1 Thess 1:2-5 We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you; for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 
	As we begin our consideration of the Apostle Paul’s two letters to the Thessalonians, we do so with the thanksgiving that so characterizes most of the Apostle’s letters. These letters contain counseling, exhortations, and encouragement in the Lord Jesus Christ. As such, they are filled with the certain knowledge of the One by whom all these elements flow unto the glory of God, Jesus Christ. In his thankfulness for the person of Christ in the lives of the readers of this letter, the Apostle Paul recounts several key elements that should cause thanksgiving to well up in everyone whose life is hid in Christ.
	 We must never cease to give thanks for God’s Grace in our lives. We have spent much time in the past on the grace of God, and will for the rest of eternity. There is no life without the grace of God in action. It covers every aspect of our being created anew in Jesus Christ. Another aspect that we have spent much time considering is that of the Peace of God which is now infused into our very lives through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is truly a peace that far exceeds any human understanding in its scope and depth of operation in our lives. It is the peace of God, found only in Jesus Christ, through the mighty work of the Holy Spirit, in which we can face every trial and tribulation with hearts that are at rest before God and man.	
	This morning, let us look to another cause for the intense thankfulness of the Apostle Paul and how it should, as well, establish eternal thankfulness in our hearts. It is the truth of our hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father… Spiritual hope is a key characteristic of the life that we now live in Jesus Christ. It is an imperative foundation of our being a Christian, a believer in the Only Begotten Son of God, Who died and rose again to bring us into this new life of hope everlasting. 
The Apostle Paul proclaims the difference hope makes in our lives in Eph 2:12, remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. We were separated from Christ and therefore had no hope of life, no hope of salvation, no hope period. Without the hope of Christ, we had no true knowledge or understanding of God. There is no way to know God apart from Christ, and without hope, we do not have any access to the life of Christ. 
In Rom 5:1-5, the Apostle Paul brings to the forefront the need of our living hope in Jesus Christ. In this passage, he forcefully details the utter necessity of hope. Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 
Our hope is in the glory of God, Jesus Christ. As we grow in the Lord, so ever increasingly grows our hope. The more we live by faith in Christ, the more we learn our need for a complete and eternal hope in Him. The more we have our hope enlarged, the more we learn to live by the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling us. It is as we learn to rely fully upon Him, that we begin to have our hope enlarged and strengthened in order to face every trial and tribulation. And, as we face those trials through our hope in Christ, we find an altogether greater measure of faith and peace established as our life in Christ. 
Have we come to the realization that the more we suffer for the sake of the name of Jesus, the more He is instilled into our every aspect of life? As His life overflows in us, so all the more do we find that trials and tribulations work for our good and not our undoing? The greater the trial, the more faith and hope in Christ becomes established in us. The more that hope and faith is made to be our lives, the greater the measure of the perfect peace of God that reigns in our hearts. The more we are at peace, the more joy we have in the Lord because we see, in ever increasing faithfulness and fulfillment of our growing hope, the love of God expressed into and unto us. Hope does not disappoint! As our hope is centered in Christ, we will find absolute peace and fulfillment in the love of God.
	In that hope, we find our every saving element in life. As we read in Rom 4:23-25, concerning the hope that we have livingly at work in us, Now not for his sake only was it written, that it was reckoned to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be reckoned, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification. Our every hope of salvation is centered completely and solely in Jesus Christ. There is no other way of salvation than the righteousness and justification that is ours because of His life giving work. So many people base their existence on what they can do to make life somehow better, rather than upon the truth of the hope that is ours in Christ. We can never add to what the Lord has done, and we can never earn our hope of salvation. It is ours because we are now found in Jesus Christ, who is our every hope. 
	As an aside, at this point, there are many, many people who claim to have a hope for a brighter future, a better life, an improved tomorrow. If the basis of that hope is set in what we can do, there is no hope and there will be no fulfillment of that hope. It is a dream that will fade with the ravages of time. Hope set in our efforts, in our determination, in our power, and in our strength is a false and useless hope. The only hope that will never disappoint, the only hope that will see us through into eternity, the only hope that will have the lasting consequences of the love of God is that true hope set in Jesus Christ to be our everything. All other hope will shrivel and decay in utter disappointment and despair.  
	Our hope in Christ is a living hope because it is set in the living Word of God. The scriptures are our very source of hope, no matter what we are going through on this earth. Again, as the Apostle Paul writes in Rom 15:4, For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. The value of the Word of God is endless in its scope of keeping us moving onward in Christ. As the Holy Spirit opens the Word in life, we find more and more, the every proclamation of the hope that we have in God. We find that, as we read and obey, our hope is strengthened and is expanded through the work of the Living Word of God in our lives. It becomes our shelter in the midst of every storm. No matter what we are experiencing in the buffeting torments of this world, we find our peace and our rest and our reliance more and more securely anchored in the Word of God. It takes the fiercest storms and gives us complete and certain hope that God will see us through to the very end. 
	Think of some of those passages of scripture which spring actively to mind as we are encouraged in the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ:
 John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. 
	Isa 26:3+4, "The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in Thee. "Trust in the Lord forever, For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock. 
	Isa 61:1-3, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives, And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. 
	Ps 30:11+12 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; Thou hast loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness; That my soul may sing praise to Thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to Thee forever. 
	Gal 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me. 
