Creekside Community Church
Living for today The Day (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11)
Skin in the Game: Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians March 15th, 2020 Jeff Bruce, Lead Pastor
Locations & Times
Creekside Community Church
951 MacArthur Blvd, San Leandro, CA 94577, USA
Sunday 9:00 AM
1.How Not to Prepare for Christ’s Return (vv. 1-3)
2.How to Prepare for Christ’s Return (vv. 4-8)
For further thought and discussion:
Getting Started
1. What was helpful to you in this week’s sermon? What didn’t you understand?
2. Think of a time when you knew an event was coming, yet when it came, it caught you by surprise. Share your experience with the group.
Going Deeper
3. Compare Paul’s teaching in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 with Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 24:36-51. What similarities do you see between the two passages? How does Jesus’ teaching shape Paul’s?
4. Paul says that we cannot know the timing of Christ’s return (1 Thessalonians 5:1). Why is this (see Matthew 24:36)? Why do you think people have such an insatiable desire to know this information (see Matthew 24:3; Acts 1:6)? Why might it be to our benefit not to know?
5. Paul says that we are “children of the day” (1 Thessalonians 5:5). What does this mean (see v. 2; see also Ephesians 5:8-14)? How should this new identity impact the way we live?
6. Read verses 9-11. Why don’t we need to dread the day of Christ’s return? In what sense have believers already experienced “judgment day”(see John 5:24; 19:30; Romans 5:8-10; 8:1-3)? For those in Christ, why is the second coming not a day of dread, but of great anticipation?
Application
7. Paul tells us to put on the armor of faith, hope and love (v. 8). In these uncertain times, how might Satan attack our faith (i.e. our confidence in who God is, based on what he says in his word); our hope (i.e. our expectation that Christ will restore the world to God) and our love (i.e. our sacrificial service for the good of others)? How can we protect ourselves against the “schemes of the enemy” (Ephesians 6:11) in the days to come?
8. What’s one thing you can do this week to apply this passage?
Getting Started
1. What was helpful to you in this week’s sermon? What didn’t you understand?
2. Think of a time when you knew an event was coming, yet when it came, it caught you by surprise. Share your experience with the group.
Going Deeper
3. Compare Paul’s teaching in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 with Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 24:36-51. What similarities do you see between the two passages? How does Jesus’ teaching shape Paul’s?
4. Paul says that we cannot know the timing of Christ’s return (1 Thessalonians 5:1). Why is this (see Matthew 24:36)? Why do you think people have such an insatiable desire to know this information (see Matthew 24:3; Acts 1:6)? Why might it be to our benefit not to know?
5. Paul says that we are “children of the day” (1 Thessalonians 5:5). What does this mean (see v. 2; see also Ephesians 5:8-14)? How should this new identity impact the way we live?
6. Read verses 9-11. Why don’t we need to dread the day of Christ’s return? In what sense have believers already experienced “judgment day”(see John 5:24; 19:30; Romans 5:8-10; 8:1-3)? For those in Christ, why is the second coming not a day of dread, but of great anticipation?
Application
7. Paul tells us to put on the armor of faith, hope and love (v. 8). In these uncertain times, how might Satan attack our faith (i.e. our confidence in who God is, based on what he says in his word); our hope (i.e. our expectation that Christ will restore the world to God) and our love (i.e. our sacrificial service for the good of others)? How can we protect ourselves against the “schemes of the enemy” (Ephesians 6:11) in the days to come?
8. What’s one thing you can do this week to apply this passage?