Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Waiting for correspondence in present day is much different than it was even just 20 years ago when cell phones or smartphones became the primary way in which we communicated with folks. Now we wait for that return phone call, looking at our phone, waiting for that name to come up, that we're waiting to respond.
[00:00:28] We are constantly scanning our emails. Maybe we put in an application to school or for something else, and we're waiting to pull up our email, even on our phone, maybe at a device or a computer, waiting to see that bold subject line come up in response, or looking at our phone, constantly refreshing at all times, waiting for that reply text notification bubble to come up.
[00:00:58] This is way different than it was even 20 to 25 years ago when you were communicating with folks across the country or even across town at times trying to communicate with folks. Some of us remember when our only form of communication in this way were letters. We would write letters and wait for letters in response.
[00:01:20] Just a few years ago, one of our sons was in basic training and we were kind of taken back to that time. The only way we could communicate with him were through letters. We would send a letter and he would reply back with a letter. And it took days, even weeks to hear from him. And that communication, in many ways was gold.
[00:01:41] We loved it, we valued it, and we appreciated it. I even remember the summer before Danae and I were married. We were in two different states. She was in Florida and I was in Tennessee, working, waiting to get married at the end of summer. There were no smartphones, no cell phones. You couldn't just have a stream of texting with this person that you love so much all day long, no face, timing.
[00:02:09] And what was going on in their life was kind of a mystery. You couldn't go to their social media account and see, did she post something today? You just said, hey, I'll call you at this time.
[00:02:20] And you had to wait by things that were called landline phones. Some of you don't even know what those are. You had to get to the phone at a certain time and just wait. And I remember working those days with anticipation to talk to her at the end of the day. And if something came up on the other end and they couldn't make the phone call, you just kind of a mystery of what happened.
[00:02:44] And you appreciated the communication. You waited for it. There was anticipation in your life.
[00:02:52] The communication was central to what was going on as you waited.
[00:02:58] Well, in First Thessalonians, we see that the believers in Thessalonica had to learn to wait.
[00:03:06] First of all, Paul teaches them that they are waiting on Jesus return when Paul comes and preaches the gospel to them. And they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, and they make Jesus their king. Paul tells them, now you are waiting for his kingdom to come into the world. And much of what they are going to have to learn from Paul is how to wait. How to wait as they suffer. What does this look like? What are we supposed to do?
[00:03:38] In context, we see that they had to wait to hear back from Paul. In many ways, his ministry was a blip on the screen in their lives. He showed up for three weeks and then he was gone. And it was. They didn't know what they were supposed to do. They were thrust into this new life, this new kingdom. Their lives were disrupted.
[00:04:03] And this guy who came along and preached the message, where has he gone? What are we supposed to do? And they were waiting.
[00:04:11] Paul went to Thessalonica after preaching the gospel in Philippi, after he had been imprisoned for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. And there, him and Silas, they sing hymns in the prison. There's an earthquake. They're released. A church is planted in Philippi. And then Paul makes his way to Thessalonica, some 90 miles of travel. And when he gets there, he preaches the gospel. He goes straight to the synagogues there. There was a contingency of Jews meeting in synagogues, and that's the first place Paul goes. And he begins to plead with the Jews that this Jesus is the Messiah, he's your Messiah, and you must believe in him. And Gentiles were gathered there and they believed the gospel along with some Jews. But this preaching of the gospel in Thessalonica, it disrupted everything. The Jewish community there was infuriated that Paul was in town preaching the gospel in their synagogues.
[00:05:20] And the local government, government, they were threatened. Here is this guy declaring that not Caesar, but Jesus of Nazareth crucified this sort of hoax belief that he's back from the dead. He's declaring that he is king. And all leadership, the establishment in Thessalonica, they are infuriated. And after three weeks, there's this church that is forming and they're meeting in one another's house and they're having Bible study and they're learning from the Apostle Paul and his missionary partners.
[00:06:00] But the leaders have had enough and they begin to drag out the Christians, to drag the Christians out into the street and riots break out in this city and to kind of quell the violence. Paul immediately leaves and he travels to berea, not down I75 into Athens, not Athens.
