“Family Matters”
1 Thessalonians Part Six
5:12-28
Today is our sixth and final message from Paul’s letter to the Christians in Thessalonica. We have learned much from this letter that Paul wrote nearly 2,000 years ago to a group of believers who were relatively new in the faith. They have shown us what it means to have a model faith, to have a faith worth talking about (to have work produced by faith, labor prompted by love, endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ) . We also uncovered in this letter, 5 characteristics of a good leader; good leaders are people who: have courage, are driven by purpose, have integrity, they are people who care and they are people who are right with God.
In week 3 three we talked about parenting in a nutshell; we learned from 1 Thessalonians that the objective, the target, that the goal of parenting is to raise our children to live lives worthy of God. And we also talked about the process by which we can achieve that objective; by encouraging our children (with our: presence, our touch, with God’s Word, and with our words), AND by comforting and urging our children through our example and discipline...
2 weeks ago God challenged us to go to the deep end - to leave the waters of shallow Christianity behind us... We talked about how the deep end is where all the fun is (it is where you part seas, slay 10 foot giants, win battles, sing praises while in prison and bring walls tumbling down)....
And last week we talked about the second coming of Jesus Christ. We were told how to prepare for His coming and everyone was given a plastic fork to remind themselves that for the Christian the best is yet to come.......
Paul was without any doubt whatsoever proud of these new Christians in Thessalonica (he called them his hope and his joy), these guys really had it going. They were definitely on the right track... They were living in such a way that God could really do some powerful and incredible things through them - Ephesians 3:20 kind of things.... “God is able to do FAR MORE than we could ever ask or even dream of - infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts or hopes...”
And Paul wanted them to keep on growing - to keep on going down that narrow road, he wanted them to keep on living the kind of lives that God can really bless and use -- THEREFORE, as Paul concludes this letter he reminds them of what they are... And in doing so also reminds us (those of us at Central) of what we are...
1979 was a tough year for me - the Baltimore Orioles were playing the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series ( a team that beat them in 1971).... Well, we lost again in 79... And the Pirate Team that year all through the season, and through the series had a theme song that they keep playing over & over again...it drove me crazy.... “We are......family.....”
That is what Paul reminds the Thessalonian Christian’s of in the last 16 verses of this letter; that they are “family.” One of Paul’s favorite terms for desribng believers was “brothers.” In the 13 books of the bible he wrote, Paul uses the word “brothers” over 60 times, he uses it 27 times in 1 & 2 Thessalonians, it 5 times in our text; (verses; 12, 14, 25, 26, 27). And Paul in doing so, reminds them and he reminds us, that we who claim Christ as Lord are family.
Listen to a view scriptures that support this truth;
“You should be like one big happy family, full of sympathy toward each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds...” 1 Pe 3:8 (LB)
Galatians 6:10 calls us, “...the family of believers”
Hebrews 2:11 says, “we are of the same family...”
1 Peter 4:17 calls us; “the family of God...”
Paul wants the Thessalonians to keep growing, AND he wants them to grow as a family. And because Family Matters (whether your physical family or your church family), because family matters, Paul found it necessary as he closed this letter to talk about family matters. That’s what we are going to do today - talk about family matters and the two major heading for our discussion are; Family Responsibilities and Family Policy.
Family responsibilities
I heard about a Little League coach who during a game, said to one of his players, “Do you understand what team work is?” The little boy nodded. “Do understand that what matters is whether we win as a team?” The boy said, “Yes.” The coach continued, “When a strike is called, or you are out at first, you don’t argue or curse or attack the umpire. Do you understand all of that?” The boy nodded. “Good,” the coach said, “Now go over an explain to your mother!”
For a family to function and function well, it takes teamwork. Within a family there are many things to be done and it goes much better when we share these different responsibilities; in a family it may be someone’s job to cut the grass; wash the cars, clean the bathrooms, pay the bills, empty trash cans, buy the groceries, sweep the floor, take out the trash, vacuum the house, do the dishes, wash the clothes, set the table....etc
And let me say this, it is good even at any early age to give children some resonsiblities so that they can be a contributing member of the family. Even simple things begin to start the pattern of teamwork.
