SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). Thanking and Remembering (vs 2-3):
• (a). Work produced by faith (vs 3a).
• (b). Labour prompted by love (vs 3b).
• (c). Endurance inspired by hope (vs 3c).
(2). Evangelizing and Affirming (vs 4-8):
• (a). Words (vs 5 & 8).
• (b). Deeds (vs 5b).
• (c). Signs (vs 5c).
(3). Reporting (vs 9-10).
• (a). They looked to God (vs 9b).
• (b). They looked to the fields (vs 9c).
• (c). They looked for Jesus (vs 10).
SERMON BODY:
ILL:
• A true story is told of a nursery school that had about 20 or 30 toddlers,
• The school was well run but they had a problem,
• They could not get these little children to eat their dinner.
• They tried just about everything;
• All the usual tricks.
• i.e. The food on the spoon pretending it’s an aeroplane and they have to open their mouths for it to land. But often they close their mouths and you get a crash landing!
• i.e. They had plates with pictures on, and they encouraged the kids to eat up their food;
• So that they could see the pictures on their plates.
• Whatever trick the teachers tried, it failed!
• The children would not eat their food.
• And every meal time nearly all the food was thrown away.
• Until one day, a little boy called Timothy came,
• Now Timothy was only very small and very quiet,
• And no-one took much notice of him until dinnertime.
• At dinnertime when the put his plate of food in front of him,
• Timothy grabbed his spoon and in about 30 seconds he had scoffed the lot.
• He then look round and saw that the little girl sitting next to him had not started hers,
• So without saying a word he grabbed her dish and ate that as well!
• Timothy then looked up at another boy sitting opposite him,
• He had not touched his dinner;
• So Timothy reached over the table and started eating that one as well.
The next day exactly the same thing happened again:
• By the third day the girl next to Timothy,
• Thought, “He’s not gonna have my dinner”, and she started to eat it.
• So did the person the other side of Timothy.
• Frustrated Timothy had to get up and walk round the table;
• To grab some ones untouched food.
• And by the end of the week:
• All the children on that table was eating their dinner as fast as they could.
So, the teachers, realised that they had a winner here:
• And they moved Timothy to another table:
• And once again the same thing happened.
• And within weeks all the children were eating their dinners in that school.
• And this is perfectly true;
• They even borrowed little Timothy to another school!
• And the local authorities published a pamphlet about him,
• The solution to the problem of children not eating is a Timothy!
• TRANSITION: Timothy was enthusiastic, he was contagious;
• And he infected others with that enthusiasm!
• The first letter to the Thessalonians shows a contagious Church;
• Or we could say it was, “A Church with the right stuff!”
ILL:
• A husband came down to breakfast and was delighted to hear his wife say;
• "Darling you are a model husband'.
• Now he was so flattered by the remark;
• That latter on that day he decided to look up the meaning of the word in his Oxford dictionary.
• He found the page and began reading:
• "Model, a small plastic imitation of the real thing".
• Tough Question: Too many Churches are: “Small imitations of the real thing?”
• So this morning we are going to look at ‘the real deal’,
• That is “A Church with the right stuff!”
When Paul described these Christians and this Church (verse 5) he said concerning it:
• "You became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia".
• That is high praise indeed, of no other Church does Paul write and say;
• "You are a model to the other Churches "
• Or Curley translation “A Church with the right stuff!”
• In fact on four occasions in this letter;
• Paul gave thanks to God for this Church,
• No moaning, no fault-finding but genuine thankfulness:
• Chapter 1 verse 2, chapter 2 verse 13, chapter 3 verse 9, chapter 5 verse 18)
Note:
• I am not going into any detail regarding the location of the Church;
• Or when the Church was founded etc.
• You can do that for yourself at home,
• Any good Bible commentary (or Google search) will fill you in.
• Instead I want to get to the core of what made this Church contagious;
• What was that made this Church special.
• Now as we look at this chapter;
• Notice that it is full of triplets, little groups of three.
• You will see that in each section.
(1). Thanking and Remembering (vs 2-3):
“We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. 3We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
• The first of those triplets is in verse 3:
• Paul talks about their “Faith, hope & love”
(a). Work produced by faith (vs 3a):
Ill:
• Someone once asked the Pope, “How many people work in the Vatican”;
• He thought for a minute and replied; “About half of them”.
Ill:
• The reason why we work says a lot about a person:
• Some work hard, out of fear (sacked or they are scared of the boss).
