TGP: We Wait With Hope

Intro Option 1: Foundations

Invite three students to come to the front of the space.

Challenge them to stand on one foot.

While playing music, give them a series of tasks that involve moving their upper bodies to the beat.

For example, ask them to windmill their arms, do the YMCA movements, DAB, or pat their heads while rubbing their stomachs.

Award a prize to a volunteer that is able to stand the longest.

Standing firm on one leg is a challenge for most of us, but it’s especially difficult if you are having to do any other task at the same time.

You need a strong foundation to stand firm.

Spiritually, we are called to stand firm no matter what false ideas or temptations come at us.

We need a foundation built on God’s Word to stand firm.

Main Point: Knowing Christ changes how we live as we wait for eternity.

We grieve with hope

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 (ESV)

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

If you’ve experienced the loss of a loved one, then you know how painful grief is.

The believers in Thessalonica were struggling with whether believers who has passed away would get to join Christ in His return.

They had listened to false teachers, which only caused them more confusion.

Paul assured the Thessalonians that not only would those believers experience Christ’s return, but they would also precede the living and join Him in the air (vv. 16-17).

This is a reminder for them-and us-that they should grieve, but their grief could be wrapped up in hope.

We grieve “the grief of temporary separation.”

Death isn’t final for believers, and we’ll be reunited with those who go before us.

Q. Why does death feel so final? Why is it healthy to grieve?

It’s hard to completely explain what the death of someone you love feels like.

One minute this person is there, and you can talk to them and hug them.

Then suddenly they’re gone.

It feels painfully final for a while because we can no longer see them, hear them, or touch them; it leaves a gaping void.

We must acknowledge that it’s healthy-and necessary-to grieve and feel sorrow when we lose someone.

Not only did God create us to feel deep love and deep sorrow, but He understands our grief and feels compassion for us.

Q. What can it really look like to grieve differently than those without hope?

First, we must remember that grief can look very different for different people.

No one grieves exactly the same.

But through Jesus, we can grieve well.

We can grieve while still knowing and trusting that God is good.

We can remember that while death feels final, it isn’t.

And we can hold tight to God’s Word and to godly people to walk with us in our pain.

The gospel gives us hope in death because to leave this world means we are truly home with Christ (2 Cor. 5:8).

Main Point: Knowing Christ changes how we live as we wait for eternity.

We grieve with hope

We wait with self-control

1 Thessalonians 5:1–11 ESV

1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Paul had just delivered a strong message of hope to the Thessalonians, but he followed it with a strong reminder: be self-controlled.

In other words, he encouraged believers to live as if eternity were a breath away.

He cautioned them to live as children of the light and to make the most of their time here on earth by pointing others to Christ in the way they lived.

We are to live as if we are expecting Christ’s return.

Q. How should expecting Christ’s return change the way we live?

Hope isn’t just for hope’s sake.

Real hope produces a change in us.

And if what we hope for is true, then in faith we live drastically different from the world and from who we were before knowing Jesus.

We live according to God’s Word and His standards rather than the world’s standards.

And we use our time here to show others this hope through our words, actions, and the way we love people.

Q. Are there areas of your life in which you’ve gotten spiritually lazy and fallen asleep? Explain.

If we aren’t spiritually alert, it’s easy to get comfortable here.

It’s easy to forget we aren’t really made for this world.

And in doing this, we can begin to slip in many areas.

Maybe you stopped getting into God’’s Word.

Maybe you started dating someone you know isn’t good for you.

Maybe you compromised and started looking at things on the internet that are harmful.

The good news is, you can wake up!

Main Point: Knowing Christ changes how we live as we wait for eternity.

We grieve with hope

We wait with self-control

We stand firm

2 Thessalonians 2:13–17 ESV

13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14 To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

Paul encouraged the believers in Thessalonica to stand firm.

They were facing the persecution and false teaching about Jesus.

But being rooted in the truth of God’s word would enable them to stand strong.

The same is true for us as we navigate changes in our culture, and even in the church, today.

Q. What makes it difficult to stand firm in our culture?

We’re hit with a lot of information, especially on social media, and it’s difficult to determine truth from lies.

It may be tempting to follow the crowds and agree with whatever majority you’re around because having a different view from those around you is really difficult.

Most of us would rather blend in instead of standing out.

Q. What role does knowing God’s word play in the ability to stand firm?

How can we stand firm in something we don’t know?

The Thessalonians were struggling to stand firm in the truth Paul had previously taught them.

Standing firm only comes when we both get into God’s Word and consistently obey it.

Christ Connection:

Christ promised He would return (John 14:1-3). For now, Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, preparing ap lace for all believers. but in His second coming, Jesus will descend and gather all believers, uniting us with Himself and with one another for all eternity.