Pastor's Ponderings: Monday Bible Study on Paul’s letter, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 (June 9, 2025)

June 9, 2025:  Monday Bible Study on Paul’s letter, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

Good morning, and may your day be filled with both small and big miracles through the love of Christ in your life. Today please keep Steve in your prayers as he goes through lung biopsy. Please pray for the results to be good. Also pray for Teri whose new hip parts (a newly developed replacement for Teri's joint needs) have arrived, and it is now looking like she will be able to have that surgery during July. The exact date has still not been determined. God needs a big thank you from all of us who have been praying for months for this opportunity to become a reality. Pray to for Vince, a former foster child of the Burts. He was in church Sunday and needs a great deal of encouragement and love right now. He is newly released from an 8-year prison term, and is now 25 years old, looking for work possibilities. He completed high school and took college courses while incarcerated. Please keep Vince in your special prayers so that he can move forward in his life now.

In Paul's second letter to the church in Thessalonica, he continues to encourage the new Christians in this young church to always be strong in their faith, and to rely on the power of God's Grace and Love for them, especially with all the persecution that they will face, and were already facing in their community.  He tells them to stand firm and to hold on tight. I am not sure how many of you have crossed the five-mile-long Mackinaw bridge that connects lower Michigan to the upper part of Michigan. But I can certainly tell you that if there is any wind at all, and there is usually a lot of wind, most passengers hold on tight trying to be firm in their safety. In its history, only one car has blown off the bridge, but the fear for others is real, especially if someone else is driving the car, truck, or van. Some of you may be thrill ride enthusiasts. I have never liked roller coasters. The security never seems good enough for me when I am secured with a leather strap on an old wooden frame coaster, or that metal bar across my lap. I promise you that when I have ridden one at the bidding of my children, I do everything possible to be firm and really hang on to the "little bit of security" by my assessment of that strap, bar, or over the shoulder harness.  It was important for these earliest of Christians to live with the strength of the Truth to which Paul had introduced them. History tells us what kinds of terrible things the Roman persecution could bring to their lives, and the hope and love of God shown to them in Paul's witness of our Risen Savior was what brought to them the strength and courage to face all of this. I know that over the centuries there have been plenty of Christians who think that if God loves them, they can coast in their faith lives, and God will just take care of all of it. Let's face it life is not easy, and there are always challenges to our faith that we allow to work us loose from the grace and power of God's promises for us in Jesus Christ. Isn't this the reason that we come to the Church? Our church is the place where we receive renewal of that strength and courage as we face the world's challenges all around us. However, like the Thessalonian Christians, we are always called to stand firm and hold on to the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have seen this reality repeatedly in the forty years of my ministry. I have witnessed suffering and death that might have defeated those who had to go through it, yet they found resolve and strength in the faith that sustained them in the good times, when learning about the Savior was preparing them for the times of life's difficult challenges.  That is what Paul is doing when he reminds the Thessalonians of what they have learned from him. This is why the faith of others is so important for us in the church. We learn and grow from one another. When we fail to offer that nurturing support, it can become tragic for those who do not have a sense for that encouragement from their sisters and brothers in the Church. We must always remember that God is powerful enough to take care of everything, and that includes death itself, so stand firm and hold on to the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sustainer of Life. This admonition of Paul for this small community of new Christians is the same as if Paul was addressing you and me as members of a small, older congregation like American. We too are faced with the challenges of the world, like the Thessalonian church, resources are tight, challenges are always evident, and when we get to this place we are now in, we must stand firm and hold on to the faith of the whole Church that has sustained Christians for centuries.  To do so means that we too stand in the long line of Christians who the world has challenged, and the God of Grace and Power who loves us, will never be defeated. My friends stand firm and hold on, because the Christ of the LORD has saved us all!

With love in Christ, Pastor Kim

Note:  There will be no Bible studies for the rest of this week. I will be away for the Grand Canyon Synod Assembly in Las Vegas. I will be back with you next week.