Pastor Douglas Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church

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Week of February 14, 2016 Going Deeper in Prayer Week # 1 Participant Materials

Pastor Douglas Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church

Praying for Faith, Hope, and Love 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3

Connecting – Have you ever received a memorable letter – for example from a family member, lover, teacher, professor, college, employer, or someone else? What made the letter memorable?

Introduction – For the next five weeks we’re going to be learning from some of the prayers of Paul as found in the letters that he wrote to churches. Each of us may have received and kept some letters that we still remember because of what they expressed or who sent them. In the same way, the early Christians preserved the letters of Paul because their content was deemed to be so inspired and important that what they communicated needed to be remembered, shared and put into practice. Paul’s deep life of prayer comes through in his letters. Wherever we’d place ourselves on a scale of prayer - from familiar and comfortable to unfamiliar and a little uncomfortable with praying - there is much we can learn from Paul. So don’t worry if you feel like a novice or a beginner when it comes to prayer; the truth is we will never be anything but beginners in prayer as long as we live! Let’s open our minds, hearts, and spirits to learn.

Scripture Background: If the New Testament was arranged chronologically, with the first book being the earliest to be written and the final book the last, then 1 Thessalonians would most likely be the first book in the New Testament. Thessalonica was the capital city of the Roman province of Macedonia, important for its location on both sea and land routes of travel. Today the modern city of Thessaloniki is the second most important city of Greece and home to a million inhabitants. Paul founded the church in Thessalonica shortly after he left Philippi (see 1 Thessalonians 2:1-2 & Acts 17:1-8). The Letter is addressed to Gentile believers (see 1:9, “For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols,to serve a living and true God.”)

Read 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3

“2We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly 3remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Questions for Discussion

1. The scripture begins with “We,” referring to Paul and his ministry teammates Silvanus and Timothy. What benefits and strengths do we gain by doing ministry, serving, and praying as part of team or group as opposed to only trying to do them on our own? How has being a part of a team or small group helped you in praying or serving?

1. The first thing Paul shares in his prayer of greeting to the church is “We always give thanks to God for all of you.” When you pray, how often do you begin with giving thanks? If at least sometimes we begin a time of prayer with giving thanks to God for the people in our life, what impact do you think that might have on how we see those people and perhaps even relate to and treat them?

1. The second part of the scripture is, “and mention you in our prayers, constantly 3remembering before our God and Father.”What difference, if any, do you think it makes to be “constantly remembering” someone in prayer versus forgetting or only infrequently remembering someone in prayer?

1. In this the first of his letters, Paul introduces immediately three of the great themes of the Christian faith to which he will return in his letters again and again – faith, hope, and love. Paul is writing to a community that was threatened by social pressures and at times outright persecution to turn back to the life from which they’d come. In referring to, “Your work of faith,”Paul is addressing the fact that while faith is a gift and a result of grace – it also takes effort and work to live out our faith. Faith doesn’t grow stronger without our active participation. In addition to being part of this group, in what ways are you “working” on growing and strengthening your faith?

1. In the same way, Paul mentions their “labor of love.” When you hear the phrase, “labor of love” what comes to mind? The phrase implies that some aspects of loving other people aren’t easy – remember these words are for the church and not for a couple. What are some examples of a “labor of love” that we might do for someone else?

1. The final part of Paul’s prayer is the Thessalonians “steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”What is the opposite of “steadfast?” What difference does having steadfast “hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” make in our lives?(Remember what those three words mean. Lord = Jesus is our Leader not the Roman Emperor or any politician today; our first allegiance is to Christ. Jesus= “he will save his people from their sins” (see Matthew 1:21). Christ = Anointed one, God’s Chosen One).

Any final comments?

Unison Closing Prayer

Gracious God we give thanks to you for the people in this group and the people of Brewster Baptist Church. Hear the prayers of our hearts today for one another and for our entire congregation. By the power of your Spirit inspire us to diligence in our work of faith, selflessness and humility in our labor of love, and grant us a sense of unwavering hope in our Lord Jesus Christ that sustains us in all the trials and triumphs of life. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.