Introduction
What would the perfect church look like for you? Just imagine for a minute a church that is everything you would ever want it to be... What would it be like? What would stand out as the main feature? What is it you really look for and long for in a church?
Is it stunning worship? A feast of pure musical excellence and passion in song that exalts Christ and moves your soul?
Or is it excellent teaching? Simple, yet profound; pure truth from God’s word that’s crystal clear, pleasurable to listen to and that speaks right into your life every week?
Is it perhaps caring fellowship? A community where everyone feels special, where you can share your heart without being judged and where everybody is ready to pray with anybody and help them practically?
Or is it Spirit empowered outreach? Spontaneous testimony and works of mercy in which signs and wonders happen frequently and people are regularly converted to Christ?
Perhaps it’s something else entirely, something I haven’t mentioned. Or are you perhaps one of those who say “Just give me a church where the roof doesn’t leak and the heating works every week and I’ll be fine!”?
Someone once said:
Think of the power the church would have...
· If all the sleeping people would wake up
· If all the lukewarm people would get fired up
· If all the intense people would lighten up
· If all the miserable people would cheer up
· If all the gossiping people would shut up
· If all the bickering people would make up
· And if all the stingy people would pay up!
Of course, we all know that the perfect church does not exist anywhere on earth.
You see, churches gather people and, sadly, this side of heaven, wherever you gather people you gather sin - because all people are sinners. So, no matter how good a church may first appear, every church on earth has something wrong with it.
But the Bible does give us some shining examples to emulate (and some to bad models to recoil from too).
The church in Corinth for example is the sort of church you’d want to avoid. If you went there to see what it was like and decide whether you’d want to settle there, you’d find disorderly worship, sex scandals, lawsuits between members, in-fighting amongst the leaders, not to mention gluttony and drunkenness - at the Lord’s Supper.
The churches in Philippi and Thessalonica were much better though – and chapter 1 of First Thessalonians offers us an ideal of how church should be – and can be.
In fact, Paul uses the word “model” to describe this church in v7. He says, “Look, you set the benchmark. Your church is, pretty much, as good as local church gets. Other churches want to be like you. Or if they don’t, they should.
So, as we have the chapter read to us, see if you can pick out the key feature - or features - that made this church such a good role model.
1 Paul, Silas and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.
2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 3 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what happened when we visited you. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
I need to give you a bit of background to all this, so you can understand what Paul is writing about here. Who were these people? How did Paul know them? Why did he write this letter to them? What’s it about? Where is Thessalonica anyway? I’ll try and sum all this up in three or four minutes.
Thessalonica was on an important east/west Roman road called the Egnatian Way and on a busy harbour on the Aegean Sea. Those two things made it one of the wealthiest international trading centres in the Roman Empire. It was a flourishing commercial hub and a bustling cultural melting pot. In Paul’s day, it had a population of about 200,000 which was quite a metropolis and it is still today the second largest city in Greece although the city is now known as Thessaloniki or Salonika.
You can read the story about how the church there came into being in Acts 17 and I encourage you to do that this week.
Basically, what happened is this: in about A.D. 50 Paul arrived in Thessalonica to preach the gospel. People were converted, lives were changed, and in no time at all a new church had sprung up.
But I’m afraid that the planting of this church was met with resentment from the Jews who didn’t appreciate a significant section of their membership leaving the synagogue to join what was, for them, a new sect.
So some antisocial yobs from the marketplace were rounded up to start a disturbance - which turned really ugly and became a major riot. In the middle of the commotion Paul and Silas were spirited away before they got lynched.
We’ve seen similar uproar recently in Pakistan. A teenage girl, thought to have Down’s Syndrome, faced a mob demanding the death penalty for allegedly desecrating a copy of the Koran in her possession. In fact, all the evidence suggests that she was set up and a man has since been arrested on suspicion of framing her, thank God.
We find it really shocking. But this kind of misinformed, emotional and violent fanaticism is the kind of thing the first Christians encountered almost everywhere they went.
Bishop Tom Wright used to say. “Wherever Saint Paul went, there was a riot. Wherever I go, they serve tea!”
Anyway, Paul and Silas fled for their lives to Berea, and from Berea they travelled south to Athens. Eventually, Paul went on to Corinth but he sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to find out how this fledgling church was getting on.
