Have you ever had a bad boss before?  Nothing in life can be as painful as working for someone that is bad at making decisions and leading through difficult times.  When you need leadership from someone but don't receive it, it can really make your job tough.  In Scripture, we find one of the best examples of what a "bad boss" looks like in Samson.  Someone that was called to lead, but failed to live up to that calling.  In a sermon called "Failure to Lead", we  look at Judges 14-16 and examine Samson's shortcomings, but also God's faithfulness to His people.

Are you ready for the end of the world?  Things felt very surreal this week as we looked out at orange skies because of the smoke from the wildfires in Canada.  While strange, not exactly the end of the world?  For some, being prepared for the "end times" means gathering survival food and equipment.  For others, it means meticulously studying Scripture to find signs and to calculate dates.  But this all misses the most important part!  This sermon is called "Be Prepared for the Day of the Lord" and looks at 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, as we continue our "Faith Out Loud" sermon series on 1 Thessalonians.  We see that preparedness is about trusting in and living out what Christ has already done! 

We take a short break from our "Faith out Loud" series to remind ourselves of the purpose of the church by taking a look at Acts 1 and 2.  It describes the early practices and activities of the early Christian community shortly after the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and many people were converted to Christianity.  Let us look at these passages in a sermon called "Life of Learning" and reflect on how we align to God's Word.

Sometimes it is hard to hold on to hope in difficult times.  It is during those times that we must see our difficulties through the lens of the gospel.  In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Paul helps us to see what it means to have hope because of the gospel - the truth that Jesus died and rose again.  He specifically applies this to how we deal with death. In a sermon called "Resurrection Hope" we look at how the gospel helps us face death and the hope that we have in the promise that everyone who trusts in Christ will be raised to new life.

What is our purpose in life?  The changing answers to this question have shaped human history.  We often don't realize how we are answering this question or what it means for our lives and our world, but we are answering the question.  It is as simple as being in a situation and doing what we want rather than what we should do.  Even the notion of something that should be done instead of what we want to do is so foreign to us today because of how we answer the question - "what is my purpose in life?"  In a sermon called "A Higher Purpose", we look at 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12.  Paul challenged the Thessalonians that they needed to live with the higher purpose of living to please God rather than just doing whatever they wanted.  We still need to hear this challenge today and as we accept and embrace the higher calling that God has given us, our lives will be transformed in amazing ways and we will live so that others see the work of Christ in us!

Love is an active thing.  It does not remain in our hearts or thoughts, but spills over into our actions.  We are to love others through how we think of them, how we speak of them, and how we treat them.  This sermon is called "Love in Action" and looks at 1 Thessalonians 3:6-13.  We spend most of our time on the last 3 verses of this passage where Paul prays that the Thessalonians' love would "increase and overflow" both for other Christians and for everyone else.  Paul links our love for others to our being "blameless and holy" when we stand before Christ.  We also see why Paul sees the importance of praying that the Thessalonians would put their love into action.

How do you care for your soul and should we have any responsibility to care for the souls of others?  As we continue our Faith Out Loud sermon series on 1 Thessalonians, we look at 1 Thessalonians 2:17 - 3:5 in a sermon called "Soul Care."  Here we see how Paul was intensely concerned for the condition of the faith of the Thessalonians.  In this passage we see things that we need to make sure we are doing to care for our own souls.   We also see that we have a responsibility to do these same things to care for the souls of our fellow Christians.

Faith must have direction.  For some, their faith is more directed toward themselves. They want to experience happiness, success, or some other kind of fulfillment.  For others, they have a faith that is directed toward other people.  They want to serve and to help others.  But Scripture gives us the proper direction of our faith which is toward God.  Paul says in 1 Thess. 2:4, "We are not trying to please people, but God."  As we continue our "Faith Out Loud" sermon series on the book of 1 Thessalonians, in a sermon called "The Direction of Faith," we will look at 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16  where Paul shows us the dangers of having our faith focused in the wrong direction.  We also see that as we focus our faith on God, we are not alone.  God has given us the family of the church to nurture and challenge us along the way because faith, even faith in the right direction, is still difficult. 

Have you ever heard a thunderclap that seemed to go on and on for several minutes? It is amazing to think of the power that echoes out through that sound.  Wave after wave of sound hits your ears as you feel the deep rumbles in buildings or even through your body.  This sermon is called "The Thunderous Gospel" and looks at 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10 as part of our "Faith Out Loud" sermon series on 1 Thessalonians.  We see the gospel ring out from God to the Thessalonians and how God used Paul to be an echo of this gospel through his life and ministry.  We also see that the Thessalonians then become echoes of the gospel as their lives and their witness rings out in their surrounding area.  I pray that we will understand the thunderous power of the gospel and that this power will ring out in our lives as well.

We are starting a new sermon series titled "Faith Out Loud" on the New Testament book of 1 Thessalonians.  In this short letter, Paul writes to a church that he had planted and then had to leave suddenly because of persecution.  He knew they were in a difficult city with many people that wanted to stop the gospel from spreading. Paul prayed for them and waited to hear news about how this new church was doing in their difficult situation.  Then he gets a report and finds out they are strong in their faith and showing a gospel centered love for each other.  In fact, in verse eight of chapter one he says that "the Lord's message rang out from" them and that their "faith in God has become known everywhere."  Paul writes the book of 1 Thessalonians to encourage them to stay strong in their faith and to hold on to the hope they have in Jesus Christ. 

I love the idea of a church whose faith in Jesus, love for each other, and hope in difficult circumstances "rings out" in their world.  My prayer is that as we look at this incredible book, we will be challenged to live our faith out loud so that our faith and our lives ring out and point others to Jesus Christ.  This sermon is simply called "Faith Out Loud".  We get to know what was going on in the city of Thessalonica during this time, Paul's ministry there, and look 1 Thess. 1:1-3 as an introduction to this book which will challenge us to live our "Faith Out Loud."