Wednesday’s Column: Third’s Words

I Thessalonians 5.12-13a — Church Leadership Helps Keep Us on Track

• We have to recognize their value because elders are a critical part of setting the tone of a church family. 
• Because of their work, God expects us to consider them the MVPs of our congregations. 
• God will personally reward elders who do good work (I Pt 5.4; Hb 13.17; Acts 20.32). 
• God expects us to show elders the highest respect and love. We’re all human and we’re all going to mess up. Last anyone checked, elders are human too. God hands out grace generously, and demands we do the same for his elders. 

5.13b-22 — God Expects Us to Do Some Things…

• Live peacefully with each other. 
• Keep each other accountable. 
• Patiently work with weak Christians. 
• Stay on top of doing good things for people. 
• Stay happy. 
• Keep praying. 
• Be grateful. 
• Don’t put a wet blanket on God’s work. 
• Make sure everything we teach is legit. 
• Avoid evil proactively. 

5.23-28 — If We Try Our Best, God Will Make Sure We’re Ready When Jesus Comes Back

• We can trust him to make us ready when he comes back because his grace is extremely powerful. We know what we struggle with, but God is more powerful than our guilty hearts (I Jn 3.20). He’ll make sure we’re ready when he returns. 
• In the meantime, he expects us to stay on good terms with each other. 

Summary: 

• Everything we do has the last day in mind. It’s why we don’t live the way we might want to. 
• It’s why we love people when they’re often not easy to love. 
• It’s why we go through pain with our heads held high. 
• We want to wake from death’s sleep to the incredible sight of Jesus’s angels bringing us to him (Mt 24.31; I Thess 4.17).