1 00:00:07,173 --> 00:00:07,674 Second 2 00:00:07,674 --> 00:00:11,177 Thessalonians chapter three, verses six through 18. 3 00:00:12,012 --> 00:00:15,982 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 00:00:16,516 --> 00:00:19,819 that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness, 5 00:00:20,020 --> 00:00:23,323 and not in accord with the tradition that you receive from us. 6 00:00:23,923 --> 00:00:28,862 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle 7 00:00:28,862 --> 00:00:32,599 when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it. 8 00:00:33,033 --> 00:00:36,036 But with toil and labor we worked night and day 9 00:00:36,302 --> 00:00:39,305 that we might not be a burden to any of you. 10 00:00:39,305 --> 00:00:41,941 It was not because we do not have that right, 11 00:00:41,941 --> 00:00:44,911 but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. 12 00:00:45,412 --> 00:00:49,215 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command. 13 00:00:49,649 --> 00:00:52,652 If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 14 00:00:53,453 --> 00:00:56,456 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, 15 00:00:56,656 --> 00:00:59,426 not busy at work, but busy bodies. 16 00:00:59,426 --> 00:01:02,595 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord 17 00:01:02,595 --> 00:01:06,900 Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. 18 00:01:07,300 --> 00:01:10,370 As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. 19 00:01:10,937 --> 00:01:14,841 If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person 20 00:01:15,241 --> 00:01:18,211 and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. 21 00:01:18,511 --> 00:01:21,815 Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. 22 00:01:22,916 --> 00:01:24,851 Now may the Lord of peace 23 00:01:24,851 --> 00:01:28,088 himself give you peace at all times, in every way. 24 00:01:28,621 --> 00:01:30,790 The Lord be with you all. 25 00:01:30,790 --> 00:01:33,793 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. 26 00:01:34,394 --> 00:01:37,197 This is a sign of genuineness in every letter of mine. 27 00:01:37,197 --> 00:01:38,364 It is the way I write. 28 00:01:38,364 --> 00:01:41,367 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. 29 00:01:46,072 --> 00:01:49,075 Hey, everybody, welcome to Christ Community Chapel. 30 00:01:49,142 --> 00:01:52,145 Really, really glad that you are here. 31 00:01:52,545 --> 00:01:54,414 Thanks for coming. 32 00:01:54,414 --> 00:01:54,714 All right. 33 00:01:54,714 --> 00:01:57,917 We have been in a ten week series. 34 00:01:57,951 --> 00:02:01,754 We've been looking at two letters that the apostle Paul 35 00:02:02,489 --> 00:02:05,792 wrote to a church in a city called Thessalonica. 36 00:02:06,626 --> 00:02:10,563 Now, we have other letters that Paul wrote to other churches. 37 00:02:10,563 --> 00:02:15,768 And not all of them are positive, but these two letters are very, very positive. 38 00:02:15,768 --> 00:02:20,840 And that's why we have called this series The Church God Calls Good. 39 00:02:21,708 --> 00:02:25,411 And we've been trying to, learn from the Thessalonians, 40 00:02:26,012 --> 00:02:27,981 because we want to be a church. 41 00:02:27,981 --> 00:02:30,183 God calls. Good. 42 00:02:30,183 --> 00:02:32,452 And we're at the last week of the ten week series. 43 00:02:32,452 --> 00:02:37,891 I get to bat clean up, and we've made it all the way to the end of the second letter. 44 00:02:37,891 --> 00:02:41,995 So if you have your Bibles, you can turn to Second Thessalonians chapter three. 45 00:02:42,695 --> 00:02:44,264 Second Thessalonians chapter three. 46 00:02:44,264 --> 00:02:49,402 If you're going to use one of our Bibles, in the pew or in the back of East 47 00:02:49,702 --> 00:02:54,641 Hall, it's on page 931, page 931 if you want to follow through. 48 00:02:54,674 --> 00:02:57,977 Oh, and by the way, if you, do not have a Bible, 49 00:02:58,645 --> 00:03:01,347 we would love to give you your first Bible. 50 00:03:01,347 --> 00:03:02,348 All you have to do is 51 00:03:02,348 --> 00:03:06,352 go to the Next Steps area out in the atrium, and we'd be glad to give you a Bible. 52 00:03:06,686 --> 00:03:06,986 All right. 53 00:03:07,921 --> 00:03:08,188 All right. 54 00:03:08,188 --> 00:03:09,889 I know we just had it read to us. 55 00:03:09,889 --> 00:03:12,926 I'm going to read it again because I want it fresh in your mind. 56 00:03:12,926 --> 00:03:13,793 And then I'm going to give you 57 00:03:13,793 --> 00:03:17,430 the three points that I want to cover and pull out of this passage. 58 00:03:18,064 --> 00:03:20,466 This is what Paul says. 59 00:03:20,466 --> 00:03:24,704 Now, I command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 60 00:03:24,704 --> 00:03:29,042 that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness 61 00:03:29,742 --> 00:03:33,213 and not in accord with the tradition you received from us. 62 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:36,216 For you yourselves know how you ought to 63 00:03:36,216 --> 00:03:40,620 imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 64 00:03:40,954 --> 00:03:43,957 nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it. 65 00:03:44,424 --> 00:03:47,427 But with toil and labor we work night and day 66 00:03:47,994 --> 00:03:50,830 that we might not be a burden to any of you. 67 00:03:50,830 --> 00:03:53,833 It was not because we do not have that right, 68 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:56,502 but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. 