Craig Smith - The Proof is in the Pattern
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Well, hey! Welcome to Mission Hills on Bluegrass Weekend! How many of you love Bluegrass Weekend? Let’s make a little noise for the band and for all the people who put this together. We love it! Actually, I met a young woman after services yesterday who asked, «What is Bluegrass Weekend?» I said, «Well, we play bluegrass.» She responded, «What is that?» I was like, «It’s what we just did.» But it was a totally new concept for her, and actually, it’s a really kind of cool story. She actually said yes to Jesus for the first time yesterday during Bluegrass Weekend! But she was so new to the church that she thought that’s what we usually do. I was like, «Oh, no, no, no! That’s not what our music usually looks like.» She asked, «Well, why do you do it differently?» I said, «Well, sometimes it’s good to break out of the patterns you’re in.»
One of the things I love about Bluegrass Weekend, by the way, if you’re watching this or you’re listening to this and you’re just doing the message, I want to encourage you to go back and listen to the music from this weekend. Do the whole experience! Because one of the things I love about what we do at Bluegrass Weekend is we actually play songs that we often do in a regular service, but we do them in a different way. I don’t know about you, but that actually makes me hear them fresh. It makes me hear them in a way that sometimes I can kind of lose sight of, because it’s familiar, right?
You know, breaking out of the pattern can be a really good thing, which is actually kind of what I want to talk to you about today. I want to talk to you about what the patterns in your life are producing in your life. I don’t know if you know this or not, but your life is a product of your patterns. It’s a product of the things that you do on a regular basis. It’s a product of the habits that you have. That’s kind of not what the world tells you. The world likes to tell you that your life is a product of your passion. The world loves to talk about passion.
The world is obsessed with passion, right? How many of you have ever heard, «You’ve got to find your passion»? Have you ever heard that? How many of you are like, «I have no idea what that means»? Yeah, the world says you’ve got to find your passion. You’ve got to follow your passion. You’ve got to fuel your passion. I’m just going to tell you something today that goes contrary to that advice. I’m going to tell you to forget your passion. I’m going to tell you to find your pattern. Okay? I’m going to tell you to find a pattern that will actually produce in your life the things that you are longing for. We’re going to talk about what the patterns in your life are producing. Actually, we’re going to kind of talk about that for the next several weeks because we’re starting a new series today in the book of First Thessalonians.
In fact, if you want to go ahead and grab your Bible and start making your way to First Thessalonians 1:1, we’re going to make our way through this book over the next couple of months. One of the things we’re going to see throughout this book is a call to find healthy patterns that produce in our lives the things that we are all longing for. Sometimes we’re looking in the wrong places. Sometimes we have the wrong patterns in place to produce those things because the reality is your life is a product of your patterns. It’s not a product of your passion. You might be passionate about getting a good grade on the next test, right? By the way, I’m saying that because it’s family weekend. I know we have a bunch of kids with us.
Some of you are like, «You just gave me PTSD.» I still wake up; I’m 45 years old and I still have nightmares about waking up, having to go to class, and forgetting to go every other time this semester, and now there’s a final exam. Anybody ever had that exam? I’m not trying to give you PTSD; I’m sorry. This is more for the kids, right? You might be passionate about having a good grade on the next exam, but if your pattern is that you daydream during class and put off studying until the last minute, your grade is going to be a product of your pattern, not your passion. Right?
You might be passionate about making it onto that soccer team and becoming a great soccer player, but if your pattern is to blow off practice and play video games instead of working on ball-handling skills, the quality of your play, your ability as a player, is going to be a product of your pattern, not your passion. You might be passionate about having good relationships with your kids and your wife, but if your pattern is selfish, your relationships are going to be a product of your pattern, not your passion. You might be passionate about being a mature follower of Jesus, but if your pattern is to spend more time scrolling Instagram than reading God’s Word, your relationship with God, your spiritual life, is going to be a product of your pattern, not your passion.
So I want to talk to you about finding the right patterns. In fact, over the next several weeks, we’re going to see that this subject comes up over and over again because the book of First Thessalonians is a lot about patterns. By the way, First Thessalonians is an interesting book because it’s the reaction of the Apostle Paul to some really good news.
See, the Apostle Paul had gone into the Greek city of Thessalonica; he had preached the gospel, and a bunch of people had said yes to faith in Jesus. But then, before he could begin to instruct them in the faith, before he could give them the little bit deeper instruction, he had given them the basics. He said, «Yeah, God loves you; Jesus died for you; three days later he rose from the dead, and if you put your faith in him, you can be forgiven and free and have a relationship and go to heaven,» and all these great things. He’d gotten that message out and they’d responded to it.
