Encouragement Pt 1

Good morning. It's good to see everybody. I'm glad you're here. I want to welcome anybody who's watching online and invite you to stand with me. We'll pray and we'll get started. Lord, we just thank you for the day. Lord, we thank you for another opportunity to be here, Lord, to spend some time in your word and to worship you, Lord. We ask that you bless this time, prepare our hearts this morning to receive from you. We love you and we praise you. And in your precious name, amen.

And amen. You guys go ahead and have a seat.

Lord God, we just thank you for who you are. Lord, victory over the sin and death that we deal with, we thank you.

Jesus, we just thank you for how much you love us, for how deep your love is. Go to the cross and spill your blood out. Lord, we just thank you for how much you love us.

Jesus, I'm sorry when it's all about you. It's all about you.

Nothing that's a word that will bless your soul. A song in itself is not. You search much deeper. As we get ready to sing this last song here, Lord, I just want to thank you for the hope that we have in you. Lord, I know that there's a lot of people here. And. And just in the world in general, Lord, that just feel like there is no hope. Lord, with you, there is hope.

Lord, you you spilled your precious blood out on that cross. You went to the grave, but then you rose again three days later, Lord. And because you're alive. We have hope, not just in this life, but in the next, Lord. Lord, we just thank you that you are our living hope. We thank you that you are our living hope and in you there is hope world seems to offer us hope everywhere we turn, but it's it's an empty hope, but Lord, in you, there is true hope in this life and in the next.

Lord, we thank you for how much you love us. And for what you've done for us, we give you praise. All glory and honor due to you, Lord. This morning, I pray that as Pastor Ryan comes, I pray that you would overflow him with your Holy Spirit. We'll do something awesome and mighty in this place this morning. We'll prepare our hearts to receive that that which you've prepared for us.

And Lord, we ask that you bless the kids at the other end of the hall. And Lord, we ask that you bless the kids that are going to receive these these boxes over here, Lord. Lord, prepare their hearts and may your word, may your gospel, your good news go out with power.

Lord, we just ask these things in your precious and holy name. All God's people said. Amen. Let's take some time and greet one another.

Good morning. If you could begin to locate your seat. Grab a bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements.

Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you joined us this morning. Some things to take note of. As always. What's going on on the left hand side of the bulletin throughout the week, but also in the middle section of the bulletin. The boxes are due today. Dude. Yeah, we've done a really great job here. I don't know if you realize this, but that stack goes three deep and I think it even wraps around the side there.

So so we've got we've got a lot of boxes. They wanted me to say thank you to everybody that has contributed items or money or you've put time into boxes, whatever. Thank you so much for for what you've done. Because lives are going to be touched with the gospel of Jesus Christ through through what you've done here and and afterwards I'll be praying over the boxes at the very end and after the service if anybody can stick around and help us put all of these boxes in the back of Ross and Janice suburban or hopefully you brought something like that that's not a car that's because that's not going to work something big enough to hold all those things.

So if you can stick around afterwards and we'll make a little train for that, that would be great. This coming Wednesday. We are going to do a night of worship here at the church. Wait, hold on. Hold on once. One quick second. There are still spots available to go to Dallas. I forgot to say that. How many spots we got available still 18 spots. So if you are looking for something to do right after Thanksgiving, you're like, hey, I had an incredible amount of food and now I need to work all of this off.

I should go do work somewhere. You should go to Dallas with us and serve at the at the facility down there. You'll be blessed by it. So we saw some spots available for that. If you have any questions, see Ross and Jana. Now this Wednesday, we're going to do a night of worship. Kind of figure we're met. Yes. Thank you. There it is. So kind of moving into this Thanksgiving season.

So we just thought man great time to spend some time just praising God for what he has done and what he continues to do in our lives. So that'll be this coming Wednesday 7 o'clock right here in the sanctuary. And then there is another community night of worship on Sunday, November the 24th. That'll be next Sunday evening at the Burford theater. From 630 to 730.

It will be the that hope worship team that we had do the event in September. We'll be having a great time with that. Also, there is a ministerial Alliance Thanksgiving service on Tuesday, November the 26th. So if you're available to come to that, it'll be at Central Christian Church at 630. And then we are going to be taking part in the live nativity again.

So if I could have Joe come up and make a quick announcement about that. Good morning. So we are blessed to be able to take part in the live nativity as a as a church again this year. We're going to be taking care of the wise men scene. So if you are wanting to be involved with that and either be a wise man or a Mary or a Joseph, or if you are a parent with a toddler that might fit the bill of a toddler Jesus,

there's a sign-up sheet out in the four-year. It's just a great opportunity to just help be a light and remind our community. What the true meaning of Christmas is so signups are out there. Thanks. All right, very good. And then the last thing is that the we send a group down to Val d'Asta about a week and a half ago. And so are these some of the pictures from that?

Yes. Okay. So these are some pictures. I don't exactly know how many we've got here, but there's is it a is it a whole thing? There's like three they're holding up numbers three. I think is what they said. There's one of these guys serving there lots of trees and poison ivy and things like that. And I don't know if you can read that or not, but it says as of November the 11th 70 people have accepted Christ to the ministry of Samaritan's Purse disaster relief.

