We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thess 1:2-4.

This verse expresses my thanks for how the gospel is bearing fruit in your lives. It also expresses how the gospel of Jesus changes life in very difficult places, where many oppose the gospel of God’s grace. This was true for Thessalonica, and it has also been true for one of our Global Partners in the Middle East who will share God’s word with us this Sunday. I’ll not use their names to protect the innocent. They will share with us principles for God’s global mission in the gospel of Jesus, and we’ll be encouraged to give thanks for what God has been doing there, and to pray for what God will also do here around us, as we live out these same principles as God’s messengers on God’s mission.