Starting at verse 13. Let's hear God's Word.
And we also thank God continually because when you received the Word of God, which you heard from us,
you accepted it not as the Word of men, but as it actually is, the Word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
For you, brothers, became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus.
You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews,
who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out.
They displease God and are hostile to all men in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved.
In this way, they always heap up their sins to the limit.
The wrath of God has come upon them at last.
Okay, Tom is going to come.
Before he does, I'm going to pray for him.
Well, no, he's going to come up.
And before we listen to him, we're going to pray.
Yeah, so this is Tom, Tom Campbell, who's been around before.
Nice to have you back, Tom.
Nice to have you too, Grace.
And as you pray for Tom, remember Alex, who will be preaching next week following on.
So let's pray.
Our Father God, we thank you so much again for the people that you gift and enable to understand your word
and to teach it corporately like this.
We thank you, Father, for Tom.
We thank you for the help that you have given him in this past week.
And we pray afresh that you would pour out your spirit upon him and upon us,
that we may hear the word of God, not as the word of men, but as it actually is.
The word of God that is at work among us.
So we pray, work in us and change us and transform us to be the people and the church that you call us to be.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Thanks.
Good morning, everyone.
Now, I've been given a flicker, so if you're sleeping, I can zap you in the eyes.
Okay.
It's great to be back.
So we're really happy to be here again and see lots of familiar faces.
I'm just going to read the passage one more time, and then I'm going to pray and then get stuck in.
And we also thank God continually, because when you received the word of God, which you heard from us,
you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.
For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus.
You suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews,
who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out.
They displease God and are hostile to everyone in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved.
In this way, they always heap up their sins to the limit.
The wrath of God has come upon them at last.
Father, please help me now to speak your word, not my words.
Help us to listen.
Send your spirit so that we can learn about you now.
Amen.
Okay, so just a quick update on what we're doing.
We're living in Middleton still.
Grace has finished her year studying to be a teacher, which she has finished, and she's now the best teacher.
She got awesome results in her exams, which you can ask her about.
She doesn't like when I say.
I have now moved jobs.
I am now working for Amazon from home.
So the Amazon website, not the jungle.
So I haven't been here in a while, but in our year of marriage, we've learned a lot.
It's been a great year.
We've really, really enjoyed it.
So, yeah, we're doing really well.
The title that I've given us today, Great Expectations, I guess with the idea that in life we all have expectations.
We all have ideas of what life's going to be like, what we're going to be doing, where we'll end up.
And I had great expectations for the Irish soccer team.
I was there with my Irish scarf and my Paddy Zela that Gracie bought me.
Vuvuzela, except an Irish version.
Two minutes in, 1-0 down.
Against Croatia, it only took two minutes for my expectations to be dashed.
So expectations don't always go as planned.
And we can see here a group of people that we can learn a lot about, who may have had certain expectations.
And people may ask, what will life be like as Christians?
But we have the security to know that God tells us.
So from these few verses, there's just a few points that I can take.
The first one we can see in verse 13, that there's good news from God.
And we also thank God continually because when you received the word of God which you heard from us,
you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God,
which is indeed at work in you who believe.
And that word of God is the gospel.
These people in Thessalonica were told about Jesus.
Told about the good news that Jesus died for them.
Because of the wrong that they'd done, Jesus had to die.
So that good news that they could be with Jesus was told to them.
That in verse 10 in chapter 1, we've already seen in earlier weeks,
Jesus who rescues us from the coming wrath.
They were rescued.
And that was the good news that they were told.
And we can see that this message is from God.
It's not a man-made story.
It's real.
And it's serious.
Because it's from the creator of...
Sorry.
From the creator of the whole world sends us this good news.
So this is why people stuck by it.
Because they knew it was good news and it was from God.
So would we choose to stick by something if we knew it was false?
Would we stick by something in the midst of severe suffering if it wasn't real?
So this is just a great proof that even though these people suffered, it was real.
It was from God.
They really believed it.
So they received the gospel.
The next part, God's amazing strategy.
We can see that even though it was Paul, Silas and Timothy, or as I might refer to them as Paul and Co,
they told them the gospel.
It wasn't God who audibly said it to them.
It was men who said God's word to them.
I think this is amazing that God uses people like us.
