Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Faith Hope Love

1 Thessalonians 1.2-3

In the greatest television comedy that has ever been produced, NBC’s The Office, the regional manger of Dunder Mifflin paper company, turns to one of his employees, an employee who is challenging his ridiculous idea of inviting local children from the community to a casino night of gambling and drinking in their company warehouse, and says,

“Why are you the way that you are?”  

The regional manager, frustrated with the employee’s push back, ends with the statement, 

“I hate so much about the things that you choose to be.”

I want to ask you the same question this morning,

“Why are you the way that you are?”

To make the question more specific,

“Why do you think the way you think?”

“Why do you speak the way you speak?”

And,

“Why do you do the things you do?”

When you ponder those questions, another question that has to be asked is, “What is the driving force behind the life you choose to lead?”

Do you think, speak, and act the way you do because of the way you were raised?

Do you think, speak, and act the way you to to fit in at work or school?

Do you think, speak, and act the way you do to avoid conflict with your spouse?

Do you think, speak, and act the way you do to gain praise and recognition and pats on the back from your peers?

What is your motivation to be the way that you are?

In our text for this morning, as we return to the New Testament book of 1 Thessalonians, we are going to hear the authors of this book, or more specifically, this letter, point out the very clear patterns of thought, speech, and action that the Thessalonians have become known for as well as the driving force behind those patterns that are life-changing and world-changing.

So, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy let us know why the Thessalonians are the way that they are.

Let’s hear from the verses in 1 Thessalonians that we are up to.

1 Thessalonians 1.2-3 says this:

[2] We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, [3] remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV)

If we remember from last week, the New Testament Biblical book of 1 Thessalonians is a letter written from three of the first Christian leaders (Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy) to some of the very first people in the Greek city of Thessalonica who had found themselves believing in Jesus Christ as the One and Only sin-forgiving, life-giving, Lord and Savior. 

In typical Pauline fashion, Paul and his companions begin their letter to the Christian Thessalonians by letting them know that they are thankful for them and why they are thankful for them.

So, why are Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy thankful for the Thessalonians?


Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy are thankful for the way that the Thessalonians are.  Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy are thankful for the Thessalonians because they are actively living out the Christian life.

The Christian life is often Biblically defined by the trio of faith, hope, and love.

First, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy are thankful for the faith of the Thessalonians.

Faith is defined in the dictionary as complete trust, confidence, or reliance in a person, entity, or doctrine.

The definition of faith in clarified in the Bible when Hebrews 11:1 says that,

[1] …faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (ESV)

The Thessalonian’s faith was founded in the conviction that,

[16] … God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16–17, ESV)

Second, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy are thankful for the hope of the Thessalonians.

Hope is defined by the dictionary as the desire for a specific, positive outcome combined with the expectation or belief that it is attainable.

The definition of hope is clarified by the Bible, once again in the New Testament book of Hebrews, when the author says,

[17] So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, [18] so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. [19] We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, [20] where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever… (Hebrews 6:17–20, ESV)

That being said, what was the hope of the Thessalonians?

Well, that question is answered when we look down a few verses to verse 10 in chapter 1.  

Verse 10 of this current chapter says that the hope of the Christians in Thessalonica has two parts.

Part one of the Thessalonians hope comes from placing their trust and hope in the promise of Jesus’ return.  

Part two of the Thessalonians hope comes from placing their trust and hope in Jesus’ promise to rescue them from God’s wrath.

I want to point out that it is easy to fall into the trap of believing in a domesticated God.  

A domesticated God is a God removed from the Bible and placed into the context of your own beliefs.  Many call this false version of God a “god of your own understanding.”  And, because we shy away from wanting to have a backbone and standing on real truth which is often hard to do, we are only willing to say that God is loving.  

In our unBiblical attempt to be politically correct, we remove the other half of God’s character which is 100% Biblical.  We are often quick to brush God’s promise to judge the Sin of those that don’t repent and trust in Jesus under the carpet or, completely openly deny it because we don’t want to be offensive.

Well, I want you to know, not from me, but from this morning’s text, that God has very clear standards of right and wrong and those that choose to ignore and/or reject God’s offer of forgiveness for Sin through faith in Jesus and in turn ignore and/or reject God’s rules for life and love will be rejected by God and punished eternally for their unbelief in God’s goodness and grace.  

