CALL TO CONFESSION

Hebrews 10:23

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Loving heavenly Father, we stand in awe of your grace, omnipotence, and love for us. Yet, having tasted your goodness, we still lean on ourselves, placing our hope in our talents, relationships, success, health, and even our own spiritual disciplines. We confess that we are often self-worshipers, left anxious and exhausted when we realize we cannot save ourselves. Father, forgive us.

Jesus, if you had not lived a perfect life for us, we could never have hope or peace. Thank you for living a life of perfect obedience and enduring undeserved suffering on our behalf. Your faithful obedience and righteousness are the only true and strong foundation for our hope and peace.

Holy Spirit, teach us to rest in the truth that you are God and we are not. Grant us true repentance, open our eyes to your relentless love, and captivate us with the gospel. With our eyes fixed on Christ, our powerful Advocate, replace our anxiety with unshakeable peace, knowing you will never leave us. Amen.

“Take a few moments to personally confess your sins to the Lord.”

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

“Hear these words of comfort and assurance.” 

1 Peter 1:3-5

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 

• Today marks a new chapter in the life of Sent Church. 
• God in his kindness has allowed us to step through the doors of this historic church facility, to share space with another body of believers in the Longwood community. We are grateful to our brothers and sisters who opened their doors to us.
• Our desire is to cultivate deep roots in this area and be a light to the people around us.
• Whenever a church moves, there will be challenges. Subtle anxieties could creep in.
• We begin to wonder if people will want to come and visit a church that meets in another church’s facility. We wonder if our presence here will make a difference.
• The danger is that we can easily start to rely on our own plans and our own strategies to try to figure out how to best succeed.

• The next few Sundays, we are going to spend some time in Paul's letter to a young church in Thessalonica. The church there was birthed in the midst of hostility, faced massive cultural pressure, and had to try to figure out how to be a faithful witness in a brand-new environment.
• Paul, the apostle of the Lord, seeking to encourage them, doesn't give them a marketing manual or seven steps on how to grow your church.  
• He points them straight to the sovereign grace of God.
• Paul's short letter will teach us that the gospel impact we want to have in this community does not start with clever strategies or a new meeting space; it starts with God’s sovereign determination to save a people he has called, the Holy Spirit’s power to transform dead hearts, and a resounding faith that is lived out in word and deed.

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace.

2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers[b] loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. 9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and 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 delivers us from the wrath to come.

• Though Paul references their geographical location, the city of Thessalonica, he writes that their ultimate address is the grace of God. 
• He writes to the church that is “in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 
• It is the grace of God and peace with God that has resulted in these believers being in God.

• That’s where you and I are located. Physically, we are part of the church in Longwood, but by virtue of our union with Christ, our ultimate address is in God. 
• Our life is hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3). 
• We who were previously dead in our trespasses and sins, God has made us alive together with Christ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:4-6).
• That is the spiritual reality right now for all of us who have trusted Christ!

• Paul goes on to make note of the content of his constant prayers for these believers. 
• He highlights three distinct fruits of the genuineness of their spiritual life: faith that works, love that labors, and hope that endures. 
• Because of the work of grace in their lives, they have an active and dynamic faith. 
• Grace is the soil we’re rooted in that produces the fruit of faith, love, and hope. 
• This is the triad of Christian fruitfulness. 
• A church should be distinguished by these three marks. 
• A faith that is directed towards God. Faith that is resting in the past, finished work of Christ. 
• A love towards others. Love that is working in the present, expressed both to those within the fellowship and beyond it. 
• And hope that looks towards the future. Hope rooted in the glorious coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
• What Paul emphasizes is the productivity of their faith, love, and hope. 
• A true faith in God leads to good works. Faith without works is dead (Jas. 2:17).
• A true love for people leads to tangible expressions of that love. 
• A true hope, which looks expectantly for the Lord’s return, leads to endurance.
• Do you see evidence of these graces in your life?

• But why could Paul say this about them?
• Paul reveals exactly why the graces of vibrant faith, love, and hope exist in the first place. 
• Verse 4, “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you…”
• Before these believers ever worried about their reputations, or how the people of the city might perceive them, or figured out the logistics of being the church in a hostile environment, God had already set his sovereign, electing love upon them.
• Paul could see God’s choosing in how they responded. They heard the gospel and believed it, and their lives started to change. 

