Jack Graham - God's Amazing People
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In our DISTINCTIVES FOR DISCIPLES series we should say that we know what we believe and why we believe it. We learned this and we live this through the ministry and the mission of God’s Church. And if you are a disciple, a follower of Jesus, you will be committed, devoted, and dedicated to the fellowship of God’s Church. True disciples are devoted to the Church. Now, of course, the question is: What is a church? Because there are a lot of buildings that have the name church on them that may not be a church.
What do real churches look like? What do churches, churches of the Lord Jesus Christ, New Testament churches, what are they like? What do they do? Prestonwood Church is the kind of church that God has blessed and is blessing. And I’ve been thinking a lot this week and in recent days about the blessing of God upon this church, this people called Prestonwood. I’m calling this sermon «God’s Amazing People». This is such a wonderful church, such a beautiful church. The question is why? Prestonwood is an amazing congregation. A miracle church. I don’t know of any other way to describe it other than the miracle-working hand of God has been upon us as a people. And I do give thanks to God for the privilege of being your pastor now going on these 35 years. No pastor has ever served a more faithful church.
Why has God chosen to bless this church? At the outset we want to say, all of us, starting with me, none of us take credit for what God had done. We are the beneficiaries of the blessings of God upon our lives, our families, our church. And it is right for us, it is good for us to give thanks for the blessing of God upon our church. We give thanks. Paul said in the scriptures «In everything give thanks». And we should celebrate the work of God among us. We should praise God for what He’s done and is doing and will do in this place.
I could just mention this week as one of the things that I had the opportunity to do was sit down with one our church planters from Colorado. His daddy is sitting on the front row right here. And to pray with him about our church’s support of church plants in Colorado Springs and Albany, New York and Seattle and Miami and all across the world. The opportunity we have to spawn beautiful churches everywhere. And in the Scripture there is a parallel, a model for us in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. So if you would take your Bibles and turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. And we’re going to meet the people of God of Thessaloniki or Thessalonica.
The church there established, planted by Paul himself and a band of believers, and it is a model church, a mentoring church for all churches given to us in the New Testament. And when we read this passage, you’re going to see that the Apostle Paul was like me this morning, filled with thanksgiving to God for this church. And he just overflows. There’s an outburst of praise to God for the amazing people of God at this congregation in Thessalonica. So I want us to read the first 10 verses.
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
So Paul, pouring out his praise to God, said, «I give thanks for you, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ». And he set the pace of everything for us in verse 2 when he said, «We give thanks to God always for you, constantly praying for, constantly mentioning you in prayer». Prayers of gratitude. Prayers of joy in Jesus. Why? Because these men and women at Thessalonica had turned from their idols to serve the one and true living God. They turned to God from their idols. It’s impossible to turn from idols until you turn to God. So you turn to God through Jesus Christ and then you lay down your idols. They had received the Gospel; they had heard the word of God; they were redeemed, and therefore, they were reflective; resilient in overcoming every obstacle.
Paul spoke of them in chapter 2 as being «my crown of rejoicing, my hope, my joy, my crown. You are my glory and my joy» in verse 20. He identifies the church of Jesus in the very first sentence. «To the church of Thessalonica in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ». There is a little word there «i-n» in that says so much! The church is in God and in the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is always, always the basis, the foundation of the Christian and of the Christian church, in Christ, in God. We are in vital, essential connection, union and communion with Him! And so to be in God’s church, you are to be in Christ; you are to be saved, in a relationship with Christ that is real, that is authentic. And the result of this is what Paul describes as grace and peace.
Always in this order in Scripture. Grace produces peace in our lives. You know what grace is if you’ve been around Prestonwood for a while. Grace is the goodness of God, the grace of God, the salvation, the gift of God that He has provided freely at the cross by the power of the resurrection. We do not earn or deserve salvation. Grace is what we have been given. It is not what we have earned or deserve. This is grace. And this grace produces peace. Not only peace with God. The battle is now over. The conflict between the soul and God. Now we have been forgiven; now we have been fulfilled in Christ and we are living in peace. I’ve been thinking a lot about peace lately. In the midst of a chaotic world, a world filled with war. I could tell you that while I’m concerned about what’s going on around us, and certainly there are problems that we all face. But yet there is an indescribable, indisputable peace in my life.
