Amen.
If you would open up your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians.
Today is the first sermon of nine.
We're going to make our way through the book of 1 Thessalonians.
It'll bring us through November.
And then by the time we get to December,
we're jumping into the book of John, the gospel of John.
And then we'll be in John for some time after that.
1 Thessalonians chapter 1, verses 1 through 10.
This is on page 1172 of your Pew Bible.
Hear the word of the Lord.
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
to the church of the Thessalonians and God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
grace to you and peace.
We give thanks to God always for all of you,
constantly mentioning you in our prayers,
remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love
and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
For we know, brothers, loved by God, that He has chosen you.
Because our gospel came to you not only in word,
but also in power, in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.
You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake?
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord.
For you received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit.
So that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia,
but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere so that we need not say anything.
For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you.
And how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead,
Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.
May God bless the hearing of His word.
Do you know what a chain reaction is?
A chain reaction is when there's a catalyst,
a powerful initiating force or action,
and it sets in motion a series of changes after it,
a series of reactions.
Do you know the song,
It only takes a spark to get a fire going.
You know that song?
You know, it's campfire season.
When you start a campfire,
chain reaction.
Flick, flick, flick.
Click, click, click.
Kindling, burning flames.
Oh, the light, the warmth, the crackle.
Chain reaction.
I know there's at least one man who served on a submarine in this room.
A nuclear sub, Ohio class, U.S. Navy.
You know what it's got power in that thing?
A nuclear reactor.
A reactor.
It's a chain reaction.
The fission happening in the nuclear reactor
is affecting the whole boat.
It powers the whole thing.
And then, of course,
dominoes.
When I was a boy growing up,
me and my brother would get these dominoes,
and we'd stack them on end in long lines,
and then my brother and me would flick the first domino,
and it would start a chain reaction.
And then growing up in the 70s and 80s,
there were these, like, shows devoted to these domino fallings,
like the Guinness Book of World Record,
the biggest domino fall of all.
One domino is struck,
and a whole gymnasium is transformed
with all of these dominoes falling.
Chain reaction.
The gospel of Jesus Christ
is God's catalyst
that brings about a chain reaction
in the lives of people.
The gospel is God's divine catalyst
which brings about change.
And the book of 1 Thessalonians
is record of how the gospel
has radically changed a people's lives.
You can break 1 Thessalonians
basically into two parts.
Chapters 1, 2, and 3,
and then chapters 4 and 5.
And 1, 2, and 3 is like a long introduction.
And chapters 4 and 5,
Paul gets to a lot of the content
that he wants to teach on.
Here in 1 Thessalonians 1, 1 through 10,
I want you to see this.
I want you to see something
that is the effect of the gospel.
It's Thanksgiving.
Chapter 1, 1 through 10,
it's all about Thanksgiving.
And what we have here is
that the gospel of God
makes people thankful to God.
The gospel of God
makes us thankful to God.
It's a cause-effect relationship.
And so here's how this unpacks.
It's in the outlines
in the back of your bulletin.
I'm going to give you the blanks,
fill in the blanks right now.
The Christian norm.
Constant thanksgiving.
Reason 1, chosen by God.
Reason 2, changed by God.
Reason 3, converted to God.
And these provide the reasons
why Paul, Silas, and Timothy
are so thankful to God
for what's happening
in this church in Thessalonica.
The gospel of God
makes us thankful to God.
It changes the way you pray
and it even changes
the time zone you're living in.
Let's look at the Christian norm.
Constant thanksgiving to God.
One of the obvious changes
the gospel brings to somebody's life
is it makes them grateful,
makes them thankful.
So look at verse 2.
We give thanks to God always,
always for all of you.
We give thanks to God
always for all of you.
The we, of course,
we find in verse 1.
Paul, Silvanus,
also known as Silas,
and Timothy.
I'll refer to them as PST.
Paul, Silas, Timothy.
Paul, Silas, and Timothy, PST,
are so grateful to God
for what's going on
in the Thessalonian church.
