The Birth of an Expectant Church

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Good morning, church.

Why don't you take your Bibles and turn to 1 Thessalonians?

As you do, uh just want to say thank you.

It's been a busy week at CCW.

It's been a great week.

I know a bunch of ladies gathered here yesterday, and there was a sweet fellowship, a ladies' brunch.

Thank you all for being involved in that.

And then a crew went last night, and uh Amanda Roper spoke at a church, and I've heard great things about that, Amanda.

It's awesome.

Um and so it's just been a good, good week.

I want the church I was looking, there he is.

Uh we have um some special guests with us today that have come in.

And I told the church, well, I've been telling you for two years that God has um Benji and I have been talking, and if you're in the business meeting, you would know this.

But there's some folks here.

This may be news to you.

But we've been talking about the worship ministry, and uh Benji is running and gunning full speed with SurfPro, and he told me two years ago it was time to step down, and I said, okay.

So here we are.

But we have I've been interviewing, I've had about seven or eight different interviews, but today uh Nate Smith and his wife Rebecca, would you all stand?

I'm sorry.

I know that put you.

But they are joining us from North Carolina, and Nate came and we appreciate you using your gift, but we're gonna be uh spending some time today with our church council with them.

But we're prayerful and want you to be prayerful with us about the door that God would open and for peace.

And so, welcome.

Thank you guys.

I want to say one more this is a really important word because we're Southern Baptists around here.

Uh Jeff and Misty Webster have opened up a meet and three restaurant there in Harper's Vale, and everybody needs to go there after church, okay?

Y'all understand?

Right?

Jeffra right here.

They can give you directions.

It's amazing.

They let us eat there, and I had everything, and it was all good.

And so, if y'all would uh let's let's just uh make sure that we help them with the business down there.

Thank you.

All right, I do have a prayer need that I want y'all to be aware of.

I've been um spending some time on the phone the past couple days, but Dale and Heather Moore.

Heather lost her mother not many months ago.

In Friday, she called me.

Her father had to be rushed to Grandview and is having some uh major heart issues.

And the hope, and this is all of it's kind of scary when it gets into that, but the hope is that he can have open heart surgery and that it will, his heart will be able to take that.

So would you pray for Keith Holcomb and their family?

All right, with that said, I want you there in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1.

1 Thessalonians 1 · chapter mention

And last week we kind of started with the hope of Jesus' coming again, and that was the questions that were being answered to this uh group, this new church.

But we're gonna talk today about how the church really got kicked off and got started.

Do you men and ladies remember, if if you're my era of time, do you remember the book, What to Expect When You're Expecting?

I know the ladies do.

I remember Heather telling me some things from it.

I didn't crack it open and look at it.

But in that time, right, is there anything that can prepare you for what's coming?

Okay, good.

Uh you're in the same place as me.

But I remember we were going and the first ultrasound, right?

The first ultrasound was this whole deal, and if you've never been to it before, and there's a doctor there, and he squeezes some stuff, and and and and they're doing so all of this is kind of strange to you, and they're like, look, there it is.

And I'm looking, y'all.

And I'm like, it looks like a snowstorm and a bad security camera combined.

And they're like, I think that's a foot, and I'm like, oh, hooray! And I'm looking at Heather and I'm like, I think we got a human in there.

I don't know.

But and then it's making noises.

I'm like, this is like something from outer space.

And I'm looking at Heather, and here's what I remember though, even though I couldn't see clearly what was going on, I believed in what was coming.

And I want you to know, church, even though we don't know the day, the time, the hour, there's something to this church, the expectancy of the Thessalonian church that I believe we're going to learn from in the next few weeks.

They were expecting while they were expecting.

Would you pray with me, Father?

God, we thank you just for the opportunity to be together this morning.

Thank you, God, for uh the worship and time to praise you with song.

We thank you for our church family and just the sweetness to be together in fellowship and all the work that, Lord, you've been doing work all week long.

And God, uh, we just want to join you where you're at and see you.

And so, God, I pray that you come into the service and Lord, visit with us.

I pray that our hearts would be drawn to what your word has to say and get us out of the way.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Look down there, 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, and we'll read through verse 5.

1 Thessalonians 1 · chapter mention

The first thing this morning, the first point is the conversion evidence of this young church.

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

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

We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers.

Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, I would highlight faith, your labor of love, highlight love, and patience of hope, highlight hope.

In our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of our God and Father, knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God, for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.

First thing I want you to see, what I said to highlight, faith, hope, and love.

You see this in Galatians, you see it in Colossians, you see it in 1 Corinthians 13, right?

That's the most famous.

It says, Now abide faith, hope, and love.

But the greatest of these is love.

But I want you to know a conversion evidence for those who've come to Christ, you'll see these things mentioned by Paul often.

Your faith, your hope, your love is the object of Christ in you.

And the Lord produces that.

And so when our faith and hope changes, right, you're living a life normal.

Your faith and hope without Christ is in all kinds of things.

It's in money, it's in politics, it's in power, it's in all kinds of things.

But when them things are changed and your heart becomes surrendered, all of a sudden you're able to have what's called agape, a sacrificial love.

It changes you.

And this is conversion evidence.

And all of those passages I mentioned, Galatians 5, 5, and 6, Colossians 1, 3 through 5.

You'll see it in Romans.

Um, and it is evidences of a Christian, of a believer.

Well, let's see how it got to that point.

Letter A is the scriptural persuasion.

I want you to go back to the book of Acts.

Acts 17 outlines how Paul came to these towns and how these churches had been birthed.

In Acts 17, verse 1 through 4.

Acts 17:1–4

Now, when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

Then Paul, as his custom was, went to them and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, and saying, This Jesus, whom I preach to you, is the Christ.

And some of them were persuaded, and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women joined Paul and Silas.

But the Jews who were not persuaded became envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar, attacking the house of Jason and bringing out the people.

And we'll talk about that in a little bit.

But Paul, as his custom was, it says, went to the first synagogue when he got to Thessalonica and began to preach.

What did he preach?

Jesus Christ is crucified, risen, and he's coming again.

And it says that he persuaded them.

People ask me a lot, what do you like to read, Pastor?

And this is kind of funny.

I have tons and tons of books.

If you came to my office, you would be in disbelief at the amount of books I have.

And this is it's just kind of a funny thing.

I was in youth ministry 17 years.

I think people thought he's a youth pastor.

He must need books.

He must need to read about God's working and plan.

I have hundreds of books that I've never cracked open, but I have, I mean, people just drop boxes and boxes of books.

But I gotta tell you that my favorite, my very, I want you to write this name now, my favorite author all time is the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit of the living God is my most favorite author.

And what it says here is that Paul went to the scriptures.

He didn't go to Greek literature and try to persuade them.

And Paul had a lot of knowledge of a lot of things, and you find out about him.

It says, Paul reasoned to them with the scriptures, the word of God.

And three Sundays, that's important.

Three Sabbaths, Paul, so he spent approximately three to four weeks with these people, and what was he spending his time with them over?

The Word of God.

And what it says is almost miraculous.

And many of them believed, and a church, hear me, three weeks, three Sabbaths, and a church was birthed.

A church was born in three Sundays teaching.

And this is what Thessalonians said that the gospel is not mere words.

I want you to hear today.

Methods don't birth a church.

Paul found it necessary to teach these new believers from Scripture.

Well, I wish he didn't have to go here, but he goes into in verse 5.

You saw it.

He decided to teach them on election.

Look at what it says.

For a gospel did not come to you in word only, but in power and the Holy Spirit, as you know what kind of men we were, and you became, I'm missing the passage.

Is it verse 4?

There it is.

Verse 4.

Knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.

That's important.

Paul decided after talking to them about who they were in Christ, their faith, hope, and love, evidence.

He says, there's an election.

He decides to speak about divine elections.

People have problems.

All kinds of problems with God having choice.

Yet we surely do appreciate that God gave us choice.

Right?

And he did.

Matthew 6, 33 says, but seek ye first the kingdom of God.

That's a choice.

In Joshua 24, 15, he says, choose you this day whom you will serve.

Paul said, I have to die daily, because if I didn't, in my flesh, I would make what?

The wrong choice.

I was glad, church, when God gave me the capacity to choose my wife.

And he didn't just throw somebody at me and say, here, take it.

He allowed me a choice, and he allowed her a choice.

And I didn't know until she said yes that it was going to be, yes, me.

I mean, I remember my heart just racing as I was on that knee.

And he said, she could say no.

She could say no.

