Today’s passage: 2 Thessalonians 1:5-12

Helpful thoughts:

• Being a persecutor might look like winning, but it’s losing.  Being persecuted might look and feel like losing, but it’s winning.
• “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” – Romans 12:14-21
• Perseverance is a work of God’s powerful grace.

Questions to consider:

1. What things could we regularly do to help us remember who defines and who judges winning and losing?
2. When we respond to one who disagrees and has rejected God with kindness, love and peaceful confidence, what gift have we given to them?  What do they need to hear?  How do all of our interactions with unbelievers become opportunities to plant, water and potentially harvest Gospel seeds?
3. Who is doing the work in verse 11?  Who then rightly gets the praise in verse 12?

Today’s passage: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4

Helpful thoughts:

• This second letter to the church in Thessalonica shares many of the same content and themes of the first.  It is the same church, but they are growing.
• Paul emphasizes the church’s continued growth, love and endurance during persecution…and thanks God for it.  These things are all gifts of God’s grace.  We “ought” to praise Him for it (Verse 3).
• These Christians were not just surviving in the faith during persecution, they were thriving.  The were growing “abundantly”.

Questions to consider:

1. Where does our identity, peace, growth, love come from?  How does this come from and grow out of the Gospel?
2. How would a greater appreciation and praise of the Lord be an indicator of growth?  How would an attitude of patting myself on the back for my “growth” be an indicator that perhaps I haven’t grown at all?
3. This might be a tough question…but, what are the benefits of persecution?

Today’s passage: 1 Thessalonians 5:23-28

Helpful thoughts:

• Sanctification can mean being set apart (By God unto holiness), and the process of becoming more righteous (More like Christ).
  • Both of these seem to be on display in verses 23-24.
  • Both of these are ultimately guaranteed because God is the agent responsible.  (Philippians 1:6)
• Christians don’t actually believe in the power of prayer—we believe in the power of God, and that is why we pray. – Dr. Burk Parsons
• Every brother and sister in Christ is worthy of our kindness and friendliness.  There are to be no class structures in the family of God.  Conflicts are to be resolved.

Questions to consider:

1. How does God’s unwavering commitment to hold fast and complete the work He started in you give you hope, confidence, love and patience (For you and for others!)?
2. How can prayer shape your heart and desires?  How does it humble us in a good way? Why does it make sense to pray?
3. How does being under the teaching/preaching of the Word in the presence of others (“Read to all the brothers”) stimulate our walk with the Lord?   Why is it so important to be a part of the local church? (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Today’s passage:  1 Thessalonians 5:12-22

Helpful thoughts:

• Some people are idle because they are undisciplined; they need to be admonished.  Some people are idle because they are fainthearted (Hurting); they need to be encouraged.
  • Questions prick the conscience, accusations harden the heart.
  • Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. – James 1:19
• Whether someone needs rebuke or encouragement, they all need patience.
• It is God’s will for your life to rejoice, to pray, and to be thankful.
• To read through this list of commands and try to thoroughly consider every one in one sitting would be overwhelming.
  • Choose one that is particularly encouraging and convicting and consider that.
  • Perhaps, later in the day, come back to this passage and look for another one.

Questions to consider:

1. How do you know which pastors/leaders are over you?  How do pastors know who to shepherd (Acts 20:28, Hebrews 13:17)?  Are you an active member of your local church?  How would being an active member help you to grow and be involved in the disciplines and life of growth and encouragement in the body?
2. What is worthy of your rejoicing today?  What do you have that you can be praying for?  What do you have to be thankful for?
3. How might we be judgmental of people who don’t seem to be doing as much as we think they should?  What should we learn before we make a statement or decision concerning them?  Even if they are being lazy, or if they are hurting, what should we do about it instead of making negative statements about them to others?

Today’s passage: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Helpful thoughts:

• When the day of the Lord’s judgment comes, the world will be shocked.  Christians will not have reason to be shocked.
• Sleeping=Being passive and indifferent.  Drunk=Actively in sin
• Since God has saved Christians from wrath, we ought not to live like one’s headed for judgment.
• Christians who are alive (Physically) and who are dead (Physically) have eternal life in Christ.

