Scripture referenced 5 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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James 5:19-20 quoted as the last two verses of James to resolve the previous week's unfinished sermon on that book
19 Brothers, if any among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back,
20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
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Keep this verse
Exodus 3:14
identified as the source of the name Yahweh, meaning 'I exist, the self-existent one'
14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
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Acts 17:1-9
read to establish what happened in Thessalonica before moving into 1 Thessalonians
1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.
2 Paul, as was his custom, went in to them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”
4 Some of them were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas, of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and not a few of the chief women.
5 But the unpersuaded Jews took along some wicked men from the marketplace, and gathering a crowd, set the city in an uproar. Assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them out to the people.
6 When they didn’t find them, they dragged Jason and certain brothers before the rulers of the city, crying, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here also,
7 whom Jason has received. These all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus!”
8 The multitude and the rulers of the city were troubled when they heard these things.
9 When they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
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1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
the main text of the sermon, read and worked through verse by verse
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 We always give thanks to God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers,
3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.
4 We know, brothers loved by God, that you are chosen,
5 and that our Good News came to you not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with much assurance. You know what kind of men we showed ourselves to be among you for your sake.
6 You became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,
7 so that you became an example to all who believe in Macedonia and in Achaia.
8 For from you the word of the Lord has been declared, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone out; so that we need not to say anything.
9 For they themselves report concerning us what kind of a reception we had from you; and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God,
10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.
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Exodus 3:5
quoted as a direct command, 'take your sandals off your feet for the place where you stand is holy ground,' used during the commissioning of Aaron
5 He said, “Don’t come close. Take off your sandals, for the place you are standing on is holy ground.”
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message introduced the book of 1 Thessalonians by placing it in the flow of the New Testament the congregation has been working through together. Pastor Mark connected the people Paul was writing to with the story already covered in Acts 17, and then walked through the first ten verses of the letter itself. The thread running through all of it was that a church centered on Jesus Christ will naturally spread what it believes, often through affliction rather than despite it.
What was said
Before opening 1 Thessalonians, Pastor Mark closed out the loose end from the previous week's message on James. He had left the book unresolved, and came back to its final two verses: that the whole point of James was to turn people from the error of their ways. The motherly, corrective tone of the book makes sense once you see that is what the author was after all along.
From there he laid out the chronological framework he has been following since the series began with John. The congregation has moved from the Gospel of John to Acts, then to James, and now to 1 Thessalonians, which most scholars place among the earliest of Paul's letters. The point of following that order is not to be rigid about it but to give the text a context that makes it easier to understand, rather than jumping between 66 books at random.
He went back to Acts 17 to set the scene. Paul and Silas spent roughly three Sabbaths in Thessalonica, reasoned from the Old Testament scriptures that Jesus is the promised Messiah, and saw both conversions and a riot. Jason, one of the new believers, was dragged from his house by a mob looking for Paul. That immediate, violent consequence is the backdrop for everything Paul writes to this church.
Pastor Mark then walked through the opening of the letter itself. He pointed out that from the very first verse, Paul places God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ on equal footing using the same preposition, making an early and clear statement about Christ's divinity. By verse five the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all present. He noted this is not a late theological development; it is there in the earliest Pauline writing, before any church council.
The bulk of the first chapter is Paul giving thanks for the Thessalonians, and Pastor Mark was careful to say Paul is not flattering them. He is genuinely grateful because the evidence of their faith is visible. They received the word in much affliction and with joy, and the result was that the gospel sounded out from them into Macedonia and beyond. Paul says he barely needs to tell anyone about his time there because people everywhere are already reporting what happened.
The chapter closes with a summary of what that testimony looks like: the Thessalonians turned from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for His Son from heaven, even Jesus who delivers from the wrath to come. Pastor Mark was direct that accepting Christ does not mean circumstances improve, pointing to Jason as the immediate example. What it does mean is deliverance from the wrath to come, and that the grace and peace named in the letter's greeting, unmerited favor and peace that passes understanding, become the ground on which a person stands while walking through whatever comes.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- The pastor walked through the chronological order of the New Testament books as a way of giving context to scripture. How does knowing where a book fits in that timeline change the way you read it?
