1 THESSALONIANS 1:2-10 – “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”
THEME OF THE DAY: WITNESSING FOR THE LORD JESUS Did we wake up this morning reminding ourselves before we even got out of bed, “This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it, and in this day He made, I will strive to represent Him well in all my relationships?” If not, it is a great and right way to start each day.
When Jesus was preparing to return to heaven, He gave His disciples, and us, a glorious promise. It was a promise of power to be His witnesses to the world of Him and His gospel . . .
“So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven”” (Acts 1:6-11).
What does it mean to be a witness for Christ? Multiple things. First is the proclamation or sharing of His gospel. This is our mission, both as a church and individuals. The Apostle Paul modeled being a gospel proclaimer everywhere he went, and to the Corinthian church, he gave them the priority and definition of the message we are to proclaim – the gospel . . .
“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve” (1 Corinthians 15:1-5).
Yet, witnessing for the Lord Jesus is not just proclamation of His gospel. It includes affirmation of His gospel by a lifestyle reflecting the gospel. A fine example is the church in today’s scripture. These believers in Thessalonians were changed by the Gospel and became not only verbal proclaimers but also examples of the transforming power of the Gospel. May we follow them, as they followed Christ!
PRAYER: Father, may I today be like Your Son in His meekness and gentleness toward all people and relationships.
REFLECTION: The impression people have of Jesus will largely be what they see and hear from His people.