A Faith That Gets Remembered

Good morning! My name is David Sorn, and I’m the Lead Pastor of Renovation Church.

Well, I’m excited that you are here this morning as we are starting a new book of the Bible.

You are at what is called a Bible-Teaching church.

Every week, we open up the actual Bible, and we teach through it verse-by-verse to help you better understand God’s Word and apply it to your life.

Sometimes we’ll take sections, or chapters at a time, but other times we’ll teach an entire book.

And we do all sorts of different genres and sections of the Bible from the well-known to the obscure parts.

We spent the summer in the Old Testament studying the life of Jacob where we’d often study 40 verses at once so we could see the whole story.

But today, as we begin studying a New Testament letter, you’ll notice we’re only going to study THREE verses…because the letters are so often so richly packed with content.

So, as you may have seen, we are going to begin to study the letter of 1 Thessalonians today!

1 Thessalonians was a letter written by one of the early church leaders named the Apostle Paul.

And you can read about much of the historical context for Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians in

Acts 16-18

(what was happening when 1 Thessalonians was written)

The Book of Acts is the book in the Bible about how the early church got started after Jesus resurrected.

In Acts 16, Paul gets a vision to go to Macedonia (which is northern Greece) and share about Jesus.

He eventually makes it to the large city of Thessalonica (which still exists today), and he starts sharing the gospel (the good news of Jesus about how to be saved) there.

And in 3 weeks, he gets a large number of people to become Christians.

But after week 3, a mob formed in opposition to the Christian message and started a riot in the city, and Paul had to flee.

He leaves there to go to Berea, and eventually Athens, and then Corinth

And about a year later, while Paul is in Corinth, his mentee Timothy arrives from Thessalonica, and he brings word of what’s happening (both good & bad) in the Thessalonian church to Paul.

And that causes Paul to write this first letter to the Thessalonians.

So think about this: These Thessalonians only got about 3 weeks of teaching from Paul, and that was it. Not 3 years. 3 weeks.

Now, others like Timothy were able to come and support, but these new Thessalonian Christians still have A LOT of questions, and A LOT of issues.

But they also have a lot of excitement…not unlike the hundreds of you here that are new believers within the last year or two.

All right, go ahead and grab a Bible!

1 Thessalonians 1:1-3

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What’s also really cool about 1 Thessalonians is that out of all of Paul’s letters in the New Testament this is the earliest one written.

If you want to write this down, it was written in

50 AD.

Only about 15-20 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

That’s really important.

Because sometimes people talk about Christianity like it’s a fairy tale or a legend that developed hundreds of years later.

It’s not.

In 1 Thessalonians, you’ll see very defined statements about who Jesus is and what He did within a very short time period of the actual historical events…that’s pretty amazing!

1 Thessalonians 1:1-3

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(1 Thessalonians 1:1-3) – NIV

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.

(A Faith that Gets Remembered)

All right, I really want us to zoom in on verse 3 specifically this morning.

What’s neat about this is Paul is already using his famous triad of faith, hope, and love.

Do you see those 3 words in verse 3?

Although, here is 1 Thessalonians, Paul uses a different order: Faith, love, and hope.

I don’t what your background with the Bible is, maybe this is your first time in church in 10 years (and if so, that’s awesome, it’s great you’re here today learning with us!)

But if you’ve been a Christian for a few years, or grew up church, you may be familiar with Paul’s famous passage in 1 Corinthians 13:

“Love is patient, Love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast”

Even if you’re not a Christian, you may have heard that at a wedding

But at the end of that passage, Paul says, “And now these three remain: Faith, hope, and love.

But that famous passage from 1 Corinthians 13 was actually written 5 years AFTER Paul wrote our passage…about Faith, Love, and Hope…in 1 Thessalonians.

So let’s look what Paul says right before he dives into each of those 3 famous virtues.

FAITH

Okay, look at verse 3 again

1 Thessalonians 1:3a

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(1 Thessalonians 1:3a) – NIV

3 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith

(A Faith that Gets Remembered)

Notice how Paul is starting out this letter.

The Thessalonian Christians have endured a lot.

Crazy persecution.

A mob that tried to kill the evangelist that told them about their faith.

Having to figure it out on their own.

But Paul keeps talking about how their faith, though young, is so inspiring.

He says in verse 3 here that he remembers it before God.

As he’s praying, he’s going, “God, thank you for the amazing faith of those new Thessalonian believers!”

And I think this is a good goal for every Christian, and it’s the title of this message:

A Faith that Gets Remembered.

So let me ask you: “Is your faith impacting people in such a way that they will remember it years later…or when you’re gone someday?”

“Will they give God glory because of your faith?”