- Paul spent roughly three weeks in Thessalonica before being run out of town, yet he clearly knew those believers deeply. Think of a time when a short but intense shared experience built a lasting bond. What does that tell you about how Christian community forms?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 7,222 words
0:01
Do we have any allergy sufferers in the house tonight? This morning. Yeah. Yeah. If we sound clogged, that's why.
0:10
It's a beautiful morning. Why don't we stand up? We'll praise God together. When I'm an awesome wonder, consider a role in the worlds I haven't made. And I've seen the stars.
0:39
And I hear a rolling thunder that bow throughout the universe to splay. Come sings my soul, my savior God's name. How great thou art, And when I think and that got his son not spamming, sending to die, I scarce can take it in. My How great thou art. How great thou art.
1:59
And when Christ shall come, wish out some acclamation savior and take me home. What's yours shall fill my heart? And then I shall bow in humble adoration they proclaim. My God, I don't agree you are. But then sings my soul, my savior got to be.
2:27
How great thou art.
3:00
Got a few announcements although I did not make any slides this morning and you'll see soon why I make the slides because I forget things. Welcome. We are glad that you're here. I have one somebody that I'm gonna make them stand up. Lee, would you and miss Kim stand up, please?
3:15
These folks are from Oregon and they just got married on Friday. And I just wanna say how much I appreciate his ministry to me over the past few months when we've been getting ready for this And y'all need to see God's Not Dead. There's no slide about it but you need to see it. It's really really good. There are announcements in your bulletin.
3:40
I won't go over all of em. Basically, a lot of ministries are coming to a close today. Peak Children's Church is until when?
3:49
I think the
3:50
last day. That's what I thought. Awana. Awana, the last day for Awana is tomorrow night. We'll take a break for the summer.
3:57
Men's fraternity, last one was last Wednesday. They went and had a had a gathering yesterday but there are a bunch of things that are kinda coming to a close for the summer season kicking in and then there are couple of others that are not. May 27 is a turning point fundraiser at the Bar J. May 30 is the women's ministry is doing my sister's closet clothing exchange. My sister's closet clothing exchange.
4:22
That has happened in May 30, and then July 17, the Turning Point Pregnancy Resource Center has a gala at Spring Creek Ranch. Those are the things that are coming up, but a lot of the things are kinda coming to a close. Renzi Reno, Solid Rock Youth Group High School is still meeting on Friday mornings? Yes. Friday morning, this week, if you are in high school, 07:30 in the morning, Renzi is still making your breakfast, whipping the cream by hand.
4:49
I promise there'll be sausage because I want for there to be sausage. But he is still doing a good job with that. Is does anybody else have an announcement that I just forgot to make a slide for? Good. Alright.
5:02
Would you stand up and greet one another? There's plenty going on. I promise and they're in your bulletin.
5:25
I dare not trust your sweetest friend, but only trust in Jesus' name. Let's repeat that verse again. When he shall come with trumpet sound. Oh, may I then Worthy is the lamb who was slain of holy holy is he. Sing a new song to him who sits on heaven's mercy seat.
9:23
Worthy is the was miserable. With all creation, I say praise to the king of kings. You are my everything, and I will adore you. Creation I sing. Praise to the king of kings.
11:15
You are my everything, and I will adore you. Filled with wonder, awestruck wonder at the mention of your name. Jesus, your name is power, well, living water. Such a monster.
12:44
Let's pray together. God, we give you thanks this morning and just pause to acknowledge your holiness, your greatness. I thank you God for for being the one true God, the living God and I thank you God for your Holy Spirit again. I just I I thank you that he resides in it. For those who believe, we have the Holy Spirit to live through us and we're thankful for that.
13:09
Thank you that you are not dead. You are alive indeed. Amen.
15:17
This praise. Yahweh Yahweh. We love to shout your name alone.
16:27
Amen. You may be seated. By the way, Yahweh is one
16:31
of God's names in the Bible.
16:32
It's found in Exodus three fourteen and it means, I exist, the self existent one. God doesn't depend on anyone or anything to exist. It's a pretty awesome thing about our God. As the frontline team here is coming forward, we're it's to participate here in the worship of giving. If you're a first time visitor, we're not asking for your money.
16:58
Glad that you are here, pray that you feel welcome. But if you choose to give this morning, praise God. God is our great provider. He has provided, He sustains, He is taking care of us and this is just again I say it a lot but yet just another expression of worship. Our time, our talents, our abilities, all these things to give back to God, to worship Him alone is a good thing.
