Covenant Community Part 2 – 1 Thessalonians 1:1-3

Covenant Community Part 2 – 1 Thessalonians 1:1-3

Covenant Community, Part 2 – CC is Thankful for One Another

1 Thessalonians 1:1-3        November 8, 2026

Introduction

  • How many coffee drinkers we have here? Today is National Cappuccino Day. I’m not much of a coffee drinker, but I do like coffee-flavored sugar and will regularly go to Starbucks to grab a beverage. The baristas who work there always seem frazzled as they run around making drinks, so I try to be polite and thank them – even when they put too much ice in my drink (you’d think they know the meaning of “light ice”, psh).
  • In his book, Thanks a Thousand, AJ Jacobs explains that he loves coffee and drinks coffee just about every day from some local coffee shop. But he realized he didn’t express his thanks enough to the baristas, so he tried to be more thankful. He then began to think about how many other people were necessary for him enjoy his cup of coffee each day and he decided that he wanted to thank them too.
  • He learned who delivered the supplies to the coffee shops; who made  the machines that created those fancy drinks; who roasted the beans, who grew them, designed the packaging, and so on. He decided that he would be intentional about trying to thank every one of them. As he began making phone call after phone call, his list swelled to over a thousand people and he realized how difficult it is intentionally be thankful, and how easy it is to just take people for granted and go about your life focused on the things you enjoy and taking those around and the things they do you for granted.
  • What is covenant community: The local family of faith, mutually committed to bear one another’s burdens in humble faith, hope, and love.
    • How to live together (Chapters 1-3) in the light of his return (Chapters 4-5)
      • Today we are going to learn how healthy covenant community is thankful for one another.
  • 2 Parts today: Exposition and Application

Exposition

  • 1 Thessalonians 1:1(a) “Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians ….”
    • Thessalonica was capital of Roman province of Macedonia – giant natural harbor (still the 2nd largest port in Greece today) and location (Via Egnatia road) made it a center for trade, very wealthy with around 200k people, cosmopolitan city with many cultic religions (Greek, Roman, Egyptian) as well as Jews present
    • Paul established the church following his pattern of going to the synagogue first. He stayed at least 3 weeks, most likely more, but had to leave quicker than he would like because Jews were giving him trouble. He wrote this letter from Corinth after sending Timothy back to check on them and hearing the report that the church was living together well. (see Acts 17 and 18)
  • 1 Thessalonians 1:1(b) “… in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…”
    • Paul is emphasizing a covenant community, separate and apart from the common community and language around them. This isn’t just another Greek cult, civic club, or Jewish synagogue (all of which were present in Thessalonica)
      • Identity of CC is spiritual in nature: “In God the Father” distinguishes this assembly from any pagan secular or religious assembly, whereas “and the Lord Jesus Christ” distinguishes it from Jewish assemblies (they were “in God” but not “in Christ”).
        • Paul typically addresses the church related to a geographic place (and he does mention Thessalonica here) but in this case his emphasis is on the union believers have with the Father and the Son – and therefore, the family that the church is to one another
  • 1 Thessalonians 1:1(c) “…Grace to you and peace.”
    • The common greeting among the Greeks was chairein (“rejoice, greetings”)” while the Hebrew greeting was shalom (“peace”)
      • As was his custom, Paul uses both greetings, grace (GK. charis) and peace (Gk. eirēnē) to not only greet them, but to remind them of the central aspects of what a covenantal relationship with God and the community of faith is built upon.
        • Grace is the cause and peace the effect or the result to all who receive that gift through faith in Christ. We must experience God’s grace before we can experience His peace and thus these two words sum up the gospel. We cannot reverse the order for if we bypass grace, we cannot possibly have peace with God.
        • Grace and peace are central pillars to CC as the grace we receive from our God and the peace that grace produces within us, allows us to ourselves extend grace to those around us and to be at peace – as far as it depends on us – with them.
  • 1 Thessalonians 1:2(a) “2 We give thanks to God…”
    • In the light of grace and peace, we should be filled with thanks – especially to our Savior, but also for the CC He has placed us within 
    • This was Paul’s usual pattern for his letters to churches (put verses on slide for reference, but will not read through)
      • Romans 1:8-9 “I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you.”
      • 1 Corinthians 1:4 “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus”
      • Ephesians 1:16 “…not cease giving thanks for (them), while making mention of (them) in (his) prayers.”
      • Philippians 1:3-4 “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.”
      • Colossians 1:3 “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you”
        • 2 Corinthians and Galatians are his only two letters to churches that lack the usual thanksgiving because he was not happy.
    • “give thanks” (Gk. eucharisteō) means to show oneself grateful, be thankful
      • Biblically, this is an expression of understanding of God’s goodness and steadfast love which produces in us a thankfulness for who He is and what He does – even if it may not be what we want (this latter aspect of giving thanks develops in us as we mature)
      • A person’s values are revealed by what they appreciate. Paul and his team constantly expressed their gratitude for God and His operation in their lives and in the lives of the saints
  • 1 Thessalonians 1:2(b) “2 … always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers”
    • “give thanks” is in present tense (over and over, continual action)
      • “constantly (not in the Greek) [making] mentioning” also in present tense
        • How many have been sick recently? Did you have a cough?
          • Idea here of “constantly” is best understood to be akin to something like a cough….it is incessant, whenever it strikes you, you are compelled to do it.
            • Thankful prayer of a mature believer should be like this…we should be regularly struck with cause for thanks and offer it up in prayerful worship to our God
    • We do not have to approve of Christians to be thankful for them or to pray for them. Paul was well aware of the imperfections that still existed in the Thessalonian church, 1 Thessalonians 3:9-10 “For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?”, yet he was still thankful to God for them.
      • We can and should be thankful for our fellow believers in spite of their imperfections. A spirit of thankfulness will overwhelm the spirit of judgment that our pride is so easily drawn to – especially for other believers
        • We have higher expectations for them – they should know better – and when those expectations go unmet our pride can very easily well up and cause us to look down upon them, not give them the benefit of the doubt, or write them off as unimportant
          • Giving thanks to God for our brothers and sisters helps to combat our pride
    • Part of the reason Paul was always expressing his thanks for the churches he was writing to is because he wanted to encourage them
      • Feeling appreciated and being encouraged go hand in hand
        • 1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”
    • In an “Our Daily Bread” devotional, Richard DeHaan tells the story of a young boy who had been disobedient and was disciplined by his father. Later that evening, the family prayed together and the father mentioned a number of the ways the son had messed up and asked God to help him. Soon afterward, the mother heard the boy sobbing in his room. She approached and asked him why he was so upset, at which the boy cried out, “Daddy always tells God the bad things about me. He never tells Him the good things I do!”
    • Paul is giving us an example here of celebrating the good things our brothers and sisters do and encouraging one another by letting others know that we are telling God all about those good things.
  • 1 Thessalonians 1:3 “3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
    • Paul was concerned that persecution might have led them to be tempted to walk away from the Lord. On Timothy’s report (1 Thess. 3:6) he is filled with thanks, and specifically reference their reported faith, hope, and love, clear evidence that they possessed genuine Christian character (and salvation).
    • These qualities, of course, are espoused throughout all scripture as what every follower of Jesus should be seeking to grow in as the Holy Spirit matures and refines us. (see Jesus’ evaluation of works, labor, and steadfastness in Rev. 2:2)
      • Fruitful works emerge out of faith, sacrificial labor emerges out of love, and steadfastness of spirit emerges out of hope.
        • Faith abides in the past (in Christ), love operates in the present, and hope is confident in the future
        • Faith looks back to a Crucified Saviour. Love looks up to a Crowned Saviour. Hope looks on to a Coming Saviour
    • We’re not going to dive into them today, because they will appear throughout this letter and we will address them in greater depth then. Suffice to say, being able to recognize how our brothers and sisters are growing in faith, hope, and love is critical for healthy covenant community.
      • What is covenant community: The local family of faith, mutually committed to bear one another’s burdens in humble faith, hope, and love.
        • Not only do we need to ask the Lord to help us grow ourselves in those areas, but it is critical to recognize how those around us express their faith-filled works, hope-filled steadfastness, and love-filled labor, and to give thanks to God for them and these attributes that He is working within them.

