1 Thessalonians 1:1-2: Greetings from Paul, Silas, and Timothy. To the church of those in Thessalonica, who are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be yours. We always remember you when we pray, and we thank God for all of you.
When you write a letter, how do you normally start it off? Yeah, I know a whole bunch of people, me included, don’t write that many letters anymore. We’re more into electronic forms of communication.
Okay, so when you write, say, an email to a dear friend whom you haven’t seen for a while, what’s the first thing you say?
Hi it’s me, how are you doing? This and that, you tell them what’s going on in your life, you ask them what’s going on in theirs. Maybe you have a specific purpose for writing, so after the opening pleasantries, you quickly segue into the real reason for getting in touch. That’s normally how it goes.
The Apostle Paul was in the business of writing letters to dear friends. In fact his letters, epistles they’re called, make up almost half of the books in the New Testament.
Grace and peace. Grace and peace. Over and over again.
Let’s just imagine for a minute that this thing … the Bible, is God’s love letter to you and me. Grace and peace. Over and over again.
In the busy, up and down, sometimes tumultuous lives that we lead you and I, do you think God’s trying to tell us something?
Grace … and peace. God’s grace and God’s peace. The two things that He wants you to have. The two things that He wants you to receive into your heart, again and again.
Maybe you’re thinking that given the stuff you’re going through at the moment, those things aren’t possible. But in Christ, all things are possible. And right when life’s at its most stressful, most hurtful, most uncertain and perhaps even fearful, God comes along and speaks this into your life: grace and peace.
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