Had they perished in the trauma of the persecution against them? If they had, how had they muddled through as a brand-new church without any real trained leadership?
You know how it feels when you’re waiting on news from a loved one… Paul must have been hanging about for weeks just waiting and hoping and praying.
That’s where some of you find yourselves today. It is a hard place to be. But I want to encourage you; it is a place of growth and God wants to increase faith in your life as you wait and pray.
Well, here’s a promise for you; Isaiah 40 says “They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength.”
If the Lord is at the heart of your longing and hoping you find that you actually become stronger through it, not weaker.
Invite the Lord into your anxiety and be refreshed by his peace that passes all understanding. We’ll revisit this in three weeks’ time.
Anyway, finally Timothy came back with some news of how the church at Thessalonica was getting on. It was a really good. Not only had the church survived, almost miraculously, it was positively flourishing. And this letter is Paul’s response to that news.
I want to pick out three highlights from this chapter which I think God is speaking to us about here at All Saints’ at the present time.
Here are the three points up on the screen.
The church at Thessalonica was, not a perfect church, but it was a model church because it was grounded (v3-4), it was balanced (v5-6), and it was noticed (v7-9).
I wonder how many of us had these sort of words in mind when we were thinking a few minutes ago about what our version of the perfect church would look like?
Grounded
Why do I say “a grounded church”? Where do I get that from? Let’s look at v3 and 4 again.
“We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you…”
Paul is describing a pretty full-on church here. In one verse he mentions three different words (work, labour and endurance). These are words that do not exactly press our buttons. “Work.” “Labour.” “Endurance.” It sounds like a boot camp. Another version translates the word “labour” as “exertion” which, if anything, sounds even more gruelling and exhausting.
But nobody reaps what they haven’t sown. What you and I will get out of church will be precisely related to what we put into it. How much return do you get from the bank if you never add to your savings? Nothing. That’s why someone once said “You quickly lose interest in church if you have nothing invested.” If you’re getting bored at church, what are you putting into it?
This goes for leaders too. There’s a story about a certain preacher who never prepared his sermon during the week, and on Sunday morning he’d sit in the front pew while the church was singing the first hymn desperately praying, “Lord, give me your message, Lord give me your message.” One Sunday, while desperately praying for God’s word for the day, he heard the Lord say, “Ralph, here’s my message. You’re lazy!”
Let me ask you, honestly, after a busy week toiling away for the boss, how many of you feel really stoked up about the thought of some serious work, exertion and endurance down at the local church?
But I say that Thessalonica was a grounded church because their work, exertion and endurance flowed from the Holy Spirit. It was not all driven self-effort. Paul is very careful to say where all this graft came from.
“Your work” he says, is “produced by faith.” In other words, they really believed that God was among them and that he wanted to pour out blessing – so they bought into that by becoming a part of it. When, by faith, we’re excited by what the Lord is doing among us it will not seem like a sacrifice to pour our lives into it.
“Your labour” says Paul, “is prompted by love.” In other words, they didn’t say “Oh gosh, so and so is in a state; I’m going to have to miss “Strictly” to go and visit them.” No, they had a vision of God’s Father Heart, and when they cared for others they did so because they had received his overflowing love and had plenty left over to share around.
Jesus put it this way; he said “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
“Your endurance” says Paul is “inspired by hope.” What does that mean? It means that when you’re really optimistic, genuinely positive, and truly expectant that God is going to touch lives around you, it’s not a drag to keep going.
Faith, hope and love; that’s the engine. If you just slog it out without faith, hope and love renewed, you just burn out. But if you’re believing God for great things (faith), if you’ve been touched by the Father’s heart (love) and if you have a spiritually positive outlook (hope), you’ll get things done and not grow weary. That’s what a grounded church looks like.
Jesus put it this way; he said “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
“Your endurance” says Paul is “inspired by hope.” What does that mean? It means that when you’re really optimistic, genuinely positive, and truly expectant that God is going to touch lives around you, it’s not a drag to keep going.
Faith, hope and love; that’s the engine. If you just slog it out without faith, hope and love renewed, you just burn out. But if you’re believing God for great things (faith), if you’ve been touched by the Father’s heart (love) and if you have a spiritually positive outlook (hope), you’ll get things done and not grow weary. That’s what a grounded church looks like.
