When Paul came to Thessalonica to establish a church there, he was faced with severe persecution. So great was the opposition that he had to cut his time there short after a few weeks and leave town by night (read about this in Acts 17:1-10). What happened to the believers remaining? They imitated Paul’s attitude in persecution! Even more, they became examples to others in their entire region. We can read about this example in in 1 Thess 5b-9. This is a description of their example:
-you became imitators of us and of the Lord
-you welcomed the message with the joy from the Holy Spirit.
As a result:
-you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
-the Lord’s message rang out from you,
-every place that your faith in God has gone out, so we don’t need to say anything
The results of the power of the gospel are seen in the fact that the faith of these new believers caught fire. The entire church family’s faith caught fire resulting in evangelism. Evangelism is a church family affair.
Has our faith caught fire? Do we have faith that radiates beyond our local church to the world around us? Do we have the faith that inspires and motivates others to “love and good works” Heb 10:24?
In love and unity, the body of Christ represents Christ to the world. The believers at Thessalonica imitated the Lord wonderfully and powerfully. Could that be said about us?
Pastor Kurt Seboe