Sermon

I Thessalonians: Steadfast Faith in a Shifting World

Every family, organization or community has a ethos whether intentionally created or not. An Ethos is comprehensive and when followed reshapes how we speak, what we value, how we live, think and speak. Jesus came and established his kingdom with a certain ethos. Whatever your ethos when it begins to be lived out it begins to be seen in the culture it creates. For followers of Jesus this ethos and culture should be centered and shaped by the gospel. But how do we grow in this? How is this ethos and culture created and cultivated? Paul uses 3 key words to define this and those are faith, love and hope. Paul writes to this fledgling church in Thessalonica addressing concerns regarding who they now were as followers of Jesus and the impact that was to have on them in every area of life. As we study this letter we want to take Jesus' call to be his disciples seriously. We want to commit to helping one another obey him. This means we want to see a kingdom ethos and culture of discipleship growing and developing among us. The reason Paul wrote this letter to the Thessalonians remains the same for us. The world of the first century was characterized by a plurality of belief systems, loyalties and cultures. The Romans were incredibly adapted at spreading their ethos into ever people group they conquered. In order to remain steadfast in that shifting world they needed to be grounded in their faith, committed to one another in love undergirded and filled up with hope. Let’s join together with our faith resting in the truths of the gospel, being renewed in our the hope of what Jesus is doing in us and our Church so that we can express the greatest ethos the world has ever known love. This is the means by which we remain steadfast.