Footprints of a Healthy Church 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24

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Opening Scripture: (Pastor Mouse)

Psalm 145:1-7

Psalm 145:1–7 NIV

1 I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. 2 Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. 3 Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. 4 One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. 5 They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty— and I will meditate on your wonderful works. 6 They tell of the power of your awesome works— and I will proclaim your great deeds. 7 They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

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Footprints of a Healthy Church 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24

I joked a couple weeks ago about following up our Corinthian series, “How NOT to be a Corinthian!” with a series from Thessalonians on “How to be a Thessalonian!”.  Little did I realize then that God would direct me to preach out of 1 Thessalonians a couple weeks later.

Last week, I spoke about waiting on God.  Waiting comes when God signals that He is bringing change into our life.  We then find ourselves waiting for God to signal that it is time for us to move into that change. 

We do not always welcome change.  We often become comfortable in routines.  It gives us a sense of security knowing what to expect for tomorrow.  However, consistency and routine often can lead to stagnation.  When God indicates change is coming, it comes to bring life and energy.  I often feel a sense of excitement that a new adventure is about to begin when I sense change coming.

As we come into this Thanksgiving week, our church has so much to celebrate and be thankful for.  God has freed us from our bonds of debt.  But He has done even more.  He has provided beyond that debt signaling to us that change is coming.  He is about to breathe new life into our church.  He is going to stir things up and provide us with a new adventure.  We should not be concerned, fearful, or sad over this but we should be excited!  We can celebrate that God has shown His favor on us enough to move among us in a new and fresh way.

In today’s passage, I believe we find the answer to what we do as we wait.  Please stand with me this morning as we read this passage together.

1 Thessalonians 5:12–24 NIV

12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil. 23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

The Word of God for the people of God.  Thanks be to God!

Pray

I.  Footprints of a Blessed Church

In our Corinthians series, we found that the church in Corinth was full of issues that were hindering their spiritual growth.

1.   Instead of applying the wisdom their spiritual teachers were teaching, they were glorifying their leaders and making a contest out of who was better.

2.   They were applauding themselves for being tolerant of sinners when what they were really doing was tolerating sin.

3.   They were not influencing their community, but instead their community was influencing their church.

4.   And they had turned worship into a disgraceful affair, treating the church more like a country club social event instead of a place of worship.

The Thessalonians would have been a breath of fresh air for Paul as their story is the opposite.  They were experiencing persecution, yet they were thriving.  They were holding on to what they had been taught even though their teachers had been thrown out of town. 

Timothy wrote to Paul about their faithfulness and now Paul writes back to encourage them.  Most of Paul’s letter was regarding Christ’s return in answer to some of their questions on that subject.  However, we are not going to get into that today.  Instead, I want to jump to the end of this letter.  Paul’s final words are to direct them in how to maintain a healthy church body while they await Christ’s return. 

His message to them is a great lesson for us.  The seasons of a church may change, our ministry focus may shift from time to time, and leaders will invariably come and go.  However, there are certain responsibilities that we need to always maintain.  When we do, we can always celebrate Thanksgiving with a grateful heart for God’s blessings which will always accompany this healthy church lifestyle.

Paul begins by addressing their attitude toward their spiritual leaders, and he directs them to...

A.  Respect and Support Spiritual Leaders (VV 12-13)

1 Thessalonians 5:12–13 NIV

12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.

The letter to the Corinthians teaches us to be careful not to idolize our pastors.  However, we are called to have healthy respect for them.  Paul calls us to...

1.  Recognize their labor.  V 12

I have had the benefit of living on both sides of the fence, that is as a layman and as a pastor.  I did not go into ministry until I was 35 years old.  For some of those years, I just warmed a pew except for occasionally singing in a worship team or teaching Sunday school.  Later, I took on a greater role as a Sunday school coordinator.  It was this role that eventually led me to understand that God was calling me to be a pastor to children and their parents.  It was 20 years or more later, when God called me to the even greater responsibility as pastor of this church.

Prior to my ministry work, I worked corporate office jobs that demanded lots of overtime.  However, I quickly learned that as a pastor there is even more.  Even heavier is the mental strain of all the needs you see that you are unable to do for lack of time.

The truth is, the more you appreciate the pressure and workload that a pastor is under, the more you can overlook what you consider their faults!

Next Paul directs the Thessalonians to...

