Sermon by Pastor Brent Kompelien

July 31, 2022

INTRO (SLIDE 1)

1. This is a morning for encouragement. Our passage this morning is a prayer of thankfulness by the Apostle Paul as he thinks about the work God has been doing in the Thessalonian church.

2. And I just want to say, “I am so thankful for all of you.” Just like Paul, I’m thankful because I see God doing incredible things in your lives and I see God working through this body of believers. I’m thankful because God has displayed his goodness, his grace, his power, and his glory through you.

3. I want to start this morning by simply pondering how incredible it is to know God and to be known by God.

   1. One of the reasons I’m so thankful for you is because God has shown his love to you.

   2. His love for you is pure grace. We don’t deserve it. He doesn’t love you for his own advantage, he loves you freely as a gift of his self-giving affection and favor. It is a costly love that is displayed in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ to redeem you from sin and usher you into his holy presence.

   3. Dear church, God has chosen to set his Fatherly affection and love on you. How incredible is that! How glorious, how humbling! How absolutely life-changing!

4. We’ve been talking about prayer all summer in this series, and prayer is the primary channel by which we come to experience the rich communion of knowing our Heavenly Father and being known by our Heavenly Father.

   1. ILLUST — John Owen, one of the Puritans, he wrote that the purpose of prayer is to have communion with the Father in his love, the Son in his grace, and the Spirit in his comfort.

   2. Friends, what I desire most for you in your walk with the Lord is that deep in your heart you would delight in the glory of the love of God, the grace of the Lord Jesus, and the comfort that comes from the Spirit.

   3. God has chosen you to be the recipients of his love, grace, and comfort. And I am so thankful for you, I’m so thankful for this church. As we read our passage this morning, I want you to know that I’ve been reading and studying this passage this week with you in mind, as though these words express my own thankfulness for you.

Open with me to 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10. If you need a Bible, raise your hand.

PROP — Here’s the central theme of Paul’s opening words in this letter to the church in the city of Thessalonica: He is thankful because he sees the evidence of God’s love in the real transformation that is happening in their lives through the gospel.

Let’s read. READ 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10.

This passage is about a specific kind of prayer. Paul is talking about a prayer of reflection. Paul is reflecting on the work of God in these believers, and this remembering and reflecting causes him to be thankful and to praise God!

Remember, we are learning in this series how Paul prays. So, let me ask you: When was the last time you stopped to simply reflect in prayer and express your thanks to God? We often go straight to our requests or to our complaints when we pray. But we can follow Paul’s lead here and practice prayers of reflection and thankfulness.

ORG SENT — So, here’s how we are going to tackle this passage. This text gives us a window into the heart of “Paul the Pastor.” His thankfulness is expressed in two reflections: first he remembers their faith, love, and hope (vv. 2-3), and then he reminds them of the gospel transformation they have experienced (vv. 4-10).

MAIN 1 — Remember (vv. 2-3). (SLIDE 2a)

1. This opening paragraph is actually very shocking if you know the background of what is going on in the ancient city of Thessalonica.

   1. In the first century, Thessalonica was a bustling commercial port city with over 100,000 residents situated on one of the best natural harbors of the northern Aegean Sea. (SLIDE 2b)

   2. Paul and his companion Silas had visited this city in 49 AD after Paul was released from prison in Philippi (Acts 17:1-9). (SLIDE 2c)

   3. This visit was very tumultuous! Paul preached for three weeks in the Jewish synagogue and many Jews and Greeks came to believe in Jesus. But then the local Jewish leaders started a riot to try to stop Paul’s ministry. During this riot, some of the new believers were arrested, and it became obvious that it was too dangerous for Paul and Silas to stay, so they escaped during the night. (SLIDE 2d)

   4. This letter of 1 Thessalonians was written about 6 months after this violent riot, and the persecution of the new believers, and the narrow escape of Paul and Silas. (SLIDE 2e)

   5. KEY: When Paul begins by thanking God for their faith, love, and hope, he is reflecting on a radically new reality in the life of these new believers. Just 6 months earlier they were lost and did not know the gospel of Jesus Christ. But now he sees something new and something fundamentally different about them. (SLIDE 3)

      1. He sees them trusting God more in obedience as their faith grows.

      2. He sees them serving others with sacrificial love as a reflection of God’s love.

      3. He sees them enduring opposition in their city because they have real hope in Jesus.

   6. APPLY: Over the last 4 years that I’ve been here at New Life, I could say the same thing about you.

      1. I’ve seen you trust God more and step out in faith as some of you have experienced signifiant life change, joined this new church community, or felt challenged to take seriously your walk with the Lord.

      2. I’ve seen you serve others with the self-giving and sacrificial love of God as many of you have stepped up to help others in crisis, pray for others in need, and come alongside new people to support one another.

      3. I’ve seen you grow in endurance and perseverance as you put on display a real and genuine hope in Jesus in the midst of trials or during the tumultuous times we have lived through in the last few years.

      4. IMPORTANT — This is why I’m so thankful. I see God working in you. I see God working in our church family. Like Paul, I remember these things when I pray.