17:28
Let's pray together. God, we thank you. We thank you for being our provider, our sustainer. To all things God, they belong to you. And we thank you.
17:42
We thank you for giving generous. We thank you for giving so generously that you'd give us your son. That all who believe in him. They won't die but have eternal life. And that's a gift and we thank you God for the free gift of salvation through faith in your son.
17:59
Lord I pray that we in turn would be generous people as well. Amen.
18:34
Are worthy of all that I am of all that I all that I am.
21:41
That is great, isn't it? The sound of an army running out of here at Time for Children's Church. That's good. I don't want for an army to run out after that but I've got a couple of things that I'd like to kind of clear up. Actually, last week, when I was singing the song and trying to relate that to the message, Mother's Day and James and Leonard Skynyrd altogether.
22:04
In resolving the sermon, I said, in the middle of it, I said, there's no resolution in the song. It goes from G to C to A minor but it never goes to D. It never has that completing chord that gives it resolution and you hear that. It rings out and I've I've postulated that this young man's life would be the resolution of his mother's advice in that song, Be a Simple Man. That's what I said.
22:30
This little thing hopefully will start working. There it is. So, resolving last week's message and the whole book of James. I said I would come back to it and then I didn't. So I left it unresolved.
22:39
The last two verses of the book of James are these. Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. Now, isn't that the perfect way to end that book? Where I said he'd, I felt like he'd been scolding us the whole time. Reading it last week, I said, it's really like a motherly advice.
23:08
He gives this parental advice and then, he says at the end and this is exactly what he's trying to do. He's trying to turn people from the error of their ways. All throughout the whole book of James. So, brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. That was the reason he wrote the book in the first place.
23:32
To encourage, although we don't always see it as encouraging. In the midst of persecution, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, all of that. But when he comes to the back, this is what he wants to do is turn people from the error of their ways, looking around at other people not looking at themselves. Now, now that I've cleared that up or made it muddier, the chronology of Christianity. I, when I started here, had an idea that all of the Bible is good.
24:00
It's all great. The hardest thing for me was picking what to say. Picking which one to say at what time. I prayed the Holy Spirit would lead, you know, week to week. We might change off this course.
24:10
Sure. But what I was thinking about is it makes sense to me that if we're Christians, we should study the life of Christ first, right? So, we went through the book of John and that took us months, several months but we study the life of Christ in the book of John. Now, John was one of the last books to be written. John and Revelation, John first, second, and third John.
24:32
Were all some of the last books in the New Testament to be written but it gets to the point. It is Jesus's life. He had seen a lot of what had gone on in between and he made this the gospel of belief. It is probably the simplest grammar. It is the simplest presentation of the gospel.
24:50
It's the simplest presentation because he's had the time to see a lot of what's going on. So the chronology of Christianity, the way thus far we have been through the gospel of John, which details the preexistence in the first 18 verses, and then the life of Jesus, the ministry of Jesus, the purpose, it's the gospel of belief. These things I've written so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ and believing have life in his name. That's what the purpose for the book of John was and we went over that thoroughly. Then, we went into the Acts of the Apostles.
25:25
There are few sidelines and a couple of Old Testament sermons in there but the Acts of the Apostles were next. It details the history of the Holy Spirit empowered growth of the early church. Jesus said, I will build my church. You will be my witnesses and they were, and Luke recorded that for us. It's an accurate historical record of the events.
25:44
So that's the big framework. What I want to do, I'm introducing a book to you today, but I want to take the time to show you where it fits. So approximate dates of New Testament events and books. I've been studying this for in seminary study quite a bit and then past few weeks thinking about transition times, I was looking to go one direction. I might go.
26:07
I am going a different one this morning. So, zero to 30 is the life and ministry of Jesus. Thirty AD, Jesus died and rose and Pentecost happened. Not long thereafter. The early thirties, we know that Stephen was murdered.
26:23
He was murdered after giving the most grand speech sermon to those guys and they stoned him and after the martyrdom of martyrdom of Stephen, Stephen, the church was scattered. All over Palestine outside of Jerusalem, only the apostles etcetera remained. The early thirties, Paul had been we read in Acts. He had been persecuting Christians but he was converted on the road to Damascus. Jesus appeared and said, why are you persecuting me?
