1st Thessalonians - Glasgow Church of Christ
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Sermon notes from a sermon on the first few verses of 1 Thessalonians Chapter 1. Preached by Adam Birr - Glasgow Church of Christ - www.glasgowchurch.org.uk
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1st Thessalonians - Glasgow Church of Christ
- 1. Chapter 1
Editor's Notes
- Paul – came to Thessalonica on his 2 nd journey Paul followed the Egnatian way – It connected the east and west points of the Roman empire The Egnatian way passed through Thessalonica – it was at the heart of the Roman empire Important Militarily and Strategically for the Romans Read about it in acts 17:1-10 In acts 16 – Paul was beaten and thrown in prison Arrives in Thess – goes to the synagogue – large Jewish community – 10 heads of familes required – unlike Philipi – riverside – place of prayer Only there 3 Sabbaths until – forced to move on but the Jews Goes to berea – about 20 miles – No surprise the Jews from Thess – stir up trouble for Paul Travels by sea to Athens – ridiculed and makes little impact Eventually arrives in Corinth Dejected by this point- 1 cor 2:1-3 1Co 2:1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 1Co 2:2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 1Co 2:3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, Paul suffered more but God opened the heart of the leader of the Synagogue - suddenly the church there started to bloom But Paul was discouraged – Probably not help by hearing reports of his work in Asia minor being undone Christ strengthen him Act 18:9-10 Act 18:9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, Act 18:10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people." The Christian life can be hard We see from verse 9 that even Paul – probably the most evangelistic human being who every lived was tempted to be silent It isn’t always plain sailing We can become Christians – we become new creations in Christ – dead to old way of life But over time – baggage from before can creep into our new life Sometimes – we acquire baggage from being a Christian Life long friendships can turn sour We pour our life into helping people – become Xians – and stay faithful – but they decided to turn again – to go back to the world We get hurt by other Christians We might get treated unfairly by other Christians Gladiator "Marcus Aurelius had a vision of Rome! This is not it !" - we can feel this way about our Christian lives Share – ministry Send off – the belief others had in me, the hope that I would do great things for God. It wasn’t what I thought it would be I was treated in ways in which no other human being should be treated – let alone from a Brother – or even another Minister of the Word Asked to leave the ministry – I remembered that send off – the feelings of failure – rejection & dejection All of us get discouraged All of us get feelings of I can’t go on – I think I should give up – I’ll stop giving my heart Paul was tempted in this way in Corinth – thankfully he didn’t give up “ But Jesus spoke directly to Paul and strengthened him” – BUT we have the NT The call for us is the same – to not give up – to carry on – to not remain silent Paul was in Corinth 18 months – during this time he wrote 1 Thess.
- Paul was with them for 3 weeks Timothy visited the church in Thess and then came back to Corinth After Timothy’s return – Paul, together with Timothy and Silas wrote 1 Thess The church consisted of a bunch of young christians Considering what they had been through and their situation – they were doing great – but there was still a need for them to continue to improve their conduct. To work hard and not to be lazy There is a call in ch 5 to respect – the leaders of the church. They were all in a church where many have a similarly level of spiritual maturity – respect of leaders can be an issue in situations like that. It was an issue 2000 years ago – I can be an issue today. 2. Virutally all the Greeks (and potentially others) in the city would have worshipped one or more Greek god. Often involved sexually immorality Their own families and friends would have involved – it was as common as going down the pub Share about today 3. Incorrect balances in Relationships – Issues with the leaders – Encourages to continue to grow in the areas where they are doing well 1Th 5:14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 1Th 5:15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 4. Wondering what happens to those who have died – obviously some Xians had died since the time Paul was there – there was concern that they might miss out on the 2 nd Coming. Paul assures them that they would not miss out on anything. Share about Dad – the impact of the death of someone close to you. They wanted to be reasurred that those who had died would be OK. 5. They were concerned that they had either missed the 2 nd coming or might miss it when it comes. It was a big issue for the church there – it was consuming a lot of their energy. Today – many church talk a lot about the end times. Paul goes on in 1 and 2 Thess to reassure them that the 2 nd hasn’t come and then it comes – Christ will return like a theif in the night – no warning – but when it happened – all in the world will know about it. It will be awesome. 2000 years later – these things are still issues – and the Bible still has the answers.
