Reason for Thanksgiving

Amen.

If you would open up your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians.

Today is the first sermon of nine.

We're going to make our way through the book of 1 Thessalonians.

It'll bring us through November.

And then by the time we get to December,

we're jumping into the book of John, the gospel of John.

And then we'll be in John for some time after that.

1 Thessalonians chapter 1, verses 1 through 10.

1 Thessalonians 1 · chapter mention

This is on page 1172 of your Pew Bible.

Hear the word of the Lord.

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

to the church of the Thessalonians and 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, 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 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.

May God bless the hearing of His word.

Do you know what a chain reaction is?

A chain reaction is when there's a catalyst,

a powerful initiating force or action,

and it sets in motion a series of changes after it,

a series of reactions.

Do you know the song,

It only takes a spark to get a fire going.

You know that song?

You know, it's campfire season.

When you start a campfire,

chain reaction.

Flick, flick, flick.

Click, click, click.

Kindling, burning flames.

Oh, the light, the warmth, the crackle.

Chain reaction.

I know there's at least one man who served on a submarine in this room.

A nuclear sub, Ohio class, U.S. Navy.

You know what it's got power in that thing?

A nuclear reactor.

A reactor.

It's a chain reaction.

The fission happening in the nuclear reactor

is affecting the whole boat.

It powers the whole thing.

And then, of course,

dominoes.

When I was a boy growing up,

me and my brother would get these dominoes,

and we'd stack them on end in long lines,

and then my brother and me would flick the first domino,

and it would start a chain reaction.

And then growing up in the 70s and 80s,

there were these, like, shows devoted to these domino fallings,

like the Guinness Book of World Record,

the biggest domino fall of all.

One domino is struck,

and a whole gymnasium is transformed

with all of these dominoes falling.

Chain reaction.

The gospel of Jesus Christ

is God's catalyst

that brings about a chain reaction

in the lives of people.

The gospel is God's divine catalyst

which brings about change.

And the book of 1 Thessalonians

is record of how the gospel

has radically changed a people's lives.

You can break 1 Thessalonians

basically into two parts.

Chapters 1, 2, and 3,

and then chapters 4 and 5.

And 1, 2, and 3 is like a long introduction.

And chapters 4 and 5,

Paul gets to a lot of the content

that he wants to teach on.

Here in 1 Thessalonians 1, 1 through 10,

I want you to see this.

I want you to see something

that is the effect of the gospel.

It's Thanksgiving.

Chapter 1, 1 through 10,

it's all about Thanksgiving.

And what we have here is

that the gospel of God

makes people thankful to God.

The gospel of God

makes us thankful to God.

It's a cause-effect relationship.

And so here's how this unpacks.

It's in the outlines

in the back of your bulletin.

I'm going to give you the blanks,

fill in the blanks right now.

The Christian norm.

The Christian norm.

Constant thanksgiving.

Reason 1, chosen by God.

Reason 2, changed by God.

Reason 3, converted to God.

And these provide the reasons

why Paul, Silas, and Timothy

are so thankful to God

for what's happening

in this church in Thessalonica.

The gospel of God

makes us thankful to God.

It changes the way you pray

and it even changes

the time zone you're living in.

Let's look at the Christian norm.

Constant thanksgiving to God.

One of the obvious changes

the gospel brings to somebody's life

is it makes them grateful,

makes them thankful.

So look at verse 2.

We give thanks to God always,

always for all of you.

We give thanks to God

always for all of you.

The we, of course,

we find in verse 1.

Paul, Silvanus,

also known as Silas,

and Timothy.

I'll refer to them as PST.

Paul, Silas, Timothy.

Paul, Silas, and Timothy, PST,

are so grateful to God

for what's going on

in the Thessalonian church.

I mean, if you know anything

about Paul and Silas and Timothy,

you know that these three men

have been radically changed

by the gospel of Jesus Christ themselves.

