Morning Message Text: 1 Thessalonians 1: 1-10
1 Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.
Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians’ Faith
2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.
3 We 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.
4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you,
5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.
6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
8 The 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,
9 for 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,
10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
Morning Message:
The more I read and study scripture, the more I am convinced that it is God- breathed. I pray that all of you would have the wonderful blessing that I receive from preparing to preach God’s Word. At first glance, and even after years of reading Paul’s letters, I came away with the thought and feeling that Paul was simply complementing these Thessalonian followers of Jesus, but as usual, in God’s Word, I found much more than just general compliments. In order for us to fully understand what God is showing me today we must look at our first scripture reading. The Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus, but the response that Jesus gave is a very important lesson to all Christians. This can be very instructive for us if we believe it. The answers to so many questions that we have as we try to maneuver our way through this life of faith are answered right here. This question of whether or not we should take care of the responsibilities that the government requires of us can become quite contentious. If you ask a worldly person they might say, “Pay what you must and get away with what you can.” This was the challenge for Jesus. Agree with the government and upset the common people who are being taxed to death, or tell Caesar what he thinks of his tax. That would make the people happy but most likely get Jesus thrown in jail or worse. We face that same challenge today as Christians.
Jesus makes one of the wisest statements in the Bible: “Whose image is this and whose inscription? Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
What do they say? Who are they anyhow? You know we always hear this kind of advice. They say you should do this, or they said this about that. The next time someone says to you, “They say this,” ask them who they are. The Pharisees have put Jesus in a very difficult position, but he gives the perfect answer. Why is it perfect? Because it is the righteous thing to do. It doesn’t matter what anyone says if you do the right thing. Everything comes from God, and Jesus had every right to say give it all back to God, but that answer would not have been satisfactory to all.
Listen carefully to Paul’s words. First, how should we treat our brothers and sisters in Christ? “We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.” Is this your attitude toward your brothers and sisters? Stop for a moment and think. We pray for each other when we are sick or hurt or having some kind of difficulty, but do we always remember each other in our prayers? Now I’m getting a little personal here. I have no idea what you pray or even if you pray, but you should be praying for each other, for the church, and for every brother and sister in Christ that are going through the same spiritual battles as you are.
Now listen. “We remember before our God and Father your works?” No, “Your works produced by faith.” Do you see the difference? Paul is not recognizing them for works but for the work that came from their faith. The work that they accomplished for the right reason. The work that they did as a response to God’s call on their lives. What we do in the church should always be to further the Kingdom of God, and it will only be successful when what we do and accomplish is produced by faith.
Your labor, your hard back-breaking labor, that you accomplished through your sheer strength and determination. No! Your labor prompted by love. We covered this a couple of weeks ago, but it is worth repeating here. As followers of Jesus and children of a loving God, everything that we do should be prompted by and flow from, a place of love. If you are doing anything to serve God and you do not have a love for what you are doing, maybe, you should stop.
And your endurance because you are so strong willed and able to physically withstand a lot. No! Your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not enough to simply endure for the faith, you must endure full of hope; endure because of the hope of salvation that you have. What am I getting at today? This Christian faith has to be lived honestly with the right intentions; anything else is just religion.
Why does this matter? The rest of today’s text explains the effect this kind of faith has on others. They became a model for other believers. Their faith in God became known everywhere. The Lord’s message rang out from them. Here is the million-dollar question that I have for all of us this morning: When others hear about you, what do they hear? When the world looks at your life, what do they see? Really, what do they see? Do they see a joyful, loving, hopeful follower of Jesus Christ, or do they see someone struggling with the burdens of church work? What do they see in you?
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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