SERMON TITLE: God’s Will for Us
TEXT: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV
SPEAKER: Cody Ohnmeiss
DATE: 01/09/2022
You can watch the sermon here.
You can find the sermon notes here.
It’s always an absolute pleasure to be here with all of you each weekend, coming together to worship our savior Jesus. Whether you’re joining us here at County Road 9 or if you’re joining us at North Main, I want to welcome you and thank you for taking time to worship with us today. My prayer for us each time I preach is that we will be challenged and encouraged as we dive into God’s word together.
Last week Matt Heft kicked off a new year and a new extended sermon series for us. Many of you may remember last year that a few of us stepped up and preached through the first 13 Psalms during weeks that Pastor Josh had off. This year - a few of us will be stepping up to preach again - but this time we’ll be preaching on our own, individual favorite passages of scripture. Some may even label them as their “life verse or passage” - verses that they live by.
I thought, “wow this is great! I can choose pretty much whatever I want to preach on! This’ll be so easy.” But the more I thought about it, I realized, “well, I have multiple favorite passages in the Bible.” And there are multiple verses that I label as my “life verse.” And that actually made it kind of difficult to choose just one passage to preach on. Obviously, I eventually settled on one, but it did take a while.
And because of that, I wanted to do something really nice for one of our other staff members who will be preaching in this series later this year. Our youth director, Adam Borasy. I’m going to take the burden off of him from having to choose between all of his favorite passages of the Bible.
Have you ever been reading through the Bible, and come across a passage that just perfectly described you? Maybe a story that describes your personality, a situation that speaks to something you’re going through, or even a character in the Bible that represents you?
Well last year, I was reading through 2 Samuel and I came across a passage that I felt described Adam pretty much perfectly. And so out of the goodness of my heart, I felt it would be generous of me to share this passage so that he can preach on it since it describes him so well. It’s 2 Samuel 14:25
“Now in all Israel there was no one so much to be praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom (Adam). From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.” *Picture of Adam as well*
Adam - you can take me out to lunch this week to thank me for helping you choose your passage to preach on.
Okay - joking aside - today we are going to be in 1 Thessalonians 5. We are going to be looking at a passage that has been very key in my walk with Christ - a passage that I’ve had memorized for quite some time, as I’ve held these verses very close to my heart.
As you’re turning to 1 Thessalonians, I’ll share a bit on why this passage in particular has been so influential in my life. Actually the reason why is because of my father - who happens to be joining us here today.
As a young kid growing up, my dad was pretty hard on me. Tough on me with sports, with different life lessons - and I watched him make some mistakes that I know he regretted - but what parent hasn’t done that, right?
But as I got into my early teenage years - I watched my dad’s faith come alive. He went from not going to church - to not missing church. He went from not reading his Bible - to deeply studying the Bible.
But what really stuck out to me was that he was a completely different person. His attitude was one that reflected Christ. I watched the Gospel completely change my dad’s life. And as that happened, I observed and realized that I wanted the same thing. I wanted whatever it was that made my dad do a complete 180 in his life.
So I started digging into the Bible for myself. I read, and read - and to be honest, a lot of the time, I didn’t even know what I was reading because I kept starting in Genesis and would get to Leviticus and then give up because it was so confusing.
But I eventually just skipped on to the New Testament and I remember coming across this passage in 1 Thessalonians and thinking that these three things we’ll read about really came to life in my dad - as he followed Christ.
ESV:
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV
NLT:
16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
NIV:
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
KJV:
16 Rejoice evermore. 17 Pray without ceasing. 18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
I mentioned that attitude shift that I noticed in my dad. I saw frustration and anger turn to joy.I watched as he devoted himself to a life of prayer.And I saw a desire to constantly thank God, because none of this new behavior was his own doing - but Christ working through him.
Seeing all of this set a fire in me to not only grow in my own faith and know Christ more, but also to be a living representation of what the Bible calls for us Christians to be.
Before going through these three verses more in depth, let’s put some context around them.
So the author of this letter is Paul, and he is writing to Christians who are a part of the church of Thessalonica. And the reason he is writing them is because this church was made of recent converts who had lots of questions about the faith. Questions like, “What happens to our relatives who die before Christ returns?” Oh and speaking of that, “When will Christ return?”
