How's the first year as a church been?
If you're visiting, maybe this is your first week.
You just missed our birthday last week.
We celebrated. We had some BBQ thanks to the
Jacksons. Whoever made the banana pudding,
that was delicious. One of my favorite desserts.
Much to be thankful for. Maybe you've been asked that
question a few times in the last week.
How's the first year as a church been?
How would you answer? I can say without a doubt that
when I reflect back on the last year, I have 1000 reasons to be
thankful. Just a few because that would
take the whole sermon. 1 is even before we planted, so many
churches have been praying for us, partnering with us, cheering
us on from the sidelines. It is a beautiful picture of the
Kingdom of God and the Catholicity of the Church.
You know the the truth is too. It seems like especially after
the services, we actually like one another.
The end of the service doesn't just disperse and everyone run
to their cars. It takes a bit to get out of
this, this building. Thank the Lord for that.
I've been blessed by the sermons, especially Bobby's
preaching through a probably a month on self denial and Mark so
rich, the series in Habakkuk Brothers, so many of you, the
devotionals you've given the first one and then the second,
praise the Lord. So encouraging.
The singing though, wow, seriously, even today, just a
little taste of heaven. The church I grew up in, mainly
the singing happened up here, very little singing happened
down there. And I just praise God when I
look around while I'm singing, I just see Saints belting out
praise to the Lord and to one another.
So many of you throughout the week, you're reading the Bible
together, you're studying scripture.
I heard a few of you brothers are memorizing the whole book of
Colossians. Wow.
Children's ministry. Thank you for serving this
church and the children and teaching them the gospel.
I'm grateful in our first year we have lay elders Ashok and
Brandon serving the church faithfully, much to be thankful
for. What if we ask that question?
How's the first year been to the Church of Thessalonica?
If you have your Bible, go ahead and turn to 1st Thessalonians
chapter 3. How would they respond?
What would they say? How's the first year been?
You know, based on the letter itself and on some historical
background we get in Acts chapter 17, I think they would
respond something like this. I think they'd tell us about
their conversion. They did not plant like us with
50 Bible believing Christians. They planted with brand new
converts. Paul, Silas and Timothy had come
to Thessalonica and over 3 Sabbaths they preached God's
word and persuaded them of Jesus Christ.
And they turn from idols and the next Sunday they're worshipping
Jesus. That's how their church was
planted. But they'd also tell us about
their suffering their first year.
They might say, well, our first year has been the hardest year
of our lives. We follow Jesus Christ and we've
gotten a lot of suffering, which Paul actually told us is exactly
what might happen. And Paul told us it's actually a
normal part about being a Christian.
He said follow me as I follow this suffering Savior.
They would also tell us, though, about their hope in the midst of
their suffering. Paul reminded them in just their
few short months together, constantly, week after week of
the certain return of Jesus Christ, that day when he will
make all things new. They were a new church plant,
but they had their minds on heaven from the beginning.
But the Thessalonian church would also tell us about Paul's
sudden departure. One day Paul was here preaching,
and then the next day he was gone.
Our leader, he skipped town, travelled to Berea.
We haven't heard from him since. People are starting to talk.
Paul, that guy who came through town, you think he was
legitimate? Maybe he had hidden motives.
Do you think Paul really loved you?
Where's Paul now? And how would Paul have
responded to those accusations? First Thessalonians is part of
Paul's response in Chapter 1. Paul says he's been so
encouraged by their faith night and day.
He says he remembers them, him, Silas and Timothy in prayer.
It's like he's working through his mental membership directory
of the first church in Thessalonica, just thanking the
Lord for their faith. He even says godly gossips been
spreading about their church throughout the whole region.
People are saying, have you heard about the church in
Thessalonica? So much so that Paul says this
Church of all the churches in the New Testament is an example.
And in chapter 2, Paul even defends his ministry to them.
He says, guys, you know me, God is my witness.
I shared the word with you, I shared my life with you.
And he would tell them, I tried to come visit you, but Satan
kept hindering me from coming. I couldn't come.