And that's just in the Val d'Asta area. So God uses these things for his for his glory and for people's good. So they wanted to say thank you for your prayerful support. I know some people even gave some money to that. So we are blessed to be able to do things like that for our responsive reading this morning. We are going to be. Be in Psalm 17. Looking at the new American standard for this part of the service so that we can hopefully all sound the same as you are turning to Psalm 17.

If you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's word. I will read the odd verses. If you will follow along with Pastor Allen and the even versus Psalm 17. Good. We're good. Okay, just double-checking a prayer of David here a just cause. Oh Lord. Give heed to my cry. Give ear to my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips. Let my judgment come forth from your presence.

Let your eyes look with equity. You have tried my heart. You have visited me by night. You have tested me and you find nothing. I have purpose that my mouth will not transgress as for the deeds of men by the word of your lips. I have kept from the paths of the violent. My steps have held fast to your paths. My feet have not slipped. I have called upon you for you will answer me.

Oh God, incline your ear to me. Hear my speech wondrously. Show your loving kindness. Oh, savior of those who take refuge at your right hand from those who rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of the eye. Hide me in the shadow of your wings from the wicked who despoil me my deadly enemies who surround me. They have closed their own. I'm feeling heart with their mouth.

They speak proudly. They have now surrounded us in our steps. They set their eyes to cast us down to the ground. He is like a lion that is eager to tear and as a young lion lurking and hiding places arise. Oh Lord confront him bring him low deliver my soul from the wicked with their with your sword from men from with your hand. Oh Lord from men of the world whose portion is in.

This life and his belly you will fill with your treasure. They are satisfied with children and leave their abundance to their babes and read verse 15 with me as for me. I shall behold your face in righteousness. I will be satisfied with your likeness when I awake. And so father we come to you now and that truly is our hope for that day when we awake to see you and father in the meantime.

We know that you are the God who saves us. The God who sustains us and the God who protects us and so father draws near to you. Keep us close to your heart and father speak to us by the power of your Holy Spirit through your word in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would open up in your Bibles to the book of second Thessalonians chapter one second Thessalonians chapter one.

It seemed to make sense to do the follow-up book that Paul had written next. In second Thessalonians. It had been about a year since Paul had written this first letter about a year had passed by and Paul and his companion Silas and Timothy were still in Corinth. They were still ministering in Corinth and Timothy had taken that first letter to to the people of Thessalonica to that Thessalonian church and God had used it.

God had ministered to them, but there were reports coming back to Paul about some things going on. In Thessalonica that he wanted to address the the church there was facing great affliction. Not only because of the persecution that they were facing because of their faith, but also just in general. They were dealing with affliction. They were facing hard times as a church.

Not only were they facing hard times as a church, but there was a false teaching that had been circulating and that false teaching was supposed to have been from Paul. A letter was circulated that claimed to be from Paul, even though it wasn't. And that letter brought about a false report. A false report that Christ had already come. That they had missed the rapture and that they were living in the midst of the day of the Lord.

That they were living in the midst of what we refer to as the tribulational period. And it wasn't hard for them to believe because they were living in a time of great persecution. And so as they knew of the time of great persecution they were living in they thought they found themselves following this idea this doctrine that they were living in this great tribulation. They found themselves very distraught.

Over what had taken place. And so this false doctrine had been circulating around the city and in particular within the church. But not only that, there were those who had decided that it was time to stop working. After all, Jesus could have either been coming back at any moment or they were living in the midst of this tribulational period. And the best thing that they could do is quit their jobs and focus on their faith.

And so Paul wrote a letter. And the letter that he wrote to them. And again, I borrowed these next three points from John. From John MacArthur and his introductory commentary to this. Paul wrote a letter. He wrote a letter to a church that was discouraged through persecution and affliction. He wrote a letter to a church that was deceived by false teachers and confused about the Lord's return.

And he wrote a letter to a church caught up in disorderly living. And so as he wrote this letter the three chapters break down very nicely for him to cover three different things. In chapter one. He is going to encourage them. In chapter two. He is going to instruct them. And in chapter three. He is going to exhort them. And so this morning what we're going to begin to look at is chapter one with encouragement.

It's going to take us more than one week to get through this. And so I have entitled it simply encouragement part one. And so starting in verse one. I would like to read through the entire chapter to get the full feel for for what Paul has to say here. But starting in verse one. It says this Paul and Silvanus and Timothy. To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought always to give thanks to God for you brethren. As is only fitting. Because your faith is greatly enlarged. And the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater. Therefore we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God. For your perseverance. And faith in the midst of your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.

This is a plain indication of God's righteous judgment. So that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which indeed you are suffering. For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you. And to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well. When the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fun.

And those who have no fear. Dealing out retribution to those who do not know God. And to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction. Away from the presence of the Lord. And from the glory of his power. When he comes to be glorified in his saints on that day. And to be marveled at among all who have believed.