If you’re a college student, could someone say, 20 years from now:

“I remember going to school with them, and they just lived out their faith. They were real. True. Passionate. They made me want to get closer to God”

If you’re a grandparent…

The goal is that you live in such a way that your faith would be remembered by your kids & grandkids.

I think of my wife’s grandma, “Grandma Rose.”

She was always talking about “the Lord”

She went to be w/ Jesus just months before we had the Grand Opening of this church back in 2009, but she would always tell my wife, “Now, Lindsey, if this going to work, you’re going to need to play the piano as the pastor’s wife!”

But she just loved the Lord, and we still talk about her and her faith ALL the time..and, goodness, it’s been 17 years since she went to be with the Lord.

But what is that?

It’s a FAITH THAT GETS REMEMBERED.

I want your life to have that sort of impact for Christ.

And it starts with this first step in verse 3.

Do you see where Paul says, your work produced by faith?

That’s step one:

A FAITH THAT GETS REMEMBERED

Faith Produces Work

When you read the word “work” (or works) in the Bible, don’t think of your 9 to 5 job.

Typically when the Bible says “works” it’s talking about “deeds” (good deeds)

So Paul is saying your faith is what produces good deeds in your life.

Here’s a way to think about that concept:

Because our church is growing at lightning speed, we’re hiring all the time.

We’re on pace to hire 15 new, additional staff just in 2026 alone.

And so there’s an interview that happens here every day during the week.

But I’m always amazed at how often people don’t show up for parts of the interview process

(and this is true at every place that does a lot of hiring)

People apply, but then don’t respond to the email questionnaire you send out, or they set an interview date, but then don’t show up

It’s fascinating to me.

And certainly, there could be a lot of reasons…

but I think some of it…in an age of anxiety and worry…some of it comes to the fact that people get “cold feet”

And they say, “It would never happen…why even try?”

But if you have faith (that it at least could happen), you move forward.

Faith moves you to action.

If your smoke alarm goes off at 2:00am and you smell smoke, you don’t just lie in bed and say, “I have faith that there’s a fire in the other room….back to sleep.”

No, you don’t have real faith then.

That’s why James 2 in the Bible says “Faith without works is dead”…if your faith doesn’t produce action (it doesn’t get you out of bed)…you don’t have real faith.

And so if you want to have a faith that gets remembered, your faith has to lead to action.

But the hard part is you can’t just force yourself to action.

What Paul is saying is actually a bit counter-intuitive.

It’s not work that produces faith, but faith produces work (or deeds)

Paul is saying that the more you dive into your faith, your relationship with Jesus, your prayer time with Him, your time in God’s Word, your time worshipping Him…

…that will actually PRODUCE more works and deeds and life-changing action…that people will remember in the future.

LOVE

Okay, what’s the next of the 3 steps

Let’s go back to verse 3

1 Thessalonians 1:3a

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(1 Thessalonians 1:3a) – NIV

3 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love

This is the second step to having your faith make such an impact that it’s remembered someday…

A FAITH THAT GETS REMEMBERED

Faith Produces Work

Love Prompts Labor

Now, labor sounds a lot like work, so let’s talk about the difference between these two words in Greek (that’s the language Paul wrote this original letter in)

The first word (work) is more like good deeds we said.

And the second word (labor) is more like what it sounds like: It means physical, strenuous, hard work…It means sacrifice…serving.

“”And what is it that prompts us to actually labor, sacrifice, and serve another person?

Love!

Love prompts labor!

The old phrase “labor of love” actually comes from the King James translation of this verse.

And this is where I think we can really stand out from the culture as Christians.

Jesus tells us (in John 13) that the world will know we are His followers (not by what we post on social media on controversial issues), but by how we love one another.

Because a heart that is filled with the love of God prompts labor.

You know we were talking earlier in announcements about signing up for a House Church (and I hope you do) because this is where I think this second step often gets played out.

If you just attend a church on a Sunday morning, and that’s it, we say you’re missing the other half of church that the Bible describes (which, by the way, may be different than our American traditions about what church is)

The Bible describes the other half of church as the part where we love and serve and challenge and encourage each other

That’s the part where love prompts labor.

Each of our House Churches is led by a Biblically qualified elder, and I asked them to share with me some stories of what God did last year, and so many of them shared stories (way more than I could use) that exemplified this 2nd principle

They told me stories like where a couple from a House Church needed to move their daughter back home during a difficult season in her life.

And FIFTEEN people from their house church showed up to move her out of her old apartment, scrubbing down bathrooms and everything.

The daughter came away with a new view of the church, and the couple was deeply touched.

