What A Church…
1 Thessalonians 1:1-3
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INTRO: I have been focusing on the book of 1 Thessalonians in my daily study for the past few months and I am continually amazed at the depth and the richness of this book. One of the things that I love about this book of the Bible is that it is in many ways a practical guide for the church and for Christian living. So over the next few months we are going to be breaking this book down and looking at it in a systematic way.
I want to encourage you to bring your Bibles every week to church because you are going to want to underline things and make notes in your Bible's as we go through this book. You might even want to invest in a Bible that has room in the margins for you to write and study out of. We have a few of those in the back at the CD Table if you would like to purchase one.
The other thing I want to encourage you to do is read the book of 1 Thessalonians this week. Spend sometime in it so that when we gather each week to worship you will be familiar with the text and ready to dive in and really get a lot out of these messages.
So that we can accurately and more fully understand the content of this book we first need to get a little bit of background information. In the coming weeks we will build on this basic knowledge when more background and history is needed but for today the basics are all that are necessary.
Authorship: Paul is identified as the author in the first verse and in chapter 2:18 his authorship is widely accepted. Some think that the book was not authored by Paul but we are not going to spend anytime examining their reasons because I find them to have little merit.
Date: As with most letters in the Bible it is hard to pin point a specific date however we do know it was written around 51 A.D. This is important because this makes this letter one of the first letters that Paul ever wrote that became part of the Bible. Some believe it is the first others place the book of Galatians as the first letter Paul wrote.
Context: (Show MAP). Several months ago we talked about the 4 Great things that are needed when it comes to evangelism. During that sermon I showed you this same map so you may remember some of the context.
If you will remember Paul originally had his heart set on going up north to Bithynia (Acts 16:7). But instead the Spirit of God sent them into Macedonia. There first stop in Macedonia was up here in Philippi. We know about Paul's ministry to this church from His letter to them called Philippians. The had a successful ministry in Philippi but it was not an easy ministry.
Acts 16:22-24 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
And he even recounts this in his letter to the Thessalonians when he says.
1 Thessalonians 2:2 We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition.
We don't know how long Paul and the others stayed with the Thessalonians but we do know it was a considerable amount of time. They were there long enough to get a church up and running for one. We also know that he received at least two gifts from the church in Philippi that was over 100 miles away during his stay (Phil 4:16). And we know that Paul found work and held down a steady job while he ministered to the Thessalonians (1Th 2:9; 2Th 3:8). Thessalonica was a city of about 200,000 people at this time and that provided Paul some cover and time to do a great deal of ministry. But eventually he was run out of town.
He made his way to Berea which was about fifty miles away and he ministered there for about seven weeks before he was forced to leave because the enemies of God in Thessalonica came and stirred up trouble for Paul and the others in Berea.
From Berea he went to Athens where he spent a short amount of time (Acts 17:16-34). From there he went to Corinth where he spent almost 2 full years doing ministry in that city. It is during his time in Corinth that Paul sends Timothy to check on the church in Thessalonica. Paul really did not know what to expect, because they had to leave town in a hurry and to be honest this was a very corrupt and spiritually deprived city. But When Timothy gets back the report he brings to Paul is so encouraging Paul is overwhelmed with joy and excitement and at this he pens the letter we know of today as 1 Thessalonians to this young church.
So with all of this in mind I want to examine the first three verses in this letter today and we will be focusing primarily on verse 3. Basically we can see that Paul is really excited about what is going on in Thessalonica and he is saying WOW WHAT A CHURCH. Lets read our text.
1Thessalonians 1:1-3 Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you. 2 We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. 3 We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul points out three things that make a great church in verse 3 the first is…
I) Work produced by faith
A) Great churches have a great work ethic
1) The work of the gospel is hard work
2) It never has been easy
(i) It is not always fun
(ii) And it requires people who are willing to work!
(a) Paul was not saying that they were working for their salvation.
ο In fact we know that Paul above all others made it clear that salvation was by faith along in Christ Jesus.
B) Ephesians 2:7-10 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
1) In Paul's other letters we read time and time again that it is not about works it is about faith.