And that's why in the first part of chapter 3, Paul explains why
he sent Timothy to them. He was worried about their
faith. They were baby believers.
They just learned to swim. He feared they might be crushed
under wave after wave of suffering.
He was scared of Satan's schemes that Satan might try to snuff
out their few months old faith. And today we hear Timothy's
report back to Paul. And let me tell you, it's good
news. So turn to chapter 3.
Look at verses 6 to 13. Listen as I read God's word.
But now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us
the good news of your faith and love, and reported that you
always remember us kindly and long to see us as we long to see
you. For this reason, brothers, in
all our distress and affliction, we have been comforted about you
through your faith. For now we live if you are
standing fast in the Lord. For what Thanksgiving can we
return to God for you? For all the joy that we feel for
your sake before our God as we pray most earnestly night and
day, that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking
in your faith. Now.
May our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our
way to you. And may the Lord make you
increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we
do for you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless
in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord
Jesus with all His Saints. Friends, did you hear Paul's
heartbeat? Here's a shepherd who loves his
sheep. Verse 6, we long to see you.
Verse 7, we have been comforted about you.
Verse 8 We live if you are standing fast.
Verse 9 What Thanksgiving can we return to God for you for all
the joy we feel for your sake? How much can you really love
someone after only spending a few months together?
Ask Paul. Apparently a lot.
Ask the Thessalonians. They did not have to guess about
Paul's affections for them. He loved them, so he was
concerned about them, so he longed to see them, so he didn't
stop praying for them. This is how Paul ministered in
light of that day, that day when Jesus Christ would return.
And here's how you should respond in light of Paul's
letter. Here's the main point.
In hope of glory, let your faith be a comfort and be a friend
that prays. I'll repeat it.
In hope of glory, let your faith be a comfort and be a friend
that prays. .1 of 2 verses 6 to 10.
Faith that comforts. Faith that comforts.
We need to remember a little context as we dive in.
Since it's been about a month, remember that Paul could bear
the silence no longer. He needed to find out about
their faith. That's why he sent Timothy.
And keep in mind, Paul likely waited a while for Timothy to
return. It was a 200 mile trip from
Athens to Thessalonica. That's about 10 days of travel.
Timothy probably stayed a few days or maybe even a week with
the Thessalonians. Then there's the ten day return
trip. So it's likely that Paul's been
waiting for at least a month. He's like that parent who's
waiting to hear from their first child off at college.
He's anxious to get anything, a text message, a phone call to
hear about how they're doing. And when Timothy returns, Paul
hears good news. Look at verse 6.
Timothy brought good news. That's how Paul describes
Timothy's report. Every other time Paul uses that
word, he's talking about the preaching of the gospel.
But here he uses that word to show just how good Timothy's
report was. When you're sitting in the
waiting room, what a relief when you finally hear good news.
That's how Paul felt. Paul knew that the Thessalonian
church was suffering for the gospel.
But notice Paul's relief did not come from the end of their
trials. It came verse 6, from the growth
of their faith and their love in the midst of their trials.
Now, when we see a brother or sister in trouble, we so often
want to end their troubles. But Paul's response should
challenge us. He cares most about their faith
and their love. Brothers and sisters, what's
your aim in your discipline? What's your dream for your
disciple? What's the best news you could
hear about them? Is it that they have no more
major illnesses or sicknesses? Or that their health struggles
have ended, or that they finally found a job, or that they're
moving up the corporate ladder? That they're able to live a
comfortable life? That they're respected in the
community? That they finally finished that
degree? That they're successful.
The top of Paul's list of priorities was spiritual growth.
So think about the last year. Have you grown in faith and in
love, or is that brother or sister that you've been meeting
with growing in their faith towards God and their love
towards the Saints? Let that be the aim of your book
studies and your Bible studies and your lunches together and
coffees and dinners and the 15 minutes you have before and
after the service. Aim at their faith and their
love. Those are the two issues on
which life depends. The Thessalonians were growing
in faith and love and their growth was a comfort to Paul.
