1 Thessalonians 1:1-5 – What Empowers You to Keep Going in Life? – 3/15/20

Written by Dave Urbanski

The coronavirus suddenly has affected every one of us. And not just at Calvary Chapel Living Hope, but in every church across America and across the globe. And at this time when the earthly foundations of our everyday lives begin to buckle under, each of us must ask ourselves, “What empowers you to keep going in life?”

The passage in our brand-new series we covered on Sunday in 1 Thessalonians answers that question.

One of the interesting aspects of this book of the Bible is that it’s the very first letter the Apostle Paul wrote. He did so after a series of journeys and escapes from persecution, and one of the spots he landed in — for a mere four weeks — was Thessalonica in Greece. After his stay, Paul was in Corinth for over a year, waiting for his companions Silas and Timothy to bring him news of how the churches they planted were doing. Finally, Paul’s friends showed up — and brought him amazing news: The church in Thessalonica was flourishing! With that, Paul put pen to parchment and sent his fellow believers an inspiring, encouraging message.

Paul writes in verse 2, “We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.” That gets to the very heart of what we’re looking at today: What empowers us to keep going is life is God’s power. This gospel power through prayer enables each of us to grasp God’s supernatural strength so it can be unleashed in our lives.

Verse 3 continues, “We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Faith. Love. Hope.

Let’s look at faith first. Paul doesn’t mean merely a belief system. Real faith goes beyond that; it’s as an active, living force in our lives — and we need that kind of faith, because we don’t have enough of it on our own. It’s the kind of faith from God during dark times. Through anxieties. Through hardships. Through job losses. Through divorce and loss of friendships. Through death and through disease. Exercising that real faith means taking bigger and bigger steps toward God each day, even when the path appears too daunting. Because with God, all things are possible! And when we’re faced with what seems impossible, we need to move forward and give it all over to God. Note to self: Get more faith.

Now let’s look at love. Of course, we’re talking about agape love — the love associated with God’s unconditional love for us. But like faith, this kind of love is more than a feeling or an emotion; it’s a power God grants us so it can be used. So we can put it into action. Love must be our motivation, each day. We must act not only for our own interests, but also for the interests of others. Note to self: Get more love.

Finally let’s examine hope. The Greek word for hope means to “remain under.” And Paul spells it out so well, telling the Thessalonians that their endurance (or steadfastness) was “inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Think about that: When you consider the struggle to just get through the day, to deal with school closings, and curfews, and reports of the coronavirus spreading deeper into our communities — that all takes endurance and steadfastness. And where does such strength come from? Hope that God has given us!

God is working in all of our lives right now. He’s been there in the good times, and now for all of us, this is a bad time. But he’s here all the same. God allows us to live in challenging situations in order to stretch us. We don’t merely agree with a belief system, we don’t merely feel love, and we don’t sense hope like it’s 50-50 proposition and we’re crossing our fingers and we’re “hoping for the best.” No. Faith, love, and hope from God is rock solid. And with those powers inside of us, God wants to do incredible, supernatural things in our lives. Let us believe on that as we move forward in these days to come.

Listen to the sermon here: