The Good Report?

Amen. All right. So this morning we're continuing our sermon series in 1 Thessalonians.

! We've covered most of the first two chapters so far. Today we're going to be picking it up in chapter 2,

! Verse 17, which will be on page 1173 of your Pew Bible. If you want to follow along in the Pew Bible,

page 1173, we're going to go chapter 217 through the end of chapter 3. And what we'll be encountering

in the text is something of an emotional roller coaster as the Apostle Paul shares the anxiety

that he has felt over the state of the church at Thessalonica. And it's an anxiety that's driven by

his deep and abiding love for the men and the women of that church. So as I've been in the text

this week, I've really been moved by Paul's affection for the believers that he's writing to

in this letter. So here's the plan for this morning is I'm going to start by setting the scene

just a little bit, setting up the drama so that we're all on the same page, if you will, of the

narrative. Then we're going to ride that narrative roller coaster together that Paul takes us on in

this passage. And then finally, I'm going to share some applications from the text that I hope are

going to be helpful for you. Sound good? Okay, good. Well, if it doesn't, this is what we're doing

anyway. So, all right. So a couple of Sundays ago, Pastor Mike, he framed the context of this letter.

So I'm just going to give you a bit to remind you of what's happened up until this point.

The Apostle Paul and Silas, who also went by Silvanus, by the way, that's how he describes

himself. He went by Silvanus and Silas. I'm going to call him Silas, had visited Thessalonica while on

one of Paul's missionary journeys. They had shared the gospel there over the course of several weeks,

and the Lord had done just this awesome work through their evangelism. You can read about this

in Acts 17 if you're interested. Luke, the author of Acts, he reports this in the chapter. He says,

some of them, some of the Jews that they had shared the gospel with, were persuaded. They were persuaded

that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah. And Paul and Silas, or I'm sorry, and joined Paul and Silas,

as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. That's Acts 17.4.

So, Paul and Silas were preaching the gospel, and God is graciously rescuing Jews and Gentiles

through their evangelism, and they're starting to do the work of discipling these new believers,

because that's part of the Great Commission, right? Jesus said, you make disciples, baptize them,

and then teach them to obey everything that he commanded, Matthew 28, which means that new believers

need to be taught, that they need to be shepherded. They need to be built up in their faith as they begin

the lifelong work of following Jesus, and that is exactly what Paul and Silas had begun to do.

But, tragically, they did not get very far, because the Jews in Thessalonica, who did not accept that

Jesus was the Messiah, began to oppose Paul and Silas, okay? And eventually, they worked up a crowd

that formed into a mob, and this mob dragged Paul and Silas before the city council. They accused them

of treason, saying that they're teaching that Jesus is the true king, not Caesar, which is kind of true,

but how they're representing it, not quite. And the church, this brand new church of new believers,

they end up somehow convincing the city council to let Paul and Silas go. But this is not good,

right? Getting accused of treason in a major Roman city, this is starting to look pretty dangerous.

For Paul and Silas. So, the Thessalonian believers, they send Paul and Silas away under cover of night

to get them out of the city. Now, the text doesn't say this, so this is my guess, okay? This is me

surmising, this is not Scripture. But my guess is that the Thessalonians have to fight Paul on this

a little bit, because my guess is that he wants to stay. Because Paul knows that this is not how you

plant a church, right? This is not how you establish a church. Paul knows that he and Silas should be

there with these new believers. They should be teaching them the Scriptures. They should be

building them up in their faith. And instead, they have to flee in the middle of the night,

and they've got no clear plan on when they're going to be able to come back. So, however that

conversation went down, the Thessalonians convince Paul and Silas that they need to leave, and Paul and

Silas do so. Now, if you're part of the church at Thessalonica, if you're one of those new believers,

how would you feel about things at this moment? You can go ahead and put yourself in their sandals,

so to speak. Paul and Silas, they had come to you. Maybe you were a Gentile. Maybe you believed in many

different gods. Thessalonica was a proud Roman city of about 100,000 people, same population as

Kenosha back then. This would have been a huge, huge city. And you'd been living probably under the

belief in Zeus and the other Roman gods. There were also some prominent Egyptian cults in Thessalonica

at this time, so maybe you're worshiping Egyptian gods. And then Paul and Silas show up on the scene,

and they tell you, no. The fickle, harsh, unloving gods that you worship, they are not real.