• Some work hard because of a reward (wages, they are even keen for overtime).
• Some work hard out of duty (It has to be done, if don't do it, no one else will).
• Some for job satisfaction (ill: Jim: change of vocation)
• And some because they care (ill: Voluntary work).
Paul says to the Thessalonians their “Inspiration” for working was "Faith":
• Because they were Christians they did good works,
• To them it went hand in glove, it was not an optional extra.
ILL:
• Orange tree will produce oranges, apple trees produce apples; pear tree…pears etc
• Christian good works.
(b). Labour prompted by love (vs 3b):
Now there is a big difference between work and labour:
• Work is doing something, achieving something, it's your work, it's expected of you.
• Labour is going a step further,
• i.e. extra effort, that which is perhaps not expected.
• Work may be easy and enjoyable,
• Labour can be toilsome.
ILL:
• Author Bernard Newman in one of his books;
• Tells the tale of when he was once staying in a Bulgarian peasants house:
• All the time he was there, the daughter never stopped stitching away at a dress.
• So one time he said to her; "Don't you ever get tired of that eternal sewing?"
• "Oh no!" she said, "You see this is my wedding dress".
• Her motivation turned her work into a labour of love!
(c). Endurance inspired by hope (vs 3c):
ill:
• A little over a month before he died,
• The famous atheist Jean-Paul Sartre
• Was gripped by incredible feelings of despair;
• He said the way he resisted them was by saying to himself,
• “I know I shall die in hope.”
• But then in profound sadness, he would add, “But hope needs a foundation.”
• TRANSITION:
• In contrast to the atheist Jean-Paul Sartre:
• These Thessalonian Christians had good foundations and so were able to cope;
• Despite living in a city that was hostile towards them.
• These believers faced pressures, opposition and even persecution.
• Yet they did not try to hide their Christianity, ‘keep their heads down;,
• Instead they worked together to incarnate their faith to a disbelieving world.
• And that takes us nicely into our next section.
(2). Evangelizing and Affirming (vs 4-8):
4”For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia–your faith in God has become known everywhere”.
Ill:
• January 21st 1930.
• King George V was to give the opening address at a special disarmament conference,
• His speech was to be relayed by radio to the U.S.
• As the broadcast was about to begin, a cable broke in the New York radio station,
• And more than a million listeners were left without sound.
• A junior mechanic in the station, Harold Vivien,
• Solved the problem by picking up both ends of the cable;
• And allowing 250 volts of electricity to pass through him.
• One newspaper reported:
• Leakage of current through his body to the floor shook his arms with spasms,
• But he held on without a break for 20 minutes until new wires could be connected.”
• TRANSITION:
• Now whether you consider his actions wise or foolish, the point is this:
• He was the living link that allowed the king's message to get through
• The apostle Paul was the ‘living link’ that allowed the Thessalonians to hear the gospel;
• And then this Church;
• Became the ‘living link’ to those in their city and the surrounding areas.
• Notice:
• The 3 ways Paul (and his companions Silas & Timothy) shared with the Thessalonians:
(a). Words (vs 5 & 8):
”Our gospel came to you not simply WITH WORDS”.
8”The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia–your faith in God has become known everywhere”.
• Quote: The Bible says: "Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God".
• So we need to speak up!
• When Paul and Silas arrived in Thessalonica
• (Read about it in Acts 17 verse 1-3).
• They went straight to the Jewish synagogue and preached.
• We are told that for 3 Sabbath days he reasoned and explained and taught the scriptures.
• God used this as a means of bringing many people to faith in Jesus Christ.
Ill:
• Throughout the book of Acts we read that the Christians:
• Preached, announced, spoke, talked, argued, defended, declared, warned,
• Explained, witnessed, shared, proclaimed, called out loudly and gossiped the gospel.
The Thessalonian Christians did it with vigour and enthusiasm:
• Shared the gospel,
• Verse 8: we are told the message ‘rang out’.
• The Greek word translated into English as "Rang out" can mean several things:
• ill: "Like a trumpet" or "Like a roll of thunder".
• Both are loud noises, and will draw attention to themselves.
• You would have thought that because of persecution:
• These early Christians would have kept quite,
• And tried to live and experience the quiet, peaceful, unnoticed life.
• But instead they continually drew attention to themselves:
• By what they said and by what they did.
