Homletics Sermon

Loving and Depending

Good morning class

Hope everyone is having a great Morning

If you have your Bible we will be in 1 Thess 4 9-12

1 Thessalonians 4:9–12 CSB

About brotherly love: You don’t need me to write you because you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. In fact, you are doing this toward all the brothers and sisters in the entire region of Macedonia. But we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do this even more, to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, so that you may behave properly in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone.

Paul wrote this to them to let the church know that they are doing a great Job of loving everyone but we can always love more and that we should depend on God to provide not others

Loving Deeper

So first Paul Congratulates the church of Thessalonians

He says I don’t need to write to you

On their Love and how they love

on how they love their own people

but also how they love those in the region of Macedonia

the Roman province in northern Greece

That is a command from God not just Paul

but from God and that is what Paul says here

Often we get caught up in the numbers of church

it becomes a competition on who has the biggest congregation

and that creates hostility between brothers and sisters of Christ

Paul is celebrating this church for not doing that

but for showing love to ALL brothers and sisters in Christ

That is the challenge for us in this text is to love Deeper to all brothers and sisters in Christ

Leaders of church that is what we are to do to our church family

Do what Paul is doing here

congratulate people when they are showing a deeper love to fellow brothers and sisters

Church that loves

Paul then has to kinda get on to the church

He tells them they need to do better in

Living a quiet life

Mind your own business

work with your own hands

Paul has to remind them of what they are here to do

Living a quiet life

They are to live a quiet life meaning

Not to make a big scene so that people see you

or people see you as a trouble maker

we are not called to make everything about us

We are not supposed to live a loud life that draws attention to ourselves

We are called to live a quiet life that draws attention to Christ

That draws a crowd to Christ

Mind our business

we are called to mind our business

not be busy bodies

Not caught up in other peoples business

This means not being caught up in drama

fleeing all drama

not be starting drama

not be dividing a church

not starting rumors about other people in the church

if we don’t start rumors or continue rumors then our church family will be so much stronger

we are supposed to be a church family

Be loving and caring

being people with open arms

not quick to start rumors

we are to mind our own business

not be caught up in the rumors of the world

not be caught up in the business of the world

but be in the business of Christ

and we are to work with our hands

Not being a burden to the people around us

but we are to work for what we have

Why are we supposed to do all of this

Live a quiet life

mind our business

and work with our hands

for one reason and one reason only

so that you may behave properly in the presence of outsiders

so that we can point people to Christ

so that the unbelievers would look into a Christians life and say that person is selfless

They don’t have to have all the attention on them

they aren’t loud

They aren’t trouble makers

So when unbelievers look into a church they don’t see a church that argues and don’t like each other

they see a loving church that is about their own business

not others

not starting rumors

or causing drama

they are about the Lords business

Showing Love

being welcoming

showing the Love of Christ

When we live our lives like this we have the ability to share the gospel just by how we act towards each other

we can point people to christ by following what Paul says here

So that is why we do those things a Followers of Christ

and we don’t need to depend on anyone

Story of Abraham and Lot

King wanted to give Abraham a lot of goods

Abraham said no one can say they made me rich other than God

this is a perfect example we need to work with our own hands so when we get blessed people cannot say they did it

but so we can point it to Christ

Closing

So as i close I just wanna challenge you to love like Christ

even though we fall short

still try and love like Christ does for us

and to live a life that does not glorify ourself but glorifies God

so we can share what Jesus has done in our life

AMEN