New Testament Pasta...

We have returned to the New Testament with the start of our study of the Thessalonian letters. I am excited about our study- partly because of the motivations I find in the letters. The Thessalonian church was a good example of a group of people who responded to the gospel of Jesus Christ in a manner worthy of our study and imitation.

Last Sunday we looked at the motivations that drove the activity of the Thessalonians mentioned in verse 3. Paul says that he continually remembers:

...their work produced by faith
...their labor prompted by love
...their endurance inspired by hope in the Lord Jesus Christ

The Thessalonians who responded to the gospel message turned away from idol worship and focused their attention on Jesus. Because of this change, they experienced the same kind of persecution that we read about and studied in the book of Acts. It could not have been "easy" for them to be a Christian. It was "work". It was hard. But their faith in Christ made the transformation complete. Their faith made them able to do what was necessary to remain in Christ.

They were on only receivers of the message, but they were transmitters as well. Once they had the truth in their hearts, they could not hold it in. They were so clear in their example that Paul says that the Lord's message "rang out" from them. Wow. There's a challenge. Does the Lord's message "ring out" from me?

The had a quality of hopefulness about them that comes from waiting for something wonderful. When you have something you are looking forward to, you can endure a lot of things. Things might not be perfect at the moment, but if you have something coming that you value, then the "less than perfect" current circumstances don't seem so bad. Hope is such a critical element of life. If we cannot picture things being different or better, then our energy level and motivation just drops like a sack of hammers. This early church lived in hopeful expectation of the Lord's return. Yikes... another challenge! I am not sure I think about what is to come often enough. I want to work on making that hopeful anticipation a bigger part of my day to day.

This church was exemplary for a number of reasons. I look forward to studying the rest of the text!

Just Keep Swimming....

Jon