I mean, if you know anything
about Paul and Silas and Timothy,
you know that these three men
have been radically changed
by the gospel of Jesus Christ themselves.
Paul was formerly
a persecutor of the church
and then he met the risen Christ
on the road to Damascus
and he went from being
a persecutor of Christ
to a proclaimer of Christ
and a planter of churches
who worship Jesus Christ.
The Thessalonian church
came into being
during Paul's second missionary journey.
And here's the story behind that.
At the end of Acts 15,
Paul takes Silas
and they're going to go back
to the churches
that were established
during his first missionary journey.
Well, they stop in Lystra.
They pick up Timothy
and now they've gone
to two to three, PST.
You get it?
So they start moving along
and Paul is given a vision
of this guy in Macedonia,
which is the Balkan Peninsula,
more on that later,
and he's like,
come to me.
And so PST changes their plans
and they go to the city of Philippi.
You're familiar with Philippi
because that's where Paul was preaching
and they get arrested,
Paul and Silas.
They're in a jail cell.
Midnight, they're singing hymns.
Big earthquake.
The jailer's like,
what must I do to be saved?
And he and his whole household
become Christians.
Remember that story?
Acts 16?
From Philippi,
Paul, Silas, and Timothy, PST,
they go to Thessalonica.
And so the we here
is Paul the Apostle,
Silas, and Timothy,
and they are so thankful to God
always for all of you.
The you is actually a y'all.
The church of the Thessalonians.
And they are quite an interesting people.
If you turn in your Bibles
to Acts chapter 17,
here's the account
of the gospel first coming
to the city of Thessalonica
and how it was received.
I'm just going to read it.
It's on page 1100
of your Pew Bible.
Acts 17.
Now when they had passed through
Amphipolis,
something of that nature,
in Apollonia,
they came to Thessalonica
where there was a synagogue
of the Jews.
And Paul went in
as was his custom.
And on three Sabbath days,
he reasoned with them
from the scriptures,
explaining and proving
that it was necessary
for the Christ to suffer
and to rise from the dead
and saying,
this Jesus whom I proclaim to you
is the Christ.
That's him proclaiming the gospel.
For example,
Jesus is the Christ
who died and was raised
for your salvation.
And then look what happens.
Verse 4.
And some of them
were persuaded.
Some of the Jews
who were in the synagogues
were persuaded
and joined Paul and Silas.
They switched teams.
They became Christians.
As did a great many
of the devout Greeks
and not a few
of the leading women.
Those are Gentiles.
And so there was a group
of Jews that became Christians
and then a really big group
of Gentiles
that became Christians.
But the Jews,
those who didn't believe,
the Jews were jealous.
And taking some wicked men
of the rabble,
they formed a mob
and set the city
in an uproar
and attacked the house
of Jason,
seeking to bring them
out of the ground.
Them being Paul, Silas,
and Timothy, PST.
And when they could not
find them,
they dragged Jason
and some of the brothers,
recent converts,
before the city authorities,
shouting,
These men who have turned
the world upside down
have come here also.
And Jason has received them,
that punk,
and they are all acting
against the decrees
of Caesar,
saying that there's
another king,
Jesus.
Amen.
And the people
in the city authorities
were disturbed
when they heard these things
and when they had taken money
as security from Jason
and the rest,
they let them go.
Look at verse 10.
The brothers,
recent converts
in Thessalonica,
immediately sent Paul
and Silas away
by night to Berea.
That's the start
of the Thessalonian church.
It's extraordinary.
The gospel comes,
comes in power,
there's this huge response,
and not just a response
of followers of Jesus,
there is persecution
that breaks out,
affliction,
hardship,
hardship.
But there's more
to the story.
When Paul leaves
by night,
if you look at
chapter 2,
verse 17,
here's his own words
on it.
But since we were
torn away from you,
brothers,
something happened
between Paul
and the Thessalonian church.
Something sweet,
something good.
It was a tearing away
from this people.
He didn't want to go.
