Apr 16, 2020
| by Coley Waataja
What can we do these days to show the love of Christ to those who don’t know him? Through simple consistent living.
Tags: DevotionalTranscript
00:00
hey everybody my name is Coley Waataja I
00:02
am the director of women’s ministry at
00:04
Antioch Community Church here in
00:06
Minneapolis and I want to encourage you
00:08
from a passage in 1st Thessalonians
00:10
today the Apostle Paul is writing to the
00:13
church in Thessalonica
00:14
in the region of Macedonia that matters
00:17
because he mentions it but I want to
00:19
just read for you a few verses and give
00:21
you some thoughts on it
00:22
1st Thessalonians chapter 4 starting in
00:25
verse 9 now brought brotherly love we
00:28
have no need to write to you for you
00:30
yourselves have been taught by God to
00:32
love each other and in fact you do love
00:35
all the brothers and sisters throughout
00:36
Macedonia yet we urge you brothers and
00:39
sisters to do so more and more make it
00:43
your ambition to lead a quiet life to
00:46
mind your own business and to work with
00:48
your hands just as we told you so that
00:50
your daily life may win the respect of
00:53
outsiders and so that you will not be
00:55
dependent on anybody we are in a weird
00:59
season as we keep talking about you keep
01:01
hearing it on the news and all sorts of
01:02
things this is an odd time right now and
01:06
sometimes it can be tough I think to
01:08
know really how to do this version of
01:11
life well and Paul the author of force
01:16
us alone Ian’s here encourages the
01:17
church to do some really simple things
01:20
here first he says to love the brothers
01:23
and sisters to love the church well and
01:26
then he gives three interesting more
01:31
instructions first he says live a quiet
01:34
life which doesn’t necessarily mean you
01:36
know don’t turn up your music but it
01:38
means don’t stir up drama to just not
01:41
stir up the pot where where it doesn’t
01:44
need to be to live quietly secondly he
01:46
says mind your own business
01:48
that doesn’t mean to never be involved
01:50
in the lives of other people but it
01:52
means to manage your own affairs to take
01:55
care of what you are responsible for and
01:57
lastly he says work with your hands and
02:00
this one might be tricky for you right
02:02
now if you’re not able to work or
02:03
working from home looks different for
02:05
you but he encourages the readers here
02:08
to stay productive
02:10
to do what you can and to do all of
02:14
these things for a reason so that your
02:17
daily life may win the respect of
02:19
outsiders sometimes I think we over
02:23
complicate missions we over complicate
02:25
ministry but the call that we have right
02:28
now is very very simple to love the
02:31
church well to not stir up drama to take
02:35
care of what we’re responsible for and
02:37
to stay productive and by doing these
02:40
things we can be a witness to a watching
02:43
world of the power and the effect that
02:45
Jesus has on our lives I hope that
02:48
encourages you today go with God today
02:51
and in very simple ways you can express
02:54
the love of Christ to the people around
02:56
you god bless