A. What is Your Church?

1) A family of people who nurture faith, hope, and love in one another (1-3)

1 Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.

2 We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers.

3 We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

2) People who are chosen by God in love (4)

4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,

3) People who are led by the Holy Spirit (5-6)

5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.

6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.

B. Embodying hope in our community

1) Modeling how to live well (6-8)

6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.

7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.

8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia–your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it,

2) Always sharing hope (9, 10)

9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,

10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead–Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

Summary

We are members of a big family called Your Church and this family is open to everyone. Even though our life circumstances are very different, our desire to follow Jesus is something we share in common. If we follow Jesus, we can bring healing to a world that is suffering from hatred, intolerance, and self-centeredness.

For Discussion

1. What is Your Church?
2. What is the purpose of Your Church?