Isaiah 1:10-20
Psalms 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Luke 20:1-8
2 We always thank God for
all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 3 We remember before our
God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and
your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know,
brothers and sisters[b] loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our
gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy
Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6
You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the
midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
1 Thes 1:2-6 (NIV)
2-5 Every time we think of
you, we thank God for you. Day and night you’re in our prayers as we call to
mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in
following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us,
friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you
for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn’t just
words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your
convictions. 5-6 You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, and
determined to live that way yourselves. In imitating us, you imitated the
Master. Although great trouble accompanied the Word, you were able to take
great joy from the Holy Spirit!—taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with
the trouble.
1 Thes 1:2-6 (The Message)
What
an amazing gift of words Paul gives to us in today’s passages from 1
Thessalonians (with translations from both the NIV and The Message). I love how different images pop out as we
read the different versions. In verse 3,
I love how Paul encourages the Thessalonians in their outreach efforts by
saying, “We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith,
your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord
Jesus Christ.” Is it possible that God,
through Paul, could be writing this letter to US? That these words are meant
for US, in this specific place at this specific time? I believe that WE, at Holy Spirit, are this
community. WE are a community whose work is produced by faith…just look at OUR
outreach ministries of LOTs, Mission of Yahweh, Prayer Shawl and Shear
Blessings, just to name a few. OUR labor is prompted by love…with evidence in
ACTS in Action, Alter Guild and Sunday School. OUR endurance is inspired by
hope…consider our school, our music teams, our ministers and our search
committee. There is evidence of hope all around us. How could we possibly be
working and laboring without it?
Have
you seen the video on our webpage…”We Are Holy Spirit”? It’s images of us.
If
we turn to verses 5-6 in The Message, we are, again, reminded that 1.) God
loves us very much; 2.) He has put his hand on us for something very special;
and that 3.) the Holy Spirit put “steel in our convictions!” Wow…what would
happen if we, as a community, agreed to believe this?!
In
this season of Advent, let us all be reminded that it is because of the baby in
a manger, WE are able to work in faith, labor through love and endure with hope
and it is only through reliance on him that we are able to continue to do so. Let’s
believe, together, that God speaks to US, using these words, just as he spoke
to the Thessalonians years and years ago.
Melissa Peter