word is life.

As we're going to see this morning, your word is powerful.

Your word accomplishes things.

Your word is not just doctrine and theory.

It is life itself.

And so God, as we read your word and think about your word and ponder your word,

I pray by the power of the Spirit, won't you speak to us?

Won't you birth a life in our hearts?

Give us faith.

Help grow love and hope in us, we pray, by the power of your word.

So Jesus, speak to us in your mighty name we pray.

Amen.

Today's scripture reading is taken from 1 Thessalonians 1, verses 1 to 10.

1 Thessalonians 1 · chapter mention

Please follow along your Bible.

If you don't have a Bible, please do still grab them from the front of the stage

or at the back near the door.

Our passage is on page 927 in the Church Bible.

Hear, then, God's word to us today.

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace to you and peace.

We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers,

remembering before our God and Father your work of faith,

and labor of love, and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

For we know, brothers, loved by God, that he has chosen you,

because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power,

and in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction.

You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

And you became imitators of us and of the Lord.

For you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,

so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia,

but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.

For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you,

and 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 delivers us from the wrath to come.

Let us believe and respond to God's true and living word.

Great. Thanks, Betty.

Do keep your Bibles open.

We're going to be looking at some of these verses,

and also some verses in the next chapter,

so it would be helpful to keep your Bible open as we look at this now.

Friends, I wonder if you have ever bought anything,

maybe at a really good price, a fantastic deal,

only to wonder afterwards whether what you bought was genuine,

or whether you were scammed.

I was recently given a pair of shoes by a friend of mine in South Africa.

I was visiting him, and he told me about this really fancy, expensive pair of Nike sneakers

that are apparently very, very rare and very expensive,

and he got them for a deal online somewhere,

and when they arrived, they didn't fit him,

and so he passed them on to me,

and he said to me,

I'll give them to you on one condition.

You must promise to wear them.

They're a little bit out there,

but I accepted.

I'm not wearing them today, in case you're looking.

Anyway, so when I got home,

I Googled these shoes to see what's so fancy about them.

I mean, what's the big deal?

And the first thing that came up was a YouTube video saying,

how do you know whether your Nikes are genuine or not?

And then a guy went through all the pros and cons,

and look at the sign, and look at the stitching,

and look at the coloring,

and I must confess, by the end of that,

I'm not so sure where my shoes lie.

They may be genuine, they may not be,

but they were a gift, and I don't particularly mind.

But what happens if you genuinely did pay

an exorbitant price for something?

What happens if you paid a very high price

and invested in something only afterwards

to find out that you were conned,

that it was a scam?

It wasn't genuine.

Maybe you bought a very expensive piece of artwork,

and you know exactly where it's going to go in your house,

and a few years later, you find out it's not genuine at all.

Well, think of the story of the Netflix show,

Sour Grapes.

I'm not sure if any of you saw that.

A charismatic young wine connoisseur

conned wealthy top auction houses and other connoisseurs

out of millions of dollars

by mixing cheap commercial wine

and then relabeling it,

putting in old corks,

making it look like vintage Bordeaux blends from France,

and selling it at exorbitant prices.

Well, I don't know how many of you

are buying Pablo Picasso artworks

or 1970s Bordeaux blends wine,

but I'm sure we all know that sinking feeling we have

when we've invested something,

maybe our heart or maybe financially or emotionally,

we've given ourselves to something,

and then afterwards you start to wonder,

was I conned?

Was that a scam?

I don't know if you've had that sinking feeling

where maybe you've invested money,

you've sent money,

you know, done a wire transfer somewhere,

and after you've thought,

gosh, I hope that is real.

I hope I haven't just sent that money

to some internet scammer.

But what about faith in Jesus?

What about our Christian walk?

What about the gospel?

If you're someone who considers yourself a Christian,

have you ever questioned the authenticity of your faith?

Maybe you've been disappointed by Christians

from time to time.

Maybe you've been hurt by the church.

Maybe you've read up about the sex abuse scandals

in the church,

and particularly in the Catholic church previously,

but even more recently in the Protestant church as well.

Maybe you've been let down or betrayed

by church leaders, church members,

and it's caused you to question

whether what you've been taught

and what you believe is genuinely true.

Whether this whole Christianity thing is real.

Maybe it's just a con.

Maybe it's all one big scan.