26:56
And he converts Saul to Paul. Thirties and forties, Peter and Philip are minister in Palestine. '44 to 49, Paul and Bartimaeus are doing ministry but they're also at Antioch primarily. They also take their first missionary journey and then, the last book that we study was James. The reason being, I wanted to do this in a chronological framework.
27:21
It gives me a lifeline to sanity because I don't have to choose from 66 books of the Bible what this week will be about. For you, I hope that it establishes a context for scripture and just it makes sense. We cannot say absolutely that James was written first but almost everybody's in agreement. James was written first because of the style. Was written to Jewish, Christian, Jewish background Christians.
27:46
He says it in the first verse. There's no doubt about that. And it's probably written about this time, the late forties, early forties, early as '47, maybe as late as '51, but most people think it was about '49. Fifty to fifty two AD, we're pretty sure on these dates, Paul and Barnabas take their second missionary journey. Now, y'all, when we were studying Acts, y'all remember the maps.
28:09
We had maps for everything. So let's go to the map. They start off in Antioch. This is their second missionary journey. On the first missionary journey, they had been around.
28:18
John Mark had had some sort of row with Paul actually probably turned back in between Cyprus and right here, he turned back and Paul remembered that and he did not want for him to go on with him. On the second missionary journey. So, from Antioch, Paul and Barnabas split. Barnabas took John Mark and went back to Cyprus and Paul went the overland route and if you'll remember, it says that he went back and he visited some of the churches that he had established on the first missionary journey and then he went north but the Holy Spirit hindered him. He was in the Galatia and then he came south and then he was wanting to go into Asia but the Holy Spirit hindered him and he ended up at Troas right here.
29:02
That is a terrible resolution on that but Troas is right there on the GNC and that is where Paul received the Macedonian vision. He had a vision of a Macedonian man. Macedonia is this whole area up here. He had a vision of a Macedonian man saying, come and help us. We need your help.
29:21
Come and help us. And so, that's what they decided to do. Riding across from Troas, Paskin, Samothrace, they went into Philippi and we, if you'll remember, they had three people in Philippi that they met. They met Lydia of Thyatira, a seller of purple. She was at a prayer meeting outside of town.
29:40
There was no synagogue in Philippi. Paul's normal course is to go to the synagogue first. He goes to this little prayer meeting and meets Lydia and Lydia accepts what he has to say. He goes on from there and there's a demon possessed slave girl that is following them around and he cast a demon out of her which caused economic trouble for the person who owned her because he used her as a diviner. All of this stuff is all these messages are backlogged too, and they're on the website now, which is great.
30:13
I went back and listened to them myself. It gave me a little bit of context for what's going on. This in Philippi though, they meet Lydia of Thyatira, a wealthy woman, a demon possessed slave girl, absolutely destitute, poverty stricken, and a Philippian jailer, kind of a middle class working man. And those three had their lives completely changed by this. It changed the community.
30:38
It changed the economics of that situation so much that they brought them before the officials and the officials kicked them out and ran them on down the line. Basically, well, on down the line is Thessalonica and this is where we're going to pick up. I'm going go through some scripture to give you exactly what happened in Thessalonica before we go to Thessalonians. He went on from Thessalonica down to Corinth and most likely most likely, Paul writes first and second Thessalonians from Corinth while he's still on his missionary journey. That gives you an establishing factor for where he was and you can read from the content that it's fairly early in the theology of it because he is not coming up against heresy after heresy.
31:24
He is just trying to direct people who have accepted Jesus. Direct them and encourage them. It's great to follow-up James with Thessalonians because this is a book of encouragement. It's the next thing that we come to. From context and content, I believe first and second Thessalonians was next.
31:43
Perhaps, Galatians is next. It depends and I'll throw that out there if you want to argue over it. Y'all can argue amongst yourselves. I won't argue it over. I will not wrestle over it.
31:53
I don't know. In fact, at the beginning of the week this week, I thought that Galatians was next and the more I studied, the more I thought that it was more plausible that Thessalonians was. So, it does not matter and that's the point. The reason I bring all this up is say, all of it's good. Every bit of it's good.
32:08
I'm trying to take the route that I think is the most understandable and makes the content makes the most sense because that's what I want to do. I want to clarify, not confuse. Galatians is fantastic and I can't wait to get to it but it's on down the roadways. So, this is from a message on December 8 on Act seventeenth. I'm only going to read through the scripture.
