Celebrating God's Transforming Work

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Celebrating God's Transforming Work</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="21"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id517.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="An Example to Follow, an Example to Set"><U><B><IMG SRC="008151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Sermon</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U><B>Church Ministry</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U>Sermon Notes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>"Celebrating God's Transforming Work," 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10</B></div> <div> <B> Berean Bible Church, May 7-8, 2005</B></div> <bR> <div>      One of the great joys of being a parent is to see your children learn and develop and grow and experience the world in new and fresh ways. </div> <div>      One of my great joys as a pastor is to see the change that takes place in people's lives, as they meet Jesus Christ, and begin on the journey of faith, and keeping growing and developing as followers of Jesus Christ. </div> <div>      Turn to <A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=1Thess+1:1-10" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U>1 Thessalonians 1:1-10</U></A>. We want to look at the opening paragraphs of Paul's letter to the church at Thessalonica. Paul was not in Thessalonica very long, so he was concerned about the progress and growth of the church he started. Timothy visited and brought back a positive report.</div> <bR> <div> <B>1. Paul celebrated the spiritual progress of the Thessalonian Christians.</B></div> <div>      Paul observed the effects of their faith, love, and hope on their lives (vs. 3). They genuinely received the message of the gospel, in spite of persecution (vss. 4-6). They shared the message with others (vs. 8). </div> <div>      Word got around about the change in their lives (how they turned from worshiping idols to serving the living and true God; vss. 7-10).</div> <div>      Can such things be said about us? Has there been a change in you, and can others see it?</div> <bR> <div> <B>2. Take time to evaluate </B><I><B>your</B></I><B> spiritual progress.</B></div> <div>      If you are celebrating progress, you need a progress report. How is your progress, if you are growing follower of Jesus? (Reports cards in school; we measure the areas in which we want to grow).</div> <div>      Evaluate according to the Christian virtues of faith, hope and love. Are you becoming more like Jesus. Do you love him more and more. Are you  doing right more and more often and giving in to temptation less and less. Have you replaced anger and bitterness with kindness and forgiveness? Have you replaced greed and lust with satisfaction and contentment with what God provides? Have you replaced selfishness with self-sacrifice for the benefit of others?</div> <div>      It's not enough to take two out of three: faith and love, or hope and faith, or faith and hope. Christian character requires all three. But you probably really struggle with one out of these three areas. Uncover it and admit it.</div> <bR> <div> <B>3. Keep pursuing spiritual progress.</B></div> <div>      That is the power and effect of encouragement. That's why moms and dads encourage their kids. It motivates them to keep going and keep growing. We will see later in 1 Thessalonians that this church isn't there yet; there are some serious areas in which they struggle, as do we. So keep going and growing.</div> <div>      An old farmer frequently described his Christian experience by saying, “Well, I’m not making much progress, but I’m established!” One spring when he was hauling some logs, his wagon wheels sank down to the axles in mud. Try as he would, he couldn’t get the wagon out. Defeated, he sat atop the logs, viewing the dismal situation. Soon a neighbor who had always felt uncomfortable with the farmer’s worn out testimony came along and greeted him, “Well, brother Jones, I see you’re not making much progress, but you must be content because you’re well-established!” (Source unknown; Bible.org, growth)</div> <div>      We don't merely want to be “established,” though that is necessary. We certainly don't want to be stuck. We want to grow and develop and make progress as the people of God.</div> <div>      Look at what God has done already! And look at what he wants to do in your life.</div> <bR> <div>      What makes an “impressive” church? A church is measured by the spiritual quality of its people, not its technology, programs, buildings, budgets. The Thessalonian were well-known because of the transformation God brought about in their lives. May we be well-known for the same reason, to the glory of God.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> copyright, 2005, Stanley Baker</div> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> </td> </tr></table></body>