1 Thessalonians 1 This sermon begins the study of Paul’s letters to the church of Thessalonica. Now, I (Pastor Gary) must be honest; that was not my plan. Earlier in the week I had sent my “Today” blog to Vickie with my focus just being on the list of exhortations from 1 Thessalonians 5, and that would be my message for Sunday, not anticipating remaining in that letter. But then I, or maybe I could also say, “but God”, focused my eyes on the next to the last verse of the letter which reads, “I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren.” 1 Thess. 5:27 NKJV
The NLT demands even more attention as it reads, “I command you in the name of the Lord to read this letter to all the brothers and sisters.”
Now, I know Paul’s intent for those words were for all the church in Thessalonica, but the content of the letter is yet so relevant for today, as we will discover. So, today we begin our reading of Paul’s letter(s) to the church in Thessalonica, and to all believers in every generation, especially now!