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1 Thessalonians 1 - Real People, Real Problems, Real Gospel · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  If you guys have your Bibles, you can open to 1 Thessalonians 1. 1 Thessalonians 1. We're going to look at the first 10 verses, which also constitute the first chapter of the book. This is an unusual week for me, but not very often in my calendar does it line up where I will start three and introduce three new Bible studies in the same week. That happened this week, Wednesday night, for the Fall Thrive Kickoff. I began a new study.
• 0:25
  In the gospel itself, biblical Christianity, what is the Christian gospel? And how do we share that gospel with the religions of the world? And so that's what we've started this last Wednesday. On Thursday night, this last Thursday, we had the young adults over to our house. We're beginning a new study with them in the book of Nehemiah. And then this morning in church on Sundays, going through 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. We'll go over these two books verse by verse through the next school year. The more I've studied 1st Thessalonians, the more excited I am.
• 0:54
  to teach it. And I'll read our passage to begin, beginning in verse 1. It says, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians, in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace. We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love, steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you.
• 1:24
  because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake, and you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
• 1:45
  For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. You pray with me. Lord, I pray that you would bless the reading and preaching.
• 2:15
  and hearing of your word. God, may we found our lives upon it. Transform us by your gospel from the inside out. Lord, allow us to live new lives, not for our glory, but for yours. God, fill us with joy in the Holy Spirit and salvation. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Do you ever get tired of trying to discern counterfeits? Do you ever get tired of receiving spam email? Right?
• 2:51
  I do. You guys, I don't even shop at Best Buy, but I get every single day their weekly ad, which I'm really confused about. It's not a weekly ad. I get it every single morning. I spend a portion of every single week unsubscribing to things I've never subscribed to. Does that happen to you? You receive emails, you receive, you get mail. You're like, you know what? Honestly, I really doubt that I've actually won all that money.
• 3:23
  I doubt it. I hope so, but I doubt it. There's just no way. That's not true. You know, one of the hardest things for our church to do is to get visitors to fill out that contact card. Getting contact information from visitors is hard because we live in a society, and I get it, you guys. I'm not complaining. I'm just saying it's hard. We live in a society where we have to protect our information, and it'll be three, four, five, six weeks in a row before finally a visitor will say, okay, you can have my phone number.
• 3:52
  Right? Because I know you're not going to send me spam email and call me a million times and whatever. We have to protect that. I get it. Has anyone ever gotten a call from the IRS? Was it the IRS? I never pick up my phone if I don't know the number. I don't know why I did one time a little better than a year ago. It was a number I didn't recognize. For some reason, I picked it up. If you guys ever call me and I don't pick up, just leave a voicemail. I'll call you back.
• 4:24
  Okay, but if I don't know the number, I don't pick it up. And so about a year ago, a little more than a year ago, I picked up the phone. Mr. Gardner, my name's whatever from the IRS. Okay, Mr. Gardner, we have found in looking at your taxes that they were improperly filed. You owe us all of this money, okay? And so I need to get your home address, he said. And I said, well, I'm pretty sure that if you were the IRS, you would know my home address.
• 4:56
  And he said, sir, you don't understand. If you don't pay this money, we're going to put a lien on your house. And I said, no, you're not. You don't know where I live. I'm serious. I did. I did. We need your social security number. Now the IRS has that too. And guess what else? The IRS never calls my cell phone. Never. They just never. That's not how they do it. Stop calling people. You're a counterfeit. You're a fraud.
• 5:29
  I've heard a rumor, and I'm not going to tell you who it is. I will confirm this rumor with her. I see her. I see her. She's here with us this morning, but we have a woman here at our church who is a CPA. She's an accountant and has been contracted by the federal government, by the IRS, in fact, to go back and look at people's tax returns and make sure that they were properly filed. In other words, she's the IRS, okay? And I'm not going to tell you who it is because you're like, I got a bone to pick with you. You know, like, no, I'm not going to tell you. I've heard, though.
• 5:58
  I'll confirm with her whether this is true. I only heard the story yesterday. I heard that she got one of these calls from the IRS. Good morning, ma'am. This is Joe from the IRS. And her response, what I've heard was, her response was, that's funny. I'm from the IRS. I've got a few questions for you. You know, if you were to ask the average Denverite their thoughts on the Bible.
• 6:30
  They would probably scoff. They may roll their eyes. They'd tell you that it ranks somewhere slightly lower than Aesop's fables. Many may consider the gospel a harmless fairy tale. Others, I think, are more hostile, thinking the story that we believe to be inflammatory, intolerant, even corrosive to our society. They call it fake. They call it a counterfeit.
