Category: 1 Thessalonians

Paul gives very clear commands at the ending of 1 Thessalonians. Throughout the book, Paul has been commending, encouraging, and teaching them about how they have lived and how they need to continue living. In our section, Paul gives 17 brief but important commands in verses 12-22 (17 is what I counted). And while the commands are brief, I believe the purpose of the commands is seen in verse 23: Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The point of the commands is so that our whole spirit, soul, and body would be blameless when Jesus returns a second time. 

The commands are:

1. Respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord
2. Esteem them very highly in love because of their work
3. Be at peace among yourselves
4. Admonish the idle (lazy)
5. Encourage the fainthearted
6. Help the weak
7. Be patient with them all
8. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil
9. Always seek to do good to one another and everyone
10. Rejoice always
11. Pray without ceasing
12. Give thanks in all circumstances
13. Do not quench the Spirit
14. Do not despise prophecies
15. Test everything
16. Hold fast to what is good
17. Abstain from every form of evil

I have listed these out for you, because I want you to go through the list and examine your own life. Which commands are you being obedient in? Which commands are you being disobedient in? 

Our job as Christians is to resemble Jesus in every aspect of our life. So if we are failing in even one of these categories then our job is to work on that area so that we are more like Jesus. If we are being honest, we all probably fail in keeping all of these. But as verse 23 reminds us, God is the one who will help us become more like Jesus: “may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely”. We just have to allow Him to do it and trust that He will.

By: Brice Stockton — Student Ministry Apprentice

On the 14th of August 2015, Erin woke me up from a dead sleep around 4:30 in the morning. For over 2-weeks the doctor had been telling Erin that her pregnancy wouldn’t last through the next couple days. With eager anticipation we had been expecting Josie to come into the world, but she had (and still has) a mind of her own. 

Although her water still had not broken, Erin woke me in the wee hours of the morning because she was experiencing big-time contractions. We knew the 511 rule—go to the hospital when contractions are 5 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute, for 1 hour. Thus, when she told me that she had been having one-minute long contractions every 5-minutes for about 20-minutes and that she was going to shower, I said, “Great, wake me up if they keep going for the hour.” 

Erin went into the bathroom and I rolled over, closed my eyes, and then realized what she’d just told me. In my mind it hit me, “Josie is coming TODAY!” I jumped out of bed like the family in the movie Home Alone. I busted into the bathroom and said, “You’re in labor!” To which Erin replied, “That’s more of the reaction that I expected.” 

 Throughout Church history, every generation has been preparing, waiting in eager expectation, for the Lord’s return. At the ascension of Jesus, the angels told the disciples that “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11). Jesus’ return will be sudden and unexpected like a “thief in the night,” or the “labor pains of a pregnant woman.” 

My initial reaction to Erin telling me she was in labor was a groggy, sleep-induced incomprehension at her words amounting to, “Wake me up when it’s official.” Paul was saying that many people view Christ’s return in the same way. They live in darkness where sleep and sin prevent the proclamation of the Lord’s return from sinking in. Instead, Paul urges believers to “keep awake and be sober.” My reaction to my wife, although understandable, was foolish. How much more foolish are those who will be caught “sleeping” when the Lord returns?

The return of the Lord is our hope. So, how does Paul say we should respond? He wrote, “Encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” This hope should encourage you, but it should also be used to encourage others. We are in a time where “peace and security” have been shaken for many people. Their sleep has been disrupted, but they are not awake. As humanity does, many people have adapted, finding peace and security in different things than before. People are rolling over and going back to sleep. Yet, peace and security found in anything other than the Lord will lead to destruction. 

Church, we are living through a tough time. However, it should serve as a reminder that this world is not our home. The Lord will return. That is our hope, but it also shapes how we live every moment of every day. While we wait, let us find ways to encourage others. Let us build one another up. We need each other, now as much as ever. 

By: Tyler Short — Connections Ministry Associate

I have a love this passage!  It breathes HOPE into life! We just celebrated Easter – the resurrection of Jesus a few days ago.  The resurrection gives us life. Paul reminds the church in Corinth about this in the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians.

I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.  1 Corinthians 15:3-4

He goes on…

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. 1 Corinthians 15:16-17

GOOD NEWS!  Jesus has risen!  The tomb is empty!

Back to 1 Thessalonians 4… Paul reminds us that we have hope – we shouldn’t grieve like people who don’t (v.13).  Since Jesus arose – He will return for us to take us to be with Him forever.

If we’ve died in Christ…

He gives us the assurance that if we’ve died having a relationship with God through Jesus we will rise from our grave. (v.16)  Our bodies will come out of the grave – God will give us a new body – and we’ll meet Jesus in the clouds.

If we’re still alive…

If we’re alive when Jesus returns – we’ll be caught up to meet Jesus in the air.

Either way… we’ll be with the Lord forever!  This is such a comfort! (v.17b-18)

How will all of this happen?  This passage gives us the order of events:

1.  They’ll be a shout (v.16)
2.  The voice of the archangel 
3.  The trumpet call of God
4.  The dead in Christ will rise first
5.  Those of us alive will be caught up to meet Jesus in the air

This is what we call the rapture.  I believe that it will happen soon.  The events we’re living in with COVID19 could very well be the shaking of the earth in preparation for this event.  Only God knows. The Bible is clear that Jesus will come without warning – like a thief in the night.

How will these events occur?  Here’s a rough idea to help you understand.

• How does this encourage you today?
• How does it motivate you to live today with purpose?
• How will it change how you live your day?

By: Tim Parsons — Lead Pastor

With COVID-19, quarantining, and isolation that a lot of people are experiencing during this time, a lot of people have more free time on their hands. I was always told growing up that when you have too much time on your hands bad things happen. I still believe this is true. Whether we are looking for things to occupy our time or digging through the internet looking for something to fill our time. According to Psychology Today, one of the major pornography sites showed that traffic went up 11.6 percent on March 17th. Do you think it’s a coincidence that the site also reported a steady increase since quarantining began because of the coronavirus? Psychology Today also believes that this increase could be a coping mechanism for people who are trying to cope with the fear of death and disease.

Paul’s words here to the church were to walk with and please God (verse 1). He then follows it up by telling them to abstain from sexual immorality. This was during a time when the church in Thessalonica was dealing with heavy persecution and death because of their faith in Jesus. Do you think that some of them were probably trying to cope with this fear by also indulging in sexual immorality? This could be the reason Paul addresses this here in this letter. Paul then tells them to flee these things because God called them to holiness (verse 7)! He calls Christians today to that same holiness. So flee from impurity! If this is an area that you are struggling with during this time, find an accountability partner and ask God for help. 

His last point in this section is to love others. I see how you all are loving those around you during this time, but Paul says to do this even more (verse 10). People should come out of this crisis seeing Christ’s love through our actions!

By: Jacob Kerr — West Campus Pastoral Ministry Apprentice – Worship & Students