1 Thessalonians 2:11-20

11 And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children. 12 We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory. 13 Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe. 14 And then, dear brothers and sisters, you suffered persecution from your own countrymen. In this way, you imitated the believers in God’s churches in Judea who, because of their belief in Christ Jesus, suffered from their own people, the Jews. 15 For some of the Jews killed the prophets, and some even killed the Lord Jesus. Now they have persecuted us, too. They fail to please God and work against all humanity 16 as they try to keep us from preaching the Good News of salvation to the Gentiles. By doing this, they continue to pile up their sins. But the anger of God has caught up with them at last. 17 Dear brothers and sisters, after we were separated from you for a little while (though our hearts never left you), we tried very hard to come back because of our intense longing to see you again. 18 We wanted very much to come to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us. 19 After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you! 20 Yes, you are our pride and joy.

After revealing serving as the first leadership lesson we need to learn during trying times Paul now reminds us of the importance of being:

2. Second

If we are going to serve then we have to take the place of second because God is first. When we make self first then the temptation we be to try and get people to follow us instead of following the Father. Pride always wants to point people to self, but a heart of humility will always point people to the Savior. In verse 13 Paul points out that the people received God’s message. The goal is to help people hear what God has to say, we want them to accept His word, not ours. What about you are you preaching and proclaiming Christ or self? Some in hearing the word of God look no further than to the ministry or words of men. Instead of being in awe of the Almighty they become enamored by men. We should not only receive God’s word but we should respond to it because unlike man’s words that are often foolish, fickle and even false, God’s words are faithful and never fail. As we talk about accepting His word this reminds us that it needs to be shared. Paul shared the Word of God, he shared his life. As the word of God was shared they accept it, if the Bible is the Word of God, then we must bow in submission to it. We should never say, “I know what the Bible says, but…” If we know what the Bible says, then there are no ‘buts.’ If you’re doing something right now and you know what the Bible says about that activity, you already have God’s answer. It’s not up for a vote. Stop waiting for God to let you know something different than what He has already said in His Word. Paul takes this one step further in the last phrase of verse 13: “…this word continues to work in you who believe” The power of the Word of God is tied to a believing heart. The Word “work,” is where we get our English word “energy.” The word is energized within us, as we believe it. When we hear the message outwardly, and welcome it inwardly by faith, it will rejuvenate us and produce a harvest in our life. It’s not just about accepting the word but activating it. Acting upon it. Notice that the evidence of the word of God at work in Paul’s life was thankfulness. Are you hearing the word of God, are you receiving it, are you believing it, are you seeing it in your life? When you are leading from second place you will rejoice because of the power of the word of God to change lives. In Mark 10:42-45 Jesus called His disciples together and reminded them of the difference between servant leadership that serves in second place, and that of selfish leadership that wants to live in first place. Servant leadership lets Christ be in control where selfish leadership looks to control people. What about you does your life display a loving leadership or a lording leadership? Next, Paul remind us of a challenging lesson when it comes to leading and that is that we will:

3. Suffer vs 14-16

To the extent we experience the power of God’s Word within us, we will collide with a world that rejects it. When the Word of God is within us, the enemies of God will be upon us. The cross is the Christians mark, which means that as servants our paths will be paved with sacrifice and suffering. Today we want the blessings that come from the cross but not the burdens. But as long as we fail to see that suffering is part of the package and not just a raw deal we will be disillusioned and ultimately disappointed in our walk with the Lord. Now the word “countrymen” is a very unique word that is used nowhere else in the New Testament. It means the people closest to you, persecution is always worse when it comes from your own people. It’s difficult when we face persecution from people but it becomes particularly painful when those people are our friends and family. People are going to put you down even those who are close friends and family. But don’t get hung up on the hurts hand them to God and let Him sort them out. Look suffering for one’s faith is not just to be endured, it’s to be expected. Paul encourages the Thessalonians in their suffering by reminding them that they’re not alone. They were suffering just the same as all the other churches. Sometimes when we go through the pain of persecution we can start to think we are all alone that nobody else understands out pain, but the truth is there are many people who are walking the same path of persecution as you. Today I want you to take some time to pray for the persecuted church. Pray for those who are experiencing suffering for the sake of the gospel.