Paul was formerly

a persecutor of the church

and then he met the risen Christ

on the road to Damascus

and he went from being

a persecutor of Christ

to a proclaimer of Christ

and a planter of churches

who worship Jesus Christ.

The Thessalonian church

came into being

during Paul's second missionary journey.

And here's the story behind that.

At the end of Acts 15,

Paul takes Silas

and they're going to go back

to the churches

that were established

during his first missionary journey.

Well, they stop in Lystra.

They pick up Timothy

and now they've gone

to two to three, PST.

You get it?

So they start moving along

and Paul is given a vision

of this guy in Macedonia,

which is the Balkan Peninsula,

more on that later,

and he's like,

come to me.

And so PST changes their plans

and they go to the city of Philippi.

You're familiar with Philippi

because that's where Paul was preaching

and they get arrested,

Paul and Silas.

They're in a jail cell.

Midnight, they're singing hymns.

Big earthquake.

The jailer's like,

what must I do to be saved?

And he and his whole household

become Christians.

Remember that story?

Acts 16?

From Philippi,

Paul, Silas, and Timothy, PST,

they go to Thessalonica.

And so the we here

is Paul the Apostle,

Silas, and Timothy,

and they are so thankful to God

always for all of you.

The you is actually a y'all.

The church of the Thessalonians.

And they are quite an interesting people.

If you turn in your Bibles

to Acts chapter 17,

Acts 17 · chapter mention

here's the account

of the gospel first coming

to the city of Thessalonica

and how it was received.

I'm just going to read it.

It's on page 1100

of your Pew Bible.

Acts 17.

Now when they had passed through

Amphipolis,

something of that nature,

in Apollonia,

they came to Thessalonica

where there was a synagogue

of the Jews.

And Paul went in

as was his custom.

And on three Sabbath days,

he reasoned with them

from the scriptures,

explaining and proving

that it was necessary

for the Christ to suffer

and to rise from the dead

and saying,

this Jesus whom I proclaim to you

is the Christ.

That's him proclaiming the gospel.

For example,

Jesus is the Christ

who died and was raised

for your salvation.

And then look what happens.

Verse 4.

And some of them

were persuaded.

Some of the Jews

who were in the synagogues

were persuaded

and joined Paul and Silas.

They switched teams.

They became Christians.

As did a great many

of the devout Greeks

and not a few

of the leading women.

Those are Gentiles.

And so there was a group

of Jews that became Christians

and then a really big group

of Gentiles

that became Christians.

But the Jews,

those who didn't believe,

the Jews were jealous.

And taking some wicked men

of the rabble,

they formed a mob

and set the city

in an uproar

and attacked the house

of Jason,

seeking to bring them

out of the ground.

Them being Paul, Silas,

and Timothy, PST.

And when they could not

find them,

they dragged Jason

and some of the brothers,

recent converts,

before the city authorities,

shouting,

These men who have turned

the world upside down

have come here also.

And Jason has received them,

that punk,

and they are all acting

against the decrees

of Caesar,

saying that there's

another king,

Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

And the people

in the city authorities

were disturbed

when they heard these things

and when they had taken money

as security from Jason

and the rest,

they let them go.

Look at verse 10.

The brothers,

recent converts

in Thessalonica,

immediately sent Paul

and Silas away

by night to Berea.

That's the start

of the Thessalonian church.

It's extraordinary.

The gospel comes,

comes in power,

there's this huge response,

and not just a response

of followers of Jesus,

there is persecution

that breaks out,

affliction,

hardship,

hardship.

But there's more

to the story.

When Paul leaves

by night,

if you look at

chapter 2,

verse 17,

here's his own words

on it.

But since we were

torn away from you,

brothers,

something happened

between Paul

and the Thessalonian church.

Something sweet,

something good.

It was a tearing away

from this people.

He didn't want to go.

And so they leave,

they then go to Berea,

and then Paul goes to Athens,

chapter 17,

preaches to the Areopagus,

right,

Mars Hill,

if you remember that.

