1 Thessalonians #04: an exposition of 1 Thessalonians 3:1-13. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, October 14, 2012.
Intro:
What does it mean to be part of the church? What responsibilities come with being a church member? How are we to relate to one another? Is it a simple matter of “paying your dues” and attending services? Have you fulfilled your responsibilities by attending on a regular basis and reading your Bible? After all isn’t being a Christian about you accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? Isn’t church just something that is there if you need a little help along your pilgrim way? Or, could it be, our individualized, independent way of thinking runs contrary to the biblical model? As the church, are we merely a collection of individuals or are we so connected we really do not exist apart from each other?
I like technology. I love my iPhone and my iPad. I love being connected. I even think Facebook is a good thing – I don’t comment or post I’m just a “stalker” but it’s great being able to connect with people. I’ve had contact with people I haven’t seen in years. Yet because of technology we are more connected and more isolated than ever before. Through technology you can interact with hundreds, even thousands of people a day and yet never hear another person’s voice or feel the touch of another human being. I’m not sure that is a good thing.
Through the internet you have access 24/7 to the finest teachers in the Church living and dead! You have access to sermons, books, seminars, panel discussions, seminary classes and worship services – all at your convenience and at your control. So why does anyone need the church? We already have churches using video feed for the sermon. Why have our own preacher when we can have a good one piped in? Churches are now beginning to take the next logical step – why bother with our own musicians when we can use video of a really good worship band? Is it unthinkable that there will come a day when we ask, “Why should we go to all the trouble and expense of a building and upkeep when we can just sit in front of a screen in the privacy and comfort of our own home?
Do we really need the church? Let’s be honest the church comes with a lot of baggage we’d just as soon not deal with. In the church you don’t control what you’re going to listen to. There are people you don’t agree with. There are people you don’t like. There are things that go on that drive you up the wall. You are tired of the bickering, the politics and the power struggles. You just don’t like they way “they” do things. If I gave you the opportunity you could no doubt add to my list of things wrong with the church. I want to suggest to you, “It’s precisely because of those things – you need the church.” The church is not heaven on earth. It is not that place where the will of God is done perfectly all the time. The church is that place where broken people, touched by the grace of God, come together and imperfectly try to live out the Gospel together. It is in the church I learn to love and forgive. It is in the church I learn to die to myself and live for others. It is in the church that I have a front row seat to witness the transforming power of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus.
Listen, the church is not an option available if you think you need it. To be in Christ is to be connected to Him and His bride the Church. We are called not to live out our faith in isolation but to live the faith together. As the people of God we are to believe the Gospel. Confess the Gospel. Proclaim the Gospel and live the Gospel together. But what does it mean to live the Gospel together? For some answers we turn to Paul’s first letter to the church at Thessalonica and look at chapter 3.
Text: 1 Thessalonians 3:1-13
We are in that very autobiographical section of Paul’s letter.
At the end of chapter 2 Paul speaks of his profound love for the Thessalonian believers.
“But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face…For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.” (2:17-20)
Chapter 3 begins with the word “therefore”.
What he is about to say is directly linked to what he has just said.
Because you are so dear to me, because you are my joy and crown…
As we explore Paul’s “therefore” we are going to discover three characteristic of Gospel living.
This is what the church is about.
This is how we are to live together.
This is what ought to mark us as the people of God.
- Gospel living is sacrificial. (3:1-5)
- Gospel living is mutual. (3:6-8)
- Gospel living is intentional. (3:9-13)