[00:06:26] These are the places he goes after he leaves Thessalonica. But he leaves to kind of quell the violence, the disruption, to bring peace for the believers there. But as he travels to these places and finally ends up in Corinth, he's worried about this church. After all, he only spent three weeks with them. He only had a short time with them. And he probably didn't think so many people were going to believe the gospel. Jews, Greeks, prominent members of society had believed the gospel while he was there. And this church begins to form. He worries, are they going to endure the persecution that I caused for them?
[00:07:15] Are they going to endure the suffering that aligning with Jesus and my message has caused for them? And as he travels, he worries about this church until finally he sends his protege Timothy back to check on them.
[00:07:33] And while Paul is planting a church in Corinth, Timothy returns to him after waiting. Can you imagine waiting?
[00:07:42] What's going on in Thessalonica?
[00:07:45] How are those believers enduring? What am I going to hear from Timothy? Is there even a church there? It's a mystery in his mind as he plods with the gospel in Corinth. And when Timothy shows up, he tells him the wonderful news. This church is growing.
[00:08:04] This church is thriving. Yes, they're being persecuted, but they are thriving in their hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:08:14] And Paul, encouraged, sits down to pen this letter to the Thessalonians. In this letter Paul wants to tell them how they are to live as last day saints, understanding that we live in the end times, waiting for Jesus to return. And what does look like? Well, he tells them they have to live holy and pure lives before the Lord. They have to work hard before their community.
[00:08:45] And they live in a hope, not wishing and waiting for Jesus to return. But to encourage them in these ways, he begins this letter by reminding them who they are. He reminds them of the grace of God in their life. Notice verse one. First of all, those who are sending the letter, Paul, Silas or Silvanus and Timothy, this is the missionary team that was involved in planting the church in Thessalonica. And we know the story of the Apostle Paul. In Acts 9 he is headed out to kill Christians and yet he is struck and blinded by the Lord Jesus Christ in this miraculous conversion where he goes to being the chief teacher of Judaism, to the leading and probably the greatest missionary we've ever known, the Apostle Paul. And Silas was one of his closest associates who worked among the Gentiles with Paul and Timothy, whose mom was a Jew. And yet his dad was a Greek. He is primed and ready to be a church planter. And these are the missionaries that are writing the letter back to the church in Thessalonica to encourage them in their faith, to push them along in their hope. But notice he continues to explain who they are, the grace of God in their life. Notice he says to the church, this would actually be what they are. They are the church.
[00:10:19] And the word church, we know means gathering. It comes from the Old Testament idea. When the people of God in the Old Testament assembled together to worship, sacrifice and hear from the Lord, they were the assembly of God. And here Paul is saying, you are the gathering of God on earth. The word church helps explain exactly what we are. We are the gathering. We are God's gathering on earth. It also explains what God is doing. The idea of church is the essence of God's work in the world. He is gathering people from every tribe, every tongue, every nation, every language. And the church made visible through the preaching of the gospel is in essence, God doing that. And so you look around at the church, the gathering, and you see God's work.
[00:11:23] He wants the believers in Thessalonica to understand you are God's work. In essence, you are the gathering.
[00:11:32] That is what you are. But notice where they are to the church of the Thessalonians now, where they are, when they became Christians didn't all of a sudden become obsolete.
[00:11:46] They weren't zapped into an abstract world in which they lived. No, they still lived in a city.
[00:11:53] They lived in a city with culture. Thessalonica had a population of about 200,000 at this time. It was a strategic city for church planting. It was a port city. It was close to major roadways. It was considered the capital of the Macedonian area.
[00:12:14] Thessalonica was self governed, meaning they had their own officials.
[00:12:19] They had freedom even from the emperor, and yet they still worshiped the emperor. It was a place of spiritual perversion, sexual immorality. And there was still the false teaching of the Judaizers. There was still the. The Jewish influence that denied Jesus was the Messiah. And here Paul preaches the gospel. And what does God do in that culture? He gathers up a people, he calls out a church in this city. And this is the work of God's grace in the world. This is what God does in a world cursed by sin, death and wickedness. God is gathering people up and he does so in specific locations. That's why we're committed to church planting.