They are false gods. Let us tell you about the one true God who came in humility and died the death that

you deserve. Or maybe you were a Jew who had been waiting for so long for the Messiah to come,

and Paul tells you the Messiah has come. His name is Jesus Christ. He's the one that you have been

waiting for, and he shows this to you from the Scriptures. So, Paul and Silas are teaching you,

you believe with great joy, the Holy Spirit. He opens up your eyes to see how your sin has separated

you from a holy God, and he has made a way through Christ for your sins to be forgiven. You experience

the love of God for the first time. You're starting to learn from the Scriptures. You're eager to learn

about your Savior. And then one day, there's a riot. And it's a riot to falsely condemn these men that you

have grown in this short time to love and to trust. And you watch them get dragged before the city council

and accused of treason. So, your church decides that night, we've got to get them out. This is not safe.

Paul and Silas, we love you so much. We are so grateful for you, but you're going to end up dead

if you stay. And we know that the Lord has more gospel work for you to do. There's more people like us

that need the gospel. You have more work to do. You've got to go.

And so, the next morning, you wake up, and the men who have been functioning as your pastors are gone.

And you're a brand new believer.

So, what's going through your mind at that point? Are you doubting? Are you questioning God's

goodness? I mean, why would He allow this to happen? Those questions might be going through

your mind. And also, by the way, you do not live in the most tolerant city. You just watched Paul and

Silas drag before a city council for preaching Christ. You know what's at stake if you share the

gospel and you live out your new faith. So, this is a very difficult position to be in if you are a

new Christian. And what about Paul for that moment, for that matter? What's he thinking after all this,

being separated from this church that he loves? Well, Paul actually, he shares much of his thoughts

with us in the passage today. So, let's take a look starting in chapter 2, verse 17.

Paul writes,

But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time in person, not in heart, we endeavored

the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face because we wanted to come to you.

I, Paul, again and again, he says, we were torn away from you. They all remember that night when

Paul and Silas had to leave so quickly. And the word that Paul uses, the Greek word, it's the word

that you would use to describe a child being separated from their parents. Literally, we were

orphaned from you, which maybe reads a little bit different than you might expect, especially since

earlier in chapter 1, Paul had actually referred to himself as their mother. He says,

But we were gentle among you like a nursing mother taking care of her own children.

And then in chapter 2, verses 11 through 12, Paul says,

For you know how like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you

and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God.

So, you would expect Paul to talk about them, the church, being orphaned from him as this spiritual

parent, but he actually describes it in the opposite way. He says that we were orphaned from you,

which I think gives us a look into the intensity of affection that Paul feels about this church.

His anxiety over them is less like a parent being separated from their child and more like the

child's feeling of losing their parent, that sense of being lost, that hopelessness. There's a direness

in how Paul describes how he feels about being taken away from these brothers and sisters in Christ.

But Paul makes clear that this is temporary. He says,

We were orphaned from you for a short time in person and not in heart, that we were taken from you,

but our hearts are still with you, right? My affections for you have not gone anywhere,

which is why we've tried again and again to come to you. He says,

With great desire to see you face to face because we wanted to come to you. I, Paul,

again and again, you could just hear that desperation in his words that they've been wanting so badly

to get back to the Thessalonians. It's like he's saying,

If you're wondering why we haven't made it back from you, it is not from lack of trying. Like,

we so want to be back with you. Which begs the question of why. Why haven't you come back yet?

If we mean so much to you, you would have come back by now, right? And that's probably what Paul

is fearing that they might be thinking. So Paul explains, and he uses four little words. He says,

But Satan hindered us. We tried coming to you again and again, but Satan hindered us.

So let's pause for a moment and let's acknowledge something. We want to be careful about over-blaming

Satan for spiritual opposition in our lives. Paul, throughout this letter, he spends very little

time mentioning or discussing Satan compared to the other things that he prioritizes. He doesn't go

into all the details about Satan's activity. He's not morbidly fascinated with Satan, demons, and

spiritual warfare. And if you're not careful, you can end up wasting a lot of time becoming obsessed

with those spiritual realities. But they're still spiritual realities, right?