And if you've ever had those thoughts,

how would you know?

How would you test it?

How would you test the veracity or authenticity

of the Christian faith?

How would you know whether

what you've always thought is true

really is true?

Well, those questions kind of lead us

into the passage that we're going to be looking at today.

And today we are starting the book of 1 Thessalonians.

For the next couple of weeks,

we're going to be going through it.

And the book of Thessalonians

is a wonderful, wonderful book of the Bible.

It's very encouraging.

And the way it comes about is

it's a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote

to this young church in the city of Thessalonica.

And we find the background in Acts chapter 17.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

And the story is this.

The Apostle Paul, along with two other guys,

Silas and Timothy,

traveling through the province of Macedonia,

they come to the city of Thessalonica or Thessaloniki.

It was the main city in the province of Macedonia,

this Roman province.

It still exists today, the city of Thessalonica.

You can go and visit there in Greece.

And having arrived, they go to a Jewish synagogue

and they start to reason and discuss

with the people of their day.

And they look at the Old Testament scriptures

and they show to them how Jesus,

the one who died and rose again,

is the Messiah, the Christ that they've been waiting for.

And many people, both Jews and non-Jews, Gentiles,

believe and they follow Jesus.

And there are little church forms

in the city of Thessalonica.

And so this church is brand new with new Christians.

But many people in the city don't like

what Paul is doing and what he's saying.

And so they get a mob together

and they go and they attack some of the Christians.

They drag them out of their houses.

They bring them before the authorities

and they accuse them of having started

a kind of public nuisance,

a political insurrection.

And so he has this church that's brand new,

just three weeks old,

and already they're under attack,

already they're under persecution.

And the people of that city,

the new Christians, say to Paul and Timothy,

we know what these guys are like.

They are dangerous.

You better get out of here.

And so Paul and Timothy and Silas

flee the city of Thessalonica

in the middle of the night.

They go to a nearby town called Berea

and then down to the city of Athens

and they escape.

But Paul is really worried about this church.

He'd only been there three weeks.

How's it gonna do?

Is it gonna stand?

Is it gonna be strong?

Is it gonna fall apart?

Is the suffering and the opposition

gonna disrail this church?

How are they gonna do?

And so Paul sends Timothy, his sidekick,

to go back to Thessalonica

and find out how they're doing.

And so Timothy goes

and he stays there a couple of weeks

and then he comes back to Paul

and he brings a report.

And this is what he says.

The Thessalonians are doing well.

They're standing strong.

It's hard.

There's lots of opposition.

There's lots of persecution.

Lots of suffering.

But they're doing well.

They're holding on to Jesus.

But they are a little bit discouraged.

They need some encouragement.

And so Paul, rather than saying,

whew, that's good news.

Let's move on.

Paul writes this letter

to the Christians in Thessalonica,

encouraging their faith

and strengthening them.

And his message in this book is this.

Despite the real difficulties you face

and despite the sudden departure

of your leaders,

Paul wants them not to be discouraged,

not to give up on faith in Jesus,

but to see that the Lord has been

and still is at work in them.

Even though Paul's not there,

that Jesus is at work in them

and he will continue to be so

as they continue to hold on to him.

And friends, that's true for us as well today.

That the Christian faith sometimes is hard,

sometimes disappointing,

sometimes discouraging,

sometimes leaders let us down

or the church disappoints us.

But if we will hold on to Jesus

and hold on to the gospel,

God himself will be at work in us

and through us as we continue to hold on to him.

And so that's what the book of Thessalonians

is about and our passage today.

And so let's dive in

and look at a couple of things in this passage.

I hope you've got it open with you

and let's see.

And so first thing,

Paul wants them to know is this.

Remember how the gospel came to you.

Remember how the gospel came to you.

Before we look at this passage,

I want to just read to you from Acts chapter 17,

Acts 17 · chapter mention

which I referenced a few minutes ago.

So in Acts, Luke, who wrote Acts,

wants to tell us how this church was born.

And look what he says here.

He says,

For three Sabbath days,

he, that's Paul,

went to the synagogue,

reasoned with them from the scriptures,

explaining and proving

that it was necessary for the Christ

to suffer and rise from the dead,

saying,

This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you,

is the Christ.

And a great many of them were persuaded

and joined Paul and Silas.

