4.29.2018 Sermon Notes & Slides

Sermon Notes

Our Glory and Joy
1 Thessalonians 2:13-20
Pastor Brent Whitefield

Introduction: The apostle Paul demonstrates his great affection for the Thessalonian church, praising their reception of the Word of God, and their endurance under persecution and suffering. In their example, we see the power of God’s Word at work in the heart of the believer. And for Paul, these believers are more than acolytes or co-laborers; even at the coming of Christ, they will be his glory and joy.

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Questions For Discussion & Discovery

1. The people of Thessaloniki had heard many messages in their time. How were they able to tell that Paul’s message was of God?

2. How does the Word of God perform work in the life of the believer?

3. When Paul speaks of wrath coming upon the Jews who opposed the Judean ministry, what is he talking about?

4. Paul stated that Satan thwarted his efforts to visit the Thessalonian church. When is it permissible for us to conclude that a foiled plan is the work of Satan?

5. Paul says that the Jews in Judea were hostile to all men. But were they not only hostile to the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles’ teaching? What does he mean then?

6. How does the declaration of Paul that the Thessalonian believers are his glory and joy challenge our view of our relationship to other Christians?

Sermon Slides

1. Read 1 Thessalonians 2:13.

2. 01. God’s word, confirmed in the heart of the believer by the Holy Spirit, is powerful and active.

3. Yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.” – Westminster Confession of Faith 1:5

4. Read 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16.

5. 02. All who believe and identify with the Gospel of Christ can expect opposition and suffering. Oppressors of God’s people cannot expect to escape His wrath.

6. If when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. – 1 Peter 2: 20b-21

7. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. – 2 Timothy 3:12

8. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. – 2 Corinthians 1:5

9. Read 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20.

10. 03. Paul’s Spirit-inspired ode to the Thessalonian believers demonstrates the value God places on disciple-making.

11. So it will be for every believer, each according to our gifts and calling, that the stewardship entrusted to us in marriage, and families, in the church, and in the world constitutes the precious opportunity we have to glorify Jesus Christ and to present him at his coming with the harvest yield he deserves from our lives. – Richard Phillips