32:28
Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica where there was a Jewish synagogue because there had not been in Philippi. As was Paul's custom, he went to the synagogue service and for three Sabbaths in a row, he used the scriptures to reason with the people. He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead, and what was he using to do that? The Old Testament. It was a synagogue there.
32:55
They already agreed that this was Canon. This was scripture. He used the scripture to prove that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead and he said, this Jesus that I'm telling you about is the Messiah. Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas along with many God fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women. But some of the Jews were jealous, so they gathered some troublemakers from the marketplace to form a mob and start a riot.
33:25
They attacked the home of Jason, searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them out to the crowd, and not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers instead and took them before the city council. Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over world, they shouted, and now they are here disturbing our city too. And Jason has welcomed them into his home. They can said it through gritted teeth, you can hear it. They are all guilty of treason against Caesar and they profess allegiance to another king named Jesus.
33:57
The people of the city, as well as the city council, were thrown into turmoil by these reports, so the officials forced Jason and the other believers to post bond, and then they released them. That very night, the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. So, they had to get out of town. Are you all getting where we are? Context wise, you know what's going on.
34:18
They spent three Sabbaths in a row. So, just over two weeks or at least or maybe almost a month in Thessalonica. When I was thinking about that, I was like, reading Thessalonians, he acts like he knows these people very well. I thought three weeks. Is three weeks enough time to get to know people that well?
34:35
How many of y'all have ever been on a trip that lasted for three weeks? Yeah. Did you know the people pretty well by the time you got home? Oh my goodness. These people, I've mentioned this crowd before.
34:49
This was a big experience for me. In 2010, I was asked by the seminary I was attending to go down and go to South Africa, to Cape Town, South Africa and these are the stewards, 300 stewards were tasked with helping 5,000 participants and all the media and everybody else. It was our job just to act as bellhops and waiters and waitresses and all kinds of stuff, paperwork, everything else during the sessions, run and get, make copies, all that sort of stuff. So there are 300 of us in a huge convention center and we spent a week before it started, nine days of the conference, and then a week after together most of that time. So that's me, right there.
35:35
And that guy right there is this guy right here. That's Mahindra Singh is his name. Mahindra is awesome. Absolutely awesome. He is an ethnically Indian South African man, born and raised there.
35:48
This is Bob Naidu. They're both Indians, and they thought it was funny, so they asked me to take this picture with this American Indian, who's Richard Twist, who actually knows Alan Diane Galbraith. I'm making connections here because it's amazing how this works. God puts people in certain places at certain times to let them know certain things and to let other people know certain things. So from there, Mahindra met doctor Larkin.
36:15
Doctor Larkin is my professor who just died of pancreatic cancer recently. We've been praying for him for about a year. He's the one who wrote the book on Acts that we used as the basis for our study last year, and they remained in correspondence. Betsy, right here, lived in our house the first summer when we came out here to be able to be here and do this. Betsy lived in our house in South Carolina.
36:39
Betsy got to translate for John Piper, Os Guinness, all these people into Spanish. Mahindra and Doctor Larkin remained in correspondence this whole time, and I've never met two guys that I respect anymore than those two right there. It's fantastic. I'm glad that God gave us the opportunity to all get together. That's Mahindra's wife right there.
37:02
That's Mahindra and Bob, best friends. I went down with one of my best friends. I've been around my whole life with the same long haired hippie guy. Used to play in a rock band and he changed when Jesus changed him, changed everything but his haircut. I mean, everything and he went down with me and the two of us spent a lot of time with them.
37:18
Bob was in Cape Town. Mahindra was in Durban, South Africa. That's where they live. Bob, Naidu, said, before you go brother, you must come to my church and preach to my long haired buddy and he says, you, the voice, you must sing. Alright.
37:34
Okay. Sounds good. So, said, the next service that we have because we were leaving on that next Sabbath. We're leaving on Sunday. So, on Saturday, so we have a service.
37:43
I want for you to, you preach, you sing. Sounds good. Well, the service, I may have mentioned it before, was a Thai bow breakfast. It was at 07:00 in the morning on a Saturday morning. We showed up and 70 people showed up to do Thai bow with us.