Now, when you read that,

it can give the impression that

these guys became Christians

simply because they were well-reasoned

or well-argued.

Maybe Paul was a very persuasive debater,

a very persuasive orator.

And he spoke very eloquently

and they thought,

Yeah, that sounds true.

Sign me up.

I'll become a Christian.

But actually,

look at our passage in 1 Thessalonians.

Look at verse 4 and 5,

what Paul writes.

He's now reminding them

how the gospel came to them.

And he says,

For we know, brothers and sisters,

loved by God,

that he has chosen you,

because our gospel came to you

not only in word,

but also in power,

in the Holy Spirit,

and with full conviction.

Paul's reminding them here,

what is the basis of their faith?

What is their faith built upon?

And the gospel himself

is the reason why they became Christians,

because God came to them

and revealed himself to them

and saved them.

The scripture that Benson read to us earlier,

Benson's with the youth now,

Ephesians 1,

God opened the eyes of their hearts

that they saw God

and encountered him in the gospel,

and God changed them

by the power of the Holy Spirit.

But, you know,

we humans are forgetful people.

We often forget

just what has happened recently.

I don't know if you've ever experienced this

in the office.

Maybe you have somebody

and you give them lots of chances

and you give them lots of opportunities

and you really help them along

in their career.

And then just a month later,

they're complaining,

life is so unfair.

Nobody helps me.

Everything's good.

Everyone else gets a chance.

No one gives me a chance.

Has that ever happened to you?

Okay, not to you.

If you think earlier in this year,

we went through the book of Numbers,

right, as a church,

and there we saw it again.

God rescues his people out of Egypt.

He saves them

by the blood of the Lamb,

brings them out of the hellhole of Egypt

on the way to the promised land,

and just a few weeks in,

what are they saying?

Oh, it was so much better there.

God is so unfair.

God is so unkind to us.

They're forgetting just the ways

that God has sustained

and carried and provided for them.

And friends,

on this journey of faith,

we need to be reminded

again and again

what God in His gospel

has accomplished in us,

especially when things get tough.

And one of the signs

that maybe we're not

in such a good place spiritually

is when we forget

just where it is

that we've been rescued from,

just how great a salvation

God has brought to us,

and how God has broken

into our lives.

And so,

look what Paul says here.

He wants to remind them

the bedrock foundation

of their entire Christian journey

does not have human origins.

It's not human initiative

or Paul's persuasion.

It's something that was entirely of God.

He says,

brothers,

we want you to know

that He has chosen you.

There's assurance and confidence

that you belong to Him.

You can know that with conviction.

Why?

Because the gospel came to you

with power,

with the Holy Spirit,

with much conviction.

God Himself was writing

and speaking to you in your heart.

It wasn't Paul's eloquence.

It wasn't the power of persuasion.

This wasn't a con job

or a bait and switch situation.

This wasn't some promise

of prosperity or an easy life.

A Christian,

says the New Testament,

is not someone who is religious

or moral or trying to be good.

A Christian is someone

who's encountered God,

the Holy Spirit,

the power of God

in the gospel,

in the Lord Jesus,

in a way that changes them

and brings conviction.

In fact,

so powerful was this conviction

that it did two things

for the Thessalonians.

I don't know if you noticed.

Firstly,

it made them embrace suffering

and hardship and affliction.

You see that?

Look at verse 6.

He says here,

for you received the word

in much affliction

with the joy of the Holy Spirit.

When God's word came to them,

the power of the Spirit,

they were utterly convinced,

even though they knew

it was going to cost them dearly.

In fact,

later on in,

I think it's in chapter 3,

Paul writes this

and he says the same thing to them.

He says,

this is 3 verse 3.

Isaiah 3:3

He says,

you yourselves know

that we were destined

for the suffering

because when we were with you,

we kept on telling you beforehand

you were to suffer much affliction.

Such was the life-changing power

of the gospel

that these guys encountered,

even though they knew

that they were going to suffer

and be persecuted

and be thrown in jail

and arrested

and suffer for their faith,

following Jesus

was not going to make

their lives easier

because they had met Jesus,

they had encountered God

in the gospel.

What else could they do?

They believed

and so they followed him.

It's kind of like when

in the gospels,

I think it's in John chapter 6,

John 6 · chapter mention

Jesus,

at one point,

lots of people

are leaving Jesus

and they say,

we are done with this Jesus guy

and Jesus turns to his disciples

and says,

what about you?