For our testimony to you was believed. To this end we also pray for you always. That God will count you worthy. of your calling and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power so that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified in you and you in him according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. And so as we look at this first chapter dealing with

encouragement, there's going to be three things he's going to do for them. He's going to appreciate what God has been doing. He is going to encourage them to continue on, and then he is going to pray for them. So the first thing we'll look at this morning is the appreciation, but before we get to that, let's cover the greeting. It says in verse 1, Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of

the Thessalonians and God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. He starts with who the writer is, and I'm not going to spend a great deal of time talking about Paul the writer and Timothy and Silas because I covered a lot of that at the beginning of 1 Thessalonians, but I do want to briefly touch on it. Of course, Paul is the one who has started the church in Thessalonica, and of course God had done a major work in the life of Paul. Paul had gone from one who was a persecutor of the church and a hater of Jesus Christ to one who not only was a follower of Jesus Christ, but perhaps the greatest proponent, the greatest evangelist for the

church of Jesus Christ that the world has ever seen. And Paul had been the one that had started this church in Thessalonica, therefore his burden was for these Thessalonian believers. That's the writer. Alongside of Paul were a couple of faithful companions. In this translation, and maybe in yours, it says Silvanus, we know him as Silas. Silas joined Paul on his second missionary journey,

and as he joined Paul, he became a faithful partner who was willing to work in whatever capacity. He had to up to and including facing beatings in Philippi as they spread the gospel together. Silas was one of those guys that you just want by your side because he is down for whatever comes next. He's down to preach the gospel with you, and he's absolutely down to get his rear end kicked with you. He's the kind of guy you want alongside you if you're going to go on a missionary journey.

And then with them is Timothy, and Timothy was a young man. Timothy had been picked up by Paul along this journey as well, and Timothy had been trained by his father, and he had been trained by his father, and he had been trained by his father, and he had been trained by his father, and he had his mother and his grandmother brought to an understanding of who God was by his mother and grandmother, but ultimately led to faith in Jesus Christ by Paul, and Paul actually referred to Timothy as his own son in the faith. And so Timothy was learning what it looked like to be a follower of Jesus Christ and learning what it looked like to be a servant of Jesus Christ as he sat alongside Paul while he was on this missionary journey. And so Paul is probably

dictating this letter. Silas and Timothy are right there with him, and they're going to be along for whatever comes, and now they're writing to a church. And of course, the church, who is the recipient, is the church of the Thessalonians. Again, we spent a great deal of time talking about this in the last book that we covered. If you need to go back and listen once

again to the first Thessalonians introduction, you can do that on our website. But this church in Thessalonica was one that Paul had established, and he was there for a very short amount of time. He was only there three weeks at the most, and he was there for a very short amount of time. Three months. And he faced a great deal of opposition and ultimately was forced out of

the city, which is why he had such a burden for these Thessalonian believers, which is why he was so burdened to write to them in the way that he did. And so he's addressing this church, but I want to point something out to you about this church because he differentiates who this church is. He says it's to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We have to understand something.

In our culture today, you hear the word church and you think Christian. That's usually what you think of because that's what it's synonymous with. But we have to understand the roots of the word church were not Christian. The church was simply an assembly, an assembly of people that were gathered together. It was a very Greek word, and so there's really nothing distinctly Christian

about it. And so when Paul addresses the church of the Thessalonians, he specifies who this church is, that this is not just some average group of people that are assembled together in Thessalonica, you know, this is the church that is in God our Father and in Jesus Christ. What does that mean? It means that everything that encapsulated that church was the truth of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ. That means that that's what that church was known for. And can I say, as we look

at the Western culture, especially in the church today, I think we need to be reminded again that we are the church of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. That everything that we do should be to promote the truth of God as we live in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And all of the things that we do as a church should always be centered on that truth. Everything that we do should be centered on the gospel truth of God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. And sometimes I fear that in the church

today, we want so badly to be popular that we've stopped being the church that is in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and we've just gone back to being what it was in the Greek culture, just an assembly of people. And it can never be that way, because the church is always called to be set apart from the world and to be set apart unto Jesus Christ. And so he addresses this letter to the recipient, which is the church of the Thessalonians who are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he gives his typical greeting, grace to you and peace. Grace to you and peace. Now,

usually I just kind of skip right by this one, but the whole thing is that the church is called to be set apart from God. And so I feel like I'm kind of at the center of this thing. And I've been kind of marinating on this word grace the past two or three days, and how necessary grace is in our lives. Because grace is one of the central themes of scripture. Matter of fact, I just did a little

word search on my computer program for the word grace. And do you know the first time grace shows up in the Bible? The first time that grace shows up in the Bible is around the time of the story of the flood. We learn about how terrible everything is in the world, and then you read about this one guy by the name of John, and he says, I don't know if you've seen John, but I don't know if you've by the name of Noah. The first time we see the word grace, it says, and Noah found grace in the

eyes of the Lord. It's kind of interesting, because in Noah's time, God was going to pour out judgment on the world, and the only ones that would be saved from the judgment would be Noah and his family. Why? Was it because Noah was such an amazing man? Was it because he was such a phenomenal human being? No, it was because he found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And it's kind of

fascinating, because we read in 1 Peter that God's going to judge the world again, this time not by flood, this next time by fire, but the thing that saved Noah and his family from the flood was the grace of God, and the thing that will save us from the coming judgment is the grace of God. And it's kind of fascinating to do a little word study to see all the places that grace is used in the Bible. And so what I did is I wrote down a handful of these things, because grace does so much for us. It is the all-encapsulating word.

