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Pastor Lud Golz
Pastor Lud Golz

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  Home | Transcript Archive | April | April 06, 2010

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

In our last visit we began a chapter study of 1st Thessalonians 2. We titled the chapter, “Personal Encouragement,” or “Getting the Right Help.” The key verse we chose is v. 4.  

To summarize what is in the chapter I would say, “Paul reassures the believers that they got the right kind of help. This help reflected a genuine concern for their welfare both in content of what was shared and in the conduct of those who shared it. This was recognized and genuinely responded to by these believers. The result was dynamic growth.” 
 
If I were to raise any questions or point out concerns in what Paul shared they would include the following. Are all of the elements listed here essential for a person to find a true faith experience? If this faith experience was from God why did it have to include the suffering they encountered? Why didn’t God stop the suffering from happening? Or even, why does suffering seem to be a part of the experience so often? Also, if their experience was so real, why was the question of integrity and altruism needing to be addressed? 
 
Cross references might help us here. In Philippians 1:29 Paul wrote, “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him.” The apostles seemed to understand this for we read in Acts 5:41, “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.” And remember John the Baptist had his questions about Jesus answered when he experienced suffering in Matthew 11.
 

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