The Church That Pleases God (I) 1 Thessalonians 1:2-4, NIV We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you. Let us greet each other, saying, “The Lord Jesus is with us.” Let us greet each other one more time, saying “Good things will happen to you in the Lord.” I would like to share the grace of God under the title, “The Church That Pleases God,” based on 1 Thessalonians 1:2-4. Could you please repeat after me? “The Church That Pleases God. The Church That Pleases God.” The church is the channel of God’s blessings on earth. The church is the body of Christ Jesus, while the head of the church is Christ Jesus, the Lord. Hallelujah! The church is the nest of our Christian faith. Christians are blessed when they have a good church and a good pastor. You are truly blessed children of God, because you are members of Yoido Full Gospel Church according to God’s wonderful providence, centered on the leadership of Rev. Yonggi Cho, one of the greatest servants of the Lord in church history. You are greatly blessed since you are nurtured and leading a Christian life at Yoido Full Gospel Church, being filled with the Holy Spirit and the grace of the Word. As precious children of God, we must love and serve this church of the Lord throughout our lives. We are saved by listening to the Word of the Lord in the church. As we listen to the Word, our faith grows, and we experience the grace of the Lord. Problems will be resolved. Disease will be healed. We will be filled with the Holy Spirit. We will be able to do the work of the Lord as light and salt in the world, being spiritually armed. Therefore, we should center our lives on the church and on worshipping the Lord. When we gather and worship the Lord, serving the church, God will bless us and our offspring throughout all generations. In 1620, 102 Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts in the northwestern part of America. I once visited there while I was studying in the United States. Do you know what they did first after their arrival? They built a church. Hallelujah! They came to America in pursuit of religious freedom, so they built a church first. The church still stands there. This is the secret of the United States’ being the super power of the world. According to our Scripture today, the church at Thessalonica was a church that God delighted in, that gave glory to God. Paul established the church at Thessalonica during his second missionary journey. Even though Paul stayed there only three weeks, there was a great revival. Acts 17:4 says, “Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.” A large number of people gathered and listened to the Word. However, the Jews were jealous, so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. Since the Jews wanted to arrest Paul and Silas, they had to go elsewhere. After Paul had gone, the Thessalonians built a church, and their church grew splendidly. Even though they had much persecution and trials, they kept their faith. Good news about the revival and the growth of the church at Thessalonica spread widely. It was one of the churches with good influence. The Word and the Spirit filled the church at Thessalonica. It strived to preach the Gospel. Brotherly love filled the church at Thessalonica. The church at Thessalonica prayed for its spiritual leaders. Good news spread about the church at Thessalonica. Good news about churches must be spread. I pray that you will spread good news about our church. The church at Thessalonica was healthy, influential, and a model church in which God took delight. How did the church at Thessalonica become a church that was pleasing to God? 1 Thessalonians 1:3 says, “We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” First, the church at Thessalonica produced work by faith. Today’s Scripture says, “…your work produced by faith.” The first thing that Paul mentioned in his prayer of thanksgiving for the church at Thessalonica was their work produced by faith. They believed in God the Trinity. They believed in Jesus Christ the Savior. They believed in the virgin birth, His crucifixion, His resurrection, His ascension, and His coming again. They kept their faith and dedicated their lives for the Lord, believing in the Second Coming of the Lord. God blessed them for their devotion. We need to be people of faith. The Thessalonians’ faith was alive and active. Their faith was far from a faith in name only. Their faith was not merely lip service by any means. Acts of faith accompanied their faith. They showed their faith through their changed lives. I pray that your faith will be living and active like that of the Thessalonians. We should not live like Christians only at church, and then live the same as non-Christians outside the church. We should show our faith as true Christians in our homes, schools, workplaces, and everywhere. Do not negotiate with the sinful world or put yourself in debauchery, since it is the life of faithless non-Christians. If we are Christians only in church, how can we change the world? We can change the world only when we show our faith both inside and outside of the church. The world can be beautified. The church at Thessalonica was like that. The Christians at Thessalonica set fine examples of faith, prompting God’s power upon them, bringing about a great revival, and being praised by people. The same is true with Yoido Full Gospel Church in its 51-year history. Our church, because it is filled with the Spirit, manifests a tremendous amount of work by faith. With the work of the Holy Spirit and with the work of our faith, our church has become the largest church in the world, a milestone in the church history of the world. The church, starting with only five members, has marched forward by faith, reaching a membership of 780,000 today. We have never drifted to the left or to the right, regardless of criticism or persecution from others. We have never looked at our circumstances. Even though we could not hear, see, or touch anything, we have marched forward with nothing but faith. We have accomplished such great work, because the Holy Spirit himself has worked within us. We are now beginning a new work. Nineteen satellite churches will become independent of Yoido Full Gospel Church next year. Each independent church will serve its own community, all working together to bring about another great revival. I believe that a great revival is on the way when all the independent churches work together. All the churches will grow to attain a total membership of one million. Truly, we need to be people of great faith. We need to set fine examples of faith. The Christians at Thessalonica showed such good examples of faith. 