1 Thessalonians 2:11-15

11 And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children. 12 We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory. 13 Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe. 14 And then, dear brothers and sisters, you suffered persecution from your own countrymen. In this way, you imitated the believers in God’s churches in Judea who, because of their belief in Christ Jesus, suffered from their own people, the Jews. 15 For some of the Jews killed the prophets, and some even killed the Lord Jesus. Now they have persecuted us, too. They fail to please God and work against all humanity

It’s here in the midst of the groaning that Paul reminds us of the goal, to live our lives in a way that God would consider worthy. As leaders, we should be pointing people to focus on God’s goal especially during the trying times when people are tempted to turn away from God. That is why Paul provides us with several important leadership lessons in the midst of trying times. Paul starts in verses 11 through 12 by reminding us to:

1. Serve

If the goal is to lead people to “live lives worthy of God” then success can only come through service. We need to remember that the primary purpose of why we do what we do always has to do with people’s relationship with God. When people are right with God everything else falls into place. As Jesus clearly stated in Matthew 6:33 “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Paul’s purpose was to please God as he reveals in verse 4, so it only follows that he would lead others to please God. Who without any doubt, lived a life worthy of God? The correct answer is Christ, God’s Son, Jesus. When we are leading people to live a life worthy of God, we are leading them to become more like the Lord. Yet so often as we lead others we make the mistake of making the goal for them to please us. But the goal of serving is to point people to the Savior not to self. Servants don’t get in the way of the Savior, selfishness does. Now there is a tremendous benefit to being like Jesus that we do not often think about. Being like Jesus, living a life worthy of God, does wonders for your self-image. Jesus Christ had a rock solid self-image.

He was secure in His identity Matthew 16:13-20

He knew he was loved by His Father Matthew 3:17

His positive sense of self allowed Him to withstand criticism Matthew 26:6-10

His positive sense of self allowed him to relate to those less fortunate, rather than building His image by relating only to the rich and powerful Mark 2:15-17

He felt competent and equipped by His Father to do what he needed to do Matthew 28:18

He could love others because he was secure in the love of His Father John 15:9

His relationship with His Father gave Him purpose in life Luke 2:48-50

He knew he belonged to the Father John 10:30; 17:21

He was affirmed by His Father Matthew 3:17

If we are going to lead people to be servants of God then they need to see serving in action, we cannot afford to be lazy leaders who preach principles they never practice. Now when we think about service how do we serve, what is the Process? According to Paul its relational based not rule based, in verse 11 he says “we treated each of you as a father treats his own children.” Today we are trying to lead without loving, we want leadership without relationship. But Paul says it’s not just relational its family, leaders take a personal interest in those they lead. Paul was their spiritual father and he related to them with a father’s affection rather than just a father’s authority. He came alongside and encouraged them. Encouragement is a powerful tool, which can have an incredible impact on the life of other people. It can enable them to hang in there when they feel like hanging it up. Instead of throwing in the towel and quitting, encouragement can cause people to dream big dreams. The word in our text that is translated encourage (parakaleo) means to stand beside, to exhort, to come to one’s aid. Leadership means standing in the gap. Do you stand beside or are you trying to lead from beyond? We all need people to stand in the gap and encourage us by cheering us on. What about you are you an encourager or a discourager? So how do we encourage others?

• With your presence

This requires that we show up, that we are present in other people’s lives. There is a great example of this in Acts 28:15. Paul had been in prison for over 3 years, he recently survived a shipwreck at sea, and now he had just arrived in Rome, still a prisoner. And unknown to Paul a bunch of his friends and fellow Christians traveled a great distance to be there to meet him when the ship came in… Luke records these words, “…at the sight of these men, Paul thanked God and was encouraged….”

• With your Touch

This requires us to reach out. Touch has the power to transform people’s lives. The following picture shows Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese together.

In May 1947, on Cincinnati’s Crosley Field, Robinson endured racist taunts, jeers, and death threats that would have broken the spirit of a lesser man. Reese, Captain of the Brooklyn Dodgers, walked over to his teammate Robinson and stood by his side, silencing the taunts by the crowd. Who do you need to touch with God’s transforming love? Love has the power to silence not just the critics but the entire crowd.

• With God’s Word

This requires us to speak out. When it comes to our words Paul reminds us of their power. Whether spoken or written, words have the power to bring life or death. As Proverbs 18:21 says, “the tongue has the power of life and death.” Are your words comforting or cutting, are they filled with care or criticism? Paul calls us to come alongside and comfort, what does comfort show? That we care. Remember when you were little and you hurt yourself and you would run home get a band aid. Why did you go home because it was a place of comfort. There are times when we all need to be comforted, especially in the trying times. Paul doesn’t just use his words to comfort he also uses them to urge others on. Living a life worthy of God doesn’t just happen we need urging or motivating. So how do we urge them? A key to understanding this is the meaning of the Greek word in our text that is translated urge, it is a form of the verb martureo, which means to bear witness. The noun form of this word is where we get our English word martyr. We urge best by being an example. When we live a life that is worthy of God we give them an up close and personal example, of what it means to live a life that is worthy of God. Leaders don’t expect others to live it, if you are not living it. That do as I say not as I do stuff is a bunch of rubbish. What kind of example are you of living a life worthy of God? If others followed your example would God be pleased? Is the way that you serve causing others to focus on the goal or to get caught up in the groaning?