And so they leave,
they then go to Berea,
and then Paul goes to Athens,
chapter 17,
preaches to the Areopagus,
right,
Mars Hill,
if you remember that.
And then from Athens,
he then goes to Corinth
to plant a church there,
and he's in Corinth
for 18 months.
But before he went
to Corinth,
they sent Timothy
back to Thessalonica.
You can see that
in chapter 3,
verse 1,
therefore when we
could bear it no longer,
we were willing
to be left behind
at Athens alone,
and we sent Timothy,
our brother and God's
co-worker in the gospel
of Christ to establish
and exhort you
in the faith.
So they send Timothy back.
They're like,
Paul's like,
will you please
check on these Thessalonians?
I'm so concerned
about them.
And so Paul goes
on to Corinth,
and then they all
meet back up in Corinth.
And could you imagine
that meeting?
Paul sees Timothy
coming up
wherever he's staying,
now if I was Paul,
I'd be like,
okay,
I gotta be nice
to Timothy,
but I really wanna know
about the Thessalonians.
So Timothy,
how are you doing?
Anything interesting?
How are the Thessalonians?
And what
Timothy shares,
you can see in verse 6
of chapter 3,
but now that Timothy
has come to us
from you
and has brought
us the good news
of your faith
and love
and reported that
always,
you will always
remember us kindly
and long to see you.
Look at verse 8.
For now we live
if you are standing
fast in the Lord.
They were suffering
for Jesus
in their absence
and they were thriving
in Jesus.
You wanna know
why this book
is written?
Paul is so thankful
for what God
is doing
among these people.
So thankful.
And it's a constant
thanksgiving.
But it's just not true
of Paul,
Silas,
and Timothy
having regular
breakouts of
thanksgiving
in Corinth
for what God
is doing
in Thessalonica.
If you look at
most of the
New Testament books
and how they start,
Colossians 1.3,
Philippians 1.3,
Ephesians 1.16,
1 Corinthians 1.4,
Romans 1.8,
2 Timothy 1.3,
Philemon 4.
It all starts
with thanksgiving
for what God
is doing
in a particular church.
That's a lot
of prayers
of thanksgiving
that PST
were making.
What's extraordinary
about it
is how they are
so others focused.
Their prayers
are to God
with thanksgiving
for what he is doing
in the lives
of so many
other people.
Their lives
were enriched.
in their knowledge
of what God
was doing.
When you pray
for people,
what are you praying?
Are you giving
thanks for what
God is doing
in their lives?
Do you know?
It's very instructive.
So what we see here,
the Christian norm,
is this constant,
constant thanksgiving.
And now,
let's get into
the three reasons.
There are reasons
why Paul
is so thankful.
Why this group
of three
are regularly
giving thanksgiving.
Reason number one
is they know
that these Thessalonians
were chosen
by God.
Look at verse four.
For we know,
brothers,
sisters,
loved by God,
that he has chosen you.
What a statement
coming from
an apostle.
Wait,
the apostle Paul
is thanking God
that he has chosen us?
That would have been
so encouraging
if you were a Thessalonian.
Now,
when you hear
and read chosen,
we're talking about
God's role
in our salvation.
And with that
come some other words
that you may or may not
be familiar with.
Election,
predestination,
and all of a sudden,
we're all together
swimming in the deep end
of the theological pool.
What is the relationship
between God's sovereignty,
his choice,
and our responsibility
of repentance
and faith?
How does that
work out?
Well,
let's get in the deep end
of the pool a little bit.
There are basically
two ways
to understand
what it means
to be chosen by God.
The first way
is to think along this,
like this.
God chooses us,
his choice of us
is determined
by us
first choosing him.
And the idea
behind that
is an interpretation
of Romans 829
where those whom
God foreknew,
he also predestined.
And so the thinking
goes like this.
God foreseeing
into the future
those who would
choose him,
trust him,
believe in him,
he predestined them
based on
their choice of him.
So God's choosing
is made
on our choosing
in his foreseeing
of that.
It's a common view.
I used to hold
to this view
and I used to hold
to this view passionately.
I got into some
fights over it.
