ARE YOU A GOOD EXAMPLE?
READ 1 Thessalonians 1:5-8
The church at Thessalonica was dynamic! Paul said they had become an example or model of faith. Verses 6 & 7, “And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost: 7So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.”
The word Paul used for ''ensample'' or model is the same word from which we get our word ''type.'' It meant a mark left by a blow. It was used of a design stamped onto a coin.
The church had made an impression in their area - which is all of Greece - for the gospel. In doing what Paul said they had also become a pattern for other churches to follow.
The verb ''sounded out” actually means ''to sound as a trumpet.'' But the Thessalonians were not ''tooting their own horns'' as did the Pharisees. They were trumpeting forth the Good News of salvation, and their message had a clear and certain sound to it.
Wherever Paul went, the people told him about the faith of these believers.
The language is stressing their location.
God had placed them at that crossroads of sea and road for a reason. We are all strategically located as well. We are where God wants us as a church. We are here in Brownsburg for a reason. We are in our jobs and neighborhoods for a reason.
A recent survey of church growth indicated that 70 to 80 percent of a church's growth is the result of friends witnessing to friends and relatives to relatives. While visitation, evangelism and other methods of outreach help, the personal contact brings the harvest.
We need the church to rise up and proclaim the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Somewhere around 3 billion people have never heard the message of Christ.
And there are thousands here in our community who need Jesus. We must tell them about the Lord! Will you be an example that impresses others for Christ?
Your Friend and HIS,
Pastor Abbott
MEDITATIONS
1. If someone acted 'just like you,' would it be pleasing to the Lord? Why or why not?
2. Do you ever experience feelings of failure in your testimony and witness for Christ? What can you do to cultivate a positive witness?
3. How can you guard against compromising your witness, your example?
4. What is the relationship between what you say and what you do?