Unquestionable Character
1 Thessalonians 2
Connect:
Share how you have seen God in the Highs and Lows of your week.
Prayer:
Pray that God would lead your discussion time and bring fresh insight, conviction, and hope through your time together.
Review:
We are moving into a series on 1 Thessalonians where Paul’s basic purpose was to encourage followers of Jesus to live ‘unstoppable’ lives in anticipation of the Lord’s return. Last week we looked at faith, and this week the focus is on character.
The Grand Tour of the message: Thinking back on what you heard this Sunday…
o What did you learn about God?
o What did you learn about people?
o What did you learn about yourself?
o What do you want to commit to putting into practice?
Reflect:
Experience:
Describe the experience of an attack on your character. What happens, what do people say, what are they really attacking, and why can “character assassination” have such a devastating impact?
Read 1 Thessalonians 2:1-2:
Paul faced unjust and painful opposition for doing the RIGHT thing in another city (Accused, tried, beaten, jailed). Talk about the character traits that come out of us when we unjustly suffer for doing the right thing.
How can we endure the suffering that comes with opposition— what aspects of our character need to be strengthened?
Read 2:3-6
What difference does it make in ministry whether our motives are true or not? Why would that matter as long as we say the right things?
What do you read in this verse that gives a warning about WHY our words must be true, our motives pure and “Don’t use manipulative tactics”?
Read 2:6-12
What difference does it make when a Christian leader is ready to “Share life” with the ones he is discipling? Talk about what that means and how it contributes to discipleship.
Paul could have used his status as an apostle to leverage authority for financial gain. He didn’t. What does that show about his character, and what was the ripple effect of that choice?
Read Matthew 20:25-28. This principle has become known as “Servant Leadership”. Spend some time profiling a “servant leader”— find people in the Scripture who lived this out and talk about why this was true of them. What was the impact on those around them?
Respond:
Character is always growing, for better or worse. We are making choices moment by moment about who we will become. Spend some time in prayer together that God would make those choices clear, and give us the strength to choose the hard way if necessary to become the people He intends for us to be!
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