A little girl had been trying for months to learn how to tie her shoes. She finally got the gnack of it and was able to do it by herself. Her parents expected delight in the child but were surprised by her disaapoitment. He father asked her why she was crying, She sobbed, “I just learned to tie my own shoe,” He said, “That’s wonderful sweetie. Why are you crying?” She replied, “because now I’ll have to do it all by myself for the rest of my life.”
The church is a family and different people have different responsibilities; Paul talks about this in verses 12-14 of our text....
Read 1 thess 5:12-14
the family leaders
In those 2 verses Paul talks about the responsibilities of the leaders within the church family.
1. Work Hard
The word Paul uses here that is translated work hard means, to “toil, strive, to struggle, and to grow weary in doing so.”
Being the leader of a family is hard work; whether you are talking about a family at home or a church family. Now, Paul obviously has the elders of the church in mind, because he says, that they are the ones who are “over” the congregation.
Why is family work so hard -- because it involves people; people with feelings, struggles, hurts and problems. And to care for people is hard work...
2. Be Worthy Of Respect
It’s really hard to follow a leader that you don’t respect. While is the Navy for 9+ years I had many different officers over me - and the ones that were worthy of respect were so much easier to work for and to respect. And this is true in all of life.... Whether you are a manager, a coach, a father, a church leader.... it is easier to lead people if you live life that is worthy of respect...
Question; what does a leader do to be worthy of respect....
. He works hard
. He practices what he preaches
. His word can be trusted, he is honest, kind, compassionate and caring... He treats others with respect...
3. Correct Wrong Behavior
One of the responsibilities of the family leader, is to correct wrong behavior. Now this is not easy to do, but it is necessary.
“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it...” Hebrews 12:11
Why is it necessary to correct wrong behavior? Because wrong behavior effects the persons relationship with God - listen to what Paul told the church in Corinth in the 5th chapter of his first letter to them.
1 corinhtinas 5:1-5
family members
Not only does Paul talk about the responsibilities of the Family leaders, he also talks about the resoponsibilitis of the family members
1. First In Regards To Their Leaders...
Show Them We Respect & hold them in the highest regard in love
Why? because God has placed them over you and they work hard.
How? By letting them know that you appreciate them. The burdens of leadership are many and often times the encouragements are few and far between. Many times leaders don’t hear from people unless they are doing something wrong or there is a problem.
What are some practical ways to show them you appreciate them? A card or note, a phone call, invite them over for dinner, ask them is there anything going on anywhere that I can help?
Accept Correction From Them
The word translated admonish is noutheteo, and it means, “to warn against bad behavior and it’s consequences...” One of the biggest tests we ever face in our Christian walk is our ability to accept correction.
How well do you accept correction, especially from those, “who are over you in the Lord...”
“He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignore correction leads others astray...” Pr 10:17
“Any who love knowledge want to be told when they are wrong. It is STUPID to hate being corrected.” Pr 12:1 (TEV)
“Someone who will not learn will be poor and disgraced. Anyone who listens to correction is respected.” Pr 13:18 (TEV)
“Stern discipline awaits him who leaves the path; he who hates correction will die”
Pr 15:10
“If you pay attention when you are corrected, you are wise. If you refuse to learn, you are hurting yourself. If you accept correction you will become wiser...”
Pr 15:32 (TEV)
2. Responsibilities In Regards To Other Family Members
Not only to do the leaders have a responsibility to the members of the church so do the members themelseves, they have mutual responsibilities towards each other.
Warn The Idle
The work that the Thessalonians were a part of; is the most important work that there is, getting people ready, as we saw last week for the second coming of Christ, therefore they need to warn the idle because -the more who are busy men more people are saved.
Another reason to warn the idle is that there is a danger in lagging behind - in not doing the Lord’s work >> they may get picked off by the enemy.
Encourage The Timid
The word that is translated here as timid - is best understood to mean discouraged. Do you see anyone who is discouraged, anyone who is feeling down in the family here at Central. Remembered we have already said in the study of this letter, that encouragement is a powerful tool, one that when used the right way, can make an incredible impact on the life of another person. It can enable them to hang in there when they feel like quitting...
