Fairwell #1

Introduction

1 Thessalonians 1:2–5 ESV

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.

I have so much that I wish to share with you.

Ernest Clegg

JC Renfroe

Eugene Dobbs

Curtis Williams

Jack Albritton

Steven Jackson

Connor Alford

I find it mind blowing that some of you have sat under the preaching of all of these men. And some of you have come to McLaurin Heights since I have been here.

While men come and go, God remains the same. Every one of the men that I just named have been undershepherds of MHBC. Christ is the shepherd.

In this passage, Paul, who loved the church in Thesaloniki, cannot be with them but he gives three verbs concerning his long distance relationship with them:

Mentioning, Remembering, and Knowing: Our friendship and relationship is not at an end, but it will change.

CIT: The gospel and its work moves forward.

Explanation

1 Thessalonians 1:2 “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers,”

Being a pastor is not a job, it is a calling. Often, people attempt to reduce the role of pastor to a job. It is not. It is a calling.

I will not always be your pastor, and I will always have been your pastor. And I will always love you. And I will never forget you.

For better or worse, I will always be a part of who you are, because you have sat under my preaching.

In the same way, you will always be a part of who I am, because we are a faith family.

You can expect me…

To continue to pray for you.

To love you

To be an advocate for you before the Lord

1 Thessalonians 1:3 “remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

What lasts in our relationship is faith, hope, and love.

Faith that causes you to work. Faith is not a work, but true faith always works. A true, saving faith will ALWAYS produce labors. Although small and feeble at first, God brings a great grace through His work.

Love causes us to labor, and give up our preferences, time, and resources to know it.

Goodwill for someone and emotion attachment to someone is definitely an element of love. But those things by themselves are not love.

We have a little boy. We love him dearly. Seven months in and I don’t know what I would do without him. But love is work. Because there are bottles to watch, late nights with crying, and plenty of hard moments.

If I failed to step into any of those things but talked about how much I love him, I would not be loving to him.

In the same way, God

Hope brings a rock solid steadfastness in Christ. Your perseverance is not contingent upon your inner resolve, mental fortitude, or physical strength, but rather, upon the hope that Christ will return.

What we value most in this community is exactly those three things. A faith that works, a love that labors, and a hope that never fails.

1 Thessalonians 1:4 “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,”

Everything that has happened in the last seven years was NOT my doing. It has always been God’s doing.

Pastor’s come and go, but Jesus remains the same.

The church is Christ’s bride, not yours or mine.

Everything that will continue to happen in the years to come will be by God’s grace.

Out of his great love, He has saved us.

He has chosen us in His mercy to be adopted as his children.

1 Thessalonians 1:5 “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.”

How was Paul confident that God had chosen those saints in Thesoloniki?

The gospel came not in word, but

In Power

The gospel coming in power means that it cannot be explained by anything else.

In the Holy Spirit

Only the Holy Spirit can cause the gospel to come in power.

With Full Conviction

Life-Changing gospel power is seen in a changed. life

The message never changes. It always has been the gospel, and it always will be the gospel.

This is the gospel.

Christ came, lived, and died so that we might be made free.

Invitation

May we never glory in the messenger over the message. The message of the cross is precious to us. It is life to a dying world.