1 Thessalonians | The Cure

Welcome to the one Crossing podcast here.

You can find past sermons along with other exclusive content.

Our prayer is that God will move in your life, even when you are

on the go, we hope you enjoyed this message.

Well, Crossing Church. So glad to be able to be with

you today. I would love for it to be under

different circumstances than it is because in Adams County,

we've had to close down the three locations we have.

In Adams County because of this uptick in viruses, virus

incidents that we've had. And so here I am back in an

empty Auditorium preaching to a lot of empty seats.

But I know that I'm going to be getting into a lot of human

hearts today. I know that there's a lot of our

locations that are open and you are all fellowshipping and

spending time together. I'm so incredibly thankful for

that and while that's happening, we're many of you Are we are

back at home and watching online in Adams County and you know

it's one of those things where you feel like you're taking a

few steps forward and then some steps backward and I imagine

that's the way it's going to be for a while.

But in spite of all of this, the word of God is undeterred and

it's still going out. And I'm so thankful that you're

tuning in and that together we can have our hearts open and we

can not only take in the word of God but we can allow it to

change us and to mold us into people that we never dreamed.

We could ever be because that's what the Holy Spirit does.

He can literally transform us and I'm excited for that but I

have to tell you this last week or so it's just been really hard

because when you feel like you're making all this progress

and then all of a sudden you have to go backward, it's just

not easy. I have One of the one of those

pet peeve guys that when I go on vacation somewhere, like the

worst possible thing that could ever happen is that I would have

to actually stop, turn around, go back and get something.

And that's one of the places where I have to really work on

my anger, but I don't remember it ever being more difficult for

me than when our first child was born.

When when bin was born and I'll tell you why.

Allison and I brought him home from the hospital and what

happened was we were watching him and he went from a pink

little baby too, kind of a, an orange colored baby.

We called up the are doctors and they said you need to bring him

back in and I can't tell you how difficult it was to be able to

take our little baby home, and then they have to take him back

into the hospital. It'll with some sort of a

condition that we didn't know about turns out that Alison and

I had two different kinds of blood types.

And what that had created is a pretty common problem in

infants, which is called bilirubin emia and it's where

your liver is not developed enough to take all the

impurities out of the blood and it kind of shows up as a

jaundice, kind of a yellowish Orange.

On their skin and it was so difficult because I remember how

helpless we felt both of us. Like, we had failed, like we had

done something wrong and and then to watch, as they would

take care of our little child. And I mean, it was some of it

was just really hard to see like, when they would take blood

and and they would take this like a little razor blade and

and they would cut his heel and he would just scream and cry and

then they would be squeezing to get blood out and they did that

over and over and it got to the place where Alyson said, Jerry

you just can't even you can't even be in here because I would

get so angry because that was my little boy and they would strip

him naked. And they would put him in this

special. Little bassinet that was plastic

with these ultraviolet lights over these Billy lights.

They were called to try to To burn out those impurities.

And he was there for a few days and it was just so hard for us

and you know what, we had to deal with that for three of our

four kids and I just recall that I'll always be like an indelible

impression on me that we felt so helpless and they're what that

helpless feeling is like and it never got easier for the other

kids. And in many ways, I felt the

same way. A that's similar kind of

helplessness in the midst of this virus, and I'm sure that

many of you have felt the same way this like, you're powerless,

like, you're helpless. Like what?

I don't understand why, what can I do, how can I change this?

Maybe you've had some loved one that has been actually sick with

it. Maybe you have an elderly family

that you can't get close to right now.

Maybe you have family that is immunocompromised and so you're

a lot more. A frightened that it could could

really hurt someone or even take their life, maybe you've got

someone with pre-existing conditions but you know what?

It's even it seems to me it's even more palatable when it's a

baby because babies are just so helpless like babies, just can't

do anything, right? I mean, think about it for a

second. What responsibilities do babies

have when they come into your family, What is your expectation

of them? You know, the answer is, there's

none there zero expectation, right?

All the expectations, all the responsibilities are placed on.

You, they're placed on the parent.

That baby will cry and you won't know why?

You won't know. Well, are you crying because you

need your diaper change? Or you're hungry or you're hurt,

or you're angry, or you're tired.

And over time, you're going to have to figure out what those

different cries mean because that little child can do

anything, can't communicate, can't walk.