Then some people who were jealous of the success he was having, some other religious leaders, came in, formed a mob, created a big ruckus, and drove Paul out of the city. He kept trying to go back, but he couldn’t get back because they kept blocking him. So he ended up going to another city and preaching the gospel there, the city of Berea. But the people from Thessalonica came out to Berea and chased him out of there. Every time he tried to go back to the Christians in Thessalonica, they prevented it from happening.
So Paul’s kind of beside himself with worry. He’s like, «All I did was give them the gospel and then all this persecution broke out. Probably they’re not following Jesus anymore; probably they gave up on it. They were like, 'Hey, this is way too costly. The price is way too high. We’re going to go back into pagan worship.'» He kept trying to go back so he could find out what was going on, but he couldn’t do it. Eventually, he figured out a workaround; he sent his friend Timothy because he said, «Timothy, they don’t know what you look like as much, so you go sneak in and find out what’s going on.» It was a long time before Timothy came back, and Paul was probably really worried about that. He thought, «I bet they caught him, I bet they killed him, or they put him in jail or something.» But eventually, months later, Timothy came back, and he goes, «You’re not going to believe this, Paul! They’re still following Jesus!»
Paul was like, «Are you kidding me? After the persecution, yeah, they’re following Jesus? After they drove me out, yeah, they’re still following Jesus? After the cost of all this, they’re still-yeah, they’re still following Jesus!» So Paul writes the book of First Thessalonians to help begin to give them some of the other instruction, to teach them about some of the patterns they need to have in their lives. But what’s interesting about First Thessalonians is that it’s a book really about commendation, not correction. He wants to write to say, «I’m so pleased with what’s going on,» rather than, «I’m so worried about what’s going on.»
Does that make sense? Most of the letters of the New Testament, by the way-every now and then a church will or somebody will tell me, «Is Mission Hills a New Testament church? Because I’m looking for a New Testament church.» I’m always like, «What do you mean?» «Oh, I want a church like the church described in the New Testament.» I’m like, «You do know that most of the New Testament exists because the churches were jacked up, right? That most of the New Testament exists because they had to write letters to go, 'I can’t believe you guys are doing this! I can’t believe you’re believing this! This is not what we taught you! We’ve got to fix this! '»
So there’s a lot of correction in the New Testament. First Thessalonians is a lot more praise than it is, «Hey, there’s a problem we’ve got to address,» but they don’t know about some things they need to know about. And so Paul writes, but he starts off with this interesting pattern: " Paul, Silas, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians, in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; grace and peace to you.» He prays for grace and peace for them. If you don’t know, you should know that this is Paul’s pattern. If you look at all the other letters of Paul in the New Testament, even when he has to write to do a lot of correction, he always starts the same way. This is his pattern: he always starts by praying for grace and peace for them.
Now grace is undeserved kindness. It’s the heart of the gospel. It’s the idea that even though we have sinned and run from God, God loves us. So, He ran after us. He sent Jesus, who paid the price for our sin, for our wrongdoing. He rose from the dead three days later. And when we put our faith in Him, we’re forgiven. We’re brought into a relationship with Him. And that’s not anything we’ve earned. It’s nothing we can earn, but it’s simply because God is kind to us, because He loves us. So grace is undeserved kindness. He wants them to experience that, but He also wants them to experience peace. And if you don’t know what peace is, according to the Bible, peace is steadiness in spite of circumstance. It’s a really important thing to understand.
Peace is steadiness in spite of circumstance. It’s the ability to stay steady. It’s the ability to keep moving forward in your relationship with God. It’s the ability not to be rocked, not to be anxious, not to be depressed, not to be overwhelmed by circumstances. It’s steadiness in spite of circumstance. And it’s interesting that the Bible always connects peace with a particular pattern. See, Paul has a pattern here where he says, «I’m praying this upon you.» But Paul’s not just praying for it; Paul actually plans for peace. Paul has a pattern that produces peace. And he goes on and he says this. He says, «We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.»
This is not his prayer for peace; this is his plan for peace. This is a pattern that he says will produce peace in your life. It’s the pattern that produces peace in Paul’s life: this steadiness in spite of circumstance. And it’s gratitude. He says, «I want peace for you.» And he follows that up immediately by going, «We always-what’s that word? -we always thank. We always thank God for you. We’re always grateful for you.» And by the way, he also says, «And we always mention you.» And in English, that kind of sounds like we’re praying for you, like we’re praying for this or that for you. But actually, in Greek, the word for mention is actually the root word for memory. He’s really saying, he says, «We’re remembering you.» He says, «We thank God and we remember you.»