However, the Thessalonians knew the Good News!

The Thessalonians have hope because they fully trust that in Jesus, God has already punished their sin and therefore they are free from being punished themselves when Jesus returns to judge all men and women and set up God’s eternal Kingdom of Heaven.

And finally, the third thing that Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy are thankful for is the love of the Thessalonians.

Once again returning to the dictionary for help, love is defined as a profoundly tender, passionate affection or a strong feeling of personal attachment, often directed toward family, friends, or a romantic partner. Love is characterized by deep caring, self-giving concern for another’s well-being, and can be shown through actions of commitment, intimacy, and passion.

The Bible, in 1 Corinthians 13:4–7, clarifies what love is by telling us how love looks in action.  In these verses, we hear that,

[4] Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant [5] or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; [6] it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. [7] Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (ESV)

In December of 2016, a ride at Knott’s Berry Farm in California became stuck 148 feet in the air. There were 20 people on board, including seven children. Firefighters tried to reach the stranded passengers by using a massive ladder, but it was too short. Fire crews had no choice. They would have to lower each passenger from 148 feet in the air, harnessed to a single rope.

Fire Captain Larry Kurtz said, “It sounds scary, but … we have very, very strong ropes that have 9,000 pounds of breaking strength on them.” He was building the faith of those who were trapped. He was giving them information that, if believed, would dissipate their fears. It was up to each person to believe what he said and place their trust in the firefighter.

One of the youngsters was named Luke. He was seven years old—old enough to feel terror as he looks at the ground 148 feet below. The fire­fighter looked Luke in his eyes, and with a steadying voice said, “Trust me, Luke. I won’t let you go. Your life is very precious to me, and I will have you safely down before you know it.”

7 year old Luke listened to the firefighter and thought about the “very, very strong rope.” Luke believed the firefighter’s reassuring words and trusted him completely. This was his only hope of getting to safety. If he didn’t have faith, then he didn’t believe that the firefighter cared for him. Luke would then lose his only hope of reaching the ground. Faith, hope, and love are bound together.

As the promised was fulfilled, Luke and all 20 passengers were lowered safely to the ground just before 10 p.m. that night.

The end of 1 Corinthians 13, verse 13, says this, 

[13] So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (ESV)

If you, and only if you, have faith in Christ, love is why you are the way that you are.

God’s love is the reason why you are the way that you are.

God’s love is the driving force behind the faith that we have and the hope and love that is produces.

God’s love imparts faith in his love for you into your heart.

Faith is shown and known in the hope it produces.

And, faith is shown and known in the love it produces.

1 John 4:7–21 tell us this life-transforming good news when it says,

[7] Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. [8] Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. [9] In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. [10] In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. [11] Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. [12] No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

[13] By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. [14] And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. [15] Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. [16] So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. [17] By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. [18] There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. [19] We love because he first loved us. [20] If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. [21] And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. (ESV)

By watching the Thessalonians and by hearing the reports from others about the Thessalonians, the Thessalonians faith in Jesus Christ is undeniable because their faith in Jesus Christ has done what it promises to do—given them hope and caused them to love.

Before we end this morning, I will ask you one more time,

“Why are you the way that you are?”

Now that you have heard the Good News of God’s love for you, you can answer, 

“God hated so much the things that I chose to be because of my Sin that He gave me faith in Jesus Christ, His One and Only Son, who lived a perfectly righteous life for me, died a sacrificial death on the cross in my place, taking all of my sin and the punishment that I deserved, rose from the grave for me three days later to defeat the power of death which would separate me from God my Father and His Kingdom, and who is now seated in the heavenly realms, preparing a perfect and painless place for me.  I have the hope that Jesus will come back one day and bring me to the place where God and the Son and the Holy Spirit dwell eternally.”