Paul also encourages them, as they had been persevering through suffering and challenges. And as a young church, Paul hurt for them - because they really didn’t have strong leadership. So he tried time and again to go back to them to teach more, and encourage more - but never made it.
With all this going on, Paul closes the letter by giving some general, but straightforward exhortations. These things that Paul is urging his audience to consider are things that are to be universally adopted by followers of Christ. And what I mean by that is that this list of things are really non-negotiables in the life of a Christian. Remember, this is a young church - so Paul was trying to make things pretty simple.
This list included things like:
I sincerely hope that no one here would say that they disagree with any one of these things being an essential piece in the life of a Christian.
But something I’m confident you’ll agree with - is that there are things on this list that are HARD to do at times. I’d guess that there may have even been a couple that stuck out to you or hit you so deep that it made you slide down in your seat a bit.
Like when it says be patient with everyone, does that mean EVERYONE - even my kids when they’re driving me insane? Or my siblings when they’re annoying me?
Bringing peace - Now does that just mean in person? Does it count if I mainly just argue with people on social media?
And honoring church leaders? I mean how far are we gonna go here?! (haha)
These are straightforward, and clear commands to a group of Christians on how they are to live - both as individuals, and together. So consider that as we unpack these 3 verses. Back to verse 16:
Rejoice always (ESV)(NIV)
Always be joyful (NLT)
Rejoice evermore (KJV)
Always rejoice (NET)
1 Thessalonians 5:16
I think we get the picture. The command here is to be joyful. And this doesn’t just mean that you should, in general, be a positive person. I do think that there is an element of truth to that however, and let me briefly share why.
There are some obvious cause & effect realities that exist in our world. Some exist because of rules.
And some innately exist because God providentially put them into the foundation of His creation.
Examples:
Makes sense, right? So now in line with our passage: If you are a joyful person, you will treat others with joy. Let’s remind ourselves of the commands we see in the passage above our verses - bringing peace, being patient, encouraging those who are timid. Don’t overthink this! I know this sounds super elementary level, but don’t we need to be reminded of this? Being a joyful person will lead to treating others with joy, and that can have a greater impact on them than you may realize.
Many of you know that I was a wrestler for a good part of my life, from a young kid - all the way through college. Now something that a lot of wrestlers do is cut weight. That’s basically just dropping a certain amount of weight in a matter of a week or two. And it is not a very fun time.
But in high school, there was a week where myself and a friend were both cutting about 15-20 pounds in a week. This was a Thursday, and weigh-ins were on Saturdays - so we were down pretty low.
We had just gotten out of practice - we were tired, we were thirsty, we were hungry but couldn’t eat - all the makings for two really pleasant people, right? But I had this Bible verse taped to my locker. And so I was constantly reminded of it, and tried my best to live it out. One of the practical things I tried to do was be positive during the weeks when I was cutting weight. I’d frequently say things to my friends like, “It’s all gonna work out.” “We’ll make weight this weekend man, only a couple more days.”
So we left practice, and as I was on my way home, I got a call from my friend - He had a flat tire, and he was saying some not so nice things about his car - while using some not so nice words. He said, I don’t know how to change a tire, can you come help me? I said of course.
So I pulled up behind him on the side of the road - and given the circumstances, the LAST thing either of us wanted to be doing was changing a tire, in the cold, as the sun sets. I could’ve gotten out of my car, joined him in his rage, and handled things in that manner. Instead, I got out of my car, broke his lug nuts loose, and started jacking his car up.
And I remember this conversation we had like it was yesterday. My friend bent down beside me and said, “Dude I’m sorry about this - I feel bad making you come do this.”
I looked at him and smiled and said, “Dude, you’re not making me do anything. This is no big deal! I actually don’t mind this at all.” What’s funny is he actually got a little frustrated with me and said, “Dude what’s wrong with you? It’s kind of annoying that you’re this positive all the time.”
I was actually a little shocked at that - So I just kept working and said, “You know, that probably wasn’t the smartest thing to say to someone who’s cutting weight and holding a tire iron in their hands.”
Later that night, I got a text from that friend - he thanked me again - but also asked me, “Why are you so positive all the time?” And that gave me an opportunity to share where my source of joy comes from. Not only did I send him these three verses, but I also shared that in Christ - I have everything I’ll ever need. If wrestling went away, I still have Christ. If material possessions go away, I still have Christ. Even if life itself gets taken from me, I still have Christ.