Remember Paul's visit before he came to Thessalonica.
Before Paul came to Thessalonica, he was persecuted
at Philippine. In Thessalonica, he was chased
out of town by the Jews. After Thessalonica, those same
Jews followed him to Berea and chased him out of Berea.
What I'm trying to say is Paul had his own troubles, he had his
own problems, and yet in his distress, in his afflictions,
who's he concerned about? Their faith and he's comforted
by their faith. Brothers and sisters, by what
are you comforted? I trust today that you've come
to church with your own problems, your own troubles,
your own distress and affliction.
But if you're in Christ, not a day goes by where your heavenly
Father has forgotten you. Not an hour passes where your
Father in heaven does it know just what you need.
Not a minute. A second lapses where your
heavenly Father isn't orchestrating everything around
you for your good. And one of the ways that God's
comforts suffering Saints is by turning their concerns from
themselves to their brothers and sisters.
Are your relationships in the body after one year together,
deep enough that the faith of your fellow members could bring
you comfort? Have you put in the time and the
effort to know these Saints and their struggles?
And if you have, and so many of you have done that, if you've
not settled for surface level conversations, if you have
opened up your home and your heart to the Saints of this
Church, you may find that though you have your own problems,
their faith actually brings you comfort in them.
Brothers and sisters, does your faith comfort?
Could it be said of your faith that it lifts hearts in
distress? Could it be said of your faith
that it brings sighs of relief? Could it be said of your faith
that it comforts the afflicted? When your faith grows, comfort
spreads throughout the congregation.
When you stand firm in your faith, hearts are strengthened
throughout the church. When you trust the Lord in the
midst of trials, you remind all of us that God is trustworthy.
Do you see the mutual encouragement at play in Paul's
ministry here? Verse 6.
He longed to see them. They longed to see him.
Verse 7, he's comforted in his distress by their faith in their
distress. Verse 8 especially look there,
he lives if they're standing fast in the Lord.
It's like Paul's saying I'm doing well.
If you're doing well, I can face another day.
If your faith is flourishing. Paul's ministry is a two way St.
His happiness is bound up with theirs and any parent can
understand this. Kids, youth, this is how your
parents feel about you. Maybe you're wondering or even
saying verbally to your parents. Mom and dad, do we really have
to go to church today? Do we really have to study the
Bible together again and sing together and pray together?
Do we really need to? Kids, Your parents care about
your spiritual well-being. They want you to stand fast in
the Lord, to faithfully follow Jesus, to refuse the lies of
Satan and the world and your flesh.
And that's what we all want for you.
We all want you to follow in the faith of your parents.
Parents, what keeps you up at night?
The well-being of your children. What helps you sleep soundly at
night? The well-being of your children.
When Paul heard Timothy's report, you better believe he
slept soundly that night. And brothers in the church, if
you aspire to be an elder. Pastoring is like spiritual
parenting. Paul's already said this in his
ministry. He said his ministry was like a
nursing mother caring for her infant.
He said his ministry was like a faithful father individually
instructing his children. His ministry was one of deep
affection, Paul told the Thessalonians.
You've become very dear to me. So brothers, if you aspire to be
a pastor, know this Parenting is one of the training grounds for
pastoring. If you want a pastor, you need
to love like a parent. Friends, Can you imagine getting
this letter? Seriously, most of us don't
write letters anymore. We send texts, some of us even
e-mail. It is not the same.
When Hannah, my wife and I were dating, we live long distance.
We would write each other letters, long letters, love
letters, effusive with affection.
We've tried to even write our kids letters as they grow up.
We have little journals for them where we write every once in a
while. Hannah often reminds me, it's
been a year, Michael, you need to write in our journal to the
kids. What if you received this
letter? What if our church got this
letter in the mail? What if you got this letter?
How encouraging would that be to your faith?
To have somebody saying this about you and your walk with
Jesus. Paul is gushing with
Thanksgiving about the Thessalonians.