1 Thessalonians 1:9 says, “They themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” They were praised because they stopped worshipping idols. In those days, everybody worshipped idols, keeping idols in their homes. Throwing away idols must have been a hard thing to do. However, they made a firm resolution about it. They threw their idols away, the day they learned that idols were nothing. It is said that there are 8 million idols in Japan. What a large number! A household worships an average of four to five idols. I once visited a traditional Japanese home in Sakada, Japan, a rural town. Various images and idols, which they had worshipped for many generations, covered the whole wall. After they become Christians, however, the Japanese remove the idols from their houses, and burn the idols outside. Many of them have very expensive Buddhist altars at home, but they burn those altars after believing in Jesus Christ. God blesses those families, pouring out His enormous grace upon them. We must make a firm resolution by faith. We must distinguish what pleases God from what does not. We must make a choice to do what pleases God, setting fine examples of faith. James 2:14 says, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?” Verse 17 also says, “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” I pray that your faith will always be alive. I pray that you will be Christians in and out of the church. There is one thing that needs to change in Korea. It is the drinking habit of Koreans. We must change it. People drink all the time, at new student orientations and welcoming parties for new employees. They drink in broad daylight and at night. They drink, drink, and drink. Drinking is destroying Koreans. Christians should never compromise with drinking, rather saying, “I am a Christian. I will not drink. I will collapse if I drink.” We must be clear about it. If a Christian drinks, unable to refuse the offer, he will end up drinking more and getting drunk. Let us not do things that require repentance. I pray that you will sever such temptations and stand firm before the Lord. Martin Luther once said, “Faith and action cannot be distinguished from each other, just as heat and light cannot be distinguished from each other in a burning flame.” Faith means action and vice versa. How can we distinguish heat from the light of a burning flame? It is true that we cannot. If we say that we have faith, we must have actions of faith. Galatians 5:6 says, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” What do others see in our lives? It should be our faith. I pray that you will have live, active, and working faith. I want you to show your faith through your actions of faith. We need to change after believing in Jesus Christ. We need to change our personality, the way we talk, and our whole way of life. We must improve. We must change so that we may be respected, recognized, and praised by other people from every perspective of life. The Christians at Thessalonica lived that way. They were recognized and praised because they changed after believing in Jesus Christ. I pray that you will be recognized and praised by people for your change in the Lord. I pray that you will receive great awards from God for your faith. God will bless us when we march forward by faith and with thankfulness. Even though we cannot see, hear, or touch anything, let us march forward by faith alone. The Lord will help us. We will set our feet in the Promised Land of God by marching forward by faith as Joshua and Caleb did toward the Promised Land of Canaan. Mark 9:23 says, “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. ‘Everything is possible for him who believes.’ ” Hallelujah! When we march forward by faith, miracles will happen. Blessings will come. That is why we need to live by faith. The church at Thessalonica worked by faith. Second, the church at Thessalonica labored, prompted by love. I want to speak about the church that labors, prompted by love. Verse 1:3 says, “…your labor prompted by love.” To labor means to work hard with much effort. It is closely connected to “suffering.” It means to work hard enough to bring pain to the body. The Christians at Thessalonica did not mind sacrificing for the Lord. True love requires sacrifice and labor. Jesus showed us the perfect example of love. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The Lord Jesus showed His love to us through His sacrificial love and His death on the Cross. He opened the door to salvation for us. To open the door to salvation, His body was torn, and His blood was shed on the Cross. This is love. True love is accompanied by sacrifice. Because we love, we sacrifice. Because we love, we labor. Mothers do not complain even if it is very hard to raise a child. She may say that she will not have another child, because childbirth was so painful. However, she forgets the pain because of the joy the baby brings to her as she raises her child. A newborn baby weighs 7 to 8 pounds, but it steadily gains weight, becoming heavier and heavier. If we have to carry a rock as heavy as a baby all day long, we will soon end up throwing it away. However, since it is her own beloved baby, a mother will hold the baby with incredible strength, even though the baby gets heavier. This is labor prompted by love. This is the sacrifice of love. Even though our parents raised us with their love, we forget their love, becoming rebellious and trying to live on our own. We should be ashamed. I urge you not to forget your parents’ love and toil. More than anything, I urge you not to forget the labor and sacrificial love of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us sacrifice ourselves