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Resounding Faith | Catalyzing Mission

September 29, 2024
1 Thessalonians 2:3-13

³For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, ⁴but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.

⁵For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. ⁶Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. ⁷But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. ⁸So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

⁹For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. ¹⁰You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. ¹¹For you know how, like a father with his children, ¹²we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

¹³And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

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Purpose

To discover and experience Jesus Christ in our midst

To cultivate mutually encouraging relationships

To participate in God’s mission to the world 

Opening Prayer

Lord, give your people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow you the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Responsive Prayer — Isaiah 12

Give thanks to the Lord,

Call upon his name,

Make known his deeds among the peoples,

Proclaim that his name is exalted.

Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;

Let this be made known in all the earth.

Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,

or let your holy one see corruption.

You make known to me the path of life;

For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Summary and Connection

This study explores the power of humility and integrity. Humility is when you make much of others, and it is surprisingly attractive. Integrity is when your life is the same in private as it is in public, and the same at home as it is at work. And it is a fact that in both the boardroom and in the church, personal example is key to true success. Paul says that he and his team were “holy and righteous and blameless” toward the Thessalonians. Paul lays out his motives, his desires, and his affections before God and before them. And Paul’s authenticity led to an authentic reception of the gospel. We are in a sermon series called Resounding Faith, and we want to see how humility and integrity are key to getting the gospel, and to getting the gospel out.

Discussion Questions

1. Looking at the Bible

Observation: Read the passage privately. What does the text say? What is the theme of this passage? Do you notice any keywords?

How does Paul describe integrity in this passage?

• How did Paul demonstrate integrity in Thessalonica?
• What does integrity not mean to Paul?

Consider the two metaphors of “mothering” and “fathering” that Paul uses.

• What is similar between the two?
• What is different between the two?

2. Looking at Jesus

At Central we believe that all of Scripture points to Jesus. In other words, Jesus is the theological center of the Bible. Every passage not only points to Jesus, but the grand narrative of the Bible also finds its fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus.

• Paul mentions “the gospel of God” in verses 8 and 9. How is the story of Jesus reflected in Paul’s own example from this passage?

3. Looking at Our Hearts

Let’s ask two questions of ourselves:

• Why are humility and integrity so hard?
• Why are humility and integrity so attractive? 

4. Looking at Our World

As we go into the world in our work and our callings, we can ask:

• How do we get to the point of sharing not only the gospel but our very selves with others?
• How can we walk in a manner worthy of God? 

Sending

• View Study Guide Notes

  Question 1: John Stott writes that, “In these chapters, more perhaps than anywhere else in his letters, [Paul] discloses his mind, expresses his emotions, and bares his soul.” Integrity for Paul means that he is perfect in conduct and pure in motive. Simply put, he loves them (motive) and is loving to them (conduct). “We were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us” (verse 8). Take note of what is opposite to integrity: flattery, greed, seeking glory, imposing (even justifiable) burdens. Instead of seeking glory, Paul gives glory by inviting people into God’s “own kingdom and glory” (verse 12) through the gospel, which is not a human word, but “it really is, the word of God” (verse 13).

  The mother and father metaphors are concrete expressions of Paul’s deep love and affection for the church. Remember that some people have negative experiences of mothers and fathers, and yet, what makes those experiences tragic is knowing what mothers and fathers should be. Think through what mothers and fathers should be (and what Paul means here) with your group.

  Question 2: The gospel is that Jesus humbled himself and was pulled apart on the cross for proud sinners whose lives are anything but integrated. Paul shares this message of Jesus in the same way as Jesus: humbly, lovingly, and with full integrity. Jesus did not flatter. Jesus laid down his glory. He was gentle, “like a hen who gathers her chicks” (Luke 13:34). He was perfect, holy, and blameless. He shared himself, eventually giving his whole life for our sake so that we could have the perfect Father. And now his word, by his Spirit, is at work in believers. It is all because we had become very dear to him. Regarding Jesus’ humility, which we are called to share, Paul wrote in Philippians 2:5-11:

  ⁵Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

  Question 3: Help the group be honest as you discuss these questions. Humility and integrity will to different degrees be difficult for different people. Also consider C.S. Lewis’ definition of humility, which is not thinking less of yourself, but merely thinking of yourself less (and thinking of others more). Then, think of the attractive power of humility and integrity, and maybe use the examples of Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., or personal examples from your own lives.

  Question 4: We must look to the one who shared not only salvation with us, but shared his very self: Jesus Christ. And it is in his power that we walk in a manner worthy of God.