And this peace fills me with great joy. This peace that comes from God’s grace, we are fulfilled and thankful. He reminds me when he writes of this church of you, the people of God. Not because of our greatness, but because of His grace. And we are the fellowship of the forgiven. And then he says, «You have been an example, a sample». My pastor Fred Swank, used to illustrate this by using a sample that you might get at a grocery store. Have you been to Costco lately? I love going to Costco, just for the samples. You can get a full meal deal right there. Just from the samples. And, of course, the idea is that you taste it and you want more. And you will buy more. So he said, «You are a sample, you are an example». And how are we doing this?
In verse 3, there is the sermon in a sentence, and there are three, if you’re outlining it, there are three points that come right out of verse 3 that comprise what I want to say to you today. «remembering before our God (1) your work of faith, (2) your labor of love and (3) your steadfastness of hope (and there’s that word again) in the Lord Jesus Christ». First of all, the church, you people in Christ, you have a faith that works, a faith that works. A working faith. Salvation produces works. We’re not saved by works. Works do not save; they don’t even help to save. We’re not saved by faith plus works. There is no work that we can bring that would satisfy a holy God. Christ has accomplished the work. He finished it on the cross.
So it is in His work, His finished work that we trust. But, the faith that saves, works! Over and over again in the Scripture we’re told that «The just shall live by faith». There is a lifestyle that faith produces. We’re not saved by works, but we’re saved unto good works. So clear in the New Testament. Ephesians 2 «For by grace are you saved through faith. Not of yourself; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast». Verse 10 of that same chapter says, «But you are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which the Lord has prepared for you before time began». «Faith without works is dead» the book of James tells us. And James went on to say, «Don’t only be hears of the word, but be doers of the word».
When Jesus was describing what it’s like to be His follower, He said. «By their fruits you shall know them». In other words, your example, your testimony is the witness that you belong to Christ. And when you belong to Christ, you show up and you serve and you make a difference in the world. I don’t know why, but I came across this thing this week about 12 reasons Christians don’t attend sporting events. You know why?
Number one, «the coach never came to visit me». «Every time I went, they asked for money». «The people sitting in my row didn’t seem very friendly». «The seats were very hard». «The referee made a decision I didn’t agree with». «I was sitting with hypocrites; they only came to see what others were wearing». «Some games went into overtime and I late getting home». «The band played some songs I’d never heard before». «The games are scheduled on my only day to sleep in and run errands». «My parents took me to too many games when I was growing up». «And sent I read a book of sports; I feel that I know more than the coaches anyway». «And I don’t want to take my children because I want them to choose for themselves what team or sport they like best».
And if any of you find that to sound familiar, we hear these kinds of things all the time, why church isn’t important; why I don’t go. All kinds of excuses. But when you love the Lord, you love what the Lord loves. And Jesus loves His church and gave Himself for it. So we have a faith that works. It’s the evidence of our salvation. You’re not only a witness; but you are a part of the evidence. We are an example to a world. And there’s nothing more contagious, infectious than a Christian living like Jesus and loving like Jesus, and serving like Him.
This church at Thessalonica was productive. But I look at our church, Prestonwood, and I’m amazed at how productive you are! The salvations, the love, the kindness, the grace, the generosity, the service, the witness, the exercise of spiritual gift, all the teaching and the training of God’s Word, the helping and the ministry. The volunteers. I cannot begin to tell you all the works and all the ministries and all the service, the work as a result of our faith. all of this served through the hard work and the commitment of the devoted people of Prestonwood. Work of faith. Why do we do this? Because we do believe in Christ and we want everyone to know Him and we want to serve people in Jesus' name. Secondly, he mentions a love that labors.