He gave them a job to do to deliver his message.
And I think that's a good illustration.
It's like, back to Euro 2012.
I won't get over it for a little while.
It's like Trapatoni coming to Caragalline, coming to St. Mary's,
picking some of the junior infants from St. Mary's to say,
come with me, we're going to Poland and Ukraine.
We're going to beat the Spanish.
So it's like somebody taking seemingly useless, incapable people to do a job.
And that's what God has done.
It's his message, but he takes people who are seemingly useless to do his job.
And we have that same mission.
So it's an amazing responsibility.
And just in 2 Corinthians, it sums this up well,
that we're given this ministry of what's called reconciliation,
bringing people back to God.
So I'll just read it.
You don't have to look it up.
From verse 18.
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ,
and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
not counting people's sins against him.
And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
We are therefore Christ's ambassadors,
as though God were making his appeal through us.
We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.
So we are his ministers.
We are to tell this amazing good news.
And that's amazing that that's God's strategy.
So, something that I was really challenged by when I was looking at these verses
was the fact that God's word works.
So I'm just going to read the end of verse 13 again.
The word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.
Human words have the power to change and affect the way we live.
Right from when we were young, our teachers,
we would change what we do because of what they say.
Our parents, our friends, peer pressure.
So human words affect us.
So how much more can God's word affect the way that we live?
We take man's word and women's word,
when we're married maybe,
sometimes more seriously.
But how much more seriously should we take God's word?
He's the creator of all things.
We can see that God's word makes a visible difference in our own lives.
It actually changes us.
It's at work.
And that's an ongoing reality.
I just want to flick quickly to Hebrews.
Again, all these different references.
I'm just going to read them out.
4 and verse 12.
For the word of God is alive and active,
sharper than any double-edged sword.
It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit,
joints and marrow.
It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
So God's word is living and active.
It's not dead.
It actually works and changes people.
It's an ongoing reality.
But what I was really challenged with was that we need to put it there.
So if we're not putting God's word there,
it's not going to do anything.
It can sit on our shelf.
And from what I've heard,
I've got an illustration.
When you're washing clothes,
I think you need to use washing powder.
Grace says something like that.
When you put on a wash,
you have to put in detergent.
If you just stick the clothes in,
no washing up powder,
they're going to come out stinking.
Nothing's going to get clean.
They're just going to be wet and smelly.
Would just a small pinch of it work?
No.
You have to put in the right amount.
And I thought that was a good example.
That if we're just even taking two minutes a day,
one minute a day,
quick, look at the Bible.
Oh, I feel great now.
It's not going to work.
And that really challenged me.
Because it is something that you have to put in the time
to be changed by God's word.
So next time you're doing a wash,
you can think,
have I put in enough Bible today?
And then finally,
just in relation to this good news from God,
is that we need to have faith.
In verse 13,
the word of God,
which is indeed at work in you who believe.
So God's good news is accepted by
and at work in those who believe in Jesus.
We must trust in the Lord.
Trust in who he is, firstly,
that he is who he says he is.
In what he's done.
He sent Jesus to die for us.
And what he says, his promises.
What we can expect when we live for him.
We need to have faith in God's message.
Just an easy way to think about that
is just taking him at his word.
Sometimes believing or trusting or having faith
can be said so many times.
But simply it's just taking him at his word.
He'll do what he says.
So we should believe him.
And that applies for all of the promises in the Bible.
Not just about how he'll save us,
but everything.
How he'll look after us,
provide for us.
So we just need to trust in the Lord.
Okay, so that's the first thing.
There's good news from God.
The next bit.
Suffering for his sake.
So I'm just going to read
the next couple of verses.
For you, brothers and sisters,
became imitators of God's churches in Judea,
which are in Christ Jesus.
You suffered from your own people
the same thing those churches suffered from the Jews,
who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets
and also drove us out.
So we can see that the Thessalonians,
the people here,
became imitators of Paul and co.
and of the Lord.
In chapter 1, verse 6,
we already saw that.
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.
Excuse me.
So they started out in suffering.
Their lives as Christians
started out in the midst of severe suffering.
And then they became imitators
of the church in Judea.
So as a people together,
they were like the church in Judea
who suffered from the Jews.