	Rom 8:1+2, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 
	And Rom 8:28, And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 
	When we read Rom 8:35-39, how can we do anything other than rejoice in the hope that is ours in Jesus Christ? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, "For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered." But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. This is hope eternal. This is hope defined. This is hope triumphant! 
As we read and ponder these wonderful scriptures of truth, we should have every fiber of our heart and spirit caught up in rejoicing before the Lord for the hope that is set in the great Love with which He loved us. We should be utterly incapable of finding any manner to fully express unto God the complete measure of praise and honor and worship pouring forth from these hearts and minds unto Him. Our love for God should be so welling up within us that we cannot do anything other than to give Him all majesty and glory, to proclaim with all the saints and angels the incomparable magnificence of His name. (All hail the power of Jesus name, let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem and crown Him Lord of all. Bring forth the royal diadem and crown Him Lord of all. All hail King Jesus, All hail Emmanuel. King of kings and Lord of lords, bright morning star. And throughout eternity I’m going to praise Him, and forevermore I will reign with Him. So exalt, lift up on high the name of Jesus. Magnify, come glorify Christ Jesus the King. Majesty, worship His majesty, Jesus who died, now glorified, King of all Kings.) 
	As His Word tells us, our hope in Christ abides forever. It is never disappointing and it is never ending. In 2 Thess 2:16+17, we read, Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word. This should be an encouragement throughout all that we have to bear on this earth. We have an eternal comfort in the hope that is ours by the grace of God. In that comfort, we should find the strength of the Lord to carry on in His name and for His sake as we sojourn on this earth for a limited time. What we have to bear and suffer on this earth utterly pales and fades into oblivion as we consider the comfort of the hope that is ours for all of eternity.  
	As the hope of Christ is alive in us, so ought we to live lives that testify to it, that show forth the hope that is ours in Christ. The Apostle Paul let nothing distract him from testifying to the gospel of hope in Christ. Col 1:21-23 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach — if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister. 
That hope should take root within us and bring forth the fruit of the love of the Lord. Believers are called to testify to that hope indwelling us as we read in 1 Peter 3:14-16, But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 
Our words, our deeds, our behavior, our actions, and our attitudes should be born of the hope that is in us, in Jesus Christ. Not only should we have a ready defense for this hope within our hearts, minds, and mouths, but we should be a living testimony of this hope in our day to day interactions and reactions. 
There should be a visible difference in our lives due in full to the hope that we now have in Christ Jesus Our Lord and Our Savior. We should not be depressed and grumbly and difficult to bear. Rather, there should be a lightness about us, a lightness that comes from the fact that our hope is carrying us on in the Lord without the heavy, burdensome demeanor of martyrdom. Yes, we may be called to be martyrs for the Lord, but even that suffering should be met with the hope that we are counted worthy to so suffer for the name of Christ.      
Consider the living hope that was in evidence in the Apostles as they were being persecuted because they proclaimed the hope that was theirs in Christ. Acts 5:40-42, And they took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them to speak no more in the name of Jesus, and then released them. So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. 
These Apostles were not downcast at the oppression and affliction of this world. They were rejoicing because their hope was alive and growing in the knowledge of the Lord, they were counted worthy to bear the affliction for His name’s sake. Their hope gave them the courage and the strength and the uplifted countenances before all the people to proclaim the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
Not only does this hope empower our testimony of the life of Christ, it also works within us to bring about the conformity necessary to that very life. We live in the hope that as we study and ponder and obey the Word as enlivened in us by the Holy Spirit, so will our lives more and more reflect the One who now indwells us. We are not striving to become little christs in our own rights. We are proceeding in the hope that Christ’s holiness will more and more be evidenced in the lives that we live before Him. That our self-lives will be more and more put to death that His glory and His love and His faithfulness and His grace and His majesty will ever increasingly flow forth unhindered unto this world, that all would see the witness of the hope that is ours in Christ Jesus. 
As we read in 1 John 3:2+3, Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. 
Because we have the very hope of Christ, so ought our lives reflect that hope in ever increasing honor unto Him. Fix our hope on Him and see what tremendous expressions of God’s love will flow forth from us unto others. Let us ever rejoice that our hope is built on nothing less than the very Son of God Almighty. As He lives, so do we have life and live on this earth. As His hope is our hope, so all the more will our living expression of that hope be evidenced unto His increased and unadulterated glory and honor and majesty. Amen.
We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you; for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction;… Amen.

Father’s Day blessing - Faithfulness of Fathers (little gift books)
Deut 4:4-9 But you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you. See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' "For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the Lord our God whenever we call on Him? "Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today?  "Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons. 
    	Deut 6:4-9 "Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 
	Deut 6:20-25  "When your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'What do the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments mean which the Lord our God commanded you?' then you shall say to your son,' We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt; and the Lord brought us from Egypt with a mighty hand. 'Moreover, the Lord showed great and distressing signs and wonders before our eyes against Egypt, Pharaoh and all his household; and He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He had sworn to our fathers.'  "So the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God for our good always and for our survival, as it is today. And it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all this commandment before the Lord our God, just as He commanded us. 
	    Eph 6:1-4, Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth. And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. 

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Today’s benediction is Ps 33:13-22, The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men; From His dwelling place He looks out On all the inhabitants of the earth, He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works. The king is not saved by a mighty army; A warrior is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness, To deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart rejoices in Him, Because we trust in His holy name. Let Thy lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us, According as we have hoped in Thee. Amen