New Testament
1 Thessalonians
A young church, confused and grieving, gets the tenderest of Paul's letters.
Letter · 5 chapters · About 15 minutes
Paul, c. AD 50 — one of the earliest New Testament writings
Overview
Paul planted this church in a hurry and was driven out of town. He writes back full of affection — he calls them his glory and joy — to steady their hope.
They are grieving believers who have died, worried they have missed the resurrection. Paul answers with comfort: we do not grieve as those who have no hope.
Its practical closing is a liturgy for ordinary life: rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in everything.
What it keeps returning to
Hope in grief
Christian grief is real grief — but it has an horizon.
Affection
Paul nursed them 'like a nursing mother.' Leadership as tenderness.
Daily faithfulness
Rejoice, pray, give thanks — the simplest and hardest instructions in the letter.
Start here
1 Thessalonians 4:13–18
Grieving with hope.
1 Thessalonians 5:16–24
The liturgy of ordinary life.
1 Thessalonians 2:7–12
Leadership as a nursing mother and an encouraging father.
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”