9/ 3/ 2000  Worship service            
         
The church of Thessalonia was established 50 years after the resurrection of Christ.  In Book of Acts, Chapter 17, Paul, Silas, and Timothy, during their second missionary trip, came upon the capital of Macedonia and port city of Thessalonia after they were freed from Phillipi. The first church of Europe was the church of Phillipi and the second was the church of Thessalonia.  

The city of Thessalonia, at the time, was full of people who worshipped the Roman Emperor and was the place where the pagan gods reigned; it was a place full of people who needed to come to Christ but also a place where opposition and persecution of Christians were rampant.  Paul was praising the church of Thessalonia, which, despite the difficult times, put forth the effort to accept and uphold the gospel of Christ.  In looking at the First Book of Thessalonians, chapter 1, verse 2-3, it is written "We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father."  

This morning, we must pay close attention to the words that describe the church of Thessalonia, that it was one in which "work of faith", "labor of love" and "patience of hope" were at their fullest.  Faith, hope, and love are the three virtues of Christianity.  For the earliest churches, to include the Church of Thessalonia, these three virtues could easily have been tainted by the heretics, other religions, or the Roman government; despite all these obstacles and tribulations, the church of Thessalonia was able to maintain and uphold these three virtues.  The thing that all of you must pay particular attention to is the phrase "work of faith"--not just plain, abstract term faith, but the actual happening of living, or working faith.  

The church of Thessalonia not only possessed the definitive faith, but living, vibrant faith within each member of the congregation.  The church of Thessalonia was also a church that was full of not only plain love, but labor of love.  It was a church that possessed labor of love.  Love, not in its platonic sense, but love that was a result of tireless efforts, sacrifice, and labor.  And it was a church that had not just plain old hope, but the patience of hope, or perseverance of hope.  Each member of the congregation did not have a bleak, abstract hope for the future; rather, each one of them possessed a firm, unshakable, unvacillating and lasting--thus patient and persevering--hope that was attainable only within Christ, which gave them the strength and the patience to withstand and overcome any difficulties or pain that the reality had to offer.  My sincere hope is that our church becomes a church similar to the one in Thessalonia.

1)  We must become a church that doesn't go through the motion of having faith, but a church in which faith is working--and living--in the lives of every one of us.  When an electronic appliance or a machine breaks down and does not perform its function, we say that "it doesn't work."  Our faith cannot be a one that has broken down--it must be a faith that is vibrant and constantly working.  We all must have faith in which Christ becomes the master and the center of our lives and our families.  

Charles Spurgeon was not only the pastor of the largest church during 19th century England, but one of the best preacher of all time.  He delivered sermon to a congregation that had over 6000 people every Sunday, and the secret to his popularity was his powerful sermon.  Once, a young man of the congregation was praying hard for a friend who did not believe in Christ.  He often invited this friend to attend worship service with him, but the friend turned his invitation down every time.  One day, this friend, who did not believe in Christ, expressed his desire to visit the church and listen to pastor Spurgeon's sermon.  Upon hearing of his friend's wish, the young man prayed all week for pastor Spurgeon's sermon.  

"Lord, just as he has always done, let Pastor Spurgeon deliver his powerful message through his sermon so that my friend can accept Christ and become a Christian!"  He prayed especially hard for the pastor.  Sunday came, and with his friend in attendance, Pastor Spurgeon delivered especially powerful message during the worship service.  After the service, the young man asked his non-believing friend a question.  "Well, what did you think of Spurgeon?"  The unbelieving man said, "Well, to tell you the truth, I haven't though anything about Mr. Spurgeon at all.  I've been thinking only about Jesus."  It is only when we become a church that revolves around Christ that we become a church of working faith.

2)  We must become a church in which members of the congregation not only chant "love, love" through their lips, but a church in which each one of us feel, through our skin, the love and concern that others express and has for us.  In other words, labor must accompany love.  Love must be accompanied by actions, sacrifice, and effort.  The answer to the question "what is love" cannot be answered unless the one who casts such question viscerally experienced love.  A family consisted of a father, a mother, a seven year old son and a five year old daughter.  One day, on their way to a mountain for climbing, the father and his two children were involved in an auto accident in which the son was seriously injured.  During the emergency surgery, the son needed blood transfusion--and the only person who had the matching blood type was the daughter.  

The desperate father cautiously approached his daughter.  "Honey, your brother needs your blood.  Can you give him some?"  The daughter thought for a second, then nodded her head in approval.  Doctor, upon finishing the surgical procedures, said to the father that his son should be fine.  The daughter was still lying on the hospital table.  The father told his daughter, "because of you your brother was able to survive."  Upon hearing her father, the daughter said, "that is great!  Now, when am I supposed to die?"  The startled father asked his daughter, "Die?  Why would you die?"  "If my blood is taken, aren't I supposed to die?"  The five year old girl thought that by having her blood taken, she was supposed to die.  The father asked his daughter another question.  "Then, you gave your blood to your brother knowing that you were going to die?"  The daughter replied, "Yes, because I love my brother."  Our church must become a church in which all those who come can physically feel, if just a bit, the love of Christ and the love of those who believe in Christ.

3)  Our church must become a communion that can grasp the hope within Christ and patiently persevere through all things.  In order for our church to become a church that all of us can come to--despite rain, snow, happiness, despair, and sorrow--we must first become a church that can grasp and hold the hope that lies within Christ.  Did you hear about the man traveling from New York to Atlanta on a business trip?  His wife was due to join him the next day.  Upon arrival, although unsure of his wife's e-mail address, he sent her a message anyway.  It was a good e-mail address, but unfortunately it was not his wife's.  Instead, it went to a pastor's wife whose husband had died only the day before.  She read the message and immediately fainted.  When one of her children found her, she glanced at the e-mail.  The three-part message read, "Darling, just checked in."  "Looking forward to your arrival tomorrow."  P.S.

"It sure is hot down here."  In Korean, words yesterday, or Uhje, and today, Ohnul, are indigenous Hangul terms; the word tomorrow, or Naeil, is derived from the ancient Chinese characters.  This is very peculiar, why words yesterday and today are indigenous Hangul terms while tomorrow is derived from Chinese.  The reason, perhaps, is embedded in the Korean history, which is wrought with many wars and sufferings, where throughout history, the Korean people could only afford to think about the past and the present and did not have the wherewithal to look out into the future with hope.  The church of our lord must be a communion that can give hope.  Our church must become a communion of hope, one that can emit a bright vision of an immigrant society.

Conclusion:  In looking at the First Book of Thessalonians, chapter 1, verses 6-8, it is stated "And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affection, with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe.  For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place.  Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything."  Our Lord has helped us to this point, to overcome all tribulations and difficulties to date.  Let's garner all our efforts to make this a church that can spread to every corner our beautiful faith and gospel.  Amen.