And what he’s remembering about them are things that he is thankful for. He’s remembering how God moved in them. He’s remembering how they responded. He’s remembering how they were good to him. Okay? And so this is all about gratitude. And it’s interesting that Paul moves immediately from peace to gratitude because we have this very consistent pattern in the Bible that says peace is a product of gratitude. And in fact, there is no peace without gratitude. Do you hear me? You might want to write this one down: If you’re somebody who would like a little peace in your life, how many of you would like a little bit more peace in your life? A little more steadiness despite circumstance?
Okay, here’s the pattern: it starts with gratitude. The Bible consistently talks about this pattern. In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul wrote this. He says, «Do not be anxious about anything.» And how many of us go, «Well, that’d be nice! I’d love that! How do I do it, Paul?» He says, «But in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving.» He says, «You’re going to pray.» That’s part of the pattern that brings you peace. But he’s going to, he says, «It’s not just prayer for God to fix your circumstances; he says it’s prayer with thanksgiving. It’s all rooted in thanksgiving. It emerges from thanksgiving, from gratitude.» He says, «With thanksgiving, present your requests to God.» And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. You see the pattern? Thankfulness, gratitude produces peace. Why is that?
A couple of things happen when we are grateful. The first thing that happens is we kind of flip this switch from what we don’t have to what we do. By focusing on what we do have, we kind of stop focusing on what we don’t. And so our perspective shifts, and we begin to go, «Oh, I yeah I would like this, and I’d like that, but it’s amazing I have all of this.» And when we make that shift, it’s amazing what happens in our lives. Science has actually done some studies and found that the practice of gratitude does some interesting things in the brain. Actually, when you are practicing gratitude, when you’re going, «Hey God, thank you for this and this and this,» your body flushes cortisol.
Anybody know what cortisol is? How many of us are way too familiar with cortisol? Cortisol, it’s the stress hormone, right? Our body gets a lot of it, and it weighs us down; it wears us out. Okay, but gratitude flushes it out. That’s a scientific fact. When we practice gratitude, something happens, and our brain sends a signal to the rest of our body, to our system, and it begins to flush out cortisol. So our stress actually declines when we are grateful. The other thing that happens is when we are grateful, something goes on in our brain that starts to release dopamine and serotonin. Those are sort of the pleasure hormones or chemicals or neurotransmitters.
I’m not sure which one it is; if my daughter’s watching this, she’s going to come at me on that one. It’s good stuff: dopamine and serotonin. It’s the good stuff. It’s basically the chemical cocktail of contentment. And when we practice gratitude, our brains start to release it. So I started this practice a while back that the last thing I do before I go to sleep is review the day and go, «Hey God, thank you for this, and this, and this, and this,» and I go off to sleep that way. I’ve actually found that it’s an important part of me sleeping a little bit better. If you don’t have that pattern in your life, if gratitude and being thankful for things is not a regular part of your life, I would encourage you to put that pattern into place.
When I ask if you want peace, many of you raised your hands. I know that’s true all over the world, with people watching online on our different campuses. We want more peace. But I want to tell you something: the problem is probably your pattern. See, peace is a product of your patterns. It’s a product of starting with gratitude before I move on to anything else. Peace is not the product of getting a possession you want. It’s not the product of getting the promotion you want. It’s not the product of getting some kind of award at school, or making a team, or getting into that house, or buying that car. That peace is not a product of those things. Peace is a product of your pattern, and that pattern, in particular, starts with gratitude.
So Paul says, «Hey, we’re thankful for you.» That’s how Paul maintains peace in the midst of some pretty difficult circumstances. He says, «I practice gratitude.» He says, «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.» He says, «This is what I’m remembering; this is what I’m thinking about; this is what is on my mind. This is the pattern that produces peace. I’m thinking about these things that Timothy’s come back and told me you’re doing.» And there are three things there, right? There is work produced by faith, labor prompted by love, and then endurance inspired by hope.
Well, let’s break those down real quick. Work produced by faith. This is work that’s produced by our faith in Jesus-things we do because of our faith in Jesus. Not things so that we can get a relationship with Him, but because we already have one, because He’s done the work for us. Okay, it’s a response to faith. It’s work produced by faith. But it’s interesting; the word that He uses for work in the Bible is typically used for things that kind of show the world our faith, that point other people to faith in Jesus.
