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Faith, Hope, & Love in a Noisy World · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Hey you guys, this is friendly. I'm so excited to be back with
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  y'all this week on the podcast. Just got back from my trip
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  yesterday and I really hope y'all had a wonderful holiday
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  weekend. It's always sweet to step away
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  for a little bit and travel, but I did really miss getting to sit
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  down and record what the Lord teaches me in my quiet time.
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  So if you've been following along in other episodes, we've
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  primarily been focusing on the book of Matthew.
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  And after wrapping that up, as I was gone in my quiet times, I
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  was praying and just asking the Lord, OK, God, what do you want
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  me to study next? And I felt so clearly him direct
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  me to the book of First Thessalonians.
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  And honestly, I think 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, which that
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  can be a tongue twister to say, let me just put that out there.
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  But I think that they can be a little underrated for how deeply
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  applicable and encouraging they are for us today in our day and
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  age. So over the next couple weeks,
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  we're going to be walking through both of those letters
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  straight out of my quiet time. And we're just going to take it
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  in chunks because this is not like Jesus's parables where each
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  section kind of stands alone as a story.
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  Of course, they all tied together.
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  But these are pastoral letters from Paul, and there's a lot of
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  layers. They're super rich, and I just
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  don't want us to skim past any phrases or verses.
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  So today we're just going to be covering First Thessalonians one
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  one through 3 and let me just go ahead and get us started by
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  reading it. Paul, Silas, and Timothy to the
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  Church of the Thessalonians and God the Father and the Lord
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  Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you.
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  We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you
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  in our prayers. We remember before God and
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  Father, your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by
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  love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord
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  Jesus Christ. OK, clearly very short and sweet
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  for today's episode, but before we dive into takeaways and what
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  the Lord was teaching me, I do want to spend a little bit more
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  time on background since we're starting a new book and I think
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  it'll really help with context and help us going forward.
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  So Paul planted this church in Thessalonica.
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  This was during his second, second missionary journey.
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  And after leaving Corinth, he came to this city and built up
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  this church. But unfortunately, he did not
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  get to stay there long because there were a lot of threats and
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  opposition that he was facing. So he left sooner than he would
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  have liked to. And because these were younger
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  believers, this was a brand new church, you could hear some
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  people say now baby believers are Christians.
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  His heart was still very much with them and invested.
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  So he sent Timothy to check on them.
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  And Timothy, he goes and evaluates their church and how
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  they're doing. And he comes back to Paul with a
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  positive report that they are standing firm, they are unified,
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  and they're walking in fellowship.
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  So Paul, he's like a spiritual father.
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  He writes this letter to them in response, and he's expressing
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  his love and his care and ultimately his gratitude for
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  their unity. But he's also continuing to
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  encourage them and hold them accountable to persevering under
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  trial, under pressure, and in the faith.
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  So even though he's not physically present with them,
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  he's making it clear. Guys, I'm with you in spirit
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  now. Something that is also important
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  to note, Thessalonica was the capital of Macedonia and it was
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  the largest city there. It had, it says, around 200,000
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  people at the time. So there was a huge trade
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  highway that ran through it and they were actually allowed to
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  self rule under Rome. But because of this highway,
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  there was a lot of travel, meaning a lot of cultural
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  influence and religious diversity, AKA idolatry.
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  Now let me just pause. Does that sound familiar?
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  We live in or I do I live in America.
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  Assuming you live in America, we live in a place that is highly
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  influential. There are so many different
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  cultures and lots of different ideas constantly flowing in
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  competing belief systems. And so these believers then they
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  were learning how to live faithfully in a very spiritually
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  noisy environment, and so are we.
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  So that's why I think this is such an applicable book for us
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  to study. But moving into the text, we see
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  Paul open up by addressing the church, which literally
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  translates into the congregation of believers.
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  And it says in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Now that phrase in God the Father and Jesus, it
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  communicates unity. So this is not just some social
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  gathering that they come together.
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  It's not just a shared interest or ideology.
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  They are unified in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
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  Ultimately, he also mentions Paul, Silas, and Timothy.
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  And that's also key because it shows that ministry was never
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  meant to be a solo effort. See Silas, he was a prophet.
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  And Timothy, he was a very young leader in the church.
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  And Paul was an apostle. They all had different gifts and
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  different roles, but they were unified in one mission.
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  So they combined their callings for the glory of God and to
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  build up churches. And that's still true for us
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  today because it's cliche, but a lot of the times we hear your
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  life is your ministry. But it is so true because
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  wherever you work, wherever you go to school, whatever season
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  you're in, wherever God has you, you were never meant to do it
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  alone, but you have a mission. And so it's important to find
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  those people who are like minded and have that goal to build up
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  the church and to be unified in Christ.