And understand that in the church family; encouragement is like a peanut butter sandwich; the more you spread it around the better things stick together. That’s why we have a Barnabas board in the hall way - a place to pin encouragement notes...
We all (and not just the leaders) as members of God’s family, have a responsibility toward the idle - to encourage the timid.... and to:
Help The Weak
Paul is not hear talking about those who are physically weak but rather those who are spiritually weak.... And literally he is saying; “hold on to the weak!” “Don’t let them fall.”
Help them...
a helicopter was flying around above Seattle when an electrical malfunction disabled all of the aircraft’s electronic navigation and commination equipment. Due to the clouds and the haze, the pilot could not dternmine the helicopters position and course to fly to the airport.
The pilot saw a tall building flew toward it, circled, drew a handwritten sign, and held it to his window. The pilot’s sign said, “Where Am I?”
The people in the tall building quickly responded to the aircraft, drew a large sign, and held it to the window. Their sign rad “You Are In a Helicopter!” The pilot smiled, waved, looked at his map, determined the course and steered to th airport and landed safely.
After they were on the ground, the co-pilot asked how the “You are in a helicopter” sign helped him determine his position. The pilot responded “I knew it had to be the Microsoft building because they gave me a technically correct, but completely useless answer.”
We are not to let the weak simply fall to the ground, we are to help to overcome their weakness’, help to grow in the Lord, so that they in turn will be able to help and support others.
Family policy
1 Thess 5:14b-28
I’m sure that your family is like mine, in that family members not only have certain responsibilities BUT they also have to abide by certain policies, those little rules that help the family function smoothly...
Policies like the following: clean up after yourself, no hitting-put downs-or fighting, each other, If you take the clothes out of the drier you fold them, if you got it out - you put it away, 2 wrongs don’t make a right, never lie, if you force me to give an answer right away - th enaswer will be no, your bed has to be made before you go out to play, Don’t run around the house with dirty shoes, knock before going into someone’s room, pray before you eat your meal, close the door to the laundry room, replace the toilet paper when only a empty cardboard cylinder is left.
I’m sure your family has little rules just like that (and I’m sure that your family breaks them as much as mine does) and that is kind of have I view Paul’s final words, of these letter - it’s like he is saying, “okay here are the rules for all the members of the family.... Here are the ways you are to be and to act, if you guys do this then the church family run smoothly....”
1. Have The Right Attitude
Attitude is so important; someone has rightly said that “attitude not aptitude determines ones altitude in life...” Here are 5 attitudes that are standard family policy for the church. If we possess these then
Be Patient With Everyone
If there is one thing we all can use a little more of, it is patience. And in a church family with all kinds of different people and with people at so many different places in their Christian life, we need patience.
“A hot tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.”
- Pr 15:18
“Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.” - Pr 16:32
Don’t Be Vengeful - Be Kind
Two rough & tough looking bikers were eating in a truck stop, they spotted a rather small truck driver sitting alone, and they began to pick on him. Since the guy was ignoring their verbal taunts, one of the bikers walked up to the man’s table and dumped his food on the floor. The man said nothing just quietly got up, paid his bill and left. The bikers said to the waitress, “He sure wasn’t much of a man.” She paused looked out the window and said, “He isn’t much of a driver either, he just ran his rig over 2 motorcycles on the way out.”
Paul writes in our text;
“Make sure that no one pays back wrong for wrong, but always be kind to each other, and everyone else.”
Now, that a pretty tall order - don’t pay back wrong for wrong is tough enough - but Paul says we need to go a step farther and be kind to those who wrong us.... And not only to our church family but to everyone else as well.... I never have cared too much for that turn the other cheek stuff - BUT - I don’t really have a choice.
Listen to what God’sword says in Romans 12:17-21;
“Never pay back evil for evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honest clear through. Don’t quarrel with anyone. Be at peace with everyone, just as much as possible. Dear friends, never avenge yourselves, leave that to God, for he has said that he will repay those who deserve it...Instead, feed your enemy if he is hungry. If he is thirsty give something to drink and you will be “heaping coals of fire on his head.” In other words, he will feel ashamed of himself for what he has done to you. Don’t give evil the upper hand but conquer evil by doing good.”
