Getting the Job Done Right

Introduction:

I must tell you that it is difficult to get a job done right these days. We have a shortage of labor right now in this country, but especially skilled labor. If you have a child that is looking to make some career decisions, you might want to encourage them consider skilled labor.

I have recently encountered some plumbing issues in my house and I am currently two weeks out from the time I first called the plumber and the problem still has not been fixed, even after they have come out 3 different times now!

We need good people to get the job done right and God needs good men and women who will serve Him in getting the gospel out to the nations as well. Now, if you are a Christian, that means you are called to be one of those workers that gets the job done right.

We are not called to do this by any means possible. The mission of the gospel is special and requires that we operate a certain way as witnesses for Jesus.

Turn with me if you will this morning in your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 2:1-4.

1 Thessalonians 2:1–4 ESV

1 For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. 2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. 3 For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.

Pray.

We began looking at Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians church a few weeks ago, and the theme of this letter is persevering and having hope in the midst of persecution.

Paul reminds the church that their beginnings were birthed out of pain and hardship. Many people can grow discouraged when they experience suffering. You might say that today, in this country especially and perhaps because of our prosperity for so many years, we have grown accustomed to having things our way. We even have some fast food restaurants that have built their advertising slogans on this. So suffering is something that is far from what many American Christians ever expect to have to endure.

Well, God has really been showing me something lately with this. We have been studying the time period of World War II in our homeschooling and have read some really good books about people’s experiences during this time period and many of them suffered greatly during this time. In fact, throughout the history of Christianity, Christians have most often been persecuted by the world for their faith.

Now, friends is time for me to prepare you for this reality, because we are approaching some difficult days in this country. We are approaching days of great persecution.

Just this past week, pastors all over Canada had to make a decision to stand together in solidarity against the government for preaching biblical values related to gender and sexuality. The Canadian legislature overwhelmingly passed a bill that makes it a felony punishable by 5 years in prison to seek the conversion therapy of anyone who is a part of the LGBTQ+ community. In other words, if you share the gospel with someone who is a member of this community and they get saved and seek to convert back to their biological sex in obedience to Christ, you as the person who shared the gospel with them and counselled them in what God’s will for them would be could be imprisoned for 5 years and you would now be a felon. If that were to happen in this country that would mean that you could no longer hold certain jobs or even vote.

Now, you might think that this would never happen here in America. I hope you are not that naive to believe that. After calling for pastors in America to join in with the Canadian pastors and preaching himself on the subject of biblical gender roles, Pastor John MacArthur’s sermon has been flagged on YouTube and his church has been censored. Big Tech companies now determine what we can and cannot say as Christians in this country.

So why share that with you this morning? Well, it might be a bit discouraging and it might frustrate you or even scare you a little. If it scares you to take seriously the responsibility that we have to preach the gospel to our culture and seek a change in people through their conversion and submission to Christ, then that is a wonderful thing. But I want you to know that even if it feels like the world is against us, we can have hope.

1. Our Hope for Sharing the Gospel (vv. 1-2)

The first thing that Paul reminds the church there at Thessalonica of is the hope for sharing the gospel. In a culture that was so hostile to the gospel, Paul reminded the church that his mission was not in vain. The churched was birthed out of persecution. These believers themselves were proof that there is hope in sharing the gospel, even in the midst of suffering and persecution.

The word that Paul uses in verse one is that his preaching was not “in vain.” That word means to be empty of results or pointless. Paul reminds the church that his preaching wasn’t pointless because it produced the salvation and birth of the church there in the city.

I want to encourage you to remember that God is the one who works salvation in the hearts of men and no matter how difficult times may get, He can save anyone He chooses.

2. Our Method for Sharing the Gospel (v.2)

3. Our Motivation for Sharing the Gospel (vv.3-4)

We have an appeal for the hearts of men (v.3)

We have a trust given to us by Jesus (v.4)

We have a ministry of worship to God (v.4)