for the Lord, and dedicate our whole lives to Him. Mary was grateful for the love of the Lord. She gave the only thing she had to the Lord. She broke her expensive alabaster jar of perfume and poured oil on Him. It was the equivalent of about a year’s salary (300 denarii). It would amount to tens of thousands of dollars. Even though it was worth so much, Mary did not spare it, because she wanted to prepare for the funeral of the Lord. This is labor and sacrifice prompted by love. When we labor with love, we will dwell in the deeper grace of God. The following story happened a long time ago in America. One day a mother gave her little son an allowance of seven cents. Seven cents today is almost nothing, but seven cents about a hundred years ago may have amounted to seven dollars or more. She said to him, “This is your allowance. You can buy some snacks as you wish. However, put one or two cents in Mrs. Parrow’s offering box for missions.” Mrs. Parrow was a deaconess at her church. She would collect mission offerings from her neighbors and gave them to the church on Sundays. The boy was heading for Mrs. Parrow’s with his allowance money. He was confused, though. If his mother had told him to give one cent, he would have given one cent. If his mother had told him to give two cents, he would have given two cents. Since his mother told him to give one or two cents, he was confused. At first, he thought that he would give two cents to God, and keep the remaining five cents for himself. It was not fair. He decided to give three cents and keep the remaining four cents. However, he did not feel comfortable with that decision, either. He finally arrived at Mrs. Parrow’s house and knocked on the door. He said, “Mrs. Parrow, I received some allowance, and I want to give an offering.” He put all the money in the box and felt good. He went back home jubilantly and said to his mother, “Mom, Mom, I was confused at first about how much I should give, but I made a good decision. I gave all the money to God.” Delighted, his mother went to the kitchen and brought cake and milk to him. She said, “My son, you made a right and precious choice before the Lord.” She treated her son with some delicious snacks. How pure the little boy was! He must have wanted to spend his allowance money on candy or cookies, but he decided to give it all to the Lord. Can you imagine how delighted the Lord must have been about his sacrifice? What mattered was not how much money he gave. What mattered was the sacrifice he made by giving all he had to the Lord. Such sacrificial love will touch our Lord. I pray that you will have sacrificial love for the Lord. We will spare nothing for the one we love. Not even our life is too much for Him. Let us give what we have to the Lord: our wealth, our talent, and our time. I urge you to serve the Lord and the church faithfully. God will receive glory, and pour His grace upon us abundantly. The church at Thessalonica was like that. They ardently served the Lord despite their poor situations. They cared for the poor and the sick. They collected offerings and helped others beyond their ability. Impressed by their love, Paul wrote a letter to the Corinthians and explained what they had done. 2 Corinthians 8:1-3 says, “And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own…” The Thessalonians came out of the most severe trials and extreme poverty. That was because they were persecuted for believing in Christ Jesus. They lost their property. They were expelled from their community. They were killed for their faith. In their most severe trials, they were left with almost nothing. Nevertheless, they gave as much as they were able. Hallelujah! They gave even beyond their ability. Their faith is so precious! They gave out of their extreme poverty. It is not hard to give out of opulence. Even though the Thessalonians were in such a troublesome situation, they gave beyond their ability for the glory of God. Their labor prompted by their sacrificial love must be praised and recognized by all people. God delighted in their sacrificial love and thus granted wonderful revival in their church. Paul had preached the Gospel there for only three weeks. However, the church grew so splendidly that good news about their church was spread widely in the neighboring areas. True love lies in our service, sacrifice, and sharing. Now that we have received the grace and love of the Lord, free of charge, we need to go out and show an example of sacrificial love and service. We must take the love of the Lord Jesus to the poor, the sick, and the neglected. God will bless you. He will pour more of His grace upon you. God will cherish your labor prompted by sacrificial love. I still remember what happened to the church in Washington D.C. area, which I served as the senior pastor. We had finished the church construction and were taking donations for church fixtures and equipment. People made pledges to donate money for pews, pianos, altars, etc. They wrote down how much they wanted to pledge and for what items, and put their pledge note in an offering basket during offering time. After the worship service, someone knocked at my office door. A woman came into my office. She was sick most of the time, so she could not work. Her husband was not making much money, either. Therefore, they were not very well to do. She said, “Pastor, I want to give something to the church, but I do not have money. I cannot even afford a chair. I prayed with tears throughout the week and made a decision. Even though I cannot give a monetary offering, I will clean all the bathrooms for the entire year after the construction is complete.” She made a decision to serve the church with her labor prompted by love. She gave me a pledge note, saying, “I give my heart to the Lord, instead of some fixtures for the new church building. I will clean all the bathrooms in the church for a year.” On the first Saturday after the construction was complete, I came out of the sanctuary after the dawn service and heard a hymn from a bathroom. The woman was cleaning toilets. She scrubbed the tiles, cleaned the toilets, and replaced the toilet tissue and soap, singing hymns. She was a frail