The root Greek word that He uses here is the same word that Jesus used when He said, «Hey, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.» There are not nearly enough people doing the work of advancing the gospel, the good news about Jesus, into the world. So that word has to do with something that is produced by faith but also points people to faith. In 1 Peter, the Apostle Peter says, «Hey, I want you to live such good lives among the pagans that even though they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your good deeds» (same word-your good works), «and they’ll glorify your Father in heaven.»
Even though they’re inclined to come against you, when they see the way that you work, when they see the work that’s produced by your faith that also points people to faith, they will find themselves asking, «What is it about this faith?» and it’s going to draw them to faith in God. The work He’s talking about here is produced by faith but is also something that points to faith. So when we pray for people who don’t know Jesus, that’s the kind of works He’s talking about. When we give generously to ministries that are advancing the gospel in the world, that’s the kind of work He’s talking about.
When we invite somebody to come to church to find and follow the Jesus that we follow, that’s the kind of work He’s talking about. When you share the gospel with somebody, when you realize they’re going through a hard time and they don’t know Jesus, and you think, «I don’t even know how you’d face something like that without faith,» you go, «Can I share something that makes it possible for me to face the kinds of things you’re dealing with with peace?» That’s the kind of works He’s talking about. He says, «I heard you’re doing these things. It’s part of your pattern.» And then He also says, «And also I heard that there’s labor prompted by love,» which sounds like the similar kind of thing, but it’s not.
The word He uses for labor is literally the word for difficult work -it’s work that’s not easy to do, but it’s done because we love somebody. I wonder-anybody have anyone in your life who’s hard to love? Maybe they lack gratitude, or maybe they’re always taking and never reciprocating; they’re never giving back. Or maybe there’s someone in your neighborhood, at your school, or at work who believes differently than you, and they’re constantly coming against you. There’s an antagonism there; it seems like they always have it out to get you. The temptation is to give back everything you get from them. But God says, «Yeah, this is how people will know you’re My followers: if you love one another, if you love your neighbor.» Right?
The greatest commandment is to love your neighbor-not necessarily the people who think exactly like you, but the people who think differently than you. And they may be hard to love, but that’s the kind of thing He’s talking about. It’s the labor of love. We actually use that phrase, right? We say, «a labor of love.»
I was at a friend’s house a couple of years ago, and we went to dinner. They served the first thing, and they were very proud of it. They put right on our plate this beautiful raw tomato with something on top of it. I don’t know what was on top of it because all I saw was a raw tomato, as I do not like tomatoes. I’m okay if it’s been smooshed up and cooked, but raw tomatoes? I like — it’s a texture thing. Eating a raw tomato? Actually, I’m going to need a second. I don’t like it. And they put it on the plate, and they were so proud of it. «It came from our garden,» they said. And I’m like, «That doesn’t help.» But here’s the thing-I ate it. I ate it. I feel like there should have been applause there, but whatever.
Okay, it’s fine. It’s fine. So I ate it, and then we were all done, and we were driving home. Kleta goes, «I can’t believe you ate that.» And I said, «Yeah, it was a labor of love. It wasn’t an easy thing to do, but I did it because I cared about them, because I loved them, and I didn’t want to hurt their feelings.» Right? By the way, they don’t go here, so it’s okay. I don’t think they’re listening. If they are, no, it was really good. It was really good.
Okay, this is what he’s talking about. We have people in our lives that honestly it’s not easy to love them, but that’s what the gospel pushes us to do. It’s the hard work of taking the love that’s been poured into us and letting it pour out of us into others. And that requires the third one he talks about, which is endurance inspired by hope. Endurance inspired. Endurance is the ability to keep going when it gets hard because there’s something at the end that makes it worth it.
You know, last year, Claud and I hiked the West Highland Way in Scotland, and there were days that were really long days. One day we walked 19 miles. That’s, so again, I feel like there should have been something, but whatever. Okay, it’s okay. 19 miles. I’m going to be honest, about like, you know, 12 miles in, you’re like, «Wow, we still have seven miles to go.» Like any other day of our lives, seven miles would be like, «That’s a really long walk.»
But here’s the thing. Here’s what I loved about the trip. It was very bougie hiking, by the way. You probably shouldn’t applaud. It’s not that impressive because the way it works is you get up in the morning, and people come and they take your bags to the next town. And so you walk all day, and you don’t have to carry much. And when you get there, there’s a hot shower, there’s good food, and there’s a soft bed. And there were days when we were walking 17 or 19 miles that that hope-that’s what allowed me to endure. I was just one foot after the other: soft bed, hot shower, good food, soft bed, hot shower, good food.