38:01
I have never done Taibo before. Haven't done it since, but that that picture is on my wall, so a lot of y'all have heard this, I know. But that was at Bob's church. Right on the other side of that wall is a Muslim funeral that was going on at the same time. We were doing Taibo actually to Michael Jackson songs and on the other side of the wall, there was there was a Muslim funeral going on and they were wailing, wailing with sadness.
38:29
That I know that that does not all go together, but it does say that certain people are together at certain times for a reason. So Mahindra and Bob, best friends, me and my buddy, I'm not going to name because he does a lot of work in sketchy places. We get together and I knew that we would come back to be in ministry again at some point in the future. First Thessalonians one through 10 is what we're going to study today. Look at it and the first slide at least, I'm
38:58
going do a little bit of
38:59
a John Madden on it. Paul, Sylvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians and God the father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. So, this is the John Madden. Sylvanus, we know better in acts as Silas.
39:22
Paul and Silas, you know, they were in the jail, the Philippian jailer story, Paul and Silas, the ones in jail. So, Sylvanus is also known as Silas. Whenever you see him in Thessalonians referred to as Silas, it's Silas. It's just a different name. I mean, a different form of the name.
39:38
Paul, Silas, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians, the church right there where it says church, that is Ecclesia. Now, that could be any congregation, any gathering, the Elks Club could be an at that time. It would have been a a community organization could have been but he qualifies it and make sure that we don't think that. It is the called out ones. This specific group of the Thessalonians in God the father, sorry, God the father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
40:13
So, when he says and right there, he is equating those two. This is a statement of Jesus's divinity and I don't think that's much of a stretch. He does it again. He's using the same preposition in God the father and the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who you are a church in.
40:29
He could have written it to the synagogue and said, to the church of God and the father. Does that make sense? He could have written it like that and and that would have been the Jewish synagogue would have been fine but he wants to define that and say, and Jesus Christ, there's no doubt here he's saying, the Lord, Jesus Christ, clarifies it even further. This is a statement. It's very early.
40:52
The reason I keep hitting this and want you to see it is there's not a developing theology throughout where John, when he ends up writing John in first, second, third, John, and Revelation has decided now Jesus is preexistent. This is the earliest Pauline book. James has already said, Lord Jesus Christ in his and now we're seeing Paul doing this in his earliest stage. There is only a micro micro evolutionary change in how the books are written and it is based on heresies that arise and the situation, cultural situation at the time. It's not theological.
41:28
There is no theological difference. All of Pauline theology is grounded as a professor would say in dominical tradition, in the tradition of our lord. All Pauline theology is founded in the tradition of Jesus. Grace to you. When he mentions grace first, it's not just greetings.
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Actually, the typical way is the way that the the angel greeted Mary, Karain, Greetings. Highly favored are you? You know, blessed are you. Karan, this is Karas. It's straight up grace, unmerited favor, unmerited favor, grace to you, and part of that is peace and peace from who?
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And again, he uses one preposition, but he links it to two different equal parties from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. They're two equal parties. I'm not going to do that all the way through. Just that first verse. So, we give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers.
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The manner of giving thanks. The whole first chapter is a Thanksgiving. It's what Paul is thankful for and he's not buttering him up. You would think he's buttering him up. He's flattering them in the first chapter.
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Even into the second chapter, it looks like he's just saying all these good things. What's he getting ready to lower the hammer on him? That's because you've been reading James. We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers. So, prayer is the mode of giving thanks.
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He's thanking God for them, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, your labor of love, and patience of hope. In our Lord Jesus Christ, he's gonna say it again. He's tying them together and he's saying the central figure isn't it's not just our friendship. The central figure around whom we gather is Jesus Christ. In our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of our God and father.
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So, this is the circumstances. I give thanks for you every time that I remember you and I and I know that feeling. Do you have a buddy? Do you have a friend that you feel like, God, I just thank you for that person. Every time it comes up, you think, that was a blessing in my life and I love that person.
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That's the way Mahindra is for me. Every time I think of him, I thank God for him. Bob, same way. Circumstances of thanks are remembering. This is not a simple kind of three points in a prayer kind of thing.
43:52
I'm going through introducing you to the book of of Thessalonians. So, in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and father, knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God. For our gospel did not come to you in word only but also in power and in the Holy Spirit. So, now we have the trinity, right? There's no doubt about this.
