1 Thessalonians 1:2-10
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 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. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
Reflection
This is the introduction of the first letter to the Thessalonians. Paul gives thanks for the Christian community in Thessalonica. He says that they have become a model of the message of Jesus Christ and because of that the Lord’s message rang out throughout the region. What would it mean for someone to thank Southport UMC because our “faith in God has become known everywhere?” To do this we have to make it not about ourselves but about the gospel of Jesus Christ. How can you become a model of the message of God so that God’s message may ring out from Southport UMC?
