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November 6 - 1 Thessalonians 1 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here and it's a Thursday.
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  It's the 6th of November, and I am grateful that you have
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  invited me into your day because today we are going to open up
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  this wonderful, well, the first of two epistles to the church in
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  Thessalonica. And this is a letter written not
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  just by Paul, but by a trio, Paul, Silas and Timothy.
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  They've got the band back together.
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  Well, not back together. In fact this is actually one of
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  the earliest letters that we have that Paul wrote early along
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  in his ministry and this is one that he wrote to this relatively
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  new church in this port side town of Thessalonica which which
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  was really quite an important city back through the Greek
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  days. And so when the Romans took over
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  about 150 years before Jesus ministry, they kind of left it
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  to its own devices to run itself because it was a very productive
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  and profitable centre. So there are all the Greek gods,
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  plus they added all the Roman gods there.
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  And it is a place full of idol worship.
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  And this new church is struggling to work out how do we
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  be Christians in this place, Particularly because all of
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  their neighbours and friends were just giving them a hard
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  time. Just wondering what on earth was
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  wrong with them following this new way and trying to convince
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  them to come back to a respectable established
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  religion. And so Paul, Silas and Timothy
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  are going to talk about the benefits of believing in Jesus
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  and how honourable that actually is in this difficult place where
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  they live, trying to change their lives and maintain a
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  Christian way of being, even with all the pressure from
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  around them. Which I got to say, doesn't
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  sound too unlike our world. So let us settle ourselves in
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  and hear the wonderful advice, even though this is a very brief
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  opening chapter from our friends as we read together First
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  Thessalonians chapter 1. This letter is from Paul, Silas
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  and Timothy. We are writing to the church in
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  Thessalonica to you who belong to God the Father and the Lord
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  Jesus Christ. May God give you grace and
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  peace. We always thank God for all of
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  you and pray for you constantly. As we pray for our God and
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  Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving
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  deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of the Lord Jesus
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  Christ. We know, dear brothers and
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  sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own
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  people. For when we brought you the good
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  news, it was not only with words but also with power.
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  For the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said
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  was true. And you know of our concern for
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  you from the way we lived when we were with you.
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  So you received this message with joy from the Holy Spirit,
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  in spite of the severe suffering it brought you.
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  In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord.
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  As a result, you have become an example to all the believers in
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  Greece, throughout both Macedonia and Ikaya.
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  And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people
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  everywhere, even beyond Macedonia and Ikaya.
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  For wherever we go, we find people telling us about your
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  faith in God. We don't need to tell them about
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  it, for they keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave
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  us and how you turned away from idols to serve the living and
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  true God. And they speak of how you are
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  looking forward to the coming of God's Son from heaven, Jesus,
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  whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us
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  from the terrors of the coming judgement.
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  Jesus, let us be like this church in Thessalonica.
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  Let people speak about us to say that we have shown them great
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  welcome and love and kindness. Our Lord, I pray that you would
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  continue your work of transformation in us so that we
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  can become generous and kind and patience and upstanding people,
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  people who live according to the way that you would have us live
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  and people who would show the fruits of the Spirit.
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  And may the way that we live inspired by you make a
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  difference in our world so that people do stop and say, my
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  goodness, these people, what's with them?
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  And we can point to you, our incredible loving God and the
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  author of all good things are you alone are worthy of our
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  praise. Help us turn from the idols of
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  our world and worship you. And we pray all of this in your
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  saving name, Jesus, Amen.