Today (January 2, 2012) is the first day of our one month reading program. May the Lord bless our reading!
Today we will read Message One of the Life-Study of First Thessalonians.
The title of this message is “Introduction to a Holy Life for the Church Life.”
This message covers 1 Thessalonians 1:1-3 and the main sections in this message are:
I. WRITTEN TO NEW BELIEVERS
II. THE ORGANIC UNION
III. A LIFE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD THE FATHER
IV. CALLING ON THE LORD JESUS
V. THE CHURCH IN GOD THE FATHER AND THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
VI. WORK OF FAITH
VII. LABOR OF LOVE
VIII. ENDURANCE OF HOPE
IX. THE STRUCTURE OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
X. THE CONSUMMATION OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE FOR THE CHURCH LIFE
If you don’t have a copy of this Life-Study, you can read the message online at ministrybooks.org.
Please use the comments section to share your enjoyment of this message and your experiences related to Life-Study reading.
(To access the comments section, click on the title of this post. You will then see the comments section below the post).
Just to say “The Lord Jesus Christ” is a marvellous thing.
First we are confessing that Jesus is our Lord
Second “Jesus” means “Jehovah the Saviour” therefore we are confessing the Lord Jesus as our Saviour!
Third “Christ” means “God’s anointed One”, the Lord Jesus is the One anointed to bring us into the riches of God and to accomplish everything with us for God. Therefore we are confessing the Lord Jesus as the Christ.
Altogether to say “Lord Jesus Christ” is to utter something all-inclusive.
Also, our Christian work will eventually become a labour, something deeper and more difficult. Our faith will not supply us for this level of labour. For this level, we need a lasting love. Typified by the love of a mother for her child. We also need endurance to go on in the church life. Endurance involves suffering and it comes from the hope based upon the promise of the Lord’s return. “I Shall Return!”
Amen!
Wow!I am thankuful the Lord that this Epistle is particular help for us concerning the young christian life and church life.
May the Lord continue shine on us and speak to us how we can help the new ones to grow in faith, in love, and in hope, in particular, in the WORK OF FAITH, in the LABOR OF LOVE, and in the ENDURANCE OF HOPE.
I felt very encouraged to read that “Our Christian work should be of the nature of faith, not of the nature of human knowledge, ability, or power.” I am touched also that labor is both deeper and harder than work. Love is the motivation and the characteristic of our Christian labor… Amen! Praise the Lord! And hope is the source of endurance.
May the Lord make us those who live, walk, and work by faith and love in the hope of the Lord’s coming back.
LS 1&2 Thes. #1 Introduction to a Holy Life for the Church Life
I enjoyed that we have a Work of Faith, Labour of Love, Endurance of Hope when our Saviour Jesus Christ is really our Lord—when we are in the organic union with Him in reality. “Praise God we’re in him already, we’re…”
In Ch. 16 of “The Christian Life” Brother Lee says that the Christian life is a suffering because you live by another life, not your own life.
In the Crystallisation of John Ch. 6 he notes that “we suffer so that we can feast more. Our suffering helps us to enjoy the Lord. Eventually, our suffering becomes our feasting. This is why Psalm 23:5 says that the Lord has prepared a table before us in the presence of our enemies. Enemies indicates fighting and suffering, but the Lord makes our fighting a feasting and our suffering a table.”
In this message, I was impressed by the importance given to endurance. Endurance is not a small thing, right? “Such endurance is the topstone of our work. Elders, endurance is the topstone of the eldership” Our hope in the Lord’s coming/ the coming Lord is the source of this endurance. Labour is hard to do so when we truly labour we have Love as the motivation, characteristic and expression of our labour. The nature and strength of our real Christian work is faith, not human knowledge, ability or power.
Lord, in 2012 increase yourself in us as Faith, Love, and Endurance for the Church Life.
“…to the church of the Thessalonians IN God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…”
Never forget that it is the organic union in the divine life and nature that is the vital base for the believers to live a holy life for the church life!
How wonderful it is to get into the Life Study together,
I enjoyed the following portions;
“Lord Jesus, I love You.” How sweet it is to call on the Lord in this way!
…when we cry, “Abba, Father,” we experience the anointing. This is not a matter of terminology; it is a reality in our experience.