Ill:
• Living in Thessalonica was like living next to a motorway:
• It was a busy seaport located on the Agnatian Way,
• One of the major trade routes in the region, so it was an ideal place for mission.
• ill: Tourist spot / Stratford on Avon.
• You will meet people from everywhere. All race, colours, beliefs etc.
Now verse 8 is brilliant:
• Because a group of ordinary Christians in one locale:
• Took the initiative to get the gospel out to every place they could,
• People from miles away knew of their faith and of their message.
• They did such a good job that wherever Paul went to preach:
• Someone would say to him:
• "We’ve already heard that message, some Thessalonians gave us that earlier!"
(b). Deeds (vs 5b): "You know how we lived among you".
• Deeds / behaviour, lifestyle is also important:
• How we behave gives credibility to what we believe.
When Paul, Silas and Timothy:
• Came to the Thessalonians it was with more than just good doctrine that impressed them,
• Their lifestyle backed up their words, the practiced what they preached.
• And the Thessalonians were so impressed by their example:
• Verse 6 tells us: that they had actually copied, mimicked, imitated that quality.
Ill:
• We have been reminded this week that Donald Trump;
• Has become the ????? number president of the USA - #45
• Calvin Coolidge (was the 30th American President):
• And he invited some people from his hometown to dinner at the White House.
• Since they were ordinary folk;
• They did not know how to behave at such an occasion,
• They thought the best policy would be just to do what the President did.
• Everything was going well until it came time came for the coffee.
• The President poured his coffee into a saucer.
• As soon as the home folk saw it, they did the same.
• The next step for the President was to pour some milk;
• And add a little sugar to the coffee in the saucer.
• The home folks did the same.
• Then the President leaned over, placed the saucer on the floor and called the cat.
• TRANSITION: In a far greater way:
• The Thessalonians were so impressed by the example of Paul & co:
• That they had actually copied, imitated, mimicked their good points.
Often the only gospel many people will ever get to encounter
• Is our lives;
• People may not listen to our words, but they will take note of our lifestyles;
• Our deeds/behaviour/lifestyle is to them human proof that our message is true.
Quote:
“The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
Are read by more than a few,
But the one that is most read and commented on
Is the gospel according to you.
You are writing a gospel, a chapter each day
By the things that you do and the words that you say,
Men read what you write, whether faithless or true
Say, what is the gospel according to you?
Do men read His truth and His love in your life,
Or has yours been too full of malice and strife?
Does your life speak of evil, or does it ring true?
Say, what is the gospel according to you?”
• TRANSITION:
• People may not listen to our words, but they will take note of our lifestyles;
• Our deeds/behaviour/lifestyle is to them human proof that our message is true.
(c). Signs (evidence) (vs 5c).
• Just as our deeds/behaviour/lifestyle is the HUMAN proof that our message is true.
• Signs are the SUPERNATURAL proof that the gospel is true.
Question: What were the signs/evidence Paul and Silas demonstrated among them?
Answer:
• Is found in verse 5:
• “But also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.”
Ill:
• This week I am reading a book on the life of George Whitefield.
• Whitefield is largely forgotten by many Christians today,
• But George Whitefield;
• Was probably the most famous religious figure of the eighteenth century.
• Newspapers called him the "marvel of the age."
• In his lifetime, he preached at least 18,000 times to perhaps 10 million hearers.
• When Whitefield preached something ‘supernatural’ happened;
• The Holy Spirit took his words and empowered them.
• The great Shakespearean actor David Garrick once said:
• “I would give a hundred guineas, if I could say 'Oh' like Mr. Whitefield."
• There was supernatural power and authority in his words.
• Someone once asked George Whitfield if they could print his sermons;
• He replied; “Only if you can capture the thunder and the lightening!”
• TRANSITION:
• The apostle Paul had that supernatural quality on his life;
• He visited this city at Thessalonica for just a few weeks;
• And he left behind a thriving Church.
The Greek word translated into English as ‘conviction’ (‘plerophoria’):
• Means: ‘assurance’ or ‘confidence’ or ‘full belief’.
• That is how they responded to the gospel message.
• When the Holy Spirit is at work;
• The power of God affects people to the very core of their being.
• And these Thessalonians were never the same again!
Ill:
• Two men who were alcoholics were converted.
• Came to a real faith in Jesus Christ.
• The first man testified that:
• “The desire for drink was taken completely from him.
