After reminding the church in Thessalonica about the hope they have in the return of King Jesus, he seemingly takes a sharp turn to talk about work and eating. Apparently, the good news of Christ and the Kingdom of God have much to say about the physical tangible world in which we currently live.

Because of the hope we have that Christ has died in our place, risen to new life, given us his Spirit, and is coming back, we can now joyfully partner with his Spirit as we grow in our sanctification - becoming more like Jesus.

The Thessalonian church needed to be reminded of the hope they had - that the true King of the world would return to set all things right finally and fully. This truth comes along with an assurance, that the false kingdoms humanity has built out of rebellion against God will surely fall. Even still today, we need this same hope and reassurance. King Jesus is coming. He will set all things right. And the empires we’ve built that oppose him will fall, but if we trust in him and follow him into his kingdom, we will be gathered into his salvation.

Paul wrote again to the small oppressed church in Thessalonica, continuing to encourage them in their faith, love, and hope. Their faith and love had continued to show strong, but in the midst of oppression and false teachers they struggled to hold onto hope. Paul's reminder and assurance is that Jesus is indeed coming back and when he does, he will put an end to the injustice and set all things right.

To wrap up our series in the Psalms, we look at some of Jesus' words at the end of his sermon on the mount side-by-side with Psalm one. The wisdom in these words bring us to our starting point in coming to the Scriptures, as well as our starting point in current life circumstances. We must begin with the question of who God is and how He is at work in the world, rather than beginning with ourselves, in order to rightly understand our place.

For our final psalm this summer, we look at Psalm 98. This is a psalm that calls God’s people to look forward to our coming hope, and to rejoice. Though the world is broken and messed up right now, renewal and restoration are coming. We have a reason to sing a new song.

A call and response psalm: where the call reminds us of the Story of God at work in His world, and the response is praise. God is a god who has chosen to make a covenant with His people and He will never give up on that promise. His relentless, unfailing, unending love and solidarity with His people leads to salvation and life!

Psalm 90, perhaps the only psalm we have from Moses, is a story of coming home. Though Moses lived in many different places, from the palace of Egypt to the mountains to the wilderness of the Exodus, he always found his home in the eternal loving arms of God. When we wander from our home with Him, our days become numbered and we enter into the limits of man. Thank God for His work through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ which brings us back home! Now may we enter not only into our eternal home, but also into the work of Christ.

God has made a covenant with His people - a deep agreement. Along with it come a promise, a command, and a warning. The promise of life, the command to follow Him, and a warning of what awaits if we do not. How have people been at keeping our end of the covenant? What is God’s response?

The psalms show us God's people longing to return to the house of God, to His dwelling place. At the start of the world there was an overlap of God's dwelling (heaven) with humanity's (earth) in Eden. This was lost because of mankind's rebellion. The temple for Israel was a picture of this, where God's dwelling would overlap with humanity's. Israel also lost their home and access to the temple because of their own rebellion. Psalm 65 shows us a virtual return to God's house and reminds us that God has not given up on His creation. He is still very much at work in His world, bringing healing and reconciliation to the land and to the people. One day, His home will overlap again with man's.