[00:13:13] We want to preach the gospel in places where there is sin, there is death, there is hopelessness. And against the backdrop of wicked cultures, we want to see the grace of God. And so we preach the gospel and God calls out people to himself and they gather together. That's why we're committed to local church planting. And in the verses we read, verses four and five, Paul says, that's what happened in Thessalonica. We came in and God gathered you by his spirit. That is what you are. That is where you are. But notice who you are. As we move through the text, notice the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This helps explain who they are. They're the church. They're still Thessalonians. They still have a culture. But in that culture, they are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this picture helps communicate the gospel for us, that they are in God. Paul uses this language often in his letters. When you believe the gospel, when you trust in Jesus life, his perfect obedience in place of your sinful life, when you believe in his death, his payment on the cross for your sins, when you begin to hope in his resurrection and the kingdom coming, and you place all your confidence in him, you are immersed into Christ. You are united to him. This is where we get the idea of baptism. We are plunged into Christ so that God doesn't see a difference between us and Christ. We are in him. When he looks at us, he sees the righteousness of Christ. He sees the death of Christ Jesus. Righteousness is our righteousness. His death is our death. We are in Christ. And here Paul is trying to communicate that. And he says, you are in God the Father, because if you are in Christ, God has become your father. And this is the height of the gospel. To know God as your Father, to be in Christ, the perfect Son, who God loves, and to know God relationally as your father. Now he loves you the way he loves Jesus. And Paul says, I want you to understand that's who you are. Now. Why do they need to know this? Because now they've aligned with Jesus and they are being forsaken by their family as you are being forsaken by your family, your traditions. Understand, God is now your father. But notice next and the Lord Jesus Christ. The word Lord here is master, and it refers to ruler. And he uses this strategically to say, okay, the emperor is no longer your ruler and master. Jesus is your ruler and master. And you are united to him. You've been immersed into him, and so his rule is now one with your life.
[00:16:34] Notice the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Isn't Jesus just first and last name. It is his title. He is savior, King. He is the king who saves. He is the Messiah who fulfills all of God's promises.
[00:16:54] And Paul wants to understand this is your new identity. As you struggle with family relationships now that you are following Christ, you have God as your father, meaning you have a new family.
[00:17:07] And as you struggle as a citizen of Rome and you struggle in those ways to. To figure out your allegiance to local government and authority, understand, ultimately the king who saves is your master. He is your ruler. No one else.
[00:17:27] And Paul wants them to understand who they are in Thessalonica against the backdrop of all kinds of paganism and all kinds of persecution.
[00:17:39] As you grow in your faith and as you struggle, as you figure all of this out, understand who you are now, your identity has changed and God is gathering you to display something amazing in the world and so embrace it. It's the same thing we must understand today.
[00:18:02] We must be reminded what and where and who we are as a church in this city.
[00:18:09] We have been gathered by God. And you see it today. The gathering gathers because that's what we are.
[00:18:17] But God is doing something in this. This isn't just an event.
[00:18:22] He is plucking people out of Richmond, connecting himself to them, to us, to display something in the world. And here Paul says, I want you to understand there's a new family that you're a part of, and there's a new kingdom that you're a part of. It's the same thing that we must understand in Richmond, Kentucky today. You have been gathered by God to display his grace in this city.
[00:18:51] And not just you as an individual, we as a church, it's important to live that way, that I'm not just this isolated individual over here doing what I want to do, but I represent a new family and a new kingdom. And I align myself with Ashland Church in that way. In many ways, I represent the witness of Ashland Church at all times.
[00:19:14] And so you got to understand, how do I reflect and witness this new family daily in my life?
[00:19:23] Well, it means we love one another.
[00:19:26] If God is our father and has loved us, witness in our life is that we love one another as family.
[00:19:34] We are absolutely radically committed to one another, no matter what, and we do not leave.
[00:19:43] That is breathtaking in the current context in which we live.
[00:19:50] One of the things that saddens me and just about any group that I'm a part of outside of this church, any organization that I try to Connect with is just sort of the toxic drama that is a part of people's lives all the time.