Now he uses the word labor here and it’s a little different than the word work. And this word labor has to do with working to the point of exhaustion. It means toil. It’s maybe used, an athlete that is spent on the field after a game. It is to spend and be spent in service of the Lord. And this labor of love. There is a love that labors. Intense toil to the point of exhaustion. And what motivates us to do this is the love of Christ. Because we have been loved, we want to return that love to Him and to others. It’s the power of God’s love.
Alright, so what is the motivation of this work of faith and the labor of love? We love God and we love people. And while it is hard and we labor in this, really the labor is easy in the sense that it just flows from the heart that is given to Christ. Again, all glory to God. You do it because you love the Lord. You’re not paid to do it; you just do it. Four hundred Bible fellowship teachers at least, working with boys and girls, children, preschoolers, adults. Just people serving. I know that Prestonwood certainly must be the largest non-compensated workforce in all of north Texas; maybe all of Texas.
And we do this because we know we are compensated by the Lord, who rewards the work of faith and the labor of love. Who sees those little things that you do that maybe no one else really notice. You’re not on the stage, you’re not on the platform, but God knows and God sees. When you exercise your gifts, your spiritual gifts, when you give to the Lord, a labor of love, of work, of faith, lives are changed and the church is blessed. One final thing: So we have the work of faith, we have the labor of love and we have a steadfast hope. A hope that endures. He’s talking about heaven here. He’s speaking of the hope that is also describe in 1 Thessalonians which is all about the return of Jesus. The rapture and the return of Jesus.
In fact every chapter, don’t check me out now. When you get home, you can look and every chapter in 1 Thessalonians ends in something about the Second Coming of Christ. And it’s sad when too few churches in our generation are preaching the return of Christ because it was a constant, constant theme in the New Testament church. And so he speaks of heaven and hope and in the midst of this church at Thessalonica, living in a very secular culture, lived in a place filled with idols and false religion and all the rest, and persecution by even a religious crowd, they endured and they were resilient and they were faithful and they persevered because they were steadfast in hope. They had staying power.
The word steadfast here means to remain under. It’s to remain under the pressure. And when you are a follower of Jesus and a servant of the Lord, you don’t quit. You never stop, regardless if the pressure, regardless of the requirements. You just keep going! Life can be hard and the story of your life doesn’t always fit the script that you may have written, and yet, in the midst of all of this, we are sustained, steadfast in hope. Yes, we have struggles. Of course, there are hard times. There is a price to pay when you’re a follower of Jesus. There is a commitment that we make. It costs to serve Jesus.
Now it pays to serve Jesus, but it will cost you as well. But what it costs us cannot compare, what life may do to us cannot compare, the sufferings of this present world cannot compare to the glory that will be revealed when we see Jesus. This is why we stay with it! This is why we keep going! This is why we work and labor and never stop. Even though we have questions that we cannot answer. And even though sometimes in life we get knocked down, but we keep getting up because we live with a steadfast hope! And our hope is heaven and our hope is Him, the One who’s coming again! And a big part of this hope is a hope that is shared. One of the reasons that we keep going is because of one another.
When I can’t go anymore, you lift me up; you pray us up. And so we need each other. We have an enduring hope that sustains us and this blessed hope. «We wait for the Son», look at verse 10: «We wait for the Son from heaven». That’s the hope, «We wait for the Son from heaven». That’s the hope. And so we keep working, we keep loving, we keep hoping. You know what hope is! Hope is the presence of the future in your life. Hope is the reality, the presence of the future in your life and mine. Hope means that we know because of what Christ has done and what He has promised, we know that we will be with Him and our future is bright and the best is yet.
So there it is. A faith that is real in Christ, a love that is radical, relentless in service and hope that is reliable in the midst of everything we experience. Indominable, unstoppable hope! We take the long road, we take the long road and we live for what matters. Based upon what Christ has done and what Christ will do when He takes us home to be with Him. So when we come to the Lord’s table today, we come looking back as to what Christ has done: His cross, His resurrection. And as often as we drink this cup and eat of this bread, we do show the Lord’s death until He comes. And that faith produces works and love and hope that lasts forever, and incredible joy in our lives.