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  Now also, Paul writes that they were always thanking God for
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  them in prayer. And let's just think about
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  everything that Paul had going on as he's writing this letter.
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  He is constantly traveling. He's planning churches.
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  He's facing persecution so much so that he couldn't even stay
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  with them. He's enduring suffering and
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  consistently meeting new, new believers and leaders all over
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  the world. And yet he remembers these
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  Christians at this church in Thessalonica.
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  He doesn't just start something and check a box and move on,
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  y'all. He's interceding in prayer.
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  There is so much power in intercession.
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  So I just want to pause and ask, how often are you praying for
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  others? Whether that's your family, your
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  friends, your own church family, or your church leaders?
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  Or is your prayer time strictly about you or what you need?
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  Because yes, like it is so good to bring before the Lord our own
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  request. That is biblical, but it is also
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  so important that we are interceding on behalf of others.
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  And also, is your life marked by prayer?
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  Is it stirred up by the gratitude for the Lord and for
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  what Jesus has done? So moving forward, Paul says
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  grace to you and peace. Now we see him say grace and
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  peace. He greets churches and a lot of
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  his other letters the same way. But I think it's interesting
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  because the Greek word for grace here, I might mispronounce it,
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  but it's spelled how how it's spelled.
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  It sounds like charis or cheris. And this carries the idea of joy
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  and delight or abundant pleasure.
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  So there's emotional warmth in that word.
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  Paul is not rigid and he's not distant.
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  He is expressing this joyous delight in God's people.
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  So I also want to ask, do you experience that kind of joy as a
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  believer, that joyous delight, and yes, with other Christians
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  in the body? But even more importantly, do
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  you experience that in God's presence in your moment by
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  moment every day? Or has your relationship with
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  Him become rigid or routine? Could there be more joy for you
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  to experience in Him? And my answer would be yes,
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  because I believe there's always more that He wants to gift us
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  with. And lastly, Paul highlights 3
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  very important qualities that mark a believer.
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  Faith, hope, and love. Going into faith.
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  Our faith is our foundation. It's trusting what we can't
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  always see. Hebrews 11/1 says faith is the
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  assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not
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  yet seen. So is your faith active?
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  Is it steady even when circumstances shift #2 our hope.
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  That's our attitude. And yes, life is in no way
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  always going to be easy, but are you marked by a hopeful
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  expectancy? Because as a believer you are
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  called a children or a child of light.
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  We are God's children of light. So we know that there is more to
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  come than what we're currently going through right now.
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  So do you live with your cup half full or half empty?
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  And thirdly, love. This is our response we see in
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  first John 4/19. It says we love because he first
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  loved us and love is indispensable.
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  I want to read First Corinthians 13 really quick over you guys
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  and just try to fill in your name where it says love because
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  this is a great way to evaluate, OK, how am I expressing the love
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  of Christ to others? Starting in chapter 13 verse 4,
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  love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast.
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  It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own
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  way. It is not irritable or
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  resentful. It is not rejoice at wrongdoing,
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  but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes
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  all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
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  Love never ends. So are you patient and kind, not
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  easily angered, not self seeking?
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  Because love is the visible evidence of Christ in us, Y'all?
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  Faith anchors us, that's our foundation.
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  Hope lifts us, uplifts our attitude and love flows out of
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  us. It is the proof of Jesus.
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  So are my final thoughts as we continue this study.
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  These were young believers, a young church in a very loud and
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  cultural influenced city. But Paul was not shaming them.
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  He was thanking the Lord for them.
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  He reminded them of who they were, what their identity was
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  and who it was in. And he prayed for them.
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  He called them higher. And so that's the tone of this
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  entire letter. Encouragement.
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  There's accountability, an emphasis on joy and
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  perseverance, and we're going to unpack it slowly, but that's
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  kind of where I want to close out today.
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  So let's go ahead and move into prayer.
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  Lord, thank you so much for the gospel.
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  Thank you for your word. Thank you that even in the
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  opening lines of a letter there is so much depth to study.
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  Would you help us to be people of faith, hope and love?
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  May our lives be marked by prayer, and not just for
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  ourselves, but for those around us.
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  Would you give us unity within your body, within the church?
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  And would you restore joy where relationship with you has become
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  regimented or routine? All God, teach us how to live
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  faithfully in a very noisy culture where there are so many
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  distractions. Strengthen our foundation.
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  Would you just lift up our perspective?
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  Help us to see from your point of view God, and let love be the
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  evidence of Jesus Christ in us and in our hearts.
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  We are so expectant for what you're going to continue to
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  reveal as we study First Thessalonians.
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  And we just love you so much. Father, we pray this all in your
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  name. Amen.
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  OK, well I'm going to end it there, but I hope that you all
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  have a wonderful Tuesday and that we will continue just
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  learning so much as we study this together.
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  See y'all tomorrow.