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Stand Firm Week Four: Encourage During Persecution

Stand Firm Week Four: Encourage During Persecution

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MAIN IDEA: While God doesn’t cause all trials, He allows them, and most importantly – He redeems them.

 

James 1:2-3 NLT

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.”

 

  • The backdrop of 1st & 2nd Thessalonians isn’t prosperity, but persecution

 

1 Thessalonians 2:1-3 NLT

“You yourselves know, dear brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not a failure. You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, in spite of great opposition. So you can see we were not preaching with any deceit or impure motives or trickery.”

 

If God is all powerful, why did He allow suffering and opposition to the early church?

  1. Human nature desires comfort and retreat
  2. It allowed God to get the glory for what was happening
  3. It showed their miraculous faith that didn’t make sense

 

2 Thessalonians 1:4-8 NLT

“We proudly tell God’s other churches about your endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering. And God will use this persecution to show his justice and to make you worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering. In his justice he will pay back those who persecute you. And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus.”

 

Promises we can glean:

  1. God gets the justice
  2. Suffering grows us “worthy of His Kingdom”
  3. He will provide rest

 

What Response to trials can we learn from the church in Thessalonica?

 

2 Corinthians 8:2 NIV

“In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.”

 

 

Severe Trial = Overflowing Joy

  1. When we experience severe trials, become fully dependent on God
  2. Unsettling footing makes us get back on firm foundations
  3. The temporary gives way to the eternal

 

Extreme Poverty = Rich Generosity

  1. We understand what we have been saved from – the debt that we owed.
  2. We see a Kingdom lens to everything around us.

 

What would Paul write to the church in America today?

 

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 NIV

“But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”

 

  1. Stand Firm – How is your footing?
  2. Hold Fast – How is your grip?

 

 

For Small Group Discussion

Opening Question: What did you get teased for the most growing up?

Main Point: The Thessalonians were experiencing intense persecution. Paul encouraged them by reminding them that suffering is a way of identifying with Jesus. He told us to expect suffering so we wouldn’t be surprised by it.

Main Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Head Questions

  • What persecution did the church in Thessalonica experience?
  • What kind of persecution exists for Christians in America today?
  • Have you ever experienced persecution for your faith? What did that look like?

Heart Questions

  • What is the difference between persecution and consequences to our own actions?
  • What encourages you the most when you are feeling beaten down?

Hands Questions

  • Who in your life (or maybe even in this group) might benefit from some encouragement from you?
  • How can you help the next generation learn resilience and the strength needed to stand firm?

Additional Scripture: Hebrews 3:12; Ephesians 6:10-20; John 15:19-20; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Tips and Resources:

 

To watch Jim and the Sermon Team on The Overtime Podcast, go to: https://bit.ly/RLOvertime

For sermon resources, podcasts, and other tools go to:  https://realliferesources.org/current-series/