We need to be impressed with the fact that the church is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. To say “the Lord Jesus Christ” implies a great deal. First, it implies that Jesus Christ is our Lord. Second, it implies that He is our Savior, for the name Jesus means Jehovah the Savior. Third, it implies that Christ, God’s anointed One, is bringing us into the riches of God and is accomplishing everything with us for God. Therefore, to say “the Lord Jesus Christ” is to utter something all-inclusive.
When Paul says that the church is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, he indicates that we have been born of God and have been brought into the organic union with Christ.
Also, this was a very young church, the fact that Paul wrote in a simple yet organic way, shows us how much The Lord cares for shepherding and solid constitution of the new believers. Lord reproduce the same heart and love in us for the new believers.
Recently, I have been touched by the Lord regarding the way in which I view the saints. It is so easy to look at outward things, and outwardly the saints are not always so attractive–myself included :). According to this message, “the church is composed of human beings in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ, those who have the life of God and who are in the organic union with Christ.” I am touched that we need to see the saints in this way. If we see the Christ in one another, then surely we will love one another and the church will be built up in this love.
The church is composed of human beings, but they, the believers, are in the Triune God.
What i really impressed is when Paul said: the ‘church of Thessalonians’. He does not mention church in Tessalonica, but he said church of the Thessalonians.
So, the church is of men (such as Thessalonians), yet is in God and in the Lord organically. Amen.
I am so encouraged to do this reading together with all the saints 🙂 As those learning to take responsibility in the church life and making the Lord’s recovery “our Lord’s recovery”, we firstly need to be constituted with the truth! Here’s my portion of enjoyment from the reading today:
Praise the Lord – we are the church IN God the Father – we are organically united with Him! God is not merely our Creator but our Father, and we are His many sons. Also, it is so precious to call on the name of the Lord – O, Lord Jesus! Not just, I love You Jesus, but I love You Lord Jesus! In our experience we have a relationship with the Lord and we love Him – we love to call on His name!
I was particularly impressed with the meaning of the work of faith (our work is our faith; the strength with which we work and the nature of our work are both faith), the labor of love (deeper and harder than work, our shepherding becomes a labor – in and out of love), and endurance of hope (hope is the source of endurance, and endurance involves suffering)! This is the structure of our Christian life.
Thank You Lord for such a wonderful message and that we can read it together.
How dear that He is not just God but God the Father – showing that we have been regenerated by Him.
He is not just Jesus Christ but LORD Jesus Christ – how much sweeter to call on this name.
And we are in an organic union with this One!
Just read Life-study of First Thessalonians, message 1, with some sisters who are staying with me. This is a great epistle to get into because it was written to young believers in a young church. I enjoyed that God is our Father and Jesus is our Lord!
“We need to see that the church is the composition of human beings who are in God the Father with life and who are organically in the Lord Jesus Christ. We also need to see that the Christian life for the church life is constructed of the work of faith, the labor of love, and the endurance of hope.”
I enjoyed that our relationship with God is not just Creator and creature, but we have been regenerated, possessing the life of God and God is our Father. We are also in an organic union with Him – daily we can turn to Him, enjoy Him and have an intimate relationship with Him.
“…in the work of shepherding others, endurance is crucial. If we would be successful in shepherding the saints, we must exercise endurance…This endurance comes from the hope in the Lord’s coming, or from the hope in the coming Lord.”
Oh may we be those who love and hope in the Lord’s appearing. May such a hope strengthen us as we shepherd one another!
Amen and Amen.
A sequence:
Work of FAITH –> Labor of LOVE –> Endurance in HOPE
All of us need to be trained, educated, firstly to do the work, then, to work and, finally, to endurance. All of these are needed to live the church life and the family life.
“Do not hold the concept that, as you preach the full gospel, others will not be able to understand what you are saying. If we do not believe what we are preaching, others will never believe it.
We must go on to minister the deeper truths of the Christian life to new believers. May we all learn to preach something deeper than what we think others are able to understand.”
Amen,
Speak the word “In season and out of season”. Planting and sowing is always out of faith.
We may not ever see the results until we meet the Lord. I know of many who have spoken words to me and at the time I was not willing to hear. But the Lord has brought these words, scripture and songs to mind whenever I have needed them most.
These brothers and sisters will never know the result of the seeds and the watering they did in my life. But God will reward them for their labour of love, even when they never got to see the result.