[00:20:09] There is a constant gossip, slander of people that they even claim to love and align with. It doesn't matter what group you're a part of. It doesn't matter what club you're a part of, what team, what school. It just seems as though as hobby people enjoy gossiping and slandering about the things they're a part of. One of the things that shocks me is when I talk to people at other churches and I guess they think they're going to kind of get in good with me or something or build a relationship with me by talking about how bad their church is.
[00:20:48] It blows my mind.
[00:20:51] And I always just stop and say, whoa, whoa, you know how hard it is to be a church that loves Jesus. You know how hard it is to lead.
[00:21:01] And then they say, hey, we're thinking about coming to Ashland. And I say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Let me give you a brochure to some other churches around town.
[00:21:12] We have a responsibility to be different. As you are at work and you hear the gossip and you hear the slander, you don't engage. And when it comes to your church family, oh, I love my church. It is startling when people talk about how much they love their church, how excited they are to serve their church. We are a distinct witness in this city to a new family that we really love.
[00:21:41] And we are a distinct witness to a new master and a new kingdom that guides our life. We live in a cultural context where feelings dictate what is right.
[00:21:56] Everybody is doing what feels right, and they are driven by consensus.
[00:22:03] What is the right thing to do now? Well, let's see what the consensus of the culture is. And we step in as believers and say, no, no, no, I know it's different. It may seem old fashioned. I may look too conservative, but I actually live by the word of God.
[00:22:20] When I have decisions and priorities in my life, I go to the word of God first. What would Jesus have me do? How would Jesus order my home and my worldview? How would Jesus call me to live out and engage in relationships? I live by a distinct kingdom. And this is why God has gathered us. Yes, in Richmond, Kentucky, to be a reflection at all times of this new family and this new kingdom. This is what they are. This is where they are. This is who they are. And then Paul, in this little phrase, grace to you and peace.
[00:23:01] He includes a prayer.
[00:23:03] This isn't just a greeting, this is a prayer. That they would experience who they are. Grace to you and peace. As you exist in this new family, this new rule, this new kingdom, I want you to experience grace and peace. This isn't just a greeting.
[00:23:23] Paul infuses his greetings with the Gospel constantly and most often with this phrase, grace and peace. It's not just like he's saying, dear Thessalonians, sincerely.
[00:23:38] It's not just mechanical. This is who you are. Now HE PRAYS I want you to experience who you are in grace and peace. Grace is unmerited favor. It is the unmerited favor, undeserved kindness of God. Despite your sin, you don't deserve anything from God but hell. And he's gracious to you. He's been gracious to you in Christ. This is who you are. This is what you have. And Paul begins this letter. I want you to experience this. I want you to feel this. You deserve to be spiritual orphans in the world with no home, and yet God is your Father. I want you to feel that as you face persecution, as you suffer, I want you to experience God's grace. You deserve hell, but you're a part of this new family. He wants them to experience peace.
[00:24:36] The idea of peace means you are at rest with God, meaning the war with God is over.
[00:24:43] We all have waged war against God with our sin. I will do whatever I want.
[00:24:49] And we deserve God's wrath for that. We deserve his hostility for that.
[00:24:54] And yet the Gospel gives us peace because Jesus absorbed all of God's hostility towards your sin. And Paul says, I want you to experience that as you wonder what in the world is happening to our lives. We became believers and now life is harder. Grace to you and peace. You can experience grace when it's hard and difficult. You can experience peace. When the world around you is chaotic, shaking even in the name of Christ, you can experience these things.
[00:25:27] I want you to stop for a minute and think. Paul writes this letter, this church is on his heart and he wants them to feel these things just for a moment.
[00:25:39] Who do you know that needs to experience grace and peace right now?
[00:25:47] They need to understand their standing before God, what they have in the Gospel.
[00:25:53] They have grace. God is their Father. They have peace. The war is over.
[00:25:58] Who are the people in your mind right now that come to your mind? I want you to pray for them right now.
[00:26:06] You can pray looking at me. You can close your eyes, however you want to do it.
[00:26:11] Those people. That's what Paul does. He's thinking about their circumstances.
[00:26:16] He says the first thing that you need right now is grace and peace. Think about those people in your life that need grace and peace right now. Pray for them.
[00:26:25] Pray that they would know the grace of God. Maybe they are working from insecurity and doubt.