This morning, as you prepare to approach God in prayer, remember that even though God the Father in Heaven has promised to hear you and respond to you and give you what you need (and sometimes want) in this life, He is not Santa Claus and He is not a genie-in-a-bottle.  Ask Jesus to teach you how to pray just like the disciples did.  Let your prayers be more than a wish list of things you want.  Remember to thank God for His grace, mercy, and love which saved you from being destroyed by Sin and separated from Him forever.  Remember to thank God for the Christians around you who walk alongside of you with support and encouragement in this broken world.  And, remember to thank Him for the faith you have, asking Him to allow that faith to work itself out in your daily life by empowering you to love as you have first been loved and to have hope in His promises for a peaceful future in His never-ending Kingdom of Heaven.

Back in the late 1900s, as the kids these days say, in the year 1990, Christian prog-rock band, King’s X, released their 3rd album titled, Faith Hope Love.  The title track, Faith Hope Love spoke these truths:

We’ve all seen the evil of this world

And we feel so helpless with all the lies

You see the word brings no lies

I believe it has a name

I believe he is alive

Listen to me very closely

There is more heaven than hell

Faith, hope, love

This is the Word of God of you today.

This is the Faith of God for you today.

This is the Love of God for you today.

This is the Hope of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

May 10, 2026.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Hope: God’s Christmas Gift to You

Luke 21.25-36

This time of year, the Advent and Christmas season, we are often brought into Charles Dickens’ classic piece of literature, A Christmas Carol.  

Whether it is a direct read of his text or a visual representation of his work with Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, or comedian Jim Carrey, playing the famed characters of Ebenezer Scrooge, Jacob Marley, and nephew Fred, we are left encouraged at the end of the story by changed hearts and reconciliation summed up by these words of Dickens:

“It’s always something, to know you’ve done the most you could. But don’t leave off hoping, or it’s of no use doing anything. Hope, hope to the last.”

In our American culture, we have many cliches about hope.

Some of those sayings go like this:

“Where there’s life, there’s hope.”

“Every cloud has a silver lining.”

“Hope springs eternal!”

“Never give up hope!”

Or, ”I am prepared for the worst, but hope for the best.” 

Hope has also been the theme of many hit songs.

For example,

Journey’s 1981, Don’t Stop Believin’.

The Beatles’ 1969, Here Comes the Sun.

Tom Petty’s 1989, I Won’t Back Down.

Bill Withers’ 1972, Lean on Me.

As well as, Louis Armstrong’s 1959, What a Beautiful World.

And, hope has been a talking and writing point for theologians, politicians, authors, and philosophers.

Pastor and Civil activist Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

Current best selling fantasy author Sarah J. Maas said, “We need hope, or else we cannot endure.”

However, I believe Ms. Mass borrowed that idea and reworked a quote from the prolific 19th Century Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky who famously said, “To live without hope is to cease to live.”

The dictionary defines Hope as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

During the Advent season, the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, we annually explore the themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. 

This morning, we will focus on the hope we have while waiting for Jesus’ coming to us.

With that being said, let’s hear from the lectionary text chosen for this first Sunday in Advent.

Luke 21:25–36 records these sayings of Jesus:

[25] “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, [26] people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. [27] And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. [28] Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

[29] And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. [30] As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. [31] So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. [32] Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. [33] Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

[34] “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. [35] For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. [36] But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (ESV)

Here, the physician and biographer, Luke, writes down what ended up being the final words that Jesus spoke at the temple before his crucifixion.  

And, Jesus’ words on that day were words that instilled hope in all who heard and believed him.

Jesus’ words point out that the world will seem to be falling apart, almost everyday, but God is still in control and God is still fulfilling His promise to the world and to you—a promise for eternal safety and security though the rescue of salvation.

When you turn on the news and see images of floods devastating North Carolina, rockets flying between Russia and the Ukraine, and political riots and protests across the globe, you are given a very clear picture that something is not right out there.  However, as many of those disturbing images and words tell us, the actions and consequences driving those sad realities are propelled by the human race and therefore there is also something not right inside the human being.

Psalm 51:5 tells us what is wrong on the inside of the human being when the author, King David admits,

[5] Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

and in sin did my mother conceive me. (ESV)

And, as Paul the apostle writes in his letter to the Christians in the city of Rome,

[12] Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…(Romans 5:12, ESV)

And,

[18] For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. [19] For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. [20] For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope [21] that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:18–21, ESV)

Because of sin, both the human being and the created order are corrupted and falling apart and falling away from God.