And here’s the thing. Sometimes in English, we see the word hope, and in English sometimes we use hope to talk about things that, like, it would be nice if this were true, but I don’t know for sure if it’s going to be true. That’s not what the Bible means by hope. When the Bible talks about hope, it’s something that is absolutely certain; we just haven’t experienced it yet. It’s still coming, right? I mean, on that hike, there was no question that I was going to get there and have a soft bed or a hot shower or good food. It was guaranteed. It was done. I’d paid in advance for it.
But here’s the thing. As much as that could inspire endurance, the hope he’s talking about here is the hope of heaven-that when you follow Jesus, you’re going to be welcomed not only into an eternity of peace and joy, but you’re going to be welcomed by a Savior who’s got His arms thrown wide to say, «I’ve been watching.» And all those times that you were rejected, I remember. And all those times that you did things that nobody seemed to notice, I paid attention to. And now I have reward for you and your faithfulness. And that’s not «it’d be nice if it were true.» It’s a guarantee. The resurrection of Jesus proves it.
So we have that which inspires endurance. And Paul says, «I heard about you; I heard about this pattern, this pattern of work by faith, labor by love, and endurance by hope.» He said, «You don’t have a lot of the information you need. You don’t have some of the doctrine that I need to instruct you in.» He’ll go on and do those kinds of things. But he says, «I’ve heard there’s a pattern in your life, and that pattern is going to produce the results that I long to see for you.»
I see that you have it. You are working by faith, you are laboring by love, you are enduring by hope, and you’re going back and doing those things again and again and again. He says, «I’m so excited about that.» He says, " For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.» And when he says " power,» I think it’s natural for us to ask, «Is he talking about miracles? Is he talking about, you know, when he came, did people rise from the dead? Were people healed?»
And maybe, but it’s interesting. You can read about what happened in Thessalonica in Acts chapter 17. And when you go to Acts chapter 17, there’s actually no mention of miracles; no mention that Paul performed any miracles or that there were any healings or anything like that. So what does he mean when he talks about it coming with power? And the answer is it was the power to change your patterns. Instead of going to the temple courts where you used to worship idols, he said you stopped doing that, and you started getting together and learning from God’s word.
He said you started making, instead of making sacrifices to Zeus and Athena and the Greek gods, you stopped doing all that and found new patterns where your sacrifices were to give generously to the work of the gospel and to support one another and to love each other. He said instead of fighting with each other to get morsels and to get ahead of everybody, you started asking, «How can I love you? How can I serve you? How can I support you?» He said, «I saw the power to change the pattern.» He says, «It’s a pattern I know about. In fact, he says this: you know how we lived among you for your sake.» He says, «You saw the pattern with us.»
Then, of course, it didn’t start with us; it actually started with Jesus. Jesus did the work of faith; he worked to advance the good news that God loves us. He labored by love; he went to the cross, and he died. That was a labor of love. And he endured, the Bible says, he endured even the shame of the cross for the joy set before him, that he would get to see his Father redeeming us and then welcoming us into heaven with him. That was the pattern we saw in Jesus, and Paul says, «You saw that same pattern. This is what we did: we worked by faith, we labored by love, we endured by hope. You saw it in us, but it didn’t stop with us.» He says, «You became imitators of us; you adopted the pattern of the Lord,» because again, it’s not Paul’s pattern; it’s Jesus’s pattern.
He says, «For you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia; your faith in God has become known everywhere.» What is that? It’s the work of faith; it’s advancing the gospel in the world. And therefore, we did not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us.
By the way, the reception they gave Paul was costly. They received Paul and the message he brought, and because of that, they were persecuted. Some of them probably lost jobs there. There were financial implications because they didn’t get to trade in certain markets and things like that, because they weren’t worshippers of the god of that particular market anymore. They were worshippers of the true God. And so, they were kept out of markets and kept from employment. It was costly, but he says you welcomed him despite it. What is that? It’s a labor of love; it’s a labor prompted by love. And he says they tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. It’s a work of faith, serving the living and true God. That’s a labor of love because serving God means that we serve others.
Jesus said, «I didn’t come to be served but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many.» So the way we serve God is by serving others. That’s a labor of love, right? Turning from idols, it’s a work of faith. I’m giving up on those that I’m turning to Jesus. That’s a work of faith, and serving God by serving others -that’s a labor of love. And he says, «And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he has raised from the dead-Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.»