• 6:54
  The most popular viewpoint, however, and I'm surprised to find out the viewpoint that is even held by many professing Christians, is that the story is pretty much irrelevant. The Bible is archaic. It's obsolete. It has nothing to do with our day-to-day lives. Our nation's churches are plagued with those who claim the name but who don't actually believe the story. Everybody in our country says they're Christians. Everybody does.
• 7:23
  In fact, I read an article this week that says it is impossible, it is impossible to win the presidency without at some point calling yourself a Christian. Whether you are or not doesn't matter. Just call yourself one or you can't win. Those who claim the title but don't actually live it out, our churches, I think, are oftentimes full of counterfeit gospels, counterfeit Christianity. And if you're like me, if you're a man like me,
• 7:52
  whose life really honestly is a series of mistakes and failures. Honestly, that is me. If you have a marriage that actually really does take work, if you're ever impatient with your kids, if you respond like I do, if you respond in kind toward criticism and negativity, then this book, 1 Thessalonians, is for you. It describes people like you and I. Real people.
• 8:21
  who had real problems, who need the real gospel. A real gospel. That's why I like this book so much. I am not good at church pretending. You guys know what I mean when I say that? You wake up on Sunday morning, you put on your smiley face and your iron shirt, and you walk into church and pretend like everything is right with the world. I don't know why we do that. I'm not good at it. I'm not good at going from Saturday night.
• 8:53
  to Sunday morning. Because if I'm really honest, my attitude, my personality, my smiles on Sunday morning, my Christianity on Sunday morning is nothing like my Christianity on Saturday night. I'm not saying I'm going out and getting blitzed. That's not what's happening. But man, I'm angry and impulsive and impatient. And then I go to Sunday morning and I pretend like everything's awesome that I never sin. And I don't get that. That's not who I am. I'm not good at that.
• 9:22
  Tired of acting like everything in our lives is wonderful, that work is great, that our marriages are great, that we have no problems, right? That in the words of Emmett, the most average Lego man in town, everything is awesome. You guys, I have real sin. And so I need a real Savior. I don't need the Sunday morning Savior. I need the Saturday night Savior. If you guys have your Bibles, turn to the left with me. We're going to look at the book of Acts just for a few minutes. Acts chapter 16.
• 9:52
  I'm going to set some context. I'm not going to read long narrative passages. I just want to show you guys where I get all of this from. Acts 16 and 17 are the background to the church at Thessalonica. Okay, so this is the story describing the planting of this church that we're going to be talking about for the next several months. You guys will remember in Acts chapter 16 and verse 16 that Paul and his traveling companion Silas, who is called Silvanus.
• 10:18
  In our letter this morning in verse 1, Paul and Silas are imprisoned. Do you remember this? They can't stop talking about Jesus. And so they're arrested. They're put into jail. In the middle of the night while they're in prison, they're singing hymns and praise to God. They're singing. And while they're doing that, the prison is hit with an earthquake so violent that it actually shakes loose the shackles which bound all of the prisoners.
• 10:45
  So all of a sudden, all of the prisoners are set free. The jailer comes running in and upon seeing all of the chains now laying on the ground, assumes that all of the prisoners have escaped. He knows his punishment will be execution. And so he is going, he's getting ready to kill himself in Acts chapter 16. The apostle Paul still standing there interrupts and says, don't do that. We're all still here. Now imagine the influence that the apostle Paul had. Can you imagine? He's in jail.
• 11:15
  All of a sudden, all of the doors swing open. He walks out and says, listen, my God did this and he can do a lot worse. Everybody else stay put. Nobody move. And they actually did. They stayed. The jailer runs in. He says, we're all still here. Because of that, that jailer was converted. His entire household became believers. He links up with Lydia the faithful. Do you guys remember her from over the summer?
• 11:42
  Lydia the faithful who had recently planted a church and her household and his household become the foundation for the Philippian church, the church at Philippi. Paul, because of that event, was eventually released at the end of Acts chapter 16.
• 11:57
  And in Acts chapter 17, verse one, it says, now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And it says for three straight weeks, the apostle Paul goes into the synagogue of Thessalonica and he argues with the Jews there about whether Jesus really is the Christ. It says that he argues from the scriptures that he had to suffer and die and be raised from the dead.
