Keep Walking
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
As you know, like a father with his own children,
we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to walk worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
Interesting development: I have already preached these verses in a broader context. About a week and a half ago, I opened the Bible Study software I use and the last part of verse 12 was highlighted. But I did not knowingly do that. That caught my attention and made me take a second look. As I turned these words over in my mind, I decided God was leading me to drill down on the thought that we need to “Keep Walking” in our Christian lives.
The Trainer
The Trainer
Although we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles, instead we were gentle among you, as a nursing mother nurtures her own children.
The care of a nurturing mom
As you know, like a father with his own children,
The discipline of a responsible father
Note- There is a difference in the innate roles of moms and dads. Paul used this truth to speak of how he had tried to disciple the Thessalonians.
Speaks to the need for a growing maturity on the part of the believers.
Speaks to the nurturing heart Paul had for his “flock”
The Training
The Training
we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to walk worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
Three words used.
Encourage.... Exhort (ESV and KJV)- to tenderly call on someone to do something.
comforted (also KJV)… Encouraged (ESV) to speak kindly soothingly to comfort or even pacify.
implore- This word come from the word martyr and means to be a witness. ESV and KJV use the word “CHARGE” Here Paul is saying he testified to them and charged them. This is a stronger word than the first two. It is more direct, more insistent, and perhaps more corrective.
When Coach Keith Howard died, Terry Roller, the principal at Lincoln High School told me a story if how coach had taken a players clothes to the school to wash them for the kid. (That’s pretty sad within itself). As Coach unloaded the bag of clothes they were so worn, ripped, tattered, and stained that he looked at Terry and said, “I can’t wash these. I’m going to and buy him new stuff.”
Keith perhaps exemplified a good mixture of encouragement and firmness.
Dad’s how are you in this area? Can I say I am not by disposition or nurture a good encourager. I am a get it done kind of person and often forget to be tender. Maybe you were taught that dads are to be firm… and surely that is so. Kids need a mom and a dad. But it doesn’t mean that we can’t be soft when we need to be… and there are times we need to be. But we should also implore our kids on their way.
Paul constantly discipled the Thessalonians toward something. What was that?
The Target
The Target
we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to walk worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
The target or the goal of Paul’s loving nurture and correction and discipleship in their lives was that they would
WALK WORTHY
Walk- live life… In many places in the Bible, the Christian life is compared to a walk, a journey, a travel.
We are told to live out our Christian lives considering how people are watching us.
We are told to live out our Christians lives worthy of the Good News of Jesus.
But the truth is: We’re not worthy. (When you read this passage it may conjure the unfortunate image of Wayne and Garth in one of the dumbest movies ever made, on their knees crying “We’re not Worthy”
Paul is not talking about self-righteous worthiness…
Worthy- has to do with scales. We don’t see much anymore the balancing scales.
On one side is an item and on the other side is a weight. Weights are added or subtracted to get the right weight.
Here Paul is telling the believers to live lives that give the proper worth, the proper weight to the fact that they have been called by God to be a part of His Kingdom.
Consider the weightiness the value of belonging to God, to being His child, to being forgiven, and blessed, to be His child… Live life in light of that.
This is a call to let go of some things that keep you from giving Him the proper weight… What sins need to go?
This is a call to pick up some things… some priorities… to value the things that would add weight to God’s worth in your life.
This is a call to live out your faith… and to do so boldly! Full bore… make your life count for the Lord.
This is a father encouraging his kids to be the best them for the Lord they can be!