And then from Athens,

he then goes to Corinth

to plant a church there,

and he's in Corinth

for 18 months.

But before he went

to Corinth,

they sent Timothy

back to Thessalonica.

You can see that

in chapter 3,

verse 1,

therefore when we

could bear it no longer,

we were willing

to be left behind

at Athens alone,

and we sent Timothy,

our brother and God's

co-worker in the gospel

of Christ to establish

and exhort you

in the faith.

So they send Timothy back.

They're like,

Paul's like,

will you please

check on these Thessalonians?

I'm so concerned

about them.

And so Paul goes

on to Corinth,

and then they all

meet back up in Corinth.

And could you imagine

that meeting?

Paul sees Timothy

coming up

wherever he's staying,

now if I was Paul,

I'd be like,

okay,

I gotta be nice

to Timothy,

but I really wanna know

about the Thessalonians.

So Timothy,

how are you doing?

Anything interesting?

How are the Thessalonians?

And what

Timothy shares,

you can see in verse 6

of chapter 3,

but now that Timothy

has come to us

from you

and has brought

us the good news

of your faith

and love

and reported that

always,

you will always

remember us kindly

and long to see you.

Look at verse 8.

For now we live

if you are standing

fast in the Lord.

They were suffering

for Jesus

in their absence

and they were thriving

in Jesus.

You wanna know

why this book

is written?

Paul is so thankful

for what God

is doing

among these people.

So thankful.

And it's a constant

thanksgiving.

But it's just not true

of Paul,

Silas,

and Timothy

having regular

breakouts of

thanksgiving

in Corinth

for what God

is doing

in Thessalonica.

If you look at

most of the

New Testament books

and how they start,

Colossians 1.3,

Philippians 1.3,

Ephesians 1.16,

1 Corinthians 1.4,

Romans 1.8,

2 Timothy 1.3,

Philemon 4.

It all starts

with thanksgiving

for what God

is doing

in a particular church.

That's a lot

of prayers

of thanksgiving

that PST

were making.

What's extraordinary

about it

is how they are

so others focused.

Their prayers

are to God

with thanksgiving

for what he is doing

in the lives

of so many

other people.

Their lives

were enriched.

in their knowledge

of what God

was doing.

When you pray

for people,

what are you praying?

Are you giving

thanks for what

God is doing

in their lives?

Do you know?

It's very instructive.

So what we see here,

the Christian norm,

is this constant,

constant thanksgiving.

And now,

let's get into

the three reasons.

There are reasons

why Paul

is so thankful.

Why this group

of three

are regularly

giving thanksgiving.

Reason number one

is they know

that these Thessalonians

were chosen

by God.

Look at verse four.

For we know,

brothers,

sisters,

loved by God,

that he has chosen you.

What a statement

coming from

an apostle.

Wait,

the apostle Paul

is thanking God

that he has chosen us?

That would have been

so encouraging

if you were a Thessalonian.

Now,

when you hear

and read chosen,

we're talking about

God's role

in our salvation.

And with that

come some other words

that you may or may not

be familiar with.

Election,

predestination,

and all of a sudden,

we're all together

swimming in the deep end

of the theological pool.

What is the relationship

between God's sovereignty,

his choice,

and our responsibility

of repentance

and faith?

How does that

work out?

Well,

let's get in the deep end

of the pool a little bit.

There are basically

two ways

to understand

what it means

to be chosen by God.

The first way

is to think along this,

like this.

God chooses us,

his choice of us

is determined

by us

first choosing him.

And the idea

behind that

is an interpretation

of Romans 829

where those whom

God foreknew,

he also predestined.

And so the thinking

goes like this.

God foreseeing

into the future

those who would

choose him,

trust him,

believe in him,

he predestined them

based on

their choice of him.

So God's choosing

is made

on our choosing

in his foreseeing

of that.

It's a common view.

I used to hold

to this view

and I used to hold

to this view passionately.

I got into some

fights over it.

But that changed.

The second view

is that

our choosing

God

is determined

by God

first choosing

us.

