God’s heart for us is that we would live for him. That looks like honouring our church leaders, praying continually and listening to the Holy Spirit. But all of this is impossible unless God is the one who makes it happen.

Strive to be a church firing on all cylinders seeking to please God by holy living, knowing that God ultimately works among us to produce this.

A large part of life involves waiting. We wait for appointments. We wait for public transport. We wait for text messages and emails. Some of us wait well, for others of us, however, waiting produces anxiety and concern. As God’s people, we wait patiently for the day of the Lord when he will with finality makes all things news as he returns to bring both judgment as well as salvation. But that time hasn’t come yet. We still wait. But how do we wait well? How do we live in light of the future certain coming day of the Lord? 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11 helps us to think through how we live now, in light of the not yet.

Jesus’ return is the believer’s hope, that reaches into our present day, giving us direction and purpose. It simplifies out lives.

As all humanity moves towards the final day, God has provided us with everything we need to be fully prepared to meet him.

How will we find courage in the face of death? The Stoics say “Toughen up, keep it together, there’s no point in grieving”. The modern rationalists say “There’s nothing bad about death! It’s natural and neutral!”. Our passage exposes these approaches as deeply flawed and deceptive. We will see how Jesus offers us a tangible, plausible and incredible hope, that gives us courage to look death straight in the eye.

Paul writes to the Thessalonians and teaches them about the return of Jesus. Paul encourages the Thessalonians and us to live hopefully because of the resurrection of Jesus, to live ready and to live rightly.

Death is something that everyone of us will face head on. Since Adam’s fall from grace in the garden of Eden, every person since have felt the pang of death. Even as followers of Jesus we still face the reality that death has sting. Death is an intrusion, a robber, a dark cloud that hovers over life. As followers of Jesus, however, there is hope beyond the grave. In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul reveals truth about life beyond the grave. Paul looks forward in history to the return of Jesus and reveals truth that gives us hope, even in the midst of death.

God’s call to sanctification is a call to align our lives with his original design for humanity. The first command God issues in our text is to avoid sexuality. In order to obey this command, we will ask three questions about sexual immorality: What is it? Why avoid it? And how can I do that?

1 Thess 4:1-12 answers the questions how can I have the best sex and what my career ambitions ought to be. These are two areas where believers can demonstrate holiness to a watching world.

We please the people who matter to us, the people we love. How do we live in a way that pleases the God who gave us everything?

Ever had the desire to be reunited with that close family member or friend? That’s exactly how Paul felt about these Thessalonians. In the process our pouring his heart out, we also get challenged about the richness of our relationships with one another.

Of all the things we chase in life to fill us with joy, Paul shows us there’s no greater joy than helping others find confidence before God in Christ.

What do you ‘really live’ for? Be challenged that ‘really living’ is to be serving others in the Lord.

In 1 Thessalonians Paul shows how he not only shared the gospel of God with them but his very life. We learn that we are to 1) Speak the gospel to please God, but also 2) Love People and Share our Lives with them, and 3) Live lives worthy of God our Saviour

Since Paul left the Thessalonians so quickly and didn’t return, he could easily be accused of being a fraud, in-genuine, trickster. To restore their confidence in God, Paul spells out for the Thessalonian believers not only his great love for them, but the motives that drove him to share the gospel.

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16 presents Paul’s passionate defence of his ministry to the Thessalonians, offering a compelling portrait of faithful and impactful gospel ministry. Facing criticism and accusations, Paul highlights his ministry’s core attributes, showing that true faithfulness comes from playing to an "audience of One.”

There's plenty of things we can be thankful for in life. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul kicks off with not only piling on reason after reason of why he is thankful. But more importantly, who he directs his thanks to.

Many people (including many Christians) either wonder or have wondered: ‘Is Christianity the real deal? Is my faith authentic? Is my church authentic?’ Questions of authenticity have plagued many. The Thessalonians, grappling with persecution and doubt, likely wondered the same. In 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, Paul gives us a profound snapshot of what authentic faith looks like—not just for individuals, but for an entire church. The Thessalonian church didn’t have it easy. They were under intense pressure, facing persecution for their faith, and yet here we see Paul saying something like, “I thank God that I know that you are the real thing.”

For many people the local church has often been perceived as a place of either irrelevance, suspicion, or hypocrisy. Full of imperfect people, the church has always had, and will continue to be a community where people struggle through life together, imperfectly. But under God, the church can actually thrive as it submits to Jesus’s Lordship. But what does a healthy church actually look like? When a church is doing and being what God has called it to do and be, what does it look like? In 1 Thessalonians 1 we get a snapshot of a young yet healthy church that challenges us to think about our own spiritual health.