Passage: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12
Title: "Lives Oriented to Christ's Return"
1. Paul's Desire – experience God’s grace and peace (1:1-2)
2. Christ-oriented Thanksgiving (1:3-4)
a) Growing faith (confidence and reliance on God; Hebrews 10:38; 11:1)
b) Increasing love (expressed in word and deed; John 13:34-35; 1 Cor. 13; Eph. 5:1-2; 1 John 3:18; 4:7-12)
c) Steadfast endurance (Romans 5:1-5; James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6-9)
3. Christ-oriented Confidence (1:5-10)
a) Suffering is evidence of being united with Christ (5; Acts 14:21-23; Rom 8:16-18; Phil 3:9-10, 20-21; Heb 2:10; churches in Smyrna and Philadelphia)
b) God is just and will repay those who afflict his people (6; Rev 18-19)
c) God will give relief when Jesus returns (7)
d) The wicked will be punished (8-9; Rev 20)
e) Jesus will be glorified among those who believe (10)
4. Christ-oriented Prayer (1:11-12)
a) That God will make them worthy of his calling (11) – lit. grow into their calling (Ephesians 4:1-7)
b) That God will give and fulfill every desire for good (11; John 15:8; Eph 2:9-10; Phil 2:12-13; Titus 3:8, 14) – bear fruit
c) That Christ will be glorified (12)
d) That all of this would be enabled by God’s grace (12)
Main idea: Our eschatology shapes how we live. We will live for the things we most deeply hope for. We will live and pray rightly only when we are rightly oriented to Christ’s return.
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” (Annie Dillard)
Discussion Questions:
1. For what do you give thanks? Is your gratitude generally tied to temporal, material, or circumstantial matters, or to God’s grace at work in your life and in the lives of others?
2. Where do you see signs of God’s grace? Speak to those things by writing a note, sending a text, making a phone call, etc. Make those the substance of your gratitude.
3. How does suffering give evidence that we will be counted worthy of God’s kingdom? How can this enable us to have joy, even in our suffering (read through the cross references from 3.a in the outline)
4. What does it mean to be made worthy (or walk worthy) of the calling of God? Are you growing into your identity as God’s son or daughter? Are you walking in a manner worthy of the grace you have been given in Christ?
5. What characterizes your prayers? What do you think it means that our prayers reveal our devotion? What do your prayers reveal about your devotion?
6. What are some “desires for good” that God has given you? Do you feel able to bring those desires to fruition? What hinders them?
7. Use 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 to pray kingdom-oriented prayers.
October 16, 2022
Lives Oriented to Christ's Return
October 16, 2022 • Pastor Josh Kee • 2 Thessalonians 1
November 20, 2022
November 20, 2022 • Pastor Phil Burggraff • 2 Thessalonians 3:13–18
Passage: 2 Thessalonians 3:13–18 Theme: Disciplining the Disobedient and Disruptive Difficulties to Discipline: · Ease of Exiting · Misunderstanding Membership as Voluntary · Stigma of Stereotypes Main Idea: When believers disobey and err, we must continue to do good (13). Doing good in the community of faith necessitates that we ... 1. Keep away from the disobedient and disruptive (6). 2. Note/Mark them (14). a. Result: No longer associate with them b. Purpose: so they feel shame 3. Regard them as a sibling not an enemy (15). 4. Keep the goal in mind (16–18): a. Peaceful Unity b. Gracious Reconciliation Discussion and Application Questions: · Why does the instruction that Paul gives here concerning church discipline seem so foreign to us today? · How do we obey Paul’s commands to keep away from the disobedient and disruptive (6) while still doing good to them (13) and regarding them as a sibling (15)? · What does it mean to mark the disobedient (14)? Is this something to be done publicly or privately? (cf. Matt 18:15–18; 1 Cor. 5:1–13)? · How can we shame someone biblically (14b)? What would be appropriate and inappropriate shaming? · How do vv. 15–16 provide a proper balance to church discipline? · From the message, is there something in your own commitment to Christ and His body that needs correction? What steps did you need to take to obey Him?
November 13, 2022
November 13, 2022 • Pastor Phil Burggraff • 2 Thessalonians 3:6–12
Passage: 2 Thessalonians 3:6–12 Theme: The Christian Work Ethic Problem in Thessalonian Church: Some church members refused to work but rather lived off the hard work and generosity of their spiritual siblings ... ...resulting in them: · producing disorder in the church (6, 11) · meddling in other’s lives (11b) We need to follow Paul’s counsel to this church concerning the work ethic of believers: 1. As believers, we must display an imitable work ethic (7–9). How? a. Rightly correlate doctrine with living. b. Serve regardless of remuneration. c. Pay willingly a right price. d. Work hard to carry “your own weight.” 2. As a church, we must actively confront those refusing to work rather than passively enabling such practice (10). a. Obedience requires loving confrontation rather than passive enablement. b. Generosity should be directed to need rather than advantageous idlers. 3. The idle need to heed Paul’s words (12): a. Stop mooching b. Earn your keep: Be self-sufficient and productive c. If unable to work, contribute to the life of the church by serving. Main Idea: Our work ethic testifies whether Jesus is Lord of our lives. Application Questions: · From your own background, what formed your work ethic? What are the key influences on how you view and approach work? · What stands out to you from Paul’s approach to work as described in vv. 7–9? · How may we as Christians and churches today be taken advantage of regarding what Paul teaches here? Why is that? What can be done to make sure that we obey Paul’s teaching while still demonstrating love? · What can you apply to your life from what Paul says, especially in his command to the idlers in v. 12?
November 6, 2022
November 6, 2022 • Pastor Phil Burggraff • 2 Thessalonians 3:1–5
Passage: 2 Thessalonians 3:1–5 Theme: Our Prayer Requests Main Idea: The one living in light of Christ’s return should pray in line with Paul’s statements in 2 Thess. 3:1–5. Notice four areas that should structure our requests: 1. Pastoral Leaders (1–2): a. Gospel Impact b. Deliverance from Gospel Opposition 2. Protection from the evil one (3) 3. Simple Obedience to what Scripture Commands (4) 4. Heart Transformation (5) Into a. God’s Love b. Christ’s Perseverance Application Questions: • When and how do you pray daily? What makes up your prayers? • As you honestly assess your prayer requests, what recently have you been asking God for? • From the areas of requests mentioned in the sermon and this passage, which should you begin to implement more regularly in your prayers? How can you go about doing that? • How can meditating on God’s word enable you to pray for obedience to what scripture commands (v. 4)? • What should prayer for God’s love and Christ’s perseverance (v. 5) look like in the actions you do and choices you make this week?