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From the first verse of Genesis, the first verses of Genesis, you see it but people will say, well, they develop the trinity at the council of Chalcedon. They can't develop the trinity at the council of whatever. No, no, no, no, no, no. Paul developed it in every book that he wrote. This one, we already have it.
44:31
We're five verses in. We have father, son, and Holy Spirit. For our gospel did not come to you in word only but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. The cause of giving thanks is not just remember him and they were buddies and if they were friends, it was knowing your election by God with much assurance. Now, there's the whole classic debate of the Calvinist and Armenians and election and predestination and all that.
45:07
I'm going to go back to right here and say, knowing your election by God. What have we been studying in James? How do you see that happening? By the way, it works itself out. When he goes on from here, he says lots of things that don't happen any other way.
45:24
So, knowing beloved brethren, your election by God. Our gospel did not come to you in word only but also in power and the Holy Spirit and in much assurance as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake and you became followers of us. Remember later, Paul would say, follow me as I follow Christ. When I fall away, fall away. Stay on him.
45:46
Follow me as I follow Christ and you became followers of us and of the Lord having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit. Remember what happened to Jason? In much affliction? Jason was dragged out of his house because they were looking for these guys. Jason was one of the guys that he had spread the gospel to and he had accepted, received the word with power and much assurance and then was dragged into the street for it.
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Immediate tribulation is what followed. In much affliction but with joy of the Holy Spirit. So that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. Ain't that great? So, we've got Philippians who are in Macedonia.
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We've got those that have Amphipolis and Apollonia in between and now we've got Thessalonians and then he went on further before he wrote this and he knows because he's hearing word back from people. Isn't that great? He's hearing nothing but good things. So that you became examples and he says that right here in the next verse. For from you, not to you, we spread the word to you but from you, the word of the Lord has sounded forth.
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That sounding forth is a reverberance. It's kind of like reverb. When you hit a symbol, it goes,
47:00
woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah,
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woah, and echoes out. That's what that word means. We hear that every Sunday at some point. For from you, Renzi's smiling in the back. For from you, the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and Ikea but also in every place.
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Ain't that funny that the guys in Acts that says that Paul and Silas have caused trouble in the whole world, everywhere where they've gone. Absolutely everywhere and Paul is saying in in every place. You have sent out word to every place. Every place that someone goes from your assembly, everywhere that somebody goes out, they see themselves as being on mission from God. That's good.
47:48
That's a good thing and he's encouraging them by saying this. Your faith towards God has gone out so that we don't need to say anything. For they themselves declare concerning us, what manner of entry we had to you and how you turn to God from idols and to serve the living and true God and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. For they themselves declare concerning us. What matter of entry we had to you and how you turn from God to idols to serve the living and true God, to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
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They witness what they have done with the word in their walk. James says, if you're not walking it, you're not believing it. Paul saying, you're believing it and it shows and it's incredibly encouraging that whole first chapter is just about that. It's just a pat on the back, an attaboy. That's great.
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You're doing what it is that you believe because it's real. Christ has transformed you. Did you see how he started the first verse? Alpha and omega. Jesus is alpha and omega.
49:08
Paul begins and ends this selection the same way. Centered on Jesus Christ. In whom there is deliverance. That's his last little section there is even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. That's not the wrath now.
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That's not the problem of evil. That's not tribulation. Your life is not going to clear up and get better because you accept Christ. Your eternal life begins then. And it goes forward into absolute eternity.
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You will have salvation blessings that last for absolutely ever. You probably will have tribulation maybe even as immediate as Jason. So, you can be expecting it. It's worth it. It's good stuff.
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It's great and if you see that it changes and it gives you the peace, the grace, unmerited favor, and the peace which passes understanding, then it's fantastic and you, by the way that you live by turning from your idols. And serving the living and true God. It's as simple as making the decision to read the Bible. Take in the word, not in word only but receiving it in power, praying for the Holy Spirit to illumine. Looking at Jesus Christ.
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It's I think that's it. That's where the sermon goes. I wanted to come back around and say, praise God that Mahindra Singh is at a at a crossroads is the name of his mission agency, his ministry, ministry really, national ministry in South Africa and Melissa is now working. Melissa Landis is working with Mahindra Singh. Praise God for the connections that he makes.