• 12:21
  That he really is who he said he was and he begins to win men and women to the gospel and he plants a church in Thessalonica despite what you'll read in Acts 17 is pretty heavy persecution. Nonetheless, wins converts and plants a church. Much like modern day America, the Thessalonian people believed everything. They believed everything.
• 12:52
  You know, it's funny, the hardest thing about witnessing in Thessalonica was not trying to get people to believe the gospel. They readily believed. It was trying to get them to stop believing everything else. They believed everything. And because they believed everything, they really believed nothing. It's just like 21st century America.
• 13:20
  You can find the most off the wall theory you have ever heard. Like this is the weirdest quack job belief I have ever heard of. And you can find people who are following it in America. People believe everything here because they believe everything. They really honestly are convicted about nothing.
• 13:43
  In a group of a dozen Thessalonians, you could find 13 different opinions. There was little agreement, little harmony, little consensus on anything religious. One man described their culture this way, and it sounds just like ours to me. He says, the Thessalonians were adrift in a sea of great religious pluralism and confusion. There was an ocean of different ideas and people believed them all. Our title this morning comes directly from verse 5, our gospel.
• 14:12
  came to you because our text this morning describes the real gospel changing real lives do you ever wonder how do i know the gospel that i believe is real and how do i know that i really believe it you ever wonder that i would remind us of the words of augustine this morning who said when scripture speaks god speaks when scripture speaks god speaks
• 14:40
  And if these words are truly God's words, if they really do possess the power of God for the salvation of all who believe, which is what Romans 1 says, if they really are God's words and not man's, if we believe that God really did inspire these words, then we would expect these words to have an impact. We would expect this to actually work. If some guy made it up, then it's no different than a fairy tale. But if these are God's words,
• 15:09
  then we would expect them to actually work. If it's the real gospel, if Jesus really died on the cross and can really forgive our sins, and if his spirit really does dwell in each of us, then we would expect our lives to be transformed because of it, wouldn't we? We would expect something to happen. And that's what chapter one describes. It describes the transforming power of the gospel and also the influencing power.
• 15:38
  of the gospel so if you guys are taking notes two points this morning number one is the gospel's transforming power the gospel's transforming power and look at verse one paul sylvanus and timothy it says to the church to the church don't miss the weight of that word church growth books abound man many many more being written every year do you know i've never actually read one
• 16:12
  I've never read a church growth book other than this one. That's it. I am telling you because the reason is because it's impossible to keep up. If you were going to read all the church growth books, you would never stop reading. There's always some new and novel method, some new program you have to institute, strategies being established, published, distributed every year, more and more and more and more. I feel like pastoring a church at times takes on the aura of keeping up with the Joneses.
• 16:42
  Do you remember that phrase? We don't use it anymore. Man, my neighbor got this, and now I have to get that, and then he got this, so I have to get that. It's like we're constantly trying to one-up each other. And churches feel like they're the same way. That church is doing this down the street. Well, how are we going to compete? There's no competition. If there is, Jesus wins, not us. So I don't really get it. It's this constant rat race, moving, moving. I have to ask myself.
• 17:09
  What people experience when they attend Highland. What were their first impressions? If they leave, if they don't come back, what could we have done to keep them here? Now, don't get me wrong. Sometimes those challenges are a good thing because they hold us accountable. Knowing that we are going to have visitors every single Sunday. And that's not, I'm not kidding. We do. Every single Sunday, we have somebody brand new. Those questions are what keeps our bathrooms clean. They keep our signs easy to read.
• 17:37
  They hold us accountable to kindness and smiles because we know we're going to be welcoming new people in. You better smile at them. Be nice to them. They remind us that good music is important. It's important. But none of those things, although necessary, none of them are what transforms a church. Only the gospel transforms. Only the gospel has the life-changing, transforming power of God. Now, the word church. I told you to mark that word. I told you to pay attention to that word. The word church, the Greek word for the word church.
• 18:08
  is a compound of two different words, ek, which means out of, and kaleo, meaning called, called out. We get the Greek word ekklesia from that. Ekklesia, ek and kaleo, called out. The church is comprised of those who have been called out.
• 18:27
  There was the ocean of humanity and God called some out and made a church. They are the people who have been called to forsake their old way of life and embrace Christ. What Ephesians 4 describes as putting off the old self, which is corrupt through deceitful desires and putting on the new self created after the likeness of God. And as we all know, often when one is called to pick something up, that person must first lay something down.
• 18:58
  One man has said this, when these believers turned to God, they were turning away from their past way of life. Boy, those who were saved at an early age rejoice in the life that God has spared you from. And those who were saved later in life say amen. Isn't that true?
