Introduction

Welcome to our fourth and final week in the book of 1st Thessalonians. If you’ve been with us the past few weeks then you know It hasn’t been a traditional line by line study, but rather a topical overview of the book and some of the specific ways Paul encouraged the church. His overwhelming instruction to the Thessalonians is to stand firm through the many trials and sufferings they faced and to pursue a righteous life of faith set apart to Christ. It’s good advice, still applicable for believers all around the world.

As we wrap up the series, we still have one more encouragement to pull from 1st Thesslaonians and that’s to stand firm in the future. And by this, I mean the future promise of God for His church. We trust Jesus will return, just as He said, and establish an eternal kingdom. This reality, especially for the early church, was an ever-present one and something people were actively thinking about on a regular basis.

Flash forward two thousand years later and I imagine the imminent return of Christ isn’t something we think about all the time. This is funny because we’re technically closer to His return than they were in the time of Paul, but all that to say, I don’t know many of us live with the same sense of urgency. This is why I think it’s important to highlight – we should stand firm in our future.

We have faith in a future that is secured in Christ, who will return for his church and establish an eternal kingdom.

We have faith in a future that is secured in Christ, who will return for his church and establish an eternal kingdom.

Main Teaching

What is something you’ve hoped for in the future?

Many of us have hopes for future events, or relationships, or promotions… and these are exciting things to look forward to. Well, in a similar way, the church throughout history has looked to the return of Christ with anticipation and excitement. We know He will return at some point, although no one knows when. It’s not a matter of if Jesus will return, it’s a matter of when. And for that, we are encouraged.

First of all, in this passage, Paul is clearly addressing some questions he must’ve received about the end times ... View this full sermon with PRO Premium