So Paul, he makes clear that their repeated attempts to visit the Thessalonians, those attempts were

thwarted by Satan, that Satan himself prevented their return. And we don't know exactly what that looks

like, but the fact remains that Satan hates Christians. He hates God, and he will do whatever he can

to prevent God's kingdom from growing. So Satan is a real enemy, and we do well to acknowledge that.

But he is not stronger than our God. And all that he does is under God's authoritative hand. And so

Paul's focus, it turns very quickly back to his brothers and sisters in Christ, back to his Lord Jesus,

after he explains that Satan is hindering him from coming to them, from returning to them.

He says,

For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming?

Is it not you?

For you are our glory and joy.

You, brothers and sisters of Thessalonica,

when Jesus Christ returns in his glory,

Do you know what our greatest boast before Christ is going to be?

It's going to be you.

Which is an incredible statement from the Apostle Paul.

The depth of affection that he feels for this church is amazing.

And because of that affection,

eventually it got to a point

where Paul just, he couldn't take it anymore.

It says,

Therefore, when we could bear it no longer,

we sent Timothy.

The suspense was killing him.

He's going,

I just, I gotta know.

I just gotta know how they're doing.

Are they staying strong?

Are they enduring the persecution that I know that they're going to face?

Are there, God forbid,

are there false teachers that are starting to creep in

and make them question things?

And he goes,

Timothy, you've,

you gotta go to Thessalonica.

Brother, you,

you gotta go.

We gotta send somebody

to build them up

and to strengthen them.

Which is exactly

what they do.

So, chapter 3,

verse 2,

Paul writes,

And I think he means all Christians

in that we

are destined for this.

which echoes

2 Timothy 3, 12,

which Paul also wrote,

which says that all who desire to live

a godly life in Christ Jesus

will be persecuted.

And that was exactly his message

to the Thessalonians.

He says,

For when we were with you,

we kept telling you beforehand

that we were to suffer affliction

just as it has come to pass

and just as you know.

So, Paul doesn't need to be there

in person

in order to know

beyond a shadow of a doubt

that this young church

is facing persecution

for sharing the gospel.

In their short time

with these believers,

one of the things

that Paul and Silas

knew

that they needed to hear

over and over again

was,

You're going to take heat

for this.

If you commit to Christ,

you are going to take

heat for this.

This is what you're

signing up for.

So, the Thessalonians,

they went into this

eyes wide open.

But, knowing that you're

going to face something

and then actually facing it,

those are different things.

Right?

And Paul doesn't want

a single believer's faith

to be shaken

by what they're experiencing

as they take heat

for following Jesus.

He wants everybody

to make it through.

And until he knows

what's going on with them,

his own heart is fearful

by his own admission.

So, he says again

in chapter 3, verse 5,

he says,

For this reason,

when I could bear it

no longer,

I sent to learn

about your faith

for fear that somehow

the tempter had tempted you

and our labor would be in vain.

So, here once again,

Paul, he acknowledges

Satan's power.

Right?

This time,

his power to tempt Christians

away from Christ.

He knows that Satan

can use persecution

to the point that

Paul admits that he is fearful

that his labor amidst

the Thessalonian church

had been in vain.

Paul is afraid,

in other words,

that Satan's temptations,

that they may have exposed

a terrifying possibility,

a terrifying possibility,

which is that their faith

was not actually genuine.

Maybe when push comes to shove,

maybe the Thessalonians

weren't true believers in Christ.

So, Paul's fear is that the Thessalonians

are like the seed

that's sown on the rocky ground

in Jesus' parable of the sower.

If you remember that parable,

there's a farmer

and he scatters seed.

And some seed gets eaten

by the birds

and some of it falls

on shallow soil

where the sun scorches it.

Some falls among thorns

and gets choked.

And some falls on good soil

where it produces

a huge crop,

a harvest.

And Paul's fear

is that the Thessalonians

turn out to be the seed

scorched by the sun.

In Matthew 13, 21,

Jesus says,

As for what was sown

on rocky ground,

this is the one

who hears the word

and immediately

receives it with joy.

