Naylor Community
Christian Church
Naylor, Georgia
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to 1 Thessalonians
3:5-10
1
Thessalonians 3:5-10
New
International Version
5
For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your
faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our
labors might have been in vain.
6
But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about
your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of
us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. 7 Therefore,
brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged
about you because of your faith. 8 For now we really live, since you are
standing firm in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for
all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? 10 Night and day
we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in
your faith.
-- if you happened to glance at your
calendars this morning, you may have noticed that today is Grandparents Day –
when Jimmy Carter was president, he set aside the first Sunday after Labor Day
as Grandparents Day – a day “to honor grandparents … and to help children
become aware of the strength, information, and guidance older people can
offer.”
-- normally, I don’t pay much
attention to holidays like this – I certainly don’t craft messages for these
“special” days on the calendar – but when I was led to this passage and began
studying it, I realized that there is a connection between this excerpt from
the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Thessalonica and the love and
concern that grandparents have for their grandchildren
-- most grandparents are distant
from their grandchildren – they may live in the same town – the same community
– but most grandparents are not with their grandchildren daily – they don’t see
them every day – they don’t hear how their day went – they aren’t there to
teach them or discipline them or lead them on a daily basis – that’s the job of
the parents
– the parents have the responsibility of
raising children – of teaching them how to become responsible adults – of
guiding them and disciplining them and punishing them, as necessary – but
grandparents are distant to that – especially those who are geographically
separated from their grandchildren
– so, a lot of grandparents become
worriers – they worry about their grandchildren – they worry about who they are
– who they are becoming – and what they will be in the future – and they long
for news of their grandchildren so they can be assured that everything is okay
– that they are growing and learning and living well
-- with all the problems of social media,
this is one thing that is good about it – it has enabled grandparents to stay
in touch with their children and grandchildren in ways they couldn’t have done
in the past – so, maybe some of the worrying and anxiety has been lessened for
them in this current day
-- but the Apostle Paul didn’t have that
luxury – and he was a worrier
-- Paul was not a grandfather – as best we
can tell from the Scriptures and from church history, Paul never married and
never had children – at least, physical children – but he had children and
grandchildren in the faith – people and churches and communities of faith that
he had founded or built upon that he loved and worried about when he was far
away from them – communities like the church here in Thessalonica
-- as Rich Cathers wrote in his study on 1
Thessalonians1, Paul first came to Thessalonica on his second
missionary journey – he had gotten into a disagreement with Barnabas, his
partner on his first missionary journey, about Barnabas’ cousin, John Mark –
Mark had abandoned them during their last visit, and Paul refused to take him
with them on this new journey, even though Barnabas wanted to include him – the
argument was so bad the partners split up like Simon and Garfunkel – each went
their own way – and Paul asked Silas to go with him to visit the churches he
had started on his previous journey
-- Paul and Silas ran into a lot of
trouble on this trip – they were persecuted and thrown into prison – they were
run out of town by both the Jews and the Gentiles – eventually, they found
their way to Thessalonica, carrying with them young Timothy, who they had
picked up during their travels
-- after spending three weeks in
Thessalonica and preaching in the synagogue there with some success, the
majority of the Jews got angry with Paul and his teachings, and threw the city
into such an uproar that Paul and Silas were kicked out
-- they moved on to Berea and got kicked
out of there – and it was at that point that Paul decided to go on to Athens
alone – he sent Silas and Timothy back to the region of Macedonia – where
Thessalonica was located – to check up on the new converts to Christianity that
were in those cities – to strengthen them and to help them come together in
true communities of faith – to become churches as Christ had intended
-- while Silas and Timothy were going back
through Macedonia, Paul left Athens after a short while, and then moved on to
Corinth, where he planted a church and stayed for a year and a half
-- and, sitting there in Corinth, Paul
worried – he didn’t have Facebook or Instagram or any other way of checking up
on Silas or Timothy or any of the fledgling churches he had started in
Macedonia – so, he had no idea of what was going on – were they standing firm?
– were they growing? – or had the Jews persecuted them, too? – had they
abandoned their faith? – had they gone back to their old ways? – he had no idea
– so, he sat there in Corinth and worried – just as grandparents worry about
their grandchildren – just as parents worry about their children when they
leave home after high school
-- so, with that background to this
passage, let’s take a look at Paul’s concerns for the Thessalonian Church, as
given to us in these verses
II. Scripture Lesson (1 Thessalonians 3:5-10)
-- verse 5
1
Thessalonians 3:5 For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to
find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had
tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain.
