1. It’s sad to think of what Thessalonica was like without a church… without a light… without the hope of the gospel.
• What would they do about their sin? What would be their standard for right behaviors, for spiritual things?
• How would their homes stay strong? Their kids?
• Where would they spend eternity? Do they care? Do they know?
• But God had a plan for this thriving city… He was going to reach it through team of believers with a leader named Paul.
• Through His servants Paul & Silas God would raise up a church, a local body of believers to reach this city – One AT A TIME.
NOTE: I love the NT MODEL for the planting of a church.
• You go into a fresh area, an area where there is a NEED and you faithfully preach the gospel & teach the believers.
Romans 15.20 And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation,
• SO You hit the streets, the workplace, the airwaves & give forth God’s Word – Preaching & Teaching & Pastoring.
• And God Himself, raises up a local body of believers.
• People get saved, their lives change, and a church is born!
• It doesn’t take years to establish a church.
• In Thessalonica, remember, it took a matter of weeks!
NOTE: That’s one thing I love about our church.
• This fellowship was established quickly.
• God provided an army of willing, teachable, faithful saints
• And He’s bringing more & more of you into this family!
• Just as many of you have been saved and established quickly.
• God’s doing a wonderful work in these last days and isn’t it exciting to be a part of it!? – Let’s flip to Acts 2.16ff
• I see so many of you growing and serving and hungering for the Word of God and for holiness!
Matthew 5.6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.
APP: You can grow in the Lord quickly, mature rapidly!
• It doesn’t have to take 20-30-50 years to grow in the Lord!
• You can have an understanding of the Word, you can be anointed by the Spirit if your heart is right and the Lord is in it!
• Just dive into the Word. Devour it. Take it in. Act on it.
Acts 2.42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Committed themselves (MSG), devoted themselves (NLT), spent their time (NCV)
NOTE: The church in Thessalonica DID WELL as they become our model for a young, thriving, and enduring fellowship!
I. (1.1-4) STRONG FOUNDATION
1. (1) Grace and Peace…
a. When a letter was written in ancient times, it didn’t start out with Dear Thessalonians…
b. Instead, the Greeks would always begin their letters with the salutation at the beginning and also at the end.
I like that. I think we should come back to that. I guess we have a little with e-mail as you know in the header who wrote it.
• But I know as soon as I get a letter, the first thing I do is look to see who it is from. Then I’ll understand the rest.
• This letter is addressed “to the church”.
THE CHURCH is not a building. For the last 5 years we’ve learned that personally & practically meeting in this school.
• The building we’re in is NOT THE CHURCH. You are.
• The building serves us we don’t serve the building!
• Word for church, “ecclesia” literally means “Called out ones”
• The Church is a group of people called out of the world!
• When you leave this place, you take the church with you.
SO WHAT MAKES A CHURCH STRONG? What are some signs of a church that is healthy, mature, and growing?
• They were a faithful, loving, & patient church.
• And it all began in v5. Let’s start there.
1. (5) The Word in Power
a. The word came in power! The Holy Spirit was on the move!
b. That’s what Paul had to give them, the Word.
Acts 17.1-2 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
c. And they faithfully responded to what they heard!
SO What happens when the Holy Spirit moves in the Word?
• Lives change; every single time. People begin to see their lives from God’s perspective and change takes place!
• Jump to v6 “became followers”, v7, “became examples”, v8, “from you the word sounded forth”, v9 “turned from idols”, v9 “serve the living and true God”, v10 “to wait for His Son from heaven”. Changed indeed!
APP: Same for you & me. As we spend time in the Word we change.
• In your devotions. Change. In your radio listening. Change.
• In your CD studies. Change. In your reading, studying, meditating, seeking… all of it results in change.
Psalm 138.2 I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.
Hebrews 4.12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Job 23.12 I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food.
BACK TO V1: The Church is addressed in v1 as the Church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
• That was their relationship. They were connected to God!
• GRACE & PEACE.
a. So often He puts these two words together.
b. Because grace and peace are ours in Jesus Christ.
c. GRACE: ‘charis’, ‘that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, loveliness…’
• God’s unmerited, unearned, undeserved favor upon man.
• NOTHING stands in between you & your heavenly Father…
• You are, RIGHT NOW, in Jesus Christ RIGHTEOUS.
• Why… Because of His GREAT GRACE TOWARD YOU!
John 1.17 For the law was given through Moses, but GRACE and truth came through Jesus Christ.
a. PEACE: ‘eirene’ I-RAY-NAY, ‘state of national tranquility, exemption from the rage and havoc of war’.
b. That my friends is where GRACE will lead us.
c. Peace never precedes the GRACE of God, it always follows.
d. It’s no wonder the church was growing & strong!
2. (2-3) Marks of Maturity
a. We know the church was doing well because we see these 3 marks of maturity in their lives: FAITH, HOPE & LOVE.
