STANDING FIRM

A 6-Week Series Through 1 Thessalonians

WEEK 3  |  1 THESSALONIANS 2:17–3:13  (DERRICK WATSON)

When You Can’t Be There

SERMON NOTES  ·  Fill in the blanks as you follow along

BIG IDEA

Even when we cannot be physically present with someone we love, ____________________ can be — and He is always at work, even when we’re stuck in the fog.

I. No Ordinary Love  (2:17–20)

Paul describes his separation from the church using the word ______________ meaning “bereaved,” like a child without a parent.  v.17

•  The Greek word for this kind of self-sacrificing love — not self-seeking, not conditional — is _____________ love.

•  Reason #1 Paul loved so deeply: this love is born in a heart that has ______________ to Christ.  Gal. 2:20

•  Reason #2 Paul loved so deeply: this love comes from living with ______________ in view.  vv.19–20

II. Hindrances, Detours, and Discernment  (v.18)

•  Paul tried again and again to come, but ______________ hindered him.

•  Two things NOT to do when we face hindrances: don’t blame ______________, and don’t assume opposition means it’s not God’s ______________.

•  When you don’t know your next step: keep doing the ______________ thing God clearly told you to do.

•  Illustration — Florence Chadwick lost sight of the shoreline in the ______________ and almost quit just short of the coast.

III. The Ministry of Absence  (3:1–5; Acts 12:5–11)

•  God can go places that are ______________ to us.

•  When we cannot be present for someone, the church’s weapon is ______________.

•  Peter in prison — “earnest ______________ was made to God by the church.”  Acts 12:5

IV. He Is Still a Way Maker  (3:6–13)

•  God is ______________, and because He is sovereign, He is a way maker.

•  Way-maker moments: Israel at the Red Sea, Joseph in prison, Paul separated from Thessalonica, and ______________ (your own story).

REFLECTION & APPLICATION

1. Where do you feel like you’re “in the waiting room” right now — waiting on someone or something you cannot fix yourself?

2. Where might you be in the “fog” — unsure whether to keep going or give up?

3. Who is someone you cannot reach right now? Commit to a “ministry of absence” for them this week — specifically, pray for them.

ONE SENTENCE TO REMEMBER

God can reach where we cannot, and He is always making a way.