But that changed.
The second view
is that
our choosing
God
is determined
by God
first choosing
us.
That's the second
view,
second way
of understanding
that.
And it
understands
Romans 829,
those whom
God foreknew,
he predestined.
It's not so much
of a foreseeing
as a foreloving,
as a love
from eternity past.
And before
the foundation
of the world,
God set his love
on those
who would later
choose him.
So,
it's God
initiated.
Now,
I personally
came to that
view,
it took a long
time.
I had to have
a lot of
conversations
with a lot
of people
and wrestled
with my Bible
quite a bit.
When I first
heard this
view,
I was
repulsed by it.
It wasn't
my experience.
But as I
strove to
understand God's
word fully,
and as I
strove to
understand what
exactly is
God's sovereignty,
and what
exactly is the
extent of our
sinfulness,
and how that
affects us,
I soon realized,
oh man,
I need to give
this more
thought.
Now,
if this is new
to you,
I have a book
for you.
I've got one
up here and four
on the
connect desk
outside those
doors.
It's called
Humble Calvinism.
It's by J.A.
Meadors.
It's a laugh
out loud book.
He doesn't
take himself
too seriously.
And so,
if this is new
to you,
this would be
a great book
to read,
to get acquainted
with this idea
of God's
sovereign role
in choosing
us before
the foundation
of the world.
Now,
there's a word
in verse
four that I
want you to
see.
It's not the
word chosen.
It's the
word loved.
For we know,
brothers,
loved by God,
that he has
chosen you.
God's choosing
us was out
of his love
for us,
loved before
the foundation
of the world.
So,
whether you
believe God's
choosing us
was first
determined by
our choosing
him,
or our
choice of
God was
first determined
by God's
choice of
us,
we do know
that he
chose us
because he
loves us.
Listen to
Ephesians
chapter one,
verses four
and five.
deep waters.
Deep waters.
A lot to
think about.
God.
But what
Paul is
saying here
is he's
giving thanks
to God
for this
Thessalonian
church because
he recognizes
God had
chosen them.
They
belong to
him.
And again,
if you were
a Thessalonian
reading that,
you would be
incredibly
encouraged by
that.
It would be
a tremendous
assurance,
a tremendous
comfort,
and my
opinion is
the doctrine
of election,
the doctrine
of predestination
is to
encourage and
comfort
Christians.
But Paul
points to
something here.
He says,
here's how I
know.
Here's how I
know you're
chosen.
It's in
verse five,
because.
For we know
brothers,
loved by God,
that he has
chosen you
because.
Because what?
What happened?
Because our
gospel came to
you not only
in word,
but also in
power and in
the Holy Spirit
and with full
conviction.
We're back in
Acts 17,
1 through 10.
We're back
there where
Paul is
preaching Christ
in the synagogue
in Thessalonica
three Saturdays
in a row,
and something
happens.
PST is aware
of a unique
happening during
the preaching
of Christ.
theologians
talk about it
as the general
call of the
gospel and the
effectual call
of the gospel.
The general
call of the
gospel is when
a person
proclaims Christ
with words.
The effectual
call is when
God is
powerfully
working in
that preaching
to draw people
to himself.
And that is
what they're
describing here.
they were
aware that
God was
powerfully
at work
in Thessalonica
when they were
preaching the
gospel.
Look at how
they describe it.
Because our
gospel came
to you not
only in word,
not just a
general call,
but also in
power, in the
Holy Spirit,
and with full
conviction.
It was
effectual.
Paul describes
this power in
two ways.
He describes
it, the
source of the
power, as the
Holy Spirit,
and the effect
of that as
full conviction.
The Holy Spirit,
more likely than
not, there were
signs and wonders
happening in
Thessalonica when
the gospel was
being proclaimed.
But you can
better believe it,
that the Spirit
of God was
convicting these
Thessalonians
of their
idolatry.
That they were
worshiping false
gods.
That the lives
that they were
living were
abhorrent in
God's sight.
That their sin
condemned them
in God's eyes.
