202; Telling a Better Story; His Story Our Story; 1 Thessalonians 1

I have to ensure everything happens according to my preference, I am continually pessimistic about everything, I am continually divisive, I place myself in the judgment seat, what have I done?

What is the story I am telling? I’m telling the world that I am a functional atheist, or even worse, I think I am god.

But IF:

God is sovereign…I can have peace when things don’t look like they are going to work out.

God is the great savior…it frees me up from the pressure of thinking I have to rescue someone from every situation. Let Jesus be the savior.

Tracey’s comment

God is working in other people…I can rest in the reality that he has them on a path, I don’t.

the Gospel is true…I can know that I have value, I am loved, I have a future that NOTHING can alter.

IF:

It’s time that our lives start telling a better story.

Tyler's girlfriend, whom he later dropped, had a saline abortion, a procedure in which a salt solution is used to slowly burn and kill the baby. Tyler witnessed it all. "You go to the doctor and they put the needle in her belly and they squeeze the stuff in and you watch. And it comes out dead. I was pretty devastated. In my mind, I'm going, 'Jesus, what have I done?'"

I have to ensure everything happens according to my preference, I am continually pessimistic about everything, I am continually divisive, I place myself in the judgment seat, what have I done?

I want the story of my life to say that I really believe and follow Jesus.

Adapted from Brian E. Fisher, Abortion: The Ultimate Exploitation of Women (Online for Life, 2013), pp. 166-167

I want the story of my life to say that I believe an average guy can study his Bible and engage deep truths.

I’m living like a functional atheist, or even worse, I live like I am god.

I want the story of my life to say that I prioritize prayer and going to church on a weekly basis.

Here we need Scripture. Open your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians.

Possibly the earliest NT book. Written in either 50 or 51

Paul and Silas go to Thessalonica.

Some jealous Jews started a lynch mob and went after Paul and Silas. When they couldn’t find Paul and Silas, they drug out Jason and some other believers and had them arrested.

These believers are the first recipients of this letter.

Text

1 Thessalonians 1:1 NIV

Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.

Paul - apostle of Jesus. Paul is his Roman name. Saul is his Jewish name.

Silas - one of the earliest non-apostolic leaders in the church.

Timothy - Paul’s spiritual son. He had pastored there but returned to Paul.

To the church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 1:2–3 NIV

We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul says, “I know your story!”

Two sets of three that Paul highlights.

Actions, Work Labor Endurance

We are saved by faith not works but a faith that saves is always a faith that works.

Theology, Faith Hope and Love

Faith - Jesus loves me this I know...

Hope - God is making all things new

Love - this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Root, Jesus

For the Christian, these aren’t rooted in good luck, our work ethic, business success, or the government. Work, Endurance, Labor, Faith, hope, and love find their source in Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 1:4–10 NIV

For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

God has chosen you

Unfortunately, the doctrine of election causes division. While it is important and worthy of discussion, this isn’t the time for that discussion simply because it is not the purpose of this text.

Paul wants to give comfort to these young Christians saying - God chose you!

What is the evidence Paul sees? When we preached the Gospel, it wasn’t natural.

What do we mean by that?

Holy Spirit

Deep conviction

When the Holy Spirit applies the gospel to you heart and your respond with conviction, your life is turned into a story of God’s power, faithfulness, and love. Your story becomes His story.

Your Life in Christ is a story that should encourage the church and give evidence to those who don’t know Jesus as Lord.

Why do we say that? Last night we heard stories from the lives of folks who have been Christians a very long time. What did their stories say?

Evidence of God’s presence - we’re not in this alone.

Evidence of God’s sustaining power

Seeing the way God brings people through difficulty

Evidence of God’s salvation

Seeing the way God saves people from lives of sin.

Notice Paul’s pattern of sharing the story.

He intentionally spent time with young believers so they could learn what the Christian life is to look like.

We simply cannot be content to get out salvation and check out.

We have a responsibility in his church and in the world.

Think about how much they must have learned by having Paul living his faith out in Thessalonica.

How many of you have that person?

Who are you going to help form?

In turn, the Thessalonian believers became an example for other believers and unbelievers. The gospel rang out!

Their lives became a story of the power and wonder of the gospel. Ours do the same.

Application

What were the highlights of the Thessalonian’s story?

Repentance. Paul writes, “They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.”

Some might think; we don’t serve idols. I would respectfully differ.

Calvin wrote, “Man’s nature is a perpetual factory of idols.”

What are those things that take hole of your heart and say, “If I just have this (comfort, privacy, security, this relationship, preferences, that job), if I had that, my life would be perfect. That’s your idol.

Those things are necessarily even bad. It’s when our joy and satisfaction are dependent upon them, that we are idolatrous. Repent. The Christian life is marked by digging those things up and placing Jesus back in the center.

We find our joy and satisfaction in the person, work, and hope of Jesus. Then the tings of earth...

And we need to repent of more than idols. We need to repent of sinful habits, and bad attitudes, divisiveness, apathy towards spiritual disciplines, apathy toward being with the church, and on and on.

Remember, your life tells a story. You are telling your story to the next generation of Christians or folks who walk out because they like Jesus but don’t like his people.

Repentance is not a one-time event that happens when we come to Christ. Repentance is the ongoing business of the follower of Jesus.

Side-note. Dads, you be the chief repenter of your home. This isn’t about you. Tell a better story.

Expectation

Paul says, “to wait for his (God’s) Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

When you get the gospel, you realize this is bigger than us. There is an expectation. During the 9:00 hour we’ve been working on this Tough Topics series. Honestly, it’s been pretty incredible to really wrestle with these difficult topics. Two of the topics that have impressed have been heaven and hell.

Reality of Hell

Thy will be done?

Reality of Heaven

Ouida’s daughter

What is your story telling?

Related Media

Related Sermons