Community Baptist Church
June 14 2026

      • Hosea 6:3HCSB

  • The Joy of the Lord

      • 1 Timothy 1:15–17HCSB

  • Since Jesus Came Into My Heart (McDaniel)

      • Exodus 3:13–15HCSB

  • All Hail King Jesus
  • Forever Reign

      • Matthew 9:9–13HCSB

  • THRIVING OR DYING

    My wife is well-known for her lack of a green thumb. I once noted that house plants come to our home as a place for experience human assisted death.
    When we go to the plant store we see hundreds of thriving plants. We both are easily persuaded by the signs of life and the picture on the card stuck in the soil.
    So we try once again and unfortunately we experience the same result.
    There is a solution. Hire a gardnerer!
    Let’s take th pressure of my wife and turn out attention to another organism with which we are familiar:
    The Local Church

    1 Thessalonians 5:12-22

    In this section of his letter Paul offers a brief overview of the qualities of a vibrant, faith-filled group of believers called a ‘church.’ My temptation - and the same for many of you - is to look at Paul’s seemingly endless list of challenges as a ‘to-do list.’
    Respect the pastor/leaders
    Be at peace
    Warn those who are idle…and so on.
    That is not Paul’s point. In scholarly circles Paul is noted for these kind of lists. They occur in almost all his letter. And no two lists are the same!
    So, if this paragraph is not meant as a tool by which to evaluate your level of ‘discipleship,’ then what is the point?
    Often we measure the vitality and health of a ‘church’ by these metrics:
    Activities every day of the week,
    evenings committed to doing good works,
    programs aimed at meeting needs of the community.
    These are all good and healthy activities. But, are they indicators of spiritual health and vitality?
    Paul’s words reveal a pattern of life that reflects the change the Holy Spirit makes as He grows us into the likeness of Jesus - which is THE ultimate goal of a disciple,

    Allow The Spirit’s Work of Rightly Relating us to One Another

    I’m always self-conscious about passages such as this. Asking others to respect or recognize me is not in my nature. I’d rather be behind the scenes, invisible if you will.
    Yet woven throughout this entire section there is a call for us to
    a). recognize our spiritual gifts and
    b). acknowledge the spiritual gifts of others.
    The men and women I’ve met who hold teaching and leading assignments in the church are generally the last to seek a position or a title.
    The Holy Spirit gifts men and women alike - see Peter’s quote on the Day of Pentecost:
    Acts 2:17–18 HCSB
    And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. I will even pour out My Spirit on My male and female slaves in those days, and they will prophesy.
    A rightly ordered gathering of believers will recognize those whom God has gifted and called to ‘labor,’ ‘lead,’ and ‘admonish.’

    Allow the Holy Spirit to place us where He needs us

    1 Thessalonians 5:12–15 HCSB
    Be at peace among yourselves. And we exhort you, brothers: warn those who are irresponsible, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all.
    These instructions are not the exclusive assignment of ‘teachers and leaders.’ These activities are a call to every believer to accept their role, to exercise their gift, and to participate in the activity of the Holy Spirit of the congregation.
    A fellowship marked by peace
    Paul is known for his call for believers to be prepared for the spiritual battle in which all believers are engaged. We cannot be ‘at peace’ with the enemy who seeks to steal and kill and destroy (see John 10:10). Several instances in this first letter to believers in Thessalonica point to the spiritual conflict (see 1 Thess 1:8; 2:14; 2:18; 3:5).
    A fellowship marked by care and concern for one another
    The encouragement Paul shares is to care deeply enough for one another that the ‘church’ creates an environment where all can exercise their gifts. Too often churches are noticeable because of their combativeness, their constant internal conflict, and their loss of focus on the things that matter most.
    A fellowship known for their common pursuit of that which is good
    As the Holy Spirit gifts each believer, and as each believer exercises his or her gift a church will be known as a fellowship of people who genuinenly seek the good of one another (see vs 15).

    Allow the Holy Spirit to shape, mold, and grow us

    In another letter Paul challenges believers to Colossians 3:1–4 “So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God. When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”
    In Christ heaven, the place where God lives and exists from eternity past into eternity future, has broken into the physical world which God Himself created.
    In Christ believers are being conformed to think like Christ so that we will be Christ to the world around us.
    Paul has indicated that this physical body ‘cannot inherit’ the ‘kingdom of God.’ We must be transformed, or as one writer suggests,
    God fits [us] for heaven by conforming [us] to himself.
    Kyle Strobel Formed for the Glory of God: Learning from the Spiritual Practices of Jonathan Edwars [Downers Grove, ILL.: IVP Books, 2013] p. 65.
    Heaven is a place of constant joy, of unending songs and recitations of thankfulness, a place where the Holy Spirit has total freedom to be present, a place of eternal good, and a place where no evil is allowed.
    Why wait until we die or are raptured? Paul suggests we can live as those in heaven here and now.

    REFLECT AND RESPOND

    CATHEDRAL

    I am intrigued by pictures such as this of ‘churches.’ As magnificent and beautiful as they are, one thing strikes me:
    Rarely do these buildings house a vibrant congregation of believers. Centuries in the making, requiring generations of giving, of hard physical labor and today many of these buildings are nothing more than museums of the past.
    What happened?
    I am not a church historian. I can’t point to a particular point in time when cathedral’s such as the one pictured ceased being a place where God’s people thrived.
    Looking at Paul’s next to last section in 1 Thessalonians there are some questions that might be asked:

    Are we allowing the Holy Spirit unhindered access to all of life?

    Being brought into the Kingdom of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus brings us into a kingdom rightly ordered by God’s pattern of authority.
    It would be heartbreaking for us to hear of the number of churches that close in any given year because of this very reason: group A believes that their vision for the church is superior to group B’s. Or a leader such as a pastor seeks to implement God’s vision for a people of God and the people of God simply turn away - asking themselves ‘who gave this person the right?
    Being broguth into theKingdom of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus brings us into a kingdom where all God’s people are fully surrendered to His purposes for them.
    Throughout Paul’s letters to gatherings of believers across the Roman Empire one idea permeates all of them.
    We are a body. Bodies only function properly if every part of the body is healthy and active.
    There is no place for parts of the body to simply just exist without being actively engaged in the purposes of the body.
    Being brought in the Kingdom of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus brings uns into a kingdom where God has become all in all.
    Joyless. unthankful, Spirit-less people may meet regularly, call themselves a ‘church;’ people may ignore God’s teaching preferring to have their ears tickled (see 2 Tim 4:3); but they are not a ‘church’ regardless of what the outdoor yard sign might say.
    We have called a new pastor who sooner than later will step fully into a senior pastor role.
    As important as that step has been and will be there is a call in this passage we cannot avoid:

    Are we - those gathered in this roome/within the reach of my voice - ready to fully experience the indwelling Holy Spirit and the transformation He brings?

      • Acts 2:17–18HCSB

      • 1 Thessalonians 5:12–15HCSB

      • James 4:7–8HCSB

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