Are you going to leave me as well?

And Peter says,

you have the words of life.

Where else must we go?

We know it's going to be costly.

We know it's dangerous

but what else can we do?

You are the Messiah

and Paul says the same thing here.

They've encountered God.

God has changed

and the gospels come to them.

What else are they going to do?

But notice the other thing here.

Look at what else happened

when they encountered

the message of Jesus.

Look at verse 9.

Paul writes here

and he says,

for they themselves report

the kind of reception

we had amongst you,

how you turn to God

from idols

to serve the true

and living God.

Now we may think,

okay,

so they gave up the Roman

and the Greek gods

and they became followers

of Jesus.

People change religion

all the time.

Big deal.

But actually in the Bible,

idols is always

about a deep-seated

security and identity.

It's what we put our hope

and our confidence

and our security

for the future in.

The idols,

when the Bible talks

about idols,

it's not just statues.

It's the idols of our hearts.

It's the things

that we look to

for a sense of self-identity

and self-worth

and security

and hope for the future.

It's why the Bible says

that when things go wrong

in our life,

yes,

it's disappointing.

But when our idols

are challenged

or touched,

it can infuriate us.

It can crush us.

In fact,

that's actually what happened

in Acts 17, right?

Paul goes

and he preaches the gospel

and some people say,

oh,

I'm not so sure.

But some people

are so threatened

that they want to kill

these guys.

Why?

Because the idols

of their hearts

have been threatened.

Well,

look what happens here.

Paul tells these Thessalonians

that when the gospel came,

it wasn't moralistic self-help.

It wasn't human persuasion.

God's predestining,

electing love,

being poured in their hearts

by the Holy Spirit

so changed them,

it recalibrated

the things that they lived for,

the things they found

their hope

and their identity

and their security

and their well-being in.

It recalibrated

everything they trusted

and what is most important to them,

even at the cost

of great persecution.

So,

here's the question for us.

Friends,

has the gospel come to you

in that kind of way?

Is your Christian faith

built on the bedrock

of the gospel

or is it just

religious moralism,

trying to be a good person,

trying to improve your life

in some way?

Friends,

it's very easy

to be religious

and think you're a Christian.

It's one thing

to come to church

and think,

yeah,

I'm a Christian,

but have you encountered

the living God

in a way

that has challenged

and dismantled

the idols of your heart

in a way

that you can say,

persecution,

suffering,

I know what I believe.

Have you encountered God

in the power

of the Holy Spirit

in a way

that has changed you

and anchored you

and solidified you?

Paul wants them

to know

how the gospel

came to them

and changed them.

But that's not all

Paul wants them to know.

He also wants to show them

how the gospel

has been at work in them.

So,

look at verse 2

and 3 with me.

Paul wants to see

how the gospel

has not only

come to them

but been at work

in them.

Verse 2 and 3,

Paul writes this,

he says,

we give thanks to God

always for all of you,

constantly mentioning you

in our prayers,

remembering before

our God and Father

your work of faith,

your labor of love,

your steadfastness

of hope

in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now,

I hope you recognize

there the threefold

kind of foundation

Christian virtues

that Christians

have spoken about

for hundreds of years.

Faith,

hope,

and love,

right?

Okay,

the Bible talks about

these three things often.

John Calvin said

this is the briefest

definition of true Christianity,

faith,

hope,

and love.

But Paul here

isn't encouraging them

to pursue these things.

He's not saying,

right,

now that you've become Christians,

I'm sorry I'm no longer there

but let me give you

some advice.

I want you to pursue

faith,

hope,

and love.

If you can do

those three things,

you'll be a great Christian.

That's not what Paul does.

He's commenting

on the fact that

he sees this

at work in them already.

He's heard from Timothy.

Timothy has come back

and he said,

let me tell you

about the Thessalonians.

They overflow in faith.

They are bounding in love.

They are steadfast in hope.

He's commending

what he sees in them.

And the New Testament

constantly tells us

that what indicates

an authentic faith

and an authentic

Christian church

is not external

behavior necessarily.

It's not,

definitely not how nice

a building is

or how good looking

Alan and the people

in Stager

or how wonderful

the kids' ministry are,

as wonderful as they are.

