Reasons to Praise a church

Now I don’t know if any of you have ever started a church in your home, but it is a special kind of day when that church gets to move into a more public location!

But I am deeply grateful for this this church and the way God has used Salem Baptist throughout my life.

Introduction

This morning I want to talk to you about this subject, “Reasons to Praise a Church”. We will be looking at the first letter Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, so if you have your Bibles with you this morning I’d like for you to turn there please.

Everyone loves to be praised. Children loved to be praised. Adults loved to be praised. And churches love to be praised too.

And praise is necessary because it encourages people and encouragement is good for the soul.

Paul knew this very well so when he wrote this letter to a brand new church in Thessalonica, he praised them for the good things he saw there

Now there is a difference in praise and flattering

Flattering is saying something that is not true to gain some kind of advantage

Praise is based upon truth and is used to build another up

And the Bible says never trust a man with flattering lips.

God wants praise worthy churches to bear His name

God wants Salem Baptist to be a praise worthy church

God wants New beginnings to be a praiseworthy church

And that is what this message is about

Three things that Paul indicates as reasons to give praise to this church:

1) Paul praised them for the evidence of salvation in their lives

1 Thessalonians 1:2–4 (NASB95)

We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you;

Paul said he knows that God has chosen the people in this church because there is ample evidence in their lives!

There is an indescribable joy that fills the believers heart when someone comes to faith!

I cannot think of a greater miracle on earth than when God takes a sinner, gives him a new heart, and puts him back into this lost world to live a life of holiness!

Its absolutely amazing!

But I don’t get real excited every time someone walks down the isle and makes a profession of faith.

I don’t get real excited when we’re out knocking on doors and someone tells me they are a Christian yet do not belong to a local church!

WHY? Because confession without evidence is nothing

If there is no evidence of our faith, James would say our faith is dead

It is useless and it cannot save us

What is it that Paul sees that convinces him that these Thessalonians have been chosen by God? That the faith they have is the real thing?

(v 3) “your work of faith, and labor of love, and steadfastness of hope”

I want to look a little more deeply into these three things and then hold these up against your life and ask yourself if they describe you?

work of faith

Paul is not simply referring to their good works, but to their faithful work (NLT).

Their deeds done in service to God.

When Paul received a report from this church plant, these Thessalonian Christians were BUSY SERVING THE LORD

Timothy did not arrive to find them sitting on their hands and feet waiting for the second coming of Christ!

This church had adopted the Great Commission as their mission, they had made sanctification their personal goal, they put forth effort to leave their sins behind, and they spent their days lookin unto Jesus who was the Author and finisher of their faith!

And this begs the question: Is that really an evidence of salvation?

Listen to what Jesus told His disciples, “As You (God) sent Me into the world. I also have sent them (disciples) into the world” (John 17:18)

Followers of Christ are sent to do the will of God!

Jesus gave the Great Commission to His disciples!

We have been equipped by the Holy Spirit of God to continue the work that Jesus began.

Matt 7:21 ““Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”

One of the evidences we can hold up in our lives is if we are faithful in God’s work.

True servants serve

And a mark of God’s servant is IF he serves the King faithfully!

labor of love

Another evidence in this church that was clear to Paul was their “labor of love”.

If ask any of us we would all probably say that we are loving people. If someone asks me if I am a loving person, I would say, yeah I have some love. I think I am a loving person.

But notice this is “labor of love”

It carries the idea that love requires hard work, love that can be exhausting at times, love is sacrificial!

And it is easy to love people until it begins to cost us something.

Until it becomes sacrificial love

This is the kind of love Paul seen in these believers

Judah Illustration

One of Judah’s new favorite words is “love”

He tells me all the time how much he loves stuff

Every time he likes something, He says, “My love that daddy”

Every time he desires something he says, “Me loves that!”

Judah’s love is connected to whatever makes him feel good!

And sometimes we can get like that in our lives

If people make us feel good, we feel love for them

If people do us wrong, we are ready to walk away from them

Real love is hard work

Don’t expect it to be easy!