It's the all-encapsulating word in Scripture of what we desperately need in our lives. So I wrote down a handful of things. Number one, grace saves us. Matter of fact, we're told in the book of Ephesians that it is by grace that you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. And that's usually what most of

us know about grace. Most of us came to Jesus Christ because we were desperate and lost in our sin, and we cried out to him, and he granted us unmerited favor. And he said, I'm going to pour salvation into your life. I'm going to take away your sin. I'm going to give you my righteousness, and it will all be by grace. It will be by God's unearned favor that I will pour

this salvation into you. The only problem is, that's where most of us stop when it comes to the grace of God. We think that God's grace is only for salvation, and we forget that God's grace is for every aspect of our lives. Because number one, grace saves us, but number two, strengthens us. Grace strengthens us. Grace is actually the empowering force in our lives

that strengthens us to be who God has called for us to be. It is the singular thing that we need in our lives in order to live the way that God has called for us to live. In order for us to walk away from sin, we need the strength of the grace of God. In order for us to commune with God in the way that he wants for us to, we need the grace of God. In order for us to serve God,

in the way that he wants for us to, we need the grace of God, because that is what strengthens us to live our lives in the way that we're supposed to live our lives. So grace saves us. It strengthens us. Number three, grace teaches us. It teaches us. We are told in the book of Titus that the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, and it teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly

unrighteousness in this present age. You say, I don't know how I'm supposed to live. How am I supposed to live my life every day? How am I supposed to live in a pleasing way to God? Well, if you want to be taught that, you need more of God's grace in your life. You need to seek after that grace, that unmerited favor of God. Lord, by your grace, would you teach me what it looks like

to follow you? To not only follow God, but to walk away from sin in the process. We need that grace to teach us. The problem with us is we got sin, but we don't have grace to teach us. We don't have grace to teach us. We got saved, and then we got proud. We got saved and said, it's okay, I've got the strength to handle this. I think I know what I'm doing now. I've achieved a little bit of

salvation. Life is good. And we forget that the same grace that saves us is the same grace that strengthens us, and the same grace that teaches us. Number four, grace keeps us. Grace keeps us. In other words, it protects us from all of the things of the enemy. You say, right, I don't think grace has been protecting me very well here. Lately, where's he been? Right? No, but God's grace really does protect us. Have you ever asked

yourself, how much worse would it have been if God's grace hadn't been at work in my life? How much worse would it have been if God's grace was not the one keeping me? Because anything that comes into your life, and we're going to talk about this later, is already filtered through the hands of God. So it's already filtered through God's grace. So God's grace is keeping us.

God's grace is the thing that's keeping you strong. God, it's the thing that's keeping you alive. It's the thing that keeps you aware, and it's the thing that keeps you close to your Savior. You need more of it in your life. And then number five, it's his grace that brings us home. It's his grace that will bring us home. We're told that God's grace is what will allow that

revelation of Jesus Christ, the unveiling of Jesus Christ to take place, and us to be there with him. Not only does it bring us home, I didn't put this on there, but we'll spend the rest of eternity learning about it. We're told in the book of Ephesians that in the ages to come, he will teach us about grace. What will every day in heaven be like? Well, every day you're going

to be doing something, because you'll have some sort of a task. You'll have a job. Even in the new heaven and new earth, you'll be the exact same way. But part of that job will be God continuing to show you just how much grace he's shown to you in your life, and just how amazing his grace truly is. So you see, when Paul does this, yes, it's the typical Roman greeting of the day, that they said

grace to you, because that was how they greeted each other. But it was also a really good reminder to a church. To a church that had been afflicted. To a church that had been mistaught. To a church that was struggling to live as God called for them to live. He reminded them, the thing you really need in your life is grace. If you want to be who God wants you to be, if you want to stand strong in

affliction, then you need more of God's grace in your life. How do I achieve more of God's grace in my life? Well, my friends, you ask for it. You ask for God to continue to pour buckets upon buckets of grace into your life. And he's always faithful to you. And I answer that prayer. He says grace to you, but then he also says peace to you. Again, that's the typical Jewish greeting, but I think there's a little bit more to that word than this. Again,

I marinated on this just a little bit, and I kind of geeked this word. The word peace means, is defined as quietness, rest, or tranquility. I'm going to take you on a little trip in Ryan's brain. I don't know what you think of when you think of the word tranquility, but I'm going to paint the picture for what I think of when I think of tranquility, right? I'm sitting here, and I'm

sitting next to a gently flowing stream, and it's the most beautiful grass and flowers you've ever seen in your life. And there's the softest lamb next to me that I'm using as my pillow, and all I hear is, ah, right? That's tranquility. Wake up, okay? Those of you on the pillow, now wake back up. That's tranquility, right? It's that peaceful place in your life. But