Yet he has no root in himself,

but endures for a while.

And then what?

When tribulation

or persecution arises,

on account of the word,

immediately it falls away.

So the question is,

is that what

the Thessalonian church is?

Are they the seed

that is sown

on rocky ground?

And the answer

that Timothy

finally brings back to Paul

is no.

They are not the seed

that is sown

on rocky ground

because the Thessalonians'

faith is strong.

Look at chapter 3,

verse 6.

But now,

Timothy has come to us

from you,

and commentators say

this is like,

this just happened,

right?

This probably just happened.

Timothy just got back.

Um,

where am I?

Oh, here I am.

Okay, sorry.

I'm just so excited

for Paul

and what he's doing.

But Timothy now

has come to us

from you

and has brought us

the good news

of your faith

and love

and reported

that you always

remember us kindly

and long to see us

as we long to see you.

And Paul,

he is just overjoyed

at this news.

The Thessalonians'

faith

and their love

remain strong.

Their affections

for Paul

and his fellow apostles,

those affections

are still burning.

If I was Paul,

I would say,

huzzah!

That would be my response.

This is the best news.

It is better news

than the Brewers

beating the Cubs

last night

in the playoffs.

It's even better than that.

As I was studying

this part of the passage

this week,

my mind kept going

to A Christmas Carol

where Ebenezer Scrooge,

he rejoices

over his own salvation.

He says,

I'm as light as a feather.

I'm as happy as an angel.

I'm as merry as a schoolboy.

Except that Paul's joy,

it's not over

his own salvation.

His joy is over

the good news

of someone else's faith.

The faith of his brothers

and sisters

back in Thessalonica.

This is a man,

he is just bursting

at the seams

with Timothy's

good report.

And here's what

that joy does

for Paul and Silas

and Timothy.

If you look at verse 7,

it says,

For this reason,

brothers,

in all our distress

and affliction,

in all of the anxiety

and the persecution

that they are facing,

we have been comforted

about you

through your faith.

Knowing that the Thessalonians

are standing strong

brings them comfort.

It brings them comfort.

For now we live,

Paul says,

if you are standing fast

in the Lord.

So as Paul and Silas

and Timothy,

as they face

their own opposition

to the gospel,

the faithfulness

of the brothers

and sisters

in Thessalonica

spurs them on.

It comforts them.

It brings them

new life.

Because faithfulness

is contagious.

Amen?

And I want to have

a contagious faith

like that.

Don't you want

your devotion

to Christ

to inspire

your brothers

and sisters

like that?

Yeah.

So with Paul's heart

filled to the brim

at the good report

from Timothy,

he turns his focus

very appropriately

to the living God.

In verse 9,

he says,

For what thanksgiving

for what thanksgiving

can we return

to God for you?

For all the joy

that we feel

for your sake

before God

as we pray

most earnestly

night and day

that we may see you

face to face

and supply

what is lacking

in your faith.

at the end of the day,

God is the one

who gets the glory

for the Thessalonians'

faithfulness.

Which is why

this good report

ultimately results

in Paul

feeling this

overwhelming

sense of gratitude

to the Lord.

And Paul,

he also recognizes

that the journey

of faith

is not yet over.

Right?

He still aches

to go

and see

the Thessalonians

in person.

Even though

they have this

good report

from Timothy,

he says he wants

to get back

to them

so that he can

supply

what is lacking

in their faith.

And that's because

the Thessalonians,

they still need

to be strengthened.

They still

need to be

taught.

As faithful

as they've been,

there's more

work to do

in building

them up

and maturing

them as

disciples.

So Paul has

still got

every intention

of getting

back to them

and he knows

that he needs

the Lord's help

in order

to do so.

Because Satan

has hindered him,

right?

Satan has hindered

him from

returning to

the Thessalonians.

So his response

is to pray.

He says,

we pray

most earnestly

night and day

that we may

see you.

That is the

constant desire

of this man's

soul.

He's been

praying,

he will continue

to pray

and his

desire for them,

it runs so deep

that he actually

overflows

into a written

prayer

right then and

there,

like he just

can't help

himself.

Which takes us

to the final

verses in this

passage,

verses 11

through 13.