What indicates

a true and authentic

church

and a true and authentic

faith

is something far more

internal.

It's these foundational values.

It's genuine faith

and trust in God.

It's steadfast hope

in the midst of

opposition and persecution.

It's an authentic love

for those that are

different from us,

maybe even those

that rub us the wrong way.

But notice these virtues,

these characteristics,

they aren't in a vacuum.

They're not just random

faith, hope, and love.

What does Paul say?

He says,

I remember before

our God and Father

your work of faith,

your labor of love,

your steadfastness of hope

in the Lord Jesus Christ

or by the Lord Jesus Christ.

It's the result of knowing

and encountering Jesus

and trusting and loving

the Lord Jesus

that these things

will be birthed in them.

Belief in the Lord Jesus

that doesn't grow faith

and hope

and love in us

is questionable at best.

But notice something else here.

These virtues

are productive virtues

or they are outward focused.

They do something

in the people

who inhabit,

in whom they inhabit.

These aren't just

philosophical ideas

or religious ideas.

No one went to a Bible study

and said,

how should we learn

to have more faith

and hope and love?

These virtues

actually do something

in the people.

They are gritty.

They are earthy.

They are practical.

Look at what Paul writes here.

He says,

he commends them

because their faith

has resulted in hard work.

They're not being lazy.

Their faith has actually

propelled them

to work hard.

He says,

your love

has prompted them

to labor

or serve

those around them.

And their hope

has led to endurance

and steadfastness

even in the midst

of persecution

and hardship.

And Paul's point here

is,

see what the gospel

has done in you.

Jesus Christ came to you.

This wasn't just

religious teaching.

It's done something

in you.

It's produced work in you.

It's changed your hearts.

See how differently

you love one another.

See how you serve

one another.

See with what perseverance

and endurance you have

because God's word,

the gospel,

has done a work in you.

And Paul actually says

the same thing

in chapter 2.

If you've got your Bible,

look at verse 13.

He says,

and we thank God

constantly for this,

that when you received

the word of God,

that's the gospel,

which you heard from us,

you accepted it

not as the word of man,

but what it really is,

the word of God,

which is at work in you.

The Greek word for

at work there

is the word

where we get our

English word energy.

I don't know how

to pronounce it in Greek,

but it's the same root word.

We get our word energy.

This gospel has a power,

a dynamic to it

that is an energy

that actually does

something in us

and works in us.

And Paul says

to these Thessalonians,

how do you know

your faith is authentic?

Well, it's actually

changing you.

It's making you

more gracious,

more loving,

more faithful,

more steadfast.

And all this

without the founders

of the church.

You know,

the church was started

and three weeks later,

the planting founding pastor

said,

we're out of here.

You know,

Tobin Miller started

Watermark 16 years ago

and was here for

five and a half years

and did a great job

and then moved back

to the U.S.

Laid a wonderful foundation.

But imagine Tobin came in.

Who was here

when Watermark was started?

Okay,

Asken,

Celeste,

the Laos,

I think,

Brian and Grace,

yeah,

Soda.

Imagine,

Henry,

imagine three weeks

Tobin says,

okay,

we've got to start

this church,

Watermark Church

and then three weeks later,

okay,

best of luck guys,

I'm out of here

and leaves.

And without the founders,

without the pastors,

without the leaders,

here is a church

that is abundant.

Why?

Because the church

wasn't based on the leaders

on any human wisdom

but God,

the gospel,

was at work in them

because even in their absence,

the gospel continued

to work in them.

Yes,

their initial acceptance

of the message of Jesus

was an act of faith

but even now,

in the midst of opposition

and persecution

and prison,

they continued in the faith

as the gospel

did its work in them.

One scholar called Gene Green

writes this,

he says,

this Christian faith

was not a philosophical discourse

on the way

to the virtuous life

or self-help seminar

on how to overcome

personal issues

as it is in our day.

This was the word of God,

the power of God,

the presence of God,

the person of God

in verbal form,

powerfully transforming

their lives.

So friends,

can you see the gospel

at work in you?

Have you seen God

by the power of the Spirit

changing you,

being at work in you?

Do you see evidence

of growing in faith

and hope and love?

Is your faith productive,

causing you to love others,

serve others?

Are you growing

in steadfastness

and perseverance

in the midst of difficulty

and opposition?