Vine's dictionary had something interesting to say about peace. It said, for the Christian is rest. It is the tranquil state of a soul that is assured of salvation through Christ, fearing nothing that comes from God, and content with its earthly lot. I'll read it to you again. Peace for the Christian is rest. It is the tranquil state of a soul that is assured of salvation through Christ. It fears nothing from God, and is content with its earthly

lot. Peace for the Christian. is knowing that you belong to Jesus, understanding that God is in control, and being content with whatever you have. Peace, ultimately, means something else in our lives. It means surrender. You see, most of us don't have peace in our lives because we're fighting for control of our lives. Have you ever noticed that? That's why we're not at peace,

because we want control, and we're trying to take control from God, and he's trying to take control back from us. We're trying to take, and that back and forth is taking place. It's in the moment that you finally give up, the moment that you finally say, okay, God, I'm just gonna give it to you. I'm just gonna rest in you. I'm just gonna decide you're the one in control, not me,

and I'm just gonna give it to you. It's almost like your whole body just, ah, you're next to that flowing brook on the peaceful grass, nuzzled up to a sweet little lamb taking a nap, right? I don't know if you remember being a tiny child. There's some things I remember. It's getting a little fuzzier, but there's some things I remember. One of the things I remember

as a little kid is I fought naps. Anybody else fight naps in here? You just hated taking them. Now I'm like, please bring more, right? But you just hated it. Why? Because you had to stop, and you had to surrender, and there was always a fight between my mom and I about naps, and here's the thing about your mom. She always wins, right? Kids, just know that. Your mom's gonna win.

You can decide it now, or you can decide it later, but she's gonna win, and finally, I would give up. I would say, I'm not tired. I'm not tired. I don't need to take a nap. And then I'd finally give up, and I'd sleep for like an hour, and you wake up, and man, it's just so peaceful, right? Like, oh, that was so great, and that's the way too many of us are as Christians.

We need God's peace in our lives, but God's peace comes through surrender, surrendering our will to his. So he says, grace and peace to you, and where do those things come from? From the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Too many people searching for peace. In every other place except Jesus. They're searching for peace in their pocketbook. They're searching for peace with something

that they can take in, something that they can ingest so that hopefully it'll numb the pain. They're searching for peace in their political candidate. I can finally have peace, maybe because your political candidate won, and I have to remind you, those things don't bring peace. Jesus brings peace. He's the one place. He's the one spot for peace. So Paul says, grace and peace to you,

and those things come from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And now he begins to show appreciation for these saints. Notice what it says in verse three. We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater. Therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you

among the churches of God for your perseverance, and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. Paul says, we ought always to give thanks for you. Now I love this, because when Paul thinks about what he's thankful for, when Paul thinks about giving thanks to God, he thinks about people. And he in particular thinks about these Thessalonian believers that mean so much to him that he just wants to thank God for who they are, and what God has been doing in their lives.

And I wanna bring something up to you. I've noticed something that's taken place since the whole COVID shutdown thing, and that's that we've become less and less interested in being around other people. Have you noticed that? Like in the middle of it, everybody was like, oh, I can't wait for us all to get back together. And then it's like, we could all get back together,

and I'm actually seeing more people withdraw just from life, withdraw from wanting to be around people. As a matter of fact, I see it on social media all the time. I just don't want a people today. I didn't even know that was a verb, but apparently we don't wanna do that today. And I see so many people being that way. And you're like, I just, I don't wanna be around anyone.

I don't wanna be around individuals. You know why? Because sometimes people bring their problems, right? Like that's the problem with people, is that we have problems, and we bring them into each other's lives. And so we say, oh, I don't wanna be around people. They bring problems into my life. I have news for you. You bring problems into other people's lives, right?

That's just who we are. We're human beings. We've been bringing problems into people's lives ever since Eve looked at Adam and said, wanna bite? Right? That's when the problem started. But that's not what God has intended for us, is to withdraw from people. Matter of fact, Paul was so blessed by this fellowship that he said, I just wanna thank God for you. And I think sometimes we have to remember,

you should be thanking God for the people around you every day. Ryan, you don't understand the problems that they cause me? Yes, I do. You should still thank God for them. Because God is using them in your life. God is using them to strengthen you and encourage you and maybe sometimes grow you. And that's what Paul does here. He thanks God for the people. He says, we ought always to give thanks for your brethren

as is only fitting. And then there's two reasons why he appreciates and thanks God for them. Number one, because of their growing walk. Number two, because of their patient endurance. He goes on to say, talking about their growing walk, he says, because your faith is greatly enlarged. And the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater. Your faith is growing abundantly and exceedingly.

In other words, they are growing in their walk with God. Their walk with God is something that is not static. It is continually growing. And they are continuing to become closer and closer to the Lord. This theme keeps coming up for me. I hope you're understanding that God, must want this theme to keep coming up for you because that need for us to progress as Christians

is so vital and it's so important. We were talking about this yesterday at men's breakfast. The importance of us growing in our walk and not becoming static, not becoming stagnant, not becoming apathetic, but continuing to grow deeper in our understanding of who God is. Many of us started off with grace saves us. And we were like, man, thank God that we're saved.

