Bragging Rights

Charles Swindoll in his book “Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back” tells the story of a farmer who wanted to impress his hunting buddies. To impress them, he bought the smartest, most expensive hunting dog he could find. He trained this dog to do things no other dog on earth could do---impossible feats that would surely amaze anyone. Then he invited the neighbors to go duck hunting with him. After a long patient wait in the boat a group of ducks flew over and the hunters were able to make a few hits. Several ducks fell in the water. "Go get ‘em!" shouted the proud owner to his magnificent dog. The dog leaped out of the boat, walked on the water, and picked up a bird and returned to the boat. As soon as he dropped the duck in the boat he trotted off across the water again and grabbed another duck and brought it back to the boat. The owner beamed with pride as his wonderful dog walked across the water and retrieved each of the birds one by one. Unable to resist the opportunity to brag a bit he asked his fellow hunters, "Do you notice anything unusual about my dog?” One of them rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Yes," he finally said. "Come to think of it, I do! That silly dog doesn’t know how to swim does he??" ...

For some people bragging has become as much a part of daily life as brushing your teeth and putting on your pants. Just a little scrolling through Facebook and you will find people bragging about the food they eat, the clothes they wear, the car they drive… and the list could go on…

Here in lies the problem…

Jeremiah 9:23 NASB95

23 Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches;

We are not to be boastful people.

James 4:10 NKJV

10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

We are to humble ourselves… we need to be humble people that are not in the habit of bragging…

But, Did you know that God said there is something worth bragging about?

Obviously, according to Jeremiah 9:23, it is not our wisdom (knowledge), it is not our might (strength) and it is not our riches (bank accounts)…

But in the very next verse… remember… “Thus says the LORD… ”

Jeremiah 9:24 NASB95

24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

There is a song that we sing entitled “How deep the Father’s love”. Part of the lyrics say this…

“I will not boast in anything,

No gifts, no power, no wisdom;

But I will boast in Jesus Christ,

His death and resurrection.”

It is the things of Christ that we are to brag about… It’s amazing how we can brag about everything else. But God says that if you really want something to shout about, brag about Him!

(PUT TITLE SLIDE HERE)

Paul’s first letter to the church at Thessalonica was full of encouragement to be ready and waiting for the return of Christ. He reassured them that their loved ones who died won’t miss the big event—they’ll actually be the first to go!

We finished that first letter a few weeks ago by looking at evidences of a Healthy Church.

Most scholars think there is less than a year between the first letter and the second one. Some say there is a 3 month gap, some say a 6 month gap, some say a little longer, but they all seem to agree that it is within a year… and we all know how much one year can change things...

Between the two letters, the persecution against the believers had intensified. And apparently, someone had even faked a letter from Paul claiming Jesus had already returned. Paul speaks against this false letter in the second chapter of 2 Thessalonians.

There were also some of the church members who thought that the coming of Jesus was so close that they should quit their jobs and just wait. Paul had to correct that by saying, “If a man doesn’t work, he shouldn’t eat.”

Some time after Paul wrote his first letter, to the Thessalonian believers, he gets some more news from Thessalonica about these other situations which have arisen within the church. We are not sure exactly how he found out about these situations…

Possibly sent Silas or Timothy with the first letter and they stayed in Thessalonica for awhile and then reported back...

Maybe, after receiving the false letter, some of the Thessalonian believers were like… “That doesn’t sound right, we better ask Paul to verify” and they sent a messenger to inquire of Paul...

Maybe, it was a completely different scenario and God revealed the issues to Paul in a dream…

The fact is, we are not really sure. But, we do know that there were some issues and Paul is writing this second letter to address those issues and in doing so, continues to encourage them to be “Ready and Waiting” for the return of Christ.

I’ve entitled the mornings message as “Bragging Rights”… And as we look at the first few verses of 2 Thessalonians this morning, I want you to see a few things that a Healthy Church can brag about.

Remember, it is not going to be our bank account, it is not going to be our attendance record, it is not even going to be the food we put out at our potlucks… even though, I must confess, I have bragged about that several times over…

A healthy church will be able to brag about the things of Christ and how He is working… With that in mind… open your bibles to 2 Thessalonians 1…(Read vv. 1-4)

Meat:

Paul begins his letter with these powerful words, “To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Many times, when we read one of Paul’s letters we just skip over the beginning words to get to the meat of his message. But Before we dive into the things that we can brag about, I want us to stop at the word “church” and camp out there for just a moment.