All he could do look at verse 9 was thank God for them.
He's overjoyed to hear about them and how they're doing.
He started this letter by thanking God.
Chapter 1. As you probably know, most of
the epistles start with Thanksgiving.
Few of them have the Thanksgiving leak into the 3rd
chapter. He's so thankful for them.
And after hearing Timothy's report, he has even more reasons
to thank God for them. It's as if he couldn't thank God
enough. It's as if his lips could not
possibly match the joy that's in his heart.
It's as if Paul is swept up in gratitude.
I wonder, when you look around this church, does your heart
overflow with gratitude? Think of the things Paul thanks
God for. Not an increase in church
membership, Not an increase in giving, not even a place to
gather. Though of course we should thank
God for every one of God's gifts.
Paul thanks God for unquantifiable spiritual
realities. He thanks God for their faith
and their love. I hope you see here.
Paul as a mature Christian is easily edified.
Paul as a mature Christian traces his joys back to God in
Thanksgiving. Paul as a mature Christian
edifies others with his Thanksgiving.
Brothers and sisters, do you want to grow in maturity?
Thank God for God's people. Then tell God's people what
you're thankful for and you will grow.
Thank God for God's people today.
Tell God's people today what you're thankful for.
Text someone after the service. Write them an e-mail.
Send them a letter. Even better, thank them in
person for God's grace in their lives.
If you do that, you will blow wind in their sails.
They will soar because of your Thanksgiving to God on their
behalf. Notice in verse 10 how Paul's
Thanksgiving is a product of his prayer.
Paul prayed often for God's people.
How often? Verse 10, night and day.
Paul could not have prayed more often than he was praying.
He says verse 10. He prayed most earnestly.
Paul could not have prayed more earnestly than he was praying.
Paul was pleading with God on their behalf and he pleaded to
God, one, that he would just see them face to face, and 2nd, that
he would supply what's lacking in their faith.
In other words, there was more they needed to learn, there was
more they needed to apply, there was more they needed to grow.
They had gaps in their godliness, holes in their
holiness. In other words, they were just
like us. You know, I reached the colossal
height of 5-10 in the 10th grade.
My dad's 58. My mom is shorter.
I was excited. I even towered over my friends
for a few months, and then I stopped and they kept growing.
I was hoping to get a few more inches, but God is sovereign.
Christians, on the other hand, never stopped growing, and every
Christian in this room has room to grow.
Pastors need to make progress too.
Paul tells that to Timothy in chapter First Timothy 4IN other
words, God can teach old dogs new tricks.
And God so often uses other Christians to teach us through
frequent encouragement, through gentle admonishment, and even
through correction. So brothers and sisters, where
are your gaps? How can you grow?
Who has God sent to help you? Paul prayed for their growth.
Notice here his conversations with them.
There were always 2 levels. There was the horizontal
dimension, and then there was always a vertical 1.
He fueled his ministry to them with prayer.
Brothers and sisters, let your ministry to the church be fueled
by prayer, Prayer, prayer. Lessness reveals pride,
self-reliance, a lack of love. Would you really want pastors
who seldom pray for you kids? Would you want parents who never
pray for you? Elders?
Isn't our job too weighty and us too weak for us not to pray?
Parents, isn't your job too important and your wisdom
lacking for you not to pray members of this church?
Would you want a church filled of people who don't pray for
you? Pray for the members of this
church. Plead with God in prayer.
You may be unable to be physically present with a
suffering St. but you can plead with God in prayer.
You may be worried about your children and what will become of
them. You can plead with God in
prayer. You may be out of wisdom and
advice to give a friend in need. You can plead with God in
prayer. Brothers and sisters, do not
neglect the ministry of prayer. One of my favorite preachers is
Charles Spurgeon. I may be guilty of quoting him
in every sermon I've preached here.
I'm not sure. Spurgeon pastored in London in
the late 19th century. I've actually never heard him
preach. I've only read his sermons
because there's no recordings of his sermons, though there are
rumors that some exist. I would love to hear those.