2.  Esteem their pastors highly in love .  V 13

A person truly called of God to serve His people, are people that love God and love others.  Part of the weight we carry is a burden for the people God has placed under us.  We want to see people growing.  When they hurt, we hurt.  When they are weak, we fear they will fall.  When God’s people rejoice, we feel great joy as well!  Paul calls for the church to love their leaders.  This includes loving them even when they fail.  Pastors are people and we need to remember that.  When they are struggling or when they do something that we take issue with, we need to remember that pastors are not perfect.  We need to give them the benefit of the doubt and love them, praying for them frequently.

And finally, Paul calls the church to...

3.  Live in peace .  V 13

Whether you agree with your pastor or not, God’s word makes it clear that you are to treat them with respect and follow their direction unless it is contrary to God’s word.  This is probably the most difficult.  And let’s be honest.  Not every pastor leads as they should.  However, God’s word is clear that we are to submit to our spiritual leaders. 

Hebrews 13:17NIV

17 Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.

No one gives us a better example of this than King David.  Saul was the national leader.  He was not following God as he was called to do.  God had David anointed as Saul’s replacement long before Saul was out of the throne room.  However, David was always respectful, and he did everything he could to try to live at peace with Saul. 

Gene Edwards wrote a great book on this subject called, “A Tale of Three Kings.”  Now, this doesn’t mean that you do not speak up.  There are ways to do so respectfully.  We do not follow pastors blindly.  They need to hear our honest opinions to make their best decisions.  A good pastor will listen, but even when they do not, remember that they are ultimately under the authority and judgement of God.  God will deal with them in His own time and way.

To make it public just causes more harm and can be very damaging to new Christians who do not understand what is going on.  You do not want to make a public battle that will cause new Christians to fall away from God and the church, as you will be held accountable before God in those situations.  It is always good to remember that the church is God’s church, not ours.  We leave it up to Him.

As for me, and my experiences in this church, you have always done all three of these.  I am very blessed to pastor a church that has always shown me respect and support, even when I have been wrong.

Next, Paul directs their attention to the church body.

B.  Care for One Another in the Body  (VV 14-15)

In bullet point succession, Paul gives this advice.

1 Thessalonians 5:14–15 NIV

14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.

Remember Jesuss directive to his disciples to love one another.  This applies to all of us as the church.

John 13:34NIV

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

The church is to do the same.  But love goes beyond showing affection for each other.  It includes confronting someone when they are wrong.  It includes overlooking the occasional offense that occurs.  It includes being a shoulder to cry on, and a voice of encouragement when one is discouraged. 

The pastor cannot take care of everyone’s needs on their own.  The church body is an extension of the pastor and the arms of Jesus Christ to their brothers and sisters.  Paul quickly lists tasks that are the responsibility of all of us.  He says...

1.  Admonish the idle .  V 14

We all have a role to fill in the church.  If you are a Christian, God has some part He has for you to play in His church.  However, people are often reluctant to do so for various reasons. 

· Sometimes it is because they have over committed their time and have nothing left to give to the church. 

· Sometimes people lack confidence and they need encouragement to do so. 

· Sometimes, they just do not understand that God has gifted each believer with a gift that is to benefit the church.  Too often people come to church for what they can get from it but never consider that they have something to contribute to it.

Some translations of this verse use the word “unruly” instead of “idle” because there are people who just refuse to be part of the working body of the church. 

Back in the 80’s, I was working in a stressful corporate office.  I was a corporate supervisor, and I felt like my day was filled with people constantly pulling on me to fix problems.  About this time, our church started advertising that they needed a Sunday school coordinator.  I felt God calling me, but I didn’t want to answer.  It just seemed like more of what I was already doing every day. 

In the months that followed, several people prompted me that they felt I would be good in that position and I eventually responded. 

 Answering that call, changed my life!  I found I loved it, and I soon realized that God was using that role to reveal a higher calling He had for my life.

There have been many times in the past years as a pastor, that someone has come to me and told me that a friend was pushing them to step forward into a ministry role.  They were reluctant but a good Christian friend scolded them and encouraged them to do so.  I have seen many of those discover that it was something they quickly enjoyed doing.  So, there are times when we need to give people gentle pushes to help them take the steps of obedience to God.  Paul then says for them to...

2.  Encourage the fainthearted .  V 14

Everyone gets discouraged at times.  However, some people are more prone to getting discouraged and quitting than others.  It can be easy to just shrug our shoulders and walk away.  However, Paul is encouraging us as a body of believers, to not give up on someone when they are easily discouraged or need more encouragement than the norm. 

