Story of the Month
The Church at Thessalonica
Acts 17 & I Thessalonians
If you would like to receive our announcement e-mails each month, you can sign up here
Paul and Silas, and their group traveled to Thessalonica. They spent three weeks reasoning with the Jews, explaining how Messiah needed to come and suffer and then rise from the dead. They said, “Jesus is this Promised One.”
Some of the Jews accepted Christ, as well as a large number of Greeks. This upset the other Jews, and they decided to destroy this movement.
They started by organizing a mob on the rough side of town. Soon the entire city was in an uproar. They went to the home were Paul was staying, but he wasn’t there. So they took the owner of the house and several other believers and dragged them out into the street.
They came before the city officials and said;
“A group of men have been going throughout the entire world causing trouble. They are not loyal to Caesar but declare they have another king, a man named Jesus. Now they have come to us, and these men have welcomed them into their homes.”
This shocked the officials, but they decided to be cautious and look into the matter. They made the believers pay a large bail, and then released them. That night, the Christians sent Paul and Silas to Berea.
The Jews at the Berea synagogue were more receptive, and welcomed the message of Christ. They searched the Scriptures to see if it was true. Many believed, and again Greeks also received the message.
The troublemakers at Thessalonica heard about this, so they went to Berea to continue their fight against the movement. The attacks became so severe that some of the Christians took Paul to Athens by boat. The plan was for Silas and Timothy to stay at Berea and join him later.
At Athens, Paul met with the Jews at the synagogue, and preached to the Greets on Mars Hill. He then went to Corinth to wait for Silas.
He grew increasingly concerned for the young church at Thessalonica because of the persecution they were experiencing. Finally, Silas and Timothy brought wonderful news of how the people of the church were remaining true to Christ even with all the suffering they were experiencing. Paul immediately wrote this letter to encourage them. He said:
Silas, Timothy, and I thank God for you constantly, and pray for you night and day. We remember that you accepted Christ in the midst of great conflict. You saw that our preaching was not with flattering words, but it was anointed by the Holy Spirit. You proved our worth and totally accepted our message. Now everyone talks about how you turned from idols to serve the living God, and how you patiently wait for the return of Christ.
When we first came to you, you graciously received us, just like you received the gospel. And we watched over you, as a nursing mother would do with her child. We found jobs to pay our own way, so it would be easier for you. Our devotion to you was so great that we were like a loving father, helping you to learn how to walk with God.
Now the gospel is working inside of you. People hate you because they hate the gospel. My greatest desire was to be there during this time of persecution, but Satan keeps standing in my way. Hear what I say. You are my hope. You are my joy. You are my crown of boasting before the Lord.
When I finally realized that I could not be with you, I left Timothy and came here. I told him to encourage you as you faced this persecution. Once we were separated, I didn’t get any news on how you were doing. Finally I couldn’t stand it any longer. I sent word to Timothy and asked about you. He personally came and told me the good news about your faith and love in Christ. He even said that you long to see me as much as I long to see you. Praise God! You are standing firm in your faith. Oh how I long to be with you again and teach you more about your walk with the Lord. I am asking God to make it possible for me to be with you once again.
Now I urge you, continue to walk in a way that pleases God. Keep yourself pure from immorality. Don’t be like those who are enslave to uncontrolled passions. That lifestyle hurts everyone involved, and it offends the Spirit of God who lives inside you. God severely judges people who live with such filth.
Instead, let your love dwell on the highest realm. Love one another in all sincerity. But why am I telling you this? It is obvious to everyone that God has taught you how to love one another. I just ask that you do it even more.
Timothy shared with me that you are concerned about your fellow Christians who have died recently. Don’t worry about their condition. Remember, Jesus also died, but what happened? God raised Him from the dead! God will do the same with those who have put their trust in Him.
Jesus is coming back to earth and He will first raise those who have died in Him. Then the rest of us will meet Him in the air. So don’t be discouraged like those without our hope. Instead, comfort each other with these words.
Of course we don’t know when this is going to happen. We haven’t been given a schedule. Still, we are to prepare ourselves as if it will happen today.
When it does, those who live in sin will be caught off guard. They are like a family locking their doors before going to bed. They think they are safe, but suddenly a thief breaks into their home! That’s how it is going to be. It will be sudden, like labor pains of a woman about to give birth to a child. These people will find themselves suddenly standing before God to be judged. But Jesus Christ died for us so we can live with Him forever. Encourage one another with this truth.
Here is how you are to function as a church until the Lord comes.
- Honor those who sacrifice themselves to meet your spiritual needs.
- Get along with one another.
- Don’t put up with laziness.
- Be patient with those who are discouraged.
- Help the weak.
- Don’t seek revenge when people wrong you.
- Always do that which is good.
Here are the three parts of living a spiritual life:
- Keep rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks. This is God’s will for you.
- Be sensitive to God’s Spirit and listen when He speaks through others. Still, make sure it is God who is directing you.
- Keep a firm hold on to that which is good and stay far away from evil.
We are a family, so pray for me and keep your fellowship sweet. Share this letter with everyone in the church. The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
The whole letter briefly stated
The Spirit of God gives freedom to serve others, where the Law enslaves us to focus on the “rights and wrongs” and personal actions.
The Spirit of God also give restrictions for personal actions, but only to keep us from becoming enslaved by sin.
Suggestions on how to use this story in school
- Have the older students learn the story and prepare to tell it to younger students.
- Have the middle grades develop dramas on the various parts of the story and perform them before all the other students.
- Have the younger students learn the fruits of the Spirit and do activities surrounding them.
Ideas for learning this story
Envision a room with Paul up front of the Galatians.
- He has a shocked look on his face and is pulling at his hair.
- He points behind him to his past
- He points to Peter who is on the left side of the audience
- He points to the audience in the middle
- Points to Abraham on the right side of the audience
- The Spirit of God comes down on the group, which talks about bad things (on one hand), good things (on the other hand), and things to do.
- Paul then gives a choice: controlled by the Spirit or controlled by fleshly desires
Ideas for Art
Draw the various characters on this story. Here are ideas on how they could be pictured.
- Paul: pulling his hair in frustration.
- False teachers: looking sneaky
- Peter: looking reproved
- The Galatians: looking like they are clueless
- Abraham: passing his blessings to others
- Spirit of God: arms loaded with gifts
- Us: reading the letter years later
|