Can't talk. Really can't do much of anything

for themselves, right? And so they need constant care

and constant attention. And if they don't get it,

they'll just die. Now, I want you to apply that to

the sermon series that were in called The Cure and more

specifically we are in the book of First Thessalonians and I

want you to just kind of capture that idea of helplessness and I

want you to see it in the context of the Apostle Paul.

So we're going to read from Acts chapter 17, verses 2 to 4

Acts 17:2–4

because that's where it records. The birth of the Thessalonian

Church. Let's read it together.

It says, as was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue and on

three Sabbath days, don't forget that, three Sabbath days.

He reasoned with them from the scriptures explaining and

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

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

some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas as did

a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent

women. Well, that's the sound.

So positive, doesn't it? I mean, he's only in this town

for three weeks. He's preached his on three

Sabbath days and all of a sudden there is a nucleus of a church

that's formed. But after those three weeks,

here's what happens. There's a riot in.

The city. Seems that a lot of devout Jews

that don't believe in Jesus had come, and they set the town on

edge to the point that there was going to be a riot.

And because of that, the Apostle Paul and Silas had to flee the

city. So this church was just three

weeks old, think about it, just three weeks old an infant and

then suddenly without warning, it was on its own or at least,

it would seem that way. I wonder how that made the

Apostle Paul and Silas feel about this new church in about

the people that they had met and about their new faith in Jesus

Christ. I bet you like, any parent, the

Apostle Paul would have felt totally helpless Like I can't

just leave them after only three sermons, I can't just leave them

when there's so much more that they need to understand.

Matter of fact, the Apostle Paul refers to this in first

1 Thessalonians 2:7

Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 7 and 8.

He says, just this line just as a nursing mother cares for her

children. So we cared for you.

Right there it is. The Apostle Paul views.

This church like he's a parent like they're the infant.

Like it's the responsibility of taking care of this church, has

on him and yet he's not able to do it.

He's precluded from doing it because of this riding in the

city and then being driven out of the city.

I mean, I connect with that, especially right now, in the

midst of this pandemic, the midst of this series called The

Cure. I connect with that.

Because sometimes I feel like that about our locations about

people right now. Her just exploring what it means

to have this new life in Jesus Christ.

And I feel the weight, I feel this responsibility of providing

the very most that we can. And at the same time, just being

above reproach when it comes to protecting Everybody's Health

and well-being. The problem with that is that I

can spend so much time. Looking at my part, like, what

my responsibility is that I may feel to realize something that's

very, very powerful that I want us all to learn from the book of

1st Thessalonians, that God has apart.

And that God will always do his part.

He's a faithful God, and He will always do his part.

And his part is actually so much greater than I part you know

what, as I look back all those years ago to my kids and that

bilirubin anemia that jaundice, you know what God did he did.

His part found out that we could bring our children home.

We could set them in a window and just a sunshine coming in

from the window would have an effect that God had already

placed a cure in the sunshine for children that are dealing

with. Bilirubin anemia.

Plus we got great Medical Care and all of our kids had loving

parents to walk through that, that situation with them and see

them to the other side. You know what, just like God

took care of my kids. All those years ago, he was

going to take care of the Thessalonians because that's

what God does, he takes care of us.

I want you to look at a scripture that emphasizes this

in first Thessalonians, S5. The Apostle Paul says this, Our

Gospel came to, you not simply with words, not just words, not

just a good sermon with good illustrations.

But also with power with the Holy Spirit and with deep

conviction, You know, my initial thinking when I was reading

through this was how in the world could a church survived

when it only had three sermons, preached it.

And they didn't have any of the tools that were necessary in

order to survive. Remember this church had no

leaders. Three weeks is not enough time

to develop leaders. It had no New Testament that

hadn't even been written yet. Had no way to contact Paul.

Nobody has cell phone. Nobody could put him on.

Speakerphone, nobody could get a zoom call together.

There was no way that they were going to be able to contact Paul

and yet the answer was right in front of them because the answer

is that God provided all that needed to be provided through

the Holy Spirit. You know what, after reading the

other letters of the Apostle, Paul, I know that that there

were spiritual gifts that were imparted before they left

because the Holy Spirit was active in moving in the

Thessalonian Church before Paul and Silas escaped.

And I think just like then God Is providing for us right now.