• 19:30
  Do you know, never, never, you guys, never once have I met somebody who was genuinely saved, who wished that they had got saved later in life. Oh, man. Imagine all that I missed out on because I was following Jesus from a young age. Imagine all that following Jesus kept me from. All of the opportunities, all of the fun, all of the... I have never met anybody... Have you? Nobody says that.
• 20:00
  I've met plenty of people who say, oh, I wish that I had followed Jesus earlier. Because only in the Lord is there fullness of joy. Yes, I experienced some things. All of them heartache. Apart from the joy of Christ. Worthless vanity chasing after the wind. You want to know what that's like without Jesus? Worthless. Not until I came to know Christ did I know purpose.
• 20:27
  When these people came to Christ, they were forsaking what they had left behind. He continues, when a person comes to know Jesus, they will know change. And if there's no change, there's likely no Jesus. 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 5. Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless, of course, you fail the test.
• 20:57
  If we come to know Jesus, if the gospel really does penetrate our hearts and minds, it will cause us to live differently. But church, let me just, let me just, I'm going to pound on something real quick, okay? This does not give us an excuse for legalism. It is true. Our lives will change. But that doesn't mean, just because we've come to know Jesus doesn't mean we stop needing Jesus. It was grace that saved us. But you know what? It's grace that sanctifies us too. It is so weird to me.
• 21:28
  When Christians whose entire lives are based upon the grace of God, we are nothing apart from his grace, then we'll not extend grace and kindness toward others. It doesn't make any sense. It has no place in the church. I can't figure it out. Like we're saved by grace, but we're sanctified by the law. That's not what the Bible says. We continue to need his mercies, which are new every morning. Amen. That's the God that we serve.
• 22:00
  Let us never pretend like we were recruited into the kingdom instead of saved into the kingdom. You guys, there's a reason we celebrate communion every month. There's a reason because in so doing, Scripture says, we proclaim his death.
• 22:22
  Until he comes, it's a monthly reminder of the grace that we all need. And so it is true. The gospel has life transforming power. We are called out of sin and into holiness, putting off the old man and putting on the new. But man, let us never pretend like God needed us and that we are without sin. Because the Bible says if we start to pretend like we're without sin, we're liars. And the truth isn't in us. That's what 1 John 1 says. Don't deceive yourselves into thinking that you no longer need the grace.
• 22:54
  Of God. That's the church. Called out ones. Notice he continues in verse 1. He says this greeting. And I like this greeting. He says grace to you and peace. Grace and peace. Only a person who has experienced God's grace. Can experience God's peace. If your life is in shambles. If it's in turmoil. If you are wracked with guilt. And riddled with shame. If you don't know peace. In your life.
• 23:28
  then lean on God's grace. Because once you receive God's grace, once you realize, honestly, church, once you realize when he says he loves you, he actually does. Once you realize that you serve a loving heavenly father and not an angry heavenly father.
• 23:45
  Once that reality washes over you, I'm telling you the freedom that you can live with, the liberty that you will feel knowing that your heavenly father is behind you and really will never leave you or forsake you. And his is the kind of presence that you actually want to have around. That's peace. But you only experience it through God's grace, grace and peace. When the gospel penetrates hearts, it transforms.
• 24:12
  People and transformed people constitute the church. The gospel has transforming power. That's point number one. Point number two, look at the gospel's influencing power. And this is verses two through 10. The gospel's influencing power. The remainder of this chapter describes the church that has been transformed. The gospel saturated church will have influence. It will have influence on three different groups. And we're going to go through these really quickly, but on three different groups.
• 24:40
  First, it will have influence on the individuals within the church. You, your life individually will be changed if the gospel has penetrated your church. It will have influence. It will also have influence on other churches. And it will also have influence on the community in which you live. And so let's look at those three. The gospel's influence on the individuals within the church. Verses two to five say this.
• 25:06
  We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father. Here it is. Listen to how this church body is described. Your work of faith, your labor of love, steadfastness in hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you. Because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.
• 25:36
  It will change the individuals within it. Notice first that theirs was a faith that worked. They didn't simply pay lip service to God's word, saying, well, I know that's how I should act, but I know that's what I should do, but I'm not going to do it. They didn't simply pay lip service. They actually engaged in righteous deeds, work of faith. Notice second, theirs was a love that labored.
• 26:08
  A love that labored. One of the most convicting and really, honestly, haunting verses in Scripture for me is 1 John 3.16. We all know John 3.16. 1 John 3.16 is just as big. It says this, Let us not love with words or tongue, but with action and in truth. Let us not love with words or tongue, but with action and in truth. Don't just tell your wife you love her. Show her that you love her.
