Col 1 9 14 For this reason we

Col 1: 9 -14 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. NKJV

1 Thessalonians 4: 1 -18 Pleasing God

It Pleases God When… • We abstain from sexual immorality • We live with love • We mourn with hope

Abstain from Sexual Immorality • Paul taught people how to live in a way that pleases God. • Jesus a lonely, humiliating, and painful death because His focus was on pleasing His Father. • Jesus taught the importance of seeking to please God when He taught to do your charitable deeds, pray, and fast so that God sees us, because it is only God who can reward us. (Matt 6: 1 -21)

Abstain from Sexual Immorality • When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, His approval is all that will matter to us. • It pleases God when Christians abstain from sexual immorality. • Worldly people are not our example of how to act in this world. • Trying to please fickle people only leads to misery.

Abstain from Sexual Immorality • One of the few things that the Apostles wanted to impress upon the Gentile converts, is that they needed to abstain from sexual immorality. • Our bodies are not ours, but God’s. • Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in us.

Abstain from Sexual Immorality • In 1 Thessalonians 4: 8 Paul said that if we reject the teaching of sexual purity, we are rejecting the teaching of God who has “given us His Holy Spirit. ” • Paul told Timothy to flee youthful lusts but pursue a life that pleases God.

Live with Love • Thessalonians were taught by God to love one another. • Loving one another is a great way to be an example to the world. • We know that we have passed from death to life if we love the brethren. • It pleases God when we love His children.

Mourn with Hope • Knowledge and a belief that Jesus was raised form the dead, comforts us during times of sorrow. • The Lord will descend from heaven: • With a shout. • With the voice of an archangel. • With the trumpet of God.

Mourn with Hope • The dead in Christ will rise first and then believers who are alive will be caught up in the air to meet the Lord. • We will always be with the Lord! • We use these thoughts to comfort one another. • For Christians, death is a sign of victory instead of defeat. We know we will be raised with Christ!

It Pleases God When… • We abstain from sexual immorality • We live with love • We mourn with hope