04/26          1 Thessalonians 2:8-9

We loved you so much that we gave you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too. 9 Don’t you remember, dear brothers and sisters, how hard we worked among you? Night and day we toiled to earn a living so that our expenses would not be a burden to anyone there as we preached God’s Good News among you.

GOOD NEWS

The Good News is a message from God that He loves you. He died for your sin while you were still dead in your sin. He lives today and gives you His life. When we come to Jesus we accept His free gift of life and live in Him.

04/25          1 Thessalonians 2:6-7

As for praise, we have never asked for it from you or anyone else. 7 As apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to make some demands of you, but we were as gentle among you as a mother feeding and caring for her own children.

NEW

When we minister with New Christians we are responsible for their well being. Mature Christians never demand their way, are not puffed up nor self centered. They deal with them out of love caring for them as if they were precious little children. We are responsible for our brother/sister and as a mature Christian we often have to put ourselves second or third.

04/24          1 Thessalonians 2:5

Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you very well know. And God is our witness that we were not just pretending to be your friends so you would give us money!

FRIENDS

Be a friend. Ask for nothing. Give everything. Jesus loves you therefore love one another. Be the Gospel where you are.

04/23          1 Thessalonians 2:3-4

So you can see that we were not preaching with any deceit or impure purposes or trickery. 4 For we speak as messengers who have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He is the one who examines the motives of our hearts.

TRUST

We trust the Lord. He gives us His marching orders. We follow Him. We say only what He calls us to say. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

04/22          1 Thessalonians 2:1-2

You yourselves know, dear brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not a failure. 2 You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, even though we were surrounded by many who opposed us.

BOLDLY

We can live our life boldly for the Lord. He is worthy of our temporal life and momentary death-Christ is the Lord and He is our Lord. Do not let the cares and worries of this life sidetrack you because the One we follow is greater than anything. He gives you His joy and His peace.

04/21          1 Thessalonians 1:10

And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God’s Son from heaven — Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment.

SECURITY

Jesus is our security. He gives us His life, His light and He is the Living Lord in whom we depend for all things. Jesus is Lord and He is Lord of my life.

04/20          1 Thessalonians 1:6-9

So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord. 7 As a result, you yourselves became an example to all the Christians in Greece. 8 And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Greece, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God. We don’t need to tell them about it, 9 for they themselves keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us; and how you turned away from idols to serve the true and living God.

LIVE

Live your life in such a way that all will know that you are following the Lord. How do we do this? Love one another, care for the hurting and die to self for others. This will require the leadership of the Holy Spirit. You cannot live this way in the flesh.

04/19          1 Thessalonians 1:4-5

We know that God loves you, dear brothers and sisters, and that he chose you to be his own people. 5 For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true. And you know that the way we lived among you was further proof of the truth of our message.

CHOICE

We have a choice: we can choose the Lord or we can ignore the Lord. There is no in-between. Choose Jesus.

04/18          1 Thessalonians 1:2-3

We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly. 3 As we talk to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and your continual anticipation of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

PEOPLE

Jesus loves people. We need to love people, think about them, pray for them and do good to them. This is not an option it is a requirement.  

04/17          1 Thessalonians 1:1

This letter is from Paul, Silas, and Timothy. It is written to the church in Thessalonica, you who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May his grace and peace be yours.

CHANGED
We are changed when we come into the family of God. He gives us His grace, every moment, every hour-giving us what we need and cannot earn. Additionally He gives us His peace. His peace is the very presence of the Living Lord in our life every moment of every day. His grace and peace change the way we live our lives.