Now may

our God

and Father

himself

and our

Lord Jesus

direct our

way to you

and may the

Lord make you

increase and

abound in

love for one

another and

for all

as we do

for you

so that he

may establish

your hearts

blameless in

holiness

before our

God and

Father

at the coming

of our Lord

Jesus

with all

his saints.

Paul knows

that his

return to

the Thessalonians

and their

continued

faithfulness

and growing

love in his

own heart

towards them

that all of

that is under

God's hand.

Okay,

he needs the

Lord to

reach out

with his

transforming

grace and

establish the

Thessalonians

in holiness

and as a

matter of

fact,

if they

don't make

it back

as planned,

if the

Lord is at

work in

the hearts

of these

young believers

then they

actually have

all that they

need,

that everything

is going to be

okay.

His grace

will be

sufficient

until Christ

calls them

home or he

returns.

So now

that we've

experienced

the drama

of Timothy's

good report

back to

Paul,

I'm going

to close

with four

applications

that I hope

will be helpful

as you think

through how

this relates

to your

life right

now.

So first,

faithfulness

is rooted

in love

for one

another.

Faithfulness

is rooted

in love

for one

another.

As I

studied this

passage this

week,

I felt

convicted

more than

once about

how strong

Paul's

affections

are for

his brothers

and sisters

in Thessalonica.

You can

hear it in

his kind

of gushing

eagerness

that he,

with the

phrases that

he uses.

We were

torn away

from you

in person,

not in

heart.

We

endeavored

the more

eagerly

and with

great desire

to see

you face

to face.

You are

our glory

and our

joy.

You can

just hear

the affection

spilling out.

You can

also hear

it in

his anxiety

over the

state of

their faith

as he's

been waiting

for Timothy

to come

back with

the news.

We heard

it before.

When we

could bear

it no

longer,

he uses

that phrase

twice.

When I

could bear

it no

longer,

I sent

to learn

about your

faith for

fear that

somehow the

tempter had

tempted you

in our

labor would

be in

vain.

And what it

shows us is

that Paul

just loves

this church.

That he

just, he

loves these

people.

He doesn't

just love the

idea of

them.

he loves

these people.

He wanted

Timothy to

go to

them, to

strengthen

them so

that no

one, not

a single

one of

you, would

be moved

by these

afflictions.

So as I

read these

verses I

had to ask

myself, do

I feel

that way

about

others in

my church?

And if

I don't,

does it

bother me

that I

don't?

Do I

want to

love the

people in

our church

like Paul

loved the

Thessalonians?

Is that

how you

want to

love your

brothers and

sisters?

Do you

regularly think

about the

faith of

those in

our church

and how

they're

standing and

how they

are navigating

the trials

of life and

keeping their

eyes on

Jesus?

Are you

asking your

brothers and

sisters with

a heart full

of care,

not of

gossip, but

a heart full

of care,

how is your

walk with

the Lord?

How can I

be praying

for you

right now?

So if you

are feeling

some conviction

this morning

about a

lack of

care in

your heart

for your

church family,

I would

invite you

to press

into that

this week

to ask

the Holy

Spirit to

help expose

the root

that might

be there

of a

lack of

love

and ask

questions like

am I

simply too

preoccupied

with

myself and

my

circumstances

and my

calendar?

Is

Jesus not

functioning as

the controlling

center of my

life right

now such

that the

well-being of

other people's

faith is just

not even

something that's

showing up on

my radar?

Ask the

Lord for help

in that.

Which brings

me to my

second

application.

Faithfulness

is rooted

in prayer.

Faithfulness

is rooted

in prayer.

In this

passage we

see a lot

of opposition.

Right?

We see

Paul and

Silas

torn away

from the

Thessalonian

church against

their will.

Satan is

actively

preventing

Paul and

Silas

from returning.

There's fear

and anxiety

gripping

Paul's heart

as he worries

about the

faith of his

brothers and

sisters.

and what

does all

of this

culminate in

at the end

of our

passage?

It all

leads up

to a

prayer.

It all

leads up

to a

prayer of

gratitude

for what

God has

done.

And a

prayer of

request

asking God

to work

in both

circumstances

and in

hearts.

Paul is

absolutely

confident in

the power of

prayer.

