Speaker: Jeff Hoenshell

One of the reasons Paul was writing this letter to the Thessalonians is that he wanted to give the church hope. Uncertainty and the unknown can be scary. But, we have an unshaken hope because Jesus is coming again!

Eat, sleep, work, repeat? Does this feel like your life at times? As Paul continues to encourage the Thessalonian church we find three reasons for the basic command for us to work. We need to get a correct theology of work because we don’t always look at work as a good thing. God gave us work and work is another opportunity to glorify Him. 

Every Sunday we close our worship service with the phrase, “you are loved.” Do we mean that? We want to be a church where everyone knows that phrase to be true. We need God’s help to love and embrace our church as family. We need God’s help to love as he loves us.

When God works, that changes EVERYTHING! We want him to go above and beyond our plans and do what only he can do. As we look ahead our theme for the year is a simple prayer, “God, work.” 

Have you ever wanted to know God’s will for your life? In 1 Thessalonians 4 Paul gives us insight into what God’s will is, but it might not be exactly what we’re hoping for. While we sometimes might feel that God’s will is unknowable, we find in the scriptures that God wants us to know and obey his will. 

When you stand for the values of God’s Kingdom in opposition of the world’s upside down kingdom there will be a number of consequences. We find this when we look at the example of Paul in Acts 17. Pastor Jeff offers us some “warning labels” for us to consider as we continue to represent Christ’s kingdom in the world we live in. 

This is our third and final sermon in our sermon series, “Upside Down Kingdom.” This week we are talking about God’s view on sex. The message of our world is that sex is for “me.” In Hebrews 13 we find that God’s message is that sex is for marriage. We look to God’s Word for instruction and help on how to live according to God’s plan for sex and also for forgiveness when we fall short. 

The topic of money is always a touchy subject in church. But, God’s Word has a lot to say about our finances. In a culture that loves money we want to honor God with ours.

The values of the world are upside down when compared to those of Christ’s Kingdom. However, since we are living in the world as we seek to follow Christ we are seen as upside down. Our sermon series, Upside Down Kingdom, challenges us to be watchful of the worldy views that can easily sneak their way into our everyday way of life.