Be Joyful Always
Be joyful always, now that, is another tall order... That word “always” doesn’t leave any room for debate. How in the world can we be joyful always? How can joy be commanded? It can because joy comes from the inside - it is independent of any outside circumstance.... joy is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of Christ.
And joy is one of the “fruits of the spirit”.... The flag flow from the castle of our heart is to show that the king is in residence there. Joyful people are just fun to be around...
The German philosopher Friedreich Nietzsche said scornfully about Christians of his day, “I would believe in their savior if they looked a little more like people who have been saved.”
Pray Continually
Now this does not mean we must always be mumbling prayers. The word means constantly recurring not continuously occurring. Something comes up. You’re worried about something. You got a question or a concern. You want to say thanks for something good that just happened to you. You don’t have to close your eyes or even bow your head. You don’t even have to say it outloud - you just say, “Hey God, I...” followed by the thing you want to say....
The song by Steven Curtis Chapman sums it up pretty good. “Let us pray, let us pray everywhere in everyday. Every moment of the day it is the right time. Let us pray without end and we’ve finished start again. Like breathing out and breathing in oh let us pray.”
When we pray continually - it hooks us up to God’s power and keeps us always mindful of His presnese.
Give Thanks In All Circumstances
Saying thank you & showing gratitude is an awesome thing.
Let me ask you a question, in your family do you ever feel that maybe your spouse, kids or parents take for granted all the things you do. Sometimes a simple thank you can go such a long way & create a great atmosphere.
We need to thank God more -- and we need to thank each other more. There are a lot things that people have do in order to keep a church family functioning. And chances are at times what they do is taken for granted.... When is the last time you thanked the person who teaches your children class, keeps the nursery, makes the bulletin, cuts the grass, prepares the communion, sings in the praise band, keeps up the building...etc... The church is a family and let’s not take it’s members for granted... Find someone you can thank every Sunday.
The right attitude (being patient, being kind, be joyful, prayer and thankful) will go along way in keeping a church on target - keeping them growing in the Lord....
2. Don’t Put Out The Spirit’s Fire
Can we put out the spirit’s fire? Have you ever been in a church where you didn’t feel the spirit, at least not God’s?
How do we keep from putting out the spirit’s fire, here are 2 ways;
#1; When we have the proper attitude; of patience, kindness, joy, prayer and Thanksgiving these will not only not put out the spirit’s fire - but they will stoke that baby.
#2; We also keep the fire going when we listen to God’s word, A part from God’s Word we have no certain revelation from the Lord. Worship that ignores the bible is not spiritual. There my be emotion and even commotion - but unless there is spiritual truth, the Spirit of God is not at work.
At Central God’s Word rules - this is what it is about... And we are going open this word and study to find out what God wants to tell us... The Word of God is powerful, it’s sharper than a doubled edge sword, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart, it is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe, it is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path....
3. Be Careful In All You Do
Paul gives 3 quick exhortation that deal with be ing careful in all you do....
We need to test everything....
Don’t just believe things because someone says it. Just because you may see it on Christian TV or Christian radio doesn’t mean that is true. Just because they look like clean cut boys wearing shirts nd ties doesn’t mean that what their peddling is of God.
How do you test everything.... With the word of God.... The classic example of this is found inActs 17:11;
“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul was saying was true....”
Avoid Every Kind Of Evil
Evil is all around us and we need to avoid, to stay away from it or else we will get sucked in.
To many times we want to see how close we can get to something without being taken in by it.
“Can men scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without is feet being scorched...” Pr 6:27,28
Don’t mess around with evil avoid it - this means there are certain things you shouldn’t do, places you should go and people you shouldn’t be with. You mess with fire you will get burned.
For the next thing to be careful about I want to jump down verse 26
Be Careful To Greet ‘All’ The Brothers
“Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss....”
4. Rely On God
“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful,and He will do it.”
