Rough Beginnings Series

Pre-quals

Every story has a back story. We may not always gain insight into the back story, but there are things impact characters and cultures.

When George Lucas wrote the original Star Wars series, he had in his mind some of the events leading up to the movie that many of us were first introduced to as episode three. It was only when the prequels were finally released 2 decades later that we got insight into the back story.

Shows like This is Us beautifully and artfully weave the past and present together in their story telling.

This is just as true in real life as it is in fiction. Our history together may have officially started on April 1, 2019, but the events in our lives leading up to that point shaped us into being the people we were the first time we met and even continues to impact how we live today.

When we come to the Epistles, we get a peek into the correspondence between the human author and Christians in a specific context. We don’t always get insight into their story. Often we are left with clues and bread crumbs that lead us to tidbits of information about the context. With the letters to the Thessalonians, we actually do get a bit of a back story. That back story reveals that this church had a rough beginning and grew up in the midst of a tumultuous environment.

Today, we begin a new series in the books of 1 & 2 Thessalonians entitled Pressed & Persecuted. In some ways, we could begin this series by reflecting on the Team Effort, True identity and the Tranquility in the midst of Turmoil found in the first verse of the letter...

1 Thessalonians 1:1 ESV

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace.

But, I’d like for us to take a look into the prequal - into the history of the church in order to understand how it began. This will help us to understand the church but I think it will also help us as we live in the midst of an increasingly antagonistic society, but also as we seek to be faithful to share the good news of the gospel in the world in which we live.

If you have your bibles, open them to Acts 17. We’ll spend the remainder of our time reflecting on:

1. The Audience - and how that impacted...

2. The Apologetic

3. The Answer from the people in Thessalonica, and

4. The Adjustment that Paul, Silas, and Timothy had to make.

So, let’s begin by considering...

The Audience (Acts 17:1)

Paul is on his second missionary journey. He began this adventure with Silas/Silvanus and picked up Timothy along the way.

Initially, Paul wanted to go North East into Asia (after getting Timothy), but in a dream he was called to go to Macedonia - yet where - Macedonia was a huge province.

I do think this is important for us to consider briefly. There are plans that you and I may have - ideas, intentions, people that we’d like to minister to or share the gospel with, but God may have other plans. Paul’s diversion from Asia to Macedonia allowed him to have a profound ministry in several different places. Many of his letters come as a result of this diversion - Philippians, 1&2 Thessalonians, 1&2 Corinthians. The book of James gives us a helpful reminder here:

James 4:13–15 ESV

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

So, the Lord didn’t will for Paul to go to Asia this time.

So, the trio first went to Philippi, where they had both a fruitful ministry and spent some time in prison.

Then, Acts 17:1 notes that they guys passed over Amphipolis and Apollonia - likely because there were no Jews or at least monotheistic, God-fearing greeks there.

So they end up in the town of Thessalonica - a “free town” which essentially meant that they didn’t have to pay taxes to Rome, and could mint their own coins. There was a loyalty to the Emperor, but they had a great deal of liberty.

Thessalonica was a largely wealthy and influential city because of it’s port and it’s position on the Via Egnatia - an ancient highway that connected Byzantium (modern Istanbul) and the Adriatic Sea. It was also a pagan city. They worshiped the pantheon of Greek/Roman Deities and engaged in all of the sexual and indulgent activities that accompanied worshiping these deities. But there was also a large enough Jewish population to support a synagogue.