Make Mike Proud!
2 Thessalonians; Hope in Jesus • Sermon • Submitted
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· 2 viewsAs Christians, we want to be faithful, loving, and steadfast.
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Welcome 6th graders!
Welcome 6th graders!
I’m excited you’re finally getting to be in your first youth service!
I’ve heard I can get a little too deep in my teaching before...
I want to push you
but if you have questions, I love questions!
You can always tell me if there was something you didn’t understand from a sermon. Mine or any sermon!
I love helping you understand God and his Word and what it means for your life, that’s why I have this job!
This is the second letter Paul is writing to the church in Thessalonica. He’s writing because
they are being persecuted
there is false teaching in the church
there are some lazy people
But this is a church that is thriving even in the midst of all this. Paul is proud of them for this, almost like a proud parent.
Hopefully y’all will understand that one day! I had a proud parent moment last night. Kristen and I have three sons, Parker is our oldest. He’s the one who is most likely to see something and grab it and mess with it. I’m trying to teach him to leave something alone if he doesn’t know what it is. “Parker, do you know what that is? Ok, so why are you touching it then?”
I am also teaching Parker sarcastic come backs. This may make me a bad parent, I’m ok with the risk.
Last night, these two things collided. He was messing with an oil pod from a little plug in air freshener and I can envision all the oil spilling out. I asked him if he knew what it was. He said, “an air freshener”. I thought “ok, he got me on that one, I’ll still stump him though” – “What does it do Parker?” He smiles and says, “It freshens the air!”
In that moment, I had been bested by a seven year old. And I was a proud dad!
Paul is looking at the church in Thessalonica that he planted and pastored for a time and he is proud of what he sees, for a better reason than sarcasm.
We should hope that our pastor is proud of the kind of Christ followers we are…
this is the man God has appointed to shepherd, guide us
this is a good indication that we are living a life that honors Christ
Paul explains why he is proud of them as he begins his letter...
Read vv1-4 and PRAY
Growing in Faith
Growing in Faith
People who are following Jesus are growing in their faith.
So I waste a lot of time on TikTok. I’ve had students who were uncomfortable with someone as old as me being on TikTok, if that’s you, sorry not sorry. I like to watch cooking videos, Call of Duty videos, and just funny stuff.
There are these two guys on there who will do whatever you tell them to do. That’s their shtick, challenge them and they’ll do it. I think they’re dumb, but they come up on my for you page from time to time. One time someone told them to go in a store and pump an air mattress up until it exploded. So they went into Walmart and right there in the middle of the outdoor section they started blowing the air mattress up. And they didn’t use and automatic pump, they used a manual pump. And pumped it up until it popped. It was so stupid. I probably just think that because I’m old, but it’s fine.
The air mattress grew so big that it burst. That’s not how growing in Christ works.
You can grow in him your whole life and you’ll never get it all. Never have too much. You’ll always desire more if you love Him!
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
You should always be growing in your faith.
This is done through spiritual disciplines...
As you grow in your faith, you’ll grow in the next thing that Paul talks about.
Loving Others
Loving Others
We are called to love others, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ.
There was a time that I was going through something pretty tough. I was doing my best to deal with it, but it was a lot. Two of my good friends found out, two guys who are also in ministry. And on a Wednesday, so a busy day for them, each of them took time to call me just to encourage me, tell me they were praying for me and to keep doing my best to be faithful. That’s what loving others looks like. Taking time out of a busy day to encourage someone who is hurting.
Going out of your way to help someone in the hall way. Inviting someone who is sitting alone to sit with you. Showing to others the care and kindness that God showed you in Jesus!
Jesus said people will know us by the way we love one another. That means love is action, not just a feeling! It’s things we do for others!
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Paul says this in reference to seeing another Christian struggling with sin. A burden is difficult. It’s inconvenient. It interrupts what we’re doing. We’re called to help others with their’s!
It takes this kind of love for one another to live the Christian life well and to be steadfast in the face of difficulties that will come.
Be Steadfast in Persecution
Be Steadfast in Persecution
We have to stand strong in our faith when afflictions come.
I am an Alabama fan. People usually hear that and assume that I just jumped on the bandwagon because they’ve been so good, but that’s not it! I started school at Bama when Mike Shula was the coach! My freshman year we were 4-9! But I was steadfast as all my friends who went to UT persecuted me! I held on! And For the last decade it’s been great! I’m glad I didn’t give up in the persecution of being awful! Then I wouldn’t be getting to enjoy this time so much!
As Christians, what we endure on Earth will seem like nothing compared to how incredible it will be in God’s Kingdom forever! So it’s worth it to be steadfast!
We will face persecution as Christians.
Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
We need to be ready for it. Whether it’s someone laughing at you because you won’t drink at a party, or telling you you’re dumb for believing the Bible, or getting mad at you because you won’t help them cheat on a test. We will be persecuted for being faithful to Jesus in this world, because this world is opposed to Jesus.
The way we can be steadfast is the two things we talked about first: growing in our faith and having other believers around us, loving one another and helping one another carry our burdens.
It will be difficult, but it will be worth it! The rewards offered in God’s Kingdom are greater than the ones offered in this world!
If you’ve never placed your faith in Jesus, if you’ve never felt the grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus that Paul talks about in verse two, do it tonight! Surrender your heart to him tonight and receive his grace and peace!
If you do that tonight I want you to do two things: First, tell your parents when you get out of here! They’ll be so excited for you! Second, let me know so we can get together and talk about what happens next!
If you know Jesus and have a relationship with Him already, are you growing in your faith? Are you loving others, with action? You need this to be steadfast in the trials that will come!