Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro:

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…

We are not to be boastful people.

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… ”

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!

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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…