Prayerful, Confident, Obedient, Steadfast

In one paragraph

Pastor Ray opened with a brief clarification from the previous week's sermon on 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15, then moved into five verses from the third chapter, laying out what Paul wanted the Thessalonians to be: prayerful, confident in God, obedient, and steadfast. He was careful to note that the next section of the letter deals with church discipline, and he wanted this passage to serve as the...

Read together

1. 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15 basis for the diagram about God choosing from the beginning, Christ's work, gospel witness, belief, sanctification, and glorification
2. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 quoted as Paul's benediction prayer for the Thessalonians before the passage under study
3. 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 the primary passage preached, covering prayer for the word to run, deliverance from wicked men, God's faithfulness, confidence in the Lord, and directing hearts to love and steadfastness
4. 1 Thessalonians 4:18 listed as an imperative: comfort one another
5. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 listed as an imperative: comfort one another and build each other up
6. 1 Thessalonians 5:13-22 listed as a cluster of imperatives including be at peace, warn the unruly, rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks, do not quench the Spirit, test all things, abstain from evil
7. Philippians 1 Paul saying he did not know whether it was better to live or die, but staying would benefit the Thessalonians

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray said that you know you are among the elect by what you do with the word of the Lord: you hear it, you believe it, and it changes you. How have you seen that pattern play out in your own life or in someone you know?
2. Paul asked young believers who had been Christians for less than six months to pray for him. What does it say about Paul that he made himself that vulnerable, and how does that shape the way you think about asking others to pray for you?
3. Pastor Ray pointed out that Paul immediately turned the Thessalonians away from confidence in himself and toward confidence in God. Have you ever found yourself leaning too heavily on a pastor, a teacher, or another person in your faith? What helped shift that confidence back to God?
4. The imperatives Paul gives throughout First and Second Thessalonians are things like comfort one another, be at peace, rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and hold on to what is good. Which one of those commands feels most difficult for you right now, and why?
5. Pastor Ray described steadfastness as the thread running through the whole sanctification process, the patient endurance that perseveres over time. Where in your life are you being called to that kind of steadfastness right now?