Amen
“Do not hold the concept that, as you preach the full gospel, others will not be able to understand what you are saying. First we must believe for others. Then they themselves will believe. If we do not believe what we are preaching, others will never believe it. Thus, we must believe that those who hear us will be able to understand, receive, and accept the full gospel. Likewise, we must go on to minister the deeper truths of the Christian life to new believers. May we all learn to preach something deeper than what we think others are able to understand.”
Oh Lord Jesus! Amen! We need to preach the gospel to unbelievers in assurance of faith! I was very encouraged that the Thessalonian beleivers were able to live a normal Christian life by the apostles ministering them in less than one month. It shows how strong the apostles work of faith must have been! They also labored in love and endured in hope. May the Lord bring us to experience such a Christian Life!
DEBEMOS EXPERIMENTAR ESTA SECUENCIA
Obra de FE –> Trabajo de AMOR –> Perseverancia en ESPERANZA
En la vida de iglesia, como también en la vida familiar, todos necesitamos perseverancia. Por lo tanto, debemos ser adiestrados, educados, primero para realizar la obra, luego, para trabajar y, finalmente, para perseverar.
1 Ts 1:1 the church is in the Triune God, in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Unless God is our Father, we cannot be in Him. We were created outside of God, (no life relationship with Him), but we were regenerated! Born of God! This is what the church is, composed of all of us who have been born of God, sons of God, members of Christ. God is our Father and Jesus Christ is our Lord… Lord Jeeesus!!!
Thank you saints for arranging this corporate reading through of the Life-Study of Thessalonians!
I appreciated what the church is: “This indicates that such a local church is born of God the Father with His life and nature and is united with the Lord Jesus Christ organically in all He is and has done. Hence, it is of men (such as the Thessalonians), yet in God and in the Lord organically. Such an organic union in the divine life and nature is the vital base for the believers to live a holy life for the church life, which is the theme of the two Epistles.”
Therefore the structure of the Christian Life is “The faith, the love, and the hope in 1:3 depict the structure of the genuine Christian life, constructed with these elements. Faith receives the divine things (John 1:12) and realizes the spiritual and unseen things (Heb. 11:1). Hope reaps and partakes of the things realized by faith (Rom. 8:24-25). Love enjoys the things received and realized by faith and partaken of by hope for nourishing ourselves, building up others, and expressing God. Such a life originates not from the ability of the believer’s natural being, but from the infusion of what God is, in whom they believe. It is carried out by their sacrificial love toward their loving Lord, who loved them and gave Himself for them, and toward His members, whom He has redeemed through His death in love. This life lasts and stands unchanging by the sustaining power of the hope that looks for their beloved Lord, who promised that He would come to take them to Himself. Such a life is the content of this Epistle.”
Praise the Lord for the Life Studies! I really enjoyed that Jesus Chris is our Lord! Because He is our Lord, we are in Him and organically united to Him. May we see this revelation and realize the significance of calling Him “Lord Jesus”. When we say “Lord” we are not only calling on the Person but we are also acknowledging his position as Lord to us! Oh Lord, grant us the proper knowledge of calling on the Lord!
i enjoyed that our christian life is full and rich. having faith as the foundation, love as the process and hope as the consummation. our christian life is three dimensional, with our faith being towards the Father, love towards the saints, and hope in the Lords return. we need to live our christian life by having faith in God, loving the beloved saints, and keep our eyes on the hope of the coming King.
We could really use some “particular help concerning the young Christian life and church life.”
The first point I enjoyed from this message was that the CHURCH is OF MEN, yet IN GOD and IN THE LORD organically. “Such an organic union in the divine life and nature is the vital base for the believers to live a holy life for the church life.”
The second point I enjoyed from this message was that the CHRISTIAN LIFE and the CHURCH LIFE is of FAITH, LOVE, and HOPE and “such a life originates not from the ability of the believer’s natural being, but from the infusion of what God is, in whom they believe.”
Praise our LORD JESUS CHRIST. I enjoyed this all-inclusive calling too.
“Such an organic union in the divine life and nature is the vital base for the believers to live a holy life for the church life, which is the theme of the two Epistles.”
I enjoyed the matter of a work of faith, a labor of love, and an endurance of hope. I enjoyed seeing that the nature of the Christian work is in faith, that our laboring has its motivation in love (much like a mother labors to take care of her children), and that our endurance comes from the hope of our Lord’s coming.
