A Thought or Two...

Strong words from C. H. Spurgeon, but so true: "We should always remember that we are a part of the Church, and that our own lack of revival is in some measure the cause of the lack of revival in the Church at large. I will lay this charge before us: we Christians need a revival of piety in our lives."

and

"We are mirrors whose brightness, if we are bright, is wholly derived from the sun that shines upon us." (C.S. Lewis) When others look at your life do they see the light of Jesus? Are you living the life of a fan or a follower?

 

SPOTMail!!

Lesson Preview

We continue our study of 1st Thessalonians.  Be sure read ahead into Chapters 2 & 3 and you should be able to keep up with our fearless leader.

 Baseball Tickets

Each year Brad Slinkard offers the SPOTclass tickets for a summertime Cardinal game at discounted rates. This year's game is on Saturday, June 18 against our cross state rival, the KC Royals.  Tickets in this section are normally $37, but they're available through Brad at just $15. That's much better than StubHub and these are a genuine bargain with no pesky prossessing or delivery fees.  And you don't even have the use the ink in your printer.  In exchange for your $$$ you actuallly get a real ticket.    It's a good Father's Day gift (as that is Father's Day "Eve").  There's (virtually) no limit on the number of tickets you can purchase for your family and friends. Tickets are in section  372 of the Left Field Pavillion (right above Big Mac Land).  Contact Brad Slinkard at 314-494-5081 or email at bs4@sbcglobal.net.

Snacks Schedule

May 15 = Massey

May 22 - Luther

May 29 - MEMORIAL DAY - No class

Prayer List

Carolyn Amen's recovery is very very slow, but steady

Fine Art's ministry

Tornado and flood victims

Traveling students

The Late Mid-Week Update!!!

Lesson Recap

1st Thessalonians 1:1-10

Puppy Love 

In beginning our study of Thessalonians, we started with a quick quiz that covered the following facts.  1st Thessalonians was the 2 in chronological order of Paul's 13 letters. Thessolanica was and still is in Greece.  Thessolanica was like Corinth that it was a good port, had lots of traffic, and was prosperous.  The 3 groups that responded to Paul's preaching were Jews, God-fearing Greeks, and leading women. His message appealed to the Jews because of the Messiah, and to Greeks and leading women because of it's message of freedom rather than the legalism of Judaism.  Paul stayed in Thessolinica less than three weeks, at which time he was run out of town by the non-believing Jews.  Paul wrote the letter in response to Timothy's report.

Intro:

What is puppy love?  About how old was your teen when they had their first bite of puppy love?  How did it affect them?  How old were you when you had your first puppy love?  How did it affect you?  In this lesson we saw what puppy love had in common with 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

1-4 Recognizing God's Work

When you look here at the pronouns you notice that they are all plural.  This indicates that Paul was open.  We see here that Silas helped start the church and that Timothy was sent to encourage them.  Paul was pleased by three things about the Thessalonians in Timothy's report.  They were-their work of faith, their labor of love, and their endurance inspired by hope.  Their work of faith demonstrated the motive behind their labor of love/service.  Both were strengthened by their endurance of hope in the return of Christ, giving Paul reason to rejoice.

These evidences of godliness prove the reality of one's faith in Christ in this fashion; they are evidences of God's presence in one's life and are a consistent reflection of a genuine faith in Jesus.

5-6 Responding to the Spirit

Here Paul is commending the Thessalonians for responding to the message in spite of severe suffering and persecution.  The Holy Spirit is given credit for the success of Paul's preaching.  What do you think was behind Paul's bold statement that the Thessalonians become imitators of him and his coworkers?  How important do you consider "spiritual modeling" in you relationship with others?

7-10 Influencing Others

The Thessalonians faith had a great effect on Christians in Macedonia and Achaia.  This is because the Thessalonian believers made a complete break with the worship of idols, which was a radical step of faith for them.  They believed the gospel, and they passed it on by deed and word.  The gospel is presented primarily through the lives of believers (2 Cor 3:1-3).  Paul touched on 4 basic themes of the gospel message as he observed in the Thessalonian's spiritual growth and reputation.  They are:

1. Turning from idols to save God.
2. Anticipation of Christ's return.
3. What Christ accomplished for us through His resurrection.
4. The inevitability of a coming judgement for those who reject Jesus.

Conclusion:

The comparison we see between puppy love and what we have seen in this lesson about the Thessalonians is a radical change because of a love relationship.

Muny Poll

A revised (with dates!) poll of what Muny show the class should attend will be in the SPOT folder this Sunday!

Baseball Tickets

Brad Slinkard has discounted baseball tickets for sale.  The game is for Saturday, June 18th against our Cross State Rival, the KC Royals.  Tickets are normally $37.00 but he is willing to sell for $15.00 per ticket.  It's a good Father's Day present as that is Father's Day "Eve".  He has plenty in hand and willing to sell as many as you'd like.  Also mention to any friends/family who may be interested as you won't find any cheaper than this in this particular section.  Sec 372 of the Left Field Pavilion (right above Big Mac Land).  You can contact him at:

Brad Slinkard

314-494-5081

bs4@sbcglobal.net

 

Prayer Requests

 

• Carolynn Amen is improving slowly.
• New worship minister (keep your fingers crossed and your knees on the ground!)
• Keep praying for college kids as they take finals and travel home.
• Susan's sister-in-law's brother committed suicide.  

 

  and finally!!!

... a neat little graduation video here.