But even reading Spurgeon, you can understand pretty quickly
why they call him the Prince of Preachers.
The brother could preach Christ. However, when the American
evangelist DL Moody visited Spurgeon's church, he travelled
4000 miles. He said what impressed him most
was not the sermon nor the singing, but Spurgeon's prayer.
I wonder what it would have been like to sit in the Metropolitan
Tabernacle and listen to Spurgeon's pastoral prayer, to
hear Spurgeon approach the throne of God and plead with God
on behalf of his congregation. And what would it have been like
to hear the Apostle Paul pray for his people?
Brothers and sisters, we don't have to wonder.
In verses 11 to 13, we hear Paul's pastoral prayer.
We've heard how Paul prays. Now let's hear Paul pray .1 was
faith that comforts, .2 is friends that pray.
Friends that pray. Listen again to Paul pray
starting in verse 11. Now might may our God and Father
himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you, and may
the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another
and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your
hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the
coming of our Lord Jesus with all His Saints.
What a gift to hear Paul pray and learn from Paul's prayer.
His prayer is simple. It's directed to God, It's
focused on others with spiritual requests and aimed at heaven.
We'll walk through Paul's prayer and then we'll end with three
applications on prayer. Now notice in verse 11, Paul
directs his prayer to God the Father and the Lord Jesus.
As you know, it's blasphemy to pray to anyone other than God,
but it's right worship to pray to Jesus because he is God.
In fact, many prayers in the New Testament are to Jesus.
The New Testament ends with a prayer to Jesus.
Come Lord Jesus. And notice Paul's first
petition. He asked God the Father and the
Lord Jesus to direct his way back to the Thessalonians.
If you look back in chapter 2, verse 18, Paul tried to visit,
but Satan kept setting up these roadblocks.
He couldn't come. So Paul places his longed for
visit in God's hands. In verse 12, we see Paul's
second petition. He focuses on others and he
makes spiritual requests. He asked the Lord to make their
love increase and abound for their own church and beyond.
First for the church, then for the world. 1st that it
increases, then that it overflows.
And remember, life was not easy in Thessalonica.
They were persecuted for their preaching, yet Paul prayed that
they would return hatred with love.
Or as Jesus said, he prayed that they would love one another and
even their enemies. Finally, look at verse 13.
Paul aims his prayer at heaven. What's the purpose of Paul's
prayer? Look at verse 13 so that God may
establish their hearts blameless in holiness when Christ returns.
This is the fourth time in three chapters where Paul brings the
future to bear on the present. He not only cares about their
first year as a church, he also cares about the last day when
they'll stand before their Savior and give an account.
In other words, Paul prays that God would keep working in their
lives until they share in Christ's glory.
He prays for that day when prayer will be no longer needed.
Friends, this is what our lives come down to that day when we'll
stand before the Lord and we'll give an account.
Friend, will your heart be blameless in holiness before the
Lord on the last day? The one who made you is the one
who you will stand before and give an account to.
He made you to trust Him, to believe in Him, to have faith in
Him, to love Him and to love the people He's made to hope in Him,
to Orient and orchestrate your entire life around his purposes
and His goals. But friend, each of us have
walked not with God in faith, we've walked.
In our own wisdom, we've loved what's forbidden.
We've hoped in what is fading, in things like money and
politicians and pleasure. The Bible calls this sin.
Sin is anything that you do that does not result or proceed from
faith in God. Even the good things you do, if
they're not done in faith towards God, they're sin.
And because of this, we deserve justice, wrath, judgment.
That is what awaits every non Christian on the last day.
God's just wrath. And yet the good news that Paul
preached is that God sent his Son Jesus Christ to live
perfectly in holiness, A blameless life on our behalf.
Jesus Christ died on the cross and bore God's wrath himself for
all who would call upon the name of the Lord.
So friend, if that's you, turn from your idols, turn from your
sin, and trust in this Savior. If you call upon the name of the
Lord today, you'll be saved. You can look forward to His
return with joy. Brothers and sisters, what is
our grounds to pray? Is it not the Gospel?