And because of this,
like we've heard in previous weeks,
they became famous.
Because they were like the Jewish churches,
they became famous.
Their faith was known
known all around that area.
So what did the Jews do?
They drove Paul and co.
out of Thessalonica.
The Jews started a riot.
They weren't happy
with what was going on.
The Jews had killed prophets
and killed Jesus ultimately.
So this was serious suffering
that was going on.
So they started out suffering,
but they also continued in suffering.
Why?
Because it was the truth
and they were convinced of it.
They stood by it.
So they became imitators.
So we must become imitators.
So what does that mean?
It might not seem very nice
from what I've just said,
imitating them.
But suffering is something
that will be an effect
if we are imitating.
It's part and parcel
of the Christian life.
They go hand in hand,
suffering for Jesus.
So there's kind of
three things here now
that I want to talk about
in relation to suffering.
Firstly, that we need
to be different.
Suffering with joy
and then a reason
so that others will notice.
So we need to be different
from our society.
As Christians,
and the way we live,
talk,
think,
we'll be different
if we're living
according to God's way.
And we'll suffer
because of this.
And that might vary
in different ways.
But because we're not living
like everybody else,
we will suffer.
And I had a question,
I had a thought,
if we never suffer
for our faith,
if we never experience
any sort of suffering,
persecution,
are we really different?
Are we really living
according to God's way?
And the slightly scary thing
is that Jesus actually told us
that we will suffer
in John.
I'm just going to read
from John 15,
18 to 20.
If the world hates you,
keep in mind
that it hated me first.
If you belong to the world,
it would love you as its own.
As it is,
you do not belong to the world,
but I have chosen you
out of the world.
That is why the world hates you.
Remember what I told you,
a servant is not greater
than his master.
If they persecuted me,
they will persecute you also.
So because we're following Jesus,
he was persecuted,
he was different,
he said radical things,
like Shane said,
outrageous.
Jesus said outrageous things
and he suffered.
We too are conveying
what Jesus says
and we too will suffer.
But that suffering
can be with joy,
we can rejoice.
and this is something
that is hard
to get your head around.
In chapter 1 of 1 Thessalonians,
verse 6,
I already read it,
that they accepted
the message
in the midst of severe suffering
with the joy given
by the Holy Spirit.
Do you see that?
The joy was given by God.
It was given by the Holy Spirit.
And now at times,
I think it will need
to be an active choice
that we need to trust
in the Lord.
So,
just as an example,
when we feel down
or if we feel depressed
because of bleak circumstances
around us,
and it always happens,
we may not feel like rejoicing,
we may not be happy at all.
Unemployment,
illness,
loss of a loved one,
not knowing how we're going
to pay the next bill.
All these things
are realities
that bring us down,
make us sad.
But what gets us through
is an active choice
knowing
that we can cling
to our salvation
by faith.
There's nothing else
we need to do.
That's all we need.
I think that's put well
in 1 Peter.
I'm just going to flick to it quickly.
I'm flicking around a lot.
1 Peter chapter 1.
And it says,
In all this you greatly rejoice,
though now for a little while
you may have had to suffer grief
in all kinds of trials.
These have come
so that the proven genuineness
of your faith,
of greater worth than gold,
which perishes,
even though refined by fire,
may result in praise,
glory, and honor
when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Though you have not seen him,
you love him.
And even though you do not see him now,
you believe in him
and are filled
with an inexpressible
and glorious joy
Why?
For you are receiving
the end result of your faith,
the salvation of your souls.
So that's the root
of our joy,
our inexpressible
and glorious joy
when we're depressed
and down.
We can rejoice
because that's all we need
is salvation by faith.
And finally,
in this point,
we need to be different,
joyful suffering,
and so the others will notice.
Simply,
as we suffer,
people will see
we're standing up for something
so that others too
will come to believe.
So,
the next thing,
how will we suffer?
I was thinking more
in maybe how
this will get worked out,
but firstly,
I want to remind us
that it's joyfully
we will go through this.
Rejoicing.
And there's different ways
that we may suffer.
Here in Ireland,
we're in a very safe society.
Yes,
people might have
their own opinions
and views,
so we might experience
ridicule,
exclusion
from families
or friends,
laughing,
verbal abuse,
embarrassment,
losing status
in society,
maybe even losing a job.
