1. I Thessalonians 2:3-4 & 3:1-13 A Truth Baton for Tough Love

2. 1.Integrity ~ the “epoxy” of true leadership 2.Energetic humility (2:4-6) 3.Attentiveness ~ to real people (verses 7,11) 4.Persistence ~ the tempered steel of spiritual warfare (2:12-18) This PhotoThis Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-NDCC BY-NC-ND

3. From anguished concern for new believers, the apostle’s pen points us to the vitality of Christ’s tough love in us!

4. We speak under the solemn sense of being entrusted by God with the gospel.

5. “But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person, not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly to see you face to face, because we wanted to come back to you – I, Paul, again and again – but Satan hindered us.” (I Thessalonians 2:17-18 ESV)

6. “Therefore when we could no longer endure it, we thought it best to be left in Athens alone.” (I Thessalonians 3:1 NIV)

7. Philippi first ~ a fierce adversity Thessalonians ~ ripped away rapidly Berea ~ receptivity and riots! Athens ~ Mars Hill confrontation Corinth ~ crucial connections Centers of action behind the scenes in I Thessalonians Paul sends Timothy back to Thessalonica

8. “synergized” as co-laborers in God

9. Timothy ~ dispatched back to Thessalonica as Paul travels 313 miles south to Athens

10. “Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw the city given over to idols.” (Acts 17:16 NIV)

11. “Due to the ‘Pax Romana’, Christ’s revolutionary message was able to spread rapidly…in a world that had been stabilized by the sweeping force of the Roman empire, developing as the apostle Paul described it ‘in the fullness of time.’” [U.S. News & World Report, 1/8/2001, pg 45 adapted]

12. “….so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. For you know quite well that we are destined for them.” (3:3 NIV) “We did not want any of you to lose heart at the troubles you were going through, but to realize that we must expect such things.” (3:3 JBP)

13. “We kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know.” (3:4 NIV)

15. But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. Luke 21:12 NASB

16. I Thessalonians 3:5 ~ surprises from the Apostle Paul’s diary

17. (3:5 NIV)

18. “Few things have the power to make us feel as sorry for ourselves as loneliness. We feel marooned, cheated. For me, this temptation was strong… Silence began to drag on my soul. It’s a kind of waiting which hears no voice, no footstep, sees no sign. I felt that I could wait ten years, if it were not for this waiting…this silence.” (Elisabeth Eliot, Passion and Purity ©1984)

19. I Peter 5:8 and II Corinthians 2:11

21. 356 miles Timothy’s return I Thessalonians 3:6

22. “To know that you are standing fast in the Lord is indeed a breath of life to us!” (3:8 JBP)

23. How can we thank God enough for you? A thriving faith verses 2,4,6,7 & 10 Leaning into learning 2:13, 3:10-13 Anticipating Jesus! 2:19, 3:13 & 4:18