Exactly what we need to stay strong in the middle of this

pandemic because his holy spirit is right here with us right now.

The Apostle Paul talks about this, he writes about this, and,

and he says that the holy spirit is actually manifesting himself

in three distinct ways are characteristics to the

Thessalonian people. And we read this in first

1 Thessalonians 1:3

Thessalonians 1:3, it says this, we remember before our God and

Father your work. Listen work.

Produced by faith, your labor, prompted by love.

And Your endurance inspired by hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, that sounds like a sermon right there.

Three points. Right there.

Together. Something about the work of

Faith. Something about a labor of love

and something about endurance inspired by hope.

I want us to look at these three characteristics and I want the

to apply them to us right now. So, almost immediately, when I

go into this, when I look into this, I'm confused.

I'm a little confused because of the first two even though they

make a good outline, I don't know that they make much of a

difference, right? When I first read them work

produced by faith, labor prompted by love well work and

labor to me. That's pretty much the same

thing, isn't it? You can talk about how you labor

or how you work, but But they're synonyms.

They're really not much difference, that's why I'm

confused. So what is the difference?

What's the difference between work and labor?

I'm going to need to know that if I know how to if I'm going to

know how to apply this to my life.

Well, there's two different words in the Greek language that

are used here. And the first word, the word for

work is actually a secular one and the second one.

That's that's translated. Labor is a spiritual one.

That makes all the difference in the world.

So when Paul is talking about their work and Faith their work,

that's produced by faith. He's actually talking about what

they do for a living, he's talking about their secular jobs

and then all of a sudden that opens up a whole different

concept to me. All right?

Because that's the way most, all of us are right at all of our

locations. Right now, we all have a job.

We all have something that we do.

Do that is part of society, right?

And so, what we do for a living becomes an opportunity for us to

show faith. They're your job is an

environment. My job is an environment and

what was happening to the Thessalonians is that they were

reflecting their faith in that job environment.

And you know what, that's a challenge for you, and that's a

challenge for me today. Many of us need to see our work

place as an environment as an opportunity to shine.

For Jesus Christ to show what faith in Jesus Christ.

Really looks like now. As you read through this letter

and I hope you're doing your your regular reading through the

Cure through the New Testament. What you've been told in first

Thessalonians is that, that church, the admit individuals

not Church were experiencing severe suffering.

There are only three weeks old when Paul leaves, they're

experiencing suffering and yet they're standing strong.

And if they can stand strong, we can stand strong even in the

middle of a pandemic, right? Not just because we have all the

bells and whistles and tools we need.

But because the holy spirit is here with us, and we need to

shine the light of faith in our everyday lives, in our everyday

relationships, and in our workplaces.

The second thing, that the Apostle Paul refers to in these

characteristics is their labor prompted by love.

Now the word this word that's translated labor in your Bible

is actually describing sweating like Sweat Equity and this was

The Sweat Equity that they were putting into their spiritual

lives. Now, think about that, the

Apostle Paul's using a word talking about how you're

working, so hard on your spiritual growth on your

spiritual strength. Even though you're three weeks

old, you're not taking anything for.

For granted, they're putting a lot of effort into their

spiritual life to spiritually survive.

These baby Christians are going to have some really hard labor

in front of them, but the love that they've experienced.

That's why they call it the labor of love.

The love that they've experienced, you know, actually

what it does. Is it accomplishes so much in

their life and then they're experiencing just how worthwhile

it is. How worthwhile it is to to

strive for your faith, to be a child of God and to live out

what you've learned want to ask you, what kind of Sweat Equity

right now? Are you putting into your walk

of faith? Are we being motivated by this

incomparable, love that Jesus Christ.

Has for each one of us. And is that translating into a

love for the people that are around us because it's happening

in us, you know, we've said that many times at The Crossing that

the Holy Spirit wants to work in us and through us, right?

And is there a labor of love going on inside of us?

So that we can not only Shine. Jesus Christ out in a secular

world, but that that love that. We're feeling from him is

translating through Us in to others.

The third characteristic that the Apostle Paul refers to, in

this defining scripture is the endurance of Hope.

How are you doing right now in the area of Hope?

Let's just get real. How hopeful are you right now?

You know what I bet you're not doing very well.