• He could visit a pub and not desire a drink.”
• The second man said;
• "Not a day has passed since my conversion that I have not wanted a drink;
• But God has kept me from yielding."
• TRANSITION: God deals with his people in different ways;
• There is no simplistic ‘one size fits all’ solution.
• For some he may remove the temptation,
• In another he may leave the temptation, and give grace to overcome it.
• But in both cases he gave them the conviction, the assurance, the confidence;
• That they belonged to him!
• That ‘conviction’ is what the Thessalonian Christians had.
• Just as our deeds/behaviour/lifestyle is the HUMAN proof that our message is true.
• The work of the Spirit is the SUPERNATURAL proof that the gospel is true.
(3). Reporting (vs 9-10).
• You just have to enjoy verses 9-10 of this chapter;
• Wherever Paul went;
• People would tell him of the change they saw among various Thessalonians.
• Who had become Christians, followers of Jesus Christ.
• They reported to him three things they had observed;
• Notice: three things to note (verse 9): “From, serve, wait”
(a). They looked to God (vs 9b):
"Turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God".
• A Christian is someone who has turned FROM idols to God.
• i.e. Repentance.
Ill:
• Nearby to where we live is Titchfield Lane,
• It is a windy country lane that connects Titchfield to Shedfield and Wickham.
• As you drive along that road you can see a signpost for a particular village,
• The sign says, unsuitable for large vehicles and access to village only.
• So it has one road leading into it,
• And obviously, one road leading out.
• If someone should drive down that road into the village,
• There is only way he or she can leave it and that is by turning around.
• TRANSITION: Each of us, by birth, arrives in a place called Sin.
• As with that village, there is only one way out - a road built by God himself.
• But in order to take that road, one must first turn around.
• That complete about face is what the Bible calls repentance,
• And without it, there's no way out of town.
• They looked to God (vs 9b):
• "Turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God".
(b). They looked to the fields (vs 9c).
"Turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God".
The Thessalonians (& every Christian):
• He/she has turned to "SERVE the living God".
• That's your priority this/next week.
• Mine is working on the GSUS Live Unit at Meoncross School,
• (Website: http://countiesuk.org/schools-work/gsus-live/)
• Penny's will primarily be with the children at home;
• Or out and about visiting folk.
• Yours may be at school, university or in an office or factory;
• But remember this!
• One is not more spiritual or more important than the other:
• All of us are fulfilling what God has called us to do (serving him)
• So wherever we are;
• Let’s serve him well!
Quote: .John Wesley
“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
(c). They looked for Jesus (vs 10).
"Turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God".
These believers also expected the 2nd coming of Christ from heaven:
• The Greek word translated as "Wait" is only used once in the Bible,
• It means "Sustained expectation".
• There was nothing in the Thessalonians background:
• i.e. traditions, or beliefs,
• . Or even in their sense or reason to persuade them that Christ would return,
• . Only the apostles preaching. But that was enough!
ill:
• When the first Christians met each other in the streets:
• They used the expression" Maranatha". Which means "The Lord is coming".
Ill:
• Reminds me of the little old lady who heard the expression ‘Maranatha’
• While visiting a friends Church.
• She liked it so much that when she returned to her own Church,
• She was determined to introduce it in her own fellowship.
• The problem was she got the wording slightly wrong;
• And wondered why people looked shocked as she greeted them by saying;
• “Marijuana, dear friends, Marijuana “
Ill:
Did you know:
• That there are 8 times more references (318) in the Bible to the second coming of Christ,
• Than to his first coming?
• One 20th of the New Testament, that is one in every thirty verses.
• 23 out of the 27 books.
• Last words of the Bible: “Yes I am coming soon. Amen. Come Lord Jesus ".
• In fact the doctrine of the second coming of Christ:
• Is frequently mentioned, and so forcefully applied,
• It is actually second to none in scripture & demands recognition.
Quote C. S. Lewis:
"It seems impossible to retain in any recognizable form our belief in the divinity of Christ and the truth of the Christian revelation, while abandoning, or even persistently neglecting the promised return of Christ".
In Summary:
The Thessalonian Christians were a Church with the right stuff because………..
• They were responsive to the word of God.
• They practiced what they preached.
• They lived out their responsibility to take the gospel to the lost,
• They did this by word, deed / behaviour & signs.
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=R03FfBprU8ouOlav0eZFunqjShJOjStY