And that’s what Paul is saying here - is that our joy should be rooted in Christ - so that no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, we can always be joyful.
And we know that’s totally Paul’s story, right? Paul wrote the book of Philippians from a Roman prison - a place that for nearly anyone else there would be misery and doubt. Instead, out of 104 verses in the entire letter, Paul writes about joy in 16 of them. Even through his trials, even in the pain and suffering - Paul writes about being joyful.
And the reason why he was joyful was not that he was thrilled to be in prison! Of course he didn’t want to be in prison. But because his hope and faith were rooted in Christ, he was able to see past his circumstance and see the joy that comes in Christ. The joy that offers hope - the joy that offers assurance - the joy that offers salvation to those who trust in Him as savior and Lord.
Can we, just really quick, admire how awesome this is for us. Think about some of the attributes of God, all of the wonderful things that we know him as - just a few here:
Now taking these attributes of God and putting them into perspective. Our eternal God - who existed before time itself - who simply spoke and created the entire universe, he knows all, he’s sovereign over all - AND he’s good, he’s just - and he sent his only Son to save us from our sins.
What a huge, magnificent, amazing God! PAUSE. That’s the God who loves you. That’s the God who’s breathed breath into your lungs. And the God who one day will return to rescue his people once and for all - and we’ll be with him forever.
THIS is why we can always be joyful. Believers in Christ - because our faith in Jesus, all of these great truths about him give us hope. And that hope, regardless of what present suffering you find yourself in, is greater than any hardship we may encounter here on earth. In another one of his letters, Paul writes this:
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5 ESV
The last two years have been hard for many of us. Many folks here have experienced loss of some sort. Loss of a job. Loss of a loved one. Some have experienced illness and other physical struggles. And many folks have had to endure through the mental and emotional struggles that all of the stress and hardship in everyday life has brought.
If you are struggling with things in your life - could be something I just mentioned or something else - don’t hesitate to come up front after the service so we can pray for you and help point you to the joy that we have in the person of Jesus.
pray without ceasing (ESV)(KJV)
Never stop praying (NLT)
pray continually (NIV)
constantly pray (NET)
1 Thessalonians 5:17
Let’s start with asking what does this mean? This idea of being in constant prayer. A few things here.
In light of those three interpretations, I have to confess that I feel like I come up short in being in constant prayer from time to time. It hit me one Sunday earlier this year on a day that I was preaching. I was sitting backstage here and I was praying again and again that God would speak through me. Praying that the Spirit would lead me and guide me. And in that moment I had a conviction in my heart that said, “Cody, why don’t you pray this much ALL the time?”
When there’s a big life event going on, or when I really desire something - I tend to pray a lot more, and not just a lot more, but more intentional even. I’m more specific, my time is more focused and I even do better about writing prayers out. But when things are going well, I tend to get in the habit of just praying general prayers - before meals, when I wake up, after my Bible reading, and before I go to sleep.
Some of you may be thinking, “Well that doesn’t sound so bad?” But I really feel that this passage is offering more than just general prayer. In fact, let’s consider this passage in light of James’ words in his letter to the scattered tribes. James is writing about faithful prayer and says this,
13 Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord…16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
James 5:13-14, 16 NLT
I think James does a pretty good job here of really capturing the idea of “praying without ceasing.” PAUSE. In suffering? Pray. That’s pretty obvious, right? That’s a huge theme in the Pauline epistles. Followers of Jesus are really good at praying during times of suffering.
Are you happy? You should sing praises. I mentioned that I think this is where many followers of Christ come up short. Actually, in a December, 2017 survey, a Christian group in the UK surveyed Christians from a variety of denominations about their prayer life. One of the questions they asked was, “What kind of things have you prayed about?”
So the majority of Christians pray for themselves (obviously), for family or friends, for healing, and confessing their sins before they would pray to praise and worship God.
