If you mentioned to some random person that you attend St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Essex, what do you think their response would be? What, in your experience is the wider community saying about us? What has inspired this perception of us? (Have a conversation)
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place where your faith in God has become known…
Paul makes clear to the Thessalonians that the choices they make, the ways they behave, send a message about what they believe and who they are. They offer an example to others about what it means to be followers of the Way of Jesus. Paul commends them that the example they provide coincides with the message they have been taught by Paul and his companions which is reflective of how Paul and his companions understood the example of Jesus.
The choices we make. The ways we behave. The stories we tell through our building, our website, our social media, our programming, and our interactions with others, send a message about what we believe and who we are. Today, we provide an example to others about what it means to be followers of the Way of Jesus.
To what extent can we say that the story we tell, the example we offer reflects God working in and through us? How are we using the gifts God has given us? What can we do better?
We may be the only bible some people will ever read. May our example be one that ultimately points to One who came to show us the way, Jesus Christ. This we pray as we sing together: (VT) 412 My Soul Cries Out