Main Idea - At this point in his letter to the Thessalonian church, the Apostle Paul isn’t teaching anything new. Rather, he is reinforcing some of the most important and basic realities of the Christian life— we are to be known for our love and respected for our lives. In fact, he says that we are to “keep loving one another more and more” and we should “aspire to live quiet lives”. It is important that we don’t misunderstand this as a call to retreat from the world. Instead, we must understand that the Gospel works through faithful, ordinary people who live, love, and work for God’s glory in all things. Listen to the sermon audio here.
You can also check out more resources for this series HERE.
Read through the following passages: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-3, 9-12
Discuss the questions below with your MC or DNA group.
- Why is it so important for a church to “love one another with brotherly love”? How have you seen or experienced this in the church? What does it look like for Redeemer to be a church that is “known for its love”?
- When you read verse 11, what challenges you? How are these instructions connected to the gospel? How does the life, death, resurrection of Jesus lead us to a quiet and hardworking life?
- Do you think that Christians are respected by non-believers? Why or why not? Are we known for our love and respected for our lives?
- Why is it important that we are respected for our lives?
- How does it make you feel to hear that God primarily works through ordinary, everyday people?
- In light of this sermon or this discussion, what is God saying to you?
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Kids Worship Questions
- Do your parents ever have to tell or teach you the same things over and over again? What is Paul (the author of 1 Thessalonians) teaching this church again?
- Is it hard for you to love your siblings sometimes? Why?
- Did you know that those in our church are our siblings in Christ? How can you show love to other people/kids in our church family?
- What is respect? Who do you respect?
- What areas of your life can you do good work that shows off Jesus?