Here’s what we need to gather from this - What Paul is emphasizing in just these 3 words (Pray without ceasing) and what James is encouraging his audience to see, is that everything in our lives should be taken to God in prayer. All of the sufferings and hardships - we’re told to go to God in prayer. All of the good - which earlier in his letter, James says that every good and perfect gift is from God - should be offered to God in thankfulness and praise. In sickness we pray. Confessing our sins should be done in prayer. Everything in our lives should be covered in prayer because that’s what God’s word calls the faithful Christian to do.
So here’s a helpful way to make this practical in our lives.
Many of you have maybe heard of a Biblical model that can help guide you in prayer called the ACTS model. It stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication (ACTS).
Side note here: oftentimes people tell me that they struggle to pray because they don’t know how, or what to pray for. If that’s where you’re at, my hope is that this can help give you insight on how to guide your prayer. So let’s real quick walk through this acronym and look to where the Bible addresses each one.
Adoration - Admiring God for who he is. Praising him for being our Creator, our Sustainer, our Savior, and our Redeemer.
10 Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. 12 Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. 13 And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. 1 Chronicles 29:10-13 ESV
Confession - Admit your sins and ask for God’s overflowing forgiveness and mercy in your lives
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 ESV
Thanksgiving - Thanking God for all of the wonderful things he has done and will do in your life or in the lives of others
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! 5 For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 100:4-5 ESV
Supplication - Present your requests to God for yourself and others, and pray that in all things - God’s will be done
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 ESV
And one last note on this: It’s very helpful to take Bible verses and write them out as prayers. With all of the verses we just looked at, you could take those and write them out as prayers.
give thanks in all circumstances (ESV)(NIV)
Be thankful in all circumstances (NLT)
In every thing give thanks (KJV)(NET)
I think at this point we all can see the pattern here. We should always be joyful. We should always be praying. And now - we should always be thankful.
This is probably a little confrontational, and because of that, I’m not going to ask for a show of hands. But how many people here are grumblers? Someone who likes to complain or groan whenever a minor inconvenience presents itself because in your eyes, the entire world is crashing down. Maybe some examples will help:
Sometimes little things can cause us to grumble in times when we should be thankful. So a small challenge for you - next time one of these things happen to you - instead of grumbling, be thankful for what you still have in front of you.
Instead of complaining about a slow driver, thank the Lord that you have a vehicle and that you’re able to travel in it.
Instead of complaining about a TV show not loading fast enough, thank the Lord for the privilege that it is to even own a TV and have access to so many things.
Similar to being joyful always, I think this verse has two implications as well. A general spirit of thankfulness that you carry with you in life - so that we can remind ourselves daily of all the blessings that we have. And a deep-rooted thankfulness that’s found in Christ alone.
Now I do realize that this verse can seem pretty intimidating - not just a command to be joyful always and pray without ceasing, but now being thankful in ALL circumstances?! That doesn’t exactly make us comfortable. And quite frankly, how is it even possible to obey this command - especially when our circumstances are horrible? What can fuel thanksgiving when life seems to be one discouragement, disappointment, disease, disaster, and death after another?
Many pastors and theologians have described the deeper meaning of this verse (give thanks in all circumstances) this way. They point to the Last Supper - when Jesus sits down at the table with his apostles and says,
15 “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. 16 For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.” 17 Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.” 19 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:15-19 NLT
We see Jesus use the words“give thanks” a couple times in this passage. The Greek word here for “thanks” is eucharisteo. The root here - charis - means grace. Jesus took bread, and saw it as grace, knowing what the bread represented, and gave thanks. What’s also held here is the derivative of the word, chara, which means joy. So, this word - Eucharisteo - is thanksgiving that binds together grace and joy. Charis = Grace. Eucharisteo = Thanksgiving. Chara = Joy.
Let’s think about the situation at hand for a moment. One scholar describes Jesus’ thanksgiving this way:
“Thank you, Father, that my body, symbolized by this bread, is about to be brutally broken and I am about to be (momentarily) doomed to your wrath (Isaiah 53:10) so that you will receive supreme glory in being able to forgive undeserving sinners (Philippians 2:11) and I will share eternally full joy (John 15:11; Psalm 16:11) with hundreds of millions of forgiven sinners made righteous through my sacrifice (Isaiah 53:11). - (Jon Bloom, Desiring God)
Jesus knew exactly what that broken bread was symbolizing, yet he broke it anyway and not only gave thanks for it, but gave thanks joyfully - as he knew the supreme act of grace that followed.
