How They Receive the Word of God

1 Thessalonians 2:13-17

Paul states that the gospel message he proclaimed was the word of God. He presented it with great conviction and passion knowing that it has the power to change people’s lives. The people received it, valued it, and honored it as the word of God.

The message that we present must be from God. Only then will the word be at work in the hearts of the people. As teachers, we have to approach students knowing that they are struggling.

Pray for your pastors and teachers. Pray that they will not lose heart and be discouraged. Pray that the message coming from them is unrestrained. Pray that they will spend time to seek the living word and drown themselves in it. We need to receive the word in all seriousness and honor unto God, the way Paul presented it.

New Year Message: The Secret to a Worry-Free Life

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all you anxiety on him because he cares for you” -1 Peter 5:6-7

The reality or worry: 

For peter to address the word “anxiety” to the church meant that it was something real and practical. The people in the church worried a lot about the things that normal people worry about. Worry is the same as it was generations ago. It is an issue that confronts our hearts every day. People worry about school, employment, family, and more. All sorts of things can be bombarded into our minds and cause us to worry. Just because we are Christians doesn’t mean that we will not encounter the things that make us worry. It is a reality that we cannot escape. We have become a worry sick society. Hospitals have recorded that stress and worry cause obesity, heart attacks, ulcers, depression, nervous breakdowns, and even cancer.

Peter knew that the church was worried about many very serious matters. However, he never told them to deny it, run from it, or ignore it. In our society, people try to distract themselves from their anxiety with several things but it never makes it go away.

The release of worry:

We can’t run from it, hide from it, or pay it with money. However, you can give your worry away. God is powerful, caring, and gracious enough to willingly take on our worries. Peter said to cast our anxieties to the Lord.

In order to do this, we need to humble ourselves and trust in God. We can’t be caught up in the things of this life. We should be at the feet of Jesus and pour our hearts out to Him. Jesus invited the weary to come to Him and He would give us rest. God doesn’t want us to carry our burdens on our shoulders for our entire lives. We have to give our burdens and worries to the Lord.

The result of a stress free life:

When we allow the shoulder of God to carry our burdens, we will begin to recognize the power of God in our lives. People will care about us but they don’t have to power to care for us the way God can. The God who created the universe is not an uncaring or impersonal God. Our God is real and He loves us. We can cast all of our worries to God.

The Marks of a Man of God

1 Thessalonians 2:1-6

What are the things that separate a person for the exclusive use of God? Although there are many factors, these are three of the most challenging.

1.       Faithfull in their mission

V1. When Paul came to Thessalonica, it was not a glorious coming but it was also not a failure.

V2. They have previously suffered and were mistreated.

Paul was exclusively chosen as an apostle to preach to the gentiles. He received a vision from God to go to Europe. The first city they reached was Philippi. God anointed Paul with the ability to cast out demons. Paul was on the right path with the Lord. However, this landed him in jail. The little girl Paul casted the demon from could no longer predict the future. The owner couldn’t make money anymore. The people arrested and whipped Paul even though he was a roman citizen.

Most of us would wonder and question whether we were where God wanted us. We would ask God where He was and why he had forsaken us. We would begin to doubt the mission and purpose of God in our life. Paul didn’t do this. He began to pray and sing to the Lord. The chains binding him in the prison cell were broken. He didn’t run away from the prison. He stayed and preached to the prisoners. Paul didn’t run from the place that God had brought him. Paul was faithful in his mission.

If we received a mission from God today and were arrested and beaten, we would go back to our family. We would go to the hospital to treat our wounds. We would take a long break and go on a long vacation. Paul didn’t do what we would do. He remained with God and stayed faithful.

The church of Thessalonica didn’t come into existence by a parachute from the sky. It took faithful men and women like Paul and Silas. Our mission may not be to travel around the world, but we need to evangelize to those around us and pray for them.

2.       Fearless in the message

V2. Paul and the apostles were bold, courageous, and fearless. They didn’t stop or quit declaring the gospel even in tribulations.

There were mobs and riots in Thessalonica that cause Paul to have a sudden departure. These people took the opportunity to accuse Paul of being like every other religious leader that passes by. Paul wrote to the church to address the accusations. They wouldn’t have come with their backs still bleeding.  They didn’t run in the face of trial and conflict. They had been tested with fire. They didn’t make anything up. They were real. Their message was real.

The message was directly from God. It was given to us to share with everyone else. God entrusted us with the message and wants us to share it with fearlessness.

3.       Fresh in their motive

V4-5

Paul’s motive was pure. His intention was not to please men but God. He didn’t use words to butter people up and flatter them. He didn’t have a hidden agenda. He came as he was, hiding nothing, to declare the gospel. The men and women that God uses have nothing to hide.

1 Thessalonians 1:6-10

1)      The gospel begins with the fact that God had chosen the Thessalonians for His divine purpose.

2)      The gospel is linked to change because when a person receives the word of God, they will be changed. No one can be the same when they come into a personal contact with the powerful message of the gospel. The Thessalonians were changed. In this radical change they received:

a.        V4 A new foundation. The ground that the Thessalonians stood on changed from sinking sand to solid rock. They once stood in synagogues trying to figure out the meaning of life. Jesus came and gave them the knowledge that they were so desperately seeking. They began to live upon a new knowledge, a new foundation.

b.      V4 A new family. Paul referred to the Thessalonians as brothers loved by God. The word brother is an intimate word. These people were so closely knitted by the blood of Jesus Christ that they were able to see and treat each other as family.

c.       V9 A new focus. They turned to God and away from idols. Instead of worshipping images built of stone, they broke their habits of bowing down to those statues and worshipped the true God. They no longer looked to these lifeless idols.

d.      V10 A new future. They had no future. When the message of Jesus Christ came, they received a new hope in Him.

3)      The gospel compelled the Thessalonians to become followers of Jesus Christ. The gospel didn’t come to them sugar coated. They knew that to follow Jesus meant that they would be persecuted, yet they received it with joy.

Not only did they imitate the messengers that brought them the gospel, they became examples to other new believers. They were only followers of Jesus Christ for a few weeks but already, they became known to all others throughout Europe. They had no pastors or leaders at the time, but they had the Holy Spirit.