That's the second

view,

second way

of understanding

that.

And it

understands

Romans 829,

those whom

God foreknew,

he predestined.

It's not so much

of a foreseeing

as a foreloving,

as a love

from eternity past.

And before

the foundation

of the world,

God set his love

on those

who would later

choose him.

So,

it's God

initiated.

Now,

I personally

came to that

view,

it took a long

time.

I had to have

a lot of

conversations

with a lot

of people

and wrestled

with my Bible

quite a bit.

When I first

heard this

view,

I was

repulsed by it.

It wasn't

my experience.

But as I

strove to

understand God's

word fully,

and as I

strove to

understand what

exactly is

God's sovereignty,

and what

exactly is the

extent of our

sinfulness,

and how that

affects us,

I soon realized,

oh man,

I need to give

this more

thought.

Now,

if this is new

to you,

I have a book

for you.

I've got one

up here and four

on the

connect desk

outside those

doors.

It's called

Humble Calvinism.

It's by J.A.

Meadors.

It's a laugh

out loud book.

He doesn't

take himself

too seriously.

And so,

if this is new

to you,

this would be

a great book

to read,

to get acquainted

with this idea

of God's

sovereign role

in choosing

us before

the foundation

of the world.

Now,

there's a word

in verse

four that I

want you to

see.

It's not the

word chosen.

It's the

word loved.

For we know,

brothers,

loved by God,

that he has

chosen you.

God's choosing

us was out

of his love

for us,

loved before

the foundation

of the world.

So,

whether you

believe God's

choosing us

was first

determined by

our choosing

him,

or our

choice of

God was

first determined

by God's

choice of

us,

we do know

that he

chose us

because he

loves us.

Listen to

Ephesians

chapter one,

verses four

and five.

deep waters.

Deep waters.

A lot to

think about.

God.

But what

Paul is

saying here

is he's

giving thanks

to God

for this

Thessalonian

church because

he recognizes

God had

chosen them.

They

belong to

him.

And again,

if you were

a Thessalonian

reading that,

you would be

incredibly

encouraged by

that.

It would be

a tremendous

assurance,

a tremendous

comfort,

and my

opinion is

the doctrine

of election,

the doctrine

of predestination

is to

encourage and

comfort

Christians.

But Paul

points to

something here.

He says,

here's how I

know.

Here's how I

know you're

chosen.

It's in

verse five,

because.

For we know

brothers,

loved by God,

that he has

chosen you

because.

Because what?

What happened?

Because our

gospel came to

you not only

in word,

but also in

power and in

the Holy Spirit

and with full

conviction.

We're back in

Acts 17,

1 through 10.

We're back

there where

Paul is

preaching Christ

in the synagogue

in Thessalonica

three Saturdays

in a row,

and something

happens.

PST is aware

of a unique

happening during

the preaching

of Christ.

theologians

talk about it

as the general

call of the

gospel and the

effectual call

of the gospel.

The general

call of the

gospel is when

a person

proclaims Christ

with words.

The effectual

call is when

God is

powerfully

working in

that preaching

to draw people

to himself.

And that is

what they're

describing here.

they were

aware that

God was

powerfully

at work

in Thessalonica

when they were

preaching the

gospel.

Look at how

they describe it.

Because our

gospel came

to you not

only in word,

not just a

general call,

but also in

power, in the

Holy Spirit,

and with full

conviction.

It was

effectual.

Paul describes

this power in

two ways.

He describes

it, the

source of the

power, as the

Holy Spirit,

and the effect

of that as

full conviction.

The Holy Spirit,

more likely than

not, there were

signs and wonders

happening in

Thessalonica when

the gospel was

being proclaimed.

But you can

better believe it,

that the Spirit

of God was

convicting these

Thessalonians

of their

idolatry.

That they were

worshiping false

gods.

That the lives

that they were

living were

abhorrent in

God's sight.

That their sin

condemned them

in God's eyes.

It was a

kindness that the

Holy Spirit would

convict them of

that.

