1. Sunday February 14, 2016

3. Did you hear about the romance in the tropical fish tank? It was a case of guppy love. What did the paper clip say to the magnet? "I find you very attractive!” What did one pickle say to the other? “You mean a great dill to me."

4. This book among all the millions of books ever written, this is the only book that is......able to “make you wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15)....able to make you “complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16).

5. “Doing” church right in a world gone wrong! Final message today!

6. Lent A special sermon series for the five Sundays leading up to Easter – designed to help us renew our walk with Jesus Christ! Beginning NEXT SUNDAY!

7. Luke 9:23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

8. Five Commitments that Define a Christian Sunday mornings beginning February 21 st follow Jesus!

9. “Doing” church right in a world gone wrong! Paul’s final remarks 1 Thessalonians 5:23-28

10. “Doing” church right in a world gone wrong! Review of significant lessons from the book

11. Christ’s Church, Our Family

12. Review of significant lessons from the book “Doing” church right in a world gone wrong!

13. Pagan Roman society marked by…  Marital fidelity exception not the norm  Slavery was rampant  Sensuality and immorality flourished  Entertainment often included public executions and the blood drenched combat of the gladiator games

14. Lessons we MUST learn from this book if we are to become the church that Jesus Christ wants us to become and our community and world needs us to be!

15. Lesson #1 - We must see ourselves not as an institution or religious/faith- based organization … we must see ourselves as “family!” 19 times ---- “brother(s)”

16. 1 Thessalonians 1:4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 1 Thessalonians 5:25-27 Brothers, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. 27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

17. God was calling them into a very special community, a family of brothers and sisters who were bound together with the blood of Christ. So, they were in a very real sense, “blood” brothers and blood sisters!

18. Lesson #2 - We must keep the main thing the main thing! “gospel” ----- 6 times!

19. Lesson #2 - We must keep the main thing the main thing! 1 Thessalonians 2:9 For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

20. Lesson #3 - We must strive to take God at His Word! 1 Thessalonians 2:13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

21. Lesson #4 - We must NEVER grow complacent! 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 10 for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more.

22. Lesson #4 - We must NEVER grow complacent! 1 Thessalonians 4:1 Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.

23. Lesson #5 - We must not become myopic in our vision. One of the major themes in 1 Thessalonians is the promise of Christ’s return. It is mentioned in every chapter, and is the main topic of the last half of chapter four and the first half of chapter five.

24. Hebrews 11:13-16 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

25. We must see ourselves not as an institution or religious/faith-based organization … we must see ourselves as “family!” We must keep the main thing the main thing! (the gospel!) We must strive to take God at His Word! We must NEVER grow complacent in our faith journey! We must not become myopic in our vision.

26. Paul’s Final Remarks Let us not neglect praying for one another 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

27. Paul’s Final Remarks Let us not neglect praying for one another 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

28. Paul’s Final Remarks Let us not neglect praying for one another 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Always rejoice, without ceasing pray, in all circumstances give thanks...

29. Paul’s Final Remarks Let us not neglect praying for one another 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

30. Paul’s Final Remarks Let us not neglect praying for one another Philippians 2:12-13 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

31. Paul’s Final Remarks Let us not neglect praying for one another 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

32. Paul’s Final Remarks Let us not neglect praying for one another 1 Thessalonians 5:25 Brothers, pray for us.

33. Paul’s Final Remarks Let’s not neglect encouraging one another! 1 Thessalonians 5:26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.

34. Paul’s Final Remarks Let’s not neglect interaction with God’s Word 1 Thessalonians 5:27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

35. Now when Paul wrote this letter (50-51 AD) – the New Testament as we know it did not exist. Only Paul’s letter to the Galatians had been written of the 27 books of the New Testament had been written before 1 Thessalonians.

36. Paul’s Final Remarks Let’s not neglect interaction with God’s Word 1 Thessalonians 5:27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

37. Paul’s Final Remarks Let’s not neglect our need for God’s grace! 1 Thessalonians 5:27 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

38. Paul’s Final Remarks Let’s not neglect our need for God’s grace! 1 Thessalonians 1:1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

39. Paul’s Final Remarks “Without God’s grace, Paul is just another man and 1 Thessalonians is just another letter; but because of God’s grace, Paul is the apostle sent from God and 1 Thessalonians is God’s Word to us. Paul began the letter with grace, and now he ends his letter with God’s grace. For Paul, grace was not merely an invocation and a benediction, it was his life.” (Mark Howell, Exalting Jesus in 1 &2 Thessalonians)