But I know these things, and I want you to hear them.

Ephesians 1, 4 says, as he hath chosen us before the foundation of the world.

The Bible says we love because he first loves.

It also says, He's not willing that any should perish, but that all come to repentance in faith.

The Bible points in a way that is difficult for a human mind to understand to human choice, and it points to God's sovereignty.

And he's showing that there is a harmony between him choosing and us responding.

David Jeremiah said about this passage that Paul was emphasizing the security of their salvation.

He was reminding them Jesus died, he was buried, he resurrected.

God called you and he says, And here is your faith, hope, and love.

It is evidence you have responded, you have been saved, young Thessalonian church.

And he goes on further and he says, Let me show further evidence.

Look at verse 5, part B.

Came to you in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.

He says, The Holy Spirit, let her be, the Holy Spirit power came upon this church.

In power and the Holy Spirit.

When the Holy Spirit works through the Word of God, a person can be convicted, a person can be instructed, and a person who would otherwise not change can change.

This is a process that happens to a person that's saved.

I pled, church, with the Holy Spirit of God this week that you would be illuminated by truth.

Hebrews 4 12 says that the word of God is a two-edged sword, that it is living.

How can this book be living?

How can this be alive?

Why?

Because the Holy Spirit of God is in it.

The Spirit does not operate apart from Scripture, and the Scripture does not ignite apart from the Holy Spirit.

Apart from the Holy Spirit, there is no power, there is no change.

You don't have the blessed opportunity of conviction.

That's the Holy Spirit.

It's alive.

The Word of God is alive.

The church, hear me, is alive.

This is not an organization.

It is an organism.

It is vital, it is alive, and it's birthed by faith, hope, and love and expectancy.

Hear me.

There should be no such thing as a dead church.

What is a dead church?

How is that possible that people go in and leave a church and say, man, that was a dead place today?

How is the Holy Spirit of God in something, breathing alive, in the book of the place?

Well, the only way it's dead is those things aren't present.

So if you go to a dead church, I'm gonna say, don't go back.

Find a living one.

There should be no dead churches because there's no such thing as a dead centerpiece of our church.

Jesus Christ is alive.

And his Holy Spirit is alive and is living in you and me.

Now, you can quench the Holy Spirit and you can grieve the Holy Spirit by hearing the word of God and deciding I'm not going to apply it.

It's more than information, it's transformation.

People will agree with all the information and walk out without any transformation.

If it's not applying to your walk, then you can quench it.

And there can be parts of your church that's deader than others.

But I'm gonna say, look, in a group, this there's no way there's no Holy Spirit in this place.

Acts 1.8 says, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

Here's the thing about Thessalonica, though.

I want you to think about the time frame in this place.

So this was a port, it was a busy place, and strategically God sends Paul here.

Um and he's gone to this place, and religion was money.

It was a plurality of religions.

It was not monotheism, it was everything theism, because the idols and the manufacturing of all this stuff and the selling and all of it made money.

And so that was Thessalonica.

In that culture, where it would affect your job, it might affect your pay, it might affect majorly your friendships.

In that culture, in three weeks' time, the word of God fell in not a popular place.

The word of God fell, and a church was formed, it exploded into existence.

I want you to know today, church, that is not charisma, that's not strategy, that's not likes, that's not clicks, that's not followers, that's not popularity, that is the power of God.

And he could do it here, there, and any place he decided to put his power.

But people, hear me, have to be vessels of it.

And Paul was.

And these early church folks at Thessalonica evidently were.

And it's something that we need to learn from today.

That power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul, it says what he did, he preached the text, and then the Spirit of God pressed the truth.

He illuminated, opened the heart, hearts were pierced, and I'm gonna guess there was repentance of sin, there was an ignition of what God could do.

And so with people with that context change their life and turn their back to it, all of a sudden a church is built out of it.

I mean, the only way you can explain that is heaven breathed down.

And when I look at some of the story here, the only way I can explain things is heaven breathed down.

I have a friend who was faithful, is faithful, one of my closest friends.

And for 10 years, he bounced between 30 and 40 people at his church.

30 and 40, 40, 50, 30, back and forth, 10, and just as faithful, faithful as can be.

And one year he just kept plodding through.

And he would have opportunities pop up and he'd call, what do you think?

And I'm like, take them.

You know, like God has opened a big door, you know.

