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November 11 - 1 Thessalonians 3 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends. It's Sean.
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  Here it is Tuesday. It's the 11th of the 11th, the
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  11th of November. And of course, in Australia this
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  is the day where we celebrate Remembrance Day.
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  So if you are listening at like a few minutes before 11:00, you
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  should pause and take a moment to reflect at 11:00 about all of
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  those people who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for the
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  freedom and the way we get to Live Today.
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  What a gift they have given us. So today we remember them, lest
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  we forget. But for the rest of the day,
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  life continues, right? And that was the whole point of
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  their sacrifice, so life could continue.
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  And for us, that means taking a moment, settling down before our
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  God and hearing what he has to share with us through his word.
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  And this, this is a really chatty letter, isn't it?
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  It's really familiar and friendly and relational.
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  So it really gives us a flavour of what that early Christian
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  ministry was like for those apostles.
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  It really wasn't just, you know, being a roving preacher, but it
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  really was coming into communities and encouraging and
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  inspiring and supporting and teaching and then with great
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  pains, leaving and moving on to the next community.
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  Ah, beautiful stuff. And today is a short reading,
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  only 13 verses long. So we will soak every one of
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  them up as we hear what the Holy Spirit has to teach us.
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  Holy Spirit, open up our hearts so that we can hear Your truth
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  delivered to us for our lives today.
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  All right friends, let's do it. Let's read together First
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  Thessalonians chapter 3. Finally, when we could stand it
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  no longer, we decided to stay alone in Athens and we sent
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  Timothy to you. He is our brother and God's Co
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  worker in proclaiming the good news of Christ.
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  We sent him to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith,
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  and to keep you from being shaken by the troubles you were
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  going through. But you know that we were
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  destined for such troubles. Even while we were with you.
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  We warned you that troubles would soon come, and they did,
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  as you well know. That is why, when I could bear
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  it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out whether your faith was
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  still strong. I was afraid that the tempter
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  had gotten the best of you and that our work had been useless.
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  But now Timothy has just returned, bringing us good news
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  about your faith and love. He reports that you always
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  remember our visit with joy, and that you want to see us as much
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  as we want to see you. So we have been greatly
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  encouraged in the midst of our troubles and suffering.
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  Dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong
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  in your faith, it gives us new life to know that you are
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  standing firm in the Lord. How we thank God for you.
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  Because of you, we have great joy as we enter God's presence
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  night and day. We pray earnestly for you,
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  asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps in your
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  faith. My God our Father and our Lord
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  Jesus Christ bring us to you very soon, and may the Lord make
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  your love for one another and for all people grow and
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  overflow. Just as our love for you
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  overflows. May He as a result make your
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  heart strong, blameless and holy as you stand before God our
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  Father, when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy
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  people. Amen.
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  Well, thank you for this reminder that when you called us
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  into a life of faith in you, not only did you call us into that
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  relationship with you, but also you called us into community so
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  that we can encourage each other.
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  And here we hear these words of Paul and Silas, how they're so
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  encouraged by their brothers and sisters in faith.
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  Lord, place people in our lives that need encouragement in their
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  faith so that we can encourage them so that we can speak your
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  words of kindness and point them back to you as they struggle.
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  And Lord, all of us go through times of struggle.
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  And as we do, Lord, please in your generosity, place in our
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  lives people who can speak words of encouragement and draw us
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  back to you and remind us of the beauty of that relationship that
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  we have with you, the peace that we find in you, the joy that we
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  can find in you, and ultimately all that you have done for us
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  and all that you make us in your presence and your family.
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  You are a good, good God. Use community to continually
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  draw us to you and use us as part of this community.
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  Thank you for the privilege of being part of your mission work.
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  What an incredible joy it is. So we love you, and we thank
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  you, and we praise you, and we pray all of this in your
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  precious name, Jesus, Amen.