. . . because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. . .
O God of faith, hope, and love-- grant that I might proclaim the message of the gospel not just in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with FULL CONVICTION. Amen
Pilgrim
v. 3--- work of faith, labor of love, steadfastness of hope Could these be three "marks" or "signs" of a chosen church/people? Are these (the) three characteristics of FULL CONVICTION?
Danny CA
v. 3--- work of faith, labor of love, steadfastness of hope Could these be three "marks" or "signs" of a chosen church/people? Are these (the) three characteristics of FULL CONVICTION?
Danny CA
Hi, I am impressed with how well this fits with the gospel this week. Are we Imitators or Imposters? The Pharisees and Herodians ( and all of Israel ) was called to be imitators of God's love and grace and make that known to the world. Yet they were imposters - claiming Jesus to be a teacher of "Truth" yet seeking to entrap him.
Also Jesus says, "Render to God the things that are God's." To me this means not just the temple sheckel but ourselves, our love and service.
Are we Imitators or Impostors? Often we get caught up in Running, defending, controlling the church as we see and understand it. Perhaps we need to receive and share the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit. Let go and let God.
Bob in WP, NY
Wouldn't it be great if all our faith was so great and known that it would not have to be spoken of, for it was evident, as Paul writes of here to the Thessolonians?
Hmmmm, maybe I found a sermon in that.
Peace and Grace of God to All Pastor Deb- Bangor, ME
Bob, Thank you for your discussion of impostors or imitators. I think I will try to go some where with this on Sunday. I am struggling with how the mission of the people I serve is best communicated. Is it in a building program, which will meet our needs? Or is it in doing mission and ministry within our community and inthe world in which God places us? I feel like I am leaning in the direction of the later answer. However, there are other voices in our congregation which would say the former, because it will help to empower ministry. I want to be an imitator, not an imposter what do I need to do?
TN in MN
I plan to use the theme of reputation as a witness. Paul has given the Thessalonians a reputation of faithfulness as he hears of their ministry. It will be a challenge to our people to build a reputation based on their ministry. It is laity Sunday and I can point the sermon toward the pew with examples from the pew.
CGS in IL
Bob, ditto on your idea of imposter/imatators. The song that keeps going through my mind on this is "thay will know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes they will know we are Christians by our love." It seems to me that to often we are known by our INGS. As in left wING, right wING, militia wING, etc. And not by our servING, lovING, prayING, and imatatING. So often as we try do define who we are as a congregation, or a Christian, the wrong ING's are in the minds of our us and our church's members. This is why when I read this letter to the Thessalonians' I get excited by the knowledge that we can be known by our "LOVE". We have the example of a people that were surrounded by all of the negitive INGs and yet they over came this and their reputation in the land reflected this.
DLB in TN [frequent reader, first time writer]
>From Walt in Mo. A late posting but I thought interesting. I picked up a book this week "When You're a Christian, the Whole World is from Missouri" by James W. Moore. Each chapter ends with, " When you're a Christian, the whole world is from Missouri, saying, "Sow me your spirit of forgiveness", or what ever the chapter is discussing. Many good thoughts for this text.
Walt
Too often I hear folks say,"I don't feel comfortable talking about my faith so I just try to witness with my actions." The message of Paul (and elsewhere, of James) isn't "Deeds, not words" but rather deeds to back up the words. There are a lot of noble heathens out there who act good because society applauds it or they were raised in good company. We need to let the world know the source of our joy and the reason for our service. Verse 6 has the real evidence-even though they were persecuted they still served with joy.how well do we keep the faith when things turn against us?
tom in tn.
Something about the contagious congregation theme strikes me as applicable here; what are the charecteristics of a "body" that makes others automatically ill with the good flu of faith? What are the danger signs that our faith no longer infects others who wander by? How can we recapture that spirit of contagion so that "If Christ be lifted up, he will draw all unto him?" in our day?