Episodes
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Jesus is Coming! Be Ready
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Passage: 1 Thessalonians 4:16-5:11
There have been countless books, articles and pamphlets written and predictions made on when Jesus will return. To this day, they all have missed the mark. Paul reminds the Thessalonians that they don't need anything written on this, because all we know regarding that time for sure is that Jesus is coming and it will be sudden. For believers, this is not a matter of speculation or, even in some ways, surprise, but one of certainty and assurance. We've been given the light of day to see this grand event clearly and to meet if confidently in Christ. So of all people, Christians should be ready when Jesus comes again. Join us Sunday as we continue in Thessalonians encouraging one another with the truth that Jesus is coming!
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Resurrection Hope
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Passage: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
We often associate advent with the season of Christmas and the anticipated, awaited hope of the birth of the Jesus. But because of Easter, we live in an ongoing season of advent hope, awaiting the coming of Christ again, at which time all those in Christ will be raised with him in glory to eternal life in his presence. And yet this second advent period is not without its grief, as we still face the trials of sin, the loss of loved one and the specter of death ourselves. Paul reminds us that when it comes to death, Christians do not grieve as those without hope, because we know Christ died and was raised from the dead. Therefore our hope is sure, and we will see him again. Join us this Easter Sunday as we celebrate our risen Savior and the resurrection hope that he will coming again so that we will always be with the Lord.
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
A Quiet Life of Love
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Passage: 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12
As Jesus entered Jerusalem on what has become known as Palm Sunday, he did so knowing that the week ahead held forth incredible suffering and ultimately a painful death by crucifixion. The power by which he was able to enter into and endure such trials was that of love. Love for his Father and love for those whom his death would redeem. He taught and demonstrated this love to his disciples on the night before his death, and he commanded them, "as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." (John 13:34-35) This love would be the defining mark of his followers. In Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, he commends them for having learned this love from God, and having lived it out among one another, and then he exhorts them to do so more and more. And the way he encourages them to demonstrate that love is by living a quiet life and working hard so as to be a good witness to outsiders. Join us Sunday as we consider what it means to live a quiet life of love that labors well.
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
The Walk, the Way, the Warning
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Passage: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
True Gospel Connection
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Passage: 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13
We’ve all had the experience on the phone when the voice on the other end begins to sound garbled and fades in and out, and we have to ask, “Are you still there?” A connection problem on the phone can easily hamper communication, cause misunderstandings, or literally leave us feeling cut off from the person on the other side. One of the more common concerns I hear from people about the church and about their own lives is that there is a connection problem. They just don’t feel connected to others in the body of Christ. When asked what they mean by this, the answers can vary all over the place, and what one person describes as being connected may be totally different than another person’s description. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul is writing to a group of believers from which he had been literally disconnected by distance and time. At the end of the second chapter, Paul opens up his heart and shares his deep longing and affection for the believers there, and in doing so, he demonstrates for us in his own life the nature and qualities of connection in the body of Christ that can help us to see what we should both seek to experience and strive to express in our own relationships. Join us Sunday as we hear what God has to say to us about true gospel connection.
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
The Word of God at Work
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Passage: 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16 As Christians and members of the body of Christ, we pray that God would be at work in our lives and in the life of his church. We pray for God to do his saving, sanctifying and strengthening work in us and through us. And yet, we can easily neglect or even forget the primary way he does that work: through the hearing and receiving of his Word. We are right to place a high priority in the church on the preaching and teaching of God's Word, but do we place as much emphasis on how we hear and receive it? Are we praying not just for the Word preached, but the Word received such that it bears much fruit in our own hearts and lives. One of primary reasons Paul was thankful for the Thessalonian church was their growth in faith, love and hope, the cause of which he reminds them is that they received the gospel for what it truly was, the Word of God at work in them. Join us this Sunday as we come to hear what God has to say about the work of his Word, and pray for him to open our ears and hearts to hear and receive what he has for us.
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
The Marks of Faithful Gospel Ministry
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Passage: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12
We are all quick to defend ourselves from criticism and attack, especially when it is rooted in falsehoods and malice. But often our goal is to defend our reputation, our rightness, our record. Paul finding himself and his ministry under attack after leaving Thessalonica, writes back to defend himself. But he doesn't do so to prove his greatness as an apostle, but to show them Jesus and the power of the gospel at work in and through his ministry in the lives of the Thessalonians. In doing so, he helps us to see the true marks of a faithful gospel ministry. Join us Sunday as we continue our series in 1 Thessalonians and celebrate our union with Christ and one another in the Lord's Supper.
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Gospel Influencers
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Passage: 1 Thessalonians 1:5b-10 \
In today's world, those with enough followers on social media are often labeled as "influencers" and paid to steer their followers towards a certain product or point of view by virtue of their endorsement. Jesus is the greatest influencer in all of history, and those who follow him become gospel influencers themselves by virtue of the powerful change and testimony of their lives. But that influence is not towards products or perspectives that promise a better life, but towards a person, indeed the Person, who promises life itself: the true and living God. In his letter, Paul gives thanks for the gospel influence of the Thessalonian church. Join us Sunday as we continue in our study of 1st Thessalonians and seek as individuals and as a church to better understand and live as gospel influencers in our community and culture today.
Tuesday Apr 16, 2024
Monday Apr 15, 2024
Why the Sacraments of the Church?
Monday Apr 15, 2024
Monday Apr 15, 2024
Passage: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31
In marriage, a husband and wife mark the promises they make to one another with visible symbols. The ring signifies their union to one another and identifies that union to others. Each year, they may remember, celebrate and reaffirm that union with an anniversary date or meal. God gave his church two important outward symbols of his covenant of grace to redeem his people through the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus. The sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper signify Christ and the benefits of his grace, mark our interest in and union with him, and set us apart from the world as belonging to him. But they are more than just symbols, they are means by which God continues to minister his grace and strengthen his body, the church. Join us this Sunday we continue in our series on the church and consider the question "Why the Sacraments?"