But God doesn't want that to be the end in and of itself. You see, salvation was only the beginning of what God intended for you. What God intended for you was an ever-growing walk where you slowly but surely learn a little bit more of what it looks like to follow Jesus, what it looks to know who he is, what it looks like to understand his character and to understand his nature. Ultimately, we are all seeking to get back to the relationship that Adam and Eve had with God in the garden.

Can you imagine what that would have been like? Our understanding is that God showed up every day and he hung out with Adam and Eve. He walked with them in the afternoon every single day. Can you imagine what it would be like just to walk with God and be like, okay, God, here's the deal. I have a question. And then God would actually just sit there and answer your question?

That's the ideal we're getting back to. That's what we want to get back to. And so we should continue to grow in our walk. Don't be content with what you know now. Don't be content with where you are now. Don't be content with what's happening now. Continue to seek and to grow and to follow and to pursue because that's what God's grace wants to do in your life.

God's grace wants to teach you. God's grace wants to strengthen you. God's grace wants to push you closer in that walk with Jesus Christ. If you're a brand new believer in Jesus Christ here this morning, start getting into the Bible. Start reading wherever you want to. I would start in the book of John and just start asking, what do I need to learn about Jesus in this time?

And then seek that truth for yourself. If you're here this morning and you're just a few years into your walk, it's time to start getting into some of those prophetic books, right? And start understanding a little bit more about prophecy. Start understanding a little bit more about that second coming of Jesus. Start digging deeper into a prayer life. Start digging deeper into what it looks like

to study God's word for more than just what it says, but what God's actually trying to teach you. And if you've been here for a long time, it's time for you to start teaching somebody else. It's time for you to start pouring into somebody else's life because we don't receive the truth of who God is without the purpose of giving it out to those that are around us. He says, I am so happy that you are growing in your faith, that you are growing in your walk, and that you are growing in your relationship with the Lord.

But not only that, he says, I'm also so blessed that your love for one another grows ever greater. That your love for one another grows ever greater. It was a beautiful thing for Paul to be able to look at these Thessalonian believers and say, you understand sacrificial love, because that's the word that's used there for love, agape. It's a sacrificial love.

You understand sacrificial love. And not only do you understand sacrificial love, but you are continuing to grow greater and greater and greater in what that means. You're continuing to grow in it in a way that is so visible to the people that are around you. And it's a beautiful thing. Because that's what churches are supposed to do. That's what growing in your walk is supposed to do.

You see, your growth in this relationship will always be proportionate to your growth in this relationship. Do you know what James tells us? James tells us, how can you say that you love God who you can't see if you don't love you can't see if you don't love you can't see who you can see? There's something wrong there. And so that proportional faith is supposed to grow.

Ryan, how does that work? How does that proportional work grow? Well, what is the fruit of the Holy Spirit? The fruit of the Spirit is love, right? And then joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. But I think those are all outworkings of love. And so that's what should be produced in our life. And so, if this is working the way that it is,

And so, if this is working the way that it is, the way that it's supposed to, then this will work the way that it's supposed to, because he will continue to grow that in you. And listen, I feel like I can with Paul, I know we're not a perfect church by any means, but I feel like I can with Paul say, I can see love growing greater and greater in this church. I'm watching it as I see this, this giant pile of boxes that are about to go out to a whole bunch of kids that are going to hear about the love of Jesus Christ. I see it in the fact that we just sent a group of people to Valdosta that got to lead people to Jesus and do lots of hard work in order to minister to people. I see it in that I talked to a lady at first

service and she said, I see the love of God because my car's broke down and I can call anybody at any time and they'll give me a ride. And I'm watching God's love grow even greater through his people. I'm watching this happen. And again, we need to continue to grow in it, but I'm loving what I'm seeing right now. And I think the Holy Spirit's blessed by what he sees right now.

And so he says, I'm so thankful. And I want to tell you, I can see your growing walk. But not only is he appreciating their growing walk, he's appreciating their patient endurance, their patient endurance. Notice what it says in verse four. Therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance, and faith in the midst of persecutions and afflictions, which you endure. Paul says,

we speak, we speak really proudly of you. Some of your translations may even say, we boast about you. In other words, Paul says, when some of us sit down, we tell everybody we can think about of just how, just how much God's doing in you. And what does he boast about them for? Why is he so proud of them? Why does he speak so proudly of them? Because they are patiently enduring persecution and affliction.

They're patiently enduring persecution and affliction. That word persecution, it's interesting. You look at the word persecution, and you know what the definition of persecution is? Wait for it. Persecution. I was like, well, that doesn't help me at all. That's, well, that's just not a definition. That's just repeating. I should do that with every word. Just repeat the word, right?

