Community Baptist Church
Sunday, May 10

      • Psalm 66:1–2NKJV

      • Psalm 66:8–9NKJV

  • Majesty

      • 1 Peter 3:11–18NKJV

  • The Wonderful Cross
  • Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me

      • John 14:15–21NKJV

  • 250 Birthday’s

    This year the United States celebrates 250 years of ‘Independence.’ On July 4, 1776 a ‘Declaration of Independence’ was signed by a number of leading men in the British Colonies located on the North American continent.
    That document, authored by Thomas Jefferson, begins with words most Americans are familiar with:
    When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitles them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
    Less well-known are the 27 specific grievances listed against the last King of America: George III.
    The last sentence of the Declaration is perhaps as important as the first:
    And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
    A similar document for the Jewish people, well known by Paul and almost every observant Jew in the first century is the call of God that initiated the events in which we find ourselves.
    Genesis 12:1–3 “The Lord said to Abram: Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who treat you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
    Paul sees the climax of this covenant in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Jesus God brings His work to a conclusion, to an end toward all who believe will focus.
    READ 1 THESS 2:5-16
    As a descendant of Abraham Paul saw the gospel, the good news of Jesus, as the utlimate fulfillment of God’s promise.

    A). Create a people for His own Possession

    Let’s review: THE GOSPEL:
    1 Corinthians 15:3–5 “For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.”
    Information can change one’s mind. Music and other forms of entertainment can influence one’s heart. Only the gospel can transform one’s life.
    Several metaphors this section hint at how the transformation of one’s life unites one to the people of God.
    1 Thessalonians 2:5–7 “For we never used flattering speech, as you know, or had greedy motives —God is our witness — and we didn’t seek glory from people, either from you or from others. 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.”
    Coming to Jesus Christ, being translated from the kingdom of this world to the kingdom of God literally places us in a newly formed family.
    Various translations replace the word ‘nurse’ in the HCSB with the more appropriate word ‘mother.’ Paul reminds these believers that he and his companions treated these new believers just as they were: new born in the faith.
    1 Thessalonians 2:8–9 “We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers. Working night and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God’s gospel to you.”
    Sharing the gospel in words is our assignment. Yet words are not enough. The way we live is crucially important.
    Paul, and his companions,work at their secular trade in order to not be a burden on these new believers. Earlier in this section Paul underlined that he (and they) did not use flattery, greed, or a desire for personal gratification as they proclaimed, taught, and lived among those in Thessalonica.
    Being transformed by the new life we’ve received in Christ means we find ourselves in a new environment, a new family
    1 Thessalonians 2:10–12 “You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly we conducted ourselves with you believers. 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.”
    “Like a father with his own children…” Paul reminds these men and women that he exhibited the qualities and characteristics of a good father among them.
    Good father’s:
    are an example of living with integrity (vs 10);
    encourage their family (vs 11);
    comfort (vs 11)
    exhort/implore (challenge, spur to growth)
    so that God’s blessing on us will be evident to the world around us, just as God covenanted with Abraham,
    1 Thessalonians 2:13 “This is why we constantly thank God, because when you received the message about God that you heard from us, you welcomed it not as a human message, but as it truly is, the message of God, which also works effectively in you believers.”
    Paul reminds us that the word of God, the ‘message about God’ is not just information that changes one’s mind. The ‘message about God’ is a life-transforming, life-altering message that leaves no part of our lives untouched.

    B). A People Through whom God’s presence is clearly revealed

    1 Thessalonians 2:14–16 “For you, brothers, became imitators of God’s churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, since you have also suffered the same things from people of your own country, just as they did from the Jews who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets and persecuted us; they displease God and are hostile to everyone, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. As a result, they are always completing the number of their sins, and wrath has overtaken them at last.”
    If, as God called Abraham and succeeding generations, God’s presence is made real, so is the presence and power of the enemy.
    And instead of seeing the presence of the enemy something to fear, what if we saw the church - those whose lives have been transformed by the message of God, the gospel of God - as God’s act of judgement?
    Paul went to Thessalonica after being beaten and imprisoned in Philippi. He was forced to flee Thessalonica after dark, and forced to leave Berea due to the agitation of Jews from Thessalonica. Do you see a pattern here?
    Some would conclude it wasn’t safe to preach and teach the good news any longer.
    Paul sees the persecution differently:
    He sees it as God’s way of declaring His ultimate victory over evil!

    REFLECT AND RESPOND

    What does the cross on a building represent?
    The cross is meant to represent the finished work of Jesus in defeating sin and death at His death.
    But more than than, the cross represents a message to the world that forgivness is possible, reconciliation is possible, new life is possible.
    But is a cross on the building, or part of the logo/branding sufficient for fulfilling the call of God to ‘be a blessing’ and the purpose of God to ‘bless the world’ through His people?
    In a recent fictional narrative of a young pastor serving in his first pastorate the story is told of this pastor’s meeting with a much older mentor. The young pastor describes his church, his efforts, and his frustration.
    The older, wiser (?) pastor replies:
    “Your church,” Henry said, “is not a church. Not the way the New Testament uses the word. Your church is a club. A club with a cross on the building and the smell of communion grape juice in the cabinet, but a club. The members pay their dues. They show up. They expect the staff, which is you, to provide the program. They are very fond of one another. They are very fond of the building. They are not, in any meaningful sense, on mission with the risen Christ for the salvation of their neighbors.”
    “The New Testament church, Caleb, was a body of people sent. Apostello. Sent ones. They gathered, yes. They worshiped, yes. They broke bread and prayed and sang. But they did all of that as a base camp for the mission, not as the mission itself.
    “A church that gathers without being sent,” he said, “is a club. And clubs, Caleb, do not multiply. Clubs maintain. Clubs preserve. Clubs protect their assets and their traditions and their people, and they do all of this with deep, sincere affection for one another, which is the most painful part. Because it looks like love. And in some ways, it is love. Just not the love that Jesus commanded. Jesus commanded a love that goes out. A love that crosses parking lots. A love that gives itself away.”
    https://associationmissionstrategist.substack.com/p/the-club-with-a-cross
    The challenge Paul offers those in Thessalonica, and by extension, can be summarized in a question:
    Are we a club with a cross on top or are we a church propelled into the world by the cross?
    The gospel transforms our lives, connecting us with other believers through who God calls us out apart from the world, so that through us the world might come to know Him.

      • Genesis 12:1–3NKJV

      • 1 Thessalonians 2:5–7NKJV

      • 1 Thessalonians 2:8–9NKJV

      • 1 Thessalonians 2:10–12NKJV

      • 1 Thessalonians 2:14–16NKJV

      • Mark 1:17NKJV

Community Baptist Church
sschenewerk@gmail.com
5416799569
http://www.winstoncommunitybaptist.com
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