TURN:SERVE:WAIT

captivate
TURN:SERVE:WAIT

The Power of the Jesus Story

1 Thessalonians
 review
When Paul brought the gospel to Thessalonica
it had an initial impact on many in the city . . . .
1. They received the Gospel as the word of
God (1:13)
2. It was accompanied with displays of the Holy
Spirit’s power (1:5)
3. It was accompanied with conviction (1:5)
4. The Gospel was received with joy even
though it was accompanied with suffering
(1:6)
 review
After the initial reception of the Gospel Paul
and Silas were discipling the new Jesus
followers . . .
1. They were sharing their lives with them (1:8)
2. They were encouraging, comforting, and
urging them to live in a way that was
pleasing to God (2:12)
 review
Paul and Silas had to leave abruptly because
of the persecution . . .
1. Paul refers to the departure as being “torn
away” from them (2:17)
2. Paul was very eager to find out how they
were and get back to them (2:17; 3:10)
3. Paul was concerned that they would have
abandoned the Gospel and Jesus because
of their hostile surroundings (2:14; 3:5)
 review
Paul sends Timothy to see how they are doing
and brings back a favorable report . . .
1. The Thessalonians are strong in their faith
(3:6, 8)
 this morning . . .
This morning we are going to discover what
gospel captivation looked like in the every-day life
of these first century Jesus followers. We will
also consider how we can use what we discover
which actually creates a framework for evaluating
the impact of the gospel in our own lives.
 1 Thess 1:3 1 Thess 1:9-10
FAITH constantly bearing turned to God
in mind your work from idols to
of faith

LOVE and labor of love serve a living and

true God,
HOPE and steadfastness
of hope in our Lord and to wait for His
Jesus Christ in the Son from heaven,
presence of our whom He raised
God and Father, from the dead, that
is Jesus, who
rescues us from
the wrath to come.
 1 Thess 1:3 1 Thess 1:9-10
FAITH constantly bearing turned to God
in mind your work from idols to
of faith

LOVE and labor of love serve a living and

true God,
HOPE and steadfastness
of hope in our Lord and to wait for His
Jesus Christ in the Son from heaven,
presence of our whom He raised
God and Father, from the dead, that
is Jesus, who
rescues us from
the wrath to come.
 1 Thess 1:3 1 Thess 1:9-10
FAITH constantly bearing turned to God
in mind your work from idols to
of faith

LOVE and labor of love serve a living and

true God,
HOPE and steadfastness
of hope in our Lord and to wait for His
Jesus Christ in the Son from heaven,
presence of our whom He raised
God and Father, from the dead, that
is Jesus, who
rescues us from
the wrath to come.
 turn
Turning to God from idols to serve a living and
true God would characterize proselytes from
paganism to Judaism as much as converts to
Christianity: it is the words that follow, about
Jesus the Son of God, that impart a distinctively
Christian note to the formula.
 idols
Anything to which we assign a worth greater
than the worth we assign to God as a result of
believing it will meet our needs.
 idols
Colossians 3:5
Therefore consider the members of your earthly
body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion,
evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
 idols
“Interestingly, and in line with Jewish tradition,
covetousness is equated with idolatry. The
thought is that all idolatry involves some form of
covetousness. When humanity refuses to
acknowledge the various aspects of life as the
gifts of the Creator, it attempts to seize these
things for itself and thereby elevates some
desired object to the center of life. In the
language of Romans 1:25, humanity ends up
worshiping and serving created things rather
than the Creator.”
NIB p. 642
s
Children

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Children Romance

s
Children Romance
Money

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Children Romance
Money Career

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 idols
idolatry is an attempt to satisfy our needs . . .

security, stability,
significance,
companionship, identity,
value, purpose, meaning,
affirmation, control
 serve
1 John 4:19
We love, because He first loved us
 serve
To serve a living God means to present my
entire life to Him in order to fully participate in
His plan . . . morally and missionally.
1. Where do we invest our time?
2. Are we generous?
3. Have we yielded to God’s plan for living life?
4. Are we participating in the progress of the
Gospel, personally and as a faith
community?
 wait
The patience that comes from hope is an
expectant waiting.
“Hope” is not a wishful longing but an
unfulfilled certainty.
”The Advent (Parousia) of Christ in glory is not
treated in the early church simply as the
consummating event due to take place in the
indefinite end-time but as something to be
actively expected in the near future: it is
assumed rather than asserted in these early
letters that Christians of that generation may
hope to witness it.”
WBC
 wait
1. We are free from the temporal values and
practices of this world.
2. We feel the urgency to tell others about the
Jesus story.
3. We live our lives now as they will be lived when
his kingdom is fully established.
4. We should be encouraged in times of difficulty
knowing that this life is not all there is.
5. We should be thankful and humbled that we will
not receive a guilty verdict when Jesus returns
to Judge the world because we have trusted in
Him to be our savior.
 sow what ?
When we embrace the Jesus story our lives
should be characterized by turning, serving,
and waiting. Think about the implications of
this in your own life as you consider the
following . . .
1. Do I trust God to meet all of my needs
through my relationship with Jesus or do I
ultimately look to other things to get what
only He can give? Are there things in my life
right now that I have assigned more worth
than God because I have looked to them for
these needs?
 sow what ?
2. Has my response to the Jesus story caused
me to be overwhelmed by God’s amazing
love for me which in turn makes me want to
serve Him? Can other people see that I am
actively serving a living God?
3. Do I give much thought to the return of
Jesus as a judge? Does this reality actually
impact my daily life? Which aspect of the
waiting did you feel most challenged by?
Spend time asking God to help you use turn/
serve/wait as a way to think about your
spiritual growth as a follower of Jesus.