It’s pretty much impossible to go through life without having to deal with separation sadness. We encounter it in many different ways: a parent drops a child off for their first day of kindergarten; a high school graduate heads off for college; a good friend moves away; a military family faces a deployment. Separation sadness happens.

This Sunday our continuing message series in the book of Thessalonians can give us some much needed insight that can keep us from coming apart when we are apart from the ones we love.

What Paul and his co-workers did is as relevant to our lives today as it was in the first century. And it can help us when we can’t be there with people we love.

No teacher has greater satisfaction than to know that his or her students are learning, growing, and benefitting from that which has been taught. The apostle Paul was no exception to that. It filled him with such gratitude and joy any time he received reports that one or more of the churches he taught and helped to plant had not only heard God’s Word, but it was also greatly impacting the way they lived.

What impact does the Word of God have on your life?

It’s one thing to know what it takes to have great relationships, but it’s another thing to actually have great relationships. There’s a big difference between book smarts and street smarts.

Most of us know a lot about relationships - the importance of sacrificial love, listening, patience, empathy, kindness, encouragement… The list is endless.

But like a parent who knows patience is required in child-raising, actually living with patience is easier said than done. And when it becomes a reality in someone’s world, others notice. And if they’re smart, they learn from what they see. We have an opportunity to do that this Sunday.

Failures come in all kinds and can be hard to take. Some hurt more than others. And perhaps the worst failure could very well be a perceived failure that’s not really a failure.

If you’re not careful, you could fall prey to the crowd’s measure of success. That’s easily done in a world where one’s identity is often connected to what others think and say. You could end up feeling like a failure when you’re really not.

Such was the place the Apostle Paul and his colleagues found themselves. Which could have been to their undoing.

But they knew better. What they knew not only helped them see failure and success from a healthy perspective. It also helped the church at Thessalonica. And it could do the same for us.

There are people and organizations all around us that are making a life-changing impact in our world. They are difference-makers. Teachers and students. Employers and employees. Parents and children. Doctors and nurses. Inventors and entrepreneurs. Leaders and managers. From farmers to cooks, we are better for the part they have in our world.

Certainly the church should be on the "making an impact" list. Somewhere near the top, due to the life-changing impact she has on people near and far. Indispensable, immediate, and eternal impact.

If ever there was a church that impacted her world, the Thessalonian church would qualify. She had both local and global impact. Why and what she did, that we can still do today, will be our focus this Sunday.

Even churches get ratings. If not online, in people’s minds. I liked the music. The sermon was too long. No one said anything to me. I’ve never experienced anything like that before.

Fair or not, we all have our opinions about what a church should be. Which makes this Sunday’s message of interest to all as we begin a series in the book of 1 Thessalonians.

The church at Thessalonica was a local congregation like Bridges Community Church with strengths and weaknesses. With hopes and dreams. With people like you and me who were hoping to make progress in their relationship with God and others. And in their case, that was happening. We’ll see how this Sunday.

Rejoice while suffering? Can God be serious? How could He command such a thing?

At the same time, imagine how wonderful it would be if we could always be filled with joy—no matter our circumstances. What if there were a way to walk with hope and even rejoice during our darkest days?

In this Sunday’s message, we will see how God provides for this paradoxical joy.

Healthy things grow. And in the Christian life, it's not only expected, but it's also needed. It's something God wants for our lives. And hopefully we want it too.

This coming Sunday we'll be focusing on the second half of the Great Commission, where we find a plan for spiritual growth. What we'll see will reveal if what we're doing will result in growth, or not.

We are busy, busy, busy people. Always going - here, there, everywhere. Non-stop going. Going is what we do.

If we were to stop going, at least for a few moments, that could be a good thing. If for no other reason than to ask a few questions about all that “going.” Are we actually accomplishing anything? Are we accomplishing the things we really want to accomplish? Are we doing good things? Is God pleased with all the things we’re doing?

Those are questions worth considering. Which is exactly what we plan to do this Sunday as we begin our new 2-part “Let’s Do This” series.

Have you ever thought about your size in comparison to the universe? How are we to go about planning for the future if we are "mists that appear for a little while and then vanishes"? We barely have a grasp on the future and yet we spend so much of our time planning for it. James offers practical advice on how we ought to plan all the while explaining its root in pride.