- From Paul, Silas and Timothy To the church Verse 2 – customary in acient times to thanks the gods for the person you are writing too – Paul christianises this custom Verse 3 – Paul’s prayer for the church Insights into Paul’s prayes continually – his prayer for the thess is not a one off – it is continual he prays that they might grow more christ like the content is always spiritual not material This challenges me - am I continual in my prayers for people - I often pray for people’s health, family situations and job situations – but how often do I think about the charactistics of Christ when I pray for them? - Too often my prayers can be about material things – Car MOT, Just bought a house, etc and see blessings in material things – rather than praying about spiritual things and seeing spiritual blessings.
- Work There needs to be an aim when we produce something Share buiding toy shed – didn’t just decide what to build we I got the pieces As Xians – need to we need to aim for something Firstly – we need to aim to get to heaven ourselves – let us not over look this. This is not salvation by works – we are saved by grace – but we have to work out our own salvation Php 2:12 work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, We have to work at having a pure heart in all things and living for God. Staying away from sin, replacing it with good works. Acting with kindness when you have been wronged. It takes effort – it is hard. We also need to aim at taking as many people along with us – Spouses, Chrildren, Christians, Family, other non-Christians This too requires effort and is hard – we can get reject, belittled and ignored – an that might be just from the Christians we are trying to help to remain faithful to God. Labour – Hard work – or difficult work It is a scary word It is not attractive Conjures up archaic prison sentences There is discomfort and hardship I certainly don’t want to associate it with my Christian life – Yet Paul does We have to labour with our own Characters. We have to labour with sinful natures We have to labour at times to love the unlovable We have to face discomfort and hardship Endurance the power to withstand hardship or stress We gain endurance by withstanding hardship and stress It requires patience – Often requires character building times Endurance does not to give up – Endurance does not to take short cuts – Endurance does not the follow the crowd - Endurance does not rely to what is seen, but relays on what unseen. I want my character to define endurance, but I don’t want the character built to get it. Work – Labour – Endurance – all requirements of Christianity – they define a major facet of Christianity But do these define the majority of your Christianity? Will lead to burn out An unattractive christian life It will drain you Share – At times it has defined my own Christian life – on the tread mill Long term it is not sustainable. But Paul doesn’t just mention these words
- He gives the answer to sustainable, life to the full Christianity Faith - The work of our Xianity needs to come from faith – not the other way around – if working to produce faith can work in the short term – but it is not sustainable. - Our works need to be an expression of our faith - Our faith needs to in Christ - Christ – died, was raised again for me, bcs of my sin, to give me a new life - A life I do not deserve and powerless to attain through my own merit - Having confidence that this is true - One dictionary def: Complete Trust - Do we have complete trust in God in all areas? - In the forgiveness of sins - In our relationships - Marriage - Parenting - Careers - Finances - My failures in these areas come when I stop trusting in God and rely on myself - From faith Good works overflow Hope - Def: Expect with confidence - Hope is not a vague wishful thinking with basis - The basis of our hope is the Cross of Christ and the power of this resurrection - Our hope is of an eternal life with Christ - This is something which no one can take away – no matter what the situation - Our hope is not of this world We might lose our marriage – children might die – made bankrupt – suffer from ill health But our hope must remain the same In Christ Jesus and the eternal life which he offers - Because of this hope The early church endured horrendous tortures – because of this hope – But they were not discouraged bcs of the greatness of this hope With hope – endurance is possible Love - Bring up children - involves discomfort from time to time sleep not doing the things you always want to do giving when the last thing you want to do is give - it can also involve hardship some people struggle financially end up in situations which are hard – like a sick child Love – makes the discomfort and hardship count for little We can’t go on foreign holidays/ nights away don’t the freedom to go out at will in the evening lose countless hours sleep have endless battles at dinner time yet – I would never ask to go back to not having children The love of God needs to motive us - Our sin pains God - Yet – inspite of this he sacrificed Christ for us This is the love which needs to motivate our Labour