One of the things

that I love

about this church,

the very best church

in the whole world,

it's not our nice venue,

as nice as it is,

except the mom's room

is a little bit full

at the moment.

Sorry, Annabelle.

It's not the fancy leaders.

One of the things

we've said again and again

is we're not trying

to be a fancy church.

We're not trying

to be a mega church.

We're not trying

to be a popular church.

We want to be

an authentic church.

I look around the room

and I see faces

of people who,

over the last nine years,

God is at work in you.

I see your love

growing more and more.

I see your faith

holding on to Jesus

when it's been hard.

I see your steadfastness

and your perseverance

when it would have been

so easy to give up

and walk away.

God is at work in you.

It may not be fancy.

It may not have a billboard.

Your name might not be

on lights.

God, by the gospel,

is at work in us.

See what the gospel

has accomplished in you.

Well, there's one last thing

that Paul wants us to see

and he wants us to see

how the gospel

is continuing to work

not just in us

but through us.

The gospel comes in us

and then works through us.

And so look at this.

Paul has this final encouragement.

Look at verse 5 to 8 with me.

He says here, verse 5,

Our gospel came to you,

then verse 6,

and you became imitators of us

and of the Lord

for you received the word

in much affliction

with the joy of the Holy Spirit

so that you became an example

to all the believers

in Macedonia and Achaia.

For not only has the word

of the Lord

sounded forth from you

in Macedonia and Achaia,

but your faith in God

has gone forth everywhere

so that we need not say

anything about you.

Now, notice two things

in this section.

Notice how firstly

the gospel came to them,

they received it,

and then the word of forth

sounded forth.

Okay, so the gospel came,

they absorbed it,

received it,

it did a work in them,

and then it went out

from them.

And that's the way

it always is.

The gospel came,

but it didn't stop with them.

They didn't say,

Oh, it's so nice.

We saved.

Wonderful.

We're going to go to heaven.

Actually, it came to them

and then it went out.

And God worked through them

to others.

And so that all the believers

in Macedonia and Achaia,

these two Roman provinces,

heard about their faith

and were encouraged

and strengthened.

Their faith was a witness

to others.

But notice something else here,

that each time Paul speaks

about how the gospel

came to them,

there's an example there.

So he says,

our gospel came to you

and you became imitators of us.

You received the word

and then you became an example

to the believers.

The word sounded forth from you

and your faith

or your witness,

your example sounded forth

and went forth everywhere.

So as the gospel came to them,

it changed them

and then it went out from them.

And every time Paul speaks

about the word,

the gospel came,

it did something in them

and they became examples

or worthy of imitation.

Now, what does that tell us?

Friends, it tells us

that genuine, authentic faith,

it may be deeply personal,

it's my faith in Jesus,

but it's never private.

It never just stays

with me and Jesus.

It's one, it's communal.

So my faith in Jesus

hopefully is a blessing

to you and everyone else,

but also to the city out there.

Our faith in Jesus

doesn't just stay with us.

It comes to us

and then it goes through us

to both our community,

our family,

to our city

and to the ends of the earth.

And just think about,

think about this in the Bible.

Think about in Genesis 12.

God says to Abraham,

I will bless you.

Five times.

I will bless you.

I'll bless you.

I'll bless you.

I will bless you.

I will bless you.

And then he says,

and you will be a blessing

to the whole world.

Now, of course,

he's talking about how

Jesus the Messiah

is going to come through him,

through his descendants

and that will bless

the whole world.

But God's blessing to Abraham

didn't stop with Abraham.

It went through Abraham

to the whole world.

Well, think about

what God says to Israel.

Israel, you are my chosen people.

I have set my love upon you.

I have elected you

from before the foundations

of the world.

Now you go be a light

to the nations,

to the ends of the earth.

Bring my light

to the Gentiles.

Well, think about

what Jesus says

to the disciples

in Acts chapter one.

Wait here in Jerusalem

for the Holy Spirit

to come upon you,

the promise from my Father.

And you will be my witnesses

in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria

to the ends of the earth.

When God works in us,

it's never meant to stop with us.

It goes through us.

God's work through us.

And so what does that look like?

Friends, maybe it means

opening up your home,

inviting a student

or a youth

or a young adult

that maybe doesn't have family

in Hong Kong

around for a meal

and just loving them,

blessing them.