I'm just I'm not the Holy Spirit, folks, but I'll pray.

And if I see it seemed like a better pattern, you know, I'm like, I don't know.

Pray, ask the Lord, but he had opportunities, opportunities, and he stayed and he had to work a part-time job this whole time, working construct hard, did everything in the church.

When there's 40 people, he him and his wife did everything.

And one day, out of just seemed like out of nowhere, he's like, there's kind of an opportunity.

There's a few of these older people, this building down the road.

We might talk about merging.

And in two months' time, I'm talking to Matt, and this church of 40 for 10 years is 175, it's 225.

The breath of God just said, whoosh.

And that's what the power of the Holy Spirit can do.

And that's what's happened in this church.

The word of God, hear me, builds the structure.

That's what Paul came to bring.

But the Spirit of God brings fire.

And we pray that.

I want you to pray that.

I asked our church councils we start this series.

Listen, I I'm this is the only thing I got.

I don't got, I'm not a two-trick pony.

This is what I'm bringing.

But I need you to pray.

The Spirit of God would come.

And He lives in you and me, so bring God the fire.

Spiritual breath today.

Amen.

Can we agree?

Amen.

Amen.

Point two, we see the capability to endure.

Look at verse 6 and 7.

You became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaea and Kai who believe.

We see letter A, they were earnest in adversity.

It says, You receive these phrases back to back don't seem like they work.

You received the word in much affliction with joy.

Right?

Not too many people are like, man, I got beat up last week.

It was awesome.

It was great, wonderful week of being beat up.

And I need you to know a little background.

If you did Acts 17, Acts 16, before we got to 17, Paul had visited Philippi.

And as he was at Philippi, let's just turn there.

We got time.

Y'all like the word of God.

Let's look at it.

Acts 16.

I could summarize it, but.

Acts 16, 22 and 23.

You remember Paul and Silas were imprisoned.

They got in trouble for the demon-possessed girl was causing a ruckus.

And it says they got annoyed by it and cast out Paul cast out the demon.

These men who were making money of her caused a stir.

Well, anyway, in verse 22 and 23, look at what they go through.

Then the multitude rose up together against them.

The magistrate tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods.

And when they had laid many stripes on them, threw them into prison, commanded the jailer to keep them securely.

So Paul is doing what he intends to do in Thessalonica, and he's there in Philippi, and he had just been beaten with rods.

He'd been stripped of his clothes, he had been in prison.

Now the Holy Spirit comes, they're in prison.

Paul and Silas begin singing, because you receive that with joy, I guess.

God sends an earthquake, they get out of prison, next thing they're starting this church.

And so when he says that you received the word in much affliction, I think Paul maybe understood something about receiving the word with affliction.

From the beginning, Christianity was opposed.

It was called heresy by some, dangerous by many.

And yet, under this pressure, as Christianity is building in the early church, they didn't retreat.

It says here, they became an example, and that's letter B.

I want you to see it.

Examples to all.

The word for example there in sample is tupas.

And the word means the mark of a blow or an impression.

Something like a stamp.

When Wyatt was little, he jumped off the bed, about three years old.

He jumped off the bed and he nosedived headfirst into the corner of the nightstand.

And it put a literal hole in his head.

Blood was gushing out.

Heather was done.

She was as Heather can't, some of y'all can't handle blood.

That and so I come in and she's the nurturer, right?

The nurturer can't handle this bad for the kids.

I'm just gonna tell you.

So I come in, I'm like, all right, assess the situation.

Grab the child, you know, and so we go to the emergency room, and you know, he's got blood dried in his hair.

They've put a needle into his eye, above his eyebrow.

Not in his eye, but y'all know what I'm saying.

And he put this needle in, and a nurse looks at him after all this has gone down.

And the nurse said, I guess you've learned your lesson.

You won't be jumping on the bed no more.

Again, swollen, eyes turning purple, blood in his hair.

He looked at her and he said, Oh, yes, I is.

I looked at Heather, I'm like, all I can think is, dear Lord, help us.

This man didn't learn a lesson.

He scheduled a rematch.

But he's had a scar ever since, and has a few more.

There's a story I like to use to illustrate the gospel often, but the story this apartment catches fire, and a young boy's in there with his grandmother, and a man comes by and climbs a drain pipe.