The word “church” is one of the most common words in the New Testament. It appears over 100 times. The first time it appears is in Matthew 16 where Jesus says, “Upon this rock I will build my church.” (Matthew 16:18)

The last time the word church appears is in the last page of our Bible where Jesus says, “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” (Revelation 22:16)

It is within this Church that Jesus built that we find things that we can brag about.

The Greek word for Church is - ecclesia

(ek-lay-c-ya). It literally means,

Meaning: “Called-out ones.”

Those of us who are part of Christ’s church have been “called out of this world” to live a different kind of life.

Notice the phrase Paul used… “To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:”

Where does he say the Church is located? It was the church OF the Thessalonians. In the same way we make up the church OF the Pierson-ites. But the entire global church is located IN God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

God is everywhere, but there is a special sense of His presence when His church gathers together… In the Old Testament, when the priests offered the sacrifice in the Temple, the glory of God would fill the Temple. Today, God no longer has a Temple for His people; He has a people for His Temple. The Bible says, “Do you not you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 6:19) That’s true individually, but it’s also true in a corporate sense. Jesus dwells in His Body, called the church.

When we meet together in His name, He promised to manifest Himself in a special way. He said, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20) Why did you come to church today? Out of habit? Did someone make you come? Did you want to hear the music or the message? I hope you came because you wanted to have a personal encounter with Jesus Christ.

It is important to gather together as brothers and sisters in Christ… The writer of Hebrews warns us that we should not forsake the wonderful practice of gathering with other believers.

A Pastor of a very large Church was preaching on that passage in the book of Hebrews. He told his congregation… “we have over 15,000 members on our rolls, and on any given Sunday, we have about 5,000 people in attendance. That means that two-thirds of the people who call themselves “Christian” don’t care enough to even gather together with God’s family.”

More Americans worship the god of recreation on Sunday than worship the Creator. This has been an increasing problem throughout the United States over the years and I am afraid that Covid has shifted the problem into overdrive.

May I say, Thank you for gathering together today. I for one, am so glad that you are here! Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you a car. But if you love Jesus, you will love gathering with His people on a regular basis.

And as we gather together as a Church Family, then we should be able to brag, in a way that honors Christ, about our Church as a family…

A Church worth bragging on is…

Lets look at a few things that we should find in a church worth bragging on…

A church worth bragging on is…

1. Growing Spiritually

vv. 2-3a “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly...”

Most of the time, when people talk about Church growth, they are talking about numbers. I am not saying that statistics don’t matter; but compared to spiritual growth, they mean nothing. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul wrote to them about spiritual growth and how to accomplish that. Now, he is bragging on them because they were following what he said to do.

This is a good place for you to stop and seriously ask yourself, “Am I growing as a Christian? Am I becoming more and more mature in my faith?”… Spiritual immaturity was a problem with the early church and it’s still a problem today.

An old Theologian once said “Most Christians feed their bodies three hot meals a day and their spirit one cold snack a week. And they wonder why they’re so weak in their faith.” - (F.F. Bosworth)

When Paul wrote to the church at Corinth he rebuked them for their immaturity. In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul says… “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly.”

When parents bring a newborn baby home, everyone oohs and ahs about the beautiful little bundle of joy. But if that baby doesn’t grow, then the parents know something is wrong. In the same way, when we first come to Christ, there is a time when we are spiritual infants. But we can’t stay there; we must grow in our faith.

Faith is like a muscle. The more you exercise faith, the more it grows… Are you growing spiritually? When we grow spiritually as a Church, it is something we can brag about. That is why we have testimony and sharing time before communion, it is a time to brag about how God has been working in your life.

Secondly, A Church worth bragging on is…

2. Showing Their Love

v.3 “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other,”

The longer they worshipped and worked together for the Lord; the closer they became with each other. And in the same way, the longer we gather, worship and work together for the Lord; the closer we will become with each other…

In my opinion, nothing strengthens a relationship more, than going through some difficult times with someone. This could be a friendship, a marriage, and it can also be a tough time in life of a church. The ones that stand with you through those tough times are the ones that truly love you.

