A Higher Call: Called to Hope

Text: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Are you living with hope? Many place their hopes and dreams in a host of experiences and situations that never truly bring fulfillment. As a result, many eventually become disappointed, discouraged, and even hopeless in life. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. When we put our hope in Jesus Christ we can have a true, living, and life-giving hope that will encourage and strengthen us throughout the journey of life. Biblical hope is very different from worldly hope because it is more than just a desire. It is a confident expectation that we have because of the promises and power of God. We invite you to listen today to make sure that your hope is fixed on the right Person and continually focused on His promises.

A Higher Call: Called to Love

Text: 1 Thessalonians 3:11-4:8

We live, today, in a love-crazed and confused world that struggles both to define love and to direct it in appropriate ways. Much that is called “love” falls very short of God’s definition and depiction of it. The confusion of the world cries out to us, the Church, saying, “I want to know what love is. I want you to show me.” By God’s grace, God has taught us what true love really is, and He has deposited His love within us so that we might extend it to others and exhibit it for all to see. Man’s greatest need is the love of God, but how will they ever know it and experience it if they don’t first see it in us? As we look at God’s call to love, we discover three powerful aspects that can transform our lives and the lives of countless others, if we are willing to heed the call. We invite you to listen and be transformed today.

A Higher Call: Called to Holiness

Text: 1 Thessalonians 3:11-4:8

Being called to holiness means that followers of Jesus are called to be set apart for God, separate from sin and evil. The basis for this calling is that God Himself is holy, and those who have been changed by Him are thus called to be the same. Holiness should describe and define how we live in every area of our lives. While it involves far more than how we behave sexually, how we behave sexually is a significant part of holiness. Though many in the Church would rather ignore or dismiss the topic of “sex,” the truth is that we do so to our own harm. Few things have hindered and hurt individual lives and the Church as a whole like that of compromise regarding God’s plan and purpose for sex. God has not left us without instruction, direction, and exhortations on how we can walk in holiness and glorify Him through our sexuality. We invite you to listen today to consider how you can honor God by walking in holiness.

A Higher Call: Called to Encourage

Text: 1 Thessalonians 3:1-13

Encouragement is something that we all long for and need. While the topic does not tend to be exciting or glamorous, encouragement is vital to our health as Christians and one that we must intentionally embrace in our lives. Our calling as followers of Jesus in this fallen world is to come alongside one another, to lift up one another, and to refresh one another in the Lord and in the truth of His Word. What we see in today’s text is a beautiful picture of the mutual encouragement that is experienced in the body of Christ when we are in community with one another. We invite you to listen today to be both encouraged and exhorted in fulfilling this wonderful calling.