And the drain pipe, because of the fire, is burning hot.

He climbs in, he rescues the boy.

The grandmother is not able to be saved, loses her life.

And the town later on has convened together in a court and is talking about who could take the child.

And as a teacher and a doctor and different people are speaking, the child is sitting there and a man walks in and he pulls rags off his hands and shows scars.

And when he does, the boy runs to this man.

And the name of the story that I share often is this Marred hands settled the story.

Church.

You know that's the gospel.

It was marred hands that settled yours and my story.

It was the grace of God that took punishment to save us.

But what he was saying, Paul was saying, those scars, the tupas, it stamped on them their adversity that they were weathering, the example that they were being, not forming a church in a revival, forming a church in a time where there was nothing popular about it.

It settled the story.

If you're going today through adversity, can I encourage you?

Keep on.

If you're in the middle of a trial, weathering something right now, can I encourage you?

Keep going.

You're being an example.

You're being an example to your church, you're being an example to your family, to your loved ones.

Keep going through adversity.

Keep going through the battle.

It's an example like the early church.

Marred hands settles the story.

Do you have some Christianity scars?

I hope you do.

Man, our Savior has scars.

Are you being an example?

Man, if it was all easy, is it worth anything?

And everything hard is a battle and it's worthwhile.

Have you ever had a battle in your marriage?

Raise your hand if you haven't.

I need to know.

It's worth it, right?

It's worth it.

Be an example.

It's all throughout the Bible to be an example.

Titus 2, 6 through 7 says, Hear me, old men, because this is what it says.

Old men, be an example.

Proverbs 22, 6, parents, it says, train up a child in the way he should go.

When he's old, he will not depart from it.

It's telling us, parents, be an example.

Hey, 1 Timothy 4 12, youth.

It says, Don't despise thy youth, but be thou an example.

Over and over in the Bible, it tells us Paul said to the Philippians church, what you've learned and seen and received in me, that you should go do.

Be an example.

Church.

Who is leading the community in spirituality?

If it's not us and your family.

Man, hear this.

If you're not the one leading, who is?

If you're not the one at the workplace saying, oh, that conversation, no.

Let me tell you about God giving a testimony.

If you're not doing it at the ball field, who is going to do it?

Well, I don't like being rejected.

That's the stamp.

It's a little scar.

We take it.

To be an example.

They showed the capability to endure.

Third, this morning, they audaciously evangelized.

Look down at verse 8 and 9.

An early church, a new church, and this is already part of their testimony.

For from you, Paul said, the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place.

Your faith toward God has gone out so that we do not need to say anything.

You hear that?

Look at verse 9.

For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you.

And listen to this, and how you, Thessalonians, turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.

Letter A is they surrendered idolatry.

Let's look at that for a moment.

The word turned is epistreneo, and it means this.

They reverse direction.

They turned from idols.

I told you what Thessalonica I can't say the word.

Somebody say it for me.

Thessalonica, what it was like on that path.

And so idolatry, this was industry.

And it says this church turned, epistemica, they reversed patterns.

They were willing, hear me, to put their finances behind them.

They were willing to put their friendships.

Whatever it took, they turned.

Hear me, church.

Repentance is not some little tweak.

Well, it just had a little tweak in my spiritual life.

Repentance is change.

And change is nothing but a path turn.

And that's what's happening with this church.

And hear me, in a culture with amulets and shrines and statues, idolatry was very real.

And to release these idols was a risk.

Risked your reputation, it risked relationships, it risked income.

What is idolatry?

I'm glad that you asked today, class.

Write this down.

Anything that we love, admire, or revere more than God is idolatry.

Anything we love, admire, or revere more than God.

What is the evidence of idolatry?

Hear this, and this hurts all of us, my toes included.

It dictates our schedule, our checkbook, and our ability to be happy.

If you had to X this out of your life, could you stay happy?

If no is the answer, you may have an idol.

If I can't live without this, and it's not God, look, and I'm giving a pass.

I'm not saying your wife.

Okay.

I need my wife.

But in honesty, you can idolize your marriage.

It can go before God.

You can idolize your kids and their happiness.

It can go before God.

Your hobbies, your work, your all of these things.

And do we have a problem with it today?

Listen, we have a huge problem.

You're not coming down your steps likely and bowing down to your statue or your amulet and saying a prayer.