Maybe you stand up
for something
that you think is right
and that results in
there's no longer
a job for you.
Depending on where we are
in the world,
this could become physical.
Physical beating,
imprisonment,
perhaps even death.
This is something
that the Thessalonians
were experiencing
when they were together.
Thankfully,
we don't here today,
but who knows
where we'll end up.
But even then,
I think it's amazing
in Acts.
I can't remember
the two of the disciples,
but they were
flogged
for preaching
the gospel.
And then when they left,
when they were released,
they counted it
as joy
because they were
considered worthy
of suffering.
I think that's amazing.
Can we count it
as joy
when we suffer?
Because when we
suffer for Jesus,
we know
we're doing the right thing.
And lastly,
suffering for his sake,
why will we suffer?
Like I said,
because we're different.
Our lives
and actions
and words
will actually challenge
people's motives,
people's hearts,
their world views,
and people don't like this.
And again,
depending on how
extreme it will be,
you might get a joke,
you might get a laugh,
you might get a,
you might be excluded.
But because we're
challenging people's views,
generally,
people don't like this.
So because we're different,
we suffer
because it actually
strengthens us
as believers.
By standing firm
through suffering,
we grow.
in James,
chapter 1,
it says,
consider it pure joy,
my brothers and sisters,
whenever you face trials
of many kinds,
because you know
that the testing of your faith
produces perseverance.
Let perseverance finish its work
so that you may be mature
and complete,
not lacking anything.
So God uses suffering
to grow us,
to be more like him.
And another point,
why we suffer,
we actually validate
God's message
through suffering.
When we stand firm,
we are declaring,
I believe this is true,
I think this is right,
through suffering.
And ultimately,
it brings glory to God.
We're making him known.
Why do we suffer?
We're making God known
in this world.
If we're suffering,
we have to stand up
for what we believe in.
And as I've said,
we can do it joyfully,
knowing that it's for God.
So that's suffering
for his sake.
And finally,
the last point,
is we can know
that justice will be done.
So I'm just going to read
the last two verses
from 15b.
They displease God,
and are hostile to everyone
in their effort
to keep us from speaking
to the Gentiles
so that they may be saved.
In this way,
they always heap up
their sins to the limit.
The wrath of God
has come upon them at last.
So this point,
the idea that justice
will be done,
that wrath,
God's wrath is coming.
And this made me think
that suffering
is made easier.
In a tough situation,
the idea of an athlete,
the Olympics is coming up,
the training that they go through,
years and years of training,
a doctor,
the years that they go through
to get qualified,
it's really tough.
But when you think
of the end goal,
I'll make it,
I'll get to the Olympics,
I'll be a doctor.
It makes the process
more worthwhile.
So for us,
looking to our ultimate goal,
like we've mentioned,
the salvation of our souls,
makes suffering easier.
We can know that,
from these verses,
that God will do what's right.
He will bring justice
to the world.
So if we suffer injustice
or persecution
at the hands of people,
we don't need to get
our own back.
God will sort it out.
So then,
something I was reading
the other day
with grace
is in Hebrews 10
and verse 30.
For we know him who said,
it is mine to avenge,
I will repay.
And again,
the Lord will judge his people.
So God is the one
who will sort it out.
We don't need to worry.
So if we suffer
at the hands of people,
we need to leave justice to him.
We don't need to worry.
And that takes a huge weight
off our shoulders.
We don't need to get
our own back.
I'm an awful one
for hating injustice.
I hated cheating
when I was at camps.
Couldn't stand it.
But when there's injustice
in the world,
in our own lives,
we can relax knowing
God will sort it out.
From these verses,
we can see that God's wrath
is coming.
Wrath isn't really a word
that's often used.
So what is it?
It's God's righteous anger
against sin.
It's his anger
that is right.
It should be there
against sin.
There is an unstoppable force
coming.
God isn't happy with sin.
He's not happy with injustice.
We watched a film recently
called Unstoppable.
It's not great.
So if I ruin it,
don't worry.
It's about a train
that starts rolling
and they can't stop it.
And the whole film
is about this train
that is unstoppable.
And I guess it made me think of this,
that this unstoppable force,
God's wrath,
there's nothing to stop it.