• 26:43
  That's what that means. Don't just tell the church you love. Show them that you love them. Our love must manifest itself in action or it isn't genuine love. They didn't just mouth the words to the songs. You ever do that? I do. There are times my brain is a million miles away or my heart is a million miles away that I'm up here singing, but I'm not actually worshiping. I'm just singing. They didn't just mouth the words to the song. They actually lived them. One of my favorite things about
• 27:13
  John Villalpando and the way that he sings. You can tell when he sings that he actually believes what he's singing about. He shares testimony about it. Here's why I chose this song. Here's why this music ministered to me. He believes it when he sings it. These people had a genuine heartfelt connection through worship. Notice third, theirs was a hope that endured. He continues, steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 27:41
  Theirs was a hope that endured. I always appreciate people who can stay positive. Even in the midst of turmoil and suffering, I am not one of those people. I go to Eeyore pretty quick. I get black rain clouds pretty quick. Man, praise God. I'm married to whom I am married. Positive. She pulls me out. I'm telling you. By God's grace and through His strength and for His glory, but she pulls me out of the mud again and again and again. A hope that endured. Notice fourth. Theirs.
• 28:13
  was an election that produced. An election that produced. Verse 4 says, For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you. We know that you're saved. We know that you're part of the elect. Well, how? Because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. They actually became convicted over sin and they stopped doing it. The Holy Spirit lived in their lives. They had the power of God in them.
• 28:44
  The fruit of their lives proved the genuineness of their salvation. The power of the Holy Spirit convicted their hearts regarding sin but also regarding mission. They not only stopped doing what they shouldn't do but they actually began doing what they should do. They ceased doing the things displeasing to the Lord, began doing the things that advanced his kingdom. The gospel will have an influencing power on those within the church but it will also have an influencing power on other churches that may hear about it.
• 29:15
  On other churches, look at verse 6. It says, This church followed an example. They patterned their lives after the apostles' lives. They became imitators, it says, of the apostles and...
• 29:42
  of the Lord. Church, this is true discipleship. You want to know what discipleship is? I think we have to redefine what we think of as discipleship. I get young men that ask me to disciple them. I get it a lot. Young men will come and say, Pastor Danny, will you disciple me? What they mean by that is, will you meet with me one hour a week and help me to read a book? That's what they mean. When we think of discipleship, we need a one hour meeting at a coffee shop.
• 30:10
  And reading a book together. That's what we think of as discipleship. But that's not how it's described here. The word used here is imitators. Pastor Danny, will you disciple me? Yeah. Pay attention. Watch what I do. And the good things follow. And the bad things don't. That's discipleship. Look around. Aren't there people here? Have you ever looked at the lives of other people, even within our congregation, and said, man, that person does that well. I'm going to copy it.
• 30:43
  That's discipleship. You ever watch Dale Jackson? If you guys are new to our church, come to early service sometime and meet Dale Jackson. Cowboy Dale, the one with the cowboy hat, handlebar mustache. Honestly, one of the most capable, intelligent, strong men I've ever met. Perhaps the kindest man on God's green earth. His kindness is unsurpassed. I can't believe how nice a guy he is. The joy of the Lord just flows out of him. He has a work ethic. I'm telling you, he is the least lazy man I've ever met.
• 31:13
  Never waste time. I've watched that and I said, Lord, make me like Dale. I want to work like that. You ever met Gary Buss? I'm going to talk about him. He's sitting right back there. I just, honestly, you guys, we're all passionate about the lost, convicted about it. We just feel horrible that people are going to hell. I've never met a man whose heart has broken over it like his, who cries over it, genuinely sheds tears because people are really dying without the Savior. I've seen him cry. I've seen him pray. Lord, make me like that.
• 31:47
  Tom and Christine Calkins, Tom and Linda Miller. Tom and Linda Miller. They're in their 70s. And in their 70s began a ministry, an entire outreach to a neighborhood, city kids. They just said, the Lord's not done with us. We're still alive. Here we are. The Lord's not done with us. We're going to go and we're going to change people's lives. Lord, make me like that. What do I have to complain about? I'll bet my knees don't hurt as bad as theirs do.
• 32:15
  I'll bet I'm not as tired and slow getting out of bed, right? Does that make sense? Like you look at these people, you say, Lord, that is something to be copied. Imitate their faith. That's genuine discipleship. And eventually, if you emulate other people's faith for long enough, eventually people will start to emulate yours. They started following an example, but they became an example. Verse seven says, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The church at Thessalonica became the church that other churches called.