But your schedule, checkbook, and all that you're doing tells, yes, I'm doing what you say, idol.

I've got to have this.

Because if I don't have this, do you feel the same way about this?

Do you wake up and say, I gotta have this?

Oh, I gotta pray.

No, this is more important than that.

Matthew 6, 24 says, let no man have two masters.

It is vital in a politically correct world that we would understand people don't notice subtle Christianity.

Why did this testimony go out to Paul?

Because it was not subtle what they were doing.

They weren't looking for a chance here or a chance there.

They said, I can't live that life no more.

This thing cannot have a hold of me.

Why?

Because I've turned.

My life is different.

With my wedding ring, church.

You know what I cannot say?

I cannot say.

You know, I have options.

I have the option to get slapped.

I don't have options when I got this.

Are you with me?

I I'm focused.

I got one woman.

And trust me, that's all that I want.

That's all that I desire.

And it is the biggest blessing in my life.

But there's no options with this.

As long as you're living, hear me, as long as you're living for other things, you will never have the capability to be the spokesperson of the Holy Spirit to evangelize.

Because they'll have your heart.

When that should have had your heart.

Subsequently, when you have no idols, when you're free of that in your life, he is first, and your business hears his name often.

And the ball field hears his name often.

And when you're at home, guess what your kids say?

All you ever do is talk about God.

All roads lead to evangelism because it's what you say and it's what you do, because everything else isn't competing for your mind space.

They surrendered idolatry.

B.

It said importantly that it was sounding forth.

Who they were was sounding forth everywhere.

I got a picture of my speakers, or what looked like my pioneer speakers.

Y'all remember the days of speakers?

Mmm.

I'm dreaming back again.

About$300, I had this, a set just like this.

And when I was growing up, I know it's different in different eras, but when I was growing up, you didn't really care what you drove.

As long as you could get something like this in it somehow, it made it cool.

And so when the day came and I got the money together, I began working on this and I got my speakers, and you know, it was like$300.

You remember the CD player was detachable.

You know, how cool is that?

Pull it off and take it with you.

And then you remember the danger of flipping through CD cases while you were driving?

You're like, I gotta get that not turn the page.

Keep your eyes in the rope.

Turn the page right and I had all of those things, but this is what I remember about my truck.

When I got close to you, I didn't have to announce it.

You felt me coming.

You knew when I got close because you felt that my truck was getting close.

The word for sounded forth there is extatai.

And it means an echo blast.

Exoti, an echo blast, like a trumpet.

An echo means a sound lingers.

This was this major port city, and the road that it was on is called the Via Ignacia.

And it was a Roman highway that connected east and west together.

This is important.

Pre-social media.

How was God, three services, building a church with a big plan, pre-media, because people came east and west through this route, and this is how word traveled.

Thessalonica was a town where word traveled because people hit Thessalonica.

And so the echo went forth east and west.

Church, God has planted you in a via Ignatia.

That's called your workplace.

That's called your church.

That's called mom's the thing that you volunteer for, that you meet with every week or every month.

It's called your sport, teenagers.

It's the via Ignatia.

It is the place where whatever it is that you love is seen and felt by people around you.

I can tell you, people know what you love.

And it usually only takes about five to ten minutes.

Is God coming out of your mouth?

Is his works you ever just can't help but say a phrase like, man, I gotta tell you what God did for me this week.

Is he walking with you?

You see, it was seen and felt.

And the witness was costly.

But it says this before they ever open their mouths, before they ever open their mouths, there was this echo going out.

But belief further makes you then open your mouth.

Bible says, faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God, and how shall they hear unless somebody preach it?

Acts 1 says, You will be my witnesses.

What is a witness?

A witness testifies of what they've seen, of what they've heard, and what they've felt.

When I was growing up, the old church term was, we're gonna go out Tuesday witnessing.

Anybody here go witnessing?

I had to go door to door witnessing with my dad on Saturdays for the bus ministry.

And I tell you what it meant back then, I'm learning, but back then it was.

Anybody here want to go on the bus tomorrow, Sunday morning, we're gonna be by 815.

We're gonna honk honk.

And that was my dad's speech.

And if he brought up Fairwinds, we had to give the church tagline.

We're a Fairwinds Baptist Church where heavenly breezes blow.

I'm like, who?

Y'all, what a sweet commercial.

