1 Thessalonians 1

1 I, Paul, together here with Silas and Timothy, send greetings to the church at Thessalonica, Christians assembled by God the Father and by the Master, Jesus Christ. God's amazing grace be with you! God's robust peace!

Convictions of Steel

2 Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you're in our prayers3 as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father.4 It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special.

5 When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn't just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.6 and determined to live that way yourselves. In imitating us, you imitated the Master. Although great trouble accompanied the Word, you were able to take great joy from the Holy Spirit!-taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with the trouble.

7 Do you know that all over the provinces of both Macedonia and Achaia believers look up to you?8 The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master's Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don't even have to say anything anymore-you're the message!9 People come up and tell us how you received us with open arms, how you deserted the dead idols of your old life so you could embrace and serve God, the true God.10 They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of his Son, whom he raised from the dead-Jesus, who rescued us from certain doom.

1 Thessalonians 2

1 So, friends, it's obvious that our visit to you was no waste of time.2 We had just been given rough treatment in Philippi, as you know, but that didn't slow us down. We were sure of ourselves in God, and went right ahead and said our piece, presenting God's Message to you, defiant of the opposition.

No Hidden Agendas

3 God tested us thoroughly to make sure we were qualified to be trusted with this Message.4 Be assured that when we speak to you we're not after crowd approval-only God approval. Since we've been put through that battery of tests, you're guaranteed that both we and the Message are free of error, mixed motives, or hidden agendas.5 We never used words to butter you up. No one knows that better than you. And God knows we never used words as a smoke screen to take advantage of you.

6 Even though we had some standing as Christ's apostles, we never threw our weight around or tried to come across as important, with you or anyone else.7 We weren't aloof with you. We took you just as you were. We were never patronizing, never condescending, but we cared for you the way a mother cares for her children.8 We loved you dearly. Not content to just pass on the Message, we wanted to give you our hearts. And we did.

9 You remember us in those days, friends, working our fingers to the bone, up half the night, moonlighting so you wouldn't have the burden of supporting us while we proclaimed God's Message to you.10 You saw with your own eyes how discreet and courteous we were among you, with keen sensitivity to you as fellow believers. And God knows we weren't freeloaders!11 You experienced it all firsthand. With each of you we were like a father with his child,12 holding your hand, whispering encouragement, showing you step-by-step how to live well before God, who called us into his own kingdom, into this delightful life.

13 And now we look back on all this and thank God, an artesian well of thanks! When you got the Message of God we preached, you didn't pass it off as just one more human opinion, but you took it to heart as God's true word to you, which it is, God himself at work in you believers!

14 Friends, do you realize that you followed in the exact footsteps of the churches of God in Judea, those who were the first to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ? You got the same bad treatment from your countrymen as they did from theirs, the Jews15 who killed the Master Jesus (to say nothing of the prophets) and followed it up by running us out of town. They make themselves offensive to God and everyone else16 by trying to keep us from telling people who've never heard of our God how to be saved. They've made a career of opposing God, and have gotten mighty good at it. But God is fed up, ready to put an end to it.

17 Do you have any idea how very homesick we became for you, dear friends? Even though it hadn't been that long and it was only our bodies that were separated from you, not our hearts, we tried our very best to get back to see you.18 You can't imagine how much we missed you! I, Paul, tried over and over to get back, but Satan stymied us each time.19 Who do you think we're going to be proud of when our Master Jesus appears if it's not you?20 You're our pride and joy!

1 Thessalonians 3

1 So when we couldn't stand being separated from you any longer and could find no way to visit you ourselves, we stayed in Athens2 and sent Timothy to get you up and about, cheering you on so you wouldn't be discouraged by these hard times. He's a brother and companion in the faith, God's man in spreading the Message, preaching Christ.

3 Not that the troubles should come as any surprise to you. You've always known that we're in for this kind of thing. It's part of our calling.4 When we were with you, we made it quite clear that there was trouble ahead. And now that it's happened, you know what it's like.5 That's why I couldn't quit worrying; I had to know for myself how you were doing in the faith. I didn't want the Tempter getting to you and tearing down everything we had built up together.

6 But now that Timothy is back, bringing this terrific report on your faith and love, we feel a lot better. It's especially gratifying to know that you continue to think well of us, and that you want to see us as much as we want to see you!7 In the middle of our trouble and hard times here, just knowing how you're doing keeps us going.8 Knowing that your faith is alive keeps us alive.

9 What would be an adequate thanksgiving to offer God for all the joy we experience before him because of you?10 We do what we can, praying away, night and day, asking for the bonus of seeing your faces again and doing what we can to help when your faith falters.

11 May God our Father himself and our Master Jesus clear the road to you!12 And may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you, just as it does from us to you.13 May you be infused with strength and purity, filled with confidence in the presence of God our Father when our Master Jesus arrives with all his followers.