Peter said, “love covers a multitude of sins”

In other words, our love ought to include overlooking the little things in others lives

And if our love does not require “labor” at times, then it is not the real thing

What does this kind of love have to do with evidence of salvation?

Jesus said there are two commandments that sum up all commandments:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength”

And then He said, and the second one is, “love your neighbor as yourself”

The Christian’s faith is all about love.

And if our love ends when it becomes hard or sacrificial, then it was never true love in the first place.

Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The mark of a Christian is LOVE

steadfastness of hope

This is just another way of saying the ability to endure.

Since this was a brand new church plant, how does Paul know that they can endure?

According to Acts Paul was only with them for three Sabbaths, meaning they had likely only been saved for a few weeks.

BUT The reason Paul left so soon is because there were jealous Jews who ran him out of the city. They caused a riot, dragged one of his converts named Jason out into the streets and got the city officials involved.

They were so hostile that they even followed Paul to the next town forcing him to slip away during the night and forcing him to go all the way to Athens to escape them.

But through all of that, these believers never wavered in their faith. They stood steadfast in the midst of persecution! They stayed true to faith even in circumstances that you and I could not even imagine! They were willing to loose everything this life offered except Jesus.

And Paul says that kind of endurance is evidence that these people have the real thing.

When we are able to shore up the things in our lives to withstand even the toughest storm because of our Faith, it means our faith is real.

Jesus said, “those who endure to the end will be saved”

It is those who follow Christ until death takes us from this world that shows God’s supernatural hand upon us!

They endured because God would not let them go!

What would Paul write about Salem Baptist Church?

What would Paul write about New Beginnings Baptist Church?

And if Paul were writing a letter about your life...would he say there is evidence that your faith is real?

2) Paul Praised them for their reception of his message

1 Thessalonians 1:5–6 (NASB95)

for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit

Paul was one of God’s messengers of the gospel

It was his lifelong call to preach the gospel to every creature that he could during his lifetime.

In fact he tells the Thessalonians in the next chapter, “just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts.”

What is a messenger of the gospel?

It is someone who relays a message from God to the people

God gives a preacher a word to say, and if that preacher is faithful, he will tell the people what God has said, EVEN IF ITS NOT WHAT THEY WANT TO HEAR!

Paul said he preached, “not to please men, but to please God!”

You will never be more loved by your pastor, than when he stands up and tells you the truth

Truth can be painful!

It can hurt our feelings at times and make us mad!

BUT that truth that hurts can also heal and repair what was broken.

Truth has a way of reaching down deep into our souls and showing us where we have strayed from God.

There is power in truth, and transformation begins by hearing truth

Truth is beautiful and should never be seen as an enemy but a friend

BUT A PRAISEWORTHY CHURCH cannot just have a man standing in the pulpit proclaiming truth…THE PEOPLE IN THE PEWS MUST BE WILLING TO ACCEPT IT

A church is made up of many parts just like a body.

BODY ILLUSTRATION

A body that only has one leg, is not going to be nearly as effective as a body with two legs.

A body that only has one eye is not going to be nearly as effective as a body with two eyes.

Paul said, the church is a body of believers that work together to fulfill their purpose.

So when the all parts are working together as they should, it becomes a living organism that makes a difference in this world!

And one reason Paul praised this church is because they accepted what he said as if it had come from God Himself.

that means when he gave them truth, they heard it, believed it, and lived it out.

When Paul told them doctrinal truth, they stood upon it

When Paul told them moral truth, they practiced it

When Paul encouraged them, they were edified by it

When Paul praised them, they knew he was not flattering them, but telling them exactly what he sees

Here is a question for all of us: Are we true recipients of the Word of God?

When our pastor stands in the pulpit to proclaim truth to us, do we accept it as the Word of God or do we take it as merely the word of man?

If the pastor has put in the faithful work to rightly divide the Word of God and deliver the message to the people of God....THEN the people of God have a responsibility to listen to what God has to say through him.

How do you know you can trust what your pastor says?

By whether or not he lives it out.

(v 5) “for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake”

If the messenger is living out the message in his own life, then you can trust what he says because his life is evidence that he believes it!

