Building A Church Of Thessalonica For The 21st Century | Part 3 | True Transformation | Dr. Madana Kumar Series

Building a Church of Thessalonica for the 21st century | Part 3 | A True Transformation

This is part 3 of the series on 1&2 Thessalonians

Good morning and welcome to the Part 3 of the series on 1&2 Thessalonians. So far in Part 1 and 2, we have seen the historical background in which the Church at Thessalonica was formed. We have briefly looked into some of the reasons why this congregation thrived. We saw that one of the main reasons was the hope and anticipation of the second coming of Jesus. We looked into what the second coming of Jesus looks like, and we understood some of the conditions that need to be met before that event happens. And we are filled with hope and anticipation about that day when sin will be wiped out and we will be with the Lord forever.

From this part 3 of the series onwards, we are going to look at what do we need to do to prepare for that day.

Remember we learnt that while we know that Jesus will come again, we do not know when exactly that will take place. And hence our role is not to speculate on when Jesus will return, but to be ready for the return when he comes.

We are going to look at four pillars of a true church.

1. True transformation

2. True Ministry

3. True Fellowship

4. True Evangelism

In this part 3 we will look at the first pillar of a true church namely True transformation.

In the opening verses of this epistle, Paul lays the foundation for true transformation. He thanks God for the true transformation of the Thessalonians. Let us read 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10 knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God. 5 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. 6 And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. 8 For from you 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. 9 For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 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.

This passage gives us several aspects of true transformation. First, in verse 4 he talks about their election by God. Paul is referring to the circumstances that made him come to Thessalonica. As we saw in Part 1 of this series, Paul reaching Thessalonica was a result of great orchestration by God. He was planning to go to Asia, and the Holy Spirit prevents him from going to Asia. Instead he receives the “Macedonian Call” in a dream and then he proceeds to Philippi where he gets put in jail. He is released through a miraculous intervention, and that is how he ends up in Thessalonica. It was according to God’s plans that the church in Thessalonica was established. You have heard several testimonies of transformation. It does not matter whether you are from a Christian family or you are a first generation Christian, we all have that transformation experience. The time when we know that we are God’s elect. You have heard the testimony of Sister Elizabeth a few weeks back. You might have heard the testimonies of John or George about how they knew that they were God’s elect. In my own case, it came after a prolonged series of events orchestrated by God. I took up a job which was supposed to be based in Mysore, and had to visit the head office of the company at Kolkata for induction training and onboarding since the Mysore facility was just being built. The plan was for a few weeks at Kolkata. A couple of week’s into my stay there, the project manager who was overseeing the Mysore project decided to quit. Nothing to do with me, I must admit). By God’s great orchestration, the Managing Director (MD) of the company had taken a liking to me by that time. Remember, I was a rookie with just a few years of industry experience at that time. The MD called me and told me that he has no plans of replacing the project manager immediately and he asked me to work with him directly to complete the project. That resulted in my staying at Kolkata for almost two years. And that longer stay resulted in me meeting Leslie at the office, and the subsequent courtship, and marriage, and her prayers for my salvation, my association with a church, my reading of the word and my final acceptance of the Lord Jesus. (You can listen to my full testimony here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvpxU6D-asM.