You will be my witnesses.

You are a witness.

One way or the other.

Let me say this.

It says, we turn so that, why do we witness, what are we witnessing of, so that other people may also turn.

So epistrana will happen in other people's life that they may turn.

By the way, if you proclaim loudly, if you proclaim on Facebook, if you proclaim but live a different life than your proclamation, your echo won't echo.

Y'all hear me?

You can say a lot out of this mouth, but the way that you act speaks.

So it's important that you know no one ever had to force an echo.

A changed heart and Jesus in here and coming out of your mouth, it echoes.

God will handle the acoustics if it's real.

Something practical just to take away today.

I want to encourage you.

Pray for an opportunity this week.

Start there.

God, as you wake up.

I've been praying recently, and I've been praying this God, Galatians 6, 9, as we have an opportunity to do good unto our man.

I've been praying, God help me to have a chance to be a blessing today.

Start with a prayer, but then look for an opportunity.

Is there a chance for you to share a God story?

And make all the God stories, right?

Something God did, something God answered, something God did in your church for you this week or with your kids.

Share it.

Let there be echoes coming from you.

Be a blessing.

Fourth thing.

Lastly, they anticipated eagerly.

Look at verse 10.

And to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

They had a heavenly letter A, expectation.

It says, and to wait, the word wait is enemy and it means to remain ready.

How many of you played baseball?

Y'all remember down and ready position?

Right?

This is what I was taught.

And we do it sometimes for 20 minutes.

No play.

Just get in position.

That was it.

When I played basketball, y'all remember?

Hands up.

Oh, some of y'all have been with me in my kids' games, drive me crazy.

I'm like, they could steal a ball.

Why are their hands down?

Hands up.

I didn't learn everything, but I learned that.

Ready position.

Because something could happen on accident just because you're doing the right thing.

Be in ready position.

It says to wait.

It doesn't have this idea of you're sitting in a heavenly hammock waiting for God to come back, sipping on a sweet tea.

One day he's coming.

Can't wait.

Play some worship.

No, it's remaining ready was that the early church didn't just believe he was coming again.

They lived moving forward, looking.

Y'all ever been at the beach and watched a storm?

I was watching a storm and I was trying to get a picture of lightning.

This is a fun little game.

Right?

So I'm trying and I saw it and I was like, oh, that'd be a good picture.

Now, listen, this hit me while I was studying.

Why didn't I video?

How dumb am I?

But I was trying and it kept getting me.

I was like, oh, that was close.

You have to anticipate.

Almost! Another one! Almost! Never did get it.

But I want you to know, when I was growing up, as a kid, I was told something early in life.

If you hear thunder, you're close enough to be struck by lightning.

That's what I was taught.

These Thessalonians' lives had been changed by a lightning bolt of God.

And now they were a thunderous echo that was going out.

They said wait.

They were waiting.

Wait for what?

They explained, what are they waiting for?

Not lightning, so they can get a photo.

They're waiting for Jesus Christ, his son, it says.

What are we to be looking for with our life expectant?

We'll be looking for Jesus Christ.

You may take this kind of simply today as Bible Belt Christians.

I'm from Alabama.

I've been waiting for Jesus Christ since I cut teeth, Pastor.

And I want you to know that's not the case for most of the world.

We have a War today that's going on, and I want to tell you Muslims today do not believe in God's Son.

Jehovah's Witnesses say that he was the highest creature.

Jesus Christ was not created.

Church.

John 1 1 says, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.

He was there in creation.

Buddhists believe he was an enlightened teacher, but not God's son.

And so I want you to understand today, we have a war, yes, but it's a bigger war.

It's a war of belief.

What you believe about Jesus, are you looking for and looking for an opportunity?

Are you in ready position with an opportunity?

The earth is not like a big waiting room, like in a hospital.

I like Henry Blackaby's book, I prayed earlier.

Find where God is at work and join him in it.

That is expectation.

That is heavenly waiting.

It's not watching the sky from a lounge chair.

Husbands, I'm gonna help you today.

This will be a good one to write down.

Wives, you can give them the pen right now.

When Heather goes out of town, I try hard.

It does not happen every time.

Some of you are gonna be mad at me.

That's okay.

But I try hard when she goes out of town.

When she comes back, I buy flowers or I clean the house.

I've had the carpet cleaned one time.

