Long Distance Ministry: I Thessalonians 3:1-13

What this episode covers

1st Thessalonians 3:1-5 Blank Outline Completed Outline *scroll to 23:50 for beginning of sermon* The Apostle Paul models 3 tools in ministering to those individuals we are separated from… All right, if you remain standing for scripture reading this morning, we’re going to read from 1st Thessalonians chapter 3. I don’t know what you’re struggling with, what you’ve been praying about for weeks or months or years, but God’s got a timetable and God’s got a plan. And it’s usually not according to our timetable, but God will make things beautiful in His time and He’s promised that and we can hang on to that. So, I hope that’s an encouragement to you. All right, 1st Thessalonians chapter 3. We’re in the book of 1st Thessalonians. I’m going to read the first five verses from chapter 3. This is Paul writing to the church. Here’s what he has to say. So, when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. We sent Timothy, who was our brother and co-worker in God’s service and spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. For you know quite well that we are destined for them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain. Let’s get into 1st Thessalonians chapter 3. And so, remember this book that Paul was in Thessalonica on his second missionary journey. And some people came to faith in Christ. And then some were not happy of what was happening in people’s lives. And so, they created a riot, kind of a flash mob riot. And Paul and Silas, who had been in this synagogue and preaching for like three weeks and had some good results, had to make a nighttime escape out of Thessalonica, a very sudden escape. And so now Paul’s writing this letter back to the church. And the theme of the letter and our theme is to be ready, because in every chapter, five chapters, at the end of every chapter, the apostle Paul talks about the second coming of Christ, that Christ is coming again. So, this morning, we’re going to look at 1st Thessalonians chapter 3, and think about the ministry of, I’m calling it, long distance encouragement, long distance ministry. So, a hundred years ago or so, families kind of all lived together in one spot. And it was not uncommon that wherever you lived, you had extended family nearby, whether it was aunts and uncles or grandparents, and families were all together. My paternal grandmother lived in two houses her whole life, 35 Manhattan in Buffalo, New York, and then next door, 37 Manhattan in Buffalo, New York. And that’s because they had families living next door to each other, and relatives and cousins playing back and forth. My paternal grandmother never got a driver’s license, and so she did not venture very far from Buffalo, New York. But all that’s changed today, hasn’t it? So, families do not live close by in many, many cases, and families are moving because of jobs or other circumstances, and so it’s not unusual that there’s no family close by, or they’re living on the other side of the country, or the other side of the globe. Now, Paul faced that dilemma because here he is, he has ministered and started this church in Thessalonica, and now Paul is in Athens. He’s like 300 miles away, and he’s concerned about these new believers. They’re baby Christians, and are they still walking with God, and they face some trials? Are they still standing firm in their faith? He mentions it in chapter 2 verse 17, but brothers and sisters, we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time. So, we felt like we left you without spiritual leadership because we had to leave in this nighttime escape. And so,

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