In fact Jesus said, “you can spot a false prophet by the way they live”

If a pastor is living out the gospel message in his life, if he is sold out to Jesus Christ then you can rest assured his message is from the Lord

And do you know what the result of them accepting/receiving the Word of God?

They became examples to all those around them.

(v 7) “so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.”

The result of them receiving the word was a godly reputation because the Word changed them!

Can you imagine that about your church?

Someone with such authority and godliness as the apostle Paul coming up and saying hey:

“I just want you to know that you are an example to all these other churches”

“What you are doing here is impacting everyone around you and they will benefit from your example”

How far had their reputation gone?

From Thessalonica to Achaia.

If we were to drive it today it would take about 5 hours.

Comparable to driving from here to Atalanta Georgia.

And there were no phones, no internet, no emails.

They listened to what God had for them and it changed their lives!

But it does no good to have a man proclaiming it, and no one in the pews receiving it

The Word of God must be accepted and applied.

And it must be practiced by the man in the pulpit!

One cannot be without the other!

3) Paul praised them because they were an evangelistic church

1 Thessalonians 1:8 (NASB95)

For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.

“The Word sounded forth from you”

The surrounding communities were not just hearing about this church because of their testimonies, but also because their gospel witness!

They were faithful in telling others about Jesus Christ!

The pagan cities around them benefited greatly because they sounded off the gospel every chance they got!

Paul brings this up again in chapter 3 and talks about HOW THEY ARE TO LOVE THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW JESUS!

Do you know thats where evangelism begins?

It begins by caring for another person’s well being enough that you are willing to go out of your comfort zone to give what they need the most!

The church is alive. And because it is alive it can be healthy and it can become sick. It can be born such as a church plant and it can die such as thousands of churches do every year.

How do churches die?

The same way people die out

They stop reproducing

When a church stops sharing its faith, it is on its way to a certain death. And the longer it stays on the course of not making converts, the faster this process takes place.

How do you make converts?

You do it through sharing the gospel

It is God’s Word that sounds forth from the church with power and full conviction that God uses to convert the soul!

And the church does not grow by adding members, IT GROWS BY ADDING SOULS INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD!~

Romans 1:16 (NASB95)

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

God has chosen the gospel message as the means by which He saves sinners!

Our work in evangelism must include the gospel message!

And Paul made it real simple

1 Cor 15:3-4 “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”

A praiseworthy church is one Who is faithful in sharing the gospel

Do you know what Paul’s method was in planting churches?

He went where the people were

Thessalonica was a bustling city with a major highway running through it. It located in a harbor which gave it access to the sea. Think of Thessalonica as a travel center of the world. People came and passed through, trading, sailing, staying….

and Paul set his eyes on this place because of the vast amount of people that passed through it. Scholars believe Thessalonica was paramount in God’s plan for the spread of Christianity.

Friends, I want you to think about this city that sits on the other side of this interstate.

Less than five minutes from this church is a city that is bustling with people.

And these people come and go constantly.

There is potential to reach the entire world by reaching the city of Oak Grove

8,000 people are less than five minutes from this church!

If Paul were planting churches today, where would he plant one?

He went to where the people were.

The church is in the soul business

We focus on where the souls are, and the goal is not to grow a big church, but expand the Kingdom of God.

And wherever God has placed you was done strategically to meet a spiritual need

People often do not just show up at churches

It takes work

It takes faithful work

It takes endurance

It takes a genuine love of one another

It takes a church who is willing to hear the Word of God and apply it to their lives as if it came from God Himself!

And it takes and evangelistic heart. It takes a dedication to the word that God has called all of us to.

CONCLUSION

We are going to have an invitation. And I have done what God wanted me to do. This was the message I prepared for our first plans to come together, but Satan hindered it. I have preached the message that God wanted me to deliver, and now its up to you to decide what you will do with it.

That does not mean you have to come up front, but it does call for a response.

What are you doing to make this church a praiseworthy church?

Is there genuine evidence of salvation in your life?

Are you being faithful in the work of evangelism?

Change starts on an individual level, it is a personal decision to agree with God, repent of our sin, and by God’s grace change what needs to be changed.