Transformed lives impact others for the sake of the gospel. A Bible study lesson for “Commended” on 1 Thessalonians 1 from the Lifeway “Explore the Bible” series.

 

ruins of Thessalonica

We are starting a new series today on the letters to the Thessalonians. I’m not sure if this is in the study guide that they hand out, but in the leader guide, they had a daily reading plan for the next three months. Since both 1 and 2 Thessalonians are so short, some days the reading plan is only one verse.

Now to be honest with you, as a reading plan, I think that’s a little odd … but I do think that is a good plan if you’re going to memorize the books. Memorizing a verse, sometimes two, a day is totally doable. Which is what I think I’m going to do.

Today, we are going over chapter 1 in 1 Thessalonians. Which is a chapter where Paul is praising the Thessalonians for their faith.

timeline of new testament books

About the Book of Thessalonians

About 1 and 2nd Thessalonians. These are two of Paul’s 13 letters. We are going to read a little bit about the context of the letters in a little bit, but 1 Thessalonians is considered to be one of the earliest epistles that we have and believed to have been written in 50 or 51 AD. I found a couple of timelines dating the books of the New Testament, and even the most skeptical of them date 1 Thessalonians to the 50 AD.  Just as a side note, on these two timelines I show, they both have Revelation as the last book of the New Testament written. I don’t think that it was. According to the early church writers, John wrote Revelation on the island of Patmos while he was in exile there. When he was released, he went to Ephesus and wrote his gospel. So according to those writers, the Gospel of John was the very last book of the New Testament written close to the end of the first century.

ruins of Thessalonica

About Thessalonica

A little about Thessalonica. The leaders guide had a great description, so I’m just going to share that with you.

The ancient city of Thessalonica sat where the modern city of Thessaloniki is now located in northeastern Greece on the Thermaic Gulf. The city was founded around 315 BC by Cassander, a Greek general serving under Alexander the Great. He named the town after his wife, who was also Alexander’s half sister. In time, it grew to be the largest city in the northern Greek province of Macedonia.

Thanks to its location, Thessalonica quickly grew into a major trade city, rivaled only by Corinth in the southern province of Achaia. The city enjoyed an excellent port and had easy access to the Danube River to the north. This gave merchants access to both European resources and the major cities around the Mediterranean Sea.

The city of Thessalonica also served as an important cultural center for the Greeks. Even during the Roman period, the city maintained its Greek spirit. By the time Paul first arrived (Acts 17:1), the Romans had exerted a little more influence. However, Thessalonica was still considered a free city. This means no Roman occupation force was stationed there, and it enjoyed a measure of freedom in managing its own affairs. For example, Thessalonica could mint its own coins.

Ethnically, Thessalonica’s role as a major commercial site created a melting pot. Along with Romans and Greeks, merchants from around the Empire lived in the city. Apparently, it also had a substantial Jewish population. In Acts 17, Luke recorded that Paul ministered in the synagogue for three weeks, along with his work in the Greek marketplace (Acts 17:1-4).

When we studied the book of Corinthians, we learned that Corinth was a major hub for commerce and culture.  We see that Thessalonica was the same. It sounds like they had both a lot of prosperity as well as a lot of influences competing for their attention. We will see how those influences impacted the development of the church in just a little bit.

Map of Paul's missionary journeys

The Church at Thessalonica

The church at Thessalonica was founded during Paul’s second missionary journey. Luke describes this journey in Acts 16.

6 Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. 7 Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. 8 So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas.

9 That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” 10 So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there.

the slave girl at PHilippi

While at Philippi, they encountered the slave girl with the spirit of divination, got into drama there and had to leave, and then they came to Thessalonica. We are going to pick up in Acts 17.

17 Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. 3 He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” 4 Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women.

5 But some of the Jews were jealous, so they gathered some troublemakers from the marketplace to form a mob and start a riot. They attacked the home of Jason, searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them out to the crowd. 6 Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers instead and took them before the city council. “Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are here disturbing our city, too. 7 And Jason has welcomed them into his home. They are all guilty of treason against Caesar, for they profess allegiance to another king, named Jesus.”

8 The people of the city, as well as the city council, were thrown into turmoil by these reports. 9 So the officials forced Jason and the other believers to post bond, and then they released them.

So the church in Thessalonica was founded with Jewish believers and it sounds like those Gentiles who were already observing the Jewish faith. The Thessalonians began with a foundation of Scripture that a church started with Gentiles would nto have at that point.

There was an intersection of many cultures in Thessalonica. There were different religions and many pagan idols worshipped. However, it was not the pagans this time that caused trouble for Paul and Silas. It was the Jews who did not believe who were angry, and so they sent a proxy to start a riot against the new believers.

Paul and Silas left the new church and continued on their way; however, Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to further train the new believers. Timothy then returned to Paul and gave a report, and Paul writes a letter to the Thessalonians from the three of them: Paul, Silas and Timothy.

paul preaching

1 Thessalonians 1

 This letter is from Paul, Silas, and Timothy.

We are writing to the church in Thessalonica, to you who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

May God give you grace and peace.

2 We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly. 3 As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul begins his letter with a warm welcome. Thanking God for not only the church, but their faith, and the evidence of that faith … which is their loving deeds. He also reminds them of their “enduring hope.”

The translation that I’m reading from is the New Living Translation. But if you read verses two and three in that interlinear Bible app I’ve mentioned before, it reads as:

Unceasingly remembering your work of faith and labor of love and the endurance of the hope of the Lord of us Jesus Christ before the God and Father of us.

This seems to me to read a little bit differently than the NLT. We have have that enduring hope and continue on because Jesus is in the presence of the Father.

4 We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people. 5 For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true.

Later on in the letter, Paul will warn them against false teachers and teachings. In his opening, he is reminding them that their words were backed up with the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul doesn’t say exactly what that was. It could have been the conviction of the Holy Spirit, but based on the ministry of Jesus whose authority was evidenced with miracles, I’m guessing that Paul and Silas’s words were also backed up by miracles.

And you know of our concern for you from the way we lived when we were with you. 6 So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord. 7 As a result, you have become an example to all the believers in Greece—throughout both Macedonia and Achaia.

riot at the temple

We read in Acts how the Jews started a riot against the believers and accused them in the courts. Paul is reminding them that this sacrifice was not in vain and that it has provided both an example and encouragement to churches in the whole region.

8 And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Macedonia and Achaia, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God. We don’t need to tell them about it, 9 for they keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve the living and true God. 10 And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God’s Son from heaven—Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment.

Paul is praising them for their faithfulness, and I’m sure everything he said was totally and completely true … but he is also letting them know that people are taking notice. That how they act and whether or not they continue to remain faithful has an influence on others.

I’m sure that there were many concerns for these new believers crowding in on them and vying for their attention. Just like us, they had many competing ideologies. It would be easy to mix the ideas of their new faith with some of these others. It would be easy to lose the fervency of that first faith. Paul is remind them of what their focus should be … “looking forward to the coming of God’s Son from heaven.”  Jesus is who we are accountable to.

The Second coming of the Lord

The focus verse for this lesson is verse 6

6 So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord.

Jesus promised us forgiveness of sins, life in eternity, and a peace that passes all understanding today. He didn’t promise that we wouldn’t have any problems, and we can see in these passages that believers experienced many trials.


This Bible lesson was originally taught by Carla Alvarez on March 6, 2022 in the Kingdom Citizen Bible study Class at the Second Baptist North campus in Kingwood, Texas.