Week of August 19^th, 2006

Purpose of study: At the end of his first letter, Paul urged Thessalonians to live in peace with each other, and he gave some instructions on how they could do that. Let’s learn and understand our responsibilities towards other members of our church.

Q: Ask your group to come up with a top-ten list for “getting along with your friends”.

Read Bible verses: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-5:28

12Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.

16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

19Do not put out the Spirit's fire; 20do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22Avoid every kind of evil.

23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

25Brothers, pray for us. 26Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. 27I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

28The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Every group of people needs some kind of rules to get along, and the church is no exception. Let’s learn and understand our how we treat other members of our church.

Q: Based on what Paul wrote, what various kinds of people were or might be there in the community?

Q: How does Paul instruct Thessalonians to treat their leaders? Why is it important? (v.12-13)

- The church cannot carry out its mission and work if the leaders are not being loyally supported.

- Effective leadership requires effective following.

q: What could we do to show respect to our hard-working leaders?

Q: How can we speak words of warning to a member who may be problematic at the time, and still in peace with him? (v.14-15)

Q: Does verses 16 through 18 describe you at this moment? (v.16-18)

Q: How do we test prophecy or teaching to find out if they are good or evil? (v.19-22)

- Does it agree with the Bible?

- Does it honor Jesus as Christ?

- Does it regard the Gospel as free and saving grace from God through Christ?

- Do you know the speaker and his/her characters?

- Does it build up and benefit church?

Q: Review the passage again, and pick out actions and attitudes which are displeasing to God. How as a group can we help and encourage each other to avoid them?