Balanced
I’m always a bit suspicious about the word “balanced” because I think it can be a code word for “bland.” But, as the Narnia books say, “Aslan is not a tame lion.”
When I say the Thessalonian church was balanced, I don’t mean “safe”, I mean it was, in equal measure, fully committed to both the Word and the Spirit.
It’s much easier to ride a bicycle than a unicycle. It is possible to get by on just one wheel – but you can never freewheel on a unicycle. You have to pedal all the time. You’re not going to win the Tour de France on a unicycle – you need two wheels, not one. In the same way, we have to be equally committed to both the Word and the Spirit.
If you’re all Word and no Spirit, you become dry and academic – you’ll have great knowledge but you’ll rarely experience God’s power.
If you’re all Spirit and no Word, you become eccentric and weird. You’ll have loads of passion but little real depth and no staying power.
Jesus said to the Sadducees “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God” (Matthew 22.29). That’s the worst combination of all – neither one, nor the other.
But the New Testament standard is both/and – Word and Spirit.
The Christians in Thessalonica were committed to both the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.
It says in v5 “Our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction…” And v6 says “You welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.”
The Gospel came with power. This was the norm in New Testament times.
The gospel with power – that’s what I want to see. That’s what Britain needs. We’ve got to forget formal religion because that is not what Jesus came to bring.
Matthew’s Gospel says “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” The authority of the word and the power of the Spirit.
Luke’s Gospel tells us that Jesus gave his followers a mandate to do the same. “So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.”
Formal religion is dying out. It has no future. The truth is that it never was the answer to the world’s questions. The only difference is that now everybody knows it isn’t the answer.
I want to challenge you today to renew your confidence in the absolute authority of God’s dependable and inerrant Word. Let’s resolve to be obedient to it and live by it.
And I want to challenge you today to renew your commitment to unashamedly seek God so you are filled with the Holy Spirit, eagerly desiring spiritual gifts and boldly doing the works of the kingdom.
If you've never been filled with the Holy Spirit, be filled today. If you haven’t been filled with the Holy Spirit for a long time, form a queue, be refilled today.
Noticed
Last point; the church in Thessalonica was noticed.
Verses 7-9 say this: “You became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia – your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God…”
The world at its worst needs the church at its best. This is our vision. We want our faith to become known everywhere in this parish; in every home. We get it that if the church does not evangelise it will fossilise.
So we want people to know that our faith is a praying faith, it is a practical faith and it is a personal faith.
I was at a church in London two weeks ago and the vicar was talking about a man he’d met holding his baby son at a church open day. So they got chatting. “What’s your little boy’s name?” And he got an unusual reply. “ Melchizedek.” (I expect when he grows up, he’ll call himself Mel - or maybe Dec - or even perhaps Kizza).
“Wow, I haven’t heard anybody called Melchizedek in a long time. May I ask why you called him that?” The father said “Where I come from, names are highly significant. In the Bible, Melchizedek points to Christ. I named my son Melchizedek so people would ask me, ‘Why did you call your son Melchizedek ’ And when they do, I point them to Christ.”
That’s quite something isn’t it? I would love it to be said of us what Paul said to the Christians in Thessalonica; “Your faith in God has become known everywhere.”
I hope you've read Linda’s article in this month’s In Touch. It’s about the church being as visible as possible in the community.
We already go into the community with things like Big Ted and assemblies in schools and Treasure Seekers in the Oak Road Centre for Learning Disabilities.
We must be visible. We can do more.
· We’re starting an All Saints’ pub quiz team for Thursday nights in the Sportsman.
· Get involved in the Friends of Preston Park?
· Give out tea and coffee and gospels at Eaglescliffe station.
· Get elected to the parish council.
· Take time to build relationships of trust.
· Prayer walk in twos and threes around the parish.
Can I ask you to pray about that – ask God how you can be involved in the community here?
Ending
We’re never going to be a perfect church. But we can aspire to be a model church. It could be said of us “Your faith in God has become known everywhere.” Is that what you want?
And do you want to be really grounded in faith, hope and love?
Are you willing to put your kit and boots on and play - or is it enough to watch and cheer?
And are you committed to growing in obedience to God’s word?
And are you eager to be filled with the Holy Spirit today?
