Sermon Quotes: "Praying with Paul"
“The good news is that Thessalonian place of assembly is not some Ground Zero that Timothy gazed on in horror, but a thriving body of believers.” Gary Shogren
“Now at last comes the moment of great relief! The collapse of this newly planted church did not happen and this paragraph from beginning to end simply breathes gratitude.” Gordon Fee
“The deep emotional notes of this paragraph afford a revealing insight into his character. It shows that Paul was ‘a man…sensitive in his affections to an extreme degree. His whole soul was bound up with the Churches he had founded…He lived for nothing else.” Edmond Hiebert
“Paul encourages Christians by thanking God for his grace in their lives. More precisely, he encourages Christians by telling them that he thanks God for his grace in their lives. Thus he has simultaneously drawn attention to the Thessalonians’ spiritual growth, thereby encouraging them, and insisted that God is the one to be thanked for it, thereby humbling them. There is simply no way that these believers can thoughtfully listen to what Paul says and then smugly pat themselves on the back: God, and God alone, is to be praised for the signs of grace in their lives. Yet nonetheless they cannot help but feel encouraged to learn that the apostle himself has observed God’s work in their lives and rejoices because of it.” D.A. Carson
“Short, frequent and fervent petitions are best suited to the case and we need not add to the burden by tasking ourselves beyond our power, as if we expected to be heard for our much speaking.” John Newton
“He reminds them that the ultimate goal is that they arrive together in the presence of our God and Father.” Gordon Fee
“To put the matter at its most basic, Paul’s prayer is the product of his passion for people…That means if we are to improve our praying, we must strengthen our loving. As we grow in disciplined, self-sacrificing love, so we will grow in intercessory prayer.” D.A. Carson
“How much would our churches be transformed if each of us made it a practice to thank God for others and then to tell these others what it is about them that we thank God for? So what we need, then, is a prayer life that thanks God for the people of God, and then tells the people of God what we thank God for.” D.A. Carson
“A young lady asked a friend of mine, ‘Did you ever meet C.S. Lewis?’ ‘Yes,’ replied my friend. ‘As a matter of fact, I had quite a bit to do with him.’ The young lady stood silent for a moment and then shyly said, ‘May I touch you?’ To have met C.S. Lewis-wow! But, as Lewis would have been the first and my friend the second to point out, a far greater thing than meeting C.S. Lewis is meeting God. Someday we shall all meet God. We shall find ourselves standing before him for judgment. Should we leave this world unforgiven, it will be a dire event. There is, however, a way of meeting God on earth that removes all terror from the prospect of that future meeting.” J.I. Packer
“…and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” 1 Thess. 1:10
“For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming?” 1 Thess. 2:19
“…so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” 1 Thess. 3:13
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