August 19 – October 28, 2018

1 Thess. 5:19, "Do not quench the Spirit." When Paul uses the word quench, he's using a Greek word that's often used with fire. It's the same word used in Matthew 12:20 to say about Jesus, "a smoldering [candle] wick he will not quench." Thinking of the...

Kind of like last week, "give thanks in all circumstances" might feel like a weighty mandate. All circumstances includes the loss of a child or a bad prognosis, which doesn't feel like something to be thankful for. But this verse isn't calling us to a...

"Pray without ceasing." It's hard to read that and not feel like you're falling down on the job. Before we're too hard on ourselves though, we need to look at the word Paul uses for "without ceasing." It's the Greek word adialeiptos, which Paul uses more...

Imagine that feeling you have when someone wrongs you. Think of something you’ve experienced, like a co-worker taking credit for your work, a friend gossiping about you, or getting catcalled on the street. That visceral desire for payback, that “how dare...

As I mentioned last week, we’re going through 1 Thessalonians 5:13-19 roughly one verse at a time. This week, in 1 Thessalonians 5:14, we’re going to talk about what it means to "admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, [and] be...

For the next six weeks of the series we’re going to look at each verse from 1 Thessalonians 5:13-19 individually. Each verse contains some command or exhortation that Paul had for the Thessalonians, and even the really short ones pack a punch. We’re all...

This section, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, is the main section of content for this letter. Paul has obviously said a few chapter’s worth of things up till now, but addressing the Thessalonians’ questions about the Second Coming of Christ was the primary...

We’re skipping over chapter 3 and going ahead to 4:9-12. There’s plenty to dig into in chapter 3, but most of it is a personal report between Timothy, Paul, and the Thessalonians. Take a look at chapter 3 though, it’ll help as you get the flow of the...

It’s really cool when you can see the history of the early church embedded in the epistles of the New Testament. At the start of 1 Thessalonians 2, when Paul talks about being “shamefully treated at Philippi,” he’s talking about his experience with Timothy...

This week we’ll be looking at the entire first chapter of 1 Thessalonians. Since it’s the start of a letter you’ll notice a lot of introductory language; Paul starts by mentioning his recent visit to Thessalonica and remembering how the Lord was at work...

We’re in the second half of Advance 2018, and this fall we’re diving deep into 1 Thessalonians. You might be surprised to hear it, but first century Thessalonica was a lot like the cities that make up the Triangle. It was inhabited by the...