The good news we have, despite the brokenness of humanity and creation that followed the Fall in the Garden of Eden, is that God still promises us that one day He would fix and restore all things through a Savior who would right every wrong, and reconcile every wreck to God.

That is the hope Jesus gives us in today’s Biblical text.  Jesus is pointing to the end of the world as we know and tells us that we will be fine if we stand strong with faith in him as the One who was always Faithful to God for us.  

In these three pericopes, or passages, Jesus tells us that there are three reasons to have hope in Him and God the Father today.

First, there is hope in Jesus’ coming to us because his presences signals redemption is drawing near.

Ephesians 1:7:

[7] In [Jesus] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, (ESV)

Second, there is hope in Jesus’ coming to us because his presence with us means His Word is true.

2 Corinthians 1:20:

[20] For all the promises of God find their Yes in [Jesus]. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. (ESV)

And, third, there is hope in Jesus’ coming to us because his presence with us means we will have strength to stand before the Son of Man — meaning God — at the gates of Heaven.

Isaiah 54:10:

[10] For the mountains may depart

and the hills be removed,

but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,

and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,”

says the LORD, who has compassion on you. (ESV)

Through Jesus’ perfectly lived life, when measured against God’s commands for life and love, Jesus death on the cross to forgive you of the falling away and falling apart that happens when you sinfully and selfishly love yourself more than God and others, and Jesus resurrection from the dead to defeat the power of sin and death that separates you from God forever, you are able to stand strong, even as the world falls apart around you, because you are safe and secure today, tomorrow, and forever in God’s loving arms.

One of my favorite theologians of this era is Albert Mohlher Jr. Mohler is the current President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  This week he wrote about the hope of Christmas, meaning the hope of Jesus coming to us in response to John 1.4-5 which says:

[4] In him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:4–5, ESV)

Mohler’s following commentary is this:

The need of this Light points to the harrowing reality of the darkness. All humanity lives under the black shadow of sin and shame. The darkness which blanketed the world inhibited everyone from seeing and knowing God. Darkness befell the creation all the way back in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve, through a display of high treason, disobeyed God and subsequently plunged the creation and the cosmos under the shadow of sin. God, however, promised a day of redemption. Indeed, in Genesis 3, God cursed the serpent, pronouncing, “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel” (Gen. 3:15). From that day forward, God continually spoke of a day when the curse would be reversed, when the light would break through the darkness, when redemption would rescue people from their sin. 

That is what happened at Jesus’s birth. The birth of Christ marked the culmination of all God’s promises. God incarnate had come as “the true light that gives light to everyone” (John 1:9). This marks the glory of Christmas.

Speaking about hope being an integral part of the human condition’s ability to focus and carry on day to day comes from 20th Century South African Anglican Bishop who spent his days an anti-apartheid and human rights activist.  Tutu said:

“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”

The sin of humanity has done what it has always done best — turned away from the glory of God to stare intently and intensely in the mirror admiring the glory of the self.

We live in a time where materialism has replaced the Messiah and Santa has replaced the Savior.

We, therefore, live in a time where hope is both misplaced and lost altogether for many.  Maybe even you. 

This Advent season, on this Sunday of Hope, live with a changed heart, being reconciled to God through His gift of Jesus.

And, like a child who stays awake on Christmas Eve because of the overwhelming excitement of hope they have for presents on Christmas Morning, I encourage you, with Jesus’ words to, “Stay awake at all times, praying” being overwhelmed by the joy of Jesus’ coming to you so that you won’t be faithless in fear, and won’t be distracted by debauchery.  But, instead, be strengthened by God to stand strong through the joys and trials of life always prepared to give an answer for the hope that you have — Jesus your Savior who has come on Christmas and who is coming again at the final trumpet to lead us into our eternal home of Heaven.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

December 1, 2024.

Prayer:

Almighty God,

You alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant us grace to love what You command and desire what You promise; that, among the quick and many changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; 

Give us grace to cast away the words of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which Your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when He shall come again in His glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to life immoral;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Benediction:

Go, in peace today.  Live in the hope that is yours when Jesus comes to you.  You are redeemed from sin.  God’s promises always come true in your life.  And, you will stand strong before God until the end and in the end.