But then you can

bank on it, the

Spirit was

illuminating them

at the same time

so that they

would see that

Jesus is the

only name given

among men by

which we can be

saved.

Their eyes were

opened, their

hearts were

inclined.

And so this

powerful pouring

out of God's

Spirit in

Thessalonica, Paul

is saying, we

know you were

chosen because

look at it.

Look what God

did.

The full

conviction is

describing the

response.

It's kind of like

this.

it's when the

Thessalonians were

listening to Paul

preach Christ and

they're sitting

there like, man, I

am a sinner.

Oh man, and this

is the best news I

have ever heard in

my life.

There's only one

way to be saved,

it's through this

Jesus.

I'm fully

convinced.

In other words,

they were all in.

They responded with

full conviction that

they recognized this

is God addressing

their hearts.

And so Paul,

Silas,

Timothy are giving

thanks to God that

this group of

Christians were

chosen by God.

They're so

thankful.

faithful.

This is what the

gospel does.

Romans 1.16, I am

not ashamed of the

gospel because it

is God's power unto

salvation.

It's God's power to

forgive sin and

satisfy God's wrath.

It's God's power to

give spiritual life to

the spiritual dead.

It's God's power to

change someone's

eternity.

It's God's power to

change your desires

from wanting to sin to

wanting to live for

Jesus Christ,

treasuring him above

all else.

Only the gospel does

that.

And that's why they're

giving thanks.

They're so thankful.

The gospel of God

makes us thankful to

God.

It's a catalyst.

And so this first

reason is that they're

giving thanks because

they were convinced

that this church is

chosen.

Chosen by God's grace

and mercy.

Reason number two,

they were changed by

God.

They're given thanks

because they had been

changed by God.

And I'm going to fast

forward this one because

I really want to get

the reason number three.

So let me give you the

nuts and bolts.

Changed by God.

We see it in verse six,

and you became imitators

of us and of the Lord.

The gospel had such an

impact that these

Thessalonians got

flipped.

They switched to who

they were imitating.

I don't know who they're

imitating before, but then

they start imitating Paul,

Silas, and Timothy, and

Jesus.

Did you see that in verse

six?

And you became imitators of

us and of the Lord.

So they were changed in who

they imitate.

imitate, and we get to

ask the question, in what

way?

How were they imitating

them?

And we see in verse six,

for you received the word

in much affliction with joy

of the Holy Spirit.

What marked their change

and their imitating of PST

in the Lord Jesus Christ

was not only that they were

being afflicted for Christ,

but they were full of joy

from the Holy Spirit in the

midst of that.

How do you explain that?

Other than they've been

changed by the power of

God.

And so they became imitators

of Paul, Silas, Timothy,

and Jesus.

But it's more than that.

Not only did they become

imitators, look at verse

seven.

They became examples.

So that you became an

example to all the believers

in Macedonia and Achaia.

That's the Balkan

Peninsula.

Maybe you know where

Greece is.

Maybe you know where

Albania is.

On the west side of the

Balkan Peninsula is the

Adriatic Sea.

On the east side is the

Aegean Sea.

On the south side is the

Mediterranean Sea.

The churches in this area,

they would have been the

churches like Philippi, of

Corinth, of Athens.

Sancria, where if you're

familiar with Lydia from

Romans 16, where she is

from.

Berea.

These were the churches in

this area and they became

aware of what God had been

doing in the Thessalonians.

Here's the equivalent of it.

What's happening is the

equivalent, first century

equivalent, of something going

viral.

It's gone viral.

The faith of the Thessalonians,

of what God has done, has

gone viral.

Their example, not only of

their suffering, but of their

evangelism.

Let me point that out to you.

For not only, verse 8, has the

word of the Lord sounded forth

from you in Macedonia and Achaia.

That sounded forth, the word of

the Lord, that's the gospel.

It's echoing through the

region.

But your faith in God has gone

forth everywhere so that we

need not say anything.

