Today’s passage: 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10
Helpful thoughts:
- This passage is not holding up Paul, Silas, Timothy or any of the Thessalonian Christians as amazing people. Paul is emphasizing the power and conviction that the Holy Spirit exercised.
- In their sin and weakness, they were chosen by God.
- In their affliction, God’s power and grace was put on display for all to see.
- When these Thessalonians were saved, their lives changed. They repented.
- They no longer served false idols. The served the true God.
- They no longer trusted in other things to protect them or bail them out (HOPE). They were waiting for Jesus.
Questions to consider:
- What is your testimony? When did the Lord save you? What would you be like without God’s grace in your life?
- Why is humility so fitting for every Christian? Why does humility better communicate the truth of the Gospel and the power of God to others? How does being proud of how “good” we are destroy our Gospel witness?
- How did Paul potentially refocus the expectation of the Lord’s deliverance for these believers? From what kinds of things do we sometimes want to the Lord to deliver us? What has Jesus delivered us from? How is that deliverance even better?