Sermon Central
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Book Of 1 Thessalonians
Contributed by Chris Appleby on Nov 2, 2005 (message contributor)
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1. Thanksgiving For The Spread Of The Gospel
Contributed on Nov 2, 2005
The Church that receives the Gospel has a responsibility to pass it on. The Church that passes on the gospel must first embody it. It’s no use speaking the words if the actions that go with the words don’t agree.
Today we start a new series, on Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. This is probably the first letter Paul wrote, although the date of Galatians could be either a few years before or after the date of this letter. In any event, it seems to have been written while Paul was in Corinth. You’ll ...read more
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2. How To Serve The Church
Contributed on Nov 2, 2005
The way to serve the church, the way to serve God in the church, is to build it up by proclaiming the gospel, by helping those who come to faith to grow, and by encouraging them to become mature believers who in turn can bring others into the kingdom.
Bill is a 19 ½ year old Uni Student. He’s been a Christian for some 5 or 6 years, having been converted through his youth group. He volunteers as a leader of the youth group on a Friday night. His friends call him Blue because he has red hair. Violet is a 67 year old retiree. She’s still ...read more
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3. Delegation
Contributed on Nov 2, 2005
Jesus return is the motivation for remaining holy and blameless to be ready when he appears so we can join him, so we’re worthy of him. Paul’s prayer is that Jesus would provide the power to do it.
As we read this section of 1 Thessalonians we get a real sense of Paul’s love for the people he ministered to. There’s no sense of this being made up, no pretence. Rather it feels quite genuine. He really misses them. He’s distressed that he’s had to abandon them just as they were becoming a stable ...read more
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4. Final Instructions - How To Be A Gospel Church
Contributed on Nov 2, 2005
How to be a gospel church; how to live lives that are appropriate for people who are waiting for Christ to return to take us to be with him forever.
We’re going to be thinking today about how to be a gospel church; how to live lives that are appropriate for people who are waiting for Christ to return to take us to be with him forever. Last week you were reminded that even if we don’t know exactly when Jesus will return, he is coming and that ...read more
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5. How The Church Spreads The Gospel
Contributed on Aug 7, 2008
the Church is a divinely instituted community with a task to carry out: to share the gospel with the world. If we’re to be a church that reaches people with the gospel we’ll need to be a church that not only receives the gospel but exemplifies it and then
Last week at our meeting to vote on the merger, Geoff spoke about the need for us to give more attention to the sharing of the gospel as a congregation and today I want to take up that issue as we begin a series on 1 Thessalonians. I’ve called the series the Gospel and the Church, because this ...read more
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6. How Ministers Serve The Church And The Gospel
Contributed on Aug 7, 2008
The way to serve God in the church, is to build it up by proclaiming the gospel, by helping those who come to faith to grow, and by encouraging them to become mature believers who in turn can bring others into God’s kingdom.
Lee is a 19 year old Uni Student. He’s been a Christian for some 5 or 6 years, having been converted through his youth group and he volunteers as a leader of the youth group on a Friday night. Violet is a 70 year old retiree. She’s still energetic enough, in bursts at least, to be keen to ...read more
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7. How The Church Must Live According To The Gospel
Contributed on Aug 7, 2008
We’re to please God, not ourselves and we’re to love one another; to seek their welfare above our own. The Christian life is always one of growth, of ongoing training, as we press on towards the goal of eternal life.
I think Christians often struggle with knowing how to respond to the pressures we feel to lower our standards of behaviour. And there are two extremes that we come across among Christians. One extreme thinks we should forget those old fashioned mores and get with the times: after all, this is a new ...read more
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8. How The Gospel Can Inspire The Church
Contributed on Aug 7, 2008
Encourage one another with the greatness of the hope that is ours. This hope is so great that it’s all we need to motivate us. It’s a hope that will keep us from the fear of death, keep us from despair, because it promises God’s power to be with us moment
Someone suggested that today’s service is bit like a funeral, or at least a memorial service and the passage we’re looking at today might reinforce that idea. But I hope that’s not how you see it. This is meant to be a celebration of good ministry that’s happened over a long period of time and ...read more
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9. Final Instructions - How To Be A Gospel Church
Contributed on Aug 7, 2008
How to be a gospel church; how to live lives that are appropriate for people who are waiting for Christ to return to take us to be with him forever.
We’re going to be thinking today about how to be a gospel church; how to live lives that are appropriate for people who are waiting for Christ to return to take us to be with him forever. In the previous section of this letter we were reminded that even if we don’t know exactly when Jesus will ...read more