Connected
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How are connections made? How do you come to trust a pastor? a teacher?
Last week I shared my testimony. A part of that was my call to my first church.
I mentioned a lot of wise advice from Jimmy Dean. The last thing he told me before I left Shelby County was this
“You will be the preacher from the day you arrive, but you will have to earn the right to be the pastor.”
Starting next week we will be studying the book of 1 Thessalonians. God has so much to say to us.
But I wanted to take today and talk about Paul’s CONNECTION to this church.
How did they know each other? What gave him the right to teach them? to speak into their lives?
What was his connection to them?
He was directed there by the Lord
He was directed there by the Lord
During the night a vision appeared to Paul: A Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!”
After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to evangelize them.
Thessalonica population 200,000
Native Greeks with some Romans.
Asians and many Jews also.
Was named after the half sister of Alexander the Great.
During WW2 60000 thousand Jews removed and executed.
Still in existence today as Salonica or Thessaloniki, second largest Greek city with a population of over 1 million.
Port city with a major route to many important cities.
Paul’s arrival was a part of the Macedonian Call.
Greece was split into two major provinces. Macedonia, and Achaia
Thessalonica was the capital of Macedonia.
He found common ground
He found common ground
Then they traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.
As usual, Paul went to the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
explaining and showing that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead: “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.”
Paul went to the Synagogue. He was Jewish it would have been the most obvious place for him to start.
This synagogue was well known and well established.
He went to what he knew in order to have a starting place to tell them what they did not know.
Paul was well schooled rabbi. He would have been at home there.
But he was a tent maker. He wasn’t afraid of work. Later on in the chapter we find that he was skilled in philosophy and able to reason with academics. not afraid to engage politicians even while in chains.
Let that sink in: religious crowd- check; working crowd- check; politicians-check; academians- check Well rounded.
He gave the Gospel Message
He gave the Gospel Message
As usual, Paul went to the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
explaining and showing that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead: “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.”
Paul’s message was two fold.
The Old Testament taught that Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead. I can’t say for sure, but I would think he would have pointed to Isaiah 53.
Jesus is the Messiah.
Notice three phrases that are used.
reasoned- dialogued… it wasn’t a one time deal… he kept going back And it was from the Scripture… the Old Testament. a Preacher worth his salt builds his message from the Bible.
explained- interpretation
showed- set before… its like he was saying look see here. Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecy.
He made disciples
He made disciples
Then some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, including a great number of God-fearing Greeks, as well as a number of the leading women.
Three groups are identified.
Jewish converts.
Greek converts who had converted to Judaism.
highly esteemed women.
He made enemies
He made enemies
Or you might say the preaching of the Gospel made enemies.
But the Jews became jealous, and they brought together some scoundrels from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. Attacking Jason’s house, they searched for them to bring them out to the public assembly.
When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too,
and Jason has received them as guests! They are all acting contrary to Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king—Jesus!”
The Jews stirred up the crowd and the city officials who heard these things.
So taking a security bond from Jason and the others, they released them.
As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas off to Berea. On arrival, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
A bold Gospel witness often brings about a duck or pucker mentality.
The Jews were jealous
They gathered a mob
They provoked the politicians
Paul had to escape at night.
Again the Gospel confronts people. It divides people. It separates people. The Bible says about Jesus “There was a division among the people because of Him.”
He made life-long connections
He made life-long connections
This is the truth of discipleship.
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy: To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace.
how long was paul here?
He reasoned in Synagogue three Saturdays in a row.
Doesn’t mean he was only three 3 weeks. Highly unlikely.
I believe he used the nucleus of believers that had been one as a result of those three weeks to establish a house church at a man named Jason.
He speak in both 1st and 2nd thess that as he established this new church he did not take funds directly from them, but that he labored.
Phil 4.6 also says he received offerings on more than one occasion from the Philippian church while he was there.
I think its fair to say he was there several months.
Long enough to give them a good foundation but not as long as he would like to have stayed.