Thanks for taking the time to stop by and read the sermon this week. I hope that you are all doing well. I thank the Lord for allowing me to post this message today.
Last week, we finished our series on the prophet Elijah. Today, we are going to start a new series of messages. If you've followed the blog for awhile, you know that from time to time, I like to do a book study. We go through a book of the Bible chapter by chapter and verse by verse to learn what God has to say to us. We are going to start a study of the book of I Thessalonians this week and continue until we are through with the book.
I want to start today with an introduction. There is a great deal of debate among Bible scholars as to how many of the epistles that bear his name the Apostle Paul actually wrote. I believe that he was the author of all of them, but some believe that he only wrote about half of them. This is one thing to know about I Thessalonians, I've not found one Bible scholar liberal or conservative who doesn't believe that Paul wrote this epistle.
I Thessalonians was probably the first book of the New Testament that was written. Many believe that it was penned by Paul in the late 40s to early 50s AD. Now there are a few Bible scholars that believe that Galatians was written first, and a few believe that James was written first. Let's say this. I Thessalonians was written early on probably about 20 years after Jesus ascended to Heaven.
Thessalonians is a letter addressed to those who were in the church that Paul started in the Greek city of Thessalonica. We can read a little about Paul's time there in Acts 17:1-9. Paul started his ministry in the city by going to the synagogue on three consecutive Sabbaths to explain to the people that Jesus was the Messiah. He died and rose again from the dead. As a result of the ministry of Paul and Silas, several people in the city came to faith in Jesus. Eventually, opposition rose to the ministry of Paul. He had to leave in order to minister elsewhere. However, the church remained.
Today, we will look at verses 1 and 2 that state, "Paul, Silas and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you. We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 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."
I want to focus on two things. First of all. Paul mentions their labor prompted by love. In the book of I Corinthians, Paul lets us know that if we do anything without our work being motivated by love, our labor is worthless. This was not the case with the believers in the church in Thessalonica. They had love for God, love for one another and love for others. They were working to bring other people to faith in Jesus, and they were ministering to one another because they had the love of Jesus in their hearts.
The second thing that I want to focus on is the phrase endurance inspired by hope. I find that it is often hard to keep going in this life. It seems that there are a lot of hardships. It is often difficult to follow Jesus in the midst of a lot of the sinfulness that is going on in this world. I also have faced a lot of sickness and other problems lately. Sometimes it is hard to keep going. However, I can and we all can keep going because we have hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus had died, Jesus has risen, and Jesus will come again. No matter what is going on in our lives right now, we know that one day Jesus will make all thing new. We also know that when we die, that is not the end. If we believe in Him, we will be with Him in the place that He had prepared for us. We can rest in the assurance that Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us. Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
We are just getting started in this epistle. In the weeks to come, we will look in to more of what the Lord has to teach us from I Thessalonians. Amen.
Prayer Requests
I have a few things that I would like you to pray about. I am having some serious health issues. I found out a couple of weeks ago that I have spinal degeneration and grade 3 of 4 arthritis in my back hips and sacroiliac joints. I am having quite a bit of pain that is making it hard for me to do my job. Please pray for me that I can get to feeling at least a little better. Also, please pray that I can make it through this terrible humid weather. It is starting to make my asthma bad. Thank you for your prayers.
Please pray for those in Kentucky affected by the flooding. It is a terrible situation. Please pray that the people will be able to get the assistance that they need at this time.
Someone I know in Japan who has corgis is sick. Please pray that he will recover.
Pray that coronavirus and monkeypox will stop. Pray that those who are sick will recover.
Continue to pray for an end to the war in Ukraine. We also need to pray for peace in Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Ethiopia and other areas where there is conflict.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us all pray for those living in Taiwan and Brunei. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, we will continue in our study. I will post the verses on Monday. I hope to post something midweek, but I will have to see. May God bless you all. Amen.
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