At the time I left our church to go to the Bible college, there was a lady in our church who had been left by her husband.  Long after he left, she was still always crying at the altar.  She was always moping around like a victim.  This was so outside my personality style that I felt intolerant of it.  I had no desire to deal with her.  I felt it was just to get people’s attention.

A couple years later when I returned, I was shocked to see this woman literally running a ministry of her own.  She was radiant and joyous.  She looked like a completely different woman.  Where I had been intolerant, others had patiently supported her in love.    It took her longer than most, but she eventually turned things around in her life with God’s help and the encouragement of others in the church.  We need to be encouragers of those who are weaker in spirit than we are.  I learned a great lesson through her.

Next, Paul encourages them to...

3.  Help the weak .  V 14

These are not people that are weak physically.  He is talking about some of the same immature Christians he addressed in Corinth.  These are folks who are weak in faith.  They tend to live by law more so than by the freedom of the Spirit.  They are fast to judge others around them and to become discouraged and fall away from their faith. 

Paul encourages us to recognize these folks and to help them mature in their faith.  These are those that Paul was talking about when he cautioned the Corinthians not to be so bold with their freedoms that it would crush those younger of faith.  The woman I previously mentioned probably fell in this category, but due to the love and patient encouragement of others, she matured in her faith and became a leader in the church.

All these previous three directives are benefited by Paul’s next directive.

4.  Be patient with all.  V 14

Paul says this best in 1 Cor 13.

1 Corinthians 13:4–5 NIV

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

I really believe that says it all.  That verse preaches itself.

As Paul concludes this subject of a loving body of believer, he cautions us...

5.  Do not repay evil for evil .  V 15

Not everyone in the church are mature or even true Christians.  They sometimes do things that are not right.  However, we should never react to their actions, but instead, we respond out of love, compassion, and peace.  It is God’s church, and it is up to God to deal with people in His own way.

Now, armed with respect for our leaders and love for our fellow brother and sisters, we find our attention can be focused on...

C.  Cultivating a Joyful and Prayerful Spirit.  (VV16-18)

With our relationships intact we find these easy to achieve.  Paul calls us to...

1.  Rejoice always .  V 16

Neh 8:10 says...

Nehemiah 8:10NIV

10 ...the joy of the Lordis your strength.”

Joy is a choice.  We can choose to dwell in our dark thoughts, or we can choose to turn from them and focus on something better.  (NOTE:  There are some health issues that make this more difficult) 

One of my key verses the past couple years has come from 2 Corinthians 10:5.

2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV

5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thoughtto make it obedient to Christ.

Once we take captive a thought that is hijacking us, we surrender it in prayer and turn our thoughts by following Paul’s instruction found in Philippians 4:8.

Philippians 4:8NIV

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

One commentary said, “Joy takes the burden out of service.”  When I worked in the corporate office, my department had the heaviest load.  We worked more overtime than any of the other offices except one.  One day, a lady from one of the other departments that had a much lighter workload came to me and asked if I would have her transferred.  When I asked her why she wanted to change positions, her answer was that even though she knew we had a heavy load, she could see we had fun with each other.  She saw that “joy takes the burden out of service!”

When I felt called to take that position as Sunday school coordinator at the church, I thought it would be more burden in my life.  However, what I soon found out was that it was a joy.  I was serving God and God’s people, and I really enjoyed what I did. Next Paul calls us to...

2.  Pray without ceasing .  V 17

People often ask me how one does this, but it is not difficult.  It does not require us to continually drop to our knees and raise our hands to the heavens to pray.  It is just communing with God throughout your day.  When we have a true relationship with God, He becomes as real companion to us.  We talk with Him throughout our day.  We share our ups, downs, frustrations, joys, concerns.  There is no lag time as He is always there.

Next, Paul calls us to… 

3.  Give thanks in all circumstances .  V 18

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV

18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

How do we give thanks in “all” circumstances?  By realizing that no matter what the circumstance, God is at work in it.  It may seem inconvenient, it may feel devastating, but eventually we begin to see God’s hand in it.

My preaching has been really teaching me this lesson the last couple years.  I try hard to protect my Tuesdays to give me space and time to write my sermon for the week.  I try to study for these sermons for 3-5 weeks before they are written.  However, there are times when I have felt defeated. 

