Responding to Jesus by Giving Thanks - Week 2

Responding to Jesus by Giving Thanks – Week 2

Posted on Nov 8, 2020 by Jerry Ingalls in General, Giving Thanks, Sermon Notes |

“Three Church Marks that Lead a Pastor to Give Thanks!”

Last week, Pastor Ken opened up our November sermon series on “Responding to Jesus by Giving Thanks” and today, I continue from the same book of the Bible: Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. Please turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 1:1-3,

Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father.

From this passage we learn three characteristics of the early church that caused the early church leaders to give thanks to God always for all of the people.

Before we examine these three characteristics, I want to make two quick observations from this Scripture:

First, this is clearly not about people pleasing.

Paul said, “We give thanks to God always…”. The focus is on God, not on making people feel good about themselves. And vice versa, just as critically, we see that the people’s focus was on the Lord Jesus Christ and not on making their leaders happy. This was not co-dependence; this was a unity of focus, which results in worship to the God who is worthy of all our worship!

Second, notice that they prayed for one another by name.

Praying for one another is intimately connected to giving thanks for one another. That is why Christian counselors prioritize the importance of couples and families praying together: those who pray together, stay together! Let us be a people who pray for one another by name. To this end, we recently provided for you a pictorial directory and every week we provide for you an updated prayer guide. We also invite you to sign up for our Constant Contact prayer emails.

Now, what can we learn from the three characteristics of the early church that caused the early church leaders to give thanks to God always for all of the people? According to 1 Thessalonians 1:1-3, church leaders; hence, the people of the churches should focus their thoughts or “bear in mind” these three areas: (1) Work of Faith; (2) Labor of Love; and (3) Steadfastness of Hope.

These three things are what Paul admonishes us to focus on and give thanks to God for when we see them in one another: faith, love, and hope. Please take notice that there is nothing new to this admonition; in fact, Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 13:13,

“But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Biblically, these are the three areas we should excel as Christians in character and conduct, as individuals, as families, and as communities. This is how we are called to stand out and shine like stars in these dark days!

Let’s now apply them to our lives. It has been said,

“Faith rests on the past; love works in the present; hope looks to the future” (Moody Bible Commentary, 1879).

We rejoice and give thanks in all circumstances because our thankfulness is in response to what God has already done, is doing, and has promised to do! Thankfulness is God-centered thinking and living—giving thanks is the outflow of you having a Christian worldview!

1. Work of FAITH!

Paul is talking about the work of our lives—our deeds and actions; that which we manifest (make visible to the world). Paul is saying that what brings thankfulness to him and the church leaders is when people work in union with Christ—focused on faithfulness to Him, not success for themselves! Work of faith is the fruit of the Vine (John 15:1-16) and the rest of the easy yoke of Jesus Christ (Matthew 11:28-30).

Our day-to-day living is in response to the gracious gift of Jesus Christ! As Paul said in Colossians 3:23-24,

“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”

And what are the most important results of our work? Only that which flows from faith! The good fruit comes when our work is in response to Christ’s finished work. Paul commands us to the

“work of faith … in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father.”

We are to remain mindful of who we work for at all times!

While this applies to all three of these points, I will only say it once, all that I am teaching today invokes the teachings of every sermon series from 2020: we are called to the work of faith, the labor of love, and the steadfastness of hope in response to the Plans of God, the Passion of Jesus Christ, the Priorities of Jesus, the Promises of God, and the Presence of God. All that we have been discussing this year, through each of the sermon series, is being called forth in this passage.

When we do something in the name of Jesus, we work according to His character for His purposes and glory, and through the power of His Spirit, which is manifested as the “fruit of the Spirit” in us, as Paul teaches in Galatians 5:19-26,

“Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.”

Christians must remain faithful to the One for whom they work. How we do our work is essential to bearing witness to the One the work of our hands is to declare! We always represent the god we serve! Just as Jesus said in John 15:8,

“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”

When our work is the work of faith (when our trust is in God) we manifest the “fruit of the Spirit”, but when our work is of any of source, we show the world ourselves—the “deeds of the flesh”!

Work of faith proves who we serve and to whom we belong! What you do is important because it is the only way you can show the world the life of Christ that is in you… This is a life that brings thanksgiving to Paul!

2. Labor of LOVE!

Paul is speaking of hardships with this phrase—how we are to face discomfort or distress. Whatever hardship or circumstance we face, we are to do so with the motivation of God’s love (agape). Paul is saying that what brings thankfulness to Him and the church leaders is when they see their people responding to hardship with God’s love—to make visible God’s grace and mercy in our lives.

Listen to Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:1-10,

“And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain— for He says, ‘At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you.’ Behold, now is ‘the acceptable time,’ behold, now is ‘the day of salvation’— giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.”

Again in 1 Corinthians 15:58,

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”

When we labor in love, though we may not get the results we want (success vs failure), we will live lives that give glory to God and invoke thankfulness from our faith communities! Love does not always win in this world, as the world defines winning and losing, but God’s love never fails. But, without God’s love, even if you score a win in the eyes of the world, you still lose! We must do all things in God’s love if we are truly giving thanks!

Paul teaches of God’s love in 1 Corinthians 13:1-8,

“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.”

And that leads us to Paul’s final admonition…

3. Steadfastness of HOPE!

This is the capacity to endure, persevere, to hold out and bear up in the face of difficulty for what you know is true about the promises of God. Paul is saying that what brings thankfulness to Him and the church leaders is when they see their people living for what is not yet seen, as citizens of Heaven, eagerly awaiting the Day of Christ Jesus when all things will be made right.

Listen to Paul bring all three of these admonitions together in Romans 5:1-5,

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

What leads Paul and church leaders to give thanks? The people of God maturing in Christlikeness and reflecting Him in this life, more and more, one day at a time, until the Day of His royal visitation.

May we give thanks for one another by name because we see the Holy Spirit working in our fellowship and our witness in these three areas:

(1) our work flows from what Christ has done for us on the Cross of Calvary and what He has assured us through His resurrection from the dead;

(2) our labor is in God’s perfect love because God will never fail to satisfy our every need and has poured out His Spirit so that we may walk faithfully with Him; and

(3) our hope perseveres because our trust for the future (hope) is in the promised work of Jesus Christ to make all things new and bring all things under subjection to Him—His Kingdom come, His will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven (Matthew 6:9-13).

The Lord Jesus Christ has victoriously ascended to the right hand of the Father where He is actively praying for you. Respond to Jesus by awaiting His return with faith, love, and hope—Be thankful for His Day of royal visitation is coming soon!

Responding to Jesus by Giving Thanks – Week 2