• 32:46
  For counsel, for help, for support. When people walked into their church, they knew right away that these people were different. They had encountered the real gospel. And notice what it was in verse 6 that actually drew people to them. What is it that made them an example? Verse 6 says, they received the word in much affliction, but, it says, with the joy of the Holy Spirit. It was just joy overflowing in them that made them so attractive to other churches.
• 33:17
  You guys, I had sages yesterday, the senior adult chapel. I was privileged to get to teach there yesterday. I wasn't so much teaching as it was kind of an open discussion. It was actually really, really good together. But we talked about this idea that nobody wants to hang around grumpy, crusty, complaining Christians. Nobody wants to hang around those people. Nobody calls them for advice. Nobody asks to come hang out. Nobody asks.
• 33:44
  If they can come to their house, grumpy, crusty, complaining Christians. But people who are filled with joy, the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Spirit, joy in their marriage, joy with their kids, you guys, those people are attractive. You want to have opportunities to share your faith, to advance the kingdom? Find that joy in the Lord. Really rejoice in the God of your salvation. That's what attracted these other churches to them in Macedonia and Achaia, the regions that...
• 34:17
  the church that Thessalonica was in, all the churches in the region found out about it. But not only that, and here's where we'll end, even the community around it, not just the believers, but even everyone else, even non-believers. Verse eight says, your faith in God has gone forth everywhere so that we need not say anything for they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you.
• 34:40
  So in other words, the Apostle Paul is going to these places and saying, there's a church I got to tell you about. And they said, we've already heard about them. Let us tell you about them. We've already heard about this church. The report is actually beating the Apostle Paul to these new towns. Let us tell you how they turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. Let us tell you how they wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. Two things stood out.
• 35:13
  To the community. Number one, these people not only believed in the gospel, but they stopped believing lies. They didn't just sprinkle a little bit of gospel on top of their normal lives. That's not what they did. They turned away from idols to serve the living God. And it says they anxiously waited for his son from heaven. The Bible says that Jesus will come back. And every generation has thought it would be within their lifetime. And I have no reason to think it won't be in ours. Jesus is coming back. And these people.
• 35:44
  anxiously awaited for his return. My son, Chase, eight years old, came into my room yesterday morning early, climbed up on my bed and started jumping up and down. You know, he's doing one of these and he's jumping. I'm still in bed, jumping, jumping, you know, and I'm then trying to cover myself and protect and, you know, because I'm getting stomped on. He's jumping and jumping. Chase, what's wrong with you?
• 36:06
  A hundred and five days till Christmas. A hundred and five days till Christmas. And he's jumping, jumping, jumping. A hundred and five days. A hundred and five days. Chase, is it really a hundred and five days? Yeah, I counted. A hundred and five days. And he's jumping and jumping and jumping. There is something, which honestly, Christmas Day, it's wonderful. I don't want to downplay Christmas Day, but it's just a day. You get your presents, they break, and then you got to wait till next year. You know, that's, we, a hundred and five days away.
• 36:44
  And it's changing the way that he lives today because there's so much anticipation. Can you imagine if our lives really do end in heaven? And heaven really is everything the Bible says it is. Shouldn't the anticipation of that day, being in the Lord's presence, shouldn't that change the way we live now? There's no reason to live in despair, discontentment. Why? Because only 105 days. 105 days, 105 days, 105 days. We get to see Jesus face to face.
• 37:15
  looked forward to seeing Jesus, that it changed the way that they lived. I'm going to tell you my favorite part about this whole thing. The letter of 1 Thessalonians was authored in the fall of AD 50. The fall of AD 50. Acts chapter 17 and the planting of the church in Thessalonica happened in the spring of AD 50. You guys put together that timeline? This church.
• 37:47
  The one that lived so radically, the one that lived with such impact and such influence was less than a year old. Baby Christians in a baby church. Can you imagine what God could do with a 50-year-old church filled with some people who have honestly known the Lord for decades? We have individuals here who have known the Lord for 50 and 60 years and have been walking with Him. Can you imagine the maturity that they possess and what God could do if He can use babies this way?
• 38:17
  what He can do with mature believers. It makes me excited to think about. Let me pray. God, thank You for this morning. Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for the joy that we have in reading and studying it. God, I pray that as we sing now that You would be glorified, that we would leave with the real joy of the Gospel in our hearts. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.