Praising God for the Church

Paul was impressed with the church at Thessalonica. In 1 Thessalonians he opened the letter with praise.

He told them he thanked God for them when he prayed.

He said they had faith that worked.

He said they labored in love.

He said they stood strong in the hope of Jesus.

He said the Holy Spirit was active among them.

He said they were filled with joy.

He said they were an example for other believers.

He said the Word of God sounded forth from them.

He said he didn’t even have to tell people what God was doing among them because everyone already knew.

A few months later he wrote 2 Thessalonians, and he continued his praise for them.

Was the church everything it could be? No.

In our desire to see God build a great church we cannot forget to thank Him for the church we already are. My intention this morning is to0 praise God for all He has done here and to give a charge to the church to continue the work God has for us.

We begin a new series in Romans tonight. This morning is a message for JSBC.

1. Leaders have an obligation to thank God for the local church.

A. It is the right thing to do (3).

“Ought” an obligation

“right” proper

God had done something worthy of praise in giving the Thessalonians a church.

Capital of Macedonia

250,000 people

Located on the Egnatian Way

On a seaport

Pagans - Roman Pantheon

Paul & Silas preached there enraging many of the people. They stayed with a man named Jason. Jason’s house was attacked. They couldn’t find Paul & Silas but drug Jason and some other Christians in the street before city authorities. They accused the believers of rebellion against Caesar. By God’s grace Paul & Silas were smuggled out of the city (Acts 17).

Despite all that, God still built a church there.

What did God do to give us a church?

The incarnation

The suffering of Jesus in this world

The crucifixion

The resurrection

The Apostles Preaching

The missionaries traveling

It’s a miracle we have a church at all!

B. Leaders should understand it is God who builds the church.

Paul, Silvanus, Timothy

They weren’t top tier fellows in their day.

Paul was not good looking- There is one document that gives a physical description of Paul from around AD 150 it reads:

“a man small of stature, with a bald head and crooked legs, in a good state of body, with eyebrows meeting and nose somewhat hooked, full of friendliness; for now he appeared like a man, and now he had the face of an angel.”

We always assume he wasn’t married because he was so devoted to the Lord. What about those days before he was saved?

What we do know is:

He had eye problems (Gal. 4:15; 6:11)

He had scars all over his body (Gal. 6:17)

Paul was not a good speaker (2 Cor. 11:6).

Tmothy was young.

Timothy was scared (2 Tim. 1:7).

Timothy was always saying he had a stomachache (1 Tim. 5:23).

These guys were not cool.

Listen JSBC, you don’t have cool leaders.

I’m not cool. My hobbies are catfish and cooking.

Bryce isn’t cool. He puts Legos together.

If you put me and Bryce together you still wouldn’t have a whole head of hair.

There is no way God is going to build this church on me and Bryce.

Christina isn’t cool either. She is always trying to give me some herbs or oil for my ailments.

No one is saying “Let’s go to JSBC, they got a cool preacher.”

That’s ok. We know whatever is accomplished here will not be accomplished because of us.

C. We should be thankful for the church God has given us.

We are who God has made us and we are not trying to be anything else.

We’re going to have a steeple.

We’re going to have the name “Baptist” on our church.

We are going to preach the Bible.

We are going to sing songs that are a hundred years old.

We’re going to have church on Sunday night.

I’m going to wear a suit. You want ever show up and find me dressed up like a Disney character.

Whatever God does at this church it won’t be because the leaders are cool. It’s worth noting that the pastors name is not mentioned in either letter.

2. We should thank God our faith is growing (3).

A. The faith of this church was tested.

In 2018 you were without a pastor. Things did not look great. We took a hard look at the church.

In the previous ten years the church had a net loss of 250 people in membership. You had gone five straight years without a single baptism.

There was not a lot of joy here.

There was not a lot of excitement here.

Many of the people here this morning were not here then.

B. You sought advice.

You met with Baptist leaders. Their recommendation was:

1) Merge with another church. Allow that church to assume all leadership.

2) Allow the SBC to come in and restart the church. They would appoint a pastor; they would appoint all the leadership. They would have full control.

3) Close your doors.

Two of those options included the likelihood of changing the name of the church and possibly relocating.

The truth is many were concerned if the church could even afford a pastor.

There was a crisis of faith for many of you. You didn’t know what to do. A remnant decided to:

Make some changes in how the church operates.

