ELNORA’S BIBLE STUDY WITH FAMILY & FRIENDS, 1Thessalonians 2, Saturday, January 17, 2026

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Context for Chapter 2

Chapter 1 briefly introduced the relationship between Paul and the Christians at Thessalonica. This introduction is expanded in Chapter 2, where Paul gives additional details about how he came to preach there, why he left, and what he has heard of their spiritual progress. Chapter 3 will round out this glowing report with a reference to a visit from Paul’s friend and student, Timothy. 

 Source: https://www.bibleref.com/1-Thessalonians/2/1-Thessalonians-chapter-2.html


1. Paul's Service Among the Thessalonians, Verses 1-9,  CHRISTIAN

1 You yourselves know, dear brothers and sisters,[a] that our visit to you was not a failure. 2 You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, in spite of great opposition. 3 So you can see we were not preaching with any deceit or impure motives or trickery. 4 For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts. 5 Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you well know. And God is our witness that we were not pretending to be your friends just to get your money! 6 As for human praise, we have never sought it from you or anyone else. 7 As apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to make some demands of you, but instead we were like children[b] among you. Or we were like a mother feeding and caring for her own children. 8 We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too. 9 Don’t you remember, dear brothers and sisters, how hard we worked among you? Night and day we toiled to earn a living so that we would not be a burden to any of you as we preached God’s Good News to you. 

SECTION QUESTIONS: To be Added


2. Paul's Response to the Gospel Amid Persecution, Verses 10-20,  DESTINY

10 You yourselves are our witnesses—and so is God—that we were devout and honest and faultless toward all of you believers. 11 And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children. 12 We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory. 13 Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe. 14 And then, dear brothers and sisters, you suffered persecution from your own countrymen. In this way, you imitated the believers in God’s churches in Judea who, because of their belief in Christ Jesus, suffered from their own people, the Jews. 15 For some of the Jews killed the prophets, and some even killed the Lord Jesus. Now they have persecuted us, too. They fail to please God and work against all humanity 16 as they try to keep us from preaching the Good News of salvation to the Gentiles. By doing this, they continue to pile up their sins. But the anger of God has caught up with them at last. 17 Dear brothers and sisters, after we were separated from you for a little while (though our hearts never left you), we tried very hard to come back because of our intense longing to see you again. 18 We wanted very much to come to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us. 19 After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you! 20 Yes, you are our pride and joy.

SECTION QUESTIONS: To be Added


Confessions for 1Thessalonians, Chapter 2

3 So you can see we were not preaching with any deceit or impure motives or trickery. 4 For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts. (1Thessalonians 2:3-4)

Heavenly Father, thank You for the ministry and mission of Paul and thank You for the faithful saints that have been used to bring the gospel down two thousand years of history, to me so that by grace through faith in Christ's sacrificial death and glorious resurrection, I have been born again into the family of God. Use me, I pray, just as You used Paul to tell forth the good news of the gospel, and enable me to stand firm in the faith, no matter what accusations may be made against me. This I ask in Jesus' name, AMEN.

12 We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory. 13 Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe.  (1Thessalonians 2:12-13)

Dear Lord, thank You that I have been rescued from enslavement to sin and brought into Your heavenly kingdom and eternal glory. I pray that I may be a worthy witness of Your grace and goodness to all those with whom I come in contact today. Enable me, in the power of Your Spirit, to tread each step of my earthly walk in a manner that is well-pleasing to You. This I ask in Jesus' name, AMEN.

19 After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you! 20 Yes, you are our pride and joy.

Heavenly Father, what rejoicing there is over one sinner who repents and turns to Christ, for the forgiveness of sin and life everlasting. How I rejoice in my great salvation and thank You, Father, for the people in my life, who faithfully shared the gospel with me, prayed for my salvation, ministered to me, and pointed me to the Lord Jesus Christ, my God, and my Saviour. I pray that I would take every opportunity to testify to the truth of the gospel to people in my life, so that they may become my "Crown of Rejoicing", and I will join the heavenly throng in casting my crown at Your feet, for You alone are worthy of all honour and praise, both now and in the ages to come. In Jesus' name I pray, AMEN.

Source: https://prayer.knowing-jesus.com/1-Thessalonians/2


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