It was a
kindness that the
Holy Spirit would
convict them of
that.
But then you can
bank on it, the
Spirit was
illuminating them
at the same time
so that they
would see that
Jesus is the
only name given
among men by
which we can be
saved.
Their eyes were
opened, their
hearts were
inclined.
And so this
powerful pouring
out of God's
Spirit in
Thessalonica, Paul
is saying, we
know you were
chosen because
look at it.
Look what God
did.
The full
conviction is
describing the
response.
It's kind of like
this.
it's when the
Thessalonians were
listening to Paul
preach Christ and
they're sitting
there like, man, I
am a sinner.
Oh man, and this
is the best news I
have ever heard in
my life.
There's only one
way to be saved,
it's through this
Jesus.
I'm fully
convinced.
In other words,
they were all in.
They responded with
full conviction that
they recognized this
is God addressing
their hearts.
And so Paul,
Silas,
Timothy are giving
thanks to God that
this group of
Christians were
chosen by God.
They're so
thankful.
faithful.
This is what the
gospel does.
Romans 1.16, I am
not ashamed of the
gospel because it
is God's power unto
salvation.
It's God's power to
forgive sin and
satisfy God's wrath.
It's God's power to
give spiritual life to
the spiritual dead.
It's God's power to
change someone's
eternity.
It's God's power to
change your desires
from wanting to sin to
wanting to live for
Jesus Christ,
treasuring him above
all else.
Only the gospel does
that.
And that's why they're
giving thanks.
They're so thankful.
The gospel of God
makes us thankful to
God.
It's a catalyst.
And so this first
reason is that they're
giving thanks because
they were convinced
that this church is
chosen.
Chosen by God's grace
and mercy.
Reason number two,
they were changed by
God.
They're given thanks
because they had been
changed by God.
And I'm going to fast
forward this one because
I really want to get
the reason number three.
So let me give you the
nuts and bolts.
Changed by God.
We see it in verse six,
and you became imitators
of us and of the Lord.
The gospel had such an
impact that these
Thessalonians got
flipped.
They switched to who
they were imitating.
I don't know who they're
imitating before, but then
they start imitating Paul,
Silas, and Timothy, and
Jesus.
Did you see that in verse
six?
And you became imitators of
us and of the Lord.
So they were changed in who
they imitate.
imitate, and we get to
ask the question, in what
way?
How were they imitating
them?
And we see in verse six,
for you received the word
in much affliction with joy
of the Holy Spirit.
What marked their change
and their imitating of PST
in the Lord Jesus Christ
was not only that they were
being afflicted for Christ,
but they were full of joy
from the Holy Spirit in the
midst of that.
How do you explain that?
Other than they've been
changed by the power of
God.
And so they became imitators
of Paul, Silas, Timothy,
and Jesus.
But it's more than that.
Not only did they become
imitators, look at verse
seven.
They became examples.
So that you became an
example to all the believers
in Macedonia and Achaia.
That's the Balkan
Peninsula.
Maybe you know where
Greece is.
Maybe you know where
Albania is.
On the west side of the
Balkan Peninsula is the
Adriatic Sea.
On the east side is the
Aegean Sea.
On the south side is the
Mediterranean Sea.
The churches in this area,
they would have been the
churches like Philippi, of
Corinth, of Athens.
Sancria, where if you're
familiar with Lydia from
Romans 16, where she is
from.
Berea.
These were the churches in
this area and they became
aware of what God had been
doing in the Thessalonians.
Here's the equivalent of it.
What's happening is the
equivalent, first century
equivalent, of something going
viral.
It's gone viral.
The faith of the Thessalonians,
of what God has done, has
gone viral.
Their example, not only of
their suffering, but of their
evangelism.
Let me point that out to you.
For not only, verse 8, has the
word of the Lord sounded forth
from you in Macedonia and Achaia.
That sounded forth, the word of
the Lord, that's the gospel.
It's echoing through the
region.
But your faith in God has gone
forth everywhere so that we
need not say anything.
Do you see how they've become
examples?