Do you see how they've become

examples?

Not just in their joyful

suffering, but in their bold

evangelism.

The evangelized have become the

evangelists.

It's beautiful.

So, they've been changed by God.

They're no longer

proselytizing something other

than Jesus.

They are proclaiming Christ

boldly, at cost.

We can ask this question coming

out of it.

It's, has the gospel changed you

like that?

Who are you seeking to imitate?

Are you seeking to imitate

Jesus?

How bold is your evangelism?

Are you talking to other people

about Jesus?

You see, the gospel is God's

catalyst, and it brings about a

chain reaction in the way that we

suffer with joy, and it brings

about boldness in our evangelism.

The third reason why PST, we're

so thankful to God for the

Thessalonians, is that PST were

convinced that they had been

converted to God.

So, chosen by God, changed by

God, third reason, converted to

God, and we see that in verse

nine.

For they themselves report

concerning us the kind of

reception we had among you, and

here comes the conversion

language, and how you turn 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.

Amen.

What has gone viral is that the

Thessalonians had been radically

changed by the gospel.

And this turning language, and how you

turn to God from idols to serve the

living and true God, that is getting

at this idea of conversion.

Turning from idols and turning to God,

God.

It's how you become a Christian.

You've become a Christian by being

converted.

Imagine this.

This is going to be incredibly, this

is a very sensitive topic.

And so, please, just hear me out.

Could you imagine this?

A Bears fan converting to becoming a

Packers fan.

Could you imagine that?

Here's what would happen.

Here's what would need to happen.

The Bears fan would be like, I'm

giving, burning my jerseys.

I'm pulling down my posters.

I am taking off the license plate frame

thing.

I'm peeling off the bumper sticker.

I am no longer watching Bears games.

I don't care what's happening to the

coaches and players and trades.

I don't, where is Soldier Field

anyway?

They don't care.

They've turned their back on being a

Bears fan, and they've gone full in

to being a Packers fan.

They've got Packers fan jerseys, knit

hats.

They have Packers platters in which

they serve cheese.

This is what they do.

Really cool bumper stickers, and they get

a tattoo of a cheese head.

You know that they're all in.

You switch teams.

When someone becomes a Christian, they

switch teams decisively, definitively.

I'm no longer part of team world who are

living for things that are fake and have no

life, and I have made a full switch to team

Jesus, in whom alone is salvation, the living and

true God.

Conversion is a dramatic, decisive change.

Conversion.

You're turning your back on sin, and you're

turning to God through Christ.

Conversion.

And what Paul is saying is here is like, we know

you were converted.

We know you've been radically changed.

We know that you are no longer living for idols, false

gods, false promises, no life there.

The Thessalonians were probably worshiping Greco-Roman

gods.

They were probably living sexually promiscuous

lifestyles, because that was the norm of the world.

They were probably just living for themselves.

In 21st century America, what Carl Truman says,

expressive individualism.

Live your truth.

We've got to turn our back on that.

Moral therapeutic deism.

It's God works for me to make me feel good.

It's making God in our own image.

We turn to these things.

These are idols.

There's no life in them.

Or maybe it's the God of the like.

We just want to be liked.

You just want to be approved and accepted.

There's no life there.

You've got to turn to that.

Idol.

Turn away from that.

And you turn to the living and true God.

The God of the Bible.

The living God.

Who is the giver of all life.

Both physical and spiritual.

The God who is the true God.

He is true reality.

Reality.

And he reveals what is true in his word.

You turn from these false, dead, hopeless things.

And you turn to that God who is alive and is true and is our hope.

But.

You can't do that on your own.

The only thing that can make a dead sinner who is living for idols want to live for the one true living God is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It's the power of God unto salvation.

There's nothing that you can do to change yourself.

It's only by God's grace and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Think about this.

Jesus is the ultimate repo man.

You can't repo yourself.

You are in wicked debt to God because of your sin.

But Jesus came for you.

And he repoed you.

And now you belong as you should be to the living God.

