David Palmisano
July 21, 2024
Just as a mirror fogs and needs to be cleaned, so too our perspective on life can get distorted and need a reorientation. Join us as we learn to thrive in life’s difficulties by changing our perspective.
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2 Thessalonians 1:1-2 Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the
Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace to you
from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
· The Gospel gives us a heavenly perspective on earthly matters.
John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation
has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Colossians 1:27 (MSG) God wants everyone to know Him regardless of their background...in a nutshell Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing God's glory.
2 Thessalonians 1:3-5 We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and
sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the
love all of you have for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore, among God’s
churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and
trials you are enduring. 5 All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you
will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.
·
God always finishes what He starts.
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Satan’s Strategy:
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Persecution 1
Thess. 1:6
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False teaching 1
Thess. 2:1-11
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Human weakness 2
Thess. 3:6-15
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Jealousy Acts 17:5
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Political opposition Acts 17:7-8
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Personal attack 1
Thess. 2:18
1 Thessalonians 2:18 For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did,
again and again—but Satan blocked our way.
·
Persecution: hostility and ill treatment
over time toward an ethic group or beliefs. (religious, political)
John 15:20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If
they persecuted me, they will persecute you also…
Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter (finisher) of our
faith…
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more
gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s
sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in
difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
· Sanctification: The process of becoming holy (more like Jesus).
· Is what I am thinking true? Philippians 4:8
·
Am I thinking like Jesus? 2 Corinthians 10:5
James 1:14-15 (NLT) Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice
us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to
grow, it gives birth to death.
2 Thessalonians 1:5 All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right,
and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you
are suffering.
Philippians 1:6 (ESV) And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work
in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who
trouble you 7 and
give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when
the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful
angels. 8 He
will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord
Jesus. 9 They
will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of
the Lord and from the glory of his might 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his
holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This
includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
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God’s justice will ultimately prevail.
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God is just: He is perfectly righteous in all
His treatments, all the time.
Matthew 5:43-45 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your
enemy.’ 44 But
I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children
of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good,
and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that
our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring
to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by
faith. 12 We
pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you
in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gods glory is our goal.
John 17:1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the
hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.
Romans 11:36 For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the
glory forever! Amen.
·
Augsutine: “You have made us for
yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
Revelation 21:1-5 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the
first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the
new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride
beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with
them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their
God. 4 ‘He
will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’[ or mourning
or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the
throne said, “I am making everything new!
·
Call 321.574.6970 if you have chosen to accept
Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
Calvary Chapel