Jesus’s thanks was not based on his present circumstances. He was about to endure the worst possible horror imaginable. He felt thankful to the Father for the grace and glory that was coming because of the cross and this gave him joy. Eucharisteo.
Future grace is what caused Jesus’ joy-filled, thankfulness. He got through the cross by not focusing on the cross but on the promised joy that would flow from it. And that’s where we should be in regard to giving thanks in all circumstances - focused on the future glory that He’s promised us. Things like:
Many of us, if not all of us, will face times during our earthly lives when we are lost. Distraught. Broken. Hopelessly searching for something in this world to shine a light on a devastating situation. And in those moments when we feel we have nothing left - we can praise God for the future glory that He’s promised those who have faith in Christ.
I’d like to share a story with you as we close our time. It’s about a young man named Tyler Trent. Many of you may have no idea who he is - but some of you sports fans may recognize his name.
Tyler Trent was a Purdue sports superfan who started to make appearances on different media platforms back in 2018. He served as an honorary captain for Purdue in their bowl game in 2018, appeared in interviews on ESPN, and even won the Disney Spirit award.
But he wasn’t all over the media just for being a big fan. Tyler had been diagnosed with bone cancer in 2014 at just 15 years of age. He went through 9+ major surgeries, losing part of his arm, hip, and pelvis in the process. He faced trial after trial after trial, and one thing baffled those who followed his story. Many were blown away by his positive attitude.
Right before Christmas time in 2018, Multiply Magazine went out to Tyler’s house to do an interview with him. Despite being very tired and in a lot of pain, he was insistent that the interview be done that day. So a man sat down by his bedside, and complimented him for his strength and endurance, telling him that he was an inspiration to so many people. Then the interviewer asked Tyler, “Where does that strength come from? Where do you find the motivation and ability to power through what you’ve been through?”
This young man, by this point, was loved by the entire country. He had experienced a glimpse of fame even and had so many people encouraging him. And as he briefly livened himself just enough to fight through the obvious pain and physical weakness he was experiencing, he responded by saying,
“All my strength comes from my faith in Jesus Christ.” - (Tyler Trent, 2018 - Multiply Magazine)
Later in the interview he’s asked, “How could you say, after everything you’ve been through…that God is with you even in these hard times?”
Again, fighting through pain and speaking as clearly as he can - he responds by saying, “He has still blessed me through everything I have been through. Hard & easy.” - (Tyler Trent, 2018 - Multiply Magazine)
And finally, after admitting that he goes to bed not knowing if he’ll wake up feeling good or bad the next morning, he gets asked how he can encourage others who are going through hard times in their lives. He said he always goes back to this passage, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 - and then he quotes the verses out loud.
Tyler passed away a couple weeks after this interview, but his example of faith is one that we can point back to and be thankful for. An example that can encourage us to be joyful, pray, and give thanks in all circumstances.
The last part of our passage says,
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you
1 Thessalonians 5:18b ESV
Always being joyful, always praying, and always giving thanks - is God’s will for us - in Christ. Those two words are the key to all 3 verses. In Christ.
If you’re going through hard times - and you turn to something in this world for a source of joy - it may feel fulfilling for a short time, but it will let you down at some point. Christ doesn’t.
I wouldn’t bother even trying to pray to anything in this world, because whatever it is won’t hear your prayer. Christ will.
And you may have things in this world that you are thankful for, but recognize that the only reason you have anything good in life is because of Christ.
My guess - is that when Tyler shared these verses as his encouragement, he wasn’t implying that he was happy to be going through the suffering that he did. I don’t think he was thankful for the suffering itself. He was joyful, and thankful because his eternal hope was in the One who never fails - the One who’s never changing - the One who was bringing the only possible restoration to an otherwise hopeless situation.
And that’s God’s will for us. That no matter what is thrown at us in this life, that we may remain faithful and hopeful, because God has called us to eternal glory in the life that is to come. Let’s pray together.
One more reminder that there are prayer teams up front who would love to pray with you for anything going on in your life. I’ll also be up front for a bit and would love to pray with you as well.
Now for everyone - may we all leave here today always rejoicing, always praying, and always thankful because of who God is. Amen. Gateway Church, You. Are. Sent.
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