[00:26:31] They are trying to earn acceptance before God, striving to please God with what they do and they cannot enjoy grace. Pray that they would enjoy grace.
[00:26:43] Maybe their world is flipped upside down and they are struggling and they can't find rest and they're beginning to believe God is against them.
[00:26:51] One situation after another, one difficulty after another, and they can't find peace. Pray for them right now and then plan this week that you're going to send them an encouraging message, encouraging text. You're going to walk up and speak to them after the service. You're going to pray with them.
[00:27:10] Think about those people in your life. Get your mind off yourself right now and think about others who need grace, peace.
[00:27:19] Then what Paul does in verses 2 and 3, he prays that they would experience grace and peace and then he thanks God for the grace that they've already experienced. Notice verse two. We, the missionary team that sends this letter, we give thanks to God, we praise God, we bless God. Here Paul is crediting God for what has happened in Thessalonica. He doesn't say, we came in and we were the cool, edgy missionaries, we did everything right. Our strategy was just perfect.
[00:27:55] No, we came into the city, we preached the gospel and people wanted to kill us.
[00:28:00] And so it was grace that you believe the gospel. And so we give God credit for that. Notice always it seems as though Paul we're going to look at later is walking through these cities in Macedonia and, and people are telling him about the believers in Thessalonica. You won't believe the revival that's happening over there. And so Paul stops all the time and remembers these believers and thanks God for them. Notice constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering you before God. You are always on our mind. We are always praying for you, thanking God for you. And I want you to know what this prayer or praise does. He thanks God for them, praises God for them, but then he leverages his praise for God to encourage them.
[00:28:51] We thank God for you and what God has done in your life. And so in that way we want you to be encouraged, be encouraged by what we and others see in your life. Praise God for you, but you be encouraged. There's two results of Paul's thanksgiving here. Praising God, making much of God's work, and then the result in after effect is that the church is encouraged. But what does he praise God for? First of all, their obedient faith.
[00:29:24] Notice your work of faith. This is what he thanks God for. The word work here means to toil, to extreme exhaustion.
[00:29:33] The believers there are continuing to work. But notice they're working out of faith. Your work of faith, you trust the Lord, you believe in the Lord, and so you are toiling for the Lord.
[00:29:47] Now, we want to be very clear. We are not saved by works.
[00:29:53] But if we are saved and we have saving faith, that faith will end up working.
[00:30:02] And here's how that works. I didn't mean to use works that way. Sounded kind of cheesy to me from up here.
[00:30:10] If you believe God is good in saving you, meaning you've seen the goodness of God in the gospel, and you can testify he's good. The cross, he's good. And you say, I believe in that. I trust in that. I have faith in that. That faith will also trust him to lead, guide and direct you. If he's good to save you, he's good to tell you what to do, and you will do what he calls you to do. This is what the work of faith looks like in our life. He is good to save, so he is good to guide and direct. And so I go and I follow. And the believers there, they had to turn from paganism and turn to God. They had to believe God was good, to turn from their idolatry to turn to God and live holy lives. They had to believe God was good and continue to labor in the Word. One of the things we're going to see is they continued to share the gospel no matter what because they believed God is good.
[00:31:15] Do you believe God is good because of the gospel today? Well, what's one thing this week you're going to change because you believe God is good.
[00:31:24] You're going to turn from something that God has said is bad to what God has said is good. Why would I do that? He's proven he's good. He knows what's better for me.
[00:31:35] Maybe you'll repent of gossip and slander, turn from pornography.
[00:31:40] Maybe you'll turn from laziness to prayer and studying the Bible.
[00:31:46] What is it in your life that you're going to say, God is good. I can trust him. I can do that. That's going to be good for me.
[00:31:54] Maybe you'll begin to build relationships for the sake of the gospel. If you're enamored with the goodness of God, you can trust him. As you step out to build relationships with your neighbors and your classmates, people you've known for years and you've yet to share the gospel with them. God is good. I believe that in the gospel. And so I'm going to talk to them about Jesus this week. I'm going to be very clear about the gospel and what I believe about eternity this week. If God is good, you can trust him to step into his goodness. The awkwardness of conversation, the sort of panic, adrenaline rush. I need to talk to them about God is good in that he's proven he's good. Trust him, step out and speak the gospel. But notice what else he thanks them, thanks God for. That is an encouragement to them their labor of love.