person, but she was working very hard to clean the bathrooms. Since the new church was big, there were many bathrooms on the first and second floors. She cleaned them all. The bathrooms were sparkling clean. The next Saturday, I heard her singing hymns again as she was cleaning the bathrooms. A few weeks later, other members knew about her labor of love, and several women joined her. I could hear ensembles or a small choir singing hymns from bathrooms every Saturday. Many women joined in this beautiful labor. The story of a woman’s sacrificial love touched the hearts of the church members. She wanted to offer her labor to the Lord. Even though she had been weak and frail before, she became healthier while cleaning the bathrooms every Saturday. She was never sick for the entire year. Since it was hard for her to clean so many bathrooms every Saturday, she became tired by the end of the year. On the first Saturday after her promised year had passed, she decided to sleep late that morning, but the Holy Spirit spoke to her, “What are you doing?” She kept on coming to church and cleaned the bathrooms. She said, “Pastor, I was waiting for the year to pass. After one year, however, the Holy Spirit moved my heart, and I will keep cleaning the bathrooms every Saturday.” Hallelujah! When I give this testimony in other churches, their bathrooms become cleaner, people say. I pray that you will labor with love for the Lord. Third, we must remember that the church that endures is inspired by hope. The church at Thessalonica endured, because they were inspired by hope. Verse 3 says, “We continually remember before our God and Father…your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Christians at Thessalonica endured with hope. It means that they endured, fought, and overcame their sufferings and trials. Sufferings, trials, and hardships do come to us. However, we need to endure them by hope in our Lord. Since we have Jesus Christ at the center of our hearts, we can endure any trouble in the Lord. The Christians at Thessalonica had hope of the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus and, thus, could endure all trials and hardships, living victoriously. Many were arrested and persecuted for believing in Jesus Christ. They were deprived of their possessions. Nonetheless, they were never deprived of their hope in the Lord. When they marched forward with strong faith and hope, God kept and protected them, adding more grace to them. Vicktor Frankl was a survivor from a concentration camp under the Nazis during the Second World War. He said, “Many died in the horrible concentration camp. The ones who had hope survived.” Hallelujah! Many died in hopelessness and with the fear of death. However, those who had hope could overcome fear and hopelessness. Those who had encouraged and helped others out of utmost hopelessness overcame the fear of death. The Christians at Thessalonica had the hope of the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus and marched forward with faith, overcoming hopelessness and the fear of death. 1 Thessalonians 1:10 says, “…and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead?Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.” They marched forward with faith, waiting for the Lord from heaven. That is why the Scripture tells us not to become weary in doing good. Galatians 6:9-10 says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” When we are persecuted or reprimanded for our service for the Lord, instead of being praised, we are likely to be disappointed. The Scripture tells us not to become weary and not to give up, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest. At the proper time, the Lord will receive glory and perform miracles. Hallelujah! Are you in despair? Wait a little longer. Hopelessness and hope are the two sides of a coin. When hopelessness is the deepest, the dawn of hope is coming near. Romans 5:3-4 says, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Since the Thessalonians had unchanging hope, they could live victoriously, overcoming all trouble. They fixed their eyes on the Lord and marched forward, even when things were difficult. God blessed them for their endurance. The Thessalonians kept their faith, labored with love, and endured with hope. Their lives are remembered, like a shining star. Two men were lumbering trees in a forest. They cut down a big tree and looked at the tree’s annual rings. The first five annual rings were narrowly clustered, but the annual rings after the first five were widely apart. One of the men said, “This tree did not grow for five years. It must have remained the same for those years.” The other man, who was more experienced, said, “There must have been severe drought or some environmental crises during those five years. This tree could grow so tall because of those hard years. During those hard years, this tree must have extended its root more deeply into the soil to survive the crisis, overcoming such a severe drought. The crisis provided a ground for the tree to grow well afterwards.” This is true. Our faith becomes stronger when we go through suffering. We pray more when we are in trouble. We cry out to the Lord more when we have problems. Our faith grows as we go through suffering. Our faith becomes stronger. We will grow closer to the Lord, experiencing the miracles of the Lord. Suffering is a blessing in disguise. Never be afraid of suffering. March forward by faith instead. Even though we may be in the middle of problems, let us receive God’s enormous blessings by working by faith, laboring prompted by love, and enduring inspired by hope as the Thessalonians did. This is my earnest prayer for you. Let us pray. Our Father of infinite love, grace, and mercy, we thank You for choosing us and making us Your precious children. Thank You for pouring Your grace and blessing in our lives. Thank You for this church. Thank You for blessing and educating us through Pastor Yonggi Cho. We thank You for building our church to be worthy of praise. Help us to work by faith, labor by love, and endure by hope. Use us as your servants to manifest Your glory. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.