69 00:03:57,704 --> 00:04:00,640 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command. 70 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:03,776 If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 71 00:04:04,744 --> 00:04:08,248 But we hear that some among you walk in idleness, 72 00:04:08,248 --> 00:04:11,251 not busy at work, but busy bodies. 73 00:04:11,251 --> 00:04:14,721 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ 74 00:04:15,488 --> 00:04:18,958 to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. 75 00:04:19,559 --> 00:04:22,829 As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. 76 00:04:22,862 --> 00:04:27,066 If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person 77 00:04:27,066 --> 00:04:30,803 and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. 78 00:04:31,371 --> 00:04:35,642 Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. 79 00:04:36,442 --> 00:04:41,347 Now may the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times, in every way. 80 00:04:41,347 --> 00:04:43,082 The Lord be with you all. 81 00:04:43,082 --> 00:04:46,052 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. 82 00:04:46,419 --> 00:04:49,622 This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine. 83 00:04:49,956 --> 00:04:51,491 It is the way I write. 84 00:04:51,491 --> 00:04:54,794 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. 85 00:04:55,695 --> 00:04:56,529 All right. 86 00:04:56,529 --> 00:04:59,599 Here are the three points that I want to pull out of this passage. 87 00:04:59,599 --> 00:05:00,933 If you want to know where I'm going. 88 00:05:00,933 --> 00:05:03,670 If you're a note taker, you want to write these down. 89 00:05:03,670 --> 00:05:07,340 But a good in a good church, everyone works. 90 00:05:07,940 --> 00:05:09,108 That's the first point. 91 00:05:09,108 --> 00:05:12,111 In a good church, everyone works in a good church. 92 00:05:12,211 --> 00:05:17,116 Everyone imitates someone, everyone imitates someone. 93 00:05:17,116 --> 00:05:22,255 And in a good church, everyone gets grace and peace. 94 00:05:23,022 --> 00:05:25,892 Everyone works everyone to imitate someone. 95 00:05:25,892 --> 00:05:28,728 Everyone gets grace and peace first. 96 00:05:28,728 --> 00:05:30,330 Everyone works. 97 00:05:30,330 --> 00:05:32,932 Verse six and then verse 11, 98 00:05:32,932 --> 00:05:36,636 Paul says, now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 99 00:05:36,636 --> 00:05:40,673 that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness, 100 00:05:41,307 --> 00:05:44,310 and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 101 00:05:44,310 --> 00:05:48,381 And then verse 11, for we hear that some among you walk 102 00:05:48,381 --> 00:05:52,118 in idleness, not busy at work, but busy bodies. 103 00:05:53,252 --> 00:05:54,153 What had happened 104 00:05:54,153 --> 00:05:57,156 in Thessalonica is that some of the people in the church 105 00:05:57,156 --> 00:06:01,828 had misunderstood Paul's teaching about the second coming of Jesus. 106 00:06:01,861 --> 00:06:05,431 One of the great hopes that we have as 107 00:06:05,431 --> 00:06:08,801 Christians is that one day Jesus will return. 108 00:06:08,801 --> 00:06:12,071 And when he returns, he returns as King 109 00:06:12,472 --> 00:06:15,508 and heaven, all of heaven comes with him. 110 00:06:16,109 --> 00:06:18,277 There's a common misunderstanding. 111 00:06:18,277 --> 00:06:24,217 I think that, people think that our home is in heaven up there. 112 00:06:24,217 --> 00:06:26,953 But that's not what the Bible teaches. 113 00:06:26,953 --> 00:06:30,890 The Bible teaches that our home is here on earth. 114 00:06:31,257 --> 00:06:32,492 It is right now. 115 00:06:32,492 --> 00:06:35,061 It will be for all of eternity. 116 00:06:35,061 --> 00:06:38,097 Because what happens is that haven't actually descends 117 00:06:38,698 --> 00:06:41,367 with Jesus as King, 118 00:06:41,367 --> 00:06:44,971 and the world is remade into everything 119 00:06:44,971 --> 00:06:49,509 that you always wanted it to be hoped it would be. 120 00:06:50,309 --> 00:06:51,811 There's a Greek word for that. 121 00:06:51,811 --> 00:06:53,746 The Greek word is Palin Genesee. 122 00:06:53,746 --> 00:07:00,153 It's one of my favorite Greek words, and it means the renewal of all things, 123 00:07:00,853 --> 00:07:03,723 that everything becomes pristine 124 00:07:03,723 --> 00:07:06,692 just the way God intended it to be. 125 00:07:07,293 --> 00:07:10,830 Now, some of the people in testimony in Thessalonica 126 00:07:11,364 --> 00:07:14,400 thought that when Paul talked about the second coming of Jesus, 127 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:17,937 that Jesus was going to come right away, like within weeks. 128 00:07:18,571 --> 00:07:21,574 And so they quit doing everything. 129 00:07:21,974 --> 00:07:24,977 They quit working, they quit serving, 130 00:07:25,044 --> 00:07:27,547 they quit everything. 