In the first chapter of 2 Thessalonians, Paul reminds the church about the second coming of Christ and describes a period that some call The Great Reckoning. Through the course of our study, we can identify four truths about this Great Reckoning:
1. At the Great Reckoning, God will reverse the unjust state of current affairs. (5-6)
2. At the Great Reckoning, God will bring relief to those who suffer for their faith. (7a)
3. At the Great Reckoning God will bring eternal judgment on those who have not accepted the free offer of salvation. (7b-10)
4. The Great Reckoning should motivate believers to live up to their calling and act upon the Lord’s promptings to do good. (11-12)
The Big Idea of the message is this: Christians should take refuge in the fact that at the Great Reckoning, our just God will make all things right, bringing relief to believers and judgment to those who reject him.
2 Thessalonians 1:5-12
The Great Reckoning
November 15, 2020 • Dr. Peter Radford
2 Thessalonians 3:16-18
January 10, 2021 • Dr. Peter Radford
This week, we complete our study of the Thessalonian epistles. In the final verses of the text we find that Paul ends his letters right where he starts them, emphasizing grace and peace. From these final verses, we identify two key principles of grace and peace: 1. The secret to experience the peace of God is practicing God’s presence (16) 2. The secret to experiencing grace is to understand the ongoing work of the grace of Christ in our lives (18) In the end, the thrust of the sermon is that God wants believers to practice peace and walk in grace.
2 Thessalonians 3:13-15
January 3, 2021 • Dr. Peter Radford
In this brief passage, Paul instructs the church how to address brothers and sisters who fall into sin. This sobering text outlines the responsibility of believers to those who walk in disobedience: 1. Keep doing right (13) 2. Take note of the sinning brother or sister (14) 3. Disassociate from the person who has chosen a lifestyle of sin (14) 4. Don’t consider the sinning brother or sister an enemy (15) 5. Keep admonishing the Christian caught in sin like a brother (15) In the end, the Big Idea we emphasized was that you have a responsibility when your brother/sister falls into sin.
2 Thessalonians 3:6-12
December 13, 2020 • Dr. Peter Radford
In this text, Paul corrects a problem that occurs within the church of Thessalonica: Some believers are choosing to be idle and likely freeloading on the generosity of church. Paul offers the solution of grace-filled living to correct this behavior. From this week’s text, we find three principles for living in a grace-filled community: 1. Your sin can quickly infect another believer. (v. 6) 2. Your example can inspire others to follow Christ. (vv. 7-10) 3. You may need correction to continue following Christ. (vv. 11-12) The Big Idea we identify is that God calls Christians to live graciously in Christian community and to use their influence in the lives of others to bring about Christlikeness.