• When you consider how Paul writes about election, it is the warmest, most comforting truth for believers to rest in. 
• John Stott wrote that the topic of election, which is a truth that runs through Scripture, is “nearly always introduced for a practical purpose, in order to foster assurance (not presumption), holiness (not moral apathy), humility (not pride), and witness (not lazy selfishness).” The Message of Thessalonians - The Bible Speaks Today Commentary
• And the only explanation given of God’s election is his love. They are “brothers loved by God.” 
• “In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself…” (Eph. 1:4-5)
• It means that you and I are not here today by mere accident or clever timing. 
• We are here because God loved a rebellious people before the foundation of the world. 
• He chose us because he loved us and sovereignly called us to himself. 
• Paul wrote that they “knew” that they had been loved and chosen by God. 
• How could they possibly know that? It was because they saw the evidence of the activity and work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. They saw it In their response to the apostles’ preaching of the gospel and the Holy Spirit producing in them faith, love, and hope. 

• Here is what this means for us.
• It frees us as a church from having to try to manufacture our own success in this new environment.
• God has a people in this community that he has chosen and called to himself. 
• God’s sovereign choosing doesn’t mean we dispense with the need for gospel proclamation because God has already lovingly chosen those who belong to him. 
• On the contrary, gospel proclamation is the indispensable responsibility of the church, because it is only through the preaching and receiving of the gospel that God’s secret purpose comes to be revealed and made known. 
• When we proclaim the gospel, we can have confidence that those whom God has called will, in due season, be made alive by the Holy Spirit and respond to the gospel. 

• Now, notice the method by which the Thessalonian believers came to grace and faith. 
• Verse 5, “Because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” 
• How did the gospel come to them? The gospel came to them not only in word, but it first came with words. The gospel must be verbalized. 
• The gospel came with divine, supernatural power. This speaks to the Holy Spirit’s power operating in the life of the hearer so that the word of God can penetrate the heart and mind. 
• The gospel came with full conviction. That is, the preaching of the gospel came from the lips of men who were confident of the message, its truth, and relevance, so that they could proclaim it with all boldness. 

• That is our only hope for the city of Longwood and beyond. 
• We don’t have to be impressive, we don’t need slick presentations and marketing to win the lost to Christ. 
• The lost will come to Christ by the sovereign, unshakeable love of God who seeks and saves the lost when the gospel is proclaimed.
• That is the confidence we have to boldly share the good news as God opens doors for us. 

• Because God sovereignly saves, he also radically transforms those he saves. 
• Verse 6, “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit…” 
• Their reception of the gospel resulted in much affliction and persecution, yet, they were filled with the joy of their salvation, that only the Holy Spirit can produce. 
• Paul writes they were imitators of the apostles and the Lord, who endured suffering with joy. 

• God is going to use this season of transition to shape us and sanctify us. 
• Think about when you dig up a plant and move it to new soil. The root system experiences shock because of the disruption. 
• This move is kind of a shock to our root system. We have experienced a disruption of our familiar routines and ministry rhythms. 
• We had to pack up our stuff from one place, move locations, and move to a new schedule. 
• We’re going to have to learn the rhythms of sharing a building with another church family. 
• All of these things take adjustment. They require humility and flexibility. 
• They require us to die to our personal preferences. 
• They require us to say, “Lord, your kingdom is more important than my comfort.”
• God will use the friction of this transition to expose where our trust was actually placed. 
• Was it in our comfort or was it in Christ?

• This is a moment of holy inconvenience for us. I shared last week how sharing a facility means we will have some challenges and we will have to make minor compromises. 
• But sharing a facility with our brothers and sisters who host us provides us with a profound opportunity to practice radical, humble hospitality. 
• God has called us to serve, to yield, and to love. To be like our Savior, who did not come to be served but to serve. 
• These inconveniences and the friction of the transition aren’t persecution like what the Thessalonians faced. But they are inconvenient. 
• If we grumble and complain about the changes, we miss the important discipleship moment God wants to use to shape us and conform us to Christ. 
• But when we face those holy inconveniences with a posture of joy and patience, it becomes an immediate display of the gospel to our host church and the surrounding community. 
• When we live like that, the watching world notices.