[00:32:50] Love is a commitment to another person's good no matter what it costs. And we've seen that on the cross.
[00:32:57] God was committed to our good no matter what, and it cost him His Son. That is love. And here, this word labor again, it's. It means to work, it means to act. And one of the things we're noticing here is our faith. Our witness isn't passive. If you have faith, you're going to do something. If you really have been loved by God and you love God, you're going to do something.
[00:33:23] And here, the believers in Thessalonica, they love God. They continue to labor in the Word and it costs them.
[00:33:31] But it is their commitment to God because God is committed to them in love, that they're willing to serve and sacrifice for others no matter what it costs them. And so what's one way this week that you're going to choose to love?
[00:33:49] If you say that you know the love of God for you, and you are overwhelmed with that, that is your hope and that is your life. How are you choosing to love others?
[00:34:01] Maybe this week you just plan to do it.
[00:34:04] Most things in my life I have to plan to do and just choose to do it and then make myself do it.
[00:34:11] There are a lot of things I don't like to do, and then I'm not going to tell you which ones. There are a lot of things I don't like to do for other people.
[00:34:21] And I do it out of inconvenience, but ultimately be out of love. And here's what happens in most of those things. You know how this works. I committed to help this person do this or that, to serve them in this way, and you begin to dread it.
[00:34:39] Man, I wish I had not committed to do that for them.
[00:34:44] That evening is coming up where you're supposed to hang out, fellowship, maybe take a meal over to someone, maybe to meet with them for discipleship, to encourage them in some way. And you're thinking, man, there are a lot of things I could do tonight. Braves start every night at 7:30.
[00:35:02] There are a lot of things I could do tonight. I could sit around on the couch and be lazy.
[00:35:09] And then you do that and your inconvenience from your things that you really enjoy. And after you do it, thinking, wow, that was great.
[00:35:21] There's so much joy found in being inconvenienced for others.
[00:35:26] But it is spiritual warfare. And it's the work of Satan to tell you it's going to be the worst thing in the world and whatever you could do for yourself is going to be better. What is one thing this week that you will commit to that will radically inconvenience you for others? Your schedule, your time, your resources. What is one labor of love?
[00:35:48] But notice what else he thanks God for Their unwavering expectation. Notice their steadfastness of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. The word steadfast means to be unwavering, constant. You just keep plotting because of your commitment. You don't give up. But notice why they don't give up. It is their hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. And one of the things notice throughout, Paul says, our Father, our Lord. They are a part of the same kingdom that Paul and his associates are a part of. They've been included in this family, this kingdom. And because they have this kingdom, they begin to hope. They begin to hope for the kingdom to come.
[00:36:32] Hope isn't wishing so many times. That's the way we think about hope. I wish this would happen. Biblical hope is not wishing. It's waiting. It's waiting because you know what's coming. You're confident in what's coming. And if you are in Christ, there is a kingdom that is coming that will purge sin and death from the cosmos. And right now we gather to wait for it. We are constantly looking for it. And so as the Thessalonians suffer persecution, they wait for something better to come. Better than their idols, better than the Emperor. They are waiting for Christ to come and rule. And so they just plot. They do not stop.
[00:37:17] How do you remain steadfast? Will you latch yourself to the hope of the kingdom? You have a better kingdom that is coming. And so daily you are able to continue to step forward, step forward to that kingdom, trusting God, obeying Jesus, what he calls me to do today. And you are also stepping away from the kingdoms of this world. That's how you cultivate hope. In the coming kingdom, you just keep plotting. You trust something better is coming, and so you step forward. And then you're stepping away from the things of this world. And you are. You are cultivating hope in the coming kingdom. Some of you are suffering right now and you're wanting to give up.
[00:38:02] The, the stress, the worry, the anxiety, the frustration is too much for you. You have something better coming in. Jesus, step forward.
[00:38:11] Do what he's called you to do today. Obey him, trust him. Step forward in obedience. This is the steadfastness that he calls us to.
[00:38:21] Some of you have been disappointed with this life.
