THE POWER OF REMEMBRANCE AND APPRECIATION

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Paul, Silas, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace and peace to you.

We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

1 Thessalonians 1:1-3, 5b-10

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today, we begin a new study, moving from Paul’s letter to the Colossians to his first letter to the church in Thessalonica, the capital city in Macedonia and a major hub for commerce and trade.

It’s believed that this epistle was one of the first that Paul wrote, somewhere around AD 51 or 52. He was in Corinth at the time of the writing, just having departed Thessalonica during his second missionary journey thus his memories of his time with the Thessalonian Christians were fresh in his mind as Timothy brought him a report from the church. Here’s the account of Paul’s visit to Thessalonica from chapter 17 of the Book of Acts:

When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.

But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.”

When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.

As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea (Vv. 1-10).

You’ll want to keep these verses in mind as we move through this letter but for today, we begin to look at the introduction in chapter 1 of First Thessalonians. Look again at Paul’s opening here:

Paul, Silas, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace and peace to you.

We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

1 Thessalonians 1:1-3, 5b-10

You may remember that at the start of Paul’s second missionary journey, there was a disagreement between him and Barnabas, his fellow gospel messenger from the first missionary trip.

Barnabas wanted to bring his cousin, Mark, on the second journey but Paul was against it because Mark had deserted them during the first missionary trip. Barnabas was so set on Mark going that he split company with Paul and went on his own way with his cousin while Paul chose Silas as his new partner on the second trip. This is how we get to Silas being included with Paul in the opening verse.

As for Timothy, Paul met him and brought him on his Gospel team while passing through Lystra (Acts 16:1). After leaving Thessalonica and going to Berea, Paul experienced threats to his life and was ushered away to Athens, leaving Silas and Timothy behind in Macedonia with instructions to “join him as soon as possible” (Acts 17:10-15). That reunion happened in Corinth (Acts 18:1-5).

And so, Paul writes on behalf of himself, Silas, and Timothy as he greets their brothers and sisters in Christ in Thessalonica with wonderful words of remembrance and appreciation.

We all want that, right?

It’s a blessing to us when we receive a call or correspondence from someone who lets us know they have us in their thoughts and that they appreciate us for who we are.

Just this morning, I received an email like that from someone at my former church. It was completely unsolicited and simply said that my wife and I were missed as they hoped we were doing well. What an uplifting expression of selfless love that was, a selfless love that reflects the character of a selfless Jesus.

This was the same character we find Paul exhibiting as he lets the Thessalonian Christians know that he, Silas, and Timothy “thank God” for them and “continually mention” them in prayer. What a wonderful way to share appreciation for the fledgling church in Thessalonica and I can’t help but think it was a great encouragement for the believers there.

Paul continues to lavish words of support on the Jesus followers by sharing the memories that he and the others had of the church’s work, a work that was “produced by faith” and a “labor prompted by love” as the believers persevered with “endurance” that was “inspired by” their “hope in...Jesus Christ”.

Have you ever been told that you are an inspiration for someone?

It’s an incredible compliment and often times a surprise as we don’t always set out to intentionally inspire but it happens organically through the way we live. In my own life, I want to inspire others but I don’t want the glory. Rather, I want Jesus to inspire others through the ministry work I do and I think that’s the greatest form of inspiration we can present and provide.

As Paul continues in chapter one, he begins to highlight specific remembrances he had of his time with the church as he, Silas, and Timothy “lived among” them for their sake. These memories included:

1. How the Thessalonian Christian “became imitators” of the missionaries “and of the Lord” as they “welcomed the message” brought to them “in the midst of severe suffering”, doing so “with the joy given by the Holy Spirit”.

2. How the Thessalonian Christians “became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia” as their “faith in God” and the “Lord’s message rang out from” them, “not only in Macedonia and Achaia” but “everywhere”.

What example had the Thessalonian Christians set for others?

Paul remembered how they had “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath”.

In other words, the believers in the church in Thessalonica chose Christ over the world and salvation over the sin of idolatry. And for this, commendation and praise were definitely in order.

Put yourself in the place of the readers of this letter, the Christians in Thessalonica. You are a new church who has just received the Gospel and are trying to get established while in the midst of more established, idolatrous religious systems.

