Title: The Beautiful Church
Contents The inhabitants of Thessalonica, the capital of the Macedonian region (Philippi, Berea, and Thessalonica in the northern half of Greece), a port city and a center of road traffic, were multinational residents. Biblical scholars record that Thessalonica was a city with a population of 700,000 made up of Greeks, Romans, and Jews.
I. The beautiful church is in the presence of the Triune God (1a).
[A church where Heavenly Father is present is a good church]
What should we do if the most powerful person in the Han Dynasty wants to meet us one day? If a king we can't even look at wants to see us and is there, what should we do?
In Exodus 19:16-19, the Lord came down on Mount Sinai. When God was present on Mount Sinai, thunder and lightning accompanied him. A thick cloud enveloped the mountains. The sound of the trumpet and the fire came together. The Lord of hosts has come. The Lord of hosts has come to meet God's people.
The reason God was present on Mount Sinai was to communicate with Israel. Jehovah is the Creator of all creation. He is the omnipotent One who protects creation and keeps it forever. The Lord Almighty wanted to gather his people on Mount Sinai and tell them about the future course.
All other creations of Jehovah are universally preserved and protected. But the church is special. God is the one who does his work entirely through the church. Jehovah pleases us simply because we are Christians. Although we are infinitely lacking and weak, He entrusts us with the tremendous work of heaven. God grants us power with the holy mission of heaven.
[The church that is the body of the Lord Jesus Christ is a good church]
Jesus obeys the will of God the Father and loves us very much. Therefore, He left the throne of heaven empty and came to this earth for us. And he was crucified and shed His precious blood. And lest we get lost, he says. “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.”
Jesus, who is our way, the truth, and the life, is well aware of our weaknesses. You have experienced the pain. He completely solved the problem of death that we will face. So we must always be attached to his body. Even if the circumstances around us cannot be in Jesus, we must remain in Jesus.
A person must breathe in order to live. If you don't breathe, your metabolism slows down. Your life will soon be in jeopardy. The essential necessity of the church is that it must be in Jesus. When the church is in Jesus, it receives fresh love from God. The church can triumph in Jesus. When the church is in Jesus, the kingdom of God expands. It was in Jesus that the Thessalonian church had blessed privileges and high authority.
[A church in which the Holy Spirit is constantly working is a good church]
The disciples were very happy when they first met Jesus. It was God's will to be born in Israel. Because there was no one like Jesus in the history of Israel. But Jesus volunteered to be crucified. The disciples did not understand this. But Jesus was resurrected. And He ascended into heaven after 40 days. The disciples were in a state of despair. At that time, as promised, the Darakbang event on the Day of Pentecost occurred.
To walk with the Holy Spirit is to walk with Jesus, and to walk with God. The Holy Spirit is the one who enters our lives. He intervenes and provides in all our affairs. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter [helper, mediator, advocate, comforter]. He is the one who heals our torn. He is a spirit of comfort and encouragement who is with me in difficult times and in times of joy, even though I am in the valley of the shadow of death.
The Holy Spirit, who dwells in us now, is actively helping the work of Jesus Christ together with God the Father. The Holy Spirit indwells and works in every soul that believes in Jesus. He is the one who makes God's work go well.
II. A beautiful church is rich in passionate workers (1b).
The church is always in need of loyal workers.
Paul, Silas (Siluano), and Timothy had dedicated their lives to God since they became Christians. As they toured Asia Minor and Europe, they prepared to die and proclaimed that Jesus is the Christ.
Paul and Timothy met when they visited Lystra during the first missionary journey. Born to a Greek father and a Jewish mother, Timothy grew up in a reverent atmosphere from an early age. Timothy believed and served only God, just like his name. Learning the Bible from faithful grandmother Lois and mother Eunice, focusing on God
The sight of Paul, who suffered severe persecution and saved his life while performing miracles and preaching the gospel, was very impressive to Timothy. Timothy, who received Jesus Christ through this meeting, received the love of Paul who breathed new life into him and received discipleship training. After that, Timothy became Paul's disciple and was faithful to God's work with Paul.
