Last week we wrapped up our teaching series from 1 Thessalonians, examining and discussing Paul's "final instructions" to the believers of the young church in Thessalonica. Paul lays out "what to do until Jesus returns" - an essential teaching for a society that tends to follow the hip and trendy and grows easily tired and bored with the "same ol', same ol'."
Paul's instructions break down into four areas:
1. Do what you do... with JOY
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this
is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” [5:16-18]
2. Do what you do... in the HOLY SPIRIT
“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.” [5:19-22]
3. Do what you do... in HOLINESS
“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” [5:23-24]
4. Do what you do... for EACH OTHER
“Brothers and sisters, pray for us. Greet all God’s people with a holy kiss.
I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the
brothers and sisters.” [5:25-27]
You can listen to the message here.This upcoming Sunday we launch into our Advent teaching series, "Unexpected," anticipating the celebration of the arrival of Jesus. We hope you can celebrate with us. In the meantime, have a great week and a Happy Thanksgiving! Music from Sunday was led by Chris Donahue.
Songs were: "Song of the Redeemed" (Charlie Hall), "The Earth is Yours" (Michael Gungor), "Micah 6:8" (Charlie Hall) and "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" (Traditional).
Last Sunday we welcomed Mark and Deb Schory to NewSong. The Schory's will be spending the next few weeks at NewSong as they reacquaint themselves with the greater Boston area and seek God's leading for ministry and church-planting opportunities in New England.Mark joined me in teaching this week from 1 Thessalonians 4 -- if you have missed a Sunday or want to listen to a previous message, you can find the message podcast here. Last Sunday, we walked through chapter 4 and discussed some of Paul's teaching in light of our big idea: that we begin to live for God fully when we are captivated by the story of what He has done for us.This means that many of us find ourselves in an awkward situation - we realize that the Gospel has not really captured our heart and life, and we discover that we are not really living for God, we are merely imitating a life of faith. And we're not alone in this; one of the early churches faced this same situation: "[The Lord says], 'I know all the things you do,
and that you have a reputation for being alive -
but you are dead." [Revelations 3:1]
1 Thessalonians 4 gives us first, some pulse checks - ways to verify that we are alive - and second, some growth points to ensure that we continue to live and develop. We can evaluate our pulse and our growth as we:
++ Manage our relationship with GOD ++
"We urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you
to do so even more." [1 Thess. 4:1]
++ Manage our relationship with OTHERS ++
"God himself has taught you to love one another... indeed, you already
show your love for all the believers... we urge you to love them even more."
[1 Thess. 4:9-10]
++ Manage our SELVES & our LIFESTYLE ++
"Make it your goal to live a quiet life..." [1 Thess. 4:11]
++ Manage our DIRECTION ++
"For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever." [1 Thess. 4:14, 17]
Jesus continually challenged his disciples and his audience not to let their lives and their faith become imitations - he wanted us to be full and overflowing with life! As he said, "I have come so that you can have life, and have it abundantly!"To go deeper into 1 Thessalonians 4, listen to the message.
What a week it was! Following the previous week's snowstorm, I spent a lot of time reaching out to friends and neighbors without power, without heat... some even had to go without coffee! ;) It was a week of need, which means that it was a week of ministry; I was reminded yet again that even the most comfortable of us have moments of difficulty, challenge and need.
And that's a great opportunity to live like Jesus.
"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you.
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." [1 Corinthians 15:58]
In Paul's letter to the young church of Thessalonica encourages them to continue ministering and meeting needs - living the Gospel - in their community, regardless of whether their situations are comfortable or challenging. In fact, Paul emphasizes that their work will not go without result, and he uses his own ministry experience to them as an example.
Paul connects the Gospel and ministry to faith -- he encourages the church to take on the challenge of faith in order to see the victory of faith.
But now Timothy has returned, bringing us good news about your faith and love. So we have been greatly encouraged in the midst of our troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith. It gives us new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord.” [1 Thessalonians 3:6-8]
Our takeaways from Sunday:
>> Nothing that we do out of love for Jesus is in vain
>> With that realization comes incredible hope and joy – and a desire for more of God, to be with him, to worship him
Music from Sunday was led by Chris Donahue and Travis Jarrett.
Songs were: "Eastern Hymn" (David Crowder), "Our God" (Chris Tomlin), "The Stand" (Hillsong), "Hallelujah" (Steve Deal), "Forever God You Reign" (Steve Deal)
Hey NewSong! Join us Sunday morning, October 16, as we kick off a new teaching series called "Balance." This series leads us to Paul's first letter to the believers in Thessalonica, which was written to encourage and affirm the young church as they embraced the Gospel in their lives - and to help them navigate the the path of following Jesus.
This series asks the big question: "How do you find balance between the life you're living and the life the God has for you?" Come discover the answers with us over the next few weeks as we read 1 Thessalonians.
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