Mission - Passing it on - 1 Thessalonians
Introduction to the series
Is it possible for the Christian faith to survive and thrive in a world that’s indifferent at best and hostile at worst? What does such a faith look like – at home, at work, and in other places where Christ’s people find themselves? And what kind of church does it take to sustain that vision? Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians helps us with questions like these. It’s likely the first letter Paul wrote to a church, and so it provides one of the earliest windows we have on the early Christian movement. It also brims over with Paul’s affection for the young converts, and his delight that they are ‘standing firm in the Lord’ (3:8). He writes to strengthen their faith in Jesus and reaffirm the instruction he had passed on to them. Socialised in a pagan cultural environment, Paul helps them to learn the very different way of life that flows from leaving idols ‘to serve the living and true God’ (1:10) – where holiness is not withdrawal from the world but involvement in it in a new way, marked by faith, love, and hope. Punching well above its weight, 1 Thessalonians gives us: a model to follow, in Paul’s own commitment and service to the people of God; a vision for the church, in the call to live distinctively in everyday life; and a reaffirmation of our faith, in the foundational truths of the gospel of Christ crucified, risen, and coming again.
An excellent 7-minute animated overview of 1 Thessalonians has been produced by The Bible Project, and is well worth watching.
Click on link above.
First Thoughts
It’s all too easy to be cynical about the possibility of people changing. ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’, we sometimes say. And yet, at the heart of the Christian faith is the claim that people can be changed, that people can be born again, that people can cross over from death to life, that people can be transplanted from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, that people who were lost can be found, that people who were dead in Adam can become new creations in Christ. The Bible expresses in many different ways the radical change that God brings about as part of his overarching mission to bring salvation to all nations. As transformed people, we are called to be a part of that, just like the Thessalonians. Read – 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 1 Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you. 2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 3 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia – your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead – Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
Read – 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
1 Paul, Silas and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.
2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 3 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia – your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead – Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
Focus on the Theme
1. Think back to how you became a Christian. Was it a long or short process? Who was involved? What different ways did God use to get your attention with the message of the gospel? What Does the Bible Say?
2. What do we learn about the church in 1:1?
3. How is the faith, love, and hope of the Thessalonians expressed (1:3)?
4. What was involved in the Thessalonians becoming Christians (1:4-8)? What did God do? What did Paul and his companions do? What did the Thessalonians do?
5. In 1:9-10, what three verbs describe what the Thessalonians did when they embraced Christ? How far do these words provide a handy summary of what happens to all of us when we become Christians? Going Deeper
6. Faith, love, and hope are mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 1:3 and 5:8, and appear elsewhere in other letters (Romans 5:1-5; 1 Corinthians 13:13; Galatians 5:5-6; Ephesians 1:15- 18; Colossians 1:3-6; 1 Peter 1:21-22). In what ways does this triad capture the essence of the Christian life?
7. Paul describes how the ‘gospel’ came to them (1:5), but what are the main elements of the gospel message? Look at: Mark 1:1, 14-15; Romans 1:1-4, 16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:1- 4; 2 Timothy 2:8-9
Living it Out
8. What examples can you share from your own experience, or the experience of someone you know, where faith, love, and hope (1:3) made a practical difference in the everyday spheres of work, home, and elsewhere?
9. The Thessalonians imitated Paul, Silas, and Timothy, as well as Jesus, and in turn became models for others to imitate (1:6-7). What good models do you seek to imitate in your everyday life, and how far are you aware of providing a model for others?
10. According to 1:9-10, turning, serving, and waiting are prominent features of Christian conversion. What might these dimensions look like in our own lives?
Prayer Time
Thanksgiving – for God saving you and being at work in your lives. Drawing on 1:2-3 as a template, thank God for one another’s ‘work produced by faith... labour prompted by love, and... endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ’.
Pray – for your own witness and testimony on your everyday frontlines to be like that of the Thessalonians. Flowing out of 1:4-10, what sort of reputation would you like to have as a church and as individual Christians? Perhaps take a moment to share or write down these desires as a basis for prayer.
Praise – that God will make good on his mission to bless all nations, and for the part he calls us to play in this plan.