And you

can tell

by how

he talks

about

prayer.

He says

we pray

most earnestly

night and

day.

Right?

This is a

man who

is totally

devoted to

going before

the throne

of grace

and pleading

with his

God to

act because

he knows

who is

sovereign over

all of

this.

He knows

who holds

all of

the power.

And so

we need to

pray and

ask God

not only

to act

in our

circumstances

but to

act in

our hearts

as well

and in

the hearts

of others.

So if you

feel totally

lost at the

encouragement to

pray and

you're not

sure exactly

how to

pursue that,

there is a

phenomenal

book I

want to

recommend to

you.

I love

books,

good books

that point

me to

Jesus.

A

Praying

Life by

Paul

Miller.

I'm not

awesome like

Mike and I

don't have

like 15

copies to

give out like

he sometimes

does.

So I'm

just going

to drop

that.

A Praying

Life by

Paul Miller.

I've read

it like

twice in

the past

three years.

I am

not a

natural

prayer.

It's an

area of

ministry that

I really

want to

grow in

and that

book has

been a

significant

help to

me in

learning how

to pray,

how to

talk to

the Lord,

how to

go before

the throne.

So A

Praying

Life by

Paul Miller.

It's

fantastic.

Here's

another

simple

thing that

you can

do in

prayer if

you feel

kind of

lost in

there,

is just

go to

the

Psalms.

Just go

to the

Psalms and

use those

to pray.

They read

like prayers,

right?

Because that's

what they are.

The Psalms are

prayers.

And they

will give

you a

language of

prayer that

is so

helpful to

help you

know what

to pray for

your brothers

and sisters.

Go to the

Psalms.

And then you

can also

obviously use

the Lord's

Prayer.

Use it to

guide you.

It starts

with, we

all know it,

our Father in

Heaven,

hallowed be

your name.

And then you

can pray from

that, Father

in Heaven, I

want to

treasure you

above all

else this

morning.

I want to

honor your

name.

I've got a

lot that is

competing for

my heart.

Help me to

see you and

your glory

today.

And then you

just go and

you pray through

those phrases

of the

Lord's Prayer.

So I hope

that helps

you.

Application

number three.

Faithfulness

embraces

persecution.

faithfulness

embraces

persecution.

This one is

hard for me

as I'm sure

that it is

for many of

you.

Pastor Mike

talked about

this last

week.

In our

Western

culture, if

there's anything

that we

dislike, it

is awkwardness.

That is like

the worst

thing that we

can imagine

is relational

awkwardness to

the point that

we will

sometimes do

whatever we

can to

avoid making

things awkward.

And Jesus

has a way of

making things

awkward, right?

Because of the

claims that are

made in the

gospel.

And I can be

guilty of that

as well, of

prioritizing,

avoiding

awkwardness.

I am guilty

of that.

we can use

excuses to

justify our

silence.

We can think

I'm going to

mess it up.

I'm not going

to present the

gospel right.

I don't have

these ten

thorough arguments

for the

existence of

God in my

back pocket,

and so I

really got to

wait until I

master that,

or I've got to

master historical

arguments for

the resurrection,

and we feel

unqualified, and

so we just

never say

anything.

That can be a

temptation for

a lot of us,

or maybe we

think I'm not

an introvert,

that's not

really my thing,

I'm just going

to leave that

to other

Christians.

They can

handle the

evangelism.

But what's

often really

going on with

that is that

we're just

being fearful,

that we're

just afraid of

how people

are going to

respond.

And the

Thessalonians,

they stand as

a little bit

of a loving

rebuke to

us this

morning, one

that I've

felt this

week while I

was in this

passage.

Because the

affliction that

Paul is

talking about,

it's affliction

that's the result

of them sharing

the gospel so

faithfully.

That's why they're

experiencing

affliction.

If you look

back in 1

verse 8,

he says,

for not only

has the word

of the Lord

sounded forth

from you in

Macedonia and

Achaia, but

your faith in

God has gone

everywhere so

that we need

not say

anything.

Which is

amazing.

These brand

new Christians,

they're not

even a year

old.

They've become

this center of

evangelism.

They're multiplying

Christians right

there in

Thessalonica.

