Latest / The Daily Word / May 17 – Encourage One Another
Transcript
- Cory Barnes: Well, hello there, it is May 17th, Pastor Jenny here, and we find ourselves today in the second letter of Paul to the Thessalonian Church. We are in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, which is believed to have been written just a few weeks possibly after his first letter. He's continuing to write to them. And remember the first letter he wrote really was just an encouragement. He was excited for the growth that was happening. Overall, they were doing well. However, kind of the main theme that you find in there that he's going to talk about, though he doesn't talk about a lot of doctrine, is that there had been some false teaching floating around or confusion, I'll say, regarding the return of Christ. And specifically in the first letter he addresses, there had been some questions regarding Well, what about those who have already died? Will they be resurrected? There was some confusion on the resurrection of the dead. So Paul's clearing some of that up. But then this particular letter is going to go really more into the depths of what does the second coming of Christ look like, ⁓ you know, and really kind of addressing maybe what we would consider to be the end times or ⁓ the preparation, the seasons and things that we would be more familiar with, which is certainly a very timely thing. think we find ourselves all ⁓ maybe thinking and wondering and looking, you know, is this it? Are we in it? What's going on? ⁓ You know, as I record this, ⁓ you know, and I'm possibly on the actual date of this release, ⁓ we're all on the edge of our seats regarding the UFO files. ⁓ Will they be released? Will it, you know, they tell us they will be released, but have they been released yet? There's questions around that, but even outside of that, so many questions ⁓ that we're just wondering, like, are these part of the signs that are gonna draw us closer? Whatever that, wherever those things land, here's what we do know for sure. Every day brings us closer to the return of Christ. and not even Jesus himself, it says, could prophesy ⁓ the actual time. It's only the Father who knows the time. And so, because of that, you know, if you ever hear someone say, this is the day or the time of the return of Christ, you know, you can pretty much guarantee that's not going to be the time. But all that to say, I encourage you, make sure you don't miss your reading the next few days. You want to read be sober, be diligent, ⁓ but nothing that we need to walk in fear over. But I think it's interesting and exciting to know that the questions and things that we have today were still the same questions and things that the early church was wrestling with. So Paul, ⁓ via the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is writing and encouraging and helping give guidance in these areas. So as we read this letter today, Chapter one is really just the opening of the letter. ⁓ And so it's really just going to include, you know, him kind of addressing the church, greeting, and giving thanksgiving for the church. So you could easily read these 12 verses and think, well, there's not a whole lot I'm pulling from that. ⁓ But as always, I believe God's, all of God's word, because it tells us this in Timothy, is useful for ⁓ exhortation, for correction. ⁓ and helping us to grow in godliness. So there's something that we can pull from this. I chose ⁓ to lean into really chapter one, verses three and four. So I'm going to share those with you today. Paul says this, we are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting because your faith grows exceedingly and the love of every one of you all abounds. toward each other, so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure." Continuing in verse 5, which is, Manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which you also suffer. In these few verses, we see where Paul is acknowledging several things. One, he's acknowledging that, you know, it's not all rainbows and butterflies for the early church, ⁓ especially for this young church. He's acknowledging that they are suffering persecution, that they're suffering tribulations, but he is commending them. He's praising them for their endurance. He's praising them for their patience and their faith. ⁓ And He's saying, you know, this isn't enough of your own strength, but this is evidence of ⁓ God working in you and through you. And so, ⁓ and it's exciting because it's showing too that your faith is growing exceedingly. And what does He also highlight? It says, the love of every one of you. abounds towards each other. That's huge. You're not just growing in your knowledge of Christ. You're not ⁓ just, you know, doesn't say this, but yeah, you know, one way we might say it is you're not just growing in your experiences and then maybe your outward works, ⁓ maybe even showing signs and wonders, but you're growing in the one thing that the Corinthian, that he would tell the Corinthian church is that When he talks about the gifts without love, nothing else matters. He says, you're growing the love of every one of you all abounds towards each other. That's the greatest compliment he could ever pay ⁓ really any of those churches. And so he highlights that not just to them, but he says, we boast of you among the other churches of God. So he's letting them all know, hey, you want to look to someone? This is who you want to look to. I think that is so incredible. and such an encouragement and reminder to me that it's so important that we are encouraging one another. God has put us in community with one another and life is hard, it's challenging, and we do face difficulty and we need one another to look to one another and say, I see you, God sees you, God is working in you, I see your endurance in the faith. I see the patience through which you are enduring. I see your faith. I see your love. And so my encouragement today is to make sure that I'm not so focused on myself and maybe even just trying to get through the battles that I'm going through, but that I'm making sure to have eyes to see others. And that, you know, a lot of times I think we can see the... the faith of others and the patience and the endurance of others, but we can be either too busy or honestly, I think a lot of times it is too busy. And it's just a matter of taking the time and being intentional to let someone else know today, to use our words and let someone else know today, hey, I see you and I see that and God sees that and that's the evidence of God working in you. Wow, what a powerful encouragement. So I'm grateful for this letter. It's going to teach us a lot of things. It's going to share some encouraging insights about the end times and reminders for us to hold on to, to encourage us as we continue to draw closer to the second coming of Christ. But today I'm encouraged that as we live in difficult times, that we should continue ⁓ to first and foremost grow in our love, of course with the Lord, but towards one another. that as our faith grows, as our patient endurance, and all of those things grow despite difficulty and persecution, that speaking that over one another is one of the greatest things that we can do as we continue to grow in community together. So Lord, we come before you and we thank you that you have allowed us to be in community with one another, that you haven't put us in individual pockets. ⁓ where we have to fight any battle alone, but Lord, you have put us and placed us in communities. You've placed us in church family. And so Lord, as we continue to seek you, as we continue to spread the good news, and as we continue to endure, ⁓ Lord, would you give us eyes to see one another and courage to speak up, intentionality? Would you help us to slow down? just to speak life into one another. And just as we see, Paul did here to this young church, would you remind us, ⁓ Holy Spirit, quicken us to speak life into one another and to brag on one another, to brag to others, to highlight what we see in others. Because we know as it says in John, just Lord, as you were unified, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, just as you are one, You have called us as disciples to be one and as we can love one another and be unified. That is how the world will know that Jesus, are who you said you, you are who you say you are. And so God, I thank you that your love would continue to grow in us and through us today. In Jesus' name, amen.