How could we possibly approach the Creator of the universe in
prayer apart from the Gospel? Because of what Jesus has done?
Because God is now our loving Father, because Christ is our
gracious mediator, because the Spirit Himself dwells in us.
On that basis, we can approach the throne of God.
On that basis, we can pray. So how should we pray?
Here's three ways we can apply Paul's prayer to our prayer.
First, pray for God's guidance. Pray for God's guidance.
Verse 11. It's so simple.
Paul found himself in a place where Satan had pinned him.
Satan employed every effort to keep him away.
So what did Paul do? He prayed to the one who is
sovereign over Satan. Think about your own life right
now. Where are you pinned?
Back against the wall? Have nothing else to do?
Do you want to walk in your own wisdom, or do you want God to be
the one to guide you? You've planned your steps.
Pray that the Lord would direct your path, especially when you
face the impossible, when you're out of options, when you're
crushed under your burdens. Prayer places the impossible
into the all powerful hands of God.
Prayer delivers your burdens into God's throne.
Prayer is the best option when you're out of options, when you
pray and when you pray for guidance, you are actually
accessing the infinite storehouse of God's wisdom.
Pray and prepare to be surprised.
Pray for guidance. Second, pray for love to grow
and overflow. Verse 12, That's what Paul prays
for, their love, that it would abound, that it would go beyond
themselves and even to the world.
Pray that for the members of this church.
Pray for husbands. Pray for husbands to
sacrificially love their wives. Pray for wives to joyfully love
their husbands. Pray for families to love one
another. Pray for love that is evident,
obvious, and visible. Pray for those especially that
you find hard to love, and you may find that your love is the
one that seems to grow. Pray for this, husbands.
Husbands, pray for your wives together.
Spend time together in prayer. Bring your burden to the Lord
together. Fathers, pray for your families.
Pray in their presence. Let them hear you.
Pray for them. Wives, pray for your husbands.
When you pray through the membership directory, you might
not even know what to pray for. Pray spiritual requests on
behalf of the congregation. Learn to pray by Scripture.
Learn to pray by Paul's prayers. Learn to pray by the Lord's
Prayer, personalized scripture to your needs.
Learn to pray to our prayer meeting.
Come, come not tonight, come the next week when we bring our
request to God together as a church.
Learn to pray. It's been so enriching to hear
members praying Scripture based on our request back to God.
Learn to pray there. Learn to pray in our services.
Brothers and sisters have edified my heart over and over
again as they've LED us to the Lord in prayer.
And pray for our love as a congregation.
Pray that it would spill out beyond our congregation to this
school, to our neighborhoods, to our workplaces, even to the ends
of the earth. Pray for our love. 3rd And
finally, aim your prayers at heaven.
For Paul, the second coming of Christ was so weighty that it
pulls everything in its direction.
He knows these suffering Saints need a ballast in their storms.
They need wind in their sails so they can reach heaven's shores.
Pray for your brothers and sisters that they will stand
before the Lord proud and unashamed on the last day.
Pray that until Christ returns that they will walk with holy
hearts before their God and their Father.
Pray that their profession of faith would continue in a life
of faith until He comes. Pray for suffering Saints that
they would view every one of their sufferings in light of the
coming glory that awaits them. Aim your prayers at heaven,
brothers and sisters. Jesus is coming back soon.
Glory is coming. So until that day, let's pray
that we'd have faith that comforts and that we'd be
friends that pray. And how will God answer all of
our prayers on that day? He's already told us when we see
Him, we shall be like him, blameless in holiness.
Let's pray. Father, we pray that You would
bring heaven to bear on our hearts, and that by doing so You
would give us great hope in the midst of our trials and our
troubles. Would You grow us in our faith?
Would we have such faith that it would be a comfort to our
brothers and sisters in this church?
Would You increase and abound our love for you, for one
another, for the ends of the earth we pray in Jesus name,
Amen.