131 00:07:27,547 --> 00:07:32,084 And they became what Paul says is idle now, in some ways, 132 00:07:32,084 --> 00:07:36,155 that shows faith because they really believe Jesus was coming back. 133 00:07:36,722 --> 00:07:39,659 But Paul was not pleased. In fact, 134 00:07:40,593 --> 00:07:42,595 he was really upset. 135 00:07:42,595 --> 00:07:44,730 And the question, of course, is why? 136 00:07:44,730 --> 00:07:47,600 Why did that upset him so much? 137 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:52,472 And the reason is because Christians have a unique relationship with work. 138 00:07:53,139 --> 00:07:56,142 It's different than virtually everyone else. 139 00:07:56,609 --> 00:08:01,214 Because there there are normally a couple of different ways that people approach work. 140 00:08:01,214 --> 00:08:05,051 And one, I will call the Bruce Springsteen approach, 141 00:08:05,451 --> 00:08:09,121 and the other, I will call the Bolivian taxi driver approach 142 00:08:09,689 --> 00:08:12,291 first. The, 143 00:08:12,291 --> 00:08:13,593 the first one, right. 144 00:08:13,593 --> 00:08:17,029 Bruce Springsteen I was watching TV a couple of weeks ago, 145 00:08:17,029 --> 00:08:20,132 and a commercial came on for Bruce Springsteen's world tour, 146 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:24,303 and they were showing a concert, and you hear his voice 147 00:08:24,804 --> 00:08:27,440 and his voice, and Bruce Springsteen says, 148 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:30,843 I have been playing music for 50 years. 149 00:08:31,410 --> 00:08:35,281 It's the way I justify my existence on earth. 150 00:08:36,148 --> 00:08:39,151 It's the way I justify my existence on Earth. 151 00:08:39,151 --> 00:08:43,689 That's one way to approach work, where work becomes your very identity. 152 00:08:44,156 --> 00:08:47,260 It's the way that you justify yourself. 153 00:08:47,260 --> 00:08:51,030 It's the way it's success becomes that justification. 154 00:08:51,230 --> 00:08:56,802 And really, you don't know how important work has become to you. 155 00:08:57,503 --> 00:09:00,072 Sometimes until you lose your job 156 00:09:00,072 --> 00:09:03,843 or until you retire, there are all kinds of stories of people who retire 157 00:09:04,410 --> 00:09:08,214 and then die very quickly because they've lost their purpose. 158 00:09:08,748 --> 00:09:11,584 That's one way people approach work. 159 00:09:11,584 --> 00:09:15,922 The polar opposite of that is what I call the Bolivian taxi drivers in Bolivia. 160 00:09:16,155 --> 00:09:20,126 Years ago, I got into a taxi and I started a conversation 161 00:09:20,126 --> 00:09:23,763 with the taxi driver and asked him how much he made driving a taxi, 162 00:09:24,330 --> 00:09:28,034 and he said, if I if I drive for a day, I can live for three days. 163 00:09:28,834 --> 00:09:31,837 If I drive for two days, I can live for a week. 164 00:09:32,271 --> 00:09:35,841 If I drive six days in a row, I take the rest of the month off. 165 00:09:37,410 --> 00:09:38,511 I didn't know 166 00:09:38,511 --> 00:09:41,547 whether I should respect that or, you know, not. 167 00:09:42,081 --> 00:09:44,016 But that's what he said. And that's the opposite. 168 00:09:44,016 --> 00:09:47,453 That's, like one is to live, to work. 169 00:09:47,453 --> 00:09:50,456 The other is, work is a necessary evil 170 00:09:50,523 --> 00:09:53,192 to actually, live. 171 00:09:53,192 --> 00:09:56,495 But Christians are unique for a Christian, 172 00:09:56,762 --> 00:09:59,765 work is an extension of worship. 173 00:10:00,566 --> 00:10:03,402 Work is an extension of worship. 174 00:10:03,402 --> 00:10:08,608 This is what I mean in Matthew chapter 22, somebody asked Jesus a question. 175 00:10:09,141 --> 00:10:13,946 And the question they asked Jesus is what commandment is the greatest commandment? 176 00:10:14,747 --> 00:10:18,451 And I think they might have expected Jesus to choose one of the Ten Commandments. 177 00:10:18,818 --> 00:10:22,855 Jesus goes a different direction and he says, the greatest commandment 178 00:10:22,855 --> 00:10:27,827 is this love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. 179 00:10:28,294 --> 00:10:32,365 And the second is like unto it love your neighbor as yourself. 180 00:10:32,598 --> 00:10:36,902 And then Jesus said that all the law and the prophets are contained 181 00:10:37,203 --> 00:10:38,704 in those two commands. 182 00:10:38,704 --> 00:10:41,741 What he was saying is, those are the two things 183 00:10:41,741 --> 00:10:46,412 that are not only the most important things, they include everything. 184 00:10:46,846 --> 00:10:49,682 This is all that God wants 185 00:10:49,682 --> 00:10:53,953 is for us to love him and love each other. 186 00:10:54,353 --> 00:10:54,854 All right. 187 00:10:54,854 --> 00:10:57,957 So for a Christian, work 188 00:10:58,491 --> 00:11:01,494 is a way that we love other people. 189 00:11:01,694 --> 00:11:04,830 I heard a pastor named John Ortberg, some years ago, 190 00:11:05,731 --> 00:11:09,902 say that he was giving his toddlers a bath one night. 191 00:11:10,436 --> 00:11:12,338 It's why he's kneeling by the bath tub. 192 00:11:12,338 --> 00:11:14,440 There's suds and water all over the place. 