-- so, here you see it in
black-and-white – Paul was a worrier – and he worried about the faith of the
converts in Thessalonica – remember, he had only been there for three weeks –
he had not been there long enough to impart much instruction in the way of the
Lord – even though he didn’t intend it to be this way, he ended up like a
traveling evangelist who blows into town, preaches a message, and blows out
again, leaving the converts to find their way on their own
-- he worried and worried – finally,
when he couldn’t stand it any longer, he sent a letter to find out how the
Thessalonians were doing – he was afraid that they might have been led astray
by the tempter and that all his labors in preaching the gospel had been in vain
-- it’s hard when you don’t know how
someone is doing – when you don’t hear about people you care about and you
don’t know if they’re doing okay or not – that’s the concern of grandparents
and parents – and that’s the concern of us who have lost touch with friends in
the faith – with brothers and sisters we used to know
-- are they doing okay? – are they
continuing on? – is their faith secure, or have they fallen away?
-- when the Russian revolution
occurred and Lenin and Stalin established communism as the official political
government of Russia and then the Soviet Union, Christians throughout the world
worried about the Russian church – prior to the stand up of communism, the
church had been strong in Russia -- 1914, there were 55,173 churches -- 29,593
chapels and over 100,00 priest and minsters in the country
-- but religion was outlawed under
communism – and the churches were destroyed, the people disbursed, and the
pastors and ministers arrested and imprisoned or worse
-- and because of the secretive
nature of the communist government, the rest of the Christian community in the
world had no news of what was happening – of what was actually going on with
the individual Christians in that country
-- and even though Stalin
re-established the church in 1941, it was set up as an arm of the government –
with strict controls on what was taught and on who could attend
– Christians around the world worried and
assumed the worst – that true Christianity had been destroyed and replaced by a
nationalistic religion that carried the name of Christ but actually served
Stalin and the Soviet Union – everyone assumed that the true faith was gone
forever
-- so, when the Iron Curtain fell and the
way was made for western missionaries to once again go into Russia and the
Soviet Union with the gospel, they expected to find a people with no knowledge
of Christ – with no faith except a bastardized nationalistic faith that
promoted Soviet ideals above that of Christ
-- but, to their surprise, they found a
vibrant and thriving church community that had existed by going underground –
by meeting in secret – by carrying on the truth of God’s word by living out
their faith hidden from the eyes of their government overlords
-- the church was secure – the faith was
strong – and the people were standing with the Lord
-- and this is what Paul discovered when
he received a response to his letter concerning the status of the church in
Thessalonica
-- verse 6
1
Thessalonians 3:6 But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought
good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have
pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to
see you.
-- Timothy returned from Thessalonica to
Corinth, and brought Paul good news about the faith and the love of the church
that he had founded there – they were standing fast – they were growing in
their faith and their love for each other was evident
-- the mark of a true church is faith and
love – you have to have both
-- faith speaks of our relationship with
God – it is more than head knowledge – it is heart knowledge – when we speak of
someone’s faith – of a church’s faith – we speak of their continuing state of
reliance on Christ
-- we’re all familiar with the biblical
definition of faith from Hebrews 11:1 – “faith is being sure of what you hope
for – certain of what you do not see” – when you read that definition, it seems
to be talking about just knowledge of the good news of Christ -- but what the
author of Hebrews is implying here is that faith is more than knowledge – it is
being so sure and so certain of what you believe in, that you take action based
on your knowledge – you step out in faith – you live life based on your faith
-- there’s an illustration I’ve used
before when talking about faith, but it just so clearly demonstrates what the
Bible means that I can’t help but share it again – if you saw the movie,
“Indiana Jones and the Search for the Holy Grail,” you’ll remember the moment
when Indiana Jones has found the location of the grail – it is across this huge
chasm – and a monk on the other side is standing next to the grail, beckoning
Jones to step out across the chasm to come to him
-- Jones looks down, and can’t see the
bottom – it is ludicrous to think that the monk expects Jones to step out and
trust in an invisible bridge that he can’t see or feel – to step out into
nothingness and trust that he will not fall
-- but he does – and the bridge is there –
and he makes it across – that is biblical faith – being so sure of what you
hope for – so certain of what you do not see – that you are willing to step out
into the unknown carrying nothing but trust in Jesus – that is the faith that
Timothy says the church at Thessalonica has
--
but faith is not enough to be a thriving and vibrant church – it must also have
love – the Greek word that is translated here as love is agape – unconditional
love – the love of choice – the love of serving with humility – the highest
kind of love
-- the faith of the Thessalonians had led
them to be filled with the truest form of love – the love of will – the love
that reaches out to others as an act of self-sacrifice to serve the recipient –