There was images in the film
where there were cars,
caravans parked
on the train lines
and the train
just plowed through them.
There was nothing
to stop it.
They did stop the train
in the end.
But there is no stopping
God's justice.
There's no stopping
God's wrath.
It is coming.
And I think the phrase here,
the way Paul says it,
the wrath of God
has come upon them at last.
My initial thought was that,
right, this is so certain,
he's actually said it
in the past tense.
The wrath of God
has come upon them at last.
Whereas he,
God's wrath is still to come.
This actual verse
is a bit of an area of debate.
Possibly that the wrath
has already begun
to be fulfilled.
Some people point
to different actual events
in history
as being God's wrath
as pointed to
from these verses.
But one thing is certain
and we can think about
those things later,
that God's wrath
is coming.
There will be a point
when everyone
will face the Lord.
And God's mercy
won't extend forever
to those who don't trust Jesus.
We know that we are safe
when we trust in Jesus.
But God,
like it says
in the Old Testament,
in Exodus,
chapter 34,
he won't let the guilty
go unpunished.
And he passed in front of Moses
proclaiming,
the Lord,
the compassionate
and gracious God,
slow to anger,
abounding in love
and faithfulness,
maintaining love
to thousands
and forgiving wickedness,
rebellion and sin.
yet he does not leave
the guilty unpunished.
He punishes the children
and their children
for the sin of their parents
to the third and fourth generation.
So God is not a God
who stands by idly.
Justice will be done.
So this idea
that God's wrath
is coming,
there's great news,
but there's sad news
with this point.
The great news is
from chapter 1
in verse 10,
we've been rescued.
Jesus,
who rescues us
from the coming wrath.
Wrath is coming,
but we're safe
if we trust.
We have the joy
of knowing
that we have
a never-ending future
to be spent with Jesus
in a perfect world.
So even though
this wrath is coming,
we're safe.
He's rescued us.
But the sad news
is that some people
aren't safe,
those who don't trust
in Jesus.
They will have to face up
to that unstoppable force
that is coming,
that is God's wrath,
his anger.
So our job
is to tell people
the great news
that we have
so that others
won't have to face that.
So in thinking
about great expectations,
we may have expectations
for our lives
as Christians,
for our lives
in what we might do
in business
with our friends,
for those who may be
Christians
a shorter time.
Maybe we thought
it was going to be
all hunky-dory.
But let me tell you,
we may have
great expectations,
but in fact
there's a greater reality
that we are living for God
and we have an eternity
to spend with him.
And even in the midst
of suffering
we can have joy.
so I just want to leave
a challenge.
Are you safe?
Is your trust
in Jesus,
in his life,
death,
and resurrection?
If it is,
then yes,
you're safe.
But if not,
then you may be
in danger
of God's anger
for not living
as he wants you to.
So like I said,
great expectations
for our lives,
but the truth
is it's better
than we can imagine
because we're living
for God
and we get to be
with him.
Okay,
so let's pray.
Amen.
Father,
thank you
that you give us
your word.
It's not a human message.
It's from you,
the creator
of the heavens
and the earth.
You speak to us
and ultimately
that message
of salvation.
Thank you for that.
Thank you for that
good news
that you've given to us.
Lord,
please help us
to be people
who allow your word
to work in our lives.
help us
not to neglect it
and Lord,
we're sorry
for when we do.
Father,
I pray that you
would help us
to face
the reality
of suffering
in this life
with joy.
Please give us
that joy
when it's not natural.
We know it's from you
and we know
that you give it.
Please help us
through those times
where it isn't natural.
Help us to stand
firm for you
no matter what
we may face.
Thank you that
justice will be done.
We don't need to worry.
Help us to be prepared
for when that comes.
Thank you for
how we are safe
when we trust in you.
Help us to tell others
how they can be safe too.
Thank you Lord
for the wonderful reality
that we have in store,
the wonderful future.
Help us to cling to that
knowing that's all we need
no matter what's going on.
Thank you for helping me.
Please help us to live
as you want us to today.
Amen.
We're going to sing
in response
Be Thou My Vision
O Lord of My Heart
I guess there's a continuation
on our prayer
that the Lord
would be our vision
for our life
and for how
we should live.
Let's stand together
as we sing.