193 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:19,712 If you've ever bathed the toddler, you know, they're like slippery little salamanders. 194 00:11:20,012 --> 00:11:22,782 And so he's trying to give them a bath. 195 00:11:22,782 --> 00:11:25,651 And he looks up and his wife is leaning up 196 00:11:25,651 --> 00:11:28,621 against the doorjamb, just looking at him and smiling. 197 00:11:29,388 --> 00:11:30,322 And he says to 198 00:11:31,390 --> 00:11:32,958 what? 199 00:11:32,958 --> 00:11:35,428 And she says to him, 200 00:11:35,428 --> 00:11:37,897 you are never more attractive to me 201 00:11:37,897 --> 00:11:40,900 than you when you're bathing our kids. 202 00:11:41,534 --> 00:11:45,071 And then John Ortberg said, we now have the cleanest kids in all of Chicago. 203 00:11:45,705 --> 00:11:48,374 Okay, that was a great line. 204 00:11:48,374 --> 00:11:51,377 Oh, what was she saying 205 00:11:51,677 --> 00:11:53,045 to John Ortberg? 206 00:11:53,045 --> 00:11:56,949 What she was saying is, when you are serving me 207 00:11:58,184 --> 00:12:01,120 by bathing our children, 208 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:03,422 I feel loved. 209 00:12:03,422 --> 00:12:06,425 That's the way Christians approach work. 210 00:12:06,859 --> 00:12:11,797 That work is a way that we love other people serve other people, 211 00:12:11,797 --> 00:12:15,401 and it's a way that we ultimately love 212 00:12:15,401 --> 00:12:18,404 God because those two things go together. 213 00:12:18,437 --> 00:12:21,941 When Paul talks about idleness, 214 00:12:21,941 --> 00:12:24,944 he's not talking about just being lazy. 215 00:12:25,277 --> 00:12:28,280 He's not talking about rest. 216 00:12:28,848 --> 00:12:31,851 He's talking about a refusal 217 00:12:31,917 --> 00:12:34,153 to love someone else, to love others. 218 00:12:35,654 --> 00:12:38,657 Listen, I know this is a big church. 219 00:12:38,758 --> 00:12:42,128 I know it's easy to come in and think everything's being done 220 00:12:42,895 --> 00:12:45,531 and everything's being paid for, so 221 00:12:45,531 --> 00:12:48,167 I don't need to serve anywhere, 222 00:12:48,167 --> 00:12:51,170 and I don't need to give at all. 223 00:12:51,737 --> 00:12:53,639 But you're wrong. 224 00:12:53,639 --> 00:12:54,807 You're wrong on two accounts. 225 00:12:54,807 --> 00:12:57,810 One is that we really do need you 226 00:12:57,810 --> 00:13:00,813 to serve needs you to give. 227 00:13:01,147 --> 00:13:05,084 Otherwise God would not have brought you here to this place. 228 00:13:06,085 --> 00:13:09,088 But the second thing is that you need to do it 229 00:13:09,989 --> 00:13:12,658 as a part of your worship. 230 00:13:12,658 --> 00:13:17,029 And that's the first point in a good church, everyone works 231 00:13:17,029 --> 00:13:21,066 because everyone is participating in worship 232 00:13:21,066 --> 00:13:24,236 and loving each other and loving God 233 00:13:24,937 --> 00:13:27,940 in a very tangible way. 234 00:13:28,107 --> 00:13:29,708 That's the first thing. 235 00:13:29,708 --> 00:13:32,912 The second thing is that everyone is imitating someone. 236 00:13:33,479 --> 00:13:35,614 Everyone is imitating someone good. 237 00:13:35,614 --> 00:13:37,016 Verses seven through ten 238 00:13:37,983 --> 00:13:38,684 Paul says, for 239 00:13:38,684 --> 00:13:43,622 you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle 240 00:13:43,622 --> 00:13:46,792 when we were with you, nor do we eat anyone's bread without paying for it. 241 00:13:47,526 --> 00:13:50,529 But with toil and labor we worked night and day 242 00:13:51,063 --> 00:13:54,033 that we might not be a burden to any of you. 243 00:13:54,099 --> 00:13:57,102 It was not because we do not have that right, 244 00:13:57,203 --> 00:14:00,906 but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. 245 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:04,076 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command. 246 00:14:04,076 --> 00:14:07,079 If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 247 00:14:08,447 --> 00:14:10,382 About three weeks ago, 248 00:14:10,382 --> 00:14:14,787 we had all my family over our three kids. 249 00:14:14,787 --> 00:14:16,589 Our six grandkids. 250 00:14:16,589 --> 00:14:22,428 I was one of those, crisp, cool fall evenings. 251 00:14:23,229 --> 00:14:27,266 One of the reasons why people flock to Northeast Ohio. 252 00:14:27,499 --> 00:14:29,168 Or at least they should. 253 00:14:29,168 --> 00:14:31,770 And I was sitting there, we had a bonfire going. 254 00:14:31,770 --> 00:14:35,040 I was watching the cousins, play a game. 255 00:14:35,641 --> 00:14:37,042 They're playing a game called, 256 00:14:38,377 --> 00:14:40,412 ghosts in the graveyard. 257 00:14:40,412 --> 00:14:44,250 And, I really didn't know much about the game, but I was just enjoying 258 00:14:44,250 --> 00:14:48,654 watching the cousins, and they spanned and age from 3 to 13. 259 00:14:48,654 --> 00:14:51,123 The ones who were playing. 260 00:14:51,123 --> 00:14:53,259 And I watched the three year old 261 00:14:53,259 --> 00:14:57,062 and the three year old was watching his eight year old cousin. 262 00:14:57,062 --> 00:15:00,599 He was taking his cues from his eight year old cousin. 