What is it to wait on Jesus? It’s endurance by hope. This is a pattern we see over and over again. In fact, this pattern really sets the stage for this entire series. Over the next several weeks, we’ll go verse by verse through this entire book, and we’re going to see this pattern repeatedly. In particular, this verse three. In fact, Sally, could we go back? Could you put up verse three again for us? We’re going to do something a little bit different in this series. We’re going to memorize our verse together. Sound good? It’s verse three because it’s really fundamental to this series, to this book of the Bible. It says, «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.»
We’re going to memorize this together. I want to encourage you to memorize it and say it at least once a day for the next couple of months to help you on your way out. Actually, on all of our campuses, we have some little bookmarks that’ll help you do that. But before every message during our services, we’re actually going to say this out loud together. Okay, so let’s just practice it right now. Can we remember it? We’ll put it up on the screen for you. You’ll get it. Pretty soon, you won’t even need it, but right now we’re going to just say it together based on what we see on the screen.
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. Grab one of those cards on your way out today. Memorize this, and I promise you that that pattern is going to start to produce some fruit in your life. You’re going to really be glad that you have that. This pattern is so powerful: work by faith, labor by love, endure by hope.
And it’s interesting; they didn’t have all the doctrine they needed. They didn’t have all of the scripture unpacked. There were a lot of questions they had that they didn’t have answers to. In fact, we’re going to see as we go through the book that he starts to deal with some of those. They didn’t really know what happened after we die, so he said, «Oh, you’re grieving as people who don’t have any hope. We can’t have that. Let me give you some instruction. Let me help you understand.» He says, «Listen, some of you heard Jesus was coming back, so you quit your jobs.»
That was dumb. I love you, but that was dumb. That’s not what we want. We don’t want idle hands. He’s going to deal with these kinds of things. But, but it’s interesting. In spite of the fact that they lacked a lot of knowledge, he says, «I know that you were chosen by God.» I don’t know if you caught that when we read it earlier. Verse four says, " We know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you.» How, how does he know that God’s in them? How does he know that their faith is real? And the answer is this pattern: the proof is in the pattern because our lives are a product of our patterns, not our passions — our patterns. The proof is in the pattern. And here’s some other good news for you today: the peace is in the pattern, and in this pattern that he gives us, we’re going to unpack throughout this study, there is a possibility of peace that we can be steady regardless of our circumstances. It’s in the pattern.
And so here’s my question for you today: which part of the pattern needs some attention? Is it the work by faith, the labor by love, the endurance by hope? Which part of the pattern needs some attention? And what are the patterns in your life? What are they producing? It’s interesting. Sometimes we have these patterns, and we’re not even aware of them. I was on Amazon the other day, and Amazon popped up with a little notice that said, «Looks like it’s time to reorder reading glasses.» I was like, «What are you talking about?» And then I went and looked, and I was like, «Huh, yeah, I lose reading glasses so much that basically every three months or so, I have to order another set of reading glasses.» And Amazon noticed the pattern and pointed it out to me. I had no idea.
Here’s the thing: you might have some patterns in your life that are producing some things that you don’t love, and you’re looking at the thing, and you’re like, «Why is this here? What’s happening?» And the answer is it’s the pattern, but you aren’t seeing it yet. And so I’m going to take a moment right now; I’m going to pray over you, and we’re going to ask God to do us one better than Amazon. Okay? We can ask the Holy Spirit to show us some patterns that aren’t producing what we’re longing for and to show us what part of this pattern that Paul gives us that we need to maybe pay some attention to this week.
Let me pray over you. God, we’re so grateful that you want us to have peace. We recognize from your word today that patterns are powerful. And right now we also acknowledge before you that we probably have some patterns in our lives that are not producing what we want. They’re not producing peace; they’re producing anxiety. They’re producing fear. They’re producing a sense of being overwhelmed, and we acknowledge before you that that’s probably because of a pattern — maybe it’s a pattern that we’re completely unaware of.
So, Holy Spirit, I invite you right in this very moment to speak to us about some patterns in our lives, some habits, some things that we’re doing on a regular basis. And we ask that you’d turn our hearts to this pattern that we find from your word: work by faith, labor by love, endurance by hope. And, Holy Spirit, I invite you to speak to each one of us right now about which one of those needs our attention. And we commit not only to learning that verse and to making it a part of our daily pattern-to recite it, to think about it-but also to respond to however you lead and build new patterns, one step at a time. In Jesus' name, Amen.