Skip to main content

1 Thessalonians - Remember what you should never forget - Day 289

Good morning fellow saints in the Lord,

If the Lord wills, we will live and in two weeks from today we will be heading back to Connecticut.  We have enjoyed our time here, but have missed all of you back in Salem.  Today's passage is short, but filled with challenges.

Blessings,

Jeff

Paul conducted his ministry in such a way that the people he discipled were walking in a manner worthy of God.  This is another "remember what you should never forget" passages.

Obervations:

repetition for emphasis - he exhorted, encouraged and charged each one to walk...  There can be no doubt in their minds as to what Paul thought was important.  He did these things when he was with them and then wrote them down in the letter to remind them of what he had said.  I can just imagine that every conversation he had with each person involved some discussion about their walk.  Not much room for the weather, sports or other trivialities.

the "oh by the way" about God - who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.  While he spends most of the time on how he ministered, don't forget that it is God who calls, not Paul.  It is God's kingdom and glory that matter.

repetition for emphasis part 2 - holy, righteous and blameless conduct toward believers.  In Philippians, he reminds them to imitate him.  Requires the model by the overseer and observation by the disciple.

Application

How am I conducting ministry as an elder?

What is the focus of ministry at TCCS?

There are many books and theories about how to have a successful ministry that use modern management techniques.  I am thinking that doing it Paul's way is probably best.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2 Chronicles 33:7-9 Thoughts on Davidic covenant - Day 362

Good morning faithful readers, The finish line is in sight!!!  One of the themes of scripture is that God is a covenant keeping God.  There are many between God and man. Adam, Noah, David are examples.  Covenants are more than promises.  They are made between a superior and inferior with conditions for each side and blessing and penalties based on keeping the conditions.  These are covenants of works which fallen man was unable to keep.  Thanks be to God that the Father made a covenant of grace with Christ, the second Adam, which he fully kept. Blessings, Jeff The promise in v8 was made to David when he had planned to build the temple and God promised to build him a house forever. (2 Sam 7:10).  Seems like there are only two possibilities about Manasseh's disobedience.  Either he knew of this covenant that God had made with his 13th great grandfather and chose to disregard it, or he didn't know of it and was unaware of the penalty.  Let's con...
Post a Comment
Read more

2 Chronicles 30:16-20 Hearts set to seek the Lord - Day 359

Good morning fellow members of the household of God, After writing the devotional, I am thinking about the Passover as a household event.  In ancient Israel, the physical household of man was covered by the blood of the lamb.  Now, it is the spiritual household of God that is covered by the blood of the Lamb. Blessings, Jeff The account of the greatest celebration of Passover since time of Solomon (v 26).   Observations: One of the things that made this one great is participation of some of the tribes from the northern kingdom.  Israel was a united kingdom and Solomon and now toward the end of the northern kingdom, there is at least a semblance of being united. God allows some exemptions: Who offers the sacrifice:  The original Passover was a family by family sacrifice of a lamb.  However in  Deuteronomy 16:5-6 this changed to a centralized location once they entered the promised land.  (You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

2 Chronicles 35:23-26 Lament for the last good king - Day 364

Good morning fellow exiles and pilgrims, One more day of devotions.  We are indeed exiles and pilgrims in this world as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  The 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacks can serve as a reminder that this world is not our home. Blessings, Jeff The lamentations for Josiah written by Jeremiah.  However, the book of Lamentations does not include any reference to Josiah as they are focused on the fall of Jerusalem.  While these lost lamentations were "made the rule" there are only 4 more kings and none of them were good like Josiah and none died in Jerusalem.  The phrase "to this day" generally refers to the time of the author (post exile).  Taken together, it may be that these laments were for the last good king and during the exile the people were longing for the next good king. Zerubbabel in a way was the next good king as temple and Jerusalem were rebuilt. But Jesus truly was the next king and He...
Post a Comment
Read more