Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / November 17 - 2 Thessalonians 1
Transcript
- 0:11Hello friends, it's Sean here and it is the 17th of November.
- 0:16It's a Monday, it's a new week and I hope you're doing well.
- 0:19Thank you for inviting me into your week as our weeks are
- 0:23hotting up, aren't they? I don't know about you, but my
- 0:25life is now starting to fill with Christmassy things and
- 0:28celebrations and extra things, things, things, good things, but
- 0:33still things. So here you are in the midst of
- 0:36it all. You press pause on life and play
- 0:39on your device. And Holy Spirit, share with us
- 0:44your heart so that today, as we take this moment to focus on
- 0:48you, that we would grow, grow closer to you and grow more like
- 0:53you. And we are going to be doing
- 0:56that as we read Second Thessalonians, the second book
- 1:00that Paul, Silas, and Timothy write to their friends in the
- 1:03church in Thessalonica. And the themes continue
- 1:06similarly from the first letter. So it'll feel like we are
- 1:10picking up just where we left off.
- 1:12So let's do that, shall we? Let's read together Second
- 1:15Thessalonians chapter 1. This letter is from Paul, Silas,
- 1:30and Timothy. We are writing to the church in
- 1:33Thessalonica. To you who belong to God our
- 1:36Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
- 1:39May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and
- 1:43peace. Dear brothers and sisters, we
- 1:47can't help but thank God for you because your faith is
- 1:51flourishing and your love for one another is growing.
- 1:54We proudly tell God's other churches about your endurance
- 1:57and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardship you
- 2:01are suffering, and God will use this persecution to show His
- 2:06justice and to make you worthy of His Kingdom for which you are
- 2:10suffering. In His justice, He will pay back
- 2:14those who persecute you, and God will provide rest for you who
- 2:19are being persecuted and also for us.
- 2:22When the Lord Jesus appears from heaven, He will come with His
- 2:26mighty angels in flaming fire, bringing judgement on those who
- 2:31don't know God and on those who refuse to obey the good news of
- 2:34our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with
- 2:37eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from
- 2:41His glorious power. When He comes on that day, He
- 2:46will receive glory from His holy people, praise from all who
- 2:51believe, and this includes you, for you believed what we told
- 2:55you about Him. So we keep on praying for you,
- 3:00asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of His call.
- 3:05May He give you the power to accomplish all the good things
- 3:08your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus
- 3:12will be honoured because of the way you live, and you will be
- 3:16honoured along with Him. This is all made possible
- 3:20because of the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.
- 3:36Oh Jesus, here we hear this encouragement to these people
- 3:40who were struggling, who was suffering because of their lives
- 3:43serving you. Lord, let this be an inspiration
- 3:46to us that in this modern world where we do everything we can to
- 3:51avoid suffering and to avoid hardship, to know that it's
- 3:55through hardship that you can develop us and grow us and make
- 4:00us more like you. So Lord, I pray, just as the
- 4:04author writes in this letter, that we would have the power we
- 4:08need to stand firm in our faith in you and to act in a way that
- 4:12would honour you in this world. And that as we do, that no
- 4:16matter what, the consequence to us that you would continue to
- 4:20grow us to be more like you. This is an almighty challenge
- 4:26and a beautiful invitation. And so here we are, Your
- 4:30children, your servants, ready to serve.
- 4:33You lead us, empower us, and draw us ever closer to you.
- 4:39Lord Jesus, we pray all of this in your mighty name, Amen.