In one of our young adult house churches, there was someone who needed assistance to pay medical bills in a time of life where you don’t have a lot of income.

And her Young Adult House Church (I didn’t say their parents, I said the Young Adults!) raised almost $4,000 to help pay her medical bills and took a huge burden off of her plate.

In another House Church, there was a widow that received a letter from her city that 5 or so very large trees needed to be removed or there would be hefty fines.

As you may know, tree removal is a big expense.

So the elder of the House Church sent out an email asking people to help, and he received a response within minutes.

The person who responded not only had a lot of experience with tree removal, but also had recently been feeling a prompting from God to serve orphans, and…widows.

And so this guy rented tree removal equipment (with money that the House Church members raised together), and the group hauled away the trees themselves.

The neighbors of the widow were absolutely astonished that anyone would do this!

But this is what our House Churches do.

You get engaged?

They might throw you a wedding shower!

You have a baby…they’re there, bringing you meals every day.

You’re in the hospital…our elder, our small group leaders will be there with you, holding your hand.

We move people, we serve people, we cut down trees, you name it.

Why?

Because our LABOR is prompted by LOVE.

By the Love our Savior has for us, and the Love He’s placed inside of us to give to other people.

So look at me for a second:

If you’re an adult, and you’re not yet signed up for a House Church…I want you to do it this year.

This is what we do here. It’s part of what Renovation Church IS

Even if you’re nervous, or you’re new, or you’ve never tried it before.

God made you to thrive in community

He didn’t creation you for isolation.

We want you to have this kind of community in your life.

And for you to bring that kind of community…because we believe you have a lot to bring to other people too!

Okay? Okay!

HOPE

Okay, there’s a 3rd word we need to look at

Let’s go back to verse 3 one last time

1 Thessalonians 1:3a

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(1 Thessalonians 1:3a) – NIV

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.

That’s the 3rd step to having your faith make such an impact that it’s remembered someday…

A FAITH THAT GETS REMEMBERED

Faith Produces Work

Love Prompts Labor

Hope Inspires Endurance

Our hope in Jesus Christ…specifically that He is coming again, or that we will be resurrected upon our death, to eternity in heaven….

…that hope…INSPIRES endurance.

I was talking with a new believer last week who is 72 years old, and gave his life to Christ at our church at age 70.

And he was telling me, he said, “David, you know I used to be really afraid of death.

“But now, as a Christian, as one that truly knows Jesus, I’m kind of excited to die.”

Now, of course he said that a little tongue-in-cheek as obviously he wants to stay here and be with family and let God use Him here.

But He’s saying, “Now, as a Christian, I have so much HOPE about the future…that I’m kind of excited about it!”

And it’s that kind of HOPE that inspires Endurance, Paul says.

So that even if something hard were to come…

…and the cancer diagnosis comes in your life.

…or a rough breakup

…you lose your job unexpectedly.

…and now, you need to endure.

You need to make it through a trial.

What inspires you to keep going is HOPE.

And it’s not just the hope that Jesus is with us and loves us and all that good stuff…

A good chunk of Paul’s focus in 1 Thessalonians is around the hope of the future.

The hope that, even if this life gets impossibly hard, that even if I should lose my life before I ever imagined I would…

….we, as believers will be in paradise, with God, forever.

That’s a hope that can shine into even the deepest darkness.

CONCLUSION

And so you can see how these 3 things, working together, can lead to a faith that gets remembered…to a faith that is influencing people for Jesus Christ.

When I look at that, I think of what a guy from our church was telling me the other day.

He was telling me about how he and his wife serve with Together for Good…one of our Local Outreach Partners.

And what that means for them is that ever so often they will help out a single mom in need and watch her baby for the weekend, so the baby won’t end up in the foster care system

These are moms that are in deep need…with often no family support network

And listen, this guy and his wife, they’re 24 and 25. No kids. Serving this way.

And I know he has a heart for evangelism and reaching the lost, but he said, “Almost nothing in my life has led to more deep conversations about Jesus than my wife & I (with no kids) watching a baby on the weekend

Our friends will say, “You want to hang out, go to a movie, go out to wherever, and we have to say, ‘Nah, sorry, we have a baby we’re watching this weekend.”

Or they may have a 2 year old on one weekend, and say, “Is it all right if they come?”

And the friends will say, “Wait, what?!? Why? For who? How come?”

And they can, really quickly, get into to a memorable conversation about Jesus who He is…and why we live differently…because of what He did for us!

And people are greatly intrigued!

Why?

Because when people can see REAL faith (not just an opinionated faith on social media), but REAL faith played out in works, labor, and endurance…

…it’s absolutely appealing.

And it’s a faith that will be remembered.

Let’s pray.