love not based on pleasant emotions or good feelings – on physical attraction
or familial bonds – but the love of God that comes from true faith
-- faith and love must be together for us
to be who Christ has called us to be – faith and love must be present for us to
be holy as He is holy – faith is demonstrated through love – and love is
demonstrated through works and acts of service – and the church at Thessalonica
had both faith and love beyond measure
-- Timothy went on to report that
the Thessalonians always had pleasant memories of Paul – they longed to see him
again just as Paul longed to see them
– and this was not just words – just
something you say when you see an old friend – “Oh, we’ve been thinking of you
– we need to get together” – and then you never do
-- no, this speaks of relationship – it
speaks of shared memories – shared experiences – especially experiences in the
Lord – Paul’s teaching of them was done in such a way that they longed to hear
him again – to sit at his feet again – to learn from him again – he made an
impact on their lives
-- if we think back to our school
days, all of us had that special teacher that we loved – the one we remember to
this day – the one whose class you enjoyed – who made their lessons come alive
– and it seems like those teachers are the ones who also remember their
students through the years – not just the class, but the individuals – teaching
was a relationship – filled with love -- and that is what we see here with Paul
and the Thessalonians
-- more than any other familial
relationship, this is the relationship that grandparents share with their
grandkids – they don’t have the day-to-day responsibilities of teaching and
disciplining and leading towards adulthood – instead, the time they share with
their grandchildren is special – and that relationship is special – there is a
longing and a love and a mentoring that grandparents offer that others can’t –
Paul had that same type of relationship with the Thessalonians as their
grandparent in the faith
-- verse 7
1
Thessalonians 3:7 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and
persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. 8 For now we
really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God
enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God
because of you?
-- the Apostle John wrote in 3 John 4, “I
have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” – that’s the
exact same sentiment the Apostle Paul expresses here after Timothy reported on
the faith and love of the Thessalonians
-- he had been worried about the
Thessalonians losing their faith because after he founded the church, he was
unable to provide additional support and mentoring because of the distress and
persecution he faced – he couldn’t check on them for a period of time and was
worried – he feared they had turned back and lost their way – but now Timothy
has reported back that everything was good – and you can sense the relief that
Paul feels now after having heard this
-- this is a common fear when we
send our children and our grandchildren off to be on their own – will they
prosper on their own? – will they continue on in their faith?
-- sadly, statistics show this is a
major concern – depending on the source, we know that somewhere between 70 and
90% of freshmen do not make a church connection when they go to college – of
course, that is speaking of students who leave home and their local communities
and go off to areas outside of where they grew up
-- but even those who remain locally
struggle to maintain their faith, as their studies absorb time and energy – as the
independence and freedom lead them to turn away from the restrictions of their
childhood – asnew friends and new ideas influence them, usually leading them
away from the church
-- it is a worry – and it is an area
where the church has not done well – we have not prepared our young men and
women to be on their own – when we separate them from the life of the church
and isolate them into age groups, we’re keeping them from growing in their
faith and bonding with Christians who may be older than them
– so, when they go out on their own, they
don’t know how to live as Christian adults, and they lose their foundations
-- seeing Paul’s concern here reminds
me of the story of the man whose son left home to go to college -- he was very
concerned that when his son got under the influence of the liberal college
professors that he would lose his faith in God and in God's Word -- so he
pleaded with his son, "Son, don't let them take your faith away -- don't
let them take the Bible from you -- at the very least, don't let them take the Book
of Jonah from you"
-- so, the son went off to college, and after four years, he
returned -- his father greeted him and said, "Son, how is your faith? --
do you still trust in God? -- do you
still believe in the Book of Jonah?"
-- the son looked at him and said, "What are you talking
about? There is no such thing as the Book
of Jonah in the Bible"
-- so his father ran and got his
Bible off the shelf and opened it up -- he looked, but the Book of Jonah wasn't
in there -- he looked at the table of contents, and it was listed, but when he
turned over to where it should be, it was missing
-- He looked up at his son in
confusion and said, "What happened to Jonah?" -- the son said,
"I cut it out of your Bible on the day I left for college four years
ago. What is worse: losing Jonah because
your faith was challenged or losing Jonah through neglect?"
-- here in America, we’re losing our
faith through neglect – and it’s not just the younger generation -- if you look
at statistics right now, Christianity is in a decline in America –
“28%
of Americans classify themselves as "nones," 17% of whom identify as
atheist, 20% as agnostic and 63% as "nothing in particular." -- Most
"nones" said they were raised to be religious, and the majority were
raised in Christian households.
