Belonging to the Day

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

We are continuing our series in 1 & 2 Thessalonians titled “Follow Christ. He Comes!” Last week, John Farmer shared with you some of the details that the apostle Paul revealed to the Thessalonian believers concerning Jesus’ second coming—specifically that those who had died in Christ will not proceed those who are still alive in Christ but instead the dead will be caught up together with those who are still living at the time to meet the Lord in the air and thus we will all be with the Lord for all eternity. Our passage today will deal with living for Christ until He comes back for us or until we die and await His return for us like those who have died in Christ for the past 2000 years or more.

Let’s pray and ask the Lord to make this message both meaningful and applicable to each one of us.

Encourage with these Words

I Thessalonians 4:13-18

Good morning!  We’re continuing today in our series on the two letters which Paul and his fellow missionaries wrote to the church at Thessalonica.  The name of our series is “Follow Christ.  He Comes!”  Up till now, I’d say our focus has primarily been about following Christ, but today we’re going to get a big dose of “He Comes!”

More and More

1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

Welcome to week 4 of our study on the first and second letters to the church in Thessalonica.  Today starts a transition in the first letter, but we will get to that in just a few minutes.  Let’s pray and ask God to speak to us and teach us during this time.

Longing

1 Thessalonians 3:1-13

“So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.” –1 Thessalonians 3:1-5

Glory and Joy

1 Thessalonians 2:1-20

This is the second in our new series of messages on the short books of 1 & 2 Thessalonians. John set the stage for us last Sunday with the first chapter of the first letter. The Apostle Paul had visited Thessalonica for the first time during his second missionary journey, planted a church there, and now a short time later was writing back to the believers there to encourage them in their faith. Paul stayed on the move, with a calling and passion to reach out to areas that had never heard the gospel. He did also try to revisit areas to build up and support established churches, as he had done earlier on this journey at several places in what is now Turkey. But he worked as part of a large, organic team where others would have the responsibility for teaching and pastoring these churches in the long term. Paul planted, others watered, and God gave the growth. Paul wanted to keep planting in new areas. His heart was on what can be called the frontiers of mission: the people who had never had the opportunity to hear about what Jesus had done for them.