• That’s exactly what happened in Thessalonica. 
• And now those who imitated became the ones others imitated. 
• Verse 7, “so that you became an example…” 
• Their joy in the midst of hardship became a billboard for the grace of God. 

• Could that be said about you? Is your faith an example to others about the transforming power of the gospel? 
• For these believers, their endurance in affliction and their Holy Spirit-wrought joy proved the genuineness of their faith. 
• Their lives preached as loudly as their lips. They were living gospel tracts read across the Roman world. 

• Look at what happened next. 
• Verse 8, “For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere…” 
• The Greek word Paul used for “sounded forth” means to reverberate. It carries the imagery of a thunderclap or a trumpet blast that rings out. 
• These believers didn’t keep the gospel hidden away as a private matter.
• Instead, their faith echoed like a trumpet blast across the ancient world. 
• Why? Because when God radically saves a people, it cannot be contained. 

• Now, before the gospel can sound forth from us, it must first reverberate within us. 
• Has the gospel truly rung out in your heart? 
• Do you know Christ in such a way that his word still echoes in your soul, or does your life echo your frustrations, your anxieties, and your worries?

• We may not face the exact persecution they did, but the question remains: can others see a faith that clings to Christ with joy when trials come? 
• Can your spouse, your children, and your neighbors see your faith resound so clearly that they know Jesus is your highest priority? 
• In your workplace or school, does your faith echo in integrity, kindness, and boldness for Christ? 
• And what about us, church? 
• When people in Longwood talk about us, what do we want them to say?
• We want them to talk about how deeply we love Jesus and how unashamedly his word is proclaimed here. 
• We want to be a faithful, ringing echo of the gospel of Jesus Christ! 

• The Thessalonian church’s testimony was so clear that Paul didn’t need to introduce them when he traveled; people already knew.  
• Paul points to two specific marks that made their faith resound:
• First, they turned from idols to serve the living and true God. 
• Turning from idols meant risking social marginalization. They had to drop the empty, fragile things they used to trust for security, comfort, cultural approval, and the illusion of control, and they bowed the knee to King Jesus. 
• Second, they looked outward and upward. 
• They lived waiting expectantly for the Lord’s return. 
• Trusting that they would be delivered from the coming judgment because they belonged to King Jesus.

• I want that said about this church!
• That our faith resounds so clearly that our reputation precedes us. 
• That our community says about us, “They proclaim Christ, they serve God faithfully, and they live with the eager hope of his return!”

CONCLUSION

• The Thessalonian church wasn’t large, wealthy, or powerful.
• But they were faithful. And because of that, the gospel echoed through the ancient world. 
• They knew proclaiming Christ might cost them their friends, their jobs, their safety, and even their family ties. 
• And yet they proclaimed Christ with joy. 

• Brothers and sisters, we did not choose this new location by accident, and we are not here by mere coincidence. 
• God has planted us in Longwood so that we might draw deep, unshakeable nourishment from the soil of his sovereign grace. 
• A deeply rooted tree is anchored so that its branches can stretch outward, offering shade, fruit, and life to everything around it. That's what we want to be.
• Let’s not huddle together in a spirit of self-protection wondering if we’re going to be impressive enough to make a difference in this city. 
• Let’s not settle for quiet, safe, comfortable, and complacent Christianity. 
• We serve a God who turns dead hearts into living temples.
• The gospel is powerful enough to radically transform our community. 

• Let’s walk out of these doors today with our roots firmly anchored in Christ and our eyes wide open to the mission field he has placed in front of us. 
• He has called us to be rooted in faith, and we are sent in power. 
• May we go boldly into this neighborhood to shine the light of Jesus into the dark places. 
• And may the gospel resound in the hearts of every man, woman, and child in this city and beyond, for the glory of God! 

APPLICATION AND REFLECTION

In light of today's message....

• What did I learn about the gospel?
• How can I apply what I learned about the gospel to my life?
• With whom can I share the gospel this week?