Kingdom Keys
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
In just a few short verses, in 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13, Paul – having heard Timothy’s report on the church family in Thessalonica - gives us three keys to growing healthy Kingdom communities. He writes:
‘How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.
Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.’
The first key is to keep God at the centre: Paul shows gratitude and leans into grace. He thanks God for the Thessalonians, based on his report from Timothy, but He also prays four times for God, in His grace, to bless them. The Lord is the cornerstone of His church and needs to be the beginning and end of all we do. We thank Him for every good thing we have and we ask Him for every good thing we need.
The second key is to keep the people in our hearts: Paul, as a father, leads into both affirmation and aspiration, affirming the joy he and others have had in God’s presence with the Thessalonians, while also expressing his hope that he and others will help supply what is lacking in them, and that they will grow in strength and in love for God and one another.
The last of these keys is that we keep the Kingdom in view. Paul doesn’t use the word Kingdom in these verses, but he definitely keeps Kingdom in view. He speaks of the joy he and others have enjoyed with the Thessalonians in the presence of God and he shares his hope and intention to be present with them; he also speaks clearly and boldly of the promise of Christ’s return.
These three beautiful keys are essential for us if we’re to grow healthy kingdom families – keep God at the centre, the people in your heart and the Kingdom always in view…
- Akhtar Shah