-- “[The] 'Nones' tend to vote less often,
do less volunteer work in their communities and follow public affairs at lower
rates than religiously affiliated people do -- on a variety of measures, lower
rates of civic engagement are concentrated among 'nones' whose religion is
'nothing in particular.'”2
-- the Barna Research Group is
showing the same decline in faith and religion as other surveys – they report
that the number of practicing Christians – those who agree that faith is
important in their lives and who attend church at least monthly – has dropped
from 50% of the population in 2000 to just 25% in 2020 – that means that only
one in four Americans are now practicing Christians
-- the rest are either considered
non-practicing or non-Christians, which includes the “nones”
-- even here in our community we are
seeing declines in church attendance – the number of people attending has
dropped precipitously – and while some may have been drawn to larger churches
with more programs and activities, the statistics show that a lot of these
people who are absent from our churches have just quit going and joined the
ranks of non-practicing – when Covid hit and churches closed in an effort to
protect their communities from the disease, many people never came back
-- so, Paul was right to worry about
the Thessalonians – who were isolated and left alone to continue on in their
faith and worship – and it’s right for us to be worried about our children and
our grandchildren – and to worry about the others in our community – how are we
doing in our faith? – what can we do to increase the faith here in Naylor and
beyond?
-- you can imagine the relief Paul felt
when he learned the Thessalonians were prospering in the faith – that they were
still following God and loving and serving those around them with an agape love
-- that’s why he says here in verse
9, “How can we thank God enough for you?” – Paul was just so happy at how the
Thessalonians had persevered and thrived in the faith, his praise and
thankfulness to God was immense – he was filled with joy and praise at how God
had sustained them through their isolation
-- verse 10
1 Thessalonians 3:10 Night and day
we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in
your faith.
-- Paul longed to return to Thessalonica and see
his friends there so he could continue their growth and maturity – so he could
continue to teach them more about their faith and help them to grow in grace
-- one of the main roles of a pastor
is to teach – to edify the saints – to equip them to go out and live their
faith in their communities
-- Paul is known primarily as the
greatest evangelist in the Bible – the man who traveled so far on three
missionary journeys and founded so many communities of faith – but he should
also be known as a great teacher – one who taught and mentored and discipled
these communities – who led them to grow in grace so that they would be able to
function on their own after he had moved on
-- to keep the faith – to share the
faith – to grow the faith – in our church communities and in our families – we
must be intentional about teaching and mentoring and discipling – for that is
how a foundation of faith is built that sustains the next generation of
believers – whether young or old
-- that’s why Paul says he longs to
come see them – so that he might supply what is lacking – they were still young
in the faith, and they needed to be taught how to grow and move on in their
faith to even deeper levels of intimacy with God and one another
III. Closing
-- so, let’s bring this to a close
for this morning by considering the question -- How often do you think about
your brothers and your sisters in Christ who are distant from you? – do you
worry about their faith? – are you concerned with how they are walking with the
Lord?
-- Paul was worried about the
Christians in Thessalonica – even in the midst of his distress and persecution,
he worried about them – he thought of them often and lifted them up in his
prayers – and we need to do the same
-- we need to pray for those we know
who are in danger of being led away from the faith – our children – our
grandchildren – students in this community – other believers who we haven’t
talked with in a while – especially believers new in the faith
-- we need to ask God to protect
them – to fill them – to grow them in their faith – to fill them with His love –
to fill them with the knowledge of His Son and how to walk in faith and love
-- and we need to reach out to them
and check on them, if we can – to make sure of where they are with the Lord –
to pick them up if they have fallen – to come alongside them in their spiritual
lives
-- that is why we are here – that is
what we are to do as the church
-- next week, we’ll pick back up in
this passage and look at the three petitions Paul makes in his prayer for the
Thessalonians here in verses 11-13 as he looks at the next steps he needs to
take to help bolster the faith and love of the Thessalonians
-- so, as we close, take a moment
and see if there is anyone that comes to mind you need to check on – you need
to reach out to – and lift them up in prayer as we close together this morning
-- but I want you to do one more
thing – actually reach out to them – call them – text them – email them –
message them on Facebook or Instagram or SnapChat – whatever you need to do –
however you can do it – just reach out and see how your friend is doing and
come alongside them in their walk
-- let us pray
1
Rich Cathers -- https://www.calvaryfullerton.org/Bstudy/52%201Th/2000/521Th01-03.htm
2
More than 1 in 4 U.S. adults identify as religious "nones," new
data shows. Here's what this means. By C Mandler. January 24, 2024 /
5:09 PM EST / CBS News
No comments:
Post a Comment