Sila was also an important leader of the early church. When I delivered the facts of the Jerusalem church to the Antioch church, I followed Paul and Barnabas as a messenger. The common goal of those who sent their regards to the Thessalonian Church was to evangelize the Gentiles. For the sake of the gospel, they did their best in God's work until they endured many persecutions and tribulations.
There is indeed much to do in the house of God. In Matthew 9:37, it says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” The earth's population is now about 6.3 billion. Of these, only a few have accepted the Gospel. For all generations, there has always been plenty to harvest. But the workers were very few. The mission of the church is to glorify God. Outside, we must continue to preach the gospel. Inwardly, our faith continues to grow, reaching the full measure of Christ. Therefore, we should use our gifts to the best of our ability.
We should be thankful for the grace of Jesus who redeemed us for us. We must always stand before God with the attitude of a debtor. We must be Christians who faithfully serve God and people with love. They must be good and faithful witnesses.
Thankfully, those who did what they ought to do, and those who serve and work for the kingdom of God, are surely rewarded. He makes you eat as you work. He blesses you in all things. He values us (John 12:26). God is pleased and people praise him (Romans 14:18). God gives an inheritance to those who do his work faithfully (Colossians 3:24) and gives us eternal blessings as well as limited blessings (Revelation 7:15) and continues to raise up his workers.
III. A beautiful church is rich in God's gifts (1c).
He does.
Many things are necessary for a person to live. First of all, you must have a house to sleep in. You need food to eat to prolong your life. You can't live naked. You must have clothes. This is basically a must have for people. There must be many more.
The church must also have the basics. The members of the church must be members. There must be a place of worship. And there must be a leader to lead the church. But most importantly, there must be a gift from God. If there is no gift from God, no matter how many members and a beautiful church, it is not a church without God's gift. It is an organization that only hung on the cross and has nothing to do with God.
God wants us to be absolutely gracious. God's grace is like breathing and is essential to our life. Therefore, we grow in his grace. By his grace, you will be strengthened and you will win. God gives us abundantly to use His grace to last a lifetime.
Grace comes from those who are stronger than those who need help because of their innate weakness to help the weak. God's grace is benevolent. It's kind. All our well-being is in this grace. People's grace comes only from God. Grace is God's special intervention in giving grace to the weak. The grace that comes to us only occurs where works are lacking. So grace is priceless. Even if you pay money to buy it, you can't get it.
God's gift is not only grace, but also peace.
Generations who have gone through war know this peace well without explaining it. But the generation that does not know war does not know how precious peace is. Because Israel has fought more than 3,000 wars, peace is very precious. So their greeting is shalom. The term shalom is the opposite of war. Therefore, peace is peace without war.
Everyone wants peace, but there is no peace. Every day is a state of war. peace is lost. The peace is stolen. So I am anxious and anxious. It is urgent. As David confessed, it is like a leather bottle in the smoke. In order to avoid this, all the people set out in search of peace. But no one found peace.
Nothing in the world can give us peace. No god can give us peace. Only God can give us peace. Since the source of peace is God, only the peace established by and through God is complete peace. We are at peace when we are with God. God wants us to be at peace. Because it was purchased with the precious blood of the Son of God.
Founded around 700 BC, when Rome was prosperous, almost the entire world fell into Roman hands and came under Roman control. At this time, the small and powerless countries around them, suffering from constant foreign invasion, deliberately visited Caesar of Rome and offered their crowns. Because it counted Pax Romana (peace by Roman rule).
Today, we hope that we will seek God's will by God's rule and become members of our Jesus Village Church who can fulfill the mission God has given us with love. In a beautiful church, God, who is the Holy Trinity, is always present. A beautiful church is enriched by passionate workers. A beautiful church is always rich in God's gifts.