1 Thessalonians: The Gospel in an Upside Down World

September 6, 2015 Series: 1 Thessalonians: The Gospel in an Upside Down World

Topic: Sermon Passage: 1 Thessalonians 1:1–5a

Today we’re beginning a new series in Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. Now this was written around 50AD, which is a long time ago. But what we’re going to see is that it’s just as relevant now as it was back then.

You see, Thessalonica, was not so different from Lausanne. It was about the same size, with a population of around 150,000. And like Lausanne it was the capital of its province – Macedonia, a place of trade and influence.

And just like our own city, it was filled with people worshipping multiple idols. Now, you might think – ‘hang on, Lausanne? Pagan idol worship? Are we talking about the same Lausanne?’ And of course in some ways you’d be right. In the 2000 census 70% of people in Lausanne said they were Christian, and 15% said they were atheists or agnostics. So hardly a hotbed of paganism. But think about what the idols were that the Roman citizens of Thessalonica worshipped. There were the gods of health, or power, or fertility, or trade, or sport. And if an idol is anything that takes the place of God in our lives, and we sacrifice stuff for it, and we give our lives for it, and we pursue our ultimate happiness in it, then our own city – maybe even our own lives – are not so different from those of these first century Romans. Because just like them, we worship gods of health, or profit, or success or sport, or sex.

And yet, just 20 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, Paul is writing to a vibrant Christian church in a city thousands of miles from Jerusalem where it all happened. So, how did that happen? Well, Paul had recently visited this city and through his preaching people had come to faith in Jesus.

But not everyone was happy about that. And a riot broke out against Paul and his team and they had to flee the city.

And now weeks later, in Corinth, Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to find out how they were doing. And Timothy returned and told him that generally this young church was going great. And in particular, as we’ll see over the coming weeks, they had begun to spread the good news about Jesus around their area. But other areas within the church were less positive. They were still being persecuted. If you think it’s not easy to be a Christian in your workplace or on campus, it wasn’t for these guys either. On top of that, some of them had died. And imagine being in a small church, under pressure, where a string of people you love have died, and think what that can do to morale: why does God allow this? Is this faith real? Is God displeased with us? Why doesn’t Jesus return and end this suffering once and for all?

So amongst all the joy of their newfound faith, and sharing that faith, some were feeling embattled and others discouraged. And it’s into that situation that Paul writes this letter.

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