1 Thessalonians // Pastor Gene Pensiero

The apostle Paul didn’t have the technology we have, but he was nevertheless able, with 100% accuracy, to project what you would ‘look’ like at the coming of Jesus Christ (Pastor Gene Pensiero)

You are not called to start or settle in a commune, but you are to have a strong sense of community. Christians are connected with one another and are expected to experience those connections in community with other Christians in a local church. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)

I don’t know if the apostle Paul was a morning person or not, but in our text he argued that all Christians are morning people with regards to Bible prophecy (Pastor Gene Pensiero)

The saints in Thessalonica lived in the daily anticipation of the rapture. They believed it was imminent – and by “imminent” I mean that it could happen at any moment. Then something happened they had not considered. A fellow believer died. Then another. Then some others. If Jesus was coming at any moment to take […]

The church at Thessalonica had no doubts that Jesus could return for them at any moment. So much so that some of them misunderstood the implications of His imminent coming. They decided to quit their jobs and wait around for Jesus to rapture them. Their idleness was becoming a burden to the other believers as […]

This begins a new section of the letter in which Paul deals with certain issues in the church. One of them was immorality (Pastor Gene Pensiero)

In our text, in First Thessalonians, the apostle Paul was anxiously awaiting a report from Timothy regarding the spiritual state of the church there Thessalonica (Pastor Gene Pensiero)

The apostle Paul, who tells us to be anxious for nothing, had a moment of high anxiety over the situation in Thessalonica (Pastor Gene Pensiero)

I hate to admit it… But I sometimes get a similar feeling as a Christian. It’s not the Twilight Zone I’m concerned about; it’s the Tribulation Zone! It’s that strange dimension you enter without warning in which your world turns upside down with difficulties and dilemmas, troubles and tragedies, problems and pain. That’s the signpost […]

The ‘traditional family’ is important to our text in First Thessalonians. Paul assumes that his readers – both then and throughout history – will value the traditional family enough for him to describe his care for them like that of a mother and a father working together to raise their kids (Pastor Gene Pensiero)

In our text, in verse four, Paul describes the Gospel as something that had been “entrusted” to he and his companions. From the particular word he chose, his readers would have understood that he was comparing himself to a steward – the chief servant in a great household (Pastor Gene Pensiero)

The apostle Paul described the church of the Thessalonians in the last portion of chapter one. He said they were an “example” to other churches. This is how we should want to be described (Pastor Gene Pensiero)

If you are saved, it’s because you were chosen by God before the foundations of the earth. The sovereign God of creation foreknew you and He predestined you. All Christians believe what I just said. You have to believe it because it is what the Bible unequivocally teaches. Having said that, it must be admitted […]

Every chapter in Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians ends with a reminder that the Lord is coming (Pastor Gene Penseiro)