263 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,536 And when the eight year old cousin would cover his eyes to count, 264 00:15:04,570 --> 00:15:07,072 then the three year old would cover his eye. 265 00:15:07,072 --> 00:15:11,477 He didn't know why he was covering his eyes, but he just did it 266 00:15:11,477 --> 00:15:12,912 because the eight year old was there. 267 00:15:12,912 --> 00:15:16,248 The eight year old was taking his cues from the 13 year old. 268 00:15:16,248 --> 00:15:19,051 He would run wherever the 13 year old would run. 269 00:15:19,051 --> 00:15:24,590 He couldn't keep up, but he tried that because everybody was imitating. 270 00:15:24,590 --> 00:15:30,195 They learned how to play that game, not by reading some kind of instruction book, 271 00:15:31,130 --> 00:15:35,634 but they learned how to play that game by watching and by imitating. 272 00:15:36,568 --> 00:15:37,836 That's true in church 273 00:15:38,871 --> 00:15:40,572 that the way you learn, 274 00:15:40,572 --> 00:15:43,776 it's really how you learn to be a Christian 275 00:15:44,343 --> 00:15:47,413 is you watch and you imitate. 276 00:15:47,546 --> 00:15:50,883 You know, when Paul says, imitate me, which he says, 277 00:15:50,883 --> 00:15:54,620 not just here twice, but he says it in other letters. 278 00:15:54,954 --> 00:15:57,323 He's not being egotistical. 279 00:15:57,323 --> 00:15:59,591 He's he's not being an egotist. 280 00:15:59,591 --> 00:16:02,594 He's being a realist because he knows 281 00:16:03,128 --> 00:16:06,632 that people watch and that people imitate. 282 00:16:06,832 --> 00:16:10,803 You know, if if it struck me that if, if you've only been coming 283 00:16:10,803 --> 00:16:14,640 the last, let's say, three weeks here to seek, 284 00:16:15,341 --> 00:16:18,644 you would think in order to be a part of this church 285 00:16:19,211 --> 00:16:24,783 that you needed at Thanksgiving time to grab a big tub, go out, 286 00:16:25,050 --> 00:16:27,419 fill it up with things to get with the Thanksgiving meal, 287 00:16:27,419 --> 00:16:28,954 and bring it back at a certain time. 288 00:16:28,954 --> 00:16:32,391 Because if you came in the last three weeks when you were walking 289 00:16:32,391 --> 00:16:36,428 in, everyone seemed like they were walking out with a tub 290 00:16:36,829 --> 00:16:39,631 with a Thanksgiving basket to fill it. 291 00:16:39,631 --> 00:16:40,933 And in some ways, you'd be right. 292 00:16:42,001 --> 00:16:42,901 That is our 293 00:16:42,901 --> 00:16:47,006 tradition here at KCC to be a part of this church. 294 00:16:47,172 --> 00:16:50,409 That is something you will probably do. 295 00:16:51,510 --> 00:16:53,012 Everyone imitates y'all. 296 00:16:53,012 --> 00:16:55,814 I was watching an NFL game. 297 00:16:55,814 --> 00:16:59,518 Last week and commercial came on. 298 00:16:59,551 --> 00:17:02,521 It was one of the commercials that the NFL puts on, 299 00:17:02,521 --> 00:17:05,724 just really about how to become a fan. 300 00:17:05,924 --> 00:17:08,827 And there was this little clip and I, I loved it. 301 00:17:08,827 --> 00:17:10,462 I'm going to play it for you now. 302 00:17:10,462 --> 00:17:12,331 And it's so short and quick. 303 00:17:12,331 --> 00:17:16,301 I'm going to play it twice back to back just because you'll want to see it twice. 304 00:17:16,568 --> 00:17:19,571 But show the clip. 305 00:17:22,207 --> 00:17:25,210 Yeah. 306 00:17:25,411 --> 00:17:28,414 Oh. Oh. 307 00:17:34,820 --> 00:17:37,823 Yeah. 308 00:17:37,956 --> 00:17:40,959 Oh oh. 309 00:17:44,930 --> 00:17:47,933 You know, the greatest clip? 310 00:17:50,235 --> 00:17:53,238 Everybody imitates someone. 311 00:17:54,273 --> 00:17:55,674 Here's the question. 312 00:17:55,674 --> 00:17:58,510 If someone watches you, 313 00:17:58,510 --> 00:18:00,612 they're going to look at how you talk, 314 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:03,282 how you worship, 315 00:18:03,282 --> 00:18:06,285 how you respond when something doesn't go your way. 316 00:18:06,919 --> 00:18:11,757 The real question is this what kind of church would this be 317 00:18:13,092 --> 00:18:15,828 if everyone 318 00:18:15,828 --> 00:18:18,831 imitated you? 319 00:18:19,965 --> 00:18:22,835 Would it be a loving church? 320 00:18:22,835 --> 00:18:24,436 Would it be a kind church? 321 00:18:24,436 --> 00:18:26,138 Would it be a selfish church? 322 00:18:26,138 --> 00:18:28,006 Would it be a complaining church? 323 00:18:28,006 --> 00:18:30,342 Would it be a generous church? 324 00:18:30,342 --> 00:18:33,345 Would we be able to keep the lights on? 325 00:18:33,612 --> 00:18:36,448 What would the church be like 326 00:18:36,448 --> 00:18:38,650 if everyone 327 00:18:38,650 --> 00:18:41,320 imitated you? 328 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:44,323 So what Paul says here is that 329 00:18:45,324 --> 00:18:50,362 in a church God calls good, everyone works. 330 00:18:51,063 --> 00:18:55,834 In a church God calls good, everyone is imitating someone. 331 00:18:56,969 --> 00:19:01,640 And you should know someone who's going to watch you 332 00:19:02,474 --> 00:19:05,477 and someone is going to imitate you. 333 00:19:06,712 --> 00:19:09,715 And then what kind of church do we become? 334 00:19:10,215 --> 00:19:12,050 That's the second point. 