Let’s pray…
I’m always a bit suspicious about the word “balanced” because I think it can be a code word for “bland.” But, as the Narnia books say, “Aslan is not a tame lion.”
When I say the Thessalonian church was balanced, I don’t mean “safe”, I mean it was, in equal measure, fully committed to both the Word and the Spirit.
It’s much easier to ride a bicycle than a unicycle. It is possible to get by on just one wheel – but you can never freewheel on a unicycle. You have to pedal all the time. You’re not going to win the Tour de France on a unicycle – you need two wheels, not one. In the same way, we have to be equally committed to both the Word and the Spirit.
If you’re all Word and no Spirit, you become dry and academic – you’ll have great knowledge but you’ll rarely experience God’s power.
If you’re all Spirit and no Word, you become eccentric and weird. You’ll have loads of passion but little real depth and no staying power.
Jesus said to the Sadducees “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God” (Matthew 22.29). That’s the worst combination of all – neither one, nor the other.
But the New Testament standard is both/and – Word and Spirit.
The Christians in Thessalonica were committed to both the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.
It says in v5 “Our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction…” And v6 says “You welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.”
The Gospel came with power. This was the norm in New Testament times.
The gospel with power – that’s what I want to see. That’s what Britain needs. We’ve got to forget formal religion because that is not what Jesus came to bring.
Matthew’s Gospel says “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” The authority of the word and the power of the Spirit.
Luke’s Gospel tells us that Jesus gave his followers a mandate to do the same. “So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.”
Formal religion is dying out. It has no future. The truth is that it never was the answer to the world’s questions. The only difference is that now everybody knows it isn’t the answer.
I want to challenge you today to renew your confidence in the absolute authority of God’s dependable and inerrant Word. Let’s resolve to be obedient to it and live by it.
And I want to challenge you today to renew your commitment to unashamedly seek God so you are filled with the Holy Spirit, eagerly desiring spiritual gifts and boldly doing the works of the kingdom.
If you've never been filled with the Holy Spirit, be filled today. If you haven’t been filled with the Holy Spirit for a long time, form a queue, be refilled today.
Noticed
Last point; the church in Thessalonica was noticed.
Verses 7-9 say this: “You became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia – your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God…”
The world at its worst needs the church at its best. This is our vision. We want our faith to become known everywhere in this parish; in every home. We get it that if the church does not evangelise it will fossilise.
So we want people to know that our faith is a praying faith, it is a practical faith and it is a personal faith.
I was at a church in London two weeks ago and the vicar was talking about a man he’d met holding his baby son at a church open day. So they got chatting. “What’s your little boy’s name?” And he got an unusual reply. “ Melchizedek.” (I expect when he grows up, he’ll call himself Mel - or maybe Dec - or even perhaps Kizza).
“Wow, I haven’t heard anybody called Melchizedek in a long time. May I ask why you called him that?” The father said “Where I come from, names are highly significant. In the Bible, Melchizedek points to Christ. I named my son Melchizedek so people would ask me, ‘Why did you call your son Melchizedek ’ And when they do, I point them to Christ.”
That’s quite something isn’t it? I would love it to be said of us what Paul said to the Christians in Thessalonica; “Your faith in God has become known everywhere.”
I hope you've read Linda’s article in this month’s In Touch. It’s about the church being as visible as possible in the community.
We already go into the community with things like Big Ted and assemblies in schools and Treasure Seekers in the Oak Road Centre for Learning Disabilities.
We must be visible. We can do more.
· We’re starting an All Saints’ pub quiz team for Thursday nights in the Sportsman.
· Get involved in the Friends of Preston Park?
· Give out tea and coffee and gospels at Eaglescliffe station.
· Get elected to the parish council.
· Take time to build relationships of trust.
· Prayer walk in twos and threes around the parish.
Can I ask you to pray about that – ask God how you can be involved in the community here?
Ending
We’re never going to be a perfect church. But we can aspire to be a model church. It could be said of us “Your faith in God has become known everywhere.” Is that what you want?
And do you want to be really grounded in faith, hope and love?
Are you willing to put your kit and boots on and play - or is it enough to watch and cheer?
And are you committed to growing in obedience to God’s word?
And are you eager to be filled with the Holy Spirit today?
Let’s pray…
Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 7th October 2012