So, when the

Thessalonians came

to Christ, they

accepted the

fact that they

were going to

be slandered and

they were going

to be persecuted

for their faith.

And it did not

stop them from

sharing the

gospel.

So, as we

pray, remember

faithfulness is

rooted in prayer,

one of the things

that we need to be

regularly asking

the Lord for is

opportunity and

courage.

Lord, would you

give me the

opportunity to

sow gospel

seeds today?

Would you give

me the opportunity

to share the

gospel today?

And would you

grant me the

courage that I

need in order

to do so?

So, that can

be a scary

prayer to pray.

But that leads

me to my

final point,

which is this.

Faithfulness is

rooted in

Christ.

Faithfulness is

rooted in

Christ.

The Thessalonians

were bold in

their faith and

they endured

persecution not

because they had

greater willpower

or because they

were more

extroverted than

we are.

they were bold

and endured

because they

were firmly

rooted in

their love

for Christ.

They were bold

because, as

Paul says,

they had received

the word of God

as God's

word.

In chapter 1,

Paul says of

them,

your faith in

God has

gone forth

everywhere.

That their

evangelism was so

effective,

not because they

had memorized

all these great

arguments for

defending their

faith, but

because of their

faith in God.

And that faith

in God

emboldened them

and strengthened

them even when

they were taking

heat for

representing Jesus.

So, if you're

feeling any

conviction this

morning, whether

it be over maybe

a lack of love

for others in

your church or

about your

prayer life or

hesitancy to

evangelize, the

answer to that

conviction is

not to sit

in shame.

Right?

The answer to

that conviction is

not to sit in

shame.

The answer is

to look at

your Savior.

The answer is

to go to your

God and to

stand fast in

Him.

It's to pray

like Paul did

and ask the

Lord to make

you increase

and abound

in love and

holiness and

continue asking

Him for that.

We should

strive to

live with a

faith like the

Thessalonians and

recognize that

that kind of

faith is

ultimately a

gift from

our God.

And that

doesn't mean

that we do

this whole

let go and

let God

theology.

We go to

our God

asking Him

for strength

and then we

act.

Right?

We stand

in the

Lord like

Paul says

and the

standing that

we do is

real and the

Lord Himself

sustains that

standing.

We have

faith in His

grace of

forgiveness and

we have

faith in

the grace of

His transforming

power.

Both of those

things are

true.

So be

encouraged

brothers and

sisters because

the God who

sustained the

Thessalonians is

the same God

who sustains

you.

Keep standing

fast.

Keep encouraging

your brothers and

sisters.

Keep your

eyes fixed

on Jesus

and let's

not do that

alone.

Let's do that

together as a

family.

Amen?

Amen.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father,

we ask that

You would

strengthen us,

the people of

Christ the King

Church, that You

would embolden

us, that You

would help us not

to shrink back

from declaring the

good news of

Jesus Christ.

Would it

register deeply

in our hearts

that what every

lost person needs

the most above

everything else is

to have their sins

forgiven and be

born again and to

know You as

their Savior and

Lord, to be in

relationship with

You, Lord God.

That's what every

person needs the

most.

Christ, and

Father, You

have graciously

provided a way

through the death

and resurrection

of Your Son.

You have made a

path of salvation.

Help us to grow

in sharing that

good news.

We thank You for

the faithfulness of

the Thessalonians so

many years ago, for

the witness that they

still are for us

through this letter

and Your Word.

Thank You for the

beauty of the

Scriptures.

We are so grateful

that we get to read

these Scriptures that

have been breathed

out by Your Spirit.

That is an amazing

thing.

Would You encourage

us, Father, with

the reality that You

are ultimately the

one who changes

hearts, that You

are the one who

brings the dead

to life, that You

are the one who

causes lost

sinners to be

born again.

And may that

confidence in You

make us more and

more faithful in

our witness.

We ask You to

work in our

hearts, O Lord.

Would You give us

a passion for the

gospel that pushes

past the

awkwardness and the

fear of shame?

And I know that

that is something

that I need in

myself, Lord.

And you are the

God who is able

to give that.

Thank you for

Your patience with

us and for Your

mercy.

It's in Jesus'

name that we

pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.