Stand Firm. For the culture we live in, there is something intriguing about God coming to bring the world as we know it to an end.

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1 November 10, Thessalonians 2:1-5, Pastor Janet Shaver Creekside COB Stand Firm For the culture we live in, there is something intriguing about God coming to bring the world as we know it to an end. After scanning for a lead for this week s message, I found some headlines that would sell newspapers and periodicals when the world as we know it would be coming to an end. USA Today: We're dead Wall Street Journal: Dow Jones plummets as world ends TV Guide: Death and damnation: Nielsen ratings soar! Discover Magazine: How will the extinction of life as we know it affect the way we view the cosmos? Ladies Home Journal: Lose 10 lbs. by judgment day with our new "Armageddon" diet! CONTEXT The Thessalonians were living in a state of turmoil. They are growing fearful and restive, convinced that the events of the apocalypse are exploding like popcorn all around them. There were teachings about the Coming of Christ and it is reported the Apostle Paul was part of those teachings. Paul had written about the sudden nature of Christ's second coming in 1 Thessalonians and how important it was for Christians to be prepared for that event. It is written that Paul is using this teaching to bring comfort to the Thessalonians but it backfired and the church was in turmoil.

2 Instead, his words seemed to cause too much uncontrolled, uninformed excitement. Some stopped working. Some could not think or talk of anything else. Some were mentally "shaken up." Some were spiritually in a state of confusion. In fact they were in frenzy because many of them believe that Christ had come and gone already and they were left behind. In today's reading, Paul is offering words of counsel and comfort to the Thessalonians. These Thessalonians Christians are like people trying to get some sleep with fear and anxiety filling their minds. They couldn't wait for the daylight of the Lord's return. So everything that was happening was causing a swaying of their faith. Every tragedy, every hardship was seen through an eschatological lens - raising anxieties and blood pressure among the faithful. INVITATION: What is God inviting us to see? ILLUSTRATION: There is a good story about this same kind of story that went on about 150 years ago when a Ohio man by the name of a Miller claimed to know the exact date of the return of Jesus Christ. He started a movement of over a million people who were rightly named Millerites. In fact a pastor once asked his congregation what was the most difficult time they had ever gone through. The church was located in a port city and so he thought that it would have been the amount of immigrants that needed ministry. He said another difficult time was during the Revolutionary War the British came and burned their church to the ground and shot and killed the minister s wife. He said it wasn t either of those but it was a time in 1843 that a Millerite pastor persuaded the congregation to give away their homes and farms, to put on their white robes and to wait on a hilltop for Jesus. They waited, but then they had to come back home and ask for everything back. It caused the church so much shame that they never wanted to talk about it.

3 We sit there and think it may not happen but there are many people who find the End Time Culture tantalizing and intriguing. We have movie and book series that depict what many believe it will be like when the Day of the Lord Comes. Transition: I imagine the bulk of us here do not buy into that craziness. But we know that life is full of turbulence. There have always been turbulent times in the world ~ in Paul s time, now and in the future. Paul was trying to calm the fears of the church and give them good solid advice, advice that would alleviate their fears. ENGAGE How is God inviting us to be engaged? Paul tells us what we are to do. He says Don t buy into it. Don t be alarmed or let you head get mixed up - confused Don t get rattled. How do we do Stand firm and hold fast? Not just personally but as a body of Christ. We stand together as a body of Christ. Stay grounded and hold fast in the gifts God is giving to us. Illustration: FACEBOOK There has been a movement on Facebook where people are stating what they are thankful for. If the Apostle Paul would have a Facebook page, Paul s posts would be all about the church. He would post how grateful he is for the church and who they are. Even in their frenzied state, in their turbulence, Paul stops to be thankful for them. This is from the Message: 13 Meanwhile, we've got our hands full continually thanking God for you, our good friends - so loved by God! God picked you out as his from the very start. Think of it: included in God's original plan of salvation by the bond of faith in the living truth. What we do what do we do?

4 The church in Thessalonica may have been running around saying What do we do? What do we do? Love your church no matter what But Paul says be grateful for everything that church is ~ love your church no matter what. Be grateful for all God has given you here in this body of Christ. Paul is saying to find thankfulness in all things. God gives to us in all places of our lives. What are we grateful for? Paul tells us. - We are good friends? We raised our children together. We taught each other. We shared our new life as we are doing right now with Morgan and Connor Hoke we shared our losses as we have in the passing of Ned we are good friends and have been for generations. We listen to the stories of our parents and grandparents in their faith walk in the church. We have loved and encouraged each other in the turmoil of our lives. We are thankful for our friends. That is our bond of faith, our lives lived in faith journey together. It is like our own family. We have a history and we have love. Our faith journey is like a continuum. We are all together growing in our own rhythm and finding love and harmony together. We are thankful for each other s faith journey and where God is speaking and working in their lives and in our own and how we can encourage the other in love. Because... God love us. God loves us not only personally but as a body of Christ. That is Paul s entire ministry. That is who Paul is writing to not to a person but to the Thessalonians church. He is writing to the whole body. God loves his churches no matter who they are and what they are doing. If he loves us personally, he loves us as a body too. We are thankful for God s love for us as a church. Thankful for our salvation: Christ came and saved the world. What does that mean to you? That means that we are walking in the greatest gift. It is our salvation. Paul is trying to tell us that that we are the fruit of Jesus. We are walking in the glory of God. Because of this, we are continually being

5 sanctified, growing and living in holiness. We are no longer weighted down by the cares of the world. We are living in the kingdom of God. Paul is encouraging the church to remember what that means to be saved. He wants the Thessalonians to live in love and goodness. The Apostle Paul did not always like what the churches were doing but he always loved them and was grateful for them. Do you know why? Because Jesus was and is our head. We are the body of Jesus. Jesus can t do anything but love his body. Jesus has to love because he is the living God and God is love. The Apostle Paul knows this, the Apostle Paul lives this. Even the Apostle Paul doesn t always get it right but he loves God and loves the churches of God. Strong in their faith and their traditions and history - in it together Paul is telling those who are strong in their faith to hang on. Paul is telling them that all of you who are strong in the faith to encourage the others who are new and how to live in thankfulness to God. They are in it together. The Apostle Paul wrote about unity in every letter he wrote. He wrote about who we are in Christ and who we are as the church. And finally tells them, use this advice to shine the light in those who do not understand Christ s saving work on the cross. Live in their salvation. INSPIRED: What is God inspiring us to do? The Apostle Paul tells us. 14 This is the life of the Spirit he invited you to: All those things we should remember and live in. Our salvation, God s love for our church and our bond of faith ~ our friendship And then Paul prays this prayer for us.

6 16 May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, 17 put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech. De-energized Don t let the turbulence de-energize your life in Christ. Turmoil does rob our energy. It drains our spirit. Our spirit is tired and worn out. Paul encourages us to refresh our spiritual hearts. All those things we talked about do that. Paul asks us to refresh our hearts in God s love, be strengthened and encouraged by each other and be invigorated our work and enliven our speech. Continue to be the beacon of light in the community. Photo: Lighted church on the hill The light inside of this church is the people. The people are the light of Christ to the world they are refreshed in the body and they carry it out. Together, we are strengthened and refreshed. We are the church. When people look at us as a body of Christ, they are to be drawn to the light in us. That is what Paul is calling us to. There will always be turmoil but we don t have to buy into it. Paul shows us how to do it. Be who God invites us to be. Remember who we are and be that. Continue to be the beacon of light to humanity who needs to know they are saved. Anointing Do any of you need refreshed in the spirit, do any of you need invigorated?

7 Come and be anointed.