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He is an incredibly pastoral, loving guy that understands that putting Jesus first is what has to happen and if you put Jesus first and if you pay attention to him in the moment, what it is and go as he says go and do as he says do, he will build his church and he's doing it and it's amazing to see the connections. Not every time do I get a chance to see em but I do know that when we center ourselves on Jesus Christ, that's where the deliverance is. Every time we look at the book of Acts, we see people presenting the the the cross, the sacrifice that Jesus made, that is where we see dramatic, dramatic movement of the spirit because it's not just about being nice. It's not about following a certain set of rules, a certain way. It is about the cross of Jesus Christ in whom there is salvation or deliverance from the wrath to come.
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So, to begin with, all of us stand under God's wrath. That is not only a product of what we've done. It's a product of our heritage from Adam forward. All of us stand, accused, and condemned by our actions. All of us do.
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But the cross of Christ offers that grace of God, the unmerited favor. His son who did no wrong, lived a perfect life, did not owe a sin debt, traded in his perfect life so that you may have life. The gospel of John hits it over and over. Acts presents it over. Paul acts as if it is a it is an absolute fact for these people.
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The much assurance that the election of God that he knows it. So, he's speaking to them from a different side than just that objective. Gospel of John presents Jesus's life. Acts of the apostles presents the history of the early church. Paul is now speaking to people who have accepted and from here on out, this is something for Christians to start to grow.
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Does that make sense? It's also something that shows us the way that we might make a difference in our community and in our world. By walking out our faith. So, I want to encourage you this morning that those of you who are accepted Christ, you have that grace and peace and when you walk in it and don't let your circumstances drag you down into it, You can spread this and it happens. It is happening in this valley right now.
53:27
We're seeing people I heard two stories this week of people coming to Jesus that somebody said, I never thought they'd come around. If you have not ever accepted Christ, it is as simple as putting your faith in him. The faith that he has given you, putting that faith in him, he will show you how to do the rest. The cross of Christ is the center point of all human history. Before that, those who are looking forward to the Messiah and looking back, all of us who put our faith in him.
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That is the congregation, the called out ones, the capital C church. So, if you'd like to talk to me afterwards, if you'd like to talk to one of our elders afterwards, elders, would you all stand for a minute? And I'm talking elders past and present. So, if y'all want to talk to me, you're welcome to but if you want to grab one of these guys, all of them would be glad to sit and talk to you as long as it takes. Thank you, John.
54:21
Van, if y'all come on back up, Will. Oh, we do have one more thing. Exodus three five is a direct command. I want y'all to listen to it. Exodus three five.
54:31
Does anybody know what it says? Genesis, Exodus, Exodus three five says, then he said, do not draw near to this place. Take your sandals off your feet for the place where you stand is holy ground. This fella right here, the little drummer boy as Renzi puts it, normally sits up here all barefooted most weeks and we want to commission him today. And tomorrow.
55:08
He's at a party every night for the last seven nights because we love you. We appreciate you. So, we want to commission him. So, I would like to get the elders to come forth and we're going to stand around and put a hand on Aaron and then we'll sing through teary eyes. Oh, that might not know.
55:26
You go ahead and do that. Oh, you don't have a mic. Aaron is heading back to California. He's from California and he's going back and he's going back to school and he has been a part of the ministry team here at First B for how long? Five, six years and he's been, he's done whatever we've asked of him.
55:45
The whole time that he's been here and he he gives good constructive criticism and I love that. An open rebuke is better than a tail bearer. I love this man and appreciate him and all of the guys up here that don't have a mic do too. And we're sending him back to California to do just like this. Our paths cross for a time.
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It was a longer time than three weeks but we're sending him out with God's blessing. So, with some.
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Let's stand together. This is really a prayer song saying, take my life. Let it be consecrated Lord to thee. Take my hands, take my will, take my love. It's kind of a it's an it's an offering.
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We're saying, God, we offer ourselves to you.
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Let's hid my moments and my days. Let them flow and cease their praise. Let them flow and cease their praise. Take our hands, take my hands, and in them move, they have been wholesome by love. And seek my love.
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My lord, I pour at thy feet in treasures. Myself, and I will forever old for me, ever old me all for thee. We'll sing I surrender all.
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Amen. May the Lord bless and keep you, make his face to shine upon you, and give you peace. Amen.
Topics
1 ThessaloniansChronology Of The New TestamentEarly Church HistoryElection And FaithMissionary Journeys
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