Mistakenly, I painted.

Okay, that wasn't a good one.

But I tried to do something, and here is my point.

When she gets home, I want her to be received, believing that she was on my mind.

When Jesus comes back to church, is he gonna know?

Is he gonna question?

Is he gonna wonder?

Has he been on your mind?

Well, that leads us to the last thing.

A holy motivation.

The last part of verse 10.

This is it.

Whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who highlight this word, delivers us from the wrath to come.

It says Jesus delivers as someone being snatched from peril, is what that word means.

From the wrath to come.

The name for Jesus, or the name for God, one of the names of God is Jehovah Moshiach.

And Jehovah Meshiach means God is my deliverer.

Look through the pages of scripture, church.

You don't have to go any further.

God delivered Noah and his family from a great flood.

God delivered Joseph that we just looked at from a great pit.

He delivered the Israelites from Egypt.

God delivered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego with the fourth man that was in the fire.

He delivered Daniel from a lion's den.

He delivered Jonah from a great fish.

Paul and Silas, which we just heard about, were imprisoned.

And God, Jehovah me, Moshiach, delivered.

He's our deliverer.

The motivation is that our deliverer is coming back to deliver us.

When you look through the lens of heaven, filling your horizons, when you think of life the way that Paul wrote, set your affections on things above.

Some things can change.

And when I was starting this series, thinking about the plight of the world and the things that are happening, fear of the future loses its grip when you can look with your affections on things above.

When wars and headlines and news feeds and statuses of the globe make you feel threatened and fearful.

You can remember what the church at Thessalonica learned.

They learned to look for their deliverer.

See, a rescue has been paid in full already.

Jehovah Moshiach.

When Heather and I first moved here, we moved in to David and Christie's house.

And that was a whole new experience for us.

They treated us very graciously.

We couldn't have made the move and came on staff if it weren't for those eight months in her house.

But one morning, she'll remember this, and Heather remember, the alarm went off.

And it went wild.

I've never heard an alarm that loud in my life.

And it went off, and we were upstairs, and some funny things happened.

We were coming downstairs because it was and the kids were downstairs.

So we're coming down, and Callie and Wyatt are rounding the corner to get to us for safety.

And as Callie's going, Wyatt, he hooks her and he's he pushes her out of the side and he's getting up the stairs faster.

And he looked like Kevin from home alone.

Just screaming, what's going on?

And we're coming down, and we get down to the bottom of the steps, and we're looking around, and we had a teenager visit.

Haley walks out of a room and she's like, looking like, What's going on?

David came out of the room, and I promise I can say this now because he's in heaven.

His hair was standing up right here and it was waving.

And Christy came out, and we're all like, What is happening?

All this is going on.

And I just remember that feeling of 2 a.m., the alarm going off abrupt.

This is what that siren was trying to tell us.

You need to be aware of potential threat.

But what I learned this week, thinking about this, I think Wyatt had the best mindset of all of us.

You don't have to admire the potential for safety.

You just got to get to it.

You don't have to sit around and talk about the way the alarm is sounding or what the best sound of an alarm or how loud it is.

You don't make a list of pros and cons about those things.

If you know where rescue is, then you get to it and you cling to it.

Are you with me, church?

Do you understand what I'm saying?

If you know what is your deliverance, then why are you clinging to anything else in this life?

Why has anything else got your mind space and your time and your allegiance?

When your deliverer is coming, you don't need to talk or spend time talking about the pros and cons.

Let me tell you, we have a deliverer.

And his name is Jesus Christ.

He delivered us from painted promises and polished lies, from empty wells unsatisfied.

He delivered us from darkness and disguise, from blinded hearts and borrowed eyes, from passions that ruled, from cravings that change, from chasing the world but never being changed.

He delivered us from death's cold dread, for the grave is a door, but it's not our end.

The dead in Christ will go up from the ground at the voice of the Lord, at the final sound.

Church, what he authored, he will finish.

What he planted, he will flourish.

What he started, he will sustain.

What he redeemed, he will reclaim.

What he declared, he will defend.

He won't forsake it.

He won't forget it.

He cannot fail.

If he said it, church, he will do it.

He is our deliverer.

Do you believe it?

We're excited you joined us for today's message.

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Take a moment and text CCW Connect to 94000.

Thank you again for joining us on the CCW podcast.

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