1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

From Paul, Silas, and Timothy. We send our greetings to you, the congregation of believers in Thessalonica, which is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May God’s delightful grace and peace rest upon you. We are grateful to God for your lives and we always pray for you. For we remember before our God and Father how you put your faith into practice, how your love motivates you to serve others, and how unrelenting is your hope-filled patience in our Lord Jesus Christ. Dear brothers and sisters, you are dearly loved by God and we know that he has chosen you to be his very own. For our gospel came to you not merely in the form of words but in mighty power infused with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. Surely you remember how we lived our lives transparently before you to encourage you. And you became followers of my example and the Lord’s when you received the word with the joy of the Holy Spirit, even though it resulted in tremendous trials and persecution. Now you have become an example for all the believers to follow throughout the provinces of Greece. The message of the Lord has sounded out from you not only in Greece, but its echo has been heard in every place where people are hearing about your strong faith. We don’t need to brag on you, for everyone tells the story of the kind of welcome you showed us when we first came to you. And everyone knows how wonderfully you turned to God from idols to serve the true and living God. And now you eagerly expect his Son from heaven—Jesus, the deliverer, whom he raised from the dead and who rescues us from the coming wrath.