Paul’s emphasis was always the organic union. Such a precious word to these young believers, and so supplying for us no matter how long we have been Christians. Reading this first message brought back the banner song from the crystallization training a number of years ago. I wanted to share it with you all:
We need to see a vision of the church in God the Father with His life and nature and in the Lord Jesus Christ with all He is and has done.
Faith as the nature and strength of the work, love as the motivation for and characteristic of labor, and hope as the source of endurance are the structure of a holy life for the church life.
To walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls us into
His kingdom and glory, is to live God and express God in our daily living by walking according to the mingled spirit.
In order to live a holy life for the church life, we need to cooperate with God’s operation to establish our heart blameless in holiness and to sanctify us wholly, with our spirit, soul, and body preserved complete.
Wow, what a revelation from only three verses! Just in his address to the saints in Thessalonica, Paul brings out a deep truth: the church is not simply in Christ, it is in GOD THE FATHER, implying our rebirth and divine sonship, and in THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, pointing to the fact that Jesus is both our Lord and savior, as well as The Christ, God’s anointed One, who “bring[s] us into the riches of God and is accomplishing everything with us for God.” HALLELUJAH!!!
So what is the church? “The church is a group of human beings who have been born of God and who have been brought into the organic union with Christ.” The church is so glorious!
The church is composed of those who have been born of God the Father and brought into an organic union with Christ.
Praise the Lord for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!
“We need to be impressed with the fact that the church is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. To say “the Lord Jesus Christ” implies a great deal. First, it implies that Jesus Christ is our Lord. Second, it implies that He is our Savior, for the name Jesus means Jehovah the Savior. Third, it implies that Christ, God’s anointed One, is bringing us into the riches of God and is accomplishing everything with us for God. Therefore, to say “the Lord Jesus Christ” is to utter something all-inclusive.”
Estructura de la vida cristiana genuina
Es una vida de tres dimensiones:
———-FE——–>>>>>—-AMOR—–>>>>>—-ESPERANZA——–
El comienzo, el ……|.El proceso……|.La consumación
fundamento…………|.La construcción.|.La piedra cimera
—————————————————————-
Se dirige a Dios……|.Se dirige a…..|.Reposa sobre la venida
………………….|.los santos……|.del Señor
—————————————————————-
Obramos por………..|.Trabajamos por..|.Perseveramos en
—————————————————————-
Recibe las cosas……|.Disfruta de las.|.Cosecha y participa de
divinas y da……….|.cosas de la fe..|.las cosas de la fe
sustantividad a
las cosas espirituales
e invisibles
—————————————————————-
Esta secuencia logra que:
Nos alimentemos a nosotros mismos, edifiquemos a otros y expresemos a Dios.
Esto equivale a:
La consumación de la vida cristiana con miras a la vida de iglesia.
“…the genuine Christian life for the proper church life is a life of three dimensions in the light of the Lord’s coming back: faith as the beginning, the foundation; love as the process, the structure; and hope as the consummation,the topstone. Faith is toward God (1:8); love is toward the saints (3:12; 4:9-10); and hope is in the Lord’s coming (2:19).”
What a way to start the new year! May faith, love, and hope also become the structure of our Life-study pursuit–faith as the nature and strength, love as the motivation and characteristic, and hope as the source of endurance!
This is what I enjoyed from today’s reading:
The genuine Christian life for the proper church life is revealed in a simple and brief way. It is a life of three dimensions in the light of the Lord’s coming back: faith as the beginning, the foundation; love as the process, the structure; and hope as the consummation, the topstone. Faith is toward God (1:8); love is toward the saints (3:12; 4:9-10); and hope is in the Lord’s coming (2:19).
I prayed with a friend of mine who is also a Christian once, and afterward, she told me she really appreciated that when I pray, I say “Lord” instead of “God.” She said it sounds so much more dear and intimate. I had never thought about it before, because I was so used to calling Him “Lord.”
But it’s true; how dear, sweet and intimate to be able to call Him “Lord”! Our relationship is not just Creator and creature. He is Creator to everyone and everything in this world – even Satan calls Him God. But He’s not just God to me. He’s my Abba Father and my Lord Jesus Christ. I am born of Him and I am joined to Him in an organic union. Praise the Lord!