Trust that the preached Word of God was sufficient to build the church.

Invest our mission funds in our own neighborhood.

Quit relying on committees and a few people to do everything.

C. God has grown our faith.

In five short years God has done amazing things.

An abandoned building used for storage is now a Mission Center.

The first floor has been renovated.

The chapel is currently being renovated.

The playground has been renewed.

Not only can you afford a pastor, but you can afford two pastors and a worship director.

There is plenty we don’t have that other churches have. Listen to me:

It is an insult to God to complain about what we don’t have yet when He has given us so much already.

Many of you have greater faith than you had five years ago. Your faith has grown. If you are pessimistic, you can’t see it. Those who are realistic must admit God has done great things.

You stepped out in faith and God blessed you for it.

3. We should thank God our love is increasing (3).

“the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing”

A. We can always love one another more.

There are folks that are easy to love.

There are folks that are not so easy to love.

I will tell you there are people here today that I thought would be more difficult for me to love. God has worked in my life. God has shown me some things:

People are different.

I’m not talking about mean people.

I’m not talking about sinful people.

If you’re going to be mean and sinful this isn’t the place for you.

People are different. I must take the time to figure some folks out. Once I do, they are so much easier to love.

Me loving people more is on me, not them. I can’t say “When Bryce puts the Legos down, I’ll start loving him more.”

I must make the change.

B. There is evidence in this church that our love for one another has grown.

Illustration:

Reception for Bryce

Horrible car accident (Maxine Garnto)

4:30 and we didn’t know what to do.

What happened next blew me away.

Jennifer and Abigail went to Kroger.

They got back and people went to work.

No committee meeting was called. The Holy Spirit took over.

People were:

Cutting fruit

Making sandwiches

Baking pigs in the blanket

Filling chip bowls

Placing the food in just the right spot

In an hour and 15 minutes food was bought, prepared, and served for 100 people.

We even had a cake with Bryce’s name on it.

No one snapped at one another.

No one complained about anything.

No one stormed out.

It was unity like I have seldom seen.

Two days later another group gathered in the Mission center on a rainy day.

The gospel was shared with 40 people.

Neighbors were invited to church.

People were given bread and groceries.

I walked over there and saw the love of God in action.

Love for one another.

Love for our neighbors.

We know we love each other, not because we sit beside one another. We know we love one another when we can serve beside one another.

C. Loving one another is the witness the lost need.

By this will all men know you are my disciples, that you have love one for another. John 13:35

Don’t expect God to grow a church that does not love one another. What if God said “When you love all the ones I have sent, I will send more.”

Some people would be so hard-hearted the church still wouldn’t grow!

It is up to us to grow in faith.

It is up to us to grow in love.

It is up to God to grow the church.

4. We should thank God we are not quitting (4).

The Thessalonians were under persecution, but they were not quitting. They kept going. We’re not under persecution but we are still tempted to quit.

A. Sometimes it may be necessary to leave a church.

I don’t beg anyone to come or stay.

If you can’t support the leadership.

If you won’t serve.

If you can’t give with a good conscience.

If you can’t invite people to church.

It may be time to find another church. A person can leave a church without leaving the Lord if they worship in another biblically sound church.

If the Lord is moving, you to another church don’t stick around and make yourself and others miserable.

You can quit church and keep coming.

B. We have many in this church who have not stopped.

Thank God for you.

Some of you remember this church being full.

There was a time when this church averaged over 500 in Sunday School.

Problems came.

A split came.

Apathy set in.

You watched with a broken heart. Many of your friends left. Some of you had family that left. You stayed. You worked. You prayed. You gave. You hoped.

Real faith is never threatened by hardship. Hardship is only a danger to false faith.

God has always used the remnant!

Strip us down Lord!

Give us Gideon’s Army!

Give us the little boy’s lunch!

Give us that skinny boy with the sling shot!

If you want to see the resurrection you have to stay close to the grave!

God isn’t done with this church. That’s why many of you never stopped.

C. All who continue in the faith and work of God are a blessing.

Thank you to all of you who have been through the thick and thin of it and are still serving passionately.

Thank you to all the new folks God has brought to this church.

You had a lot of places you could have gone but you came here. Thank you for working so hard!

Maybe there is another new person God is calling:

Calling to salvation. Come to Jesus and be saved.

Calling to serve alongside of us.

Calling to rejoin the ranks.