How would you feel while reading these opening words from Paul, Silas, and Timothy?

It had to be uplifting for them and a great encouragement to stand firm for the cause of Christ, continuing to influence their region for the cause of the Gospel.

The scriptures today are showing us the power embedded in words of remembrance and appreciation for others.

Who can you extend this power to today?

Amen.  

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

EXTENDED GREETINGS

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.) Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my co-workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me.

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis.

Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings.

Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.

After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.

Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.”

I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.

Colossians 4:10-18

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Most people share greetings at the beginning of a letter but as we look at the closing verses of Paul’s epistle to the Christians in Colossae, we find a lengthy list of greetings at the end as the Apostle writes “in his own hand”.

Although he was the author of the correspondence as he was in the chains of Roman incarceration, Paul wasn’t alone and there were others who wanted to extend their own greetings to the Colossians as well as the believers in Laodicea which included a church that met in the house of Nympha, a Colossian Christian. And so Paul makes sure he mentions everyone so the Jesus followers who read the letter were aware of all who were concerned for them.

It’s interesting that Paul starts by mentioning the Jews who are with him as it reinforces what he proclaimed in his understanding of the Gospel. You may recall these words from his letter to the Romans:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile (1:16).

Once a fervent Jew before his conversion to Christianity, Paul understood the special relationship God had with the Jewish people well before Jesus came. The Israelites were God’s chosen people and He was to be their sole God. It was an exclusive relationship of divine proportions and we know God sent targeted messages to His people through the prophets that promised Jesus, the Messiah, would be coming to save them.

So with this, Paul mentioning the Jews first before the Gentiles was simply paying tribute to history and respecting how the Jews were first the people of God before the inclusiveness of the new covenant was unveiled once Jesus came, an inclusiveness that brought salvation to anyone who would believe in Christ, whether Jew or Gentile.

In regard to greetings, Aristarchus is mentioned first and identified as a “fellow prisoner” but he was a lot more than that. For as we look at Acts, Chapter 19, we find that he was a Macedonian who served as a missionary alongside Paul while the Apostle was in Ephesus:

About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”

When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater together (Vv. 23-29).

Aristarchus would then accompany Paul back to Macedonia as we see in Acts 20:

When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said goodbye and set out for Macedonia. He traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece, where he stayed three months. Because some Jews had plotted against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia. He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. But we sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days (Vv. 1-6).

And so we see Aristarchus was very involved in the work of the Gospel and would end up traveling to Rome with Paul which is what led to him being Paul’s “fellow prisoner”:

When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us (Acts 27:1-2).

Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, was a Jew who extended greetings. He was often referred to as John Mark and was the author of the Gospel of Mark.

In regard to Gospel spreading in the Book of Acts, we first find Mark mentioned in chapter 12 as the mother of Mary who had the house in Jerusalem that Peter went to after his miraculous release from prison (v. 12). Later in this same chapter and into the next, Mark is mentioned as a helper who accompanying Barnabas and Paul as they embarked on their first missionary work:

When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark (12:25).

The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper (13:4-5)

Mark would later desert the missionary team in Pamphylia, much to the displeasure of Paul who refused to allow Mark to come back. This led to him and Barnabas splitting up with the latter taking his cousin Mark with him. Paul went forward with a new partner, Silas:

Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches (Acts 15:36-41).

Mark would eventually end up with Paul, also imprisoned in Rome. Paul calls him a “fellow worker” in his closing remarks to Philemon (v. 24) and so it would appear that Mark had matured as a Christian missionary and once again gained Paul’s respect, so much so that he encourages the Colossians to welcome him if he came to them.

The last Jewish co-worker “for the kingdom of God” that Paul mentions is “Jesus who is called Justus”. This is the only place in the scriptures that we read of Jesus/Justus but we know he was involved in Gospel work and was a great comfort to Paul during his imprisonment.

After mentioning his fellow Jews, Paul then sends greetings from the Gentile Christians who were with him, starting with Epaphras who we know was a Colossian believer and “servant of Christ Jesus’ who came to Rome as a representative from the church in Colossae (Colossians 1:7). Paul wanted the Colossian Christians to know that their emissary was “always wrestling in prayer” for them so that the church and its congregants would “stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured”. Paul went on to let the believers know that Epaphras was working hard for them while in Rome.

