Not Without Hope

Not Without Hope

By Ed Traverse, January 08, 2023

The changes everything!


1 Thes 1:1-5 – Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. 2  We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly [a]  mentioning you in our prayers,  3  remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.  4  For we know, brothers [b]  loved by God, that he has chosen you,  5  because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

Acts 16:9-10 – And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”  10  And when Paul [a]  had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.


God gives us to follow


1 Thes 1:6-8 – And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,  7  so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.  8  For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.

1 Corinthians 11:1 – “Imitate me as I imitate Christ”


Jesus has a


1 Thes 1:9-10 – For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,  10  and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.