Not just in their joyful
suffering, but in their bold
evangelism.
The evangelized have become the
evangelists.
It's beautiful.
So, they've been changed by God.
They're no longer
proselytizing something other
than Jesus.
They are proclaiming Christ
boldly, at cost.
We can ask this question coming
out of it.
It's, has the gospel changed you
like that?
Who are you seeking to imitate?
Are you seeking to imitate
Jesus?
How bold is your evangelism?
Are you talking to other people
about Jesus?
You see, the gospel is God's
catalyst, and it brings about a
chain reaction in the way that we
suffer with joy, and it brings
about boldness in our evangelism.
The third reason why PST, we're
so thankful to God for the
Thessalonians, is that PST were
convinced that they had been
converted to God.
So, chosen by God, changed by
God, third reason, converted to
God, and we see that in verse
nine.
For they themselves report
concerning us the kind of
reception we had among you, and
here comes the conversion
language, and how you turn to God
from idols to serve the living and
true God, and to wait for his son
from heaven, whom he raised from
the dead, Jesus who delivers us
from the wrath to come.
Amen.
What has gone viral is that the
Thessalonians had been radically
changed by the gospel.
And this turning language, and how you
turn to God from idols to serve the
living and true God, that is getting
at this idea of conversion.
Turning from idols and turning to God,
God.
It's how you become a Christian.
You've become a Christian by being
converted.
Imagine this.
This is going to be incredibly, this
is a very sensitive topic.
And so, please, just hear me out.
Could you imagine this?
A Bears fan converting to becoming a
Packers fan.
Could you imagine that?
Here's what would happen.
Here's what would need to happen.
The Bears fan would be like, I'm
giving, burning my jerseys.
I'm pulling down my posters.
I am taking off the license plate frame
thing.
I'm peeling off the bumper sticker.
I am no longer watching Bears games.
I don't care what's happening to the
coaches and players and trades.
I don't, where is Soldier Field
anyway?
They don't care.
They've turned their back on being a
Bears fan, and they've gone full in
to being a Packers fan.
They've got Packers fan jerseys, knit
hats.
They have Packers platters in which
they serve cheese.
This is what they do.
Really cool bumper stickers, and they get
a tattoo of a cheese head.
You know that they're all in.
You switch teams.
When someone becomes a Christian, they
switch teams decisively, definitively.
I'm no longer part of team world who are
living for things that are fake and have no
life, and I have made a full switch to team
Jesus, in whom alone is salvation, the living and
true God.
Conversion is a dramatic, decisive change.
Conversion.
You're turning your back on sin, and you're
turning to God through Christ.
Conversion.
And what Paul is saying is here is like, we know
you were converted.
We know you've been radically changed.
We know that you are no longer living for idols, false
gods, false promises, no life there.
The Thessalonians were probably worshiping Greco-Roman
gods.
They were probably living sexually promiscuous
lifestyles, because that was the norm of the world.
They were probably just living for themselves.
In 21st century America, what Carl Truman says,
expressive individualism.
Live your truth.
We've got to turn our back on that.
Moral therapeutic deism.
It's God works for me to make me feel good.
It's making God in our own image.
We turn to these things.
These are idols.
There's no life in them.
Or maybe it's the God of the like.
We just want to be liked.
You just want to be approved and accepted.
There's no life there.
You've got to turn to that.
Idol.
Turn away from that.
And you turn to the living and true God.
The God of the Bible.
The living God.
Who is the giver of all life.
Both physical and spiritual.
The God who is the true God.
He is true reality.
Reality.
And he reveals what is true in his word.
You turn from these false, dead, hopeless things.
And you turn to that God who is alive and is true and is our hope.
But.
You can't do that on your own.
The only thing that can make a dead sinner who is living for idols want to live for the one true living God is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It's the power of God unto salvation.
There's nothing that you can do to change yourself.
It's only by God's grace and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Think about this.
Jesus is the ultimate repo man.
You can't repo yourself.
You are in wicked debt to God because of your sin.
But Jesus came for you.
And he repoed you.