(i) But when Paul hears about the way this church is working he says.
(a) WOW what a church!
ο These people were not working to achieve their own salvation, their hard work was aimed at winning others to the faith.
==> There work was produced by faith
a. There faith was not produced by their works.
i. They had it in the right order and they were a hard working church.
2) If we desire for people to look at our church and see Christ and say
(i) WOW what a church
(a) We must be a church that is willing to work
ο a church whose hard work comes from their strong faith in Christ.
==> James said it this way.
C) James 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder.
D) James 2:26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
1) Our Faith compels us to work, not for our own salvation but to ensure that everyone around us has an opportunity to hear and respond to the Gospel of Christ.
(i) The world we live in will not see or understand our faith, until they have first seen…
(a) The passion
(b) The urgency
(c) And the intensity of our work.
ο There is a second thing that caused Paul to say
==> WOW what a church.
II) Labor prompted by love
A) Paul uses two different words for work and labor.
1) Ergou- work
2) Kapou- Labor
(i) Unlike ergon (work), focuses on the deed itself,
(ii) kopos looks at the effort expended in accomplishing a particular deed. It is an effort that strains all of one's energies to the maximum level.
ο So Paul is commending them for all the work their faith produced, then in his second point he is commending them for the extreme effort they are putting forward to love their community.
3) The word he uses for love is the Greek work Agape, which is the highest and purest and most difficult kind of love.
(i) It is a love that is unconditional and without strings attached to it.
(a) We know what the Bible says about the way we are called to love those around us.
B) Matthew 5:44-45 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven…
C) 1Peter 1:22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.
D) John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
E) Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
1) Real Christianity
2) True Christianity
3) Authentic Christianity
(i) Has always been defined by loving both Christ and those around us.
(a) Real churches
(b) What A Church, churches
ο Are defined by loving Christ and those around them.
==> When Paul got word that this church was putting forth all of their effort to love those around their church.
a. He said WOW what a church!
i. Then there is the third and final mark of a great church.
III) Endurance inspired by hope
A) Some translations say “steadfastness” (ESV) of hope.
1) That is a good translation too because the idea behind this text is that this young church had stood strong under extreme pressure. Or standing strong while bearing a heavy load.
(i) We don't know what the exact details are about the load they are bearing or the things they are suffering but we can tell from the language that is used in both 1 and 2 Thessalonians that this church had faced some difficult trials.
(a) They stayed the course
(b) They endured because they had put their hope in the right hands.
ο There hope was firmly rooted in Jesus Christ.
==> 1 Thess 1:3…and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
a. If you put your hope any place else it will
i. Fade
ii. Spoil
iii. Or crumble in your hands
(c) This church put their hope in Jesus even in the middle of extreme trials.
ο And because of that Paul said.
==> WOW what a church!
a. 1 Peter says it this way.
B) 1Peter 1:3-9 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1) Where is your hope
(i) Where is our hope church?
(a) If we want to be the kind of church that people look at and say
ο WOW what a church, our hope must be firmly rooted in none other then Jesus Christ.
Conclusion: You know what really made this church special? Paul got word of what these guys were up to and he said WOW what a church! Do you know why? It had nothing to do with their buildings, their pastor, their elders, their budgets, their programs, their location, their size, or their structure. It had everything to do with their people.
See none of those things I just mentioned make up a church, it is people that make up a church, it is people that matter, it is people that others see. The people must be willing to work. The people must excel in love, the people must choose to put their hope in Christ. And the people of Thessalonica had done just that and Paul said WOW what a church!
The Bible says there are only three eternal things. Do you know what they are?
1 Cor. 13:13- Faith, Hope, and Love
This church was so focused and so tuned in that they were investing their lives into the eternal things of God that would last forever. And because of that Paul said WOW what a church!
If you are here today and you don't know Christ and you are not apart of His church, I want you to know that God offers you these three eternal things through His Son Jesus Christ.
He loved you enough to die on the cross for you
If you put your faith in Him you will be saved
And He is your only Hope when it comes to eternity.
Acts 4:12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
Plan of Salvation