But when the time comes to write it, it comes together better than I ever imagined.  Sometimes I have been absolutely blocked at every corner in preparing for a particular week, and then something happened that week that revealed I didn’t need a sermon that week.  In such times I am reminded that God has every circumstance in His hands.  He knows and sees what I do not.

I heard a Christian once share how frustrated they were when they missed a flight, but a short time later heard that the flight crashed.  We spend so much time in frustration over things that God intends for other purposes.  If we could only relax when things do not go our way and trust that God has another plan, another purpose.

This brings us to our next directive.  And for the sake of time, I am going to push these through a little faster.  But Paul directs us to...

D.  Stay Spiritually Alert and Responsive   (VV 19-22)

1 Thessalonians 5:19–22 NIV

19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.

First, Paul admonishes us to...

1.  Do not quench the Spirit. V 19

We quench the Spirit in worship when we resist the urge to rejoice and celebrate in our worship.  Pride is often the culprit.  We resist “raising a hallelujah!”, or we hold back our tears, or we refuse to comply to a compulsion to go to the altar all for fear of those around us and what they may think.    

We also quench the Spirit through blatant disobedience when He convinces us of wrongdoing.  We ignore His voice when He cautions us against something.  We need to be alert to the Spirit’s voice in our life.  The more we tune Him out, the less we hear His voice until it is too late, and we are suffering the severe consequences of our sin.

Next Paul cautions us to…

2.  Do not despise prophecies.  V 20

It took a long time for the Word of God to be fully written.  God raised up prophets to speak for him in the Old Testament and others in the New Testament were prompted to teach until the written Word was completed.  We now have God’s Word, and it shares His message.  We are not to despise it but cherish it.  To seek out God’s message through His written word.  The cherished Word is not a dusty bible on a bookshelf.  I much prefer to see a Bible well-worn with highlights, underlines, and notes in the margins.  That is a cherished copy of God’s Word.

3.  Test everything.  V 21

The Bible provides us the means to test everything.  When listening to a new pastor/teacher, check out his message with your Bible.  Do not take something for granted based on one verse from the Bible but investigate that they are quoting scriptures in the context they were written. 

Do you feel God calling you to something?  Test it against God’s Word.  God never goes against His Word.  Too many times, people have told me that God told them that something was okay “for them” even though the Bible says something different.  God never violates His Word.  If the Bible says it is wrong, it is wrong for everyone!  It is too easy to follow your emotions and not be following God.  Test everything you feel, you think, you hear, against the Word of God.

4.  Hold fast to what is good .  V 21

Again I would refer to you to Phil 4:8

Philippians 4:8NIV

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Hold on to whatever is righteous and to that Paul adds...

5.  Abstain from every form of evil .  V 22

I am not sure that the biggest mistake we made was when we allowed televisions into our homes.  Yet it is tough not to have them either.  We need to know what is going on in the world and the television is really the fastest and easiest way to do that.  However, I fear we have compromised too much by what we watch.  We allow evil to be paraded before us every day on those things.  Even when you try to be discerning, it is impossible to cut out the advertising that has gotten raunchier every year.

But we do not give up and give in!  We need to continually evaluate what we read, what we watch, what we listen to.  We need to be willing to make changes when the Spirit calls us to do so.  I suspect one of the largest areas where we quench the Spirit is in the areas of these things just listed, Videos, books, and music.  And last, but not least...

E.  Trust God’s Faithfulness to Complete the Work  (VV 23-24)

1 Thessalonians 5:23–24 NIV

23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

1.  Sanctification is God’s work.  V 23

I would refer to you Paul’s directive to give thanks in all circumstances.  If we are devoted to God, we can count that in all circumstances God is working to sanctify us.  He is continually cleansing and purifying us for the days to come when we will be with Him forever.  And we can trust that...

2.  God is faithful !  V 24

When we are in His hands, we cannot fail because His faithfulness will see us through.

Conclusion:

I really believe that this message goes hand in hand with last week’s message.  Change is coming.  We stand firm, waiting to see what God calls us to do.  In the meantime, we respectfully follow those God puts in our leadership.  We care for one another, urging each other on to the finish line.  We cultivate a spirit of joy and prayer despite all that is going on around us.  We remain awake and alert to the prompting of God’s Spirit within us, and we trust that God will work for our best good to cultivate the Spirit within us until that day we are with Him forever.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, we have no better reason to give thanks than to say, “thank you God for all you have done for us!”

Psalm 107:8–9 NIV

8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, 9 for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

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