There's no going back.

Or maybe do you remember the 16th century stargazer, Nicholas Copernicus?

Because before Copernicus, everybody thought that we lived in a geocentric solar system, that the sun orbited the earth.

And then Copernicus, with his kind of observations, realized, no, no, no, no, no.

We live in a heliocentric solar system.

The earth orbits the sun.

It was always like that.

He just discovered reality.

What the gospel does is it gives sinners eyes to see that you are not the center of your solar system.

Jesus is.

And it moves us from living for ourselves to living, bring brought into reality that Jesus Christ, risen, reigning, one day returning,

he is the controlling center of all things in whom we orbit.

He is.

Joyfully.

This is conversion.

This is the change that happens when you encounter the power of God in the gospel.

And it's wonderful.

So here's the question it begs.

Have you been converted?

Have you switched teams?

Have you turned your back on false idols in order to serve the living God?

Have you done that?

You can do that today.

You just cry out.

You say, Lord Jesus, you're where it's at.

I'm a sinner.

You've died for my sin.

I'm living for you.

It's the stake in the ground.

And you can do that today.

Come find me after the service.

I'd be happy to help you pray that to God.

And you go from death to life.

You switch teams.

Please.

There's one effect that I need you to see here.

One additional effect.

When you become a Christian, you switch time zones.

We recently had some people from our church in Israel that came back.

And it takes a while to switch back to time zones.

Did you notice verse 10?

Word is out.

It's viral.

That the Thessalonians had been converted.

And now they're waiting for his son from heaven.

Whom he raised from the dead.

Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

They were living in a new time zone now.

It's called Christ time.

Not mountain time.

Not central time.

Christ time.

And what that is, is now, because of the gospel,

it now changes your outlook.

It changes your hope.

And now we're waiting for the return of Jesus.

And we're living lives in accordance with that.

First Thessalonians is packed with references to the return of Jesus Christ.

It's very strategic to a church that's suffering.

It aims us.

So one of the further effects of the gospel is that it changes our hope.

What we're looking forward to most.

First, and in this case, it's the return of Jesus Christ.

Steadfast in your hope, Paul says in verse 3.

The hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Him coming back.

And here's how it all works.

When you are on Christ time, you're saying things like,

we're one day closer to Jesus coming back.

Woo!

Come, Lord Jesus, come.

When you're aware that Christ is coming back,

you're going to be aware of eternal things.

You're going to be aware that when Jesus comes back,

not only is he coming to deliver us,

but the wrath of God is coming too.

Which means it changes the way that we see people.

We see people, and how will they stand on that day?

So when you're living on Christ time,

it will embolden your evangelism.

It will change the way that you see people,

not in relationship to you,

but in relationship to Christ.

Christ.

It's a good effect.

It's a healthy effect.

When you're serving the living God.

And it was because of this conversion

that they are giving thanks.

Chosen by God, changed by God, converted to God.

This is what stirs their thankfulness.

This past week, midweek,

I started changing the way I pray for you.

I pray for 10 of our members every day.

And I'm usually praying,

Oh Lord, would you help so-and-so treasure you?

Would you help them treasure you in their marriage,

in their parenting, in their work?

If I'm aware of other things going on,

I'll pray for that as well.

But did you know when I started praying for you this week?

Oh God, thank you so much

for choosing this person,

for changing this person,

for converting this person.

Thank you God for your kindness to them.

Thank you.

It's a game changer in terms of your prayer life.

It gets you focused on what God is doing

in the lives of others around you.

And it gets our focus on God.

It changes the way you pray.

And it changes how you synchronize your watch.

The gospel of Jesus Christ,

the gospel of God,

makes us thankful to God

because of what God is doing.

Let's pray.

God, thank you so much for your word.

Thank you for 1 Thessalonians.

God, would you use this to stir us

in new ways

that we would delight

more and more

in what you are doing in our midst.

And then more and more,

we are awaiting

the return of your son,

our king, Jesus.

In your name we pray.

Amen.