I'm not doing very well, the second I give allow myself to

have a little hope something. Just jerks the rug out from

underneath me. I feel like no sooner.

Do we make a little bit of Headway with this virus that it

comes back again with a vengeance.

And there are so many reasons right now is that they're just

all the way across the Panorama of our culture to just feel

hopeless and it feels like it's coming from all sides at once.

So the Thessalonians had to feel this way to like write the very

moment that they find out that who Jesus is and what their life

can be like with Jesus then all of a sudden their teachers,

their leaders are gone and they don't have anything that they

really need to move forward. And I would imagine a time like

that, it could be a difficult time to possess or hold onto any

hope. One of the things that they've

been taught about was the return of Jesus.

And so a lot of them latched onto that Jesus is coming back,

Jesus is going to return and so some of them just kept taking

that a step further, and they believe that Jesus was going to

come back at any moment. So, some tests alone he's

decided not to even go to work anymore.

Christians, like I Think Jesus is coming back.

There's no point in me. Going to work, there's really no

point in me. Sharing my faith with anybody

else because it's going to happen in any moment.

I We were literally packing their bags.

And they were missing what the Apostle Paul had taught them.

So Paul needs to set the record straight and he does that in

first Thessalonians chapter 4. He does it in verses 13 through

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

Verse 18. And I have to tell you that this

scripture is one of the most hopeful scriptures in the entire

New Testament. It's a scripture that I use for

any believer when we're at a graveside and And a family is

mourning, the loss of someone that they love, but that belongs

to the Lord. And I want to share that

scripture with you right now. Brothers, and sisters, we do not

want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death.

So that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind who have no

hope for we believe that Jesus died and rose again.

And so we believe God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen

asleep in him. According to the Lord's word, we

tell you that we are still alive and who are left unto the coming

of the Lord will certainly not precede those who have fallen

asleep for the Lord. Himself will come down from

heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the Archangel, the

trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise.

First after that, we are still alive.

And are left will be caught up together with them.

Them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Therefore encourage one another with these words now I need for

you to really listen to me right now.

I need for you to really key in on what I'm saying right now.

This pandemic won't be here, forever.

The unrest will die down. The elections will come and go

race. Relations will get better, the

economy will bounce back, you'll be able to take care of your

family, your kids will, eventually go back to school.

Toilet paper will be in full Supply will get to eat out with

our friends. We will shake hands and we will

hug again. The church will return to normal

and a thousand other things that Feel up ended right now in your

life. And somewhere down deep inside

of you, you know, that that's true.

But that's not really where the hope is.

I want you to see where the hope is.

The Hope is that Jesus has not forgotten you.

That he loves you and that he has a plan for you.

That is love and care. Are greater than any pandemic

because we are not forsaken. His love is greater than any

political situation or election cycle because we're not

forsaken, his love is more powerful than any division or

animosity brought on by racial differences because Of all

colors are not forsaken. His provision is in Greater

Supply than any government program and his watch care over

your life and your ability to provide for your family.

Is that no matter, no matter the difficulty, or the challenge,

you are not forsaken. His provision is there for you.

Now your marriage, your family, your children because we are not

forsaken. His provision surrounds, you

your Christian family surrounds, you his angels surround you, his

spirit is in you. His resurrection power animates,

you his forgiveness absolves you his blood covers, you his wisdom

enlightens, you his leadership precedes.

You his lamp guides you, his strengthen power defends you and

his presence will sustain you. And if this life is ever taken

from you, he'll give you a new one.

Because the dead in Christ are not forsaken.

And if you close your eyes in death, you will immediately open

them in eternal life. Because we are not forsaken.

We have a responsibility to let this broken world.

No, we are not forsaken. We are blessed beyond, measure

your blessed beyond measure because Jesus has given his

children, all they will ever need and you are one of those

children if you're in an intimate personal relationship

with Jesus Christ. Christ.

So look up my brother. Look up my sister look up Jerry.

Because your Redemption. Is it Han?

Now we're moving to a time of decision.

Thank you for joining us. A special thank you to those of

you that choose to give to this ministry, it's because of your

generosity that this ministry is possible.

You can click the link in the description to give now or visit

the crossing dotnet forward slash podcast for more

information. If you enjoy the podcast, be

sure to subscribe and share with your friends, tagging one

Crossing on social media. Thank you so much for listening.