Persecution, of course, is affliction because of your faith. The suffering that you face, that you face because of your faith. And listen, they dealt with an incredible amount of it there. Other churches in the world deal with it an incredible amount right now. In America, we're still doing pretty good, right? I mean, there's some moments where there's some potential stuff going on. We're still floating pretty good with that. So, so when we hear

persecution, we got to be prepared for it. And I've been telling you that for a while now, but I don't know that that's the major thing that's going to speak to you. But then he uses a second word. It's not only their persecution, it's also their affliction. Affliction speaks of suffering in general. And it's really a vivid word because the word affliction means a pressure or a pressing together. Doesn't that kind of sound

like what life feels like sometimes? Like you're just being pressed together. Like you're just being pressured. Like you can just feel the intense pressure on you. And listen, I don't know what the afflictions were that they were going through in the Thessalonian church, but I know some of the afflictions that we're going through in this church. I know some of the

afflictions that some of you were going through, some of you were going through afflictions. Because you're dealing with medical issues in your life and you're not sure if you're ever going to feel good again. You're not even sure if you're ever going to overcome this. And you're dealing with some of those afflictions, right? Some of you're dealing with affliction because because you're dealing with an afflicted soul and

you're dealing with financial issues in your life, and you're like, oh my gosh, I don't know if I'm ever going to get this bill paid. I don't know if we can ever pay this off. I don't know how I'm going to even buy Christmas for my kids, because the affliction is great. Some of you are facing affliction because you got broken relationships, relationships that need healed, and you're not sure your marriage is going to make it. You're not sure, you're not sure that relationship's ever

going to come back together. You're not sure if your brother or sister and you are ever going to be close again. You're not sure if your parents and you are ever going to have a good relationship again, and you're feeling that affliction. Some of you are facing affliction because you've lost people that you love, and because of that, you just feel like, am I ever going to sense God's comfort again, or is it always just going to be like this? And you're facing that affliction. Those

are the afflictions I know we're going through in this church, and as we face those, it's so easy to get focused on the affliction. It's so easy to get focused on the pressure, on the pressing together, on the being pressed down. But listen, you're not the only ones going through this, and I want you to know that. It's not just us. People have been facing affliction from the beginning of time,

and there's one thing that's gotten them through. Perseverance. Perseverance. The word perseverance means to bear up under. It speaks of an unflinching endurance and patience. And Paul said, why do we boast about you? Because in the midst of persecution, and in the midst of affliction, you, have perseverance. You continue to bear up under. You continue to bear up under the weight. You

continue with unflinching endurance and patience to deal with the things that you're dealing with. And I know what you're probably thinking right now. It doesn't really feel like I'm persevering very well. You're here, aren't you? I'd call that perseverance. I'd say that God's doing his work. You haven't given up, have you? Well, I wanted to, but you didn't.

And God's using that in your life, and you're learning what it is to persevere. I wish we never had to go through these hard things. I wish we never had to go through these afflictions. But listen, God is calling us to persevere, and as perseverance does its good work in our life, through the power of the Holy Spirit, through the grace that teaches us, and the grace that strengthens us, and the grace that keeps us, then we persevere.

And if you're feeling like you're at the end, I want you to know, you just need more grace in your life. You just need to see more of God's grace in your life. He says you are persevering under all of these afflictions and persecutions. But not only that, it's not only your perseverance in the midst of those things, but it is your faith in the midst of those things. The Amplified Bible

translates this firm faith, and I love that because it has the idea of set like steel or set like flint, like nothing's going to change it. I am firm in my faith. What does he mean by firm in faith? Well, first of all, I'm firm in my faith. I'm firm in my faith. I'm firm in my faith. It speaks of firm in faith in God's unchanging nature. Firm in faith when it comes to God's

unchanging nature. You believe wholeheartedly that no matter what's going on, God has not changed. You know, the first question that the enemy plants in your mind when affliction begins to come about in your life, is God really good? Is God really good? Would a good God allow that to happen? Would a good God allow you to go through that? I don't think you really understand who God is. I actually think God's really cruel, and you start

to question the goodness of God, and you start to think maybe his character changed. Maybe his nature changed. Maybe I never understood it to begin with, and those are the questions that come in, and that's why faith is so important, because that faith tells you, no, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has not changed. That's why I think you should keep a journal of what God has done in your life. I don't care if it's a little piece of notebook paper that you stick in a file

somewhere, where you say, God didn't let me fail. That you can pull out and go, okay, that's right. He didn't do it then. He didn't fail me then. He's not gonna fail me now. But we need that faith, that firm faith in the unchanging nature of God because God does not change. Heavens and earth may pass away, but God remains the same. But not only is it faith in the unchanging nature of God,

but it is faith in that God causes all things to work together for the good, right? Romans 8, 28. And we know that God causes all things to work together for the good to those who love him, to those who are called according to his purpose. I know it's the most printed verse ever, maybe next to John 3, 16, but it's because it's so true. It's because it's so true in our life.

And listen, sometimes you can look and you can say, this is what happened and this is how God used it for good. This is why God allowed that into my life. This is why God allowed that to happen. You should relish in those because those don't always take place. Because sometimes on this side of eternity, you'll go, I have no idea why God allowed that to happen.