🙂 I enjoyed your post Dora! Amen! We can call Him “Lord.” I also enjoyed we can call Him “Lord Jesus we love You!”
Paul was so simple…yet so profound! IN God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. In such simple words, we see the organic union!
I enjoyed that in the pursuit of our Christian and church life there is the work of faith, labor of love, and endurance of hope. All these 3 things are in progression. We are motivated to work because of our faith. As we go on in our church life, our work becomes deeper and often times difficult. This now becomes our labor. Love should be the expression of our labor. Truly, we cannot continue to labor in our church life without our love towards the saints. And in our laboring, we endure in the hope for our Lord Jesus’ return. This is the consummation of our pursuit in the church life. All our labor is in the hope that our Lord Jesus will be return soon. Praise you Lord Jesus!
Praise the Lord! Amen! We are living the highest life, the Christian life for the church life. Our Christian life is a life of Faith, Love, and Hope. Imagine if Paul encouraged the Thessalonians to live a life of work, labor, and endurance! That would be terrible! Instead, he added three marvelous elements: faith, love, and hope. Faith receives, Love enjoys, and hope reaps the divine things. In response to His sweetness, an affectionate love is produced. This motivates a wonderful living of deep sacrifice for our Beloved Lord.
Lord Jesus, We thank You! We praise You! And We exalt You!
I reallly enjoyed this point: “If we do not believe what we are preaching, others will never believe it. Thus, we must believe that those who hear us will be able to understand, receive, and accept the full gospel. Likewise, we must go on to minister the deeper truths of the Christian life to new believers. May we all learn to preach something deeper than what we think others are able to understand.” So many times I feel I water down to truth because I’m afraid the person won’t get it but really so many believers are starving and we have all the riches!! We must allow the Lord to feed others through our speaking!
Amen. I enjoyed the same thing.
We all need to see that in eternity past we were selected by God and that our being in the church today is a sign of this eternal selection. Therefore, in 1:4 Paul could say, “Knowing, brothers beloved by God, your selection.”
In verse 5 Paul continues, “Because our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance….
We all should learn that to preach the gospel we must preach in power, in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance. When we preach the gospel, we should look away from those in the audience who may be opposing our message. Looking at them may cause our faith to diminish. Instead of looking at the faces of opposers, look at the gospel. The expression on the faces of the opposing ones is a lie. We must have the assurance that the gospel we are preaching can save even these opposers.
First the Thessalonians as new believers became imitators of the apostles, and then they became imitators of the Lord. This indicates that we need to be a pattern, a model, for others. The believers do not see the Lord first; they see us first. If we are not a proper pattern or model, it will be difficult for others to see the Lord. Because we are the Lord’s representatives, we need to be a proper pattern. Then others can imitate the Lord by imitating us. This means that through us they imitate Him.
How can we prove that God is living? We prove it by our daily life. If God were not living, our daily life would be very different from what it is. Our present living is a testimony that the God whom we serve is living. He is living in us, and He controls us, directs us, and deals with us. He will not let us go. Rather, in many matters He corrects us and adjusts us. The fact that God controls us and directs us, even in small things such as our thoughts and motives, is a proof that He is living. Furthermore, it is by our daily walk that we can prove to our relatives, neighbors, and friends that our God is living.
A third characteristic of our Christian life is that we are waiting for God’s Son from the heavens. As Christians, we must live a life that declares to others that our hope is not on this earth or in this age. Instead, our hope is in the coming Lord, and our future is in Him. On this earth we do not have any destiny, destination, or future. Our future, our destiny, and our destination are altogether focused on the Lord who is coming. He will be our hope, our future, and our destination. We are going to the Lord, and our destiny is to meet Him.
Amen
Much encouraged by your words of enjoyment.
Lord Jesus Christ!
Thank You, Lord! I enjoyed in 1Thes1:3 the work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope. How good it is to know this word!
When we labour on others, sometimes we just lose faith. When we don’t see any results we start to get discouraged. But when work becomes difficult it’s a labour, and labour is of love! Like a mother nursing her child. It’s not merely a work anymore. She gets exhausted, but she can labour because she loves her child. This is our attitute towards the ones we take care of! We can continue to labour because we love them like a mother. Then, endurance. Wow! Endurance! Enduarance is of hope. “In the work of shepherding others, endurance is crucial… Endurance involves suffering… shepherding always involves an amount of suffering.” We can endure because of the hope of the Lord’s coming back. Praise the Lord.