#1 – WORK OF FAITH. What is that?
• Turn back to John 6:27ff -- What were the works? Faith/Trust.
• They were expecting a long list of things to do, and Jesus said it’s NOT WORKS, but it’s just 1 WORK… believe on Him.
• We are saved by faith. Not by keeping a code, or following a list, or being a nice guy, or coming to church.
Eph. 2.8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
• And it was their faith in Him, that produced works.
• A HEALTHY CHURCH will have a deepening faith producing wonderful works!
#2 – LABOR OF LOVE. Here’s our Motivation.
• A lot of times people do things to be seen by men.
• Our flesh loves to be recognized, applauded, & praised.
• But the best and only true motivation for serving the Lord is the love of God. I love you God and I will serve You!
• When you realize how much the Lord has done for you, you can’t help but start to labor in His ministry!
• It’s not a LABOR OF LAW, not a demanding LABOR.
• It’s not “I HAVE TO MAN”, it’s “I GET TO”
• A LABOR OF LOVE. You saved me Lord. Amazing!
NOTE: Love is THE mark of a healthy church.
John 13.35 "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
John 15.12 "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
• The distinction of the Christian isn’t him really loving the world but rather loving his brother & sister!
• The world so often sees the church as divided and arguing over petty little things, as babies throwing sand in the sandbox.
• But when they see love demonstrated… it blows them away!
Tertullian writes that the Roman government was disturbed about the early church. Christians were increasing in number by leaps and bounds. Because they wouldn’t take even a pinch of incense and put it before the image of the emperor, the Romans felt they might be disloyal. Spies went into the Christian gatherings and came back with a report something like this: “These Christians are very strange people. They meet together in an empty room to worship. They do not have an image. They speak of One by the name of Jesus, who is absent, but whom they seem to be expecting at any time. And my, how they love Him and how they love one another.”
#3 – PATIENCE OF HOPE!
• Their hope was in the Lord. They would one day be with Him.
• They lived with ETERNITY in mind. Jesus is coming soon.
• This is a powerful key to a strong spiritual life.
• The whole thing is heaven. IT just up ahead guys.
• The Return of the Lord is the dominant theme in both of the letters to the Thessalonians.
• The UNSAVED are not waiting for the Lord, but we are.
• And that hope changes our lives, daily!
3. (4) Election by God!
a. Election… you’re the choice of God!
b. He chose you, not based on something in you, but by His own sovereign will. He chose you and me.
c. The election of God is a mystery… but he know he chooses!
It’s been said very wisely, “Try to explain election and you may lose your mind. But try to explain it away, and you may lose your soul”
• I don’t understand it totally.
• The Bible says God elected me from before the foundation of the world apart from anything I did or didn’t do.
John 15.16 "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
BUT THE Bible also teaches us that whosoever will, let him come.
Mark 8.34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
2 Peter 3.9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
How the FREE WILL OF MAN cooperates with the SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD is a mystery. We can’t fully figure these things out!
• There are a lot of mysteries that make me stand in awe of God!
• I want to search them, and learn them, and understand them.
• And I hear the Lord whisper in my ear: Isaiah 55:8-12
AND SO WHAT DOES THE CHURCH DO WITH MYSTERIES OF GOD?
• Argue about them. Fight over them.
• Instead of being in AWE of them, many are at ODDS by them.!
• I’m a Calvinist. I’m an Armenian. I’m 5 points. I’m 3 points!
Well, after much thought, study, and prayer, I’ve concluded:
• I’m a Christian and I want to be used to saved souls!
• I want to preach the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ and help folks grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ.
John 3.16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
APP: I know there are things in the Bible that I just don’t fully understand. God is so much bigger than me!
• It causes me all the more to trust Him and lean upon him in every area of my life that I don’t fully understand!
NOTE: Don’t let God’s election throw you… let it inspire you.
• The FREE WILL OF MAN & THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD are 2 truths held in tension. We need them both.
• Very much like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco relies upon that tension in it’s span to remain standing!
• Know that you’re called, your chosen, you’re saved.
• Rejoice in your relationship with Him and look for ways to grow in His grace and His knowledge!
SO THE QUESTION IS: Are you a part of God’s Elect?
• But, I don’t know Pastor Ed. I’m not sure.
• Well, you can find out.
• All you have to do is ask Jesus Christ to be the Lord of your life.
• Turn your life over to Him and trust Him to forgive you of your sins. He’ll say to you… welcome son, daughter.
BUT maybe I don’t want to!? Well, then maybe he didn’t choose you then. But you see, you can’t blame God.
• He’s made the way for you. He’s preached His word to you.
• He’s sent His Holy Spirit to draw you, convict you, bring you to the point of decision.
1 Kings 18.21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people answered him not a word.