I have no idea why God would have allowed that into my life. I have a handful of these. I have some that I have in a little file in my brain called more questions later because there's some things that have taken place in my life that have taken place in my life. Things that I have gone through that I still am kind of like, well, God, you're going to have to explain that one to me sometime.

And that's okay. Because on this side of eternity, we don't need to know everything. We just need to know that God will always use it for his good, or for our good, and for his glory. Ryan, how can I know that without knowing why? Let me tell you a little story. There's a story in the Old Testament about a man. Perhaps you've heard his name before. His name is Job.

And Job faced some of the greatest tests of affliction that anyone has ever faced, perhaps in all of history. Job, first of all, faced the test of the loss of all of his family. The second thing that Job faced was the test of all of his wealth. The third thing that Job faced was the test of his health. And the fourth thing that Job faced was the test of the loss of his friends.

Because everybody that he knew and held close looked at him and said, you are a sinner. You had to have done something for God to have allowed this into your life. And Job began to question God. He began to say, why did you allow this? What did I ever do to you? What have I ever done to cause all of this? Until finally, at the end of all of Job's questioning,

God says one of the stoutest answers I've ever seen in all of Scripture, and he looks at Job and he says, gird up your loins like a man. And answer some questions for me. And God begins to display to Job the power of God, the majesty of God, the sovereignty of God, and the fact that God is unchanging. And at the end of it all, Job finally looks and he says, I heard about you through the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you.

Do you know what Job never learned on this side of eternity? Why any of those things ever came into his life? Why any of those things ever came into his life? Why any of those things ever came into his life? He never had the question why answered for him, but he did have the question what answered for him. What did God want to do in the midst of all of those things?

Well, Job answered it for us. Heard about you through the hearing of the ear, now my eye sees you. And it's tough to go through hard things in life, and I know that there's a lot of you in this room that are going through some tough things right now. You got some situations going on in your life, and you probably find yourself going, Lord, I don't know why you'd allow this to happen.

Lord, I don't know why you would allow this to take place in my life. I don't understand it, but I want you to know something. You may never receive a why on this side of eternity, but you can always receive a what, and that God is going to use it for your good and for his glory. Because brothers and sisters, no matter what's going on, you gotta persevere and you gotta hold on to faith, amen?

Let's all stand.

And if you'd bow with me. Father, we come before you, and Lord, I thank you for the truth of your word. Thank you for the encouragement of your word. And Lord, I thank you that you never change. And so Father, it is our desire to draw near to you, and it's our desire to hold on to you no matter what's going on in our lives. And Father, I know that there are people in this room

that, Lord, they're facing things, and I just wanna pray for them now. And so I'm not even gonna open my eyes. I don't need to know who you are. Nobody in this room needs to know who you are. Only God needs to know who you are. But I wanna pray for you specifically, and I want you to make a point of contact to just reaching your hands out to the Lord. And I just wanna pray for you.

Because again, I know that there's some afflictions that people are facing. And so Father, I lift up everybody whose hands are raised right now. You know who they are. You know their names. You know their hearts. You know the things they won't even tell anybody else. And Lord, I know you wanna move in their lives. And so Lord, every day they're finding themselves saying,

I don't know if I can persevere another day. I don't know if I can make it one more day with this. But Lord, I know that you are bigger. And Father, they need your grace. They need an extra measure, Lord. Lord, pressed down, shaken together, poured into them with a fire hose right now. And so Lord, I just ask for that overflowing grace that only comes through your Holy Spirit.

As a matter of fact, Lord, I just pray for a fresh baptism of your Holy Spirit upon everybody that's got their hands raised right now. Lord, just that fresh filling that they would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are God. And that they can rest in you. That they can find their peace in you. And so Father, move in our hearts and in our hearts, Lord, that they can rest in you.

In our hearts and in our lives. Be with us as we go throughout this week. And Lord, I want to lift up this pile of boxes that are over here right now. And Lord, there's nothing magical about these boxes. There's nothing magical about what's in these boxes. But Lord, your Holy Spirit takes what is common and turns it into something incredibly spiritual. And so Lord, use the contents of every box.

Use the letters that are put in there, the socks, the toothbrushes, the little toys. Father, the Bibles that come out of them, the books that get put in there, the message of the Gospel that gets put in there. And Lord, may that minister the love of Jesus Christ to a whole lot of kids that need some hope. Father, we just ask for a fresh work of your Holy Spirit to take place through what happens with these boxes.

And Father, we thank you for who you are. In Jesus' name, amen. Be blessed and remember if you can help us haul these out as soon as he's done singing that last song, we'd love it. Lord, we just thank you for the day. Thank you for your word. Lord, it is sharp and able to divide down to the marrow. Divide right from wrong. Lord, we just thank you for how powerful it is

and the work that it's doing in our lives. Lord, I pray that as we leave here today, that your Holy Spirit will be with us. Holy Spirit, go with us and continue to minister to our hearts, Lord. We love you, Father. We praise you in Jesus' name, amen. You guys have a wonderful week. God bless you.