Questions to consider:

1. How will the world respond to the coming of Christ if that day is compared to a thief coming in the night?  Will they be longing for His return or will they think everything is wonderful without Him?
2. Will anyone who has not put their faith in Christ escape the judgement?  Is there a neutral position on the Lordship of Jesus Christ?
3. How does all of this information on the coming of the Lord encourage us to pursue holiness?  If you were on the roster of the team bound for the championship, what uniform would you be wearing and how would you conduct yourself in the team huddles and on the playing field?

Today’s passage: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Helpful thoughts:

• Physical death is not the end.  To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6-9)
• People who die before Jesus returns are not going to miss a thing.  They may have the preferred view!
• Christians believe in resurrection!  Jesus was the first fruits of that resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).
• Acts 1:11 – Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

Questions to consider:

1. Why does it make sense to call the physical death of a Christian, “sleep”?
2. What is the source of our hope?  Where does our hope find it’s strength?  Are we hoping that we are good enough or is it something (Someone) else?
3. If constantly looking up is not the way to be ready for Jesus’ return, what does being ready actually look like?

Today’s passage: 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

Helpful thoughts:

• The Christians at Thessalonica had become preoccupied with the timing of the return of Jesus Christ.  So much so that it had negatively affected their lives, relationships, and perhaps even their testimony (1 Thess. 1:10, 2 Thess. 2:1-2, 3:10-12).
• In order to set them back on the right track, Paul encouraged them to:
  • Love one another
  • Live quietly
  • Mind their own business (If we are staying busy with our own to-do lists, it’s pretty hard to be an expert in everyone else’s business)
  • Work (“Working with your hands” refers to menial tasks.  Christians waiting for King Jesus to return were not suddenly too good for their jobs) 
• Being ready for Jesus’ return looks like humility and servitude, not like arrogance and entitlement.

Questions to consider:

1. How does the Gospel message received naturally result in a desire for Christians to love?  Why do we love people? (1 John 4:19)
2. What kind of witness and evangelism comes from the believer who is living peaceably/quietly as opposed to the way we might present the Gospel in a confrontational/loud manner?
3. Why would the presentation of the Gospel from the humble hard-working Christian be so much more powerful, accurately portraying the Savior? (Matthew 11:29)

Today’s passage: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

Helpful thoughts:

• Guess what God’s will is for your life… Your sanctification!  God has called Christians to holiness.
• People who do not know God are expected to live one way.  People who do know God are expected to increasingly live another way.
  • Romans 6:15-18
• Being rudely and/or hypocritically judgmental is not good.  However, feeling like you have been “judged” by another person is not a right excuse to continue in your sin against God.

Questions to consider:

1. When we are asking to know God’s will, what kinds of things are we usually asking about?  How would aligning our will with God’s will make so many of those decisions easier?
2. Is it possible to sin without first disregarding God’s will?  What are some different reasons or ways we might disregard God (e.g. ignorance, carelessness, rebellion, etc.)?  How great is His mercy and grace to us through Christ?!
3. How would a higher reverence for God and a greater appreciation for the gift of our salvation help us to grow in holiness?

Today’s passage: 1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Helpful thoughts:

• Paul was greatly encouraged in the midst of his suffering by the faithfulness of these Christians.
• These men who were leaders and disciplers yearned to build into the Thessalonian Christians all the more, and prayed that God would allow them to see the church there again.
• Genuine love for others results in growth and sanctification.

Questions to consider:

1. What are some ways the faithfulness of other Christians has encouraged you?  How might others take encouragement from your faithfulness?
2. How did Paul (Along with Timothy and Silas) show an example of love to the Thessalonian believers?  How were they leading not just by word but also by deed?
3. Why does it make sense that loving people changes how we live and act?  How would seeing people as souls that you can benefit cause you to treat them differently?