The Scrolls is a weekly Bible study written by pastors and other leaders at Central Bible Church, based on that week’s sermon topic. Use The Scrolls as a personal Bible study tool, for family devotions, and for small group discussions. You can read part of it below. The downloadable PDF also includes discussion questions, more in-depth commentary, end notes, and a kids’ page designed for families to study the topic together. This lesson goes with the sermon "Weed Warning."
Christianity is a relational religion. It is a religion of the head and the heart. It’s a religion of the head in that it is all about having a relationship with Jesus Christ secured through faith, which involves believing with our heads the gospel message about him. John’s Gospel, the only one of the four Gospels written with the express purpose of revealing how eternal life is secured, maintains that it is obtained by “believing that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God” (Jn 20:31). Salvation is rooted in truth, the truth about who Jesus is and what he offers to those who believe in him. It’s also a religion of the heart in that the love of Jesus for us produces in our hearts a love for others who also believe in Jesus—as well as others who may not believe. John writes in his first epistle: “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is made complete in us” (4:7-12); and “We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister” (vv. 19-21). When we listen to John, we are listening to Jesus, who left us with one new command, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (Jn 13:34).
Compassion is love’s child—just one of the many virtues borne by love. Consider the number of virtues that cluster around a handful of occurrences of “compassion” in the New Testament: Ephesians 4:32, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you;” Colossians 3:12, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;” and 1 Peter 3:8, “Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.”
Love and its many virtues, including compassion, mark Paul’s relationship to the Thessalonians. This is made evident in his words to them in 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13 (see esp. 2:17-20; 3:1, 3, 6-10). One commentator writes: “Paul's words for his converts here [2:19-20] are especially affectionate. His love for the Thessalonians was unusually strong. Their development was what he hoped for, their glorification was what he rejoiced in, and their ultimate victory would be a crown of glory for him. The Lord's commendation for Paul's ministry to the Thessalonians would, on the one hand, be like a crown that would make him justifiably proud when the Lord gave it to him. But it was the Thessalonians themselves that seem to be the crown in view. Paul was talking like a father again (cf. v. 11). Looking at the end of his ministry Paul said that he would take the greatest pride in these believers. They would be his crowning glory” (Thomas L. Constable, “Notes on 1 Thessalonians,” 2023 ed., 33-34, planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/pdf/1thessalonians.pdf). In his compassion for them, Paul continued to serve as a model to the Thessalonians. In his own words, “You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit” (1:6).
Central Message of the Text:
Strengthen one another to resist Satan’s attempts to use trials and persecution to unsettle you in your faith.
Family Talk:
I remember the moment I met each of my children face-to-face. I knew I loved them but when I first laid eyes on them my heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. At that moment I had such hope for my little nuggets. I had big dreams and giant plans for their future. Somewhere down the line I realized that my expectations for my kids are just that, my expectations. Have you seen that meme that compares what we thought parenting would look like to what it actually is? Raising children is a whole lot different than what I expected. Don’t get me wrong. Parenting is fun, exciting and challenging but I thought I would be a Girl Scout mom and my husband would be a T-ball coach. My children, on the other hand, had completely different paths carved out for themselves. Though their interests and activities were vastly different from what I expected, one thing I’m ridiculously thankful for is their continuously growing faith in the Lord. Once again, I expected them to be at church every moment the doors were open and participate in Christian-based activities on their school campus. But their faith is their own and doesn’t look like what I thought it would. Instead, it’s blossomed into a unique and beautiful relationship with the Lord that is standing the tests of time and trials as they get older. Isn’t that our biggest hope? It’s nice to have accomplished children, but considerably better to witness our children as followers of Jesus Christ. We’re praying you have moments of true discipleship this week and witness their growing fruit.