         1. ILLUST — One of my favorite things is when our Elder team gets together to pray. We spend the first 30-45 minutes at each meeting simply praying for you all by name! We give thanks and remember your faith, love, and hope!

2. This all springs from the work of the gospel in your lives. And that’s what Paul moves on to in verses 4-10 as he reminds the believers in Thessalonica about the gospel transformation they have experienced. They were still going through difficult times in their context, and so this reminder is so important.

MAIN 2 — Remind (vv. 4-10). (SLIDE 4a)

1. In this paragraph, Paul gives a flow of how the gospel impacted these believers. (SLIDE 4b) This three-part flow is really a summary of how the gospel comes to transform us and all people who come to faith in Jesus. Here’s the three-part flow:

   1. The gospel is received (SLIDE 4c)

   2. The gospel transforms (SLIDE 4d)

   3. The gospel is proclaimed (SLIDE 4e)

   1. KEY: Notice how there is a movement to this. The gospel comes in, God redeems and changes you, and then you bring the message to other people. This is simply a summary of the mission of the church! It explains how the gospel comes with power, it transforms, and then we take the message to others through evangelism and missions.

2. Let’s go deeper on each one of these elements of how the gospel impacts us:

   1. The gospel is received (SLIDE 5a) — READ vv. 4-5.

      1. Paul knows they are loved by God and chosen by God because he sees specific evidence:

         1. The gospel came with power (SLIDE 5b)

         2. The gospel came with the Holy Spirit (SLIDE 5c)

         3. The gospel came with deep conviction (SLIDE 5d)

      2. IMPORTANT — The good news about Jesus Christ is not just a concept, it isn’t merely a theory that you intellectually agree to, it can’t be just words.

      3. KEY — (SLIDE 5e) The gospel has profound power that is made real by the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart and results in a deep and sincere conviction that all this is true!

      4. APPLY — When God touches your heart and you hear the voice of Jesus calling you and you experience the conviction and life-giving power of the Spirit, there is great assurance in knowing that you really do belong to God.

         1. Jesus said in John 6:35 — “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty…All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

         2. Oh how glorious a promise! Friends, you need the Bread of Life! You need Jesus and you need the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection to come to you in power, with the Spirit, and with deep conviction! That’s what it means to receive the gospel when you’re loved by God.

   2. The gospel transforms (SLIDE 6a) — READ vv. 6-7.

      1. Becoming imitators, receiving the message with joy given by the Holy Spirit, and becoming a model to others — all these things describe a radical transformation in the lives of these new believers.

      2. (SLIDE 6b) Their beliefs, attitudes, and actions changed. They have joy, not a contrived happiness, but real joy that comes from the Spirit.

      3. APPLY — You see, one of the best witnesses to the truth of the gospel is joy in the midst of suffering. This is something only the Spirit of God can do.

         1. KEY: (SLIDE 6c) One of the most important things God wants to do in your life is to give you a joy that does not come from circumstances.

         2. This is so counter-cultural in our world. We are taught that material things, experiences, relationships, job success, and the achievements of our kids will satisfy us. But in the gospel, we have a joy that endures in all circumstances because we have a hope that is not dependent on anything we can do or any shred of worthiness in ourselves! It is a free gift! We are given joy in Jesus!

   3. The gospel is proclaimed (SLIDE 7a) — READ vv. 8-10.

      1. “Rang out” = reverberate, echo. (SLIDE 7b)

      2. In other words, in just 6 months people started hearing about the church in Thessalonica. Word spread of their faith. Word spread about how they turned from false gods to the living and true God. Word spread about how they awaited Christ’s return. Simply put: (SLIDE 7c) They were speaking and acting in ways that made the gospel abundantly evident!

      3. KEY — One of my favorite ways to describe the goal in disciple making at our church is that we desire to live as a “Contrast Community.” (SLIDE 7d) When we live under the Lordship of Jesus, centered on his Kingdom, aligned with his ways, we will become a contrast to the world so that the gospel becomes evident in our words and actions.

         1. This is really at the heart of my desire for our church to become a training center to form ambassadors of Jesus Christ. We are Kingdom people, interacting in Kingdom ways, reverberating the good news about Jesus Christ in every place we go and in every opportunity that God gives.

APPLY (SLIDE 8, blank)

1. So, let me say one more time: I’m so thankful for you and for this church.

   1. I have seen the gospel received here with power, with the Spirit, and with deep conviction. There is truly a movement of God happening here, and I am thankful for God’s grace that is being poured out on you.

   2. I have seen the gospel transform you. There is a tangible sense of joy in our church that comes from the Spirit of God. People have been freed from addiction, restored in relationships, and delivered from difficult circumstances. Some of you have experienced healing from past hurts, and others have started new journeys of faith.

   3. I have seen the gospel proclaimed here through individual stories, but also as I hear from people in our surrounding community about the ways that people are noticing God’s work in our church.

2. I hope this encourages you. It certainly encourages me, and it makes me thankful to God for what he has done and will continue to do in our church. It makes me thankful for God’s sovereign love in the gospel of Jesus Christ. As Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

3. How incredible it is to be loved by God, to have the affection and favor of our Heavenly Father by grace and grace alone.