Elders Monthly Message
6You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia - your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead - Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. 1 Thes 1 : 6-9
As we are currently in the hype of the FIFA World Cup most of us have a favourite team or player, even those of us from countries who have failed to qualify. Some of us may even have flags on our car!
Paul's writing of this letter could be like a half-time team talk! He says in verse 6 become imitators and despite persecution you have received joy inspired by the Holy Spirit. When Paul says imitate me and Jesus he is telling us to imitate the best among us. So we look to the models and good examples of the faith in the church and we emulate them as best we can. Some theologians state Jesus' role as one who urges us on to the best of our ability. He encourages us and inspires us. Jesus is concerned about us individually and as a church (the team). When we are well coached and learn the best we can, we become who God called us to be. We become examples to others like the church in Thessalonica, an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
There are a lot of newspaper column inches written on how the highly-paid players are not performing for their country and not playing with passion in front of billions of TV viewers. But, there are many of the players at the World Cup who proclaim Jesus as their saviour such as Tim Howard (US), Nicola Legrottaglie (Italy), Marcus Senna (Spain) and Kaká (Brazil).
Kaká is arguably one of the world's greatest football players and outspoken in his faith. In 2004 when he won the Serie A with Milan he wore his "I Belong to Jesus" vest and had "God is Faithful" stitched in to the tongues of his football boots. At his player of the year award his acceptance speak was " It is really important for me - it was a dream just to play for San Paulo and one game for Brazil. But the Bible says God can give you more than you even ask for, and that's what has happened in my life".
Despite his sending off in this World Cup, he inspires us to belong to Jesus ! Do you belong to Jesus and imitate Him in all that you do? Has God given you more than you even asked for?
With every blessing
Malcolm