GRINDIT podcast

Paul writes a letter to a young man that he pointed to Jesus and after accepting him as his Lord and Savior, Timothy joins Paul in his travels as he starts churches and visits the ones he had already established. The point of Paul writing this letter is because there are issues beginning to crop up with the Gentile church in Ephesus and Paul is going to leave Timothy in Ephesus to confront the issues. The transformation that Jesus makes in people when they dedicate their lives to him is amazing! Just look at the one who is writing this letter—Paul! He was so full of himself and who he thought he was until he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Paul was completely changed from the inside out. He was given a new identity in Jesus and Jesus will do the same for you!

Paul writes a letter to a young man that he pointed to Jesus and after accepting him as his Lord and Savior, Timothy joins Paul in his travels as he starts churches and visits the ones he had already established. The point of Paul writing this letter is because there are issues beginning to crop up with the Gentile church in Ephesus and Paul is going to leave Timothy in Ephesus to confront the issues. The transformation that Jesus makes in people when they dedicate their lives to him is amazing! Just look at the one who is writing this letter—Paul! He was so full of himself and who he thought he was until he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Paul was completely changed from the inside out. He was given a new identity in Jesus and Jesus will do the same for you!

Paul ends his letter like he started it, by telling the church, “May the God of grace give you peace...at all times...in every situation. The church at Thessalonica has gone through severe persecution since it started and they have lost loved ones because of it. They have to wonder what is coming next...Will they make it through the next day? Will they make it through the night? Are they going to get beaten before they get home from work or while they are out shopping? We may not be undergoing persecution like the church at Thessalonica, but we all face something in life that is difficult. As we do, our prayer is the same as Paul’s...may the God of grace give you peace at all times, in every situation.

Paul is going to give some final thoughts to the church at Thessalonica as he wraps up this short letter in chapter 3. He tells them to avoid any brother or sister in Jesus who doesn’t live according to his rules and the example that he set before them. What rules? What example did he set? He tells them he could have eaten their food for free but they all worked hard day and night and paid for everything they received. Paul says if there is a brother or sister that wants to be a freeloader and not work, make plans to avoid them at all costs!

God’s grace allows us the opportunity to hear the gospel and believe the gospel. God’s grace gives us time to accept Jesus and live for him, even while people reject Jesus, doing their own thing, every second they live they are given grace because they have breath in their lungs and have the capability to accept Jesus and the sacrifice he made on the cross for our sins. But someday, that grace is going to turn into vengeance when Jesus returns. All of those who rejected Jesus will separated from God for eternity, never having another opportunity to repent of their sins and be washed in the blood of Jesus. Don’t let God’s grace run out on you. Accept Jesus today so you will be with the redeemed in heaven for eternity!

The church at Thessalonica has another concern about the return of Jesus so Paul writes a second letter to help them understand but in this letter, he causes confusion for us today! How? Because of what he says to them about the man of lawlessness and him being revealed some day; how this man will even sit in the temple of God! How can this happen when the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70 and no longer exists?!?! Did we miss the return of Jesus? Who is this man that will one day be revealed? Who will he deceive? We answer all of this in this podcast...

God’s grace allows us the opportunity to hear the gospel and believe the gospel. God’s grace gives us time to accept Jesus and live for him, even while people reject Jesus, doing their own thing, every second they live they are given grace because they have breath in their lungs and have the capability to accept Jesus and the sacrifice he made on the cross for our sins. But someday, that grace is going to turn into vengeance when Jesus returns. All of those who rejected Jesus will separated from God for eternity, never having another opportunity to repent of their sins and be washed in the blood of Jesus. Don’t let God’s grace run out on you. Accept Jesus today so you will be with the redeemed in heaven for eternity!

Can we fully know and understand what grace is and what grace brings us. I’ve heard it said grace is God’s Redemption At Christ’s Expense as well as, grace is God’s unmerited favor. What does that mean? How do we explain what grace is? I’m not sure we can fully but we try our best in this podcast. Paul starts out chapter one with grace and he ends it with grace. There’s a lot of things sandwiched in between that may help explain what grace is and does. One thing for sure, without God’s grace, we wouldn’t even be alive to listen to this podcast! Don’t take grace for granted!

After discussing Jesus’ return with the church at Thessalonia, Paul offers some final thoughts for them, encouraging them to stick it out with Jesus and follow the Spirit’s leading. In these thoughts, he gives another “This is God’s will for you...” He tells them to be thankful in ALL circumstances...could you imagine being persecuted, seeing your loved ones die for following Jesus, and then a man comes along and tells you to be thankful?!?! Jesus did the same thing in Matthew 5 when he was giving the Sermon on the Mount! But there is more to Paul’s final thoughts and we finish them up in this podcast.

After discussing Jesus’ return with the church at Thessalonica, Paul offers some final thoughts for them, encouraging them to stick it out with Jesus and follow the Spirit’s leading. In these thoughts, he gives another “This is God’s will for you...” He tells them to be thankful in ALL circumstances...could you imagine being persecuted, seeing your loved ones die for following Jesus, and then a man comes along and tells you to be thankful?!?! Jesus did the same thing in Matthew 5 when he was giving the Sermon on the Mount! But there is more to Paul’s final thoughts and we cover them in this podcast.