Daily Bread 2010 - 1 Thessalonians 1
Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians' Faith
2We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. 3We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
The church at Thessalonica was another one of Paul’s “star churches”. Paul recounts how they were examples for the other churches in modern day Greece and in throughout the Mediterranean world. Paul says the Lord’s message “rang out” from them not only in their province but everywhere else too. Their faith in God’s power and the Spirit’s manifestation in their midst is so self evident that Paul does not need to admonish them in any way.
Basically he is saying, “Keep doing what you are doing!” We all need model churches that are an evidence of the power of the Gospel. It is helpful for these churches to share their resources with other churches. In our area we have churches like Saddleback, Mariner’s and Rock Harbor as churches that Paul might talk about in this light who have also been open to share what God is doing in their midst.
Just these past two days Mariner’s has hosted (wonderfully) two huge funerals for members in our congregation who died too young! We are thankful to be able to rely on them realizing that we are truly one Church here in Irvine and Orange County. We may have different labels, but when the Lord looks down he sees one church in Orange County and all of Southern California for that matter, the church of Jesus Christ.
The more we can work together for the sake of the Gospel the more we are Better Together (to coin a Saddleback phrase). The church at Thessalonica had a similar influence to the churches around it in the 1st Century. It is my prayer that all of our churches would report a similar response to the Gospel, and that the Gospel might come to us today with equal power and conviction. This is a great testimony to the potency and relevancy of the Gospel today and that God is wanting the same results as he did 2,000 years ago.
Gracious God we thank you for churches like the church at Thessalonica. May our churches be an evidence of your power and your Word being received with full conviction. May the testimony of our churches ring out from Orange County and beyond to unite the church of Jesus Christ to make a difference together for Your sake in the world. Amen.
2We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. 3We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
The church at Thessalonica was another one of Paul’s “star churches”. Paul recounts how they were examples for the other churches in modern day Greece and in throughout the Mediterranean world. Paul says the Lord’s message “rang out” from them not only in their province but everywhere else too. Their faith in God’s power and the Spirit’s manifestation in their midst is so self evident that Paul does not need to admonish them in any way.
Basically he is saying, “Keep doing what you are doing!” We all need model churches that are an evidence of the power of the Gospel. It is helpful for these churches to share their resources with other churches. In our area we have churches like Saddleback, Mariner’s and Rock Harbor as churches that Paul might talk about in this light who have also been open to share what God is doing in their midst.
Just these past two days Mariner’s has hosted (wonderfully) two huge funerals for members in our congregation who died too young! We are thankful to be able to rely on them realizing that we are truly one Church here in Irvine and Orange County. We may have different labels, but when the Lord looks down he sees one church in Orange County and all of Southern California for that matter, the church of Jesus Christ.
The more we can work together for the sake of the Gospel the more we are Better Together (to coin a Saddleback phrase). The church at Thessalonica had a similar influence to the churches around it in the 1st Century. It is my prayer that all of our churches would report a similar response to the Gospel, and that the Gospel might come to us today with equal power and conviction. This is a great testimony to the potency and relevancy of the Gospel today and that God is wanting the same results as he did 2,000 years ago.
Gracious God we thank you for churches like the church at Thessalonica. May our churches be an evidence of your power and your Word being received with full conviction. May the testimony of our churches ring out from Orange County and beyond to unite the church of Jesus Christ to make a difference together for Your sake in the world. Amen.
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