Paul next mentions a mutual “dear friend”, the doctor Luke who we know not only authored a Gospel book but the Book of Acts as well. He was the only Gentile who wrote a part of the New Testament and was obviously a close acquaintance of the Apostle who refers to him as a fellow worker like Mark (v. 24).

In the Book of Acts, we find Luke joining Paul during his second missionary journey:

From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days (16:11-12).

Of course, since Luke wrote Acts, his use of the word “we” shows that he was in company with Paul and the others. Luke would leave the group in Philippi before rejoining the missionary team during the third journey. This is indicated by him not referring to the team as we and us before resuming:

After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.

When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue (16:40-17:1).

Because some Jews had plotted against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia. He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. But we sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days (20:3-6)

Paul would then write this in his letter to Timothy, indicating that Luke was in Rome with him:

Do your best to come to me quickly... Only Luke is with me (2 Timothy 4:9, 11).

Finally, we find Paul sending greetings from Demas. Here we find Demas as a fellow Gospel-sharing missionary with Paul who was mentioned in the same context as Mark, Aristarchus, and Luke (Philemon 24).

But something happened after Paul’s first Roman incarceration in the company with Demas because going back to his letter to Timothy, he informs his ministry protégé that Demas had deserted the Apostle and gone to Thessalonica “because he loved this world” (1 Timothy 4:10). We don’t hear of anything about Paul’s fellow worker afterwards.

And with that, Paul finishes his greetings which contain a lot of background content a person could easily gloss over. It shows us the importance of enjoying each morsel of scripture and the understanding it contains.

As for this study of Colossians, we should embrace the final exhortation Paul sends to Archippus, his fellow soldier for the cause of the Gospel (Philemon 2):

“See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.”

Indeed, let us do just that and may grace be with us as we do.

Amen.  

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

SHARE YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here.

Colossians 4:7-9

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Do you have people you care about who are distant from you?

I know I do. In fact, I don’t have any family that live in the same location as me. None. Several relations don’t even reside in this country.

Given this, it’s very hard for me to know the circumstances that my loved ones are going through, and vice versa, unless those circumstances are shared. This is what makes communication so important, whether by mail, e-mail, call, text, or nowadays, social media.

While we have so many ways to communicate in the 21st century, it wasn’t quite like that in biblical times which made it more difficult for someone to know how others were doing who lived elsewhere.

Take the Apostle Paul for example. He had been placed under house arrest in Rome and therefore couldn’t travel to visit any of the churches he had planted or any new locations where the Gospel needed shared. Since he was always on the road, it would have been hard for him to know how his brothers and sisters in Christ were doing. Ditto for the other way around.

And so we find Paul communicating by letters, even while incarcerated as he was as he wrote the letter to the church in Colossae which has been the focus of our study for weeks now. As he closes, Paul intentionally makes arrangements so his circumstances can be shared to the Colossian believers after he had heard about them from Ephaphras, the emissary from Colossae who visited Paul in Rome (Colossians 1:7).

As we see in our passage, Paul had made arrangements to send the letter to Colossae with Tychicus, his “dear brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord”. Not only would Tychicus bring the letter but also would testify to Paul’s circumstances with the intent of encouraging the hearts of the Colossian believers.

Of interest, Tychicus had a traveling companion, a slave by the name of Onesimus, who Paul called a “faithful and dear brother”. If the name Onesimus sounds familiar, it should. For Paul writes a different letter from his Roman imprisonment to Philemon, the Colossian master of Onesimus who had fled to Rome. We’ll be covering Philemon a little later as I continue to write through the New Testament.

Both Tychicus and Onesimus were going to share Paul’s circumstances and tell his brother and sisters in Colossae about everything that was happening in Rome. Paul didn’t want the Colossian church to worry about him, not knowing how he was doing. We also know he wanted to send guidance to the church as well so they would stay the course and preserve the purity of the Gospel they had been taught.

Anyone who loves and cares for another is concerned about the circumstances their loved one may be under at any one given time. As Christians, we should not only check in on people to let them know they are thought of but also share our circumstances, never afraid to ask for prayer when needed.

Communication is always the key as it is truly the lifeblood of relationship.

Amen.  

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com