[00:38:25] The things that you are pursuing do not satisfy you, and you've yet to learn the lesson. You give yourself over to all kinds of temporary toys and you think you're going to find eternal satisfaction in those things.
[00:38:41] The pleasure, the politics, the news, the sports. We give ourselves over to those things, thinking we're going to have eternal delight, and they disappoint us.
[00:38:52] We don't tie our hearts to those things. We step away from them and say, no, I have something better.
[00:38:59] No, no, I can temper my idolatry for the things of this world because I have a better kingdom coming.
[00:39:08] And I step forward to that, and I step away from the things of this world. One of the things that you need to do to cultivate a hope in the kingdom is you need to gather.
[00:39:18] You need to gather with the church weekly. That is a picture of. Of hoping in the kingdom coming, is that you live your life in this world and you wait for Sunday every week.
[00:39:33] Sunday is my favorite day.
[00:39:35] It's my hardest day, and it's my favorite day. I love it so much.
[00:39:40] And Monday morning, I'm waiting for Sunday.
[00:39:44] And we get involved in our week, and we get involved in the things that we have to do in this world. Those things that we love, those things that are good, those things that are bad. And we are constantly waiting. We're waiting for this moment where we gather together and we are reminded to hope in something better. Coming.
[00:40:04] We gather. That's what we do. We are a picture of our hope when Jesus gathers every tongue, every tribe, every nation to himself forever. And we gather to remind ourselves who and what we are. And it cultivates hope.
[00:40:21] This should be heaven on earth, which we long for, something that's going to blow our minds forever and ever with Christ together. And so we gather to untie our hearts from this world.
[00:40:37] One of the things I want you to do is you think about this faith that works, this love that serves and this hope that waits.
[00:40:48] Where do you see that in the life of this church as you think about people who need grace and peace?
[00:40:56] Who are the folks in this church that you can praise God for?
[00:41:01] And while praising God for them, you can encourage them?
[00:41:06] Who are those people right now? They're living by faith and they are working.
[00:41:12] They make what's right look good.
[00:41:16] Their lives are harnessed in work for the Lord Jesus Christ because they believe God is good. In the gospel, they're sharing the gospel. Who are those people that you can even send a message to, text, speak directly to them and say, I thank God for your faith.
[00:41:35] Who are the folks here today who labor in love?
[00:41:41] One of the ways that I'm prodded to love others are the folks in this church who have no concern for themselves at all. Their time, their schedule, their money.
[00:41:54] And I'm constantly saying, whoa, you don't have to do that. Whoa, whoa, whoa. No, no, you need to go be with your family. You need to go do that. You don't need to be doing that for me. You don't need to be doing that for others. You need to think about. Think more about yourself. You know what's going on there. Love, inconvenience. Who are the people in your life that you can praise God for and encourage them in very specific ways? Who are the people who you see waiting for a better kingdom?
[00:42:24] People whose lives have been wracked with sin and death.
[00:42:31] And they are examples for us of what it means to wait. They can't wait for heaven.
[00:42:37] We are getting as much as we can of this world, and they're over here saying, whoa, you go get sick eventually and there's something better coming.
[00:42:49] And they witnessed to us the hope. Who are the people that even this week you are going to write notes of thanksgiving and encouragement to. Who are the people right now who are waiting to hear from you?
[00:43:03] Imagine the Thessalonians. Their lives have turned upside down. Their family has abandoned them. Their dailiness of life has been disrupted. And they have no understanding of what it all means. They just know that they are following the Lord Jesus Christ in many ways. They don't even know what to wait for.
[00:43:25] And they get this letter from Paul.
[00:43:28] Yes, this is good. This is right. There's joy in what's going on. There are folks all across this room who are waiting to hear from you. They're suffering.
[00:43:41] They need grace to you and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ, in God the Father. They need to hear that from you this week.
[00:43:50] There are folks who need better news.
[00:43:53] They received the test results and it wasn't good and they need better news from you.
[00:44:01] And as we engage in this encouraging one another, actually telling one another, so many times we sit around and we think things about people across the room and we never just go and say it.
[00:44:15] As we encourage one another in this way, may God make us a gathering that witnesses the family and kingdom of Christ coming.
[00:44:23] Grace to you and peace.