Lord, how I need to know You in the work of faith, labour of love, and endurance of hope!
Amen sister,
Today we are so used to getting everything instantly – instant coffee, tea in a bag, instant noodles, fast food – takeaways etc.
We seem to always want instant gratification.
But our labour should be one that relfects our God. He is patiently waiting for us to mature. To become ripe for His enjoyment. To be the sons of God.
Our labour on others is a labour of love.
One that will take a life time.
We are running a Marathon race.
A marathon requires endurance, stamina, faith, trust and hope in God.
We sow the seeds, and water but it is God who causes the growth.
Thank you sister.
Your words are so encouraging.
So true that adding “Lord” and “Abba” to our calling is not a matter of terminology, but a reality in our experience. I love how the life-studies always lead us to experiencing Christ more.
I needed to be reminded that ”[t]he church is composed of human beings, but they, the believers, are in the Triune God”. We are visionaries, not idealists and my tongue wouldn’t be so loose if I really saw the intrinsic significance of the church. Lord Jesus, enlighten the eyes of our heart to know the riches of the glory of Your inheritance IN the saints.
May our Lord Jesus bring us into the experience of faith’s receiving, hope’s reaping and partaking and love’s enjoyment for our nourishment, for building up others and expressing God to the unbelievers.
The work of faith eventually becomes a labor of love that requires the endurance of hope, the hope of the coming Lord. May we all be simplified like these new believers to live the normal Christian life for the church life.
I enjoyed three words : Faith, Love & Hope.
“O Lord Jesus!” How wonderful is to call on Him this way.
I appreciated the last portion of this message, a good reminder: “We need to see that the church is the composition of human beings who are in God the Father with life and who are organically in the Lord Jesus Christ. We also need to see that the Christian life for the church life is constructed of the work of faith, the labor of love, and the endurance of hope.”
Amen
Oh “Lord Jesus Christ” –
The name Jesus/Joshua – Jehovah the Saviour or Jehovah our Salvation, is related to the Son of God as a Man. Our God has a human history, a biography related to his incarnation and human living.
Christ – is related to his resurrection – He has been made Lord of All, and Head of All, and Head of the church.
Thank you Lord for your great love, that you loved us so much that you sought us out – you became a man, you shared in all our weaknesses and you overcame all the strong holds of the enemy. you uplifted humanity and you are now fully qualified to be Head over all things. You are the Head of the Church your Body.
Praise the Lord for the Father’s selection, the Son’s deliverance, and the Spirit’s transmission.
“As Paul was writing 1 Thessalonians 1, deep within he was exercised concerning the Triune God. He was burdened concerning the Father’s selection, the Son’s deliverance, and the Spirit’s transmission. It is very important for us to see this.”
The Father selected us, the Son delivers us, and the Spirit imparts.
“We all need to see the difference between understanding the Word in a natural way and understanding it in a spiritual way.” What touched me in message four is not to have a natural understanding of 1 Thes. but to understand the entire book according to the divine revelation. This prayer has touched me. “Lord, I don’t want to understand anything in the Bible, especially any terms in 1 Thes. in a natural way. Lord keep me always in the spirit, and show me the real significance of the profound terms in this book.”
amen!
Praise the Lord! I never saw that there are so much things in the first verse of 1 Thes! The church is composed of human beings that are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! This indicates that we are sons of God! We are those who are in an organic union with Christ, share all that He has done.
Also the church life is the christian life constructed of the work of faith, the labor of love, and the endurance of hope.:)
“To the church of the Thessalonians which IN God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”…(1 Thess. What a change of view and a broadening of my faith and ours!! The church in each locality is in GOD the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!! I don’t have a way to describe what I think I’m seeing more of, but I am more encouraged and strengthened to press on to see more and gain more of Him, because I desperately need to. WE all do, saints !
Praise the Lord, saints. I just started reading today as I became aware of this corporate reading from a brother. I pray to catch up, Amen.
I enjoyed to see the Church is a group of human beings who have been born of God and who have been brought into organic union with Christ. Today we have life relationship with the Truine God from creation relationship. May this govern our living and work for His coming back. I also enjoyed that we need to call Lord Jesus because He is our Lord and we have many things to do with Him in a practical way.