And now you belong as you should be to the living God.
There's no going back.
Or maybe do you remember the 16th century stargazer, Nicholas Copernicus?
Because before Copernicus, everybody thought that we lived in a geocentric solar system, that the sun orbited the earth.
And then Copernicus, with his kind of observations, realized, no, no, no, no, no.
We live in a heliocentric solar system.
The earth orbits the sun.
It was always like that.
He just discovered reality.
What the gospel does is it gives sinners eyes to see that you are not the center of your solar system.
Jesus is.
And it moves us from living for ourselves to living, bring brought into reality that Jesus Christ, risen, reigning, one day returning,
he is the controlling center of all things in whom we orbit.
He is.
Joyfully.
This is conversion.
This is the change that happens when you encounter the power of God in the gospel.
And it's wonderful.
So here's the question it begs.
Have you been converted?
Have you switched teams?
Have you turned your back on false idols in order to serve the living God?
Have you done that?
You can do that today.
You just cry out.
You say, Lord Jesus, you're where it's at.
I'm a sinner.
You've died for my sin.
I'm living for you.
It's the stake in the ground.
And you can do that today.
Come find me after the service.
I'd be happy to help you pray that to God.
And you go from death to life.
You switch teams.
Please.
There's one effect that I need you to see here.
One additional effect.
When you become a Christian, you switch time zones.
We recently had some people from our church in Israel that came back.
And it takes a while to switch back to time zones.
Did you notice verse 10?
Word is out.
It's viral.
That the Thessalonians had been converted.
And now they're waiting for his son from heaven.
Whom he raised from the dead.
Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
They were living in a new time zone now.
It's called Christ time.
Not mountain time.
Not central time.
Christ time.
And what that is, is now, because of the gospel,
it now changes your outlook.
It changes your hope.
And now we're waiting for the return of Jesus.
And we're living lives in accordance with that.
First Thessalonians is packed with references to the return of Jesus Christ.
It's very strategic to a church that's suffering.
It aims us.
So one of the further effects of the gospel is that it changes our hope.
What we're looking forward to most.
First, and in this case, it's the return of Jesus Christ.
Steadfast in your hope, Paul says in verse 3.
The hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Him coming back.
And here's how it all works.
When you are on Christ time, you're saying things like,
we're one day closer to Jesus coming back.
Woo!
Come, Lord Jesus, come.
When you're aware that Christ is coming back,
you're going to be aware of eternal things.
You're going to be aware that when Jesus comes back,
not only is he coming to deliver us,
but the wrath of God is coming too.
Which means it changes the way that we see people.
We see people, and how will they stand on that day?
So when you're living on Christ time,
it will embolden your evangelism.
It will change the way that you see people,
not in relationship to you,
but in relationship to Christ.
Christ.
It's a good effect.
It's a healthy effect.
When you're serving the living God.
And it was because of this conversion
that they are giving thanks.
Chosen by God, changed by God, converted to God.
This is what stirs their thankfulness.
This past week, midweek,
I started changing the way I pray for you.
I pray for 10 of our members every day.
And I'm usually praying,
Oh Lord, would you help so-and-so treasure you?
Would you help them treasure you in their marriage,
in their parenting, in their work?
If I'm aware of other things going on,
I'll pray for that as well.
But did you know when I started praying for you this week?
Oh God, thank you so much
for choosing this person,
for changing this person,
for converting this person.
Thank you God for your kindness to them.
Thank you.
It's a game changer in terms of your prayer life.
It gets you focused on what God is doing
in the lives of others around you.
And it gets our focus on God.
It changes the way you pray.
And it changes how you synchronize your watch.
The gospel of Jesus Christ,
the gospel of God,
makes us thankful to God
because of what God is doing.
Let's pray.
God, thank you so much for your word.
Thank you for 1 Thessalonians.
God, would you use this to stir us
in new ways
that we would delight
more and more
in what you are doing in our midst.
And then more and more,
we are awaiting
the return of your son,
our king, Jesus.
In your name we pray.
Amen.