A MODEL CHURCH

1. A MODEL CHURCH 1 Thessalonians 1

2. The Perfect Church If you should find the perfect churchWithout one fault or smear,For goodness sake! Don't join that church;You'd spoil the atmosphere.If you should find the perfect churchWhere all anxieties ceaseThen pass it by, lest joining itYou'd mar the masterpiece.

3. If you should find the perfect churchThen don't you ever dare,To tread upon such holy ground;You'd be a misfit there But since no perfect church existsMade of imperfect men,Then let's cease looking for that churchAnd love the church we're in. Of course, it's not a perfect church,That's simple to discernBut you and I and all of usCould cause the tide to turn.

4. What fools we are to flee our postIn that unfruitful searchTo find at last where problems loomGod proudly builds His church.So let's keep working in our churchUntil the resurrection.And then we each will join that churchWithout an imperfection - Mavis Williams

6. <-To Rome Berea

7. Acts 17:11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 8

8. 1Thessalonians 3:6-8 But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. 7 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. 8 For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.

9. 1 Thessalonians 1 1 Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you. 2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 3 We 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.

10. 4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.

11. 8 The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what happened when we visited you. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

12. BIRTHMARKS

13. Birthmarks • Grace and Peace

14. Birthmarks • Grace and Peace • Work Produced By Faith

15. James 2:14-18 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if people claim to have faith but have no deeds (ergon)? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, (ergon) is dead.

16. 18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds (ergon)." Show me your faith without deeds (ergon), and I will show you my faith by what I do (ergon).

17. James 2:24 James 2:24 You see that people are justified (render just or innocent) by what they do (ergon) and not by faith alone (or only).

18. Birthmarks • Grace and Peace • Work Produced By Faith

19. Birthmarks • Grace and Peace • Work Produced By Faith • Labor Prompted By Love

20. Rom 5:5 God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Eph 2:4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. 1 John 3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

21. 2 Corinthians 5:14 15 If we are "out of our mind," as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ's love compels us

22. 2 Corinthians 5:11, 13-15 11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade people. 15 If we are "out of our mind," as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ's love compels us

23. 2 Corinthians 5:11, 13-15 11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade people. 15 If we are "out of our mind," as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

24. Birthmarks • Grace and Peace • Work Produced By Faith • Labor Prompted By Love

25. Birthmarks • Grace and Peace • Work Produced By Faith • Labor Prompted By Love • Endurance Inspired By Hope

27. 1 Cor 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

28. Birthmarks • Grace and Peace

29. Birthmarks • Grace and Peace • Work Produced By Faith

30. Birthmarks • Grace and Peace • Work Produced By Faith • Labor Prompted By Love

31. Birthmarks • Grace and Peace • Work Produced By Faith • Labor Prompted By Love • Endurance Inspired By Hope