Over This

We Choose Patience Everyday with Everyone

May 23, 2020 • Bobby Brooks

1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 (ESV) Final Instructions and Benediction 12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. 23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

We Live with Expectation

May 16, 2020 • Bobby Brooks

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 (ESV) 13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

We Grieve with Hope

May 9, 2020 • Bobby Brooks

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (ESV) 13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

On Friendship

May 2, 2020 • Bobby Brooks

In the beginning of 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul put up the guardrails. Paul told us what was out of bounds and off limits. Paul says because God’s will for our lives is our sanctification (being conformed into the likeness of Jesus through the help of God’s grace) we need to avoid all impurity, especially sexual immorality. First he told us what is out and now, in 4:9-12, he tell us what is within bounds and without limit. And much to our surprise, the first thing Paul expresses is friendship. The Greeks had numerous words for love, but he doesn’t take us to romance or marriage or anything of that nature. He doesn’t think of love in the way we so often do – at least not out of the gate. The first thing Paul says is within bounds and without limit is the cultivation of deep, meaningful, Spirit-filled friendships. In fact, Paul goes so far to say that when Christian friendships are what they should be, we will gain the respect of outsiders and be dependent on no one (4:12). This week we’ll the power of godly friendships and why they might be exactly what we need to navigate the complexity of life, especially life in the day of Covid-19.

On Purity, Pressure and Power

April 25, 2020 • Bobby Brooks

The church in Thessalonica is going through it – they’re experiencing pressure and pain and disappointment and isolation. Life isn’t easy and yet, they are convinced that God is good and that Jesus is over this. So how do you live when life doesn’t look or feel the way it should? Paul’s first word of encouragement to them then and us today is to live lives of purity amidst the pressure. Pain and pressure sometimes grant us unspoken permission to turn away from God and turn towards unhealthy patterns and practices. However, Paul urges us not to turn back to the things we once turned our back to and to instead, turn again and again to God who gives us everything we need to face everything that comes our way.

The God Who Is Over This

April 18, 2020 • Bobby Brooks

Psalm 96:1-13 (ESV) 1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! 2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. 3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! 4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. 6 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! 8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! 9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;[a] tremble before him, all the earth. 10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.” 11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; 12 let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy 13 before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.

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