Application

  • What am I thankful for? (this reveals what we value, and, ultimately, what we worship)
  • Do others give thanks to God for you or do you serve as a source of grief?
    • I have heard many times, that I shouldn’t care what other people think – that is true from the perspective not being a people pleaser
      • But rejecting people pleasing cannot simultaneously allow my pride to selfishly hurt and grieve those around me without concern
        • While I should primarily let the direction and opinion of my God guide my, that doesn’t mean that I now live how I want in relation to other people. I should be a source of life, not death, as I live for the glory of my God.
  • Do you thank God for your brothers and sisters, how about the one who regularly give you grief?
  • How often do you express your thanks to others – especially those closest to you in your family and CC?
  • How regularly do you ask the Lord to help you to grow in faith, hope, and love? How often do you consider those qualities in your bothers and sisters around you? Do you encourage them by recognizing when they exhibit these qualities?

Conclusion

  • One of the most memorable phone calls AJ Jacobs made was to a woman who handled pest control at the warehouse storing the coffee beans. She was understandably surprised; she had never before received a phone call thanking her for pest control. But she appreciated the gratitude and was encouraged that someone actually cared about the work she did.
  • This sentiment of surprise and appreciation over Jacobs’ gratitude was regularly expressed to him as he made his calls. Jacobs later explains that as he went on this journey of gratitude, he recognized his outlook on things began to change. He admitted that he often woke up grumpy, anxious, or discouraged. But when he deliberately spent time thanking people, his mood shifted. The more he practiced gratitude, the more reasons for gratitude he discovered and the happier he became.
  • Now, happiness is not the moral of the story here. We are more blessed than we could possibly imagine in Christ. But Jacobs story is a good reminder of the power of a thankful heart.
    • The more we appreciate how awesome and gracious our God is, the more peace we will have in the midst of the brokenness of this world (grace and peace) and the more we will be able to appreciate all He has blessed us with – even when they don’t get our order right from the coffee shop.
      • The more we appreciate our God and the gifts He has blessed us with, the more we should grow in our appreciation for the family of faith that we get to serve alongside, be served by, and share with in those blessings.
  • As the Lord grows us in gratitude, our entitlement should diminish, our prideful selfishness should subside, and our lack of care for those around us should disappear – and this should especially be true for our family of faith. 
  • Healthy covenant community is thankful for one another and is able to express that and encourage one another with our gratitude, even as we collectively are grateful to our mighty God who has saved us and given us a future with Him that cannot be taken away. Thank you Jesus.
  • Amen. Amen. 
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