Strong Faith-Good Reputation: The Model Church (Part 2)

"...Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father...."
1 Thessalonians 1:3

Yesterday, we talked about the labor of love, about which Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica, and praised them for to the Father in heaven. Today, we are going to talk briefly about the other two qualities of the church at Thessalonica: labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Once we, as believers, realize in our lives, who Jesus is, and the work that He did for us on the cross, our hearts begin to overflow with love for Him. He is always the initiator. He first loved us. Because He first loved us, we serve Him, out of a heart of love for Him.

The model church, the example church, loves God, and loves His people. And they show that love by serving one another. We are that church, the model church, the example church. We love God. The hard part for some of us, is loving each other. Oh, I know we say we love each other. But the actual loving of people is what is difficult. Someone once said, "We Christians don't mind being a servant, until we get treated like one." Loving the unlovable is what sets us apart. Yes, even that person who cuts you off in traffic on your way home from church. Because He first loved us, we in turn love each other. That is how people know we belong to Christ: by our love for one another (see John 13:35). Out of a heart overflowing with the love of Christ Jesus comes the labor of love for one another.

Next, Paul talks about the patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. The model church, the mature church, the church that is the example to the community and to the surrounding region, openly anticipates the immanent return of Jesus Christ. The hope of heaven puts this life in perspective, and entreats the follower of Christ to not hold too tightly to the things of this world, the stuff that we like to buy and own and possess. We are not citizens of this world. Our citizenship is in heaven. This life is a vapor, and then eternity. Don't put your stock in this world. That being said, don't be like someone once said, "Too heavenly minded to be any earthly good." While we await the return of Jesus Christ, we are to be about the work of the kingdom, bringing the kingdom to the world around us.

So that is where we are. To be the model church, the church that is the example, not only to our own Thessalonica, but to our own Macedonia, we are to be a church that has the work of faith, the labor of love, and the patience of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we do this by living our lives as an act of worship unto Him, by the power of the Holy Spirit.