Maybe it means

coming to church early,

looking for who's

who's had a tough week,

coming and just encouraging them,

sitting with them,

praying with them.

I saw a few months ago

a lady came to church

who had just lost a daughter.

Absolute tragedy.

Came 15 minutes early,

was sitting by herself.

Traumatic experience

of having had to bury her daughter.

And someone else

in the congregation

wasn't serving,

wasn't on duty,

just came and sat next to them

and spoke and prayed with them.

What an amazing blessing.

Just coming to church early

to serve and bless

those around them.

Friends, maybe it means

reaching out to somebody

in the community,

getting to know them,

praying with them,

meeting up with them.

Maybe it means

serving in kids ministry,

joining the army

of kids ministry

or youth ministry

or students ministry,

shaping the faith

and the lives

of the next generation.

Maybe it means

serving with our mission partners,

sons and daughters,

inner city ministry,

adopting a compassion

to national child.

At the very least,

praying for the members

of your CG,

blessing them,

that God's work in you

can flow through you

to those around you.

As we come to a close,

I want to just tell

one brief story.

Something that happened

this week.

A couple of years ago,

we had a wonderful member

of Watermark.

His name was Dave.

And Dave left Watermark

six years ago

to move to Taiwan.

And he married

a fantastic lady,

Julie.

They had a child

and they moved back

to the U.S.

and Dave was a great member

of the Watermark Church.

But Dave tragically

this year passed away.

A tragic accident

and he passed away

in the U.S.

And some members

of Watermark,

particularly Sam and Joe

and Henry and Carla

and Edie and Joyce,

decided we're going to

arrange a memorial service

for him here in Hong Kong.

I know he doesn't have

any family here,

but he's got other friends here.

Let's arrange

a memorial service.

And they arranged

a memorial service.

And not only that,

they raised some funds

for his wife

and his son.

And just really blessed

and remembered Dave.

Well, the family of Dave

was so touched

that they wrote

a letter to us

at Watermark this week

just to thank us

for the love and care

that we had shown to Dave.

And I want to just read

a couple of lines from it.

This is what Dave's father wrote.

It's a bit longer,

but he just says this.

A few quotes.

Ultimately,

I think we are grateful

for one primary reason.

Watermark was being

a true church

in ways that we really see

in today's world.

We saw the kindness

of Christ

in ways that surprised us

through the body of Christ

in the time

of great personal darkness

and loss.

You saw Dave.

You cared for him

as a church.

You pointed him

to his Savior.

You appreciated

his role in the body

and you made him know that.

As much as sometimes

he struggled,

he still had worth

and was welcomed

into your fellowship.

We're particularly grateful

for Chris Thornton

who showed such great love

and care for Dave.

Dave always said

he had never met

a truer Christian man

than Chris.

We hope that all of you know

that your love

and care

was not in vain.

It's one of those rare things

for which we can be

eternally grateful.

Friends,

the mark of a true

and authentic church.

Friends,

do you ever question

your faith?

Do you ever have doubts

arise?

Does persecution,

opposition,

difficulty,

disappointments

make you have a question

whether this whole

Jesus thing is genuine?

Authentic faith

is not necessarily fancy.

It may not be popular.

It may not be big.

You don't need to save

the world or plan a church.

You don't need to have

a certain type of personality.

You don't need to be outgoing.

Authentic faith

is faith in the true

and living God.

It's the gospel

being at work in you.

It's the gospel

being at work through you

to bless and serve others.

May that be true of you.

May that be true of us.

Let's pray together.

Lord Jesus,

we look at this passage

2,000 years old.

This letter from a man

to a church

and simple church

in Thessalonica.

God,

we want this to be true of us.

We want,

Lord,

for the gospel

to come to us

in power,

in the Holy Spirit

with much conviction.

We want to be

the kind of church

where you, God,

are at work in us

but not just in us

and work through us.

Lord,

we want our faith

to resound forth

all across Asia.

We pray.

Help it to be so.

May that be true of us.

Pour out your spirit

upon us.

Lord,

I pray for those of us

that have doubts

and questions,

those of us

who have faced

disappointment

and wonder

whether our faith

is genuine.

Oh, God,

reach out to us.

Pour out your spirit

and pour out your love

into our hearts.

We pray

in your wonderful

and gracious name.

Amen.