Our love for one another should be increasing each day. It should be something we can brag about.

The NIV translates v.3 like this “We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters,[b] and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.”

Not only did Paul thank God for their growth in faith, He was thankful for how their love was increasing.

Some people call 1 Corinthians 13 the love chapter, but 1 John 4 is really the love chapter. The word “love” appears eleven times in 1 Corinthians 13, but it appears twenty-four times in 1 John 4. John writes…

1 John 4:19–21 NKJV

19 We love Him because He first loved us. 20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote these words so that you couldn’t say that you love God, even if you don’t love your brothers and sisters. He used strong language. If you claim to love God, but don’t love others, then he calls you a liar.

It is easy for us to show love to people that we know and get along with, but what about someone we don’t know… what about someone that may be a bit different than what we are used to??

Jim Cymbala is the pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle Church. He tells the story of how one Easter Sunday evening after services, people were milling around. He was tired and depleted from a day of preaching. A poor homeless man approached him, obviously a wino. Jim’s said his first reaction was, “Where are all my staff members to keep people like this away from me? He probably just wants some money to buy more cheap wine. ” Jim said the man smelled so bad that he had to turn his head away to take a breath. He found out the man’s name was David and that he was sleeping on the streets. So Jim pulled out his money clip and he was going to offer him a few dollars and send him away.

But to his surprise, David said, “I don’t want your money. I want your Jesus. I heard you talking about him tonight, and if I don’t find Jesus, I’m going to die on the streets.”

Jim said God convicted him on the spot. He began to weep and he suddenly grabbed David and hugged him. He said it was as if God said, “You don’t like this smell? I love this man and his smell, and so should you.” Jim said that in that moment his odor became as a sweet aroma.

Jim told him about Jesus and they prayed. He helped him get into a sixty-day detox program, and then found him a place to live. They hired him to do maintenance job at the church. David gave life to the Lord and began to memorize scripture. A year later David shared his testimony in church, and it was obvious God had called and gifted him to preach. They ordained him and today he is an associate pastor in a church in New Jersey. Jim Cymbala says that God sent him David to show him that people don’t just need a handout—they need our love.

Showing and sharing the love of Christ, is something to brag about.

Lastly this morning… A Church worth bragging on is…

3. Persevering Through Hardships

v.4 “so that we ourselves boast (or brag) of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure”

A Church family that is growing spiritually and showing their love to one another can and most likely will be able to persevere through hardships.

Paul wrote, “Among God’s churches we boast about your patience (or a better translation of the Greek word… perseverance) and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.”

Paul was bragging on this Church to other Churches in how they were persevering.

Perseverance is another word for spiritual stamina… Stamina is the ability to keep on going even when you’re tired.

In life, we are going to experience painful trials. You can’t avoid them. We often have no control over our circumstances. The only thing we have control over is how we react to these painful circumstances.

Remember from our study in James… we are to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:2-3)

Hardships can make us bitter or they can make us better… We are the ones who make that choice. The Bible is full of people who could have been victims, but because of their faith they became victors.

I recently read through the book of Genesis during my daily readings. It is in Genesis where you find the account of Joseph. Joseph was hated by his brothers. They beat him up, sold him into slavery and then faked his death. Joseph was unfairly imprisoned in Egypt. His life was full of disappointment and adversity. But he refused to give in to bitterness. He never gave up on God.

When he was reunited with his brothers, he reflected on all the things that lead up to that moment and he said, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

Joseph persevered… he endured the hardships and stayed faithful to God through it all.

Galatians 6:9 CSB

9 Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.

Closing:

Three of the most valuable Christian virtues are faith, hope, and love. You can see all three here in this passage. Faith (spiritual Growth) reaches upward to God in response to His grace; Love reaches outward to others in response to God’s grace; Hope reaches forward into the future to trust God regardless of the circumstances.

Is Pierson Bible a Church worth bragging about? Are we growing spiritually? Is our love for one another increasing? Do we persevere during the difficult times in life?

I will close with the words of Paul found in

Romans 15:17–18 (NASB95)

17 Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God.

18 For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me…