When Good News Comes Back

We don’t hear good news often enough, do we? I think we have more than enough bad news to go around these days.

In 1 Thessalonians 3, Paul was waiting for news about a church he loved. He and Silas had brought the gospel to Thessalonica. They had shared the gospel and their whole lives with the Thessalonians, and they planted a church with the people who received the gospel in power.

But Paul was concerned for them. He wondered if they had fallen into temptation or abandoned their faith because of persecution.

Then Timothy came back with good news.

The church was still doing the work of faith, laboring in love, and standing fast in the hope they had in Jesus Christ. They were standing fast in the Lord.

And when good news came back, it had three effects.

We Are Comforted by Good News

Paul says that in all their distress and affliction, they were comforted by the good news of the Thessalonians’ faith.

It’s comforting to know someone you care about is doing well.

The same is true for us. There is comfort to be felt when we see people we care about living out their faith. There is comfort when we hear of friends serving the Lord. There is comfort when we see people grow in their faith, love one another, share the gospel, and stand fast in the Lord.

We need that kind of good news.

So get selective about the news coming your way. Follow the people you care about who are going to comfort you with good news rooted in the good news. Catch up with friends. See people live out their faith in the real world.

And share some good news yourself. Tell someone what the Lord is doing in your life. Tell them something you learned from the Bible. Share what God is doing in your church, your family, or your ministry.

Good news comforts us.

We Are Overjoyed by Good News

When Paul heard that the Thessalonians were standing fast in the Lord, his letter bursts with emotion. He gives thanksgiving to God for all the joy he feels because of this church.

Paul is happy. He is thankful to God for the feeling of happiness he has for the sake of a church that he cares about.

And there is something important for us to learn from that: your gratitude and your joy are connected.

Paul feels great joy because he is grateful. The same can be true of you.

When you are discouraged, try listing ten things you are grateful to God for. Be reminded of the many gifts God has bestowed upon you, the greatest of which is his grace and peace through the gospel.

Gratitude gets us closer and closer to the real and tangible feeling of joy.

And joy is pretty contagious. There is something about being face to face with a friend and sharing good news together. So give thanks to God when you hear that someone is standing fast in the Lord.

We Are Mobilized by Good News

Paul does not stop with comfort and joy. The good news moves him to prayer.

Paul and his ministry team were mobilized by the good news that came back, and they were mobilized to pray. They prayed most earnestly night and day that they might see the church face to face and continue helping them grow in their faith.

Good news should move us too.

When you hear about what God is doing, praise the Lord. Pray for more. And then lean into whatever he is doing, wherever he is doing it.

Praise the Lord as you see and hear that believers are living out our faith. Celebrate what the Lord is doing through other Christians, other churches, ministry partners, and missions partners.

Right here at Hillcrest and in our corner of Jackson, we are not in competition with other churches that believe the one true gospel. There are plenty of lost people to go around. We should want revival to come to every one of those churches and ours.

So keep your eyes and ears peeled for the good news coming back to us. There is comfort to be felt in how others are living out our shared faith. There is happiness and joy to be felt as you give thanks to God for them. And there are prayers to be prayed as we are mobilized to live out our faith with them.

Praise the Lord when good news comes back.

You can watch this sermon in its entirety on our YouTube page.