The journal. (Caldwell, Ohio) 1934-1961, 1957-07-25
S er m 0 nette
Essentials For A Happy And
Successful Church
| Thessalonians 5:14-22

Last week we began our study
of this portion of the Word. In
order to refresh our thinking, we
will summarize last weeks ser
monette.
The Church is a body of people
with Jesus Christ as its lead.
The bccy, to function properly,
must have harmony among its
members. The Holy Spirit dir
ected the Apostle Pau to give
certain exhortations to the
church, which, if followed,
would result in d happy and
successful church.
The church must warn those
of its number who are out of
line; it must encourage and
comfort those who are distressed
and fainthearted. hristia n S
should be on the alert to help
the weaker ones in faith and
knowledge, to keep them from
falling or stumbling. They
should learn to be patient with
all men and not rendering evil
for evil.
In verses 1913 we have an
outline of the Christian expert
ence in its higher levels. The
answering aim Of being good
and doing good to all men is
bound up with that faith in
Gods unfailing goodness to men
which enables the Christian to
cheerfully accept the disappoint-
ments and sufferings of social
life. This faith can only be held
by prayer, that is, g constant
reference of all life's course to
God, and such prayer must he
more than mere resignation: it
implies Il spirit of unfailing
gratitude to God, instead of any
suspicious or rebellious attitude
Matthew 5:l2; Luke 1920;
Romans 1912; II Corinthians
2:14; 6:l0; Philippians 81; "A;
James 1:2; l Peter 4:13). For a
Christian testimony and your
own comfort, strive always TO
maintain a cheerfulness of temp
er-rejoicing.
We are exhorted to pray
without ceasing" The same
thought is found i'll Romans
1912; Ephesians 6:l3; Colossians
Az; | ThessaloAians 1:2; 2:13;
Luke 1871 We should cultivate
the habit of prayer, turning our
thoughts into acts by connecting
them with the idea Of the re-
deeming God. The meaning is not
that men should do nothing but
pray, but that nothing else we
do should hinder prayer in its
proper season. Prayer will help
forward, not hinder, all other
lawful business and every good
work. In this world our weak
nesseS, sinfulness, necessities,
and dangers are constant, let us
always be in the attitude of
prayer, for ourselves and others.
If we can learn to rejoice
| under all circumstances ano
always be in an attitude foI
prayer, we can learn Gin every
thing give thanks (Verse 18),
Practical examples of this ere
found in Acts Sal; 16:23-25;
Philippians 1:12-19; 4:6, Z. Civ
ing thanks in everything includes
| times of persecution and bereave.
ment. 1t is a glad acceptance OF
life's rain and sunshine Al
trials, sorrows, bereavements
| hardships, as well as peace, JOY
and temporal prosperity-au art
to be received with thanks. Tht
reason is brought out in Roman
| 1928, % and Philippians 2:l4, II
| There is more in these verse
than | realized, SO we had bette
stop here and continue mex
week II we can learn by expert
ence the truths of these words
rejoice constantly, always be i
an attitude for prayer, and Civ
thanks for everything We wi
experience a closer walk. wit
the Lord and enjoy His riches
i blessings.
Roy f. Wikander