335 00:19:12,050 --> 00:19:14,520 The third point is everyone 336 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:17,222 gets grace and peace. 337 00:19:17,222 --> 00:19:19,558 Everyone gets grace and peace. 338 00:19:19,558 --> 00:19:21,293 Let me start with grace 339 00:19:22,594 --> 00:19:24,530 in verse 18, the very last. 340 00:19:24,530 --> 00:19:27,266 This is the last verse of the two letters. 341 00:19:27,266 --> 00:19:30,502 This is the last thing that Paul leaves them with. 342 00:19:30,502 --> 00:19:35,073 He says, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. 343 00:19:36,008 --> 00:19:38,210 The grace of our Lord Jesus 344 00:19:38,210 --> 00:19:41,213 Christ be with you all. 345 00:19:41,513 --> 00:19:44,516 Grace is the absolute 346 00:19:44,583 --> 00:19:47,886 best quality that a human being can have. 347 00:19:48,887 --> 00:19:52,724 I think I say that because there is so many attributes 348 00:19:52,724 --> 00:19:56,828 that are kind of wrapped around grace here, that are part of grace. 349 00:19:57,162 --> 00:19:59,231 If you have grace, that means you. 350 00:19:59,231 --> 00:20:02,801 There is a certain amount of kindness that you have 351 00:20:02,935 --> 00:20:07,172 a gentleness, a love, an ability to forgive. 352 00:20:07,472 --> 00:20:09,942 There are all kinds of things, right? 353 00:20:09,942 --> 00:20:14,947 If someone says to you, you have a lot of grace. 354 00:20:15,547 --> 00:20:18,550 It is a wonderful compliment. 355 00:20:18,617 --> 00:20:22,654 And usually when somebody says that, what they're saying is that you are showing 356 00:20:22,654 --> 00:20:25,657 more grace than they have 357 00:20:25,724 --> 00:20:28,860 at that moment, or that they would have if they were you. 358 00:20:30,329 --> 00:20:31,496 Paul, in this 359 00:20:31,496 --> 00:20:35,100 passage is, doing a little correcting. 360 00:20:36,134 --> 00:20:38,670 I told you a few weeks ago, 361 00:20:38,670 --> 00:20:42,541 that in a good church, you treat the pastor like a coach. 362 00:20:42,908 --> 00:20:49,014 And the word in that passage was the word admonish, which means to encourage. 363 00:20:49,014 --> 00:20:51,617 It also means to correct it. 364 00:20:51,617 --> 00:20:54,653 And Paul is doing some of both in this passage. 365 00:20:55,120 --> 00:21:00,492 He is encouraging and he is correcting the vast majority of the Thessalonians. 366 00:21:00,492 --> 00:21:03,362 We're doing well. So he is encouraging them. 367 00:21:03,362 --> 00:21:09,401 But there are some that are not doing well and he is going to correct them. 368 00:21:09,801 --> 00:21:10,102 Right. 369 00:21:10,102 --> 00:21:13,105 So that's what this passage is about. 370 00:21:13,438 --> 00:21:16,441 I remember when I was playing college basketball, when, 371 00:21:17,209 --> 00:21:21,213 we had a pre-season conditioning kind of program 372 00:21:21,213 --> 00:21:23,715 where just at the very beginning of the program, 373 00:21:23,715 --> 00:21:26,852 we were supposed to run to a bridge, touch the bridge, run back. 374 00:21:27,152 --> 00:21:28,887 No one was there to check and stuff. 375 00:21:28,887 --> 00:21:33,558 And I remember running to the bridge, I was an underclass man, 376 00:21:34,026 --> 00:21:37,362 and I passed some of the upperclassmen on the way to the bridge. 377 00:21:37,362 --> 00:21:41,600 I was running faster than they were, and I touched the bridge, and I was running back. 378 00:21:41,867 --> 00:21:45,804 And I passed the same upperclassmen, but they had turned around 379 00:21:46,471 --> 00:21:48,540 and they were running the same direction I was. 380 00:21:48,540 --> 00:21:51,977 Which meant that they did not touch the bridge, which meant they were cheating. 381 00:21:52,544 --> 00:21:54,579 And even at 19 years old, 382 00:21:54,579 --> 00:21:58,250 I knew they weren't just cheating themselves, they were cheating me. 383 00:21:58,250 --> 00:22:02,087 And sure enough, we were not a very good team. 384 00:22:03,655 --> 00:22:06,658 Paul is acting like a coach 385 00:22:07,225 --> 00:22:12,331 with a team where the majority of the team was doing well. 386 00:22:12,331 --> 00:22:16,768 They were doing what they should do, but there were some that were not. 387 00:22:17,469 --> 00:22:19,338 And so Paul was he. 388 00:22:19,338 --> 00:22:20,972 He does an interesting thing. 389 00:22:20,972 --> 00:22:24,209 He starts with verse 13 and he says this. 390 00:22:25,610 --> 00:22:29,481 As for you brothers, do you not grow weary in doing good? 391 00:22:29,481 --> 00:22:33,051 That's when he's talking to the ones that are doing well, doing right. 392 00:22:33,752 --> 00:22:36,021 And it's interesting that he should do that, 393 00:22:36,021 --> 00:22:40,959 because I remember when I was running as an underclassman, running the bridge 394 00:22:40,959 --> 00:22:44,229 touch it, ran back, realized that the upperclassmen were cheating. 395 00:22:44,796 --> 00:22:49,901 The next time we ran, I thought about turning around halfway 396 00:22:50,402 --> 00:22:55,374 and running slower back just like they were, because it's hard to continue 397 00:22:55,374 --> 00:22:58,810 to do the right thing when some people around 398 00:22:58,810 --> 00:23:01,813 you are doing the wrong thing. 399 00:23:02,114 --> 00:23:06,918 And what Paul starts out saying is, listen, don't do that. 400 00:23:06,918 --> 00:23:10,956 If you're running to keep running, keep doing good, keep serving, 401 00:23:10,956 --> 00:23:15,193 keep working, keep loving, keep doing what you're supposed to be doing. 402 00:23:15,193 --> 00:23:18,130 And then he starts the correcting part. 403 00:23:18,130 --> 00:23:19,464 Verse 14. 404 00:23:19,464 --> 00:23:24,169 He says, if anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person 405 00:23:24,669 --> 00:23:28,240 and have nothing to do with him that he may be ashamed. 406 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,243 Okay, that's rough. Right? 407 00:23:31,309 --> 00:23:34,312 That's he's going after them. 408 00:23:34,913 --> 00:23:39,451 And then verse 15, he says, do not regard him as an enemy, 409 00:23:40,085 --> 00:23:42,888 but warn him as a brother. 410 00:23:42,888 --> 00:23:43,555 And there it is, 411 00:23:44,523 --> 00:23:46,224 grace, do 412 00:23:46,224 --> 00:23:50,562 not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. 413 00:23:51,363 --> 00:23:52,063 Grace. 414 00:23:52,063 --> 00:23:56,101 He's saying grace, grace enough to go after them. 415 00:23:56,835 --> 00:23:59,237 Grace enough to not give up on them. 416 00:23:59,237 --> 00:24:02,641 Grace enough to welcome them back. 417 00:24:03,241 --> 00:24:06,244 Grace as a brother. 418 00:24:06,678 --> 00:24:10,081 Now, you should know that grace doesn't come from nowhere 419 00:24:10,849 --> 00:24:14,553 is very, very difficult for a human being to manufacture. 420 00:24:14,786 --> 00:24:19,458 Grace, if you try to manufacture grace within yourself, you'll have like 421 00:24:19,458 --> 00:24:25,263 a thin veneer of grace, and it will wear off really quickly and then you'll get nasty. 422 00:24:25,530 --> 00:24:28,500 I've seen it all right. 423 00:24:28,500 --> 00:24:31,403 Grace has to go from come from the outside 424 00:24:31,403 --> 00:24:35,974 in with the human being before it goes from the inside out. 425 00:24:36,942 --> 00:24:39,978 Which is why Paul ends with that saying, 426 00:24:39,978 --> 00:24:43,915 the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. 427 00:24:44,716 --> 00:24:49,421 What he's saying is that if I'm going to call you to be to be graceful 428 00:24:49,421 --> 00:24:53,992 with others, particularly those that are not doing right, 429 00:24:54,493 --> 00:24:57,796 if I'm asking you to kind of thread 430 00:24:57,796 --> 00:25:01,700 that needle of being, of trying to correct them 431 00:25:01,700 --> 00:25:06,204 while still being gracious to them, you're going to need grace 432 00:25:06,204 --> 00:25:11,042 to be constantly flowing into you so it can flow out of you. 433 00:25:11,576 --> 00:25:14,779 If you ever want to know why we talked about the gospel so much, 434 00:25:14,779 --> 00:25:19,518 why we take communion every week is to remind ourselves 435 00:25:20,018 --> 00:25:23,054 that we are recipients of grace. 436 00:25:23,955 --> 00:25:29,728 That it's grace that called us out of darkness into his marvelous light, 437 00:25:30,395 --> 00:25:35,500 and his grace that we will use to call one of our brothers or sisters 438 00:25:36,501 --> 00:25:38,069 out of disobedience, out of 439 00:25:38,069 --> 00:25:41,806 darkness, back into his marvelous light. 440 00:25:41,806 --> 00:25:44,809 In a church, God calls good 441 00:25:44,943 --> 00:25:47,913 everyone gets grace. 442 00:25:48,246 --> 00:25:49,681 Everyone. 443 00:25:49,681 --> 00:25:53,351 The second thing is peace is what he says. 444 00:25:54,819 --> 00:25:56,388 It's verse 16. 445 00:25:56,388 --> 00:25:59,658 He says, now may the Lord of peace himself 446 00:25:59,925 --> 00:26:03,295 give you peace at all times in every way. 447 00:26:04,529 --> 00:26:10,368 May the Lord of peace give you peace at all times and every that is comprehensive. 448 00:26:10,936 --> 00:26:13,672 And he's saying that to some people that are going through some really 449 00:26:13,672 --> 00:26:19,210 difficult times and the question is, how do we get that kind of peace? 450 00:26:19,210 --> 00:26:22,581 And the answer is the next phrase of that verse 451 00:26:23,148 --> 00:26:27,886 is this the Lord be with you all, the Lord be with you all. 452 00:26:28,653 --> 00:26:31,890 The Lord of peace give you peace at all times, 453 00:26:32,524 --> 00:26:35,260 in every way and every way. 454 00:26:35,260 --> 00:26:37,095 The Lord be with you all. 455 00:26:37,095 --> 00:26:40,131 I always think of a story in Matthew chapter eight 456 00:26:41,032 --> 00:26:43,835 where, the disciples get into a boat 457 00:26:43,835 --> 00:26:46,838 and they head across the Sea of Galilee 458 00:26:47,138 --> 00:26:50,041 and a storm hits. 459 00:26:50,041 --> 00:26:52,611 And it must have been a fierce storm because about 460 00:26:52,611 --> 00:26:55,614 half of the disciples were fishermen by trade. 461 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:59,184 And I always think a professional fisherman has a higher capacity 462 00:26:59,551 --> 00:27:02,554 for a storm than a landlubber like me. 463 00:27:02,887 --> 00:27:05,957 But I always think that if you know, if a wave got like this 464 00:27:05,957 --> 00:27:08,960 high, I'd be saying, hey, you know, maybe we should turn back. 465 00:27:09,060 --> 00:27:12,764 And a fisherman, a professional fisherman would say, this is nothing, right? 466 00:27:12,764 --> 00:27:17,335 Well, this storm was something because all of them thought they were going to die. 467 00:27:18,303 --> 00:27:19,471 So they they wake 468 00:27:19,471 --> 00:27:23,408 Jesus up with the fact that Jesus was asleep is a whole nother thing. 469 00:27:23,408 --> 00:27:27,512 But they wake him up and they say, don't you care that we're about to die? 470 00:27:27,512 --> 00:27:30,482 And Jesus stands up, wipes the sleep from his eyes, 471 00:27:30,882 --> 00:27:33,418 and calms the storm. 472 00:27:33,418 --> 00:27:36,421 It's a great, great story. 473 00:27:37,822 --> 00:27:39,924 But I always think, 474 00:27:39,924 --> 00:27:42,927 I wonder what it was like the next time 475 00:27:42,961 --> 00:27:45,930 that they were going to cross the Sea of Galilee. 476 00:27:46,531 --> 00:27:50,502 The next time they were going to cross the Sea of Galilee, do you think they 477 00:27:50,835 --> 00:27:55,140 they looked up with the sky to check, or do you think they checked the weather app, 478 00:27:56,007 --> 00:27:59,544 or do you think they just trade a watch 479 00:27:59,544 --> 00:28:03,515 and see which boat Jesus got into and then scrambled to get? 480 00:28:03,715 --> 00:28:05,450 That's what I would have done. 481 00:28:05,450 --> 00:28:09,354 I would have just knocked over the other disciples just to get in the boat 482 00:28:09,354 --> 00:28:12,457 with you, because I knew if I could get in the boat with Jesus, 483 00:28:13,525 --> 00:28:15,660 it didn't matter. 484 00:28:15,660 --> 00:28:18,663 Didn't matter what kind of storm. 485 00:28:18,730 --> 00:28:20,865 That's what Paul is saying. 486 00:28:20,865 --> 00:28:23,868 Paul is saying, listen, I, I don't 487 00:28:23,968 --> 00:28:26,971 I don't know what kind of storm 488 00:28:27,038 --> 00:28:29,307 that you are going through right now 489 00:28:29,307 --> 00:28:32,310 or that is on your horizon. 490 00:28:32,677 --> 00:28:36,081 We will all go through storms in our lives, 491 00:28:37,082 --> 00:28:41,586 whether it's a financial storm or a relational storm, or a storm 492 00:28:41,853 --> 00:28:45,457 involving physical sickness or a storm of loss. 493 00:28:48,426 --> 00:28:50,962 What Paul says 494 00:28:50,962 --> 00:28:53,131 is that if Jesus 495 00:28:53,131 --> 00:28:56,134 is in your boat. 496 00:28:56,634 --> 00:28:59,637 Then you're going to be okay. 497 00:28:59,904 --> 00:29:02,040 Then you can have peace 498 00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:05,310 in the midst of whatever storm there is. 499 00:29:07,979 --> 00:29:10,982 In a church God calls good, 500 00:29:11,116 --> 00:29:13,651 everyone gets grace 501 00:29:13,651 --> 00:29:16,621 and everyone gets peace. 502 00:29:17,088 --> 00:29:17,956 Listen, 503 00:29:17,956 --> 00:29:22,961 we come to the end of this series on first and second Thessalonians. 504 00:29:23,995 --> 00:29:26,464 I hope you have been with us through it all. 505 00:29:26,464 --> 00:29:30,602 I hope that you have learned a lot, and I hope all of us have learned a lot 506 00:29:30,602 --> 00:29:33,972 about the kind of church God calls good. 507 00:29:35,874 --> 00:29:38,443 But today 508 00:29:38,443 --> 00:29:39,844 in a church, God calls good. 509 00:29:39,844 --> 00:29:42,447 Everyone works 510 00:29:42,447 --> 00:29:45,450 because it's our way of loving each other 511 00:29:46,518 --> 00:29:48,720 and loving God. 512 00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:51,389 Everyone is imitating someone. 513 00:29:51,389 --> 00:29:52,857 It's the way you have learned. 514 00:29:52,857 --> 00:29:58,096 To be a Christian is the way people will learn to be a Christian if they watch you. 515 00:29:58,096 --> 00:30:01,666 And of course, the question is what kind of church will we be 516 00:30:01,666 --> 00:30:04,669 if everyone imitates you? 517 00:30:05,069 --> 00:30:08,072 And finally, everyone gets grace 518 00:30:08,173 --> 00:30:11,943 and peace all the time, everywhere. 519 00:30:11,943 --> 00:30:15,013 First, because Jesus gave grace to us. 520 00:30:16,347 --> 00:30:19,050 And second, we get peace 521 00:30:19,050 --> 00:30:22,053 because Jesus is in your boat. 522 00:30:22,453 --> 00:30:24,389 Don't forget you. 523 00:30:24,389 --> 00:30:26,724 Pray with me, 524 00:30:26,724 --> 00:30:30,195 father in heaven, we come to you and I am so grateful. 525 00:30:30,195 --> 00:30:32,864 I'm grateful for your love for us. 526 00:30:32,864 --> 00:30:37,535 I'm grateful for the church in Thessalonica that was doing so well. 527 00:30:37,535 --> 00:30:41,940 I pray that you would make us a church that you call good, 528 00:30:42,707 --> 00:30:47,245 that glorifies you, that when people are in here, they sense something different, 529 00:30:47,278 --> 00:30:51,182 that we are filled with people, that whoever anyone watches, 530 00:30:51,816 --> 00:30:56,154 that if they become just like them, it will become better. 531 00:30:56,788 --> 00:30:59,123 I pray that will happen. 532 00:30:59,123 --> 00:31:00,258 Thanks. 533 00:31:00,258 --> 00:31:03,027 Thanks for Jesus. We pray this in his name. 534 00:31:03,027 --> 00:31:03,494 Amen.